Investment in Africa's manufacturing sector: A four country panel data analysis

Firm-level data for the manufacturing sector in Africa, presented in this paper, shows very low levels of investment. A positive effect from profits onto investment is identified in a flexible accelerator specification of the investment function controlling for firm fixed effects. There is evidence that this effect is confined to smaller firms. A comparison with other studies shows that, for such firms, the profit effect is much smaller in Africa than in other countries. Reasons for the relative insensitivity of investment to profits in African firms are suggested.firm investment, liquidity constraints, African manufacturing

Rates of return on physical and human capital in Africa's manufacturing sector

In this paper two sets of issues are addressed using panel data from the manufacturing sector of five African countries. First, how high are the returns to human relative to physical capital. Second, what is the relative importance of technology and endowments of human and physical capital in determining differences in earnings and productivity across the countries. Evidence from earnings functions shows that the private returns to both experience and education rise with the level of education. Private returns rise from 3 per cent at the primary level, to 10 per cent at the secondary level and 35 per cent for tertiary. Evidence from the production function gives lower returns on education than from the earnings function. Rates of return on physical capital exceed 20 per cent and greatly exceed the average return on human capital. Data is available on the stocks of human and physical capital across the countries. Productivity and earnings differentials are shown to be large between Cameroon and Ghana. These differences are due almost entirely to differences in physical, not human, capital endowments.investment, human capital, African manufacturing

Design margins in industrial practice

As products are being developed over time and across organisations, the risk for unintended accumulation and mis-conception of margins allocated may occur. Accumulation of margins can result in over design, but also add risk due to under allocation. This paper describes the different terminology used in one organisation and shows the different roles margins play across the design process and in particular the how margins are a critical but often overlooked aspect of product platform design. The research was conducted in close collaboration with a truck manufacturer between 2013 and 2018. The objective was to gain understanding of the current use of margins, and associated concepts evolve along the product life cycle, across organisation and product platform representations. It was found that margins already play an important role throughout the entire design process; however, it is not recognised as a unified concept which is clearly communicated and tracked throughout the design process. Rather different stakeholders have different notions of margins and do not disclose the rationale behind adding margins or the amount that they have added. Margins also enabled designers to avoid design changes as existing components and systems can accommodate new requirements and thereby saving significant design time

Fecal luminal factors from patients with irritable bowel syndrome induce distinct gene expression of colonoids

Background: Alteration of the host-microbiota cross talk at the intestinal barrier may participate in the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Therefore, we aimed to determine effects of fecal luminal factors from IBS patients on the colonic epithelium using colonoids. Methods: Colon-derived organoid monolayers, colonoids, generated from a healthy subject, underwent stimulation with fecal supernatants from healthy subjects and IBS patients with predominant diarrhea, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Cytokines in cell cultures and fecal LPS were measured by ELISA and mRNA gene expression of monolayers was analyzed using Qiagen RT2 Profiler PCR Arrays. The fecal microbiota profile was determined by the GA-map™ dysbiosis test and the fecal metabolite profile was analyzed by untargeted liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Key results: Colonoid monolayers stimulated with fecal supernatants from healthy subjects (n\ua0=\ua07), PBS (n\ua0=\ua04) or LPS (n\ua0=\ua03) presented distinct gene expression profiles, with some overlap (R2Y\ua0=\ua00.70, Q2=\ua00.43). Addition of fecal supernatants from healthy subjects and IBS patients (n\ua0=\ua09) gave rise to different gene expression profiles of the colonoid monolayers (R2Y\ua0=\ua00.79, Q2=\ua00.64). Genes (n\ua0=\ua022) related to immune response (CD1D, TLR5) and barrier integrity (CLDN15, DSC2) contributed to the separation. Levels of proinflammatory cytokines in colonoid monolayer cultures were comparable when stimulated with fecal supernatants from either donor types. Fecal microbiota and metabolite profiles, but not LPS content, differed between the study groups. Conclusions: Fecal luminal factors from IBS patients induce a distinct colonic epithelial gene expression, potentially reflecting the disease pathophysiology. The culture of colonoids from healthy subjects with fecal supernatants from IBS patients may facilitate the exploration of IBS related intestinal micro-environmental and barrier interactions

Quantitative comparison of immunohistochemical staining measured by digital image analysis versus pathologist visual scoring

