In the core protein-coding region of hepatitis C virus (HCV), evidence exists for both phylogenetically conserved RNA structures and a +1 alternative reading frame (ARF). To investigate its role in HCV infection, we introduced four stop codons into the ARF of a genotype 1a H77 molecular clone. The changes did not alter the core protein sequence, but were predicted to disrupt RNA secondary struc...

Of 13 different strains of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the inoculum used, only 1 persisted in human lymphocyte cell lines infected in vitro (N. Nakajima, M. Hijikata, H. Yoshikura, and Y. K. Shimizu, J. Virol. 70:3325-3329, 1996). To determine whether that particular strain (designated H1-2) has a tropism for lymphocytes in vivo, we sequenced hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) of the genome of HCV re...

In democracies, elections are the primary mechanism for making politicians act in voters’ interests, but voters are unable to prevent that some resources are diverted to political rents. With two levels of government, the rents are reduced if voters require higher bene…cial public expenditures for reelecting incumbents. Voters can also strengthen their power by holding politicians also liable f...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) research is hampered by the use of arbitrary representative isolates in cell culture and immunology. The most replicative isolate in vitro is a subtype 2a virus (JFH-1); however, genotype 1 is more prevalent worldwide and represents about 70% of infections in the United States, and genotypes differ from one another by 31% to 33% at the nucleotide level. For phylogenetic ...

This research examines how state governments cope with the cost pressures emanating from the Medicaid low-income health care program using a demand systems approach. We find states differentially respond to the rising costs of the elderly, disabled, and families. Our panel estimates over states are sensitive to including the full spectrum of policy responses, including other government spending...

Article history: Received 7 July 2014 Received in revised form 12 February 2015 Accepted 13 February 2015 Available online 24 February 2015 Central government bailouts of local governments are commonly viewed as a recipe for localfiscal indiscipline, as local governments learn that the center will come to the rescue in times of trouble. However, little is known about the consequences of bailout...

Tullock (2005, p. 160) notes that the perceived robust relationship between democracy and economic progress is due mostly to assumption, rather than analysis. Taking up Tullock’s challenge consider bet - ween other political forms, we re-assess relation-ship monarchy progress. Our analysis specifically focuses on possibility of a «monarchical» constitution creating insti-tutions within which, c...

We examine how state governments adjusted spending in response to the large temporary increase in federal grants under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). We concentrate our analysis on ARRA highway grants, which were especially likely to crowd out states’ own highway funding given the lack of matching requirements and according to past research on federal highway grants. Th...