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Assessments of glacier retreat impacts on water resources are often carried out using hydrological models calibrated using stream discharge time series. Because long-term discharge measurements are scarce in different regions of the world, models’ outcomes are analyzed assuming implicitly that stream discharge evolution projections at the outlet of a watershed affect the entire drainage area following a uniform pattern. In the present study, building on the learnings from the peak water analysis we performed in 2012, we explore the heterogeneity in Rio Santa sub-watersheds responses to deglaciation. The future of water resources at each watershed is projected by applying the peak water model with the latest glacier area estimations. The resulting map of the projected water availability across the Rio Santa watershed is then overlayed with previous works and literature-based water quality and demand maps.Results show that, while glaciers are losing their hydrological influence across the Cordillera Blanca, gaps open between water availability and demand for water at different levels of the watershed. Moreover, the dry season share of polluted sub-watersheds into the Rio Santa discharge increasing due to glacier retreat, water quality evolution will add up to the challenge of sharing an already scarce resource.Our study suggests that deglaciation in the tropical Andes affects populations and economic activities in a complex, disparate and evolutive way. Therefore, anticipating glaciers retreat redistribution of the water resources requires integrating hydrological, chemical, biological, economic, and sociological water resources aspects in locally grounded studies.

The Eastern Corn Belt Region (ECBR) is an important agricultural sector for the U.S. This study analyzes the climate extremes over the contemporary (1980–2018) and future (2036–2099) periods over the ECBR. We evaluated the performance of 32 downscaled models from the U.S. Global Change Research Program's Localized Constructed Analogs (LOCA) of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) to simulate extreme temperature and precipitation indices. The LOCA downscaled models were evaluated for the recent past against the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-supported gridded observational dataset DAYMET. Results reveal key trends throughout the region that are consistent with previous studies, including significant increases in extreme minimum temperatures, reduction of cold nights, increase of warm nights, and decreases in diurnal temperature ranges. Much of the region demonstrates extreme warming trends in the coldest night of the year (more than 5 °C) and an increase in the heaviest precipitation events over 1980–2018. An optimal model ensemble (OME) was constructed using a Kling-Gupta Efficiency and Bhattacharyya coefficient evaluation to construct a comprehensive ranking procedure. Having outperformed a standard multi-model ensemble approach, the OME was used to evaluate the future changes of extreme climate indices under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. Though the OME showed consistently strong warming throughout the ECBR, variability among the optimal models and across watersheds is quite significant, especially for precipitation indices. Thus, constraining the uncertainty in future climate models, specifically as it relates to agriculture decisions that support climate-resilience, remains a challenge. Inlcuye referencias bibliográficas.

Protected areas play an important role in ecosystem conservation and climate change adaptation. However, no systematic information is available on the protection of high elevation freshwater ecosystems (e.g. lakes, glacierized catchments and streams), their biodiversity and ecosystem services. Here we addressed this issue by reviewing literature and analyzing maps of protected areas and freshwater ecosystems in the tropical Andes. Overall, our revision and inventory indicate: 1) seven national parks were created with the objective of water resources protection, but they were not designed for freshwater conservation (i.e., larger watersheds), and mainly protect small ecosystems. Furthermore, the creation of new local protected areas was needed for water resources conservation; 2) we quantified 12% and 31% of lakes and glacial lakes are protected, respectively. Around 12% of the total stream length is protected. First-order streams predominate in the study area, of which 14% are protected. Furthermore, 29% of glacierized catchments (average surface of 677 km2)are protected, and 46% of the total glacier area is protected. We quantified 31 Ramsar sites; 3) high-value biodiversity sites have not been protected, and ecosystems services information is limited. This review highlights the need for future research to fill knowledge gaps for effective freshwater conservation actions.

