J. A. Hobson and the machinery question

AbstractThe effects of industrialization on British life were the subject of a broad and intelligible set of debates during the early nineteenth century, often described as the “machinery question.” This question, concerning what today is called “technology,” was framed to include its effects on the whole of human life—an approach rarely seen by the late nineteenth century, a period marked instead by disciplinary specialization. An exception to this trend can be found in the work of the social critic and heterodox economist J. A. Hobson (1858–1940), better known for his critique of imperialism. From the 1890s, Hobson reopened the machinery question by offering anethicalanalysis of mechanization which was both holistic and sustained. In addition to proposing this new lens for viewing Hobson, this article explores the challenges—as well as the opportunities—facing those returning to the machinery question more generally.The research for this article was supported at different times by the AHRC and the Leverhulme Trust.This is the accepted author manuscript. The final published version is available at http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0021937115000088

從廣東話學習者的角度看學習廣東話的需要

published_or_final_versio

Source apportionment of wide range particle size spectra and black carbon collected at the airport of Venice (Italy)

Atmospheric particles are of high concern due to their toxic properties and effects on climate, and large airports are known as significant sources of particles. This study investigates the contribution of the Airport of Venice (Italy) to black carbon (BC), total particle number concentrations (PNC) and particle number size distributions (PNSD) over a large range (14 nm-20 mu m). Continuous measurements were conducted between April and June 2014 at a site located 110 m from the main taxiway and 300 m from the runway. Results revealed no significantly elevated levels of BC and PNC, but exhibited characteristic diurnal profiles. PNSD were then analysed using both k-means cluster analysis and positive matrix factorization. Five clusters were extracted and identified as midday nucleation events, road traffic, aircraft, airport and nighttime pollution. Six factors were apportioned and identified as probable sources according to the size profiles, directional association, diurnal variation, road and airport traffic volumes and their relationships to micrometeorology and common air pollutants. Photochemical nucleation accounted for similar to 44% of total number, followed by road + shipping traffic (26%). Airport-related emissions accounted for similar to 20% of total PNC and showed a main mode at 80 nm and a second mode beyond the lower limit of the SMPS (<14 nm). The remaining factors accounted for less than 10% of number counts, but were relevant for total volume concentrations: nighttime nitrate, regional pollution and local resuspension. An analysis of BC levels over different wind sectors revealed no especially significant contributions from specific directions associated with the main local sources, but a potentially significant role of diurnal dynamics of the mixing layer on BC levels. The approaches adopted in this study have identified and apportioned the main sources of particles and BC at an international airport located in area affected by a complex emission scenario. The results may underpin measures for improving local and regional air quality, and health impact assessment studies. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

