Attribution and reciprocity in a simulated labor market: An experimental investigation

While papers such as Akerlof and Yellen (1990) and Rabin (1993) argue that psychological considerations such as fairness and reciprocity are important in individual decision-making, there is little explicit empirical evidence of reciprocal altruism in economic environments. This paper tests whether attribution of volition in choosing a wage has a significant effect on subsequent costly effort provision. An experiment was conducted in which subjects are first randomly divided into groups of employers and employees. Wages were selected and employees asked to choose an effort level, where increased effort is costly to the employee, but highly beneficial to the employer. The wage-determination process was common knowledge and wages were chosen either by the employer or by an external process. There is evidence for both distributional concerns and reciprocal altruism. The slope of the effort/wage profile is clearly positive in all cases, but is significantly higher when wages are chosen by the employer, offering support for the hypothesis of reciprocity. There are implications for models of utility and a critique of some current models is presented.

The effects of poor financial information systems on the long term sustainability of local public services. Empirical evidence from the Catalan Municipalities

In this paper we describe the existence of financial illusion in public accountingand we comment on its effects for the future sustainability of local publicservices. We relate these features to the lack of incentives amongst publicmanagers for improving the financial reporting and thus management of publicassets. Financial illusion pays off for politicians and managers since it allowsfor larger public expenditure increases and managerial slack, these beingarguments in their utility functions. This preference is strengthen by the shorttime perspective of politically appointed public managers. Both factors runagainst public accountability. This hypothesis is tested for Spain by using anunique sample. We take data from around forty Catalan local authorities withpopulation above 20,000 for the financial years 1993-98. We build this databasis from the Catalan Auditing Office Reports in a way that it can be linkedto some other local social and economic variables in order to test ourassumptions. The results confirm that there is a statistical relationship between the financialillusion index (FI as constructed in the paper) and higher current expenditure.This reflects on important overruns and increases of the delay in payingsuppliers, as well as on a higher difficulties to face capital finance. Mechanismsfor FI creation have to do among other factors, with delays in paying suppliers(and thereafter higher future financial costs per unit of service), no adequateprovision for bad debts and lack of appropriate capital funding either forreposition or for new equipments. For this, it is crucial to monitor the way inwhich capital transfers are accounted in local public sheet balances. As a result,for most of the Municipalities we analyse, the funds for guaranteeing continuityand sustainability of public services provision are today at risk.Given managerial incentives at present in public institutions, we conclude thatpublic regulation recently enforced for assuring better information systems inlocal public management may not be enough to change the current state of affairs.

Market institutions and judicial rulemaking

Assuming that the degree of discretion granted to judges was the main distinguishing feature between common and civil law until the 19th century, we argue that constraining judicial discretion was instrumental in protecting freedom of contract and developing the market order in civil law. We test this hypothesis by analyzing the history of Western law. In England, a unique institutional balance between the Crown and the Parliament guaranteed private property and prompted the gradual evolution towards a legal framework that facilitated market relationships, a process that was supported by the English judiciary. On the Continent, however, legal constraints on the market were suppressed in a top-down fashion by the founders of the liberal state, often against the will of the incumbent judiciary. Constraining judicial discretion there was essential for enforcing freedom of contract and establishing the legal order of the market economy. In line with this evidence, our selection hypothesis casts doubts on the normative interpretation of empirical results that proclaim the superiority of one legal system over another, disregarding the local conditions and institutional interdependencies on which each legal system was grounded.

Cervical cancer: incidence and survival in migrants within Spain

This study examined the incidence of cervical cancer and survival rates according to migrant experience of women from different regions of Spain to Girona, Catalonia (Spain). DESIGN--Using data from the population based cancer registry of Girona for the period 1980-89, crude and age adjusted incidence rates were calculated for local-born and first generation migrants from other Spanish regions. The age standardised rate ratio (SRR) was calculated and Cox's regression model was used to adjust survival according to migrant status for age and stage at diagnosis. MAIN RESULTS--The incidence of cervical cancer was significantly higher in first generation Spanish migrants compared with locally born women (SRR: 2.02; 95% CI 1.40:2.92). The stage at diagnosis was more advanced among migrants. Survival probability was significantly associated with stage at diagnosis, but age and region of birth were not. CONCLUSIONS--Migrants from the southern Spanish regions show a twofold excess in the incidence of cervical cancer compared with the Girona-born female population. Cases of cervical cancer in migrants are diagnosed at a more advanced stage and as a consequence have a poorer prognosis.