Mycoplasma bovis, a disease affecting cattle worldwide, was first reported in New Zealand in 2017. Classed as an unwanted organism, the Government attempted eradicating it via culling of infected herds. This study reviews media coverage of this process over the first two years following the incursion. Content analysis was used to explore media framing of the management, containment and progress towards eradication of cattle infected by M. bovis over time. The analysis revealed that farmers and communities affected by M. bovis reported many forms of adverse health and well-being impacts. Apparent causes included the outbreak itself, the Government���s eradication programme, the way that programme was delivered, and the cumulative nature of stressors on the sector. The analysis also underlined media focus on raising the profile of the human cost of this biosecurity disaster. Arguably this approach amplified deficits within the processes and management strategies adopted by the Ministry for Primary Industries. This research adds to the small but growing body of evidence relating to the health and social impacts of exotic animal disease incursions on rural communities in New Zealand and elsewhere. Findings can be used to facilitate planning for future responses.

Supplemental material, WES870752_OnlineAppendix for Provider or Father? British Men’s Work Hours and Work Hour Preferences after the Birth of a Child by Stefanie Hoherz and Mark Bryan in Work, Employment and Society

The glaciers of the Cordillera Blanca Peru are rapidly retreating as a result of climate change, altering timing, quantity and quality of water available to downstream users. Furthermore, increases in the number and size of proglacial lakes associated with these melting glaciers is increasing potential exposure to glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs). Understanding how these glaciers are changing and their connection to proglacial lake systems is thus of critical importance. Most satellite data are too coarse for studying small mountain glaciers and are often affected by cloud cover, while traditional airborne photogrammetry and LiDAR are costly. Recent developments have made Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) a viable and potentially transformative method for studying glacier change at high spatial resolution, on demand and at relatively low cost. Using a custom designed hexacopter built for high altitude (4000–6000 m asl) operation we completed repeat aerial surveys (2014 and 2015) of the debris covered Llaca glacier tongue and proglacial lake system. High resolution orthomosaics (5 cm) and digital elevation models (DEMs) (10 cm) were produced and their accuracy assessed. Analysis of these datasets reveals highly heterogeneous patterns of glacier change. The most rapid areas of ice loss were associated with exposed ice cliffs and melt water ponds on the glacier surface. Considerable subsidence and low surface velocities were also measured on the sediments within the pro-glacial lake, indicating the presence of extensive regions of buried ice and continued connection to the glacier tongue. Only limited horizontal retreat of the glacier tongue was observed, indicating that simple measurements of changes in aerial extent are inadequate for understanding actual changes in glacier ice quantity.

Using data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) we show performance pay (PP) increased earnings dispersion among men and women, and to a lesser extent among full-time working women, in the decade of economic growth which ended with the recession of 2008. PP was also associated with some compression in the lower half of the wage distribution for women. The effects were predominantly associated with a broad measure of PP that included bonuses. However, these effects were modest, typically not exceeding a 0.05 log points change in log wage differentials over the decade. Moreover there is no indication that PP became increasingly prevalent, as some had predicted, over the decade prior to recession.

This paper provides an integrated interpretation of qualitative and quantitative data examining how couples respond when one partner loses their job. According to economic theory there may be an ‘Added Worker Effect’ where, when one partner loses their job, their spouse enters the labour market or takes on additional hours to compensate. The paper uses a multiple methods approach to gain a fuller understanding of couples’ responses pre and post the UK Great Recession and to explore the factors influencing couples’ decision-making process when experiencing a job loss. The paper is therefore a synthesis of findings produced by quantitative and qualitative elements of the same project and aims to explore where the findings from each methodological strand of the research can contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of household decision making and couple’s labour supply responses to job loss.

