The Demand for Social Insurance: Does Culture Matter?

Does culture shape the demand for social insurance against risks to health and work? We study this issue across language groups in Switzerland where a language border sharply separates social groups at identical actual levels of publicly provided social insurance. We find substantially stronger support for expansions of social insurance among residents of French, Italian or Romansh-speaking language border municipalities compared with their German-speaking neighbours in adjacent municipalities. Informal insurance does not vary enough to explain stark differences in social insurance but differences in ideology and segmented media markets potentially contribute to the discrepancy in demand for social insurance.

Learning form Nature to improve the heat generation of iron-oxide nanoparticles for magnetic hyperthermia applications.

The performance of magnetic nanoparticles is intimately entwined with their structure, mean size and magnetic anisotropy. Besides, ensembles offer a unique way of engineering the magnetic response by modifying the strength of the dipolar interactions between particles. Here we report on an experimental and theoretical analysis of magnetic hyperthermia, a rapidly developing technique in medical research and oncology. Experimentally, we demonstrate that single-domain cubic iron oxide particles resembling bacterial magnetosomes have superior magnetic heating efficiency compared to spherical particles of similar sizes. Monte Carlo simulations at the atomic level corroborate the larger anisotropy of the cubic particles in comparison with the spherical ones, thus evidencing the beneficial role of surface anisotropy in the improved heating power. Moreover we establish a quantitative link between the particle assembling, the interactions and the heating properties. This knowledge opens new perspectives for improved hyperthermia, an alternative to conventional cancer therapies.

Linking supply to demand: the neuronal monocarboxylate transporter MCT2 and the alpha-amino-3-hydroxyl-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid receptor GluR2/3 subunit are associated in a common trafficking process.

MCT2 is the major neuronal monocarboxylate transporter (MCT) that allows the supply of alternative energy substrates such as lactate to neurons. Recent evidence obtained by electron microscopy has demonstrated that MCT2, like alpha-amino-3-hydroxyl-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid (AMPA) receptors, is localized in dendritic spines of glutamatergic synapses. Using immunofluorescence, we show in this study that MCT2 colocalizes extensively with GluR2/3 subunits of AMPA receptors in neurons from various mouse brain regions as well as in cultured neurons. It also colocalizes with GluR2/3-interacting proteins, such as C-kinase-interacting protein 1, glutamate receptor-interacting protein 1 and clathrin adaptor protein. Coimmunoprecipitation of MCT2 with GluR2/3 and C-kinase-interacting protein 1 suggests their close interaction within spines. Parallel changes in the localization of both MCT2 and GluR2/3 subunits at and beneath the plasma membrane upon various stimulation paradigms were unraveled using an original immunocytochemical and transfection approach combined with three-dimensional image reconstruction. Cell culture incubation with AMPA or insulin triggered a marked intracellular accumulation of both MCT2 and GluR2/3, whereas both tumor necrosis factor alpha and glycine (with glutamate) increased their cell surface immunolabeling. Similar results were obtained using Western blots performed on membrane or cytoplasm-enriched cell fractions. Finally, an enhanced lactate flux into neurons was demonstrated after MCT2 translocation on the cell surface. These observations provide unequivocal evidence that MCT2 is linked to AMPA receptor GluR2/3 subunits and undergoes a similar translocation process in neurons upon activation. MCT2 emerges as a novel component of the synaptic machinery putatively linking neuroenergetics to synaptic transmission.

Membrane lipid composition affects plant heat sensing and modulates Ca ( 2+) -dependent heat shock response.

Understanding how plants sense and respond to heat stress is central to improve crop tolerance and productivity. Recent findings in Physcomitrella patensdemonstrated that the controlled passage of calcium ions across the plasma membrane regulates the heat shock response (HSR). To investigate the effect of membrane lipid composition on the plant HSR, we acclimated P. patens to a slightly elevated yet physiological growth temperature and analysed the signature of calcium influx under a mild heat shock. Compared to tissues grown at 22°C, tissues grown at 32°C had significantly higher overall membrane lipid saturation level and, when submitted to a short heat shock at 35°C, displayed a noticeably reduced calcium influx and a consequent reduced heat shock gene expression. These results show that temperature differences, rather than the absolute temperature, determine the extent of the plant HSR and indicate that membrane lipid composition regulates the calcium-dependent heat-signaling pathway.

