The economics of awards, status and performance: the John Bates Clark Medal and the Fellowship of the Econometric Society

This thesis investigates whether receiving an important award in academia raises recipients’ subsequent research productivity and status compared to a synthetic control group of non-recipient scholars with similar previous research performance. It examines the case of being awarded the John Bates Clark Medal and becoming a Fellow of the Econometric Society finding evidence of positive incentive and status effects that raise both productivity and citation levels.

Maintaining shared knowledge of acquaintance : methods people use to establish who knows whom

Acquaintance is a fundamental determinant of how people behave when interacting with one another. This article focuses on how this type of personal knowledge is an important consideration for people as social actors. Studying naturally-occurring social encounters, I describe how speakers use particular references to convey whether a recipient should be able to recognise a non-present third party. On some occasions, however, the presumption of recognisability or non-recognisability that underpins the use of a particular reference proves questionable. By exploring how recipients can challenge reference forms, and thereby reject claims of either recognisability or non-recognisability, I explain how people establish and maintain a shared understanding of who knows whom. I conclude by discussing motivations for this behaviour, and thereby contribute to understanding the commonsense reasoning that underpins orderly conduct in this aspect of social encounters.

The psychological experiences of adult heart transplant recipients : a systematic review and meta-summary of qualitative findings

Background Psychosocial factors and physical health are associated with increased psychological distress post-heart transplant. Integrating findings from qualitative studies could highlight mechanisms for how these factors contribute to psychological well-being, thus aiding the development of interventions. Objective To integrate qualitative findings regarding adult heart transplant recipients experiences, such as their emotions, perceptions and attitudes. Methods A systematic review and meta-summary were conducted. Data from seven studies were categorized into 16 abstracted findings. Results The most prominent finding across the studies related to recipients’ perceptions of the importance of social support. Other prominent findings related to factors that promoted psychological well-being, such as faith, optimism and sense of control. Conclusions Psychological well-being may be improved by enhancing perceived control over health and daily life, promoting an optimistic outlook by facilitating access to social support from other heart transplant recipients and ensuring post-transplant recipient-caregiver partnerships adequately support the transition back to independence.

Chlamydia muridarum lung infection in infants alters hematopoietic cells to promote allergic airway disease in mice

Background Viral and bacterial respiratory tract infections in early-life are linked to the development of allergic airway inflammation and asthma. However, the mechanisms involved are not well understood. We have previously shown that neonatal and infant, but not adult, chlamydial lung infections in mice permanently alter inflammatory phenotype and physiology to increase the severity of allergic airway disease by increasing lung interleukin (IL)-13 expression, mucus hyper-secretion and airway hyper-responsiveness. This occurred through different mechanisms with infection at different ages. Neonatal infection suppressed inflammatory responses but enhanced systemic dendritic cell:T-cell IL-13 release and induced permanent alterations in lung structure (i.e., increased the size of alveoli). Infant infection enhanced inflammatory responses but had no effect on lung structure. Here we investigated the role of hematopoietic cells in these processes using bone marrow chimera studies. Methodology/Principal Findings Neonatal (<24-hours-old), infant (3-weeks-old) and adult (6-weeks-old) mice were infected with C. muridarum. Nine weeks after infection bone marrow was collected and transferred into recipient age-matched irradiated naïve mice. Allergic airway disease was induced (8 weeks after adoptive transfer) by sensitization and challenge with ovalbumin. Reconstitution of irradiated naïve mice with bone marrow from mice infected as neonates resulted in the suppression of the hallmark features of allergic airway disease including mucus hyper-secretion and airway hyper-responsiveness, which was associated with decreased IL-13 levels in the lung. In stark contrast, reconstitution with bone marrow from mice infected as infants increased the severity of allergic airway disease by increasing T helper type-2 cell cytokine release (IL-5 and IL-13), mucus hyper-secretion, airway hyper-responsiveness and IL-13 levels in the lung. Reconstitution with bone marrow from infected adult mice had no effects. Conclusions These results suggest that an infant chlamydial lung infection results in long lasting alterations in hematopoietic cells that increases the severity of allergic airway disease in later-life.