Using previously unexploited data on time scheduling in the employment and household contexts, we investigate the effect of flexible working on couples' coordination of their daily work time schedules in the UK. We consider three distinct dimensions of flexible working: flexibility of daily start and finish times (flexitime), flexibility of work times over the year (annualised hours), and generalised control of working hours. We find that in couples with flexitime there is greater spouse synchronization in daily working times by nearly one hour. The effect is driven by couples with dependent children. However, we find the effect in couples with children of any age (under 16), suggesting it does not stem from the childcare requirements of young children. Robustness checks indicate that flexitime is not endogenous, suggesting that an expansion of flexitime would increase couples' work time coordination. There is less evidence that broader control over working hours increases daily synchronous working time and no evidence that annualised hours increase synchronous time on a daily basis. The weaker relationships with daily synchronous time for these two flexibility measures are consistent with their broader scope (control over amount of hours as well as timing) and longer time span.

The herpesvirus family has many members that are human pathogens and make a significant contribution to morbidity and mortality associated with viral diseases. Based on criteria such as host cell specificity, oncogenicity, length of replication cycle, and genome arrangement, the herpesviruses have been divided into alpha-, beta-, and gammaherpesviruses (31). The alphaherpesviruses herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 and 2 latently infect nerve cells. HSV-1 is primarily associated with herpes labialis, and HSV-2 is associated with herpes genitalis, but both types have been associated with both diseases (28, 39, 47). In immunocompetent adults, these diseases often recur due to reactivation of the virus from the latent state. HSV infections of immunocompromised patients such as transplant and AIDS patients are often chronic and fatal. Current therapy for HSV disease consists of nucleoside analogs such as acyclovir (ACV) and valacyclovir, a prodrug of ACV, and pencyclovir (PCV) and its prodrug, famcyclovir. ACV and PCV are selectively phosphorylated by the viral thymidine kinase in HSV-infected cells, followed by further phosphorylation to the triphosphate by cellular kinases. Triphosphorylated ACV and PCV are both inhibitors of the viral DNA polymerase, and ACV also acts as a chain terminator when incorporated into the nascent viral DNA chain (4, 13). Drug resistance can occur in chronic infections, where replication is ineffectively curtailed by the immune system. Recently increasing numbers of drug-resistant HSV strains have been isolated from immunocompromised people. The mechanism of resistance of most ACV-resistant isolates is associated with thymidine kinase alterations, but some have mutations associated with the viral DNA polymerase (9, 10, 27). It is clear that alternative treatment options which have new mechanisms of action are needed. This will enable dual therapy and provide alternatives for patients with drug-resistant infections. The life cycle of herpesviruses is a highly regulated process (31). After entry of the virus into the cell, the nucleocapsid migrates to the nucleus, where the viral DNA is deposited and transcription of so-called immediate-early genes occurs. The resulting immediate-early proteins initiate transcription of early genes, some of which encode proteins from the viral DNA replication machinery. Viral DNA is then replicated in what is believed to be a rolling-circle mechanism, resulting in concatameric DNA. At approximately the same time, the assembly of viral procapsids commences in the nucleus. During the process of encapsidation, the progeny viral DNA is cleaved to monomeric forms, and in a closely coupled process, the monomeric DNA is packaged into these immature capsids. Encapsidated genomes then migrate out of the nucleus, acquire a lipid envelope containing viral glycoproteins, and leave the cell (15, 32). Each of these steps in the replication cycle, in theory, could be inhibited by small-molecule therapeutics. We have discovered a new class of compounds in our search for novel HSV inhibitors. We describe here two thiourea molecules that inhibit HSV through a novel mechanism. Instead of inhibiting the replication of viral DNA, we show that these compounds prevent the cleavage and packaging of viral DNA. Seven HSV-1 genes have been shown to be involved in the encapsidation process, ULs 6, 15, 17, 25, 28, 32, and 33 (1, 2, 3, 8, 20–22, 25, 26, 35, 41, 46, 48). When HSV viruses containing loss-of-function mutations in these encapsidation genes are used to infect cells, the viral progeny DNA fails to be packaged into capsids. Experiments with laboratory-generated mutants resistant to the compounds described here indicated that resistance was associated with mutations in the UL6 open reading frame. The UL6 product is a 75-kDa protein that is a component of capsids (24). UL6 deletion mutants are defective in both DNA packaging and cleavage (20, 24). The results presented here suggest that the encapsidation process in general, and the UL6 gene product in particular, are valid targets for antiherpesvirus chemotherapy.

