How Is Convergent Mobility Consistent with Rising Inequality? A Reconciliation in the Case of Argentina

[Excerpt] This is a paper on earnings mobility in Argentina during the macroeconomic growth and contractions that have characterized that nation’s economy from 1996 to the present. Since 1996, real GDP growth has fluctuated widely. For most of the 1990s, Argentina was seen as a model of successful policymaking. Having pegged its exchange rate to the dollar under a currency board type arrangement in 1991, Argentina had succeeded in ending hyperinflation, reducing inflation rates to single-digit levels. Greater economic stability attracted foreign investment inflows, contributing to an acceleration in economic growth; indeed, even as lenders withdrew their financing in East Asia in 1997, capital inflows continued to Argentina. Then, Argentina entered into a prolonged recession. The combination of the hard peg of the local currency to the U.S. dollar and excessive borrowing led to an unsustainable fiscal situation and, ultimately, to the collapse of the economy at the end of 2001 (See Figure 1). Gross Domestic Product fell by 13.5 percent from the second quarter of 2001 to the second quarter of 2002, and the share of the population in poverty reached 58 percent in October 2002, versus 38 percent in October 2001, according to the official moderate poverty line. This paper addresses the distributional consequences of these macroeconomic events. (Note: Here and throughout the paper, “distribution of income” means the entire density or cumulative distribution function; it does not mean “inequality.”) Who benefited the most from Argentine economic growth? Who lost the most in economic decline? Are those who started rich getting richer in growth periods and losing more in recessionary periods, or is it the other way around? Are the answers to these questions the same for all measures of initial advantage

Earnings Mobility in Times of Growth and Decline: Argentina from 1996 to 2003

In recent years, the economy of Argentina has experienced both rapid economic growth and severe economic decline. In this paper, we use a series of one-year long panels to study who gained the most in pesos when the economy grew and who lost the most in pesos when the economy contracted. To answer these questions, we test two hypotheses both unconditionally and conditionally. The ?divergence of earnings? hypothesis holds that in any given year, the highest earning individuals are those who experienced the largest earnings gains or the smallest earnings losses in pesos. The ?symmetry of gains and losses? hypothesis holds that those groups that gained the most in pesos when the economy grew are those that lost the most in pesos when the economy contracted. Both hypotheses are decisively rejected in the data. Rather, we find that it is the lowest income individuals and groups who gain the most in pesos, whether in good times or in bad. Thus, the panel data analysis performed in this paper presents a picture of economic growth that is much more pro-poor than one gets from cross sectional inequality comparisons.finance, growth, inequality, Argentina, survey, gains, losses

Estrogenic activity, race/ethnicity, and Indigenous American ancestry among San Francisco Bay Area women.

Estrogens play a significant role in breast cancer development and are not only produced endogenously, but are also mimicked by estrogen-like compounds from environmental exposures. We evaluated associations between estrogenic (E) activity, demographic factors and breast cancer risk factors in Non-Latina Black (NLB), Non-Latina White (NLW), and Latina women. We examined the association between E activity and Indigenous American (IA) ancestry in Latina women. Total E activity was measured with a bioassay in plasma samples of 503 women who served as controls in the San Francisco Bay Area Breast Cancer Study. In the univariate model that included all women with race/ethnicity as the independent predictor, Latinas had 13% lower E activity (p = 0.239) and NLBs had 35% higher activity (p = 0.04) compared to NLWs. In the multivariable model that adjusted for demographic factors, Latinas continued to show lower E activity levels (26%, p = 0.026), but the difference between NLBs and NLWs was no longer statistically significant (p = 0.431). An inverse association was observed between E activity and IA ancestry among Latina women (50% lower in 0% vs. 100% European ancestry, p = 0.027) consistent with our previously reported association between IA ancestry and breast cancer risk. These findings suggest that endogenous estrogens and exogenous estrogen-like compounds that act on the estrogen receptor and modulate E activity may partially explain racial/ethnic differences in breast cancer risk

The Comparability of Men Who Have Sex With Men Recruited From Venue-Time-Space Sampling and Facebook: A Cohort Study

Background: Recruiting valid samples of men who have sex with men (MSM) is a key component of the US human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) surveillance and of research studies seeking to improve HIV prevention for MSM. Social media, such as Facebook, may present an opportunity to reach broad samples of MSM, but the extent to which those samples are comparable with men recruited from venue-based, time-space sampling (VBTS) is unknown. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the comparability of MSM recruited via VBTS and Facebook. Methods: HIV-negative and HIV-positive black and white MSM were recruited from June 2010 to December 2012 using VBTS and Facebook in Atlanta, GA. We compared the self-reported venue attendance, demographic characteristics, sexual and risk behaviors, history of HIV-testing, and HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevalence between Facebook- and VTBS-recruited MSM overall and by race. Multivariate logistic and negative binomial models estimated age/race adjusted ratios. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to assess 24-month retention. Results: We recruited 803 MSM, of whom 110 (34/110, 30.9% black MSM, 76/110, 69.1% white MSM) were recruited via Facebook and 693 (420/693, 60.6% black MSM, 273/693, 39.4% white MSM) were recruited through VTBS. Facebook recruits had high rates of venue attendance in the previous month (26/34, 77% among black and 71/76, 93% among white MSM; between-race P=.01). MSM recruited on Facebook were generally older, with significant age differences among black MSM (P=.02), but not white MSM (P=.14). … See full text for complete abstract

