42 research outputs found
Holographic Optical Tweezers for the study of colloidal interactions
No full textColloids or particles in suspension in a medium are omnipresent in our everyday life, such as in food, paints or drugs. Consequently, colloidal interactions have interesting applications in domains like biology, fabrication or industrial processes. Among the different techniques that can measure colloidal interactions, optical tweezers is the most versatile. This technique permits to trap particles with a force that can be precisely tuned, while also allowing to measure the particle position with nanometer precision, as well as the force applied on that particle down to femtonewton resolution. In addition to this, the inclusion of a spatial light modulator in an optical tweezers setup gives the opportunity to create multiple steerable traps in space, making the measurements between multiple particles in suspension possible. Such a setup is referred to as holographic optical tweezers. In this project, we demonstrate the use of a custom-built holographic optical tweezers setup for the measurement of interaction forces between microspheres coated with compounds relevant to oral drug delivery applications. More specifically, we tested the interaction between porcine gastric mucin and selected permeation enhancers, the first being representative of the mucus layer inside our small intestine and the second in the place of potential compounds that could help with increasing the efficiency of some oral drugs
3D printed microrobots controlled by light – Towards environmental and biomedical applications
No full textMicrorobots are rapidly developing as a valuable solution for performing microscale tasks, among which they seem particularly promising for biomedical and environmental applications. Two-photon polymerization enables the fabrication of microstructures with complex shapes, while focused laser beams allow for precise manipulation of such 3D printed objects. Whereas several challenges have yet to be overcome before microrobots can perform in the real world, many interesting laboratory applications have already been demonstrated, while others are being explored
Microswimmers for biomedical applications: Focus on light
No full textMicroswimmers are microscopic objects that can move and perform tasks in liquid environments. [...
Policy distortions, size of government, and growth
Get PDFThis paper analyzes the structural relationship between policies that distort resource allocation and long-term growth. It briefly reviews the Solow model in which steady-state growth depends only on exogenous technological change, but finds it unsatisfactory as a model of long-term growth. The author proposes an increasing-returns model in the spirit of the new literature on economic growth. With increasing returns, endogenous economic variables - and thus policy - will affect the steady-state rate of growth. This model gives output as a linear function of total capital, but a decreasing function of each of two types of capital. The distortion is defined as a policy intervention that increases the cost of using one of the types of capita. The results suggest that simple linear relationships between distortions and growth, or between size of government and growth, are untenable. Easterly's model shows that reducing the distortions does not have an equal effect on growth in all circumstances. The effect depends on how flexible the economy is, how large the share of the factor being penalized in production is, and how high the distortions are initially. Small changes in either very low or very high levels of initial distortions have a minimal effect on growth.Economic Theory&Research,Economic Growth,Economic Conditions and Volatility,Environmental Economics&Policies,Achieving Shared Growth
Private investment and macroeconomic adjustment : an overview
Get PDFThis paper reviews current investment theories, recent models linking macroeconomic policies and private investment, and the effect of uncertainty and credibility on irreversible investment decisions. Empirical studies on the subject are also reviewed, and the general implications of this literature for the design of growth-oriented adjustment programs are discussed.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Financial Intermediation,Banks&Banking Reform
A checklist of megadrile earthworm (Annelida: Clitellata) species and subspecies of the world
No full textThe available literature on earthworm (Megadrili) species distributions at the worldwide, regional, and country levels were reviewed and combined with personal databases of the authors, as well as the data available in Drilobase (www.drilobase.org), Integrated Taxonomic Information System - ITIS (www.itis.gov), the 2nd edition of Nomenclatura Oligochaetologica (https://nomenclatura-oligochaetologica.inhs.illinois.edu; Reynolds & Wetzel 2022), the Earthworm species database (Csuzdi 2012) and Blakemore (2008). These data were then used to produce a full list of species up to December 2022. The family classification chosen for the present paper is based on that of James and Davidson (2012) and James (2012), expanded by Anderson et al. (2017) and Erséus et al. (2020), mainly based on DNA analysis (multiple genes). Moniligastridae, although not Crassiclitellata were included as they are analogous to earthworms and part of the Megadrili. Syngenodrilidae and Alluroididae were excluded from the list as they have been tentatively placed into the Order Alluroidida, mainly due to the absence of genetic sequence data needed to make a more informed decision as to their placement (Schmelz et al. 2021).
The updated list is recognizably not exhaustive and may be missing some species which were not caught in the lead author’s searches. The list provides the names of all valid species and subspecies and includes ca. 5,406 earthworm species and 332 subspecies, for a total of 5,738 species/subspecies worldwide, belonging to 382 genera. These are divided into 23 families, of which Megascolecidae is the most speciose (2,335 sp./spp.), followed by Acanthodrilidae (794 sp./spp.), and Lumbricidae (689 sp./spp.). On the other hand, 10 families are monospecific and/or monogeneric, with a limited number of species and geographic distribution.
