General Equilibrium Long-Run Determinants for Spanish FDI: A Spatial Panel Data Approach

While general equilibrium theories of trade stress the role of third-country effects, little work has been done in the empirical foreign direct investment (FDI) literature to test such spatial linkages. This paper aims to provide further insights into long-run determinants of Spanish FDI by considering not only bilateral but also spatially weighted third-country determinants. The few studies carried out so far have focused on FDI flows in a limited number of countries. However, Spanish FDI outflows have risen dramatically since 1995 and today account for a substantial part of global FDI. Therefore, we estimate recently developed Spatial Panel Data models by Maximum Likelihood (ML) procedures for Spanish outflows (1993-2004) to top-50 host countries. After controlling for unobservable effects, we find that spatial interdependence matters and provide evidence consistent with New Economic Geography (NEG) theories of agglomeration, mainly due to complex (vertical) FDI motivations. Spatial Error Models estimations also provide illuminating results regarding the transmission mechanism of shocks.Foreign Direct Investment; Spatial Econometrics; Panel Data.

The Use of Geographic Information Systems and Ecological Niche Modeling to Map Transmission Risk for Visceral Leishmaniasis in Bahia, Brazil

Leishmaniasis is a public health problem in Brazil, and despite the control programs in place, Bahia remains one of the states with the highest incidence rates of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL). This study proposed to develop and evaluate the applicability of ecological niche models (ENM) for leishmaniasis, to determine the influence of environmental and socioeconomic factors on the incidence of these diseases at three geographic scales: national, statewide and community. Water availability, garbage collection, precipitation and temperature were the most important variables in predicting areas suitable for VL and CL in the country. The extensive geography of Brazil and the coarse scale of the data used to evaluate both socioeconomic and environmental variables revealed the need of a more refined scale to define the role of these factors in risk area identification. At the statewide scale, the models were developed for Bahia state and data on vector occurrence was added to the analysis. Three environment structural indices were evaluated in addition to the environmental variables explored in the national model. Water content of vegetation was a very strong predictor of CL and VL incidence followed by NDVI. The sand fly species found in Bahia were sensitive to variations in temperature and rainfall related variables. The occurrence of Lutzomyia longipalpis, the vector of VL in the state, was most influenced by precipitation and vegetation. The district of Monte Gordo, in Bahia, was selected for development of a community level ENM using high resolution WorldView-2 imagery. CDC light traps were used to collect sand flies for a period of three months. Sand flies were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to determine host feeding preferences and natural infection by Leishmania spp. The sand flies preferably fed on chickens and humans. No natural Leishmania spp. infections were detected. NDVI was the most influencing factor in the ENM model (99.4% contribution). Implementation of a multi-scale geospatial surveillance and risk modeling capability to monitor disease incidence and their vectors, with the addition of molecular analysis, into the actions of the control program can help reduce the impact of endemic leishmaniasis in Bahia

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing of samples from pediatric febrile illness in Tororo, Uganda.

Febrile illness is a major burden in African children, and non-malarial causes of fever are uncertain. In this retrospective exploratory study, we used metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) to evaluate serum, nasopharyngeal, and stool specimens from 94 children (aged 2-54 months) with febrile illness admitted to Tororo District Hospital, Uganda. The most common microbes identified were Plasmodium falciparum (51.1% of samples) and parvovirus B19 (4.4%) from serum; human rhinoviruses A and C (40%), respiratory syncytial virus (10%), and human herpesvirus 5 (10%) from nasopharyngeal swabs; and rotavirus A (50% of those with diarrhea) from stool. We also report the near complete genome of a highly divergent orthobunyavirus, tentatively named Nyangole virus, identified from the serum of a child diagnosed with malaria and pneumonia, a Bwamba orthobunyavirus in the nasopharynx of a child with rash and sepsis, and the genomes of two novel human rhinovirus C species. In this retrospective exploratory study, mNGS identified multiple potential pathogens, including 3 new viral species, associated with fever in Ugandan children

Multimission Modular Spacecraft Ground Support Software System (MMS/GSSS) state-of-the-art computer systems/ compatibility study

The compatibility of the Multimission Modular Spacecraft (MMS) Ground Support Software System (GSSS), currently operational on a ModComp IV/35, with the VAX 11/780 system is discussed. The compatibility is examined in various key areas of the GSSS through the results of in depth testing performed on the VAX 11/780 and ModComp IV/35 systems. The compatibility of the GSSS with the ModComp CLASSIC is presented based upon projections from ModComp supplied literature

