Higher Education as modulator of gender inequalities: Evidence of the Spanish case

Raising educational levels may help to reduce inequalities between men and women in certain social and economic aspects. Using statistics for Spain, we analyse labour market behaviours such as the rates of activity and unemployment by sex according to the educational level. The results reveal that the differences between men and women decrease as the educational level increases. In particular, the modulator effect of education is very important at the higher level, where differences in labour market behaviour between men and women with an university education almost disappear, except in terms of salaries. Nevertheless, it can be seen that the current economic crisis has reduced the modulator role of education in gender differences in Spain

Cyclic AMP Control Measured in Two Compartments in HEK293 Cells: Phosphodiesterase KM Is More Important than Phosphodiesterase Localization

The intracellular second messenger cyclic AMP (cAMP) is degraded by phosphodiesterases (PDE). The knowledge of individual families and subtypes of PDEs is considerable, but how the different PDEs collaborate in the cell to control a cAMP signal is still not fully understood. In order to investigate compartmentalized cAMP signaling, we have generated a membrane-targeted variant of the cAMP Bioluminiscence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET) sensor CAMYEL and have compared intracellular cAMP measurements with it to measurements with the cytosolic BRET sensor CAMYEL in HEK293 cells. With these sensors we observed a slightly higher cAMP response to adenylyl cyclase activation at the plasma membrane compared to the cytosol, which is in accordance with earlier results from Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) sensors. We have analyzed PDE activity in fractionated lysates from HEK293 cells using selective PDE inhibitors and have identified PDE3 and PDE10A as the major membrane-bound PDEs and PDE4 as the major cytosolic PDE. Inhibition of membrane-bound or cytosolic PDEs can potentiate the cAMP response to adenylyl cyclase activation, but we see no significant difference between the potentiation of the cAMP response at the plasma membrane and in cytosol when membrane-bound and cytosolic PDEs are inhibited. When different levels of stimulation were tested, we found that PDEs 3 and 10 are mainly responsible for cAMP degradation at low intracellular cAMP concentrations, whereas PDE4 is more important for control of cAMP at higher concentrations

Baryonic Popcorn

In the large N limit cold dense nuclear matter must be in a lattice phase. This applies also to holographic models of hadron physics. In a class of such models, like the generalized Sakai-Sugimoto model, baryons take the form of instantons of the effective flavor gauge theory that resides on probe flavor branes. In this paper we study the phase structure of baryonic crystals by analyzing discrete periodic configurations of such instantons. We find that instanton configurations exhibit a series of "popcorn" transitions upon increasing the density. Through these transitions normal (3D) lattices expand into the transverse dimension, eventually becoming a higher dimensional (4D) multi-layer lattice at large densities. We consider 3D lattices of zero size instantons as well as 1D periodic chains of finite size instantons, which serve as toy models of the full holographic systems. In particular, for the finite-size case we determine solutions of the corresponding ADHM equations for both a straight chain and for a 2D zigzag configuration where instantons pop up into the holographic dimension. At low density the system takes the form of an "abelian anti-ferromagnetic" straight periodic chain. Above a critical density there is a second order phase transition into a zigzag structure. An even higher density yields a rich phase space characterized by the formation of multi-layer zigzag structures. The finite size of the lattices in the transverse dimension is a signal of an emerging Fermi sea of quarks. We thus propose that the popcorn transitions indicate the onset of the "quarkyonic" phase of the cold dense nuclear matter.Comment: v3, 80 pages, 18 figures, footnotes 5 and 7 added, version to appear in the JHE

Efficient Gene Targeting by Homologous Recombination in Rat Embryonic Stem Cells

The rat is the preferred experimental animal in many biological studies. With the recent derivation of authentic rat embryonic stem (ES) cells it is now feasible to apply state-of-the art genetic engineering in this species using homologous recombination. To establish whether rat ES cells are amenable to in vivo recombination, we tested targeted disruption of the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (hprt) locus in ES cells derived from both inbred and outbred strains of rats. Targeting vectors that replace exons 7 and 8 of the hprt gene with neomycinR/thymidine kinase selection cassettes were electroporated into male Fisher F344 and Sprague Dawley rat ES cells. Approximately 2% of the G418 resistant colonies also tolerated selection with 6-thioguanine, indicating inactivation of the hprt gene. PCR and Southern blot analysis confirmed correct site-specific targeting of the hprt locus in these clones. Embryoid body and monolayer differentiation of targeted cell lines established that they retained differentiation potential following targeting and selection. This report demonstrates that gene modification via homologous recombination in rat ES cells is efficient, and should facilitate implementation of targeted, genetic manipulation in the rat

