The Colombian National Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC) conducted an agro-ecological zoning study based on climate, soil, and terrain of the Colombian coffee-growing regions (CCGR) located in the ...tropics, between 1° and 11.5° N, in areas of complex topography. To support this study, a climate baseline was constructed at a spatial resolution of 5 km. Twenty-one bioclimatic indicators were drawn from this baseline data and from yield data for different coffee genotypes evaluated under conditions at eight experimental stations (ESs) belonging to the National Center for Coffee Research (CENICAFÉ). Three topographic indicators were obtained from a digital elevation model (DEM). Zoning at a national level resulted in the differentiation of 12 agro-climatic zones. Altitude notably influenced zone differentiation, however other factors such as large air currents, low-pressure atmospheric systems, valleys of the great rivers, and physiography also played an important role. The strategy of zoning according to coffee-growing conditions will enable areas with the greatest potential for the development of coffee cultivation to be identified, criteria for future research to be generated, and the level of technology implementation to be assessed.
Abstract
We study the interaction between tax advantages for municipal bonds and the market structure of auctions for these bonds. We show that this interaction can limit a bidder’s ability to ...extract information rents and is a crucial determinant of state and local governments’ borrowing costs. Reduced-form estimates show that increasing the tax advantage by 3 pp lowers mean borrowing costs by 9–10$\%$. We estimate a structural auction model to measure markups and to illustrate and quantify how the interaction between tax policy and bidder strategic behaviour determines the impact of tax advantages on municipal borrowing costs. We use the estimated model to evaluate the efficiency of Obama and Trump administration policies that limit the tax advantage for municipal bonds. Because reductions in the tax advantage inflate bidder markups and depress competition, the resulting increase in municipal borrowing costs more than offsets the tax savings to the government. Finally, we use the model to analyse a recent non-tax regulation that affects entry into municipal bond auctions.
A new method is proposed to perform Mueller matrix polarimetry using a Full Poincaré beam (i.e., a non-uniformly polarized beam presenting all polarization states across its section) as a parallel ...polarization state generator and a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera as a detector of the polarization state analyzer. In this way, the polarization change is measured for all possible input states simultaneously. To obtain the Mueller matrix of the sample, the overdetermined system of equations that relates the input and output states of polarization is solved by means of the Moore–Penrose pseudo-inverse. Preliminary numerical simulations are performed to identify and exhaustively analyze the main sources of error. In order to test the method, experimental measurements are presented for several known samples, showing an excellent agreement between the experimentally obtained Mueller matrices and the theoretically expected ones.
(1) Background: Glioblastoma is the most frequent and lethal primary tumor of the central nervous system. Through many years, research has brought various advances in glioblastoma treatment. At this ...time, glioblastoma management is based on maximal safe surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy with temozolomide. Recently, bevacizumab has been added to the treatment arsenal for the recurrent scenario. Nevertheless, patients with glioblastoma still have a poor prognosis. Therefore, many efforts are being made in different clinical research areas to find a new alternative to improve overall survival, free-progression survival, and life quality in glioblastoma patients. (2) Methods: Our objective is to recap the actual state-of-the-art in glioblastoma treatment, resume the actual research and future perspectives on immunotherapy, as well as the new synthetic molecules and natural compounds that represent potential future therapies at preclinical stages. (3) Conclusions: Despite the great efforts in therapeutic research, glioblastoma management has suffered minimal changes, and the prognosis remains poor. Combined therapeutic strategies and delivery methods, including immunotherapy, synthetic molecules, natural compounds, and glioblastoma stem cell inhibition, may potentiate the standard of care therapy and represent the next step in glioblastoma management research.
•14 of the 48 termite species found were indicators of soil ecosystem services.•Richness and density of species were different between Amazonian region's land uses.•Land use generated changes in ...species composition, mostly with humivore termites.•Land use affected the soil ecosystem services, but it is not a determiner factor.
