A guide to the ATM and debit card industry - 2006 update

It has been three years since we published A Guide to the ATM and Debit Card Industry. Those three years represent a very dynamic time in the industry with a number of important developments. Some trends and patterns have persisted or accelerated, while others have peaked or reversed. Still others have emerged for the first time. The purpose of this 2006 Update is to document these trends and patterns by updating the data we presented in the original book and to discuss their implications for the current and future state of the industry. ; The most important development is that the two segments of the industry, ATM and debit, are in some sense going in opposite directions. The ATM industry has matured and is relatively stagnant, with major players jockeying for position, searching for and adopting different business strategies, and adjusting to the maturation of the industry. The debit card industry, in contrast, is expanding rapidly, with new players, new partnerships, new products, and new markets. The challenge in the debit card industry is not how to cope with a maturing industry but, rather, how to preserve and enhance position and not be left behind. ; In the first part of this Update, we highlight and discuss some of the most important changes in the ATM and debit card industry. For both the ATM and debit sides of the industry, we recap and analyze changes in activity levels, industry structure, and industry pricing. We then offer some thoughts on what might lie ahead, including a discussion of fraud and data security. In the second part of this Update, we present updated versions of the 23 charts and 11 tables from the original book, adding the three or four years of additional data that have since become available.Automated tellers ; Debit cards ; Point-of-sale-systems ; Payment systems

Abundance and local - scale processes contribute to multi-phyla gradients in global marine diversity

Among themost enduring ecological challenges is an integrated theory explaining the latitudinal biodiversity gradient, including discrepancies observed at different spatial scales. Analysis of Reef Life Survey data for 4127 marine species at 2406 coral and rocky sites worldwide confirms that the total ecoregion richness peaks in low latitudes, near +15°N and −15°S. However, although richness at survey sites ismaximal near the equator for vertebrates, it peaks at high latitudes for large mobile invertebrates. Site richness for different groups is dependent on abundance, which is in turn correlated with temperature for fishes and nutrients for macroinvertebrates. We suggest that temperature-mediated fish predation and herbivory have on strained mobile macroinvertebrate diversity at the site scale across the tropics. Conversely, at the ecoregion scale, richness responds positively to coral reef area, highlighting potentially huge global biodiversity losses with coral decline. Improved conservation outcomes require management frameworks, informed by hierarchical monitoring, that cover differing site- and regional-scale processes across diverse taxa, including attention to invertebrate species, which appear disproportionately threatened by warming seas

Cortical and trabecular bone benefits of mechanical loading are maintained long term in mice independent of ovariectomy.

Skeletal loading enhances cortical and trabecular bone properties. How long these benefits last after loading cessation remains an unresolved, clinically relevant question. This study investigated long-term maintenance of loading-induced cortical and trabecular bone benefits in female C57BL/6 mice and the influence of a surgically induced menopause on the maintenance. Sixteen-week-old animals had their right tibia extrinsically loaded 3 days/week for 4 weeks using the mouse tibial axial compression loading model. Left tibias were not loaded and served as internal controls. Animals were subsequently detrained (restricted to cage activities) for 0, 4, 8, 26, or 52 weeks, with ovariectomy (OVX) or sham-OVX surgery being performed at 0 weeks detraining. Loading increased midshaft tibia cortical bone mass, size, and strength, and proximal tibia bone volume fraction. The cortical bone mass, area, and thickness benefits of loading were lost by 26 weeks of detraining because of heightened medullary expansion. However, loading-induced benefits on bone total area and strength were maintained at each detraining time point. Similarly, the benefits of loading on bone volume fraction persisted at all detraining time points. The long-term benefits of loading on both cortical and trabecular bone were not influenced by a surgically induced menopause because there were no interactions between loading and surgery. However, OVX had independent effects on cortical bone properties at early (4 and 8 weeks) detraining time points and trabecular bone properties at all detraining time points. These cumulative data indicate loading has long-term benefits on cortical bone size and strength (but not mass) and trabecular bone morphology, which are not influenced by a surgically induced menopause. This suggests skeletal loading associated with physical activity may provide long-term benefits by preparing the skeleton to offset both the cortical and trabecular bone changes associated with aging and menopause

Epicardial vasomotor responses to acetylcholine are not predicted by coronary atherosclerosis as assessed by intracoronary ultrasound