Diamondites: evidence for a distinct tectono-thermal diamond-forming event beneath the Kaapvaal craton

The petrogenesis and relationship of diamondite to well-studied monocrystalline and fibrous diamonds are poorly understood yet would potentially reveal new aspects of how diamond-forming fluids are transported through the lithosphere and equilibrate with surrounding silicates. Of 22 silicate- and oxide-bearing diamondites investigated, most yielded garnet intergrowths (n = 15) with major element geochemistry (i.e. Ca–Cr) classifying these samples as low-Ca websteritic or eclogitic. The garnet REE patterns fit an equilibrium model suggesting the diamond-forming fluid shares an affinity with high-density fluids (HDF) observed in fibrous diamonds, specifically on the join between the saline–carbonate end-members. The δ13C values for the diamonds range from − 5.27 to − 22.48‰ (V-PDB) with δ18O values for websteritic garnets ranging from + 7.6 to + 5.9‰ (V-SMOW). The combined C–O stable isotope data support a model for a hydrothermally altered and organic carbon-bearing subducted crustal source(s) for the diamond- and garnet-forming media. The nitrogen aggregation states of the diamonds require that diamondite-formation event(s) pre-dates fibrous diamond-formation and post-dates most of the gem monocrystalline diamond-formation events at Orapa. The modelled fluid compositions responsible for the precipitation of diamondites match the fluid-poor and fluid-rich (fibrous) monocrystalline diamonds, where all grow from HDFs within the saline-silicic-carbonatitic ternary system. However, while the nature of the parental fluid(s) share a common lithophile element geochemical affinity, the origin(s) of the saline, silicic, and/or carbonatitic components of these HDFs do not always share a common origin. Therefore, it is wholly conceivable that the diamondites are evidence of a distinct and temporally unconstrained tectono-thermal diamond-forming event beneath the Kaapvaal craton

Social disparities in the use of colonoscopy by primary care physicians in Ontario

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is unclear if all persons in Ontario have equal access to colonoscopy. This research was designed to describe long-term trends in the use of colonoscopy by primary care physicians (PCPs) in Ontario, and to determine whether PCP characteristics influence the use of colonoscopy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a population-based retrospective study of PCPs in Ontario between the years 1996-2005. Using administrative data we identified a screen-eligible group of patients aged 50-74 years in Ontario. These patients were linked to the PCP who provided the most continuous care to them during each year. We determined the use of any colonoscopy among these patients. We calculated the rate of colonoscopy for each PCP as the number of patients undergoing colonoscopies per 100 screen eligible patients. Negative binomial regression was used to identify factors associated with the rate of colonoscopy, using generalized estimating equations to account for clustering of patients within PCPs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Between 7,955 and 8,419 PCPs in Ontario per year (median age 43 years) had at least 10 eligible patients in their practices. The use of colonoscopy by PCPs increased sharply in Ontario during the study period, from a median rate of 1.51 [inter quartile range (IQR) 0.57-2.62] per 100 screen eligible patients in 1996 to 4.71 (IQR 2.70-7.53) in 2005. There was substantial variation between PCPs in their use of colonoscopy. PCPs who were Canadian medical graduates and with more years of experience were more likely to use colonoscopy after adjusting for their patient characteristics. PCPs were more likely to use colonoscopy if their patient populations were predominantly women, older, had more illnesses, and if their patients resided in less marginalized neighborhoods (lower unemployment, fewer immigrants, higher income, higher education, and higher English/French fluency).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There is substantial variation in the use of colonoscopy by PCPs, and this variation has increased as the overall use of colonoscopy increased over time. PCPs whose patients were more marginalized were less likely to use colonoscopy, suggesting that there are inequities in access.</p

