Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium lacking hfq gene confers protective immunity against murine typhoid.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uday Shankar Allam

Full Text Available Salmonella enterica is an important enteric pathogen and its various serovars are involved in causing both systemic and intestinal diseases in humans and domestic animals. The emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of Salmonella leading to increased morbidity and mortality has further complicated its management. Live attenuated vaccines have been proven superior over killed or subunit vaccines due to their ability to induce protective immunity. Of the various strategies used for the generation of live attenuated vaccine strains, focus has gradually shifted towards manipulation of virulence regulator genes. Hfq is a RNA chaperon which mediates the binding of small RNAs to the mRNA and assists in post-transcriptional gene regulation in bacteria. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of the Salmonella Typhimurium Δhfq strain as a candidate for live oral vaccine in murine model of typhoid fever. Salmonella hfq deletion mutant is highly attenuated in cell culture and animal model implying a significant role of Hfq in bacterial virulence. Oral immunization with the Salmonella hfq deletion mutant efficiently protects mice against subsequent oral challenge with virulent strain of Salmonella Typhimurium. Moreover, protection was induced upon both multiple as well as single dose of immunizations. The vaccine strain appears to be safe for use in pregnant mice and the protection is mediated by the increase in the number of CD4(+ T lymphocytes upon vaccination. The levels of serum IgG and secretory-IgA in intestinal washes specific to lipopolysaccharide and outer membrane protein were significantly increased upon vaccination. Furthermore, hfq deletion mutant showed enhanced antigen presentation by dendritic cells compared to the wild type strain. Taken together, the studies in murine immunization model suggest that the Salmonella hfq deletion mutant can be a novel live oral vaccine candidate.

Cross-regulation by CrcZ RNA controls anoxic biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Science.gov (United States)

Pusic, Petra; Tata, Muralidhar; Wolfinger, Michael T.; Sonnleitner, Elisabeth; Häussler, Susanne; Bläsi, Udo

2016-12-01

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) can thrive in anaerobic biofilms in the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Here, we show that CrcZ is the most abundant PA14 RNA bound to the global regulator Hfq in anoxic biofilms grown in cystic fibrosis sputum medium. Hfq was crucial for anoxic biofilm formation. This observation complied with an RNAseq based transcriptome analysis and follow up studies that implicated Hfq in regulation of a central step preceding denitrification. CrcZ is known to act as a decoy that sequesters Hfq during relief of carbon catabolite repression, which in turn alleviates Hfq-mediated translational repression of catabolic genes. We therefore inferred that CrcZ indirectly impacts on biofilm formation by competing for Hfq. This hypothesis was supported by the findings that over-production of CrcZ mirrored the biofilm phenotype of the hfq deletion mutant, and that deletion of the crcZ gene augmented biofilm formation. To our knowledge, this is the first example where competition for Hfq by CrcZ cross-regulates an Hfq-dependent physiological process unrelated to carbon metabolism.

Host factor I, Hfq, binds to Escherichia coli ompA mRNA in a growth rate-dependent fashion and regulates its stability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vytvytska, O; Jakobsen, J S; Balcunaite, G

1998-01-01

RNA. In hfq mutant cells with a deficient Hfq gene product, the RNA-binding activity is missing, and analysis of the ompA mRNA showed that the growth-rate dependence of degradation is lost. Furthermore, the half-life of the ompA mRNA is prolonged in the mutant cells, irrespective of growth rate. Hfq has...

Expression, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of RNA-binding protein Hfq (YmaH) from Bacillus subtilis in complex with an RNA aptamer.

Science.gov (United States)

Baba, Seiki; Someya, Tatsuhiko; Kawai, Gota; Nakamura, Kouji; Kumasaka, Takashi

2010-05-01

The Hfq protein is a hexameric RNA-binding protein which regulates gene expression by binding to RNA under the influence of diverse environmental stresses. Its ring structure binds various types of RNA, including mRNA and sRNA. RNA-bound structures of Hfq from Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus have been revealed to have poly(A) RNA at the distal site and U-rich RNA at the proximal site, respectively. Here, crystals of a complex of the Bacillus subtilis Hfq protein with an A/G-repeat 7-mer RNA (Hfq-RNA) that were prepared using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion technique are reported. The type 1 Hfq-RNA crystals belonged to space group I422, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 123.70, c = 119.13 A, while the type 2 Hfq-RNA crystals belonged to space group F222, with unit-cell parameters a = 91.92, b = 92.50, c = 114.92 A. Diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 2.20 A from both crystal forms. The hexameric structure of the Hfq protein was clearly shown by self-rotation analysis.

Cyanobacteria contain a structural homologue of the Hfq protein with altered RNA binding properties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bøggild, Andreas; Overgaard, Martin; Valentin-Hansen, Poul

2009-01-01

Hfq proteins are common in many species of enterobacteria, where they participate in RNA folding and translational regulation through pairing of small RNAs and messenger RNAs. Hfq proteins share the distinctive Sm fold, and form ring-shaped structures similar to those of the Sm/Lsm proteins...... proteins from the cyanobacteria Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and Anabaena PCC 7120 at 1.3 and 2.3 A resolution, respectively, and show that they retain the classic Sm fold despite low sequence conservation. In addition, the intersubunit contacts and RNA-binding site are divergent, and we show biochemically...

Cyanobacteria contain a structural homologue of the Hfq protein with altered RNA-binding properties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bøggild, Andreas; Overgaard, Martin; Valentin-Hansen, Poul

2009-01-01

Hfq proteins are common in many species of enterobacteria, where they participate in RNA folding and translational regulation through pairing of small RNAs and messenger RNAs. Hfq proteins share the distinctive Sm fold, and form ring-shaped structures similar to those of the Sm/Lsm proteins...... proteins from the cyanobacteria Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and Anabaena PCC 7120 at 1.3 and 2.3 A resolution, respectively, and show that they retain the classic Sm fold despite low sequence conservation. In addition, the intersubunit contacts and RNA-binding site are divergent, and we show biochemically...

Structural characterization of the RNA chaperone Hfq from the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Herbaspirillum seropedicae SmR1.

Science.gov (United States)

Kadowaki, Marco Antonio Seiki; Iulek, Jorge; Barbosa, João Alexandre Ribeiro Gonçalves; Pedrosa, Fábio de Oliveira; de Souza, Emanuel Maltempi; Chubatsu, Leda Satie; Monteiro, Rose Adele; de Oliveira, Marco Aurélio Schüler; Steffens, Maria Berenice Reynaud

2012-02-01

The RNA chaperone Hfq is a homohexamer protein identified as an E. coli host factor involved in phage Qβ replication and it is an important posttranscriptional regulator of several types of RNA, affecting a plethora of bacterial functions. Although twenty Hfq crystal structures have already been reported in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), new insights into these protein structures can still be discussed. In this work, the structure of Hfq from the β-proteobacterium Herbaspirillum seropedicae, a diazotroph associated with economically important agricultural crops, was determined by X-ray crystallography and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Biochemical assays such as exclusion chromatography and RNA-binding by the electrophoretic shift assay (EMSA) confirmed that the purified protein is homogeneous and active. The crystal structure revealed a conserved Sm topology, composed of one N-terminal α-helix followed by five twisted β-strands, and a novel π-π stacking intra-subunit interaction of two histidine residues, absent in other Hfq proteins. Moreover, the calculated ab initio envelope based on small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data agreed with the Hfq crystal structure, suggesting that the protein has the same folding structure in solution. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reduced heme levels underlie the exponential growth defect of the Shewanella oneidensis hfq mutant.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher M Brennan

Full Text Available The RNA chaperone Hfq fulfills important roles in small regulatory RNA (sRNA function in many bacteria. Loss of Hfq in the dissimilatory metal reducing bacterium Shewanella oneidensis strain MR-1 results in slow exponential phase growth and a reduced terminal cell density at stationary phase. We have found that the exponential phase growth defect of the hfq mutant in LB is the result of reduced heme levels. Both heme levels and exponential phase growth of the hfq mutant can be completely restored by supplementing LB medium with 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA, the first committed intermediate synthesized during heme synthesis. Increasing expression of gtrA, which encodes the enzyme that catalyzes the first step in heme biosynthesis, also restores heme levels and exponential phase growth of the hfq mutant. Taken together, our data indicate that reduced heme levels are responsible for the exponential growth defect of the S. oneidensis hfq mutant in LB medium and suggest that the S. oneidensis hfq mutant is deficient in heme production at the 5-ALA synthesis step.

A role for the RNA chaperone Hfq in controlling adherent-invasive Escherichia coli colonization and virulence.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karina T Simonsen

Full Text Available Adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC has been linked with the onset and perpetuation of inflammatory bowel diseases. The AIEC strain LF82 was originally isolated from an ileal biopsy from a patient with Crohn's disease. The pathogenesis of LF82 results from its abnormal adherence to and subsequent invasion of the intestinal epithelium coupled with its ability to survive phagocytosis by macrophages once it has crossed the intestinal barrier. To gain further insight into AIEC pathogenesis we employed the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as an in vivo infection model. We demonstrate that AIEC strain LF82 forms a persistent infection in C. elegans, thereby reducing the host lifespan significantly. This host killing phenotype was associated with massive bacterial colonization of the nematode intestine and damage to the intestinal epithelial surface. C. elegans killing was independent of known LF82 virulence determinants but was abolished by deletion of the LF82 hfq gene, which encodes an RNA chaperone involved in mediating posttranscriptional gene regulation by small non-coding RNAs. This finding reveals that important aspects of LF82 pathogenesis are controlled at the posttranscriptional level by riboregulation. The role of Hfq in LF82 virulence was independent of its function in regulating RpoS and RpoE activity. Further, LF82Δhfq mutants were non-motile, impaired in cell invasion and highly sensitive to various chemical stress conditions, reinforcing the multifaceted function of Hfq in mediating bacterial adaptation. This study highlights the usefulness of simple non-mammalian infection systems for the identification and analysis of bacterial virulence factors.

Bacillus subtilis Hfq: A role in chemotaxis and motility

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2016-07-16

Jul 16, 2016 ... motility, thus assigning a new function for Hfq in B. subtilis. 1. Introduction. Hfq in ... to play a role in pathogenecity in mice, tolerance to osmotic and ethanol stress ...... in B. subtilis is characterized by events like surfactin pro- duction .... SM Cutting (New York: John Wiley and Sons Inc) pp 442–444. Nicolas P ...

Multiple Hfq-Crc target sites are required to impose catabolite repression on (methyl)phenol metabolism in Pseudomonas putida CF600.

Science.gov (United States)

Wirebrand, Lisa; Madhushani, Anjana W K; Irie, Yasuhiko; Shingler, Victoria

2018-01-01

The dmp-system encoded on the IncP-2 pVI150 plasmid of Pseudomonas putida CF600 confers the ability to assimilate (methyl)phenols. Regulation of the dmp-genes is subject to sophisticated control, which includes global regulatory input to subvert expression of the pathway in the presence of preferred carbon sources. Previously we have shown that in P. putida, translational inhibition exerted by the carbon repression control protein Crc operates hand-in-hand with the RNA chaperon protein Hfq to reduce translation of the DmpR regulator of the Dmp-pathway. Here, we show that Crc and Hfq co-target four additional sites to form riboprotein complexes within the proximity of the translational initiation sites of genes encoding the first two steps of the Dmp-pathway to mediate two-layered control in the face of selection of preferred substrates. Furthermore, we present evidence that Crc plays a hitherto unsuspected role in maintaining the pVI150 plasmid within a bacterial population, which has implications for (methyl)phenol degradation and a wide variety of other physiological processes encoded by the IncP-2 group of Pseudomonas-specific mega-plasmids. © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Structural and biochemical studies on ATP binding and hydrolysis by the Escherichia coli RNA chaperone Hfq.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hermann Hämmerle

Full Text Available In Escherichia coli the RNA chaperone Hfq is involved in riboregulation by assisting base-pairing between small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs and mRNA targets. Several structural and biochemical studies revealed RNA binding sites on either surface of the donut shaped Hfq-hexamer. Whereas sRNAs are believed to contact preferentially the YKH motifs present on the proximal site, poly(A(15 and ADP were shown to bind to tripartite binding motifs (ARE circularly positioned on the distal site. Hfq has been reported to bind and to hydrolyze ATP. Here, we present the crystal structure of a C-terminally truncated variant of E. coli Hfq (Hfq(65 in complex with ATP, showing that it binds to the distal R-sites. In addition, we revisited the reported ATPase activity of full length Hfq purified to homogeneity. At variance with previous reports, no ATPase activity was observed for Hfq. In addition, FRET assays neither indicated an impact of ATP on annealing of two model oligoribonucleotides nor did the presence of ATP induce strand displacement. Moreover, ATP did not lead to destabilization of binary and ternary Hfq-RNA complexes, unless a vast stoichiometric excess of ATP was used. Taken together, these studies strongly suggest that ATP is dispensable for and does not interfere with Hfq-mediated RNA transactions.

Expression, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of RNA-binding protein Hfq (YmaH) from Bacillus subtilis in complex with an RNA aptamer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baba, Seiki; Someya, Tatsuhiko; Kawai, Gota; Nakamura, Kouji; Kumasaka, Takashi

2010-01-01

The RNA-binding protein Hfq from B. subtilis was crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method in two crystal forms that belonged to space groups I422 and F222; diffraction data were collected to 2.2 Å resolution from both forms. The Hfq protein is a hexameric RNA-binding protein which regulates gene expression by binding to RNA under the influence of diverse environmental stresses. Its ring structure binds various types of RNA, including mRNA and sRNA. RNA-bound structures of Hfq from Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus have been revealed to have poly(A) RNA at the distal site and U-rich RNA at the proximal site, respectively. Here, crystals of a complex of the Bacillus subtilis Hfq protein with an A/G-repeat 7-mer RNA (Hfq–RNA) that were prepared using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion technique are reported. The type 1 Hfq–RNA crystals belonged to space group I422, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 123.70, c = 119.13 Å, while the type 2 Hfq–RNA crystals belonged to space group F222, with unit-cell parameters a = 91.92, b = 92.50, c = 114.92 Å. Diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 2.20 Å from both crystal forms. The hexameric structure of the Hfq protein was clearly shown by self-rotation analysis

Fluorescence reporters for Hfq oligomerization and RNA annealing

Science.gov (United States)

Panja, Subrata; Woodson, Sarah A.

2015-01-01

Fluorescence spectroscopy is a sensitive technique for detecting protein-protein, protein-RNA and RNA-RNA interactions, requiring only nanomolar concentrations of labeled components. Fluorescence anisotropy provides information about the assembly of multi-subunit proteins, while molecular beacons provide a sensitive and quantitative reporter for base pairing between complementary RNAs. Here we present a detailed protocol for labeling Hfq protein with cyanine 3-maleimide and dansyl chloride to study the protein oligomerization and RNA binding by semi-native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and fluorescence anisotropy. We also present a detailed protocol for measuring the rate of annealing between a molecular beacon and a target RNA in the presence of Hfq using a stopped-flow spectrometer. PMID:25579597

Effect of Crc and Hfq proteins on the transcription, processing, and stability of the Pseudomonas putida CrcZ sRNA.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández-Arranz, Sofía; Sánchez-Hevia, Dione; Rojo, Fernando; Moreno, Renata

2016-12-01

In Pseudomonas putida, the Hfq and Crc proteins regulate the expression of many genes in response to nutritional and environmental cues, by binding to mRNAs that bear specific target motifs and inhibiting their translation. The effect of these two proteins is antagonized by the CrcZ and CrcY small RNAs (sRNAs), the levels of which vary greatly according to growth conditions. The crcZ and crcY genes are transcribed from promoters PcrcZ and PcrcY, respectively, a process that relies on the CbrB transcriptional activator and the RpoN σ factor. Here we show that crcZ can also be transcribed from the promoter of the immediate upstream gene, cbrB, a weak constitutive promoter. The cbrB-crcZ transcript was processed to render a sRNA very similar in size to the CrcZ produced from promoter PcrcZ The processed sRNA, termed CrcZ*, was able to antagonize Hfq/Crc because, when provided in trans, it relieved the deregulated Hfq/Crc-dependent hyperrepressing phenotype of a ΔcrcZΔcrcY strain. CrcZ* may help in attaining basal levels of CrcZ/CrcZ* that are sufficient to protect the cell from an excessive Hfq/Crc-dependent repression. Since a functional sRNA can be produced from PcrcZ, an inducible strong promoter, or by cleavage of the cbrB-crcZ mRNA, crcZ can be considered a 3'-untranslated region of the cbrB-crcZ mRNA. In the absence of Hfq, the processed form of CrcZ was not observed. In addition, we show that Crc and Hfq increase CrcZ stability, which supports the idea that these proteins can form a complex with CrcZ and protect it from degradation by RNases. © 2016 Hernández-Arranz et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press for the RNA Society.

Glucose uptake in Azotobacter vinelandii occurs through a GluP transporter that is under the control of the CbrA/CbrB and Hfq-Crc systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Quiroz-Rocha, Elva; Moreno, Renata; Hernández-Ortíz, Armando; Fragoso-Jiménez, Juan Carlos; Muriel-Millán, Luis Felipe; Guzmán, Josefina; Espín, Guadalupe; Rojo, Fernando; Núñez, Cinthia

2017-04-12

Azotobacter vinelandii, a strict aerobic, nitrogen fixing bacterium in the Pseudomonadaceae family, exhibits a preferential use of acetate over glucose as a carbon source. In this study, we show that GluP (Avin04150), annotated as an H + -coupled glucose-galactose symporter, is the glucose transporter in A. vinelandii. This protein, which is widely distributed in bacteria and archaea, is uncommon in Pseudomonas species. We found that expression of gluP was under catabolite repression control thorugh the CbrA/CbrB and Crc/Hfq regulatory systems, which were functionally conserved between A. vinelandii and Pseudomonas species. While the histidine kinase CbrA was essential for glucose utilization, over-expression of the Crc protein arrested cell growth when glucose was the sole carbon source. Crc and Hfq proteins from either A. vinelandii or P. putida could form a stable complex with an RNA A-rich Hfq-binding motif present in the leader region of gluP mRNA. Moreover, in P. putida, the gluP A-rich Hfq-binding motif was functional and promoted translational inhibition of a lacZ reporter gene. The fact that gluP is not widely distributed in the Pseudomonas genus but is under control of the CbrA/CbrB and Crc/Hfq systems demonstrates the relevance of these systems in regulating metabolism in the Pseudomonadaceae family.

