The New Political Macroeconomics

The paper surveys the ‘old’ and ‘new’ political macroeconomics. In the former we consider how governments can be seen to manipulate the economy as to satisfy opportunistic or ideological motives, thereby creating opportunistic or partisan political business cycles. We examine how the macroeconomic revolution of the 1970s cast doubts on the ability of governments to freely and repeatedly create such cycles. Consequently, the new political macroeconomics have focused more on the effect of politically induced incentives on the inherent amount of inflation in the economic system. In exploring the concept of inflation bias we attempt to use ideas from the old political macroeconomics to show how the two strands of literature may complement one another. The paper finishes by focusing on the debate within the new political macroeconomics about the possible trade-off between reduced inflation bias and extra output volatility following the establishment of an independent central bank.Political business cycles; time inconsistency; inflation bias; central bankers

Systematic review of the safety of medication use in inpatient, outpatient and primary care settings in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries

Background Errors in medication use are a patient safety concern globally, with different regions reporting differing error rates, causes of errors and proposed solutions. The objectives of this review were to identify, summarise, review and evaluate published studies on medication errors, drug related problems and adverse drug events in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Methods A systematic review was carried out using six databases, searching for literature published between January 1990 and August 2016. Research articles focussing on medication errors, drug related problems or adverse drug events within different healthcare settings in the GCC were included. Results Of 2094 records screened, 54 studies met our inclusion criteria. Kuwait was the only GCC country with no studies included. Prescribing errors were reported to be as high as 91% of a sample of primary care prescriptions analysed in one study. Of drug-related admissions evaluated in the emergency department the most common reason was patient non-compliance. In the inpatient care setting, a study of review of patient charts and medication orders identified prescribing errors in 7% of medication orders, another reported prescribing errors present in 56% of medication orders. The majority of drug related problems identified in inpatient paediatric wards were judged to be preventable. Adverse drug events were reported to occur in 8.5–16.9 per 100 admissions with up to 30% judged preventable, with occurrence being highest in the intensive care unit. Dosing errors were common in inpatient, outpatient and primary care settings. Omission of the administered dose as well as omission of prescribed medication at medication reconciliation were common. Studies of pharmacists’ interventions in clinical practice reported a varying level of acceptance, ranging from 53% to 98% of pharmacists’ recommendations. Conclusions Studies of medication errors, drug related problems and adverse drug events are increasing in the GCC. However, variation in methods, definitions and denominators preclude calculation of an overall error rate. Research with more robust methodologies and longer follow up periods is now required.Peer reviewe

Human sperm chromatin condensation assessment using Raman spectroscopy and its impact on ICSI induced fertilization and embryonic development

