2,368 research outputs found

    The upswing of regional income inequality in Spain (1860-1930).

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    This paper studies the evolution of Spanish regional inequality from 1860 to 1930. The results point to the coexistence of two basic forces behind changes in regional economic inequality: industrial specialization and labor productivity differentials. The initial expansion of industrialization, in a context of growing economic integration of regions, promoted the spatial concentration of manufacturing in certain regions, which also benefited from the greatest advances in terms of labor productivity. Since 1900, the diffusion of manufacturing production to a greater number of locations generated the emulation of production structures and a process of catching-up in labor productivity and wages.Industrialization; Market Integration; Heckscher-Ohlin Model; New Economic Geography;

    The upswing of regional income inequality in Spain (1860–1930).

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    This paper studies the evolution of Spanish regional inequality from 1860 to 1930. The results point to the coexistence of two basic forces behind changes in regional economic inequality: industrial specialization and labor productivity differentials. The initial expansion of industrialization, in a context of growing economic integration of regions, promoted the spatial concentration of manufacturing in certain regions, which also benefited from the greatest advances in terms of labor productivity. Since 1900, the diffusion of manufacturing production to a greater number of locations has generated the emulation of production structures and a process of catching-up in labor productivity and wagesIndustrialization; Market integration; Heckscher–Ohlin model; New economic geography; Regional convergence;

    The long-term patterns of regional income inequality in Spain (1860-2000)

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    This paper studies the evolution of Spanish regional inequality from 1860 to 2000. The results point to the coexistence of two basic forces behind changes in regional economic inequality: differences in economic structure and labor productivity across regions. In the Spanish case, the initial expansion of industrialization during the period 1860-1900, in a context of growing economic integration of regions, promoted the spatial concentration of manufacturing in certain regions, which also benefited from the greatest advances in terms of labor productivity. Since 1900 and until 1985, the diffusion of manufacturing and services production to a greater number of locations generated the emulation of production structures and a process of catching-up in labor productivity and wages. So, in these first 125 years, national market integration and economic growth has been followed by a Ushaped evolution of regional incomes inequality. Nevertheless, some productivity differentials remained and, from 1985 on, the Spanish entry in the UE generated a new upsurge of divergence in productivity across Spanish regions that could be in the base of a new phase of regional income divergence

    Sex differences in plasma clozapine and norclozapine concentrations in clinical practice and in relation to body mass index and plasma glucose concentrations: a retrospective survey

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    Background Clozapine is widely prescribed and, although effective, can cause weight gain and dysglycemia. The dysmetabolic effects of clozapine are thought to be more prevalent in women with this gender on average attaining 17 % higher plasma clozapine concentrations than men. Methods We investigated the relationship between dose, body mass index (BMI), plasma glucose concentration, and plasma clozapine and N-desmethylclozapine (norclozapine) concentrations in 100 individuals with a severe enduring mental illness. Results Mean (10th/90th percentile) plasma clozapine concentrations were higher for women [0.49 (0.27–0.79) mg/L] compared with men [0.44 (0.26–0.70) mg/L] (F = 2.2; p = 0.035). There was no significant gender difference in the prescribed clozapine dose. BMI was significantly higher in women [mean (95 % CI) = 34.5 (26.0–45.3)] for females compared with 32.5 (25.2–41.0) for males. Overall, BMI increased by 0.7 kg/m 2 over a mean follow-up period of 210 days. A lower proportion, 41 % of women had a fasting blood glucose ≤6.0 mmol/L (<6.0 mmol/L is defined by the International Diabetes Federation as normal glucose handling), compared with 88 % of men (χ2  = 18.6, p < 0.0001). Conclusions We have shown that mean BMI and blood glucose concentrations are higher in women prescribed clozapine than in men. Women also tended to attain higher plasma clozapine concentrations than men. The higher BMI and blood glucose in women may relate to higher tissue exposure to clozapine, as a consequence of sex differences in drug metabolism

    Toca 511 gene transfer and treatment with the prodrug, 5-fluorocytosine, promotes durable antitumor immunity in a mouse glioma model.