Paper, prices and politics : an evaluation of the Swedish support to the Bai Bang project in Vietnam : a Sida evaluation report

Sweden’s protest against the Vietnam War was given tangible form in 1969 through the decision to give economic aid to the Government of North Vietnam. The main outcome was an integrated pulp and paper mill in the Vinh Phu Province north-west of Hanoi. Known as Bai Bang after its location, the mill became the most costly, one of the longest lasting and the most controversial project in the history of Swedish development cooperation. In 1996 Bai Bang produced at its full capacity. Today the mill is exclusively managed and staffed by the Vietnamese and there are plans for future expansion. At the same time a substantial amount of money has been spent to reach these achievements. Looking back at the cumbersome history of the project the results are against many’s expectations. To learn more about the conditions for sustainable development Sida commissioned two studies of the Bai Bang project. Together they touch upon several important issues in development cooperation over a period of almost 30 years: the change of aid paradigms over time, the role of foreign policy in development cooperation, cultural obstacles, recipient responsibility versus donor led development etc. The two studies were commissioned by Sida’s Department for Evaluation and Internal Audit which is an independent department reporting directly to Sida’s Board of Directors. One study assesses the financial and economic viability of the pulp and paper mill and the broader development impact of the project in Vietnam. It has been carried out by the Centre for International Economics, an Australian private economic research agency. The other study analyses the decision-making processes that created and shaped the project over a period of two decades, and reflects on lessons from the project for development cooperation in general. This study has been carried out by the Chr. Michelsen Institute, a Norweigan independent research institution.

Packed red blood cells suppress myeloid dendritic cell and monocyte inflammatory responses in a whole blood model of transfusion

Purpose/Objective: The basis for poor outcomes in some patients post transfusion remains largely unknown. Despite leukodepletion, there is still evidence of immunomodulatory effects of transfusion that require further study. In addition, there is evidence that the age of blood components transfused significantly affects patient outcomes. Myeloid dendritic cell (DC) and monocyte immune function were studied utilising an in vitro whole blood model of transfusion. Materials and methods: Freshly collected (‘recipient’) whole blood was cultured with ABO compatible leukodepleted PRBC at 25% blood replacement-volume (6hrs). PRBC were assayed at [Day (D) 2, 14, 28and 42 (date-of expiry)]. In parallel, LPS or Zymosan (Zy) were added to mimic infection. Recipients were maintained for the duration of the time course (2 recipients, 4 PRBC units, n = 8).Recipient DC and monocyte intracellular cytokines and chemokines (IL-6, IL-10, IL-12,TNF-a, IL-1a, IL-8, IP-10, MIP-1a, MIP-1b, MCP-1) were measured using flow cytometry. Changes in immune response were calculated by comparison to a parallel no transfusion control (Wilcoxin matched pairs). Influence of storage age was calculated using ANOVA. Results: Significant suppression of DC and monocyte inflammatory responses were evident. DC and monocyte production of IL-1a was reduced following exposure to PRBC regardless of storage age (P < 0.05 at all time points). Storage independent PRBC mediated suppression of DC and monocyte IL-1a was also evident in cultures costimulated with Zy. In cultures co-stimulated with either LPS or Zy, significant suppression of DC and monocyte TNF-a and IL-6 was also evident. PRBC storage attenuated monocyte TNF-a production when co-cultured with LPS (P < 0.01 ANOVA). DC and monocyte production of MIP-1a was significantly reduced following exposure to PRBC (DC: P < 0.05 at D2, 28, 42; Monocyte P < 0.05 all time points). In cultures co-stimulated with LPS and zymosan, a similar suppression of MIP-1a production was also evident, and production of both DC and monocyte MIP-1b and IP-10 were also significantly reduced. Conclusions: The complexity of the transfusion context was reflected in the whole blood approach utilised. Significant suppression of these key DC and monocyte immune responses may contribute to patient outcomes, such as increased risk of infection and longer hospital stay, following blood transfusion.

Bridging the biology of the ovine TRALI model – human inflammatory cell responses to TRALI inducing supernatants

Background Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is a serious and potentially fatal consequence of transfusion. A two-event TRALI model demonstrated date-of-expiry - day (D) 5 platelet (PLT) and D42 packed red blood cell (PRBC) supernatants (SN) induced TRALI in LPS-treated sheep. We have adapted a whole blood transfusion culture model as an investigative bridge between the ovine TRALI model human responses to transfusion. Methods A whole blood transfusion model was adapted to replicate the ovine model - specifically +/- 0.23μg/mL LPS as the first event and 10% SN volume (transfusion) as the second event. Four pooled SN from blood products, previously used in the TRALI ovine model, were investigated: D1-PLT, D5-PLT, D1-PRBC, and D42-PRBC. Fresh human whole blood (recipient) was mixed with combinations of LPS and BP-SN stimuli and incubated in vitro for 6 hrs. Addition of golgi plug enabled measurement of monocyte cytokine production (IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, TNF-α, IL-1α, CXCL-5, IP-10, MIP-1α, MCP-1) using multi-colour flow cytometry. Responses for 6 recipients were assessed. Results In the presence of LPS, D42-PRBC-SN significantly increased monocyte IL-6 (P=0.031), IL-8 (P=0.016) and IL-1α (P=0.008) production compared to D1-PRBC-SN. This response to D42-PRBC-SN was LPS-dependent, and was not evident in non-LPSstimulated controls. This response was also specific to D42-PRBC-SN, as similar changes were not evident for the D5-PLT-SN, compared to the D1-PLT-SN, regardless of the presence of LPS. D5-PLT-SN significantly increased IL-12 production (P=0.024) compared to D1-PLT-SN. This response was again LPS-dependent. Conclusions These data demonstrate a novel two-event mechanism of monocyte inflammatory response that was dependent upon both the presence of date-of-expiry blood product SN and LPS. Further, these results demonstrate different cytokines responses induced by date-of-expiry PLT-SN and PRBC-SN. These data are consistent with the evidence from the ovine TRALI model, and enhancing its relevance to transfusion related changes in humans.

