327 research outputs found
Taking the temperature – forecasting GDP growth for mainland China
No full textWe present a new composite leading indicator of economic activity in mainland China, es-timated using a dynamic factor model. Our leading indicator is constructed from three se-ries: exports, a real estate climate index, and the Shanghai Stock Exchange index. These series are found to share a common, unobservable element from which our indicator can be identified. This indicator is then incorporated into out-of-sample one-step-ahead forecasts of Chinese GDP growth. Recursive out-of-sample accuracy tests indicate that the small-scale factor model approach leads to a successful representation of the sample data and provides an appropriate tool for forecasting Chinese business conditions.forecasting; China; leading indicator; factor model; growth cycles
BOOK REVIEW: DECLAN KIBERD AND P. J. MATTHEWS (EDS.), HANDBOOK OF THE IRISH REVIVAL. “AN ANTHOLOGY OF IRISH CULTURAL AND POLITICAL WRITINGS 1891-1922”, DUBLIN: ABBEY THEATRE PRESS, 2015, 505 P.
No full textPublished as an inaugural volume by Abbey Theatre Press in 2015, Handbook of the Irish Literary Revival offers a comprehensive anthology of seminal texts produced in one of the most prolific and meaningful periods in Ireland’s history: the Irish Revival. This period spanned three decades, from the late nineteenth century to the early 1920s (1891 marking the death of Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Irish National Movement, and 1922 signalling the establishment of the Irish Free State), when a generation of artists and thinkers returned to Ireland’s past in an effort to project a future for their nation amidst the other European countries. Sparked by questions about the availability of these essential documents, raised during The Theatre of Memory Symposium held in 2014, the collection of manifestos, poems, pamphlets, newspapers articles, commentaries, letters and fictional extracts that capture the ethos of those decades is co-edited by Declan Kiberd, Professor of Modern Irish and English Literature at the University of Notre Dame, author of groundbreaking studies such as Inventing Ireland: The Literature of the Modern Nation (1995) and, most recently, After Ireland: Writing the Nation from Beckett to the Present (2018), and P. J. Matthews, Associate Professor at University College Dublin, editor of The Cambridge Companion to John Millington Synge (2009)
Some thoughts on the JK-Rule<sup>1</sup>
No full textIn ‘The normative role of knowledge’ (2012), Declan Smithies defends a ‘JK-rule’ for belief: One has justification to believe that P iff one has justification to believe that one is in a position to know that P. Similar claims have been defended by others (Huemer, 2007, Reynolds, forthcoming). In this paper, I shall argue that the JK-rule is false. The standard and familiar way of arguing against putative rules for belief or assertion is, of course, to describe putative counterexamples. My argument, though, won't be like this—indeed I doubt that there are any intuitively compelling counterexamples to the JK-rule. Nevertheless, the claim that there are counterexamples to the JK-rule can, I think, be given something approaching a formal proof. My primary aim here is to sketch this proof. I will briefly consider some broader implications for how we ought to think about the epistemic standards governing belief and assertion
Quantitative assessment of Structural Reforms: Modelling the Lisbon Strategy
No full textUsing a variety of economic models, the Commission services have examined the impact of several reforms forming part of the Growth and Jobs Strategy (GJS). Overall, the results show that past reforms have delivered significant benefits, and that further reforms in key areas could generate important additional gains. The modelling results provide support for the existence of positive interactions between structural reforms in different areas, and thus for having a comprehensive reform strategy. They also highlight spillovers between reforms at EU and national level, the magnitude of which is being enhanced through the growing intensity of trade and investment.structural reforms, growth and jobs strategy, GJS, economic models, trade, investment, Arpaia, Roeger, Varga, in 't Veld, Hobza, Grilo, Wobst
A core outcome set for studies evaluating the effectiveness of prepregnancy care for women with pregestational diabetes
No full textAims/hypothesis: The aim of this study was to develop a core outcome set (COS) for trials and other studies evaluating the effectiveness of prepregnancy care for women with pregestational (pre-existing) diabetes mellitus. Methods: A systematic literature review was completed to identify all outcomes reported in prior studies in this area. Key stakeholders then prioritised these outcomes using a Delphi study. The list of outcomes included in the final COS were finalised at a face-to-face consensus meeting. Results: In total, 17 outcomes were selected and agreed on for inclusion in the final COS. These outcomes were grouped under three domains: measures of pregnancy preparation (n = 9), neonatal outcomes (n = 6) and maternal outcomes (n = 2). Conclusions/interpretation: This study identified a COS essential for studies evaluating prepregnancy care for women with pregestational diabetes. It is advocated that all trials and other non-randomised studies and audits in this area use this COS with the aim of improving transparency and the ability to compare and combine future studies with greater ease.</p
Development of novel methods for the detection of coumarin, and its metabolites and their applications
No full textThe research presented in this thesis has centered on the development of newer and better techniques for the determination of coumann, 7-hydroxycoumann and 7-hydroxycoumannglucuromde. The methods developed were applied to clinical studies of biological fluids including serum, plasma and urine and after in vitro metabolism of coumann and 7- hydroxycoumann. The techniques employed include capillary electrophoresis (CE), highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and antibody-based immunoanalytical techniques.