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    BackgroundToca 511 (vocimagene amiretrorepvec) is a retroviral replicating vector encoding an optimized yeast cytosine deaminase (CD). Tumor-selective expression of CD converts the prodrug, 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC), into the active chemotherapeutic, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). This therapeutic approach is being tested in a randomized phase II/III trial in recurrent glioblastoma and anaplastic astrocytoma (NCT0241416). The aim of this study was to identify the immune cell subsets contributing to antitumor immune responses following treatment with 5-FC in Toca 511-expressing gliomas in a syngeneic mouse model.MethodsFlow cytometry was utilized to monitor and characterize the immune cell infiltrate in subcutaneous Tu-2449 gliomas in B6C3F1 mice treated with Toca 511 and 5-FC.ResultsTumor-bearing animals treated with Toca 511 and 5-FC display alterations in immune cell populations within the tumor that result in antitumor immune protection. Attenuated immune subsets were exclusive to immunosuppressive cells of myeloid origin. Depletion of immunosuppressive cells temporally preceded a second event which included expansion of T cells which were polarized away from Th2 and Th17 in the CD4+ T cell compartment with concomitant expansion of interferon gamma-expressing CD8+ T cells. Immune alterations correlated with clearance of Tu-2449 subcutaneous tumors and T cell-dependent protection from future tumor challenge.ConclusionsTreatment with Toca 511 and 5-FC has a concentrated effect at the site of the tumor which causes direct tumor cell death and alterations in immune cell infiltrate, resulting in a tumor microenvironment that is more permissive to establishment of a T cell mediated antitumor immune response

    Pellaea calomelanos (Pteridaceae) in Catalonia: is it really a very old disjunction?

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    Pellaeacalomelanos(Pteridaceae) in catalonia: isitreallyaveryolddisjunction? Pellaea calomelanos is a species discovered in Africa and whose distribution area has been expanding more recently to Asia and to a single European locality, including three populations, in Catalonia. Both, the fact of belonging to ferns and presenting this disjoint distribution fostered the idea of a relict species resulting from an extensive distribution in remote times. The 2C-values range from 16.45 pg for the individual of the Reunion Island to 17.40 pg for the population of Boadella (Catalonia). Although a certain variability exists, no statistically significant differences among them have been found. The phylogenetic analysis reveals a well-supported clade grouping all the individuals of the different populations of P. calomelanos but without any kind of internal resolution. The results of this work, based on measures of nuclear DNA amount and also on two regions of chloroplast DNA sequencing, together with the characteristics of its habitat, allow the authors to hypothesize about a recent colonisation of the European continent by this species.Keywords: Bayesian inference; ferns; nuclear DNA amount; phylogenetic analyses; Pteridaceae; 2C-value

    Effective connectivity of visual word recognition and homophone orthographic errors

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    The study of orthographic errors in a transparent language like Spanish is an important topic in relation to writing acquisition. The development of neuroimaging techniques, particularly functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), has enabled the study of such relationships between brain areas. The main objective of the present study was to explore the patterns of effective connectivity by processing pseudohomophone orthographic errors among subjects with high and low spelling skills. Two groups of 12 Mexican subjects each, matched by age, were formed based on their results in a series of ad hoc spelling-related out-scanner tests: a high spelling skills (HSSs) group and a low spelling skills (LSSs) group. During the f MRI session, two experimental tasks were applied (spelling recognition task and visuoperceptual recognition task). Regions of Interest and their signal values were obtained for both tasks. Based on these values, structural equation models (SEMs) were obtained for each group of spelling competence (HSS and LSS) and task through maximum likelihood estimation, and the model with the best fit was chosen in each case. Likewise, dynamic causal models (DCMs) were estimated for all the conditions across tasks and groups. The HSS group's SEM results suggest that, in the spelling recognition task, the right middle temporal gyrus, and, to a lesser extent, the left parahippocampal gyrus receive most of the significant effects, whereas the DCM results in the visuoperceptual recognition task show less complex effects, but still congruent with the previous results, with an important role in several areas. In general, these results are consistent with the major findings in partial studies about linguistic activities but they are the first analyses of statistical effective brain connectivity in transparent languages