Publicly verifiable ciphertexts

In many applications, where encrypted traffic flows from an open (public) domain to a protected (private) domain, there exists a gateway that bridges the two domains and faithfully forwards the incoming traffic to the receiver. We observe that indistinguishability against (adaptive) chosen-ciphertext attacks (IND-CCA), which is a mandatory goal in face of active attacks in a public domain, can be essentially relaxed to indistinguishability against chosen-plaintext attacks (IND-CPA) for ciphertexts once they pass the gateway that acts as an IND-CCA/CPA filter by first checking the validity of an incoming IND-CCA ciphertext, then transforming it (if valid) into an IND-CPA ciphertext, and forwarding the latter to the recipient in the private domain. “Non-trivial filtering'' can result in reduced decryption costs on the receivers' side. We identify a class of encryption schemes with publicly verifiable ciphertexts that admit generic constructions of (non-trivial) IND-CCA/CPA filters. These schemes are characterized by existence of public algorithms that can distinguish between valid and invalid ciphertexts. To this end, we formally define (non-trivial) public verifiability of ciphertexts for general encryption schemes, key encapsulation mechanisms, and hybrid encryption schemes, encompassing public-key, identity-based, and tag-based encryption flavours. We further analyze the security impact of public verifiability and discuss generic transformations and concrete constructions that enjoy this property.

Design, construction, and analysis of cell line arrays and tissue microarrays for gene expression analysis

Cell line array (CMA) and tissue microarray (TMA) technologies are high-throughput methods for analysing both the abundance and distribution of gene expression in a panel of cell lines or multiple tissue specimens in an efficient and cost-effective manner. The process is based on Kononen's method of extracting a cylindrical core of paraffin-embedded donor tissue and inserting it into a recipient paraffin block. Donor tissue from surgically resected paraffin-embedded tissue blocks, frozen needle biopsies or cell line pellets can all be arrayed in the recipient block. The representative area of interest is identified and circled on a haematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained section of the donor block. Using a predesigned map showing a precise spacing pattern, a high density array of up to 1,000 cores of cell pellets and/or donor tissue can be embedded into the recipient block using a tissue arrayer from Beecher Instruments. Depending on the depth of the cell line/tissue removed from the donor block 100-300 consecutive sections can be cut from each CMA/TMA block. Sections can be stained for in situ detection of protein, DNA or RNA targets using immunohistochemistry (IHC), fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) or mRNA in situ hybridisation (RNA-ISH), respectively. This chapter provides detailed methods for CMA/TMA design, construction and analysis with in-depth notes on all technical aspects including tips to deal with common pitfalls the user may encounter. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011.

Making arrangements in talk-in-interaction

Arrangement-making is understood to be a ‘closing-relevant action’ (Schegloff & Sacks 1973), but little attention has been given to how people arrive at mutually acceptable plans for the future. Telephone conversations between clients and staff of Community and Home Care (CHC) services were studied to identify how arrangements for future services were made. A recurrent sequence was observed in which clients were informed of future arrangement and were prompted to reply with ‘response solicitation’ (Jefferson 1981). Response solicitations were observed at two points: either tagged to the end of an informing, or following a recipient’s response to the informing. We show how response solicitations are routinely used in instances where recipients have some discretion in relation to the arrangement under discussion. They are a means by which an informing party can display to their interlocutor that they, as recipient, have some discretion to exercise in the matter. These findings are discussed with reference to prior research on arrangement-making in other settings, which suggests the general nature of this practice.