Characterization of an Hfq dependent antisense sRNA in the Gram-positive human pathogen Listeria monocytogenes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jesper Sejrup; Lei Kristensen, Lisbeth; Hanghøj Chrisitansen, Mie

between sRNA and target mRNA rely on the RNA chaperone Hfq. Hfq is a ubiquitous protein found in almost all genres of bacterial life. However, so far its role as an RNA chaperone has only been described in Gram-negative species such as Escherichia coli and Salmonella (Vogel, J. 2009). We previously...... identified several Hfq-binding sRNAs in the Gram-positive human pathogen L. monocytogenes (Christiansen et al 2006). Through bioinformatics, we have identified a number of candidate targets for one of these sRNAs (LhrA). Here, we present the characterization of one of these targets. Our results suggest...

Structural and dynamic properties of the C-terminal region of the Escherichia coli RNA chaperone Hfq: integrative experimental and computational studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Bin; Wang, Weiwei; Zhang, Jiahai; Gong, Qingguo; Shi, Yunyu; Wu, Jihui; Zhang, Zhiyong

2017-08-09

In Escherichia coli, hexameric Hfq is an important RNA chaperone that facilitates small RNA-mediated post-transcriptional regulation. The Hfq monomer consists of an evolutionarily conserved Sm domain (residues 1-65) and a flexible C-terminal region (residues 66-102). It has been recognized that the existence of the C-terminal region is important for the function of Hfq, but its detailed structural and dynamic properties remain elusive due to its disordered nature. In this work, using integrative experimental techniques, such as nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering, as well as multi-scale computational simulations, new insights into the structure and dynamics of the C-terminal region in the context of the Hfq hexamer are provided. Although the C-terminal region is intrinsically disordered, some residues (83-86) are motionally restricted. The hexameric core may affect the secondary structure propensity of the C-terminal region, due to transient interactions between them. The residues at the rim and the proximal side of the core have significantly more transient contacts with the C-terminal region than those residues at the distal side, which may facilitate the function of the C-terminal region in the release of double-stranded RNAs and the cycling of small non-coding RNAs. Structure ensembles constructed by fitting the experimental data also support that the C-terminal region prefers to locate at the proximal side. From multi-scale simulations, we propose that the C-terminal region may play a dual role of steric effect (especially at the proximal side) and recruitment (at the both sides) in the binding process of RNA substrates. Interestingly, we have found that these motionally restricted residues may serve as important binding sites for the incoming RNAs that is probably driven by favorable electrostatic interactions. These integrative studies may aid in our understanding of the functional role of the C-terminal region of Hfq.

The stationary phase sigma factor, RpoS, regulates the production of a carbapenem antibiotic, a bioactive prodigiosin and virulence in the enterobacterial pathogen Serratia sp. ATCC 39006.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilf, Nabil M; Salmond, George P C

2012-03-01

Serratia sp. ATCC 39006 (S39006) is a Gram-negative bacterium that is virulent in plant (potato) and invertebrate animal (Caenorhabditis elegans) models. It produces two secondary metabolite antibiotics, a prodigiosin and a carbapenem, and the exoenzymes pectate lyase and cellulase. We showed previously that deletion of the RNA chaperone Hfq abolished antibiotic production and attenuated virulence in both animal and plant hosts. Hfq and dependent small RNAs (sRNAs) are known to regulate the post-transcriptional expression of rpoS, which encodes σ(S), the stationary phase sigma factor subunit of RNA polymerase. An S39006 hfq deletion mutant showed decreased transcript levels of rpoS. Therefore, in this study we investigated whether the phenotypes regulated by Hfq were mediated through its control of rpoS. Whereas loss of Hfq abolished prodigiosin and carbapenem production and attenuated virulence in both C. elegans and potato, characterization of an S39006 rpoS mutant showed unexpectedly elevated prodigiosin and carbapenem production. Furthermore, the rpoS mutant exhibited attenuated animal pathogenesis, but not plant pathogenesis. Additionally, a homologue of the Hfq-dependent sRNA, RprA, was identified and shown to regulate prodigiosin production in a manner consistent with its role in positively regulating translation of rpoS mRNA. Combined, these results demonstrate that Hfq regulation of secondary metabolism and plant pathogenesis is independent of RpoS and establishes RpoS and RprA as regulators of antibiotic production.

Investigation of interfacial heat transfer mechanism for 7075-T6 aluminum alloy in HFQ hot forming process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ying, Liang; Gao, Tianhan; Dai, Minghua; Hu, Ping

2017-01-01

Highlights: • The transient IHTC between 7075 alloy and die in HFQ process is investigated. • The accuracy of IHTC calculated by Beck and heat balance method is compared. • The relationship between IHTC and process parameter of 7075 alloy is studied. • The transient IHTC law is verified by U-type HFQ forming experiment. - Abstract: The IHTC (Interfacial-Heat-Transfer-Coefficient) between aluminum alloy and die during HFQ (Heat-Forming-Quenching) process is an important thermal parameter to reflect the heat transfer efficiency. In the present work, the instantaneous heat transfer law for high strength 7075-T6 alloy during HFQ process based on cylindrical-die model was investigated. The accuracy of IHTC calculated by Beck’s non-linear estimation method (Beck’s method) and heat balance method (HBM) were compared, and instantaneous IHTC of 7075-T6 alloy was acquired in experiment and analyzed in consideration of different contact pressure, surface roughness and lubricate conditions. Furthermore, the obtained IHTC was applied to the simulation process of typical U-type experimental model in order to validate the universality of heat transfer law. The result shows that the average IHTC goes near to 3300 W/m"2·K when pressure is above 80 MPa; Surface roughness can also affect the IHTC in HFQ process, but the effect mechanism is different from the boron steel in hot stamping process. The average IHTC decreases sharply when surface roughness increases in the range of 0.570–0.836 μm, the value is from 3453 W/m"2·K to 2001 W/m"2·K under 80 MPa. Furthermore, surface lubrication can promote heat transfer efficiency and increase IHTC value when contact pressure is relatively high.

Deep sequencing of Salmonella RNA associated with heterologous Hfq proteins in vivo reveals small RNAs as a major target class and identifies RNA processing phenotypes.

Science.gov (United States)

Sittka, Alexandra; Sharma, Cynthia M; Rolle, Katarzyna; Vogel, Jörg

2009-01-01

The bacterial Sm-like protein, Hfq, is a key factor for the stability and function of small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) in Escherichia coli. Homologues of this protein have been predicted in many distantly related organisms yet their functional conservation as sRNA-binding proteins has not entirely been clear. To address this, we expressed in Salmonella the Hfq proteins of two eubacteria (Neisseria meningitides, Aquifex aeolicus) and an archaeon (Methanocaldococcus jannaschii), and analyzed the associated RNA by deep sequencing. This in vivo approach identified endogenous Salmonella sRNAs as a major target of the foreign Hfq proteins. New Salmonella sRNA species were also identified, and some of these accumulated specifically in the presence of a foreign Hfq protein. In addition, we observed specific RNA processing defects, e.g., suppression of precursor processing of SraH sRNA by Methanocaldococcus Hfq, or aberrant accumulation of extracytoplasmic target mRNAs of the Salmonella GcvB, MicA or RybB sRNAs. Taken together, our study provides evidence of a conserved inherent sRNA-binding property of Hfq, which may facilitate the lateral transmission of regulatory sRNAs among distantly related species. It also suggests that the expression of heterologous RNA-binding proteins combined with deep sequencing analysis of RNA ligands can be used as a molecular tool to dissect individual steps of RNA metabolism in vivo.

The RNA Chaperone Hfq Is Required for Virulence of Bordetella pertussis

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Bíbová, Ilona; Škopová, Karolína; Mašín, Jiří; Černý, Ondřej; Hot, D.; Šebo, Peter; Večerek, Branislav

2013-01-01

Roč. 81, č. 11 (2013), s. 4081-4090 ISSN 0019-9567 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP302/11/1940; GA ČR GAP302/12/0460 Institutional support: RVO:61388971 Keywords : ADENYLATE-CYCLASE TOXIN * ISLET-ACTIVATING PROTEIN * ESCHERICHIA-COLI HFQ Subject RIV: EC - Immunology Impact factor: 4.156, year: 2013

Lack of the RNA chaperone Hfq attenuates pathogenicity of several Escherichia coli pathotypes towards Caenorhabditis elegans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bojer, Martin Saxtorph; Jakobsen, Henrik; Struve, Carsten

2012-01-01

as a model for virulence characterization and screening for novel antimicrobial entities. Several E. coli human pathotypes are also pathogenic towards C. elegans, and we show here that lack of the RNA chaperone Hfq significantly reduces pathogenicity of VTEC, EAEC, and UPEC in the nematode model. Thus, Hfq...... is intrinsically essential to pathogenic E. coli for survival and virulence exerted in the C. elegans host.......Escherichia coli is an important agent of Gram-negative bacterial infections worldwide, being one of the leading causes of diarrhoea and urinary tract infections. Strategies to understand pathogenesis and develop therapeutic compounds include the use of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans...

An Hfq-like protein in archaea: crystal structure and functional characterization of the Sm protein from Methanococcus jannaschii

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jesper S; Bøggild, Andreas; Andersen, Christian B F

2007-01-01

The Sm and Sm-like proteins are conserved in all three domains of life and have emerged as important players in many different RNA-processing reactions. Their proposed role is to mediate RNA-RNA and/or RNA-protein interactions. In marked contrast to eukaryotes, bacteria appear to contain only one...... diameter of the archaeal Hfq hexamer is significantly smaller than its bacterial counterparts. Functional analysis reveals that Escherichia coli and M. jannaschii Hfqs display very similar biochemical and biological properties. It thus appears that the archaeal and bacterial Hfq proteins are largely...

An Hfq-like protein in archaea: structural and functional characterization of the Sm protein from Methanococcus jannaschii

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jesper Sejrup; Andreas, Bøggild; Nielsen, Gorm

The Sm and Sm-like proteins are conserved in all three domains of life and has emerged as important players in many RNA-processing events. Their proposed role is to mediate RNA-RNA and/or RNA-protein interactions. In marked contrast to eukaryotes, bacteria appear to harbour only a single distinct......-helix the overall diameter of the archaeal Hfq is significantly smaller than its bacterial counterparts. Functional analysis reveals that E. coli and M. jannaschii Hfqs display very similar biochemical and biological properties. It thus appears that the archaeal and bacterial Hfq proteins are largely functionally...

Low Fluid Shear Culture of Staphylococcus Aureus Represses hfq Expression and Induces an Attachment-Independent Biofilm Phenotype

Science.gov (United States)

Ott, C. Mark; Castro, S. L.; Nickerson, C. A.; Nelman-Gonzalez, M.

2011-01-01

Background: The opportunistic pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus, experiences fluctuations in fluid shear during infection and colonization of a human host. Colonization frequently occurs at mucus membrane sites such as in the gastrointestinal tract where the bacterium may experience low levels of fluid shear. The response of S. aureus to low fluid shear remains unclear. Methods: S. aureus was cultured to stationary phase using Rotating-Wall Vessel (RWV) bioreactors which produce a physiologically relevant low fluid shear environment. The bacterial aggregates that developed in the RWV were evaluated by electron microscopy as well as for antibiotic resistance and other virulence-associated stressors. Genetic expression profiles for the low-shear cultured S. aureus were determined by microarray analysis and quantitative real-time PCR. Results: Planktonic S. aureus cultures in the low-shear environment formed aggregates completely encased in high amounts of extracellular polymeric substances. In addition, these aggregates demonstrated increased antibiotic resistance indicating attachment-independent biofilm formation. Carotenoid production in the low-shear cultured S. aureus was significantly decreased, and these cultures displayed an increased susceptibility to oxidative stress and killing by whole blood. The hfq gene, associated with low-shear growth in Gram negative organisms, was also found to be down-regulated in S. aureus. Conclusions: Collectively, this data suggests that S. aureus decreases virulence characteristics in favor of a biofilm-dwelling colonization phenotype in response to a low fluid shear environment. Furthermore, the identification of an Hfq response to low-shear culture in S. aureus, in addition to the previously reported responses in Gram negative organisms, strongly suggests an evolutionarily conserved response to mechanical stimuli among structurally diverse prokaryotes.

Quick change: post-transcriptional regulation in Pseudomonas.

Science.gov (United States)

Grenga, Lucia; Little, Richard H; Malone, Jacob G

2017-08-01

Pseudomonas species have evolved dynamic and intricate regulatory networks to fine-tune gene expression, with complex regulation occurring at every stage in the processing of genetic information. This approach enables Pseudomonas to generate precise individual responses to the environment in order to improve their fitness and resource economy. The weak correlations we observe between RNA and protein abundance highlight the significant regulatory contribution of a series of intersecting post-transcriptional pathways, influencing mRNA stability, translational activity and ribosome function, to Pseudomonas environmental responses. This review examines our current understanding of three major post-transcriptional regulatory systems in Pseudomonas spp.; Gac/Rsm, Hfq and RimK, and presents an overview of new research frontiers, emerging genome-wide methodologies, and their potential for the study of global regulatory responses in Pseudomonas. © FEMS 2017.

The Crc protein participates in down-regulation of the Lon gene to promote rhamnolipid production and rhl quorum sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Nana; Ding, Shuting; Chen, Feifei; Zhang, Xue; Xia, Yongjie; Di, Hongxia; Cao, Qiao; Deng, Xin; Wu, Min; Wong, Catherine C L; Tian, Xiao-Xu; Yang, Cai-Guang; Zhao, Jing; Lan, Lefu

2015-05-01

Rhamnolipid acts as a virulence factor during Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Here, we show that deletion of the catabolite repression control (crc) gene in P. aeruginosa leads to a rhamnolipid-negative phenotype. This effect is mediated by the down-regulation of rhl quorum sensing (QS). We discover that a disruption of the gene encoding the Lon protease entirely offsets the effect of crc deletion on the production of both rhamnolipid and rhl QS signal C4-HSL. Crc is unable to bind lon mRNA in vitro in the absence of the RNA chaperon Hfq, while Crc contributes to Hfq-mediated repression of the lon gene expression at a posttranscriptional level. Deletion of crc, which results in up-regulation of lon, significantly reduces the in vivo stability and abundance of the RhlI protein that synthesizes C4-HSL, causing the attenuation of rhl QS. Lon is also capable of degrading the RhlI protein in vitro. In addition, constitutive expression of rhlI suppresses the defects of the crc deletion mutant in rhamnolipid, C4-HSL and virulence on lettuce leaves. This study therefore uncovers a novel posttranscriptional regulatory cascade, Crc-Hfq/Lon/RhlI, for the regulation of rhamnolipid production and rhl QS in P. aeruginosa. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Transcriptional profiling of Bordetella pertussis reveals requirement of RNA chaperone Hfq for Type III secretion system functionality

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Bíbová, Ilona; Hot, D.; Keidel, Kristina; Amman, F.; Slupek, S.; Černý, Ondřej; Gross, R.; Večerek, Branislav

2015-01-01

Roč. 12, č. 2 (2015), s. 175-185 ISSN 1547-6286 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP302/11/1940; GA MŠk(CZ) EE2.3.20.0055; GA MŠk(CZ) EE2.3.30.0003; GA MŠk(CZ) 7AMB14AR028; GA MŠk(CZ) ED1.1.00/02.0109 Institutional support: RVO:61388971 Keywords : Bsp22 * Hfq * infection Subject RIV: CE - Biochemistry Impact factor: 4.076, year: 2015

Overexpression of an Outer Membrane Protein Associated with Decreased Susceptibility to Carbapenems in Proteus mirabilis

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Yi-Lin; Wang, Min-Cheng; Hsueh, Po-Ren; Liu, Ming-Che; Hu, Rouh-Mei; Wu, Yue-Jin; Liaw, Shwu-Jen

2015-01-01

Proteus mirabilis isolates commonly have decreased susceptibility to imipenem. Previously, we found P. mirabilis hfq mutant was more resistant to imipenem and an outer membrane protein (OMP) could be involved. Therefore, we investigated the role of this OMP in carbapenem susceptibility. By SDS-PAGE we found this OMP (named ImpR) was increased in hfq mutant and LC-MS/MS revealed it to be the homologue of Salmonella YbfM, which is a porin for chitobiose and subject to MicM (a small RNA) regulation. We demonstrated that ImpR overexpression resulted in increased carbapenem MICs in the laboratory strain and clinical isolates. Chitobiose induced expression of chb (a chitobiose utilization operon). Real-time RT-PCR and SDS-PAGE were performed to elucidate the relationship of hfq, impR, chb and MicM in P. mirabilis. We found MicM RNA was decreased in hfq mutant and chbBC-intergenic region (chbBC-IGR) overexpression strain (chbIGRov), while impR mRNA was increased in hfq mutant, micM mutant and chbIGRov strain. In addition, mutation of hfq or micM and overexpression of chbBC-IGR increased ImpR protein level. Accordingly, chitobiose made wild-type have higher levels of ImpR protein and are more resistant to carbapenems. Hfq- and MicM-complemented strains restored wild-type MICs. Mutation of both impR and hfq eliminated the increase in carbapenem MICs observed in hfq mutant and ImpR-complementation of hfq/impR double mutant resulted in MICs as hfq mutant, indicating that the ImpR-dependent decreased carbapenem susceptibility of hfq mutant. These indicate MicM was antisense to impR mRNA and was negatively-regulated by chbBC-IGR. Together, overexpression of ImpR contributed to the decreased carbapenem susceptibility in P. mirabilis. PMID:25756370

75 FR 75904 - Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations; Terrorism Sanctions Regulations; Foreign Terrorist...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-07

... Terrorism Sanctions Regulations; Terrorism Sanctions Regulations; Foreign Terrorist Organizations Sanctions... Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') of the U.S. Department of the Treasury is amending the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations (``GTSR'') and the Terrorism Sanctions Regulations (``TSR'') to expand the scope of...

A small RNA controls expression of the chitinase ChiA in Listeria monocytogenes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jesper S; Larsen, Marianne Halberg; Lillebæk, Eva Maria Sternkopf

2011-01-01

role of LhrA in L. monocytogenes. To this end, we determined the effects of LhrA on global-wide gene expression. We observed that nearly 300 genes in L. monocytogenes are either positively or negatively affected by LhrA. Among these genes, we identified lmo0302 and chiA as direct targets of LhrA, thus...... establishing LhrA as a multiple target regulator. Lmo0302 encodes a hypothetical protein with no known function, whereas chiA encodes one of two chitinases present in L. monocytogenes. We show here that LhrA acts as a post-transcriptional regulator of lmo0302 and chiA by interfering with ribosome recruitment......, and we provide evidence that both LhrA and Hfq act to down-regulate the expression of lmo0302 and chiA. Furthermore, in vitro binding experiments show that Hfq stimulates the base pairing of LhrA to chiA mRNA. Finally, we demonstrate that LhrA has a negative effect on the chitinolytic activity of L...

