Wages and prices in early Catalan industrialisation

[eng] Catalonia was the only Mediterranean region among the early followers of the British Industrial Revolution in the second third of the nineteenth century. The roots of this industrialisation process can be traced back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when the Catalan economy became successfully integrated in international trade and the region enjoyed an intensification of its agrarian and proto-industrial activities. These capitalist developments were subsequently reinforced by a successful printed calico manufacturing business concentrated in the city of Barcelona. Although the factory system was largely adopted by the cotton industry in the 1840s, the diffusion of the spinning jenny had occurred earlier in the 1790s. In this paper, in line with Allen (2009a, 2009b), we explore whether relative factor prices played a role in the widespread adoption of the spinning jenny in Catalonia.

Wages and prices in early Catalan industrialisation

[eng] Catalonia was the only Mediterranean region among the early followers of the British Industrial Revolution in the second third of the nineteenth century. The roots of this industrialisation process can be traced back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when the Catalan economy became successfully integrated in international trade and the region enjoyed an intensification of its agrarian and proto-industrial activities. These capitalist developments were subsequently reinforced by a successful printed calico manufacturing business concentrated in the city of Barcelona. Although the factory system was largely adopted by the cotton industry in the 1840s, the diffusion of the spinning jenny had occurred earlier in the 1790s. In this paper, in line with Allen (2009a, 2009b), we explore whether relative factor prices played a role in the widespread adoption of the spinning jenny in Catalonia.

Prognostic value of early MR imaging in term infants with severe perinatal asphyxia.

The prognostic significance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the neonatal period was studied prospectively in 43 term infants with perinatal asphyxia. MRI was performed between 1 and 14 days after birth with a high field system (2.35 Tesla). Neurodevelopmental outcome was assessed by a standardized neurological examination and the Griffiths developmental test at a mean age of 18.9 months. The predictive value of the various MRI patterns was as follows: Severe diffuse brain injury (pattern AII+III; n = 7) and lesions of thalamus and basal ganglia (pattern C; n = 5) were strongly associated with poor outcome and greatly reduced head growth. Mild diffuse brain injury (pattern AI; n = 7), parasagittal lesions (B; n = 7), periventricular hyperintensity (D; n = 2), focal brain necrosis and hemorrhage (E; n = 3) and periventricular hypointense stripes (on T2-weighted images; F; n = 3) led in one third of the infants to minor neurological disturbances and mild developmental delay. Infants with normal MRI findings (G; n = 9) developed normally with the exception of one infant who was mildly delayed at 18 months. The results indicate that MRI examination during the first two weeks of life is of prognostic significance in term infants suffering from perinatal asphyxia. Severe hypoxic-ischemic brain lesions were associated highly significantly with poor neuro-developmental outcome, whereas infants with inconspicuous MRI developed normally.

In vivo time-resolved spectroscopy of the human bronchial early cancer autofluorescence.

Time-resolved measurements of tissue autofluorescence (AF) excited at 405 nm were carried out with an optical-fiber-based spectrometer in the bronchi of 11 patients. The objectives consisted of assessing the lifetime as a new tumor/normal (T/N) tissue contrast parameter and trying to explain the origin of the contrasts observed when using AF-based cancer detection imaging systems. No significant change in the AF lifetimes was found. AF bronchoscopy performed in parallel with an imaging device revealed both intensity and spectral contrasts. Our results suggest that the spectral contrast might be due to an enhanced blood concentration just below the epithelial layers of the lesion. The intensity contrast probably results from the thickening of the epithelium in the lesions. The absence of T/N lifetime contrast indicates that the quenching is not at the origin of the fluorescence intensity and spectral contrasts. These lifetimes (6.9 ns, 2.0 ns, and 0.2 ns) were consistent for all the examined sites. The fact that these lifetimes are the same for different emission domains ranging between 430 and 680 nm indicates that there is probably only one dominant fluorophore involved. The measured lifetimes suggest that this fluorophore is elastin.

