Future Growth Potential Research Articles

Transfer Technique of an Anomalous Coronary Artery From the Anterior Pulmonary Artery

We describe a simple rerouting technique for an anteriorly situated anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA), extending the left main coronary trunk with autologous aortic and pulmonary tissue. This technique is reproducible. It provides a tension-free aortocoronary anastomosis and a full potential for future growth.

Reconstruction of Oncologic Tibial Defects in Children Using Vascularized Fibula Flaps

Tibial resection in children presents a unique reconstructive challenge because of technical demands, future growth potential, and repetitive loading of the lower extremity. Positioned in a tibial defect, the free fibula undergoes primary bone healing while maintaining intrinsic resistance to infection and the ability to hypertrophy. The authors' aim was to evaluate surgical and functional outcomes in this selected group of pediatric patients. This is a retrospective review of 13 consecutive pediatric oncology patients who underwent reconstruction of segmental tibial defects with intercalated vascularized fibula flaps from 1992 to 2007. Perioperative and long-term complications were noted. Functional outcomes were analyzed. Thirteen patients with a mean age of 12.6 years (range, 6 to 17 years) were included. Median follow-up was 63 months (range, 8 to 168 months). Overall survival was 77 percent. Flap survival was 100 percent. Perioperative local complication rate was 23 percent secondary to infection (two of 13 patients) and minor wound breakdown (one of 13 patients). Perioperative infection and chemotherapy did not significantly impact union or fracture rates. Hypertrophy of the fibula approached native tibial size in 90 percent of surviving patients. Median time to union was 10 months, average time to partial weight bearing was 5 months (range, 2 to 10 months), and time to full weight bearing was 16 months (range, 9 to 34 months). Of surviving patients, 91 percent achieved full weight bearing by 2 years, all of whom were ultimately able to participate in athletics. Functional reconstruction of segmental tibial defects in children can be achieved safely and reliably with the vascularized fibula. Infectious complications are low, but problems with union and fracture at this lower extremity site can be common until graft hypertrophy occurs. Those who achieve disease control may ultimately enjoy an active lifestyle. Therapeutic, IV.

Indirect Kicks: Leveraging Innovations in Content and Distribution for the Benefit of Major League Soccer

I argue that innovations in content and distribution can serve as catalysts to allow Major League Soccer (MLS) to more quickly and fully realize its future growth potential. The paper has four parts following the introductory section. Part two provides background on the current North American soccer landscape from a content and distribution perspective. After this largely contextual section, part three delves into an analysis of several diverse initiatives that the league can explore in the pursuit of its market-expansion objectives. Subsequently, the fourth part extends the discussion to distribution, laying down a strategy for the league in periods both prior to and following the expiration of its US television broadcast contracts after the 2014 season. Finally, part five briefly brings together the conversation in the preceding sections.

Bilateral Sacroiliac Joint Dislocation (Anterior and Posterior) With Triradiate Cartilage Injury: A Case Report

Pediatric sacroiliac joint injuries are uncommon. Significant pelvis ring disruptions in children are rare, and their management is complicated by patient size, differences in bony architecture, and future growth and remodeling potential. We present a rare case of anterior sacroiliac joint dislocation associated with triradiate cartilage injury with a posterior sacroiliac dislocation on the contralateral side. This appears to be the first such case reported in the literature.

EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ON LOBLOLLY PINE PLANTATIONS IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES

Abstract Few studies have empirically examined climate change impacts on managed forests in the southern United States. In this paper, we use the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis Database to fit two growth models across the South and apply the four Hadley III climate scenarios developed for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report to project future growth and site productivity on loblolly pine plantations. The static growth model provides a direct test of whether a significant climate influence on forest growth can be statistically derived, while the dynamic growth model estimates climate effects through site productivity. Results indicate considerable spatial variation in potential future growth and productivity change on loblolly pine plantations due to climate change in the southern United States, while overall regional effects are projected to be marginal. The pattern of climate change impacts is consistent across the growth models and climate scenarios. These findings have several implications for climate change adaptation policies.

Scoliosis

Scoliosis

Tax on Dividend Distribution, Agency Problem and Firm Value – Unique Indian Perspective

In India dividend and long term capital gain arising from sale of shares are not taxable in the hands of the shareholders, rather the firms paying dividend are required to pay 17% tax on distribution of profit by way of cash dividend. Due to provision of income tax imposed on the firms for distribution of profit, India presents an unique opportunity to examine stock price reaction to dividend payout decision in the backdrop of signaling and agency cost of free cash flow literature. India’s dividend payout is quite low – one of the major reasons might be payout is costly as it invites tax on dividend distribution favouring corporate profit to get capitalized in share price that attracts no tax on long term capital gain upon sale. Empirical results of top Indian companies show - higher payouts trigger increased stock prices and lower payouts lead to decreases in stock prices against the perception of the fiscal policy makers that retention implies higher investment, potential of future growth and therefore positive reaction on valuation. Investors’ reaction support signaling model as well as the potential of dividend as a tool of mitigating agency cost associated with free cash flow despite being costly.

Current developments and future prospects of offshore wind and ocean energy

The year 2008 saw the emergence of the first generation of commercial ocean energy devices, with the first units being installed in the UK and Portugal. This means that there are currently four ways of obtaining energy from sea areas, namely from wind, tides, waves and thermal differences between deep and shallow sea water. This paper focuses on current developments in offshore wind and ocean energy, highlighting the efforts currently underway in a variety of countries, principally some of the projects typically less talked about such as those in the Asian-Pacific countries. Finally, the growth potential of these industries will be assessed, using as a basis the historical trends in the offshore wind industry and extrapolating it to compute future growth potentials. Using this as a basis, the percentage of the world’s electricity that could be produced from ocean based devices is estimated to be around 7% by 2050, and this would employ a significant amount of people by this time, possibly around 1 million, mostly in the maintenance of existing installations. The paper will also evaluate the likely cost of production per kW of ocean energy technologies using a variety of learning factors.

AFTER THE GREAT RECESSION: THE FUTURE OF CASINO GAMING IN AMERICA AND EUROPE

The economic recession of 2007–09 had dramatic effects on spending on gambling and, therefore, on a number of major gaming companies, resulting in situations where cash flows were increasingly inadequate to service debt obligations. The recession thus interrupted growth trends in various segments of casino industries in America and Europe, which undermined future growth expectations and potential. This analysis examines economic events and other factors that have affected the casino industry in the last few years, and examines their implications for the future of casino and gaming markets in America and Europe.

Nutrient Uptake and Loss by Container-grown Deciduous and Evergreen Rhododendron Nursery Plants

The influence of nitrogen (N) fertilizer application on plant allocation, uptake, and demand for other essential nutrients was evaluated from May 2005 to Feb. 2006 in evergreen Rhododendron ‘P.J.M. Compact’ (PJM) and ‘English Roseum’ (ER) and deciduous Rhododendron ‘Gibraltar’ (AZ) grown in containers filled with soilless substrate. Net nutrient uptake and losses were calculated using piecewise regression and uptake efficiency, root absorption capacity, aboveground demand, nutrient use efficiency, and uptake ratios between N and other nutrients (N ratios) were calculated using net uptake between harvest dates. Nitrogen application increased uptake rate of all nutrients, enhanced late-season uptake of many nutrients, and increased the rate of nutrient loss during the winter. Nutrient uptake often occurred as late as November in plants grown with N but was usually undetectable after September in plants grown without additional N fertilizer. Nutrient losses during the winter were not always associated with biomass loss and were related to differences in preferential nutrient allocation to different structures and the plant's ability to export nutrients before biomass loss. Plants with a greater potential for rapid growth were more capable of later-season nutrient uptake than plants with slower growth rates. Nitrogen availability altered N ratios indicating that when adding N to container-grown Rhododendron, fertilizers with higher ratios of N/phosphorus (PJM, AZ), N/calcium (PJM, ER), N/boron (PJM AZ), N/copper (PJM, ER), and N/iron (PJM, ER) and lower ratios of N/potassium (PJM, ER, AZ), N/sodium (PJM, ER, AZ), N/calcium (AZ), N/boron (ER), N/manganese (AZ), and N/zinc (ER) may be needed to optimize growth and minimize nutrient inputs. Increasing N availability altered uptake efficiency, root absorption capacity, aboveground demand, and nutrient use efficiency for several nutrients, indicating that changes in N management practices need to consider how altering N application rates may influence the plant's ability to take up and use other nutrients. This information can be used to develop fertilizer formulations to minimize excess application of nutrients and to evaluate the potential effects of altering N management practices on use of production resources. Our results indicate that nutrient management strategies for perennial crops such as Rhododendron need to take into consideration not only the nutrient demand for current growth, but also how to optimize nutrient availability for uptake that contributes to future growth potential and end-product quality.

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews – Issue 2 2011

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews – Issue 2 2011

Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II activity regulates the proliferative potential of growth plate chondrocytes

For tissues that develop throughout embryogenesis and into postnatal life, the generation of differentiated cells to promote tissue growth is at odds with the requirement to maintain the stem cell/progenitor cell population to preserve future growth potential. In the growth plate cartilage, this balance is achieved in part by establishing a proliferative phase that amplifies the number of progenitor cells prior to terminal differentiation into hypertrophic chondrocytes. Here, we show that endogenous calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CamkII, also known as Camk2) activity is upregulated prior to hypertrophy and that loss of CamkII function substantially blocks the transition from proliferation to hypertrophy. Wnt signaling and Pthrp-induced phosphatase activity negatively regulate CamkII activity. Release of this repression results in activation of multiple effector pathways, including Runx2- and β-catenin-dependent pathways. We present an integrated model for the regulation of proliferation potential by CamkII activity that has important implications for studies of growth control and adult progenitor/stem cell populations.

Thin-film growth dynamics with shadowing and re-emission effects

Growth dynamics of thin-films involves both shadowing and re-emission effects. Shadowing can originate from obliquely incident atoms being preferentially deposited on hills of the surface, which leads to a long range geometrical effect, as well as from an atomic shadowing process that can occur even during normal angle deposition. Re-emission effect is a result of nonsticking atoms, which can bounce off from hills and deposit on valleys of the surface. In the case of an energetic incident flux, re-emission can also originate from a resputtering process that includes a surface atom being knocked off by an incident ion/atom followed by redeposition to another surface point. Due to their long-range nonlocal nature, both the shadowing effect (which tries to roughen the surface) and re-emission effect (which has a smoothening effect) have been shown to be more dominant over local effects such as surface diffusion, and have been proven to be critical processes in accurately determining the dynamic evolution of surface roughness. Recent Monte Carlo simulation methods that involve shadowing, re-emission, surface diffusion, and noise effects successfully predicted many experimentally relevant surface roughness evolution results reported in the literature. For example, root-mean-square surface roughness (ω) of Monte Carlo simulated thin-films have evolved with time t according to a power law behavior ω ∼ t β , with β values ranging from about 0 to 1 for a growth with strong re-emission effects (i.e., low sticking coefficients) and a growth with dominant shadowing effects (i.e., with high sticking coefficients), respectively. Potential future thin-film growth modeling studies are also discussed. These include advanced simulation approaches that can incorporate atomistic details of physical and chemical processes and a recently developed network growth model that can potentially capture some universal aspects of thin-film growth dynamics independent of the details of growth process. C 2011

Cellular Automata Based Model of Urban Spatial Growth

In the study reported in this paper an attempt has been made to develop a Cellular Automata (CA) model for simulating future urban growth of an Indian city. In the model remote sensing data and GIS were used to provide the empirical data about urban growth while Markov chain process was used to predict the amount of land required for future urban use based on the empirical data. Multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) technique was used to reveal the relationships between future urban growth potential and site attributes of a site. Finally using the CA model, land for future urban development was spatially allocated based on the urban suitability image provided by MCE, neighbourhood information of a site and the amount of land predicted by Markov chain process. The model results were evaluated using Kappa Coefficient and future urban growth was simulated using the calibrated model

Public Health/Health Information Exchange Collaborative: A Model for Advancing Public Health Practice

