Do agricultural subsidies crowd out or stimulate rural credit institutions? The Case of CAP Payments. Factor Markets Working Paper No. 4, September 2011

In this paper we estimate the impact of subsidies from the EU’s common agricultural policy on farm bank loans. According to the theoretical results, if subsidies are paid at the beginning of the growing season they may reduce bank loans, whereas if they are paid at the end of the season they increase bank loans, but these results are conditional on whether farms are credit constrained and on the relative cost of internal and external financing. In the empirical analysis, we use farm-level panel data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network to test the theoretical predictions for the period 1995–2007. We employ fixed-effects and generalised method of moment models to estimate the impact of subsidies on farm loans. The results suggest that subsidies influence farm loans and the effects tend to be non-linear and indirect. The results also indicate that both coupled and decoupled subsidies stimulate long-term loans, but the long-term loans of large farms increase more than those of small farms, owing to decoupled subsidies. Furthermore, the results imply that short-term loans are affected only by decoupled subsidies, and they are altered by decoupled subsidies more for small farms than for large farms; however, when controlling for endogeneity, only the decoupled payments affect loans and the relationship is non-linear.

Identifying Factor Productivity from Micro-data: The case of EU agriculture. Factor Markets Working Paper No. 34, January 2013

The classical problem of agricultural productivity measurement has regained interest owing to recent price hikes in world food markets. At the same time, there is a new methodological debate on the appropriate identification strategies for addressing endogeneity and collinearity problems in production function estimation. We examine the plausibility of four established and innovative identification strategies for the case of agriculture and test a set of related estimators using farm-level panel datasets from seven EU countries. The newly suggested control function and dynamic panel approaches provide attractive conceptual improvements over the received ‘within’ and duality models. Even so, empirical implementation of the conceptual sophistications built into these estimators does not always live up to expectations. This is particularly true for the dynamic panel estimator, which mostly failed to identify reasonable elasticities for the (quasi-) fixed factors. Less demanding proxy approaches represent an interesting alternative for agricultural applications. In our EU sample, we find very low shadow prices for labour, land and fixed capital across countries. The production elasticity of materials is high, so improving the availability of working capital is the most promising way to increase agricultural productivity.

Treatment approach in patients with hyperbilirubinemia secondary to liver metastases in gastrointestinal malignancies: a case series and review of literature

BACKGROUND: Treatment of patients with severe liver dysfunction including hyperbilirubinemia secondary to liver metastases of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer is challenging. Regimen of oxaliplatin and fluoropyrimidine (FP)/folinic acid (FA) ± a monoclonal antibody (moAb), represents a feasible option considering the pharmacokinetics. Clinical data on the respective dosage and tolerability are limited and no recommendations are available. METHODS: Consecutive patients with severe hyperbilirubinemia [>2 × upper limit of the normal range (ULN) and >2.4 mg/dl] due to liver metastases of GI cancer without options for drainage receiving oxaliplatin, FP/FA ± moAb were analyzed. To collect further data a review of the literature was performed. RESULTS: A total of 12 patients were identified between 2011 and 2015. At treatment start, median bilirubin level was 6.1 mg/dl (>5 × ULN, range 2.7-13.6). The majority of patients (n = 11) received dose-reduced regimen with oxaliplatin (60-76%) and FP/FA (0-77%), rapidly escalating to full dose regimen. During treatment, bilirubin levels dropped more than 50% within 8 weeks or normalized within 12 weeks in 6 patients (responders). Median overall survival was 5.75 months (range 1.0-16.0 months) but was significantly prolonged in responders compared to nonresponders [9.7 and 3.0 months, p = 0.026 (two-sided test); 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.10-10.22]. In addition, case reports or series comprising a further 26 patients could be identified. Based on the obtained data a treatment algorithm was developed. CONCLUSION: Treatment with oxaliplatin, FP/FA ± moAb is feasible and may derive relevant benefits in patients with severe liver dysfunction caused by GI cancer liver metastases without further options of drainage.

