On US politics and IMF Lending

The political factors, which shape IMF lending to LDCs, have attracted much attention. The same goes for the role and influence of the US. However, formal modelling is scant. In this paper, we assume that the US is principal within the IMF and seeks to maximize its impact on the policy stance of debtor countries. We derive the optimal loan allocation mechanism, and test the hypothesis that the probability of an IMF loan is increasing in the amount of political concessions countries make. A political concession is defined as the distance between a country’s bliss point and its actual policy stance measured relative to the US. We propose a bliss-point proxy and test our hypothesis in a sample of 68 countries during the period 1986-94. There is support for our hypothesis in the data. Finally, we show that omitting bliss points may lead to endogeneity bias in empirical work.IMF lending; political factors

Book Reviews

Book reviews by George Norman, John Gillespie, Thomas Broden, John L. Harr, Reginald C. Harmon, and Louis C. Kaplan

Dynamical modeling of marine boundary layer convection

April 1987.Includes bibliographical references.Sponsored by NSF ATM-8510664.Sponsored by ONR N00014-84-C-0591.Sponsored by NOAA NA-85-RAH05045

Skin Detachment and Regrowth in Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis

Toxic epidermal necrolysis is a rare but clinically well-described dermatological pathology. However, clinical pictures of this disorder in text books do not reflect its dynamic evolution. Usually, the desquamative post-bullous stage is represented, neglecting the initial bullous stage as well as the skin healing. With one clinical case, we provide a day-after-day illustration of the evolution of a patient suffering from toxic epidermal necrolysis. During one month, a skin area of a limb was regularly photo-documented

Radiation measurements from polar and geosynchronous satellites

June 1978.Includes bibliographical references.This is the Annual report for period 1 November 1976-31 October 1977 and the Final report, 10 October 1970-31 July 1978 for National Aeronatuics and Space Administratin grant NGR-06-002-102.National Aeronatuics and Space Administratin grant NGR-06-002-10

Clinical outcomes of stents versus balloon angioplasty in non-acute coronary artery disease: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Aims To evaluate whether stents as compared to balloon angioplasty reduce mortality in patients with non-acute coronary artery disease. Methods and results We identified randomized controlled trials comparing stents to balloon angioplasty for the treatment of non-acute coronary artery disease by searching major medical databases from 1979 to March 2002. Two independent reviewers selected and extracted data from trials that had to report data on death and myocardial infarction. Nineteen trials, with a total of 8004 patients, fulfilled our inclusion criteria. For 1000 patients treated with stents rather than balloon angioplasty, 3 (95% CI 0-6), 5 (95% CI 0-9), and 6 (95% CI -1-12) additional lives were saved at 30 days, 6 and 12 months. At 12 months, for 1000 patients treated with stents rather than balloon angioplasty 46 (95% CI 25-66) additional target vessel revascularizations were avoided, but 25 (95% CI 15-34) additional bleeding complications with need for blood transfusion or surgical intervention occurred. In sensitivity analysis 11 (95% CI 2-20) and 2 (95% CI -4-7) deaths were avoided per 1000 patients treated with stents rather than PTCA in trials that routinely used compared to trials that did not use glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors. Conclusion In non-acute coronary disease stents may reduce overall mortality, but this benefit seems to be limited to stents used in conjunction with glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors. Stents compared to PTCA reduce target vessel revascularizations, but increase the risk of bleeding complication

Typhoon-ocean interaction in the western North Pacific : Part 1

Author Posting. © The Oceanography Society, 2011. This article is posted here by permission of The Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 24 no. 4 (2011): 24–31, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2011.91.The application of new technologies has allowed oceanographers and meteorologists to study the ocean beneath typhoons in detail. Recent studies in the western Pacific Ocean reveal new insights into the influence of the ocean on typhoon intensity.This work is supported by grants from the Office of Naval Research, N00014- 10-WX-20203 (Black), N00014-08-1- 0656 (Centurioni), N00014-08-1-0577 (D’Asaro), N00014-09-1-0816 (D’Asaro), N00014-10-WX-21335 (Harr), N00014-08-1-0614 (Jayne), N00014- 09-1-0133 (Lee), N00014-08-1-0560 (Lien), N00014-10-1-0313 (student support), N00014-08-1-0658 (Rainville), N00014-08-1-0560 (Sanford); the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NA17RJ1231 (Centurioni); and the National Science Foundation OCE0549887 (D’Asaro)

Atopy as an independent predictor for long-term patient and graft survival after kidney transplantation

BackgroundAtopy is a genetic condition predisposing individuals to develop immunoglobulin E (IgE) against common allergens through T-helper 2 (Th2) polarization mechanisms. The impact of atopy on graft survival in solid organ transplantation is unknown.MethodologyWe analyzed 268 renal allograft recipients from the Swiss Transplant Cohort Study, a prospective multicenter cohort studying patients after solid organ transplantation, with a 9-year median follow-up (IQR 3.0). We used the Phadiatop assay to measure IgE antibodies against a mixture of common inhaled allergens (grass, tree, herbs, spores, animals, and mites) to identify pre-transplantation atopic patients (>0.35 KU/L).ResultsOf 268 kidney transplant recipients, 66 individuals were atopic (24.6%). Atopic patients were significantly younger than non-atopic patients (49.6 vs 58.0 years old, P = 0.002). No significant difference was found for gender, cold/warm ischemia time, preformed donor-specific antibodies (DSA), HLA mismatches, induction and maintenance immunosuppressive therapy, CMV serostatus, or cause of kidney failure. Patient and graft survival at ten years of follow-up were significantly better in the atopic group, 95.2% versus 69.2% patient survival (P < 0.001), and 87.9% versus 60.8% graft survival (P < 0.001), respectively. A multivariate Cox analysis revealed that atopy predicted recipient and graft survival independently of age and living donor donation. Finally, we found similar rates of biopsy-proven acute cellular and antibody-mediated rejections between atopic and non-atopic recipients.ConclusionAtopy was associated with better long-term patient and graft survival, independently of age and living donor donation after kidney transplantation. Yet, atopy should not be used as a predictor for acute rejection