848 research outputs found
A study of the behaviour and interactions of the novel FERM protein Willin
No full textWillin is a novel member of the Four-point-one Ezrin Radixin Moesin
(FERM) protein superfamily, containing an N-terminal FERM domain most like the
Ezrin-Radixin-Moesin (ERM) family but also the closely related protein Merlin.
Willin was initially discovered as a yeast two-hybrid binding partner of
neurofascin155, and this interaction has now been confirmed by both co-localisation
studies and the use of two different biochemical methods. Like neurofascin155,
Willin also localises to detergent resistant membranes, and like the ERM family, it is
able to bind to phospholipids. The expression of Willin appears to be toxic as the
production of cell-lines stably expressing Willin proved to be not possible and this
appears to be because it induces apoptosis in cultured cells. This is a proliferation
control function consistent with the suggestion that Willin is the human homologue of the Drosophila tumour suppressor ‘Expanded’. Three antibodies to Willin were also characterised and a novel splice variant, Willin2, subcloned into a GFP-tagged
plasmid for comparison with the original form
Socioeconomic Influence on the Health of Older People: Estimates Based on Two Longitudinal Surveys
Get PDFThere is a strong positive relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and health, but identifying the direction of causation is difficult. This study exploits the longitudinal nature of two Canadian surveys, the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics and the National Population Health Survey, to study the link from SES to health. For people aged 50 and older who are initially in good health we examine whether changes in health status over the next two to four years are related to prior SES, as represented by income and education. Although the two surveys were designed for quite different purposes the evidence they yield with respect to the probability of remaining in good health is strikingly similar. Both suggest that SES does play a role, that the differences across SES groups are quantitatively significant, that the differences increase with age, and that they are much same for men and women.health; socioeconomic status; SLID; NPHS
Is Foreign-Owned Capital a Bad Thing to Tax?
Get PDFThe aging population has raised at least two concerns about tax policy. First, taxes will need to be increased to cover higher public-pension and medical-care expenses when baby boomers have retired. Second, taxes can be cut in the meantime, as the government realizes the "fiscal dividend" that accompanies its debt reduction program (that has been motivated by the aging population development). This paper uses a simple endogenous growth analysis to examine these issues. It is assumed that sales tax increases are infeasible on political grounds. Two conclusions emerge: the income tax rate levied on domestic residents should be cut during the debt-reduction period, and the tax rate on foreigners whose capital is operating in Canada should be increased later on when the bulk of the baby boomers have retired.fiscal policy, endogenous growth, open economy
A Note on Income Distribution and Growth
Get PDFMany analysts expect the aging population to lead to a reduction in the growth of living standards. Income inequality – a problem that has been accentuated by the payroll tax hikes that were necessary to fund the public pension as the population ages – is becoming an increasing challenge at the same time. As a result, policy-makers need to pursue initiatives that can simultaneously address both our efficiency and our equity objectives. With the challenge of the aging population, it is all the more important that we not rely on fiscal policies that involve a trade-off between growth and equality. This paper identifies a strategy for tax policy that meets these objectives.fiscal policy, endogenous growth, efficiency and equity
The Social Cost-of-Living: Welfare Foundations and Estimation
Get PDFWe present a new class of social cost-of-living indices and a nonparametric framework for estimating these and other social cost-of- living indices. Common social cost-of-living indices can be understood as aggregator functions of approximations of individual cost-of-living indices. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the expenditure-weighted average of first-order approximations of each individual’s cost-of-living index. This is troubling for three reasons. First, it has not been shown to have a welfare economic foundation for the case where agents are heterogeneous (as they clearly are.) Second, it uses an expenditure-weighted average which downweights the experience of poor households relative to rich households. Finally, it uses only first-order approximations of each individual’s cost-of-living index, and thus ignores substitution effects. We propose a “common-scaling” social cost-of-living index, which is defined as the single scaling to everyone’s expenditure which holds social welfare constant across a price change. Our approach has an explicit social welfare foundation and allows us to choose the weights on the costs of rich and poor households. We also give a unique solution for the welfare function for the case where the weights are independent of household expenditure. A first order approximation of our social cost-of- living index nests as special cases commonly used indices such as the CPI. We also provide a nonparametric method for estimating second- order approximations (which account for substitution effects).Inflation, Social cost-of-living, Demand, Average Derivatives
A study of certain alterations in speech during stimulation of specific cortical regions.
No full textNote: Manuscript very warped.Professor Wilder Penfield has accumulated, in a meticulous and laborious manner, data representing the effects of stimulation of the human cerebral cortex. Although these stimulations have been carried on for twenty odd years, it has been only during the past four years that more especial attention has been directed towards speech. In 1946, Dr. Preston Robb summarized the effect on speech of excising various cortical areas. These patients had had previous cerebral injuries with resultant focal cerebral seizures. Dr. Robb also began to assist Dr.Penfield in the operating room during the period of stimulation. The examination of patients before and after operation and the assistance in the operating theater have been and will be continued by this writer. The results of cortical stimulation on speech or, better, electrical arrest of certain speech mechanisms are presented at this time in order to summarize the present data and give suggestions for future study. Electrical arrest of three, or possibly four discrete cortical regions produces disturbances in speech other than simple arrest of speech. Few definite conclusions have been reached by either Dr. Robb or this author, but the groundwork has been laid. It is hoped and expected that a real contribution to the localization of areas producing specific speech defects and to the physiology of speech will be forthcoming at the conclusion of this project on stimulations and excisions of the cortex.[...
Environmental and Parental Influences on Offspring Health and Growth in Great Tits (Parus major)
Get PDFPMCID: PMC3728352This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
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