Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

A 61-year-old gentleman who lives with his wife and 20-year-old son, presented to the polyclinic with a four week history of pruritus. On examination he was found to be jaundiced and his LFTs were high. Consequently he was referred to Mater Dei Hospital where, following ERCP and MRCP, he was found to have a tumour of the head of the pancreas, causing a stricture of the common bile duct, with consequent obstructive jaundice. The patient was planned for Whipple’s operation (pancreatico-duodenectomy), which was extended to total pancreatectomy, splenectomy and cholecystectomy. The operation was successful and the patient is recovering.peer-reviewe

Sectoral Inflation Dynamics, Idiosyncratic Shocks and Monetary Policy

This paper disentangles fluctuations in disaggregate prices into macroeconomic and idiosyncratic components using a factor-augmented vector autoregression (FAVAR) in order to shed light on sectoral inflation dynamics in Switzerland. We find that disaggregated prices react only slowly to monetary policy and other macroeconomic shocks, but relatively quickly to idiosyncratic shocks. We document that there is a large heterogeneity across sectors in the reaction to monetary policy shocks and show that sectors with larger volatility of idiosyncratic shocks react more readily to monetary policy. This finding stands in contrast to the rational inattention model of price setting. We also find that sectors, which change prices infrequently, react less strongly but if they do change their prices, they adjust them by a large amount. This suggests that the source of sluggish response to aggregate shocks is heterogeneity in menu costs rather than rational inattention. Furthermore, even though prices respond with a significant delay to identified monetary policy shocks, we find no evidence of a price puzzle on average. For single sectors, however, we still find a hump-shaped response which can partially be explained by the fact that, by law, rents are tied to interest rates in Switzerland.monetary policy transmission, idiosyncratic shocks, rational inattention, heterogeneity in price setting, cost channel, price puzzle

Automated Influence and the Challenge of Cognitive Security

Advances in AI are powering increasingly precise and widespread computational propaganda, posing serious threats to national security. The military and intelligence communities are starting to discuss ways to engage in this space, but the path forward is still unclear. These developments raise pressing ethical questions, about which existing ethics frameworks are silent. Understanding these challenges through the lens of “cognitive security,” we argue, offers a promising approach

Longer-Baseline Telescopes Using Quantum Repeaters

We present an approach to building interferometric telescopes using ideas of quantum information. Current optical interferometers have limited baseline lengths, and thus limited resolution, because of noise and loss of signal due to the transmission of photons between the telescopes. The technology of quantum repeaters has the potential to eliminate this limit, allowing in principle interferometers with arbitrarily long baselines.Comment: 10 pages, v2 improved clarit

Regenerating the academic workforce: the careers, intentions and motivations of higher degree research students in Australia

Abstract The main findings of this report are based on the outcomes from the National Research Student Survey (NRSS) conducted in June 2010 across 38 of the 39 universities in Australia. In total 11,710 Higher Degree by Research students (those enrolled in PhD and masters by research degrees, also referred to simply as ‘research students’ in this report) responded to the NRSS, providing a 25.5 per cent response rate across the country. These response numbers represent the largest collection of survey responses from research students ever undertaken in Australia. The report primarily explores the career intentions and motivations of these students. It provides particular emphasis on the interests of Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students (referred to in this report as ‘research students’) in following an academic career on completion of their degree and the support they have received in terms of preparation for university teaching during their candidature. In the context of growing student enrolments and the large numbers of predicted retirements associated with an ageing academic workforce there is a need to examine the career intentions of research students. This report explores the extent to which the current cohort of research students may be a source of replenishment for the academic profession in the context of an ageing academic workforce. It is important to remember that the traditional notion of an academic being someone who has made a linear transition from school to university, to a HDR and on to academia is outdated. Research students come to the HDR from a diverse variety of professional backgrounds and have equally diverse aspirations for their careers after gaining their qualification. Some research students m y already be working in universities in an academic capacity. Many intend to use their research degree as a springboard to a career outside of the university sector. Others undertake a research degree out of interest in the subject matter and simply for the pleasure of studying at an advanced level. Nevertheless, those research students who aspire to an academic career do represent an important source of future academics. The findings of this report raise a number of crucial issues relating to the research degree in Australian universities, the career aspirations of research students and potential issues for the future of the academic workforce over the coming decade. Recommended Citation Edwards, Daniel; Bexley, Emmaline; and Richardson, Sarah, "Regenerating the academic workforce: the careers, intentions and motivations of higher degree research students in Australia: findings of the National Research Student Survey (NRSS)" (2011). http://research.acer.edu.au/higher_education/2

A meta-analysis of studies of treatments for feline urine spraying

Feline urine spraying inside the home is a common problem behaviour that owners seek advice for from veterinarians. Individual trials relating to a variety of interventions produce variable results, and to date, no consensus on the value of different treatments has emerged. This study therefore aimed to meta-analyse, current data from appropriate published clinical trials that evaluate treatments for feline urine spraying. Inclusion and exclusion criteria for study selection were predefined and methodological quality was assessed by two independent reviewers. Ten studies in nine publications that either evaluated pharmacotherapy or pheromonatherapy (the use of a synthetic analogue of the F3 facial fraction in the cat) were suitable for analysis. There was a significant (P 0.001) association between the use of any intervention and the number of cats that ceased or reduced urine spraying by at least 90%. Analysis by intervention type indicated that fluoxetine, clomipramine and pheromonatherapy may each assist in managing urine spraying beyond a placebo based intervention. This is the first time meta-analytical techniques have been used and reported to evaluate the efficacy of interventions used in veterinary behavioural medicine, and it has established confidence in the value of both conventional treatments (pharmacotherapy) and a more recently developed treatment modality (pheromonatherapy) as an adjunct to the management of this problem. It is suggested that future research into treatment efficacy for this problem uses the benchmark standard of randomised, controlled trials lasting for at least 8 weeks, with the outcome criteria of cessation of feline urine spraying or reduction by at least 90%