Fiscal policies and the prices of labor: a comparison of the U.K. and U.S.

This paper measures the 2007-13 evolution of employment tax rates in the U.K. and the U.S. The U.S. changes are greater, in the direction of taxing a greater fraction of the value created by employment, and primarily achieved with new implicit tax rates. Even though both countries implemented a temporary "fiscal stimulus," their tax rate dynamics were different: the U.S. stimulus increased rates, whereas the U.K. stimulus reduced them. The U.K. later increased the tax on employment during its "austerity" period. Tax rate measurements are a first ingredient for cross-country comparisons of labor markets during and after the financial crisis

Evaluation of cardiovascular effects of edible fruits of Syzygium cumini Myrtaceae (L) skeels in rats

Purpose: To evaluate the hypotensive, vasorelaxant and antihypertensive effects elicited by the hydroalcohol extract from the fruits of Syzygium cumini (EHSCF) in non-anesthetized rats.Methods: The rats were anesthetized and polyethylene catheters were inserted into the lower abdominal aorta and into the inferior vena cava for blood pressure measurements and administration of drugs. After a recovery period of 24 h, EHSCF (0.5; 1; 5; 10; 20 and 30 mg/kg, i.v.) was administered in non-anesthetized rats. The mean arterial pressure and the heart rate were recorded. To investigate the effects of extract, doses EHSCF were administered after pretreatment with L-NAME, atropine, indomethacin, and hexamethonium. For measurement of isometric tension, a concentration-response curve was obtained after Phenylephrine and KCl (80 mM) pre-contractions. The bioactive extract was analyzed via mass spectrometry (MS) fingerprinting using direct electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS).Results: EHSCF (0.5; 1; 5; 10; 20 and 30 mg/kg) induced hypotension (-15 ± 1, -14 ± 1, -15 ± 1, -13 ± 1, -11 ± 1 and -13 ± 2 %) and bradycardia (-6 ± 1, -5 ± 1, -6 ± 1, -14 ± 1, -8 ± 1 and -10 ± 2 %) in normotensive rats. These responses were attenuated by pre-treatment with L-NAME, indomethacin, hexamethonium or atropine. In phenylephrine, pre-contracted mesenteric rings, EHSCF-induced relaxation (Emax = 54.6 ± 4.5 % and pD2 = 2.7 ± 0.1) that were affected by endothelium removal. EHSCF caused relaxant effect of KCl (80 mM) pre-contracted rings (Emax = 100 ± 0.2 % and pD2 = 2.2 ± 0.1). This effect was not changed in denuded rings. A single oral administration of the extract reduced significant mean arterial pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats. ESI-MS/MS analyses of EHSCF demonstrated that the major constituents of the analyzed samples coincided with the mass of the malic, gallic, caffeic and ferulic acids.Conclusion: The results suggest that EHSCF induces hypotension probably due to a decrease in peripheral resistance, mediated by the endothelium. Bradycardia may be due to indirect cardiac muscarinic activation. The extract also causes an antihypertensive effect.Keywords: Antihypertensive, Edible fruits, Hypotension, Syzygium cumini, Vasorelaxatio

Integração de métodos multicritério na busca da sustentabilidade agrícola para a produção de tomates no município de São José de Ubá-RJ.

Este estudo discute alternativas para os sistemas produtivos da terra no plantio de tomates em São José de Ubá-RJ e as relações de trabalho passíveis de serem colocadas em pratica de forma a promover uma agricultura sustentavel na região, priorizando os aspectos economicos, ambientais e culturais do problema. A introdução da questão cultural aumenta a complexidade da questão, sendo necessário o uso de uma metodologia capaz de lidar com toda a subjetividade envolvida nesse processo de tomada de decisão. O estudo visa contribuir para a conquista de um processo sustentavel na região, estabelecendo um processo de tomada de decisão pautado nas opinioes do agricultor, respeitando principalmente as questões culturais do problema. As características do ambiente de tomada de decisão indicaram o uso de uma combinação de métodos de apoio a decisão multicritério - MACBETH e VIP Analysis - para a seleção da melhor alternativa capaz de possibilitar o alcance dos objetivos propostos

