Risk and career choice: Evidence from Turkey

In this paper, we examine the college major choice decision in a risk and return framework using university entrance exam data from Turkey. Specifically we focus on the choice between majors with low income risk such as education and health and others with riskier income streams. We use a unique dataset that allows us to control for the choice set of students and parental attitudes towards risk. Our results show that father's income, self-employment status and social security status are important factors influencing an individual in choosing a riskier career such as business over a less risky one such as education or health. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd

Observation of Flux Reversal in a Symmetric Optical Thermal Ratchet

We demonstrate that a cycle of three holographic optical trapping patterns can implement a thermal ratchet for diffusing colloidal spheres, and that the ratchet-driven transport displays flux reversal as a function of the cycle frequency and the inter-trap separation. Unlike previously described ratchet models, the approach we describe involves three equivalent states, each of which is locally and globally spatially symmetric, with spatiotemporal symmetry being broken by the sequence of states.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Disruption of HDX gene in premature ovarian failure

We present a case of a 19-year-old phenotypically normal girl with premature ovarian failure. Cytogenetic analysis using G banding and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) from cultured peripheral blood lymphocytes of the patient and the family revealed a de novo X;15 translocation and the imbalance to be 46,X,t(X;15)(Xpter → Xq21::15q11 → 15qter;15pter → 15q11::Xq21 → Xqter). ish (CEPX+, wep15+, ISNRPN+, PML+, D15S10+, wcp15-, SNRRN-, PML-)[20]. The X chromosome inactivation (XCI) assay revealed a completely skewed XCI pattern in which selective pressure favors an active maternal allele. The Affymetrix 2.7 M cytogenetics whole-Genome array confirmed the chromosomal imbalance and identified disruption of the HDX gene at Xq21, the translocation breakpoint. © 2013 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc

Coupled myosin VI motors facilitate unidirectional movement on an F-actin network

A combination of experimentation and modeling reveal that multiple myosin VI molecules coordinately transport cargo over the actin filament network

Textiloma: a case of foreign body mimicking a spinal mass

Items such as cotton or gauze pads can be mistakenly left behind during operations. Such foreign materials (called textilomas or gossypibomas) cause foreign body reaction in the surrounding tissue. The complications caused by these foreign bodies are well known, but cases are rarely published because of medico-legal implications. Some textilomas cause infection or abscess formation in the early stage, whereas others remain clinically silent for many years. Here, we describe a case of textiloma in which the patient presented with low-back pain 4 years after lumbar discectomy. Imaging revealed an abcess-like mass in the lumbar epidural space

Gastric Juvenile Polyposis with High-Grade Dysplasia in Pachydermoperiostosis

Pachydermoperiostosis (PDP) is the primary form of hypertrophic osteoarthropathy. It is a very rare disease consisting of pachydermia, digital clubbing and radiologic periostosis. Various digestive symptoms in PDP are seen in 11–49% of patients and juvenile polyps may be found at gastric endoscopy. We report here the history of a patient with PDP who was referred for assessment of severe anemia. Endoscopy of the upper digestive tract showed multiple polyps of the stomach with two huge lesions exhibiting foci of high-grade dysplasia. This observation suggests that PDP can be considered as a precancerous condition of the stomach and systematic screening using endoscopy should be considered in these patients

Digit Ratio Predicts Sense of Direction in Women

The relative length of the second-to-fourth digits (2D:4D) has been linked with prenatal androgen in humans. The 2D:4D is sexually dimorphic, with lower values in males than females, and appears to correlate with diverse measures of behavior. However, the relationship between digit ratio and cognition, and spatial cognition in particular, has produced mixed results. In the present study, we hypothesized that spatial tasks separating cue conditions that either favored female or male strategies would examine this structure-function correlation with greater precision. Previous work suggests that males are better in the use of directional cues than females. In the present study, participants learned a target location in a virtual landscape environment, in conditions that contained either all directional (i.e., distant or compass bearing) cues, or all positional (i.e., local, small objects) cues. After a short delay, participants navigated back to the target location from a novel starting location. Males had higher accuracy in initial search direction than females in environments with all directional cues. Lower digit ratio was correlated with higher accuracy of initial search direction in females in environments with all directional cues. Mental rotation scores did not correlate with digit ratio in either males or females. These results demonstrate for the first time that a sex difference in the use of directional cues, i.e., the sense of direction, is associated with more male-like digit ratio.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF ECCS-1028319)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF Graduate Student Fellowship)Mary Elisabeth Rennie Endowment for Epilepsy Researc