The Network Composition of Aggregate Unemployment

We develop a theory of unemployment in which workers search for jobs through a network of firms, the labor flow network (LFN). The lack of an edge between two companies indicates the impossibility of labor flows between them due to high frictions. In equilibrium, firms' hiring behavior correlates through the network, modulating labor flows and generating aggregate unemployment. This theory provides new micro-foundations for the aggregate matching function, the Beveridge curve, wage dispersion, and the employer-size premium. Using employer-employee matched records, we study the effect of the LFN topology through a new concept: `firm-specific unemployment'

Anti-tumour necrosis factor discontinuation in inflammatory bowel disease patients in remission: study protocol of a prospective, multicentre, randomized clinical trial

Background: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease who achieve remission with anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) drugs may have treatment withdrawn due to safety concerns and cost considerations, but there is a lack of prospective, controlled data investigating this strategy. The primary study aim is to compare the rates of clinical remission at 1?year in patients who discontinue anti-TNF treatment versus those who continue treatment. Methods: This is an ongoing, prospective, double-blind, multicentre, randomized, placebo-controlled study in patients with Crohn?s disease or ulcerative colitis who have achieved clinical remission for ?6?months with an anti-TNF treatment and an immunosuppressant. Patients are being randomized 1:1 to discontinue anti-TNF therapy or continue therapy. Randomization stratifies patients by the type of inflammatory bowel disease and drug (infliximab versus adalimumab) at study inclusion. The primary endpoint of the study is sustained clinical remission at 1?year. Other endpoints include endoscopic and radiological activity, patient-reported outcomes (quality of life, work productivity), safety and predictive factors for relapse. The required sample size is 194 patients. In addition to the main analysis (discontinuation versus continuation), subanalyses will include stratification by type of inflammatory bowel disease, phenotype and previous treatment. Biological samples will be obtained to identify factors predictive of relapse after treatment withdrawal. Results: Enrolment began in 2016, and the study is expected to end in 2020. Conclusions: This study will contribute prospective, controlled data on outcomes and predictors of relapse in patients with inflammatory bowel disease after withdrawal of anti-TNF agents following achievement of clinical remission. Clinical trial reference number: EudraCT 2015-001410-1

Genome-wide association analysis of dementia and its clinical endophenotypes reveal novel loci associated with Alzheimer's disease and three causality networks: The GR@ACE project

INTRODUCTION: Large variability among Alzheimer's disease (AD) cases might impact genetic discoveries and complicate dissection of underlying biological pathways. METHODS: Genome Research at Fundacio ACE (GR@ACE) is a genome-wide study of dementia and its clinical endophenotypes, defined based on AD's clinical certainty and vascular burden. We assessed the impact of known AD loci across endophenotypes to generate loci categories. We incorporated gene coexpression data and conducted pathway analysis per category. Finally, to evaluate the effect of heterogeneity in genetic studies, GR@ACE series were meta-analyzed with additional genome-wide association study data sets. RESULTS: We classified known AD loci into three categories, which might reflect the disease clinical heterogeneity. Vascular processes were only detected as a causal mechanism in probable AD. The meta-analysis strategy revealed the ANKRD31-rs4704171 and NDUFAF6-rs10098778 and confirmed SCIMP-rs7225151 and CD33-rs3865444. DISCUSSION: The regulation of vasculature is a prominent causal component of probable AD. GR@ACE meta-analysis revealed novel AD genetic signals, strongly driven by the presence of clinical heterogeneity in the AD series

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

Retiro temprano de esteroides en una cohorte de trasplante renal tratada con tacrolimus, mofetil micofenolato y basiliximab

Antecedentes: No hay suficiente evidencia sobre la frecuencia de rechazo agudo y la funci�n del injerto en los pacientes con retiro temprano de esteroides (RTE). El objetivo del presente estudio es comparar el efecto del RTE sobre la tasa de filtrado glomerular (TFG), la supervivencia/rechazo del injerto en receptores de una cohorte de tratados con tacrolimus/mofetil micofenolato, comparada con un grupo control. Material y m�todos: Cohorte retrospectiva en 60 receptores de bajo riesgo inmunol�gico entre diciembre de 2005 y julio de 2010. Cohorte del estudio (C-RTE; N = 32), el RTE se hizo el 5� d�a mientras recib�an tacrolimus/mofetil micofenolato. La cohorte control (C-C, N = 28) recibi� prednisona/tacrolimus/mofetil micofenolato. Las variables cl�nicas, bioqu�micas e histol�gicas fueron evaluadas al inicio del estudio, y a los 3, 6 y 12 meses de seguimiento. Se utiliz� Kaplan-Meier y el modelo de riesgos proporcionales de Cox para evaluar la supervivencia. Las comparaciones entre cohortes fueron hechas por la t de Student y ?�. Resultados: Durante el seguimiento, la C-C muestra presi�n sangu�nea significativamente mayor tanto sist�lica (125 � 10 frente a 114 � 8) como diast�lica (81 � 8 frente a 72 � 7), glucosa s�rica (96 � 13 frente a 86 � 10), triglic�ridos (177 � 61 frente a 129 � 34), colesterol total (183 � 43 frente a 148 � 34) y colesterol LDL (100 � 22 frente a 87 � 25). La C-C present� una mayor proporci�n de uso de antihipertensivos (57 frente a 13 %) y de estatinas (27 frente a 9 %). La TFGe fue mejor en la C-RTE que en la C-C (85,4 � 20,6 frente a 70,6 � 17,0, p = 0,004). La frecuencia de rechazo agudo fue menor en la C-RTE. Conclusiones: La supervivencia del injerto, la TFG, la tasa de rechazo agudo y el perfil metab�lico fueron mejores en la C-RTE que en la C-C

Some organometallic chemistry of tetracyanoethene: CN-displacement and cycloaddition reactions with alkynyl-transition metal complexes and related chemistry

The highly electron-deficient cyanocarbons tetracyanoethene (tcne) and, to a lesser extent, tetracyanoquinodimethane (tcnq), display a fascinating chemistry with transition metal substrates. In particular, the [2þ2]-cycloadditions of the cyanocarbons with alkynyl- or poly-ynyl–metal complexes have been extensively studied by the author’s group. These reactions proceed via polar adducts to give s-cyclobutenyl complexes, which then undergo facile ring-opening (retroelectrocyclic) reactions to form the corresponding butadienyl derivatives. In some cases, further reactions can occur by displacement of weakly bound ligands from the metal centre. The subsequent chemistry of these derivatives has been only cursorily investigated, while related studies of organic analogues have produced molecules with interesting electronic and optical properties.Michael I. Bruc