The Caribbean-North America-Cocos Triple Junction and the dynamics of the Polochic-Motagua fault systems: Pull-up and zipper models

The Polochic-Motagua fault systems (PMFS) are part of the sinistral transform boundary between the North American and Caribbean plates. To the west, these systems interact with the subduction zone of the Cocos plate, forming a subduction-subduction-transform triple junction. The North American plate moves westward relative to the Caribbean plate. This movement does not affect the geometry of the subducted Cocos plate, which implies that deformation is accommodated entirely in the two overriding plates. Structural data, fault kinematic analysis, and geomorphic observations provide new elements that help to understand the late Cenozoic evolution of this triple junction. In the Miocene, extension and shortening occurred south and north of the Motagua fault, respectively. This strain regime migrated northward to the Polochic fault after the late Miocene. This shift is interpreted as a ``pull-up'' of North American blocks into the Caribbean realm. To the west, the PMFS interact with a trench-parallel fault zone that links the Tonala fault to the Jalpatagua fault. These faults bound a fore-arc sliver that is shared by the two overriding plates. We propose that the dextral Jalpatagua fault merges with the sinistral PMFS, leaving behind a suturing structure, the Tonala fault. This tectonic ``zipper'' allows the migration of the triple junction. As a result, the fore-arc sliver comes into contact with the North American plate and helps to maintain a linear subduction zone along the trailing edge of the Caribbean plate. All these processes currently make the triple junction increasingly diffuse as it propagates eastward and inland within both overriding plates.

A Shift From Oral to Intravenous Iron Supplementation Therapy Is Observed Over Time in a Large Swiss Cohort of Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

BACKGROUND:: In 2007, leading international experts in the field of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) recommended intravenous (IV) iron supplements over oral (PO) ones because of superior effectiveness and better tolerance. We aimed to determine the percentage of patients with IBD undergoing iron therapy and to assess the dynamics of iron prescription habits (IV versus PO). METHODS:: We analyzed anonymized data on patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis extracted from the Helsana database. Helsana is a Swiss health insurance company providing coverage for 18% of the Swiss population (1.2 million individuals). RESULTS:: In total, 629 patients with Crohn's disease (61% female) and 398 patients with ulcerative colitis (57% female) were identified; mean observation time was 31.8 months for Crohn's disease and 31.0 months for ulcerative colitis patients. Of all patients with IBD, 27.1% were prescribed iron (21.1% in males; 31.1% in females). Patients treated with steroids, immunomodulators, and/or anti-tumor necrosis factor drugs were more frequently treated with iron supplements when compared with those not treated with any medications (35.0% versus 20.9%, odds ratio, 1.94; P < 0.001). The frequency of IV iron prescriptions increased significantly from 2006 to 2009 for both genders (males: from 2.6% to 10.1%, odds ratio = 3.84, P < 0.001; females: from 5.3% to 12.1%, odds ratio = 2.26, P = 0.002), whereas the percentage of PO iron prescriptions did not change. CONCLUSIONS:: Twenty-seven percent of patients with IBD were treated with iron supplements. Iron supplements administered IV were prescribed more frequently over time. These prescription habits are consistent with the implementation of guidelines on the management of iron deficiency in IBD.

Reconstruction of the join time-delay Doppler-scale reflectivity density in the wide-band regime. A frame theory based approach

The inverse scattering problem concerning the determination of the joint time-delayDoppler-scale reflectivity density characterizing continuous target environments is addressed by recourse to the generalized frame theory. A reconstruction formula,involving the echoes of a frame of outgoing signals and its corresponding reciprocalframe, is developed. A ‘‘realistic’’ situation with respect to the transmission ofa finite number of signals is further considered. In such a case, our reconstruction formula is shown to yield the orthogonal projection of the reflectivity density onto a subspace generated by the transmitted signals.

