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Showing papers by "Pompeu Fabra University published in 2008"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A role for IL-6 is unveiled in hypertrophic muscle growth and mechanistic evidence for the contribution of satellite cells to this process is provided and a role for STAT3 activation and expression is revealed in a paracrine fashion.

734 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper found that if the foreign aid over Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that a country receives over a period of five years reaches the 75th percentile in the sample, then a 10-point index of democracy is reduced between 0.5 and almost one point, a large effect.
Abstract: Foreign aid provides a windfall of resources to recipient countries and may result in the same rent seeking behavior as documented in the 'curse of natural resources' literature. In this paper the author discusses this effect and documents its magnitude. Using panel data for 108 recipient countries in the period 1960 to 1999, the author found that foreign aid has a negative impact on institutions. In particular, if the foreign aid over Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that a country receives over a period of five years reaches the 75th percentile in the sample, then a 10-point index of democracy is reduced between 0.5 and almost one point, a large effect. For comparison, we also measure the effect of oil rents on political institutions. The author found that aid is a bigger curse than oil.

703 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Heather C Mefford1, Andrew J. Sharp2, Carl Baker1, Andy Itsara1, Zhaoshi Jiang1, Karen Buysse3, Shuwen Huang4, Viv K. Maloney4, John A. Crolla4, Diana Baralle5, Amanda L. Collins5, Catherine Mercer5, Koenraad Norga6, Thomy de Ravel6, Koenraad Devriendt6, Ernie M.H.F. Bongers7, Nicole de Leeuw7, William Reardon, Stefania Gimelli2, Frédérique Béna2, Raoul C.M. Hennekam8, Raoul C.M. Hennekam9, Alison Male8, Lorraine Gaunt10, Jill Clayton-Smith10, Ingrid Simonic, Soo Mi Park, Sarju G. Mehta, Serena Nik-Zainal, C. Geoffrey Woods, Helen V. Firth, Georgina Parkin, Marco Fichera, Santina Reitano, Mariangela Lo Giudice, Kelly Li, Iris Casuga, Adam Broomer, Bernard Conrad11, Markus Schwerzmann11, Lorenz Räber11, Sabina Gallati11, Pasquale Striano12, Antonietta Coppola12, John Tolmie13, Edward S. Tobias13, Chris Lilley13, Lluís Armengol14, Yves Spysschaert3, Patrick Verloo3, Anja De Coene3, Linde Goossens3, Geert Mortier3, Frank Speleman3, Ellen van Binsbergen15, Marcel R. Nelen15, Ron Hochstenbach15, Martin Poot15, Louise Gallagher, Michael Gill, Jon McClellan1, Mary Claire King1, Regina Regan16, Cindy Skinner, Roger E. Stevenson, Stylianos E. Antonarakis2, Caifu Chen, Xavier Estivill14, Björn Menten3, Giorgio Gimelli, Susan M. Gribble17, Stuart Schwartz18, James S. Sutcliffe19, Tom Walsh1, Samantha J. L. Knight16, Jonathan Sebat20, Corrado Romano, Charles E. Schwartz, Joris A. Veltman7, Bert B.A. de Vries7, Joris Vermeesch6, John C. K. Barber4, Lionel Willatt, May Tassabehji10, Evan E. Eichler1, Evan E. Eichler21 
TL;DR: Recurrent molecular lesions that elude syndromic classification and whose disease manifestations must be considered in a broader context of development as opposed to being assigned to a specific disease are identified.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Duplications and deletions in the human genome can cause disease or predispose persons to disease. Advances in technologies to detect these changes allow for the routine identification of submicroscopic imbalances in large numbers of patients. METHODS: We tested for the presence of microdeletions and microduplications at a specific region of chromosome 1q21.1 in two groups of patients with unexplained mental retardation, autism, or congenital anomalies and in unaffected persons. RESULTS: We identified 25 persons with a recurrent 1.35-Mb deletion within 1q21.1 from screening 5218 patients. The microdeletions had arisen de novo in eight patients, were inherited from a mildly affected parent in three patients, were inherited from an apparently unaffected parent in six patients, and were of unknown inheritance in eight patients. The deletion was absent in a series of 4737 control persons (P=1.1x10(-7)). We found considerable variability in the level of phenotypic expression of the microdeletion; phenotypes included mild-to-moderate mental retardation, microcephaly, cardiac abnormalities, and cataracts. The reciprocal duplication was enriched in nine children with mental retardation or autism spectrum disorder and other variable features (P=0.02). We identified three deletions and three duplications of the 1q21.1 region in an independent sample of 788 patients with mental retardation and congenital anomalies. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified recurrent molecular lesions that elude syndromic classification and whose disease manifestations must be considered in a broader context of development as opposed to being assigned to a specific disease. Clinical diagnosis in patients with these lesions may be most readily achieved on the basis of genotype rather than phenotype.

