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Shellfish reefs have been lost from bays and estuaries globally, including in the Swan-Canning Estuary in Western Australia. As part of a national program to restore the ecosystem services that such reefs once provided and return this habitat from near extinction, the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis was selected for a large-scale shellfish reef construction project in this estuary. To assess the potential filtration capacity of the reef, estuary seston quality, mussel feeding behavior, and valve gape activity were quantified in the laboratory and field during winter and summer. In general, estuary water contained high total particulate concentrations (7.9–8.7 mg L−1). Standard clearance rates were greater in winter (1.9 L h−1; 17 °C) than in summer (1.3 L h−1; 25 °C), the latter producing extremely low absorption efficiencies (37%). Mussel valves remained open ~97% and ~50% of the time in winter and summer, respectively. They often displayed erratic behavior in summer, possibly due to elevated temperatures and the toxic microalgae Alexandrium spp. Despite numerous stressors, the reef, at capacity, was estimated to filter 35% of the total volume of the estuary over winter, incorporating 42.7 t of organic matter into mussel tissue. The reefs would thus make a substantial contribution to improving estuary water quality.

Shellfish reefs around the world have become degraded, and recent efforts have focused on restoring these valuable habitats. This study is the first to assess the efficacy of a bouchot-style reef, where mussels were seeded onto wooden stakes and deployed in a hypereutrophic estuary in Australia. While >60% of translocated mussels survived one month, after ten months, only 2% remained alive, with this mortality being accompanied, at least initially, by declining body condition. Mussel survival, growth, body condition and recruitment were greater on the top section of the stake, implying that the distance from the substrate was important. More fish species inhabited the reefs (31) than unstructured control sites (17). Reefs were also colonised by a range of invertebrate species, including 11 native and six non-indigenous species. However, the number of individuals declined from 4495 individuals from 14 species in December 2019 to 35 individuals representing 4 species in March 2021, likely due to hypoxic bottom water conditions following unseasonal rainfall. Although the bouchot-style reefs were unable to sustain mussels and other invertebrates over sequential years, this approach has the potential to be successful if deployed in shallow water or intertidal zones, which are largely exempt from biotic and abiotic stressors characteristic of deeper waters in microtidal estuaries.

It is generally assumed that the buildup of liquid assets in the USA during WWII played a large role in generating postwar economic activity. Contrary to this assumption, I establish that military contract spending during the war slowed down the growth of bank balance sheets at the state level during the period 1940–1955. State-level bank balance sheets are 10.8 cents smaller per $1 of total military spending by 1949 and 5.8 cents smaller by 1955. This is primarily driven by slower growth of demand deposits. The adjustment on the asset side is largely through reserves and Treasury holdings. Local lending also grows more slowly after the war, but this decrease is relatively small and temporary. This suggests that the local real economy was largely insulated from the slower growth in deposits by the wartime buildup of paper assets. Historical evidence points to the fact that slower growth of deposits is likely driven by a relative decline in demand for deposits by large corporations in war industries.

This dissertation contains three essays exploring the effect of fiscal policy shocks on savings and lending behavior of the private economy. Two essays focus on World War II and one essay focuses on the entire postwar period. Essay I looks at the response of monetary policy to fiscal policy shocks and the effect of fiscal policy on the private sector's balance sheet over a period that covers 1954 and 2007. I find a minimal response of the Federal Reserve to fiscal policy shocks. I also find the main response of the private sector to fiscal policy shocks manifests itself in household assets. Long term assets in particular react very strongly. Essay II establishes the important role of savings during and immediately after World War II. I show that the unexpectedly high savings rates that persisted after the war ended was driven by the fact that housing purchases are counted as a kind of savings. Treating housing as a durable consumption good produces the negative savings expected. Essay III looks at the behavior of commercial banks in the period 1940 to 1955. I find that there is a--both economic and statistically--significant negative effect of war spending on total assets, mortgage lending, and commercial, industrial and agricultural loans made by commercial banks throughout the war and until 1949. The response of bank assets during the immediate postwar period is indicative of the unusual pattern of output and the money supply between 1946 and 1950. All this is taken as evidence that reconversion was not as smooth and robust as commonly argued.

