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Background. A history of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs) is consistently cited as one of the strongest predictors of future suicidal behavior. However, stark discrepancies in the literature raise questions about the true magnitude of these associations. The objective of this study is to examine the magnitude and clinical utility of the associations between SITBs and subsequent suicide ideation, attempts, and death. Method. We searched PubMed, PsycInfo, and Google Scholar for papers published through December 2014. Inclusion required that studies include at least one longitudinal analysis predicting suicide ideation, attempts, or death using any SITB variable. We identified 2179 longitudinal studies; 172 met inclusion criteria. Results. The most common outcome was suicide attempt (47.80%), followed by death (40.50%) and ideation (11.60%). Median follow-up was 52 months (mean = 82.52, S.D. = 102.29). Overall prediction was weak, with weighted mean odds ratios (ORs) of 2.07 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.76-2.43] for ideation, 2.14 (95% CI 2.00-2.30) for attempts, and 1.54 (95% CI 1.39-1.71) for death. Adjusting for publication bias further reduced estimates. Diagnostic accuracy analyses indicated acceptable specificity (86-87%) and poor sensitivity (10-26%), with areas under the curve marginally above chance (0.60-0.62). Most risk factors generated OR estimates of <2.0 and no risk factor exceeded 4.5. Effects were consistent regardless of sample severity, sample age groups, or follow-up length. Conclusions. Prior SITBs confer risk for later suicidal thoughts and behaviors. However, they only provide a marginal improvement in diagnostic accuracy above chance. Addressing gaps in study design, assessment, and underlying mechanisms may prove useful in improving prediction and prevention of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel technique designed for component monitoring of CO2 exchange in plants is described. The system is based on application of self-clamping leaf chambers connected to an open gas-exchange measuring system and on automatic recording of CO2 concentration. This technique was implemented in a commercially available instrument, PTM-48A Photosynthesis Monitor, which provides for long-term measurements of gas exchange and for discrimination of its separate components. Furthermore, many other plant functions can be monitored during plant growth and development under laboratory, greenhouse, and field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the structural severity of unemployment in the United States after 1957. An index is suggested which is derived from the indexes used to measure concentration in production and in international trade. The author begins with the discussion of some arguments concerning the rationale of the index and some of its properties. Indexes are presented for a number of labor force attributes for the years 1947 to 1964. Severity of structural unemployment became more evident after 1957 only with respect to the age distribution of the labor force. It followed a cyclical pattern in the case of some attributes, but was invariant to the overall level of unemployment in the case of others.

Traditional price theory is essentially a two-dimensional analysis: it relates quantities to cost or price, abstracting from the existence of other attributes of the product, such as quality. This paper deals with a particular case of a third dimension—that of durability. A product's length of life differs from other attributes, like color, shape, etc., in that preferences for it depend not upon consumers' tastes but only upon an economic variable. With the help of the rate of interest, assets of different durability can be made comparable in terms of units of service. Hence the analysis of durability can be carried out by applying familiar tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents abstracts of research articles on international economics. According to the article "Gresham's Law, Asset Preference, and the Demand for International Reserves," Gresham's law is applied to several different types of international financial systems. Each system relies on at least two international reserve assets. The article seeks to define the conditions that must be satisfied if the price between the reserve assets, is fixed, and no reserve asset tends to disappear from circulation because it is deemed more valuable than the other reserve asset. In the article "Trade Liberalization Under the "Kennedy Round": The Static Effects" the authors consider the possible effects of the Kennedy round of tariff negotiations on trade and welfare. They provide estimates on the impact of a 50 percent tariff reduction on industrial materials and manufactured goods under the static assumptions of given tastes and unchanged technology. Tariff reductions are assumed to be undertaken by the industrial nations and extended under the most-favored-nation clause to primary producing countries who are not expected to reciprocate.

SUMMARY L eontief's test of factor proportions was based on the assumption that, within each U. S. industry, the same factor proportions are used to produce exports, domestic goods, and import substitutes. However, if the Heckscher-Ohlin theorem is valid, then, within each industry, commodities exported by the U. S. would be charac terized by a higher capital-labour ratio than those produced to replace imports. Unless the industry classification used is such that it does not allow for both exports and import substitues to be grouped together, the validity of the Heck scher-Ohlin theorem precludes the possibility of factor proportions being homo geneous in the manner assumed by L eontief. In support of this argument it is claimed that L eontief's own data can be consistent with the traditional theorem. Using Israel input-output data it is shown also that the strength of the Paradox increases with the degree of aggregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the importance of manufacturing in the growth of economy in Israel. The future rate of growth of manufacturing relative to the rest of the economy will depend on a number of factors. With exports of agricultural products meeting with increased difficulties since the establishment of the European Common Market, industrial exports seem to provide the main, if not the only, source for improvements in the balance of trade. Additional policies to encourage them may, therefore, be expected to be implemented in the next few years. Altogether the share of manufacturing may be expected to increase in the future. Furthermore, for some time to come this will continue to be associated with a decline in the share of agriculture, particularly in employment. It should, however, be remembered that such a shift, by itself, has in the past contributed relatively little to Israel's economic growth. While Israel's future economic growth may be expected to be associated with a process of structural industrialization, it will follow the pattern of its earlier years in that growth will not be the result of this process but rather of rising per capita output in all branches of the economy.

The conceptual problems associated with the use of national income figures for international or intertemporal comparisons of welfare levels are well known. Furthermore, as pointed out by Kuznets, there also exists a systematic downward bias in the income estimates of undeveloped countries, which results in an exaggeration of the differences in welfare levels implied by international comparisons of per capita income. Even so, for lack of any better measure, per capita income still remains the best standard for summary comparisons of standards of living. However, the income estimates used in such comparisons are often adjusted to eliminate those differences which do not reflect real variations in standards of living, but are due to differences in institutional structures. In this paper, a rather neglected aspect of the interpretation of such comparisons will be raised—that of differences in the age structure of the population and in the size of the consumption units in which it is organized. In particular, it will be shown that the association between these demographic attributes and the level of per capita income results in the exaggeration of international differentials in welfare levels and in a distortion of the rise of these levels over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents notes on the relationship between two measures of total productivity. The concepts of productivity which have gained popularity in recent years are that of professor R. Solow's concept which embarks from an explicitly expressed constant returns to scale production function and that of the National Bureau of Economic Research, as exemplified by professor J.W. Kendrick, which embarks from concepts appropriate to the study of an individual firm. Both approaches measure productivity's contribution as the residual between the increase in output actually observed during a given period and that which would have been expected due to an increase of factor inputs alone. Differences between the various measures of productivity may originate from two sources, the weighting system used to estimate the residual and the aggregate by which the residual is divided to express the increase in productivity in index form. Where the changes are small, the differences between the various measures are negligible and of theoretical interest only. In rapidly developing economies, however, the differences may be sizeable enough to affect conclusions drawn from the data.

A response from the author of the article "Self-injurious thoughts and behaviors as risk factors for future suicide ideation, attempts, and death: a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies" in 2016 issue is presented.

Comments on various researches on incremental export subsidies in Australia. Impact of the subsidies on export revenues; Claims of the studies; Sources of discrepancy between the results.

The probabilities of the two-quantum induced (according to the number of plasmons) photon-plasmon transitions 2S-1S are calculated for hydrogenous atoms. In a turbulent plasma medium this process may be more effective than conventional two-photon radiation and collisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]