690 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
18 Apr 2008-Science
TL;DR: There was continuous circulation in east and Southeast Asia via a region-wide network of temporally overlapping epidemics and that epidemics in the temperate regions were seeded from this network each year, suggesting that once A (H3N2) viruses leave E-SE Asia, they are unlikely to contribute to long-term viral evolution.
Abstract: Antigenic and genetic analysis of the hemagglutinin of approximately 13,000 human influenza A (H3N2) viruses from six continents during 2002-2007 revealed that there was continuous circulation in east and Southeast Asia (E-SE Asia) via a region-wide network of temporally overlapping epidemics and that epidemics in the temperate regions were seeded from this network each year. Seed strains generally first reached Oceania, North America, and Europe, and later South America. This evidence suggests that once A (H3N2) viruses leave E-SE Asia, they are unlikely to contribute to long-term viral evolution. If the trends observed during this period are an accurate representation of overall patterns of spread, then the antigenic characteristics of A (H3N2) viruses outside E-SE Asia may be forecast each year based on surveillance within E-SE Asia, with consequent improvements to vaccine strain selection.

689 citations


Book
01 Sep 2008
TL;DR: Theories of context and language, language and cognition, and the role of language in discourse are studied in the construction of a theory of context.
Abstract: Preface Acknowledgements 1. Towards a theory of context 2. Context and language 3. Context and cognition 4. Context and discourse 5. Conclusions References Subject index Author index.

647 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Methodological concerns limit the strength of inference regarding the impact of providing PRO information to clinicians, and results suggest great heterogeneity of impact.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to summarize the best evidence regarding the impact of providing patient-reported outcomes (PRO) information to health care professionals in daily clinical practice. Systematic review of randomized clinical trials (Medline, Cochrane Library; reference lists of previous systematic reviews; and requests to authors and experts in the field). Out of 1,861 identified references published between 1978 and 2007, 34 articles corresponding to 28 original studies proved eligible. Most trials (19) were conducted in primary care settings performed in the USA (21) and assessed adult patients (25). Information provided to professionals included generic health status (10), mental health (14), and other (6). Most studies suffered from methodologic limitations, including analysis that did not correspond with the unit of allocation. In most trials, the impact of PRO was limited. Fifteen of 23 studies (65%) measuring process of care observed at least one significant result favoring the intervention, as did eight of 17 (47%) that measured outcomes of care. Methodological concerns limit the strength of inference regarding the impact of providing PRO information to clinicians. Results suggest great heterogeneity of impact; contexts and interventions that will yield important benefits remain to be clearly defined.

642 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider two types of digital traces from Rome, Italy: georeferenced photos made publicly available on the photo-sharing Web site Flickr and aggregate records of wireless network events generated by mobile phone users making calls and sending text messages on the Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) system.
Abstract: Novel methods and tools are being developed to explore the significance of the new types of user-related spatiotemporal data. This approach helps uncover the presence and movements of tourists from cell phone network data and the georeferenced photos they generate. A city's visitors have many ways of leaving voluntary or involuntary electronic trails: prior to their visits, tourists generate server log entries when they consult digital maps or travel Web sites; during their visit, they leave traces on wireless networks whenever they use their mobile phones; and after their visit, they might add online reviews and photos. Broadly speaking then, there are two types of footprint: active and passive. Passive tracks are left through interaction with an infrastructure, such as a mobile phone network, that produces entries in locational logs; active prints come from the users themselves when they expose locational data in photos, messages, and sensor measurements. In this article, we consider two types of digital traces from Rome, Italy: georeferenced photos made publicly available on the photo-sharing Web site Flickr and aggregate records of wireless network events generated by mobile phone users making calls and sending text messages on the Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) system.