USA IN THE EMERGING SYSTEM OF GLOBAL FINANCIAL REGULATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. K. Kulakova

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In the globalizing world of fi nancial and economic interdependence, a polycentric, multi-level, and hierarchical system of global financial regulation is emerging. The article highlights two vectors of recent development in international fi nancial regulation: the rise of cooperation through the mechanisms of the Group of Twenty (G-20 on the one hand, and the efforts to maintain the US leading role in global fi nance, on the other hand. In the circumstances of the global fi nancial crisis of 2008, the G-20 countries initiated an international reform of fi nancial regulation. According to G-20 decisions, international standardsetting organizations developed transnational regulatory regimes in the fi elds of banking, derivatives and bankruptcy resolution, and the states now implement these regimes in their jurisdictions. The so-called “soft law system”, which is not legally binding, allows the states to sustain national sovereignty in their fi nancial policy. The United States play a leading role in the international fi nancial reform, as well as in the shaping of the global fi nancial regulation system. The American regulators push for extraterritorial application of the US norms and take other unilateral actions on the international arena. The article also touches upon legitimacy problems of the emerging system of global fi nancial regulation. The most important constrains are the excessive infl uence of the fi nancial industry (“regulatory capture”, the weakness of civil society participation, and also the fact that for the rest of the world the American norms lack legitimacy, as they are adopted by regulators assigned by offi cials elected by population of a foreign territory.

Dissecting specific and global transcriptional regulation of bacterial gene expression

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gerosa, Luca; Kochanowski, Karl; Heinemann, Matthias; Sauer, Uwe

Gene expression is regulated by specific transcriptional circuits but also by the global expression machinery as a function of growth. Simultaneous specific and global regulation thus constitutes an additional-but often neglected-layer of complexity in gene expression. Here, we develop an

Intrinsic limits to gene regulation by global crosstalk

Science.gov (United States)

Friedlander, Tamar; Prizak, Roshan; Guet, Călin C.; Barton, Nicholas H.; Tkačik, Gašper

2016-01-01

Gene regulation relies on the specificity of transcription factor (TF)–DNA interactions. Limited specificity may lead to crosstalk: a regulatory state in which a gene is either incorrectly activated due to noncognate TF–DNA interactions or remains erroneously inactive. As each TF can have numerous interactions with noncognate cis-regulatory elements, crosstalk is inherently a global problem, yet has previously not been studied as such. We construct a theoretical framework to analyse the effects of global crosstalk on gene regulation. We find that crosstalk presents a significant challenge for organisms with low-specificity TFs, such as metazoans. Crosstalk is not easily mitigated by known regulatory schemes acting at equilibrium, including variants of cooperativity and combinatorial regulation. Our results suggest that crosstalk imposes a previously unexplored global constraint on the functioning and evolution of regulatory networks, which is qualitatively distinct from the known constraints that act at the level of individual gene regulatory elements. PMID:27489144

Global approaches to regulating electronic cigarettes

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, Ryan David; Awopegba, Ayodeji; De León, Elaine; Cohen, Joanna E

2017-01-01

Objectives Classify and describe the policy approaches used by countries to regulate e-cigarettes. Methods National policies regulating e-cigarettes were identified by (1) conducting web searches on Ministry of Health websites, and (2) broad web searches. The mechanisms used to regulate e-cigarettes were classified as new/amended laws, or existing laws. The policy domains identified include restrictions or prohibitions on product: sale, manufacturing, importation, distribution, use, product design including e-liquid ingredients, advertising/promotion/sponsorship, trademarks, and regulation requiring: taxation, health warning labels and child-safety standards. The classification of the policy was reviewed by a country expert. Results The search identified 68 countries that regulate e-cigarettes: 22 countries regulate e-cigarettes using existing regulations; 25 countries enacted new policies to regulate e-cigarettes; 7 countries made amendments to existing legislation; 14 countries use a combination of new/amended and existing regulation. Common policies include a minimum-age-of-purchase, indoor-use (vape-free public places) bans and marketing restrictions. Few countries are applying a tax to e-cigarettes. Conclusions A range of regulatory approaches are being applied to e-cigarettes globally; many countries regulate e-cigarettes using legislation not written for e-cigarettes. PMID:27903958

Translational regulation of gene expression by an anaerobically induced small non-coding RNA in Escherichia coli

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boysen, Anders; Møller-Jensen, Jakob; Kallipolitis, Birgitte H.

2010-01-01

Small non-coding RNAs (sRNA) have emerged as important elements of gene regulatory circuits. In enterobacteria such as Escherichia coli and Salmonella many of these sRNAs interact with the Hfq protein, an RNA chaperone similar to mammalian Sm-like proteins and act in the post...... that adaptation to anaerobic growth involves the action of a small regulatory RNA....... of at least one sRNA regulator. Here, we extend this view by the identification and characterization of a highly conserved, anaerobically induced small sRNA in E. coli, whose expression is strictly dependent on the anaerobic transcriptional fumarate and nitrate reductase regulator (FNR). The sRNA, named Fnr...

Global pharmaceutical regulation: the challenge of integration for developing states.

Science.gov (United States)

Pezzola, Anthony; Sweet, Cassandra M

2016-12-20

This paper has set out to map the state of pharmaceutical regulation in the developing world through the construction of cross-national indices drawing from World Health Organization data. The last two decades have been characterized by deep changes for the pharmaceutical sector, including the complete transformation of intellectual property systems at the behest of the World Trade Organization and the consolidation of global active ingredient suppliers in China and India. Although the rules for ownership of medicine have been set and globally implemented, we know surprisingly little about how the standards for market entrance and regulation of pharmaceutical products have changed at the national level. How standardized are national pharmaceutical market systems? Do we find homogeneity or variation across the developing world? Are their patterns for understanding why some countries have moved closer to one global norm for pharmaceutical regulation and others have developed hybrid models for oversight of this sector? Access to medicine is a core tool in public health. This paper gauges the levels of standards in public and private generics markets for developing countries building on national-level pharmaceutical market surveys for 78 countries to offer three indicators of market oversight: State Regulatory Infrastructure, Monitoring the Private Market and Public Quality Control. Identifying the different variables that affect a state's institutional capacity and current standard level offers new insights to the state of pharmaceuticals in the developing world. It is notable that there are very few (none at the time of this paper) studies that map out the new global terrain for pharmaceutical regulation in the post-TRIPS context. This paper uses item response theory to develop original indicators of pharmaceutical regulation. We find remarkable resistance to the implementation of global pharmaceutical norms for quality standards in developing states and in

Local and global responses in complex gene regulation networks

Science.gov (United States)

Tsuchiya, Masa; Selvarajoo, Kumar; Piras, Vincent; Tomita, Masaru; Giuliani, Alessandro

2009-04-01

An exacerbated sensitivity to apparently minor stimuli and a general resilience of the entire system stay together side-by-side in biological systems. This apparent paradox can be explained by the consideration of biological systems as very strongly interconnected network systems. Some nodes of these networks, thanks to their peculiar location in the network architecture, are responsible for the sensitivity aspects, while the large degree of interconnection is at the basis of the resilience properties of the system. One relevant feature of the high degree of connectivity of gene regulation networks is the emergence of collective ordered phenomena influencing the entire genome and not only a specific portion of transcripts. The great majority of existing gene regulation models give the impression of purely local ‘hard-wired’ mechanisms disregarding the emergence of global ordered behavior encompassing thousands of genes while the general, genome wide, aspects are less known. Here we address, on a data analysis perspective, the discrimination between local and global scale regulations, this goal was achieved by means of the examination of two biological systems: innate immune response in macrophages and oscillating growth dynamics in yeast. Our aim was to reconcile the ‘hard-wired’ local view of gene regulation with a global continuous and scalable one borrowed from statistical physics. This reconciliation is based on the network paradigm in which the local ‘hard-wired’ activities correspond to the activation of specific crucial nodes in the regulation network, while the scalable continuous responses can be equated to the collective oscillations of the network after a perturbation.

An attenuated Shigella mutant lacking the RNA-binding protein Hfq provides cross-protection against Shigella strains of broad serotype.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitobe, Jiro; Sinha, Ritam; Mitra, Soma; Nag, Dhrubajyoti; Saito, Noriko; Shimuta, Ken; Koizumi, Nobuo; Koley, Hemanta

2017-07-01

Few live attenuated vaccines protect against multiple serotypes of bacterial pathogen because host serotype-specific immune responses are limited to the serotype present in the vaccine strain. Here, immunization with a mutant of Shigella flexneri 2a protected guinea pigs against subsequent infection by S. dysenteriae type 1 and S. sonnei strains. This deletion mutant lacked the RNA-binding protein Hfq leading to increased expression of the type III secretion system via loss of regulation, resulting in attenuation of cell viability through repression of stress response sigma factors. Such increased antigen production and simultaneous attenuation were expected to elicit protective immunity against Shigella strains of heterologous serotypes. Thus, the vaccine potential of this mutant was tested in two guinea pig models of shigellosis. Animals vaccinated in the left eye showed fewer symptoms upon subsequent challenge via the right eye, and even survived subsequent intestinal challenge. In addition, oral vaccination effectively induced production of immunoglobulins without severe side effects, again protecting all animals against subsequent intestinal challenge with S. dysenteriae type 1 or S. sonnei strains. Antibodies against common virulence proteins and the O-antigen of S. flexneri 2a were detected by immunofluorescence microscopy. Reaction of antibodies with various strains, including enteroinvasive Escherichia coli, suggested that common virulence proteins induced protective immunity against a range of serotypes. Therefore, vaccination is expected to cover not only the most prevalent serotypes of S. sonnei and S. flexneri 2a, but also various Shigella strains, including S. dysenteriae type 1, which produces Shiga toxin.

An attenuated Shigella mutant lacking the RNA-binding protein Hfq provides cross-protection against Shigella strains of broad serotype.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiro Mitobe

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Few live attenuated vaccines protect against multiple serotypes of bacterial pathogen because host serotype-specific immune responses are limited to the serotype present in the vaccine strain. Here, immunization with a mutant of Shigella flexneri 2a protected guinea pigs against subsequent infection by S. dysenteriae type 1 and S. sonnei strains. This deletion mutant lacked the RNA-binding protein Hfq leading to increased expression of the type III secretion system via loss of regulation, resulting in attenuation of cell viability through repression of stress response sigma factors. Such increased antigen production and simultaneous attenuation were expected to elicit protective immunity against Shigella strains of heterologous serotypes. Thus, the vaccine potential of this mutant was tested in two guinea pig models of shigellosis. Animals vaccinated in the left eye showed fewer symptoms upon subsequent challenge via the right eye, and even survived subsequent intestinal challenge. In addition, oral vaccination effectively induced production of immunoglobulins without severe side effects, again protecting all animals against subsequent intestinal challenge with S. dysenteriae type 1 or S. sonnei strains. Antibodies against common virulence proteins and the O-antigen of S. flexneri 2a were detected by immunofluorescence microscopy. Reaction of antibodies with various strains, including enteroinvasive Escherichia coli, suggested that common virulence proteins induced protective immunity against a range of serotypes. Therefore, vaccination is expected to cover not only the most prevalent serotypes of S. sonnei and S. flexneri 2a, but also various Shigella strains, including S. dysenteriae type 1, which produces Shiga toxin.

Aflatoxin regulations and global pistachio trade: insights from social network analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bui-Klimke, Travis R; Guclu, Hasan; Kensler, Thomas W; Yuan, Jian-Min; Wu, Felicia

2014-01-01

Aflatoxins, carcinogenic toxins produced by Aspergillus fungi, contaminate maize, peanuts, and tree nuts in many regions of the world. Pistachios are the main source of human dietary aflatoxins from tree nuts worldwide. Over 120 countries have regulations for maximum allowable aflatoxin levels in food commodities. We developed social network models to analyze the association between nations' aflatoxin regulations and global trade patterns of pistachios from 1996-2010. The main pistachio producing countries are Iran and the United States (US), which together contribute to nearly 75% of the total global pistachio market. Over this time period, during which many nations developed or changed their aflatoxin regulations in pistachios, global pistachio trade patterns changed; with the US increasingly exporting to countries with stricter aflatoxin standards. The US pistachio crop has had consistently lower levels of aflatoxin than the Iranian crop over this same time period. As similar trading patterns have also been documented in maize, public health may be affected if countries without aflatoxin regulations, or with more relaxed regulations, continually import crops with higher aflatoxin contamination. Unlike the previous studies on maize, this analysis includes a dynamic element, examining how trade patterns change over time with introduction or adjustment of aflatoxin regulations.

Global health security and the International Health Regulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oliva Otavio

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Global nuclear proliferation, bioterrorism, and emerging infections have challenged national capacities to achieve and maintain global security. Over the last century, emerging infectious disease threats resulted in the development of the preliminary versions of the International Health Regulations (IHR of the World Health Organization (WHO. The current HR(2005 contain major differences compared to earlier versions, including: substantial shifts from containment at the border to containment at the source of the event; shifts from a rather small disease list (smallpox, plague, cholera, and yellow fever required to be reported, to all public health threats; and shifts from preset measures to tailored responses with more flexibility to deal with the local situations on the ground. The new IHR(2005 call for accountability. They also call for strengthened national capacity for surveillance and control; prevention, alert, and response to international public health emergencies beyond the traditional short list of required reporting; global partnership and collaboration; and human rights, obligations, accountability, and procedures of monitoring. Under these evolved regulations, as well as other measures, such as the Revolving Fund for vaccine procurement of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO, global health security could be maintained in the response to urban yellow fever in Paraguay in 2008 and the influenza (H1N1 pandemic of 2009-2010.

Fairness through regulation? Reflections on a cosmopolitan approach to global finance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta Božina Beroš

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In the aftermath of the last financial crisis a strong message prevails that ‘something’ has to be changed in the manner global finance is governed. What exactly this ‘something’ entails and what could constitute the ‘common ground’ of anticipated change is more difficult to determine. Many envisage future improvements of global financial governance by evoking deliberative democracy, political equality and cosmopolitanism. As financial regulation is the main instrument through which global finance is shaped and governed nowadays, these principles should then be transmitted to regulatory arrangements. This paper focuses on a new conceptual approach to regulatory and governance issues in global finance, by employing the philosophical idea of cosmopolitanism. It argues that although as a concept, cosmopolitanism cannot mitigate all the flaws attributed to contemporary finance, its development and extension to international financial regulation that is promulgated by institutions of the global financial system, would represent a worthwhile endeavour in making global finance more accountable and just in the eyes of many.

Fair Trade: Social Regulation in Global Food Markets

Science.gov (United States)

Raynolds, Laura T.

2012-01-01

This article analyzes the theoretical and empirical parameters of social regulation in contemporary global food markets, focusing on the rapidly expanding Fair Trade initiative. Fair Trade seeks to transform North/South relations by fostering ethical consumption, producer empowerment, and certified commodity sales. This initiative joins an array…

Intrinsic limits to gene regulation by global crosstalk

Science.gov (United States)

Friedlander, Tamar; Prizak, Roshan; Guet, Calin; Barton, Nicholas H.; Tkacik, Gasper

Gene activity is mediated by the specificity of binding interactions between special proteins, called transcription factors, and short regulatory sequences on the DNA, where different protein species preferentially bind different DNA targets. Limited interaction specificity may lead to crosstalk: a regulatory state in which a gene is either incorrectly activated due to spurious interactions or remains erroneously inactive. Since each protein can potentially interact with numerous DNA targets, crosstalk is inherently a global problem, yet has previously not been studied as such. We construct a theoretical framework to analyze the effects of global crosstalk on gene regulation, using statistical mechanics. We find that crosstalk in regulatory interactions puts fundamental limits on the reliability of gene regulation that are not easily mitigated by tuning proteins concentrations or by complex regulatory schemes proposed in the literature. Our results suggest that crosstalk imposes a previously unexplored global constraint on the functioning and evolution of regulatory networks, which is qualitatively distinct from the known constraints that act at the level of individual gene regulatory elements. The research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA Grant agreement Nr. 291734 (T.F.) and ERC Grant Nr. 250152 (N.B.).

Local flow regulation and irrigation raise global human water consumption and footprint.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaramillo, Fernando; Destouni, Georgia

2015-12-04

Flow regulation and irrigation alter local freshwater conditions, but their global effects are highly uncertain. We investigated these global effects from 1901 to 2008, using hydroclimatic observations in 100 large hydrological basins. Globally, we find consistent and dominant effects of increasing relative evapotranspiration from both activities, and decreasing temporal runoff variability from flow regulation. The evapotranspiration effect increases the long-term average human consumption of fresh water by 3563 ± 979 km(3)/year from 1901-1954 to 1955-2008. This increase raises a recent estimate of the current global water footprint of humanity by around 18%, to 10,688 ± 979 km(3)/year. The results highlight the global impact of local water-use activities and call for their relevant account in Earth system modeling. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

sRNA-Mediated Regulation of P-Fimbriae Phase Variation in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Khandige, Surabhi; Kronborg, Tina; Uhlin, Bernt Eric

2015-01-01

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) are capable of occupying physiologically distinct intracellular and extracellular niches within the urinary tract. This feat requires the timely regulation of gene expression and small RNAs (sRNAs) are known to mediate such rapid adjustments in response to ch...... to changing environmental cues. This study aimed to uncover sRNA-mediated gene regulation in the UPEC strain UTI89, during infection of bladder epithelial cells. Hfq is an RNA chaperone known to facilitate and stabilize sRNA and target mRNA interactions with bacterial cells. The co...... to the discovery of a novel virulence-associated trans-acting sRNA-PapR. Deletion of papR was found to enhance adhesion of UTI89 to both bladder and kidney cell lines in a manner independent of type-1 fimbriae. We demonstrate PapR mediated posttranscriptional repression of the P-fimbriae phase regulator gene pap...

Arbitrage and Competition in Global Financial Regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ringe, Wolf-Georg

Regulatory arbitrage in financial markets refers to a number of strategies that market participants use to avoid the reach of regulation, in particular by virtue of shifting trading abroad or else relocating activities or operations of financial institutions to other jurisdictions. Where...... institutions’ excessive risk-taking. If such risk-taking would be judged by market discipline instead of posing a risk to global financial stability, the main downside of regulatory competition could be restrained. Within the boundaries of such a system, competition could then operate and contribute...... their standards solely to attract businesses and thereby impose externalities on the worldwide financial market by undermining financial stability as a global public good. Policymakers worldwide are experimenting with remedies to respond to the phenomenon. I introduce the importance of an effective special...

