The Impact of Trust on Reforms

In a constantly changing economic environment a country's ability to undertake institutional reforms is crucial to maintain economic growth and to promote the welfare of its citizens. A wide range of determinants for institutional reforms have been identified. However, the impact of trust on reforms has so far never been addressed. We provide theoretical arguments why trust should influence institutional changes and test the relationship empirically. We find a significant positive relation between trust and reforms with regard to government size, the legal system, and deregulation of private businesses and the labor market. The results in other policy fields are ambiguous. --Trust,Economic Freedom,Policy Reforms

The Impact of Trust on Reforms

In a constantly changing economic environment a country's ability to undertake institutional reforms is crucial to maintain economic growth and to promote the welfare of its citizens. A wide range of determinants for institutional reforms have been identified. However, the impact of trust on reforms has so far never been addressed. We provide theoretical arguments why trust should influence institutional changes and test the relationship empirically. We find a significant positive relation between trust and reforms with regard to government size, the legal system, and deregulation of private businesses and the labor market. The results in other policy fields are ambiguous

Evaluierung der Ergebnisqualität nach Therapie von Hypopharynx- und Larynxkarzinompatienten mittels CO2-Laserchirurgie an der HNO-Universitätsklinik Jena

Die klinisch retrospektive Arbeit untersucht den Therapierfolg bei an Hypopharynxkarzinom oder Larynxkarzinom erkrankten Patienten, welche an der HNO-Universitätsklinik Jena zwischen Oktober 1993 und Oktober 2010 behandelt wurden. Die chirurgische Therapie des Tumors erfolgte unter Anwendung der CO2 – Laserchirurgie. Das follow up betrug zwei bis 17 Jahre. Im Median betrug die durchschnittliche Nachbeoachtung 67 Monate. Es wurden 54 Patienten mit Hypopharynxtumor und 195 mit einem Larynxtumor (143 glottische und 52 supraglottische Larynxtumortumoren) evaluiert. Der Einfluss von Noxen, der TNM-Klassifikation und epidemiologische Betrachtungen wurden in die Datenauswertung einbezogen. Des Weiteren wurden die Inzidenz von Zweittumoren und Rezidiven und die Wertigkeit resultierender Behandlungsstrategien in die Datenevaluierung implementiert und deren Einfluss auf die Prognose bewertet. Alle Daten wurden in einer SPSS-Datenbank Version 22 erfasst und statistisch evaluiert. Bei der Analyse der Überlebensraten für das Hypopharynxkarzinom ergaben sich für das Gesamtüberleben Werte von 58,6% und 43,6% nach fünf und zehn Jahren. Die N-Klassifikation sowie die T-Klassifikation nahmen einen signifikanten Einfluss auf das Gesamtüberleben beim Hypopharynxtumor. Die krankheitsspezifischen Überlebensraten betrugen nach fünf und zehn Jahren beim Hypopharynxkarzinom 67% und 62%, welches die schlechteste Prognose der in dieser Arbeit betrachteten Karzinome darstellt. Die rezidivfreien Überlebensraten lagen für das Hypopharynxkarzinom nach fünf und zehn Jahren bei 60,5% und 57,5%. Ein früherer Tumor im Aerodigestivtrakt führt zu einem 5,8fach erhöhtes Rezidivrisiko beim Hypopharynxkarzinom. 20,4% der Hypopharynxtumorpatienten entwickelten einen Zweittumor. Im Durchschnitt trat Dieser nach 31 Monaten auf. Beim Glottiskarzinom waren die Gesamtüberlebensraten nach fünf Jahren bei 77,7% und nach zehn Jahren bei 71,4%. Die verschiedenen T- und Tumorstadien zeigten einen signifikanten Einfluss auf das Gesamtüberleben. Die krankheitsspezifischen Überlebensraten lagen bei 89,5% und 88,4% nach fünf und zehn Jahren. Patienten mit einem Glottistumor hatten die beste Prognose. Es bestand ein signifikanter Zusammenhang zwischen der primären T-Klassifikation und den Tumorstadien und dem krankheitsspezifischen Überleben beim Glottiskarzinom

Primary non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma of the bladder: case report and literature review

Primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) of the bladder is a very rare entity. The clinical, radiological and endoscopic signs are not specifics. The diagnosis is exclusively histological. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery are the different therapeutic options used either alone or in combination. We report a 57 years old patient treated with chemotherapy (6 cycles of R-CHOP) for primary NHL of the bladder with a complete response while discussing the different specificities of this disease.Key words: Primary lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Bladder, Chemotherap

Differences in SpeB Protease Activity Among Group A Streptococci Associated With Superficial, Invasive, and Autoimmune Disease

The secreted cysteine proteinase SpeB is an important virulence factor of group A streptococci (GAS), whereby SpeB activity varies widely among strains. To establish the degree to which SpeB activity correlates with disease, GAS organisms were recovered from patients with pharyngitis, impetigo, invasive disease or acute rheumatic fever (ARF), and selected for analysis using rigorous sampling criteria; \u3e300 GAS isolates were tested for SpeB activity by casein digestion assays, and each GAS isolate was scored as a SpeB-producer or non-producer. Highly significant statistical differences (p \u3c 0.01) in SpeB production are observed between GAS recovered from patients with ARF (41.5% SpeB-non-producers) compared to pharyngitis (20.5%), invasive disease (16.7%), and impetigo (5.5%). SpeB activity differences between pharyngitis and impetigo isolates are also significant, whereas pharyngitis versus invasive isolates show no significant difference. The disproportionately greater number of SpeB-non-producers among ARF-associated isolates may indicate an altered transcriptional program for many rheumatogenic strains and/or a protective role for SpeB in GAS-triggered autoimmunity

The Physiologic Stress Response During Mediation

Published in cooperation with the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolutio

Making Text Annotation Fun with a Clicker Game

In this paper we present WordClicker, a clicker game for text annotation. We believe the mechanics of 'Ville type Free-To-Play (F2P) games in general, and clicker games in particular, is particularly suited for GWAPs (Games-With-A-Purpose). WordClicker was developed as one component of a suite of GWAPs meant to cover all aspects of language interpretation, from tokenization to anaphoric interpretation. As such, WordClicker is intended to have a dual function as part of this suite of GWAPs: both for parts-of-speech annotation and for teaching players about parts of speech so that they can go on and play GWAPs for more complex syntactic annotation. Therefore, game-based language learning platforms also had a strong influence on its design