A Thermokinetic approach to radiative heat transfer at the nanoscale

Radiative heat exchange at the nanoscale presents a challenge for several areas due to its scope and nature. Here, we provide a thermokinetic description of microscale radiative energy transfer including phonon-photon coupling manifested through a non-Debye relaxation behavior. We show that a lognormal-like distribution of modes of relaxation accounts for this non-Debye relaxation behavior leading to the thermal conductance. We also discuss the validity of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. The general expression for the thermal conductance we obtain fits existing experimental results with remarkable accuracy. Accordingly, our approach offers an overall explanation of radiative energy transfer through micrometric gaps regardless of geometrical configurations and distances.

Demand-based structural change and balanced economic growth

[eng] We analyze the equilibrium of a multi-sector exogenous growth model where the introduction of minimum consumption requirements drives structural change. We show that equilibrium dynamics simultaneously exhibt structural change and balanced growth of aggregate variables as is observed in US when the initial intensity of minimum consumption requirements is sufficiently small. This intensity is measured by the ratio between the aggregate value of the minimum consumption requirements and GDP and, therefore, it is inversely related with the level of economic development. Initially rich economies benefit from an initially low intensity of the minimum consumption requirements and, as a consequence, these economies end up exhibiting balanced growth of aggregate variables, while there is structural change. In contrast, initially poor economies suffer from an initially large intensity of the minimum consumption requirements, which makes the growth of the aggregate variables unbalanced during a very large period. These economies may never exhibit simultaneously balanced growth of aggregate variables and structural change.

Expanding Combined Heat and Power in Iowa, October 2015

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) refers to the onsite production of electricity and thermal energy from the same fuel source. Integrating power and thermal energy production is more efficient than separate generating systems and used in the right situation can yield several benefits.

Combined Heat and Power Resource Guide, December 2015

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) refers to the onsite production of electricity and thermal energy from the same fuel source. Integrating power and thermal energy production is more efficient than separate generating systems and used in the right situation can yield several benefits.

Cost Analysis of Long-Term Treatment of Patients with Symptomatic Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) with Esomeprazole On-Demand Treatment or Esomeprazole Continuous Treatment: An Open, Randomized, Multicenter Study in Switzerland.

Objectives: To assess the difference in direct medical costs between on-demand (OD) treatment with esomeprazole (E) 20 mg and continuous (C) treatment with E 20 mg q.d. from a clinical practice view in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms. Methods: This open, randomized study (ONE: on-demand Nexium evaluation) compared two long-term management options with E 20 mg in endoscopically uninvestigated patients seeking primary care for GERD symptoms who demonstrated complete relief of symptoms after an initial treatment of 4 weeks with E 40 mg. Data on consumed quantities of all cost items were collected in the study, while data on prices during the time of study were collected separately. The analysis was done from a societal perspective. Results: Forty-nine percent (484 of 991) of patients randomized to the OD regimen and 46% (420 of 913) of the patients in the C group had at least one contact with the investigator that would have occurred nonprotocol-driven. The difference of the adjusted mean direct medical costs between the treatment groups was CHF 88.72 (95% confidence interval: CHF 41.34-153.95) in favor of the OD treatment strategy (Wilcoxon rank-sum test: P < 0.0001). Adjusted direct nonmedical costs and productivity loss were similar in both groups. Conclusions: The adjusted direct medical costs of a 6-month OD treatment with esomeprazole 20 mg in uninvestigated patients with symptoms of GERD were significantly lower compared with a continuous treatment with E 20 mg once a day. The OD therapy represents a cost-saving alternative to the continuous treatment strategy with E.