Pit2 is the human receptor for amphotropic murine leukemia virus (A-MuLV); the related human protein Pit1 does not support A-MuLV entry. Interestingly, chimeric proteins in which either the N-terminal or the C-terminal part of Pit2 was replaced by the Pit1 sequence all retained A-MuLV receptor function. A possible interpretation of these observations is that Pit1 harbors sequences which can specify A-MuLV receptor function when presented in a protein context other than Pit1, e.g., in Pit1-Pit2 hybrids. We reasoned that such Pit1 sequences might be identified if presented in the Neurospora crassa protein Pho-4. This protein is distantly related to Pit1 and Pit2, predicted to have a similar membrane topology with five extracellular loops, and does not support A-MuLV entry. We show here that introduction of the Pit1-specific loop 2 sequence conferred A-MuLV receptor function upon Pho-4. Therefore, we conclude that (i) a functional A-MuLV receptor can be constructed by combining sequences from two proteins each lacking A-MuLV receptor function and that (ii) a Pit1 sequence can specify A-MuLV receptor function when presented in another protein context than that provided by Pit1 itself. Previous results indicated a role of loop 4 residues in A-MuLV entry, and the presence of a Pit2-specific loop 4 sequence was found here to confer A-MuLV receptor function upon Pho-4. Moreover, the introduction of a Pit1-specific loop 4 sequence, but not of a Pit2-specific loop 4 sequence, abolished the A-MuLV receptor function of a Pho-4 chimera harboring the Pit1-specific loop 2 sequence. Together, these data suggest that residues in both loop 2 and loop 4 play a role in A-MuLV receptor function. A-MuLV is, however, not dependent on the specific Pit2 loop 2 and Pit2 loop 4 sequences for entry; rather, the role played by loops 2 and 4 in A-MuLV entry can be fulfilled by several different combinations of loop 2 and loop 4 sequences. We predict that the residues in loops 2 and 4, identified in this study as specifying A-MuLV receptor function, are to be found among those not conserved among Pho-4, Pit1, and Pit2.

Several compounds that specifically inhibited replication of the H1 and H2 subtypes of influenza virus type A were identified by screening a chemical library for antiviral activity. In single-cycle infections, the compounds inhibited virus-specific protein synthesis when added before or immediately after infection but were ineffective when added 30 min later, suggesting that an uncoating step was blocked. Sequencing of hemagglutinin (HA) genes of several independent mutant viruses resistant to the compounds revealed single amino acid changes that clustered in the stem region of the HA trimer in and near the HA2 fusion peptide. One of the compounds, an N-substituted piperidine, could be docked in a pocket in this region by computer-assisted molecular modeling. This compound blocked the fusogenic activity of HA, as evidenced by its inhibition of low-pH-induced cell-cell fusion in infected cell monolayers. An analog which was more effective than the parent compound in inhibiting virus replication was synthesized. It was also more effective in blocking other manifestations of the low-pH-induced conformational change in HA, including virus inactivation, virus-induced hemolysis of erythrocytes, and susceptibility of the HA to proteolytic degradation. Both compounds inhibited viral protein synthesis and replication more effectively in cells infected with a virus mutated in its M2 protein than with wild-type virus. The possible functional relationship between M2 and HA suggested by these results is discussed.