    Update on the electrolytic IVC model for pre‐clinical studies of venous thrombosis

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    EssentialsThree key updates are provided on the electrolytic inferior vena cava model (EIM).The originally described stimulator equipment has been discontinued; we developed an alternative.The fibrinolytic system and the current and time dependency of the EIM was characterized.EIM allows the investigation of the fibrinolytic system, critical for endovascular therapies.BackgroundThe electrolytic inferior vena cava model (EIM) is a murine venous thrombosis (VT) model that produces a non‐occlusive thrombus. The thrombus forms in the direction of blood flow, as observed in patients. The EIM is valuable for investigations of therapeutics due to the presence of continuous blood flow. However, the equipment used to induce thrombosis in the original model description was expensive and has since been discontinued. Further, the fibrinolytic system had not been previously studied in the EIM.ObjectivesWe aimed to provide an equipment alternative. Additionally, we further characterized the model through mapping the current and time dependency of thrombus resolution dynamics, and investigated the fibrinolytic system from acute to chronic VT.ResultsA voltage to current converter powered by a direct current power supply was constructed and validated, providing an added benefit of significantly reducing costs. The current and time dependency of thrombus volume dynamics was assessed by MRI, demonstrating the flexibility of the EIM to investigate both pro‐thrombotic and anti‐thrombotic conditions. Additionally, the fibrinolytic system was characterized in EIM. Centripetal distribution of plasminogen was observed over time, with peak staining at day 6 post thrombus induction. Both active circulating plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 (PAI‐1) and vein wall gene expression of PAI‐1 peaked at day 2, coinciding with a relative decrease in tissue plasminogen activator and urokinase plasminogen activator.ConclusionsThe EIM is a valuable model of VT that can now be performed at low cost and may be beneficial in investigations of the fibrinolytic system.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143801/1/rth212074.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143801/2/rth212074_am.pd

    Neuroimage study on low orthographic competence group

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    Background: In this paper we studied the functional neural substrates underlying the performance of homophonic spelling error detecting tasks including frequent and infrequent Spanish words- through functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) procedure in subjects with low orthographic performance. Method: A block design was used to administer 2 visual tasks,with 2 experimental conditions each, to 8 healthy participants with low orthographic performance. In both tasks correct and misspelled Spanish words sequentially appeared. Participants were instructed to detect orthographic errorsin one task, as well as the presence of 1 specific vowel in the other. Image data were obtained from 32 axial contiguous slices and repetition time of 3 seconds. Results: Significant bilateral activations were found, especially inmedial temporal areas during the orthographic error recognition task performance, whereas upper right and left frontal regions were significantly activated while detecting a specific vowel. Conclusions: These data are consistent with the literature and suggest an association between orthographic processing and hyperactivation of bilateral cerebral areas in subjects with low orthographic skills, probably due to compensatory mechanism

    Landsat and local land surface temperatures in a heterogeneous terrain compared to MODIS values

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    Land Surface Temperature (LST) as provided by remote sensing onboard satellites is a key parameter for a number of applications in Earth System studies, such as numerical modelling or regional estimation of surface energy and water fluxes. In the case of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard Terra or Aqua, pixels have resolutions near 1 km2 , LST values being an average of the real subpixel variability of LST, which can be significant for heterogeneous terrain. Here, we use Landsat 7 LST decametre-scale fields to evaluate the temporal and spatial variability at the kilometre scale and compare the resulting average values to those provided by MODIS for the same observation time, for the very heterogeneous Campus of the University of the Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Western Mediterranean), with an area of about 1 km2 , for a period between 2014 and 2016. Variations of LST between 10 and 20 K are often found at the sub-kilometre scale. In addition, MODIS values are compared to the ground truth for one point in the Campus, as obtained from a four-component net radiometer, and a bias of 3.2 K was found in addition to a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 4.2 K. An indication of a more elaborated local measurement strategy in the Campus is given, using an array of radiometers distributed in the area
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