Impacts of parental health on children's development of personality traits and problem behavior: Evidence from parental health shocks

In this paper, we examine how parental health affects children's development of personality traits and problem behavior. Based on a German mother-and-child data base, we draw on observed parental health shocks as a more exogenous source of health variation to identify these effects and control for child and family characteristics including variables reflecting initial endowments observed at birth. At the age of six, we observe that maternal health shocks in early childhood have significant impacts on children's emotional symptoms, hyperactivity and neuroticism. Paternal health seems to be less relevant for the development of these non-cognitive characteristics. However, we observe that paternal health shocks cause children to be more extraverted. --Human capital,health,personality traits,non-cognitive skills

Multivariate AIM Consumer Demand Model Applied to Dried Fruit, Raisins, and Dried Plums

Abstract: We estimate a semi-nonparametric demand system based on a multivariate version of the Muntz-Szatz series expansion which is called the Asymptotically Ideal Model (AIM). The model is applied to consumer demand for dried fruits, raisins, and dried plums. Results from the first and second order AIM expansions suggest that the second order expansion leads to a more economically consistent model, but the likelihood ratio test indicates the AIM(2) model was not a statistical improvement over the AIM(1) model.demand, consumers, AIM, Demand and Price Analysis,

The health and well-being of older adults with dual sensory impairment (DSI) in four countries

Objectives Dual sensory impairment (DSI) is a combination of vision and hearing impairments that represents a unique disability affecting all aspects of a person’s life. The rates of DSI are expected to increase due to population aging, yet little is known about DSI among older adults (65+). The prevalence of DSI and client characteristics were examined among two groups, namely, older adults receiving home care services or those residing in a long-term care (LTC) facility in four countries (Canada, US, Finland, Belgium). Methods Existing data, using an interRAI assessment, were analyzed to compare older adults with DSI to all others across demographic characteristics, functional and psychosocial outcomes. Results In home care, the prevalence of DSI across the four countries ranged from 13.4% to 24.6%; in LTC facilities, it ranged from 9.7% to 33.9%. Clients with DSI were more likely to be 85+, have moderate/severe cognitive impairment, impairments in activities of daily living, and have communication difficulties. Among residents of LTC facilities, individuals with DSI were more likely to be 85+ and more likely have a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Having DSI increased the likelihood of depression in both care settings, but after adjusting for other factors, it remained significant only in the home care sample. Conclusions While the prevalence of DSI cross nationally is similar to that of other illnesses such as diabetes, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease, we have a limited understanding of its affects among older adults. Raising awareness of this unique disability is imperative to insure that individuals receive the necessary rehabilitation and supportive services to improve their level of independence and quality of life

Fast pick up technique for high quality heterostructures of bilayer graphene and hexagonal boron nitride

We present a fast method to fabricate high quality heterostructure devices by picking up crystals of arbitrary sizes. Bilayer graphene is encapsulated with hexagonal boron nitride to demonstrate this approach, showing good electronic quality with mobilities ranging from 17 000 cm^2/V/s at room temperature to 49 000 cm^2/V/s at 4.2 K, and entering the quantum Hall regime below 0.5 T. This method provides a strong and useful tool for the fabrication of future high quality layered crystal devices.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY AND SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS FACULTY IN THE SOUTHERN REGION: A QUARTER OF A CENTURY LATER

Productivity and characteristics of southern agricultural economics faculty was compared to other regional faculty. With few exceptions, faculty members in the Southern region are as productive as their counterparts. We also found that the majority of respondents in all regions considered themselves in the top-quartile in all areas.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Is There a Fundamental Line for Disk Galaxies?

We show that there are strong local correlations between metallicity, surface brightness, and dynamical mass-to-light ratio within M33, analogous to the fundamental line of dwarf galaxies identified by Prada & Burkert (2002). Using near-infrared imaging from 2MASS, the published rotation curve of M33, and literature measurements of the metallicities of HII regions and supergiant stars, we demonstrate that these correlations hold for points at radial distances between 140 pc and 6.2 kpc from the center of the galaxy. At a given metallicity or surface brightness, M33 has a mass-to-light ratio approximately four times as large as the Local Group dwarf galaxies; other than this constant offset, we see broad agreement between the M33 and dwarf galaxy data. We use analytical arguments to show that at least two of the three fundamental line correlations are basic properties of disk galaxies that can be derived from very general assumptions. We investigate the effect of supernova feedback on the fundamental line with numerical models and conclude that while feedback clearly controls the scatter in the fundamental line, it is not needed to create the fundamental line itself, in agreement with our analytical calculations. We also compare the M33 data with measurements of a simulated disk galaxy, finding that the simulation reproduces the trends in the data correctly and matches the fundamental line, although the metallicity of the simulated galaxy is too high, and the surface brightness is lower than that of M33.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures (5 in color). Accepted for publication in Ap

Feasibility of using teleradiology to improve tuberculosis screening and case management in a district hospital in Malawi.

Malawi has one of the world's highest rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (10.6%), and southern Malawi, where Thyolo district is located, bears the highest burden in the country (14.5%). Tuberculosis, common among HIV-infected people, requires radiologic diagnosis, yet Malawi has no radiologists in public service. This hinders rapid and accurate diagnosis and increases morbidity and mortality

Probing the Electronic Structure of Bilayer Graphene by Raman Scattering

The electronic structure of bilayer graphene is investigated from a resonant Raman study using different laser excitation energies. The values of the parameters of the Slonczewski-Weiss-McClure model for graphite are measured experimentally and some of them differ significantly from those reported previously for graphite, specially that associated with the difference of the effective mass of electrons and holes. The splitting of the two TO phonon branches in bilayer graphene is also obtained from the experimental data. Our results have implications for bilayer graphene electronic devices.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure