Association of ambient and household air pollution with lung function in young adults in an peri-urban area of South-India: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: Although there is evidence for the association between air pollution and decreased lung function in children, evidence for adolescents and young adults is scarce. For a peri-urban area in India, we evaluated the association of ambient PM2.5 and household air pollution with lung function for young adults who had recently attained their expected maximum lung function. METHODS: We measured, using a standardized protocol, forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) in participants aged 20-26 years from the third follow-up of the population-based APCAPCS cohort (2010-2012) in 28 Indian villages. We estimated annual average PM2.5outdoors at residence using land-use regression. Biomass cooking fuel (a proxy for levels of household air pollution) was self-reported. We fitted a within-between linear-mixed model with random intercepts by village, adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: We evaluated 1,044 participants with mean age of 22.8 (SD = 1) years (range 20-26 years); 327 participants (31%) were female. Only males reported use of tobacco smoking (9% of all participants, 13% of males). The mean ambient PM2.5 exposure was 32.9 (SD = 2.8) µg/m3; 76% reported use of biomass as cooking fuel. The adjusted association between 1 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 was -27 ml (95% CI, -89 to 34) for FEV1 and -5 ml (95% CI, -93 to 76) for FVC. The adjusted association between use of biomass was -112 ml (95% CI, -211 to -13) for FEV1 and -142 ml (95% CI, -285 to 0) for FVC. The adjusted association was of greater magnitude for those with unvented stove (-158 ml, 95% CI, -279 to -36 for FEV1 and -211 ml, 95% CI, -386 to -36 for FVC). CONCLUSIONS: We observed negative associations between ambient PM2.5 and household air pollution and lung function in young adults who had recently attained their maximum lung function

The contribution of publicly provided inputs to states' economies

We specify a regional production function that, in addition to labor and private capital, includes two publicly provided inputs - highways and education. We employ a panel data set consisting of annual observations on the 48 contiguous states from 1969 to 1983 to estimate input elasticity coefficients under a specification that allows for differences over time and across states. We find that both of the publicly provided inputs have a significant and positive effect on output. Our results support the policy conclusion that publicly provided infrastructure is an important element of economic growth. © 1992.Peer Reviewe

On the effects of highway investment on the regional concentration of economic activity in the USA

The empirical results in this note are based on state-level VAR estimates using private output, employment, and investment, as well as different measures of highway investment to capture, for each state, both the direct effects of highway investment in the state itself and spillover effects of highway investment in other states. Empirical results suggest that the largest states tend to also be the biggest beneficiaries of highway investments which means that highway investment has not only contributed to regional concentration of economic activity but has done so in many of the largest states thereby contributing to regional asymmetries in the countr

On the regional incidence of highway investments in the USA

The objective of this paper was to investigate the regional incidence of the aggregate effects of investment in highways in the US taking into consideration the presence of regional spillovers. The empirical results are based on VAR estimates at both the aggregate and state levels using output, employment, and investment, as well as different measures of highway investments. Empirical results allow us to establish several stylized facts. First, investment in highways affects private sector variables positively at the aggregate level as well as in most states. Second, the regional spillover effects are very significant for all private sector variables. Third, these spillovers have a clear geographical pattern in that they tend to be more important in western states and the corridor between the Great Lakes and the Gulf Coast

Promoting regional economic growth in Greece by investing in public infrastructure

The role of public infrastructure capital in the development process, either at national or at regional levels, was a relatively neglected area of research until recently. The innovatory work of Aschauer, and the ensuing debate between himself, Munnell, and Holtz-Eakin regarding the role of infrastructure in the development process in the USA, has spawned much interest in the issue. The authors aim to assess the impact of public capital on Greek manufacturing industries, especially focused at the regional scale. Capital stocks were estimated for the private and public sectors and Cobb-Douglas production functions were used in the analytical framework. The results suggest that the role of private capital in economic development in recent times has been marginal, as private investment has declined, whereas the role of labour and public capital has been both positive and significant. The authors segregate public capital into 'productive' and 'social' infrastructure; they argue that when productive infrastructure makes a positive contribution to production output, the impact of social infrastructure is insignificant and/or negative in most cases. The network effects of infrastructure are also estimated

Novel Role for p110β PI 3-Kinase in Male Fertility through Regulation of Androgen Receptor Activity in Sertoli Cells

The organismal roles of the ubiquitously expressed class I PI3Kisoform p110 beta remain largely unknown. Using a new kinase- deadknockin mouse model that mimics constitutive pharmacological inactivation of p110 beta, we document that full inactivation of p110 beta leads to embryonic lethality in a substantial fraction of mice. Interestingly, the homozygous p110 beta kinase- dead mice that survive into adulthood (maximum similar to 26% on a mixed genetic background) have no apparent phenotypes, other than subfertility in females and complete infertility in males. Systemic inhibition of p110 beta results in a highly specific blockade in the maturation of spermatogonia to spermatocytes. p110 beta was previously suggested to signal downstream of the c- kit tyrosine kinase receptor in germ cells to regulate their proliferation and survival. We now report that p110 beta also plays a germ cell- extrinsic role in the Sertoli cells (SCs) that support the developing sperm, with p110 beta inactivation dampening expression of the SC- specific Androgen Receptor (AR) target gene Rhox5, a homeobox gene critical for spermatogenesis. All extragonadal androgen- dependent functions remain unaffected by global p110 beta inactivation. In line with a crucial role for p110 beta in SCs, selective inactivation of p110 beta in these cells results in male infertility. Our study is the first documentation of the involvement of a signalling enzyme, PI3K, in the regulation of AR activity during spermatogenesis. This developmental pathway may become active in prostate cancer where p110 beta and AR have previously been reported to functionally interact

The spillover effects of public capital on the Turkish private manufacturing industries in the geographical regions

C32, L60, R00,

Algumas concepções de alunos do ensino médio a respeito das proteínas

O conceito de proteína e sua síntese são importantes para a compreensão de processos em biotecnologia, por exemplo, a produção de novos fármacos, área em avanço nas últimas décadas. Assim, o objetivo desse trabalho foi verificar, dentre alunos do Ensino Médio, quais tipos de concepções eles têm ou trazem sobre proteína e síntese proteica, e que tipo de influência pode ter contribuído para a formulação de tais concepções, através de um questionário diagnóstico, composto por questões abertas, aplicado a 133 alunos de uma escola pública e de uma particular. Os resultados analisados basearam-se em categorização de respostas. Concluímos que, mesmo os alunos já tendo estudado assuntos relativos a proteínas, ainda carregavam traços de concepções alternativas, o que forneceu informações valiosas sobre possíveis falhas no processo de aprendizagem. Assim, para que haja uma "ressignificação" desses conceitos, é necessário que as discussões desse tema sejam ampliadas, vinculando-os aos conteúdos correlatos previamente trabalhados