Analysis of the role of collectivism in light of the recent literature on the big triangle: Institutions, culture, and economic development

Why do similar economic and political institutions function differently in various cultures? Do cultural traits, differences in individualism versus collectivism, have a causal impact on economic behavior and development? This article presents a recent survey of the literature on the relationship between culture, institutions, and economic growth. On the one hand, part of the literature indicates that there is a one-way causality from culture to institutions and economic performance. On the other hand, there is an extensive literature that has established causality from institutions to economic growth and culture. However, a growing body of empirical research demonstrates that culture and institutions interact in two ways and complement each other affecting long-term growth. Research documents cultural variables affecting a great deal of economic activity and institutions across the world. Recent dominant discourse on the role of the individualism-collectivism cleavage in the determination of the wealth of nations has attempted to examine the positive effects of individualism rather than collectivism. This paper shows that the advantages of collectivism have been rarely researched within economic literature. Taking into account collectivism can shed light on various puzzles in economics, such as solving collective action problems.

Comparative study of Negative Pressure Wound therapy Vs. Local antibiotic cream dressings in acute hand burns second-degree superficial to deep

Background: The hand is one of the most common parts of the body involved in burns, i.e., 80%. Even minor burns in the hand may result in severe limitations of function. Early initiation of physiotherapy, topical antibiotic cream treatment, collagen application, splintage, passive exercise for second-degree superficial burns. Materials and methods: A prospective comparative study was conducted in 10 patients with acute hand burns due to thermal burns (scald, flame). All patients with second-degree superficial to intermediate thickness burns were given Negative pressure wound therapy (indigenous NPWT Kit) to one hand and local antibiotic cream to the other hand or other parts of the body to study clinical profile and outcome. Results: A total of 10 patients were studied. The majority of patients were in 19 to 30 years of age group 6 patients (60%), five females, and one male. Pediatric patients account for 4 patients (40%), two female and two male children. Incidence of burns in females 70% and males’ group 30%. Significant reduction in postburn edema in NPWT hand compared to topical antibiotic cream dressing. Healing is fast in NPWT applied hand/part. Conclusion: Negative Pressure Wound Therapy for Acute second-degree superficial burns showed promising results in wound healing and reduced post-burn edema burn in hand in our study.

Reconstruction of the right-hand part of a distributed differential equation using a positional controlled model

In this paper, we consider the stable reconstruction problem of the unknown input of a distributed system of second order by results of inaccurate measurements of its solution. The content of the problem considered is as follows. We consider a distributed equation of second order. The solution of the equation depends on the input varying in the time. The input, as well as the solution, is not given in advance. At discrete times the solution of the equation is measured. These measurements are not accurate in general. It is required to design an algorithm for approximate reconstruction of the input that has dynamical and stability properties. The dynamical property means that the current values of approximations of the input are produced on-line, and the stability property means that the approximations are arbitrarily accurate for a sufficient accuracy of measurements. The problem refers to the class of inverse problems. The algorithm presented in the paper is based on the constructions of a stable dynamical inversion and on the combination of the methods of ill-posed problems and positional control theory.

Tactile comfort characterization of knitted fabrics based on the ring-shaped style tester

The main content of this paper is to objectively characterize the tactile comfort of fabric through the ring-shaped style tester. It mainly explains the objective tactile comfort of knitted fabric through the curve parameters measured by the ring-shaped style tester and structural parameter thickness. In this paper, by adopting the methods of correlation analysis and cluster analysis, the curve parameters, including slope in the linear segments of the left-hand part of the curve ( K1), the right-hand area of the curve ( A2), the distance between the abrupt point and the peak point ( X), the linearity of the left-hand curve ( L) and the ratio of the left-hand area to the right-hand area of the curve ( C), are used. In order to verify its effectiveness, the results of subjective evaluation are compared and analyzed with the objective clustering. The experimental results show that the subjective judgment has good correlation with the objective clustering. This indicates that the curve parameters obtained through the ring-shaped style tester and structural parameters can be used to effectively represent the tactile comfort performance of fabrics.

Characterization with dense array data of seismic sources in the shallow part of the San Jacinto fault zone

SUMMARY We analyse dominant sources identified in a catalogue of more than 156 000 localizations performed using a 26-d data set recorded by a dense array set on the San Jacinto fault near Anza, in California. Events were localized using an array processing technique called Match Field Processing. As for all array processing techniques, the quality of the event position decrease when the events are outside of the array. We thus separate localizations in and outside the array using simple geometrical conditions. We compare the time distribution of the localization to additional data such as meteorological data, day of human activity as well as existing catalogues to determine the nature of the dominant events located using our method. We find that most of the events located outside of the array could be attributed to a surface structure excited by wind. On the other hand, part of the localizations under the array occur during regional earthquakes and could correspond to diffraction on the fault's heterogeneities. The rest of the localizations inside the array could be generated by the fault itself.

Antiproliferative Activity of Mycalin A and Its Analogues on Human Skin Melanoma and Human Cervical Cancer Cells

Mycalin A, a polybrominated C15 acetogenin isolated from the encrusting sponge Mycale rotalis, displays an antiproliferative activity on human melanoma (A375) and cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa) cells and induces cell death by an apoptotic mechanism. Various analogues and degraded derivatives of the natural substance have been prepared. A modification of the left-hand part of the molecule generates the most active substances. A structurally simplified lactone derivative of mycalin A, lacking the C1–C3 side chain, is the most active among the synthesized compounds exhibiting a strong cytotoxicity on both A375 and HeLa cells but not but not on human dermal fibroblast (HDF) used as healthy cells. Further evidence on a recently discovered chlorochromateperiodate-catalyzed process, used to oxidise mycalin A, have been collected.