Educational Homogamy Lowers the Odds of Reproductive Failure

Assortative mating based on education is a common phenomenon. We investigated whether it affected parameters of reproductive performance such as childlessness, offspring number and age at first marriage. On the basis of the US census from 1980 (n = 670,631 married US couples), we find that the proportion of childless individuals is usually minimal in women married to a husband of the same educational level. This holds particularly true in the highest and the lowest educated women. Educational homogamy is also associated with a lower average age at first marriage. No obvious effect of educational homogamy on a woman's average offspring number is found, where mean offspring number generally increases both with decreasing woman's and decreasing husband's educational attainment. We conclude that educational homogamy reduces the likelihood of reproductive failure

Differential genetic associations for systemic lupus erythematosus based on anti-dsDNA autoantibody production

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a clinically heterogeneous, systemic autoimmune disease characterized by autoantibody formation. Previously published genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have investigated SLE as a single phenotype. Therefore, we conducted a GWAS to identify genetic factors associated with anti-dsDNA autoantibody production, a SLE-related autoantibody with diagnostic and clinical importance. Using two independent datasets, over 400,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were studied in a total of 1,717 SLE cases and 4,813 healthy controls. Anti-dsDNA autoantibody positive (anti-dsDNA +, n = 811) and anti-dsDNA autoantibody negative (anti-dsDNA -, n = 906) SLE cases were compared to healthy controls and to each other to identify SNPs associated specifically with these SLE subtypes. SNPs in the previously identified SLE susceptibility loci STAT4, IRF5, ITGAM, and the major histocompatibility complex were strongly associated with anti-dsDNA + SLE. Far fewer and weaker associations were observed for anti-dsDNA - SLE. For example, rs7574865 in STAT4 had an OR for anti-dsDNA + SLE of 1.77 (95% CI 1.57-1.99, p = 2.0E-20) compared to an OR for anti-dsDNA - SLE of 1.26 (95% CI 1.12-1.41, p = 2.4E-04), with pheterogeneity<0.0005. SNPs in the SLE susceptibility loci BANK1, KIAA1542, and UBE2L3 showed evidence of association with anti-dsDNA + SLE and were not associated with anti-dsDNA - SLE. In conclusion, we identified differential genetic associations with SLE based on anti-dsDNA autoantibody production. Many previously identified SLE susceptibility loci may confer disease risk through their role in autoantibody production and be more accurately described as autoantibody propensity loci. Lack of strong SNP associations may suggest that other types of genetic variation or non-genetic factors such as environmental exposures have a greater impact on susceptibility to anti-dsDNA - SLE

A meta-review of literature reviews assessing the capacity of patients with severe mental disorders to make decisions about their healthcare.

Background: Determining the mental capacity of psychiatric patients for making healthcare related decisions is crucial in clinical practice. This meta-review of review articles comprehensively examines the current evidence on the capacity of patients with a mental illness to make medical care decisions. Methods: Systematic review of review articles following PRISMA recommendations. PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL and PsycInfo were electronically searched up to 31 January 2020. Free text searches and medical subject headings were combined to identify literature reviews and meta-analyses published in English, and summarising studies on the capacity of patients with serious mental illnesses to make healthcare and treatment related decisions, conducted in any clinical setting and with a quantitative synthesis of results. Publications were selected as per inclusion and exclusion criteria. The AMSTAR II tool was used to assess the quality of reviews. Results: Eleven publications were reviewed. Variability on methods across studies makes it difficult to precisely estimate the prevalence of decision-making capacity in patients with mental disorders. Nonetheless, up to three-quarters of psychiatric patients, including individuals with serious illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder may have capacity to make medical decisions in the context of their illness. Most evidence comes from studies conducted in the hospital setting; much less information exists on the healthcare decision making capacity of mental disorder patients while in the community. Stable psychiatric and non-psychiatric patients may have a similar capacity to make healthcare related decisions. Patients with a mental illness have capacity to judge risk-reward situations and to adequately decide about the important treatment outcomes. Different symptoms may impair different domains of the decisional capacity of psychotic patients. Decisional capacity impairments in psychotic patients are temporal, identifiable, and responsive to interventions directed towards simplifying information, encouraging training and shared decision making. The publications complied satisfactorily with the AMSTAR II critical domains. Conclusions: Whilst impairments in decision-making capacity may exist, most patients with a severe mental disorder, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are able to make rational decisions about their healthcare. Best practice strategies should incorporate interventions to help mentally ill patients grow into the voluntary and safe use of medications