The current list is provided as an excel file and includes a Readme tab as well as five spreadsheets:
Metadata: Provides information on the remaining spreadsheets in the file
Families: List of the valid 23 Megadrili earthworm families and authors, and their parent taxa (Sub-order, Order and higher-level taxonomic classifications)
Genera: List of the 382 valid megadrile earthworm genera and authors, and their parent families
Sub-genera: List of the 34 valid megadrile earthworm subgenera and authors
Species: List of the 5,738 valid megadrile earthworm species and subspecies and authors, presented alphabetically by family and genusThis work received funds from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - CNPq (Grants 441930/2020-4 and 310690/2017-0 to GGB), the Fulbright Foundation (Grant to SWJ), and the Canadian Institute of Ecology and Evolution for virtual working group activities (GloWorm project awarded to EC). We also thank Mark J. Wetzel for his comments and corrections.
For corrections, please get in touch with the first author at [email protected]
A checklist of megadrile earthworm (Annelida: Clitellata) species and subspecies of the world
No full text<p>The available literature on earthworm (Megadrili) species distributions at the worldwide, regional, and country levels were reviewed and combined with personal databases of the authors, as well as the data available in Drilobase (www.drilobase.org), Integrated Taxonomic Information System - ITIS (www.itis.gov), the 2nd edition of Nomenclatura Oligochaetologica (<a href="https://nomenclatura-oligochaetologica.inhs.illinois.edu">https://nomenclatura-oligochaetologica.inhs.illinois.edu</a>; Reynolds & Wetzel 2022), the Earthworm species database (Csuzdi 2012) and Blakemore (2008). These data were then used to produce a full list of species up to the end of December 2022.</p>
<p>The family classification chosen for the present paper is based on that of James and Davidson (2012) and James (2012), expanded by Anderson et al. (2017) and Erséus et al. (2020), mainly based on DNA analysis (multiple genes). Moniligastridae, although not Crassiclitellata were included as they are analogous to earthworms and part of the Megadrili. Syngenodrilidae and Alluroididae were excluded from the list as they have been tentatively placed into the Order Alluroidida, mainly due to the absence of genetic sequence data needed to make a more informed decision as to their placement (Schmelz et al. 2021).</p>
<p>The updated list is recognizably not exhaustive and may still be missing some species that were not caught in the lead author’s searches. The present list includes some corrections in authors and species names, as well as an additional 17 valid species/subspecies that were inadvertently omitted in previous versions. The current version (v4) provides the names of all valid species and subspecies and includes ca. 5,416 earthworm species and 337 unique subspecies (not counting the nomino-typical subspecies), for a total of 5,753 species/subspecies worldwide, belonging to 382 genera. These are divided into 23 families, of which Megascolecidae is the most speciose (2,347 sp./spp.), followed by Acanthodrilidae (797 sp./spp.), and Lumbricidae (688 sp./spp.). On the other hand, 10 families are monospecific and/or monogeneric, with a limited number of species and geographic distribution.</p>
<p>The current list is provided as an excel file and includes a Readme tab as well as five spreadsheets:</p>
<p>Metadata: Provides information on the remaining spreadsheets in the file</p>
<p>Families: List of the valid 23 Megadrili earthworm families and authors, and their parent taxa (Sub-order, Order and higher-level taxonomic classifications) </p>
<p>Genera: List of the 382 valid megadrile earthworm genera and authors, and their parent families</p>
<p>Sub-genera: List of the 34 valid megadrile earthworm subgenera and authors</p>
<p>Species: List of the 5,753 valid megadrile earthworm species and subspecies and authors, presented alphabetically by family and genus</p>
<p>If any mistakes are found in the present file (version 4), we kindly request that you contact the first author (George Brown) by e-mail at [email protected] or [email protected], so that the appropriate corrections can be made. Please consider only literature published up to December 2022 for corrections.</p>This work received funds from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - CNPq (Grants 441930/2020-4 and 310690/2017-0 to GGB), the Fulbright Foundation (Grant to SWJ), and the Canadian Institute of Ecology and Evolution for virtual working group activities (GloWorm project awarded to EC). We also thank Mark J. Wetzel for his comments and corrections.
For corrections, please get in touch with the first author at [email protected]
How Indonesia's monetary policy affects key variables
Get PDFThe objective of this paper is to examine the determination of interest rates, inflation and nominal exchange rates in Indonesia, and investigate the role of monetary policy in affecting these variables. In the short term, monetary policy can be used to protect domestic interest rates from the destabilizing influence of speculative capital flight. In the long run, monetary policy can help lower domestic nominal interest rates by maintaining low inflation and dampening expectation about depreciation. The potential for reducing interest rates through monetary expansion is limited. Domestic inflation is partly a monetary phenomenon but structural factors also affect it. The effects of international inflation are immediate and strong; the effects of wage pushes are smaller and less immediate. Inflation can be reduced to some extent by slowing the growth of money - which strengthens the secondary influence of a slower crawling exchange rate. A managed float is appropriate for maintaining a competitive exchange rate, given the gap between world and domestic inflation caused by structural and monetary factors. Real depreciation of the exchange rate will be necessary to compensate for unanticipated decline in oil income (from lower than expected oil prices).Economic Theory&Research,Economic Stabilization,Environmental Economics&Policies,Macroeconomic Management,Banks&Banking Reform