CL387626 (4,4'-Bis[4,6-di[3-aminophenyl-N,N-bis(2-carbamoylethyl)-sulfon ilimino]-1,3,5-triazine-2-ylamino-bi-phenyl-2,2'-disulfonic acid, disodium salt), a compound synthesized by Wyeth-Ayerst Research Laboratories, was tested for its cytotoxicity and antiviral activity against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in tissue culture and in cotton rats. The median cell inhibitory (IC50) and median efficacious (EC50) concentrations of CL387626 against RSV in proliferating HEp2 or Vero tissue culture cells were determined to be 375 and 0.25 microg/ml, respectively, giving the compound an apparent selective index (S.I.) of 1500. This compound also exhibited uncommon antiviral activity against RSV in cotton rats. In multiple experiments, a single 30 mg/kg dose of CL387626 administered intranasally 4 or 5 days prior to virus challenge, significantly inhibited pulmonary replication of RSV compared to that seen in control animals inoculated similarly with placebo (i.e. water). In contrast to these results, most lots of CL387626 failed to significantly inhibit pulmonary RSV replication when administered utilizing therapeutic administration schedules. Although some cytotoxicity was noted in tissue culture assays, no overt toxic effects were noted in any test animal, including those inoculated with > 300 mg CL387626/kg, a dose approximately 150 times the apparent minimal efficacious dose (i.e. 1.9 mg/kg).

We examine how couples’ labour supply behaviour in the UK responds to a job loss by one partner, using the Labour Force Survey to compare the period of growth of 1995-2007 to the Great Recession and its aftermath of 2008-11. In single earner couples during the recession, both men and women substantially increased their job search activity following a partner’s job loss, while the increase in search during the boom was smaller (and non-existent for men). However, the increase in job search during recession did not appear to translate into more success in finding work for either men or women. Among dual earner couples, we find little evidence that individuals searched for alternative jobs or tried to increase their hours if their partner lost their job, except that women working part-time were more likely to start looking for another job. Both men and women were more likely to quit their job voluntarily if their partner lost their job, but the recession seems to have made people more cautious about voluntarily quitting their job. We find little evidence that people react in advance of job losses, suggesting that unemployment typically comes as a surprise.

This study sets out the potential costs and benefits of a move to a licensed, taxed and regulated cannabis market in England and Wales. It identifies at least 17 sources of social cost/benefit and gives indicative estimates of annual net external benefit for 13 of them. We stress the important role of product regulation as a means of controlling the chemical properties of the cannabis product. Research in neuroscience has demonstrated the harmful effects of one cannabis constituent (THC) and the protective role of another (CBD). Given the strong upward trend in THC and downward trend in CBD in the illegal cannabis market, the possibility of product regulation is a potential advantage of a licensed and regulated system of supply. Three alternative scenarios are used, based on different assumptions about the responsiveness of demand to the policy change. We find that net benefits are likely to be positive and modest in size, except in the case of highly responsive demand (where, however, there is a great deal of uncertainty associated with the estimates). By far the largest effect is projected to be the net budgetary improvement for government, from new tax revenue and reduced policing and criminal justice costs.

Cross-national differences in outcomes are often analysed using regression analysis of multilevel country datasets, examples of which include the ECHP, ESS, EU-SILC, EVS, ISSP, and SHARE. We review the regression methods applicable to this data structure, pointing out problems with the assessment of country-level factors that appear not to be widely appreciated, and illustrate our arguments using Monte-Carlo simulations and analysis of women’s employment probabilities and work hours using EU SILC data. With large sample sizes of individuals within each country but a small number of countries, analysts can reliably estimate individual-level effects within each country but estimates of parameters summarising country effects are likely to be unreliable. Multilevel (hierarchical) modelling methods are commonly used in this context but they are no panacea.

We provide a critical discussion of the concept drug-related crime and review methods for estimating its volume, emphasising the importance of an appropriately defined counterfactual. We then construct new estimates for England and Wales in 2003-6, combining data from the Arrestee Survey and Offending Crime and Justice Survey to ensure adequate coverage of prolific offenders/drug users and non- household residents, who are under-represented in household surveys. We find, first, that the volume of drug-induced acquisitive crime linked to heroin use is high, but there is no significant evidence of violent crime linked directly to heroin use. Second, we find no evidence at all of any drug-induced crime committed by people who use cannabis (but not heroin or cocaine). Third, we find evidence that supplying cannabis leads to a small volume of crime. The mechanisms linking cannabis supply to criminal activity merit further investigation.