Engraftment outcomes after HPC co-culture with mesenchymal stromal cells and osteoblasts

Haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation is an established cell-based therapy for a number of haematological diseases. To enhance this therapy, there is considerable interest in expanding HSCs in artificial niches prior to transplantation. This study compared murine HSC expansion supported through co-culture on monolayers of either undifferentiated mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) or osteoblasts. Sorted Lineage− Sca-1+ c-kit+ (LSK) haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HPC) demonstrated proliferative capacity on both stromal monolayers with the greatest expansion of LSK shown in cultures supported by osteoblast monolayers. After transplantation, both types of bulk-expanded cultures were capable of engrafting and repopulating lethally irradiated primary and secondary murine recipients. LSKs co-cultured on MSCs showed comparable, but not superior, reconstitution ability to that of freshly isolated LSKs. Surprisingly, however, osteoblast co-cultured LSKs showed significantly poorer haematopoietic reconstitution compared to LSKs co-cultured on MSCs, likely due to a delay in short-term reconstitution. We demonstrated that stromal monolayers can be used to maintain, but not expand, functional HSCs without a need for additional haematopoietic growth factors. We also demonstrated that despite apparently superior in vitro performance, co-injection of bulk cultures of osteoblasts and LSKs in vivo was detrimental to recipient survival and should be avoided in translation to clinical practice.

Expressive cryptography : lattice perspectives

The invention of asymmetric encryption back in the seventies was a conceptual leap that vastly increased the expressive power of encryption of the times. For the first time, it allowed the sender of a message to designate the intended recipient in an cryptographic way, expressed as a “public key” that was related to but distinct from the “private key” that, alone, embodied the ability to decrypt. This made large-scale encryption a practical and scalable endeavour, and more than anything else—save the internet itself—led to the advent of electronic commerce as we know and practice it today.

Crypto Topics and Applications I

In this chapter, we discuss four related areas of cryptology, namely, authentication, hashing, message authentication codes (MACs), and digital signatures. These topics represent active and growing research topics in cryptology. Space limitations allow us to concentrate only on the essential aspects of each topic. The bibliography is intended to supplement our survey. We have selected those items which providean overview of the current state of knowledge in the above areas. Authentication deals with the problem of providing assurance to a receiver that a communicated message originates from a particular transmitter, and that the received message has the same content as the transmitted message. A typical authentication scenario occurs in computer networks, where the identity of two communicating entities is established by means of authentication. Hashing is concerned with the problem of providing a relatively short digest–fingerprint of a much longer message or electronic document. A hashing function must satisfy (at least) the critical requirement that the fingerprints of two distinct messages are distinct. Hashing functions have numerous applications in cryptology. They are often used as primitives to construct other cryptographic functions. MACs are symmetric key primitives that provide message integrity against active spoofing by appending a cryptographic checksum to a message that is verifiable only by the intended recipient of the message. Message authentication is one of the most important ways of ensuring the integrity of information that is transferred by electronic means. Digital signatures provide electronic equivalents of handwritten signatures. They preserve the essential features of handwritten signatures and can be used to sign electronic documents. Digital signatures can potentially be used in legal contexts.

Cents and Sustainability : Securing Our Common Future by Decoupling Economic Growth from Environmental Pressures

The focus of Cents and Sustainability is to respond to the call by Dr Gro Brundtland in the seminal book Our Common Future to achieve, 'a new era of economic growth - growth that is forceful and at the same time socially and environmentally sustainable'. With the 20th anniversary of Our Common Future in 2007, it is clearly time to re-examine this important work in a modern global context. Using the framework of ‘Decoupling Economic Growth from Environmental Pressures’, Cents and Sustainability investigates a range of new evidence and research in order to develop a deeper understanding of how, and under what conditions, this 'forceful sustainable growth' is possible. With an introduction by Dr Jim MacNeill (former Secretary General to the Brundtland Commission, and former Director, OECD Environment Directorate 1978 -1984), the book will carry forewords from Dr Gro Brundtland (former Chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development), Dr Rajendra Pachauri (Chief, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and joint recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC), and Dr Kenneth Ruffing (former Deputy Director and Chief Economist of the OECD Environment Directorate 2000 - 2005). Beginning with a detailed explanation of decoupling theory, along with investigation into a range of issues and barriers to its achievement, the book then focuses on informing national strategies for decoupling. Then putting this into action the book focuses on five key areas of decoupling, namely greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, freshwater extraction, waste production, and air pollution, and in each case showing compelling evidence for significant cost effective reductions in environmental pressures. The book concludes with a detailed case study of the groundbreaking application of public interest litigation to combat air pollution in Delhi, India.

Security properties analysis in a TPM-based protocol

Security protocols are designed in order to provide security properties (goals). They achieve their goals using cryptographic primitives such as key agreement or hash functions. Security analysis tools are used in order to verify whether a security protocol achieves its goals or not. The analysed property by specific purpose tools are predefined properties such as secrecy (confidentiality), authentication or non-repudiation. There are security goals that are defined by the user in systems with security requirements. Analysis of these properties is possible with general purpose analysis tools such as coloured petri nets (CPN). This research analyses two security properties that are defined in a protocol that is based on trusted platform module (TPM). The analysed protocol is proposed by Delaune to use TPM capabilities and secrets in order to open only one secret from two submitted secrets to a recipient