Self-Spreading Biotechnology and International Law

Who is liable if self-spreading biotechnology causes transboundary harm? With engineered gene drives and similar techniques, the genes of wild-living species, pathogens, and crop plants can soon be modified directly in the environment. This might help address pressing public health, environmental, and food security problems. However, these techniques may also spread across national borders. Looking at both states and private actors, this book studies the rules of international law on the prevention of, and liability for, adverse transboundary effects caused by self-spreading biotechnology. Through an in-depth analysis of the relevant treaties and custom, it shows that international law is not yet equipped to cope with the challenges ahead.PublishedWho is liable if self-spreading biotechnology causes transboundary harm? With engineered gene drives and similar techniques, the genes of wild-living species, pathogens, and crop plants can soon be modified directly in the environment. This might help address pressing public health, environmental, and food security problems. However, these techniques may also spread across national borders. Looking at both states and private actors, this book studies the rules of international law on the prevention of, and liability for, adverse transboundary effects caused by self-spreading biotechnology. Through an in-depth analysis of the relevant treaties and custom, it shows that international law is not yet equipped to cope with the challenges ahead

Galactic and Extragalactic Magnetic Fields

The strength of the total magnetic field in our Milky Way from radio Zeeman and synchrotron measurements is about 6 muG near the Sun and several mG in dense clouds, pulsar wind nebulae, and filaments near the Galactic Center. Diffuse polarized radio emission and Faraday rotation of the polarized emission from pulsars and background sources show many small-scale magnetic features, but the overall field structure in our Galaxy is still under debate. -- Radio synchrotron observations of nearby galaxies reveal dynamically important magnetic fields of 10-30 muG total strength in the spiral arms. Fields with random orientations are concentrated in spiral arms, while ordered fields (observed in radio polarization) are strongest in interarm regions and follow the orientation of the adjacent gas spiral arms. Faraday rotation of the diffuse polarized radio emission from the disks of spiral galaxies sometimes reveals large-scale patterns which are signatures of coherent fields generated by dynamos, but in most galaxies the field structure is more complicated. -- Strong magnetic fields are also observed in radio halos around edge-on galaxies, out to large distances from the plane. The synchrotron scaleheight of radio halos allows to measure the mean outflow velocity of the cosmic-ray electrons. The ordered halo fields mostly form an X-shaped pattern, but no large-scale pattern is seen in the Faraday rotation data. Diffuse polarized radio emission in the outer disks and halos is an excellent tracer of galaxy interactions and ram pressure by the intergalactic medium. -- Intracluster gas can also be significantly magnetized and highly polarized due to shocks or cluster mergers.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures. To be published in "High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy", eds. F.A. Aharonian, W. Hofmann, and F.M. Rieger, AIP Conf. Proc. Updated and added references 28/11/2008; typo corrected and references updated 07/01/2009; typos corrected 12/01/200

Enumerating Colorings, Tensions and Flows in Cell Complexes

We study quasipolynomials enumerating proper colorings, nowhere-zero tensions, and nowhere-zero flows in an arbitrary CW-complex $X$, generalizing the chromatic, tension and flow polynomials of a graph. Our colorings, tensions and flows may be either modular (with values in $\mathbb{Z}/k\mathbb{Z}$ for some $k$) or integral (with values in $\{-k+1,\dots,k-1\}$). We obtain deletion-contraction recurrences and closed formulas for the chromatic, tension and flow quasipolynomials, assuming certain unimodularity conditions. We use geometric methods, specifically Ehrhart theory and inside-out polytopes, to obtain reciprocity theorems for all of the aforementioned quasipolynomials, giving combinatorial interpretations of their values at negative integers as well as formulas for the numbers of acyclic and totally cyclic orientations of $X$.Comment: 28 pages, 3 figures. Final version, to appear in J. Combin. Theory Series

Who gets the credit ? and does it matter ? household vs. firm lending across countries

