The Investment Funds Industry in Ireland. A Statistical Overview

This article launches a new data series on the assets and liabilities of investment funds (IFs). For the first time in Ireland, individual fund types are identified, including hedge funds. The article discusses how the new data will enhance analysis of the funds industry and their role in financial intermediation. From the establishment of the IFSC in 1987, the size of the IF sector in Ireland has increased rapidly, and Irish resident investment funds (not including money market funds) had €414.6 billion of assets under management in September 2009. Included in the article is a detailed quarterly balance sheet for four different fund types (equity, bond, hedge and other) covering four quarters, starting in the final quarter of 2008. Data on transactions are also included along the same breakdown as assets and liabilities. This article also presents data on money market funds (MMFs), to give a comprehensive overview of the size of investment funds resident in Ireland.

4-H and Aquatic Robotics

4-H is positioned to engage youth in the areas of environment and engineering. This article shares how Minnesota is engaging youth and adults to identify and solve community issues with the use of an aquatic remotely operated vehicle (ROV). After creating a new program design, the team has attracted new skilled volunteers and new youth to create youth-adult partnerships to take action in the community

Issues in Power-Up Tutorial in the Schools of Foreign Studies and World Liberal Arts

Power-Up Tutorial (PUT) is a compulsory program for first-year students at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies (NUFS). While the form of PUT varies within each School at NUFS, this paper sets out to describe certain issues, both historical and current, within the Centre for Language Education and Development’s (CLED) PUT program. Specifically, the Department of British and American Studies pioneered this PUT program, and the current program is the natural progression from that original program as set out in 2003. Over the last 16 years, when an aspect of the program has had need of attention, the original concepts of PUT have been revisited so as to better inform the choice of direction for the next academic year. This paper will review some of these issues with the goal of demonstrating the dynamic nature of the PUT program

Potential of Water and Salt Yields From Surface Runoff on Public Lands in the Price River Basin

The report examines possible sources of dissolved salts in the Price River basin. Ephemeral and intermittent streams contributed dissolved salts and are the focus of the study. Seven subwatersheds and the Price River at Heiner are investigated to examine the effects of existing watershed characteristics on runoff and dissolved salts production. Alternatley, the report examines the effects of specific land treatments on surface runoff quantity and quality. Various instrumentation techniques are evalauted to help improve future data collected capabilities in intermittent channels. The examination of the data reveals various trends that might be considered for further investigation in subsequent studies

Measurement of Formic Acid, Acetic Acid and Hydroxyacetaldehyde, Hydrogen Peroxide, and Methyl Peroxide in Air by Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry: Airborne Method

A chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) method utilizing a reagent gas mixture of O2, CO2, and CH3I in N2 is described and optimized for quantitative gas-phase measurements of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), methyl peroxide (CH3OOH), formic acid (HCOOH), and the sum of acetic acid (CH3COOH) and hydroxyacetaldehyde (HOCH2CHO; also known as glycolaldehyde). The instrumentation and methodology were designed for airborne in situ field measurements. The CIMS quantification of formic acid, acetic acid, and hydroxyacetaldehyde used I− cluster formation to produce and detect the ion clusters I−(HCOOH), I−(CH3COOH), and I−(HOCH2CHO), respectively. The CIMS also produced and detected I− clusters with hydrogen peroxide and methyl peroxide, I−(H2O2) and I−(CH3OOH), though the sensitivity was lower than with the O2− (CO2) and O2− ion clusters, respectively. For that reason, while the I− peroxide clusters are presented, the focus is on the organic acids. Acetic acid and hydroxyacetaldehyde were found to yield equivalent CIMS responses. They are exact isobaric compounds and indistinguishable in the CIMS used. Consequently, their combined signal is referred to as the acetic acid equivalent sum. Within the resolution of the quadrupole used in the CIMS (1m∕z), ethanol and 1- and 2-propanol were potential isobaric interferences to the measurement of formic acid and the acetic acid equivalent sum, respectively. The CIMS response to ethanol was 3.3% that of formic acid and the response to either 1- or 2-propanol was 1% of the acetic acid response; therefore, the alcohols were not considered to be significant interferences to formic acid or the acetic acid equivalent sum. The multi-reagent ion system was successfully deployed during the Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Éxperiment (FRAPPÉ) in 2014. The combination of FRAPPÉ and laboratory calibrations allowed for the post-mission quantification of formic acid and the acetic acid equivalent sum observed during the Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry Experiment in 2012

An Ion-Neutral Model to Investigate Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Atmospheric Molecules – Application to a Mixed Reagent Ion System for Hydroperoxides and Organic Acids