465 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that Snail1 recruits PRC2 to the CDH1 promoter and requires the activity of this complex to repress E-cadherin expression.
Abstract: The transcriptional factor Snail1 is a repressor of E-cadherin (CDH1) gene expression essential for triggering epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Snail1 represses CDH1, directly binding its promoter and inducing the synthesis of the Zeb1 repressor. In this article, we show that repression of CDH1 by Snail1, but not by Zeb1, is dependent on the activity of Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2). Embryonic stem (ES) cells null for Suz12, one of the components of PRC2, show higher levels of Cdh1 mRNA than control ES cells. In tumor cells, interference of PRC2 activity prevents the ability of Snail1 to downregulate CDH1 and partially derepresses CDH1. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that Snail1 increases the binding of Suz12 to the CDH1 promoter and the trimethylation of lysine 27 in histone H3. Moreover, Snail1 interacts with Suz12 and Ezh2, as shown by coimmunoprecipitation experiments. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that Snail1 recruits PRC2 to the CDH1 promoter and requires the activity of this complex to repress E-cadherin expression.

437 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Las normas de referencia para dichos sumarios facilitaran the interpretacion of los resultados de calidad de vida evaluada con los cuestionarios SF en estudios realizados en Espana.
Abstract: Fundamento y objetivo El SF-36 es uno de los cuestionarios de calidad de vida mas evaluados y utilizados. Se han desarrollado 2 componentes sumarios (fisico y mental) a partir de sus 8 dimensiones originales. Nuestro objetivo ha sido obtener los pesos espanoles para el calculo de los componentes sumarios del SF-36 y el SF-12, evaluar sus caracteristicas metricas y obtener las normas poblacionales de referencia. Material y metodo Se han utilizado muestras representativas de la poblacion espanola procedentes de 2 estudios transversales: «Encuesta domiciliaria sobre uso de drogas» (n = 9.151) e «Hipertension arterial y otros factores de riesgo en ancianos» (n = 3.004). Los pesos espanoles de los componentes sumarios del SF-36 y SF-12 se calcularon mediante analisis de componentes principales y regresion lineal multiple, respectivamente. Para evaluar la validez de constructo se compararon grupos conocidos y la fiabilidad se evaluo con coeficientes de consistencia interna. Resultados Los pesos espanoles obtenidos fueron muy similares a los de la version original norteamericana (correlacion > 0,9). Los items del SF-12 explicaron el 91% de la variancia de los componentes sumarios del SF-36. Todas las puntuaciones fueron inferiores (peores) en los grupos de mayor edad y mas desfavorecidos (p Conclusiones Los componentes sumarios fisico y mental calculados con pesos espanoles son fiables y validos. Las normas de referencia para dichos sumarios facilitaran la interpretacion de los resultados de calidad de vida evaluada con los cuestionarios SF en estudios realizados en Espana.

430 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Although Affymetrix GeneChip 500K genotype data from 2,514 individuals belonging to 23 different subpopulations was investigated, the existing differences were characterized by a strong continent-wide correlation between geographic and genetic distance, which provided evidence for a spatial continuity of genetic diversity in Europe.

425 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The tree phylogeny and coalescence calculations suggest that Khoisan matrilineal ancestry diverged from the rest of the human mtDNA pool 90,000-150,000 years before present and that at least five additional, currently extant maternal lineages existed during this period in parallel.
Abstract: The quest to explain demographic history during the early part of human evolution has been limited because of the scarce paleoanthropological record from the Middle Stone Age. To shed light on the structure of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) phylogeny at the dawn of Homo sapiens, we constructed a matrilineal tree composed of 624 complete mtDNA genomes from sub-Saharan Hg L lineages. We paid particular attention to the Khoi and San (Khoisan) people of South Africa because they are considered to be a unique relic of hunter-gatherer lifestyle and to carry paternal and maternal lineages belonging to the deepest clades known among modern humans. Both the tree phylogeny and coalescence calculations suggest that Khoisan matrilineal ancestry diverged from the rest of the human mtDNA pool 90,000–150,000 years before present (ybp) and that at least five additional, currently extant maternal lineages existed during this period in parallel. Furthermore, we estimate that a minimum of 40 other evolutionarily successful lineages flourished in sub-Saharan Africa during the period of modern human dispersal out of Africa approximately 60,000–70,000 ybp. Only much later, at the beginning of the Late Stone Age, about 40,000 ybp, did introgression of additional lineages occur into the Khoisan mtDNA pool. This process was further accelerated during the recent Bantu expansions. Our results suggest that the early settlement of humans in Africa was already matrilineally structured and involved small, separately evolving isolated populations.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors theoretically and empirically document a puzzle that arises when an RBC economy with a job matching function is used to model unemployment, and show that either sticky wages or match-specific productivity shocks can improve the model's performance by making the firm's flow of surplus more procyclical.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article examined the value of connections between German industry and the Nazi movement in early 1933 and found that one out of seven firms, and a large proportion of the biggest companies, had substantive links with the National Socialist German Workers' Party.
Abstract: This paper examines the value of connections between German industry and the Nazi movement in early 1933. Drawing on previously unused contemporary sources about management and supervisory board composition and stock returns, we find that one out of seven firms, and a large proportion of the biggest companies, had substantive links with the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. Firms supporting the Nazi movement experienced unusually high returns, outperforming unconnected ones by 5% to 8% between January and March 1933. These results are not driven by sectoral composition and are robust to alternative estimators and definitions of affiliation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The data suggest that it might become possible to induce the transdifferentiation of skin-derived fibroblasts into cell types desirable for tissue regeneration, and the effects of PU.1 and C/EBPα on fibro Blasts are examined.
Abstract: Earlier work has shown that the transcription factor C/EBPα induced a transdifferentiation of committed lymphoid precursors into macrophages in a process requiring endogenous PU.1. Here we have examined the effects of PU.1 and C/EBPα on fibroblasts, a cell type distantly related to blood cells and akin to myoblasts, adipocytes, osteoblasts, and chondroblasts. The combination of the two factors, as well as PU.1 and C/EBPβ, induced the up-regulation of macrophage/hematopoietic cell surface markers in a large proportion of NIH 3T3 cells. They also up-regulated these markers in mouse embryo- and adult skin-derived fibroblasts. Based on cell morphology, activation of macrophage-associated genes, and extinction of fibroblast-associated genes, cell lines containing an attenuated form of PU.1 and C/EBPα acquired a macrophage-like phenotype. The lines also display macrophage functions: They phagocytose small particles and bacteria, mount a partial inflammatory response, and exhibit strict CSF-1 dependence for growth. The myeloid conversion is primarily induced by PU.1, with C/EBPα acting as a modulator of macrophage-specific gene expression. Our data suggest that it might become possible to induce the transdifferentiation of skin-derived fibroblasts into cell types desirable for tissue regeneration.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that AAs induce a rise in intracellular Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+)](i), which triggers mTOR Complex 1 and hVps34 activation, which increases the direct binding of Ca( 2+)/calmodulin (CaM) to an evolutionarily conserved motif in hVPS34 that is required for lipid kinase activity and increased mTOR complex 1 signaling.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Simulations of biologically realistic neural networks show how the functioning of NMDA, GABA, GABA and dopamine receptors is connected to the concepts of noise and variability, and to related neurophysiological findings and clinical symptoms in schizophrenia.
Abstract: Computational neuroscience models can be used to understand the diminished stability and noisy neurodynamical behaviour of prefrontal cortex networks in schizophrenia. These neurodynamical properties can be captured by simulated neural networks with randomly spiking neurons that introduce noise into the system and produce trial-by-trial variation of postsynaptic potentials. Theoretical and experimental studies have aimed to understand schizophrenia in relation to noise and signal-to-noise ratio, which are promising concepts for understanding the symptoms that characterize this heterogeneous illness. Simulations of biologically realistic neural networks show how the functioning of NMDA (N-methyl-d-aspartate), GABA (g-aminobutyric acid) and dopamine receptors is connected to the concepts of noise and variability, and to related neurophysiological findings and clinical symptoms in schizophrenia.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a tractable model for the analysis of optimal monetary and fiscal policy in a currency union is presented, where monetary authority sets a common interest rate for the union, whereas fiscal policy is implemented at the country level, through the choice of government spending.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: ADHD is a relatively common condition among working people in the countries studied and is associated with high work impairment in these countries, which suggests that ADHD would be a good candidate for targeted workplace screening and treatment programs.
Abstract: Objectives: To estimate the prevalence and workplace consequences of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods: An ADHD screen was administered to 18–44-year-old respondents in 10 national surveys in the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative (n = 7075 in paid or self-employment; response rate 45.9–87.7% across countries). Blinded clinical reappraisal interviews were administered in the USA to calibrate the screen. Days out of role were measured using the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHO-DAS). Questions were also asked about ADHD treatment. Results: An average of 3.5% of workers in the 10 countries were estimated to meet DSM-IV criteria for adult ADHD (inter-quartile range: 1.3–4.9%). ADHD was more common among males than females and less common among professionals than other workers. ADHD was associated with a statistically significant 22.1 annual days of excess lost role performance compared to otherwise similar respondents without ADHD. No difference in the magnitude of this effect was found by occupation, education, age, gender or partner status. This effect was most pronounced in Colombia, Italy, Lebanon and the USA. Although only a small minority of workers with ADHD ever received treatment for this condition, higher proportions were treated for comorbid mental/ substance disorders. Conclusions: ADHD is a relatively common condition among working people in the countries studied and is associated with high work impairment in these countries. This impairment, in conjunction with the low treatment rate and the availability of cost-effective therapies, suggests that ADHD would be a good candidate for targeted workplace screening and treatment programs.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
21 Apr 2008
TL;DR: The social network emerging from the user comment activity on the website Slashdot is analyzed, showing common features of traditional social networks such as a giant component, small average path length and high clustering but differs from them showing moderate reciprocity and neutral assortativity by degree.
Abstract: We analyze the social network emerging from the user comment activity on the website Slashdot. The network presents common features of traditional social networks such as a giant component, small average path length and high clustering, but differs from them showing moderate reciprocity and neutral assortativity by degree. Using Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical tests, we show that the degree distributions are better explained by log-normal instead of power-law distributions. We also study the structure of discussion threads using an intuitive radial tree representation. Threads show strong heterogeneity and self-similarity throughout the different nesting levels of a conversation. We use these results to propose a simple measure to evaluate the degree of controversy provoked by a post.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that stem cells of embryonic, neural, and hematopoietic origin are heterogeneous, with cells moving between two or more metastable states.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The fragility of the European power grid under the effect of selective node removal is explored and deviations from the theoretical conditions for network percolation under attacks are analysed and correlated with non topological reliability measures.
Abstract: The power grid defines one of the most important technological networks of our times and sustains our complex society. It has evolved for more than a century into an extremely huge and seemingly robust and well understood system. But it becomes extremely fragile as well, when unexpected, usually minimal, failures turn into unknown dynamical behaviours leading, for example, to sudden and massive blackouts. Here we explore the fragility of the European power grid under the effect of selective node removal. A mean field analysis of fragility against attacks is presented together with the observed patterns. Deviations from the theoretical conditions for network percolation (and fragmentation) under attacks are analysed and correlated with non topological reliability measures.