The status of human sperm chromatin has become an important parameter in male fertility evaluation. Chromatin condensation of the sperm genome is necessary for the reproduction process. It causes inactivation of most of the spermatid’s genes and protects DNA from chemical and physical damage. It is evident that the typical composition of sperm chromatin is fundamental to maintain DNA integrity and therefore its ability to fertilize the egg. Fertilization with sperm that possess improper chromatin condensation may have a negative effect on early embryonic growth or lead to the development of genetic diseases. Chromatin condensation evaluation using the current methods is based on staining procedures, rendering the assessed sample unusable for assisted reproductive technology procedures. The current study aims to evaluate the ability of Raman spectroscopy as a non-invasive technique to detect any chemical changes in the normal morphology sperm that are usually selected and used during the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedure. In addition, the protamine deficiency, histone retention, DNA fragmentation, ICSI outcomes and semen parameters were also assessed and tested for correlation with the obtained Raman spectral data or Raman quantitative parameters. Sperm samples of 85 donors were evaluated. Donor consent and approval from an Ethics Committee were given. The Raman peaks at 1098 cm-1, 1334 cm-1, 1372 cm-1 and 1532 cm-1 show a significant difference between the fertile and sub-fertile groups. The Raman peaks at 670 cm-1, 731 cm-1, 785 cm-1, 1062 cm-1, 1098 cm-1, 1185 cm-1, 1372 cm-1, 1424 cm-1, 1450 cm-1, 1532 cm-1, 1618 cm-1 and 1673 cm-1 show a significant difference between the CMA3≤41 and CMA3>41 groups. The Raman peaks at 670 cm-1, 731 cm-1, 1062 cm-1, 1098 cm-1, 1185 cm-1, 1372 cm-1, 1424 cm-1, 1618 cm-1 and 1673 cm-1 show a significant difference between the CMA350 groups. The CMA3-numbers indicate the percentage of stained cells. The relative DNA content, DNA/protein ratio and protein content standard deviation show a significant difference between the fertile and sub-fertile groups. The relative protein content, relative DNA content, DNA/protein ratio and protein standard deviation show a significant difference between the CMA3≤41 and CMA3>41 groups. The relative protein content, relative DNA content, DNA/protein ratio and protein standard deviation show a significant difference between the CMA350 groups. Protamine deficiency, evaluated by chromomycin A3 staining, was significantly correlated with the relative protein content, relative DNA content, DNA/protein ratio and protein standard deviation. Histone retention, evaluated by aniline blue staining, was significantly correlated with the relative protein content, relative DNA content, DNA/protein ratio, protein standard deviation, DNA standard deviation and DNA/protein ratio standard deviation. DNA fragmentation that was evaluated by acridine orange staining was significantly correlated with the relative protein content, relative DNA content, DNA/protein ratio, protein standard deviation, DNA standard deviation and DNA/protein ratio standard deviation. The fertilization rate was significantly correlated with the relative protein content, relative DNA content, DNA/protein ratio, protein standard deviation, DNA standard deviation and DNA/protein ratio standard deviation. The cleavage score was significantly correlated with the relative DNA content and protein content standard deviation. The embryo development score was significantly correlated with the relative protein content and relative DNA content. In conclusion, the Raman spectroscopic measurements, both the individual Raman peak analysis or the Raman quantitative parameter analysis, represent a promising diagnostic tool that has the ability to label-free detect sperm with chromatin abnormalities, such as improper chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation to a certain degree similar to that of the existing staining techniques at the individual cell level. Furthermore, it has the ability to predict estimated ICSI outcomes. The Raman spectral analysis and the Raman quantitative parameters, obtained from normal morphology sperm, showed great differences and variation indicating that Raman spectroscopy has the ability to detect the presence of immature sperm and even some hidden abnormalities resulting from disturbances during spermatogenesis.Der Zustand des Chromatins im menschlichen Spermium wird ein immer wichtigerer Parameter in der Diagnostik der männlichen Fertilität. Die Kondensation der DNS des Spermiengenoms in das Chromatin ist ein notwendiger Vorgang für den Fortpflanzungsprozess. Es deaktiviert die meisten Gene im Spermatid und schützt die DNS vor schädlichen chemischen und physikalischen Einflüssen. Es