This book is about how much people earn and why the distribution of earnings has been changing over time. The gap between the top and bottom in the United States has widened significantly since 1980. ...Why has this happened? Is it due to new technologies? What is the role of globalisation? Are there historical precedents? The book begins with the "race" between technology and education, and shows that continuing technical progress does not necessarily imply a continuing rise in dispersion. It then examines the experience of 20 OECD countries over the twentieth century, material presented in the form of 20 country case studies. The book breaks new ground in assembling data on the distribution of individual earnings covering much of the twentieth century and drawing on a variety of under-exploited sources. The findings overturn a number of widely-held beliefs. It is not the earnings of the low paid that have been most affected by the recent changes; widening is largely due to what is happening at the top. The recent rise in earnings dispersion is not unprecedented, but should be seen as part of a longer-run history of successive compression and expansion of earnings differences. Available in OSO: http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/oso/public/content/economicsfinance/9780199532438/toc.html
Gastrin (GAS) and insulin (INS) play a significant role in the regulation of feed intake, as well as in the homeorhetic adaptations to different physiological stages, nutrient supply and ...requirements. The aim of the study was to verify if plasma GAS and INS concentrations in adult does are affected by the physiological state, change in response to the meal and are correlated with feed intake and energy balance. Dry matter intake (DMI) and pre and post-prandial plasma concentrations of gastrin-17 and insulin were recorded in 21 female goats fed hay and different quantities of concentrate (maize grain) twice daily in different physiological states. DMI was lower during the week of oestrous activity, compared to the period of anoestrus – progressively decreasing during pregnancy and increasing during the post-partum period, without significant differences between early and late lactation. Plasma GAS concentrations were significantly affected by physiological status, being higher (
P
<
0.05) during lactation than during pregnancy. Overall plasma GAS concentrations increased (
P
<
0.01) from pre-feeding levels (169
±
24
pg/ml), to 30
min after feed ingestion (185
±
29
pg/ml). The increase occurred 10 and 20
min (
P
<
0.05) after feeding, regardless of the diet composition. Both pre- and post-prandial GAS concentrations were related to DMI (
P
<
0.001), but not to the energy intake. Plasma INS on the other hand was not significantly affected by the physiological status. The pre-feeding plasma INS concentration, across all physiological states, was 1.36
±
0.32
ng/ml and increased (
P
<
0.01) to 1.45
±
0.38
ng/ml 30
min after feeding. Pre-feeding INS, but not post-prandial INS, increased with increasing proportions of maize in the diet and energy intake (
P
<
0.05). Overall INS was negatively correlated (
P
<
0.05) to DMI. It was concluded that cephalic reflexes are efficient stimula for both GAS and INS release in adult goats fed twice daily. Plasma GAS concentrations were related to hay intake and total DMI, thus with the volume of ingesta and presumably the time spent eating. GAS concentrations were not affected by the type of feed, nor the energy intake or the flux into the abomasum. Pre-feeding plasma INS was mainly dependent on the energy intake, while the post prandial increase was not dependent on the size or quality of the meal, or on the energy intake. Dietary manipulation and feed ingestion can thus affect the circulatory levels of these two main endocrine factors.
In Italian buffalo cows the spontaneous cyclic ovarian activity is mainly high in autumn, while during spring and early summer it is very low. However many farmers separate males from females in the ...October–February period to obtain births in winter–spring. In order to verify if blood testosterone concentration in adult buffalo bulls is affected by season and by different management of the contact with females, 20 adult buffalo males, bred in central Italy were submitted to monthly blood sampling for 1 year, from September to August. The bulls were kept together with females all the time (group A;
n
=
9) or were held separated from cows from October to February (group B;
n
=
11). The mean (±S.E.M.) serum testosterone concentrations were higher in spring and summer than in autumn and winter in group B (2.07
±
0.17
ng/mL versus 0.99
±
0.08
ng/mL,
P
<
0.01) but in group A the seasonal difference was not significant (2.09
±
0.13 versus 1.48
±
0.28). The management of the contact with females affected testosterone values (
P
<
0.01): in the separation period (October–February) the mean serum concentration in group B was lower than in March–September, when the cows were together with the bulls (0.94
±
0.09
ng/mL versus 1.95
±
0.15
ng/mL,
P
<
0.05). This is not true for group A (1.49
±
0.20
ng/mL versus 2.00
±
0.13
ng/mL, NS). It is concluded that contact with females exerted a major stimulus for the testicular androgen secretion in buffalo bulls, even if other seasonal factors (climate, food intake) may affect control of gonadal activity.
