One of the Ureaplasma urealyticum pathogenicity factors is IgAl protease. IgAl protease activity was visualized by SDS-pAGE showing two fragments of digested heavy chain of IgAt with 35 and 32 kDa in sizes denoted as Fc and Fab, respectively.'The protease activity was only found in ureaplasma cells. We could not determine any activity in the supernatant after removing the cells by cenÛifugarton...

Fetal Malnutrition and Academic Success: Evidence from Muslim Immigrants in Denmark* This paper examines the impact of potential fetal malnutrition on the academic proficiency of Muslim students in Denmark. We account for the endogeneity of fetal malnutrition by using the exposure to the month of Ramadan during time in utero as a natural experiment, under the assumption that some Muslim women m...

Health and Health Behaviors during the Worst of Times: Evidence from the Great Recession While previous studies have shown that recessions are associated with better health outcomes and behaviors, the focus of these studies has been on the relatively milder recessions of the late 20th century. In this paper, we examine if the previously established counter-cyclical pattern in health and heath b...

The prevalence of low birth weight is an important aspect of public health which has been linked to increased risk of infant death, increased cost of care, and a range of later life outcomes. Using data from a new Irish cohort study, I document the relationship between birth weight and socioeconomic status. The association of maternal education with birth weight does not appear to be due to the...

In this paper we study the efficient allocation of health resources across individuals. We focus on the relation between health resources and income. In particular we determine the efficient level of the health care social safety net for the indigent. We assume that individuals have different life cycle profiles of productivity. Health care increases survival probability. We adopt the classical...

This paper examines health disparities in biomarkers among a representative sample of Indians aged 45 and older, using data from the pilot round of the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI). Hemoglobin level, a marker for anemia, is lower for respondents with no schooling (0.7 g/dL less in the adjusted model) compared to those with some formal education. There are also substantial state and ...

We propose a framework to understand the distribution of individual wellbeing and its change over time with an application to the U.S. elderly population. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, we estimate life-cycle dynamics and simulate individual outcome paths starting from age sixty. We use an expected utility framework and the simulated profiles to construct a measure of individu...

This paper investigates whether there is gender bias in the duration that children are breastfed in Africa. Given evidence that breastfeeding is negatively related to future fertility, we further investigate whether any part of the gender bias is due to son preference in fertility choice. We use identical methodology to Jayachandran and Kuziemko (2010), and compare our results on Africa to thei...

This paper presents new evidence on the role of subsidized contraceptives in influencing fertility behavior. It draws on two types of disruptions that affected the public supply of free contraceptives in the Philippines: a sharp reduction induced by the phase out of contraceptive donations to the country from an external donor coupled with a government policy that shirked public funding to fill...

Cardiovascular Consequences of Unfair Pay This paper investigates physiological responses to perceptions of unfair pay. In a simple principal agent experiment agents produce revenue by working on a tedious task. Principals decide how this revenue is allocated between themselves and their agents. In this environment unfairness can arise if an agent’s reward expectation is not met. Throughout the...