The regional economic impact of more graduates in the labour market: a “micro-to-macro” analysis for Scotland

This paper explores the system-wide impact of graduates on the regional economy. Graduates enjoy a significant wage premium, often interpreted as reflecting their greater productivity relative to non-graduates. If this is so there is a clear and direct supply-side impact of HEI activities on regional economies. We use an HEI-disaggregated computable general equilibrium model of Scotland to estimate the impact of the growing proportion of graduates in the Scottish labour force that is implied by the current participation rate and demographic change, taking the graduate wage premium in Scotland as an indicator of productivity enhancement. While the detailed results vary with alternative assumptions about the extent to which wage premia reflect productivity, they do suggest that the long-term supply-side impacts of HEIs provide a significant boost to regional GDP. Furthermore, the results suggest that the supply-side impacts of HEIs are likely to be more important than the expenditure impacts that are the focus of most HEI impact studies

Slits Are Chemorepellents Endogenous to Hypothalamus and Steer Thalamocortical Axons into Ventral Telencephalon

Thalamocortical axons (TCAs) originate in dorsal thalamus, extend ventrally along the lateral thalamic surface, and as they approach hypothalamus make a lateral turn into ventral telencephalon. In vitro studies show that hypothalamus releases a chemorepellent for TCAs, and analyses of knockout mice indicate that Slit chemorepellents and their receptor Robo2 influence TCA pathfinding. We show that Slit chemorepellents are the hypothalamic chemorepellent and act through Robos to steer TCAs into ventral telencephalon. During TCA pathfinding, Slit1 and Slit2 are expressed in hypothalamus and ventral thalamus and Robo1 and Robo2 are expressed in dorsal thalamus. In collagen gel cocultures of dorsal thalamus and Slit2-expressing cells, axon number and length are decreased on the explant side facing Slit2-expressing cells, overall axon outgrowth is diminished, and axons turn away from the Slit2-expressing cells. Thus, Slit2 is an inhibitor and chemorepellent for dorsal thalamic axons. Collagen gel cocultures of dorsal thalamus with sections of live diencephalon, with and without the hypothalamus portion overlaid with Robo2-fc-expressing cells to block Slit function, identify Slits as the hypothalamic chemorepellent. Thus, Slits are chemorepellents for TCAs endogenous to hypothalamus and steer TCAs from diencephalon into ventral telencephalon, a critical pathfinding event defective in Slit and Robo2 mutant mice

Test performance of faecal occult blood testing for the detection of bowel cancer in people with chronic kidney disease (DETECT) protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cancer is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). In patients without kidney disease, screening is a major strategy for reducing the risk of cancer and improving the health outcomes for those who developed cancers by detecting treatable cancers at an early stage. Among those with CKD, the effectiveness, the efficacy and patients' preferences for cancer screening are unknown.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This work describes the protocol for the DETECT study examining the effectiveness, efficiency and patient's perspectives of colorectal cancer screening using immunochemical faecal occult blood testing (iFOBT) for people with CKD. The aims of the DETECT study are 1) to determine the test performance characteristics of iFOBT screening in individuals with CKD, 2) to estimate the incremental costs and health benefits of iFOBT screening in CKD compared to no screening and 3) to elicit patients' perspective for colorectal cancer screening in the CKD population. Three different study designs will be used to explore the uncertainties surrounding colorectal cancer screening in CKD. A diagnostic test accuracy study of iFOBT screening will be conducted across all stages of CKD in patients ages 35-70. Using individually collected direct healthcare costs and outcomes from the diagnostic test accuracy study, cost-utility and cost-effective analyses will be performed to estimate the costs and health benefits of iFOBT screening in CKD. Qualitative in-depth interviews will be undertaken in a subset of participants from the diagnostic test accuracy study to investigate the perspectives, experiences, attitudes and beliefs about colorectal cancer screening among individuals with CKD.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The DETECT study will target the three major unknowns about early cancer detection in CKD. Findings from our study will provide accurate and definitive estimates of screening efficacy and efficiency for colorectal cancer, and will allow better service planning and budgeting for early cancer detection in this at-risk population.</p> <p>The DETECT study is also registered with the Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry <a href="http://www.anzctr.org.au/ACTRN12611000538943.aspx">ACTRN12611000538943</a></p

Network Structure Implied by Initial Axon Outgrowth in Rodent Cortex: Empirical Measurement and Models

The developmental mechanisms by which the network organization of the adult cortex is established are incompletely understood. Here we report on empirical data on the development of connections in hamster isocortex and use these data to parameterize a network model of early cortical connectivity. Using anterograde tracers at a series of postnatal ages, we investigate the growth of connections in the early cortical sheet and systematically map initial axon extension from sites in anterior (motor), middle (somatosensory) and posterior (visual) cortex. As a general rule, developing axons extend from all sites to cover relatively large portions of the cortical field that include multiple cortical areas. From all sites, outgrowth is anisotropic, covering a greater distance along the medial/lateral axis than along the anterior/posterior axis. These observations are summarized as 2-dimensional probability distributions of axon terminal sites over the cortical sheet. Our network model consists of nodes, representing parcels of cortex, embedded in 2-dimensional space. Network nodes are connected via directed edges, representing axons, drawn according to the empirically derived anisotropic probability distribution. The networks generated are described by a number of graph theoretic measurements including graph efficiency, node betweenness centrality and average shortest path length. To determine if connectional anisotropy helps reduce the total volume occupied by axons, we define and measure a simple metric for the extra volume required by axons crossing. We investigate the impact of different levels of anisotropy on network structure and volume. The empirically observed level of anisotropy suggests a good trade-off between volume reduction and maintenance of both network efficiency and robustness. Future work will test the model's predictions for connectivity in larger cortices to gain insight into how the regulation of axonal outgrowth may have evolved to achieve efficient and economical connectivity in larger brains