The worldwide race to attract talents is getting tougher. The US has been leading the race, with its ability to attract PhD candidates and graduates not only from emerging countries, but also from ...the European Union. However, a growing number of countries have adopted immigration policies specifically aimed at selecting and attracting skilled workers. This book describes the global competition to attract talents. It focuses in particular on two phenomena: the brain gain and brain drain associated with high-skilled migration. Part I provides an overview of immigration policies designed to draw in skilled workers. It describes the economic gains associated with skilled immigration in the destination countries and the main determinants of the inflows of skilled immigrants (such as wage premia on education and R&D spending). It also discusses why skill-selective immigration policies do not find more support in receiving countries and shows that interest groups are actively engaged in affecting policies towards skilled migrants. Part II examines the consequences of brain drain for the sending countries. It reviews the channels through which skilled emigration can affect the source countries and looks at remittances, return migration, diaspora externalities, and network effects that may compensate the sending countries for their loss of human capital. Contrary to traditional wisdom, the results indicate that most developing countries experience a net gain from skilled emigration. Contributors to this volume - Sascha Becker, University of Stirling Simone Bertoli, European University Institute Tito Boeri, Universita Bocconi and Fondazione Rodolfo Debenedetti Herbert Brucker, University of Bamburg and IAB Frederic Docquier, Universite Catholique de Louvain Giovanni Facchini, University of Milan Anna Maria Mayda, Georgetown University Giovanni Peri, University of California, Davis Hillel Rapoport, Bar-Ilan University Antonio Spilimbergo, International Monetary Fund Alessandra Venturini, University of Turin
Welfare and Employment in a United Europe takes a nuanced approach to the issues. Unusual for an edited volume, it consists of two long studies--each written by a group of economists working in four ...different countries of the European Union--followed by commentary.
Our economies face constant challenges from many different directions. Structural reforms are implemented every day, either to grasp the benefits of globalization and technological change, or to ...avoid foundering on unaffordable welfare systems or the rise of new economies. Despite this flurry of reforms, many of their effects are insufficiently understood. What makes reforms a success or a failure? Why do we witness systematically ambivalent attitudes to reforms? Can governments implement reforms differently, without inflicting prejudice to large fringes of the population? This book explores these issues by comparing a number of reforms, across a large set of countries and sectors. First, through an innovative multisectorial input-output analysis, the authors compare the effects of liberalisation reforms in the telecommunication and electricity sectors across Europe. Surprisingly, they find that very similar and well-intended reforms can generate highly contrasted outcomes. It is also shown that governments must consider the effects of each reform on all sectors of the economy. Second, the authors explore how governments can tailor their reform strategy to alter the redistributive effects of reforms. They show that the government's approach to reforms has been very different across time and across countries. A government's approach depends on local institutions, on the nature of the opposition, and on the scope of the reform under way. The authors, however, show that governments do have alternatives. Often, there are ways to tailor reforms so as to protect specific parts of the population; and there are ways to experiment gradually, to avoid costly policy mistakes. Available in OSO: http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/oso/public/content/economicsfinance/0199203628/toc.html
