Documentation of model components EXPAMOD and CAPRI

Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics,

TERRITORIAL DISTRIBUTION OF URBAN LOCALITIES IN WETLAND AREAS IN URUGUAY

Wetlands occupy between 4% and 6% of the earth's surface and are increasing its significant importance due to its productive landscapes and biological content. Placed amongst the planet's most threatened areas, more than 50% of wetlands were lost in the past century and those less affected have suffered different magnitudes of deterioration, caused by multiple anthropic intervention. Uruguay's dense riverbed runs throughout most of its territory, being wetlands very diverse ecosystems regarding landscapes as well as the rich and bountiful forms of life found in them. This research focuses on assessing the situation of urban zones found within wetland areas throughout national territory, providing information about its dimension as well as assessing the situation for people who inhabit these zones. A methodological strategy based on the spatial analysis of the Geographical Information System's registries allowed research to identify and distinguish flooding in urban zones and its distribution pattern on a national scale. The amount of urban zones developing within wetland areas goes up to 50% of national territory and therefore constitutes undoubtely a national scale problem

The scapegoat theory of exchange rates: the first tests

The scapegoat theory of exchange rates (2 and 5) suggests that market participants may attach excessive weight to individual economic fundamentals, which are picked as �scapegoats� to rationalize observed currency fluctuations at times when exchange rates are driven by unobservable shocks. Using novel survey data that directly measure foreign exchange scapegoats for 12 exchange rates, we find empirical evidence that supports the scapegoat theory. The resulting models explain a large fraction of the variation and directional changes in exchange rates in sample, although their out-of-sample forecasting performance is mixed

Detection and Prevalence Patterns of Group I Coronaviruses in Bats, Northern Germany

The virus is probably maintained on the population level by amplification and transmission in maternity colonies

Distant Relatives of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus and Close Relatives of Human Coronavirus 229E in Bats, Ghana

Hipposideros spp. bats harbor a coronavirus that shares common ancestry with human viruses

Strategy for the management of diabetic macular edema: the European Vitreo-Retinal Society macular edema study

Objective. To compare the efficacy of different therapies in the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME). Design. Nonrandomized, multicenter clinical study. Participants. 86 retina specialists from 29 countries provided clinical information on 2,603 patients with macular edema including 870 patients with DME. Methods. Reported data included the type and number of treatment(s) performed, the pre-and posttreatment visual acuities, and other clinical findings.The results were analyzed by the French INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies). Main Outcome Measures. Mean change of visual acuity and mean number of treatments performed. Results.The change in visual acuity over time in response to each treatment was plotted in second order polynomial regression trend lines. Intravitreal triamcinolone monotherapy resulted in some improvement in vision. Treatmentwith threshold or subthreshold grid laser also resulted in minimal vision gain. Anti-VEGF therapy resulted in more significant visual improvement. Treatment with pars plana vitrectomy and internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling alone resulted in an improvement in vision greater than that observed with anti-VEGF injection alone. In our DME study, treatment with vitrectomy and ILM peeling alone resulted in the better visual improvement compared to other therapies

Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with critical influenza pneumonia

In an international cohort of 279 patients with hypoxemic influenza pneumonia, we identified 13 patients (4.6%) with autoantibodies neutralizing IFN-alpha and/or -omega, which were previously reported to underlie 15% cases of life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia and one third of severe adverse reactions to live-attenuated yellow fever vaccine. Autoantibodies neutralizing type I interferons (IFNs) can underlie critical COVID-19 pneumonia and yellow fever vaccine disease. We report here on 13 patients harboring autoantibodies neutralizing IFN-alpha 2 alone (five patients) or with IFN-omega (eight patients) from a cohort of 279 patients (4.7%) aged 6-73 yr with critical influenza pneumonia. Nine and four patients had antibodies neutralizing high and low concentrations, respectively, of IFN-alpha 2, and six and two patients had antibodies neutralizing high and low concentrations, respectively, of IFN-omega. The patients' autoantibodies increased influenza A virus replication in both A549 cells and reconstituted human airway epithelia. The prevalence of these antibodies was significantly higher than that in the general population for patients 70 yr of age (3.1 vs. 4.4%, P = 0.68). The risk of critical influenza was highest in patients with antibodies neutralizing high concentrations of both IFN-alpha 2 and IFN-omega (OR = 11.7, P = 1.3 x 10(-5)), especially those <70 yr old (OR = 139.9, P = 3.1 x 10(-10)). We also identified 10 patients in additional influenza patient cohorts. Autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFNs account for similar to 5% of cases of life-threatening influenza pneumonia in patients <70 yr old