NDA waveform estimation in the low-SNR regime

This correspondence addresses the problem of nondata-aidedwaveform estimation for digital communications. Based on the unconditionalmaximum likelihood criterion, the main contribution of this correspondenceis the derivation of a closed-form solution to the waveform estimationproblem in the low signal-to-noise ratio regime. The proposed estimationmethod is based on the second-order statistics of the received signaland a clear link is established between maximum likelihood estimation andcorrelation matching techniques. Compression with the signal-subspace isalso proposed to improve the robustness against the noise and to mitigatethe impact of abnormals or outliers.

Clinical implications in the shift of syndecan-1 expression from the cell membrane to the cytoplasm in bladder cancer

Background To determine the diagnostic and prognostic capability of urinary and tumoral syndecan-1 (SDC-1) levels in patients with cancer of the urinary bladder. Methods SDC-1 levels were quantitated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 308 subjects (102 cancer subjects and 206 non-cancer subjects) to assess its diagnostic capabilities in voided urine. The performance of SDC-1 was evaluated using the area under the curve of a receiver operating characteristic curve. In addition, immunohistochemical (IHC) staining assessed SDC-1 protein expression in 193 bladder specimens (185 cancer subjects and 8 non-cancer subjects). Outcomes were correlated to SDC-1 levels. Results Mean urinary levels of SDC-1 did not differ between the cancer subjects and the non-cancer subjects, however, the mean urinary levels of SDC-1 were reduced in high-grade compared to low-grade disease (p < 0.0001), and in muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) compared to non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) (p = 0.005). Correspondingly, preliminary data note a shift from a membranous cellular localization of SDC-1 in normal tissue, low-grade tumors and NMIBC, to a distinctly cytoplasmic localization in high-grade tumors and MIBC was observed in tissue specimens. Conclusion Alone urinary SDC-1 may not be a diagnostic biomarker for bladder cancer, but its urinary levels and cellular localization were associated with the differentiation status of patients with bladder tumors. Further studies are warranted to define the potential role for SDC-1 in bladder cancer progression.

Clinical implications in the shift of syndecan-1 expression from the cell membrane to the cytoplasm in bladder cancer

Background To determine the diagnostic and prognostic capability of urinary and tumoral syndecan-1 (SDC-1) levels in patients with cancer of the urinary bladder. Methods SDC-1 levels were quantitated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 308 subjects (102 cancer subjects and 206 non-cancer subjects) to assess its diagnostic capabilities in voided urine. The performance of SDC-1 was evaluated using the area under the curve of a receiver operating characteristic curve. In addition, immunohistochemical (IHC) staining assessed SDC-1 protein expression in 193 bladder specimens (185 cancer subjects and 8 non-cancer subjects). Outcomes were correlated to SDC-1 levels. Results Mean urinary levels of SDC-1 did not differ between the cancer subjects and the non-cancer subjects, however, the mean urinary levels of SDC-1 were reduced in high-grade compared to low-grade disease (p < 0.0001), and in muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) compared to non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) (p = 0.005). Correspondingly, preliminary data note a shift from a membranous cellular localization of SDC-1 in normal tissue, low-grade tumors and NMIBC, to a distinctly cytoplasmic localization in high-grade tumors and MIBC was observed in tissue specimens. Conclusion Alone urinary SDC-1 may not be a diagnostic biomarker for bladder cancer, but its urinary levels and cellular localization were associated with the differentiation status of patients with bladder tumors. Further studies are warranted to define the potential role for SDC-1 in bladder cancer progression.

Anàlisi “shift share” de l’evolució del cens de porcí a Espanya (1962-2005)

El desenvolupament de la ramaderia intensiva s’ha produït mitjançant aglomeracions espacials de les explotacions ramaderes. El sector porcí és un dels principals exponents d’aquesta aglomeració i concentració espacial. Per això s'ha realitzat el present PFC amb l'objectiu d'estudiar el procés de concentració de la producció porcina a les diferents Comunitats Autònomes entre els anys 1962 i 2005, investigant els efectes diferencials i d’assignació de l’anàlisi “shift share”. Es conclou que en els anys estudiats hi ha hagut dos pols d'aglomeració de la cabana porcina, Catalunya+Osca i la Regió de Múrcia, que han estat cabdals en l'abastiment dels mercats.

