Chalk cliff retreat in East Sussex and Kent 1870s to 2001

The retreat of chalk cliffs fringing the eastern English Channel contributes shingle to the beaches which helps to protect the cliffs and slow down erosion. Conversely, cliff retreat endangers settlements and infrastructure on the clifftop. Rates of retreat have been calculated by a variety of methods over the past century, but no attempt has been made to provide a complete coverage that allows for a true comparison of retreat rates over the entire coastline. Using historic maps and recent orthophotos, cliff retreat rates have been calculated for consecutive 50 m sections of chalk cliff along the English side of the entire eastern English Channel for a period of 125 years. The chalk cliffs of East Sussex erode at an average rate of 0.25 - 0.3 m y−1 while those in Kent at a rate of 0.1 m y−1

Draft Genome Sequence of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae ALF3 Isolated from Alfalfa.

Published onlineWe report here the annotated draft genome sequence of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae strain ALF3, isolated in Wyoming. A comparison of this genome sequence with those of closely related strains of P. syringae adapted to other hosts will facilitate research into interactions between this pathogen and alfalfa.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) provided funding to James Harrison. Funding was also provided by USDA-ARS CRIS project 5062-12210- 002-00D

And the first shall be the last

This study analyzes the puzzle of Hungarian economic drifting in a long run perspective. The underlying puzzle for the investigation is why bad policies are invariably popular and good policies unpopular, thus why political and economic rationality never overlap. The first part of the article summarizes in eight points the basic features of the postwar period. Then six lessons are offered, which might be useful for other countries in transition or for students of comparative economics and politics, lessons that can be generalized on the basis of the individual country experience

Rotavirus vaccination for all children or subgroups only? Comment of the European Academy of Paediatrics (EAP) and the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) recommendation group for rotavirus vaccination

Rotavirus gastroenteritis affects all children. Studies indicate that by the age of 5 years, almost all children have developed rotavirus antibodies. It has been estimated that in Europe, approximately 6550 children each year die as a result of rotavirus infection. Most of this mortality does not affect children from identifiable risk groups, but previously healthy infants. There is no accountable evidence on increased severity of rotavirus infection in specific risk groups, including children previously born preterm or immunocompromised children. Universal immunization in areas that have successfully achieved large coverage has greatly improved the health of children, reducing infection rates, hospitalization, and costs. Vaccination of infants with presumed high risk may be beneficial for the vaccinated individuals, and such a strategy may also be cost-effective in certain settings. Identifying all high-risk infants within the first few weeks of life is rather difficult especially in countries without primary care pediatricians and goes along with additional costs. Conclusion: Rotavirus vaccines should be recommended as a universal approach for all children and not be restricted to subgroups with assumed increased risk. Targeted vaccination could be considered as an option in countries with limited financial resources

Comparative beach surveys using an unmanned aerial system, ground-based GPS, terrestrial laser scanning, and airborne laser scanning

Profiles and sediment size distribution on mixed sand and gravel beaches are highly variable, both spatially and temporally, and cost-effective high-resolution monitoring schemes are needed to capture this variability. The potential for the use of UAS for coastal monitoring remains relatively untested in comparison to established remote sensing techniques. This paper reports on a field experiment in Pevensey Bay, East Sussex, England, in which simultaneous measurements were carried out using UAV-based photogrammetry, RTK-GPS, and both terrestrial and airborne laser scanning. The central objective of this research was to compare the accuracy of the TLS, ALS, and UAV-based surface modelling to draw conclusions for operational beach monitoring. The analysis was carried out through point cloud inter-comparison, comparison of point cloud performance against RTK-GPS transect data, and evaluation of differences between elevation models that were generated based on the point clouds. The point cloud comparison focused on the vertical differences between respective data sets, and showed that the UAV-based point cloud had positive offsets of 9cm (RMS 10cm) and 6cm (RMS 8cm) compared to the TLS and ALS point clouds, respectively. Analysis was also carried out to evaluate the extent to which surface sediment characteristics affected measurement accuracy of the different methods. Data comparison on beach gravel, beach sand, cobble, foreshore dry sand, foreshore wet sand and soft mud showed the best agreement between UAV, TLS and ALS data on gravel beach sections. For nearly all surface types UAV and ALS data showed better agreement than UAV to TLS data

International capital mobility in an era of globalisation: adding a political dimension to the 'Feldstein–Horioka Puzzle'

The debate about the scope of feasible policy-making in an era of globalisation continues to be set within the context of an assumption that national capital markets are now perfectly integrated at the international level. However, the empirical evidence on international capital mobility contradicts such an assumption. As a consequence, a significant puzzle remains. Why is it, in a world in which the observed pattern of capital flows is indicative of a far from globalised reality, that public policy continues to be constructed in line with more extreme variants of the globalisation hypothesis? I attempt to solve this puzzle by arguing that ideas about global capital market integration have an independent causal impact on political outcomes which extends beyond that which can be attributed to the extent of their actual integration

Identificação de áreas quadriláteras através da detecçãao de bordas e o reconhecimento de linhas

To automate the beginning of a cutting process of a textile machine,digital image processing techniques were adopted. The solution is divided intotwo steps, first, the region of the cutting area is detected, then, we use theircoordinates on the image for perspective correction, then inside the cutting area,the detection up to 4 markers is fulfilled, where each passes through a typedefinition process, these types are the following: A; B; C and D. The marker’slocation is sent to the machine giving initiation of the cutting process

Economic liberalization and the antecedents of top management teams: evidence from Turkish 'big' business

There has been an increased interest in the last two decades in top management teams (TMTs) of business firms. Much of the research, however, has been US-based and concerned primarily with TMT effects on organizational outcomes. The present study aims to expand this literature by examining the antecedents of top team composition in the context of macro-level economic change in a late-industrializing country. The post-1980 trade and market reforms in Turkey provided the empirical setting. Drawing upon the literatures on TMT and chief executive characteristics together with punctuated equilibrium models of change and institutional theory, the article develops the argument that which firm-level factors affect which attributes of TMT formations varies across the early and late stages of economic liberalization. Results of the empirical investigation of 71 of the largest industrial firms in Turkey broadly supported the hypotheses derived from this premise. In the early stages of economic liberalization the average age and average organizational tenure of TMTs were related to the export orientation of firms, whereas in later stages, firm performance became a major predictor of these team attributes. Educational background characteristics of teams appeared to be under stronger institutional pressures, altering in different ways in the face of macro-level change

Monetary policy, exchange rates and stock prices in the Middle East region

A structural vector autoregressive model is employed to investigate the impact of monetary policy and real exchange rate shocks on the stock market performance of Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. In order to identify the structural shocks both short run and long run restrictions are applied. Unlike previous literature the contemporaneous interdependence between the financial variables are left unrestricted to give a more accurate depiction of the relationships. The heterogeneity of the results reflect the different monetary policy frameworks and stock market characteristics of these countries. Mainly, monetary policy and the real exchange rate shocks have a significant short run impact on the stock prices of the countries that apply a relatively more independent monetary policy and flexible exchange rates