Modeling and mitigation of supply-demand mismatches

In this thesis, I develop analytical models to price the value of supply chain investments under demand uncer¬tainty. This thesis includes three self-contained papers. In the first paper, we investigate the value of lead-time reduction under the risk of sudden and abnormal changes in demand forecasts. We first consider the risk of a complete and permanent loss of demand. We then provide a more general jump-diffusion model, where we add a compound Poisson process to a constant-volatility demand process to explore the impact of sudden changes in demand forecasts on the value of lead-time reduction. We use an Edgeworth series expansion to divide the lead-time cost into that arising from constant instantaneous volatility, and that arising from the risk of jumps. We show that the value of lead-time reduction increases substantially in the intensity and/or the magnitude of jumps. In the second paper, we analyze the value of quantity flexibility in the presence of supply-chain dis- intermediation problems. We use the multiplicative martingale model and the "contracts as reference points" theory to capture both positive and negative effects of quantity flexibility for the downstream level in a supply chain. We show that lead-time reduction reduces both supply-chain disintermediation problems and supply- demand mismatches. We furthermore analyze the impact of the supplier's cost structure on the profitability of quantity-flexibility contracts. When the supplier's initial investment cost is relatively low, supply-chain disin¬termediation risk becomes less important, and hence the contract becomes more profitable for the retailer. We also find that the supply-chain efficiency increases substantially with the supplier's ability to disintermediate the chain when the initial investment cost is relatively high. In the third paper, we investigate the value of dual sourcing for the products with heavy-tailed demand distributions. We apply extreme-value theory and analyze the effects of tail heaviness of demand distribution on the optimal dual-sourcing strategy. We find that the effects of tail heaviness depend on the characteristics of demand and profit parameters. When both the profit margin of the product and the cost differential between the suppliers are relatively high, it is optimal to buffer the mismatch risk by increasing both the inventory level and the responsive capacity as demand uncertainty increases. In that case, however, both the optimal inventory level and the optimal responsive capacity decrease as the tail of demand becomes heavier. When the profit margin of the product is relatively high, and the cost differential between the suppliers is relatively low, it is optimal to buffer the mismatch risk by increasing the responsive capacity and reducing the inventory level as the demand uncertainty increases. In that case, how¬ever, it is optimal to buffer with more inventory and less capacity as the tail of demand becomes heavier. We also show that the optimal responsive capacity is higher for the products with heavier tails when the fill rate is extremely high.

Secure Dynamic MANET On-demand (SEDYMO) Routing Protocol

This paper describes the state of the art of secure ad hoc routing protocols and presents SEDYMO, a mechanism to secure a dynamic multihop ad hoc routing protocol. The proposed solution defeats internal and external attacks usinga trustworthiness model based on a distributed certification authority. Digital signatures and hash chains are used to ensure the correctness of the protocol. The protocol is compared with other alternatives in terms of security strength, energy efficiency and time delay. Both computational and transmission costs are considered and it is shown that the secure protocol overhead is not a critical factor compared to the high network interface cost.

Vaneri- ja kertopuutehtaiden kuivatuskoneiden lämmöntalteenottojen järjestelmäselvitys

