Political Party Mortality in Established Party Systems:A Hierarchical Competing Risks Approach

Existing scholarship offers few answers to fundamental questions about the mortality of political parties in established party systems. Linking party research to the organization literature, we conceptualize two types of party death, dissolution and merger, reflecting distinct theoretical rationales. They underpin a new framework on party organizational mortality theorizing three sets of factors: those shaping mortality generally and those shaping dissolution or merger death exclusively. We test this framework on a new data set covering the complete life cycles of 184 parties that entered 21 consolidated party systems over the last five decades, resorting to multilevel competing risks models to estimate the impact of party and country characteristics on the hazards of both types of death. Our findings not only show that dissolution and merger death are driven by distinct factors, but also that they represent separate logics not intrinsically related at either the party or systemic level

Quality of Care for Heart Failure Patients Hospitalized for Any Cause

The study sought to assess the quality of care for heart failure patients who are hospitalized for all causes

Schistosomes Induce Regulatory Features in Human and Mouse CD1dhi B Cells: Inhibition of Allergic Inflammation by IL-10 and Regulatory T Cells

Chronic helminth infections, such as schistosomes, are negatively associated with allergic disorders. Here, using B cell IL-10-deficient mice, Schistosoma mansoni-mediated protection against experimental ovalbumin-induced allergic airway inflammation (AAI) was shown to be specifically dependent on IL-10-producing B cells. To study the organs involved, we transferred B cells from lungs, mesenteric lymph nodes or spleen of OVA-infected mice to recipient OVA-sensitized mice, and showed that both lung and splenic B cells reduced AAI, but only splenic B cells in an IL-10-dependent manner. Although splenic B cell protection was accompanied by elevated levels of pulmonary FoxP3+ regulatory T cells, in vivo ablation of FoxP3+ T cells only moderately restored AAI, indicating an important role for the direct suppressory effect of regulatory B cells. Splenic marginal zone CD1d+ B cells proved to be the responsible splenic B cell subset as they produced high levels of IL-10 and induced FoxP3+ T cells in vitro. Indeed, transfer of CD1d+ MZ-depleted splenic B cells from infected mice restored AAI. Markedly, we found a similarly elevated population of CD1dhi B cells in peripheral blood of Schistosoma haematobium-infected Gabonese children compared to uninfected children and these cells produced elevated levels of IL-10. Importantly, the number of IL-10-producing CD1dhi B cells was reduced after anti-schistosome treatment. This study points out that in both mice and men schistosomes have the capacity to drive the development of IL-10-producing regulatory CD1dhi B cells and furthermore, these are instrumental in reducing experimental allergic inflammation in mice

Social network types and functional dependency in older adults in Mexico

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Social networks play a key role in caring for older adults. A better understanding of the characteristics of different social networks types (TSNs) in a given community provides useful information for designing policies to care for this age group. Therefore this study has three objectives: 1) To derive the TSNs among older adults affiliated with the Mexican Institute of Social Security; 2) To describe the main characteristics of the older adults in each TSN, including the instrumental and economic support they receive and their satisfaction with the network; 3) To determine the association between functional dependency and the type of social network.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Secondary data analysis of the 2006 Survey of Autonomy and Dependency (N = 3,348). The TSNs were identified using the structural approach and cluster analysis. The association between functional dependency and the TSNs was evaluated with Poisson regression with robust variance analysis in which socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle and medical history covariates were included.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified five TSNs: diverse with community participation (12.1%), diverse without community participation (44.3%); widowed (32.0%); nonfriends-restricted (7.6%); nonfamily-restricted (4.0%). Older adults belonging to widowed and restricted networks showed a higher proportion of dependency, negative self-rated health and depression. Older adults with functional dependency more likely belonged to a widowed network (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.5; 95%CI: 1.1-2.1).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The derived TSNs were similar to those described in developed countries. However, we identified the existence of a diverse network without community participation and a widowed network that have not been previously described. These TSNs and restricted networks represent a potential unmet need of social security affiliates.</p

Lifetime environmental tobacco smoke exposure and the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

BACKGROUND: Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), which contains potent respiratory irritants, may lead to chronic airway inflammation and obstruction. Although ETS exposure appears to cause asthma in children and adults, its role in causing COPD has received limited attention in epidemiologic studies. METHODS: Using data from a population-based sample of 2,113 U.S. adults aged 55 to 75 years, we examined the association between lifetime ETS exposure and the risk of developing COPD. Participants were recruited from all 48 contiguous U.S. states by random digit dialing. Lifetime ETS exposure was ascertained by structured telephone interview. We used a standard epidemiologic approach to define COPD based on a self-reported physician diagnosis of chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or COPD. RESULTS: Higher cumulative lifetime home and work exposure were associated with a greater risk of COPD. The highest quartile of lifetime home ETS exposure was associated with a greater risk of COPD, controlling for age, sex, race, personal smoking history, educational attainment, marital status, and occupational exposure to vapors, gas, dusts, or fumes during the longest held job (OR 1.55; 95% CI 1.09 to 2.21). The highest quartile of lifetime workplace ETS exposure was also related to a greater risk of COPD (OR 1.36; 95% CI 1.002 to 1.84). The population attributable fraction was 11% for the highest quartile of home ETS exposure and 7% for work exposure. CONCLUSION: ETS exposure may be an important cause of COPD. Consequently, public policies aimed at preventing public smoking may reduce the burden of COPD-related death and disability, both by reducing direct smoking and ETS exposure

An All-Photonic Molecule-Based D Flip-Flop

The photochromic fluorescence switching of a fulgimide derivative was used to implement the first molecule-based D (delay) flip-flop device, which works based on the principles of sequential logic. The device operates exclusively with photonic signals and can be conveniently switched in repeated cycles. \ua9 2011 American Chemical Society