Self-employment, wage employment and informality in a developing economy

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.We construct a simple model incorporating various urban labour market phenomena obtaining in developing economies, and we give a diagrammatic formulation of the market equilibrium. Our initial formulation assumes an integrated labour market and allows for entrepreneurship, self-employment, and wage employment. We then introduce labour market segmentation. In equilibrium voluntary and involuntary self-employment, formal and informal wage employment, and formal and informal entrepreneurship may all coexist. We illustrate the model by an example calibrated on Latin American data, examining individual labour market transitions and implications of education/training and labour market policies

Dietary factors affecting exogenous and endogenous sources of fat and carbohydrate for energy production and synthesis Annual progress report, 1 Oct. 1967 - 30 Jun. 1968

Dietary effects on total fatty acid content in rats, and changes in liver, adipose tissue, and carbohydrate metabolis

Performance of carrot and onion seed primed with beneficial microorganisms in glasshouse and field trials

Beneficial microorganisms (Clonostachys rosea IK726, Pseudomonas chlororaphis MA342, Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0, Trichoderma harzianum T22 and Trichoderma viride S17a) were successfully applied to carrot and onion seed during a commercial drum priming process. Applied microorganisms were recovered above the target of at least 1 × 105 cfu g−1 seed following subsequent application of pesticides to the seed according to standard commercial practices of film-coating carrot and pelletting onion seed. Two glasshouse experiments consistently showed that priming improved emergence of carrot seed and that C. rosea IK726 further improved emergence time. Priming improved emergence of onion seed in one glasshouse experiment, but had an unexpected negative effect on emergence in the second experiment, possibly due to the proliferation of an unidentified indigenous microorganism during priming, becoming deleterious in high numbers. In this experiment, the application of beneficial microorganisms during priming negated this effect and significantly improved emergence. For each crop, a series of field trials was also carried out over three years, at two different sites each year. Although some positive effects of different seed treatments were seen on emergence or yield in individual field trials, no consistent effects were found for primed or microorganism-treated seed across all sites and years. However, a combined analysis of data for all years and sites indicated that pesticide application did consistently improve emergence and yield for both carrot and onion. This is the first comprehensive study assessing glasshouse and field performance of carrot and onion seed primed with beneficial microorganisms during a commercial process of drum priming in the UK

Mathematical modelling plant signalling networks

During the last two decades, molecular genetic studies and the completion of the sequencing of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome have increased knowledge of hormonal regulation in plants. These signal transduction pathways act in concert through gene regulatory and signalling networks whose main components have begun to be elucidated. Our understanding of the resulting cellular processes is hindered by the complex, and sometimes counter-intuitive, dynamics of the networks, which may be interconnected through feedback controls and cross-regulation. Mathematical modelling provides a valuable tool to investigate such dynamics and to perform in silico experiments that may not be easily carried out in a laboratory. In this article, we firstly review general methods for modelling gene and signalling networks and their application in plants. We then describe specific models of hormonal perception and cross-talk in plants. This sub-cellular analysis paves the way for more comprehensive mathematical studies of hormonal transport and signalling in a multi-scale setting

Structural Optimization in automotive design

Although mathematical structural optimization has been an active research area for twenty years, there has been relatively little penetration into the design process. Experience indicates that often this is due to the traditional layout-analysis design process. In many cases, optimization efforts have been outgrowths of analysis groups which are themselves appendages to the traditional design process. As a result, optimization is often introduced into the design process too late to have a significant effect because many potential design variables have already been fixed. A series of examples are given to indicate how structural optimization has been effectively integrated into the design process

Activating bound entanglement in multi-particle systems

We analyze the existence of activable bound entangled states in multi-particle systems. We first give a series of examples which illustrate some different ways in which bound entangled states can be activated by letting some of the parties to share maximally entangled states. Then, we derive necessary conditions for a state to be distillable as well as to be activable. These conditions turn out to be also sufficient for a certain family of multi-qubit states. We use these results to explicitely to construct states displaying novel properties related to bound entanglement and its activation.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Recognition Memory Dysfunction Relates to Hippocampal Subfield Volume: A Study of Cognitively Normal and Mildly Impaired Older Adults.

ObjectivesThe current study examined recognition memory dysfunction and its neuroanatomical substrates in cognitively normal older adults and those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).MethodsParticipants completed the Mnemonic Similarity Task, which provides simultaneous measures of recognition memory and mnemonic discrimination. They also underwent structural neuroimaging to assess volume of medial temporal cortex and hippocampal subfields.ResultsAs expected, individuals diagnosed with MCI had significantly worse recognition memory performance and reduced volume across medial temporal cortex and hippocampal subfields relative to cognitively normal older adults. After controlling for diagnostic group differences, however, recognition memory was significantly related to whole hippocampus volume, and to volume of the dentate gyrus/CA3 subfield in particular. Recognition memory was also related to mnemonic discrimination, a fundamental component of episodic memory that has previously been linked to dentate gyrus/CA3 structure and function.DiscussionResults reveal that hippocampal subfield volume is sensitive to individual differences in recognition memory in older adults independent of clinical diagnosis. This supports the notion that episodic memory declines along a continuum within this age group, not just between diagnostic groups