This article presents a systematic and extensive empirical study on the presence of Markov switching dynamics in three dollar-based exchange rates. A Monte Carlo approach is adopted to circumvent the statistical inference problem inherent to the test of regime-switching behavior. Two data frequencies, two sample periods, and various specifications are considered. Quarterly data yield inconclusive

Membrane distillation is a process in which, for example, water in a heated salt solution, evaporates through a porous membrane. The vapour condenses on a coolant surface on the other side of the membrane. The two liquid streams, the salt solution and the condensate, are separated by a highly porous hydrophobic membrane. Surface tension forces withhold liquids from the pores and prevent contact be

Female reproductive success in the unisexual perennial clonal moss Hylocomium splendens was examined by recording, if the segment was reproductive [produced sporophyte(s)] or not, together with several distance-to-male and male density variables, and segment size. This was done for every female segment in a population over a 5 year study period. A high fraction of the population could be sexed bec

High-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectra from samples located in inhomogeneous static and radio frequency magnetic fields can be obtained by applying a train of z-rotation radio frequency pulses to repeatedly refocus the inhomogeneous broadening during signal detection. z-rotation pulses based on an adiabatic double passage are effective over wide bandwidths using a limited amount of rad

To analyze complex and noncomplex cardiac malformations regarding prevalence and in relation to demographic variables, we pooled data on infants (age I year or younger) with congenital cardiovascular defects from three large birth defect registries in California, Sweden, and France. Altogether. 12.932 infants had one or more congenital heart defects out of 4.4 million live births and stillbirths.

OBJECTIVE: It has been estimated that alcohol drinking increases the risk of breast cancer in women by approximately 7% for each increment of 10 g alcohol per day. However, the few studies conducted on breast cancer among men have failed to detect an association with quantitative measures of alcohol drinking, even if the alcohol intake is generally higher in men than in women. On the other hand, i

We present here a genome-wide map of abnormalities found in diagnostic samples from 45 adults and adolescents with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). A 500K SNP array analysis uncovered frequent genetic abnormalities, with cryptic deletions constituting half of the detected changes, implying that microdeletions are a characteristic feature of this malignancy. Importantly, the pattern of deletions

Background Cultural competency can be understood as those learned skills which help us understand cultural differences and ease communication between people who have different ways of understanding health, sickness and the body. Recently, medical schools have begun to recognise a need for cultural competency training. However, few reports have been published that articulate and evaluate cultural c

Background: We evaluated the association of total and free forms of serum human kallikrein 2 (hK2) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) with prostate cancers of unfavorable prognosis. Methods: We retrospectively measured total PSA (tPSA), free PSA (fPSA), and total hK2 (thK2) in preoperative serum samples from 867 men [and assessed free hK2 (fhK2) measured in 577 of these men] treated with radical

Operational release planning (ORP) is concerned with assigning human resources to development tasks in software projects such that a defined set of product features can be completed under given constraints. In this paper, we present a simulation-based approach to study the impact of uncertainty. Uncertainty parameters considered in this paper are related to the features themselves (functionality,

Following John Rawls, writers like Bernard Williams and Christine Korsgaard have suggested that a transparency condition should be put on ethical theories. The exact nature of such a condition and its implications is however not anything on which there is any consensus. It is argued here that the ultimate rationale of transparency conditions is epistemic rather than substantively moral, but also t

Type and duration of fetal asphyxial insult affect the distribution of blood flow to the heart and brain. The purpose of this study was to describe dynamic and quantitative changes in regional myocardial and cerebral blood flow (CBF) during fetal asphyxia induced by total occlusion of the umbilical cord. Eleven exteriorized fetal sheep were subjected to total umbilical cord occlusion and five feta

Purpose The aim of this paper is to analyse the marketing strategy in China of the furnishing retailer IKEA in the context of standardisation and adaptation of marketing activities. IKEA’s strategy in China is compared to its corporate strategy throughout the rest of the world. Design/methodology/approach The four P classifications are used as a framework to compare the central marketing strateg

Cerebral ischemia results in enhanced expression of smooth muscle cell endothelin and angiotensin receptors in cerebral arteries. We hypothesise that this phenomenon may be detrimental and that acute treatment with a combined non-hypotensive dose of the angiotensin AT, receptor inhibitor candesartan and the endothelin ETA receptor antagonist ZD 1611 reduces the infarct in experimental ischemic str

Previous studies have shown increased cardiovascular mortality as late side effects in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients. This study identifies stratifying risk factors for surveillance and defines concepts for a clinical feasible and noninvasive prospective protocol for intervention of cardiovascular side effects. HL patients diagnosed between 1965 and 1995 (n = 6.946) and their first-degree relativ

Proline/arginine-rich end leucine-rich repeat protein (PRELP) is a glycosaminoglycan (GAG)- and collagen-binding anchor protein highly expressed in cartilage, basement membranes, and developing bone. We observed that PRELP inhibited in vitro and in vivo mouse osteoclastogenesis through its GAG-binding domain ((PRELP)-P-hbd), involving (a) cell internalization through a chondroitin sulfate-and anne

This study investigates the establishment of alternative cell fates during embryoid body differentiation when ES cells diverge into two epithelia simulating the pre-gastrulation endoderm and ectoderm. We report that endoderm differentiation and endoderm-specitic gene expression, such as expression of laminin 1 subunits, is controlled by GATA6 induced by FGF. Subsequently, differentiation of the no

In order to study the metabolic fate of chlorinated fatty acids in fish, goldfish were fed either 9,10-dichlorostearic acid or oleic acid, chosen as the unchlorinated analogue, both radiolabelled at either the carboxyl (1st) or the terminal (18th) carbon of the fatty acid chain. By keeping the fish in hermetically closed aquaria, all the respired, assimilated and excreted radioactivity could be ac