Creating a more efficient financial system : challenges for Bangladesh

While Bangladesh has embarked on a path to reform its financial system, most prominently by privatizing its government-owned banks, the Nationalized Commercial Banks (NCBs), a sustainable long-term expansion of the financial system requires a more substantial change in the role of government. Using recent research and international comparisons, this paper argues that the government should move from its role as an operator and arbiter in the financial system to a facilitator role. This implies not only divestment from government-owned banks, but also de-politicization of the licensing process and a market-based bank failure resolution framework that focuses on intermediation and not on the rescue of individual institutions. Most important, the government should move away from the implicit guarantee for depositors and owners to applying the existing limited explicit deposit insurance for depositors, while simultaneously relying more on market participants to monitor and discipline banks instead of micro-managing financial institutions. This redefinition of government's role should not be limited to the banking system, but applies to other segments of the financial system, such as capital markets and the micro-finance sector, and should be seen as an essential element in the governance reform agenda and in the movement from a relationship-based economy to a market and arms-length economy.Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Financial Intermediation,Investment and Investment Climate,Corporate Law

Quantifying Patient Reported and Documented Compliance with Adjuncts to Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis

Objectives: 1. Measure patient compliance with pharmacologic, mechanical and ambulatory prophylactic measures. 2. Evaluate for agreement between nursing documentation and patient reported compliance with mechanical and ambulatory prophylactic measures.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/patientsafetyposters/1042/thumbnail.jp

How good are we at determining risk? Quantifying the accuracy of clinician determined risk for VTE prophylaxis

Objectives: Create and validate a simple tool for concurrent audits of risk stratification, compliance and documentation Evaluate accuracy of clinician risk stratification and prophylatic ordering practice compared with a standardized Caprini RAM across different assigned risk categories Provide recommendations for EPIC VTE Prophylaxis CDS Developmenthttps://jdc.jefferson.edu/patientsafetyposters/1050/thumbnail.jp

Sickeningly sweet : L-rhamnose stimulates Flavobacterium columnare biofilm formation and virulence

Flavobacterium columnare, the causative agent of columnaris disease, causes substantial mortality worldwide in numerous freshwater finfish species. Due to its global significance and impact on the aquaculture industry continual efforts to better understand basic mechanisms that contribute to disease are urgently needed. The current work sought to evaluate the effect of L-rhamnose on the growth characteristics of F. columnare. While we initially did not observe any key changes during the total growth of F. columnare isolates tested when treated with L-rhamnose, it soon became apparent that the difference lies in the ability of this carbohydrate to facilitate the formation of biofilms. The addition of different concentrations of L-rhamnose consistently promoted the development of biofilms among different F. columnare isolates; however, it does not appear to be sufficient as a sole carbon source for biofilm growth. Our data also suggest that iron acquisition machinery is required for biofilm development. Finally, the addition of different concentrations of L-rhamnose to F. columnare prior to a laboratory challenge increased mortality rates in channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) as compared to controls. These results provide further evidence that biofilm formation is an integral virulence factor in the initiation of disease in fish

Phylogeny and divergence of the pinnipeds (Carnivora: Mammalia) assessed using a multigene dataset

Abstract Background Phylogenetic comparative methods are often improved by complete phylogenies with meaningful branch lengths (e.g., divergence dates). This study presents a dated molecular supertree for all 34 world pinniped species derived from a weighted matrix representation with parsimony (MRP) supertree analysis of 50 gene trees, each determined under a maximum likelihood (ML) framework. Divergence times were determined by mapping the same sequence data (plus two additional genes) on to the supertree topology and calibrating the ML branch lengths against a range of fossil calibrations. We assessed the sensitivity of our supertree topology in two ways: 1) a second supertree with all mtDNA genes combined into a single source tree, and 2) likelihood-based supermatrix analyses. Divergence dates were also calculated using a Bayesian relaxed molecular clock with rate autocorrelation to test the sensitivity of our supertree results further. Results The resulting phylogenies all agreed broadly with recent molecular studies, in particular supporting the monophyly of Phocidae, Otariidae, and the two phocid subfamilies, as well as an Odobenidae + Otariidae sister relationship; areas of disagreement were limited to four more poorly supported regions. Neither the supertree nor supermatrix analyses supported the monophyly of the two traditional otariid subfamilies, supporting suggestions for the need for taxonomic revision in this group. Phocid relationships were similar to other recent studies and deeper branches were generally well-resolved. Halichoerus grypus was nested within a paraphyletic Pusa, although relationships within Phocina tend to be poorly supported. Divergence date estimates for the supertree were in good agreement with other studies and the available fossil record; however, the Bayesian relaxed molecular clock divergence date estimates were significantly older. Conclusion Our results join other recent studies and highlight the need for a re-evaluation of pinniped taxonomy, especially as regards the subfamilial classification of otariids and the generic nomenclature of Phocina. Even with the recent publication of new sequence data, the available genetic sequence information for several species, particularly those in Arctocephalus, remains very limited, especially for nuclear markers. However, resolution of parts of the tree will probably remain difficult, even with additional data, due to apparent rapid radiations. Our study addresses the lack of a recent pinniped phylogeny that includes all species and robust divergence dates for all nodes, and will therefore prove indispensable to comparative and macroevolutionary studies of this group of carnivores.</p