Posted Content
TL;DR: The authors found that growth determinants emerging from agnostic Bayesian model averaging and classical model selection procedures are sensitive to income differences across datasets and showed that research based on stronger priors is more robust to imperfect international income data.
Abstract: Many factors inhibiting and facilitating economic growth have been suggested. Will international income data tell which matter when all are treated symmetrically a priori? We find that growth determinants emerging from agnostic Bayesian model averaging and classical model selection procedures are sensitive to income differences across datasets. For example, many of the 1975-1996 growth determinants according to World Bank income data turn out to be irrelevant when using Penn World Table data instead (the WB adjusts for purchasing power using a slightly different methodology). And each revision of the 1960-1996 PWT income data brings substantial changes regarding growth determinants. We show that research based on stronger priors about potential growth determinants is more robust to imperfect international income data.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 May 2008-Genetics
TL;DR: It is shown that tests that rely on haplotype frequencies are the most powerful for detecting expansions on nonrecombining genomic regions and should not be used when recombination levels are unknown, so class I tests, particularly Tajima's D or R2, are recommended.
Abstract: Several tests have been proposed to detect departures of nucleotide variability patterns from neutral expectations. However, very different kinds of evolutionary processes, such as selective events or demographic changes, can produce similar deviations from these tests, thus making interpretation difficult when a significant departure of neutrality is detected. Here we study the effects of demography and recombination upon neutrality tests by analyzing their power under sudden population expansions, sudden contractions, and bottlenecks. We evaluate tests based on the frequency spectrum of mutations and the distribution of haplotypes and explore the consequences of using incorrect estimates of the rates of recombination when testing for neutrality. We show that tests that rely on haplotype frequencies-especially Fs and ZnS, which are based, respectively, on the number of different haplotypes and on the r2 values between all pairs of polymorphic sites-are the most powerful for detecting expansions on nonrecombining genomic regions. Nevertheless, they are strongly affected by misestimations of recombination, so they should not be used when recombination levels are unknown. Instead, class I tests, particularly Tajima's D or R2, are recommended.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A new technique for audio signal comparison based on tonal subsequence alignment and its application to detect cover versions (i.e., different performances of the same underlying musical piece) is presented.
Abstract: We present a new technique for audio signal comparison based on tonal subsequence alignment and its application to detect cover versions (i.e., different performances of the same underlying musical piece). Cover song identification is a task whose popularity has increased in the music information retrieval (MIR) community along in the past, as it provides a direct and objective way to evaluate music similarity algorithms. This paper first presents a series of experiments carried out with two state-of-the-art methods for cover song identification. We have studied several components of these (such as chroma resolution and similarity, transposition, beat tracking or dynamic time warping constraints), in order to discover which characteristics would be desirable for a competitive cover song identifier. After analyzing many cross-validated results, the importance of these characteristics is discussed, and the best performing ones are finally applied to the newly proposed method. Multiple evaluations of this one confirm a large increase in identification accuracy when comparing it with alternative state-of-the-art approaches.