Delta(1232) isobar excitations and the ground state of nuclei

The influence of Delta isobar components on the ground-state properties of nuclear systems is investigated for nuclear matter as well as finite nuclei. Many-body wave functions, including isobar configurations and binding energies, are evaluated employing the framework of the coupled-cluster theory. It is demonstrated that the effect of isobar configurations depends in a rather sensitive way on the model used for the baryon-baryon interaction. As examples for realistic baryon-baryon interactions with explicit inclusion of isobar channels we use the local (V28) and nonlocal meson-exchange potentials (Bonn2000) but also a model recently developed by the Salamanca group, which is based on a quark picture. The differences obtained for the nuclear observables are related to the treatment of the interaction, the pi-exchange contributions in particular, at high momentum transfers.

Nonequilibrium patterns and shape fluctuations in reactive membranes

A simple kinetic model of a two-component deformable and reactive bilayer is presented. The two differently shaped components are interconverted by a nonequilibrium reaction, and a phenomenological coupling between local composition and curvature is proposed. When the two components are not miscible, linear stability analysis predicts, and numerical simulations show, the formation of stationary nonequilibrium composition/curvature patterns whose typical size is determined by the reactive process. For miscible components, a linearization of the dynamic equations is performed in order to evaluate the correlation function for shape fluctuations from which the behavior of these systems in micropipet aspiration experiments can be predicted.

Nasopalatine duct cyst: report of 22 cases and review of the literature

Objectives: Nasopalatine duct cysts (NPDCs) are the most common developmental, epithelial and non-odontogenic cysts of the maxillae. The present study describes the clinicopathological characteristics of 22 NPDCs and discusses their etiology, incidence, treatment and prognosis, with a review of the literature on the subject. Study design: A retrospective observational study was made comprising a period of 36 years (1970-2006), and yielding a series of 22 patients with histopathological confirmation of NPDC. Surgical treatment was carried out under local anesthesia and comprised the dissection and removal of the cyst adopting a usually palatine approach, with the preparation of an enveloping flap from 1.4 to 2.4. Results: No statistically significant correlation was observed between the size of the lesion and patient age, although the size of the cyst differed according to patient gender, with a mean NPDC diameter of 16 mm in males and 12 mm in females. In no case did we observe root reabsorption or loss of vitality of the upper incisors following surgery. The X-ray image was rounded in 15 cases and heart-shaped in the remaining 7 cases. In the majority of cases panoramic X-rays and periapical and occlusal X-rays sufficed to identify the lesion, though computed tomography was used in cases of doubt. Conclusions: The etiology of NPDC is unclear. Simple surgical resection is recommended, followed by clinical and radiological control to ensure correct resolution of the case.

Nasopalatine duct cyst: report of 22 cases and review of the literature

Objectives: Nasopalatine duct cysts (NPDCs) are the most common developmental, epithelial and non-odontogenic cysts of the maxillae. The present study describes the clinicopathological characteristics of 22 NPDCs and discusses their etiology, incidence, treatment and prognosis, with a review of the literature on the subject. Study design: A retrospective observational study was made comprising a period of 36 years (1970-2006), and yielding a series of 22 patients with histopathological confirmation of NPDC. Surgical treatment was carried out under local anesthesia and comprised the dissection and removal of the cyst adopting a usually palatine approach, with the preparation of an enveloping flap from 1.4 to 2.4. Results: No statistically significant correlation was observed between the size of the lesion and patient age, although the size of the cyst differed according to patient gender, with a mean NPDC diameter of 16 mm in males and 12 mm in females. In no case did we observe root reabsorption or loss of vitality of the upper incisors following surgery. The X-ray image was rounded in 15 cases and heart-shaped in the remaining 7 cases. In the majority of cases panoramic X-rays and periapical and occlusal X-rays sufficed to identify the lesion, though computed tomography was used in cases of doubt. Conclusions: The etiology of NPDC is unclear. Simple surgical resection is recommended, followed by clinical and radiological control to ensure correct resolution of the case.

