The Economic Value of A Passport: A Model of Citizenship and the Social Dividend in a Global Economy -

In a world of fully mobile capital and highly immobile labour, citizenship is effectively an entitlement to the 'dividend' arising from the social infrastructure accumulated in a particular country of birth. The paper opens with the reasons why the passport (ie citizenship) can in consequence be considered as an economic asset with a value that can in principle be determined analytically. A simple endogenous growth model is set up which defines the level and growth of per capita income in a world economy where capital is fully mobile and labour is fully immobile, and where governments set a rate of taxation such as to achieve the optimal balance between the stocks of private capital and social infrastructure. The 'passport value' is then defined as the difference between national income net of capital charges, wage costs and taxes when divided equally among the population; and is shown to depend on per capita income, the rate of growth and the parameters of the production function. A preliminary estimate of the main variables in the model, and the scale of expenditure on social infrastructure, for a wide range of countries suggests what the order of magnitude of the 'value of a passport' might be. A brief section on the wider implications of the findings concludes.

Oxidation mechanism of formic acid on the bismuth adatom-modified Pt(111) surface

In order to improve catalytic processes, elucidation of reaction mechanisms is essential. Here, supported by a combination of experimental and computational results, the oxidation mechanism of formic acid on Pt(111) electrodes modified by the incorporation of bismuth adatoms is revealed. In the proposed model, formic acid is first physisorbed on bismuth and then deprotonated and chemisorbed in formate form, also on bismuth, from which configuration the C-H bond is cleaved, on a neighbor Pt site, yielding CO2. It was found computationally that the activation energy for the C-H bond cleavage step is negligible, which was also verified experimentally.This work has been financially supported by the MINECO (Spain) (project CTQ2013-44083-P) and Generalitat Valenciana (project PROMETEOII/2014/013).Perales Rondón, JV.; Ferre Vilaplana, A.; Feliu, J.; Herrero, E. (2014). Oxidation mechanism of formic acid on the bismuth adatom-modified Pt(111) surface. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 136(38):13110-13113. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja505943hS13110131131363

Biofilm related infections: is there a place for conservative treatment of port-related bloodstream infections?

Vascular catheters are the most frequently used indwelling medical devices and have become necessary tools for patients with chronic or critical illness. Surgically or percutaneously placed venous access ports are used to facilitate long-term intravenous therapy. The widespread use of these devices has resulted in a dramatic increase in catheter-related infections. It implies considerable morbidity, occasional mortality, and an increase in medical costs derived from its diagnosis, treatment, and mainly, prolongation of the patients in-hospital stay. Treatment of such infections is often difficult due to the presence of biofilms on the port inner surface; inside the biofilms, bacteria are less vulnerable to antimicrobial agents. Current diagnostic strategies are suboptimal, and most successful treatment options require removal of the infected device followed by a course of antimicrobial therapy. There are limited data concerning the efficacy of antibiotic treatment of port-related bloodstream infections without catheter removal

Increase in size and nitrogen concentration enhances seedling survival in Mediterranean plantations:insights from an ecophysiological conceptual model of plant survival

Reduction in size and tissue nutrient concentration is widely considered to increase seedling drought resistance in dry and oligotrophic plantation sites. However, much evidence indicates that increase in size and tissue nutrient concentration improves seedling survival in Mediterranean forest plantations. This suggests that the ecophysiological processes and functional attributes relevant for early seedling survival in Mediterranean climate must be reconsidered. We propose a ecophysiological conceptual model for seedling survival in Mediterranean-climate plantations to provide a physiological explanation of the frequent positive relationship between outplanting performance and seedling size and nutrient concentration. The model considers the physiological processes outlined in the plantation establishment model of Burdett (Can J For Res 20:415-427, 1990), but incorporates other physiological processes that drive seedling survival, such as N remobilization, carbohydrate storage and plant hydraulics. The model considers that seedling survival in Mediterranean climates is linked to high growth capacity during the wet season. The model is for container plants and is based on three main principles, (1) Mediterranean climates are not dry the entire year but usually have two seasons of contrasting water availability; (2) summer drought is the main cause of seedling mortality; in this context, deep and large roots is a key trait for avoiding lethal water stress; (3) attainment of large root systems in the dry season is promoted when seedlings have high growth during the wet season. High growth is achieved when seedlings can divert large amount of resources to support new root and shoot growth. Functional traits that confer high photosynthesis, nutrient remobilization capacity, and non-structural carbohydrate storage promote high growth. Increases in seedling size and nutrient concentration strongly affect these physiological processes. Traits that confer high drought resistance are of low value during the wet season because hinder growth capacity. We provide specific evidence to support the model and finally we discuss its implications and the factors that may alter the frequent increase in performance with increase in seedling size and tissue nutrient concentration