Essential Oils and their Antimicrobial Effect on Serratia Marcescens

S. marcescens is a gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic bacterium that is particularly aggressive in its growing capability. It is a concern in medical fields as well as home environments due to its resistance to most antibiotics, high mortality rate, and easy ability to colonize on soap and other fatty substances. Although testing of natural cleansers such as lemon juice, vinegar, and ammonia has been done on S. marcescens and essential oil efficacy has been tested on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, no literature has been published on the effect of essential oils on S. marcescens growth. The purpose of this experiment therefore was to test the efficiency of essential oils in inhibiting the growth of this bacterium. Using Kirby-Bauer Assay and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration testing we compared the effectiveness of different harsh cleaners such as Lysol®, with peppermint and helichrysum essential oils. Although few significant values were obtained, noticeable zones of inhibition were seen, especially for peppermint oil. Based on this finding, further research should be done exploring this potency of peppermint and other essential oils on S. marcescens

Thermal activation of catalytic microjets in blood samples using microfluidic chips

We demonstrate that catalytic microjet engines can out-swim high complex media composed of red blood cells and serum. Despite the challenge presented by the high viscosity of the solution at room temperature, the catalytic microjets can be activated at physiological temperature and, consequently, self-propel in diluted solutions of blood samples. We prove that these microjets self-propel in 10× diluted blood samples using microfluidic chips

Gravity or turbulence? -III. Evidence of pure thermal Jeans fragmentation at ~0.1 pc scale

We combine previously published interferometric and single-dish data of relatively nearby massive dense cores that are actively forming stars to test whether their `fragmentation level' is controlled by turbulent or thermal support. We find no clear correlation between the fragmentation level and velocity dispersion, nor between the observed number of fragments and the number of fragments expected when the gravitationally unstable mass is calculated including various prescriptions for `turbulent support'. On the other hand, the best correlation is found for the case of pure thermal Jeans fragmentation, for which we infer a core formation efficiency around 13 per cent, consistent with previous works. We conclude that the dominant factor determining the fragmentation level of star-forming massive dense cores at 0.1 pc scale seems to be thermal Jeans fragmentation.Comment: accepted in MNRA

ZEB1 imposes a temporary stage-dependent inhibition of muscle gene expression and differentiation via CtBP-mediated transcriptional repression

Skeletal muscle development is orchestrated by the myogenic regulatory factor MyoD, whose activity is blocked in myoblasts by proteins preventing its nuclear translocation and/or binding to G/C-centered E-boxes in target genes. Recent evidence indicates that muscle gene expression is also regulated at the cis level by differential affinity for DNA between MyoD and other E-box binding proteins during myogenesis. MyoD binds to G/C-centered E-boxes, enriched in muscle differentiation genes, in myotubes but not in myoblasts. Here, we used cell-based and in vivo Drosophila, Xenopus laevis, and mouse models to show that ZEB1, a G/C-centered E-box binding transcriptional repressor, imposes a temporary stage-dependent inhibition of muscle gene expression and differentiation via CtBP-mediated transcriptional repression. We found that, contrary to MyoD, ZEB1 binds to G/C-centered E-boxes in muscle differentiation genes at the myoblast stage but not in myotubes. Its knockdown results in precocious expression of muscle differentiation genes and acceleration of myotube formation. Inhibition of muscle genes by ZEB1 occurs via transcriptional repression and involves recruitment of the CtBP corepressor. Lastly, we show that the pattern of gene expression associated with muscle differentiation is accelerated in ZEB1(−/−) mouse embryos. These results set ZEB1 as an important regulator of the temporal pattern of gene expression controlling muscle differentiation

Zika virus infection in pregnancy and adverse fetal outcomes in São Paulo State, Brazil: a prospective cohort study.

Robust epidemiological and biological evidence supports a causal link between prenatal Zika Virus (ZIKV) infection and congenital brain abnormalities including microcephaly. However, it remains uncertain if ZIKV infection in pregnancy also increases the risk for other adverse fetal and birth outcomes. In a prospective cohort study we investigated the influence of ZIKV on the prevalence of prematurity, low birth weight, small-for-gestational-age, and fetal death as well as microcephaly (i.e., overall and disproportionate) in the offspring of women attending a high-risk pregnancy clinic during the recent ZIKV outbreak in Brazil. During the recruitment period (01 March 2016-23 August 2017), urine samples were tested for ZIKV by RT-PCR from all women attending the high-risk pregnancy clinic at Jundiaí University Hospital and from the neonates after delivery. Of the 574 women evaluated, 44 (7.7%) were ZIKV RT-PCR positive during pregnancy. Of the 409 neonates tested, 19 (4.6%) were ZIKV RT-PCR positive in the first 10 days of life. In this cohort, maternal ZIKV exposure was not associated with increased risks of prematurity, low birth weight, small-for-gestational-age, or fetal death. However, relative to ZIKV-negative neonates, ZIKV-positive infants had a five-fold increased risk of microcephaly overall (RR 5.1, 95% CI 1.2-22.5) and a ten-fold increased risk of disproportionate microcephaly (RR 10.3, 95% CI 2.0-52.6). Our findings provide new evidence that, in a high-risk pregnancy cohort, ZIKV RT-PCR positivity in the neonate at birth is strongly associated with microcephaly. However, ZIKV infection during pregnancy does not appear to influence the risks of prematurity, low birth weight, small-for-gestational-age or fetal death in women who already have gestational comorbidities. The results suggest disproportion between neonatal head circumference and weight may be a useful screening indicator for the detection of congenital microcephaly associated with ZIKV infection