A higher-level MRP supertree of placental mammals

BACKGROUND: The higher-level phylogeny of placental mammals has long been a phylogenetic Gordian knot, with disagreement about both the precise contents of, and relationships between, the extant orders. A recent MRP supertree that favoured 'outdated' hypotheses (notably, monophyly of both Artiodactyla and Lipotyphla) has been heavily criticised for including low-quality and redundant data. We apply a stringent data selection protocol designed to minimise these problems to a much-expanded data set of morphological, molecular and combined source trees, to produce a supertree that includes every family of extant placental mammals. RESULTS: The supertree is well-resolved and supports both polyphyly of Lipotyphla and paraphyly of Artiodactyla with respect to Cetacea. The existence of four 'superorders' – Afrotheria, Xenarthra, Laurasiatheria and Euarchontoglires – is also supported. The topology is highly congruent with recent (molecular) phylogenetic analyses of placental mammals, but is considerably more comprehensive, being the first phylogeny to include all 113 extant families without making a priori assumptions of suprafamilial monophyly. Subsidiary analyses reveal that the data selection protocol played a key role in the major changes relative to a previously published higher-level supertree of placentals. CONCLUSION: The supertree should provide a useful framework for hypothesis testing in phylogenetic comparative biology, and supports the idea that biogeography has played a crucial role in the evolution of placental mammals. Our results demonstrate the importance of minimising poor and redundant data when constructing supertrees

Bats that walk: a new evolutionary hypothesis for the terrestrial behaviour of New Zealand's endemic mystacinids.

RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are.BACKGROUND: New Zealand's lesser short-tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata is one of only two of c.1100 extant bat species to use a true walking gait when manoeuvring on the ground (the other being the American common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus). Mystacina tuberculata is also the last surviving member of Mystacinidae, the only mammalian family endemic to New Zealand (NZ) and a member of the Gondwanan bat superfamily Noctilionoidea. The capacity for true quadrupedal terrestrial locomotion in Mystacina is a secondarily derived condition, reflected in numerous skeletal and muscular specializations absent in other extant bats. The lack of ground-based predatory native NZ mammals has been assumed to have facilitated the evolution of terrestrial locomotion and the unique burrowing behaviour of Mystacina, just as flightlessness has arisen independently many times in island birds. New postcranial remains of an early Miocene mystacinid from continental Australia, Icarops aenae, offer an opportunity to test this hypothesis. RESULTS: Several distinctive derived features of the distal humerus are shared by the extant Mystacina tuberculata and the early Miocene Australian mystacinid Icarops aenae. Study of the myology of M. tuberculata indicates that these features are functionally correlated with terrestrial locomotion in this bat. Their presence in I. aenae suggests that this extinct mystacinid was also adapted for terrestrial locomotion, despite the existence of numerous ground-based mammalian predators in Australia during the early Miocene. Thus, it appears that mystacinids were already terrestrially-adapted prior to their isolation in NZ. In combination with recent molecular divergence dates, the new postcranial material of I. aenae constrains the timing of the evolution of terrestrial locomotion in mystacinids to between 51 and 26 million years ago (Ma). CONCLUSION: Contrary to existing hypotheses, our data suggest that bats are not overwhelmingly absent from the ground because of competition from, or predation by, other mammals. Rather, selective advantage appears to be the primary evolutionary driving force behind habitual terrestriality in the rare bats that walk. Unlike for birds, there is currently no evidence that any bat has evolved a reduced capacity for flight as a result of isolation on islands

The Cost-Effectiveness of Early Access to HIV Services and Starting cART in the UK 1996–2008

To calculate use, cost and cost-effectiveness of people living with HIV (PLHIV) starting routine treatment and care before starting combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) and PLHIV starting first-line 2NRTIs+NNRTI or 2NRTIs+PI(boosted), comparing PLHIV with CD4≤200 cells/mm3 and CD4>200 cells/mm3. Few studies have calculated the use, cost and cost-effectiveness of routine treatment and care before starting cART and starting cART above and below CD4 200 cells/mm3.Use, costs and cost-effectiveness were calculated for PLHIV in routine pre-cART and starting first-line cART, comparing CD4≤200 cells/mm3 with CD4>200 cells/mm3 (2008 UK prices).cART naïve patients CD4≤200 cells/mm3 had an annual cost of £6,407 (95%CI £6,382 to £6,425) PPY compared with £2,758 (95%CI £2,752 to £2,761) PPY for those with CD4>200 cells/mm3; cost per life year gained of pre-cART treatment and care for those with CD4>200 cells/mm3 was £1,776 (cost-saving to £2,752). Annual cost for starting 2NRTIs+NNRTI or 2NRTIs+PI(boosted) with CD4≤200 cells/mm3 was £12,812 (95%CI £12,685-£12,937) compared with £10,478 (95%CI £10,376-£10,581) for PLHIV with CD4>200 cells/mm3. Cost per additional life-year gained on first-line therapy for those with CD4>200 cells/mm3 was £4639 (£3,967 to £2,960).PLHIV starting to use HIV services before CD4≤200 cells/mm3 is cost-effective and enables them to be monitored so they start cART with a CD4>200 cells/mm3, which results in better outcomes and is cost-effective. However, 25% of PLHIV accessing services continue to present with CD4≤200 cells/mm3. This highlights the need to investigate the cost-effectiveness of testing and early treatment programs for key populations in the UK