Lichtheimia Infection in a Lymphoma Patient: Case Report and a Brief Review of the Available Diagnostic Tools

We describe the case of a patient with a T-lymphoblastic lymphoma whose disseminated mucormycosis was diagnosed with delay, and we address the diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making process and review the diagnostic workup of patients with potential IFD. The diagnosis was delayed despite a suggestive radiological presentation of the patient's pulmonary lesion. The uncommon risk profile (T-lymphoblastic lymphoma, short neutropenic phases) wrongly led to a low level of suspicion. The diagnosis was also hampered by the lack of indirect markers for infections caused by Mucorales, the low sensitivity of both fungal culture and panfungal PCR, and the limited availability of species-specific PCR. A high level of suspicion of IFD is needed, and aggressive diagnostic procedures should be promptly initiated even in apparently low-risk patients with uncommon presentations. The extent of the analytical workup should be decided on a case-by-case base. Diagnostic tests such as the galactomannan and β-D-glucan test and/or PCR on biological material followed by sequencing should be chosen according to their availability and after evaluation of their specificity and sensitivity. In high-risk patients, preemptive therapy with a broad-spectrum mould-active antifungal agent should be started before definitive diagnostic findings become available.

How Do Second-Generation Immigrant Students Access Higher Education? The Importance of Vocational Routes to Higher Education in Switzerland, France, and Germany

We analyse the access to different institutional pathways to higher education for second-generation students, focusing on youths that hold a higher-education entrance certificate. The alternative vocational pathway appears to compensate to some degree, compared to the traditional academic one, for North-African and Southern-European youths in France, those from Turkey in Germany, and to a lesser degree those from Portugal, Turkey, Ex-Yugoslavia, Albania/Kosovo in Switzerland. This is not the case in Switzerland for Western-European, Italian, and Spanish youths who indeed access higher education via the academic pathway more often than Swiss youths. Using youth panel and survey data, multinomial models are applied to analyse these pathway choices.

ITS Institutional and Legal Issues Program. Review of the SmarTraveler operational test. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C.

IVHS Institutional and Legal Issues Program. Review of the FAST-TRAC operational test. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C.

Evaporation test variability study. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Modeling of Distributed Generation under Next Generation Interconnection Requirements

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Aberrant protective force generation during neural provocation testing and the effect of treatment in patients with neurogenic cervicobrachial pain

Background: Observation of the occurrence of protective muscle activity is advocated in assessment of the peripheral nervous system by means of neural provocation tests. However, no studies have yet demonstrated abnormal force generation in a patient population. Objectives: To analyze whether aberrations in shoulder girdle-elevation force during neural tissue provocation testing for the median nerve (NTPTI) can be demonstrated, and whether possible aberrations can be normalized following cervical mobilization. Study Design: A single-blind randomized comparative controlled study. Setting: Laboratory setting annex in a manual therapy teaching practice. Participants: Twenty patients with unilateral or bilateral neurogenic cervicobrachial pain. Methods: During the NTPTI, we used a load cell and electrogoniometer to record continuously the shoulder-girdle elevation force in relation to the available range of elbow extension. Following randomization, we analyzed the immediate treatment effects of a cervical contralateral lateral glide mobilization technique (experimental group) and therapeutic ultrasound (control group). Results: On the involved side, the shoulder-girdle elevation force occur-red earlier, and the amount of force at the end of the test was substantially, though not significantly, greater than that on the uninvolved side at the corresponding range of motion. Together with a significant reduction in pain perception after cervical mobilization, a clear tendency toward normalization of the force curve could be observed, namely, a significant decrease in force generation and a delayed onset. The control group demonstrated no differences. Conclusions: Aberrations in force generation during neural, provocation testing are present in patients with neurogenic pain and can be normalized with appropriate treatment modalities.