The present study describes the isolation and characterisation of new PAG molecules extracted from mid- and late-pregnancy placentas in the water buffalo (Bubalisbubalis). After extraction, acid and ...ammonium sulphate precipitation and DEAE chromatography water buffalo PAG (wbPAG) were enriched by Vicia villosa agarose (VVA) affininity chromatography. As determined by Western blotting with anti-PAG-sera, apparent molecular masses of immunoreactive bands from VVA peaks ranged from 59.5 to 75.8 kDa and from 57.8 to 80.9 kDa in the mid- and late- pregnancy placenta respectively. Aminoterminal microsequencing of proteins allowed the identification of three distinct wbPAG sequences wich have ben deposed in the SwissProt database: RGSXLTIHPLRNIRDFFYUG (Acc. n. P85048), RGSXLTILPLRNIID (P85049) and RGSXLTHLPLRNI (P85050). Their comparison to those previously identified revealed that two of them were new since they have not been described yet. Our results confirm the suitability of VVA chromatography in enrichment of multiple PAG molecules expressed in buffalo placenta. Productions of specific antisera can be very useful in immonoistochemical and immunocyitochemical studies of PAG expression in fetomaternal interfaces. Purified native PAG are also required for development on specific immoassays (RIA/ELISA) currently used for pregnancy diagnosis and physiological investigation in farm animal.
In a prospective trial, to determine if eIF4E overexpression in breast cancer specimens is correlated with VEGF elevation, increased tumor microvessel density (MVD) counts, and a worse clinical ...outcome irrespective of nodal status.
In vitro, the overexpression of eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) up-regulates the translation of mRNAs with long 5'-untranslated regions (5'-UTRs). One such gene product is the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
A total of 114 stage I to III breast cancer patients were prospectively accrued and followed with a standardized clinical surveillance protocol. Cancer specimens were quantified for eIF4E, VEGF, and MVD. Outcome endpoints were cancer recurrence and cancer-related death.
eIF4E overexpression was found in all cancer specimens (mean +/- SD, 12.5 +/- 7.6-fold). Increasing eIF4E overexpression correlated with increasing VEGF elevation (r = 0.24, P = 0.01, Spearman's coefficient), and increasing MVD counts (r = 0.35, P < 0.0002). Patients whose tumor had high eIF4E overexpression had shorter disease-free survival (P = 0.004, log-rank test) and higher cancer-related deaths (P = 0.002) than patients whose tumors had low eIF4E overexpression. Patients with high eIF4E had a hazard ratio for cancer recurrence and cancer-related death of 1.8 and 2.1 times that of patients with low eIF4E (respectively, P = 0.009 and P = 0.002, Cox proportional hazard model).
In breast cancer patients, increasing eIF4E overexpression in the cancer specimens correlates with higher VEGF levels and MVD counts. Patients whose tumors had high eIF4E overexpression had a worse clinical outcome, independent of nodal status. Thus, eIF4E overexpression in breast cancer appears to predict increased tumor vascularity and perhaps cancer dissemination by hematogenous means.
Recent studies have implicated the mRNA cap-binding protein, eIF-4E, as a key regulator of malignant progression. Indeed, the major intracellular signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and ...malignancy, the MAP kinase and PI3 kinase pathways, induce eIF-4E activity. Furthermore, immunohistochemical analyses have revealed that eIF-4E is overexpressed and related to disease progression in human cancers of the colon, head and neck, and breast. In experimental tumors, manipulation of eIF-4E function profoundly affects not only tumorigenesis but also tumor invasion and metastasis. While increasing global protein synthesis rates, the increased activity of eIF-4E that typifies both human and experimental tumors disproportionately enhances the translation of a specific array of potent growth regulatory and malignancy-related proteins, including c-myc, cyclin D1, ornithine decarboxylase, vascular endothelial growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor and others. Herein, we review the data supporting the notion that, by coordinately upregulating the translation of numerous malignancy-related proteins, eIF-4E plays a pivotal role in regulating not only tumor growth, but also invasion and metastasis.
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