Dynamics of Appropriability - Finding a Balance between Efficiency and Strength in the Appropriability Regime

Building and sustaining competitive advantage through the creation of market imperfections is challenging in a constantly changing business environment - particularly since the sources of such advantages are increasingly knowledge-based. Facilitated by improved networks and communication, knowledge spills over to competitors more easily than before,thus creating an appropriability problem: the inability of an innovating firm to utilize its innovations commercially. Consequently, as the importance of intellectual assets increases, their protection also calls for new approaches. Companies have various means of protection at their disposal, and by taking advantage of them they can make intangibles more non-transferable and prevent, or at leastdelay, imitation of their most crucial intellectual assets. However, creating barriers against imitation has another side to it, and the transfer of knowledge in situations requiring knowledge sharing may be unintentionally obstructed. Theaim of this thesis is to increase understanding of how firms can balance knowledge protection and sharing so as to benefit most from their knowledge assets. Thus, knowledge protection is approached through an examination of the appropriability regime of a firm, i.e., the combination of available and effective means ofprotecting innovations, their profitability, and the increased rents due to R&D. A further aim is to provide a broader understanding of the formation and structure of the appropriability regime. The study consists of two parts. The first part introduces the research topic and the overall results of the study, and the second part consists of six complementary research publications covering various appropriability issues. The thesis contributes to the existing literature in several ways. Although there is a wide range of prior research on appropriability issues, a lot of it is restricted either to the study of individual appropriability mechanisms, or to comparing certain features of them. These approaches are combined, and the relevant theoretical concepts are clarified and developed. In addition, the thesis provides empirical evidence of the formation of the appropriability regime, which is consequently presented as an adaptive process. Thus, a framework is provided that better corresponds to the complex reality of the current business environment.

Composição da produção e qualidade da uva em videira cultivada sob dupla poda e regime microclimático estacional constrastante

Em São Paulo, destaca-se a viticultura como atividade familiar de caráter artesanal. Nas bacias de maior concentração atual da vitivinicultura, ocorre um período chuvoso que se estende de novembro a fevereiro, que alcança grande parte das variedades da região em fase de crescimento e maturação da baga, o que afeta negativamente a qualidade da uva e do vinho artesanal, na maioria das safras. Por outro lado, nas mesmas regiões, ocorre um período mais favorável, que é o outono/inverno com potencial de soma térmica adequado ao crescimento da videira e com incidência de um longo período de baixa pluviometria, entre os meses de abril e outubro. Um experimento foi conduzido em Jundiaí (SP), região de média altitude (700 m), com variedades de uvas híbridas e fina, no qual, objetivou-se estudar os impactos ecofisiológicos do cultivo da videira conduzida sob dupla poda, forçando-se a condução das plantas por quatro estações de cultivo sequenciais de verão e inverno; analisaram-se aspectos da ecofiosologia da cultura e a composição quali-quantitativa do rendimento. Os resultados mostram que a estação de outono-inverno apresenta condições mais favoráveis à maturação fenólica das bagas, com chuvas mais bem distribuídas e desconcentradas no período do estabelecimento do fruto à colheita. A uva colhida na estação de outono-inverno apresentou maiores índices de pigmentação fenólica em relação à estação de cultivo tradicional, sendo que o controle do nível de reservas da planta revelou influência da dupla poda sequencial sobre esta variável, o que inspira práticas de manejo específicas para este tipo de exploração da videira.