Role of Glycolytic Intermediates in Global Regulation and Signal Transduction. Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liao, J.C.

2000-05-08

The goal of this project is to determine the role of glycolytic intermediates in regulation of cell physiology. It is known that many glycolytic intermediates are involved in regulation of enzyme activities at the kinetic level. However, little is known regarding the role of these metabolites in global regulation and signal transduction. This project aims to investigate the role of glycolytic intermediates in the regulation of gene expression.

Plate tectonic regulation of global marine animal diversity

Science.gov (United States)

Zaffos, Andrew; Finnegan, Seth; Peters, Shanan E.

2017-05-01

Valentine and Moores [Valentine JW, Moores EM (1970) Nature 228:657-659] hypothesized that plate tectonics regulates global biodiversity by changing the geographic arrangement of continental crust, but the data required to fully test the hypothesis were not available. Here, we use a global database of marine animal fossil occurrences and a paleogeographic reconstruction model to test the hypothesis that temporal patterns of continental fragmentation have impacted global Phanerozoic biodiversity. We find a positive correlation between global marine invertebrate genus richness and an independently derived quantitative index describing the fragmentation of continental crust during supercontinental coalescence-breakup cycles. The observed positive correlation between global biodiversity and continental fragmentation is not readily attributable to commonly cited vagaries of the fossil record, including changing quantities of marine rock or time-variable sampling effort. Because many different environmental and biotic factors may covary with changes in the geographic arrangement of continental crust, it is difficult to identify a specific causal mechanism. However, cross-correlation indicates that the state of continental fragmentation at a given time is positively correlated with the state of global biodiversity for tens of millions of years afterward. There is also evidence to suggest that continental fragmentation promotes increasing marine richness, but that coalescence alone has only a small negative or stabilizing effect. Together, these results suggest that continental fragmentation, particularly during the Mesozoic breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea, has exerted a first-order control on the long-term trajectory of Phanerozoic marine animal diversity.

Future development of global regulations of Chinese herbal products.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Tai-Ping; Deal, Greer; Koo, Hoi-Lun; Rees, Daryl; Sun, He; Chen, Shaw; Dou, Jin-Hui; Makarov, Valery G; Pozharitskaya, Olga N; Shikov, Alexander N; Kim, Yeong Shik; Huang, Yi-Tsau; Chang, Yuan Shiun; Jia, William; Dias, Alberto; Wong, Vivian Chi-Woon; Chan, Kelvin

2012-04-10

GP-TCM is the first EU-funded Coordination Action consortium dedicated to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research. One of the key deliverables of the Work Package 7 in GP-TCM was to investigate information of the existing requirements for registration of TCM products listed by global regulatory bodies. The paper aims to collate data and draw comparison of these regulations. Case studies are also presented to illustrate the problems involved in registering TCM products in different regions worldwide. A collaborative network task force was established during the early stage of the GP-TCM project and operated through exchanges, teleconferences and focused discussions at annual meetings. The task force involved coordinators, academics who are actively involved with R&D of Chinese herbal medicines, experts on monographic standards of Chinese materia medica, representatives from regulatory agencies, experts from industries in marketing Chinese medicines/herbal medicines and natural products. The co-ordinators took turns to chair teleconferences, led discussions on specific issues at AGM discussion sessions, at joint workshops with other work-packages such as WP1 (quality issues), WP3 (toxicology issues) and WP6 (clinical trial issues). Collectively the authors were responsible for collating discussion outcomes and updating written information. A global overview of regulations on herbal registration has been compiled during the three years of the consortium. The regulatory requirements for registration of herbal products in the EU and China were compared, and this is extended to other regions/countries: Africa, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States. A wide variation of the regulations for the categories of herbal products exists: food (functional food, novel foods, dietary food for special medical purpose, foods for particular nutritional use, food supplement); cosmetic, traditional herbal medicine products; herbal

Chokepoints global private regulation on the Internet

CERN Document Server

Tusikov, Natasha

2016-01-01

In January 2012, millions participated in the now-infamous "Internet blackout" against the Stop Online Piracy Act, protesting the power it would have given intellectual property holders over the Internet. However, while SOPA's withdrawal was heralded as a victory for an open Internet, a small group of corporations, tacitly backed by the US and other governments, have implemented much of SOPA via a series of secret, handshake agreements. Drawing on extensive interviews, Natasha Tusikov details the emergence of a global regime in which large Internet firms act as regulators for powerful intellec

Globalization of health insecurity: the World Health Organization and the new International Health Regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Aginam, Obijiofor

2006-12-01

The transnational spread of communicable and non-communicable diseases has opened new vistas in the discourse of global health security. Emerging and re-emerging pathogens, according to exponents of globalization of public health, disrespect the geo-political boundaries of nation-states. Despite the global ramifications of health insecurity in a globalizing world, contemporary international law still operates as a classic inter-state law within an international system exclusively founded on a coalition of nation-states. This article argues that the dynamic process of globalization has created an opportunity for the World Health Organization to develop effective synergy with a multiplicity of actors in the exercise of its legal powers. WHO's legal and regulatory strategies must transform from traditional international legal approaches to disease governance to a "post-Westphalian public health governance": the use of formal and informal sources from state and non-state actors, hard law (treaties and regulations) and soft law (recommendations and travel advisories) in global health governance. This article assesses the potential promise and problems of WHO's new International Health Regulations (IHR) as a regulatory strategy for global health governance and global health security.

The Mechanisms of Virulence Regulation by Small Noncoding RNAs in Low GC Gram-Positive Pathogens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie Pitman

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The discovery of small noncoding regulatory RNAs (sRNAs in bacteria has grown tremendously recently, giving new insights into gene regulation. The implementation of computational analysis and RNA sequencing has provided new tools to discover and analyze potential sRNAs. Small regulatory RNAs that act by base-pairing to target mRNAs have been found to be ubiquitous and are the most abundant class of post-transcriptional regulators in bacteria. The majority of sRNA studies has been limited to E. coli and other gram-negative bacteria. However, examples of sRNAs in gram-positive bacteria are still plentiful although the detailed gene regulation mechanisms behind them are not as well understood. Strict virulence control is critical for a pathogen’s survival and many sRNAs have been found to be involved in that process. This review outlines the targets and currently known mechanisms of trans-acting sRNAs involved in virulence regulation in various gram-positive pathogens. In addition, their shared characteristics such as CU interaction motifs, the role of Hfq, and involvement in two-component regulators, riboswitches, quorum sensing, or toxin/antitoxin systems are described.

Increased Global Interaction Across Functional Brain Modules During Cognitive Emotion Regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Brandl, Felix; Mulej Bratec, Satja; Xie, Xiyao; Wohlschläger, Afra M; Riedl, Valentin; Meng, Chun; Sorg, Christian

2017-07-13

Cognitive emotion regulation (CER) enables humans to flexibly modulate their emotions. While local theories of CER neurobiology suggest interactions between specialized local brain circuits underlying CER, e.g., in subparts of amygdala and medial prefrontal cortices (mPFC), global theories hypothesize global interaction increases among larger functional brain modules comprising local circuits. We tested the global CER hypothesis using graph-based whole-brain network analysis of functional MRI data during aversive emotional processing with and without CER. During CER, global between-module interaction across stable functional network modules increased. Global interaction increase was particularly driven by subregions of amygdala and cuneus-nodes of highest nodal participation-that overlapped with CER-specific local activations, and by mPFC and posterior cingulate as relevant connector hubs. Results provide evidence for the global nature of human CER, complementing functional specialization of embedded local brain circuits during successful CER. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Autism and increased paternal age related changes in global levels of gene expression regulation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark D Alter

2011-02-01

Full Text Available A causal role of mutations in multiple general transcription factors in neurodevelopmental disorders including autism suggested that alterations in global levels of gene expression regulation might also relate to disease risk in sporadic cases of autism. This premise can be tested by evaluating for changes in the overall distribution of gene expression levels. For instance, in mice, variability in hippocampal-dependent behaviors was associated with variability in the pattern of the overall distribution of gene expression levels, as assessed by variance in the distribution of gene expression levels in the hippocampus. We hypothesized that a similar change in variance might be found in children with autism. Gene expression microarrays covering greater than 47,000 unique RNA transcripts were done on RNA from peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL of children with autism (n = 82 and controls (n = 64. Variance in the distribution of gene expression levels from each microarray was compared between groups of children. Also tested was whether a risk factor for autism, increased paternal age, was associated with variance. A decrease in the variance in the distribution of gene expression levels in PBL was associated with the diagnosis of autism and a risk factor for autism, increased paternal age. Traditional approaches to microarray analysis of gene expression suggested a possible mechanism for decreased variance in gene expression. Gene expression pathways involved in transcriptional regulation were down-regulated in the blood of children with autism and children of older fathers. Thus, results from global and gene specific approaches to studying microarray data were complimentary and supported the hypothesis that alterations at the global level of gene expression regulation are related to autism and increased paternal age. Global regulation of transcription, thus, represents a possible point of convergence for multiple etiologies of autism and other

Regulation of the csgD promoter by global regulators HN-S, IHF, and RpoS in E. coli O157:H7 isolates

Science.gov (United States)

Introduction: Curli production is essential for the biofilm formation in E. coli and Salmonella. The control of expression of CsgD, the key regulator of the curli operon, is very complex, and has been shown to be regulated by several global regulators and is influenced by various growth and stress...

RNA-binding proteins involved in post-transcriptional regulation in bacteria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elke eVan Assche

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Post-transcriptional regulation is a very important mechanism to control gene expression in changing environments. In the past decade, a lot of interest has been directed towards the role of small RNAs in bacterial post-transcriptional regulation. However, small RNAs are not the only molecules controlling gene expression at this level, RNA-binding proteins play an important role as well. CsrA and Hfq are the two best studied bacterial proteins of this type, but recently, additional proteins involved in post-transcriptional control have been identified. This review focuses on the general working mechanisms of post-transcriptionally active RNA-binding proteins, which include (i adaptation of the susceptibility of mRNAs and sRNAs to RNases, (ii modulating the accessibility of the ribosome binding site of mRNAs, (iii recruiting and assisting in the interaction of mRNAs with other molecules and (iv regulating transcription terminator / antiterminator formation, and gives an overview of both the well-studied and the newly identified proteins that are involved in post-transcriptional regulatory processes. Additionally, the post-transcriptional mechanisms by which the expression or the activity of these proteins is regulated, are described. For many of the newly identified proteins, however, mechanistic questions remain. Most likely, more post-transcriptionally active proteins will be identified in the future.

Internet governance and global self regulation: theoretical and empirical building blocks for a general theory of self regulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vey Mestdagh, C.; Rijgersberg, R.

2010-01-01

The following exposition sets out to identify the basic theoretical and empirical building blocks for a general theory of self-regulation. It uses the Internet as an empirical basis since its global reach and technical characteristics create interdependencies between actors that transcend national

Proteomics Reveals Global Regulation of Protein SUMOylation by ATM and ATR Kinases during Replication Stress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie Munk

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The mechanisms that protect eukaryotic DNA during the cumbersome task of replication depend on the precise coordination of several post-translational modification (PTM-based signaling networks. Phosphorylation is a well-known regulator of the replication stress response, and recently an essential role for SUMOs (small ubiquitin-like modifiers has also been established. Here, we investigate the global interplay between phosphorylation and SUMOylation in response to replication stress. Using SUMO and phosphoproteomic technologies, we identify thousands of regulated modification sites. We find co-regulation of central DNA damage and replication stress responders, of which the ATR-activating factor TOPBP1 is the most highly regulated. Using pharmacological inhibition of the DNA damage response kinases ATR and ATM, we find that these factors regulate global protein SUMOylation in the protein networks that protect DNA upon replication stress and fork breakage, pointing to integration between phosphorylation and SUMOylation in the cellular systems that protect DNA integrity.

Patterns of globalized reproduction: Egg cells regulation in Israel and Austria.

Science.gov (United States)

Shalev, Carmel; Werner-Felmayer, Gabriele

2012-04-18

Since the successful introduction of in vitro fertilization in 1978, medically assisted reproduction (MAR) has proliferated in multiple clinical innovations. Consequently, egg cells have become an object of demand for both infertility treatment and stem cell research, and this raises complex legal, ethical, social and economic issues.In this paper we compare how the procurement and use of human egg cells is regulated in two countries: Israel and Austria. Israel is known for its scientific leadership, generous public funding, high utilization and liberal regulation of assisted reproductive technology (ART). Austria lies at the other extreme of the regulatory spectrum in terms of restrictions on reproductive interventions.In both countries, however, there is a constant increase in the use of the technology, and recent legal developments make egg cells more accessible. Also, in both countries the scarcity of egg cells in concert with the rising demand for donations has led to the emergence of cross-border markets and global 'reproductive tourism' practices. In Israel, in particular, a scandal known as the 'eggs affair' was followed by regulation that allowed egg cell donations from outside the country under certain conditions.Cross-border markets are developed by medical entrepreneurs, driven by global economic gaps, made possible by trans-national regulatory lacunae and find expression as consumer demand. The transnational practice of egg cell donations indicates the emergence of a global public health issue, but there is a general lack of medical and epidemiological data on its efficacy and safety. We conclude that there is need for harmonisation of domestic laws and formulation of new instruments for international governance.

Patterns of globalized reproduction: Egg cells regulation in Israel and Austria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shalev Carmel

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Since the successful introduction of in vitro fertilization in 1978, medically assisted reproduction (MAR has proliferated in multiple clinical innovations. Consequently, egg cells have become an object of demand for both infertility treatment and stem cell research, and this raises complex legal, ethical, social and economic issues. In this paper we compare how the procurement and use of human egg cells is regulated in two countries: Israel and Austria. Israel is known for its scientific leadership, generous public funding, high utilization and liberal regulation of assisted reproductive technology (ART. Austria lies at the other extreme of the regulatory spectrum in terms of restrictions on reproductive interventions. In both countries, however, there is a constant increase in the use of the technology, and recent legal developments make egg cells more accessible. Also, in both countries the scarcity of egg cells in concert with the rising demand for donations has led to the emergence of cross-border markets and global 'reproductive tourism' practices. In Israel, in particular, a scandal known as the 'eggs affair' was followed by regulation that allowed egg cell donations from outside the country under certain conditions. Cross-border markets are developed by medical entrepreneurs, driven by global economic gaps, made possible by trans-national regulatory lacunae and find expression as consumer demand. The transnational practice of egg cell donations indicates the emergence of a global public health issue, but there is a general lack of medical and epidemiological data on its efficacy and safety. We conclude that there is need for harmonisation of domestic laws and formulation of new instruments for international governance.

Post-Transcriptional Regulation by the Csr Global Regulatory System in Escherichia coli

OpenAIRE

Suzuki, Kazushi; 鈴木, 一史

2007-01-01

In many species of bacteria, the Csr (carbon storage regulator) global regulatory system coordinates the expression of various genes. In Escherichia coli, the central component of this system, CsrA, is a RNA-binding protein. The CsrA is a homodimer and binds to leader segments of target mRNAs, affecting their translation and stability. CsrA activity is regulated by two small non-coding RNAs, CsrB and CsrC. These RNAs contain multiple CsrA-binding sequences and act by sequestering CsrA. In thi...

Globalization of environmental regulations for offshore E & P operations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shannon, B.E.

1995-12-31

One of the enduring legacies of the Rio Environmental Summit of 1992 (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, UNCED) is Agenda 21 (Chapter 17 - Protection of the Oceans), which among other things called for the assessment of the need for a global authority to regulate offshore Exploration & Production (E&P) discharges, emissions and safety. Despite advice to the contrary from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), interest is building within the European community for the standardization of regulations for offshore E&P activities. Several international of regulations for offshore E&P activities. Several international frameworks or forums have been mentioned as possible candidates. These include the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 (UNCLOS); London Convention 1972 (LC 1972) and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 (MARPOL) 73/78. International offshore oil and gas operators operate within requirements of regional conventions under the United Nations Environmental Program`s (UNEP) - Regional Seas Program. Domestic offshore operations are undertaken under the auspices of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Minerals Management Service.

Global regulation of gene expression by the MafR protein of Enterococcus faecalis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sofía eRuiz-Cruz

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Enterococcus faecalis is a natural inhabitant of the human gastrointestinal tract. However, as an opportunistic pathogen, it is able to colonize other host niches and cause life-threatening infections. Its adaptation to new environments involves global changes in gene expression. The EF3013 gene (here named mafR of E. faecalis strain V583 encodes a protein (MafR, 482 residues that has sequence similarity to global response regulators of the Mga/AtxA family. The enterococcal OG1RF genome also encodes the MafR protein (gene OG1RF_12293. In this work, we have identified the promoter of the mafR gene using several in vivo approaches. Moreover, we show that MafR influences positively the transcription of many genes on a genome-wide scale. The most significant target genes encode components of PTS-type membrane transporters, components of ABC-type membrane transporters, and proteins involved in the metabolism of carbon sources. Some of these genes were previously reported to be up-regulated during the growth of E. faecalis in blood and/or in human urine. Furthermore, we show that a mafR deletion mutant strain induces a significant lower degree of inflammation in the peritoneal cavity of mice, suggesting that enterococcal cells deficient in MafR are less virulent. Our work indicates that MafR is a global transcriptional regulator. It might facilitate the adaptation of E. faecalis to particular host niches and, therefore, contribute to its potential virulence.

GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS 2008 CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES FOR RUSSIAN MACROPRUDENTIAL REGULATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Егор Николаевич Поляков

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the impact of volatility in global financial markets on the economy of developing countries and the analysis of factors contributing to a greater or lesser degree of vulnerability of the financial systems of developing countries in the global crisis of 2008-2010. Particular attention is paid to the influence of the global financial crisis on the economies of the two groups of developing countries of Southeast Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. On the basis of the analysis due to the dynamics of the main macroeconomic indicators of the Russian Federation during the acute phase of the crisis. The author presents an analysis of the vulnerability of the Russian economy in the event of possible instability in global financial markets at present. The author came to the conclusion that the main reason for which in 2009 the level of GDP growth Russia won 178 seats out of 184 countries, were 2 groups of errors. The first group of errors - errors are system of macro-prudential regulation made by the Central Bank from 2002 to 2007, such as: lack of control and regulation of borrowings of the private and banking sectors to foreign markets, as well as in the domestic market in foreign currency, the loss of control over domestic financial markets, such as: the interbank lending market, the stock market. The second group of errors - errors it committed securities during the crisis. The first error of the Central Bank - a rejection Vat refinance foreign debt of non-financial sector, resulting in an acute liquidity crisis. The second error is stretched for a few months, not a one-time devaluation of the ruble. Price of the second error was 200 billion USD, which the Central Bank lost and speculators earned.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-9-4

Down-regulation of outer membrane proteins by noncoding RNAs: unraveling the cAMP-CRP- and sigmaE-dependent CyaR-ompX regulatory case

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Jesper; Eriksen, Maiken; Kallipolitis, Birgitte

2008-01-01

is sufficient to trigger the envelope stress response. Recent work indicates that small Hfq-binding RNAs play a major role in maintaining envelope homeostasis and, so far, two sigma(E)-dependent small noncoding RNAs (sRNAs), MicA and RybB, have been shown to facilitate rapid removal of multiple omp transcripts......The sigma(E) (extracytoplasmic stress response sigma factor in Escherichia coli) signaling system of Gram-negative bacteria plays an essential role in the maintenance of the extracytoplasmic compartment. Upon induction of this system, approximately 100 genes are up-regulated. The majority...... is also up-regulated, directly or indirectly, by sigma(E). In addition, this work identified MicA as a factor that cooperates in the negative control of ompX expression. The conservation of CyaR, MicA, RybB, and their targets suggests that the omp mRNA-sRNA regulatory network is an integral part...

