Partial pulmonary embolization disrupts alveolarization in fetal sheep

BACKGROUND: Although bronchopulmonary dysplasia is closely associated with an arrest of alveolar development and pulmonary capillary dysplasia, it is unknown whether these two features are causally related. To investigate the relationship between pulmonary capillaries and alveolar formation, we partially embolized the pulmonary capillary bed. METHODS: Partial pulmonary embolization (PPE) was induced in chronically catheterized fetal sheep by injection of microspheres into the left pulmonary artery for 1 day (1d PPE; 115d gestational age; GA) or 5 days (5d PPE; 110-115d GA). Control fetuses received vehicle injections. Lung morphology, secondary septal crests, elastin, collagen, myofibroblast, PECAM1 and HIF1 alpha abundance and localization were determined histologically. VEGF-A, Flk-1, PDGF-A and PDGF-R alpha mRNA levels were measured using real-time PCR. RESULTS: At 130d GA (term approximately 147d), in embolized regions of the lung the percentage of lung occupied by tissue was increased from 29 +/- 1% in controls to 35 +/- 1% in 1d PPE and 44 +/- 1% in 5d PPE fetuses (p < 0.001). Secondary septal crest density was reduced from 8 +/- 0% in controls to 5 +/- 0% in 1d PPE and 4 +/- 0% in 5d PPE fetuses (p < 0.05), indicating impaired alveolar formation. The deposition of differentiated myofibroblasts (23 +/- 1% vs 28 +/- 1%; p < 0.001) and elastin fibres (3 +/- 0% vs 4 +/- 0%; p < 0.05) were also impaired in embolized lung regions of PPE fetuses compared to controls. PPE did not alter the deposition of collagen or PECAM1. At 116d GA in 5d PPE fetuses, markers of hypoxia indicated that a small and transient hypoxic event had occurred (hypoxia in 6.7 +/- 1.4% of the tissue within embolized regions of 5d PPE fetuses at 116d compared to 0.8 +/- 0.2% of tissue in control regions). There was no change in the proportion of tissue labelled with HIF1 alpha. There was no change in mRNA levels of the angiogenic factors VEGF and Flk-1, although a small increase in PDGF-R alpha expression at 116d GA, from 1.00 +/- 0.12 in control fetuses to 1.61 +/- 0.18 in 5d PPE fetuses may account for impaired differentiation of alveolar myofibroblasts and alveolar development. CONCLUSIONS: PPE impairs alveolarization without adverse systemic effects and is a novel model for investigating the role of pulmonary capillaries and alveolar myofibroblasts in alveolar formation

Overlapping political budget cycles in the legislative and the executive

We advance the literature on political budget cycles by testing separately for cycles in expenditures for elections in the legislative and the executive. Using municipal data, we can separately identify these cycles and account for general year effects. For the executive branch, we show that it is important whether the incumbent re-runs. To account for the potential endogeneity associated with this decision, we apply a unique instrumental variables approach based on age and pension eligibility rules. We find sizable and significant effects in expenditures before council elections and before joint elections when the incumbent re-runs

Long-term outcome of preterm infants treated with nasal continuous positive airway pressure

This study's aim was to assess neurodevelopmental and growth outcome until the age of 4 years of premature infants placed on early nCPAP, in the setting of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and follow-up program of the Division of Neonatology of the Department of Pediatrics of the University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland. All consecutive inborn infants weighing &lt;1500 g or &lt;32 weeks of gestational age admitted to the NICU during two periods of 12 months-7.1996-6.1997 and 7.1998-6.1999-were compared before and after the systematic application of early nCPAP. Of 172 infants admitted to the NICU, 150 (87%) survived. 126 (84%) were tested at 6 months' corrected age, 121 (81%) at 18 months' corrected age, and 117 (78%) at the age of 4 years. Detailed perinatal data were collected. Follow-up included neurological examination, developmental testing and measurement of growth parameters. Statistical analyses were performed. Early application of nCPAP and avoidance of mechanical ventilation showed no adverse effects on neurodevelopment and growth. A significantly higher developmental quotient was found in the nCPAP group at 18 months' corrected age. Several trends were also noted in the nCPAP group with a decrease of intraventricular hemorrhage and in "abnormal neurodevelopment" at 6 months corrected age, a bigger head circumference at all different tested ages and a greater height at 6 and 18 months corrected ages. In conclusion, our study of developmental outcome documents the absence of any harmful effect of early application of nCPAP to treat respiratory failure in very low birthweight infants

Incentive Effects of Fiscal Rules on the Finance Minister's Behaviour: Evidence from Revenue Projections in Swiss Cantons

Predicting available tax revenue accurately is a key step of fiscal policy. It has recently been shown that revenue prediction errors have a direct impact on fiscal deficits. In the current paper we explore the relationship between the ideology of the finance minister and tax revenue projection errors and assess how the stringency of fiscal rules does alter this relationship. We use a panel dataset on 26 Swiss cantons over the period 1980-2007 as well as a new dataset on 99 finance ministers at the cantonal level. We find a rather counter-intuitive positive relationship between the ideology of the finance minister and tax revenue projection errors in the sense that a more left wing finance minister produces relatively more conservative forecasts. We also find that fiscal rules reduce the effect of ideology on tax revenue projection errors. These results suggest that left wing finance ministers need to curb deficits relatively more in order to signal the same level of competence than a right wing finance minister to the voters. It also suggests that fiscal rules render the signal less informative to the voters and thereby reduce the incentive for left wing finance ministers to be more conservative in their projections

Political Leaders' Socioeconomic Background and Fiscal Performance in Germany

This paper investigates whether the socioeconomic status of the head of government helps explain fiscal performance. Applying sociological research that attributes differences in people's ways of thinking and acting to their relative standing within society, we test whether the social status of German prime ministers can help explain differences in fiscal performance among the German Laender. Our empirical findings show that the tenures of prime ministers from a poorer socioeconomic background are associated with higher levels of public spending and debt financing