Novel measures of cardiovascular health and its association with prevalence and progression of age-related macular degeneration: the CHARM study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To determine if novel measures of cardiovascular health are associated with prevalence or progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Measures of the cardiovascular system: included intima media thickness (IMT), pulse wave velocity (PWV), systemic arterial compliance (SAC), carotid augmentation index (AI). For the prevalence study, hospital-based AMD cases and population-based age- and gender-matched controls with no signs of AMD in either eye were enrolled. For the progression component, participants with early AMD were recruited from two previous studies; cases were defined as progression in one or both eyes and controls were defined as no progression in either eye.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>160 cases and 160 controls were included in the prevalence component. The upper two quartiles of SAC, implying good cardiovascular health, were significantly associated with increased risk of AMD (OR = 2.54, 95% CL = 1.29, 4.99). High PWV was associated with increased prevalent AMD. Progression was observed in 82 (32.3%) of the 254 subjects recruited for the progression component. Higher AI (worse cardiovascular function) was protective for AMD progression (OR = 0.30, 95%CL = 0.13, 0.69). Higher aortic PWV was associated with increased risk of AMD progression; the highest risk was seen with the second lowest velocity (OR = 6.22, 95% CL = 2.35, 16.46).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results were unexpected in that better cardiovascular health was associated with increased risk of prevalent AMD and progression. Inconsistent findings between the prevalence and progression components could be due to truly different disease etiologies or to spurious findings, as can occur with inherent biases in case control studies of prevalence. Further investigation of these non-invasive methods of characterizing the cardiovascular system should be undertaken as they may help to further elucidate the role of the cardiovascular system in the etiology of prevalent AMD and progression.</p

A Novel Role for Dbx1-Derived Cajal-Retzius Cells in Early Regionalization of the Cerebral Cortical Neuroepithelium

Patterning of the cerebral cortex during embryogenesis depends not only on passive diffusion of morphogens but also on signal delivery by Cajal-Retzius neurons that migrate over long distances

Guaiac faecal occult blood test performance at initial and repeat screens in the English Bowel Cancer Screening Programme

BACKGROUND: In many countries, screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) relies on repeat testing using the guaiac faecal occult blood test (gFOBT). This study aimed to compare gFOBT performance measures between initial and repeat screens. METHODS: Data on screening uptake and outcomes from the English Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (BCSP) for the years 2008 and 2011 were used. An existing CRC natural history model was used to estimate gFOBT sensitivity and specificity, and the cost-effectiveness of different screening strategies. RESULTS: The gFOBT sensitivity for CRC was estimated to decrease from 27.35% at the initial screen to 20.22% at the repeat screen. Decreases were also observed for the positive predictive value (8.4–7.2%) and detection rate for CRC (0.19–0.14%). Assuming equal performance measures for both the initial and repeat screens led to an overestimate of the cost effectiveness of gFOBT screening compared with the other screening modalities. CONCLUSIONS: Performance measures for gFOBT screening were generally lower in the repeat screen compared with the initial screen. Screening for CRC using gFOBT is likely to be cost-effective; however, the use of different screening modalities may result in additional benefits. Future economic evaluations of gFOBT should not assume equal sensitivities between screening rounds

Manipulative imputations in a distributed decision support setting:the effects of information asymmetry and information aggregation complexity

According to earlier research, distributed decision support structures are susceptible to deception. We complement the existing works by analyzing group members' attempts to manipulate group decisions supported by distributed communications. Experimentally, we manipulated two systemic features of a distributed support structure: the members' information asymmetry and decision rule complexity. Both of these features refer to structural properties of aggregated information exchange. We confirmed several hypothesized effects: An increase in the information asymmetry in the aggregation of information increases the incidence of the members' manipulative tendency. It also increases the effectiveness of the members' manipulative imputations. However, the complexity of a decision rule negatively moderates both of these effects. We point out the theoretical relevance and managerial implications of our findings. We conclude that managing team members' information asymmetry and complexity of issues under their practical consideration may result in valuable disclosures

Breast tumour angiogenesis

The central importance of tumour neovascularization has been emphasized by clinical trials using antiangiogenic therapy in breast cancer. This review gives a background to breast tumour neovascularization in in situ and invasive breast cancer, outlines the mechanisms by which this is achieved and discusses the influence of the microenvironment, focusing on hypoxia. The regulation of angiogenesis and the antivascular agents that are used in an antiangiogenic dosing schedule, both novel and conventional, are also summarized