Implementation of Mini-FLOTAC in routine diagnosis of Coccidia and Helminth infections in domestic and exotic birds

Mini-FLOTAC (MF) has recently been proposed for the fecal quantification of gastrointestinal (GI) parasites in birds due to its higher sensitivity and precision in comparison with the McMaster method. The current research aimed to test the use of MF in routine diagnosis of coccidia and helminth infections in several domestic and exotic bird collections in Portugal. Between July 2020 and April 2021, a total of 142 fecal samples from organic layers, peacocks and ratites were collected in four Portuguese bird collections and processed using MF and fecal cultures to identify and calculate GI parasite shedding and prevalence. The McMaster method was also used to compare the shedding levels obtained for both quantitative techniques. MF’s relative sensitivity and specificity were also assessed, using McMaster as the reference technique. The implementation of MF resulted in an average Eimeria spp. shedding higher in peacocks from bird collection 2 (502 OPG), followed by peacocks from collection 1 (107 OPG) and organic layers (24 OPG) and peacocks from collection 3 (9 OPG). Peacocks were also positive for Capillaria spp., Trichostrongylus tenuis and Strongyloides pavonis, whereas ostriches and emus were infected by L. douglassii. The MF protocol for exotic animals and the McMaster method did not differ significantly for each parasitic agent and bird species, and MF achieved relative sensitivities and specificities higher than 70% for Galliform Eimeria spp., peacock helminths and ratites’ L. douglassii infections. Higher L. douglassii EPG values were identified using the MF protocol for exotic species (2 g of feces/38 mL of sucrose solution), followed by McMaster 2/28, MF 5/45 and MF 2/18. The use of MF allowed for obtaining different intestinal parasitic populations in several bird species and locations, and MF 2/38 is globally proposed as the most suitable protocol for bird fecal samples as an alternative to the McMaster method in the diagnosis of avian intestinal parasitic infections.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Boxwood Dieback: Molecular Detection, In-Vitro Fungicide Efficacy, and Host Susceptibility for Managing a New Emerging Disease Caused by Colletotrichum Theobromicola

Boxwood (Buxus spp. L) is one of the most common and widely planted perennial ornamentals in both home gardens and commercial landscapes. Grown for its evergreen, dark green foliage, boxwood cultivation dates back to 4000 BC in Egypt. Although considered hardy, boxwood is susceptible to several plant pathogens. Recently reported boxwood dieback, a fungal disease caused by Colletotrichum theobromicola, has been spreading at an alarming rate within the United States. Boxwood dieback consists of symptoms that resemble to those caused by Phytophthora root rot, Volutella blight, and some abiotic disorders and can be easily misdiagnosed in nurseries and landscape plantings and may lead to ineffective management recommendations and practices. Additionally, previous studies have shown that it may take up to two to three months for the symptoms to appear under greenhouse conditions. Boxwood breeders and growers have shown great concerns regarding the disease due to its delayed onset of symptoms, non-availability of early, rapid, and accurate diagnostic tools, and lack of effective management practices. Therefore, the primary objectives of this study were to develop an accurate diagnostic method to detect the disease in boxwoods at early disease development stages and to devise effective disease management strategies including host range and screening of fungicide for their efficacy. A diagnostic TaqMan real-time PCR assay for in planta detection and quantification of C. theobromicola was developed. This species-specific assay targets calmodulin (CAL) gene and successfully detected the pathogen from symptomatic boxwood tissue at early stages of the disease development. Host range studies were conducted by screening a wide variety of boxwood cultivars under greenhouse conditions. Out of the 11 cultivars screened, ‘Little Missy’ was found to show latent infection to boxwood dieback. Finally, fungicide efficacy studies were conducted by screening nine chemical compounds to determine their effect on mycelial growth as well as spore germination inhibition of eight isolates of C. theobromicola collected from eight different states in the United States. Of the nine fungicides, difenoconazole+pydiflumetofen showed maximum mycelial growth and spore germination inhibition at 1 ppm active ingredient followed by fluxapyroxad+pyraclostrobin, and pyraclostrobin+boscalid at 5 ppm active ingredient. Azoxystrobin+benzovindiflupyr significantly inhibited mycelial growth at 1 ppm but reduced spore germination at 10 ppm active ingredient. This study provides the boxwood industry with much needed important and applied information regarding rapid and accurate detection, host susceptibility, and fungicide efficacy to effectively manage boxwood dieback and to reduce its further spread

Report for the Iowa Public Safety Answering Point Data Analysis, Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management, December 2015

