The effects of female labor force participation on obesity

This paper assesses whether a causal relationship exists between recent increases in female labor force participation and the increased prevalence of obesity amongst women. The expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in the 1980s and 1990s have been established by prior literature as having generated variation in female labor supply, particularly amongst single mothers. Here, we use this plausibly exogenous variation in female labor supply to identify the effect of labor force participation on obesity status. We use data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and replicate labor supply effects of the EITC expansions found in previous literature. This validates employing a difference-in-differences estimation strategy in the NHIS data, as has been done in several other data sets. Depending on the specification, we find that increased labor force participation can account for at most 19% of the observed change in obesity prevalence over our sample period. Our preferred specification, however, suggests that there is no causal link between increased female labor force participation and increased obesity.Women - Employment ; Obesity ; Tax credits

The Effects of Female Labor Force Participation on Obesity

This paper assesses whether a causal relationship exists between recent increases in female labor force participation and the increased prevalence of obesity amongst women. The expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in the 1980s and 1990s have been established by prior literature as having generated variation in female labor supply, particularly amongst single mothers. Here, we use this plausibly exogenous variation in female labor supply to identify the effect of labor force participation on obesity status. We use data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and replicate labor supply effects of the EITC expansions found in previous literature. This validates employing a difference-in-differences estimation strategy in the NHIS data, as has been done in several other data sets. Depending on the specification, we find that increased labor force participation can account for at most 19% of the observed change in obesity prevalence over our sample period. Our preferred specification, however, suggests that there is no causal link between increased female labor force participation and increased obesity.female labor force participation, obesity, earned income tax credit

Ram semen deterioration by short-term exposure to high altitude is prevented by improvement of antioxidant status.

Abstract Ovine reproduction efficiency in herds at high altitude (ha) is lower than that at low altitude (la). In ewes, ha effects are due to hypoxia and oxidative stress. Our aim was to establish the effect of antioxidant vitamin supplementation on semen traits and antioxidant status of rams exposed to short or long time ha. A total of 32 rams native to la (~500 m) were used, 16 were kept at la and the other 16 were brought to ha (~3600 m), where they were placed in the same flock as the ha native rams (n=16). Half of the animals in each group were supplemented daily with vitamins C 600 mg and E 450 IU per os, during the entire experimental period, starting the 4th day after animal's arrival at ha (day 0). At days 0, 30 and 60 of treatment, blood and semen samples were collected for evaluation of antioxidant status and semen standard characteristics. Data were compared within each experimental time by analysis of variance using a general linear model. Elevated concentrations of oxidative stress biomarkers were present in blood from animals maintained at ha. Ejaculates from ha exposed rams showed decreased sperm concentration, progressive motility and viability, in addition to decreased antioxidant status in seminal fluid. A total of 30 days of oral supplementation with vitamins C and E prevented some ha negative effects on semen characteristics, mainly in recently ha exposed rams. It is concluded that exposure of rams to ha negatively affects semen quality, where oxidative stress plays a predominant role. These effects are mainly prevented by oral supplementation of vitamins C and E, which constitutes a simple and cheap alternative to improve semen quality of rams when they are moved to ha

Masa fúngica intracardiaca en un paciente prematuro extremo

There are few reports on intracardiac fungal masses, especially in the pediatric population. We present the case of an extremely premature patient who, after being hospitalized since birth in an intensive care unit, developed fungal masses in the right atrium, which, due to their size, location and resistance to medical treatment, required surgical excision. For this reason, at the slightest suspicion of systemic candidiasis in pediatric patients, it is mandatory to include an echocardiogram in the defocalization examinations to rule out endocarditis and thus avoid the development of intracardiac fungal masses. Therefore, early detection for timely medical management may avoid the surgical approach associated with a high risk of morbidity and mortality in extremely premature patients.Existen pocos reportes sobre masas fúngicas intracardiacas, sobretodo en la población pediátrica. Presentamos el caso de un paciente prematuro extremo que, al permanecer hospitalizado desde su nacimiento en una unidad de cuidados intensivos desarrolló masas fúngicas en atrio derecho, las cuales, por su tamaño, ubicación y resistencia al tratamiento médico, necesitaron de exéresis quirúrgica. Por tal motivo, ante la mínima sospecha de candidiasis sistémica en pacientes pediátricos, es mandatorio incluir en los exámenes de desfocalización un ecocardiograma para descartar endocarditis y así evitar el desarrollo de masas fúngicas intracardiacas. Por lo tanto, la detección precoz para un manejo médico oportuno puede evitar el abordaje quirúrgico que se asocia a un alto riesgo de morbimortalidad en pacientes prematuros extremos

