Delayed Effects of Education on Graduate Earnings: A Degree of Hope

This paper tests the valence hypothesis which claims a graduate s pay tends to increase in steps a few years after he or she graduates from university Data from over a hundred EuroBarometer surveys are combined to produce a data source with a very large sample There are drawbacks to using EuroBarometer data to assess this hypothesis and it appears that a more convincing source of data is needed for us to tell if the valence hypothesis is correct But the evidence in this paper while not perfect to assess this topic does appear to support the valence hypothesis This suggests there would be advantages to individuals and to society if more people are encouraged to attend universitie

UK and The European Union: Exports of Car Components From 1994 to 2016

The UK has become increasingly reliant on international trade, especially with other European Union countries. This paper investigates UK exports, focusing on components for making cars. Large (often multinational) corporations are central to the process of car manufacture; such firms often operate across national boundaries. The European Union appears to have helped the UK economy to develop, by providing access to large consumer markets for UK-based firms: many UK jobs rely (at least partly) on exports. This paper reports evidence on links between UK factories making car components, and factories in other EU countries which use such components to make cars – in particular, focusing on German, French, and Italian car manufacturers. Insights are provided into the ‘Just-in-time’ approach to production, which is popular in many industries. Employment data from UK government surveys shed light on some characteristics of employees in UK factories making car components

Domestic Violence against Women: Higher Tax on Alcohol Could Protect Women

Domestic violence against women is a very widespread problem, thought to affect about a third of women worldwide: hence, there may be a billion victims. The consequences of violence within the home can be devastating—often leaving women permanently injured, and sometimes resulting in her death. This paper reports recent evidence on the problem, confirming the link between alcohol consumption and violence. Governments can do more to support women: a new tax on alcohol could pay for services to protect violence

Is a woman more likely to experience violence, if she earns more than her partner?

This paper is a replication of Simister which claims that if a woman earns more than her husband, she is more at risk of experiencing Gender-Based Violence (GBV). This paper uses a much larger set of household surveys, Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS); the new evidence supports the claims of the 2013 paper, and offers new perspectives. Female deference may be a way for a woman to protect herself from male violence

Structure of FcRY, an avian immunoglobulin receptor related to mammalian mannose receptors, and its complex with IgY

Fc receptors transport maternal antibodies across epithelial cell barriers to passively immunize newborns. FcRY, the functional counterpart of mammalian FcRn (a major histocompatibility complex homolog), transfers IgY across the avian yolk sac, and represents a new class of Fc receptor related to the mammalian mannose receptor family. FcRY and FcRn bind immunoglobulins at pH ≤6.5, but not pH ≥7, allowing receptor–ligand association inside intracellular vesicles and release at the pH of blood. We obtained structures of monomeric and dimeric FcRY and an FcRY–IgY complex and explored FcRY's pH-dependent binding mechanism using electron cryomicroscopy (cryoEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering. The cryoEM structure of FcRY at pH 6 revealed a compact double-ring “head,” in which the N-terminal cysteine-rich and fibronectin II domains were folded back to contact C-type lectin-like domains 1–6, and a “tail” comprising C-type lectin-like domains 7–8. Conformational changes at pH 8 created a more elongated structure that cannot bind IgY. CryoEM reconstruction of FcRY dimers at pH 6 and small-angle X-ray scattering analysis at both pH values confirmed both structures. The cryoEM structure of the FcRY–IgY revealed symmetric binding of two FcRY heads to the dimeric FcY, each head contacting the CH4 domain of one FcY chain. FcRY shares structural properties with mannose receptor family members, including a head and tail domain organization, multimerization that may regulate ligand binding, and pH-dependent conformational changes. Our results facilitate understanding of immune recognition by the structurally related mannose receptor family and comparison of diverse methods of Ig transport across evolution

Self-organization of intrinsically disordered proteins with folded N-termini

Thousands of human proteins lack recognizable tertiary structure in most of their chains. Here we hypothesize that some use their structured N-terminal domains (SNTDs) to organise the remaining protein chain via intramolecular interactions, generating partially structured proteins. This model has several attractive features: as protein chains emerge, SNTDs form spontaneously and serve as nucleation points, creating more compact shapes. This reduces the risk of protein degradation or aggregation. Moreover, an interspersed pattern of SNTD-docked regions and free loops can coordinate assembly of sub-complexes in defined loop-sections and enables novel regulatory mechanisms, for example through posttranslational modifications of docked regions

Effects of female political leaders and child socialisation on Gender-Based Violence in India

This paper studies the risk of domestic violence between husband & wife in India, and the acceptance or rejection of such violence. It investigates how child socialisation influences a person’s attitudes and behaviour in adult life, via a maladaptive pathway. Specifically, it tests the hypothesis that attitudes of men to domestic violence are influenced by whether or not a female politician took on a powerful political role, when they were about 5 years old. Empirical evidence is reported, from ‘Demographic and Health Surveys’ in India. Results indicate that election of a female Prime Minister or President does appear to affect boys; such effects can be detected at the time of interview, sometimes decades after the election of a female leader. This paper does not test effects of childhood socialisation on girls

