L’analyse des configurations du comportement industriel comme technique de prévision

One important tool for forecasting in the field of applied economics has been largely overlooked—the identification and analysis of patterns of industrial behavior. The following paper shows how the method of detecting behavior patterns, and the factors which control them, can be utilized for analyzing the past economic performance of an industry and for predicting its likely performance in the future.This analysis has also revealed that when controlled by the same factors, different industries follow the same behavior pattern. This being so, it becomes possible to group industries together and reclassify them on the basis of their common major business characteristics. Of these, one of the most important is their mode of competition. This reclassification also enables us to know when we can transfer experience between industries (within the same group) and when we cannot do this (between industries in different groups).At the present time, significant changes are occurring in the economic, organizational and technical climates. New economic goals appear necessary for Canada and these are suggested. These changes are altering the importance of the factors controlling industrial behavior. The nature of these changes is considered and applied to the case of the chemical industry in the next decade. The analysis suggests what new factors will control this industry, and the direction and nature of the likely changes in it. Given this, an estimate of the economic changes can be made.Analysis of behavior patterns is, therefore, a powerful and essential tool for estimating the future behavior of industries, and of groups of industries, in the economy

L’analyse des configurations du comportement industriel comme technique de prévision

One important tool for forecasting in the field of applied economics has been largely overlooked—the identification and analysis of patterns of industrial behavior. The following paper shows how the method of detecting behavior patterns, and the factors which control them, can be utilized for analyzing the past economic performance of an industry and for predicting its likely performance in the future.

Outbreak of acute hepatitis C following the use of anti-hepatitis C virus--screened intravenous immunoglobulin therapy

BACKGROUND and AIMS: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been associated with intravenous (IV) immunoglobulin (Ig), and plasma donations used to prepare IV Ig are now screened to prevent transmission. Thirty-six patients from the United Kingdom received infusions from a batch of anti-HCV antibody-screened intravenous Ig (Gammagard; Baxter Healthcare Ltd., Thetford, Norfolk, England) that was associated with reports of acute hepatitis C outbreak in Europe. The aim of this study was to document the epidemiology of this outbreak. METHODS: Forty-six patients from the United Kingdom treated with Gammagard (34 exposed and 12 unexposed to the batch) returned epidemiological questionnaires. RESULTS: Eighty-two percent of the exposed patients (28 of 34) became positive for HCV RNA. Eighteen percent of the patients (6 of 34) who had infusions with this batch tested negative for HCV RNA, but 2 of the patients had abnormal liver function and subsequently seroconverted to anti-HCV antibody positive. Twenty-seven percent of the patients (9 of 34) developed jaundice, and 79% (27 of 34) had abnormal liver transferase levels. Virus isolates (n=21), including an isolate from the implicated batch, were genotype 1a and virtually identical by sequence analysis of the NS5 region, consistent with transmission from a single source. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatitis C infection can be transmitted by anti-HCV-screened IV Ig. Careful documentation of IV Ig batch numbers and regular biochemical monitoring is recommended for all IV Ig recipients

Mapping of serotype-specific, immunodominant epitopes in the NS-4 region of hepatitis C virus (HCV):use of type-specific peptides to serologically differentiate infections with HCV types 1, 2, and 3

The effect of sequence variability between different types of hepatitis C virus (HCV) on the antigenicity of the NS-4 protein was investigated by epitope mapping and by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with branched oligopeptides. Epitope mapping of the region between amino acid residues 1679 and 1768 in the HCV polyprotein revealed two major antigenic regions (1961 to 1708 and 1710 to 1728) that were recognized by antibody elicited upon natural infection of HCV. The antigenic regions were highly variable between variants of HCV, with only 50 to 60% amino acid sequence similarity between types 1, 2, and 3. Although limited serological cross-reactivity between HCV types was detected between peptides, particularly in the first antigenic region of NS-4, type-specific reactivity formed the principal component of the natural humoral immune response to NS-4. Type-specific antibody to particular HCV types was detected in 89% of the samples from anti-HCV-positive blood donors and correlated almost exactly with genotypic analysis of HCV sequences amplified from the samples by polymerase chain reaction. Whereas almost all blood donors appeared to be infected with a single virus type (97%), a higher proportion of samples (40%) from hemophiliacs infected from transfusion of non-heat-inactivated clotting factor contained antibody to two or even all three HCV types, providing evidence that long-term exposure may lead to multiple infection with different variants of HCV