Id4 and FABP7 are preferentially expressed in cells with astrocytic features in oligodendrogliomas and oligoastrocytomas

BACKGROUND: Oligodendroglioma (ODG) and oligoastrocytoma (OAC) are diffusely infiltrating primary brain tumors whose pathogenesis remains unclear. We previously identified a group of genes whose expression was inversely correlated with survival in a cohort of patients with glioblastoma (GBM), and some of these genes are also reportedly expressed in ODG and OAC. We examined the expression patterns and localization of these survival-associated genes in ODG and OAC in order to analyze their possible roles in the oncogenesis of these two tumor types. METHODS: We used UniGene libraries derived from GBM and ODG specimens to examine the expression levels of the transcripts for each of the 50 GBM survival-associated genes. We used immunohistochemistry and cDNA microarrays to examine expression of selected survival-associated genes and Id4, a gene believed to control the timing of oligodendrocyte development. The expression of FABP7 and Id4 and the survival of patients with ODG and OAC were also analyzed. RESULTS: Transcripts of most survival-associated genes as well as Id4 were present in both GBM and ODG tumors, whereas protein expression of Id4 and one of the survival-associated genes, brain-type fatty acid-binding protein (FABP7), was present in cells with astrocytic features, including reactive and neoplastic astrocytes, but not in neoplastic oligodendrocytes. Id4 was co-expressed with FABP7 in microgemistocytes in ODG and in neoplastic astrocytes in OAC. Id4 and FABP7 expression, however, did not correlate with the clinical outcome of patients with ODG or OAC tumors. CONCLUSION: Expression of Id4 and some of our previously identified GBM survival-associated genes is present in developing or mature oligodendrocytes. However, protein expression of Id4 and FABP7 in GBM, ODG, and OAC suggests that this group of functionally important genes might demonstrate two patterns of expression in these glioma subtypes: one group is universally expressed in glioma cells, and the other group of genes is expressed primarily in neoplastic astrocytes but not in neoplastic oligodendrocytes. Differential protein expression of these two groups of genes in ODG and OAC may be related to the cellular origins and the histological features of the neoplastic cells

MSH3 polymorphisms and protein levels affect CAG repeat instability in huntington's disease mice

Expansions of trinucleotide CAG/CTG repeats in somatic tissues are thought to contribute to ongoing disease progression through an affected individual's life with Huntington's disease or myotonic dystrophy. Broad ranges of repeat instability arise between individuals with expanded repeats, suggesting the existence of modifiers of repeat instability. Mice with expanded CAG/CTG repeats show variable levels of instability depending upon mouse strain. However, to date the genetic modifiers underlying these differences have not been identified. We show that in liver and striatum the R6/1 Huntington's disease (HD) (CAG)~100 transgene, when present in a congenic C57BL/6J (B6) background, incurred expansion-biased repeat mutations, whereas the repeat was stable in a congenic BALB/cByJ (CBy) background. Reciprocal congenic mice revealed the Msh3 gene as the determinant for the differences in repeat instability. Expansion bias was observed in congenic mice homozygous for the B6 Msh3 gene on a CBy background, while the CAG tract was stabilized in congenics homozygous for the CBy Msh3 gene on a B6 background. The CAG stabilization was as dramatic as genetic deficiency of Msh2. The B6 and CBy Msh3 genes had identical promoters but differed in coding regions and showed strikingly different protein levels. B6 MSH3 variant protein is highly expressed and associated with CAG expansions, while the CBy MSH3 variant protein is expressed at barely detectable levels, associating with CAG stability. The DHFR protein, which is divergently transcribed from a promoter shared by the Msh3 gene, did not show varied levels between mouse strains. Thus, naturally occurring MSH3 protein polymorphisms are modifiers of CAG repeat instability, likely through variable MSH3 protein stability. Since evidence supports that somatic CAG instability is a modifier and predictor of disease, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that variable levels of CAG instability associated with polymorphisms of DNA repair genes may have prognostic implications for various repeat-associated diseases