While the theoretical and empirical finance literature has focused almost exclusively on enterprise credit, about half of credit extended by banks to the private sector in a sample of 45 developing and developed countries is to households. The share of household credit in total credit increases as countries grow richer and financial systems develop. Cross-country regressions, however, suggest a positive and significant impact on gross domestic product per capita growth only of enterprise but not household credit. These two findings together partly explain why previous studies have found a small or insignificant effect of finance on growth in high-income countries. In addition, countries with a lower share of manufacturing, a higher degree of urbanization, and more market-oriented financial systems have a higher share of household credit. It is thus mostly socio-economic trends that determine credit composition, while policies influencing banking market structure and regulatory policies are not robustly related to credit composition.Access to Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,,Debt Markets

Intracranial pressure pulse amplitude during changes in head elevation: a new parameter for determining optimum cerebral perfusion pressure?

Objective: During short-term postural changes, the factors determining the amplitude of intracranial pulse pressure (ICPPA) remain constant, except for cerebrovascular resistance (CVR). Therefore, it may be possible to draw conclusions from the ICPPA onto the cerebrovascular resistance (CVR) and thus the relative change in cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP). Methods: Age, sex, disease, Glasgow Coma Scale score, placement of ventricular drain, blood gas analysis, and parameters of airway management were prospectively recorded in 40 patients. The changes in intracranial pressure (ICP), CPP, mean arterial pressure (MAP), and ICPPA at head elevations of 0°, 30°, and 60° were measured and analyzed online. Status of cerebrovascular autoregulation was checked using the pressure-reactivity index (PRx). Results: Altogether 36 subjects fulfilled the study conditions. Three patients had positive PRx indicating disturbed autoregulation and were excluded. Thus, 33 were left for analysis (18 females and 15 males). All of them were sedated and mechanically ventilated with Glasgow Coma scores ranging from 3-8. During change in head elevation from 0° to 60°, we found a significant (p < 0.05) improvement of the ICP, an increase of the ICCPA, a reduction of the MAP, and a decrease in the CPP. Increasing ICPPA was linked to decreasing CPP (0° to 60°, r = −0.42, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Head elevation is an important part of the ICP and CPP therapy in neurointensive care. When searching for the patient-specific optimum upper body position, ICPPA may provide additional information. Providing that the cerebral autoregulation is intact, the lowest ICPPA of a patient corresponds to the individual upper body position with the highest CP

Membrane deformation and separation

Biological membranes are highly dynamic (e.g., during cell division, organelle biosynthesis, vesicular transport, and neurotransmitter release). They can be shaped into protein-coated transport vesicles or tubules and undergo regulated fusion. The life of transport vesicles depends on highly specific and tightly regulated protein machineries, which not only shape the donor membrane into nascent budding structures but also help to overcome the energy barrier to break the bilayers apart in order to pinch off nascent vesicles. Ultimately, vesicular membranes have to fuse with a target lipid bilayer, a process that again requires remodeling. Here, we highlight recent insights into mechanisms that lead to membrane deformation in the process of vesicular budding

Assessing voice health using smartphones: Bias and random error of acoustic voice parameters captured by different smartphone types

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Jannetts, S., Schaeffler, F., Beck, J. M. & Cowen, S. (2019) Assessing voice health using smartphones: Bias and random error of acoustic voice parameters captured by different smartphone types. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 54 (2), pp. 292-305, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.12457. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.BACKGROUND: Occupational voice problems constitute a serious public health issue with substantial financial and human consequences for society. Modern mobile technologies like smartphones have the potential to enhance approaches to prevention and management of voice problems. This paper addresses an important aspect of smartphone-assisted voice care: the reliability of smartphone-based acoustic analysis for voice health state monitoring. AIM: To assess the reliability of acoustic parameter extraction for a range of commonly used smartphones by comparison with studio recording equipment. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Twenty-two vocally healthy speakers (12 female; 10 male) were recorded producing sustained vowels and connected speech under studio conditions using a high-quality studio microphone and an array of smartphones. For both types of utterances, Bland-Altman-Analysis was used to assess overall reliability for Mean F0; CPPS; Jitter (RAP) and Shimmer %. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Analysis of the systematic and random error indicated significant bias for CPPS across both sustained vowels and passage reading. Analysis of the random error of the devices indicated that that mean F0 and CPPS showed acceptable random error size, while jitter and shimmer random error was judged as problematic. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Confidence in the feasibility of smartphone-based voice assessment is increased by the experimental finding of high levels of reliability for some clinically relevant acoustic parameters, while the use of other parameters is discouraged. We also challenge the practice of using statistical tests (e.g. t-tests) for measurement reliability assessment.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1460698454pubpub

