Philosophers and practical men: Charles Babbage, Irish merchants and the economics of information

Before the emergence of coordination of production by firms, manufacturers and merchants traded in markets with asymmetric information. Evidence suggests that the practical knowledge thus gained by these agents was well in advance of contemporary political economists and anticipates twentieth-century developments in the economics of information. Charles Babbage, who regarded merchants and manufacturers as the chief sources of reliable economic data, drew on this knowledge as revealed in the evidence of manufacturers and merchants presented to House of Commons select committees to make an important pioneering contribution to the theory of production and exchange with information asymmetries.

Neuroprotective actions of a histidine analogue in models of ischemic stroke.

Histidine is a naturally occurring amino acid with antioxidant properties, which is present in low amounts in tissues throughout the body. We recently synthesized and characterized histidine analogues related to the natural dipeptide carnosine, which selectively scavenge the toxic lipid peroxidation product 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE). We now report that the histidine analogue histidyl hydrazide is effective in reducing brain damage and improving functional outcome in a mouse model of focal ischemic stroke when administered intravenously at a dose of 20 mg/kg, either 30 min before or 60 min and 3 h after the onset of middle cerebral artery occlusion. The histidine analogue also protected cultured rat primary neurons against death induced by HNE, chemical hypoxia, glucose deprivation, and combined oxygen and glucose deprivation. The histidine analogue prevented neuronal apoptosis as indicated by decreased production of cleaved caspase-3 protein. These findings suggest a therapeutic potential for HNE-scavenging histidine analogues in the treatment of stroke and related neurodegenerative conditions.

Training of Reaching in Stroke Survivors With Severe and Chronic Upper Limb Paresis Using a Novel Nonrobotic Device: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background and Purpose—Severe upper limb paresis is a major contributor to disability after stroke. This study investigated the efficacy of a new nonrobotic training device, the Sensorimotor Active Rehabilitation Training (SMART) Arm, that was used with or without electromyography-triggered electrical stimulation of triceps brachii to augment elbow extension, permitting stroke survivors with severe paresis to practice a constrained reaching task.

Methods—A single-blind, randomized clinical trial was conducted with 42 stroke survivors with severe and chronic paresis. Thirty-three participants completed the study, of whom 10 received training using the SMART Arm with electromyography-triggered electrical stimulation, 13 received training using the SMART Arm alone, and 10 received no intervention (control). Training consisted of 12 1-hour sessions over 4 weeks. The primary outcome measure was “upper arm function,” item 6 of the Motor Assessment Scale. Secondary outcome measures included impairment measures; triceps muscle strength, reaching force, modified Ashworth scale; and activity measures: reaching distance and Motor Assessment Scale. Assessments were administered before (0 weeks) and after training (4 weeks) and at 2 months follow-up (12 weeks).

Results—Both SMART Arm groups demonstrated significant improvements in all impairment and activity measures after training and at follow-up. There was no significant difference between these 2 groups. There was no change in the control group.

Conclusions—Our findings indicate that training of reaching using the SMART Arm can reduce impairment and improve activity in stroke survivors with severe and chronic upper limb paresis, highlighting the benefits of intensive task-oriented practice, even in the context of severe paresis.

The impact of newly identified loci on coronary heart disease, stroke and total mortality in the MORGAM prospective cohorts

Recently, genome wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as being associated with coronary heart disease (CHD). We estimated the effect of these SNPs on incident CHD, stroke and total mortality in the prospective cohorts of the MORGAM Project. We studied cohorts from Finland, Sweden, France and Northern Ireland (total N=33,282, including 1,436 incident CHD events and 571 incident stroke events). The lead SNPs at seven loci identified thus far and additional SNPs (in total 42) were genotyped using a case-cohort design.We estimated the effect of the SNPs on disease history at baseline, disease events during follow-up and classic risk factors. Multiple testing was taken into account using false discovery rate (FDR) analysis. SNP rs1333049 on chromosome 9p21.3 was associated with both CHD and stroke (HR5=.20, 95% CI 1.08-1.34 for incident CHD events and 1.15, 0.99-1.34 for incident stroke). SNP rs11670734 (19q12) was associated with total mortality and stroke. SNP rs2146807 (10q11.21) showed some association with the fatality of acute coronary event. SNP rs2943634 (2q36.3) was associated with high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and SNPs rs599839, rs4970834 (1p13.3) and rs17228212 (15q22.23) were associated with non-HDL cholesterol. SNPs rs2943634 (2q36.3) and rs12525353 (6q25.1) were associated with blood pressure. These findings underline the need for replication studies in prospective settings and confirm the candidacy of several SNPs that may play a role in the etiology of cardiovascular disease.