Agronomic and commercial performance of four Spanish carob cultivars

The carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) shows interesting prospects for some coastal Mediterranean growing areas and is widely used for industrial, agricultural, and ornamental purposes. It can be an alternative crop adapted to part-time farming and can also be used to regenerate vegetation in areas with a mild climate and erosion problems. Four Spanish carob cultivars were examined (Banya de Cabra, Duraio, Matalafera, and Rojal) to determine the one that performed the best for planting new orchards in northeastern Spain (Catalonia). The trees in this rain-fed trial (average rainfall of 500 mm) were planted in 1986 using seedling rootstocks that were budded in 1987. The trees were trained using the free-vase system and were spaced 8 x 9 m (138 trees/ha including 12% pollinators). The results showed that ‘Rojal’ was the earliest bearing cultivar. However, no significant differences were observed for cumulative pod production 18 years after budding. With respect to cumulative seed yield, ‘Duraio’ had the highest production (95 kg/tree). The lowest tree vigor (trunk cross-section) was observed in ‘Matalafera’. ‘Rojal’ trees produced the largest pods (average fruit weight of 18.9 g) and lowest seed content (11.8%), while ‘Banya de Cabra’ and ‘Duraio’ produced the smallest fruit (weighing 15.3 and 16.2 g, respectively) with the highest seed content (15.2% and 17.3%, respectively). Gum content, expressed as a percentage of the dry weight, was highest in ‘Duraio’ (56.9%) and was lowest in ‘Rojal’ (54.1%). Thus, in terms of kernel and pod production, ‘Duraio’ appeared to be the best-performing female cultivar for planting new carob orchards

Chronic exercise preserves lean muscle mass in masters athletes.

Aging is commonly associated with a loss of muscle mass and strength, resulting in falls, functional decline, and the subjective feeling of weakness. Exercise modulates the morbidities of muscle aging. Most studies, however, have examined muscle-loss changes in sedentary aging adults. This leaves the question of whether the changes that are commonly associated with muscle aging reflect the true physiology of muscle aging or whether they reflect disuse atrophy. This study evaluated whether high levels of chronic exercise prevents the loss of lean muscle mass and strength experienced in sedentary aging adults. A cross-section of 40 high-level recreational athletes ("masters athletes") who were aged 40 to 81 years and trained 4 to 5 times per week underwent tests of health/activity, body composition, quadriceps peak torque (PT), and magnetic resonance imaging of bilateral quadriceps. Mid-thigh muscle area, quadriceps area (QA), subcutaneous adipose tissue, and intramuscular adipose tissue were quantified in magnetic resonance imaging using medical image processing, analysis, and visualization software. One-way analysis of variance was used to examine age group differences. Relationships were evaluated using Spearman correlations. Mid-thigh muscle area (P = 0.31) and lean mass (P = 0.15) did not increase with age and were significantly related to retention of mid-thigh muscle area (P < 0.0001). This occurred despite an increase in total body fat percentage (P = 0.003) with age. Mid-thigh muscle area (P = 0.12), QA (P = 0.17), and quadriceps PT did not decline with age. Specific strength (strength per QA) did not decline significantly with age (P = 0.06). As muscle area increased, PT increased significantly (P = 0.008). There was not a significant relationship between intramuscular adipose tissue (P = 0.71) or lean mass (P = 0.4) and PT. This study contradicts the common observation that muscle mass and strength decline as a function of aging alone. Instead, these declines may signal the effect of chronic disuse rather than muscle aging. Evaluation of masters athletes removes disuse as a confounding variable in the study of lower-extremity function and loss of lean muscle mass. This maintenance of muscle mass and strength may decrease or eliminate the falls, functional decline, and loss of independence that are commonly seen in aging adults.

Decreased compliance on arterial anastomoses.