Wages and prices in early Catalan industrialisation

Catalonia was the only Mediterranean region among the early followers of the British Industrial Revolution in the second third of the nineteenth century. The roots of this industrialisation process can be traced back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when the Catalan economy became successfully integrated in international trade and the region enjoyed an intensification of its agrarian and proto-industrial activities. These capitalist developments were subsequently reinforced by a successful printed calico manufacturing business concentrated in the city of Barcelona. Although the factory system was largely adopted by the cotton industry in the 1840s, the diffusion of the spinning jenny had occurred earlier in the 1790s. In this paper, in line with Allen (2009a, 2009b), we explore whether relative factor prices played a role in the widespread adoption of the spinning jenny in Catalonia.

Wages and prices in early Catalan industrialisation

Catalonia was the only Mediterranean region among the early followers of the British Industrial Revolution in the second third of the nineteenth century. The roots of this industrialisation process can be traced back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when the Catalan economy became successfully integrated in international trade and the region enjoyed an intensification of its agrarian and proto-industrial activities. These capitalist developments were subsequently reinforced by a successful printed calico manufacturing business concentrated in the city of Barcelona. Although the factory system was largely adopted by the cotton industry in the 1840s, the diffusion of the spinning jenny had occurred earlier in the 1790s. In this paper, in line with Allen (2009a, 2009b), we explore whether relative factor prices played a role in the widespread adoption of the spinning jenny in Catalonia.

Culture in infancy : an account of a way the object "sculpts" early development.

The
 aim
 of
 this
 paper
 is
 to
 bring
 into
 consideration
 a
 way
 of
 studying
 culture
 in
 infancy.
 An
 emphasis 
is 
put 
on
 the
 role 
that 
the 
material 
object 
plays 
in 
early 
interactive
 processes. 
Accounted
 as
 a
 cultural
 artefact,
 the
 object
 is
 seen
 as
 a
 fundamental
 element
 within
 triadic
 mother‐object‐ infant
 interactions
 and
 is
 believed
 to
 be
 a
 driving
 force
 both
 for
 communicative
 and
 cognitive
 development.
 In
 order
 to
 reconsider
 the
 importance
 of
 the
 object
 in
 child
 development
 and
 to
 present
 an 
approach
 of 
studying
object
 construction,
accounts 
in 
literature 
on 
early 
communication
 development
 and
 the
 importance
 of
 the
 object
 are
 reviewed
 and
 discussed
 under
 the
 light
 of
 the
 cultural 
specificity 
of 
the 
material 
object.


Association of early repolarization with risk of cardiac mortality in the general population

Early repolarization, which is characterized by an elevation of the J-point on 12-lead electrocardiography, is a common finding that has been considered as benign for decades. However, in the last years, it has been related with vulnerability to idiopathic ventricular fibrillation and with cardiac mortality in the general population. Recently, 4 potential ECG predictors that could differentiate the benign from the malignant form of early repolarization have been suggested. Any previous study about early repolarization has been done in Spain. Aim. To ascertain whether the presence of early repolarization pattern in a resting electrocardiogram is associated with a major risk of cardiac death in a Spanish general population and to determine whether the presence of potential predictors of malignancy in a resting electrocardiogram increases the risk of cardiac mortality in patients with early repolarization pattern. Methods. We will analyse the presence of early repolarization and the occurrence of cardiac mortality in a retrospective cohort study of 4,279 participants aged 25 to 74 years in the province of Girona. This cohort has been followed during a mean of 9.8 years. Early repolarization will be stratified according to the degree of J-point elevation (≥0.1 mV or ≥0.2 mV), the morphology of the J-wave (slurring, notching or any of these two), the ST-segment pattern (ascending or descending) and the localization (inferior leads, lateral leads, or both). Association of early repolarization with cardiac death will be assessed by adjusted Cox-proportional hazards models

Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs, Spring/Early Summer 2014

Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Newsletter

Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs, Summer/Early Fall 2014

Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Newsletter

Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs, Winter/Early Spring 2014

Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Newsletter

Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs, Spring/Early Summer 2015

Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Newsletter

Genetic parameters and variability in physic nut accessions during early developmental stages

The objective of this work was to estimate the genetic parameters and variability among accessions (half-sib families) of physic nut (Jatropha curcas) during the early stages of development. For this study, 110 accessions in the first year of development of the physic nut germplasm bank, maintained at Embrapa Cerrados, DF, Brazil, were evaluated in situ. The experiment was established in a randomized complete block design, with two replicates and five plants per plot arranged in rows at 4x2 m spacing. Grain yield, total number of branches per plant, plant height, stem diameter, canopy projection on the row, canopy projection between rows, canopy volume, number of days until first flowering and height of the first inflorescence were evaluated. Estimates of vegetative genetic parameters showed the existence of genetic variability in the physic nut germplasm bank. Physic nut accessions of the germplasm bank were grouped into five similarity groups based on character divergence. Although preliminary, the obtained results are promising for showing potential for Jatropha improvement with selective efficiency.