Termite communities reflect soil conditions and the condition of the ecosystem services that they provide. The present study first evaluated the relationship between termite communities and soil conditions in a wide range of land use systems in deforested areas in the Colombian and Peruvian Amazon. Then, we identified termite indicator species for the ecosystem service levels provided by them. Termites were collected on 38 farms in both countries (12 in Colombia and 26 in Peru) at 190 sampling points (five per farm). Eight types of plant cover were identified: natural forests, secondary vegetation, agroforestry systems, sylvopastoral systems, perennial and annual crops, degraded and wooded pastures. Variables representing chemical fertility, hydrological functions of the soil, soil macro-aggregation and macroinvertebrate communities respectively, were measured at each point. Then, four synthetic indicators of ecosystem services were designed, respectively, based on this information. Termite indicator species for soil ecosystem services were searched for using the index value indicator method (IndVal). Among the 48 species collected (12 in Colombia, 45 in Peru and nine in common), 11 were identified as indicator species. Two indicator species were found in Colombia: one for chemical fertility and one for state of soil macro-aggregation. No indicator species were registered for hydrological soil functions and macroinvertebrate community biodiversity. In Peru, nine species were statistically significant indicators: four for chemical fertility, one for soil macro-aggregation, six for macroinvertebrate community biodiversity, two for hydrological soil functions, and four species were indicators for more than one service. This study presents significant evidence of the negative effects of degrading changes in land use on the abundance and richness of termite communities. The indicator ability demonstrated by termite species makes them a valuable monitoring tool. Their absence or presence can opportunely indicate the negative effects of certain management practices on soil ecosystem services. It can also indicate progress in soil restoration processes.
Inorganic nanoparticles are a fascinating class of materials which promise great potential in numerous fields, including optical (bio)sensing. Many different kinds of such nanoparticles have been ...widely used for fluorescent sensing and imaging due to the different merits of fluorescent nanoparticles compared to molecular fluorophores. Progress made in the rational design of nanomaterials also allowed the synthesis of hybrid phosphorescent nanoparticles, that finds growing applications in sensing due to the combination of the interesting size- and shape-dependent properties of nanomaterials with a phosphorescence-type emission.
In this review, we intend to highlight some of progress made in this active research area and update the database of various phosphorescent nanoparticles-based sensors on the basis of different sensing targets of interest in environmental, industrial and biomedical areas.
Following an introduction and a discussion of merits of the synergy between nanomaterials and phosphorescence detection as compared to molecular luminophores the article assesses the kinds and specific features of nanomaterials often used in phosphorescence sensing. Specific examples on the use of phosphorescence nanoparticles in chemical sensing and bioimaging are given next. A final section intends to provide an overview of the prospects of such type of nanomaterials in the design of future devices for analytical chemistry.
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Does bureaucratic ability predict promotion in governments? We show that self-reported performance in enforcing the One Child Policy predicts mayoral promotion in China. However, misreporting ...handicaps screening—a non-manipulated performance measure does not predict promotion. We show that this is consistent with a model where a government has a meritocratic objective but underestimates the imperfect verifiability of performance, rather than a model where a government is only interested in the illusion of meritocracy. Thus, despite meritocratic intentions, we challenge the notion that a successful promotion system effectively substituted for democratic institutions in explaining Chinese growth.
ORTHO-1 is a European, multicentric, first in human clinical trial to prove safety and feasibility after surgical implantation of commercially available biphasic calcium phosphate bioceramic granules ...associated during surgery with autologous mesenchymal stromal cells expanded from bone marrow (BM-hMSC) under good manufacturing practices, in patients with long bone pseudarthrosis. Methods: Twenty-eight patients with femur, tibia or humerus diaphyseal or metaphyso-diaphyseal non-unions were recruited and surgically treated in France, Germany, Italy and Spain with 100 or 200 million BM-hMSC/mL associated with 5–10 cc of bioceramic granules. Patients were followed up during one year. The investigational advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP) was expanded under the same protocol in all four countries, and approved by each National Competent Authority. Findings: With safety as primary end-point, no severe adverse event was reported as related to the BM-hMSC. With feasibility as secondary end-point, the participating production centres manufactured the BM-hMSC as planned. The ATMP combined to the bioceramic was surgically delivered to the non-unions, and 26/28 treated patients were found radiologically healed at one year (3 out of 4 cortices with bone bridging). Interpretation: Safety and feasibility were clinically proven for surgical implantation of expanded autologous BM-hMSC with bioceramic. Funding: EU-FP7-HEALTH-2009, REBORNE Project (GA: 241876).
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