Danish Aid Policy: Theory and Empirical Evidence

This paper is a study of Danish aid policy from the early 1960s to 1995. It includes (i) a review of officially stated aims and criteria, (ii) a descriptive analysis of actual behaviour in international comparative perspective, (iii) a review of the theoretical and empirical aid allocation literature, and (iv) a series of panel data regressions to further explore how Danish bilateral aid was, in actual fact, distributed country-by-country. A theoretical model explaining how the allocation process took place is also formulated. It underpins the empirical analysis from which it transpires that a two step model is a useful way of analysing Danish aid allocations. The first step is whether to select a country or not, and the second involves the decision of how much aid to commit. The empirical analysis demonstrates that Danish aid has been guided in both steps by officially stated aims and criteria in an expected and statistically significant manner although a clear Eastern and Southern Africa bias was found. Another general result is that the relative weights of the explanatory variables have varied both from year-to-year and between sub-periods.Danish foreign aid; modelling aid allocation; panel data analysis

Growth, globalization, and gains from the Uruguay Round

Emphasizing the importance of evaluating the Uruguay Round in the context of a changing world economy, the authors base their projections on a model that incorporates certain economic shifts: 1) that the center of economic gravity will shift toward the South and toward Asia (a shift that is already under way and shows no signs of abating), and 2) that the pattern of comparative advantage will continue to change, with the East Asian economies gaining comparative advantage in the production of physical and human-capital-intensive products. The authors argue that these changes in the global economy significantly affect their analysis of the Uruguay round reforms, for two reasons. First, with the global distribution of trade and production shifting toward Asia, the deeper Uruguay Round cuts inthat region become more important, giving rise to a 17 percent increase in the proportionate welfare gain after implementation of tariff cuts. Second, without the Round, almost all of the bilateral quotas associated with the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA) would have become more binding and the resulting distortion would have been significantly greater. In this analysis, the global gain from MFA reform is 60 percent greater than it would have been without taking into account the effects of growth. Of course, procedures for implementation of the MFA reforms are more complex than they have conveyed for purposes of analysis. In practice, one must also consider the impact of accel quota growth under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing. But even when the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing is implemented over the period for which projections were made, quota rents rise for many bilateral flows. This is a consequence both of shifts in comparative advantage toward the supplying countries and of simultaneous cuts in tariffs on textiles and clothing. The projections approach used here may be viewed as a logical extension of the growing econometric literature seeking to explain the determinants of economic growth through regression analysis. By offering a bridge between econometric evidence and computable general equilibrium modeling, the authors hope to combine the two approaches to help shed light on the interaction between trade reform and economic growth.Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Export Competitiveness,Globalization and Financial Integration,Environmental Economics&Policies,Trade and Regional Integration,Achieving Shared Growth,Economic Theory&Research,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT

Enhanced binding revisited for a spinless particle in non-relativistic QED

We consider a spinless particle coupled to a quantized Bose field and show that such a system has a ground state for two classes of short-range potentials which are alone too weak to have a zero-energy resonance

Complete genome sequence of Paenibacillus riograndensis SBR5T, a Gram-positive diazotrophic rhizobacterium

AbstractPaenibacillus riograndensis is a Gram-positive rhizobacterium which exhibits plant growth promoting activities. It was isolated from the rhizosphere of wheat grown in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Here we announce the complete genome sequence of P. riograndensis strain SBR5T. The genome of P. riograndensis SBR5T consists of a circular chromosome of 7,893,056bps. The genome was finished and fully annotated, containing 6705 protein coding genes, 87 tRNAs and 27 rRNAs. The knowledge of the complete genome helped to explain why P. riograndensis SBR5T can grow with the carbon sources arabinose and mannitol, but not myo-inositol, and to explain physiological features such as biotin auxotrophy and antibiotic resistances. The genome sequence will be valuable for functional genomics and ecological studies as well as for application of P. riograndensis SBR5T as plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium

Construction of the Pauli-Villars-regulated Dirac vacuum in electromagnetic fields

