Macroeconomic Policies to Increase Social Mobility and Growth in Bolivia

Poverty in Bolivia continues to be among the highest in Latin America despite decades of concerted national and international efforts to reduce it. Bolivia has meticulously followed the recommendations of the Washington consensus at the same time as external aid has been generous and foreign direct investment has boomed. Nevertheless, average productivity and incomes remain at the same low level as they were 50 years ago. This paper suggests that the failure of previous development policies is due to a lack of social mobility in the country. Without social mobility, there is little incentive for people to invest in human and physical capital, and without investment there cannot be productivity growth. In addition, the lack of social mobility implies an inefficient use of human capital, and it hinders the construction of efficient social mechanisms for redistribution and consumption smoothing over the life-cycle.Social Mobility, Development, Public Policy, Bolivia

Mite and fungal associates on mountain pine beetles attacking three pines species in northern Colorado

2015 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.During its life cycle, mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) interacts with phoretic organisms such as mites, nematodes, fungi, and bacteria. The types of associations these organisms establish with the mountain pine beetle vary from mutualistic to antagonistic. The most studied of these interactions are those between beetle and fungi. The least studied are interactions with bacteria, but these have received increased attention recently. Nematodes remain little studied. During 2011 to 2013, I studied phoretic mites arriving to limber (P. flexilis), lodgepole (P. contorta), and ponderosa (P. ponderosa) pines. Species of blue-stain fungi can be hyperphoretic by being carried on mites transported by beetles. Therefore, I studied phoretic fungi transported by mountain pine beetle and the mites arriving to limber, lodgepole, and ponderosa pines. On average, 57% of mountain pine beetles carried phoretic mites, a percentage that increased from 32 to 65% over three years in which mountain pine beetle population declined in our plots. Overall, I found that four of five mite species were common (>10%) on beetles arriving to the three pine hosts, but only T.ips and T. hirsuta were present during all years. The uncommon fifth species, Histiogaster arborsignis, was more frequently found on mountain pine beetle predators in the family Cleridae. Mountain pine beetle phoretic mites were not found on co-arriving insect predators including three species of clerids, Medetera aldrichii, or on parasitic hymenoptera Coeloides sympitys. Co-arriving Dendroctonus beetle species to ponderosa (D. valens) and lodgepole (D. murrayanae) pines also carried a different mite fauna than mountain pine beetles. I report a new species of omnivorous mite, Trichouropoda cf. hirsuta for the Colorado Front Range. The percent of beetles carrying mites increased significantly from 2011 (32%) to 2012 (62%) but did not increased singnificantly from 2012 to 2013 (65%). The average number of mites per beetle did not increased significantly between 2011 (1.23) to 2012 (1.32), but it was significantly greater between 2012 and 2013 (5.19). Within the three years mite assemblages of three species common to mountain pine beetle arriving to lodgepole and ponderosa pines changed significantly on ponderosa pines but did not change significantly on mountain pine beetle arriving to lodgepole pine. Mite assemblages arriving to all hosts within years were the same on male and female mountain pine beetles. During 2012 and 2013 I examined mountain pine beetle associated blue-stain fungi and fungi hyperphoretic on its phoretic mites. Mountain pine beetle carried Grosmannia clavigera and Ophiostoma montium, the two blue-stain species reported from western USA, but also Leptographium longiclavatum reported previously only from mountain pine beetle in Canada. Beetles transported the three blue-stain species to all three pine hosts during the three years. While four common mountain pine beetle phoretic mite species carried some blue-stain fungal species, along with other fungi such as Alternaria, Ceratocystiopsis, Entomocorticium, and Penicillium, among others; only the two most common species, Tarsonemus ips and Trichouropoda hirsuta transported all three blue-stain species present on mountain pine beetle. Overall, the contribution mites made to the total blue-stain transport was approximately 2.0 % of the total transported by the beetle-mite complex in the symbiosis. A general and significant reduction in occurrence of blue-stain transported by both, beetles (77 to 34 %) and mites (77 to 4 %) was found between 2012 and 2013. These two years were, respectively, a warm dry and average temperature and humid years. Mites carrying O. montium significantly increased the probability of finding that fungus on beetles. Although, the overall transport of O. montium by T. ips and T. hirsuta during the two years was small, the type of spores these carry were sexual (ascospores) which could benefit the fungus by increasing the proportion of recombinant sexual types on that species

Is 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone Effective for Preventing Preterm Labor in High Risk Women?