Maternal Supplementation with Herbal Antioxidants during Pregnancy in Swine

The effects of a combined supplementation with herbal antioxidants during pregnancy on reproductive traits and piglet performance (number of live, dead, and mummified newborns and litter weight at birth and individual body weight at both birth and weaning) were assessed in a total of 1027 sows (504 treated and 523 control females) kept under commercial breeding conditions. The supplementation increased the number of live-born piglets (13.64 ± 0.11 vs. 12.96 ± 0.13 in the controls; p = 0.001) and the total litter weight, decreasing the incidence of low-weight piglets without affecting the number of stillbirths and mummified newborns. Such an effect was modulated by the number of parity and the supplementation, with supplementation increasing significantly the number of living newborns in the first, second, sixth, and seventh parities (0.87, 1.10, 1.49, and 2.51 additional piglets, respectively; p < 0.05). The evaluation of plasma vitamin concentration and biomarkers of oxidative stress (total antioxidant capacity, TAC, and malondialdehyde concentration, MDA) performed in a subset of farrowing sows and their lighter and heavier piglets showed that plasma levels of both vitamins were significantly higher in the piglets than in their mothers (p < 0.05 for vitamin C and p < 0.005 for vitamin E), with antioxidant supplementation increasing significantly such concentrations. Concomitantly, there were no differences in maternal TAC but significantly higher values in piglets from supplemented sows (p < 0.05). On the other hand, supplementation decreased plasma MDA levels both in the sows and their piglets (p < 0.05). Finally, the piglets from supplemented mothers showed a trend for a higher weaning weight (p = 0.066) and, specifically, piglets with birth weights above 1 kg showed a 7.4% higher weaning weight (p = 0.024). Hence, the results of the present study, with high robustness and translational value by offering data from more than 1000 pregnancies under standard breeding conditions, supports that maternal supplementation with herbal antioxidants during pregnancy significantly improves reproductive efficiency, litter traits, and piglet performance

Productive behavior of sheep fed with soy (Glycine max L.) forage

Objective: To evaluate the productive behavior of Creole sheep in the tropics fed a comprehensive diet that includes forage soy (FS, Glycine max) at different phenological stages. Methodology: The treatments T1: control, T2: 30% (SF-56 d), T3: 30% (SF-68 d), T4: 30% (SF-85 d), T5: 30% (SF-110 d) were randomized 30 male Creole sheep (15.51 ± 1.6 kg LW). The experiment lasted 56 d. The variables evaluated were: dry matter consumption (DMC), daily weight gain (DWG) and feed conversion (FC). The experimental design was completely randomized and the averages of the treatments were compared using the Tukey test. Results: Differences (p&lt;0.05) were found in DMC, GWG and FC. The DMC was lower (p&lt;0.05) in the control group. The DWG was higher in the animals that consumed forage soybean compared to the control group (0.205 vs 0.121 kg d-1). The FC decreased (p &lt;0.05) 51% in T3 (SF 68 d), with respect to the control group. Limitations on study: The nutrient contribution of soy forage is based on the phenological stage of the plant. Likewise, the scarce knowledge of the producers of the tropic region to incorporate it in the feeding of small ruminants. Conclusions: The inclusion of 30% of forage soybeans at 68 d of age in a comprehensive diet improves the productive performance of the lambs because it increases daily weight gain and decreases feed conversion.Objective: To evaluate the productive behavior of Creole sheep in the tropics fed a whole food diet that includes soybean (FS, Glycine max) fodder at different phenological stages. Methodology: The treatments T1: control, T2: 30% (SF-56 d), T3: 30% (SF-68 d), T4: 30% (SF-85 d), T5: 30% (SF-110 d) were assigned randomly to 30 male Creole sheep (15.51±1.6 kg LW). The experiment lasted 56 d. The variables evaluated were: dry matter consumption (DMC), daily weight gain (DWG) and feed conversion (FC). The experimental design wascompletely randomized and the averages of the treatments were compared using the Tukey test. Results: Differences (p&lt;0.05) were found in DMC, DWG and FC. The DMC was lower (p&lt;0.05) in the control group. The DWG was higher in the animals that consumed soybean fodder compared to the control group (0.205 vs 0.121 kg d-1). The FC decreased (p&lt;0.05) 51% in T3 (SF 68 d), with respect to the control group. Study Limitations: The nutrient contribution of soybean fodder is based on the phenological stage of the plant. Likewise, producers in the tropical region have scarce knowledge about how to incorporate it in the feeding of small ruminants. Conclusions: The inclusion of 30% of soybean fodder at 68 d of age in a whole food diet improves the productive performance of the lambs because it increases daily weight gain and decreases feed conversion