Bacterial spot and early blight biocontrol by epiphytic bacteria in tomato plants

The objective of this work was to evaluate in vitro and in vivo biocontrol of bacterial spot (Xanthomonas vesicatoria) and early blight (Alternaria solani) by the epiphytic bacteria Paenibacillus macerans and Bacillus pumilus. Tomato plants were previously sprayed with epiphytic bacteria, benzalkonium chloride and PBS buffer and, after four days, they were inoculated with A. solani and X. vesicatoria. To determine the phytopathogenic bacteria population, leaflet samples were collected from each treatment every 24 hours, for seven days, and plated on semi-selective medium. The effect of epiphytic bacteria over phytopathogens was performed by the antibiosis test and antagonistic activity measured by inhibition zone diameter. The epiphytic and benzalkonium chloride drastically reduced the severity of early blight and bacterial spot in comparison to the control (PBS). In detached leaflets, the epiphytic bacteria reduced in 70% the number of phytopathogenic bacteria cells in the phylloplane. The antibiosis test showed that the epiphytic bacteria efficiently inhibit the phytopathogens growth. In all the bioassays, the epiphytic bacteria protect tomato plants against the phytopathogens

The early IL-4 response to Leishmania major responsible for progressive disease in BALB/c mice is subject to the control of autocrine IL-2 production and regulatory CD4+C25+ T cells