The present study was undertaken to examine the cross-sectional vascular compliance at the anastomotic site. METHODS AND MATERIAL: We performed end-to-end anastomosis on the carotid artery of six pigs using continuous 6/0 polypropylene. Four carotid arteries were excised and mounted in a perfusion chamber while the remaining two were left in living animals. We used pulsed ultrasound (NIUS 02) to generate detailed longitudinal profiles of diameter and compliance in the proximity and on the anastomosis. RESULTS: On the anastomosis, the vessel diameter decreases (-1 to -2.6% of diastolic diameter) when blood pressure increases with an exponential correlation (R2 = 0.75). The arterial compliance at the anastomosis was negative: the vessel cross-section reduction for a pulse pressure of 1 up to 32 mmHg was 0.9 to 2% of diastolic vessel cross-section. CONCLUSIONS: Vessel movement generated a dynamic stenosis whose magnitude seems to depend on blood pressure level. Increasing blood pressure causes the retraction of vessel ends which causes vessel lumen reduction. These results suggest that continuous suture does not provide the continuity of mechanical properties of the artery.

The impact of agglomeration effects and accessibility on wages

This paper contributes to the empirical literature on the effects of agglomeration and road accessibility on productivity of firms by looking at the case of Spain. We approach productivity indirectly by using individual wages allocated at the NUTS III level. We use a repeated cross-section of individual micro-data for the years 1995, 2002 and 2006. The availability of interprovincial travel time data for each of the three years allows controlling for transport improvements over the period by using a market potential variable. Additionally, agglomeration is approached by employment density and we control for localization economies, human capital externalities and a large set of individual and workplace characteristics. Estimating by instrumental variables, our results show a positive and significant effect of market accessibility on wages and non linear effect for employment density.

Life-threatening versus non-life-threatening manual strangulation: are there appropriate criteria for MR imaging of the neck?

The aim of the study was to determine objective radiological signs of danger to life in survivors of manual strangulation and to establish a radiological scoring system for the differentiation between life-threatening and non-life-threatening strangulation by dividing the cross section of the neck into three zones (superficial, middle and deep zone). Forensic pathologists classified 56 survivors of strangulation into life-threatening and non-life-threatening cases by history and clinical examination alone, and two blinded radiologists evaluated the MRIs of the neck. In 15 cases, strangulation was life-threatening (27%), compared with 41 cases in which strangulation was non-life-threatening (73%). The best radiological signs on MRI to differentiate between the two groups were intramuscular haemorrhage/oedema, swelling of platysma and intracutaneous bleeding (all p = 0.02) followed by subcutaneous bleeding (p = 0.034) and haemorrhagic lymph nodes (p = 0.04), all indicating life-threatening strangulation. The radiological scoring system showed a sensitivity and specificity of approximately 70% for life-threatening strangulation, when at least two neck zones were affected. MRI is not only helpful in assessing the severity of strangulation, but is also an excellent documentation tool that is even admissible in court.

Integrate Study of a Bolivian Population Infected by Trypanosoma cruzi, the Agent of Chagas Disease

A cross section of a human population (501 individuals) selected at random, and living in a Bolivian community, highly endemic for Chagas disease, was investigated combining together clinical, parasitological and molecular approaches. Conventional serology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) indicated an active transmission of the infection, a high seroprevalence (43.3%) ranging from around 12% in < 5 years to 94.7% in > 45 years, and a high sensitivity (83.8%) and specificity of PCR. Abnormal ECG tracing was predominant in chagasic patients and was already present among individuals younger than 13 years. SAPA (shed acute phase antigen) recombinant protein and the synthetic peptide R-13 were used as antigens in ELISA tests. The reactivity of SAPA was strongly associated to Trypanosoma cruzi infection and independent of the age of the patients but was not suitable neither for universal serodiagnosis nor for discrimination of specific phases of Chagas infection. Anti-R-13 response was observed in 27.5% only in chagasic patients. Moreover, anti-R13 reactivity was associated with early infection and not to cardiac pathology. This result questioned previous studies, which considered the anti-R-13 response as a marker of chronic Chagas heart disease. The major clonets 20 and 39 (belonging to Trypanosoma cruzi I and T. cruzi II respectively) which circulate in equal proportions in vectors of the studied area, were identified in patients' blood by PCR. Clonet 39 was selected over clonet 20 in the circulation whatever the age of the patient. The only factor related to strain detected in patients' blood, was the anti-R-13 reactivity: 37% of the patients infected by clonet 39 (94 cases) had anti-R13 antibodies contrasting with only 6% of the patients without clonet 39 (16 cases).

