Determinants of life insurance consumption across countries

The importance of life insurance companies as part of the financial sector has significantly increased over the past decades, both as provider of important financial services to consumers and as a major investor in the capital market. However, the authors still observe a large variance in life insurance consumption across countries, which raises the question of its determinants. The authors use a greatly expanded data set on life insurance consumption to examine the determinants of the demand and supply of life insurance products across countries and over time. Using a cross-sectional sample of 63 countries averaged over 1980-96, the authors find that educational attainment, banking sector development, and inflation are the most robust predictors of life insurance consumption, while income is only a weak predictor. The results on educational attainment and inflation are confirmed in a panel of 23 countries over the period 1960-96. The results strengthen the case for promoting price stability, financial sector reform, and an efficient education system if life insurance and its many benefits are to be fully realized in an economy.Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Non Bank Financial Institutions,Health Economics&Finance,Insurance&Risk Mitigation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Economics&Finance,Insurance&Risk Mitigation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Non Bank Financial Institutions,Contractual Savings

Myocardial infarction on the ICU: can we do better?

Myocardial infarction remains a major cause of death despite contemporary therapeutic strategies. Diagnosis in the intensive care unit is challenging, but is essential to target therapy accurately. In this issue of Critical Care Lim and colleagues present the results of a prospective non-interventional screening study for acute myocardial infarction in patients admitted to the intensive care unit. Myocardial infarction is observed to occur frequently, often without being clinically apparent, with a high associated mortality. Such approaches may facilitate accurate diagnosis of myocardial infarction in this setting, hence opening the way to improved therapy

Developing Leadership Pipelines in Maine School Districts: Lessons Learned from a School-University Partnership

The authors describe the Bangor Educational Leadership Academy, a partnership between the Bangor School Department and the University of Maine Educational Leadership Program, which enables researchers and practitioners to work more collabo­ratively to bridge the theory-practice gap that often plagues schools

The Role of Evolutionary and Social Factors in the Same-sex and Partner Aggression

Many theories have attempted to explain aggressive behaviour, ranging from social theories (Bandura, 1973) to evolutionary theories (Buss, 1999). This report uses evolutionary theory to derive predictors of aggressive behaviour, in particular whether there are sex differences in predicting aggression. Four evolutionary-derived predictors (impulsivity, dominance, competitiveness and sexual jealousy), and three aggression measures, were used: these were the aggressive questionnaire, specific acts of partner and same-sex aggression (both aggressor and victimization measures). The measures were presented to the participants via an online questionnaire, in which 322 participants (96 males and 226 females) took part in the study. The findings are described in three chapters: (1) sex differences in aggression measures; (2) the relationship between proneness to aggression (the aggressive questionnaire), specific forms of aggression and evolutionary-derived predictors; and (3) whether there were sex differences in the relationship between evolutionary derived predictors and specific forms of aggression. The main findings were: (1) no sex differences in the means of partner direct and indirect aggression whilst higher levels of same-sex direct and indirect aggression were reported by males than females; (2) a strong relationship between proneness to physical aggression and partner direct aggression; (3) impulsivity was more strongly related to same-sex aggression than to partner aggression; (4) dominance was a significant predictor of partner direct and indirectaggression for both sexes, a significant predictor of same-sex direct aggression for males only, and a significant predictor of same-sex indirect aggression for females only; (5) sexual jealousy was a particularly strong predictor of partner direct aggression in males but not females, and overall a weak predictor of same-sex aggression. Overall there was some support for evolutionarily-based hypotheses the relationships between these variables. However, evolutionary theory is better at explaining aggressive behaviour in males than females

Dueling Electrospray Implemented on a Traveling-Wave Ion Mobility/Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer: Towards a Gas-Phase Workbench for Structural Biology

• Covalent chemistry was performed in an ion mobility/mass spectrometer (IM/MS). • The effects of various parameters on the extent of reactions was observed. • Angiotensin I and ubiquitin were covalently labeled in the gas-phase. • Ion/ion reactions modify ions with solution-like conformations.The traveling wave trap cell of a commercial ion mobility mass spectrometer (IM/MS) was used as a gas-phase reactor for covalent chemistry by making a simple modification to a standard nanoelectrospray source. Reagents and analytes were generated from pulsed opposite polarity nanoelectrospray sources and isolated by their m/z prior to reaction. Covalent bond formation was first observed with the model peptide angiotensin I. The modification site was identified as the N-terminus of the peptide by collision induced dissociation (CID). The IM cell separated the covalent reaction product from the proton transfer product by their respective ion mobilities. Next, the effects of several trapping parameters, including the trap traveling wave height, the trap RF voltage, and the trap pressure, were evaluated. Decreasing traveling wave height and increasing RF voltage and pressure increased the number of proton transfer events from apomyoglobin to reagent anions. The 6+ charge state of ubiquitin generated from nanospray under native-like conditions was covalently modified in the gas phase through ion/ion reactions. Probing the reacted protein with CID led to the assignment of lysine 29 and arginine 54 as reactive nucleophiles accessible to the reagent. IM analysis of the unmodified native-like 6+ charge state revealed that the gas-phase structure of the protein in the trap was in its compact form. Overall, we introduce a promising method for three-dimensional structural characterization of biomacromolecules

Small Partial Latin Squares that Cannot be Embedded in a Cayley Table

We answer a question posed by Dénes and Keedwell that is equivalent to the following. For each order n what is the smallest size of a partial latin square that cannot be embedded into the Cayley table of any group of order n? We also solve some variants of this question and in each case classify the smallest examples that cannot be embedded. We close with a question about embedding of diagonal partial latin squares in Cayley tables

Hydrodynamic stability of swimming in ostraciid fishes: role of the carapace in the smooth trunkfish Lactophrys triqueter (Teleostei: Ostraciidae)

The hydrodynamic bases for the stability of locomotory motions in fishes are poorly understood, even for those fishes, such as the rigid-bodied smooth trunkfish Lactophrys triqueter, that exhibit unusually small amplitude recoil movements during rectilinear swimming. We have studied the role played by the bony carapace of the smooth trunkfish in generating trimming forces that self-correct for instabilities. The flow patterns, forces and moments on and around anatomically exact, smooth trunkfish models positioned at both pitching and yawing angles of attack were investigated using three methods: digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV), pressure distribution measurements, and force balance measurements. Models positioned at various pitching angles of attack within a flow tunnel produced well-developed counter-rotating vortices along the ventro-lateral keels. The vortices developed first at the anterior edges of the ventro-lateral keels, grew posteriorly along the carapace, and reached maximum circulation at the posterior edge of the carapace. The vortical flow increased in strength as pitching angles of attack deviated from 0°, and was located above the keels at positive angles of attack and below them at negative angles of attack. Variation of yawing angles of attack resulted in prominent dorsal and ventral vortices developing at far-field locations of the carapace; far-field vortices intensified posteriorly and as angles of attack deviated from 0°. Pressure distribution results were consistent with the DPIV findings, with areas of low pressure correlating well with regions of attached, concentrated vorticity. Lift coefficients of boxfish models were similar to lift coefficients of delta wings, devices that also generate lift through vortex generation. Furthermore, nose-down and nose-up pitching moments about the center of mass were detected at positive and negative pitching angles of attack, respectively. The three complementary experimental approaches all indicate that the carapace of the smooth trunkfish effectively generates self-correcting forces for pitching and yawing motions — a characteristic that is advantageous for the highly variable velocity fields experienced by trunkfish in their complex aquatic environment. All important morphological features of the carapace contribute to producing the hydrodynamic stability of swimming trajectories in this species