An ion-neutral chemical kinetic model is described and used to simulate the negative ion chemistry occurring within a mixed-reagent ion chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS). The model objective was the establishment of a theoretical basis to understand ambient pressure (variable sample flow and reagent ion carrier gas flow rates), water vapor, ozone and oxides of nitrogen effects on ion cluster sensitivities for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), methyl peroxide (CH3OOH), formic acid (HFo) and acetic acid (HAc). The model development started with established atmospheric ion chemistry mechanisms, thermodynamic data and reaction rate coefficients. The chemical mechanism was augmented with additional reactions and their reaction rate coefficients specific to the analytes. Some existing reaction rate coefficients were modified to enable the model to match laboratory and field campaign determinations of ion cluster sensitivities as functions of CIMS sample flow rate and ambient humidity. Relative trends in predicted and observed sensitivities are compared as instrument specific factors preclude a direct calculation of instrument sensitivity as a function of sample pressure and humidity. Predicted sensitivity trends and experimental sensitivity trends suggested the model captured the reagent ion and cluster chemistry and reproduced trends in ion cluster sensitivity with sample flow and humidity observed with a CIMS instrument developed for atmospheric peroxide measurements (PCIMSs). The model was further used to investigate the potential for isobaric compounds as interferences in the measurement of the above species. For ambient O3 mixing ratios more than 50 times those of H2O2, O3−(H2O) was predicted to be a significant isobaric interference to the measurement of H2O2 using O2−(H2O2) at m∕z 66. O3 and NO give rise to species and cluster ions, CO3−(H2O) and NO3−(H2O), respectively, which interfere in the measurement of CH3OOH using O2−(CH3OOH) at m∕z 80. The CO3−(H2O) interference assumed one of its O atoms was 18O and present in the cluster in proportion to its natural abundance. The model results indicated monitoring water vapor mixing ratio, m∕z 78 for CO3−(H2O) and m∕z 98 for isotopic CO3−(H2O)2 can be used to determine when CO3−(H2O) interference is significant. Similarly, monitoring water vapor mixing ratio, m∕z 62 for NO3− and m∕z 98 for NO3−(H2O)2 can be used to determine when NO3−(H2O) interference is significant

Progenitor cell proliferation in the retina is dependent on Notch-independent Sonic hedgehog/Hes1 activity

Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is an indispensable, extrinsic cue that regulates progenitor and stem cell behavior in the developing and adult mammalian central nervous system. Here, we investigate the link between the Shh signaling pathway and Hes1, a classical Notch target. We show that Shh-driven stabilization of Hes1 is independent of Notch signaling and requires the Shh effector Gli2. We identify Gli2 as a primary mediator of this response by showing that Gli2 is required for Hh (Hedgehog)-dependent up-regulation of Hes1. We also show using chromatin immunoprecipitation that Gli2 binds to the Hes1 promoter, which suggests that Hes1 is a Hh-dependent direct target of Gli2 signaling. Finally, we show that Shh stimulation of progenitor proliferation and cell diversification requires Gli2 and Hes1 activity. This paper is the first demonstration of the mechanistic and functional link between Shh, Gli, and Hes1 in the regulation of progenitor cell behavior

Biological nomenclature terms for facilitating communication in the naming of organisms

A set of terms recommended for use in facilitating communication in biological nomenclature is presented as a table showing broadly equivalent terms used in the traditional Codes of nomenclature. These terms are intended to help those engaged in naming across organism groups, and are the result of the work of the International Committee on Bionomenclature, whose aim is to promote harmonisation and communication amongst those naming life on Earth

Young People’s Use of E-Cigarettes across the United Kingdom: Findings from Five Surveys 2015-2017

Concern has been expressed about the use of e-cigarettes among young people. Our study reported e-cigarette and tobacco cigarette ever and regular use among 11–16 year olds across the UK. Data came from five large scale surveys with different designs and sampling strategies conducted between 2015 and 2017: The Youth Tobacco Policy Survey; the Schools Health Research Network Wales survey; two Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Smokefree Great Britain-Youth Surveys; and the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey. Cumulatively these surveys collected data from over 60,000 young people. For 2015/16 data for 11–16 year olds: ever smoking ranged from 11% to 20%; regular (at least weekly) smoking between 1% and 4%; ever use of e-cigarettes 7% to 18%; regular (at least weekly) use 1% to 3%; among never smokers, ever e-cigarette use ranged from 4% to 10% with regular use between 0.1% and 0.5%; among regular smokers, ever e-cigarette use ranged from 67% to 92% and regular use 7% to 38%. ASH surveys showed a rise in the prevalence of ever use of e-cigarettes from 7% (2016) to 11% (2017) but prevalence of regular use did not change remaining at 1%. In summary, surveys across the UK show a consistent pattern: most e-cigarette experimentation does not turn into regular use, and levels of regular use in young people who have never smoked remain very lo