150 research outputs found
Biomarkers Associated with Organ-Specific Involvement in Juvenile Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (JSLE) is characterised by onset before 18 years of age and more severe disease phenotype, increased morbidity and mortality compared to adult-onset SLE. Management strategies in JSLE rely heavily on evidence derived from adult-onset SLE studies; therefore, identifying biomarkers associated with the disease pathogenesis and reflecting particularities of JSLE clinical phenotype holds promise for better patient management and improved outcomes. This narrative review summarises the evidence related to various traditional and novel biomarkers that have shown a promising role in identifying and predicting specific organ involvement in JSLE and appraises the evidence regarding their clinical utility, focusing in particular on renal biomarkers, while also emphasising the research into cardiovascular, haematological, neurological, skin and joint disease-related JSLE biomarkers, as well as genetic biomarkers with potential clinical applications
Technological Progress, Employment and the Lifetime of Capital
We study the impact of technological progress on the level of employment in a vintage capital model where: i) capital and labor are gross complementary; ii) labor supply is endogenous and indivisible; iii) there is full employment, and iv) the rate of labor-saving technological progress is endogenous. We characterize the stationary distributions of vintage capital goods and the corresponding equilibrium values for employment and capital lifetime. It is shown that both variables are non-monotonic functions of technological progress indicators. Technological accelerations are found to increase employment provided innovations are not too radical
Employee Education, Information and Communication Technology, Workplace Organization and Trade: A Comparative Analysis of Greek and Swiss Enterprises
This paper aims at investigating empirically at the firm level the effect of the use of modern information and communication technologies (ICT), and also of two other factors, the adoption of new forms of workplace organization and trade (export) activities, on the demand for employees with different levels of (vocational) education. The study is based on firm-level data collected through a common questionnaire from firms' samples of similar composition (concerning firm sizes and industries) in Greece and Switzerland; from these data econometric models of similar specification have been constructed for both countries. The results of multivariate analysis show that the intensive use of ICT correlates positively with the employment shares of high-educated personnel and negatively with the ones of the loweducated personnel. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis of skill-biased technical change. Further, the intensive use of employee voice-oriented organizational practices correlates positively with the employment shares of high-educated employees in both countries, and also negatively with the employment share of low-educated ones only for the Swiss firms. The results for the work design organizational practices are more ambiguous. Thus, there is only partial confirmation of the hypothesis of skilled-biased organizational change. Finally, we found some evidence in favour of the trade effect (export activities) only for the Swiss firms. Our results show both similarities and differences in the above aspects between Greece and Switzerland and indicate that national context characteristics affect the relationship of the demand for employees with different levels of (vocational) education with ICT use, adoption of new forms of workplace organization and trade
Axial light emission and Ar metastable densities in a parallel plate dc micro discharge in steady state and transient regimes
Axial emission profiles in a parallel plate dc micro discharge (feedgas:
argon; discharge gap d=1mm; pressure p=10Torr) were studied by means of time
resolved imaging with a fast ICCD camera. Additionally, volt-ampere (V-A)
characteristics were recorded and Ar* metastable densities were measured by
tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS). Axial emission profiles in
the steady state regime are similar to corresponding profiles in standard size
discharges (d=1cm, p=1Torr). For some discharge conditions relaxation
oscillations are present when the micro discharge switches periodically between
low current Townsend-like mode and normal glow. At the same time the axial
emission profile shows transient behavior, starting with peak distribution at
the anode, which gradually moves towards the cathode during the normal glow.