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Immunohistochemical (IHC) assays performed on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue sections traditionally have been semi-quantified by pathologist visual scoring of staining. IHC is useful for validating biomarkers discovered through genomics methods as large clinical repositories of FFPE specimens support the construction of tissue microarrays (TMAs) for high throughput studies. Due to the ubiquitous availability of IHC techniques in clinical laboratories, validated IHC biomarkers may be translated readily into clinical use. However, the method of pathologist semi-quantification is costly, inherently subjective, and produces ordinal rather than continuous variable data. Computer-aided analysis of digitized whole slide images may overcome these limitations. Using TMAs representing 215 ovarian serous carcinoma specimens stained for S100A1, we assessed the degree to which data obtained using computer-aided methods correlated with data obtained by pathologist visual scoring. To evaluate computer-aided image classification, IHC staining within pathologist annotated and software-classified areas of carcinoma were compared for each case. Two metrics for IHC staining were used: the percentage of carcinoma with S100A1 staining (%Pos), and the product of the staining intensity (optical density [OD] of staining) multiplied by the percentage of carcinoma with S100A1 staining (OD*%Pos). A comparison of the IHC staining data obtained from manual annotations and software-derived annotations showed strong agreement, indicating that software efficiently classifies carcinomatous areas within IHC slide images. Comparisons of IHC intensity data derived using pixel analysis software versus pathologist visual scoring demonstrated high Spearman correlations of 0.88 for %Pos (p < 0.0001) and 0.90 for OD*%Pos (p < 0.0001). This study demonstrated that computer-aided methods to classify image areas of interest (e.g., carcinomatous areas of tissue specimens) and quantify IHC staining intensity within those areas can produce highly similar data to visual evaluation by a pathologist.</p> <p>Virtual slides</p> <p>The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: <url>http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1649068103671302</url></p

Discrepancy between simulated and observed ethane and propane levels explained by underestimated fossil emissions

Ethane and propane are the most abundant non-methane hydrocarbons in the atmosphere. However, their emissions, atmospheric distribution, and trends in their atmospheric concentrations are insufficiently understood. Atmospheric model simulations using standard community emission inventories do not reproduce available measurements in the Northern Hemisphere. Here, we show that observations of pre-industrial and present-day ethane and propane can be reproduced in simulations with a detailed atmospheric chemistry transport model, provided that natural geologic emissions are taken into account and anthropogenic fossil fuel emissions are assumed to be two to three times higher than is indicated in current inventories. Accounting for these enhanced ethane and propane emissions results in simulated surface ozone concentrations that are 5–13% higher than previously assumed in some polluted regions in Asia. The improved correspondence with observed ethane and propane in model simulations with greater emissions suggests that the level of fossil (geologic + fossil fuel) methane emissions in current inventories may need re-evaluation

ECLAIRE: Effects of Climate Change on Air Pollution Impacts and Response Strategies for European Ecosystems. Project final report

The central goal of ECLAIRE is to assess how climate change will alter the extent to which air pollutants threaten terrestrial ecosystems. Particular attention has been given to nitrogen compounds, especially nitrogen oxides (NOx) and ammonia (NH3), as well as Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (BVOCs) in relation to tropospheric ozone (O3) formation, including their interactions with aerosol components. ECLAIRE has combined a broad program of field and laboratory experimentation and modelling of pollution fluxes and ecosystem impacts, advancing both mechanistic understanding and providing support to European policy makers. The central finding of ECLAIRE is that future climate change is expected to worsen the threat of air pollutants on Europe’s ecosystems. Firstly, climate warming is expected to increase the emissions of many trace gases, such as agricultural NH3, the soil component of NOx emissions and key BVOCs. Experimental data and numerical models show how these effects will tend to increase atmospheric N deposition in future. By contrast, the net effect on tropospheric O3 is less clear. This is because parallel increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations will offset the temperature-driven increase for some BVOCs, such as isoprene. By contrast, there is currently insufficient evidence to be confident that CO2 will offset anticipated climate increases in monoterpene emissions. Secondly, climate warming is found to be likely to increase the vulnerability of ecosystems towards air pollutant exposure or atmospheric deposition. Such effects may occur as a consequence of combined perturbation, as well as through specific interactions, such as between drought, O3, N and aerosol exposure. These combined effects of climate change are expected to offset part of the benefit of current emissions control policies. Unless decisive mitigation actions are taken, it is anticipated that ongoing climate warming will increase agricultural and other biogenic emissions, posing a challenge for national emissions ceilings and air quality objectives related to nitrogen and ozone pollution. The O3 effects will be further worsened if progress is not made to curb increases in methane (CH4) emissions in the northern hemisphere. Other key findings of ECLAIRE are that: 1) N deposition and O3 have adverse synergistic effects. Exposure to ambient O3 concentrations was shown to reduce the Nitrogen Use Efficiency of plants, both decreasing agricultural production and posing an increased risk of other forms of nitrogen pollution, such as nitrate leaching (NO3-) and the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O); 2) within-canopy dynamics for volatile aerosol can increase dry deposition and shorten atmospheric lifetimes; 3) ambient aerosol levels reduce the ability of plants to conserve water under drought conditions; 4) low-resolution mapping studies tend to underestimate the extent of local critical loads exceedance; 5) new dose-response functions can be used to improve the assessment of costs, including estimation of the value of damage due to air pollution effects on ecosystems, 6) scenarios can be constructed that combine technical mitigation measures with dietary change options (reducing livestock products in food down to recommended levels for health criteria), with the balance between the two strategies being a matter for future societal discussion. ECLAIRE has supported the revision process for the National Emissions Ceilings Directive and will continue to deliver scientific underpinning into the future for the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution