Problems of accountancy and interpretation in assessing long-term economic performance

"Hier wird davon ausgegangen, daß es bei der Messung ökonomischer Aktivitäten im wesentlichen zwei Arten von Problemen gibt. Die erste besteht aus solchen Fragen, die zumindest prinzipiell dadurch lösbar sind, daß man beobachtete oder abgeleitete Marktpreise verwendet. Der zweite Problemtyp besteht aus Fragen, die nur über die Verwendung geschätzter (oder 'synthetischer') Preise gelöst werden können, weil die beobachteten Preise aus vielerlei Gründen fehlerhaft sind. So könnte z. B. ein fundamentales Marktungleichgewicht vorliegen oder eine nichttolerierbare Abhängigkeit von einer besonderen - möglicherweise willkürlichen - Vermögensverteilung. Oder es könnten Verzerrungen durch Schwankungen der relativen Preise oder auch durch eine allgemeine Inflation oder eine Deflation hervorgerufen worden sein. Derartige Verzerrungen können auch von Zöllen, von festgesetzten Handels- oder Produktionsquoten und unterschiedlichen anderen administrativen Eingriffen in den Markt verursacht werden. Beide Problemtypen werden diskutiert und mit neueren Lösungsversuchen dargestellt. Am Schluß der Arbeit finden sich einige Vorschläge zur weiteren Forschung." (Autorenreferat

Microcomputer-based tests for repeated-measures: Metric properties and predictive validities

A menu of psychomotor and mental acuity tests were refined. Field applications of such a battery are, for example, a study of the effects of toxic agents or exotic environments on performance readiness, or the determination of fitness for duty. The key requirement of these tasks is that they be suitable for repeated-measures applications, and so questions of stability and reliability are a continuing, central focus of this work. After the initial (practice) session, seven replications of 14 microcomputer-based performance tests (32 measures) were completed by 37 subjects. Each test in the battery had previously been shown to stabilize in less than five 90-second administrations and to possess retest reliabilities greater than r = 0.707 for three minutes of testing. However, all the tests had never been administered together as a battery and they had never been self-administered. In order to provide predictive validity for intelligence measurement, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised and the Wonderlic Personnel Test were obtained on the same subjects

Duration and exposure to virtual environments: Sickness curves during and across sessions

Although simulator sickness is known to increase with protracted exposure and to diminish with repeated sessions, limited systematic research has been performed in these areas. This study reviewed the few studies with sufficient information available to determine the effect-that exposure duration and repeated exposure have on motion sickness. This evaluation confirmed that longer exposures produce more symptoms and that total sickness subsides over repeated exposures. Additional evaluation was performed to investigate the precise form of this relationship and to determine whether the same form was generalizable across varied simulator environments. The results indicated that exposure duration and repeated exposures are significantly linearly related to sickness outcomes (duration being positively related and repetition negatively related to total sickness). This was true over diverse systems and large subject pools. This result verified the generalizability of-the relationships among sickness, exposure duration, and repeated exposures. Additional research is indicated to determine the optimal length of a single exposure and the optimal intersession interval to facilitate adaptation

Pseudotumor cerebri syndrome in childhood : incidence, clinical profile and risk factors in a national prospective population-based cohort study

Aim To investigate the epidemiology, clinical profile and risk factors of pseudotumor cerebri syndrome (PTCS) in children aged 1-16 years. Methods A national prospective population-based cohort study over 25 months. Newly diagnosed PTCS cases notified via British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU) were ascertained using classical diagnostic criteria and categorised according to 2013 revised diagnostic criteria. We derived national age, sex and weight-specific annual incidence rates and assessed effects of sex and weight category. Results We identified 185 PTCS cases of which 166 also fulfilled revised diagnostic criteria. The national annual incidence (95% CI) of childhood PTCS aged 1-16 years was 0.71 (0.57- 0.87) per 100,000 population increasing with age and weight to 4.18 and 10.7 per 100,000 in obese 12-15 year old boys and girls respectively. Incidence rates under 7 years were similar in both sexes. From 7 years onwards, the incidence in girls was double that in boys, but only in overweight (including obese) children. In 12-15 year old children, an estimated 82% of the incidence of PTCS was attributable to obesity. Two subgroups of PTCS were apparent: 168 (91%) cases aged from 7 years frequently presented on medication and with headache, and were predominantly female and obese. The remaining 17 (9%) cases under 7 years often lacked these risk factors and commonly presented with new onset squint. Conclusions This uniquely largest population-based study of childhood PTCS will inform the design of future intervention studies. It suggests that weight reduction is central to the prevention of PTCS

Portfolioverhalten und wirtschaftliche Entwicklung im späten 19. Jahrhundert: ein Vergleich zwischen Großbritannien und Deutschland ; Hypothesen und Spekulationen

