Nuffield Foundation

HLA-B*27 was one of the first HLA alleles associated with an autoimmune disease, i.e., axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and acute anterior uveitis (B27AAU), which cause joint and eye inflammation, respectively. Gastrointestinal inflammation has been suggested as a trigger of axSpA. We recently identified a bacterial peptide (YeiH) that can be presented by HLA-B*27 to expanded public T cell receptors in the joint in axSpA and the eye in B27AAU. While YeiH is present in enteric microbiota and pathogens, additional evidence that pathogenic T cells in HLA-B*27-associated autoimmunity may have had a prior antigenic encounter within the gastrointestinal tract remains lacking. Here, we analyzed ocular, synovial, and blood T cells in B27AAU and axSpA, showing that YeiH-specific CD8+ T cells express a mucosal gene set and surface proteins consistent with intestinal differentiation, including CD161, integrin α4β7, and CCR6. In addition, we found an expansion of YeiH-specific CD8+ T cells in axSpA and B27AAU blood compared with that from individuals acting as healthy controls, whereas influenza-specific CD8+ T cells were equivalent across groups. Finally, we demonstrated the dispensability of TRBV9 for antigen recognition. Collectively, our data suggest that, in HLA-B27-associated autoimmunity, early antigen exposure and differentiation of pathogenic CD8+ T cells may occur in enteric organs.

We study bias in judicial authorities' efforts to rehabilitate and reintegrate immigrant offenders into society. Our empirical strategy leverages a unique feature of the German criminal code: the optional application of rehabilitative juvenile criminal law or punitive general criminal law for 18-20-year-old offenders, based on a subjective assessment of offenders' psychological `maturity' by judges. Drawing on complete records of 792,000 court hearings between 2009 and 2018, we show that immigrant offenders are about ten percentage points less likely to be sentenced under juvenile law compared to natives convicted for the same crime. The immigrant-native gap in rehabilitative justice correlates with anti-immigrant sentiment across space and has spiked in recent years, suggesting a link between the salience of group-based identities and judicial decision-making. Our findings raise concerns about equal legal treatment and highlight that biases in the application of rehabilitative justice may contribute to higher recidivism rates among immigrant offenders.

Income-based measures of living standards do not typically take housing costs into account.

A large literature has studied the effects of socialization under authoritarianism on political attitudes. In this research note, we extend this literature by demonstrating striking gender disparities in the post-transition persistence of these effects. We study the case of authoritarian indoctrination in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) using a regression kink design for causal identification. First, we draw on a unique survey fielded right before reunification to show that education under authoritarianism substantially reduced support for democratic capitalism and reunification with the West. In the second step, we triangulate multiple contemporary data sources to trace the persistence of these effects over time. Three decades after the fall of the GDR, the attitudinal effects of authoritarian indoctrination persist only among men, but not women. Our results highlight considerable heterogeneity in the persistence of authoritarian legacies, raising critical questions about post-authoritarian "re-socialization" and gendered adaptability.

Why does immigration trigger xenophobic backlash in some regions but not in others? This study focuses on economic inequality as a moderator of backlash against immigration. Drawing on prior cross-national work, I argue that inequality fosters a sense of relative deprivation among natives, increases incentives for national identification, and thereby amplifies xenophobic backlash against immigration. I test this argument in Germany, which experienced an unprecedented influx of refugees starting in 2015. My empirical analysis combines complete tax registry data for about 40 million households with geocoded information on xenophobic hate crimes. Using a difference in differences approach, I find that the increase in hate crimes following the refugee inflow was significantly stronger in high-inequality localities. Drawing on geocoded survey data, I provide additional evidence that local economic inequality increases nationalism among natives. My findings shed new light on the connection between rising levels of economic inequality and xenophobia across Western democracies.

The objective of this study is to analyze the tourism spatial interaction that defines two scenarios, i.e., the actual one with the current high-speed rail (HSR) network, and the future one with an extension of the HSR network, considering as a case study the Capital region of China. The impact of HSR on the spatial distribution characteristics is investigated. The main outcome of this study is that the extension of the HSR network in the future scenario will significantly increase the total tourism spatial interaction and will reduce the spatial difference. What this paper adds to the current knowledge about HSR and tourism is that smaller cities, such as Tangshan, Zhangjiakou, and Chengde, connected via HSR to core cities will benefit the most from the HSR network’s operation. Those cities should take the HSR network as a development opportunity to enhance their attractiveness and strengthen their marketing to achieve sustainable tourism competitiveness. The study found that effects can also be registered on larger cities, but they are smaller. So, larger cities, such as Beijing and Tianjin, should reassess their attractiveness to the tourist market and take corresponding countermeasures. The findings of this study can be used by tourism management authorities to develop short-term and long-term plans.

In housing affordability levels and volatility, there could hardly be a greater contrast than between the UK and Germany. Differences in history, institutions and policies are explored in this paper. Residential housing supply has been far more expansionary in Germany and mortgage credit more tightly regulated. A sensibly regulated rental market and stable German house prices have combined to leave the rental sector with over half of tenures. Policy failures in the UK have resulted in widening intergenerational inequality, increased social exclusion, adversely affected productivity and growth and raised the risk of financial instability. Policy lessons are drawn for the UK, which go far beyond the remit of the immediately responsible Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Labour market disengagement among youths has lasting negative economic and social consequences, yet is poorly understood. We compared four types of work-related self-perceptions, as well as vulnerability to mental health and substance abuse problems, among youths not in education, employment or training (NEET) and among their peers. Participants were from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) longitudinal study, a nationally representative UK cohort of 2,232 twins born in 1994-1995. We measured commitment to work, job-search effort, professional/technical skills, 'soft' skills (e.g. teamwork, decision-making, communication), optimism about getting ahead, and mental health and substance use disorders at age 18. We also examined childhood mental health. At age 18, 11.6% of participants were NEET. NEET participants reported themselves as committed to work and searching for jobs with greater diligence than their non-NEET peers. However, they reported fewer 'soft' skills (B=-0.98, p<.001) and felt less optimistic about their likelihood of getting ahead in life (B=-2.41, p<.001). NEET youths also had higher rates of concurrent mental health and substance abuse problems, but these did not explain the relationship with work-related self-perceptions. Nearly 60% of NEET (vs. 35% of non-NEET) youths had already experienced ≥1 mental health problem in childhood/adolescence. Associations of NEET status with concurrent mental health problems were independent of pre-existing mental health vulnerability. Our findings indicate that while NEET is clearly an economic and mental health issue, it does not appear to be a motivation issue. Alongside skills, work-related self-perceptions and mental health problems may be targets for intervention and service provision among this high-risk population.