CARIBBEAN DEMAND OF U.S. AND REST-OF-THE-WORLD STARCHY FOOD (WHEAT, RICE, CORN, AND FRESH POTATOES): A RESTRICTED SOURCE DIFFERENTIATED ALMOST IDEAL DEMAND SYSTEM

This study provides elasticity estimates of the Caribbean demand for U. S. and Rest-of-the-World starchy foods (unmilled wheat and flour, rice, corn and fresh potatoes) using the Restricted Source Differentiated Almost Ideal Demand System (RSDAIDS) model. Caribbean per capita import demand curves for U.S. and Rest-of-the-World (ROW) are own-price unitary elastic for U. S. wheat, and own-price inelastic for U.S. rice and ROW wheat and rice. The implication is that reductions by any means in U. S. or ROW export prices of wheat and rice will increase U.S. or ROW exported quantities in the Caribbean, while at the same time securing food security through import quantity in the Caribbean. Wheat is not produced in the Caribbean. U. S. wheat price policy oriented toward a reduction in the export price of wheat to the Caribbean may increase the U. S. wheat market share in the Caribbean. For wheat and rice, no competition across source exists. Instead, there exists a complementarity relationship across source for each of the two products. In other words, the Caribbean distinguishes between the wheat or rice coming from the U. S. and the wheat or rice coming from the Rest-of-the-World.Caribbean demand, elasticity estimates, food security, price policies, Restricted Source Differentiated Almost Ideal Demand System (RSDAIDS), starchy food, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

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Number of Pages: 16Geological SciencesIntegrative Biolog

Intérêt des laits fermentés chez l'enfant diarrhéique malnutri

L'objectif de cette étude était de comparer, chez des enfants diarrhéiques malnutris, l'effet thérapeutique d'un yaourt manufacturé à flore vivante et d'un lait fermenté enrichi préparé de façon artisanale (soow). De novembre 1988 à juillet 1989, 50 enfants non sevrés présentant une diarrhée aigüe associée à une malnutrition (indice poids/taille < 80 % des références NCHS) ont été admis dans l'étude; la répartition entre les groupes (soow contre yaourt) a été faite par tirage au sort et les deux groupes étaient comparables pour la réhabilitation nutritionnelle de ces enfants; le gain de poids moyen a été de 16 g/kg/j et le protocole n'a jamais dû être interrompu du fait d'une aggravation de la diarrhée ou d'une perte de poids. Sur le plan biologique, les résultats confirment l'intérêt du dosage de la transthyrétine associé à celui des protéines inflammatoires pour l'évaluation et le suivi du déficit nutritionnel. L'ensemble de ces résultats suggère que la réalimentation précoce à l'aide de laits fermentés enrichis, associée à la réhydratation orale, apparaît comme bénéfique en cas de diarrhée aiguë associée à une malnutrition. (Résumé d'auteur

The Relationship between Marital Status and Psychological Resilience in Chronic Pain

We examined the relationship between marital status and a 2-stage model of pain-related effect, consisting of pain unpleasantness and suffering. We studied 1914 chronic pain patients using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) to clarify whether marital status was a determinant factor in the emotional or ideational suffering associated with chronic pain after controlling for pain sensation intensity, age, and ethnicity. Marital status was unrelated to immediate unpleasantness (). We found a strong association with emotional suffering () but not with negative illness beliefs (). Interestingly, widowed subjects experienced significantly less frustration, fear, and anger than all other groups (married, divorced, separated, or single). A final MANCOVA including sex as a covariate revealed that the emotional response to pain was the same for both widow and widower. Only those individuals whose spouse died experienced less emotional turmoil in the face of a condition threatening their lifestyle. These data suggest that after experiencing the death of a spouse, an individual may derive some “emotional inoculation” against future lifestyle threat

A model-based assessment of the effects of projected climate change on the water resources of Jordan

This paper is concerned with the quantification of the likely effect of anthropogenic climate change on the water resources of Jordan by the end of the twenty-first century. Specifically, a suite of hydrological models are used in conjunction with modelled outcomes from a regional climate model, HadRM3, and a weather generator to determine how future flows in the upper River Jordan and in the Wadi Faynan may change. The results indicate that groundwater will play an important role in the water security of the country as irrigation demands increase. Given future projections of reduced winter rainfall and increased near-surface air temperatures, the already low groundwater recharge will decrease further. Interestingly, the modelled discharge at the Wadi Faynan indicates that extreme flood flows will increase in magnitude, despite a decrease in the mean annual rainfall. Simulations projected no increase in flood magnitude in the upper River Jordan. Discussion focuses on the utility of the modelling framework, the problems of making quantitative forecasts and the implications of reduced water availability in Jordan

Diagrams for heat kernel expansions

A diagramatic heat kernel expansion technique is presented. The method is especially well suited to the small-derivative expansion of the heat kernel, but it can also be used to reproduce the results obtained by the approach known as covariant perturbation theory. The new technique gives an expansion for the heat kernel at coincident points. It can also be used to obtain the derivative of the heat kernel and this is useful for evaluating the expectation values of the stress-energy tensor.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, ReVTe

A laser based accelerator for ultracold atoms

We present first results on our implementation of a laser based accelerator for ultracold atoms. Atoms cooled to a temperature of 420 nK are confined and accelerated by means of laser tweezer beams and the atomic scattering is directly observed in laser absorption imaging. The optical collider has been characterized using Rb87 atoms in the |F=2,mF=2> state, but the scheme is not restricted to atoms in any particular magnetic substates and can readily be extended to other atomic species as well.Comment: (c) 2012 The Optical Society, 3 pages, 4 figures, 1 movie lin

Congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia : treatment with free vascularised fibular grafts

CITATION: Smith, C. S. F., Zeeman, V. R. B. J. & Wade, W. J. 1993. Congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia : treatment with free vascularised fibular grafts. South African Medical Journal, 83:750-752.The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.zaCongenital pseudarthrosis is uncommon. We report on a series of 4 patients treated by means of free vascularised fibular grafts. Complications encountered were graft fracture, delayed union and angulation deformities. Modifications in the surgical technique improved later results. We recommend wide excision of pathological bone, bridging of the defect by free vascularised fibular grafts and rigid fixation.Publisher’s versio

Demise of the Planktic Foraminifer genus Morozovella during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum: new records from ODP Site 1258 (Demerara Rise, western equatorial Atlantic) and Site 1263 (Walvis Ridge, South Atlantic)

Here we present relative abundances of planktic foraminifera that span the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO) at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1258 in the western equatorial Atlantic. The EECO (~53.3−49.1 Ma) represents peak Cenozoic warmth, probably related to high atmospheric CO2, and when planktic foraminifera, a dominant component of marine sediment, exhibit a major biotic response. Consistent with previous work, the relative abundance of the genus Morozovella, which dominated early Paleogene tropical-subtropical assemblages, markedly and permanently declined from a mean percentage of ~32% to less than ~7% at the beginning of the EECO. The distinct decrease in Morozovella abundance occurred at Site 1258 within ~20 kyr before a negative excursion in δ13C records known as the J event and which defines the beginning of EECO. Moreover, all morozovellid species except M. aragonensis dropped in abundance permanently at Site 1258, and this is related to a reduction in test-size. Comparing our data with that from other locations, the remarkable switch in planktonic foraminifera assemblages appears to have begun first with unfavourable environmental conditions near the Equator and then extended to higher latitudes. Several potential stressors may explain observations, including some combination of algal photosymbiont inhibition (bleaching), a sustained increase in temperature, or an extended decrease in pH