FDI in Space: Spatial Autoregressive Relationships in Foreign Direct Investment

Theoretical models of foreign direct investment (FDI) have only recently begun to model the role of third countries, and the empirical FDI literature has almost exclusively examined bilateral FDI data without recognizing the potential interdependence between FDI decisions to alternative host countries. This paper uses spatial econometric techniques to examine the spatial correlation between FDI to alternative (neighboring) regions. The sign of such correlations can provide evidence for or against alternative theories for FDI motivations. Using data on OECD countries from 1980-2000, we find evidence consistent with export platform FDI in Europe.

Noninvasive Assessment of Preclinical Atherosclerosis

Initially considered as a semipermeable barrier separating lumen from vessel wall, the endothelium is now recognised as a complex endocrine organ responsible for a variety of physiological processes vital for vascular homeostasis. These include the regulation of vascular tone, luminal diameter, and blood flow; hemostasis and thrombolysis; platelet and leucocyte vessel-wall interactions; the regulation of vascular permeability; and tissue growth and remodelling. The endothelium modulates arterial stiffness, which precedes overt atherosclerosis and is an independent predictor of cardiovascular events. Unsurprisingly, dysfunction of the endothelium may be considered as an early and potentially reversible step in the process of atherogenesis and numerous methods have been developed to assess endothelial status and large artery stiffness. Methodology includes flow-mediated dilatation of the brachial artery, assessment of coronary flow reserve, carotid intimamedia thickness, pulse wave analysis, pulse wave velocity, and plethysmography. This review outlines the various modalities, indications, and limitations of available methods to assess arterial dysfunction and vascular risk

The utility of pulse volume waveforms in the identification of lower limb arterial insufficiency

Background: The ankle brachial index is widely used for non-invasive assessment of lower limb arterial status, but has recognised limitations. The most significant limitation involves arterial calcification, which results in artefactually raised occlusion pressures and uninformative ankle brachial indices. Hypothesis: Analysis of the pulse volume waveform is useful for identification of lower limb arterial insufficiency in the presence of arterial calcification. Method: Individuals (n = 1101) registered at a Welsh general practice were invited to undergo cardiovascular risk assessment. The ankle brachial index was measured using an automated device utilising volume plethysmography and the traditional Doppler ultrasound method. Results: Eight percent of participants (30/368) had an ankle brachial index *1.3, suggesting possible arterial calcification; consideration of the pulse volume waveform in these cases identified possible mild peripheral arterial disease in three cases (10%). Furthermore, in one case, the ankle brachial indices were within the normal range, but the pulse volume waveforms suggested a moderate degree of arterial insufficiency; this participant was subsequently diagnosed with bilateral superficial femoral artery stenoses and treated accordingly. Conclusion: Pulse volume waveforms can be easily utilised as an adjunct to ankle brachial index measurement to identify patients who may benefit from further vascular assessment and interventio

The cell adhesion molecule Fasciclin2 regulates brush border length and organization in Drosophila renal tubules

Multicellular organisms rely on cell adhesion molecules to coordinate cell–cell interactions, and to provide navigational cues during tissue formation. In Drosophila, Fasciclin 2 (Fas2) has been intensively studied due to its role in nervous system development and maintenance; yet, Fas2 is most abundantly expressed in the adult renal (Malpighian) tubule rather than in neuronal tissues. The role Fas2 serves in this epithelium is unknown. Here we show that Fas2 is essential to brush border maintenance in renal tubules of Drosophila. Fas2 is dynamically expressed during tubule morphogenesis, localizing to the brush border whenever the tissue is transport competent. Genetic manipulations of Fas2 expression levels impact on both microvilli length and organization, which in turn dramatically affect stimulated rates of fluid secretion by the tissue. Consequently, we demonstrate a radically different role for this well-known cell adhesion molecule, and propose that Fas2-mediated intermicrovillar homophilic adhesion complexes help stabilize the brush border

From catchment to national scale rainfall-runoff modelling: demonstration of a hydrological modelling framework

The increasing availability of digital databases (e.g. of climatology, topography, soils and land use) has enabled research into the generalisation of hydrological model parameter values from physical properties and the development of grid-based models. A hydrological modelling framework (HMF) is being developed to exploit this generalisation and provide a flexible gridded infrastructure, operational over regional, national or larger scales at a range of spatial and temporal resolutions. The capability of the framework is demonstrated through adaptation of an existing semi-distributed catchment-based rainfall-runoff model, CLASSIC, for which a generalised methodology exists to determine parameter values. The main change required was to ensure consistency of parameter values between the runoff procedure in CLASSIC and flow routing in the HMF. Assessment is by comparison of modelled and observed flow at grid points in Britain corresponding to gauging stations, both for catchments previously modelled and for new locations, for a range of catchment areas and physical properties and for four spatial resolutions (10, 5, 2.5 and 1 km). Good model performance is achieved for 90% of catchments tested, with a 5 km resolution proving adequate for catchments larger than 500 km2. Applications are outlined for which the framework could be used to test alternative modelling approaches or undertake consistent studies across the range of resolutions

A national-scale seasonal hydrological forecast system: development and evaluation over Britain

