Does More Money Make You Fat? The Effects of Quasi-Experimental Income Transfers on Adolescent and Young Adult Obesity

This paper examines how exogenous income transfers during adolescence affect contemporaneous body mass index (BMI) measures and young adult obesity rates using evidence from the Great Smoky Mountains Study of Youth. The effects of extra income differ depending on the households’ initial socio-economic status, tracing out an inverted U-shaped relationship between initial income and BMI. Youths who resided in families that had high pre-treatment annual incomes experience no change in young adult obesity rates as a result of the income transfers, while the BMI of poorer children increases. Part of this effect is due to differential increases in height, as well as weight. An exogenous annual transfer of $4,000 per adult family member results in an almost 4 cm gain in height-for-age. Adolescents coming from worse-off households experience an increase in weight only, without the corresponding change in height. The cumulative effects of the increase in household income persist for several years into young adulthood.obesity, health, cash transfer, adolescents, indigenous peoples

Die Segmentsysteme des Deutschen und des Bulgarischen

Die vorliegende Schrift stellt sich zum Ziel, die Segmentsysteme des Gegenwartsdeutschen und des Gegenwartsbulgarischen in kontrastiver Sicht zu beschreiben und aus dieser Beschreibung Konsequenzen auf Unterschiede und Übereinstimmungen sowohl im Tätigkeitsprozeß ihrer Realisierung als auch in ihrem phonologischen Status, der Distribution und Kombinatorik zu ziehen. Die beschriebene Darstellung wird nach den Grundaspekten des lautsprachlichen Kommunikationsvorgangs vorgenommen: nach dem physiologisch-genetischen, nach dem akustisch-perzeptiven und dem phonologischen

PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS OF PATIENTS WITH MALIGNANT HAEMATOLOGICAL DISEASES

Different psychological and social problems deteriorating patients' quality of life appear together with the prolongation of the duration of life. The aim of this study was their investigation and systematization. An inquiry proposed by the authors was used. It consisted of 5 groups of questions, referring to the type of behaviour at the time of information about the diagnosis as well as to patient's everyday functioning. Lack of realistic "internal picture of the disease change in the hierarchy of values with loss of some and appearance of other new values, condensing the life events were found out. A change in the balance model before and after the disease towards increasing the interest for the body and the cares for it, as well as reduction of contacts outside the family were observed. A deterioration of social status was found out in 90 % of the patients. Important ways for overcoming the psychological and social problems in the patients with onco-haematological diseases were discussed

Magnetic and transport properties investigation of rare-earth compounds with orthorhombic structures

peer reviewedThe structural, magnetic, magnetoelectric, and ferroelectric properties of a series of monocrystals with perovskite structures have been examined. The investigations were carried out in the temperature range 2-800 K and at magnetic fields up to 14 T. The existence of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) for some samples, a giant magnetostiction effect for others and the presence of multiphase ferroelectric states were demonstrated. Various possibilities for practical applications are discussed

An integrated model highlighting information literacy and knowledge formation in information behaviour

Purpose This paper reviews key models of people’s information behaviour (IB) exploring the integration of the concepts of information literacy (IL) and knowledge in their designs. Scholarly perspectives portray information literacy as providing individuals with capacity for good information practices that result in generating new knowledge. It is surprising that this important perspective is not reflected in the reviewed information behaviour models. This paper contributes to the literature base by proposing a new model highlighting IL and knowledge as important concepts within the information behaviour discourse. Approach A discourse of the integration of information literacy and knowledge, which are integral factors, associated with IB, in selected IB models. Findings Identifying a need for information and understanding its context is an IL attribute. IL underpins information behaviour in providing awareness of information sources; how to search and use information appropriately for solving information needs and leveraging generated new knowledge. The generation of new knowledge results from using information, in a process that combines with sense-making and adaption. Correspondingly, the knowledge that develops, increases capability for sense-making and adaptation of information to suit various contexts of need; iteratively. Originality/value A new model of information behaviour; the Causative and Outcome Factors of Information Behaviour (COFIB) is proposed. COFIB stresses that information literacy and knowledge are prominent factors within the general framework of people’s information behaviour. The model emphasises knowledge generation as the outcome of information behaviour, applied in solving problems within specific contexts

FibroDB: Expression Analysis of Protein-Coding and Long Non-Coding RNA Genes in Fibrosis

Most long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are expressed at lower levels than protein-coding genes and their expression is often restricted to specific cell types, certain time points during development, and various stress and disease conditions, respectively. To revisit this long-held concept, we focused on fibroblasts, a common cell type in various organs and tissues. Using fibroblasts and changes in their expression profiles during fibrosis as a model system, we show that the overall expression level of lncRNA genes is significantly lower than that of protein-coding genes. Furthermore, we identified lncRNA genes whose expression is upregulated during fibrosis. Using dermal fibroblasts as a model, we performed loss-of-function experiments and show that the knockdown of the lncRNAs LINC00622 and LINC01711 result in gene expression changes associated with cellular and inflammatory responses, respectively. Since there are no lncRNA databases focused on fibroblasts and fibrosis, we built a web application, FibroDB, to further promote functional and mechanistic studies of fibrotic lncRNAs

The prolate-to-oblate shape transition of phospholipid vesicles in response to frequency variation of an AC electric field can be explained by the dielectric anisotropy of a phospholipid bilayer

The external electric field deforms flaccid phospholipid vesicles into spheroidal bodies, with the rotational axis aligned with its direction. Deformation is frequency dependent: in the low frequency range (~ 1 kHz), the deformation is typically prolate, while increasing the frequency to the 10 kHz range changes the deformation to oblate. We attempt to explain this behaviour with a theoretical model, based on the minimization of the total free energy of the vesicle. The energy terms taken into account include the membrane bending energy and the energy of the electric field. The latter is calculated from the electric field via the Maxwell stress tensor, where the membrane is modelled as anisotropic lossy dielectric. Vesicle deformation in response to varying frequency is calculated numerically. Using a series expansion, we also derive a simplified expression for the deformation, which retains the frequency dependence of the exact expression and may provide a better substitute for the series expansion used by Winterhalter and Helfrich, which was found to be valid only in the limit of low frequencies. The model with the anisotropic membrane permittivity imposes two constraints on the values of material constants: tangential component of dielectric permittivity tensor of the phospholipid membrane must exceed its radial component by approximately a factor of 3; and the membrane conductivity has to be relatively high, approximately one tenth of the conductivity of the external aqueous medium.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures; accepted for publication in J. Phys.: Condens. Matte

The Impact of Gender on Mid-Career Labour Income: The Case of Bulgaria

The impact assessment of education and gender on mid-career labour income in a transitional economy could provide for better understanding of the influence of the labour market dynamics over individuals with different characteristics. Here, we attempt to find an answer to the question: How education and gender determine mid-career labour income? We estimate the returns to education depending on gender using Mincerian equations and regressions. The data set we use is from the Structure of Earnings Survey conducted by the National Statistical Institute in 2002 and 2006. The analysis covers over 130,000 employees between 35 and 49 years old. The impact assessment allows conclusions about the wage gap between men and women, working in different economic sectors incl. the division of public and private sector, services and industry. The access to managerial position and gender differences in the type of the labour contract have been investigated for their contribution to the persistence of a gender pay gap among the individuals with a tertiary education