Sexual dimorphism in resource acquisition and deployment: both size and timing matter.

Background and Aims The males and females of many dioecious plant species differ from one another in important life-history traits, such as their size. If male and female reproductive functions draw on different resources, for example, one should expect males and females to display different allocation strategies as they grow. Importantly, these strategies may differ not only between the two sexes, but also between plants of different age and therefore size. Results are presented from an experiment that asks whether males and females of Mercurialis annua, an annual plant with indeterminate growth, differ over time in their allocation of two potentially limiting resources (carbon and nitrogen) to vegetative (below-and above-ground) and reproductive tissues.Methods Comparisons were made of the temporal patterns of biomass allocation to shoots, roots and reproduction and the nitrogen content in the leaves between the sexes of M. annua by harvesting plants of each sex after growth over different periods of time.Key Results and Conclusions Males and females differed in their temporal patterns of allocation. Males allocated more to reproduction than females at early stages, but this trend was reversed at later stages. Importantly, males allocated proportionally more of their biomass towards roots at later stages, but the roots of females were larger in absolute terms. The study points to the important role played by both the timing of resource deployment and the relative versus absolute sizes of the sinks and sources in sexual dimorphism of an annual plant.

Percutaneous drainage versus emergency cholecystectomy for the treatment of acute cholecystitis in critically ill patients : does it matter ?

RESUME DE THESEContexte de l'étudeLe but de cette étude est de comparer le drainage percutané (DP) et la chirurgie d'urgence (CU) de la vésicule biliaire (VB) pour le traitement de la cholécystite aiguë lithiasique/alithiasique dans un groupe homogène de patients gravement malades et hospitalisés aux soins intensifs (SI).Patients et méthodeEntre les années 2001 et 2007, tous les patients successivement traités par DP ou CU pour cholécystite aiguë aux SI ont été rétrospectivement analysés. Les cas ont été collectés à partir d'une base de données prospective. Le DP était effectué par voie trans-hépatique et la chirurgie par voie ouverte ou laparoscopique. L'état général des patients et la dysfonction des organes étaient évalués par deux scores validés (SAPS Π et SOFA, respectivement). L'analyse des données s'est portée sur les complications à court terme (morbidité, mortalité hospitalière) et à long terme (récurrence des symptômes) après drainage ou chirurgie en urgence.RésultatsQuarante-deux patients (âge médian 65 ans, 32-94 ans) ont été inclus dans l'étude ; 45% ont eu une CU (10 laparoscopics, 9 voies ouvertes) et 55% un DP (n=23) de la vésicule biliaire. Le DP et la CU ont eu des taux de succès respectifs de 91 et 100% pour la résolution du sepsis lié à la cholécystite aigiie. Après drainage et chirurgie de la VB, la dysfonction des organes secondaire au sepsis s'est résolue dans les 3 jours. Malgré le drainage, deux patients ont nécessité une cholécystectomie en urgence pour cholécystite gangréneuse. Le taux de conversion de la laparoscopic à la voie ouverte était de 20%. La morbidité majeure était de 0% après drainage et 21% après chirurgie en urgence (p=0.034). Finalement, la mortalité hospitalière était similaire (13% après DP vs. 16% après CU, p=1.0) et uniquement liée aux co-morbidités des patients. La récurrence des symptômes liés à la VB n'est apparue que chez des patients initialement drainés pour cholécystite lithiasique.ConclusionsChez les patients gravement malades des soins intensifs, le drainage percutané et la chirurgie en urgence de la VB sont tous deux efficaces pour la résolution d'un sepsis lié à une cholécystite aigiie. Cependant, la chirurgie d'urgence est associée à une morbidité majeure accrue et l'approche par laparoscopic n'est pas toujours réalisable. Le drainage percutané de la VB est donc une modalité de traitement valable, mais nécessite à distance de l'épisode aigu une cholécystectomie par laparoscopic, surtout après une cholécystite lithiasique.

Creation of an Age-Adjusted, Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry-Derived Trabecular Bone Score Curve for the Lumbar Spine in Non-Hispanic US White Women.