The impact of institutional ownership : a study of the Australian equity market

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Business.Institutional investors are now the predominant type of investor in global financial markets. Institutional investors now own more than 64% of the equity in the US stock markets (Federal Reserve Board 2011). In Australia, institutional investors own approximately 60% of the stock market. They are also responsible for the majority of the trades (96% of all trades) in US markets. Yet there still remain many unanswered questions about the impact of institutional investors. The most basic and obvious of these questions is whether institutional investors possess superior investments skills. Given that institutional investors controlled trillions of dollars of funds under delegated management, it seems in congruous that there is still no consensus in the literature about whether they possess superior investments skills. The increase in size has also given institutional investors significant influence. This prompts the question of how these large investors choose to utilise their influence. Whether institutional investors’ presence and activities improve the efficiency of the financial markets, and what role institutional investors play in important corporate decisions. Using a unique set of daily institutional ownership data, we present four empirical studies on the Australian stock market that aims to provide greater understanding of the impact of institutional ownership. Study 1 examines the question of whether institutional investors possess superior skills. The empirical findings suggest that institutional trading as measured by institutional ownership flows prove to be a good gauge of stock returns. The firms that experience the greatest inflow in institutional ownership exhibited superior performance throughout the 12-month period. Consistent with literature, we showed that institutional investors exhibited superior judgement in their trading in stocks of particular characteristics including small, large stocks, growth stocks and value stocks. In the second study, we turn our attention to an evaluation of the impact of institutional investors in IPOs. In spite of the plethora of studies in the Initial public offerings (IPOs) literature, there have been few studies on the impact of institutional ownership in IPOs. Our results suggest that institutional ownership plays an important role in explaining the duo anomalies of IPO underpricing and the long-run underperformance of issuers. Consistent with previous studies, we found large underpricing which was greatest in those issuers with the highest initial institutional ownership levels. Yet these issuers experienced the worst long-run underperformance. The findings are consistent with overreactions driven by informational cascade in the IPO market. High level of initial institutional interests generates informational herding that drives these issuers’ prices beyond the fundamental. Over time, market correction leads to the long-run underperformance of issuers. The findings suggest that Institutional investors’ presence in IPO may lead to greater mispricing in process already beset with uncertainty. Study 3 of the thesis examine whether there is any evidence that institutional investors fulfil the very important role as monitors of corporate managers’ actions. Many have hoped that the large equity stakes that institutional investors owned in corporations will give them sufficient incentives to act as an important source of corporate governance (see Black 1992; Kahn & Minton 1998). In so doing, institutional investors can help to reduce the agency problem that arise as the result of the separation of ownership and management. We test whether institutional investors fulfil this key role as monitors in a sample of Australian mergers and acquisitions. We found limited support for institutional monitoring. While the market have more favourable reactions to the takeover announcements made by bidders with high levels of institutional ownership, these bidders did not exhibit superior stock market performance in the long-run. Rather than performing the very important role as monitor, our results suggest that institutional investors may have a preference for following the Wall Street Rule and vote with their feet. Institutional trading (as measured by changes in institutional ownership) immediately prior to the takeover announcement provided a good indication of the long term performance of the bidder. In the final study, we examined whether institutional investors’ activities contribute to the turn-of-the year effect in the Australia. We do so with the view that the results may be a reflection of the impact of institutional investors on market efficiency more generally. The Turn-of-the-year effect refers to the abnormally high returns for small stock in the month of January (and July for countries like Australia). The anomalous seasonality in returns is one of the most enduring anomalies in global financial markets. For both the December/January and the June/July period, we examine the institutional investors’ flows to determine whether there is a link with institutional investors’ action and the turn-of-the-year effects. Our results are consistent with institutional investors conducting window dressing trades in the December/January period. It is important to note that Australia’s financial year ends in June, so there are incentives for institutions to conduct both window dressing and tax-related selling in the June/July period. We found strong evidence that institutional investors conduct taxrelated transactions and that these trades significantly impact on the stock returns in the June–July period. We come to the conclusion that institutional investors put greater importance on tax related selling than window-dressing in the June July period. These four empirical studies have served to enhance our understanding of the impact of Institutional Investors who are an ever-growing influence on global financial markets

Relationship between PD-L1 expression and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in canine mammary tumor

Background: Studies pointed out that the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have considerable importance in canine mammary tumor (CMT). On the other hand, cancer cells sometimes find ways to use immune checkpoint proteins as a shield to avoid being identified and attacked by the immune system as programmed death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1). In this study, it was investigated the relationship between PD-L1 expression, stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in canine mammary tumor (CMT), and the association with clinical and pathological characteristics of the tumors. Materials, Methods & Results: PD-L1 expression and TILs were assessed in 23 female dogs with CMT. The tumors were grouped into simple carcinoma (CA, n = 8) and complex carcinoma (CC, n = 15). Stromal TILs were assessed using two thresholds as TILs-Low representing < 50% of infiltrate within stromal area and TILs-High representing = 50% of stromal area. Clinicopathological data of CMT was characterized according to key parameters, as well as survival rates. TILs evaluation within tumor stroma revealed that 65.2% (n = 15) of tumors had TILs-Low. PD-L1 expression and stromal TILs were significantly associated (P = 0.009). PD-L1 expression was observed in 39% (n = 9) of all tumors of which 17.4% (n = 4) were from CA group and 21.7% (n = 5) were from CC group. PD-L1 expression within TILs was observed in 39% (n = 9) of the tumors. PD-L1 in malignant epithelium was present in all lymph node metastasis (n = 5). PD-L1 was associated with involvement of regional lymph nodes (P = 0.034). Survival curves demonstrated TILs-Low had higher (P = 0.010) overall survival (OS) compared with TILs-High, and PD-L1+ and PD-L1– (P = 0.06) did not differed. The clinicopathological variables significantly correlated with OS by univariate analysis were the histological grade (P = 0.009), lymph node involvement (P = 0.004), stromal TILs (P = 0.016), and PD-L1+/TILs-High vs. PD-L1–/TILs-Low (P = 0.010). Multivariate analysis revealed that group of tumors with grade II-III was independent and negative prognostic factors for OS. Discussion: In this study, PD-L1 was differently expressed according to the histologic subtypes of TMC. Currently, has been showed the presence of PD-L1 in several canine cancer. Nevertheless, only a few studies have described PD-L1 protein expression in dog tumors and showed PD-L1 was constitutively expressed on canine tumor cell lines, although the levels of basal expression were very variable. This expression can be modulated by IFN-¿ exposure. In the present study, it was found a strong PD-L1 expression on TILs. The increase in PD-L1 cell surface expression by tumor cells can lead to decreased T-cell proliferation and increased apoptosis. In human breast cancer (BC) the PD-L1 expression was expressed in TILs and tumor epithelium. It has been reported the association of stromal TILs and PD-L1 expression with aggressive types and stages of BC. In this study, it was detected PD-L1 expression in malignant epithelium in all lymph node metastasis. PD-L1 overexpression was significantly associated with a series of clinicopathological parameters. It was demonstrated that PD-L1+/TILs-High had higher risk of overall survival (OS) than another group of interaction. High PDL1 expression may be a prognostic indicator for reduced OS, while tumor PD-L1+ was associated with poorer disease-free survival. The presence of TILs has shown to be potentially predictive and a prognostic factor in BC subtypes. In CMT, it has been reported that a high proportion of TILs was correlated to several malignancy characteristics. In relation to PDL1, further research is necessary to clarify this immune checkpoint as a potential therapeutic target and its application in clinical practice in CMT