ist offensichtlich, dass die typische Zusammensetzung des Chromatins des Spermiums von großer Bedeutung für die Integrität des Genoms und damit für die spätere Fähigkeit zur Befruchtung ist. Eine Befruchtung durch ein Spermium mit fehlerhafter Chromatinstruktur kann negative Auswirkungen auf die frühe embryonale Entwicklung haben oder zu genetischen Defekten führen. Heutzutage basiert die Untersuchung der Kondensation des Chromatins auf Färbemethoden, die aber die untersuchten Zellen für eine Weiterverwendung zum Zwecke der künstlichen Befruchtung unbrauchbar machen. Diese Arbeit hat daher zum Zwecke die Raman- Spektroskopie als eine nichtinvasive Methode zur Untersuchung der chemischen Zusammensetzung des Chromatins von morphologisch normalen Spermien, wie man sie zur künstlichen Befruchtung mit Hilfe der ICSI einsetzt, zu evaluieren. Zusätzlich wurden Protamindefizienz, Histonrückhaltung, DNSFragmentierung, ICSI Erfolg sowie Sperma-Parameter aus dem Spermiogramm untersucht und auf Korrelation mit ramanspektroskopischen Daten oder den Parametern eines quantitativen parametrischen Modells der Spektren getestet. Es wurden Spermien von 85 Versuchsteilnehmern untersucht. Die Spender haben der Teilnahme zugestimmt. Es liegt positives Votum der zuständigen Ethikkommission vor. Die Raman Peaks bei 1098 cm-1, 1334 cm-1, 1372 cm-1 und 1532 cm-1 zeigen einen signifikanten Unterschied zwischen der fertilen und der subfertilen Spendergruppe. Die Ramanpeaks bei 670 cm-1, 731 cm-1, 785 cm-1, 1062 cm-1, 1098 cm-1, 1185 cm-1, 1372 cm-1, 1424 cm-1, 1450 cm-1, 1532 cm-1, 1618 cm-1 und 1673 cm-1 zeigen einen signifikanten Unterschied zwischen der CMA3≤41 und der CMA3>41 Spendergruppe. Die Ramanpeaks bei 670 cm-1, 731 cm-1, 1062 cm-1, 1098 cm-1, 1185 cm-1, 1372 cm-1, 1424 cm-1, 1618 cm-1 und 1673 cm-1 zeigen einen signifikanten Unterschied zwischen den Spendergruppen CMA350. Die CMA3-Zahlen entsprechen dem prozentualen Anteil an CMA3-gefärbten Zellen der jeweiligen Spender der Gruppe. Der relative DNS-Gehalt, DNS-zu-Protein-Verhältnis, sowie die Standardabweichung des Protein-Gehalts zeigen einen signifikanten Unterschied zwischen der fertilen und der subfertilen Spendergruppe. Der relative Protein-Gehalt, relativer DNS-Gehalt, DNS-zu-Protein-Verhältnis, sowie die Standardabweichung des Protein-Gehalts zeigen einen signifikanten Unterschied zwischen der CMA3≤41 und der CMA3>41 Spendergruppe. Der relative Protein-Gehalt, relativer DNS-Gehalt, DNS-zu-Protein-Verhältnis, sowie die Standardabweichung des Protein-Gehalts zeigen einen signifikanten Unterschied zwischen den CMA3<28, 28≤CMA3≤50 und CMA3>50 Spendergruppen. Protamindefizienz, untersucht mit einer Chromomycin-A3-Färbung, korreliert signifikant mit dem relativen Protein-Gehalt, relativem DNS-Gehalt, DNS-zu-Protein-Verhältnis, sowie der Standardabweichung des Protein-Gehalts. Histonrückhaltung, untersucht mit einer Anilin-Blau-Färbung, korreliert signifikant mit dem relativen Protein-Gehalt, relativem DNS-Gehalt, DNS-zu-Protein-Verhältnis, der Standardabweichung des Protein-Gehalts, der Standardabweichung des DNS-Gehalts, sowie der Standardabweichung des DNS-zu-Protein-Verhältnisses. DNS-Fragmentierung, untersucht mit einer Acridin-Orange-Färbung, korreliert signifikant mit dem relativen Protein-Gehalt, relativem DNS-Gehalt, DNS-zu-Protein-Verhältnis, der Standardabweichung des Protein-Gehalts, der Standardabweichung des DNS-Gehalts, sowie der Standardabweichung des DNS-zu-Protein-Verhältnisses. Die Befruchtungsrate korreliert signifikant mit dem relativen Protein-Gehalt, relativem DNS-Gehalt, DNSzu- Protein-Verhältnis, der Standardabweichung des Protein-Gehalts, der Standardabweichung des DNSGehalts, sowie der Standardabweichung des DNS-zu-Protein-Verhältnisses. Der Teilungsscore korreliert signifikant mit dem relativem DNS-Gehalt, sowie der Standardabweichung des Protein-Gehalts. Der Embryonenscore korreliert signifikant mit dem relativem Protein-Gehalt sowie dem relativen DNS-Gehalt. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass die Ramanspektroskopie, sowohl in Form einer einfachen Peakanalyse als auch in Form eines quantitativen parametrischen Modells, eine vielversprechende Methode darstellt, die ähnlich zu den etablierten Färbemethoden in der Lage ist Veränderungen im Chromatin einzelner Spermien ohne vorherige Markierung zu untersuchen. Zusätzlich ist sie in der Lage den Erfolg einer ICSI-Behandlung vorab abzuschätzen. Die Raman-Spektren und die Parameter des quantitativen parametrischen Modells morphologisch normaler Spermien weisen eine große Varianz und deutliche Unterschiede auf. Dies deutet darauf hin, dass die Ramanspektroskopie in der Lage ist, unreife Spermien sowie verdeckte Anomalitäten auf Grund von Störungen während der Spermatogenese zu detektieren.Yarmouk University/Jordan-Scholarshi