Objectives.The purpose of this study was to use intravascular ultrasound to determine the morphologic appearance of the coronary arteries, relating the absence, presence and extent of atherosclerosis to the response of the coronary arteries to acetylcholine infusion.Background.Endothelial function plays a major role in the pathophysiology of myocardial ischemia and angina pectoris. The response of the coronary arteries to selective infusion of acetylcholine has been used to examine endothelial function, with vasoconstriction occurring in the absence of intact endothelial function. Vasoconstriction to acetylcholine infusion in humans without overt coronary artery disease has been attributed to early atherosclerosis not detected by coronary angiography.Methods.Twenty-nine patients without overt coronary artery disease underwent selective coronary angiography and selective intracoronary infusion of increasing concentrations of acetylcholine (10−6, 10−5and 10−4mol/liter), followed by intravascular ultrasound imaging.Results.The response of the coronary arteries to acetylcholine infusion was not dependent on the absence or presence of atherosclerotic plaque, as detected by intravascular ultrasound. The percent change in epicardial coronary artery diameter during acetylcholine infusion versus baseline was −14 ± 28% (mean ± SD) in the seven patients with no visible atherosclerosis on intravascular ultrasound versus −9 ± 20% in the 22 patients with visible atherosclerosis on intravascular ultrasound (p = NS, confidence interval −14% to 25%). There was a greater vasoconstrictive response to acetylcholine infusion in patients with risk factors for coronary artery disease than in those without risk factors (p = 0.003).Conclusions.The vasoreactive response to acetylcholine is not necessarily dependent on ultrasound detection of the presence or absence of atherosclerosis

Проблеми управління фінансовою безпекою підприємства

Expanding urbanization in estuaries and the increase in pollutants from anthropogenic point sources can affect nearby benthic assemblages. Using a paired impact-control design, we assessed the effects of pollution from anthropogenic point sources (marinas, storm-water drains, sewage outfalls and fish farms) on algal and sessile invertebrate recruits to pavers placed in an industrialized Tasmanian estuary. Species number and cover of native recruits were lower after 12 months at sites outside marinas relative to paired control sites, whereas non-native and cryptogenic recruits were significantly higher outside marinas and near sewage outfalls. The cover of fast-growing, opportunistic species was significantly higher at sites near fish farms and sewage outfalls, and the cover of native species was also greater at sites near sewage outfalls relative to the paired control sites. Our results suggest an increased management focus on controlling pollution from marinas and sewage outfalls is warranted to limit the spread of non-native and cryptogenic species

Mannosidase 2, alpha 1 deficiency is associated with ricin resistance in embryonic stem (ES) cells.

Host gene products required for mediating the action of toxins are potential targets for reversing or controlling their pathogenic impact following exposure. To identify such targets libraries of insertional gene-trap mutations generated with a PiggyBac transposon in Blm-deficient embryonic stem cells were exposed to the plant toxin, ricin. Resistant clones were isolated and genetically characterised and one was found to be a homozygous mutant of the mannosidase 2, alpha 1 (Man2α1) locus with a matching defect in the homologous allele. The causality of the molecular lesion was confirmed by removal of the transposon following expression of PB-transposase. Comparative glycomic and lectin binding analysis of the Man2α1 (-/-) ricin resistant cells revealed an increase in the levels of hybrid glycan structures and a reduction in terminal β-galactose moieties, potential target receptors for ricin. Furthermore, naïve ES cells treated with inhibitors of the N-linked glycosylation pathway at the mannosidase 2, alpha 1 step exhibited either full or partial resistance to ricin. Therefore, we conclusively identified mannosidase 2, alpha 1 deficiency to be associated with ricin resistance

Anthropogenic disruptions to longstanding patterns of trophic-size structure in vertebrates

Diet and body mass are inextricably linked in vertebrates: while herbivores and carnivores have converged on much larger sizes, invertivores and omnivores are, on average, much smaller, leading to a roughly U-shaped relationship between body size and trophic guild. Although this U-shaped trophic-size structure is well documented in extant terrestrial mammals, whether this pattern manifests across diverse vertebrate clades and biomes is unknown. Moreover, emergence of the U-shape over geological time and future persistence are unknown. Here we compiled a comprehensive dataset of diet and body size spanning several vertebrate classes and show that the U-shaped pattern is taxonomically and biogeographically universal in modern vertebrate groups, except for marine mammals and seabirds. We further found that, for terrestrial mammals, this U-shape emerged by the Palaeocene and has thus persisted for at least 66 million years. Yet disruption of this fundamental trophic-size structure in mammals appears likely in the next century, based on projected extinctions. Actions to prevent declines in the largest animals will sustain the functioning of Earth's wild ecosystems and biomass energy distributions that have persisted through deep time

Maximizing regional biodiversity requires a mosaic of protection levels

Protected areas are the flagship management tools to secure biodiversity from anthropogenic impacts. However, the extent to which adjacent areas with distinct protection levels host different species numbers and compositions remains uncertain. Here, using reef fishes, European alpine plants, and North American birds, we show that the composition of species in adjacent Strictly Protected, Restricted, and Non-Protected areas is highly dissimilar, whereas the number of species is similar, after controlling for environmental conditions, sample size, and rarity. We find that between 12% and 15% of species are only recorded in Non-Protected areas, suggesting that a non-negligible part of regional biodiversity occurs where human activities are less regulated. For imperiled species, the proportion only recorded in Strictly Protected areas reaches 58% for fishes, 11% for birds, and 7% for plants, highlighting the fundamental and unique role of protected areas and their environmental conditions in biodiversity conservation