Proceedings Article
01 Dec 2008
TL;DR: An answer ranking engine for non-factoid questions built using a large online community-generated question-answer collection (Yahoo! Answers) is described and it is demonstrated that using them in combination leads to considerable improvements in accuracy.
Abstract: This work describes an answer ranking engine for non-factoid questions built using a large online community-generated question-answer collection (Yahoo! Answers). We show how such collections may be used to effectively set up large supervised learning experiments. Furthermore we investigate a wide range of feature types, some exploiting NLP processors, and demonstrate that using them in combination leads to considerable improvements in accuracy.

Journal ArticleDOI
15 Jan 2008-Thorax
TL;DR: A protective effect of a high level of adherence to a Mediterranean diet during pregnancy against asthma-like symptoms and atopy in childhood is found.
Abstract: Introduction: Dietary intake of specific nutrients or food groups during pregnancy could play a role in the risk of asthma and atopy in offspring, but specific dietary patterns have not been implicated. We evaluated the impact of maternal (during pregnancy) and child adherence to the Mediterranean Diet on asthma and atopy in childhood. Methods: Women presenting for antenatal care at all general practices in Menorca, a Mediterranean island in Spain, over a 12-month period starting in mid-1997 were recruited. Four hundred and sixty children were included in the analysis after 6.5 years of follow-up. Maternal dietary intake during pregnancy and children’s dietary intake at age of 6.5 years were assessed by food frequency questionnaires and adherence to a Mediterranean Diet was evaluated through a priori defined scores. During follow-up, parents completed questionnaires on the child’s respiratory and allergic symptoms. Children underwent skin prick tests with 6 common aeroallergens. Results: The prevalence of persistent wheeze, atopic wheeze, and atopy at age 6.5 years were 13.2%, 5.8%, and 17.0% respectively. One third (36.1%) of the mothers had low quality of Mediterranean Diet during pregnancy according to the Mediterranean Diet Score, while the rest had a high score. A high Mediterranean Diet Score during pregnancy (in two levels, using "low" score as reference) was found to be protective for persistent wheeze (OR, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.08-0.58), atopic wheeze (OR, 0.30; 95% CI, 0.10-0.90), and atopy (OR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.31-0.97) at age 6.5 years after adjusting for potential confounders. Childhood adherence to the Mediterranean Diet was negatively associated with persistent wheeze and atopy though the associations did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: Our results support a protective effect of a high level of adherence to the Mediterranean Diet during pregnancy against asthma-like symptoms and atopy in childhood.

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the dynamics of the transfer of U.S. patents and the significance of the initial missallocation of patent property rights and find that the initial missing allocation is large and differs substantially across patentees and technology fields, and that the probability of a patent being traded depends on the age of the patent, the number of citations received by a given age, the patent generality and whether the patent has been previously traded or not.
Abstract: This paper explores the dynamics of the transfer of U.S. patents and the significance of the initial missallocation of patent property rights. Here we find that the initial missallocation of patent property rights is large and differs substantially across patentees and technology fields. We also find that the probability of a patent being traded depends on a number of factors - the age of the patent, the number of citations received by a given age, the patent generality and whether the patent has been previously traded or not. We will also analyze and interpret this new evidence using a theoretical model of patent transfers and renewal.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article showed that positive cueing of common ecological behaviors (e.g., avoid littering) increased the likelihood that people will see themselves as consumers who are concerned with the degree to which their behavior is environmentally responsible.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a stylized model of the labour market impact of immigra- tion is presented, and the authors discuss mechanisms through which an economy can adjust to immigration: changes in factor prices, output mix, and production technology.
Abstract: In the first part of this paper, we present a stylized model of the labour market impact of immigra- tion. We then discuss mechanisms through which an economy can adjust to immigration: changes in factor prices, output mix, and production technology. In the second part, we explain the problems of empirically estimating how immigration affects labour market outcomes of the resident population and review some strategies to address these. We then summarize some recent empirical studies for the UK and other countries. We conclude with an outlook on what we believe are important avenues for future research.