Forecasting a language shift based on cellular automata

Language extinction as a consequence of language shifts is a widespread social phenomenon that affects several million people all over the world today. An important task for social sciences research should therefore be to gain an understanding of language shifts, especially as a way of forecasting the extinction or survival of threatened languages, i.e., determining whether or not the subordinate language will survive in communities with a dominant and a subordinate language. In general, modeling is usually a very difficult task in the social sciences, particularly when it comes to forecasting the values of variables. However, the cellular automata theory can help us overcome this traditional difficulty. The purpose of this article is to investigate language shifts in the speech behavior of individuals using the methodology of the cellular automata theory. The findings on the dynamics of social impacts in the field of social psychology and the empirical data from language surveys on the use of Catalan in Valencia allowed us to define a cellular automaton and carry out a set of simulations using that automaton. The simulation results highlighted the key factors in the progression or reversal of a language shift and the use of these factors allowed us to forecast the future of a threatened language in a bilingual community.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Severity and Overnight Body Fluid Shift before and after Hemodialysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with significantly increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Fluid overload may promote obstructive sleep apnea in patients with ESRD through an overnight fluid shift from the legs to the neck soft tissues. Body fluid shift and severity of obstructive sleep apnea before and after hemodialysis were compared in patients with ESRD. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: Seventeen patients with hemodialysis and moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea were included. Polysomnographies were performed the night before and after hemodialysis to assess obstructive sleep apnea, and bioimpedance was used to measure fluid overload and leg fluid volume. RESULTS: The mean overnight rostral fluid shift was 1.27±0.41 L prehemodialysis; it correlated positively with fluid overload volume (r=0.39; P=0.02) and was significantly lower posthemodialysis (0.78±0.38 L; P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the mean obstructive apnea-hypopnea index before and after hemodialysis (46.8±22.0 versus 42.1±18.6 per hour; P=0.21), but obstructive apnea-hypopnea index was significantly lower posthemodialysis (-10.1±10.8 per hour) in the group of 12 patients, with a concomitant reduction of fluid overload compared with participants without change in fluid overload (obstructive apnea-hypopnea index +8.2±16.1 per hour; P<0.01). A lower fluid overload after hemodialysis was significantly correlated (r=0.49; P=0.04) with a lower obstructive apnea-hypopnea index. Fluid overload-assessed by bioimpedance-was the best predictor of the change in obstructive apnea-hypopnea index observed after hemodialysis (standardized r=-0.68; P=0.01) in multivariate regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Fluid overload influences overnight rostral fluid shift and obstructive sleep apnea severity in patients with ESRD undergoing intermittent hemodialysis. Although no benefit of hemodialysis on obstructive sleep apnea severity was observed in the whole group, the change in obstructive apnea-hypopnea index was significantly correlated with the change in fluid overload after hemodialysis. Moreover, the subgroup with lower fluid overload posthemodialysis showed a significantly lower obstructive sleep apnea severity, which provides a strong incentive to further study whether optimizing fluid status in patients with obstructive sleep apnea and ESRD will improve the obstructive apnea-hypopnea index.

The empirical assessment of agency accountability: A regime approach and an application to the German Bundesnetzagentur

Regulation has in many cases been delegated to independent agencies, which has led to the question of how democratic accountability of these agencies is ensured. There are few empirical approaches to agency accountability. We offer such an approach, resting upon three propositions. First, we scrutinize agency accountability both de jure (accountability is ensured by formal rights of accountability 'fora' to receive information and impose consequences) and de facto (the capability of fora to use these rights depends on resources and decision costs that affect the credibility of their sanctioning capacity). Second, accountability must be evaluated separately at political, operational and managerial levels. And third, at each level accountability is enacted by a system of several (partially) interdependent fora, forming together an accountability regime. The proposed framework is applied to the case of the German Bundesnetzagentur's accountability regime, which shows its suitability for empirical purposes. Regulatory agencies are often considered as independent, yet accountable. This article provides a realistic framework for the study of accountability 'regimes' in which they are embedded. It emphasizes the need to identify the various actors (accountability fora) to which agencies are formally accountable (parliamentary committees, auditing bodies, courts, and so on) and to consider possible relationships between them. It argues that formal accountability 'on paper', as defined in official documents, does not fully account for de facto accountability, which depends on the resources possessed by the fora (mainly information-processing and decision-making capacities) and the credibility of their sanctioning capacities. The article applies this framework to the German Bundesnetzagentur.

The Regulation of Foreign Banks in Switzerland (1956-1972)

The Swiss financial centre witnessed an important shift during the 1960s: the number of foreign banks and their importance in relation to the domestic banking sector significantly increased. Faced with this rapid development, Swiss bank representatives and political and monetary authorities reacted strongly. This paper investigates the evolution of the regulatory response by Swiss banking policy actors to the proliferation of foreign financial in- stitutions. In 1969, those reactions led to the adoption of a discriminatory regime, setting higher entry barriers for foreign banks than for domestic institutions. After examining possible reasons for the attractiveness of Switzerland to foreign banks, this paper will analyse the concerns and fears of the domestic banking sector and its regulators. In this regard, it appears that issues such as mere competition, preservation of the international reputation of the Swiss banks and anti-inflationary monetary policy were central to the chosen regulatory regime. Moreover, this paper shows that foreign banks were used as scapegoats in the evolution of the Swiss system of banking supervision. They were more tightly regulated, yet the general framework remained very lax.

Les Neurosciences au Tribunal: de la responsabilité à la dangerosité

In recent years, an explosion of interest in neuroscience has led to the development of "Neuro-law," a new multidisciplinary field of knowledge whose aim is to examine the impact and role of neuroscientific findings in legal proceedings. Neuroscientific evidence is increasingly being used in US and European courts in criminal trials, as part of psychiatric testimony, nourishing the debate about the legal implications of brain research in psychiatric-legal settings. During these proceedings, the role of forensic psychiatrists is crucial. In most criminal justice systems, their mission consists in accomplishing two basic tasks: assessing the degree of responsibility of the offender and evaluating their future dangerousness. In the first part of our research, we aim to examine the impact of Neuroscientific evidence in the assessment of criminal responsibility, a key concept of law. An initial jurisprudential research leads to conclude that there are significant difficulties and limitations in using neuroscience for the assessment of criminal responsibility. In the current socio-legal context, responsibility assessments are progressively being weakened, whereas dangerousness assessments gain increasing importance in the field of forensic psychiatry. In the second part of our research we concentrate on the impact of using neuroscience for the assessment of dangerousness. We argue that in the current policy era of zero tolerance, judges, confronted with the pressure to ensure public security, may tend to interpret neuroscientific knowledge and data as an objective and reliable way of evaluating one's dangerousness and risk of reoffending, rather than their responsibility. This tendency could be encouraged by a utilitarian approach to punishment, advanced by some recent neuroscientific research which puts into question the existence of free will and responsibility and argues for a rejection of the retributive theory of punishment. Although this shift away from punishment aimed at retribution in favor of a consequentialist approach to criminal law is advanced by some authors as a more progressive and humane approach, we believe that it could lead to the instrumentalisation of neuroscience in the interest of public safety, which can run against the proper exercise of justice and civil liberties of the offenders. By advancing a criminal law regime animated by the consequentialist aim of avoiding social harms through rehabilitation, neuroscience promotes a return to a therapeutical approach to crime which can have serious impact on the kind and the length of sentences imposed on the offenders; if neuroscientific data are interpreted as evidence of dangerousness, rather than responsibility, it is highly likely that judges impose heavier sentences, or/and security measures (in civil law systems), which can be indeterminate in length. Errors and epistemic traps of past criminological movements trying to explain the manifestation of a violent and deviant behavior on a biological and deterministic basis stress the need for caution concerning the use of modern neuroscientific methods in criminal proceedings.