Saving by buying ahead : stockpiling in response to lump‐sum payments

By purchasing larger quantities of goods and saving them for future consumption households are able to reduce transaction costs and acquire goods at a lower price per unit, presuming they can manage the transportation and storage costs. This study uses variations in state income tax refunds over time to estimate consumption responses to lump‐sum payments. Households purchase around 20 per cent more of easily stored toilet paper in the months in which tax refunds are issued, but do not increase purchases of perishables such as bread and eggs. In addition to purchasing more goods at a lower per‐unit price, households also appear to increase the time until their next purchase, which implies that they are saving goods for consumption over time. These in‐kind savings allow people to smooth their consumption over time, much like pecuniary savings. Government payments that provide lump‐sum payments can benefit consumers by providing additional liquidity to buy and store goods at a lower cost

Activation of the 2-5OAS/RNase L pathway in CVB1 or HAV/18f infected FRhK-4 cells does not require induction of OAS1 or OAS2 expression

AbstractThe latent, constitutively expressed protein RNase L is activated in coxsackievirus and HAV strain 18f infected FRhK-4 cells. Endogenous oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS) from uninfected and virus infected cell extracts synthesizes active forms of the triphosphorylated 2-5A oligomer (the only known activator of RNase L) in vitro and endogenous 2-5A is detected in infected cell extracts. However, only the largest OAS isoform, OAS3, is readily detected throughout the time course of infection. While IFNβ treatment results in an increase in the level of all three OAS isoforms in FRhK-4 cells, IFNβ pretreatment does not affect the temporal onset or enhancement of RNase L activity nor inhibit virus replication. Our results indicate that CVB1 and HAV/18f activate the 2-5OAS/RNase L pathway in FRhK-4 cells during permissive infection through endogenous levels of OAS, but contrary to that reported for some picornaviruses, CVB1 and HAV/18f replication is insensitive to this activated antiviral pathway

RENEB – Running the European Network of biological dosimetry and physical retrospective dosimetry

Purpose: A European network was initiated in 2012 by 23 partners from 16 European countries with the aim to significantly increase individualized dose reconstruction in case of large-scale radiological emergency scenarios. Results: The network was built on three complementary pillars: (1) an operational basis with seven biological and physical dosimetric assays in ready-to-use mode, (2) a basis for education, training and quality assurance, and (3) a basis for further network development regarding new techniques and members. Techniques for individual dose estimation based on biological samples and/or inert personalized devices as mobile phones or smart phones were optimized to support rapid categorization of many potential victims according to the received dose to the blood or personal devices. Communication and cross-border collaboration were also standardized. To assure long-term sustainability of the network, cooperation with national and international emergency preparedness organizations was initiated and links to radiation protection and research platforms have been developed. A legal framework, based on a Memorandum of Understanding, was established and signed by 27 organizations by the end of 2015. Conclusions: RENEB is a European Network of biological and physical-retrospective dosimetry, with the capacity and capability to perform large-scale rapid individualized dose estimation. Specialized to handle large numbers of samples, RENEB is able to contribute to radiological emergency preparedness and wider large-scale research projects.European Commission 10.13039/501100000780 [GA 295513

Bilingualism and conversational understanding in young children

The purpose of the two experiments reported here was to investigate whether bilingualism confers an advantage on children’s conversational understanding. A total of 163 children aged 3 to 6 years were given a Conversational Violations Test to determine their ability to identify responses to questions as violations of Gricean maxims of conversation (to be informative and avoid redundancy, speak the truth, and be relevant and polite). Though comparatively delayed in their L2 vocabulary, children who were bilingual in Italian and Slovenian (with Slovenian as the dominant language) generally outperformed those who were either monolingual in Italian or Slovenian. We suggest that bilingualism can be accompanied by an enhanced ability to appreciate effective communicative responses

A Microarray Based Approach for the Identification of Common Foodborne Viruses

An oligonucleotide array (microarray) incorporating 13,000 elements representing selected strains of hepatitis A virus (HAV), human coxsackieviruses A and B (CVA and CVB), genogroups I and II of Norovirus (NV), and human rotavirus (RV) gene segments 3,4,10, and 11 was designed based on the principle of tiling. Each oligonucleotide was 29 bases long, starting at every 5th base of every sequence, resulting in an overlap of 24 bases in two consecutive oligonucleotides. The applicability of the array for virus identification was examined using PCR amplified products from multiple HAV and CV strains. PCR products labeled with biotin were hybridized to the array, and the biotin was detected using a brief reaction with Cy3-labeled streptavidin, the array subjected to laser scanning, and the hybridization data plotted as fluorescence intensity against each oligonucleotide in the array. The combined signal intensities of all probes representing a particular strain of virus were calculated and plotted against all virus strains identified on a linear representation of the array. The profile of the total signal intensity identified the strain that is most likely represented in the amplified cDNA target. The results obtained with HAV and CV indicated that the hybridization profile thus generated can be used to identify closely related viral strains. This represents a significant improvement over current methods for virus identification using PCR amplification and amplicon sequencing

RENEB - Running the European Network of Biological Dosimetry and Physical Retrospective Dosimetry

Purpose: A European network was initiated in 2012 by 23 partners from 16 European countries with the aim to significantly increase individualized dose reconstruction in case of large-scale radiological emergency scenarios

Intracellular Internalization and Signaling Pathways Triggered by the Large Subunit of HSV-2 Ribonucleotide Reductase (ICP10)

AbstractThe large subunit of the HSV-2 ribonucleotide reductase (RR) (ICP10) is a chimera consisting of a serine threonine (Ser/Thr) protein kinase domain at the amino terminus and the RR domain at the carboxy terminus. Transformed human cells that constitutively express ICP10 (JHLa1) were stained with anti-LA-1 antibody (recognizes ICP10 amino acids 13-26) and immunogold-conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG and were examined by electron microscopy. ICP10-associated gold particles were observed on the cell surface and in structures with ultrastructural characteristics of endocytic vesicles, multivesicular bodies, and lysosomes, consistent with endocytic internalization. ICP10 was also associated with the cytoskeleton fraction of JHLa1 cells and, at least in part, it colocalized with actin filaments. This was evidenced by immunoprecipitation of [35S]methionine-labeled cell fractions and immunofluorescent staining of Triton-treated cells with anti-LA-1 antibody and phalloidin. Endocytic localization of gold particles was not seen in cells that constitutively express the ICP10 transmembrane (TM)-deleted mutant p139TM (JHL15). p139TM did not associate with the cytoskeleton and was almost entirely localized within the cytoplasm, raf and Erk evidenced decreased mobility consistent with an activated state in JHLa1, but not JHL15, cells, and chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) expression from a c-fos/cat hybrid construct was significantly increased in JHLa1 but not JHL15 cells. The data indicate that effector molecules downstream of ras are activated in JHLa1 cells and the ICP10 TM segment plays a critical role in ICP10 intracellular localization and its ability to activate signaling pathways. This behavior is analogous to that of an activated growth factor receptor kinase

Fecal Protease Activity Is Associated with Compositional Alterations in the Intestinal Microbiota

Intestinal proteases carry out a variety of functions in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Studies have reported that elevated enteric proteases in patients with GI disease can alter intestinal physiology, however the origin (human vs. microbial) of elevated proteases in patients with GI disease is unclear

Fecal Protease Activity Is Associated with Compositional Alterations in the Intestinal Microbiota

Intestinal proteases carry out a variety of functions in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Studies have reported that elevated enteric proteases in patients with GI disease can alter intestinal physiology, however the origin (human vs. microbial) of elevated proteases in patients with GI disease is unclear