How effective are price regulator's price control measures?

The Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission (FCCC) is Fiji s independent price regulatory institution. If price control measures are effective, they could contribute to inflation mitigation. This note tests the effectiveness of FCCC s price controlling role by proposing that it does not lead to inflation. Using time-series regression models, we establish the effect of FCCC s regulatory effectiveness and show that it contributes to a reduction in prices at least five months after regulated prices come into force. We find that inflation declines by 0.5% or 26% of the sample annualized inflation (which is 1.93%)

Semantic Foundations For Formalizing Brain Cancer Profiles

With the advent of whole-genome DNA sequencing technologies, tailoring of medical treatment to individual patients based on their genetic makeup has become the vanguard of modern medicine. One such area that can benefit from individualized medicine is that of brain and other Central Nervous System (CNS) cancers. The prognosis of malignant brain cancers is among the worst due to the heterogeneity and complexity of these tumors and their micro-environment. We present a framework that combines data mining and machine learning techniques with semantic approaches for building a clinically-relevant knowledge base of brain cancer profiles. We construct clusters of patients based on the similarity of their profiles using the k-means clustering algorithm and extract relevant molecular attributes of these clusters to classify instances of the clusters. We create a semantic model with ontologies, rule checking and reasoning, to enable rational therapeutic regimen selection. Finally, we lay the foundation to incorporate this framework into a digital twin architecture of a patient

A CSM-BASED PROCEDURE FOR IDENTIFYING SEGMENTS OF AGRICULTURAL DRAINAGE DITCHES TO BE PRIORITIZED IN MAINTENANCE WORK

Productive agricultural land is vital for food production. To help secure the productivity of drained agricultural soils, diches need to be intermittently maintained. Maintenance work is costly, however, so ditch segments in most need of maintenance should be prioritized. Here, we present a procedure for identifying drainage ditch segments likely to need maintenance based on susceptibility to soil erosion by water flowing in the ditch, evaluated using a cohesive strength meter (CSM). An important part of the procedure is to relate the pressure of the CSM jets to pressures acting on the soil. The relationship between CSM jet pressure and pressures at the soil surface was established based on measurements made with a pressure sensor plate and was applied to obtain several values for pressure at the surface, which were used in turn to estimate critical shear stress for erosion. The results showed that the CSM-based method was able to identify differences in critical shear stress for erosion for different field soils. This information can be useful in identifying drainage ditch segments that should be prioritized for maintenance work

Ageing, colonic health, obesity and the gut microbiota

Ph.D. Thesis.Ageing, obesity and history of adenomatous polyps are recognised risk factors for colorectal cancer (CRC). In recent decades, patterns of colonic microbiota and their major metabolites, the short chain fatty acids (SCFA), have been proposed as potential additional candidate biomarker of CRC risk. For example, Fusobacterium nucleatum, which adheres to colonic enterocytes, stimulates the b-catenin pathway, and reinforces inflammatory responses has been associated with CRC pathogenesis. Within the Biomarkers Of Risk of Colorectal Cancer (BORICC)Follow-Up (BFU) and Biomarkers Of CRC After Bariatric Surgery (BOCABS) Studies, I have investigated relationships between ageing, colonic health (prior history of adenomatous polyps) and obesity and the gut microbiota and SCFA. Stool samples from 219 BORICC Study participants, 26 of whom had paired samples at follow-up (BFU Study), and 30 BOCABS Study participants, including 19 paired pre-and post-bariatric samples, were used. Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA bacterial gene and gas chromatography were performed to quantify the microbiota and SCFA, respectively. In the BORICC Study, I observed significantly lower Firmicutes levels in participants with a prior history of polyps (at greater CRC risk). There were no apparent effects of ageing or of obesity on the microbiota when investigated at phylum or genus levels or on bacterial diversity measures (alpha and beta diversity). Faecal concentrations of acetate and of total SCFA were elevated in the older participants as well as the obese participants in all studies. In BORICC Study, participants with a prior history of adenomatous polyps and those who were obese had higher faecal propionate concentrations. Concentrations of the branched-chain SCFA isobutyrate and isovalerate were higher in stool from older people. In summary, altered concentrations of faecal SCFA alterations were associated with ageing, obesity and in those with a prior history of adenomatous polyps. However, there were no associated effects on the abundance or diversity of gut bacteria

The Dominance Concept Inventory: A Tool for Assessing Undergraduate Student Alternative Conceptions about Dominance in Mendelian and Population Genetics

Despite the impact of genetics on daily life, biology undergraduates understand some key genetics concepts poorly. One concept requiring attention is dominance, which many students understand as a fixed property of an allele or trait and regularly conflate with frequency in a population or selective advantage. We present the Dominance Concept Inventory (DCI), an instrument to gather data on selected alternative conceptions about dominance. During development of the 16-item test, we used expert surveys (n = 12), student interviews (n = 42), and field tests (n = 1763) from introductory and advanced biology undergraduates at public and private, majority- and minority-serving, 2- and 4-yr institutions in the United States. In the final field test across all subject populations (n = 709), item difficulty ranged from 0.08 to 0.84 (0.51 ± 0.049 SEM), while item discrimination ranged from 0.11 to 0.82 (0.50 ± 0.048 SEM). Internal reliability (Cronbach\u27s alpha) was 0.77, while test–retest reliability values were 0.74 (product moment correlation) and 0.77 (intraclass correlation). The prevalence of alternative conceptions in the field tests shows that introductory and advanced students retain confusion about dominance after instruction. All measures support the DCI as a useful instrument for measuring undergraduate biology student understanding and alternative conceptions about dominance

Parks, people and pixels: evaluating landscape effects of an East African national park on its surroundings

Landscapes surrounding protected areas, while still containing considerable biodiversity, have rapidly growing human populations and associated agricultural development in most of the developing world that tend to isolate them, potentially reducing their conservation value. Using field studies and multi-temporal Landsat imagery, we examine a forest park, Kibale National Park in western Uganda, its changes over time, and related land cover change in the surrounding landscape. We find Kibale has successfully defended its borders and prevents within-park deforestation and other land incursions, and has maintained tree cover throughout the time period of the study. Outside the park there was a significant increase in tea plantations and continued forest fragmentation and wetland loss. The question of whether the park is a conservation success because of the network of forest fragments and wetlands or in spite of them remains unanswered