a r t i c l e i n f o The sustainability of pay-as-you-go pension systems is a major concern in most European countries. Considering the inverse old-age dependency ratio (the proportion of the class of actives to pensioners) as a sustainability index, based on a classical demographic model, a new optimal control model is proposed where the sustainability index grows along a prescribed trajector...

Perceptual systems face competing requirements: improving signal-to-noise ratios of noisy images, by integration; and maximising sensitivity to change, by differentiation. Both processes occur in human vision, under different circumstances: they have been termed priming, or serial dependencies, leading to positive sequential effects; and adaptation or habituation, which leads to negative sequen...

ObjectiveTo investigate the association between false lumen (FL) dependency of segmental arteries (SAs) at T9-L3 levels and risk spinal cord injury (SCI) following total arch replacement frozen elephant trunk (FET) implantation in setting acute DeBakey type I aortic dissection (AAD).MethodsThe study involved consecutive patients with AAD who underwent FET 2020 2022. Primary outcome was postoper...

Macro economists have documented the association between consumer confidence dynamics and durables purchases. A similar dynamic exists in China’s urban housing market. At any point in time Chinese consumer confidence hinges on beliefs about the state of the macro economy and the resolution of policy uncertainty related to the national and local housing policies. We build a 35 Chinese city real ...

Using data from South Asia, this article examines how arranged marriage cultivates rivalry among sisters. During marriage search, parents with multiple daughters reduce the reservation quality for an older daughter's groom, rushing her marriage to allow sufficient time to marry off her younger sisters. Relative to younger brothers, younger sisters increase a girl's marriage risk; relative to yo...