7,788,255 research outputs found
Sustaining Arts and Culture in Buffalo Niagara
Like all nonprofits, arts and culture organizations are not immune to the inevitable shifts in fiscal health due to trends in the regionâs economy and in charitable giving. In recent years, however, the shifts have turned sharply downward due to budget crises for one of the industryâs most important supporters â local government. With cherished arts and cultural assets in Erie and Niagara Counties struggling to make ends meet, the region is suddenly forced to confront a series of provocative questions. With increasingly limited resources, how can the region sustain an industry integral to Buffalo Niagaraâs economy and quality of life? Can the region fill this gap while providing a higher degree of funding predictability? If not, how will it be determined which organizations are left to falter? If so, whose responsibility is it to bridge the fiscal chasm â the public sector, the private sector, the cultural institutions themselves, or all of the above
Micronutrient fortification to improve growth and health of maternally HIV-unexposed and exposed Zambian infants: a randomised controlled trial.
BACKGROUND: The period of complementary feeding, starting around 6 months of age, is a time of high risk for growth faltering and morbidity. Low micronutrient density of locally available foods is a common problem in low income countries. Children of HIV-infected women are especially vulnerable. Although antiretroviral prophylaxis can reduce breast milk HIV transmission in early infancy, there are no clear feeding guidelines for after 6 months. There is a need for acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable and safe (AFASS by WHO terminology) foods for both HIV-exposed and unexposed children after 6 months of age. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted in Lusaka, Zambia, a randomised double-blind trial of two locally made infant foods: porridges made of flour composed of maize, beans, bambaranuts and groundnuts. One flour contained a basal and the other a rich level of micronutrient fortification. Infants (n = 743) aged 6 months were randomised to receive either regime for 12 months. The primary outcome was stunting (length-for-age Z<-2) at age 18 months. No significant differences were seen between trial arms overall in proportion stunted at 18 months (adjusted odds ratio 0.87; 95% CI 0.50, 1.53; P = 0.63), mean length-for-age Z score, or rate of hospital referral or death. Among children of HIV-infected mothers who breastfed <6 months (53% of HIV-infected mothers), the richly-fortified porridge increased length-for-age and reduced stunting (adjusted odds ratio 0.17; 95% CI 0.04, 0.84; P = 0.03). Rich fortification improved iron status at 18 months as measured by hemoglobin, ferritin and serum transferrin receptors. CONCLUSIONS: In the whole study population, the rich micronutrient fortification did not reduce stunting or hospital referral but did improve iron status and reduce anemia. Importantly, in the infants of HIV-infected mothers who stopped breastfeeding before 6 months, the rich fortification improved linear growth. Provision of such fortified foods may benefit health of these high risk infants. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN37460449
More talent, please: a blueprint for the UKâs future migration policy
An EU citizen is an EU citizen, writes Tanja Bueltmann, and the government has made it abundantly clear that we are all in limbo until a deal to secure our rights is negotiated with the EU â if such a deal can be done. Politicians have chosen not to oppose the wave of xenophobia sweeping across the country, but to indulge those Leave supporters who want to cherry-pick who stays and who goes
What trading outside the Single Market looks like
Once the UK has left the Single Market â and assuming it does not join EFTA or negotiate a bespoke deal with the EU â it will have to revert to World Trade Organisation membership. In this extract from its latest report, the LSE Growth Commission explains that in the absence of bilateral deals this will mean determining a universal set of tariff rates. Keeping nontariff barriers low will also be important. Given the UKâs dependence on trade with the EU and US, these deals must take priority over other countries
The Impact of Simple Institutions in Experimental Economies with Poverty Traps
We introduce an experimental approach to study the effect of institutions on economic growth. In
each period, agents produce and trade output in a market, and allocate it to consumption and
investment. Productivity is higher if total capital stock is above a threshold. The threshold externality
generates two steady states â a suboptimal poverty trap and an optimal steady state. In a baseline
treatment, the economies converge to the poverty trap. However, the ability to make public
announcements or to vote on competing and binding policies, increases output, welfare and capital
stock. Combining these two simple institutions guarantees that the economies escape the poverty
trap
Europe's growth emergency
The European Union growth agenda has become even more pressing because growth is needed to support public and private sector deleveraging, reduce the fragility of the banking sector, counter the falling behind of southern European countries and prove that Europe is still a worthwhile place to invest.
The crisis has a similar impact on most European countries and the US: a persistent drop in output level and a growth slowdown. This contrasts sharply with the experience of the emerging countries of Asia and Latin America.
Productivity improvement was immediate in the US, but Europe hoarded labour and productivity improvements were in general delayed. Southern European countries have hardly adjusted so far.
There is a negative feedback loop between the crisis and growth, and without effective solutions to overturn the crisis, growth is unlikely to resume. National and EU level policies should aim to foster reforms and adjustment and should not risk medium term objectives under the pressure of events. A more hands-on approach, including industrial policies, should be considered.
Earlier versions of this Policy Contribution were presented at the Bruegel-PIIE conference on Transatlantic economic challenges in an era of growing multipolarity, Berlin, 27 September 2011, and at the BEPA-Polish Presidency conference on Sources of growth in Europe, Brussels, 6 October 2011.
Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger
On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of 1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg at a luminosity distance of Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Msun. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at 40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One-Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over 10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient's position 9 and 16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. (Abridged
Effects of human recombinant growth hormone on exercise capacity, cardiac structure, and cardiac function in patients with adult-onset growth hormone deficiency
Objective Epidemiological studies suggest that adult-onset growth hormone deficiency (AGHD) might increase the risk of death from cardiovascular causes. Methods This was a 6-month double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, cross-over trial followed by a 6-month open-label phase. Seventeen patients with AGHD received either recombinant human growth hormone (rGH) (0.4âmg injection daily) or placebo for 12 weeks, underwent washout for 2 weeks, and were then crossed over to the alternative treatment for a further 12 weeks. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, echocardiography, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing were performed at baseline, 12 weeks, 26 weeks, and the end of the open phase (12 months). The results were compared with those of 16 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Results At baseline, patients with AGHD had a significantly higher systolic blood pressure, ejection fraction, and left ventricular mass than the control group, even when corrected for body surface area. Treatment with rGH normalised the insulin-like growth factor 1 concentration without an effect on exercise capacity, cardiac structure, or cardiac function. Conclusion Administration of rGH therapy for 6 to 9 months failed to normalise the functional and structural cardiac differences observed in patients with AGHD when compared with a control group
No Green Growth Without Innovation
This Policy Brief, co-written by Senior Non-Resident Fellow Philippe Aghion, Senior Resident Fellow Reinhilde Veugelers and David Hemous of Harvard University, attempts to change the terms of the debate surrounding climate change policy. The authors argue that policymakers should do more to encourage innovation and investment in Ă?greenĂ? research and development rather than focusing solely on the setting of a carbon price. Using a model developed by Aghion in a previous paper, they argue that a carbon price would have to be about 15 times higher in the first five years and 12 times higher in the next five years if innovation is not properly subsidized by governments. The authors also provide several policy recommendations for incentivising this type of Ă?green growthĂ? in the private sector.
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