Low Carbon Resilient Development and Gender Equality in the Least Developed Countries

The issue of gender equality and climate change has come to the fore in both policy and research arenas in the last decade, due to the widespread recognition that neither the impact pathways for climate change, nor the policy responses are gender-neutral. Whilst it shouldn't be assumed to always be the case, climate change can worsen existing conflicts and gender inequalities, and some strategies to address climate risks can exacerbate this if not applied with gender-sensitive principles. Gender-sensitivity is therefore a key priority for lowcarbon climate resilient planning at local, national and international levels

Goodwin cycles and the U.S. economy, 1948-2004

This paper provides empirical support for an interpretation of the Goodwin growth cycle as isolating the main forces underlying distributive conflict, but in a fragile symbiotic mechanism because of endogenous forces that modify the balance of class power. Goodwin cycles are the shorter run cycles that appear around a long run motion that is the product of structural change. The paper describes long run trends in the Goodwin variables in the US corporate economy from 1948 to 2004, which exhibit both a sharp break at the beginning of the 80s, and no long run cycles. Short run detrended Goodwin cycles are identified, which broadly coincide in period and timing with the NBER dating of (the troughs of) business cycles. The paper then divides the employed nonfarm private industry labour force into supervisory and nonsupervisory workers, and focuses on the latter. The same two conclusions apply.Goodwin growth cycle, wage share, US economy

Markets, Money and Ideology

Marx's critique of Hegel is used to derive a demarcation criterion that sharply separates scientific knowledge from ideology, and interprets Hegelian methodology as fundamentally ideological. Economic theory is considered according to this demarcation criterion, and the paper argues that economic science too easily becomes economic ideology. One reason for this tendency towards slippage is the dominance of money relations in contemporary society. For the labour theory of value in Marx has a theory of money whose structure is identical to Hegelian logic, and an antipathy to a scientific approach is thereby grounded in everyday life.Ideology, Marx, Money

The temporal single-system interpretation: underdetermination and inconsistency

This paper critically evaluates a recent contribution by Kliman and Freeman (2009). It is argued that none of their arguments dispel previous criticisms of the temporal single system interpretation�(TSSI). Indeed the paper confirms the suggestions of many critics that, as the missing parts of the TSSI theoretical constructs are provided, in particular the Monetary Expression of Labour Time, the TSSI rests on inconsistency and arbitrary assumptions.Value; exploitation; TSSI.

The incoherence of the TSSI

We examine the substantive arguments proposed by Kliman and Freeman (2006) in their reply to Mohun (2003). We find the temporal single-system interpretation (TSSI) seriously deficient.Marxian economics; temporal single-system interpretation; value theory.

Contribution of Xenopus model to a better understanding of cardiac outflow tract

Contribution of Xenopus model to a better understanding of cardiac outflow tract. A Torres-Prioris 1, SJ Smith 2, TJ Mohun 2, B Fernández 1, AC Durán 1. 1 Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Science, and Biomedical Research Institute of Málaga (IBIMA), University of Málaga, Spain. 2 Developmental Biology Division, The Francis Crick Institute, Mill Hill Laboratory, London, UK. The morphology and morphogenesis of the cardiac outflow tract is a major topic in the study of the vertebrate circulatory system, especially regarding the pathologies affecting this region in humans. Recent studies have demonstrated that, in fish, the cardiac outflow tract consists of a myocardial conus arteriosus and a nonmyocardial bulbus arteriosus. Moreover, the bulbus arteriosus of fish has been considered homologous to the intrapericardial base of the aortic and pulmonary trunks of birds and mammals. Under this perspective, we have conducted a study on the outflow tract of Xenopus laevis, using histological, immunohistochemical and 3D reconstruction techniques. It has been assumed that the outflow tract of Xenopus, which is intercalated between the ventricle and the great arterial trunks, is of myocardial nature. At its luminal side, it contains two sets of valves between which the so-called spiral valve lies. Our results demonstrate that, together with a proximal myocardial segment, a distal, nonmyocardial, intrapericardial segment is also present in amphibians. We propose that this distal segment, from which the pulmocutaneous and systemic arteries arise, is homologous to the bulbus arteriosus of fish. Therefore, the bulbus arteriosus is an evolutionarily conserved structure, which has become the aortic and pulmonary roots of birds and mammals. Our findings contribute to strengthening Xenopus as a good model to better understand the outflow tract morphology and evolution, and as an emerging model for studying human congenital heart diseases. This work was supported by CGL2010-16417, BES-2011-046901, Estancias Breves para FPI (2012, 2013) and FEDER funds.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. CGL2010-16417, BES-2011-046901, Estancias Breves para FPI (2012, 2013), FEDER funds

Development and Morphology of the Ventricular Outflow Tracts.

