Trade and the environment Copeland, Brian R; Taylor, M. Scott
2003., 20131203, 2013, 2003, 2003-01-01, 20030101
eBook
Nowhere has the divide between advocates and critics of globalization been more striking than in debates over free trade and the environment. And yet the literature on the subject is high on rhetoric ...and low on results. This book is the first to systematically investigate the subject using both economic theory and empirical analysis. Brian Copeland and Scott Taylor establish a powerful theoretical framework for examining the impact of international trade on local pollution levels, and use it to offer a uniquely integrated treatment of the links between economic growth, liberalized trade, and the environment. The results will surprise many.
The authors set out the two leading theories linking international trade to environmental outcomes, develop the empirical implications, and examine their validity using data on measured sulfur dioxide concentrations from over 100 cities worldwide during the period from 1971 to 1986.
The empirical results are provocative. For an average country in the sample, free trade is good for the environment. There is little evidence that developing countries will specialize in pollution-intensive products with further trade. In fact, the results suggest just the opposite: free trade will shift pollution-intensive goods production from poor countries with lax regulation to rich countries with tight regulation, thereby lowering world pollution. The results also suggest that pollution declines amid economic growth fueled by economy-wide technological progress but rises when growth is fueled by capital accumulation alone.
Lucidly argued and authoritatively written, this book will provide students and researchers of international trade and environmental economics a more reliable way of thinking about this contentious issue, and the methodological tools with which to do so.
Many organisms spend a significant portion of their life cycle as haploids and as diploids (a haploid–diploid life cycle). However, the evolutionary processes that could maintain this sort of life ...cycle are unclear. Most previous models of ploidy evolution have assumed that the fitness effects of new mutations are equal in haploids and homozygous diploids, however, this equivalency is not supported by empirical data. With different mutational effects, the overall (intrinsic) fitness of a haploid would not be equal to that of a diploid after a series of substitution events. Intrinsic fitness differences between haploids and diploids can also arise directly, for example because diploids tend to have larger cell sizes than haploids. Here, we incorporate intrinsic fitness differences into genetic models for the evolution of time spent in the haploid versus diploid phases, in which ploidy affects whether new mutations are masked. Life-cycle evolution can be affected by intrinsic fitness differences between phases, the masking of mutations, or a combination of both. We find parameter ranges where these two selective forces act and show that the balance between them can favor convergence on a haploid–diploid life cycle, which is not observed in the absence of intrinsic fitness differences.
Development of exosome-based semisynthetic nanovesicles for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes requires novel approaches to load exosomes with cargo. Electroporation has previously been used to load ...exosomes with RNA. However, investigations into exosome colloidal stability following electroporation have not been considered. Herein, we report the development of a unique trehalose pulse media (TPM) that minimizes exosome aggregation following electroporation. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and RNA absorbance were employed to determine the extent of exosome aggregation and electroextraction post electroporation in TPM compared to common PBS pulse media or sucrose pulse media (SPM). Use of TPM to disaggregate melanoma exosomes post electroporation was dependent on both exosome concentration and electric field strength. TPM maximized exosome dispersal post electroporation for both homogenous B16 melanoma and heterogeneous human serum-derived populations of exosomes. Moreover, TPM enabled heavy cargo loading of melanoma exosomes with 5nm superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION5) while maintaining original exosome size and minimizing exosome aggregation as evidenced by transmission electron microscopy. Loading exosomes with SPION5 increased exosome density on sucrose gradients. This provides a simple, label-free means of enriching exogenously modified exosomes and introduces the potential for MRI-driven theranostic exosome investigations in vivo.
•We compare isogeometric collocation (IGA-C) with isogeometric Galerkin and FEA.•Of particular interest are quadrature cost and accuracy vs. computing time.•IGA-C has the potential to offer a more ...efficient alternative to existing technology.•Motivated by the two-scale relation of B-splines we introduce the concept of weighted collocation.•Its combination with hierarchical refinement of NURBS leads to efficient and robust adaptive IGA-C.
