Who Shrunk China? Puzzles in the Measurement of Real GDP

The latest World Bank estimates of real GDP per capita for China are significantly lower than previous ones. We review possible sources of this puzzle and conclude that it reflects a combination of factors, including substitution bias in consumption, reliance on urban prices which we estimate are higher than rural ones, and the use of an expenditure-weighted rather than an output-weighted measure of GDP. Taking all these together, we estimate that real per-capita GDP in China was 50% higher relative to the U.S. in 2005 than the World Bank estimates.

Muscle oxygenation trends after tapering in trained cyclists

BACKGROUND: This study examined muscle deoxygenation trends before and after a 7-day taper using non-invasive near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). METHODS: Eleven cyclists performed an incremental cycle ergometer test to determine maximal oxygen consumption (VO(2)max = 4.68 ± 0.57 L·min(-1)) prior to the study, and then completed two or three high intensity (85–90% VO(2)max) taper protocols after being randomly assigned to a taper group: T30 (n = 5), T50 (n = 5), or T80 (n = 5) [30%, 50%, 80% reduction in training volume, respectively]. Physiological measurements were recorded during a simulated 20 km time trials (20TT) performed on a set of wind-loaded rollers. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The results showed that the physiological variables of oxygen consumption (VO(2)), carbon dioxide (VCO(2)) and heart rate (HR) were not significantly different after tapering, except for a decreased ventilatory equivalent for oxygen (V(E)/VO(2)) in T50 (p ≤ 0.05). However, during the 20TT muscle deoxygenation measured continuously in the vastus medialis was significantly lower (-749 ± 324 vs. -1140 ± 465 mV) in T50 after tapering, which was concomitant with a 4.53% improvement (p = 0.057) in 20TT performance time, and a 0.18 L·min(-1 )(4.5%) increase in VO(2). Furthermore, when changes in performance time and tissue deoxygenation (post- minus pre-taper) were plotted (n = 11), a moderately high correlation was found (r = 0.82). CONCLUSION: It was concluded that changes in simulated 20TT performance appeared to be related, in part, to changes in muscle deoxygenation following tapering, and that NIRS can be used effectively to monitor muscle deoxygenation during a taper period

Dietary transition and obesity in selected Arabic-speaking countries: a review of the current evidence

Escalating obesity rates have become a significant public health problem in the Middle East and North Africa [‎MENA]‎ region and have been associated with shifts towards a westernized diet. This integrative review aimed to examine the current dietary trends and transitions and their association with obesity in Arabic-speaking countries of the MENA region. Relevant databases were searched for studies in MENA countries between 1998 and 2014 that investigated obesity trends and changes in dietary patterns at the regional level in all age groups. A total of 39 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. All the articles noted that obesity was increasingly prevalent and that there was a significant dietary shift away from traditional dietary patterns; 51% reported a shift towards a westernized diet and half found that the western diet was correlated with increased obesity. Culturally relevant dietary health education and health promotion strategies are warranted to address both the dietary shifts towards the westernized diet and the increasing obesit

The spatial distribution of the reactive iodine species IO from simultaneous active and passive DOAS observations

We present investigations of the reactive iodine species (RIS) IO, OIO and I<sub>2</sub> in a coastal region from a field campaign simultaneously employing active long path differential optical absorption spectroscopy (LP-DOAS) as well as passive multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS). The campaign took place at the Martin Ryan Institute (MRI) in Carna, County Galway at the Irish West Coast about 6 km south-east of the atmospheric research station Mace Head in summer 2007. In order to study the horizontal distribution of the trace gases of interest, we established two almost parallel active LP-DOAS light paths, the shorter of 1034 m length just crossing the intertidal area, whereas the longer one of 3946 m length also crossed open water during periods of low tide. In addition we operated two passive Mini-MAX-DOAS instruments with the same viewing direction. While neither OIO nor I<sub>2</sub> could be unambiguously identified with any of the instruments, IO could be detected with active as well as passive DOAS. The IO column densities seen at both active LP-DOAS light paths are almost the same. Thus it can be concluded that coastal IO is almost exclusively located in the intertidal area, where we detected mixing ratios of up to 35±7.7 ppt (equivalent to pmol/mol). Nucleation events with particle concentrations of 10<sup>6</sup> cm<sup>−3</sup> particles were observed each day correlating with high IO mixing ratios. Therefore we feel that our detected IO concentrations confirm the results of model studies, which state that in order to explain such particle bursts, IO mixing ratios of 50 to 100 ppt in so called "hot-spots" are required

