Transferability of Migration Licenses and the Distribution of Potential Rents

This paper compares the effects of migration restrictions using licenses which are freely traded in a competitive labor market to those that occur when licenses are allocated to firms who are not permitted to trade them. There is reason to expect that a policy of making licenses non-transferable will not only affect production efficiency, but also to allow producers to capture more of the potential migration rents. Applications to migration policies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are discussed.

Transferability of Migration Licenses and the Distribution of Potential Rents

This paper compares the effects of migration restrictions using licenses which are freely traded in a competitive labor market to those that occur when licenses are allocated to firms who are not permitted to trade them. There is reason to expect that a policy of making licenses non-transferable will not only affect production efficiency, but also to allow producers to capture more of the potential migration rents. Applications to migration policies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are discussed.

A Novel Routing Protocol For Wireless Sensor Networks With Improved Energy Efficient LEACH

Wireless Sensor Networks (Wsns) Have Been Widely Considered As One Of The Most Important Technologies For The Twenty-First Century. A Typical Wireless Sensor Network(WSN) Used For Environmental Condition Monitoring, Security Surveillance Of Battle-Fields, Wildlife Habitat Monitoring, Etc. Cluster-Based Hierarchical Routing Protocols Play An Essential Role In Decreasing The Energy Consumption Of Wireless Sensor Networks (Wsns). A Low-Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH) Has Been Proposed As An Application-Specific Protocol Architecture For Wsns. However, Without Considering The Distribution Of The Cluster Heads (Chs) In The Rotation Basis, The LEACH Protocol Will Increase The Energy Consumption Of The Network. To Improve The Energy Efficiency Of The WSN, We Propose A Novel Modified Routing Protocol In This Paper. The Newly Proposed Improved Energy-Efficient LEACH (IEE-LEACH) Protocol Considers The Residual Node Energy And The Average Energy Of The Networks. To Achieve Satisfactory Performance In Terms Of Reducing The Sensor Energy Consumption, The Proposed IEE-LEACH Accounts For The Numbers Of The Optimal Chs And Prohibits The Nodes That Are Closer To The Base Station (BS) To Join In The Cluster Formation. Furthermore, The Proposed IEE-LEACH Uses A New Threshold For Electing Chs Among The Sensor Nodes, And Employs Single Hop, Multi-Hop, And Hybrid Communications To Further Improve The Energy Efficiency Of The Networks. The Simulation Results Demonstrate That, Compared With Some Existing Routing Protocols, The Proposed Protocol Substantially Reduces The Energy Consumption Of Wsns

A case report of secondary cutaneous cryptococcosis in a retrovirus positive patient

Cryptococcosis is a systemic mycosis caused by the capsulated yeast Cryptococcus neoformans. Cryptococcus remains an important opportunistic pathogen in HIV positive patients. It is usually acquired through inhalation of spores and by invasion of the respiratory system, and then, the organisms may spread hematogenously to other viscera mainly central nervous system. Although there are some reports of primary cutaneous cryptococcosis, cryptococcal skin disease is a rare feature of disseminated cryptococcosis and has poor outcome if undiagnosed and untreated. We present a case of secondary cutaneous cryptococcosis in a 50-year-old male, who was diagnosed as a case of retroviral disease 3 years back but not on anti-retroviral therapy

Prune belly syndrome: a South African perspective

Background: Prune belly syndrome (PBS) is a rare congenital disorder with a triad of signs: absent abdominal wall musculature, urinary tract malformations, and cryptorchidism. The aims of this study were to describe the epidemiology, renal function, management and outcome of patients with PBS at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa.Methods: A retrospective record review was conducted of patients with PBS referred to the paediatric nephrology unit from 1984 to 2014.Results: A total of 44 patient records were analysed. Most of the patients presented as neonates (n = 35, 80%). The accompanying congenital malformations included urological problems (21, 48%), orthopaedic abnormalities (5, 11%), congenital heart disease (3, 7%) and gastrointestinal abnormalities (2, 4%). The medical management included the use of prophylactic antibiotics and intermittent bladder catheterisation. Surgical management included abdominoplasty with orchidopexy and circumcision. At the last clinic visit, severe reductions in renal function were noted in 11 (58%) of the patients under the age of 2 years, whereas normal renal function was present in 14 (56%) of the patients over 2 years of age. The default rate was 57%; 6 (14%) patients were transferred to an adult clinic and 2 (4%) patients died.Conclusions: The patient profiles and the management recorded are comparable with other reported series. There are differences in the frequencies of congenital malformations and the rates of surgical intervention. The renal outcome for children older than two years was favourable compared to younger children. Progression to end-stage renal disease was observed infrequently, but this may be underestimated in view of the high default rate