E-Health and Society : An Empirical Study of Catalonia. Research report (synthesis document)

Aquest estudi va analitzar la interacció del canvi organitzatiu, els valors culturals i el canvi tecnològic en el sistema sanitari català. L'estudi se subdivideix en cinc parts diferents. La primera és una anàlisi de contingut de webs relacionats amb la salut a Catalunya. La segona és un estudi dels usos d'Internet en qüestions relacionades amb la salut entre la població en general, les associacions de pacients i els professionals de la salut, i es basa en un sondeig per Internet adaptat a cada un d'aquests grups. La tercera part és un estudi de treball de camp dels programes experimentals duts a terme pel Govern català en diverses àrees i hospitals locals per a integrar electrònicament la història clínica dels pacients. La quarta és un estudi de les implicacions organitzatives de la introducció de sistemes d'informació en la gestió d'hospitals i centres d'assistència primària a l'Institut Català de Salut, el principal proveïdor de salut pública a Catalunya, i es basa en un sondeig per Internet i entrevistes en profunditat. La cinquena part és un estudi de cas dels efectes organitzatius i socials de la introducció de les tecnologies de la informació i la comunicació en un dels principals hospitals de Catalunya, l'Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. L'estudi es va dur a terme entre el maig del 2005 i el juliol del 2007.

Systems medicine and integrated care to combat chronic noncommunicable diseases

We propose an innovative, integrated, cost-effective health system to combat major non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular, chronic respiratory, metabolic, rheumatologic and neurologic disorders and cancers, which together are the predominant health problem of the 21st century. This proposed holistic strategy involves comprehensive patient-centered integrated care and multi-scale, multi-modal and multi-level systems approaches to tackle NCDs as a common group of diseases. Rather than studying each disease individually, it will take into account their intertwined gene-environment, socio-economic interactions and co-morbidities that lead to individual-specific complex phenotypes. It will implement a road map for predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory (P4) medicine based on a robust and extensive knowledge management infrastructure that contains individual patient information. It will be supported by strategic partnerships involving all stakeholders, including general practitioners associated with patient-centered care. This systems medicine strategy, which will take a holistic approach to disease, is designed to allow the results to be used globally, taking into account the needs and specificities of local economies and health systems.

Inclusion and empowerment in public art and urban design

To involve citizens in developing the processes of city making is an objective that occupies part of the agenda of political parties in the context of the necessary renewal in representative democracy. This paper aims to provide some answers to the following questions: Is it possible to overcome the participatory processes based exclusively on the consultation? Is it possible to"train" residents to take an active role in decision-making? How can we manage, proactively, the relationship between public actors, technicians and politicians, in a participatory process? We analyse the process development for creating the Wall of Remembrance in the Barcelona neighbourhood of Baró de Viver, a work of public art, created and produced by its neighbours, in the context of a long participatory process focused on changing the image of the neighbourhood and the improvement of public space. This result and this process have been possible in a given context of cooperation among neighbours, local government and the research team (CR-Polis, Art, City, Society at the University of Barcelona). The development of a creative process of citizen participation between 2004 and 2011 made possible the direct management of decision making by the residents on the field of the design of public space in the neighbourhood. However, the material results of the process does not overshadow the great achievement of the project: the inclusion of a neighbourhood in taking informed decisions because of their empowerment in public space design and management of their remembrances.

Simulated Annealing, High-Order Statistics and Mutual Information for Separation of Sources

In this article, the fusion of a stochastic metaheuristic as Simulated Annealing (SA) with classical criteria for convergence of Blind Separation of Sources (BSS), is shown. Although the topic of BSS, by means of various techniques, including ICA, PCA, and neural networks, has been amply discussed in the literature, to date the possibility of using simulated annealing algorithms has not been seriously explored. From experimental results, this paper demonstrates the possible benefits offered by SA in combination with high order statistical and mutual information criteria for BSS, such as robustness against local minima and a high degree of flexibility in the energy function.

Systems Medicine and Integrated Care to Combat Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases.

We propose an innovative, integrated, cost-effective health system to combat major non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular, chronic respiratory, metabolic, rheumatologic and neurologic disorders and cancers, which together are the predominant health problem of the 21st century. This proposed holistic strategy involves comprehensive patient-centered integrated care and multi-scale, multi-modal and multi-level systems approaches to tackle NCDs as a common group of diseases. Rather than studying each disease individually, it will take into account their intertwined gene-environment, socio-economic interactions and co-morbidities that lead to individual-specific complex phenotypes. It will implement a road map for predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory (P4) medicine based on a robust and extensive knowledge management infrastructure that contains individual patient information. It will be supported by strategic partnerships involving all stakeholders, including general practitioners associated with patient-centered care. This systems medicine strategy, which will take a holistic approach to disease, is designed to allow the results to be used globally, taking into account the needs and specificities of local economies and health systems.