Vanerin tai kertopuun valmistusprosessissaviilun kuivaukseen käytetään suurin osa koko valmistusprosessin primäärienergiasta. Viilunkuivauskoneessa viilun sisältämä vesi siirretään tyypillisesti prosessihöyryllä lämmitettyyn viilunkuivaajan kiertoilmaan höyrystämällä ja poistetaanviilunkuivaajasta poistoilman mukana. Viilunkuivaajan poistoilma on lämmintä jaerittäin suuren kosteuspitoisuutensa takia sisältää runsaasti energiaa. Tyypillisellä viilunkuivaajalla poistoilmaan sitoutunut lämpöteho vaihtelee prosessiolosuhteista riippuen välillä 2,7-5,7 MW. Diplomityössä tutkittiin viilunkuivaajan poistoilman sisältämän lämmön talteenottoa laitteistolla, johon kuuluu lämmöntalteenottopesuri, jossa poistoilmalla lämmitetään tuotantolaitoksen tukkipuun hautomon kiertovettä sekä ilma-ilma-lämmönsiirrin, jolla lämmitetään pesurista poistuvan ilman jäännöslämmöllä ulkoilmaa tehdassalin tuloilmakäyttöön. Työn tavoitteena oli kehittää lämmöntalteenottojärjestelmän suunnittelua, mitoitusta ja ajotapoja. Työssä analysoitiin teoreettisesti pesuria ja ilmalämmönsiirrintä, kehitettiin lämmöntalteenottopesurin simulointimenetelmä ja mitattiin toiminnassa olevia talteenottolaitteistoja. Tutkimuksessa todettiin lämmöntalteenottohyötysuhteen vaihtelevan lämmityskaudella välillä 50-70 %. Lämmöntalteenottolaitteiston pesurin veteen saatava teho riippuu ensisijaisesti viilunkuivaajan poistoilman lämpösisällöstä, joka on enimmäkseen kosteusriippuvainen ja ilmanvaihtoilmaan saatava teho ulkolämpö-tilan määräämästä tehontarpeesta. Pesurin vesijärjestelmän vaikutusmekanismit pesurin suorituskykyyn tunnistettiin ja niiden pohjalta annetaan suositukset mitoitukseen ja ajotapaan. Lämmöntalteenottolaitteiston lämpötehon tasapainottamiseen pesurin ja ilma-ilma-lämmönsiirtimen välillä mitoituksen avulla esitellään työkalut.

Heat shock response in photosynthetic organisms: membrane and lipid connections.

The ability of photosynthetic organisms to adapt to increases in environmental temperatures is becoming more important with climate change. Heat stress is known to induce heat-shock proteins (HSPs) many of which act as chaperones. Traditionally, it has been thought that protein denaturation acts as a trigger for HSP induction. However, increasing evidence has shown that many stress events cause HSP induction without commensurate protein denaturation. This has led to the membrane sensor hypothesis where the membrane's physical and structural properties play an initiating role in the heat shock response. In this review, we discuss heat-induced modulation of the membrane's physical state and changes to these properties which can be brought about by interaction with HSPs. Heat stress also leads to changes in lipid-based signaling cascades and alterations in calcium transport and availability. Such observations emphasize the importance of membranes and their lipids in the heat shock response and provide a new perspective for guiding further studies into the mechanisms that mediate cellular and organismal responses to heat stress.

Product Standardization of Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers

Diplomityön tavoitteena oli selvittää, kuinka kohdeyrityksessä nykyhetkellä pitkältiräätälöitynä tuotetut putkilämmönvaihtimet voitaisiin standardisoida, jotta pystyttäisiin kohdistamaan resursseja oikein ja parantamaan siten yrityksen taloudellista suorituskykyä. Tutkimuksen edetessä määräävimmäksi tekijäksi työn tuloksia ajatellen nousi taloudellinen standardisointiaste, jonka perusteeksi kohdeyrityksen putkilämmönvaihtimissa valittiin standardisoitu suunnitteluohjeisto. Suunnitteluohjeiston lisäksi tuotestandardiin liitettiin ehdotus toimintapojen automatisoimisesta parametrisen valintataulukon sekä sähköisen manuaalin avulla. Työssä tuotestandardisointia tarkastellaan rationalisointi-investointina ja sen kannattavuutta on tarkasteltu investointilaskelmien sekä herkkyys analyysin avulla. Alkuarvot investointilaskelmissa perustuvat työssä yhdelle putkilämmönvaihtimelletoteutettuun tuotestandardisointitapaan, jos tätä tapaa käytettäisiin jatkossa kaikkiin kyseisen yksikön putkilämmönvaihtimiin.