The development of argon metastable densities highly correlates with the
oscillating discharge current. Gas temperatures in the low current
Townsend-like mode (T= 320-400K) and the high current glow mode (T=469-526K)
were determined by the broadening of the recorded spectral profiles as a
function of the discharge current.Comment: submitted to Plasma Sources Sci. Techno
Iron Supply and Demand in Antarctic Shelf Ecosystem
The Ross Sea sustains a rich ecosystem and is the most productive sector of the Southern Ocean. Most of this production occurs within a polynya during the November-February period, when the availability of dissolved iron (dFe) is thought to exert the major control on phytoplankton growth. Here we combine new data on the distribution of dFe, high-resolution model simulations of ice melt and regional circulation, and satellite-based estimates of primary production to quantify iron supply and demand over the Ross Sea continental shelf. Our analysis suggests that the largest sources of dFe to the euphotic zone are wintertime mixing and melting sea ice, with a lesser input from intrusions of Circumpolar Deep Water and a small amount from melting glacial ice. Together these sources are in approximate balance with the annual biological dFe demand inferred from satellite-based productivity algorithms, although both the supply and demand estimates have large uncertainties
New technologies and firm organization : the case of electronic traceability systems in French agribusiness
This paper considers the relationship between the adoption of electronic traceability systems (ETSs) and the organization of firms. More precisely, it analyzes the respective roles of a firm's organizational structure, and organizational changes, in the process of ETS adoption in agribusiness. We use data from the French "Organizational Changes and Computerization" survey from 2006. We test a probit model to demonstrate the organizational structure and organizational changes underlying the firm's ETS adoption choice. Results show that ETS adoption is strongly favored by organizations with heavy hierarchical structures, standardized managerial practices and contractual mechanisms with external partners. This adoption process seems to coevolve with the organization: firms that implemented an ETS during the observed period (2003-2006) have experienced the most important organizational changes in terms of managerial practices, information systems and contractual relations, as well as the strengthening of the intermediate levels in the hierarchy
Age and skill bias of trade liberalisation? : heterogeneous employment effects of EU Eastern Enlargement
This study analyses the 2004 Eastern Enlargement to the European Union to
obtain evidence on the employment effects of an increase in trade liberalisation. The
Enlargement is thought to generate a trade-induced demand shock with no (or only
limited) supply effects. Besides the variation over time induced by the Enlargement,
identification of the effects is based on a Melitz (2003) type productivity term to
differentiate firms by the extent of exposure to the demand shock. The idea is that the
effects of the demand shock should be driven by differences in firm-level productivity
from the period before the new member countries actually entered the EU. German
linked employer-employee data allow to observe the relation of initial establishment
productivity with employment changes over a long panel from 1995 to 2009. The
estimates show that the Enlargement had a negative effect on establishment-level
employment growth, which is driven by increased worker separations and increased
job destruction. Besides the overall employment effect, the study focuses on effect
heterogeneity across age and skill groups of the workforce. These estimates point to a
skill bias in the effect of the Enlargement that disadvantages low- and medium-skilled
workers in terms of higher worker separation and job destruction. In addition, lowskilled
workers suffer fewer accessions by firms, where against medium-skilled workers
enjoy increased accessions and creation of new jobs. Besides this indication for a skill
bias, there are no clear indications that point to an age bias in the employment effect
of the Eastern Enlargement
Drivers and Effects of Internationalising Innovation by SMEs
This paper investigates the drivers and the effects of the internationalisation of innovation activities in SMEs based on a large data set of German firms covering the period 2002-2007. We look at different stages of the innovation process (R&D, design, production and sales of new products, and implementation of new processes) and explore the role of internal resources, home market competition and innovationrelated location advantages for an SME’s decision to engage in innovation activities abroad. By linking international innovation activities to firm growth in the home market we try to identify likely internationalisation effects at the firm level. The results show that export experience and experience in knowledge protection are highly important for international innovation activities of SMEs. Fierce home market competition turns out to be rather an obstacle than a driver. High innovation costs stimulate internationalisation of non-R&D innovation activities, and shortage of qualified labour expels production of new products. R&D activities abroad and exports of new products spur firm growth in the home market while there are no negative effects on home market growth from shifting production of new products abroad
Measuring efficiency of innovation using combined Data Envelopment Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling:empirical study in EU regions
The main aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of patent applications, development level, employment level and degree of technological diversity on innovation efficiency. Innovation efficiency is derived by relating innovation inputs and innovation outputs. Expenditures in Research and Development and Human Capital stand for innovation inputs. Technological knowledge diffusion that comes from spatial and technological neighborhood stands for innovation output. We derive innovation efficiency using Data Envelopment Analysis for 192 European regions for a 12-year period (1995–2006). We also examine the impact of patents production, development and employment level and the level of technological diversity on innovation efficiency using Structural Equation Modeling. This paper contributes a method of innovation efficiency estimation in terms of regional knowledge spillovers and causal relationship of efficiency measurement criteria. The study reveals that the regions presenting high innovation activities through patents production have higher innovation efficiency. Additionally, our findings show that the regions characterized by high levels of employment achieve innovation sources exploitation efficiently. Moreover, we find that the level of regional development has both a direct and indirect effect on innovation efficiency. More accurately, transition and less developed regions in terms of per capita GDP present high levels of efficiency if they innovate in specific and limited technological fields. On the other hand, the more developed regions can achieve high innovation efficiency if they follow a more decentralized innovation policy
The elegans of spindle assembly
The Caenorhabditis elegans one-cell embryo is a powerful system in which to study microtubule organization because this large cell assembles both meiotic and mitotic spindles within the same cytoplasm over the course of 1 h in a stereotypical manner. The fertilized oocyte assembles two consecutive acentrosomal meiotic spindles that function to reduce the replicated maternal diploid set of chromosomes to a single-copy haploid set. The resulting maternal DNA then unites with the paternal DNA to form a zygotic diploid complement, around which a centrosome-based mitotic spindle forms. The early C. elegans embryo is amenable to live-cell imaging and electron tomography, permitting a detailed structural comparison of the meiotic and mitotic modes of spindle assembly
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