The expression and impact of antifungal grooming in ants.

Parasites can cause extensive damage to animal societies in which many related individuals frequently interact. In response, social animals have evolved diverse individual and collective defences. Here, we measured the expression and efficiency of self-grooming and allo-grooming when workers of the ant Formica selysi were contaminated with spores of the fungal entomopathogen Metarhizium anisopliae. The amount of self-grooming increased in the presence of fungal spores, which shows that the ants are able to detect the risk of infection. In contrast, the amount of allo-grooming did not depend on fungal contamination. Workers groomed all nestmate workers that were re-introduced into their groups. The amount of allo-grooming towards noncontaminated individuals was higher when the group had been previously exposed to the pathogen. Allo-grooming decreased the number of fungal spores on the surface of contaminated workers, but did not prevent infection in the conditions tested (high dose of spores and late allo-grooming). The rate of disease transmission to groomers and other nestmates was extremely low. The systematic allo-grooming of all individuals returning to the colony, be they contaminated or not, is probably a simple but robust prophylactic defence preventing the spread of fungal diseases in insect societies.

Impact de la consommation de sel sur la santé: les croyances de la population suisse [Impact of salt intake on health: beliefs of the Swiss population].

Excessive salt intake increases the risk of developing hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Sodium intake remains high both in developed and emerging countries. The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health has ordered a national survey on the salt intake in Switzerland, realized in different centers. This article presents the results of the awareness of the Swiss population concerning the relationship between excessive salt intake and health. This survey reveals a lack of knowledge regarding the association between high salt intake and cardiovascular disease, the sodium content of usual food, and the recommended daily value of sodium intake. Strategies to reduce salt consumption need to be reinforced by collaborations between health authorities and health care professionals.

Financial protection of patients through compensation of providers: the impact of health equity funds in Cambodia

Public providers have no financial incentive to respect their legal obligation to exempt the poor from user fees. Health Equity Funds (HEFs) aim to make exemptions effective by giving NGOs responsibility for assessing eligibility and compensating providers for lost revenue. We use the geographic spread of HEFs in Cambodia to identify their impact on out-of-pocket (OOP) payments. Among households with some OOP payment, HEFs reduce the amount by 29%, on average. The effect is larger for households that are poorer, mainly use public health care and live closer to a district hospital. HEFs are more effective in reducing OOP payments when they are operated by a NGO, rather than the government, and when they operate in conjunction with the contracting of public health services. HEFs reduce households' health-related debt by around 25%, on average. There is no significant impact on non-medical consumption and health care utilisation

Impact of High Crop Prices on Environmental Quality: A Case of Iowa and the Conservation Reserve Program, 2007

Growing demand for corn due to the expansion of ethanol has increased concerns that environmentally sensitive lands retired from agricultural production into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) will be cropped again. Iowa produces more ethanol than any other state in the United States, and it also produces the most corn. Thus, an examination of the impacts of higher crop prices on CRP land in Iowa can give insight into what we might expect nationally in the years ahead if crop prices remain high. We construct CRP land supply curves for various corn prices and then estimate the environmental impacts of cropping CRP land through the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model. EPIC provides edge-of-field estimates of soil erosion, nutrient loss, and carbon sequestration. We find that incremental impacts increase dramatically as higher corn prices bring into production more and more environmentally fragile land. Maintaining current levels of environmental quality will require substantially higher spending levels. Even allowing for the cost savings that would accrue as CRP land leaves the program, a change in targeting strategies will likely be required to ensure that the most sensitive land does not leave the program.

The impact of trade liberalization on skill upgrading. Evidence from Argentina

In this paper I study the effects of a regional free trade agreement on the demand for skill.I start by documenting a series of facts to shed light on the determinants of a steep increasein the relative demand of skilled labor in a panel of Argentinean industrial firms covering thetrade liberalization period. First, this is not explained by labor reallocation across industriesor firms but by skill upgrading within firms. Second, exporters upgrade skill faster than nonexporters. Third, firms upgrading skill also upgrade technology. These findings are consistentwith a model where a reduction in trading partner s tariffs induces the most productive firms(exporters) to adopt skill-intensive production technologies. Indeed, I find that the reduction inBrazil s tariffs induces the most productive Argentinean firms to upgrade skill, while the leastproductive ones downgrade. One third of the increase in the relative demand for skill can beattributed to the reduction in Brazil s tariffs.

The impact of "early" nineteenth-century globalization on foreign trade in the Southern Cone: A study of British trade statistics

This paper deals with the impact of "early" nineteenth-century globalization (c.1815-1860) on foreign trade in the Southern Cone (SC). Most of the evidence is drawn from bilateral trades between Britain and the SC, at a time when Britain was the main commercial partner of the new republics. The main conclusion drawn is that early globalization had a positive impact on foreign trade in the SC, and this was due to: improvements in the SC's terms of trade during this period; the SC's per capita consumption of textiles (the main manufacture traded on world markets at that time) increased substantially during this period, at a time when clothing was one of the main items of SC household budgets; British merchants brought with them capital, shipping, insurance, and also facilitated the formation of vast global networks, which further promoted the SC's exports to a wider range of outlets.

The impact of investment in education on economic development: Spain in comparative perspective (1860-2000)

Throughout the 19th century and until the mid-20th century, in terms of long-terminvestment in human capital and, above all, in education, Spain lagged far behind theinternational standards and, more specifically, the levels attained by its neighbours inEurope. In 1900, only 55% of the population could read; in 1950, the figure was 93%.This no doubt contributed to a pattern of slower economic growth in which thephysical strength required for agricultural work, measured here through height, had alarger impact than education on economic growth. It was not until the 1970s, with thearrival of democracy, that the Spanish education system was modernized and theinfluence of education on economic growth increased.

On the impact of leverage constraints on asset prices and trading volume

Researchers have used stylized facts on asset prices and trading volumein stock markets (in particular, the mean reversion of asset returnsand the correlations between trading volume, price changes and pricelevels) to support theories where agents are not rational expected utilitymaximizers. This paper shows that this empirical evidence is in factconsistent with a standard infite horizon perfect information expectedutility economy where some agents face leverage constraints similar tothose found in todays financial markets. In addition, and in sharpcontrast to the theories above, we explain some qualitative differencesthat are observed in the price-volume relation on stock and on futuresmarkets. We consider a continuous-time economy where agents maximize theintegral of their discounted utility from consumption under both budgetand leverage con-straints. Building on the work by Vila and Zariphopoulou(1997), we find a closed form solution, up to a negative constant, for theequilibrium prices and demands in the region of the state space where theconstraint is non-binding. We show that, at the equilibrium, stock holdingsvolatility as well as its ratio to stock price volatility are increasingfunctions of the stock price and interpret this finding in terms of theprice-volume relation.

Impact of antiretroviral therapy (ART), immunosuppression and viraemia on lipid levels: the D:A:D study

Purpose of the study: To investigate the impact of ART, HIV viremia and immunosuppression on triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels. Methods: We considered the cross-sectional associations between TG, TC and HDL-C (mmol/l; first available measurement on/after enrolment in the D:A:D study) and use of ART, HIV viral load (VL; copies/ml), and CD4 count (cells/mm3) measured at the same time. TG was log10 transformed to ensure normality. Analyses were performed using linear regression and adjusted for other factors known to impact lipid levels (table footnote). ART and VL status were combined (off ART&VL _100,000, off ART&VL B100,000, on ART&VL B500, on ART&VL _500), current and nadir CD4 count were categorised as B200, 200_349, 350_499 and _500. Summary of results: 44,322/49,734 participants in the D:A:D Study (89.1%) contributed a TG measurement (median; IQR 1.52; 1.00_ 2.45), 45,169 (90.8%) a TC measurement (4.80; 4.00_5.70) and 38,604 (77.6%) a HDL-C measurement (1.12; 0.90_1.40). Most participants were male (74%), of white ethnicity (51%), without AIDS (78%), were not receiving lipid-lowering drugs (4%) and were ART experienced (61%) with 47% previously exposed to PIs, 61% previously exposed to NRTIs and 29% previously exposed to NNRTIs. The median (IQR) age, current CD4 count and CD4 nadir were 38 (36_45) years, 400 (242_590) cells/ml and 240 (100_410) cells/ml respectively. Compared to those on ART with a suppressed VL, all lipids were lower for those off ART (Table); non-suppressive ART was also associated with lower TC and HDL-C levels (no impact on TG). A low current CD4 count was associated with lower lipid levels, whereas a low nadir CD4 count was associated with higher TC and TG levels. Prior AIDS diagnosis was associated with higher TG and TC, but lower HDL-C levels. Conclusion: Although specific drug classes were not considered, lipid levels are considerably higher in those on a suppressive ART regimen. The higher TC/TG and lower HDL-C levels seen among those with low nadir CD4 count and with a prior AIDS diagnosis suggests severe immunosuppression may be associated with dyslipidaemia over the long-term.

Impact of biocontrol strain Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0 on rhizosphere bacteria isolated from barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) with special reference to Cytophaga-like bacteria.

AIMS: To assess the impact of the biocontrol strain Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0 on a collection of barley rhizosphere bacteria using an agar plate inhibition assay and a plant microcosm, focusing on a CHA0-sensitive member of the Cytophaga-like bacteria (CLB). METHODS AND RESULTS: The effect of strain CHA0 on a collection of barley rhizosphere bacteria, in particular CLB and fluorescent pseudomonads sampled during a growth season, was assessed by a growth inhibition assay. On average, 85% of the bacteria were sensitive in the May sample, while the effect was reduced to around 68% in the July and August samples. In the May sample, around 95% of the CLB and around 45% of the fluorescent pseudomonads were sensitive to strain CHA0. The proportion of CHA0-sensitive CLB and fluorescent pseudomonad isolates decreased during the plant growth season, i.e. in the July and August samples. A particularly sensitive CLB isolate, CLB23, was selected, exposed to strain CHA0 (wild type) and its genetically modified derivatives in the rhizosphere of barley grown in gnotobiotic soil microcosms. Two dry-stress periods were imposed during the experiment. Derivatives of strain CHA0 included antibiotic or exopolysaccharide (EPS) overproducing strains and a dry-stress-sensitive mutant. Despite their inhibitory activity against CLB23 in vitro, neither wild-type strain CHA0, nor any of its derivatives, had a major effect on culturable and total cell numbers of CLB23 during the 23-day microcosm experiment. Populations of all inoculants declined during the two dry-stress periods, with soil water contents below 5% and plants reaching the wilting point, but they recovered after re-wetting the soil. Survival of the dry-stress-sensitive mutant of CHA0 was most affected by the dry periods; however, this did not result in an increased population density of CLB23. CONCLUSIONS: CLB comprise a large fraction of barley rhizosphere bacteria that are sensitive to the biocontrol pseudomonad CHA0 in vitro. However, in plant microcosm experiments with varying soil humidity conditions, CHA0 or its derivatives had no major impact on the survival of the highly sensitive CLB strain, CLB23, during two dry-stress periods and a re-wetting period; all co-existed well in the rhizosphere of barley plants. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Results indicate a lack of interaction between the biocontrol pseudomonad CHA0 and a sensitive CLB when the complexity increases from agar plate assays to plant microcosm experiments. This suggests the occurrence of low levels of antibiotic production and/or that the two bacterial genera occupy different niches in the rhizosphere.