Systemic antifungal therapy for tinea capitis in children

BACKGROUND: Tinea capitis is a common contagious fungal infection of the scalp in children. Systemic therapy is required for treatment and to prevent spread. This is an update of the original Cochrane review. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of systemic antifungal drugs for tinea capitis in children. SEARCH METHODS: We updated our searches of the following databases to November 2015: the Cochrane Skin Group Specialised Register, CENTRAL (2015, Issue 10), MEDLINE (from 1946), EMBASE (from 1974), LILACS (from 1982), and CINAHL (from 1981). We searched five trial registers and checked the reference lists of studies for references to relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs). We obtained unpublished, ongoing trials and grey literature via correspondence with experts in the field and from pharmaceutical companies. SELECTION CRITERIA: RCTs of systemic antifungal therapy in children with normal immunity under the age of 18 with tinea capitis confirmed by microscopy, growth of fungi (dermatophytes) in culture or both. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. MAIN RESULTS: We included 25 studies (N = 4449); 4 studies (N = 2637) were new to this update. Terbinafine for four weeks and griseofulvin for eight weeks showed similar efficacy for the primary outcome of complete (i.e. clinical and mycological) cure in three studies involving 328 participants with Trichophyton species infections (84.2% versus 79.0%; risk ratio (RR) 1.06, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.98 to 1.15; low quality evidence). Complete cure with itraconazole (two to six weeks) and griseofulvin (six weeks) was similar in two studies (83.6% versus 91.0%; RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.81 to 1.05; N = 134; very low quality evidence). In two studies, there was no difference between itraconazole and terbinafine for two to three weeks treatment (73.8% versus 78.8%; RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.72 to 1.19; N = 160; low quality evidence). In three studies, there was a similar proportion achieving complete cured with two to four weeks of fluconazole or six weeks of griseofulvin (41.4% versus 52.7%; RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.81 to 1.05; N = 615; moderate quality evidence). Current evidence for ketoconazole versus griseofulvin was limited. One study favoured griseofulvin (12 weeks) because ketoconazole (12 weeks) appeared less effective for complete cure (RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.62 to 0.94; low quality evidence). However, their effects appeared to be similar when the treatment lasted 26 weeks (RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.83 to 1.07; low quality evidence). Another study indicated that complete cure was similar for ketoconazole (12 weeks) and griseofulvin (12 weeks) (RR 0.89, 95% CI 0.57 to 1.39; low quality evidence). For one trial, there was no significant difference for complete cure between fluconazole (for two to three weeks) and terbinafine (for two to three weeks) (82.0% versus 94.0%; RR 0.87, 95% CI 0.75 to 1.01; N = 100; low quality evidence). For complete cure, we did not find a significant difference between fluconazole (for two to three weeks) and itraconazole (for two to three weeks) (82.0% versus 82.0%; RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.83 to 1.20; low quality evidence). This update provides new data: in children with Microsporum infections, a meta‐analysis of two studies found that the complete cure was lower for terbinafine (6 weeks) than for griseofulvin (6‐12 weeks) (34.7% versus 50.9%; RR 0.68, 95% CI 0.53 to 0.86; N = 334; moderate quality evidence). In the original review, there was no significant difference in complete cure between terbinafine (four weeks) and griseofulvin (eight weeks) in children with Microsporum infections in one small study (27.2% versus 60.0%; RR 0.45, 95% CI 0.15 to 1.35; N = 21; low quality evidence). One study provides new evidence that terbinafine and griseofulvin for six weeks show similar efficacy (49.5% versus 37.8%; RR 1.18, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.88; N = 1006; low quality evidence). However, in children infected with T. tonsurans, terbinafine was better than griseofulvin (52.1% versus 35.4%; RR 1.47, 95% CI 1.22 to 1.77; moderate quality evidence). For children infected with T. violaceum, these two regimens have similar effects (41.3% versus 45.1%; RR 0.91, 95% CI 0.68 to 1.24; low quality evidence). Additionally, three weeks of fluconazole was similar to six weeks of fluconazole in one study in 491 participants infected with T. tonsurans and M. canis (30.2% versus 34.1%; RR 0.88, 95% CI 0.68 to 1.14; low quality evidence). The frequency of adverse events attributed to the study drugs was similar for terbinafine and griseofulvin (9.2% versus 8.3%; RR 1.11, 95% CI 0.79 to 1.57; moderate quality evidence), and severe adverse events were rare (0.6% versus 0.6%; RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.24 to 3.88; moderate quality evidence). Adverse events for terbinafine, griseofulvin, itraconazole, ketoconazole, and fluconazole were all mild and reversible. All of the included studies were at either high or unclear risk of bias in at least one domain. Using GRADE to rate the overall quality of the evidence, lower quality evidence resulted in lower confidence in the estimate of effect. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Newer treatments including terbinafine, itraconazole and fluconazole are at least similar to griseofulvin in children with tinea capitis caused by Trichophyton species. Limited evidence suggests that terbinafine, itraconazole and fluconazole have similar effects, whereas ketoconazole may be less effective than griseofulvin in children infected with Trichophyton. With some interventions the proportion achieving complete clinical cure was in excess of 90% (e.g. one study of terbinafine or griseofulvin for Trichophyton infections), but in many of the comparisons tested, the proportion cured was much lower. New evidence from this update suggests that terbinafine is more effective than griseofulvin in children with T. tonsurans infection. However, in children with Microsporum infections, new evidence suggests that the effect of griseofulvin is better than terbinafine. We did not find any evidence to support a difference in terms of adherence between four weeks of terbinafine versus eight weeks of griseofulvin. Not all treatments for tinea capitis are available in paediatric formulations but all have reasonable safety profiles

A MEM1-like motif directs mesophyll cell-specific expression of the gene encoding the C4 carbonic anhydrase in Flaveria

The first two reactions of C4 photosynthesis are catalysed by carbonic anhydrase (CA) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) in the leaf mesophyll (M) cell cytosol. Translatome experiments using a tagged ribosomal protein expressed under the control of M and bundle-sheath (BS) cell-specific promoters showed transcripts encoding CA3 from the C4 species Flaveria bidentis were highly enriched in polysomes from M cells relative to those of the BS. Localisation experiments employing a CA3-green fluorescent protein fusion protein showed F. bidentis CA3 is a cytosolic enzyme. A motif showing high sequence homology to that of the Flaveria M expression module 1 (MEM1) element was identified approximately 2 kb upstream of the F. bidentis and F. trinervia ca3 translation start sites. MEM1 is located in the promoter of C4Flaveria ppcA genes, which encode the C4-associated PEPC, and is necessary for M-specific expression. No MEM1-like sequence was found in the 4 kb upstream of the C3 species F. pringlei ca3 translation start site. Promoter–reporter fusion experiments demonstrated the region containing the ca3 MEM1-like element also directs M-specific expression. These results support the idea that a common regulatory switch drives the expression of the C4Flaveria ca3 and ppcA1 genes specifically in M cells.Funding from the Australian Research Council to ML (award number DP150101037) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through the Excellence Cluster EXC 1028 (From Complex Traits Towards Synthetic Modules) to PW is gratefully acknowledged. We also thank the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, and Oliver Berkowitz for supplying the pMDC83 vector