The transition of the self through the Arab Spring in Egypt and Libya

This paper builds on Belk's notions of the extended, social, family and dialogic selves in an attempt to explore the transformation of the self during the Arab Spring phenomena. From the perspective of the respondents in Egypt and Libya, this paper provides a reading of how images of self are related to artifacts of consumption, rituals, and symbols and how consumer values are navigated through this difficult landscape. The paper uses a three phase history, happening, and hopes narratives to show that the self in a liminal period of flux is referent to history and hopes and proposes a notion of a transitional self that incorporates this observation of reference to past and future. In particular, the findings suggest that consumption, especially Western consumption can be transcendental during a liminal period of flux and that such revelatory incidents offer an opportunity to access the candid thoughts of consumers

Multi-method investigation of factors influencing amyloid onset and impairment in three cohorts

Alzheimer\u27s disease biomarkers are becoming increasingly important for characterizing the longitudinal course of disease, predicting the timing of clinical and cognitive symptoms, and for recruitment and treatment monitoring in clinical trials. In this work, we develop and evaluate three methods for modelling the longitudinal course of amyloid accumulation in three cohorts using amyloid PET imaging. We then use these novel approaches to investigate factors that influence the timing of amyloid onset and the timing from amyloid onset to impairment onset in the Alzheimer\u27s disease continuum. Data were acquired from the Alzheimer\u27s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) and the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer\u27s Prevention (WRAP). Amyloid PET was used to assess global amyloid burden. Three methods were evaluated for modelling amyloid accumulation using 10-fold cross-validation and holdout validation where applicable. Estimated amyloid onset age was compared across all three modelling methods and cohorts. Cox regression and accelerated failure time models were used to investigate whether sex, apolipoprotein E genotype and e4 carriage were associated with amyloid onset age in all cohorts. Cox regression was used to investigate whether apolipoprotein E (e4 carriage and e3e3, e3e4, e4e4 genotypes), sex or age of amyloid onset were associated with the time from amyloid onset to impairment onset (global clinical dementia rating ≥1) in a subset of 595 ADNI participants that were not impaired before amyloid onset. Model prediction and estimated amyloid onset age were similar across all three amyloid modelling methods. Sex and apolipoprotein E e4 carriage were not associated with PET-measured amyloid accumulation rates. Apolipoprotein E genotype and e4 carriage, but not sex, were associated with amyloid onset age such that e4 carriers became amyloid positive at an earlier age compared to non-carriers, and greater e4 dosage was associated with an earlier amyloid onset age. In the ADNI, e4 carriage, being female and a later amyloid onset age were all associated with a shorter time from amyloid onset to impairment onset. The risk of impairment onset due to age of amyloid onset was non-linear and accelerated for amyloid onset age \u3e65. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of modelling longitudinal amyloid accumulation to enable individualized estimates of amyloid onset age from amyloid PET imaging. These estimates provide a more direct way to investigate the role of amyloid and other factors that influence the timing of clinical impairment in Alzheimer\u27s disease

The association of long-term exposure to criteria air pollutants, fine particulate matter components, and airborne trace metals with late-life brain amyloid burden in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study

BACKGROUND: Studies suggest associations between long-term ambient air pollution exposure and outcomes related to Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD). Whether a link exists between pollutants and brain amyloid accumulation, a biomarker of AD, is unclear. We assessed whether long-term air pollutant exposures are associated with late-life brain amyloid deposition in Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study participants. METHODS: We used a chemical transport model with data fusion to estimate ambient concentrations of PM RESULTS: At PET imaging, eligible participants (N = 318) had a mean age of 78 years, 56% were female, 43% were Black, and 27% had mild cognitive impairment. We did not find evidence of associations between long-term exposure to any pollutant and brain amyloid positivity in adjusted models. Findings were materially unchanged in sensitivity analyses using alternate air pollution estimation approaches for PM CONCLUSIONS: Air pollution may impact cognition and dementia independent of amyloid accumulation, though whether air pollution influences AD pathogenesis later in the disease course or at higher exposure levels deserves further consideration

Improving performance and the reliability of off-site pre-cast concrete production operations using simulation optimisation