Glvr1 encodes the human receptor for gibbon ape leukemia virus (GALV) and feline leukemia virus subgroup B (FeLV-B), while the related gene Glvr2 encodes the human receptor for amphotropic murine leukemia viruses (A-MLVs). The two proteins are 62% identical in their amino acid sequences and are predicted to have 10 transmembrane domains and five extracellular loops. A stretch of nine amino acids (region A) in the predicted fourth extracellular loop was previously shown to be critical for the function of Glvr1 as receptor for GALV and FeLV-B. Glvr1 and -2 show clusters of amino acid differences in several of their predicted extracellular loops, with the highest degree of divergence in region A. Chimeras were made between the two genes to further investigate the role of Glvr1 region A in defining receptor specificity for GALV and FeLV-B and to map which regions of Glvr2 control receptor specificity for A-MLVs. Region A from Glvr1 was sufficient to confer receptor specificity for GALV upon Glvr2, with the same chimera failing to act as a receptor for FeLV-B. However, introduction of additional N- or C-terminal Glvr1-encoding sequences in addition to Glvr1 region A-encoding sequences resulted in functional FeLV-B receptors. Therefore, FeLV-B is dependent on Glvr1 sequences outside region A for infectivity. The receptor specificity of Glvr2 for A-MLV could not be mapped to a single critical region; rather, N-terminal as well as C-terminal Glvr2-encoding sequences could confer specificity for A-MLV infection upon Glvr1. Surprisingly, though GALV/FeLV-B and A-MLV belong to different interference groups, some chimeras functioned as receptors for all three viruses.

MDK and PTN are two members of a family of heparin-binding cytokines thought to be involved in a number of developmental processes. The locations for these genes were determined in man and mouse using somatic cell hybrid analysis and interspecific backcross analysis. Human MDK was mapped to 11p13→p11. MDK in the mouse (Mdk) was mapped to a syntenic region of mouse Chromosome 2. A pseudogene of Mdk was mapped to mouse Chromosome 11. The closely related human gene PTN was mapped to a separate location on human chromosome region 7q22 →qter.

This analysis examines Innovation Panel Wave 3 (IP3) data concerning the collection of information on household wealth. We compare household savings and investment obtained from four different questionnaire designs against the UK Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS) and the original British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) protocol. Results suggest that an approach requiring each individual in the household to report on savings and a single individual within the household to report on investments provides consistently better data with little difference in administration burden over the current BHPS design. Therefore, this approach is recommended for Understanding Society Wave 4.

A number of 3′-fluoro-3′-deoxythymidine 5′-phosphonates and nucleoside 5′-phosphorofluoridates were prepared to study their ability to inhibit replication of HIV-1. Compounds, the 5′-phosphorofluor...

Expression of human GLVR1 in mouse cells confers susceptibility to infection by gibbon ape leukemia virus (GALV), while the normally expressed mouse Glvr-1 does not. Since human and murine GLVR1 proteins differ at 64 positions in their sequences, some of the residues differing between the two proteins are critical for infection. To identify these, a series of hybrids and in vitro-constructed mutants were tested for the ability to confer susceptibility to infection. The results indicated that human GLVR1 residues 550 to 551, located in a cluster of seven of the sites that differ between the human and mouse proteins, are the only residues differing between the two which must be in the human protein form to allow infection. Sequencing of a portion of GLVR1 from the rat (which is infectible) confirmed the importance of this cluster in that it contained the only notable differences between the rat and mouse proteins. This region, which also differs substantially between the rat and the human proteins, therefore exhibits a pronounced tendency for polymorphism.