The trabecular bone score (TBS, Med-Imaps, Pessac, France) is an index of bone microarchitecture texture extracted from anteroposterior dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry images of the spine. Previous studies have documented the ability of TBS of the spine to differentiate between women with and without fractures among age- and areal bone mineral density (aBMD)-matched controls, as well as to predict future fractures. In this cross-sectional analysis of data collected from 3 geographically dispersed facilities in the United States, we investigated age-related changes in the microarchitecture of lumbar vertebrae as assessed by TBS in a cohort of non-Hispanic US white American women. All subjects were 30 yr of age and older and had an L1-L4aBMDZ-score within ±2 SD of the population mean. Individuals were excluded if they had fractures, were on any osteoporosis treatment, or had any illness that would be expected to impact bone metabolism. All data were extracted from Prodigy dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry devices (GE-Lunar, Madison, WI). Cross-calibrations between the 3 participating centers were performed for TBS and aBMD. aBMD and TBS were evaluated for spine L1-L4 but also for all other possible vertebral combinations. To validate the cohort, a comparison between the aBMD normative data of our cohort and US non-Hispanic white Lunar data provided by the manufacturer was performed. A database of 619 non-Hispanic US white women, ages 30-90 yr, was created. aBMD normative data obtained from this cohort were not statistically different from the non-Hispanic US white Lunar normative data provided by the manufacturer (p = 0.30). This outcome thereby indirectly validates our cohort. TBS values at L1-L4 were weakly inversely correlated with body mass index (r = -0.17) and weight (r = -0.16) and not correlated with height. TBS values for all lumbar vertebral combinations decreased significantly with age. There was a linear decrease of 16.0% (-2.47 T-score) in TBS at L1-L4 between 45 and 90 yr of age (vs. -2.34 for aBMD). Microarchitectural loss rate increased after age 65 by 50% (-0.004 to -0.006). Similar results were obtained for other combinations of lumbar vertebra. TBS, an index of bone microarchitectural texture, decreases with advancing age in non-Hispanic US white women. Little change in TBS is observed between ages 30 and 45. Thereafter, a progressive decrease is observed with advancing age. The changes we observed in these American women are similar to that previously reported for a French population of white women (r(2) > 0.99). This reference database will facilitate the use of TBS to assess bone microarchitectural deterioration in clinical practice.

Development of a Business Model that Supports Mobile Value-Added Services Market Creation in Emerging Countries

Tutkielman tavoitteena on luoda liiketoimintamalli, joka tukee langattomien matkaviestintäpalveluiden markkinoiden luomista kehittyvillä markkinoilla. Teoreettinen osa tarkastelee langattomien matkaviestintäpalveluiden liiketoimintamallin kehittämisen tärkeimpiä elementtejä CIS maissa. Teoreettisen kappaleen tuloksena saadaan puitteet, jonka avulla liiketoimintamalli matkaviestintäpalveluille voidaan kehittää. Tutkielman empiirinen osa on toteutettu case tutkimuksena, jonka tavoitteena on ollut langattomien matkaviestintäpalvelujen markkinoiden luominen CIS maissa. Pääasiallinen empiirisen tiedon lähde on ollut teemahaastattelut. Tuloksena saatuja empiirisen osan tietoja verrataan teoriakappaleen vastaaviin tuloksiin Tulokset osoittavat, että radikaalin korkean teknologian innovaation markkinoiden luominen on hidas prosessi, joka vaatii kärsivällisyyttä yritykseltä. Markkinoiden, teknologian ja strategian epävarmuustekijät tuovat epävarmuutta kehittyvälle toimialalle ja markkinoille, joka vaikeuttaa liiketoimintamallin kehittämistä. Tärkein tekijä on palvelujen markkinointi ennemmin kuin teknologian. Avain kyvykkyys markkinoiden luomisessa on oppiminen, ei tietäminen.

A Legislator under Surveillance: The Creation and Implementation of Swiss Banking Legislation 1910-1934

This paper analyses how banking regulation was introduced in Switzerland - one of the world's most prominent financial centres - which remained in place until the beginning of the twenty-first century. It shows that the law adopted on 8 November 1934 is a perfect example of capture of the regulator by the regulated. Essentially a political response in the context of the economic crisis of the 1930s, it largely reflected the interests of banking circles by limiting the intervention of the State as much as possible. The introduction of the new legislation was facilitated by the temporary weakness of Swiss banking circles, as they depended on the State to delay or prevent the collapse of many major credit institutions. They did not manage to derail the law as they had two decades earlier when they scuppered the federal bill on banks drawn up between 1914 and 1916. But this time they were better organized and more united, and intervened all the more effectively in the legislative process itself. The 1934 law is thus distinctive in that it made no structural changes to the architecture of the financial centre but merely codified its practices through flexible legislation meant to reassure the public. The law was aimed less at controlling banking activity than at keeping - thanks to skilfully calibrated political concessions - the State from having to intervene more directly in the internal management of banks or in the fixing of interest rates and the export of capital.

Physical activity of children with developmental coordination disorder in the presence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder : does gender matter?