National Health and Lifestyle Survey 1998

Two baseline surveys of health related behaviours among adults and school-going young people were carried out across the Republic of Ireland in 1998. The main aims of the surveys were to: Produce reliable baseline data for a representative cross-section of the Irish  population which will inform the Department of Health and Childrenâ?Ts future policy and programme planning Establish a survey protocol which will enable lifestyle factors to be re-measured so that trends can be identified and changes monitored to assist national and regional setting of priorities in health promotion activities. Download the Report here

Neither Private nor Public: The Effects of Communal Provision of Water on Child Health in Peru

The literature on local services has focused on the effects of privatization and, if anything, has compared the effects of private and mixed public-private systems versus public provision. However, alternative forms of provision such as cooperatives, which can be very prevalent in many developing countries, have been completely ignored. In this paper, we investigate the effects of communal water provison (Comités Vecinales and Juntas Administrativas de Servicios de Saneamiento) on child health in Peru. Using detailed survey data at the household- and child-level for the years 2006-2010, we exploit the cross-section variability to assess the differential impact of this form of provision. Despite controlling for a wide range of household and local characteristics, the municipalities served by communal organizations are more likely to have poorer health indicators, what would result in a downward bias on the absolute magnitude of the effect of cooperatives. We rely on an instrumental variable strategy to deal with this potential endogeneity problem, and use the personnel resources and the administrative urban/rural classi fication of the municipalities as instruments for the provision type. The results show a negative and signi cant effect of comunal water provision on diarrhea among under- five year old children. Keywords: water utilities, cooperatives, child health, regulation, Peru. JEL Classi fication Numbers: L33; L50; L95

National Health and Lifestyle Surveys

Results of the National Health and Lifestyle Surveys: SLaN [Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition] and HBSC [Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children] Two baseline surveys of health related behaviours among adults and schoolgoing young people were carried out across the Republic of Ireland in 1998 and again in 2002. The main aims of these surveys are to: - Produce reliable data of a representative cross-section of the Irish population in order to inform the Department of Health and Children's policy and programme planning. - Maintain a survey protocol which will enable lifestyle factors to be remeasured so that trends can be identified and changes monitored to assist national and regional setting of priorities in health promotion activities. In keeping with the health and lifestyle surveillance system of many European countries a number of related factors were measured in both surveys. These include general health, smoking, use of alcohol and other substances, food and nutrition, exercise and accidents. This work was commissioned by the Health Promotion Unit, Department of Health and Children and carried out at the Centre for Health Promotion Studies, National University of Ireland, Galway.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

National Health and Lifestyle Surveys. Regional Summary Report (2003)

Two baseline surveys of health related behaviours among adults and school-going young people were carried out across the Republic of Ireland in 1998 and again in 2002. The main aims of these surveys are to: - Produce reliable data of a nationally representative cross-section of the Irish population in order to inform the Department of health and Children's policy and programme planning. - Maintain a survey protocol which will enable lifestyle factors to be re-measured so that trends can be identified and changes monitored to assist national and regional setting of priorities in health promotion activities. This report focuses on these two cross-sectional studies, SLaN (Survey of Lifestyles, Attitudes and Nutrition) adults aged 18+ years and HBSC (health Behaviour in School-aged Children) school-going children aged 10-17 years. In keeping with the health and lifestyle surveillance system of many European countries a number of related factors were measured in both surveys. These include general health, smoking, use of alcohol and other substances, food and nutrition, exercise and accidents. This report presents the findings for the same topics at a regional level with some demographic analysis. It must be noted that the aim of the survey was to establish patterns in health and lifestyle at a national level. The significance therefore of findings at the regional level is to identify potential variations that may merit further investigation. This work was commissioned by the health Promotion Unit, Department of health and Children and carried out at the Centre for health Promotion Studies, national University of Ireland, Galway, and at the Department of Public health Medicine and Epidemiology, Woodview House, Belfield, national University of Ireland, Dublin.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Search for dark matter using VHE gamma-ray telescopes

