Sustained Growth in Nebraska

National Macroeconomic conditions are favorable for future expansion of income, employment, and revenue in Nebraska. In particular, the U.S. economy is now in the heart of an expansion expected to persist over the three year forecast period. The principal engine of growth will be a sustained expansion in private sector investment and consumption demand. However, the rate of growth in the national economy likely will be moderate rather than rapid. At least three factors will act to moderate growth. The first is higher energy prices. Rapid growth in global demand is expected to keep prices for oil and natural gas high at least into 2005. These higher energy prices will reduce the rate of growth in gross domestic product, and create a higher than normal risk that the economy could fall back into recession. However, the most likely outcome is that the economy will continue to expand at a moderate rate in 2005, and beyond. Federal policy trends also will moderate growth. Over the outlook period, Federal Reserve interest rate policy will gradually shift from pro-growth to neutral as the Fed raises interest rates over the next two years. The Federal Funds rate currently stands at 1.75 basis points and a neutral rate is typically in the range of 3 to 4 basis points. The third factor will be a marked decline in the rate of growth in federal spending. Federal spending growth averaged 9 percent annually from 2002 through 2004. Spending growth should decline substantially beginning in 2005 as part of efforts to reduce large annual federal budget deficits

Manipulating the quantum information of the radial modes of trapped ions: Linear phononics, entanglement generation, quantum state transmission and non-locality tests

We present a detailed study on the possibility of manipulating quantum information encoded in the "radial" modes of arrays of trapped ions (i.e., in the ions' oscillations orthogonal to the trap's main axis). In such systems, because of the tightness of transverse confinement, the radial modes pertaining to different ions can be addressed individually. In the first part of the paper we show that, if local control of the radial trapping frequencies is available, any linear optical and squeezing operation on the locally defined modes - on single as well as on many modes - can be reproduced by manipulating the frequencies. Then, we proceed to describe schemes apt to generate unprecedented degrees of bipartite and multipartite continuous variable entanglement under realistic noisy working conditions, and even restricting only to a global control of the trapping frequencies. Furthermore, we consider the transmission of the quantum information encoded in the radial modes along the array of ions, and show it to be possible to a remarkable degree of accuracy, for both finite-dimensional and continuous variable quantum states. Finally, as an application, we show that the states which can be generated in this setting allow for the violation of multipartite non-locality tests, by feasible displaced parity measurements. Such a demonstration would be a first test of quantum non-locality for "massive" degrees of freedom (i.e., for degrees of freedom describing the motion of massive particles).Comment: 21 pages; this paper, presenting a far more extensive and detailed analysis, completely supersedes arXiv:0708.085

Growth Recovery and Faltering through Early Adolescence in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Determinants and Implications for Cognitive Development

Child chronic undernutrition, as measured by stunting, is prevalent in low- and middle-income countries and is among the major threats to child development. While stunting and its implications for cognitive development have been considered irreversible beyond early childhood, there is a lack of consensus in the literature on this, as there is some evidence of recovery from stunting and that this recovery may be associated with improvements in cognition. Less is known, however, about the drivers of growth recovery and the aspects of recovery linked to cognitive development. In this paper, we investigate the factors associated with growth recovery and faltering through age 12 years and the implications of the incidence, timing, and persistence of post-infancy recovery from stunting for cognitive development using longitudinal data from Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam. We find that the factors most systematically associated with accelerated growth both before and after early childhood and across countries include mother’s height, household living standards and shocks, community wages, food prices, and garbage collection. Our results suggest that post-infancy recovery from stunting is more likely to be systematically associated with higher achievement scores across countries when it is persistent and that associations between growth trajectories and cognitive achievement in middle childhood do not persist through early adolescence across countries. Overall, our findings indicate that growth after early childhood is responsive to changes in the household and community environments and that growth promotion after early childhood may yield improvements in child cognitive development

Treatment of osteochondral lesions of the talus: a systematic review

The aim of this study was to summarize all eligible studies to compare the effectiveness of treatment strategies for osteochondral defects (OCD) of the talus. Electronic databases from January 1966 to December 2006 were systematically screened. The proportion of the patient population treated successfully was noted, and percentages were calculated. For each treatment strategy, study size weighted success rates were calculated. Fifty-two studies described the results of 65 treatment groups of treatment strategies for OCD of the talus. One randomized clinical trial was identified. Seven studies described the results of non-operative treatment, 4 of excision, 13 of excision and curettage, 18 of excision, curettage and bone marrow stimulation (BMS), 4 of an autogenous bone graft, 2 of transmalleolar drilling (TMD), 9 of osteochondral transplantation (OATS), 4 of autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI), 3 of retrograde drilling and 1 of fixation. OATS, BMS and ACI scored success rates of 87, 85 and 76%, respectively. Retrograde drilling and fixation scored 88 and 89%, respectively. Together with the newer techniques OATS and ACI, BMS was identified as an effective treatment strategy for OCD of the talus. Because of the relatively high cost of ACI and the knee morbidity seen in OATS, we conclude that BMS is the treatment of choice for primary osteochondral talar lesions. However, due to great diversity in the articles and variability in treatment results, no definitive conclusions can be drawn. Further sufficiently powered, randomized clinical trials with uniform methodology and validated outcome measures should be initiated to compare the outcome of surgical strategies for OCD of the talus

Ir-LBP, an Ixodes ricinus Tick Salivary LTB4-Binding Lipocalin, Interferes with Host Neutrophil Function

BACKGROUND: During their blood meal, ticks secrete a wide variety of proteins that can interfere with their host's defense mechanisms. Among these proteins, lipocalins play a major role in the modulation of the inflammatory response. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We previously identified 14 new lipocalin genes in the tick Ixodes ricinus. One of them codes for a protein that specifically binds leukotriene B4 with a very high affinity (Kd: +/-1 nM), similar to that of the neutrophil transmembrane receptor BLT1. By in silico approaches, we modeled the 3D structure of the protein and the binding of LTB4 into the ligand pocket. This protein, called Ir-LBP, inhibits neutrophil chemotaxis in vitro and delays LTB4-induced apoptosis. Ir-LBP also inhibits the host inflammatory response in vivo by decreasing the number and activation of neutrophils located at the tick bite site. Thus, Ir-LBP participates in the tick's ability to interfere with proper neutrophil function in inflammation. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These elements suggest that Ir-LBP is a "scavenger" of LTB4, which, in combination with other factors, such as histamine-binding proteins or proteins inhibiting the classical or alternative complement pathways, permits the tick to properly manage its blood meal. Moreover, with regard to its properties, Ir-LBP could possibly be used as a therapeutic tool for illnesses associated with an increased LTB4 production.Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tSCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Airborne Imaging Spectroscopy for Mapping Urban Green Pools

No abstract availabl