Kennedy und Britton untersuchen den Einfluß des Portfolioverhaltens auf die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung im späten 19. Jh. anhand eines Vergleichs zwischen Großbritannien und Deutschland. Den entscheidenden Unterschied im Finanzsystem dieser beiden Länder sehen die Autoren in der bewußten Übernahme von Risiken bei der Industriefinanzierung durch Finanzintermediäre in Deutschland, während in Großbritannien die Intermediäre versucht hätten, Risiken systematisch zu umgehen. Die Verzahnung von Leitungspositionen zwischen Banken und ihren Kunden sowie die Förderung von Kartellen unter ihren Kunden schuf in Deutschland eine wesentliche Verbesserung des Informationsflusses und der Kontrollmöglichkeiten. Das von den Autoren benutzte Quellenmaterial - schottische Vermögensnachlässe - stützt nach ihrer Ansicht zumindest ansatzweise die Aussage, daß in Großbritannien weitverbreitete und anhaltende Barrieren im Wege einer effizienten Portofoliogestaltung im Betrachtungszeitraum gestanden haben. Dagegen scheint in Deutschland die aktivere Rolle der Banken bei der Förderung von Innovation und Kapitalbildung zur Schaffung von wesentlich effizienteren Portefeuilles beigetragen zu haben, was wiederum die anhaltende starke Investition in technologisch progressiven Aktivitäten geradezu erzwang. Als Ergebnis ihrer detaillierten, mit zahlreichen Daten versehenen Darstellung weisen die Autoren nach, daß die bekannte These bestätigt werden könne, wonach das deutsche System in vieler Hinsicht, wie z. B. bei der Konzentration von Anlagen in Schlüsselsektoren, in der Breite der Diversifikation von verschiedenen Aktivitäten, Technologien und Märkten oder bei der Verfügbarkeit und Verteilung von Informationen, die gravierendsten Schwächen des britischen Systems vermieden habe. (STR

Optical properties of pyrochlore oxide Pb2Ru2O7−δPb_{2}Ru_{2}O_{7-{\delta}}

We present optical conductivity spectra for $Pb_{2}Ru_{2}O_{7-{\delta}}$ single crystal at different temperatures. Among reported pyrochlore ruthenates, this compound exhibits metallic behavior in a wide temperature range and has the least resistivity. At low frequencies, the optical spectra show typical Drude responses, but with a knee feature around 1000 \cm. Above 20000 \cm, a broad absorption feature is observed. Our analysis suggests that the low frequency responses can be understood from two Drude components arising from the partially filled Ru $t_{2g}$ bands with different plasma frequencies and scattering rates. The high frequency broad absorption may be contributed by two interband transitions: from occupied Ru $t_{2g}$ states to empty $e_{g}$ bands and from the fully filled O 2p bands to unoccupied Ru $t_{2g}$ states.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Visual loss secondary to eosinophilic mucin rhinosinusitis in a woman: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Eosinophilic mucin rhinosinusitis is an inflammatory pathological condition of the nose and paranasal sinuses. It is rare, occurs in immunocompetent patients and is characterised by peripheral eosinophilia and extensive bilateral sinus disease. To the best of our knowledge, visual loss with this condition has not been previously reported.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present the case of a 26-year-old Asian woman with a background history of chronic sinusitis who presented with acute left-sided visual loss. Imaging showed significant opacification in the frontal, ethmoidal and sphenoidal sinuses as well as evidence of a unilateral optic neuritis. Histological analysis of sinus mucin revealed dense eosinophilic infiltrate and, despite medical and surgical intervention, vision was not restored in her left eye.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We introduce visual loss as a complication of eosinophilic mucin rhinosinusitis. This adds further evidence to previous reports in the literature that optic neuropathy in sinusitis can occur secondary to non-compressive mechanisms. We also describe a rare finding: the vision in this patient did not improve following steroid therapy, antifungal therapy or surgical intervention. There are very few such cases described in the literature. We conclude that chronic sinusitis is an indolent inflammatory process which can cause visual loss and we reiterate the importance of recognizing and considering sinusitis as a cause of visual loss in patients in order that prompt medical and surgical treatment of the underlying disease can be initiated.</p

Target Selection for the LBTI Exozodi Key Science Program

The Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial planetary Systems (HOSTS) on the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer will survey nearby stars for faint emission arising from ~300 K dust (exozodiacal dust), and aims to determine the exozodiacal dust luminosity function. HOSTS results will enable planning for future space telescopes aimed at direct spectroscopy of habitable zone terrestrial planets, as well as greater understanding of the evolution of exozodiacal disks and planetary systems. We lay out here the considerations that lead to the final HOSTS target list. Our target selection strategy maximizes the ability of the survey to constrain the exozodi luminosity function by selecting a combination of stars selected for suitability as targets of future missions and as sensitive exozodi probes. With a survey of approximately 50 stars, we show that HOSTS can enable an understanding of the statistical distribution of warm dust around various types of stars and is robust to the effects of varying levels of survey sensitivity induced by weather conditions.Comment: accepted to ApJ