It is customary, at the current time, to consider many, if not most, of the lesions involving the ventricular outflow tract in terms of conotruncal malformations. This reflects the introduction, in the early 1940s, of the terms conus and truncus to describe the components of the developing outflow tract. The definitive outflow tracts in the postnatal heart, however, possess three, rather than two, components. These are the intrapericardial arterial trunks, the arterial roots, and the subvalvar ventricular outflow tracts. Congenital lesions afflicting the arterial roots, however, are not currently considered to be conotruncal malformations. This suggests a lack of logic in the description of cardiac development and its use as a means of categorizing congenital malformations. It is our belief that the developing outflow tract, like the postnatal outflow tracts, can readily be described in tripartite fashion, with its distal, intermediate, and proximal components forming the primordiums of the postnatal parts. In this review, we present evidence obtained from developing mice and human hearts to substantiate this notion. We show that the outflow tract, initially with a common lumen, is divided into its aortic and pulmonary components by a combination of an aortopulmonary septum derived from the dorsal wall of the aortic sac and outflow tract cushions that spiral through its intermediate and proximal components. These embryonic septal structures, however, subsequently lose their septal functions as the outflow tracts develop their own discrete walls. We then compare the developmental findings with the anatomic arrangements seen postnatally in the normal human heart. We show how correlations with the embryologic findings permit logical analysis of the congenital lesions involving the outflow tracts

The independence of the infundibular building blocks in the setting of double-outlet right ventricle.

It has long been contentious as to whether the presence of bilateral infundibulums, or conuses, is a prerequisite for the diagnosis of double-outlet right ventricle. As the use of such a criterion would abrogate the so-called "morphological method", which correctly states that one variable entity should not be defined on the basis of another entity that is itself variable, it is now accepted that double outlet can exist in the setting of fibrous continuity between the leaflets of the atrioventricular and arterial valves. Although this debate has now been resolved, there are other contentious areas still requiring clarification in the setting of hearts unified because of the presence of this particular ventriculo-arterial connection - for example, it is questionable whether the channel between the ventricles should be described as a "ventricular septal defect", whereas it is equally arguable that the mere presence of fibrous continuity between the leaflets of the arterial valves does not necessarily place the channel in a doubly committed location. In this review, we describe a series of autopsied hearts in which the anatomical features serve to illuminate these various topics. We then discuss recent findings regarding cardiac development that point to the individuality of the building blocks of the ventricular outflow tracts, specifically the outlet septum, the inner heart curvature, or ventriculo-infundibular fold, and the septomarginal trabeculation, or septal band

Prediction of sarcomere mutations in subclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: Sarcomere protein mutations in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy induce subtle cardiac structural changes before the development of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). We have proposed that myocardial crypts are part of this phenotype and independently associated with the presence of sarcomere gene mutations. We tested this hypothesis in genetic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy pre-LVH (genotype positive, LVH negative [G+LVH-]). METHODS AND RESULTS: A multicenter case-control study investigated crypts and 22 other cardiovascular magnetic resonance parameters in subclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy to determine their strength of association with sarcomere gene mutation carriage. The G+LVH- sample (n=73) was 29 ± 13 years old and 51% were men. Crypts were related to the presence of sarcomere mutations (for ≥1 crypt, β=2.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.5-4.4; P=0.014 and for ≥2 crypts, β=3.0; 95% CI, 0.8-7.9; P=0.004). In combination with 3 other parameters: anterior mitral valve leaflet elongation (β=2.1; 95% CI, 1.7-3.1; P<0.001), abnormal LV apical trabeculae (β=1.6; 95% CI, 0.8-2.5; P<0.001), and smaller LV end-systolic volumes (β=1.4; 95% CI, 0.5-2.3; P=0.001), multiple crypts indicated the presence of sarcomere gene mutations with 80% accuracy and an area under the curve of 0.85 (95% CI, 0.8-0.9). In this G+LVH- population, cardiac myosin-binding protein C mutation carriers had twice the prevalence of crypts when compared with the other combined mutations (47 versus 23%; odds ratio, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.1-7.9; P=0.045). CONCLUSIONS: The subclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy phenotype measured by cardiovascular magnetic resonance in a multicenter environment and consisting of crypts (particularly multiple), anterior mitral valve leaflet elongation, abnormal trabeculae, and smaller LV systolic cavity is indicative of the presence of sarcomere gene mutations and highlights the need for further study

Shifting worlds of father politics? Comparing path-departing change in paternity and parental leave policy in Germany and the UK.

How families balance employment and the care of young children has become a focus of dynamic policy change in many high-income countries since the 1990s. While there has been a broad shift across the OECD away from male-breadwinner model work-family policy regimes, there is much variation in the extent to which policies targeted at fathers have been part of these changes. Seeking to examine this variation, this article compares two cases which both represent ‘late path shifters’ away from the male-breadwinner family model, yet whose trajectory in terms of ‘father politics’ are very different: Germany, which has adopted Swedish-style non-transferable periods of leave for fathers, and the UK, where leave policy has remained overwhelmingly focused on mothers. This article seeks to explain these different trajectories through an analysis of the role of ideas in the two processes of reform. Drawing on documentary analysis and interviews with policymakers, it argues that ideas about the role of fathers shifted substantially in Germany during the period of reform, while they did not in the UK. This difference is explained with reference to the political conditions which created similar but different windows of opportunity for change in the two countries, as well as the impact of existing policy legacies