Study on the feasibility of a tool to measure the macroeconomic impact of structural reforms

The main aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of empirical tools to study the impact of structural reforms on the macroeconomic performance in the member countries of the European Union (EU). This report presents the results of the project "Study on the feasibility of a tool to measure the macroeconomic impact of structural reforms" (ECFIN-E/2005/001) and amalgamates the findings of the two previous interim reports and the main conclusions of the workshop held in Brussels on May 11th. The main goal of the project is to determine the most reliable and robust methods to investigate the impacts of economy-wide structural reforms as well as reforms in individual markets or sectors, and to make suggestions as to how they best to implement them and possible improvements of the institutional dataset. In addition, a roadmap has been created which includes the main steps in the model-developing process, and solutions feasible even in the short term are discussed.The most relevant conclusion to be drawn from the study is that the most appropriate tool that can be developed in the short term is the integration of a DSGE model (preferably QUEST due to its in-house availability) with different satellite models, to be developed.structural reforms, product markets, labour markets, financial markets, Dreger, Art�s, Moreno, Ramos, Suri�ach

Efferent Control of the Electrical and Mechanical Properties of Hair Cells in the Bullfrog's Sacculus

Background: Hair cells in the auditory, vestibular, and lateral-line systems respond to mechanical stimulation and transmit information to afferent nerve fibers. The sensitivity of mechanoelectrical transduction is modulated by the efferent pathway, whose activity usually reduces the responsiveness of hair cells. The basis of this effect remains unknown. Methodology and Principal Findings: We employed immunocytological, electrophysiological, and micromechanical approaches to characterize the anatomy of efferent innervation and the effect of efferent activity on the electrical and mechanical properties of hair cells in the bullfrog’s sacculus. We found that efferent fibers form extensive synaptic terminals on all macular and extramacular hair cells. Macular hair cells expressing the Ca 2+-buffering protein calretinin contain half as many synaptic ribbons and are innervated by twice as many efferent terminals as calretinin-negative hair cells. Efferent activity elicits inhibitory postsynaptic potentials in hair cells and thus inhibits their electrical resonance. In hair cells that exhibit spiking activity, efferent stimulation suppresses the generation of action potentials. Finally, efferent activity triggers a displacement of the hair bundle’s resting position. Conclusions and Significance: The hair cells of the bullfrog’s sacculus receive a rich efferent innervation with the heaviest projection to calretinin-containing cells. Stimulation of efferent axons desensitizes the hair cells and suppresses their spiking activity. Although efferent activation influences mechanoelectrical transduction, the mechanical effects on hair bundles ar

Improved antiretroviral treatment outcome in a rural African setting is associated with cART initiation at higher CD4 cell counts and better general health condition

Background Data on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in remote rural African regions is increasing. Methods We assessed prospectively initial cART in HIV-infected adults treated from 2005 to 2008 at St. Francis Designated District Hospital, Ifakara, Tanzania. Adherence was assisted by personal adherence supporters. We estimated risk factors of death or loss to follow-up by Cox regression during the first 12 months of cART. Results Overall, 1,463 individuals initiated cART, which was nevirapine-based in 84.6%. The median age was 40 years (IQR 34-47), 35.4% were males, 7.6% had proven tuberculosis. Median CD4 cell count was 131 cells/μl and 24.8% had WHO stage 4. Median CD4 cell count increased by 61 and 130 cells/μl after 6 and 12 months, respectively. 215 (14.7%) patients modified their treatment, mostly due to toxicity (56%), in particular polyneuropathy and anemia. Overall, 129 patients died (8.8%) and 189 (12.9%) were lost to follow-up. In a multivariate analysis, low CD4 cells at starting cART were associated with poorer survival and loss to follow-up (HR 1.77, 95% CI 1.15-2.75, p = 0.009; for CD4 100 cells/μl). Higher weight was strongly associated with better survival (HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.51-0.76, p < 0.001 per 10 kg increase). Conclusions cART initiation at higher CD4 cell counts and better general health condition reduces HIV related mortality in a rural African setting. Efforts must be made to promote earlier HIV diagnosis to start cART timely. More research is needed to evaluate effective strategies to follow cART at a peripheral level with limited technical possibilities

Comprehensive inventory of true flies (Diptera) at a tropical site

Peer reviewe

Comprehensive inventory of true flies (Diptera) at a tropical site

Estimations of tropical insect diversity generally suffer from lack of known groups or faunas against which extrapolations can be made, and have seriously underestimated the diversity of some taxa. Here we report the intensive inventory of a four-hectare tropical cloud forest in Costa Rica for one year, which yielded 4332 species of Diptera, providing the first verifiable basis for diversity of a major group of insects at a single site in the tropics. In total 73 families were present, all of which were studied to the species level, providing potentially complete coverage of all families of the order likely to be present at the site. Even so, extrapolations based on our data indicate that with further sampling, the actual total for the site could be closer to 8000 species. Efforts to completely sample a site, although resource-intensive and time-consuming, are needed to better ground estimations of world biodiversity based on limited sampling

Determinación simultánea de la conductividad térmica de celosía y resistencia térmica grano / grano en diamante policristalino

The in-plane and cross-plane thermal conductivity of polycrystalline diamond near its nucleation region have been measured by Raman thermography assisted by TiO2 nanoparticles and by picosecond time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR). This information has been combined with a finite element thermal model making use of the real grain structure, including information on the grain orientation, of the film extracted by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). This methodology allows to simultaneously determine the thermal resistance between grains and the lattice thermal conductivity of the sample without any adjustable parameter. The results show that the lattice thermal conductivity of the near nucleation diamond is 5–8 times smaller than the one observed in IIa single-crystalline diamond; the thermal resistance between grains is at least one order of magnitude higher than values predicted by molecular dynamic simulations. Finally, we show how the anisotropy in thermal conductivity observed in polycrystalline diamond naturally emerges from its grain structure and the thermal resistance at grain boundaries