Precursor Lesions of High-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma: Morphological and Molecular Characteristics

The lack of proven screening tools for early detection and the high mortality of ovarian serous carcinoma (OSC), particularly high grade, have focused attention on identifying putative precursor lesions with distinct morphological and molecular characteristics. The finding of occult invasive and intraepithelial fallopian tube carcinomas in prophylactically removed specimens from asymptomatic high-risk BRCA 1/2-mutation carriers supports the notion of an origin for OSC in the fallopian tube. The intraepithelial carcinomas have been referred to as serous intraepithelial carcinomas (STICs) but our own findings (unpublished data) and recent reports have drawn attention to a spectrum of changes that fall short of STICs that we have designated serous tubal intraepithelial lesions (STILs)

Factors to Consider in Improving Prescription Drug Pharmacy Leaflets

Today, when consumers receive prescription drug pharmacy leaflets (also known as ‘consumer medication information’ or CMI), they often appear in small font size, with cluttered layouts, and distracting information. This problem has attracted the attention of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in advocating for more comprehendible, accurate, and easy-to-access CMI formats. Our study of four different CMI prototypes shows that an expanded Over-the-Counter (OTC) Drug Facts prototype is the best for improving comprehension accuracy, and is especially effective for those with lower health literacy and health motivation. A simpler OTC prototype did not aid accuracy scores due in part to its lack of complexity; whereas the most complex prototype (the revised medication guide – similar to most CMI today) reduced leaflet likability and usage intentions. Finally, continued leaflet availability improved accuracy scores for lower health literacy and health motivation respondents. Implications for marketing and public health policy are offered

Impact of Land Surface Initialization Approach on Subseasonal Forecast Skill: a Regional Analysis in the Southern Hemisphere

The authors use a sophisticated coupled land-atmosphere modeling system for a Southern Hemisphere subdomain centered over southeastern Australia to evaluate differences in simulation skill from two different land surface initialization approaches. The first approach uses equilibrated land surface states obtained from offline simulations of the land surface model, and the second uses land surface states obtained from reanalyses. The authors find that land surface initialization using prior offline simulations contribute to relative gains in subseasonal forecast skill. In particular, relative gains in forecast skill for temperature of 10%-20% within the first 30 days of the forecast can be attributed to the land surface initialization method using offline states. For precipitation there is no distinct preference for the land surface initialization method, with limited gains in forecast skill irrespective of the lead time. The authors evaluated the asymmetry between maximum and minimum temperatures and found that maximum temperatures had the largest gains in relative forecast skill, exceeding 20% in some regions. These results were statistically significant at the 98% confidence level at up to 60 days into the forecast period. For minimum temperature, using reanalyses to initialize the land surface contributed to relative gains in forecast skill, reaching 40% in parts of the domain that were statistically significant at the 98% confidence level. The contrasting impact of the land surface initialization method between maximum and minimum temperature was associated with different soil moisture coupling mechanisms. Therefore, land surface initialization from prior offline simulations does improve predictability for temperature, particularly maximum temperature, but with less obvious improvements for precipitation and minimum temperature over southeastern Australia

Hypertension as the trigger for posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome in paediatric renal patients: An important diagnosis that should not be missed

Background. Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a reversible neurological condition presenting with seizures and visual disturbances and diagnosed on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Little is understood about its pathogenesis, particularly in children, but it is thought to be related to hypertension.Objectives. To review the presentation, diagnosis and outcome of PRES in paediatric renal patients at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa, between 1 January 2000 and 31 January 2017 and compare these with published case reports to date.Methods. This was a retrospective analysis of five new cases and a review of the existing literature.Results. The five reported patients were all hypertensive at the time of diagnosis and presented with seizures. Most (91%) of the 64 reviewed patients were also hypertensive at initial presentation. All five of the reported and 91% of the reviewed patients presented with seizures. The most common pattern of change on MRI occurred in the parietal and occipital regions. Complete neurological recovery occurred in four of the five reported and 87.5% of the reviewed patients.Conclusion. All patients presented clinically with hypertensive crises and radiological evidence of PRES. Seizures were the most common presenting symptom. The prognosis for paediatric patients with PRES is favourable, so it is important to confirm the diagnosis in low-resource settings where intensive care is limited.