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy as applied to epilepsy

Epilepsy is the most common serious disease of the brain. Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) is a novel imaging technique that offers the opportunity for co-localising biochemical information relating to metabolites specific to the study of epilepsy with high resolution MRI. Aims: The work included in this thesis was undertaken with two fundamental aims. The first was to apply a standardised MRS methodology in order to gain reproducible semi-quantitative information about the variation of relevant neuro-metabolites such as gamma amino butyric acid (GABA), glutamate (as glutamate plus glutamine [GLX]), N acetyl aspartate (NAA), myo-inositol (Ins) and creatine plus phosphocreatine (Cr) within epilepsy syndromes or pathological groups. The second main aim was to test a series of hypotheses relating to the regulation of the concentrations of these metabolites in the region of epileptic seizures, immediately following seizures and associated with particular medical and surgical treatment interventions. Methods: Seven experiments were performed in this thesis. In all seven studies the findings in the patient groups were compared against results from an acquired control group made up of healthy volunteers. In the first experiment [3.1] twenty patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, with (10), and without hippocampal sclerosis were studied using multi voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) sequences in order to examine for differences in the obtained metabolites N acetyl aspartate (NAA), creatine plus phosphocreatine (Cr), choline containing compounds (Cho), GLX and myo-inositol (Ins) across the pathological groups and against a control population. In experiments [3.2], [3.3], [3.4] and [3.6] an MRS protocol that incorporated a double quantum filter acquisition sequence was applied in order to allow measurement of GABA+ (a combined measure of GABA plus homocarnosine) in addition to measurement of the metabolites examined in [3.1]. Studies were performed in the occipital lobes in patients with idiopathic generalised epilepsy (IGE) (n =10) or occipital lobe epilepsy (n = 10) [3.2], in the frontal lobes in patients with IGE (n = 21) and within regions of the MRI visible pathology in patients with large focal malformations of cortical development (MCD, n =10) [3.4]. In the last experiment using this technique patients with hippocampal sclerosis and temporal lobe epilepsy (n = 16) were studied in the ipsilateral and also in the contralateral temporal lobes and following temporal lobe surgery (n = 10) [3.6]. In experiment [3.5] ten patients were examined whilst taking and when not taking sodium valproate in order to further examine for an effect of this medication on the measured metabolite concentrations. In experiment [3.7] ten patients were studied immediately after an epileptic seizure and then again during a subsequent inter-ictal period in order to examine for an influence of the recent seizure on the measured concentrations of the main metabolites. Results: MRSI in the temporal lobes in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy identified low NAA in the anterior hippocampus that was most severe in those patients with hippocampal sclerosis. GLX elevation was a feature in the patients without hippocampal sclerosis. Metabolic abnormality was most marked in the anterior compared to the posterior hippocampal regions. GABA+ levels were elevated in patients with MCD and in the ipsilateral temporal lobe in temporal lobe epilepsy associated with hippocampal sclerosis but levels were not altered in patients with IGE or OLE. GLX was also elevated in MCD in the region of MRI visible abnormality and in IGE patients when measured in the frontal lobes. Low NAA was a feature of TLE and MCD. Patients with IGE showed normal NAA levels in the occipital lobes but reduced frontal lobe concentrations. Cr concentrations were abnormal in the immediate post ictal period but normalised within 120 minutes. NAA was not altered and no significant change in lactate concentrations was observed. Finally sodium valproate treatment was associated with a reduction in the levels of Ins and with unchanged NAA and GLX levels. Main Conclusions: MRS techniques demonstrate metabolite abnormalities in epileptic patients. NAA is the most sensitive metabolite marker of chronic pathology but levels are insensitive to recent seizure history. These findings repeat earlier observations of the usefulness of NAA measurement in the assessment of chronic epilepsy whilst illustrating ongoing uncertainty as to the correct patho-physiological interpretation of reduced NAA levels. Measurable changes in the combined Cr signal are detectable whilst elevated lactate is not reliably observed following brief epileptic seizures at 1.5T. This finding indicates a potential role for MRS in functional activation studies. Malformations of cortical development have abnormal levels of both GABA+ and GLX and MCD sub-types may well demonstrate different metabolite profiles. This finding suggests that MRS could be a useful tool in the MRI classification of MCD and in the pre-surgical assessment of patients with focal malformations. Following successful temporal lobe surgery levels of NAA remain unchanged but NAA/Cr levels appear to normalise in the contralateral temporal lobe. NAA and GLX/NAA levels were altered in the frontal lobes but not in the occipital lobes in Idiopathic Generalised Epilepsy. This finding provides imaging support for frontal lobe dysfunction as a cause or consequence of IGE. Metabolite levels are affected by administered antiepileptic drugs. Sodium valproate reduces the levels of MRS visible Ins levels whilst topiramate and gabapentin appear to be associated with higher GABA+ levels. These findings may be of major importance in the assessment of treatment effect or in the investigation of patients with possible drug resistance. The effect of valproate on Ins levels may become particularly interesting in the light of a growing understanding of the role of astrocyte dysfunction in a range of neurological conditions which include migraine, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, motor neurone disease and in ischaemic lesions

UK Government From 2010 to 2015: A Case Study in Management

This paper investigates the effects of changing UK government policies from 2010 to 2015. It considers government spending, and the effects this had on UK government debt. Evidence in this paper suggests there was a critical period around 2012, which may have taken UK from sustainable growth to the edge of financial crisis. Future governments can learn from what happened in UK between 2010 and 2015: this paper is intended to shed light on the effects of choices made by the coalition government. A particular sequence of events may have shaped the UK economy‟s future: staff shortages, overwork, and illness, leading to poor judgement. Keynes [1] suggested we should learn from history: “I do not know which makes a man more conservative – to know nothing but the present, or nothing but the past”