Voice Quality Variation In Scottish Adolescents: Gender Versus Geography

Given the importance of voice quality in signalling personal identity and social group membership, effective control of voice features may become especially important during adolescence, yet this has to be achieved in the context of significant physical changes within the speech production system. Most previous research has focussed on phonation, but this study used Vocal Profile Analysis (VPA) [11] for perceptual analysis of both laryngeal and vocal tract voice settings in Scottish adolescents, in order to identify voice quality markers of gender and geographical background in this age group. VPA analysis was carried out for 76 speakers (31 male; 45 female), drawn from three geographically distinct areas of Scotland. Some of the observed variation in voice quality (especially phonatory settings) may be attributable to physical changes associated with puberty, but other setting adjustments seem more likely to be sociophonetic in origin.Background. Protein-energy wasting is a frequent anddebilitating condition in maintenance dialysis. We randomlytested if an energy-dense, phosphate-restricted,renal-specific oral supplement couldmaintain adequate nutritional intake and prevent malnutrition in maintenancehaemodialysis patients with insufficient intake.Methods. Eighty-six patients were assigned to a standardcare (CTRL) group or were prescribed two 125-ml packsof Renilon 7.5 R daily for 3 months (SUPP). Dietary intake, serum (S) albumin, prealbumin, protein nitrogen appearance(nPNA), C-reactive protein, subjective global assessment(SGA) and quality of life (QOL) were recorded atbaseline and after 3 months.Results. While intention to treat analysis (ITT) did not reveal strong statistically significant changes in dietary intake between groups, per protocol (PP) analysis showed that theSUPP group increased protein (P < 0.01) and energy (P <0.01) intakes. In contrast, protein and energy intakes further deteriorated in the CTRL group (PP). Although there was no difference in serum albumin and prealbumin changesbetween groups, in the total population serum albumin andprealbumin changes were positively associated with the increment in protein intake (r = 0.29, P = 0.01 and r = 0.27, P = 0.02, respectively). The SUPP group did not increase phosphate intake, phosphataemia remained unaffected, and the use of phosphate binders remained stable or decreased. The SUPP group exhibited improved SGA and QOL (P < 0.05).Conclusion. This study shows that providing maintenancehaemodialysis patientswith insufficient intake with a renal-specific oral supplement may prevent deterioration in nutritional indices and QOL without increasing the need forphosphate binders.caslpub3964pub73

Monitoring voice condition using smartphones

Firenze, ItalySmartphone mediated voice monitoring has the potential to support voice care by facilitating data collection, analysis and biofeedback. To field-test this approach we have developed a smartphone app that allows recording of voice samples alongside voice self-report data. Our longterm aim is convenient and accessible voice monitoring to prevent voice problems and disorders. Our current study focussed on the automatic detection of voice changes in healthy voices that result from common transient illnesses like colds. We have recorded a database of approximately 700 voice samples from 62 speakers and selected a subset of 225 voice samples from 8 speakers who had submitted at least 10 recordings and reported at least one instance of a moderate cold. We extracted 12 acoustic parameters and applied multivariate statistical process control procedures (Hotelling's T2) to detect whether instances of cold caused violations of distributional control limits. Results showed significant association between control limit violations and reporting of a cold. While there is scope for further improvement of sensitivity and specificity of the procedure, it could already support early detection of voice problems, especially if mediated by voice experts.http://www.fupress.comcaslpub4892pu