This paper uses a selection of fiscal vector autoregression models to identify the effect of fiscal policy shocks on the private sectorâ[euro](TM)s balance sheet using the Flow of Funds. As well, I examine the response of treasury interest rates, the Federal Funds rate and the assets of the Federal Reserve to gauge the response of monetary policy to fiscal policy shocks. I find that the Federal Reserve does not respond to fiscal policy shocks in any significant way. I also find that the business sector responds to fiscal policy shocks but not very strongly. The household sector responds more clearly. Fiscal policy shocks have an effect on householdâ[euro](TM)s holdings of both short term liquid assets and long term illiquid assets. Spending shocks also have a clear effect on mortgage lending.

The effect of risperidone augmentation of citalopram for relapse prevention in older patients with antidepressant-resistant depression was evaluated. Patients with major depression aged ≥55 years who had failed at least one adequate trial of an antidepressant received citalopram monotherapy (20–40 mg) for 4 to 6 weeks to confirm nonresponse (<50% reduction in Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression [HAM-D] scores). Those who achieved remission (HAM-D score ≤7 or Clinical Global Impressions severity score 1 or 2) after 4 to 6 weeks of open-label risperidone augmentation (0.25–1 mg) then entered a 24-week double-blind maintenance phase during which they received citalopram augmented with risperidone or placebo. The patients' mean age was 63.4 ± 7.9 years; 58% were women; 61% had received two or more antidepressants during the current episode; 93 met the criterion for citalopram nonresponse and entered open-label risperidone augmentation. Of the 89 patients who completed risperidone augmentation, 63 achieved symptom resolution and entered the 6-month double-blind maintenance phase: 32 received risperidone augmentation and 31 received placebo augmentation. The median time to relapse (Kaplan-Meier estimates) was 105 days in the risperidone group and 57 days in the placebo group (Wilcoxon χ2: 3.2, df = 1, p = 0.069). Overall, 18 of 32 (56%) from the risperidone group and 20 of 31 (65%) from the placebo group relapsed. Treatment was well tolerated. In older patients with resistant depression and poor response to standard treatments, risperidone augmentation resulted in symptom resolution in a substantial number of patients and a nonsignificant delay in time to relapse.

A major contributor to mortality inpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder is cardiovascular disease, an important risk factor for which is the cluster of clinical abnormalities that define the metabolic syndrome (eg, abdominal/visceral obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, impaired glucose tolerance). The aim of this article was to examinethe effects of switching from the antipsychotic olanzapine to risperidone on the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in high-risk overweight or obese patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. This post hoc analysis was based on datafrom a previous 2-phase, 20-week, multicenter (19 US sites), rater-blinded, open-label study. High-risk overweight or obese (body mass index [BMI], >26 kg/m 2) patients aged 18 to 65 years with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder whose treatment was switched from olanzapine to risperidone were enrolled. Patients who entered the phase 1 switch from olanzapine to risperidone (6 weeks) and the phase 2 extension (14 weeks) were included in the assessment. The primary end point was the difference from baseline in the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome at week 20, determined using measurements of weight, BMI, waist circumference, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP). Baseline assessments for the metabolic syndrome were available from 121 of 123 patients recruited for phase 1 of the study (61 men, 60 women; mean [SD] age, 41.1 [10.2] years; mean [SD] BMI, 33.9 [6.9] kg/m 2); 71 patients entered phase 2 (29 men, 42 women; mean [SD] age, 40.2 [10.3] years; mean [SD] BMI, 35.1 [7.3] kg/m 2), of whom 39 (54.9%) ere diagnosed with schizophrenia, and 32 (45.1%) with schizoaffective disorder. The metabolic syndrome was identified in 63 (52.1%) patients at study entry. In the 71 patients with data available from baseline and week 20 (using the last observation carried forward method), the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was reduced from 38 (53.5%) patients at baseline to 26 (36.6%) at study end (McNemar χ 2 = 8.0, P < 0.005). Significant improvements at study end were seen in mean weight ( P = 0.031), BMI ( P = 0.002), waist circumference ( P = 0.003), SBP ( P = 0.006), and DBP ( P = 0.010). There was no significant difference in the reduction in the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome between patients who did or did not receive the behavioral therapy for weight loss. In this post hoc analysis of switchingfrom the antipsychotic olanzapine to risperidone on the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in high-risk overweight or obese patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, the metabolic syndrome was highly prevalent at baseline. Switching from olanza- pine to risperidone was associated with a significant reduction in this prevalence.