Résumé : La majorité des souches de souris de laboratoire sont résistantes à l'infection par le parasite Leishmania major (L. major). A l'opposé, les souris de la souche BALB développent une maladie évolutive. La résistance et la sensibilité sont corrélées avec l'apparition de lymphocytes T CD4+ spécifiques du parasite, Th1 (de l'anglais T helper) ou Th2 respectivement. La réponse aberrante Th2 chez les souris de la souche BALB/c dépend, au moins en partie, de façon critique de la production rapide d'IL-4 suite à l'infection. Ce pic précoce d'IL-4 est produit par une population de lymphocytes T CD4+ restreinte aux molécules du MHC de classe II, exprimant les chaînes du récepteur des cellules T Vß4-Va8. Ces lymphocytes sont spécifiques d'un épitope de l'homologue Leishmania de la molécule RACK1 des mammifères, appelée LACK. Il a été clairement démontré que l'IL-4 rapidement produite par ces cellules T CD4+ Vß4-Va8 induit la maturation Th2 responsable de la sensibilité vis-à-vis de L. major. Des expériences ont été entreprises pour étudier la régulation de cette réponse précoce d'IL-4. Dans ce travail, nous avons documenté, dans les cellules provenant des ganglions de souris sensibles infectées par L. major, une augmentation de la transcription de l'ARNm de l'IL-2 qui précède la réponse précoce d'IL-4. La neutralisation de l'IL-2 durant les premiers jours d'infection induit la maturation des cellules Thl et la résistance vis-à-vis de L. major. Ces effets de l'anticorps anti-IL-2 neutralisant sont liés à sa capacité d'interférer avec la transcription rapide d'IL-4 des cellules CD4+ réactives à l'antigène LACK. Une augmentation similaire d'IL-2 survient chez les souris résistantes C57BL/6 qui sont incapables de générer la réponse précoce d'IL-4. Cependant, la protéiné LACK induit une transcription précoce d'IL-2 uniquement chez les souris sensibles. Des expériences de reconstitution utilisant des souris C.B.-17 SCID et des cellules T CD4+ réactives à LACK provenant de souris BALB/c IL-2-~démontrent un mode d'action autocrine de l'IL-2 sur la régulation de la réponse précoce d'IL4. Par conséquent, chez les souris C57BL/6, l'absence du pic précoce d'ARNm de l'IL-4 important pour la progression de la maladie paraît liée à l'incapacité des cellules T CD4+ réactives à LACK de produire de l'IL-2. Un rôle dans le contrôle de la production précoce d'IL-4 par les cellules T régulatrices CD4+CD25+ a été investigué en déplétant in vivo cette population de cellules. La déplétion induit une élévation du pic précoce de l'ARNm de l'IL-4 dans les ganglions drainant de souris BALB/c, ainsi qu'une exacerbation du cours de la maladie avec des taux augmentés d'IL-4 dans les ganglions. La réponse rapide d'IL-2 vis-à-vis de L. major est aussi significativement augmentée chez les souris BALB/c déplétées en cellules CD4+CD25+. De plus, nous avons démontré que le transfert de 10puissance(7) cellules provenant de la rate de souris BALB/c déplétées en cellules T régulatrices CD4+CD25+ rend les souris SCID sensibles à l'infection et permet la différentiation Th2. Au contraire, les souris SCID reconstituées avec 10' cellules de la rate de souris BALB/c contrôle sont résistantes à infection par L. major et développent une réponse Thl. Chez les souris SCID reconstituées avec des cellules de rate déplétées en cellules exprimant le marqueur CD25, le traitement avec un anticorps neutralisant l'IL-4 au moment de l'infection par L. major prévient le développement de la réponse Th2 et rend ces souris résistantes à l'infection. Ces résultats démontrent que les cellules T régulatrices CD4+CD25+ jouent un rôle dans la régulation du pic précoce d'IL-4 responsable du développement cellulaire Th2 dans ce modèle d'infection. Summary Mice from most strains are resistant to infection with Leishmania major (L. major). In contrast, BALB mice develop progressive disease. Resistance and susceptibility result from parasite-specific CD4+ Thl or Th2 cells, respectively. The aberrant Th2 response in BALB/c mice depends, at least in part, upon the production of IL-4 early after infection. The CD4+ T cells responsible for this early IL-4 response to L. major express a restricted TCR repertoire (Vß4-Va8) and respond to an I-Ad-restricted epitope of the Leishmania homologue of mammalian RACK1, designated LACK. The role of these cells and the IL-4 they produce for subsequent Th2 cell development and disease progression in BALB/c mice was demonstrated. Experiments have been undertaken to study the regulation of the rapid IL-4 production to L. major. In this report, we document an IL-2 mRNA burst, preceding the reported early IL-4 response, in draining lymph nodes of susceptible mice infected with L. major. Neutralization of IL-2 during the first days of infection redirected Thl cell maturation and resistance to L. major, through interference with the rapid IL-4 transcription in LACKreactive CD4+ cells. A burst of IL-2 transcripts also occurred in infected C57BL/6 mice that do not mount an early IL-4 response. However, although the LACK protein induced IL-2 transcripts in susceptible mice, it failed to trigger this response in resistant C57BL/6 mice. Reconstitution experiments using C.B.-17 SCID mice and LACK-reactive CD4+ T cells from IL-2-/- BALB/c mice showed that triggering of the early IL-4 response required autocrine IL2. Thus, in C57BL/6 mice, the inability of LACK-reactive CD4+ T cells to express early IL-4 mRNA transcription, important for disease progression, appears due to an incapacity of these cells to produce IL-2. A role for CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in the control of this early IL-4 production was investigated by depleting in vivo this regulatory T cell population. Depletion induced an increase in the early burst of IL-4 mRNA in the draining lymph nodes of BALB/c mice, and exacerbated the course of disease with higher levels of IL-4 mRNA and protein in their lymph nodes. The rapid IL-2 response to L. major is also significantly enhanced in BALB/c mice depleted of CD4+CD25+ cells. We further showed that transfer of 10~ BALB/c spleen cells that were depleted of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells rendered SCID mice susceptible to infection and allowed Th2 differentiation while SCID mice reconstituted with 10 control BALB/c spleen cells were resistant to infection with L. major and developed a Thl response. Treatment with a mAb against IL-4 upon infection with L. major in SCID mice reconstituted with CD25-depleted spleen cells prevented the development of Th2 polarization and rendered them resistant to infection. These results demonstrate that CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells play a role in regulating the early IL-4 mRNA and the subsequent development of a Th2 response in this model of infection.