Hydroxyurea-induced synchronisation of bloodstream stage Trypanosoma brucei

Synchronisation of the <i>Trypanosoma brucei</i> cell cycle proved elusive for many years. A recent report demonstrated that synchronisation of procyclic form cells was possible following treatment with hydroxyurea. Here, that work is extended to the disease-relevant, mammalian-infective bloodstream stage trypanosome. Treatment of bloodstream stage Lister 427 <i>T. Brucei</i> cells growing <i>in vitro</i> with 10 μg ml<sup>−1</sup> hydroxyurea for 6 h led to an enrichment of cells in S phase. Following removal of the drug, cells proceeded uniformly through one round of the cell cycle, providing a much needed tool to enrich for specific cell cycle stages, in a manner similar to hydroxyurea treatment of procyclic form <i>T. brucei.</i&gt

Adherence to and Invasion of Human Intestinal Cells by Arcobacter Species and Their Virulence Genotypes

The genus Arcobacter is composed of 17 species which have been isolated from various sources. Of particular interest are A. butzleri, A. cryaerophilus, and A. skirrowii, as these have been associated with human cases of diarrhea, the probable transmissionrroutes being through the ingestion of contaminated drinking water and food. To date, only limited studies of virulence traits in this genus have been undertaken. The present study used 60 Arcobacter strains isolated from different sources, representing 16 of the 17 species of the genus, to investigate their ability to adhere to and invade the human intestinal cell line Caco-2. In addition, the presence of five putative virulence genes (ciaB, cadF, cj1349, hecA, and irgA) was screened for in these strains by PCR. All Arcobacter species except A. bivalviorum and Arcobacter sp. strain W63 adhered to Caco-2 cells, and most species (10/16) were invasive. The most invasive species were A. skirrowii, A. cryaerophilus, A. butzleri, and A. defluvii. All invasive strains were positive for ciaB (encoding a putative invasion protein). Other putative virulence genes were present in other species, i.e., A. butzleri (cadF, cj1349, irgA, and hecA), A. trophiarum (cj1349), A. ellisii (cj1349), and A. defluvii (irgA). No virulence genes were detected in strains which showed little or no invasion of Caco-2 cells. These results indicate that many Arcobacter species are potential pathogens of humans and animals

Careers within Firms: Occupational Mobility over the Life Cycle

With falling labor market dynamism in the United States, opportunities within firms take on increasing importance in young workers’ career progression. Developing a variety of occupational ranking metrics, I show that occupational mobility within firms follows a standard life cycle pattern in which the frequency, distance, and wage return from mobility falls with age. However, when upward and downward mobility are considered separately, the average magnitude of directional mobility increases through middle age. I find that wage growth for young workers deteriorated substantially in the first decade of the 2000s, primarily driven by a reduction in wage growth within firms. Encouragingly, wage growth has improved markedly for young workers since 2012

The Occupational Structures of Low- and High-Wage Service Sector Establishments

The occupational structure of an establishment provides a description of its production process by detailing the distribution and relative intensity of tasks performed. In this paper, I investigate whether there are substantive differences in the occupational structures of low- and high-wage service sector establishments. I show that low-wage establishments organize production to use less labor in professional occupations compared to high-wage establishments operating in the same local-labor market and industry. In addition, low-wage establishments employ fewer individuals in information technology occupations, employ fewer managers, and have substantially wider supervisory spans of control. These results indicate that, despite operating in the same narrowly defined labor and product markets, low-wage establishments organize production to less intensively use labor in skilled occupations

Computerization of White Collar Jobs

We investigate the impact of computerization of white-collar jobs on wages and employment. Using online job postings from 2007 and 2010-2016 for office and administrative support (OAS) jobs, we show that when firms adopt new software at the job-title level they increase the skills required of job applicants. Furthermore, firms change the task content of such jobs, broadening them to include tasks associated with higher-skill office functions. We aggregate these patterns to the local labor-market level, instrumenting for technology adoption with national measures. We find that a 1 standard deviation increase in OAS technology usages reduces employment in OAS occupations by about 1 percentage point and increases wages for college graduates in OAS jobs by over 3 percent. We find negative wage spillovers, with wages falling for both workers with no college experience and college graduates. These losses are in part driven by high-skill office occupations. These results are consistent with technological adoption inducing a realignment in task assignment across occupations, lending office support occupations to become higher skill and hence less at risk from further automation. In addition, we find that total employment and wages per population increase with technological adoption, indicating average gains from computerization that are unequally distributed across the labor market

Gender in agricultural mechanization: Key guiding questions

This tool describes case studies of gender implications in mechanization in RTB crops, illustrating both positive and negative outcomes. GENNOVATE research has shown that the beneficiaries of mechanization tend to be the wealthier rather than the poorer farmers and more often men than women. However, results also reveal that women have strong interest in mechanization as a way to improve their own circumstances

Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the CARES Act on Earnings and Inequality

Using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), we show that the Covid-19 pandemic led to a loss of aggregate real labor earnings of more than $250 billion between March and July 2020. By exploiting the panel structure of the CPS, we show that the decline in aggregate earnings was entirely driven by declines in employment; individuals who remained employed did not experience any atypical earnings changes. We find that job losses were substantially larger among workers in low-paying jobs. This led to a dramatic increase in inequality in labor earnings during the pandemic. Simulating standard unemployment benefits and Unemployment Insurance (UI) provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, we estimate that UI payments exceeded total pandemic earnings losses between March and July 2020 by$9 billion. Workers who were previously in the bottom third of the earnings distribution received 49% of the pandemic-associated UI and CARES benefits, reversing the increases in labor earnings inequality. These lower-income individuals are likely to have a high fiscal multiplier, suggesting these extra payments may have helped stimulate aggregate demand

Constructing Contemporary Nationhood in the Museums and Heritage Centres of Catalonia

Geographically Spain consists of a complex mosaic of cultural identities and regional aspirations for varying degrees of autonomy and independence. Following the end of violent conflict in the Basque country, Catalonia has emerged as the most vocal region pursuing independence from the central Spanish state. Within the Catalan separatist movement, cultural heritage sites and objects have been appropriated to play an intrinsic role in supporting political aims, with a variety of cultural institutions and state-sponsored monumentality playing an active part in the formation and dissemination of particular identity-based narratives. These ae centred around the themes of a separate and culturally distinct Catalan nation which has been subject to extended periods of oppression by the varying manifestations of the central Spanish State.  Recent developments have seen museums and other historic sites and places being appropriated and redesigned to play a more consciously active, overt and supportive role in the independence movement

Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the CARES Act on Earnings and Inequality

Using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), we show that the Covid-19 pandemic led to a loss of aggregate real labor earnings of more than $250 billion between March and July 2020. By exploiting the panel structure of the CPS, we show that the decline in aggregate earnings was entirely driven by declines in employment; individuals who remained employed did not experience any atypical earnings changes. We find that job losses were substantially larger among workers in low-paying jobs. This led to a dramatic increase in inequality in labor earnings during the pandemic. Simulating standard unemployment benefits and Unemployment Insurance (UI) provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, we estimate that UI payments exceeded total pandemic earnings losses between March and July 2020 by$9 billion. Workers who were previously in the bottom third of the earnings distribution received 49% of the pandemic-associated UI and CARES benefits, reversing the increases in labor earnings inequality. These lower-income individuals are likely to have a high fiscal multiplier, suggesting these extra payments may have helped stimulate aggregate demand