How much will the global financial storm hurt Mexico?

The credibility earned by prudent policymaking over the past decade should help Mexico weather the current financial storm without devastating effects on real economic activity.Economic conditions - Mexico ; Financial crises ; Peso, Mexican ; Foreign exchange ; Financial markets

Bilateral keratoprostheses in a patient with ocular mucous membrane pemphigoid.

Mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP) with ocular involvement, also referred to as ocular cicatricial pemphigoid, is a rare, autoimmune blistering disease that can have devastating effects for patients. The resulting corneal neovascularization, recurrent corneal abrasions, and ulceration can ultimately result in severe vision loss. We present a 64-year-old man with recalcitrant ocular MMP and consequently advanced corneal involvement that received bilateral keratoprostheses. This case highlights an aggressive but successful placement of bilateral keratoprostheses in recalcitrant ocular MMP, which restored his vision and ultimately his quality of life

The economic impact of COVID-19 on the EU: From the frying pan into the fire. EPC Discussion Paper 23 April 2020

For the time being, the health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will, for obvious reasons related to the devastating effects of the virus, continue to be at the forefront of public policy. However, the concerns over its economic impact are already omnipresent, too. One of the great uncertainties of this crisis is the nature of its long-term economic impact. It will most certainly be bad, and almost certainly be worse than the financial and economic crisis of a decade ago, with many referring to the Great Depression of the 1930s

Creating, Capturing, and Sustaining Value: The Case of West Michigan Furniture Industry

The office furniture business in West Michigan has been going through the second major postwar slump in its history. The first slump was in the 1950s when America\u27s furniture makers challenged the leadership of West Michigan furniture business by migrating to North Carolina. At the time, the effects on the West Michigan economy were mitigated through diversification, innovation, and niche markets strategies. The effects of the current slump have been far more devastating; more than 100,000 furniture-making jobs have been lost in the U.S. The larger firms have faced far more difficulties, though many smaller ones, such as John Widdicomb — the oldest area furniture business — have even gone out of business

Anthropogenic Space Weather

Anthropogenic effects on the space environment started in the late 19th century and reached their peak in the 1960s when high-altitude nuclear explosions were carried out by the USA and the Soviet Union. These explosions created artificial radiation belts near Earth that resulted in major damages to several satellites. Another, unexpected impact of the high-altitude nuclear tests was the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that can have devastating effects over a large geographic area (as large as the continental United States). Other anthropogenic impacts on the space environment include chemical release ex- periments, high-frequency wave heating of the ionosphere and the interaction of VLF waves with the radiation belts. This paper reviews the fundamental physical process behind these phenomena and discusses the observations of their impacts.Comment: 71 pages, 35 figure

Mitochondria and neuroprotection in stroke: Cationic arginine-rich peptides (CARPs) as a novel class of mitochondria-targeted neuroprotective therapeutics

Stroke is the second leading cause of death globally and represents a major cause of devastating long-term disability. Despite sustained efforts to develop clinically effective neuroprotective therapies, presently there is no clinically available neuroprotective agent for stroke. As a central mediator of neurodamaging events in stroke, mitochondria are recognised as a critical neuroprotective target, and as such, provide a focus for developing mitochondrial-targeted therapeutics. In recent years, cationic arginine-rich peptides (CARPs) have been identified as a novel class of neuroprotective agent with several demonstrated mechanisms of action, including their ability to target mitochondria and exert positive effects on the organelle. This review provides an overview on neuronal mitochondrial dysfunction in ischaemic stroke pathophysiology and highlights the potential beneficial effects of CARPs on mitochondria in the ischaemic brain following stroke

Rogue Waves: From Nonlinear Schrödinger Breather Solutions to Sea-Keeping Test

Under suitable assumptions, the nonlinear dynamics of surface gravity waves can be modeled by the one-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Besides traveling wave solutions like solitons, this model admits also breather solutions that are now considered as prototypes of rogue waves in ocean. We propose a novel technique to study the interaction between waves and ships/structures during extreme ocean conditions using such breather solutions. In particular, we discuss a state of the art sea-keeping test in a 90-meter long wave tank by creating a Peregrine breather solution hitting a scaled chemical tanker and we discuss its potential devastating effects on the ship

Fungicide Resistance Genetics of Apple Scab fungus Venturia inaequalis

Apple scab, caused by the ascomycete fungus Venturia inaequalis, is considered the most devastating disease on domestic apple crops. Apples are the most important cultivated crop in temperate regions and the United States produced about 4.6 million tons of apples in 2010. Traditional methods to control fungal plant diseases like apple scab are based on the use of chemical compounds that may produce serious negative effects, mainly related with environmental pollution and the development of fungicide resistance. Identifying genes and mechanisms of fungicide resistance in V. inaequalis is imperative to developing new and more effective defenses against the spread of resistance

Links with East Asia for a recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake: Geographical Simulation Analysis

Japan is now struggling for a recovery from the devastating earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. Although trunk logistic infrastructure has quickly been restored, some local infrastructure is likely to take a longer time to re-establish. The theory of new economic geography suggests that temporary interruption of infrastructure services may generate long-term negative effects on the Tohoku region and Japan as a whole because some of the economic activities may move away. We argue that strengthening links with East Asia is a key supplementary policy for achieving a full economic recovery. Our Geographical Simulation Model assesses economic effects of several policy scenarios.

Exotic Addiction

With an annual profit between $10 and$20 billion, animal smuggling has become the third largest illegal trade in the world, behind only drugs and firearms, and the results are devastating to humans and animals alike. Zoonotic diseases are spreading, animal attack incidents are increasing, and several species are rapidly approaching extinction. This raises several questions that have been largely unanswered: What is causing the increase in demand? How serious are the effects? Why isn’t the law effective in preventing this? What can be done to slow this trend? This Comment attempts to answer these questions by investigating the causes and effects of this multi-billion dollar industry and the legal loopholes that allow it to flourish, and offers suggestions on how the law could be improved to address these challenges