GIFT-Grab: Real-time C++ and Python multi-channel video capture, processing and encoding API

GIFT-Grab is an open-source API for acquiring, processing and encoding video streams in real time. GIFT-Grab supports video acquisition using various frame-grabber hardware as well as from standard-compliant network streams and video files. The current GIFT-Grab release allows for multi-channel video acquisition and encoding at the maximum frame rate of supported hardware – 60 frames per second (fps). GIFT-Grab builds on well-established highly configurable multimedia libraries including FFmpeg and OpenCV. GIFT-Grab exposes a simplified high-level API, aimed at facilitating integration into client applications with minimal coding effort. The core implementation of GIFT-Grab is in C++11. GIFT-Grab also features a Python API compatible with the widely used scientific computing packages NumPy and SciPy. GIFT-Grab was developed for capturing multiple simultaneous intra-operative video streams from medical imaging devices. Yet due to the ubiquity of video processing in research, GIFT-Grab can be used in many other areas. GIFT-Grab is hosted and managed on the software repository of the Centre for Medical Image Computing (CMIC) at University College London, and is also mirrored on GitHub. In addition it is available for installation from the Python Package Index (PyPI) via the pip installation tool

Real-world assessment of vehicle air pollutant emissions subset by vehicle type, fuel and EURO class: New findings from the recent UK EDAR field campaigns, and implications for emissions restricted zones

This paper reports upon and analyses vehicle emissions measured by the Emissions Detecting and Reporting (EDAR) system, a Vehicle Emissions Remote Sensing System (VERSS) type device, used in five UK based field campaigns in 2016 and 2017. In total 94,940 measurements were made of 75,622 individual vehicles during the five campaigns. The measurements are subset into vehicle type (bus, car, HGV, minibus, motorcycle, other, plant, taxi, van, and unknown), fuel type for car (petrol and diesel), and EURO class, and particulate matter (PM), nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are reported. In terms of recent EURO class emission trends, NO and NOx emissions decrease from EURO 5 to EURO 6 for nearly all vehicle categories. Interestingly, taxis show a marked increase in NO2 emissions from EURO 5 to EURO 6. Perhaps most concerningly is a marked increase in PM emissions from EURO 5 to EURO 6 for HGVs. Another noteworthy observation was that vans, buses and HGVs of unknown EURO class were often the dirtiest vehicles in their classes, suggesting that where counts of such vehicles are high, they will likely make a significant contribution to local emissions. Using Vehicle Specific Power (VSP) weighting we provide an indication of the magnitude of the on-site VERSS bias and also a closer estimate of the regulatory test/on-road emissions differences. Finally, a new ‘EURO Updating Potential’ (EUP) factor is introduced, to assess the effect of a range of air pollutant emissions restricted zones either currently in use or marked for future introduction. In particular, the effects of the London based Low Emission Zone (LEZ) and Ultra-Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ), and the proposed Birmingham based Clean Air Zone (CAZ) are estimated. With the current vehicle fleet, the impacts of the ULEZ and CAZ will be far more significant than the LEZ, which was introduced in 2008