Skilful winter seasonal predictions for the North Atlantic circulation and northern Europe have now been demonstrated and the potential for seasonal hydrological forecasting in the UK is now being explored. One of the techniques being used combines seasonal rainfall forecasts provided by operational weather forecast systems with hydrological modelling tools to provide estimates of seasonal mean river flows up to a few months ahead. The work presented here shows how spatial information contained in a distributed hydrological model typically requiring high-resolution (daily or better) rainfall data can be used to provide an initial condition for a much simpler forecast model tailored to use low-resolution monthly rainfall forecasts. Rainfall forecasts (“hindcasts”) from the GloSea5 model (1996 to 2009) are used to provide the first assessment of skill in these national-scale flow forecasts. The skill in the combined modelling system is assessed for different seasons and regions of Britain, and compared to what might be achieved using other approaches such as use of an ensemble of historical rainfall in a hydrological model, or a simple flow persistence forecast. The analysis indicates that only limited forecast skill is achievable for Spring and Summer seasonal hydrological forecasts; however, Autumn and Winter flows can be reasonably well forecast using (ensemble mean) rainfall forecasts based on either GloSea5 forecasts or historical rainfall (the preferred type of forecast depends on the region). Flow forecasts using ensemble mean GloSea5 rainfall perform most consistently well across Britain, and provide the most skilful forecasts overall at the 3-month lead time. Much of the skill (64 %) in the 1-month ahead seasonal flow forecasts can be attributed to the hydrological initial condition (particularly in regions with a significant groundwater contribution to flows), whereas for the 3-month ahead lead time, GloSea5 forecasts account for  ∼ 70 % of the forecast skill (mostly in areas of high rainfall to the north and west) and only 30 % of the skill arises from hydrological memory (typically groundwater-dominated areas). Given the high spatial heterogeneity in typical patterns of UK rainfall and evaporation, future development of skilful spatially distributed seasonal forecasts could lead to substantial improvements in seasonal flow forecast capability, potentially benefitting practitioners interested in predicting hydrological extremes, not only in the UK but also across Europe

Adequacy of clinical information in X-ray referrals for traumatic ankle injury with reference to the Ottawa Ankle Rules-a retrospective clinical audit

Study Objective To assess the adequacy of clinical information with reference to the Ottawa Ankle Rules (OAR) in X-ray referrals for adults with traumatic ankle injury in the ED of a South Australian tertiary hospital and report upon referring trends between emergency department clinicians. Methods A retrospective clinical audit of adult ankle X-ray referrals in the emergency department was conducted. Eligible referrals were screened for their adherence to the OAR, patient details, clinical history and referrer. A logistic regression was used to determine the influence of these factors on the likelihood of being referred for X-rays despite not meeting the OAR criteria. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios and their associated confidence intervals were calculated to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the OAR for those referred. Results Out of the 262 eligible referrals, 163 were deemed to have met the criteria for the OAR. Physiotherapists showed the highest OAR compliance of 77.3% and were the most accurate in their use of the rules, with a sensitivity of 0.86. Medical officers, registrars and interns were 2.5 times more likely to still refer a patient for X-ray if they did not meet the OAR criteria, compared to physiotherapists as the baseline. Patient age, duration of injury etc. were not significantly associated with likelihood of referral (even when they did not meet OAR criteria). The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios of the OAR were 0.59 (95% CI [0.47–0.71]), 0.37 (95% CI [0.30–0.44]), 0.93 (95% CI [0.76–1.16]) and 1.10 (95% CI [0.82–1.48]) respectively. Conclusion The results of this audit demonstrated poor sensitivity and moderate compliance by referrers with the rule. Reasonable evidence exists for the implementation of individual and/or institutional-based change strategies to improve clinician compliance and accuracy with use of the OAR

Coccolithophore biodiversity controls carbonate export in the Southern Ocean

Southern Ocean waters are projected to undergo profound changes in their physical and chemical properties in the coming decades. Coccolithophore blooms in the Southern Ocean are thought to account for a major fraction of the global marine calcium carbonate (CaCO3) production and export to the deep sea. Therefore, changes in the composition and abundance of Southern Ocean coccolithophore populations are likely to alter the marine carbon cycle, with feedbacks to the rate of global climate change. However, the contribution of coccolithophores to CaCO3 export in the Southern Ocean is uncertain, particularly in the circumpolar subantarctic zone that represents about half of the areal extent of the Southern Ocean and where coccolithophores are most abundant. Here, we present measurements of annual CaCO3 flux and quantitatively partition them amongst coccolithophore species and heterotrophic calcifiers at two sites representative of a large portion of the subantarctic zone. We find that coccolithophores account for a major fraction of the annual CaCO3 export, with the highest contributions in waters with low algal biomass accumulations. Notably, our analysis reveals that although Emiliania huxleyi is an important vector for CaCO3 export to the deep sea, less abundant but larger species account for most of the annual coccolithophore CaCO3 flux. This observation contrasts with the generally accepted notion that high particulate inorganic carbon accumulations during the austral summer in the subantarctic Southern Ocean are mainly caused by E. huxleyi blooms. It appears likely that the climate-induced migration of oceanic fronts will initially result in the poleward expansion of large coccolithophore species increasing CaCO3 production. However, subantarctic coccolithophore populations will eventually diminish as acidification overwhelms those changes. Overall, our analysis emphasizes the need for species-centred studies to improve our ability to project future changes in phytoplankton communities and their influence on marine biogeochemical cycles.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Diffusion bonding of TiC or TiB reinforced Ti–6Al–4V matrix composites to conventional Ti–6Al–4V alloy

The diffusion bonding of conventional alloy Ti–6Al–4V (Ti-64) and composites of this alloy with 10% of TiC or TiB fabricated using blended elemental powder metallurgy was successfully carried out at 850–1000°C, with a holding time of 60 min under 0.7–1.5 MPa pressure. The metallographic and electron backscattered diffraction studies as well as the bending and microhardness tests across the bonds are presented as the evidence of joint integrity. The selected experimental parameters do not cause undesirable structural changes (degradation) in the base metals adjacent to the bond interface. Particle reinforcement at ∼10% did not appear to modify bonding parameters when compared to the unreinforced Ti-64 alloy