A separation based on capillary electrophoresis (CE) was developed for determining free and total 7-hydroxycoumann in serum and unne after the in vivo metabolism of coumann The compound was extracted into ether, evaporated to dryness and reconstituted into phosphate buffer before analysis by CE. The separation method developed was then applied to the determination of 7-hydroxycoumann, without sample clean-up, after in vitro metabolism of coumann by liver microsomal suspensions. The inter-species and inter-individual variation in coumann metabolism was assessed. A large variation within species (human microsomal preparations - n = 5) and between species (n = 10) was found Another CE method was developed for the direct determination of free 7-hydroxycoumann and conjugated 7- hydroxycoumann in unne after in vivo metabolism of coumann. This method was also applied to the determination of 7-hydroxycoumann-glucuronide after in vitro metabolism of 7-hydroxycoumann by undine diphosphate glucuronyl transferase in a crude enzymatic preparation from liver.
High-performance liquid chromatography was used for the determination of coumann, 7- hydroxycoumann and 7-hydroxycoumann-glucuronide in unne, plasma and serum. An isocratic separation method was utilised for the determination of total 7-hydroxycoumann after the administration of 7-hydroxycoumann to patients diagnosed with a range of cancers. The method was used to determine the pharmacokinetic profile of serum levels of the drug. A range of 7-hydroxycoumann doses were given (100 mg - 7000 mg) and the mtenndividual variations in 7-hydroxycoumann metabolism were determined Separations were based on enzymatic deconjugation of 7-hydroxycoumann from the glucuromde form, followed by extraction into ether, evaporation to dryness, and reconstitution into methanol before analysis by HPLC A gradient separation method was also developed for the direct determination of coumann, 7-hydroxycoumann, and 7-hydroxycoumann-glucuromde in urine, plasma and serum after the in vivo metabolism of coumann and 7-hydroxycoumann. The method was also used for the determination of 7-hydroxycoumann-glucuromde after the in vitro metabolism of 7-hydroxycoumann by a crude enzymatic preparation from liver.
A 7-hydroxycoumann-thyroglobuhn protem-drug conjugate was prepared. It was used in the generation of rabbit polyclonal antibodies Antibodies raised against the protein-drug conjugate were screened against another protein-drug conjugate (bovine serum albuimn-7- hydroxycoumann) to determine the antibody titre The antibodies raised were purified from rabbit serum, characterised and utilised in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
Improving Dialysis Patient Outcomes Introducing ultrapure water to facilitate HiVOLHDF: An engineer’s perspective
No full textWater quality is fundamental to haemodialysis regardless of the modality; this has two distinct strands namely chemical quality and microbiological quality. However, the water quality is far more critical with the high volume online haemodiafiltration (HiVOLHDF)* modality of treatment. A typical adult will be exposed to approximately fourteen litres of water a week. This is ingested orally, absorbed via the gastrointestinal tract, any excess is removed by the nephron in the kidney and exits the body with other waste products of metabolism in the urine. By contrast, the standard thrice weekly haemodialysis patient is exposed to 576 litres per week via the semipermeable dialyser. In addition, the high volume online HDF patient is exposed typically to an additional 60 L per week which is infused directly into the patient’s blood stream. Furthermore, as the majority of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients have zero, or very minimal residual renal function, toxins in the blood remain and cannot be ‘renally’ excreted between dialysis sessions.
From the literature review, it has been unequivocally demonstrated that water quality is an essential component to the dialysis process. However, as of 2016 there is not a scientific consensus with regard to whether HiVOLHDF is a superior treatment of ESRD patients with regard to mortality and morbidity. Whilst this may be the current case, it is the author’s belief that this will be forthcoming in due course. In the interim, it should be considered best practice to strive towards implementation of ultrapure water systems in all dialysis units and performing HiVOLHDF, while we await the evidence. This viewpoint is compounded by the fact that there have been no negative reports from the studies reviewed relating to patient outcomes when treatment by HiVOLHDF versus alternative conventional haemodialysis treatments
In addition, it would definitely seem prudent that when designing new dialysis facilities, ultrapure water should be considered the standard specification. This organisational development involved the transfer of an existing haemodialysis unit to a new state-of-the art redeveloped facility within the organisation. This facility would offer ultrapure water to facilitate HiVOLHDF as standard. There were numerous change strands to this project and the author incorporated the HSE change model and the CIPP evaluation framework to evaluate and guide the process.
*The acronym HiVOLHDF has been developed by the author for the purpose of this project.</p
Bibliographics for the 983 eprints in the live archives of E-LIS : trends and status report up to 7th July 2004, based on author-self-archiving metadata
No full textThe priority for ideas and philosophy related to "Network Theory" have been traced back and documented by Braun(2004),and credit goes to Karinthy(1929).The IT has empowered to realise it, as the most practical phenomena and it is no more a humour. The OAI (Open Archives Initiatives)and ACIS (Academic Contributor Information System)are progressive in the direction ,which may lead to realise the "Collective Genius" at global level. Focus of present study is on Author-Self-Archiving (A-S-A)Metadata of the 983 Eprints in the Live Archives of the E-LIS (EPrints of Library and Information Science),which were approved till 7th July 2004.The A-S-A Metadata was used for librametric analysis. Self-explanatory bibliographics are illustrated.The highlights include: Conference papers (34%); highest approval, June 2004 (28%); published archives (76%);not refereed (52%); not in public domain (60%); highest self-archiving-author (De Robbio, Antonella).The Nos. of EPrints having single JITA domain specifications were: Theoretical and general aspects of libraries and information(27); Information use and sociology of information(80);Users,literacy and reading(13);Libraries as physical collections(30);Publishing and legal issues(57);Management(13);Industry, profession and education(36);Information sources, supports, channels(113) ; Information treatment for information services, Information functions and techniques (101); Technical services libraries, archives and museums(25); Housing technologies(1); Information technology and library technology(92); and Inter-domainery (395) i.e. having specifications of two or more than two JITA classes
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