New Regional and Global HFC Projections and Effects of National Regulations and Montreal Protocol Amendment Proposals

Science.gov (United States)

Velders, G. J. M.

2015-12-01

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are used as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances that are being phased out globally under Montreal Protocol regulations. New global scenarios of HFC emissions reach 4.0-5.3 GtCO2-eq yr-1 in 2050, which corresponds to a projected growth from 2015 to 2050 which is 9% to 29% of that for CO2 over the same time period. New baseline scenarios are formulated for 10 HFC compounds, 11 geographic regions, and 13 use categories. These projections are the first to comprehensively assess production and consumption of individual HFCs in multiple use sectors and geographic regions with emission estimates constrained by atmospheric observations. In 2050, in percent of global HFC emissions, China (~30%), India and the rest of Asia (~25%), Middle East and northern Africa (~10%), and USA (~10%) are the principal source regions; and refrigeration and stationary air conditioning are the major use sectors. National regulations to limit HFC use have been adopted recently in the European Union, Japan and USA, and four proposals have been submitted in 2015 to amend the Montreal Protocol to substantially reduce growth in HFC use. Calculated baseline emissions are reduced by 90% in 2050 by implementing the North America Montreal Protocol amendment proposal. Global adoption of technologies required to meet national regulations would be sufficient to reduce 2050 baseline HFC consumption by more than 50% of that achieved with the North America proposal for most developed and developing countries. The new HFC scenarios and effects of national regulations and Montreal Protocol amendment proposals will be presented.

Global parameter estimation for thermodynamic models of transcriptional regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Suleimenov, Yerzhan; Ay, Ahmet; Samee, Md Abul Hassan; Dresch, Jacqueline M; Sinha, Saurabh; Arnosti, David N

2013-07-15

Deciphering the mechanisms involved in gene regulation holds the key to understanding the control of central biological processes, including human disease, population variation, and the evolution of morphological innovations. New experimental techniques including whole genome sequencing and transcriptome analysis have enabled comprehensive modeling approaches to study gene regulation. In many cases, it is useful to be able to assign biological significance to the inferred model parameters, but such interpretation should take into account features that affect these parameters, including model construction and sensitivity, the type of fitness calculation, and the effectiveness of parameter estimation. This last point is often neglected, as estimation methods are often selected for historical reasons or for computational ease. Here, we compare the performance of two parameter estimation techniques broadly representative of local and global approaches, namely, a quasi-Newton/Nelder-Mead simplex (QN/NMS) method and a covariance matrix adaptation-evolutionary strategy (CMA-ES) method. The estimation methods were applied to a set of thermodynamic models of gene transcription applied to regulatory elements active in the Drosophila embryo. Measuring overall fit, the global CMA-ES method performed significantly better than the local QN/NMS method on high quality data sets, but this difference was negligible on lower quality data sets with increased noise or on data sets simplified by stringent thresholding. Our results suggest that the choice of parameter estimation technique for evaluation of gene expression models depends both on quality of data, the nature of the models [again, remains to be established] and the aims of the modeling effort. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

RpoS induces expression of the Vibrio anguillarum quorum-sensing regulator VanT.

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, Barbara; Croxatto, Antony; Chen, Chang; Milton, Debra L

2008-03-01

In vibrios, regulation of the Vibrio harveyi-like LuxR transcriptional activators occurs post-transcriptionally via small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) that destabilize the luxR mRNA at a low cell population, eliminating expression of LuxR. Expression of the sRNAs is modulated by the vibrio quorum-sensing phosphorelay systems. However, vanT mRNA, which encodes a LuxR homologue in Vibrio anguillarum, is abundant at low and high cell density, indicating that VanT expression may be regulated via additional mechanisms. In this study, Western analyses showed that VanT was expressed throughout growth with a peak of expression during late exponential growth. VanO induced partial destabilization of vanT mRNA via activation of at least one Qrr sRNA. Interestingly, the sigma factor RpoS significantly stabilized vanT mRNA and induced VanT expression during late exponential growth. This induction was in part due to RpoS repressing expression of Hfq, an RNA chaperone. RpoS is not part of the quorum-sensing regulatory cascade since RpoS did not regulate expression or activity of VanO, and RpoS was not regulated by VanO or VanT. VanT and RpoS were needed for survival following UV irradiation and for pigment and metalloprotease production, suggesting that RpoS works with the quorum-sensing systems to modulate expression of VanT, which regulates survival and stress responses.

A conserved small RNA promotes silencing of the outer membrane protein YbfM

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Anders Aamann; Johansen, Jesper; Nielsen, Jesper S

2009-01-01

important physiological role of regulatory RNA molecules in Gram-negative bacteria is to modulate the cell surface and/or to prevent accumulation of OMPs in the envelope. Here, we extend the OMP-sRNA network by showing that the expression of the outer membrane protein YbfM is silenced by a conserved sRNA......In the past few years an increasing number of small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) in enterobacteria have been found to negatively regulate the expression of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) at the post-transcriptional level. These RNAs act under various growth and stress conditions, suggesting that one......, designated MicM (also known as RybC/SroB). The regulation is strictly dependent on the RNA chaperone Hfq, and mutational analysis indicates that MicM sequesters the ribosome binding site of ybfM mRNA by an antisense mechanism. Furthermore, we provide evidence that Hfq strongly enhances the on-rate of duplex...

Linker Histone Phosphorylation Regulates Global Timing of Replication Origin Firing*S⃞

Science.gov (United States)

Thiriet, Christophe; Hayes, Jeffrey J.

2009-01-01

Despite the presence of linker histone in all eukaryotes, the primary function(s) of this histone have been difficult to clarify. Knock-out experiments indicate that H1s play a role in regulation of only a small subset of genes but are an essential component in mouse development. Here, we show that linker histone (H1) is involved in the global regulation of DNA replication in Physarum polycephalum. We find that genomic DNA of H1 knock-down cells is more rapidly replicated, an effect due at least in part to disruption of the native timing of replication fork firing. Immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrate that H1 is transiently lost from replicating chromatin via a process facilitated by phosphorylation. Our results suggest that linker histones generate a chromatin environment refractory to replication and that their transient removal via protein phosphorylation during S phase is a critical step in the epigenetic regulation of replication timing. PMID:19015270

Reconstruction of the yeast Snf1 kinase regulatory network reveals its role as a global energy regulator

Science.gov (United States)

Usaite, Renata; Jewett, Michael C; Oliveira, Ana Paula; Yates, John R; Olsson, Lisbeth; Nielsen, Jens

2009-01-01

Highly conserved among eukaryotic cells, the AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) is a central regulator of carbon metabolism. To map the complete network of interactions around AMPK in yeast (Snf1) and to evaluate the role of its regulatory subunit Snf4, we measured global mRNA, protein and metabolite levels in wild type, Δsnf1, Δsnf4, and Δsnf1Δsnf4 knockout strains. Using four newly developed computational tools, including novel DOGMA sub-network analysis, we showed the benefits of three-level ome-data integration to uncover the global Snf1 kinase role in yeast. We for the first time identified Snf1's global regulation on gene and protein expression levels, and showed that yeast Snf1 has a far more extensive function in controlling energy metabolism than reported earlier. Additionally, we identified complementary roles of Snf1 and Snf4. Similar to the function of AMPK in humans, our findings showed that Snf1 is a low-energy checkpoint and that yeast can be used more extensively as a model system for studying the molecular mechanisms underlying the global regulation of AMPK in mammals, failure of which leads to metabolic diseases. PMID:19888214

Policy Approaches for Regulating Alcohol Marketing in a Global Context: A Public Health Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Esser, Marissa B; Jernigan, David H

2018-04-01

Alcohol consumption is responsible for 3.3 million deaths globally or nearly 6% of all deaths. Alcohol use contributes to both communicable and noncommunicable diseases, as well as violence and injuries. The purpose of this review is to discuss, in the context of the expansion of transnational alcohol corporations and harms associated with alcohol use, policy options for regulating exposure to alcohol marketing. We first provide an overview of the public health problem of harmful alcohol consumption and describe the association between exposure to alcohol marketing and alcohol consumption. We then discuss the growth and concentration of global alcohol corporations and their marketing practices in low- and middle-income countries, as well as in higher-income societies. We review the use and effectiveness of various approaches for regulating alcohol marketing in various countries before discussing challenges and opportunities to protect public health.

Global regulator SATB1 recruits beta-catenin and regulates T(H2 differentiation in Wnt-dependent manner.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dimple Notani

2010-01-01

Full Text Available In vertebrates, the conserved Wnt signalling cascade promotes the stabilization and nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin, which then associates with the lymphoid enhancer factor/T cell factor proteins (LEF/TCFs to activate target genes. Wnt/beta -catenin signalling is essential for T cell development and differentiation. Here we show that special AT-rich binding protein 1 (SATB1, the T lineage-enriched chromatin organizer and global regulator, interacts with beta-catenin and recruits it to SATB1's genomic binding sites. Gene expression profiling revealed that the genes repressed by SATB1 are upregulated upon Wnt signalling. Competition between SATB1 and TCF affects the transcription of TCF-regulated genes upon beta-catenin signalling. GATA-3 is a T helper type 2 (T(H2 specific transcription factor that regulates production of T(H2 cytokines and functions as T(H2 lineage determinant. SATB1 positively regulated GATA-3 and siRNA-mediated knockdown of SATB1 downregulated GATA-3 expression in differentiating human CD4(+ T cells, suggesting that SATB1 influences T(H2 lineage commitment by reprogramming gene expression. In the presence of Dickkopf 1 (Dkk1, an inhibitor of Wnt signalling, GATA-3 is downregulated and the expression of signature T(H2 cytokines such as IL-4, IL-10, and IL-13 is reduced, indicating that Wnt signalling is essential for T(H2 differentiation. Knockdown of beta-catenin also produced similar results, confirming the role of Wnt/beta-catenin signalling in T(H2 differentiation. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis revealed that SATB1 recruits beta-catenin and p300 acetyltransferase on GATA-3 promoter in differentiating T(H2 cells in a Wnt-dependent manner. SATB1 coordinates T(H2 lineage commitment by reprogramming gene expression. The SATB1:beta-catenin complex activates a number of SATB1 regulated genes, and hence this study has potential to find novel Wnt responsive genes. These results demonstrate that SATB1

Quantitative analysis of proteome and lipidome dynamics reveals functional regulation of global lipid metabolism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Casanovas, Albert; Sprenger, Richard R; Tarasov, Kirill

2015-01-01

Elucidating how and to what extent lipid metabolism is remodeled under changing conditions is essential for understanding cellular physiology. Here, we analyzed proteome and lipidome dynamics to investigate how regulation of lipid metabolism at the global scale supports remodeling of cellular...

Evolutionary Dynamics of Small RNAs in 27 Escherichia coli and Shigella Genomes

Science.gov (United States)

Skippington, Elizabeth; Ragan, Mark A.

2012-01-01

Small RNAs (sRNAs) are widespread in bacteria and play critical roles in regulating physiological processes. They are best characterized in Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655, where 83 sRNAs constitute nearly 2% of the gene complement. Most sRNAs act by base pairing with a target mRNA, modulating its translation and/or stability; many of these RNAs share only limited complementarity to their mRNA target, and require the chaperone Hfq to facilitate base pairing. Little is known about the evolutionary dynamics of bacterial sRNAs. Here, we apply phylogenetic and network analyses to investigate the evolutionary processes and principles that govern sRNA gene distribution in 27 E. coli and Shigella genomes. We identify core (encoded in all 27 genomes) and variable sRNAs; more than two-thirds of the E. coli K-12 MG1655 sRNAs are core, whereas the others show patterns of presence and absence that are principally due to genetic loss, not duplication or lateral genetic transfer. We present evidence that variable sRNAs are less tightly integrated into cellular genetic regulatory networks than are the core sRNAs, and that Hfq facilitates posttranscriptional cross talk between the E. coli–Shigella core and variable genomes. Finally, we present evidence that more than 80% of genes targeted by Hfq-associated core sRNAs have been transferred within the E. coli–Shigella clade, and that most of these genes have been transferred intact. These results suggest that Hfq and sRNAs help integrate laterally acquired genes into established regulatory networks. PMID:22223756

The challenges for global harmonisation of food safety norms and regulations: issues for India.

Science.gov (United States)

Prakash, Jamuna

2014-08-01

Safe and adequate food is a human right, safety being a prime quality attribute without which food is unfit for consumption. Food safety regulations are framed to exercise control over all types of food produced, processed and sold so that the customer is assured that the food consumed will not cause any harm. From the Indian perspective, global harmonisation of food regulations is needed to improve food and nutrition security, the food trade and delivery of safe ready-to-eat (RTE) foods at all places and at all times. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) put forward to transform developing societies incorporate many food safety issues. The success of the MDGs, including that of poverty reduction, will in part depend on an effective reduction of food-borne diseases, particularly among the vulnerable group, which includes women and children. Food- and water-borne illnesses can be a serious health hazard, being responsible for high incidences of morbidity and mortality across all age groups of people. Global harmonisation of food regulations would assist in facilitating food trade within and outside India through better compliance, ensuring the safety of RTE catered foods, as well as addressing issues related to the environment. At the same time, regulations need to be optimum, as overregulation may have undue negative effects on the food trade. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

The global regulator LaeA controls production of citric acid and endoglucanases in Aspergillus carbonarius

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Linde, Tore; Zoglowek, Marta; Lübeck, Mette

2016-01-01

The global regulatory protein LaeA is known for regulating the production of many kinds of secondary metabolites in Aspergillus species, as well as sexual and asexual reproduction, and morphology. In Aspergillus carbonarius, it has been shown that LaeA regulates production of ochratoxin. We have ...

Cell shape regulates global histone acetylation in human mammaryepithelial cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Le Beyec, Johanne; Xu, Ren; Lee, Sun-Young; Nelson, Celeste M.; Rizki, Aylin; Alcaraz, Jordi; Bissell, Mina J.

2007-02-28

Extracellular matrix (ECM) regulates cell morphology and gene expression in vivo; these relationships are maintained in three-dimensional (3D) cultures of mammary epithelial cells. In the presence of laminin-rich ECM (lrECM), mammary epithelial cells round up and undergo global histone deacetylation, a process critical for their functional differentiation. However, it remains unclear whether lrECM-dependent cell rounding and global histone deacetylation are indeed part of a common physical-biochemical pathway. Using 3D cultures as well as nonadhesive and micropatterned substrata, here we showed that the cell 'rounding' caused by lrECM was sufficient to induce deacetylation of histones H3 and H4 in the absence of biochemical cues. Microarray and confocal analysis demonstrated that this deacetylation in 3D culture is associated with a global increase in chromatin condensation and a reduction in gene expression. Whereas cells cultured on plastic substrata formed prominent stress fibers, cells grown in 3D lrECM or on micropatterns lacked these structures. Disruption of the actin cytoskeleton with cytochalasin D phenocopied the lrECM-induced cell rounding and histone deacetylation. These results reveal a novel link between ECM-controlled cell shape and chromatin structure, and suggest that this link is mediated by changes in the actin cytoskeleton.

Building Responsive and Responsible Financial Regulators in the Aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Iglesias Rodriguez, P.

2015-01-01

The global financial crisis that started in 2007 sparked several academic debates about the role that financial sector regulators played in the crisis and prompted policy reforms in the financial supervision architectures of several countries. This book focuses on the question of what

The phosphotransferase VanU represses expression of four qrr genes antagonizing VanO-mediated quorum-sensing regulation in Vibrio anguillarum.

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, Barbara; Lindell, Kristoffer; El Qaidi, Samir; Hjerde, Erik; Willassen, Nils-Peder; Milton, Debra L

2011-12-01

Vibrio anguillarum utilizes quorum sensing to regulate stress responses required for survival in the aquatic environment. Like other Vibrio species, V. anguillarum contains the gene qrr1, which encodes the ancestral quorum regulatory RNA Qrr1, and phosphorelay quorum-sensing systems that modulate the expression of small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) that destabilize mRNA encoding the transcriptional regulator VanT. In this study, three additional Qrr sRNAs were identified. All four sRNAs were positively regulated by σ(54) and the σ(54)-dependent response regulator VanO, and showed a redundant activity. The Qrr sRNAs, together with the RNA chaperone Hfq, destabilized vanT mRNA and modulated expression of VanT-regulated genes. Unexpectedly, expression of all four qrr genes peaked at high cell density, and exogenously added N-acylhomoserine lactone molecules induced expression of the qrr genes at low cell density. The phosphotransferase VanU, which phosphorylates and activates VanO, repressed expression of the Qrr sRNAs and stabilized vanT mRNA. A model is presented proposing that VanU acts as a branch point, aiding cross-regulation between two independent phosphorelay systems that activate or repress expression of the Qrr sRNAs, giving flexibility and precision in modulating VanT expression and inducing a quorum-sensing response to stresses found in a constantly changing aquatic environment.

Proteomics Reveals Global Regulation of Protein SUMOylation by ATM and ATR Kinases during Replication Stress

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munk, Stephanie; Sigurðsson, Jón Otti; Xiao, Zhenyu

2017-01-01

The mechanisms that protect eukaryotic DNA during the cumbersome task of replication depend on the precise coordination of several post-translational modification (PTM)-based signaling networks. Phosphorylation is a well-known regulator of the replication stress response, and recently an essentia....... They analyze changes in the SUMO and phosphoproteome after MMC and hydroxyurea treatments and find that the DNA damage response kinases ATR and ATM globally regulate SUMOylation upon replication stress and fork breakage....