Umbilical hernia rupture with evisceration of omentum from massive ascites: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>The incidence of hernias is increased in patients with alcoholic liver disease with ascites. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an acute rise in intra-abdominal pressure from straining for stool as the cause of a ruptured umbilical hernia.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>An 81-year-old Caucasian man with a history of alcoholic liver disease presented to our emergency department with an erythematous umbilical hernia and clear, yellow discharge from the umbilicus. On straining for stool, after initial clinical assessment, our patient noted a gush of fluid and evisceration of omentum from the umbilical hernia. An urgent laparotomy was performed with excision of the umbilicus and devitalized omentum.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We report the case of a patient with a history of alcoholic liver disease with ascites. Ascites causes a chronic increase in intra-abdominal pressure. A sudden increase in intra-abdominal pressure, such as coughing, vomiting, gastroscopy or, as in this case, straining for stool can cause rupture of an umbilical hernia. The presence of discoloration, ulceration or a rapid increase in size of the umbilical hernia signals impending rupture and should prompt the physician to reduce the intra-abdominal pressure.</p

The Tolman VII solution, trapped null orbits and w - modes

The Tolman VII solution is an exact static spherically symmetric perfect fluid solution of Einstein's equations that exhibits a surprisingly good approximation to a neutron star. We show that this solution exhibits trapped null orbits in a causal region even for a tenuity (total radius to mass ratio) $> 3$. In this region the dynamical part of the potential for axial w - modes dominates over the centrifugal part.Comment: 5 pages revtex. 10 figures png. Further information at http://grtensor.phy.queensu.ca/tolmanvii

Strike, occupy, transform! Students, subjectivity and struggle

This article uses student activism to explore the way in which activists are challenging the student as consumer model through a series of experiments that blend pedagogy and protest. Specifically, I suggest that Higher Education is increasingly becoming an arena of the postpolitical, and I argue that one of the ways this student-consumer subjectivity is being (re)produced is through a series of ‘depoliticisation machines’ operating within the university. This article goes on to claim that in order to counter this, some of those resisting the neoliberalisation of higher education have been creating political-pedagogical experiments that act as ‘repoliticisation machines’, and that these experiments countered student-consumer subjectification through the creation of new radical forms of subjectivity. This paper provides an example of this activity through the work of a group called the Really Open University and its experiments at blending, protest, pedagogy and propaganda

The co-operative university: Labour, property and pedagogy

I begin this article by discussing the recent work of academics and activists to identify the advantages and issues relating to co-operative forms of higher education, and then focus on the ‘worker co-operative’ organisational form and its applicability and suitability to the governance of and practices within higher educational institutions. Finally, I align the values and principles of worker co-ops with the critical pedagogic framework of ‘Student as Producer’. Throughout I employ the work of Karl Marx to theorise the role of labour and property in a ‘co-operative university’, drawing particularly on later Marxist writers who argue that Marx’s labour theory of value should be understood as a critique of labour under capitalism, rather than one developed from the standpoint of labour

Bailouts in a common market: a strategic approach

Governments in the EU grant Rescue and Restructure Subsidies to bail out ailing firms. In an international asymmetric Cournot duopoly we study effects of such subsidies on market structure and welfare. We adopt a common market setting, where consumers from the two countries form one market. We show that the subsidy is positive also when it fails to prevent the exit. The reason is a strategic effect, which forces the more efficient firm to make additional cost-reducing effort. When the exit is prevented, allocative and productive efficiencies are lower and the only gaining player is the rescued firm