We compare isogeometric collocation with isogeometric Galerkin and standard C0 finite element methods with respect to the cost of forming the matrix and residual vector, the cost of direct and iterative solvers, the accuracy versus degrees of freedom and the accuracy versus computing time. On this basis, we show that isogeometric collocation has the potential to increase the computational efficiency of isogeometric analysis and to outperform both isogeometric Galerkin and standard C0 finite element methods, when a specified level of accuracy is to be achieved with minimum computational cost. We then explore an adaptive isogeometric collocation method that is based on local hierarchical refinement of NURBS basis functions and collocation points derived from the corresponding multi-level Greville abscissae. We introduce the concept of weighted collocation that can be consistently developed from the weighted residual form and the two-scale relation of B-splines. Using weighted collocation in the transition regions between hierarchical levels, we are able to reliably handle coincident collocation points that naturally occur for multi-level Greville abscissae. The resulting method combines the favorable properties of isogeometric collocation and hierarchical refinement in terms of computational efficiency, local adaptivity, robustness and straightforward implementation, which we illustrate by numerical examples in one, two and three dimensions.
It has been well-established that novelty-seeking and impulsivity are significant risk factors for the development of psychological disorders, including substance use disorder and behavioral ...addictions. While dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex is at the crux of these disorders, little is known at the cellular level about how alterations in neuron activity can drive changes in impulsivity and novelty seeking. We harnessed a cre-dependent caspase-3 ablation in both male and female mice to selectively ablate vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)-expressing interneurons in the prefrontal cortex to better explore how this microcircuit functions during specific behavioral tasks. Caspase-ablated animals had no changes in anxiety-like behaviors or hedonic food intake but had a specific increase in impulsive responding during longer trials in the three-choice serial reaction time test. Together, these data suggest a circuit-level mechanism in which VIP interneurons function as a gate to selectively respond during periods of high expectation.
Improving Access to Psychological Therapies is a UK government-funded initiative to widen access to the psychological treatment of depression and anxiety disorders. The author has had the opportunity ...to independently assess 90 Improving Access to Psychological Therapies clients, using a standardised semi-structured interview, the Structured Clinical Diagnostic Interview for DSM Disorders (SCID) and to listen to their account of interaction with the service. The results suggest that only the tip of the iceberg fully recovers from their disorder (9.2%) whether or not they were treated before or after a personal injury claim. There is a pressing need to re-examine the modus operandi of the service.
How viruses evolve within hosts can dictate infection outcomes; however, reconstructing this process is challenging. We evaluate our multiplexed amplicon approach, PrimalSeq, to demonstrate how virus ...concentration, sequencing coverage, primer mismatches, and replicates influence the accuracy of measuring intrahost virus diversity. We develop an experimental protocol and computational tool, iVar, for using PrimalSeq to measure virus diversity using Illumina and compare the results to Oxford Nanopore sequencing. We demonstrate the utility of PrimalSeq by measuring Zika and West Nile virus diversity from varied sample types and show that the accumulation of genetic diversity is influenced by experimental and biological systems.
Background
Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) pathways are now implemented worldwide with strong evidence that adhesion to such protocol reduces medical complications, costs and hospital stay. ...This concept has been applied for pancreatic surgery since the first published guidelines in 2012. This study presents the updated ERAS recommendations for pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) based on the best available evidence and on expert consensus.
Methods
A systematic literature search was conducted in three databases (Embase, Medline Ovid and Cochrane Library Wiley) for the 27 developed ERAS items. Quality of randomized trials was assessed using the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials statement checklist. The level of evidence for each item was determined using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation system. The Delphi method was used to validate the final recommendations.
Results
A total of 314 articles were included in the systematic review. Consensus among experts was reached after three rounds. A well-implemented ERAS protocol with good compliance is associated with a reduction in medical complications and length of hospital stay. The highest level of evidence was available for five items: avoiding hypothermia, use of wound catheters as an alternative to epidural analgesia, antimicrobial and thromboprophylaxis protocols and preoperative nutritional interventions for patients with severe weight loss (> 15%).
Conclusions
The current updated ERAS recommendations for PD are based on the best available evidence and processed by the Delphi method. Prospective studies of high quality are encouraged to confirm the benefit of current updated recommendations.
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