The bacterial response regulator ArcA uses a diverse binding site architecture to regulate carbon oxidation globally.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan M Park

Full Text Available Despite the importance of maintaining redox homeostasis for cellular viability, how cells control redox balance globally is poorly understood. Here we provide new mechanistic insight into how the balance between reduced and oxidized electron carriers is regulated at the level of gene expression by mapping the regulon of the response regulator ArcA from Escherichia coli, which responds to the quinone/quinol redox couple via its membrane-bound sensor kinase, ArcB. Our genome-wide analysis reveals that ArcA reprograms metabolism under anaerobic conditions such that carbon oxidation pathways that recycle redox carriers via respiration are transcriptionally repressed by ArcA. We propose that this strategy favors use of catabolic pathways that recycle redox carriers via fermentation akin to lactate production in mammalian cells. Unexpectedly, bioinformatic analysis of the sequences bound by ArcA in ChIP-seq revealed that most ArcA binding sites contain additional direct repeat elements beyond the two required for binding an ArcA dimer. DNase I footprinting assays suggest that non-canonical arrangements of cis-regulatory modules dictate both the length and concentration-sensitive occupancy of DNA sites. We propose that this plasticity in ArcA binding site architecture provides both an efficient means of encoding binding sites for ArcA, σ(70-RNAP and perhaps other transcription factors within the same narrow sequence space and an effective mechanism for global control of carbon metabolism to maintain redox homeostasis.

Deep sequencing analysis of small noncoding RNA and mRNA targets of the global post-transcriptional regulator, Hfq

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sittka, A; Lucchini, S; Papenfort, K

2008-01-01

would be rescued by overexpression of HilD and FlhDC, and we proved this to be correct. The combination of epitope-tagging and HTPS of immunoprecipitated RNA detected the expression of many intergenic chromosomal regions of Salmonella. Our approach overcomes the limited availability of high...

Metformin regulates global DNA methylation via mitochondrial one-carbon metabolism.

Science.gov (United States)

Cuyàs, E; Fernández-Arroyo, S; Verdura, S; García, R Á-F; Stursa, J; Werner, L; Blanco-González, E; Montes-Bayón, M; Joven, J; Viollet, B; Neuzil, J; Menendez, J A

2018-02-15

The anti-diabetic biguanide metformin may exert health-promoting effects via metabolic regulation of the epigenome. Here we show that metformin promotes global DNA methylation in non-cancerous, cancer-prone and metastatic cancer cells by decreasing S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH), a strong feedback inhibitor of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-dependent DNA methyltransferases, while promoting the accumulation of SAM, the universal methyl donor for cellular methylation. Using metformin and a mitochondria/complex I (mCI)-targeted analog of metformin (norMitoMet) in experimental pairs of wild-type and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-, serine hydroxymethyltransferase 2 (SHMT2)- and mCI-null cells, we provide evidence that metformin increases the SAM:SAH ratio-related methylation capacity by targeting the coupling between serine mitochondrial one-carbon flux and CI activity. By increasing the contribution of one-carbon units to the SAM from folate stores while decreasing SAH in response to AMPK-sensed energetic crisis, metformin can operate as a metabolo-epigenetic regulator capable of reprogramming one of the key conduits linking cellular metabolism to the DNA methylation machinery.

Linking high-resolution metabolic flux phenotypes and transcriptional regulation in yeast modulated by the global regulator Gcn4p

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moxley, Joel F.; Jewett, Michael Christopher; Antoniewicz, Maciek R.

2009-01-01

. However, the potential of systems biology approaches is limited by difficulties in integrating metabolic measurements across the functional levels of the cell despite their being most closely linked to cellular phenotype. To address this limitation, we developed a model-based approach to correlate m......RNA and metabolic flux data that combines information from both interaction network models and flux determination models. We started by quantifying 5,764 mRNAs, 54 metabolites, and 83 experimental C-13-based reaction fluxes in continuous cultures of yeast under stress in the absence or presence of global regulator...... of metabolic flux (i.e., use of different reaction pathways) by transcriptional regulation and metabolite interaction density (i.e., level of pairwise metabolite-protein interactions) as a key biosynthetic control determinant. Furthermore, this model predicted flux rewiring in studies of follow...

RNAi Reveals Phase-Specific Global Regulators of Human Somatic Cell Reprogramming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng-Xu Delon Toh

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Incomplete knowledge of the mechanisms at work continues to hamper efforts to maximize reprogramming efficiency. Here, we present a systematic genome-wide RNAi screen to determine the global regulators during the early stages of human reprogramming. Our screen identifies functional repressors and effectors that act to impede or promote the reprogramming process. Repressors and effectors form close interacting networks in pathways, including RNA processing, G protein signaling, protein ubiquitination, and chromatin modification. Combinatorial knockdown of five repressors (SMAD3, ZMYM2, SFRS11, SAE1, and ESET synergistically resulted in ∼85% TRA-1-60-positive cells. Removal of the novel splicing factor SFRS11 during reprogramming is accompanied by rapid acquisition of pluripotency-specific spliced forms. Mechanistically, SFRS11 regulates exon skipping and mutually exclusive splicing of transcripts in genes involved in cell differentiation, mRNA splicing, and chromatin modification. Our study provides insights into the reprogramming process, which comprises comprehensive and multi-layered transcriptional, splicing, and epigenetic machineries.

Improvement of Weldment Properties by Hot Forming Quenching of Friction Stir Welded TWB Sheet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dae-Hoon Ko

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to improve the mechanical properties and formability of friction stir welded tailor-welded blanks (TWBs of Al6061 alloy with a new forming method called hot forming quenching (HFQ in which solid-solution heat-treated aluminum sheets are formed at elevated temperature. Forming and quenching during HFQ are simultaneously performed with the forming die for the solid-solution heat-treated sheet. In this study, specimens of aluminum TWBs were prepared by friction stir welding (FSW with a butt joint. The effectiveness of FSW joining was evaluated by observation of the macrostructure for different sheet thicknesses. In order to evaluate the formability of TWBs by HFQ, a hemisphere dome stretching test of the limit dome height achieved without specimen failure was performed with various tool temperatures. A Vickers test was also performed to measure weldment hardness as a function of position. The formability and mechanical properties of products formed by HFQ are compared with those formed by conventional forming methods, demonstrating the suitability of HFQ for sheet metal forming of friction stir welded TWBs.

Lvr, a Signaling System That Controls Global Gene Regulation and Virulence in Pathogenic Leptospira

Science.gov (United States)

Adhikarla, Haritha; Wunder, Elsio A.; Mechaly, Ariel E.; Mehta, Sameet; Wang, Zheng; Santos, Luciane; Bisht, Vimla; Diggle, Peter; Murray, Gerald; Adler, Ben; Lopez, Francesc; Townsend, Jeffrey P.; Groisman, Eduardo; Picardeau, Mathieu; Buschiazzo, Alejandro; Ko, Albert I.

2018-01-01

Leptospirosis is an emerging zoonotic disease with more than 1 million cases annually. Currently there is lack of evidence for signaling pathways involved during the infection process of Leptospira. In our comprehensive genomic analysis of 20 Leptospira spp. we identified seven pathogen-specific Two-Component System (TCS) proteins. Disruption of two these TCS genes in pathogenic Leptospira strain resulted in loss-of-virulence in a hamster model of leptospirosis. Corresponding genes lvrA and lvrB (leptospira virulence regulator) are juxtaposed in an operon and are predicted to encode a hybrid histidine kinase and a hybrid response regulator, respectively. Transcriptome analysis of lvr mutant strains with disruption of one (lvrB) or both genes (lvrA/B) revealed global transcriptional regulation of 850 differentially expressed genes. Phosphotransfer assays demonstrated that LvrA phosphorylates LvrB and predicted further signaling downstream to one or more DNA-binding response regulators, suggesting that it is a branched pathway. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that lvrA and lvrB evolved independently within different ecological lineages in Leptospira via gene duplication. This study uncovers a novel-signaling pathway that regulates virulence in pathogenic Leptospira (Lvr), providing a framework to understand the molecular bases of regulation in this life-threatening bacterium. PMID:29600195

Regulation of Neurospora Catalase-3 by global heterochromatin formation and its proximal heterochromatin region.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yajun; Dong, Qing; Ding, Zhaolan; Gai, Kexin; Han, Xiaoyun; Kaleri, Farah Naz; He, Qun; Wang, Ying

2016-10-01

Catalase-3 (CAT-3) constitutes the main catalase activity in growing hyphae of Neurospora crassa, and its activity increases during exponential growth or is induced under different stress conditions. Although extensive progress has been made to identify catalase regulators, the regulation mechanism of CAT-3 at the chromatin level still remains unclear. Here, we aim at investigating the molecular regulation mechanisms of cat-3 at the chromatin level. We found that CAT-3 protein levels increased in mutants defective in proper global heterochromatin formation. Bioinformatics analysis identified a 5-kb AT-rich sequence adjacent to the cat-3 promoter as a heterochromatin region because of its enrichment of H3K9me3 and HP1. Expression of CAT-3 was induced by H 2 O 2 treatment in wild-type and such change occurred along with the accumulation of histone H3 acetylation at 5-kb heterochromatin boundaries and cat-3 locus, but without alteration of its H3K9me3 repressive modification. Moreover, disruption of 5-kb heterochromatin region results in elevated cat-3 expression, and higher levels of cat-3 expression were promoted by the combination with global heterochromatin defective mutants. Interestingly, the molecular weight and activity bands of CAT-3 protein are different in heterochromatin defective mutants compared with those in wild-type, suggesting that its N-terminal processing and modification may be altered. Our study indicates that the local chromatin structure creates a heterochromatin repressive environment to repress nearby gene expression. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

IVF policy and global/local politics: the making of multiple-embryo transfer regulation in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Chia-Ling

2012-08-01

This paper analyzes the regulatory trajectory of multiple-embryo transfer in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in Taiwan. Taking a latecomer to policy-making as the case, it argues the importance of conceptualizing the global/local dynamics in policy-making for assisted reproductive technology (ART). The conceptual framework is built upon recent literature on standardization, science policy, and global assemblage. I propose three interrelated features that reveal the "global in the local": (1) the power relationships among stakeholders, (2) the selected global form that involved actors drew upon, and (3) the re-contextualized assemblage made of local networks. Data included archives, interviews, and participant observation. In different historical periods the specific stakeholders selected different preferred global forms for Taiwan, such as Britain's code of ethics in the 1990s, the American guideline in the early 2000s, and the European trend in the mid-2000s. The global is heterogeneous. The failure to transfer the British regulation, the revision of the American guideline by adding one more embryo than it specified, and the gap between the cited European trend and the "no more than four" in Taiwan's 2007 Human Reproduction Law all show that the local network further transforms the selected global form, confining it to rhetoric only or tailoring it to local needs. Overall, Taiwanese practitioners successfully maintained their medical autonomy to build a 'flexible standardization'. Multiple pregnancy remains the most common health risk of IVF in Taiwan. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global approaches to regulating electronic cigarettes

OpenAIRE

Kennedy, Ryan David; Awopegba, Ayodeji; De Le?n, Elaine; Cohen, Joanna E

2016-01-01

Objectives Classify and describe the policy approaches used by countries to regulate e-cigarettes. Methods National policies regulating e-cigarettes were identified by (1) conducting web searches on Ministry of Health websites, and (2) broad web searches. The mechanisms used to regulate e-cigarettes were classified as new/amended laws, or existing laws. The policy domains identified include restrictions or prohibitions on product: sale, manufacturing, importation, distribution, use, product d...

Structure of Rot, a global regulator of virulence genes in Staphylococcus aureus.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yuwei; Fan, Xiaojiao; Zhang, Xu; Jiang, Xuguang; Niu, Liwen; Teng, Maikun; Li, Xu

2014-09-01

Staphylococcus aureus is a highly versatile pathogen that can infect human tissue by producing a large arsenal of virulence factors that are tightly regulated by a complex regulatory network. Rot, which shares sequence similarity with SarA homologues, is a global regulator that regulates numerous virulence genes. However, the recognition model of Rot for the promoter region of target genes and the putative regulation mechanism remain elusive. In this study, the 1.77 Å resolution X-ray crystal structure of Rot is reported. The structure reveals that two Rot molecules form a compact homodimer, each of which contains a typical helix-turn-helix module and a β-hairpin motif connected by a flexible loop. Fluorescence polarization results indicate that Rot preferentially recognizes AT-rich dsDNA with ~30-base-pair nucleotides and that the conserved positively charged residues on the winged-helix motif are vital for binding to the AT-rich dsDNA. It is proposed that the DNA-recognition model of Rot may be similar to that of SarA, SarR and SarS, in which the helix-turn-helix motifs of each monomer interact with the major grooves of target dsDNA and the winged motifs contact the minor grooves. Interestingly, the structure shows that Rot adopts a novel dimerization model that differs from that of other SarA homologues. As expected, perturbation of the dimer interface abolishes the dsDNA-binding ability of Rot, suggesting that Rot functions as a dimer. In addition, the results have been further confirmed in vivo by measuring the transcriptional regulation of α-toxin, a major virulence factor produced by most S. aureus strains.

Neoliberalism and the regulation of global labor mobility

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Overbeek, H.W.

2002-01-01

Globalization involves the international expansion of market relations and the global pursuit of economic liberalism. The essential factor in this process is commodification, including the commodification of human labor. Globalization integrates an increasing proportion of the world population

The Global Acetylome of the Human Pathogen Vibrio cholerae V52 Reveals Lysine Acetylation of Major Transcriptional Regulators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jers, Carsten; Ravikumar, Vaishnavi; Lezyk, Mateusz Jakub

2018-01-01

Protein lysine acetylation is recognized as an important reversible post translational modification in all domains of life. While its primary roles appear to reside in metabolic processes, lysine acetylation has also been implicated in regulating pathogenesis in bacteria. Several global lysine...... acetylome analyses have been carried out in various bacteria, but thus far there have been no reports of lysine acetylation taking place in the important human pathogen Vibrio cholerae. In this study, we analyzed the lysine acetylproteome of the human pathogen V. cholerae V52. By applying a combination...... in direct regulation of virulence in V. cholerae were acetylated. In conclusion, this is the first global protein lysine acetylome analysis of V. cholerae and should constitute a valuable resource for in-depth studies of the impact of lysine acetylation in pathogenesis and other cellular processes....

Enhancing E. coli tolerance towards oxidative stress via engineering its global regulator cAMP receptor protein (CRP.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Souvik Basak

Full Text Available Oxidative damage to microbial hosts often occurs under stressful conditions during bioprocessing. Classical strain engineering approaches are usually both time-consuming and labor intensive. Here, we aim to improve E. coli performance under oxidative stress via engineering its global regulator cAMP receptor protein (CRP, which can directly or indirectly regulate redox-sensing regulators SoxR and OxyR, and other ~400 genes in E. coli. Error-prone PCR technique was employed to introduce modifications to CRP, and three mutants (OM1~OM3 were identified with improved tolerance via H(2O(2 enrichment selection. The best mutant OM3 could grow in 12 mM H(2O(2 with the growth rate of 0.6 h(-1, whereas the growth of wild type was completely inhibited at this H(2O(2 concentration. OM3 also elicited enhanced thermotolerance at 48°C as well as resistance against cumene hydroperoxide. The investigation about intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS, which determines cell viability, indicated that the accumulation of ROS in OM3 was always lower than in WT with or without H(2O(2 treatment. Genome-wide DNA microarray analysis has shown not only CRP-regulated genes have demonstrated great transcriptional level changes (up to 8.9-fold, but also RpoS- and OxyR-regulated genes (up to 7.7-fold. qRT-PCR data and enzyme activity assay suggested that catalase (katE could be a major antioxidant enzyme in OM3 instead of alkyl hydroperoxide reductase or superoxide dismutase. To our knowledge, this is the first work on improving E. coli oxidative stress resistance by reframing its transcription machinery through its native global regulator. The positive outcome of this approach may suggest that engineering CRP can be successfully implemented as an efficient strain engineering alternative for E. coli.

A Flexible Binding Site Architecture Provides New Insights into CcpA Global Regulation in Gram-Positive Bacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yunpeng; Zhang, Lu; Huang, He; Yang, Chen; Yang, Sheng; Gu, Yang; Jiang, Weihong

2017-01-24

Catabolite control protein A (CcpA) is the master regulator in Gram-positive bacteria that mediates carbon catabolite repression (CCR) and carbon catabolite activation (CCA), two fundamental regulatory mechanisms that enable competitive advantages in carbon catabolism. It is generally regarded that CcpA exerts its regulatory role by binding to a typical 14- to 16-nucleotide (nt) consensus site that is called a catabolite response element (cre) within the target regions. However, here we report a previously unknown noncanonical flexible architecture of the CcpA-binding site in solventogenic clostridia, providing new mechanistic insights into catabolite regulation. This novel CcpA-binding site, named cre var , has a unique architecture that consists of two inverted repeats and an intervening spacer, all of which are variable in nucleotide composition and length, except for a 6-bp core palindromic sequence (TGTAAA/TTTACA). It was found that the length of the intervening spacer of cre var can affect CcpA binding affinity, and moreover, the core palindromic sequence of cre var is the key structure for regulation. Such a variable architecture of cre var shows potential importance for CcpA's diverse and fine regulation. A total of 103 potential cre var sites were discovered in solventogenic Clostridium acetobutylicum, of which 42 sites were picked out for electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs), and 30 sites were confirmed to be bound by CcpA. These 30 cre var sites are associated with 27 genes involved in many important pathways. Also of significance, the cre var sites are found to be widespread and function in a great number of taxonomically different Gram-positive bacteria, including pathogens, suggesting their global role in Gram-positive bacteria. In Gram-positive bacteria, the global regulator CcpA controls a large number of important physiological and metabolic processes. Although a typical consensus CcpA-binding site, cre, has been identified, it remains

Reconstruction of the yeast Snf1 kinase regulatory network reveals its role as a global energy regulator

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Usaite, Renata; Jewett, Michael Christopher; Soberano de Oliveira, Ana Paula

2009-01-01

Highly conserved among eukaryotic cells, the AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) is a central regulator of carbon metabolism. To map the complete network of interactions around AMPK in yeast (Snf1) and to evaluate the role of its regulatory subunit Snf4, we measured global mRNA, protein and metabolite...