Public Health/Health Information Exchange Collaborative: A Model for Advancing Public Health Practice

Customers' credit card selection criteria in perspective of an emerging market

The credit card market has expanded radically in Pakistan, both in terms of cards variety and usage. A wide variety of local and international cards, issued by different domestic and foreign banks, is available in the market. Despite recent financial crisis, there are still huge potential for future growth and further penetration existing in Pakistan. The purpose of this study is to explore and investigate various attributes that customers consider of importance while selecting a credit card in Pakistan. The sample of this study was 800 credit cardholders. The information was collected from existing cardholders through a self-administered questionnaire. It contained questions related to credit card market, cardholder's profile and the relative importance of the main attributes that play a role in card selection. The data collected were then analyzed to find out the important factors that influence the credit card selection. The results show that convenience, economical use, both local and abroad, and sense of security are important attributes that customers consider while selecting a credit card. The findings of this study can be helpful for financial institutions to focus on the features, which customers consider important while selecting credit cards and can also be used for optimal marketing mix allocations in prevailing economic situation in the country. Key words: Credit card, important attributes, cardholder's profile, large acceptance.

Monetary and fiscal policy interactions with central bank transparency and public investment

In this paper, we study how the interactions between central bank transparency and fiscal policy affect macroeconomic performance and volatility, in a framework where productivity-enhancing public investment could improve future growth potential. We analyze the effects of the central bank’s opacity (lack of transparency) according to the marginal effect of public investment by considering the Stackelberg equilibrium, where the government is the first mover and the central bank the follower. We show that the optimal choice of tax rate and public investment, when the public investment is highly productivity enhancing, eliminates the effects of distortionary taxation and fully counterbalance both the direct and the fiscal-disciplining effects of opacity, on the level and variability of inflation and the output gap. In the case where the public investment is not sufficiently productivity enhancing, opacity could still have some disciplining effects as in the benchmark model, which ignores the effects of public investment.

Lumbar Hemivertebrectomy

Hemivertebrae may be progressive and result in significant spinal deformity and truncal imbalance. The development of the deformity is dependent upon the nature of the deformity, the site of the deformity, the age of the patient, and potential for future growth. Addressing the deformity early is essential to prevent serious structural deformity and prevent the development of compensatory curvature. Hemivertebrectomy of the lumbar spine is an accepted technique in the treatment of congenital spinal deformity. It is technically demanding, and the technique affords excellent and immediate correction of the deformity with restoration of proper spinal balance.

Methodology for identifying urban growth potential using land use and population data: A case study of Islamabad Zone IV

Spatial growth is an inevitable phenomenon which depends on a number of factors like accessibility; availability of land for growth and favourable environment both at internal and external level are considered. In this study, a GIS based methodology has been proposed to identify future growth potential in the area Islamabad Zone IV of Islamabad, Pakistan. Village level population data (2007) is used to obtain population density and population centre; SPOT panchromatic satellite imagery (2007) shows that mostly GIS weighted overlay analysis has been used to extract relative future growth potential in the area. The study shows that nearly 63 percent of Zone IV carries a ‘High’ to ‘Very High’ future growth potential which is mainly located closer to Islamabad Highway. This methodology can be used to identify the varying future growth potential within an area. It provides useful information that which areas are more likely to become urban in future as compared to other areas. Such exercise can provide a cost effective solution to policy makers to aid future land use planning and building control.

Are Recessions Good for Educational Attainment?

In this study, we examine how economic performance during the child-speci…c primary school phase, during which teachers make rec- ommendations regarding secondary school level, aects the educational level achieved ultimately by these children. Using data for Germany, we …nd that an economic downturn, coupled with increased unem- ployment, aects children's education attainment negatively. In terms of monetary units, the average eect of the 1993 German recession on children's educational attainment corresponds to a loss of average monthly household equivalence income of about 50%. A second im- portant conclusion is that children who live in regions that experience poor economic performance over longer periods are, on average, less educated than children who live in more a­ uent regions. Since human capital is a determinant of economic growth, declining school perfor- mance ultimately hampers future growth potential.