Baculovirus Capsid Display Potentiates OVA Cytotoxic and Innate Immune Responses

Baculoviruses (BV) are DNA viruses that are pathogenic for insects. Although BV infect a range of mammalian cell types, they do not replicate in these cells. Indeed, the potential effects of these insect viruses on the immune responses of mammals are only just beginning to be studied. We show in this paper that a recombinant Autographa californica multiple nuclear polyhedrosis virus carrying a fragment of ovalbumin (OVA) on the VP39 capsid protein (BV-OVA) has the capacity to act as an adjuvant and vector of antigens in mice, thereby promoting specific CD4 and cytotoxic T cell responses against OVA. BV also induced in vivo maturation of dendritic cells and the production of inflammatory cytokines, thus promoting innate and adaptive immune responses. The OVA-specific response induced by BV-OVA was strong enough to reject a challenge with OVA-expressing melanoma cells (MO5 cells) and effectively prolonged survival of MO5 bearing mice. All these findings, together with the absence of pre-existing immunity to BV in humans and the lack of viral gene expression in mammalian cells, make BV a candidate for vaccination

Amplified Genes May Be Overexpressed, Unchanged, or Downregulated in Cervical Cancer Cell Lines

Several copy number-altered regions (CNAs) have been identified in the genome of cervical cancer, notably, amplifications of 3q and 5p. However, the contribution of copy-number alterations to cervical carcinogenesis is unresolved because genome-wide there exists a lack of correlation between copy-number alterations and gene expression. In this study, we investigated whether CNAs in the cell lines CaLo, CaSki, HeLa, and SiHa were associated with changes in gene expression. On average, 19.2% of the cell-line genomes had CNAs. However, only 2.4% comprised minimal recurrent regions (MRRs) common to all the cell lines. Whereas 3q had limited common gains (13%), 5p was entirely duplicated recurrently. Genome-wide, only 15.6% of genes located in CNAs changed gene expression; in contrast, the rate in MRRs was up to 3 times this. Chr 5p was confirmed entirely amplified by FISH; however, maximum 33.5% of the explored genes in 5p were deregulated. In 3q, this rate was 13.4%. Even in 3q26, which had 5 MRRs and 38.7% recurrently gained SNPs, the rate was only 15.1%. Interestingly, up to 19% of deregulated genes in 5p and 73% in 3q26 were downregulated, suggesting additional factors were involved in gene repression. The deregulated genes in 3q and 5p occurred in clusters, suggesting local chromatin factors may also influence gene expression. In regions amplified discontinuously, downregulated genes increased steadily as the number of amplified SNPs increased (p<0.01, Spearman's correlation). Therefore, partial gene amplification may function in silencing gene expression. Additional genes in 1q, 3q and 5p could be involved in cervical carcinogenesis, specifically in apoptosis. These include PARP1 in 1q, TNFSF10 and ECT2 in 3q and CLPTM1L, AHRR, PDCD6, and DAP in 5p. Overall, gene expression and copy-number profiles reveal factors other than gene dosage, like epigenetic or chromatin domains, may influence gene expression within the entirely amplified genome segments

The wide-field, multiplexed, spectroscopic facility WEAVE : survey design, overview, and simulated implementation

Funding for the WEAVE facility has been provided by UKRI STFC, the University of Oxford, NOVA, NWO, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), the Isaac Newton Group partners (STFC, NWO, and Spain, led by the IAC), INAF, CNRS-INSU, the Observatoire de Paris, Région Île-de-France, CONCYT through INAOE, Konkoly Observatory (CSFK), Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA Heidelberg), Lund University, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), the Swedish Research Council, the European Commission, and the University of Pennsylvania.WEAVE, the new wide-field, massively multiplexed spectroscopic survey facility for the William Herschel Telescope, will see first light in late 2022. WEAVE comprises a new 2-degree field-of-view prime-focus corrector system, a nearly 1000-multiplex fibre positioner, 20 individually deployable 'mini' integral field units (IFUs), and a single large IFU. These fibre systems feed a dual-beam spectrograph covering the wavelength range 366-959 nm at R ∼ 5000, or two shorter ranges at R ∼ 20,000. After summarising the design and implementation of WEAVE and its data systems, we present the organisation, science drivers and design of a five- to seven-year programme of eight individual surveys to: (i) study our Galaxy's origins by completing Gaia's phase-space information, providing metallicities to its limiting magnitude for ∼ 3 million stars and detailed abundances for ∼ 1.5 million brighter field and open-cluster stars; (ii) survey ∼ 0.4 million Galactic-plane OBA stars, young stellar objects and nearby gas to understand the evolution of young stars and their environments; (iii) perform an extensive spectral survey of white dwarfs; (iv) survey  ∼ 400 neutral-hydrogen-selected galaxies with the IFUs; (v) study properties and kinematics of stellar populations and ionised gas in z 1 million spectra of LOFAR-selected radio sources; (viii) trace structures using intergalactic/circumgalactic gas at z > 2. Finally, we describe the WEAVE Operational Rehearsals using the WEAVE Simulator.PostprintPeer reviewe