81,516 research outputs found
Clinical and functional studies of autoimmune disorders of neuromuscular transmission
No full textInherited and acquired disorders of the neuromuscular junction are an important cause of muscle weakness and fatigability. In this thesis I focus on the autoimmune disorders of neuromuscular transmission. Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is the most common of these diseases and is typically caused by antibodies against the post-synaptic acetylcholine receptor. Lambert Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS) is a pre-synaptic disorder typically caused by antibodies against voltage gated calcium channels (VGCC). With regard to LEMS, my main aim was to gain a more complete understanding of the pathomechanisms of the disease. To date, the direct effect of LEMS IgG on presynaptic neurotransmitter release had not been investigated in detail. I examined how LEMS IgG affects neurotransmitter release by imaging action potential dependent vesicle exocytosis using a fluorescent dye. I found that LEMS IgG significantly inhibited the rate of synaptic vesicle release but this effect was lost in synapses from a Cacna1a knockout mouse. These data provide direct evidence that LEMS is caused by impaired neurotransmitter release due to an effect on P/Q-type VGCCs. With regard to MG, I studied the long-term outcome of patients with thymomatous and non-thymomatous MG after thymectomy and found that in general the outcome was favourable in the majority of patients with 34% of patients achieving complete stable remission. I also reviewed the long-term outcome of patients after a severe exacerbation of MG requiring ITU admission. Despite the significant mortality associated with severe exacerbations of MG, it was found that specialised neuro-intensive care was associated with a good long-term prognosis in the majority of patients. There were no significant differences in outcome in those with early or late onset MG. Overall the data presented in this thesis provide new insights into the pathomechanisms of LEMS IgG and provide new information regarding the long-term outcome of patients with MG
Many Worlds Model resolving the Einstein Podolsky Rosen paradox via a Direct Realism to Modal Realism Transition that preserves Einstein Locality
No full textThe violation of Bell inequalities by quantum physical experiments disproves all relativistic micro causal, classically real models, short Local Realistic Models (LRM). Non-locality, the infamous “spooky interaction at a distance” (A. Einstein), is already sufficiently ‘unreal’ to motivate modifying the “realistic” in “local realistic”. This has led to many worlds and finally many minds interpretations.
We introduce a simple many world model that resolves the Einstein Podolsky Rosen paradox. The model starts out as a classical LRM, thus clarifying that the many worlds concept alone does not imply quantum physics. Some of the desired ‘non-locality’, e.g. anti-correlation at equal measurement angles, is already present, but Bell’s inequality can of course not be violated. A single and natural step turns this LRM into a quantum model predicting the correct probabilities. Intriguingly, the crucial step does obviously not modify locality but instead reality: What before could have still been a direct realism turns into modal realism. This supports the trend away from the focus on non-locality in quantum mechanics towards a mature structural realism that preserves micro causality
The Benefits of Being Economics Professor A (and not Z)
No full textAlphabetic name ordering on multi-authored academic papers, which is the convention in the economics discipline and various other disciplines, is to the advantage of people whose last name initials are placed early in the alphabet. As it turns out, Professor A, who has been a first author more often than Professor Z, will have published more articles and experienced afaster growth rate over the course of her career as a result of reputation and visibility. Moreover, authors know that name ordering matters and indeed take ordering seriously: Several characteristics of an author group composition determine the decision to deviate from the default alphabetic name order to a significant extent.performance measurement, incentives, economists, name ordering
Final word on Jersey Dutch
No full textIn this article, William Z. Shetter compares and contrasts the dialects that developed between different Dutch colonies in the New World. He explores in-depth the nuances of Jersey Dutch, and provides theories to explain how Dutch and colonial languages blended. The article is reprinted from American Speech, December 1958, Volum XXXIII, No. 4
The Elasticity of Trade: Estimates and Evidence
No full textQuantitative results from a large class of structural gravity models of international trade depend critically on the elasticity of trade with respect to trade frictions. We develop a new simulated method of moments estimator to estimate this elasticity from disaggregate price and trade-flow data and we use it within Eaton and Kortum's (2002) Ricardian model. We apply our estimator to disaggregate price and trade-flow data for 123 countries in the year 2004. Our method yields a trade elasticity of roughly four, nearly fifty percent lower than Eaton and Kortum's (2002) approach. This difference doubles the welfare gains from international trade.elasticity of trade, bilateral, gravity, price dispersion, indirect inference
The Elasticity of Trade: Estimates and Evidence
No full textQuantitative results from a large class of structural gravity models of international trade depend critically on the elasticity of trade with respect to trade frictions. We develop a new simulated method of moments estimator to estimate this elasticity from disaggregate price and trade-flow data and we use it within Eaton and Kortum's (2002) Ricardian model. We apply our estimator to disaggregate price and trade-flow data for 123 countries in the year 2004. Our method yields a trade elasticity of roughly four, nearly fifty percent lower than Eaton and Kortum's (2002) approach. This difference doubles the welfare gains from international trade.
A principal–agent analysis of China's sovereign wealth system: Byzantine by design
No full textThe paper provides an explanation for a puzzling aspect of China's nascent sovereign wealth system, namely the ever-more obvious competition between China's officially designated sovereign wealth fund (SWF), the China Investment Corporation (CIC), and the foreign exchange reserve management agency, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE). We outline an analytical framework which illuminates the various pathways by which state leaders seek to address a principal–agent problem common to all sovereign wealth funds. We suggest that state leaders select corporate governance regimes that mesh with what we call the state's ‘governance endowments’. We then substantiate the claim that China's particular governance endowments have led China's leaders to embrace a corporate governance model premised on competition among the state's sovereign wealth investors. We trace the intense bureaucratic conflicts that shaped the creation of CIC and then show how SAFE was subsequently drawn into competition with CIC in the area of high risk, high yield investment. Although China's SWF tournament emerged as a quite unintended consequence of bureaucratic politics, China's leadership has since tacitly endorsed this rivalry because it has supplied the government with valuable carrot and stick mechanisms with which to discipline fund managers
The Elasticity of Trade: Estimates and Evidence
No full textQuantitative results from a large class of international trade models depend critically on the elasticity of trade with respect to trade frictions. We develop a simulated method of moments estimator to estimate this elasticity from disaggregate price and trade-flow data using the Ricardian model. We motivate our estimator by proving that the estimator developed in Eaton and Kortum (2002) is biased in any finite sample. We quantitatively show that the bias is severe and that the data requirements necessary to eliminate it in practice are extreme. Applying our estimator to new disaggregate price and trade-flow data for 123 countries in the year 2004 yields a trade elasticity of roughly four, nearly fifty percent lower than Eaton and Kortum’s (2002) approach. This difference doubles the welfare gains from international trade.elasticity of trade, bilateral, gravity, price dispersion, indirect inference
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