The great revenue gap between Western and non-Western states is a much more recent phenomenon than commonly thought, one that didn’t happen until the first half of the 20th century. Political scientists Alexander Lee and Jack Paine call it the 20th-century great revenue divergence.

In 2015, the two Rochester political scientists began assembling data to study the effects of colonialism on the ability of newly liberated states to collect revenues after independence.

Answering the question required information on former Western colonial powers as well as non-Western states, among them the former colonies. Lee, an associate professor in Rochester’s Department of Political Science, and Paine, now at Emory University, amassed a trove of data from 18 Western countries and 76 non-Western countries, with data points spanning the 19th to the 21st century.

What they found was so surprising that they worried they’d gotten it wrong. They had discovered a previously overlooked empirical pattern in state revenue collection.

In the resulting paper, “The Great Revenue Divergence,” published in the journal International Organization, the coauthors demonstrate that central governments in the West and the rest of the world did not differ dramatically in their ability to raise revenues, measured per capita, until the eve of the First World War. 

Read more about the great revenue gap.

(University of Rochester Medical Center image)

New research answers important questions about the viability of treatments that seek to replace diseased and aged cells in the central nervous system with healthy ones.

The findings have implications for a number of neurological and psychiatric disorders—including Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and schizophrenia—that have been linked to glia, a population of cells that support brain health and function.

“A broad variety of disorders we associate with neuronal loss now appear to be caused by dysfunctional glial cells,” says Steve Goldman, co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at Rochester and lead author of the new study in the journal Nature Biotechnology. “This makes these diseases attractive targets for stem and progenitor cell-based therapies.”

The new study describes the ability of human glial progenitor cells—precursor cells that can give rise to both astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, the two major types of glia—to compete with one another in the adult brain, and the competitive advantage of young and healthy cells over aged and diseased cells.

Learn more about the potential value of cell replacement therapies.

The University of Rochester Aging Institute (URAI) invites Rochester faculty members with interest in contributing to aging-related research, education, clinical care, and community engagement to become members.

Membership benefits Include:

• Eligibility to apply and receive funding for pilot projects or other activities that support the URAI mission
• Email subscription and access to our listserv to promote aging-related activities and opportunities
• Opportunities to contribute meaningfully to community engagement and diversity, equity, and inclusion goals of the URAI and the University
• Listing on the URAI website to facilitate networking and visibility

Learn more and apply.

Low or slow participant recruitment is a leading reason that clinical trials fail, and lack of awareness seems to be a big part of the problem. Researchers can now offer clinical trial opportunities directly to patients who may be eligible using MyChart. Patients now have a “research studies” page in their MyChart accounts where they can:

• Learn about research opportunities
• Indicate whether they want to be contacted about studies
• Indicate areas of research they are interested in
• Receive messages about studies for which they may be eligible
• See eRecord studies they are enrolled in

Using MyChart to offer clinical trial opportunities empowers patients to make their own decisions and takes the burden of communication off health care providers. Researchers interested in using MyChart to recruit study participants can learn more on the CTSI website.

Thursday, August 17, 3–4 p.m. EDT
Virtual

More research teams are beginning to use at-home tools and devices to conduct remote measurements. Research participants can use a variety of devices to capture data at home, including actigraphs, FitBits, smartwatches, and more.

This webinar from Rochester’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute will highlight real-world examples of remote monitoring and at-home data collection with electronic devices, with several Rochester researchers who have used these technologies in their studies discussing their experiences, successes, challenges, and lessons learned. Register to attend.