Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

Labour importation and unemployment of local workers in Taiwan

[[abstract]]Since the 1990s the labor market in Chinese Taipei has seen increasing employment of foreign workers vis-à-vis increasing local unemployment. The situation has sparked policy debates and calls for restricting the importation of foreign workers. Do foreign workers take away jobs from domestic workers? To what extent can domestic unemployment be attributed to labor importation? Who are the domestic workers affected by labor importation? These questions were explored using data from the 1996–99 Manpower Utilization Surveys. The study found that on the whole, there is no distinct relationship between labor importation and domestic unemployment. However, foreign labor does have a positive influence on employment for managerial/professional workers and a negative effect for the semi- and less-skilled construction workers. The use of foreign workers seems to affect domestic unemployment in sectors which are foreign labor-intensive sectors such as electronics and construction. Foreign workers do not complement domestic workers in managerial and professional occupations in foreign labor-intensive industries. The complementary effect becomes evident when all industries are considered in the model.[[notice]]補正完畢[[journaltype]]國外[[booktype]]紙本[[countrycodes]]PH

Atribuição de falsas crenças no desenvolvimento de linguagem de crianças com síndrome de Down Attribution of false beliefs in the language development of children with Down syndrome

OBJETIVO: Avaliar atribuição de falsa crença em indivíduos com Síndrome de Down. MÉTODOS: Onze crianças usuárias de comunicação verbal, com síndrome de Down, retardo mental de grau leve a grave, de ambos os sexos, na faixa etária entre quatro e oito anos e atendidas em instituição compuseram o Grupo Down (GD). Além disso, 85 crianças sem alterações do desenvolvimento, na faixa etária entre quatro e seis anos, matriculadas em EMEI, constituíram o Grupo Controle (GC). Foram utilizados o Teste de Vocabulário por Imagem Peabody (TVIP) para a comparação do nível de compreensão verbal dos grupos, e o "teste dos smarties" adaptado, para avaliar a atribuição de falsa crença. RESULTADOS: Na análise do TVIP verificou-se diferença estatisticamente significante entre os grupos, sendo que o GD apresentou pontuação abaixo do terceiro desvio-padrão e, as crianças do GC, abaixo do primeiro desvio-padrão. Em relação à análise da atribuição de falsa crença, o GC apresentou progressão de acertos em todas as questões conforme o aumento da faixa etária. O mesmo não foi observado para o GD, sendo que os melhores resultados foram os dos indivíduos com maior tempo de terapia fonoaudiológica na instituição. Não houve correlação entre o nível de vocabulário receptivo e a habilidade de falsa crença. CONCLUSÃO: Em todas as questões houve melhor desempenho do GC em comparação ao GD. Sendo assim, foi possível analisar a falsa crença em crianças com síndrome de Down.<br>PURPOSE: To evaluate the attribution of false belief in individuals with Down syndrome. METHODS: Eleven children of both genders with Down syndrome and ages between four and eight years composed the Down Group (DG). All subjects used verbal communication, had mild to severe mental retardation, and were attended at the same institution. In addition, 85 children within normal development with ages between four and six years were recruited at an elementary school, constituting the Control Group (CG). The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) was used to compare the level of verbal comprehension of the groups, and the adaptation of the "smarties test" was used to assess the attribution of false belief. RESULTS: The analysis of the PPVT showed a statistically significant difference between the groups, with the DG presenting scores below the third standard deviation, and the CG, below the first standard deviation. Regarding the false belief analysis, the CG presented increasing scores in all questions as the age group increased. The same was not observed for the DG, whose subjects with best results were those that attended speech-language therapy for a longer time at the institution. No correlation was found between receptive vocabulary level and the ability of false belief. CONCLUSION: The CG showed a better performance in all questions of the false belief test, when compared to the DG. Thus, it was possible to evaluate false belief in children with Down syndrome