This paper analyzes the effects of a multilateral debt relief program on child health. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank launched the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative in the late 1990s to reduce the debt burdens of poor countries, and explicitly linked the initiative to the aim of poverty reduction and social targets. As a result, debt-servicing costs have gone down by a

Zebrafish is emerging as a complement to mammals in behavioral studies; however, there is a lack of comparative studies with rodents and humans to establish the zebrafish as a predictive translational model. Here we present a detailed phenotype evaluation of zebrafish larvae, measuring 300-3000 variables and analyzing them using multivariate analysis to identify the most important ones for further

AIM: To date, the understanding and development of novel treatments for mental illness is hampered by inadequate animal models. For instance, it is unclear to what extent commonly used behavioural tests in animals can inform us on the mental and affective aspects of schizophrenia.METHODS: To link pathophysiological processes in an animal model to clinical findings, we have here utilized the recent

Addressing sustainability concerns in supply chain operations can be a matter of long-term business survival for food retailers. However, regardless of whether it is perceived as a risk or market opportunity, acting across the value chain to address unsustainable production and consumption practices has been a constant challenge. This thesis investigated the sustainable supply chain management (SS

Background and aims: Radiotherapy is a valid treatment in cancer multimodal management but it is affected by severe systemic and local side effects. A murine small bowel model was used for the investigation of inflammatory features and apoptosis of local radiotherapy. Similarly the same model was used to analyze the combined effects of radiotherapy and antibiotics in the expression of matrilysin,

Ecological debt is usually conceptualized as the accumulated result of different kinds of uneven flows of natural resources and waste, but these flows are seldom referred to as ecologically unequal exchange. Ecologically unequal exchange, on the other hand, is usually defined as different flows of resources and waste, but the accumulated results of these flows are seldom referred to as ecological

In sexually reproducing species, resources may theoretically be distributed with bias to the production of male or female offspring in response to the condition of the mother, commonly recognized as sex allocation. Using a recently characterized sex-specific molecular marker, we tested for maternal sex allocation (i.e. maternal primary sex ratio bias and sex-specific offspring investment) in capti

Here we present crystallographic analyses of high-energy X-ray diffraction data on polycrystalline UO2 up to the melting temperature. The Rietveld refinements of our X-ray data are in agreement with previous measurements, but are systematically located around the upper bound of their uncertainty, indicating a slightly steeper trend of thermal expansion compared to established values. This observat

This article reports on in situ macroscopic scale imaging of NiO-YSZ (YSZ is yttria-stabilized zirconia) reduction under applied stress - a phase transition taking place in solid oxide electrochemical cells in a reducing atmosphere of a hydrogen/nitrogen mixture and at operation temperatures of up to 1073K. This process is critical for the performance and lifetime of the cells. Energy-resolved neu

Beta-delayed proton emission from 20 Mg has been measured at ISOLDE, CERN, with the ISOLDE Decay Station (IDS) setup including both charged-particle and gamma-ray detection capabilities. A total of 27 delayed proton branches were measured including seven so far unobserved. An updated decay scheme, including three new resonances above the proton separation energy in 20 Na and more precise resonance

Two series of dendronized polymers (DPs) of generations g = 1–4 with different levels of dendritic substitution (low and high) and a solvatochromic probe at g = 1 level are used to study their swelling behavior in a collection of solvents largely differing in polarity as indicated by the Kamlet–Taft parameters. This is done by measuring the UV-Vis spectra of all samples in all solvents and determi

Background and Purpose - Acute stroke patients with unknown time of symptom onset are ineligible for thrombolysis. The diffusion-weighted imaging and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) mismatch is a reasonable predictor of stroke within 4.5 hours of symptom onset, and its clinical usefulness in selecting patients for thrombolysis is currently being investigated. The accuracy of the visual

Purpose: Female survivors of childhood, adolescent, and young adult (CAYA) cancer who were treated with alkylating agents and/or radiation, with potential exposure of the ovaries, have an increased risk of premature ovarian insufficiency (POI). Clinical practice guidelines can facilitate these survivors' access to optimal treatment of late effects that may improve health and quality of survival; h

This chapter describes the basic principles inside the VEG extension to the ForSAFE model system. It allows changes in ground vegetation to be calculated, an important part of biodiversity. In the VEG model, the basis for modelling ground vegetation dynamics is a competition strength model based on soil chemistry promoting and retarding factors, nutrients, water and light. The strength is used in

The common conception of justice as reciprocity seemingly is inapplicable to relations between non-overlapping generations. This is a challenge also to John Rawls’s theory of justice as fairness. This text responds to this by way of reinterpreting and developing Rawls’s theory. First, by examining the original position as a model, some revisions of it are shown to be wanting. Second, by drawing onThe common conception of justice as reciprocity seemingly is inapplicable to relations between non-overlapping generations. This is a challenge also to John Rawls’s theory of justice as fairness. This text responds to this by way of reinterpreting and developing Rawls’s theory. First, by examining the original position as a model, some revisions of it are shown to be wanting. Second, by drawing on

Brain tumors are the most common solid tumors in children. Current treatment protocols fail in 25% of patients and are associated with significant long-term adverse effects in survivors. Experimental models of these tumors are scarce and will be crucial for the development of more efficient treatment strategies, including molecular targeting and immunotherapy. In this thesis, I describe the establ

The effects of various concentrations of plasmin and activated protein C on the factor VIII procoagulant activity (VIII:C) and coagulant antigen (VIII:CAg) were studied in factor VIII concentrates and normal plasma. Small amounts (0.1 CTA U/ml) of plasmin rapidly destroyed VIII:C, and affected, but did not destroy VIII:CAg, in factor VIII concentrates. In normal plasma larger amounts of plasmin (1

The aim of this chapter is to give an overview of plant responses to nitrogen (N) deposition by using two dynamic biogeochemical models coupled with a vegetation module: VSD+-VEG and ForSAFE-VEG. The biogeochemical models were first validated on some French forest sites from the ICP-Forests network. A French vegetation table (which is now part of a European database) containing 230 species with th