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not “Is 17- alpha hydroxyprogesterone effective for preventing preterm labor in high risk women?”. STUDY DESIGN: Review of one randomized, double blind, controlled trial, one randomized, double blind, placebo controlled trial and one randomized controlled trial published in English between 2015 and 2018. DATA SOURCES: All three studies were gathered from peer- reviewed journals and found using PubMed. OUTCOMES MEASURED: Preterm delivery defined as birth less than 37 weeks gestation for Facchinetti et al., Shadab et al. and Winer et al.6,7,8 RESULTS: The RCT performed by Facchinetti et al. showed no statistically significant reduction in rates of preterm labor in the patients treated with 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone in comparison with the control group (p = 0.949). The preterm birth rate in the progesterone group was 23% vs. 22% in the control group.6 Similarly, Winer et al. found that progesterone supplementation was not effective in reducing rates of preterm labor with p\u3e0.99. The preterm birth rate in the progesterone group was 45% vs 44% in the control group.8 Conversely, Shadab et al. found significant reduction of preterm birth rates treating with 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone compared to a control group (p\u3c0.05). The preterm birth rate in the progesterone group was 28.79% vs 59.09% in the control group.7 CONCLUSIONS: The three RCTs utilized for this review did not hold consistent data in determining whether 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone supplementation is effective in reducing rates of preterm birth. Facchinetti et al. and Winer et al. demonstrated no statistically significant reduction in preterm birth rates whereas Shadab et al. found a statistically significant reduction in rates.6,7,8 The research utilized for this review held inconclusive results and revealed limitations within each study. Further research is needed to better evaluate the effects of 17 alpha hydroxyprogesterone supplementation in reducing preterm birth rates

Development of a Coding Instrument to Assess the Quality and Content of Anti-Tobacco Video Games

Previous research has shown the use of electronic video games as an effective method for increasing content knowledge about the risks of drugs and alcohol use for adolescents. Although best practice suggests that theory, health communication strategies, and game appeal are important characteristics for developing games, no instruments are currently available to examine the quality and content of tobacco prevention and cessation electronic games. This study presents the systematic development of a coding instrument to measure the quality, use of theory, and health communication strategies of tobacco cessation and prevention electronic games. Using previous research and expert review, a content analysis coding instrument measuring 67 characteristics was developed with three overarching categories: type and quality of games, theory and approach, and type and format of messages. Two trained coders applied the instrument to 88 games on four platforms (personal computer, Nintendo DS, iPhone, and Android phone) to field test the instrument. Cohen's kappa for each item ranged from 0.66 to 1.00, with an average kappa value of 0.97. Future research can adapt this coding instrument to games addressing other health issues. In addition, the instrument questions can serve as a useful guide for evidence-based game development.Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco ProductsNational Cancer Institute (NCI) Office of Communication and EducationCommunication Studie

Towards signal-power integrity analysis by efficient power delivery network lumped models obtained from parameter extraction

The combined signal integrity (SI) and power integrity (PI) design process is getting more relevant and complex as a result of the continuous computing system performance growth. This complexity drives longer design cycle times using traditional tools and methods. In this paper, a low computational cost optimization method based on a parameter extraction (PE) technique is proposed to develop accurate and fast power delivery network (PDN) lumped models. Once this model is available, it is used in the simulation process during the SI and PI analysis, making the whole design process much more efficient. Our proposed methodology is applied to a classical dual data rate (DDR) memory sub-system problem, saving 99.8% of the analysis time with only 1.2% of the computational resources typically used in current industrial practices.ITESO, A.C

DYNAMIC RELATIONSHIPS: E-COMMERCE SALES AND KEY EXOGENOUS VARIABLES IN THE PHILIPPINES

This study delves into the complex and evolving landscape of e-commerce in the Philippines, focusing on the relationship between E-Commerce Sales as the endogenous variable and a set of influential exogenous variables, including Digital Marketing Spending, GDP Growth, Internet Penetration, and Mobile Phone Ownership. This research employs a flexible spline modeling approach, uncovers non-linear associations, and offers significant implications for academic understanding and practical applications. The findings underscore the growing impact of Digital Marketing Spending on E-Commerce Sales, revealing the paramount role of online advertising and promotional strategies in the digital marketplace. Moreover, the study explains the intricate interplay between GDP Growth, Internet Penetration, Mobile Phone Ownership, and E-Commerce Sales, highlighting the non-linear nature of these relationships. As the Philippines continues its economic expansion and technological integration, these associations exhibit insightful implications for policymakers, businesses, and e-commerce stakeholders.  Article visualizations

Familiarity with speech affects cortical processing of auditory distance cues and increases acuity

Several acoustic cues contribute to auditory distance estimation. Nonacoustic cues, including familiarity, may also play a role. We tested participants' ability to distinguish the distances of acoustically similar sounds that differed in familiarity. Participants were better able to judge the distances of familiar sounds. Electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings collected while participants performed this auditory distance judgment task revealed that several cortical regions responded in different ways depending on sound familiarity. Surprisingly, these differences were observed in auditory cortical regions as well as other cortical regions distributed throughout both hemispheres. These data suggest that learning about subtle, distance-dependent variations in complex speech sounds involves processing in a broad cortical network that contributes both to speech recognition and to how spatial information is extracted from speech. © 2012 Wisniewski et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Particle Morphology

This chapter discusses the morphology of latex particles obtained mainly by (mini)emulsion polymerisation. It describes some applications of these particles, and discusses the factors that influence the particle morphology. Mathematical models that describe and predict the particle morphology as a function of polymerisation variables are presented along with some experimental examples. Structured polymer particles can be synthesized by chemical and physical methods. Among the physical methods, heterocoagulation and solvent evaporation have been used to produce capricious particle morphologies. Synthetic latexes are mainly used in applications (e.g., paints, adhesives, paper and coatings) that require the formation of a film. Film formation is described as consisting of three main processes: (i) evaporation of water to achieve the close-packing of particles, (ii) deformation of particles to fill all the void space, and (iii) interdiffusion of the polymer across particle interfaces to fuse particle boundaries