Shear induced drainage in foamy yield-stress fluids

Shear induced drainage of a foamy yield stress fluid is investigated using MRI techniques. Whereas the yield stress of the interstitial fluid stabilizes the system at rest, a fast drainage is observed when a horizontal shear is imposed. It is shown that the sheared interstitial material behaves as a viscous fluid in the direction of gravity, the effective viscosity of which is controlled by shear in transient foam films between bubbles. Results provided for several bubble sizes are not captured by the R^2 scaling classically observed for liquid flow in particulate systems, such as foams and thus constitute a remarkable demonstration of the strong coupling of drainage flow and shear induced interstitial flow. Furthermore, foam films are found to be responsible for the unexpected arrest of drainage, thus trapping irreversibly a significant amount of interstitial liquid.Comment: Published in Physical Review Letters. http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v104/i12/e12830

Does the regulation of manure land application work against agglomeration economies? Theory and evidence from the French hog sector

The well-known increase in the geographical concentration of hog production suggests the presence of agglomeration economies related to spatial spillovers and inter-dependencies among industries. In this paper, we examine whether the restrictions on land application of manure may weaken productivity gains arising from the agglomeration process. We develop a model of production showing the ambiguous spatial effect of land availability and the restriction on the manure application rate. Indeed, while the regulation of manure application triggers dispersion when manure is applied to land as a crop nutrient, it also prompts farmer to adopt manure treatment that favors agglomeration of hog production. Estimations of a reduced form of the spatial model with a spatial HAC procedure applied to data for French hog production for 1988 and 2000 confirm the ambiguous effect of land limitations induced by the restrictions on manure application. It does not prevent spatial concentration of hog production, and even boosts the role played by spatial spillovers in the agglomeration process.hog production, land availability, manure application regulation, agglomeration economies, spatial econometrics

THE IMPACT OF TAX-BENEFIT SYSTEMS ON LOWINCOME HOUSEHOLDS IN THE BENELUX COUNTRIES. A SIMULATION APPROACH USING SYNTHETIC DATASETS.

Computing the tax-benefit position of similar "typical" households across countries is a method widely used in comparative fiscal- and social policy research. These calculations provide convenient summary pictures of certain aspects of tax-benefit systems. They can, however, be seriously misleading because they reduce very complex systems to single point estimates. Using an integrated European tax-benefit model (EUROMOD), we substitute the typical household by a synthetic dataset, which can be used across countries. By varying certain important household characteristics (notably income), this dataset captures a much larger range of household situations. The calculations performed on this range of households not only show the tax-benefit position of many individual households but also demonstrate which household characteristics determine taxes and benefits in each country. Hypothetical calculations such as those presented here do not exploit the ability of EUROMOD to determine the impact of social and fiscal policies on actual populations. Nevertheless, they can be a valuable contribution to understanding tax-benefit systems since they allow us to separate the effects of tax-benefit rules from those of the population structure. We compute and compare disposable incomes for a large range of pre-tax-and-benefit income (so called budget constraints) of households in the Benelux countries. Disposable incomes are then decomposed to separately show the effects of each simulated tax and transfer payment. Based on these results, we illustrate the performance of the three tax-benefit systems in terms of ensuring a minimum level of household income.Microsimulation; European Union; Benelux; Average Production Worker; Poverty

Misidentification subtype of alzheimer's disease psychosis predicts a faster cognitive decline

The presence of psychosis is associated with more rapid decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the impact of paranoid (persecutory delusions) and misidentification (misperceptions and/or hallucinations) subtypes of psychosis on the speed of decline in AD is still unclear. Here we analysed data on Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI)2 participants with late mild cognitive impairment or AD and we described individual trajectories of Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-cog) scores using a semi-mechanistic, logistic model, with a mixed effects based approach, which accounted for drop-out, and adjusted for baseline Mini Mental State Examination scores. The covariate model included psychosis subtypes, age, gender, education, medications and Apo-e ε4 genotype. We found that ADAS-cog rate of increase was doubled in misidentification (βr,misid_subtype =0.63, p=0.031) and mixed (both subtypes) ((βr,mixed_subtype =0.70, p=0.003) compared to non-psychotic (or paranoid) subjects suggesting that the misidentification subtype may represent a distinct AD sub-phenotype associated with an accelerated pathological process. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