One of the unresolved questions of modern physics is the nature of Dark Matter. Strong experimental evidences suggest that the presence of this elusive component in the energy budget of the Universe is quite significant, without, however, being able to provide conclusive information about its nature. The most plausible scenario is that of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), that includes a large class of non-baryonic Dark Matter candidates with a mass typically between few tens of GeV and few TeVs, and a cross section of the order of weak interactions. Search for Dark Matter particles using very high energy gamma-ray Cherenkov telescopes is based on the model that WIMPs can self-annihilate, leading to production of detectable species, like photons. These photons are very energetic, and since unreflected by the Universe's magnetic fields, they can be traced straight to the source of their creation. The downside of the approach is a great amount of background radiation, coming from the conventional astrophysical objects, that usually hides clear signals of the Dark Matter particle interactions. That is why good choice of the observational candidates is the crucial factor in search for Dark Matter. With MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes), a two-telescope ground-based system located in La Palma, Canary Islands, we choose objects like dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies of the Milky Way and galaxy clusters for our search. Our idea is to increase chances for WIMPs detection by pointing to objects that are relatively close, with great amount of Dark Matter and with as-little-as-possible pollution from the stars. At the moment, several observation projects are ongoing and analyses are being performed.

Catastrophic medical expenditure risk

Medical expenditure risk can pose a major threat to living standards. We derive decomposable measures of catastrophic medical expenditure risk from reference-dependent utility with loss aversion. We propose a quantile regression based method of estimating risk exposure from cross-section data containing information on the means of financing health payments. We estimate medical expenditure risk in seven Asian countries and find it is highest in Laos and China, and is lowest in Malaysia. Exposure to risk is generally higher for households that have less recourse to self-insurance, lower incomes, wealth and education, and suffer from chronic illness.

Do labour mobility and networks foster geographical knowledge diffusion? The case of European regions

The goal of this paper is twofold: first, we aim to assess the role played by inventors’ cross-regional mobility and networks of collaboration in fostering knowledge diffusion across regions and subsequent innovation. Second, we intend to evaluate the feasibility of using mobility and networks information to build cross-regional interaction matrices to be used within the spatial econometrics toolbox. To do so, we depart from a knowledge production function where regional innovation intensity is a function not only of the own regional innovation inputs but also external accessible R&D gained through interregional interactions. Differently from much of the previous literature, cross-section gravity models of mobility and networks are estimated to use the fitted values to build our ‘spatial’ weights matrices, which characterize the intensity of knowledge interactions across a panel of 269 regions covering most European countries over 6 years.

Subjective health assessments and active labor market participation of older men: evidence from a semiparametric binary choice model with nonadditive correlated individual-specific effects

We use panel data from the U. S. Health and Retirement Study, 1992-2002, to estimate the effect of self-assessed health limitations on the active labor market participation of older men. Self-assessments of health are likely to be endogenous to labor supply due to justification bias and individual-specific heterogeneity in subjective evaluations. We address both concerns. We propose a semiparametric binary choice procedure that incorporates nonadditive correlated individual-specific effects. Our estimation strategy identifies and estimates the average partial effects of health and functioning on labor market participation. The results indicate that poor health plays a major role in labor market exit decisions.

La revascularisation transmyocardique au laser--un risque potentiel en condition aiguë [Laser transmyocardial revascularization--a potential risk in an acute situation?]

Morphological and functional effects of transmyocardial laser revascularization (TMLR) are analyzed in an acute setting on a porcine model. Ten channels were drilled in the left lateral wall of the heart of 15 pigs (mean weight, 73 +/- 4 kg) with a Holmium-YAG laser (wavelength: 2.1 mu, probe diameter: 1.75 mm). Echocardiographic control was performed before the TMLR procedure as well as 5 min and 30 min thereafter. Echocardiographic parameters were recorded in short-axis at the level of the laser channels, and included left ventricular ejection fraction, fractional shortening and segmental wall motility of the channels' area (scale 0-3: 0 = normal, 1 = hypokinesia, 2 = akinesia, 3 = dyskinesia). After sacrifice the lased region was sliced perpendicularly to the channels for histological and morphometrical analysis. Five minutes after the drilling of the channels, all the echocardiographic index worsened significantly in comparison with baseline values (p < 0.01). All recovered after 30 min and showed no difference with baseline values. Cross-section of the channel lesions measured 8.8 +/- 2.4 mm2 which is more than three times that of the probe (p < 0.01). In acute conditions, the lesions due to the TMLR probe are significantly larger than the probe itself and cause a transient drop of the segmental wall motility on a healthy myocardium. These results suggest that TMLR should be used cautiously in the clinical setting for patients with an impaired ventricular function.