Using the Pauli-Villars regularization and arguments from convex analysis, we construct solutions to the classical time-independent Maxwell equations in Dirac's vacuum, in the presence of small external electromagnetic sources. The vacuum is not an empty space, but rather a quantum fluctuating medium which behaves as a nonlinear polarizable material. Its behavior is described by a Dirac equation involving infinitely many particles. The quantum corrections to the usual Maxwell equations are nonlinear and nonlocal. Even if photons are described by a purely classical electromagnetic field, the resulting vacuum polarization coincides to first order with that of full Quantum Electrodynamics.Comment: Final version to appear in Arch. Rat. Mech. Analysi

Biomarker-based phenotyping of myocardial fibrosis identifies patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction resistant to the beneficial effects of spironolactone: results from the Aldo-DHF trial

Background: Myocardial fibrosis is characterized by excessive cross‐linking and deposition of collagen type I and is involved in left ventricular stiffening and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD). We investigated whether the effect of spironolactone on LVDD in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) depends on its effects on collagen cross‐linking and/or deposition. Methods and results: We investigated 381 HFpEF patients from the multicentre, randomized, placebo‐controlled Aldo‐DHF trial with measures of the E:e' ratio. The ratio of serum carboxy‐terminal telopeptide of collagen type I to serum matrix metalloproteinase‐1 (CITP:MMP‐1, an inverse index of myocardial collagen cross‐linking) and serum carboxy‐terminal propeptide of procollagen type I (PICP, a direct index of myocardial collagen deposition) were determined at baseline and after 1‐year treatment with spironolactone 25 mg once daily or placebo. Patients were classified by CITP:MMP‐1 and PICP tertiles at baseline. While CITP:MMP‐1 tertiles at baseline interacted (P < 0.05) with spironolactone effect on E:e', PICP tertiles did not. In fact, while spironolactone treatment did not modify E:e' in patients with lower CITP:MMP‐1 levels, this ratio was significantly reduced in the remaining spironolactone‐treated patients. In addition, PICP was unchanged in patients with lower CITP:MMP‐1 levels but was reduced in the remaining spironolactone‐treated patients. Conclusions: A biochemical phenotype of high collagen cross‐linking identifies HFpEF patients resistant to the beneficial effects of spironolactone on LVDD. It is suggested that excessive collagen cross‐linking, which stabilizes collagen type I fibres, diminishes the ability of spironolactone to reduce collagen deposition in these patients

Modification of macroporous titanium tracheal implants with biodegradable structures: tracking in vivo integration for determination of optimal in situ epithelialization conditions.

Previously, we showed that macroporous titanium implants, colonized in vivo together with an epithelial graft, are viable options for tracheal replacement in sheep. To decrease the number of operating steps, biomaterial-based replacements for epithelial graft and intramuscular implantation were developed in the present study. Hybrid microporous PLLA/titanium tracheal implants were designed to decrease initial stenosis and provide a surface for epithelialization. They have been implanted in New Zealand white rabbits as tracheal substitutes and compared to intramuscular implantation samples. Moreover, a basement membrane like coating of the implant surface was also designed by Layer-by-Layer (LbL) method with collagen and alginate. The results showed that the commencement of stenosis can be prevented by the microporous PLLA. For determination of the optimum time point of epithelialization after implantation, HPLC analysis of blood samples, C-reactive protein (CRP), and Chromogranin A (CGA) analyses and histology were carried out. Following 3 weeks the implant would be ready for epithelialization with respect to the amount of tissue integration. Calcein-AM labeled epithelial cell seeding showed that after 3 weeks implant surfaces were suitable for their attachment. CRP readings were steady after an initial rise in the first week. Cross-linked collagen/alginate structures show nanofibrillarity and they form uniform films over the implant surfaces without damaging the microporosity of the PLLA body. Human respiratory epithelial cells proliferated and migrated on these surfaces which provided a better alternative to PLLA film surface. In conclusion, collagen/alginate LbL coated hybrid PLLA/titanium implants are viable options for tracheal replacement, together with in situ epithelialization.journal articleresearch support, non-u.s. gov't2012 Aug2012 03 02importe