A number of 3′-fluoro-3′-deoxythymidine 5′-phosphonates and nucleoside 5′-phosphorofluoridates were prepared to study their ability to inhibit replication of HIV-1. Compounds, the 5′-phosphorofluor...

Retrovirus receptors remain a largely unexplored group of proteins. Of the receptors which allow infection of human and murine cells by various retroviruses, only three have been identified at the molecular level. These receptors include CD4 for human immunodeficiency virus, Rec-1 for murine ecotropic virus, and GLVR1 for gibbon ape leukemia virus. These three proteins show no homology to one another at the DNA or protein level. Therefore, work to date has not shown any general relationship or structural theme shared by retroviral receptors. Genes for two of these receptors (CD4 and Rec-1) and several others which have not yet been cloned have been localized to specific chromosomes. In order to assess the relationship between GLVR1 and other retroviral receptors, we mapped the chromosome location of GLVR1 in human and mouse. GLVR1 was found to map to human chromosome 2q11-q14 by in situ hybridization and somatic-cell hybrid analysis. This location is distinct from those known for receptors for retroviruses infecting human cells. Glvr-1 was then mapped in the mouse by interspecies backcrosses and found to map to chromosome 2 in a region of linkage conservation with human chromosome 2. This mouse chromosome carries Rec-2, the likely receptor for M813, a retrovirus derived from a feral Asian mouse. These data raise the interesting possibility that Rec-2 and Glvr-1 are structurally related.

Understanding Society is a major new panel survey for the UK of 40,000 households containing around 100,000 individuals including children. Wave 1 of the main survey goes into the field in January 2009. Understanding Society includes an Innovation Panel of 1500 households for methodological testing in advance of the main survey going into field. A number of split sample experiments were carried at wave 1 of the Innovation Panel and an assessment of data quality issues across a range of measures were examined. The paper reports the results of both these aspects.

Women working full-time in the UK earn on average about 18% per hour less than men (EOC, 2005). Traditional labour economics has focussed on gender differences in human capital to explain the gender wage gap. Although differences in male and female human capital are recognized to derive from different household responsibilities over the life cycle, there is also a lesser-studied and more direct effect of household activities on wages. In a broad economic sense, household activities require effort, which decreases labour market productivity and thus wages. This paper first documents the relationship between housework and wages in Britain and applies a variety of econometric techniques to pin down the effect of housework on wages. It further explores what dimensions of housework are at the root of the relationship between housework and wages. After controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, we find a negative effect of housework on wages for married female workers, but not for single workers or married male workers. This differential effect across marital status suggests that the factors behind the relationship between housework and wages are the type and timing of housework activities as much as the actual time devoted to housework.

Using harmonised data from the European Union Household Panel, we analyse gender pay gaps by sector across the wages distribution for eleven countries. We find that the mean gender pay gap in the raw data typically hides large variations in the gap across the wages distribution. We use quantile regression techniques to control for the effects of individual and job characteristics at different points of the distribution, and calculate the part of the gap attributable to differing returns between men and women. We find that, first, gender pay gaps are typically bigger at the top of the wage distribution, a finding that is consistent with the existence of glass ceilings. Second, for some countries gender pay gaps are also bigger at the bottom of the wage distribution, a finding that is consistent with sticky floors. Third, the gender pay gap is typically higher at the top than the bottom end of the wage distribution, suggesting that glass ceilings are more prevalent than sticky floors. Fourth, the gender pay gap differs significantly across the public and the private sector wages distribution for each of our EU countries.

The effect of human cytomegalovirus infection on cellular DNA synthesis in human fibroblasts was measured by fluorometry and by incorporation of radiolabeled thymidine. The results show that although HCMV infection stimulates cellular DNA synthesis in both quiescent and serum-stimulated cells, radiolabeled thymidine is almost exclusively incorporated into viral DNA.