Evaluating the success of a marine protected area: A systematic review approach.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), marine areas in which human activities are restricted, are implemented worldwide to protect the marine environment. However, with a large proportion of these MPAs being no more than paper parks, it is important to be able to evaluate MPA success, determined by improvements to biophysical, socio-economic and governance conditions. In this study a systematic literature review was conducted to determine the most frequently used indicators of MPA success. These were then applied to a case study to demonstrate how success can be evaluated. The fifteen most frequently used indicators included species abundance, level of stakeholder participation and the existence of a decision-making and management body. Using the indicator framework with a traffic light system, we demonstrate how an MPA can be evaluated in terms of how well it performs against the indicators using secondary data from the literature. The framework can be used flexibly. For example, where no MPA data currently exist, the framework can be populated by qualitative data provided by local stakeholder knowledge. This system provides a cost-effective and straightforward method for managers and decision-makers to determine the level of success of any MPA and identify areas of weakness. However, given the variety of motivations for MPA establishment, this success needs to be determined in the context of the original management objectives of the MPA with greater weighting being placed on those objectives where appropriate

Phenolic Compounds on the Pod-Surface of Pigeonpea, Cajanus cajan, Mediate Feeding Behavior of Helicoverpa armigera Larvae

A methanol extract of the pod surfaces of Cajanus cajan, a feeding stimulant for fifth-instar Helicoverpa armigera, was shown to contain four main phenolic compounds. Three of these were identified as isoquercitrin, quercetin, and quercetin-3-methyl ether, by comparing UV spectra and HPLC retention times with authentic standards. The fourth compound was isolated by semipreparative HPLC and determined to be 3-hydroxy-4-prenyl-5- methoxystilbene-2-carboxylic acid (stilbene) by NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Quercetin, isoquercitrin, and quercetin-3-methyl did not affect the selection-behavior of fifth-instar H. armigera. However, larvae were deterred from feeding on glass-fiber disks impregnated with the stilbene. Furthermore, larvae exposed to quercetin-3-methyl ether consumed significant amounts of both disks. In a binary-choice bioassay, a combination of quercetin-3-methyl ether and the stilbene on one disk and pure quercetin-3-methyl ether on the other disk resulted in increased consumption of both glass-fiber disks by larvae. In contrast, consumption was reduced if the combination was presented to larvae on one disk with purified stilbene on the other disk. Cajanus cajan cultivars that varied in their susceptibility to H. armigera were surveyed for the presence of the four phenolic compounds. An absence of quercetin and higher concentrations of isoquercitrin than the cultivated variety characterized pod surface extracts of pod-borer-resistant cultivars. In addition, the ratio of the stilbene to quercetin-3-methyl ether was greater in the pod-borer-resistant cultivars. These findings are discussed in relation to the identification of chemical characters that can be used for crop improvement

Tripartite interactions between two phase qubits and a resonant cavity

The creation and manipulation of multipartite entangled states is important for advancements in quantum computation and communication, and for testing our fundamental understanding of quantum mechanics and precision measurements. Multipartite entanglement has been achieved by use of various forms of quantum bits (qubits), such as trapped ions, photons, and atoms passing through microwave cavities. Quantum systems based on superconducting circuits have been used to control pair-wise interactions of qubits, either directly, through a quantum bus, or via controllable coupling. Here, we describe the first demonstration of coherent interactions of three directly coupled superconducting quantum systems, two phase qubits and a resonant cavity. We introduce a simple Bloch-sphere-like representation to help one visualize the unitary evolution of this tripartite system as it shares a single microwave photon. With careful control and timing of the initial conditions, this leads to a protocol for creating a rich variety of entangled states. Experimentally, we provide evidence for the deterministic evolution from a simple product state, through a tripartite W-state, into a bipartite Bell-state. These experiments are another step towards deterministically generating multipartite entanglement in superconducting systems with more than two qubits

Circuit QED scheme for realization of the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model

We propose a scheme in which the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model is realized within a circuit QED system. An array of N superconducting qubits interacts with a driven cavity mode. In the dispersive regime, the cavity mode is adiabatically eliminated generating an effective model for the qubits alone. The characteristic long-range order of the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model is here mediated by the cavity field. For a closed qubit system, the inherent second order phase transition of the qubits is reflected in the intensity of the output cavity field. In the broken symmetry phase, the many-body ground state is highly entangled. Relaxation of the qubits is analyzed within a mean-field treatment. The second order phase transition is lost, while new bistable regimes occur.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Genetically engineered bananas resistant to Xanthomonas wilt disease and nematodes

Banana is an important staple food crop feeding more than 100 million Africans, but is subject to severe productivity constraints due to a range of pests and diseases. Banana Xanthomonas wilt caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum is capable of entirely destroying a plantation while nematodes can cause losses up to 50% and increase susceptibility to other pests and diseases. Development of improved varieties of banana is fundamental in order to tackle these challenges. However, the sterile nature of the crop and the lack of resistance in Musa germplasm make improvement by traditional breeding techniques either impossible or extremely slow. Recent developments using genetic engineering have begun to address these problems. Transgenic banana expressing sweet pepper Hrap and Pflp genes have demonstrated complete resistance against X. campestris pv. musacearum in the field. Transgenic plantains expressing a cysteine proteinase inhibitors and/or synthetic peptide showed enhanced resistance to a mixed species population of nematodes in the field. Here, we review the genetic engineering technologies which have potential to improve agriculture and food security in Africa