Is Green Regulation Effective or a Failure: Comparative Analysis between Bangladesh Bank (BB Green Guidelines and Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Md. Abdul Kaium Masud

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Green reporting and green regulation have been commonly used in the sustainability movement. This study evaluates Bangladesh Bank’s (BB’s green regulation by considering the global reporting initiative (GRI of environmental regulation along with self-determined content to justify BB’s institutional effort in the banking sector. The analytical study has considered secondary data of all listed banks on the Dhaka Stock Exchange between 2013 to 2016. A multi-theoretical framework has been adopted in which the research is comprised of institutional, stakeholder, and legitimacy theories. Considering the analytical research, we have drawn-up a green reporting score and undertaken SWOT analysis. The results of the study have identified the narrow coverage of BB’s regulation and strategic limitations. Moreover, the findings of the study show that banking companies disclosed more green information in line with BB’s regulation. Furthermore, our analysis has found the lack of transparency of green reporting in terms of absent global reporting as well as external verification. Additionally, we have documented that BB’s regulation falls into a legitimacy threat owing to political, corporate, and social responsibility. Therefore, we concluded that for BB to overcome all possible weaknesses and threats, it should consider all possible opportunities for a holistic international reporting framework while taking into account a transparent financial sector.

The influence of globalization on medical regulation: a descriptive analysis of international medical graduates registered through alternative licensure routes in Ontario

Science.gov (United States)

Yen, Wendy; Hodwitz, Kathryn; Thakkar, Niels; Martimianakis, Maria Athina (Tina); Faulkner, Dan

2016-01-01

The increasing globalization of the medical profession has influenced health policy, health human resource planning, and medical regulation in Canada. Since the early 2000s, numerous policy initiatives have been created to facilitate the entry of international medical graduates (IMGs) into the Canadian workforce. In Ontario, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) developed alternative licensure routes to increase the ability of qualified IMGs to obtain licenses to practice. The current study provides demographic and descriptive information about the IMGs registered through the CPSO’s alternative licensure routes between 2000 and 2012. An analysis of the characteristics and career trajectories of all IMGs practicing in the province sheds light on broader globalization trends and raises questions about the future of health human resource planning in Canada. As the medical profession becomes increasingly globalized, health policy and regulation will continue to be influenced by trends in international migration, concerns about global health equity, and the shifting demographics of the Canadian physician workforce. Implications for future policy development in the complex landscape of medical education and practice are discussed. PMID:28344705

The influence of globalization on medical regulation: a descriptive analysis of international medical graduates registered through alternative licensure routes in Ontario.

Science.gov (United States)

Yen, Wendy; Hodwitz, Kathryn; Thakkar, Niels; Martimianakis, Maria Athina Tina; Faulkner, Dan

2016-12-01

The increasing globalization of the medical profession has influenced health policy, health human resource planning, and medical regulation in Canada. Since the early 2000s, numerous policy initiatives have been created to facilitate the entry of international medical graduates (IMGs) into the Canadian workforce. In Ontario, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) developed alternative licensure routes to increase the ability of qualified IMGs to obtain licenses to practice. The current study provides demographic and descriptive information about the IMGs registered through the CPSO's alternative licensure routes between 2000 and 2012. An analysis of the characteristics and career trajectories of all IMGs practicing in the province sheds light on broader globalization trends and raises questions about the future of health human resource planning in Canada. As the medical profession becomes increasingly globalized, health policy and regulation will continue to be influenced by trends in international migration, concerns about global health equity, and the shifting demographics of the Canadian physician workforce. Implications for future policy development in the complex landscape of medical education and practice are discussed.

The influence of globalization on medical regulation: a descriptive analysis of international medical graduates registered through alternative licensure routes in Ontario

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wendy Yen

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The increasing globalization of the medical profession has influenced health policy, health human resource planning, and medical regulation in Canada. Since the early 2000s, numerous policy initiatives have been created to facilitate the entry of international medical graduates (IMGs into the Canadian workforce. In Ontario, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO developed alternative licensure routes to increase the ability of qualified IMGs to obtain licenses to practice. The current study provides demographic and descriptive information about the IMGs registered through the CPSO’s alternative licensure routes between 2000 and 2012. An analysis of the characteristics and career trajectories of all IMGs practicing in the province sheds light on broader globalization trends and raises questions about the future of health human resource planning in Canada. As the medical profession becomes increasingly globalized, health policy and regulation will continue to be influenced by trends in international migration, concerns about global health equity, and the shifting demographics of the Canadian physician workforce. Implications for future policy development in the complex landscape of medical education and practice are discussed.

Influence of the Crc regulator on the hierarchical use of carbon sources from a complete medium in Pseudomonas.

Science.gov (United States)

La Rosa, Ruggero; Behrends, Volker; Williams, Huw D; Bundy, Jacob G; Rojo, Fernando

2016-03-01

The Crc protein, together with the Hfq protein, participates in catabolite repression in pseudomonads, helping to coordinate metabolism. Little is known about how Crc affects the hierarchy of metabolite assimilation from complex mixtures. Using proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, we carried out comprehensive metabolite profiling of culture supernatants (metabolic footprinting) over the course of growth of both Pseudomonas putida and P. aeruginosa, and compared the wild-type strains with deletion mutants for crc. A complex metabolite consumption hierarchy was observed, which was broadly similar between the two species, although with some important differences, for example in sugar utilization. The order of metabolite utilization changed upon inactivation of the crc gene, but even in the Crc-null strains some compounds were completely consumed before late metabolites were taken up. This suggests the presence of additional regulatory elements that determine the time and order of consumption of compounds. Unexpectedly, the loss of Crc led both species to excrete acetate and pyruvate as a result of unbalanced growth during exponential phase, compounds that were later consumed in stationary phase. This loss of carbon during growth helps to explain the contribution of the Crc/Hfq regulatory system to evolutionary fitness of pseudomonads. © 2015 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Global self-esteem, goal achievement orientations, and self-determined behavioural regulations in a physical education setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Hein, Vello; Hagger, Martin S

2007-01-15

We examined a theoretical model of global self-esteem that incorporated constructs from achievement goal and self-determination theories. The model hypothesized that self-determined or autonomous motives would mediate the influence of achievement goal orientation on global self-esteem. The adapted version of the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (Mullan et al., 1997), the Perception of Success Questionnaire (Roberts & Balague, 1991), and Rosenberg's (1965) self-esteem scales were administered to 634 high school students aged 11 - 15 years. A structural equation model supported the hypotheses and demonstrated that autonomous motives mediated the effect of goal orientations on global self-esteem. The results suggest that generalized motivational orientations influence self-esteem by affecting autonomous motivation and is consistent with theory that suggests that experiences relating to intrinsic motivation are the mechanism by which global motivational orientations are translated into adaptive outcomes like self-esteem. The findings suggest that physical activity interventions that target autonomous motives in physical activity contexts are likely to enhance young people's general self-esteem.

Identification and Characterization of 5′ Untranslated Regions (5′UTRs in Zymomonas mobilis as Regulatory Biological Parts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seung Hee Cho

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Regulatory RNA regions within a transcript, particularly in the 5′ untranslated region (5′UTR, have been shown in a variety of organisms to control the expression levels of these mRNAs in response to various metabolites or environmental conditions. Considering the unique tolerance of Zymomonas mobilis to ethanol and the growing interest in engineering microbial strains with enhanced tolerance to industrial inhibitors, we searched natural cis-regulatory regions in this microorganism using transcriptomic data and bioinformatics analysis. Potential regulatory 5′UTRs were identified and filtered based on length, gene function, relative gene counts, and conservation in other organisms. An in vivo fluorescence-based screening system was developed to confirm the responsiveness of 36 5′UTR candidates to ethanol, acetate, and xylose stresses. UTR_ZMO0347 (5′UTR of gene ZMO0347 encoding the RNA binding protein Hfq was found to down-regulate downstream gene expression under ethanol stress. Genomic deletion of UTR_ZMO0347 led to a general decrease of hfq expression at the transcript level and increased sensitivity for observed changes in Hfq expression at the protein level. The role of UTR_ZMO0347 and other 5′UTRs gives us insight into the regulatory network of Z. mobilis in response to stress and unlocks new strategies for engineering robust industrial strains as well as for harvesting novel responsive regulatory biological parts for controllable gene expression platforms in this organism.

Promoter Analysis Reveals Globally Differential Regulation of Human Long Non-Coding RNA and Protein-Coding Genes

KAUST Repository

Alam, Tanvir

2014-10-02

Transcriptional regulation of protein-coding genes is increasingly well-understood on a global scale, yet no comparable information exists for long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) genes, which were recently recognized to be as numerous as protein-coding genes in mammalian genomes. We performed a genome-wide comparative analysis of the promoters of human lncRNA and protein-coding genes, finding global differences in specific genetic and epigenetic features relevant to transcriptional regulation. These two groups of genes are hence subject to separate transcriptional regulatory programs, including distinct transcription factor (TF) proteins that significantly favor lncRNA, rather than coding-gene, promoters. We report a specific signature of promoter-proximal transcriptional regulation of lncRNA genes, including several distinct transcription factor binding sites (TFBS). Experimental DNase I hypersensitive site profiles are consistent with active configurations of these lncRNA TFBS sets in diverse human cell types. TFBS ChIP-seq datasets confirm the binding events that we predicted using computational approaches for a subset of factors. For several TFs known to be directly regulated by lncRNAs, we find that their putative TFBSs are enriched at lncRNA promoters, suggesting that the TFs and the lncRNAs may participate in a bidirectional feedback loop regulatory network. Accordingly, cells may be able to modulate lncRNA expression levels independently of mRNA levels via distinct regulatory pathways. Our results also raise the possibility that, given the historical reliance on protein-coding gene catalogs to define the chromatin states of active promoters, a revision of these chromatin signature profiles to incorporate expressed lncRNA genes is warranted in the future.

A microRNA feedback loop regulates global microRNA abundance during aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Inukai, Sachi; Pincus, Zachary; de Lencastre, Alexandre; Slack, Frank J

2018-02-01

Expression levels of many microRNAs (miRNAs) change during aging, notably declining globally in a number of organisms and tissues across taxa. However, little is known about the mechanisms or the biological relevance for this change. We investigated the network of genes that controls miRNA transcription and processing during C. elegans aging. We found that miRNA biogenesis genes are highly networked with transcription factors and aging-associated miRNAs. In particular, miR-71, known to influence life span and itself up-regulated during aging, represses alg-1 /Argonaute expression post-transcriptionally during aging. Increased ALG-1 abundance in mir-71 loss-of-function mutants led to globally increased miRNA expression. Interestingly, these mutants demonstrated widespread mRNA expression dysregulation and diminished levels of variability both in gene expression and in overall life span. Thus, the progressive molecular decline often thought to be the result of accumulated damage over an organism's life may be partially explained by a miRNA-directed mechanism of age-associated decline. © 2018 Inukai et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press for the RNA Society.

Strengthening global health security by embedding the International Health Regulations requirements into national health systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Kluge, Hans; Martín-Moreno, Jose Maria; Emiroglu, Nedret; Rodier, Guenael; Kelley, Edward; Vujnovic, Melitta; Permanand, Govin

2018-01-01

The International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005, as the overarching instrument for global health security, are designed to prevent and cope with major international public health threats. But poor implementation in countries hampers their effectiveness. In the wake of a number of major international health crises, such as the 2014 Ebola and 2016 Zika outbreaks, and the findings of a number of high-level assessments of the global response to these crises, it has become clear that there is a need for more joined-up thinking between health system strengthening activities and health security efforts for prevention, alert and response. WHO is working directly with its Member States to promote this approach, more specifically around how to better embed the IHR (2005) core capacities into the main health system functions. This paper looks at how and where the intersections between the IHR and the health system can be best leveraged towards developing greater health system resilience. This merging of approaches is a key component in pursuit of Universal Health Coverage and strengthened global health security as two mutually reinforcing agendas.

Small RNA-based feedforward loop with AND-gate logic regulates extrachromosomal DNA transfer in Salmonella.

Science.gov (United States)

Papenfort, Kai; Espinosa, Elena; Casadesús, Josep; Vogel, Jörg

2015-08-25

Horizontal gene transfer via plasmid conjugation is a major driving force in microbial evolution but constitutes a complex process that requires synchronization with the physiological state of the host bacteria. Although several host transcription factors are known to regulate plasmid-borne transfer genes, RNA-based regulatory circuits for host-plasmid communication remain unknown. We describe a posttranscriptional mechanism whereby the Hfq-dependent small RNA, RprA, inhibits transfer of pSLT, the virulence plasmid of Salmonella enterica. RprA employs two separate seed-pairing domains to activate the mRNAs of both the sigma-factor σ(S) and the RicI protein, a previously uncharacterized membrane protein here shown to inhibit conjugation. Transcription of ricI requires σ(S) and, together, RprA and σ(S) orchestrate a coherent feedforward loop with AND-gate logic to tightly control the activation of RicI synthesis. RicI interacts with the conjugation apparatus protein TraV and limits plasmid transfer under membrane-damaging conditions. To our knowledge, this study reports the first small RNA-controlled feedforward loop relying on posttranscriptional activation of two independent targets and an unexpected role of the conserved RprA small RNA in controlling extrachromosomal DNA transfer.

The global nitrogen regulator, FNR1, regulates fungal nutrition-genes and fitness during Fusarium oxysporum pathogenesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Divon, Hege Hvattum; Ziv, Carmit; Davydov, Olga; Yarden, Oded; Fluhr, Robert

2006-11-01

SUMMARY Fusarium oxysporum is a soil-borne pathogen that infects plants through the roots and uses the vascular system for host ingress. Specialized for this route of infection, F. oxysporum is able to adapt to the scarce nutrient environment in the xylem vessels. Here we report the cloning of the F. oxysporum global nitrogen regulator, Fnr1, and show that it is one of the determinants for fungal fitness during in planta growth. The Fnr1 gene has a single conserved GATA-type zinc finger domain and is 96% and 48% identical to AREA-GF from Gibberella fujikuroi, and NIT2 from Neurospora crassa, respectively. Fnr1 cDNA, expressed under a constitutive promoter, was able to complement functionally an N. crassa nit-2(RIP) mutant, restoring the ability of the mutant to utilize nitrate. Fnr1 disruption mutants showed high tolerance to chlorate and reduced ability to utilize several secondary nitrogen sources such as amino acids, hypoxanthine and uric acid, whereas growth on favourable nitrogen sources was not affected. Fnr1 disruption also abolished in vitro expression of nutrition genes, normally induced during the early phase of infection. In an infection assay on tomato seedlings, infection rate of disruption mutants was significantly delayed in comparison with the parental strain. Our results indicate that FNR1 mediates adaptation to nitrogen-poor conditions in planta through the regulation of secondary nitrogen acquisition, and as such acts as a determinant for fungal fitness during infection.

Discovery of Salmonella Virulence Factors Translocated via Outer Membrane Vesicles to Murine Macrophages.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoon, Hyunjin; Ansong, Charles; Adkins, Joshua N.; Heffron, Fred

2011-06-01

We have previously shown that the regulators SpvR, FruR, IHF, PhoP/PhoQ, SsrA/SsrB, SlyA, Hnr, RpoE, SmpB, CsrA, RpoS, Crp, OmpR/EnvZ, and Hfq are essential for Salmonella Typhimurium virulence in mice. Here we use quantitative LC-MS-based proteomics profiling of in-frame deletion mutants of these 14 regulators to identify proteins that are coordinately regulated by these virulence regulators and are thus presumably novel factors contributing to Salmonella pathogenesis. Putative candidate proteins from proteomics analysis were determined, which exhibited similar abundance profiles to those of Salmonella pathogenicity island (SPI)-2 type III secretion system (TTSS) proteins. A subset of 5 proteins including STM0082, STM1548, PdgL, STM1633, and STM3595 was selected for further analysis. All 5 proteins were expressed inside macrophage cells and STM0082 (SrfN) was secreted into host cytoplasm. Furthermore, deletion of STM0082 attenuated virulence in mice when administered intraperitoneally as determined by competitive index. srfN transcription was positively regulated by SsrAB, however, secretion was independent of SPI-2 TTSS as well as SPI-1 TTSS and flagella. Proteins including PagK and STM2585A, which are positively regulated by PhoP/PhoQ, have sec signal peptides as predicted for SrfN and were secreted into macrophage cytoplasm regardless of SPI-2 TTSS. Isolation of outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) revealed the presence of SrfN, PagK, and STM2585A inside vesicle compartments. This result is the first case showing delivery of virulence effectors via OMVs in S. Typhimurium. Moreover, Hfq regulation of SrfN translation suggests that small non-coding RNAs may be responsible for regulating effector protein expression.

The Crc/CrcZ-CrcY global regulatory system helps the integration of gluconeogenic and glycolytic metabolism in Pseudomonas putida.

Science.gov (United States)

La Rosa, Ruggero; Nogales, Juan; Rojo, Fernando

2015-09-01

In metabolically versatile bacteria, carbon catabolite repression (CCR) facilitates the preferential assimilation of the most efficient carbon sources, improving growth rates and fitness. In Pseudomonas putida, the Crc and Hfq proteins and the CrcZ and CrcY small RNAs, which are believed to antagonize Crc/Hfq, are key players in CCR. Unlike that seen in other bacterial species, succinate and glucose elicit weak CCR in this bacterium. In the present work, metabolic, transcriptomic and constraint-based metabolic flux analyses were combined to clarify whether P. putida prefers succinate or glucose, and to identify the role of the Crc protein in the metabolism of these compounds. When provided simultaneously, succinate was consumed faster than glucose, although both compounds were metabolized. CrcZ and CrcY levels were lower when both substrates were present than when only one was provided, suggesting a role for Crc in coordinating metabolism of these compounds. Flux distribution analysis suggested that, when both substrates are present, Crc works to organize a metabolism in which carbon compounds flow in opposite directions: from glucose to pyruvate, and from succinate to pyruvate. Thus, our results support that Crc not only favours the assimilation of preferred compounds, but balances carbon fluxes, optimizing metabolism and growth. © 2015 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Combating global warming. Possible rules, regulations and administrative arrangements for a global market in CO2 emission entitlements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-12-01

When in 1991 the UNCTAD secretariat launched its research into the idea of controlling carbon dioxide emissions through a system of 'tradeable permits', there was little support for this approach. Some felt that the idea was premature and should not detract from efforts to introduce more conventional measures, such as environmental taxes and new regulations. However, in a few short years, the idea of using tradeable market-based instruments to combat global warming has gained widespread acceptance. The UNCTAD secretariat's 1992 study on a global system of tradeable carbon emission entitlements (UNCTAD/RDP/DFP/1), was widely regarded as a major breakthrough in this area. This study argued that tradeable permits were both an efficient means of controlling man-made carbon dioxide emissions at minimum cost, and an effective mechanism for transferring resources to developing countries and countries in transition, to help them to contribute to the international effort to abate emissions of greenhouse gases. The study contained a detailed assessment of key technical elements of a tradeable CO 2 entitlements system, including permit allocation techniques, resource transfers, equity/distributional implications, institutional and administrative requirements. The present publication explores the institutional requirements for both policy-making and the organization of a global market in CO 2 emission allowances. It shows that one can start with a simple pilot scheme based on the joint implementation of commitments, which constitutes the cornerstone of the Framework Convention, and evolve gradually to a more complete system on the basis of 'learning by doing'. Since the use of markets can dramatically lower the cost of controlling greenhouse gas emissions, it is clearly in the self-interest of major emitters to act as 'market leaders' willing to pioneer

Model rules and regulations for a global CO2 emissions credit market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sandor, R.L.; Cole, J.B.; Kelly, M.E.

