The Effectiveness of Export Promotion Policies in a General Equilibrium Framework: The Case of the Philippines

This study examines the general equilibrium effects of different export promotion policies on imports and production of importables and exportables. Unlike other studies, land as a factor input in the production function has been included. Thus, this article develops a three-factor production function where value-added depends upon the use of labor, capital and land.investment incentive system, trade sector, computable general equilibrium (CGE), export commodities

The Effectiveness of Export Promotion Policies in a General Equilibrium Framework: The Case of the Philippines

This study examines the general equilibrium effects of different export promotion policies on imports and production of importables and exportables. Unlike other studies, land as a factor input in the production function has been included. Thus, this article develops a three-factor production function where value-added depends upon the use of labor, capital and land.investment incentive system, trade sector, computable general equilibrium (CGE), export commodities

Sonic hedgehog functions upstream of disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (disc1): implications for mental illness

DISRUPTED-IN-SCHIZOPHRENIA (DISC1) has been one of the most intensively studied genetic risk factors for mental illness since it was discovered through positional mapping of a translocation breakpoint in a large Scottish family where a balanced chromosomal translocation was found to segregate with schizophrenia and affective disorders. While the evidence for it being central to disease pathogenesis in the original Scottish family is compelling, recent genome-wide association studies have not found evidence for common variants at the DISC1 locus being associated with schizophrenia in the wider population. It may therefore be the case that DISC1 provides an indication of biological pathways that are central to mental health issues and functional studies have shown that it functions in multiple signalling pathways. However, there is little information regarding factors that function upstream of DISC1 to regulate its expression and function. We herein demonstrate that Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signalling promotes expression of disc1 in the zebrafish brain. Expression of disc1 is lost in smoothened mutants that have a complete loss of Shh signal transduction, and elevated in patched mutants which have constitutive activation of Shh signalling. We previously demonstrated that disc1 knockdown has a dramatic effect on the specification of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPC) in the hindbrain and Shh signalling is known to be essential for the specification of these cells. We show that disc1 is prominently expressed in olig2-positive midline progenitor cells that are absent in smo mutants, while cyclopamine treatment blocks disc1 expression in these cells and mimics the effect of disc1 knock down on OPC specification. Various features of a number of psychiatric conditions could potentially arise through aberrant Hedgehog signalling. We therefore suggest that altered Shh signalling may be an important neurodevelopmental factor in the pathobiology of mental illness

Notes on Native Vascular Plants from Mima Mound-Vernal Pool Terrain and the Importance of Preserving Coastal Terraces in Orange County, California

We report the following noteworthy collections of native vascular plants from mima mound fields in coastal Orange County, California: Deschampsia danthonioides, Lepidium strictum, and Sagina saginoides (new county records), Lepidium oblongum var. oblongum (previously excluded from the flora), Deinandra paniculata, Holocarpha virgata subsp. elongata, and Navarretia prostrata (new localities in the county), and Hordeum brachyantherum subsp. californicum (uncommon species of local interest). A herbarium study, preparation of voucher specimens, and a generalized distribution, facultative wetland status, and taxonomic notes, where appropriate, are cited for each taxon. An overview of the mima mound micro-relief associated with coastal terraces in southern California is also provided

A general approach to incorporating spatial and temporal variation in individual-based models of fish populations with application to Atlantic mackerel

Fish population dynamics are affected by multiple ecosystem drivers, such as food-web interactions, exploitation, density-dependence and the wider environment. While tactical management is still dominated by single-species models that do not explicitly account for these drivers, more holistic ecosystem models are used in strategic management. One way forward in this regard is with individual-based models (IBMs), which provide a single framework in which these drivers can be represented explicitly. We present a generic marine fish IBM that incorporates spatial and temporal variation in food availability, temperature and exploitation. Key features of the model are that it (1) includes realistic energy budgets; (2) includes the full life cycle of fish; (3) is spatially-explicit and (4) incorporates satellite remote-sensing data to represent the environmental drivers. The rates at which individuals acquire and use energy depend on local food availability and temperature. Their state variables, including life stage, size and energy reserves, are updated daily, from which population structure and dynamics emerge. To demonstrate the use of the model we calibrate it for mackerel (Scomber scombrus) in the North East Atlantic. Most parameters are taken from the literature, except the background early mortality rate and the strength predator density dependence, which were estimated by fitting the model to data using Approximate Bayesian Computation. The calibrated model successfully matches the available data on mackerel population dynamics and structure. We demonstrate the use of the model for management purposes by simulating the population effects of opening and closing a sector of the North Sea to mackerel fishing. Our model uses basic principles of behavioural and physiological ecology to establish how spatial and temporal variations in ecosystem drivers affect the individuals in the population. Population dynamics and structure are calculated from the collective effects on individuals. Application to a test case shows the method can fit available data well. Individual-based approaches such as this study have potential for use in strategic management because they can account for spatial structuring, food-web interactions, density dependence, and environmental drivers within a single framework

The Scalable Commutativity Rule: Designing Scalable Software for Multicore Processors

What fundamental opportunities for scalability are latent in interfaces, such as system call APIs? Can scalability opportunities be identified even before any implementation exists, simply by considering interface specifications? To answer these questions this paper introduces the following rule: Whenever interface operations commute, they can be implemented in a way that scales. This rule aids developers in building more scalable software starting from interface design and carrying on through implementation, testing, and evaluation. To help developers apply the rule, a new tool named Commuter accepts high-level interface models and generates tests of operations that commute and hence could scale. Using these tests, Commuter can evaluate the scalability of an implementation. We apply Commuter to 18 POSIX calls and use the results to guide the implementation of a new research operating system kernel called sv6. Linux scales for 68% of the 13,664 tests generated by Commuter for these calls, and Commuter finds many problems that have been observed to limit application scalability. sv6 scales for 99% of the tests.Engineering and Applied Science

Evaluation Of Sensitivity To Chemotherapeutants In Successive Generations Of Lepeoptheirus Salmonis From A Resistant Population

There are currently reports of reduced sensitivity to certain lice treatments in different parts of Scotland and world-wide, and research is on-going into the extent and mechanisms of resistance to different treatments (Denholm et al., 2002; Sevatdal & Horsberg, 2003; Sevatdal et al., 2005). In particular, increasing evidence of resistance of Lepeophtheirus salmonis to the chemotherapeutant emamectin benzoate (Lees et al., 2008; Espedal et al., 2010) poses a serious problem to commercial farms because there are few licensed and effective treatments available