Baerg, S., Cairney, J., Hay, J., Rempel, L. and Faught, B.E. (2009). Physical Activity of Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder in the Presence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Does Gender Matter? Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, CANADA. Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have difficulties in motor coordination. Attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is considered the condition most co-morbid with DCD at approximately 50%. Children with DCD are generally less physically active (PA) than their peers, while children with ADHD are often considered more physically active. It is not known if the physical activity patterns of children with DCD-ADHD resemble those of children with primarily DCD or that of their healthy peers. The primary objective of this research was to contrast physical activity patterns between children with DCD, DCD-ADHD, and healthy controls. Since boys are generally reported as more physically active than girls, a secondary objective was to determine if gender moderated the association between groups and physical activity. A sample of males (n=66) and females (n=44) were recruited from the Physical Health Activity Study Team (PHAST) longitudinal study. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children (2nd Ed.) was used to identify probable cases of DCD, and Connor's Revised Parent Rating Scale- Short Version to identify ADHD. Subjects (mean age=12.8±.4 yrs) were allocated to three groups; DCD (n=32), DCD-ADHD (n=30) and control (n=48). Physical activity was monitored for seven days with the Actical® accelerometer (activity count, step count and energy expenditure). Children completed the Participation Questionnaire (PQ) during the in-school session of data collection for the PHAST study. Height, weight and body mass index (BMI) were also determined. Analysis of variance showed significant group differences for activity count (F(2,56)=5.36, p=.007) and PQ (F(2,44 )=6. 71, p=.003) in males, while a significant group difference for step count (F(2,37)=3.55, p=.04) was found in females. Post hoc comparison tests (Tukey) identified significantly lower PQ and activity count between males with OCD and controls (p=.004) and males with DCD-ADHD and controls (p=.003). Conversely, females with DCD-ADHD had significantly more step counts than their controls (p=.01). Analysis of covariance demonstrated a gender by DCD groups negative interaction for males (activity count) (F(2,92):;:3.11, p=.049) and a positive interaction for females (step count) (F(1,92)=4.92, p=.009). Hyperactivity in females with DCD-ADHD appears to contribute to more physical activity, whereas DCD may contribute to decreased activity in males with DCD and DCDADHD. Further research is needed to examine gender differences in physical activity within the context of DCD and ADHD.

Can a Manipulated Mind Alter Matter? : The Effects of Verbal Feedback on Self-Efficacy, Exercise Intention, and Exercise Behaviour among Low-Active College-Aged Women

Self-efficacy (SE), a person’s confidence in the ability to perform a task, is an important predictor of the adoption and maintenance of physical activity. The present study examined the effects of SE manipulated through verbal persuasion on exercise intentions and behaviour during a 4-week follow-up period and investigated the role of social physique anxiety (SPA) as a moderator. Female college infrequent exercisers (n = 66) were randomly assigned into one of three groups (high-efficacy [HE], low-efficacy [LE], or control) and asked to complete several questionnaires at baseline. The HE and LE groups were provided with positive and negative exercise adherence feedback, respectively. The HE group reported higher SE from pre- to post-feedback. Both the HE and LE groups reported increases in exercise behaviour at the 4-week follow-up. Pre- to post-feedback changes in SE, exercise intention, and exercise behaviour did not depend on level of SPA reported.

New Contig Creation Algorithm for the de novo DNA Assembly Problem

DNA assembly is among the most fundamental and difficult problems in bioinformatics. Near optimal assembly solutions are available for bacterial and small genomes, however assembling large and complex genomes especially the human genome using Next-Generation-Sequencing (NGS) technologies is shown to be very difficult because of the highly repetitive and complex nature of the human genome, short read lengths, uneven data coverage and tools that are not specifically built for human genomes. Moreover, many algorithms are not even scalable to human genome datasets containing hundreds of millions of short reads. The DNA assembly problem is usually divided into several subproblems including DNA data error detection and correction, contig creation, scaffolding and contigs orientation; each can be seen as a distinct research area. This thesis specifically focuses on creating contigs from the short reads and combining them with outputs from other tools in order to obtain better results. Three different assemblers including SOAPdenovo [Li09], Velvet [ZB08] and Meraculous [CHS+11] are selected for comparative purposes in this thesis. Obtained results show that this thesis’ work produces comparable results to other assemblers and combining our contigs to outputs from other tools, produces the best results outperforming all other investigated assemblers.

Claim in the Matter of the Estate of Hamilton K. Woodruff

Claim (6 typed pages) by Julia C. Woodruff and Margaret W. Band in the matter of the estate of Hamilton K. Woodruff regarding bills paid by Mrs. Woodruff prior to her husband's death.

Universal history, from the creation of the world to the begining of the eighteenth century

UANL

Trade Creation, Trade Diversion and Investment Flows: Evidence from the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement.

Rapport de recherche

Does Participation Matter ? The Impact of Subjective Calculus on Participation.

Rapport de recherche

Do National Borders Matter? Evidence for the Mercosur Trade Bloc.

Rapport de recherche