Too Big to Manage: US Megabanks’ Competition by Innovation and the Microfoundations of Financialization

Disagreements over the systemic implications—the future—of financialization can be traced in part to the absence of sustained attention to the role of banking firms in driving this secular shift forward. That is, the financialization literature lacks an adequate microfoundation. Accounting for the drivers of financialization processes solely at the macro level overlooks the problems of how these processes came about and whether they are sustainable. This paper addresses this explanatory gap, arguing that a key independent microeconomic driver of increasing financialization did exist: the incessant efforts by money-centre banks in the USA to break out of Depression-era restrictions on their size, activities, and markets. These banks’ growth strategies in turbulent times led to an institutional (meso) shift—the rise of a megabank-centred shadow banking system—that now shapes global financial architecture even while operating in ways that are unsustainable. In short, too-big-to-manage megabanks are at the heart of the fragility and instability of the economy today

Ultra-conformal drawn-on-skin electronics for multifunctional motion artifact-free sensing and point-of-care treatment

An accurate extraction of physiological and physical signals from human skin is crucial for health monitoring, disease prevention, and treatment. Recent advances in wearable bioelectronics directly embedded to the epidermal surface are a promising solution for future epidermal sensing. However, the existing wearable bioelectronics are susceptible to motion artifacts as they lack proper adhesion and conformal interfacing with the skin during motion. Here, we present ultra-conformal, customizable, and deformable drawn-on-skin electronics, which is robust to motion due to strong adhesion and ultra-conformality of the electronic inks drawn directly on skin. Electronic inks, including conductors, semiconductors, and dielectrics, are drawn on-demand in a freeform manner to develop devices, such as transistors, strain sensors, temperature sensors, heaters, skin hydration sensors, and electrophysiological sensors. Electrophysiological signal monitoring during motion shows drawn-on-skin electronics' immunity to motion artifacts. Additionally, electrical stimulation based on drawn-on-skin electronics demonstrates accelerated healing of skin wounds. Designing efficient wearable bioelectronics for health monitoring, disease prevention, and treatment, remains a challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate an ultra-conformal, customizable and deformable drawn-on-skin electronics which is robust to motion artifacts and resistant to physical damage

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Interest rate smoothing and macroeconomic instability under post-capital account liberalization Turkey

This paper considers the interest rate policy of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) in the post-financial liberalization and deregulation era. We find that (1) the Bank's interest rate smoothing tendency is the main determinant of its monetary policy in this period, (2) the CBRT does not seem to be responsive to the developments in real economy (output), and (3) although inflation targeting central banks are not supposed to pay attention to exchange rates, the CBRT appears to be slightly responsive to changes in real exchange rate. In answer to the question of whether there is a deeper underlying structural constraint binding the CBRT's "independence," it seems clear that thé global financial system is restricting the ability of the central banks to pursue "independent" policy objectives. © Canadian Journal of Development Studies, 2010. All rights reserved

Ab initio Hartree-Fock calculations on linear and second-order nonlinear optical properties of new acridine-benzothiazolylamine chromophores

PMID = 1817515

Effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae supplementation and anhydrous ammonia treatment of wheat straw on in-situ degradability and, rumen fermentation and growth performance of yearling lambs

The effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae supplementation (6.6×108 cfu) and anhydrous ammonia treatment (3%) of wheat straw (WS) were investigated on in-situ dry matter (DM) degradability, and on rumen fermentation and growth performance of lambs. Rumen-fistulated Menemen sheep fed a diet with and without live yeast were used to assess the DM degradability characteristics of WS and ammonia-treated wheat straw (WSNH3). Twenty-six yearling Menemen male lambs were fed in four groups. Lambs of control group (WS) received untreated WS without supplemental yeast, whereas other three groups were fed WS treated with anhydrous ammonia (WSNH3 group), untreated WS and yeast (WS+YEAST group) or WS treated with anhydrous ammonia and yeast (WSNH3+YEAST group). Supplemented live yeast (4 g/d) was added in the diet. Lambs were offered untreated or ammonia treated WS ad-libitum and concentrate was fed at 1% of live body weight. The degradability of the water-insoluble (fraction B) was significantly increased by all of the treatment groups. Potential degradability (A+B), effective DM degradability's (pe2, pe5, and pe8) and average daily weight gain increased only in WSNH3+YEAST group (p&lt;0.05). Voluntary DM intake was not increased by the treatments (p&gt;0.05), but voluntary metabolizable energy and crude protein intake were increased by WSNH3 and by WSNH3+YEAST (p&lt;0.05). Average daily rumen pH was not affected by any of the treatments, but average daily NH3-N was significantly higher in the WSNH3 and WSNH3+YEAST groups, and total volatile fatty acids were significantly higher in the WS+YEAST and WSNH3+YEAST groups. In conclusion, the improvement of feed value of WS was better by the combination of ammonia-treatment and yeast supplementation compared to either treatment alone. Copyright © 2015 by Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences

Theoretical studies of molecular structure and vibrational spectra of melaminium acetate acetic acid solvate monohydrate

PMID = 2069220

The evaluation of antibiotic susceptibilities of pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates: Decreasing susceptibilities to various antibiotics

Hastanemizde Haziran 2005-Ocak 2010 arasında çeşitli klinik örneklerden izole edilen 570 Pseudomonas aeruginosa izolatının CLSI kriterlerine göre Kirby-Bauer disk difüzyon yöntemi ile belirlenen antibiyotik duyarlılıkları değerlendirilmiş ve sonuçlar, Ocak 2002-Haziran 2005 arasında yine hastanemizde izole edilen suşlara ait sonuçlar ile karşılaştırılmıştır. Son dönemde en yüksek duyarlılık oranları amikasin (% 78) ve tobramisin (% 77) için, en düşük oranlar ise aztreonam (% 57) ve siprofloksasin (% 56) için alınmıştır. 2005-2010 yıllarında izole edilen suşlarda duyarlılık oranlarının, 2002-2005 yıllarındaki suşlara göre imipenem, sefepim, seftazidim, piperasilin-tazobaktam, amikasin ve siprofloksasin için anlamlı derecede (p<0.05-0.001) azaldığı belirlenmiştir. *Gülhane Mikrobiyoloji Günleri: Antimikrobik Kemoterapi: Laboratuvar Uygulamaları ve Yenilikler’de sunulmuştur.The susceptibilities of 570 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates obtained from various clinical samples in our hospital between June 2005 and January 2010 were determined by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method according to the guidelines of the CLSI. The results were compared with those reported from the same hospital for isolates obtained between January 2002 and June 2005. The recent results revealed that susceptibilities of the isolates to amikacin (78 %) and tobramicin (77 %) were highest while susceptibilities to aztreonam (57 %) and ciprofloxacin (56 %) were lowest. The susceptibility rates of isolates obtained between 2005-2010 were significantly lower for imipenem, cefepime, ceftazidime, piperacillin-tazobactam, amikacin ve ciprofloxacin when compared to those reported between 2002-2005 (p<0.05-0.001)