The Charity Market and Humanitarianism in Britain, 1870-1912

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by Manchester University. This book examines the business of charity - including fundraising, marketing, branding, financial accountability and the nexus of benevolence, politics and capitalism - in Britain from the development of the British Red Cross in 1870 to 1912. Whilst most studies focus on the distribution of charity, Sarah Roddy, Julie-Marie Strange and Bertrand Taithe look at the roots of the modern third sector, exploring how charities appropriated features more readily associated with commercial enterprises in order to compete and obtain money, manage and account for that money and monetize compassion. Drawing on a wide range of archival research from Charity Organization Societies, Wood Street Mission, Salvation Army, League of Help and Jewish Soup Kitchen, among many others, The Charity Market and Humanitarianism in Britain, 1870-1912 sheds new light on the history of philanthropy in the Victorian and Edwardian periods

Manipulation expérimentale de l'intolérance à l'incertitude et inquiétudes : vérification de la présence d'un facteur de risque causal

Selon un récent modèle du trouble d’anxiété généralisée (TAG), l’intolérance à l’incertitude s’avère être la principale variable responsable des inquiétudes excessives (Dugas, Gagnon, Ladouceur et Freeston, 1998). Le but de la présente étude consiste à vérifier l’impact de l’intolérance à l’incertitude en tant que facteur de risque causal sur les inquiétudes. Pour ce faire, 57 personnes participent à une manipulation de l’intolérance à l’incertitude, soit 30 dans le groupe expérimental (augmentation de l’intolérance à l’incertitude) et 27 dans le groupe contrôle (intolérance à l’incertitude stable). Une tâche de billes sert à évaluer le niveau d’intolérance à l’incertitude. Les participants répondent ensuite à un questionnaire évaluant leur niveau d ’inquiétudes face à la tâche. Suite à l’expérimentation, les résultats ne démontrent aucune différence entre les deux groupes quant aux inquiétudes. Le niveau d’intolérance à l’incertitude ne semble cependant pas avoir été suffisamment augmenté dans le groupe expérimental, remettant en question la réussite de cette manipulation. Ces résultats ne permettent pas de confirmer que l’intolérance à l’incertitude constitue un facteur de risque causal face aux inquiétudes

Combined Analysis of Phase I and Phase II Data to Enhance the Power of Pharmacogenetic Tests

International audienceWe show through a simulation study how the joint analysis of data from phase I and phase II studies enhances the power of pharmacogenetic tests in pharmacokinetic (PK) studies. PK profiles were simulated under different designs along with 176 genetic markers. The null scenarios assumed no genetic effect, while under the alternative scenarios, drug clearance was associated to 6 genetic markers randomly sampled in each simulated dataset. We compared penalised regression Lasso and stepwise procedures to detect the associations between empirical Bayes estimates of clearance, estimated by nonlinear mixed effects models, and genetic variants. Combining data from phase I and phase II studies, even sparse, increases the power to identify the associations between genetics and PK due to the larger sample size. Design optimisation brings a further improvement, and we highlight a direct relationship between η-shrinkage and loss of genetic signal

Contribution of ambient vibration recordings (Free-field and buildings) for post-seismic analysis: the case of the Mw 7.3 MARTINIQUE (French lesser ANTILLES) earthquake, november 29, 2007

Following the Mw 7.3 Martinique earthquake, November 29th, 2007, a post-seismic survey was conducted by the Bureau Central Sismologique Français (BCSF) for macroseismic intensities assessment. In addition to the inventories, ambient vibration recordings were performed close to the particularly damaged zones in the free-field and the buildings. The objective of the paper is to show the relevancy of performing ambient vibration recordings for post-earthquake surveys. The analyses of the recordings aim at explaining the variability of the damages through site effects, structure vulnerability or resonance phenomena and to help the characterization of the post-seismic building integrity. In three sites prone to site effects, we suspect damage to be related to a concordance between soil fundamental frequency and building resonance frequency. Besides, the recordings of ambient vibrations at La Trinité hospital before and after the earthquake allow us to quantify the damage due to earthquake in terms of stiffness loss

The Charity Market and Humanitarianism in Britain, 1870-1912

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by Manchester University. This book examines the business of charity - including fundraising, marketing, branding, financial accountability and the nexus of benevolence, politics and capitalism - in Britain from the development of the British Red Cross in 1870 to 1912. Whilst most studies focus on the distribution of charity, Sarah Roddy, Julie-Marie Strange and Bertrand Taithe look at the roots of the modern third sector, exploring how charities appropriated features more readily associated with commercial enterprises in order to compete and obtain money, manage and account for that money and monetize compassion. Drawing on a wide range of archival research from Charity Organization Societies, Wood Street Mission, Salvation Army, League of Help and Jewish Soup Kitchen, among many others, The Charity Market and Humanitarianism in Britain, 1870-1912 sheds new light on the history of philanthropy in the Victorian and Edwardian periods