Detecting high emitting vehicle subsets using emission remote sensing systems

It is often assumed that a small proportion of a given vehicle fleet produces a disproportionate amount of air pollution emissions. If true, policy actions to target the highly polluting section of the fleet could lead to significant improvements in air quality. In this paper, high-emitter vehicle subsets are defined and their contributions to the total fleet emission are assessed. A new approach, using enrichment factor in cumulative Pareto analysis is proposed for detecting high emitter vehicle subsets within the vehicle fleet. A large dataset (over 94,000 remote-sensing measurements) from five UK-based EDAR (emission detecting and reporting system) field campaigns for the years 2016–17 is used as the test data. In addition to discussions about the high emitter screening criteria, the data analysis procedure and future issues of implementation are discussed. The results show different high emitter trends dependent on the pollutant investigated, and the vehicle type investigated. For example, the analysis indicates that 23 % and 51 % of petrol and diesel cars were responsible for 80 % of NO emissions within that subset of the fleet, respectively. Overall, the contributions of vehicles that account for 80 % of total fleet emissions usually reduce with EURO class improvement, with the subset fleet emissions becoming more homogenous. The high emitter constituent was more noticeable for pollutant PM compared with the other gaseous pollutants, and it was also more prominent for petrol cars when compared to diesel ones

Cloud-based genomics pipelines for ophthalmology: Reviewed from research to clinical practice

Aim: To familiarize clinicians with clinical genomics, and to describe the potential of cloud computing for enabling the future routine use of genomics in eye hospital settings. Design: Review article exploring the potential for cloud-based genomic pipelines in eye hospitals. Methods: Narrative review of the literature relevant to clinical genomics and cloud computing, using PubMed and Google Scholar. A broad overview of these fields is provided, followed by key examples of their integration. Results: Cloud computing could benefit clinical genomics due to scalability of resources, potentially lower costs, and ease of data sharing between multiple institutions. Challenges include complex pricing of services, costs from mistakes or experimentation, data security, and privacy concerns. Conclusions and future perspectives: Clinical genomics is likely to become more routinely used in clinical practice. Currently this is delivered in highly specialist centers. In the future, cloud computing could enable delivery of clinical genomics services in non-specialist hospital settings, in a fast, cost-effective way, whilst enhancing collaboration between clinical and research teams

Apoyo social y dependencia percibida en cuidadores familiares de pacientes con enfermedades crónicas

Objective: To describe social support and perceived dependency in family caregivers of people with chronic diseases.Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional study; conducted on 56 informal caregivers of people with chronic diseases, purposively selected. An online form was used for data collection.Results: The mean age of informal caregivers was 46.6 years, with a greater predominance of women (89.3%), almost 70% were unemployed and 43% had upper secondary education. Regarding social support, 55.4% of the participants perceived it as normal on the total scale and in its affective dimension (53.6%), but they perceived little confidential support (53.6%). Regarding the perceived dependency of their patient, they perceived him to be moderately dependent (39.3%), followed by severely dependent (21.4%), requiring more support in personal hygiene, getting up and down stairs, dressing and undressing, and moving around.Conclusions: The socio-demographic profile of informal caregivers corresponds to a female, around fifty years of age, who does not work to care for her sick family member. In terms of social support, caregivers perceived little confidential support. The degree of perceived dependency was mostly moderate, followed by severe and total dependency. Addressing family caregivers' perceptions of social support and dependency of the chronically ill is critical for health care professionals to improve the quality of life of family caregivers and to ensure that the care provided is effective and sustainable in the long term.Objetivo: Describir el apoyo social y la dependencia percibida en cuidadores familiares de personas con enfermedades crónicas.Método: Estudio descriptivo, transversal; realizado en 56 cuidadores informales de personas con enfermedades crónicas, seleccionados intencionalmente. Se utilizó un formulario online para la recogida de datos.Resultados: La edad media de los cuidadores informales fue de 46,6 años, con un mayor predominio de mujeres (89,3%), casi el 70% estaban desempleados y el 43% tenían estudios secundarios superiores. Respecto al apoyo social, el 55,4% de los participantes lo percibían como normal en la escala total y en su dimensión afectiva (53,6%), pero percibían poco apoyo confidencial (53,6%). En cuanto a la dependencia percibida de su paciente, lo percibieron como moderadamente dependiente (39,3%), seguido de severamente dependiente (21,4%); requiriendo más apoyo en la higiene personal, subir y bajar escaleras, vestirse y desvestirse, y desplazarse.Conclusiones: El perfil sociodemográfico de los cuidadores informales corresponde a una mujer, en torno a los cincuenta años, que no trabaja para cuidar a su familiar enfermo. En cuanto al apoyo social, los cuidadores percibieron poco apoyo confidencial. El grado de dependencia percibido fue mayoritariamente moderado, seguido de dependencia severa y total. Abordar las percepciones de los cuidadores familiares sobre el apoyo social y la dependencia de los enfermos crónicos es fundamental para que los profesionales sanitarios mejoren la calidad de vida de los cuidadores familiares y garanticen que la atención prestada sea eficaz y sostenible a largo plaz