Severe and ChRonic Atopic dermatitis Treatment CoHort (SCRATCH):A Danish Real-world Evidence Atopic Dermatitis Treatment Registry

Data from real-world use of new systemic treatments in atopic dermatitis (AD) is important for assessing safety and efficacy. The aim of this study is to describe the baseline characteristics of adult patients with moderate-to-severe AD enrolled in the Danish nationwide Severe and ChRonic Atopic dermatitis Treatment CoHort (SCRATCH) database, between October 2017 and August 2021. A total of 282 adult patients were included. Most (62%) were men, the median age at baseline was 43 years (interquartile range (IQR) 29–54 years), and median age at onset of AD was 1 year (IQR 0–6 years). The median Eczema Area and Severity Index at treatment initiation was 19.1 (IQR 11.9–25.7); median Patient Oriented Eczema Measure 21.0 (IQR 16.0–25.0); median Dermatology Life Quality Index 13.0 (IQR 7.0–19.0); and median itch and sleep numerical rating scale scores 8.0 (IQR 6.0–9.0) and 6.0 (IQR 4.0–8.0). Differences were found between the sexes. This registry will provide a source for future efficacy and safety studies

A high-affinity, bivalent PDZ domain inhibitor complexes PICK1 to alleviate neuropathic pain

Maladaptive plasticity involving increased expression of AMPA‐type glutamate receptors is involved in several pathologies, including neuropathic pain, but direct inhibition of AMPARs is associated with side effects. As an alternative, we developed a cell‐permeable, high‐affinity (~2 nM) peptide inhibitor, Tat‐P$_4$‐(C5)$_2$, of the PDZ domain protein PICK1 to interfere with increased AMPAR expression. The affinity is obtained partly from the Tat peptide and partly from the bivalency of the PDZ motif, engaging PDZ domains from two separate PICK1 dimers to form a tetrameric complex. Bivalent Tat‐P$_4$‐(C5)$_2$ disrupts PICK1 interaction with membrane proteins on supported cell membrane sheets and reduce the interaction of AMPARs with PICK1 and AMPA‐receptor surface expression in vivo. Moreover, Tat‐P$_4$‐(C5)$_2$ administration reduces spinal cord transmission and alleviates mechanical hyperalgesia in the spared nerve injury model of neuropathic pain. Taken together, our data reveal Tat‐P$_4$‐(C5)$_2$ as a novel promising lead for neuropathic pain treatment and expand the therapeutic potential of bivalent inhibitors to non‐tandem protein–protein interaction domains

Inferring latent task structure for Multitask Learning by Multiple Kernel Learning

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The lack of sufficient training data is the limiting factor for many Machine Learning applications in Computational Biology. If data is available for several different but related problem domains, Multitask Learning algorithms can be used to learn a model based on all available information. In Bioinformatics, many problems can be cast into the Multitask Learning scenario by incorporating data from several organisms. However, combining information from several tasks requires careful consideration of the degree of similarity between tasks. Our proposed method simultaneously learns or refines the similarity between tasks along with the Multitask Learning classifier. This is done by formulating the Multitask Learning problem as Multiple Kernel Learning, using the recently published <it>q</it>-Norm MKL algorithm.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We demonstrate the performance of our method on two problems from Computational Biology. First, we show that our method is able to improve performance on a splice site dataset with given hierarchical task structure by refining the task relationships. Second, we consider an MHC-I dataset, for which we assume no knowledge about the degree of task relatedness. Here, we are able to learn the task similarities<it> ab initio</it> along with the Multitask classifiers. In both cases, we outperform baseline methods that we compare against.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We present a novel approach to Multitask Learning that is capable of learning task similarity along with the classifiers. The framework is very general as it allows to incorporate prior knowledge about tasks relationships if available, but is also able to identify task similarities in absence of such prior information. Both variants show promising results in applications from Computational Biology.</p