The Career Costs of Children

This paper analyzes the life-cycle career costs associated with child rearing and decomposes their effects into unearned wages (as women drop out of the labor market), loss of human capital, and selection into more child-friendly occupations. We estimate a dynamic life-cycle model of fertility, occupational choice, and labor supply using detailed survey and administrative data for Germany for numerous birth cohorts across different regions. We use this model to analyze both the male-female wage gap as it evolves from labor market entry onward and the effect of pro-fertility policies. We show that a substantial portion of the gender wage gap is explainable by realized and expected fertility and that the long-run effect of policies encouraging fertility are considerably lower than the short-run effects typically estimated in the literature

Роль русского языка и литературы в формировании межкультурной компетенции иностранных студентов-филологов

Contains fulltext : 176878.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Orally ingested bacteria interact with intestinal mucosa and may impact immunity. However, insights in mechanisms involved are limited. In this randomized placebo-controlled cross-over trial, healthy human subjects were given Lactobacillus plantarum supplementation (strain TIFN101, CIP104448, or WCFS1) or placebo for 7 days. To determine whether L. plantarum can enhance immune response, we compared the effects of three stains on systemic and gut mucosal immunity, by among others assessing memory responses against tetanus toxoid (TT)-antigen, and mucosal gene transcription, in human volunteers during induction of mild immune stressor in the intestine, by giving a commonly used enteropathic drug, indomethacin [non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)]. Systemic effects of the interventions were studies in peripheral blood samples. NSAID was found to induce a reduction in serum CD4+/Foxp3 regulatory cells, which was prevented by L. plantarum TIFN101. T-cell polarization experiments showed L. plantarum TIFN101 to enhance responses against TT-antigen, which indicates stimulation of memory responses by this strain. Cell extracts of the specific L. plantarum strains provoked responses after WCFS1 and TIFN101 consumption, indicating stimulation of immune responses against the specific bacteria. Mucosal immunomodulatory effects were studied in duodenal biopsies. In small intestinal mucosa, TIFN101 upregulated genes associated with maintenance of T- and B-cell function and antigen presentation. Furthermore, L. plantarum TIFN101 and WCFS1 downregulated immunological pathways involved in antigen presentation and shared downregulation of snoRNAs, which may suggest cellular destabilization, but may also be an indicator of tissue repair. Full sequencing of the L. plantarum strains revealed possible gene clusters that might be responsible for the differential biological effects of the bacteria on host immunity. In conclusion, the impact of oral consumption L. plantarum on host immunity is strain dependent and involves responses against bacterial cell components. Some strains may enhance specific responses against pathogens by enhancing antigen presentation and leukocyte maintenance in mucosa. In future studies and clinical settings, caution should be taken in selecting beneficial bacteria as closely related strains can have different effects. Our data show that specific bacterial strains can prevent immune stress induced by commonly consumed painkillers such as NSAID and can have enhancing beneficial effects on immunity of consumers by stimulating antigen presentation and memory responses

Stimulation of vascularization of a subcutaneous scaffold applicable for pancreatic islet-transplantation enhances immediate post-transplant islet graft function but not long-term normoglycemia

Nephrolog

Sex differences in renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system affect extracellular volume in healthy subjects

Several studies reported sex differences in aldosterone. It is unknown whether these differences are associated with differences in volume regulation. Therefore we studied both aldoste

Trial by Dutch laboratories for evaluation of non-invasive prenatal testing. Part I—clinical impact

Objective: To evaluate the clinical impact of nationwide implementation of genome-wide non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in pregnancies at increased risk for fetal trisomies 21, 18 and 13 (TRIDENT study). Method: Women with elevated risk based on first trimester combined testing (FCT ≥ 1:200) or medical history, not advanced maternal age alone, were offered NIPT as contingent screening test, performed by Dutch University Medical laboratories. We analyzed uptake, test performance, redraw/failure rate, turn-around time and pregnancy outcome. Results: Between 1 April and 1 September 2014, 1413/23 232 (6%) women received a high-risk FCT result. Of these, 1211 (85.7%) chose NIPT. One hundred seventy-nine women had NIPT based on medical history. In total, 1386/1390 (99.7%) women received a result, 6 (0.4%) after redraw. Mean turn-around time was 14 days. Follow-up was available in 1376 (99.0%) pregnancies. NIPT correctly predicted 37/38 (97.4%) trisomies 21, 18 or 13 (29/30, 4/4 and 4/4 respectively); 5/1376 (0.4%) cases proved to be false positives: trisomies 21 (n = 2), 18 (n = 1) and 13 (n = 2). Estimated reduction in invasive testing was 62%. Conclusion: Introduction of NIPT in the Dutch National healthcare-funded Prenatal Screening Program resulted in high uptake and a vast reduction of invasive testing. Our study supports offering NIPT to pregnant women at increased risk for fetal trisomy. © 2016 The Authors. Prenatal Diagnosis published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2016 The Authors. Prenatal Diagnosis published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Origin and clinical relevance of chromosomal aberrations other than the common trisomies detected by genome-wide NIPS: Results of the TRIDENT study

PurposeNoninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) using cell-free DNA in maternal blood is highly sensitive for detecting fetal trisomies 21, 18, and 13. Using a genome-wide approach, other chromosome anomalies can also be detected. We report on the origin

PP112. Prediction of preeclampsia based on clinical risk factors: A prospective high-risk cohort study:18th World Congress of the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy, 9-12 July 2012, Geneva, Switzerland

Introduction Early recognition of preeclampsia (PE) is crucial for better obstetric care. Clinical risk factors are easier to identify than biochemical markers and may be useful in the prediction of PE. Objectives To evaluate which risk factors provide the best prediction for PE in a group at high-risk for developing PE. Methods A prospective cohort study of 100 pregnant women was performed. During the first trimester we included pregnant women who had at least one of the following risk factors for PE: previous history of PE, previous history of HELLP, pre-existing hypertension, diabetes mellitus, multiple pregnancy, obesity or autoimmune diseases. These women were monitored during their pregnancy and their medical data were used to set up a database. We focused on baseline characteristics (parity, maternal age, maternal smoking, ethnic origin, blood pressure at booking, risk factors mentioned above and medication use). Differences between groups were analysed using the Student’s t test or the Mann-Whitney U test as applicable. Categorical data were analysed with χ2 statistics. Subsequently, multivariable logistic regression analysis with a stepwise backward selection procedure of predictors was performed to identify independent risk factors for PE. Results Of the 100 women 22 (22.0%) developed PE and 13 (13.0%) developed gestational hypertension (GH). More women in the group with progression to PE had a history of PE (50.0% versus 26.2%, p = 0.039), while less women had a multiple pregnancy (4.5% versus 27.7%, p = 0.023) as compared with the group not progressing to either PE or GH. In the group of GH, no women were using antihypertensive medication while in the group of women not progressing to either PE or GH 32.3% were using antihypertensive medication (p = 0.017). Multivariable logistic regression revealed that singleton pregnancy was the only independent predictor of PE (OR 8.04, 95% CI 1.01 – 64.3, p = 0.045). Conclusion In this prospective cohort study we evaluated clinical risk factors for the development of PE in pregnant high-risk women based on obstetric history and comorbidity. We found that a singleton pregnancy was the only independent predictor for PE in this group of high-risk women. The other risk factors for which the women were included were not strong enough to act as a predictor for PE in this relatively small cohort. Nonetheless, it is important to be alert for PE in this group of pregnant women with high-risk for PE, especially because most of them have more than one risk factor

From preeclampsia to renal disease: a role of angiogenic factors and the renin-angiotensin aldosterone system?

Complicating up to 8% of pregnancies, preeclampsia is the most common glomerular disease worldwide and remains a leading cause of infant and maternal morbidity and mortality. Although the exact pathogenesis of this syndrome of hypertension and proteinuria is still incomplete, a consistent line of evidence has identified an imbalance of proangiogenic and anti-angiogenic proteins as a key factor in the development of preeclampsia. Furthermore, more attention has been recently addressed to the renin-angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS), to provide understanding on the hypertension of preeclampsia. The imbalance of the RAAS and the imbalance between angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors, which may be both common to preeclampsia and chronic kidney disease (CKD), might explain why a history of preeclampsia predisposes women to develop CKD. In this review, we briefly describe the characteristics of preeclampsia with a focus on the mechanisms of angiogenesis and the RAAS and its role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Our main focus will be on the intriguing association between preeclampsia and the subsequent increased risk of developing CKD and on the potential mechanisms by which the risk of CKD is elevated in women with a history of preeclampsia

The association between in vivo physicochemical changes and inflammatory responses against alginate based microcapsules

Application of alginate-polylysine (PLL) capsules for immunoisolation of living cells are suffering from a varying degree of success and large lab-to-lab variations. In this study we show that these differences in success rates can be attributed to alginate dependent essential physicochemical changes of the properties of capsules in vivo that will render the capsules more susceptible to inflammatory responses. Capsule properties were studied before and after implantation by XPS, by immunocytochemistry, and by measuring zeta potentials. We studied a capsule type which provokes for unknown reasons a strong inflammatory response, i.e. high-guluronic (G) alginate capsules and a capsule type with near identical physicochemical properties but which evokes a minimal inflammatory response, i.e. intermediate-G alginate capsules. The cause of the difference in response was a decrease in nitrogen content on high-G capsules due to detachment of PLL in vivo and an increase of the zeta-potential. Our data illustrate an important overlooked phenomena: the physicochemical properties are not necessarily the properties after exposure to the in vivo microenvironment and might induce undesired inflammatory responses and failure of encapsulated cellular grafts. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved