Exploring conditional gene essentiality through systems genetics approaches in yeast.

An essential gene encodes for a cellular function that is required for viability. Although viability is a straightforward phenotype to analyze in yeast, defining a gene as essential is not always trivial. Gene essentiality has generally been studied in specific laboratory strains and under standard growth conditions, however, essentiality can vary across species, strains, and environments. Recent systematic studies of gene essentiality revealed that two sets of essential genes exist: core essential genes that are always required for viability and conditional essential genes that vary in essentiality in different genetic and environmental contexts. Here, we review recent advances made in the systematic analysis of gene essentiality in yeast and discuss the properties that distinguish core from context-dependent essential genes

Restenosis and its determinants in first and repeat coronary angioplasty

Restenosis is the main problem limiting long-term success of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and is most accurately evaluated by follow-up angiography. We compared the primary and long-term results of angioplasty in 268 consecutive patients (293 segments) with first PTCA (PTCA 1, angiographic follow-up 98%) and in 66 patients (76 segments) with repeat PTCA after restenosis (PTCA 2, angiographic follow-up 92%). Forty clinical, angiographic and procedural factors were assessed in relation to outcome. Primary success rate was higher in PTCA 2 (91% vs 67.5%) and major complications were fewer (4.5% vs 16%).Higher inflation pressure (7.9 ± 2.3 vs 6.8 ± 1.8 atm, P70%) after PTCA 1 and after PTC A 2 (27% vs 36%, P = NS) and the mean time to recurrence (4.7 vs 5.3 months, P = NS) were similar. Procedural factors were the main determinants of long-term success in primary PTCA. The restenosis risk was independently related to residual stenosis >45% (P<0.001), variant angina (P<0.05) and multivessel disease (P<0.05) after PTCA 1 and to male sex (P<0.001) and higher inflation pressure (P<0.05) after PTCA 2. Mild to moderate intimal tearing was associated with less restenosis after PTC A 1, but not after PTCA 2. Including 9 patients (10 segments) with a third PTCA, 70% of the 66 patients with repeat PTCA had a successful long-term outcome. Repeat angioplasty should therefore be considered as an integral part of PTCA therapy. Restenosis however remains a major concern. An optimal primary result with a minimal residual stenosis is decisive for first PTCA, whereas avoidance of a dissection by using lower inflation pressure on a restenosis might improve the long-term outcome of repeat PTC

Desarrollo del cuestionario español para medir necesidades no cubiertas de supervivientes de cáncer (CESC)

Introducción: Según datos de la SEOM, existen en la actualidad más de un millón y medio de supervivientes de cáncer en España. El objetivo de este estudio es el desarrollo y evaluación de un cuestionario para medir las necesidades no cubiertas de supervivientes de cáncer. Método: Se desarrolló y evaluó un cuestionario auto-administrado para detectar las necesidades no cubiertas de supervivientes de cáncer. Durante la Fase 1 se definió el constructo, se revisó la literatura científica y se consideró un estudio cualitativo desarrollado previamente. La propuesta del Cuestionario Español para Medir Necesidades no Cubiertas de Supervivientes de Cáncer (CESC) se evaluó sucesivamente por un panel de expertos hasta obtener una versión que incluye las propuestas formuladas. En la Fase 2, el cuestionario fue completado por un total de 109 supervivientes de cáncer, a fin de analizar sus propiedades psicométricas. Resultados: El cuestionario CESC incluyó un total de 25 ítems o necesidades relevantes, mostrando tener buenas propiedades de fiabilidad y validez. Como resultado del análisis estadístico se obtuvieron 3 Factores: físico, emocional y laboral-económico. Conclusiones: El cuestionario CESC es un primer instrumento disponible en español, para facilitar la detección de necesidades de servicios específicos dirigidos a la población de supervivientes de cáncer. Los resultados, si bien preliminares, son muy alentadoresBackground: To develop and evaluate a questionnaire to measure cancer survivors' unmet needs. Methods: A self-report measure of cancer survivors' unmet needs was developed. In Phase I, it was taken into consideration the construct definition, literature review and previous qualitative research that identified needs in survivors. Spanish Questionnaire of Cancer Survivors' Unmet Needs (CESC) was review by an expert panel up to the final version. In Phase 2, the measure was completed by 109 cancer survivors. Results: CESC questionnaire included 25 need items. Good acceptability, internal consistency and validity were demonstrated. Factor analysis identified three factors: Physical, Emotional and Employment/Economic. Conclusions: The CESC, first instrument in Spanish, will facilitate the evaluation of target services and generation of service delivery recommendations for cancer survivors. Even if it is a preliminary version, results are encouragin

Geography, institutions and development: a review ofthe long-run impacts of climate change

The links between climate change, economic growth and economic development have gained increasing attention over recent years in both the academic and policy literature. However, most of the existing literature has tended to focus on direct, short run effects of climate change on the economy, for example due to extreme weather events and changes in agricultural growing conditions. In this paper we review potential effects of climate change on the prospects for long-run economic development. These effects might operate directly, via the role of geography (including climate) as a fundamental determinant of relative prosperity, or indirectly by modifying the environmental context in which political and economic institutions evolve. We consider potential mechanisms from climate change to long-run economic development that have been relatively neglected to date, including, for instance, effects on the distribution of income and political power. We conclude with some suggestions for areas of future research

The implications of three major new trials for the effect of water, sanitation and hygiene on childhood diarrhea and stunting: a consensus statement

BACKGROUND: Three large new trials of unprecedented scale and cost, which included novel factorial designs, have found no effect of basic water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions on childhood stunting, and only mixed effects on childhood diarrhea. Arriving at the inception of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, and the bold new target of safely managed water, sanitation and hygiene for all by 2030, these results warrant the attention of researchers, policy-makers and practitioners. MAIN BODY: Here we report the conclusions of an expert meeting convened by the World Health Organization and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to discuss these findings, and present five key consensus messages as a basis for wider discussion and debate in the WASH and nutrition sectors. We judge these trials to have high internal validity, constituting good evidence that these specific interventions had no effect on childhood linear growth, and mixed effects on childhood diarrhea. These results suggest that, in settings such as these, more comprehensive or ambitious WASH interventions may be needed to achieve a major impact on child health. CONCLUSION: These results are important because such basic interventions are often deployed in low-income rural settings with the expectation of improving child health, although this is rarely the sole justification. Our view is that these three new trials do not show that WASH in general cannot influence child linear growth, but they do demonstrate that these specific interventions had no influence in settings where stunting remains an important public health challenge. We support a call for transformative WASH, in so much as it encapsulates the guiding principle that - in any context - a comprehensive package of WASH interventions is needed that is tailored to address the local exposure landscape and enteric disease burden

One-Off Subsidies and Long-Run Adoption Experimental Evidence on Improved Cooking Stoves in Senegal

Free technology distribution can be an effective development policy instrument if adoption is socially inefficient and hampered by affordability constraints. Yet, policy makers often oppose free distribution, arguing that reference dependence spoils the willingness to pay and thus market potentials in the long run. For improved cookstoves, this paper studies the willingness to pay six years after a randomized one-time free distribution. Using a real-purchase offer procedure, we find that households who received a free stove in the past do not reveal a lower willingness to pay to repurchase the stove. Furthermore, we provide exploratory evidence that learning and reference-dependence effects do not spill over from the treatment to the control group. The policy implication is that one-time free distribution does not disturb future market establishment and might even facilitate it.JEL Codes: D03, D12, O12, O13, Q4