The increased use of precast components in building and heavy civil engineering projects has led to the introduction of innovative management and scheduling systems to meet the demand for increased reliability, efficiency and cost reduction. The aim of this study is to develop an innovative crew allocation system that can efficiently allocate crews of workers to labour-intensive repetitive processes. The objective is to improve off-site pre-cast production operations using Multi-Layered Genetic Algorithms. The Multi-Layered concept emerged in response to the modelling requirements of different sets of labour inputs. As part of the techniques used in developing the Crew Allocation “SIM_Crew” System, a process mapping methodology is used to model the processes of precast concrete operations and to provide the framework and input required for simulation. Process simulation is then used to model and imitate all production processes, and Genetic Algorithms are embedded within the simulation model to provide a rapid and intelligent search. A Multi-Layered chromosome is used to store different sets of inputs such as crews working on different shifts and process priorities. A ‘Class Interval’ selection strategy is developed to improve the chance of selecting the most promising chromosomes for further investigation. Multi-Layered Dynamic crossover and mutation operators are developed to increase the randomness of the searching mechanism for solutions in the solution space. The results illustrate that adopting different combinations of crews of workers has a substantial impact on the labour allocation cost and this should lead to increased efficiency and lower production cost. In addition, the results of the simulation show that minimum throughput time, minimum process-waiting time and optimal resource utilisation profiles can be achieved when compared to a real-life case study

Enhanced Forensic Speaker Verification Using a Combination of DWT and MFCC Feature Warping in the Presence of Noise and Reverberation Conditions

© 2013 IEEE. Environmental noise and reverberation conditions severely degrade the performance of forensic speaker verification. Robust feature extraction plays an important role in improving forensic speaker verification performance. This paper investigates the effectiveness of combining features, mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs), and MFCC extracted from the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) of the speech, with and without feature warping for improving modern identity-vector (i-vector)-based speaker verification performance in the presence of noise and reverberation. The performance of i-vector speaker verification was evaluated using different feature extraction techniques: MFCC, feature-warped MFCC, DWT-MFCC, feature-warped DWT-MFCC, a fusion of DWT-MFCC and MFCC features, and fusion feature-warped DWT-MFCC and feature-warped MFCC features. We evaluated the performance of i-vector speaker verification using the Australian Forensic Voice Comparison and QUT-NOISE databases in the presence of noise, reverberation, and noisy and reverberation conditions. Our results indicate that the fusion of feature-warped DWT-MFCC and feature-warped MFCC is superior to other feature extraction techniques in the presence of environmental noise under the majority of signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), reverberation, and noisy and reverberation conditions. At 0-dB SNR, the performance of the fusion of feature-warped DWT-MFCC and feature-warped MFCC approach achieves a reduction in average equal error rate of 21.33%, 20.00%, and 13.28% over feature-warped MFCC, respectively, in the presence of various types of environmental noises only, reverberation, and noisy and reverberation environments. The approach can be used for improving the performance of forensic speaker verification and it may be utilized for preparing legal evidence in court

Trends in the Globular Cluster Luminosity Function of Early-Type Galaxies

We present results from a study of the globular cluster luminosity function (GCLF) in a sample of 89 earlytype galaxies observed as part of the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. Using a Gaussian parametrization of the GCLF, we find a highly significant correlation between the GCLF dispersion, , and the galaxy luminosity, MB,gal, in the sense that the GC systems in fainter galaxies have narrower luminosity functions. The GCLF dispersions in the Milky Way and M31 are fully consistent with this trend, implying that the correlation between sigma and galaxy luminosity is more fundamental than older suggestions that GCLF shape is a function of galaxy Hubble type. We show that the -MB,gal relation results from a bonafide narrowing of the distribution of (logarithmic) cluster masses in fainter galaxies. We further show that this behavior is mirrored by a steepening of the GC mass function for relatively high masses,M& 3×105M⊙, a mass regime in which the shape of the GCLF is not strongly affected by dynamical evolution over a Hubble time. We argue that this trend arises from variations in initial conditions and requires explanation by theories of cluster formation. Finally, we confirm that in bright galaxies, the GCLF “turns over at the canonicalmass scale ofMTO ≃2×105M⊙. However, we find thatMTO scatters to lower values (≈ 1-2×105M⊙) in galaxies fainter than MB,gal & -18.5, an important consideration if the GCLF is to be used as a distance indicator for dwarf ellipticals