The State of Iowa’s (State) initial 9-1-1 system was developed and implemented around legacy wire line technology more than 25 years ago and was not implemented to facilitate the transmission of text messages and data images such as pictures and video. Consumers are driving the telecommunications landscape and PSAPs need to be able to meet the expectations and accommodate a wider range of communication methods. In addition to receiving wireless and legacy 9-1-1 wire line calls, the public expects PSAPs to handle instant messaging, text messages, telematics (automatic crash notification) and live video feeds

Bugs as Features (Part II): A Perspective on Enriching Microbiome-Gut-Brain Axis Analyses with Multidisciplinary Techniques

The microbiome-gut-brain-axis field is multidisciplinary, benefiting from the expertise of microbiology, ecology, psychiatry, computational biology, and epidemiology amongst other disciplines. As the field matures and moves beyond a basic demonstration of its relevance, it is critical that study design and analysis are robust and foster reproducibility. In this companion piece to Bugs as Features (Part 1), we present techniques from adjacent and disparate fields to enrich and inform the analysis of microbiome-gut-brain-axis data. Emerging techniques built specifically for the microbiome-gut-brain axis are also demonstrated. All of these methods are contextualised to inform several common challenges: how do we establish causality? How can we integrate data from multiple 'omics techniques? How might we account for the dynamicism of host-microbiome interactions? This perspective is offered to experienced and emerging microbiome scientists alike, to assist with these questions and others, at the study conception, design, analysis and interpretation stages of research.Comment: For main text: 20 pages, 2 figures; for supplementary analysis: 31 pages and 6 figures. Supplementary analysis generated using Rmarkdown by Thomaz F. S. Bastiaanssen. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2207.1247

Evaluation of the oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalytic activity of postsynthetically modified covalent organic frameworks

The pyrolysis of organic precursors to produce heteroatomic-doped carbonaceous materials has emerged as a powerful tool to construct metal-free heterogeneous electrocatalysts due to their low cost and their environmental friendliness. However, the lack of control in the atomic positions or the location of the chemical functionalities makes it difficult to establish structure-property relationships. Herein, we report an easy strategy to compare the electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance of metal-free and nonpyrolyzed materials by postsynthetic modification of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) via click-chemistry. This method facilitates the evaluation of different active centers using materials with the same morphology and prevents active site agglomeration by covalently anchoring these moieties inside of a porous and crystalline framework. In this study we developed a series of diimide-based materials (XDI0.17-COFs) with a loading of 7.65 × 10-4 mol of active site/mg of host COF. The bulk COFs have been delaminated to perform electrode modification by drop-casting. The electrocatalytic response toward the ORR has been studied in alkaline media obtaining the best results for the NDI0.17-COF with an onset potential of 0.77 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE) and a limiting current of 4.2 mA/cm2 by a preferred pathway toward water electroreduction. Finally, an adequate combination of density functional theory with the thermochemical Gibbs free energy formalism has been used to theoretically rationalize the ORR mechanism in these metal-free and nonpyrolyzed materials. We have obtained theoretical ORR overpotentials for each COF system agreeing with the experimental observation, which correlate with the ability of the NDI, BzDI, and PDI molecular blocks to accommodate electrons. Our work provides a guideline on how to study the electrocatalytic performance of different organic moieties in metal-free and non-pyrolyzed COFs avoiding their de novo synthesis by using the click postsynthetic methodologyTED2021-129886B-C43, PID2019-106268GB-C32, RED2018-102412-T, PID2020-116728RB-I00, PID2020-113142RB-C21, PLEC2021-007906, 2018/NMT-4349TRANSNANOAVANSENS, S2018/NMT-4367, Y2020/NMT646

A Fully Automated High-Throughput Training System for Rodents

Addressing the neural mechanisms underlying complex learned behaviors requires training animals in well-controlled tasks, an often time-consuming and labor-intensive process that can severely limit the feasibility of such studies. To overcome this constraint, we developed a fully computer-controlled general purpose system for high-throughput training of rodents. By standardizing and automating the implementation of predefined training protocols within the animal’s home-cage our system dramatically reduces the efforts involved in animal training while also removing human errors and biases from the process. We deployed this system to train rats in a variety of sensorimotor tasks, achieving learning rates comparable to existing, but more laborious, methods. By incrementally and systematically increasing the difficulty of the task over weeks of training, rats were able to master motor tasks that, in complexity and structure, resemble ones used in primate studies of motor sequence learning. By enabling fully automated training of rodents in a home-cage setting this low-cost and modular system increases the utility of rodents for studying the neural underpinnings of a variety of complex behaviors