1994-01-01

On 21 April 1993, on the occasion of Earth Day, the United States affirmed its commitment to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases to their 1990 levels by the year 2000. In doing so, the United States joined the European Union (EU), Japan, and approximately 141 other countries that had either committed themselves to this international objective or subscribed to the general principles contained in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, signed at UNCED, Rio de Janeiro, June 1992. The commitment of these three trading groups provides the basis for recommending that a market for tradeable carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission entitlements among these groups be implemented as soon as an initial set of rules and regulations can be drafted. The goal of a tradeable CO 2 entitlement or credit market is to lower the cost of limiting emissions. The Costs of CO 2 emission abatement are lowered because the market encourages more emission reductions to be produced by the most efficient resources. The ability easily to selI CO 2 credits created through large emission cuts allows cost recovery by, and incentives for, the most efficient sources of emission reductions. The purpose of this paper is to stimulate debate by providing model rules and regulations for a tradeable CO 2 emission credit market. The trading rules and regulations proposed here are meant to initiate a process whereby participants will iterate toward a final set of rules and regulations. Therefore, our proposal should create a point of departure for further adjustments and transformation to the initial set of recommendations. A specific proposal will be advanced at this point in order to provide a basis for the conceptualization of this global market. Moreover, this specific proposal will help focus dialogue and may provide insight into the general recommendations presented in the balance of this paper

Structure analysis of the global metabolic regulator Crc from Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Yong; Zhang, Heng; Gao, Zeng-Qiang; Xu, Jian-Hua; Liu, Quan-Sheng; Dong, Yu-Hui

2013-01-01

The global metabolic regulator catabolite repression control (Crc) has recently been found to modulate the susceptibility to antibiotics and virulence in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa and been suggested as a nonlethal target for novel antimicrobials. In P. aeruginosa, Crc couples with the CA motifs from the small RNA CrcZ to form a post-transcriptional regulator system and is removed from the 5'-end of the target mRNAs. In this study, we first reported the crystal structure of Crc from P. aeruginosa refined to 2.20 Å. The structure showed that it consists of two halves with similar overall topology and there are 11 β strands surrounded by 13 helices, forming a four-layered α/β-sandwich. The circular dichroism spectroscopy revealed that it is thermostable in solution and shares similar characteristics to that in crystal. Comprehensive structural analysis and comparison with the homologies of Crc showed high similarity with several known nucleases and consequently may be classified into a member exodeoxyribonuclease III. However, it shows distinct substrate specificity (RNA as the preferred substrate) compared to these DNA endonucleases. Structural comparisons also revealed potential RNA recognition and binding region mainly consisting of five flexible loops. Our structure study provided the basis for the future application of Crc as a target to develop new antibiotics. Copyright © 2012 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Differential modulation of global and local neural oscillations in REM sleep by homeostatic sleep regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Bowon; Kocsis, Bernat; Hwang, Eunjin; Kim, Youngsoo; Strecker, Robert E; McCarley, Robert W; Choi, Jee Hyun

2017-02-28

Homeostatic rebound in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep normally occurs after acute sleep deprivation, but REM sleep rebound settles on a persistently elevated level despite continued accumulation of REM sleep debt during chronic sleep restriction (CSR). Using high-density EEG in mice, we studied how this pattern of global regulation is implemented in cortical regions with different functions and network architectures. We found that across all areas, slow oscillations repeated the behavioral pattern of persistent enhancement during CSR, whereas high-frequency oscillations showed progressive increases. This pattern followed a common rule despite marked topographic differences. The findings suggest that REM sleep slow oscillations may translate top-down homeostatic control to widely separated brain regions whereas fast oscillations synchronizing local neuronal ensembles escape this global command. These patterns of EEG oscillation changes are interpreted to reconcile two prevailing theories of the function of sleep, synaptic homeostasis and sleep dependent memory consolidation.

Untreated pain, narcotics regulation, and global health ideologies.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Nicholas B; Fraser, Veronique

2013-01-01

Pain management is marginalized or ignored, with millions of people worldwide unnecessarily living with untreated pain. Reducing global inequalities in untreated pain requires a concerted global effort, say Veronique Fraser and colleagues, which must attend to the complexity of pain and promote multimodal, multidisciplinary pain management.

[Involvement of the global regulators GrrS, RpoS, and SplIR in formation of biofilms in Serratia plymuthica].

Science.gov (United States)

Zaĭtseva, Iu V; Voloshina, P V; Liu, X; Ovadis, M I; Berg, G; Chernin, L S; Khmel', I A

2010-05-01

Most bacteria exist in the natural environment as biofilms, multicellular communities attached to hard surfaces. Biofilms have a characteristic architecture and are enclosed in the exopolymer matrix. Bacterial cells in biofilms are extremely resistant to antibacterial factors. It was shown in this work that the GrrA/GrrS system of global regulators of gene expression and the sigma S subunit of RNA polymerase (RpoS) play a significant role in positive regulation of biofilm formation in the rhizospheric bacterium Serratia plymuthica IC1270. Inactivation of grrS and rpoS genes resulted in an up to six-to-sevenfold and four-to-fivefold reduction in biofilm formation, respectively. Mutations in the grrS gene decreased the capacity of the bacterium for swarming motility. The splIR Quorum Sensing (QS) system was shown to negatively influence the biofilm formation. Transfer of the recombinant plasmid containing cloned genes splI/splR of S. plymuthica HRO-C48 into S. plymuthica IC1270 cells led to a twofold decrease of their ability to form biofilms. Inactivation of the splI gene coding for the synthase of N-acyl-homoserine lactones in S. plymuthica HRO-C48 resulted in a 2-2.5-fold increase in the level of biofilm formation, whereas the inclusion of plasmid carrying the cloned splI/splR genes into these mutant cells restored the biofilm formation to the normal level. The results obtained demonstrate that the formation of biofilms in S. plymuthica is positively regulated by the GrrA/GrrS and RpoS global regulators and is negatively regulated by the SplIR QS system.

Globalization and business ethics

OpenAIRE

Khadartseva, L.; Agnaeva, L.

2014-01-01

It is assumed that local conditions of markets may be different, but some global markets, ethics and social responsibility principles should be applicable to all markets. As markets globalize and an increasing proportion of business activity transcends national borders, institutions need to help manage, regulate, and police the global marketplace, and to promote the establishment of multinational treaties to govern the global business system

State - Level Regulation's Effectiveness in Addressing Global Climate Change and Promoting Solar Energy Deployment

Science.gov (United States)

Peterman, Carla Joy

Paper 1, Local Solutions to Global Problems: Climate Change Policies and Regulatory Jurisdiction, considers the efficacy of various types of environmental regulations when they are applied locally to pollutants whose damages extend beyond the jurisdiction of the local regulators. Local regulations of a global pollutant may be ineffective if producers and consumers can avoid them by transacting outside the reach of the local regulator. In many cases, this may involve the physical relocation of the economic activity, a problem often referred to as "leakage." This paper highlights another way in which local policies can be circumvented: through the shuffling of who buys from whom. The paper maintains that the problems of reshuffling are exacerbated when the options for compliance with the regulations are more flexible. Numerical analyses is presented demonstrating that several proposed policies to limit greenhouse gas emissions from the California electricity sector may have very little effect on carbon emissions if they are applied only within that state. Paper 1 concludes that although local subsidies for energy efficiency, renewable electricity, and transportation biofuels constitute attempts to pick technology winners, they may be the only mechanisms that local jurisdictions, acting alone, have at their disposal to address climate change. Paper 2, Pass-Through of Solar PV Incentives to Consumers: The Early Years of California's Solar PV Incentives, examines the pass through of incentives to California solar PV system owners. The full post-subsidy price consumers pay for solar power is a key metric of the success of solar PV incentive programs and of overall PV market performance. This study examines the early years of California's most recent wave of distributed solar PV incentives (2000-2008) to determine the pass-through of incentives. Examination of this period is both intellectually and pragmatically important due to the high level of incentives provided and

Money Laundering, Corruption and Growth: An Empirical Rationale for a Global Convergence on Anti-Money Laundering Regulation

OpenAIRE

Cavalcante Veiga, Luiz Humberto; Andrade, Joaquim Pinto

2006-01-01

This paper provides empirical evidence on the impact of anti-money laundering regulations on growth and, it examines the rationale for a global adoption of these rules. The empirical results have led us to confirm a positive relation between low corruption levels and high investment and growth. We approached the impact on growth of money laundering prevention (MLP) initiatives in two ways: first, by verifying that the existence of these initiatives affects the perception of corruption. Second...

Global water cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Franklin; Goodman, Steven J.; Christy, John R.; Fitzjarrald, Daniel E.; Chou, Shi-Hung; Crosson, William; Wang, Shouping; Ramirez, Jorge

1993-01-01

This research is the MSFC component of a joint MSFC/Pennsylvania State University Eos Interdisciplinary Investigation on the global water cycle extension across the earth sciences. The primary long-term objective of this investigation is to determine the scope and interactions of the global water cycle with all components of the Earth system and to understand how it stimulates and regulates change on both global and regional scales. Significant accomplishments in the past year are presented and include the following: (1) water vapor variability; (2) multi-phase water analysis; (3) global modeling; and (4) optimal precipitation and stream flow analysis and hydrologic processes.

CytR Is a Global Positive Regulator of Competence, Type VI Secretion, and Chitinases in Vibrio cholerae.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samit S Watve

Full Text Available The facultative pathogen Vibrio cholerae transitions between its human host and aquatic reservoirs where it colonizes chitinous surfaces. Growth on chitin induces expression of chitin utilization genes, genes involved in DNA uptake by natural transformation, and a type VI secretion system that allows contact-dependent killing of neighboring bacteria. We have previously shown that the transcription factor CytR, thought to primarily regulate the pyrimidine nucleoside scavenging response, is required for natural competence in V. cholerae. Through high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq, we show that CytR positively regulates the majority of competence genes, the three type VI secretion operons, and the four known or predicted chitinases. We used transcriptional reporters and phenotypic analysis to determine the individual contributions of quorum sensing, which is controlled by the transcription factors HapR and QstR; chitin utilization that is mediated by TfoX; and pyrimidine starvation that is orchestrated by CytR, toward each of these processes. We find that in V. cholerae, CytR is a global regulator of multiple behaviors affecting fitness and adaptability in the environment.

Globalization and protection of employment

OpenAIRE

Fischer, Justina A.V.; Somogyi, Frank

2012-01-01

Unionists and politicians frequently claim that globalization lowers employment protection of workers. This paper tests this hypothesis in a panel of 28 OECD countries from 1985 to 2003, differentiating between three dimensions of globalization and two labor market segments. While overall globalization is shown to loosen protection of the regularly employed, it increases regulation in the segment of limited-term contracts. We find economic and political globalization to drive deregulation ...

Examining the global health arena: strengths and weaknesses of a convention approach to global health challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Haffeld, Just Balstad; Siem, Harald; Røttingen, John-Arne

2010-01-01

The article comprises a conceptual framework to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a global health convention. The analyses are inspired by Lawrence Gostin's suggested Framework Convention on Global Health. The analytical model takes a starting-point in events tentatively following a logic sequence: Input (global health funding), Processes (coordination, cooperation, accountability, allocation of aid), Output (definition of basic survival needs), Outcome (access to health services), and Impact (health for all). It then examines to what degree binding international regulations can create order in such a sequence of events. We conclude that a global health convention could be an appropriate instrument to deal with some of the problems of global health. We also show that some of the tasks preceding a convention approach might be to muster international support for supra-national health regulations, negotiate compromises between existing stakeholders in the global health arena, and to utilize WHO as a platform for further discussions on a global health convention. © 2010 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

Global identification of bursicon-regulated genes in Drosophila melanogaster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beerntsen Brenda

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Bursicon is a heterodimer neuropeptide responsible for regulating cuticle sclerotization and wing expansion in several insect species. Recent studies indicate that the action of bursicon is mediated by a specific G protein-coupled receptor DLGR2 and the cAMP/PKA signaling pathway. However, little is known regarding the genes that are regulated by bursicon. The identification of bursicon-regulated genes is the focus of this investigation. Results We used DNA microarray analysis to identify bursicon-regulated genes in neck-ligated flies (Drosophila melanogaster that received recombinant bursicon (r-bursicon. Fifty four genes were found to be regulated by bursicon 1 h post r-bursicon injection, 52 being up-regulated and 2 down-regulated while 33 genes were influenced by r-bursicon 3 h post-injection (24 up-regulated and 9 down-regulated genes. Analysis of these genes by inference from the fly database http://flybase.bio.indiana.edu revealed that these genes encode proteins with diverse functions, including cell signaling, gene transcription, DNA/RNA binding, ion trafficking, proteolysis-peptidolysis, metabolism, cytoskeleton formation, immune response and cell-adhesion. Twenty eight genes randomly selected from the microarray-identified list were verified by real time PCR (qPCR which supported the microarray data. Temporal response studies of 13 identified and verified genes by qPCR revealed that the temporal expression patterns of these genes are consistent with the microarray data. Conclusion Using r-bursicon, we identified 87 genes that are regulated by bursicon, 30 of which have no previously known function. Most importantly, all genes randomly selected from the microarray-identified list were verified by real time PCR. Temporal analysis of 13 verified genes revealed that the expression of these genes was indeed induced by bursicon and correlated well with the cuticle sclerotization process. The composite data suggest that

Global DNA methylation synergistically regulates the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes in glioblastoma cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xin; Johnson, Jacqueline; St John, Justin C

2018-05-02

Replication of mitochondrial DNA is strictly regulated during differentiation and development allowing each cell type to acquire its required mtDNA copy number to meet its specific needs for energy. Undifferentiated cells establish the mtDNA set point, which provides low numbers of mtDNA copy but sufficient template for replication once cells commit to specific lineages. However, cancer cells, such as those from the human glioblastoma multiforme cell line, HSR-GBM1, cannot complete differentiation as they fail to enforce the mtDNA set point and are trapped in a 'pseudo-differentiated' state. Global DNA methylation is likely to be a major contributing factor, as DNA demethylation treatments promote differentiation of HSR-GBM1 cells. To determine the relationship between DNA methylation and mtDNA copy number in cancer cells, we applied whole genome MeDIP-Seq and RNA-Seq to HSR-GBM1 cells and following their treatment with the DNA demethylation agents 5-azacytidine and vitamin C. We identified key methylated regions modulated by the DNA demethylation agents that also induced synchronous changes to mtDNA copy number and nuclear gene expression. Our findings highlight the control exerted by DNA methylation on the expression of key genes, the regulation of mtDNA copy number and establishment of the mtDNA set point, which collectively contribute to tumorigenesis.

Future-proofing global health: Governance of priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Belinda; Cohen, I Glenn; Davies, Sara E; Gostin, Lawrence O; Hill, Peter S; Mankad, Aditi; Phelan, Alexandra L

2018-05-01

The year 2015 was a significant anniversary for global health: 15 years since the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals and the creation of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, followed two years later by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. 2015 was also the 10-year anniversary of the adoption of the International Health Regulations (May 2005) and the formal entering into force of the Framework Convention on the Tobacco Control (February 2005). The anniversary of these frameworks and institutions illustrates the growth and contribution of 'global' health diplomacy. Each initiative has also revealed on-going issues with compliance, sustainable funding and equitable attention in global health governance. In this paper, we present four thematic challenges that will continue to challenge prioritisation within global health governance into the future unless addressed: framing and prioritising within global health governance; identifying stakeholders of the global health community; understanding the relationship between health and behaviour; and the role of governance and regulation in supporting global health.

Global SUMO proteome responses guide gene regulation, mRNA biogenesis, and plant stress responses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magdalena eMazur

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Small-ubiquitin-like MOdifier (SUMO is a key regulator of abiotic stress, disease resistance and development in plants. The identification of >350 plant SUMO targets has revealed many processes modulated by SUMO and potential consequences of SUMO on its targets. Importantly, highly related proteins are SUMO-modified in plants, yeast, and metazoans. Overlapping SUMO targets include heat-shock proteins, transcription regulators, histones, histone-modifying enzymes, proteins involved in DNA damage repair, but also proteins involved in mRNA biogenesis and nucleo-cytoplasmic transport. Proteomics studies indicate key roles for SUMO in gene repression by controlling histone (deacetylation activity at genomic loci. The responsible heavily sumoylated transcriptional repressor complexes are recruited by EAR (Ethylene-responsive element binding factor [ERF]-associated Amphiphilic Repression-motif containing transcription factors in plants. These transcription factors are not necessarily themselves a SUMO target. Conversely, SUMO acetylation prevents binding of downstream partners by preventing binding of SIMs (SUMO-interaction peptide motifs presents in these partners, while SUMO acetylation has emerged as mechanism to recruit specifically bromodomains; bromodomain are generally linked with gene activation. These findings strengthen the idea of a bidirectional sumo-/acetylation switch in gene regulation. Quantitative proteomics has highlighted that global sumoylation provides a dynamic response to protein damage involving SUMO chain-mediated protein degradation, but also SUMO E3 ligase-dependent transcription of HSP (Heat-shock protein genes. With these insights in SUMO function and novel technical advancements, we can now study SUMO dynamics in responses to (abiotic stress in plants.

The liberal battlefields of global business regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kate Macdonald

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The global justice movement has often been associated with opposition to the broad programme of ‘neoliberalism’ and associated patterns of ‘corporate globalisation’, creating a widespread impression that this movement is opposed to liberalism more broadly conceived. Our goal in this article is to challenge this widespread view. By engaging in critical interpretive analysis of the contemporary ‘corporate accountability’ movement, we argue that the corporate accountability agenda is not opposed to the core values of a liberal project. Rather, it is seeking to reconfigure the design of liberal institutions of individual rights-protection, adjusting these for new material conditions associated with economic globalisation, under which powerful corporations alongside states now pose direct and significant threats to individual rights. This activist agenda is, therefore, much less radical in its challenge to the prevailing liberal global order than it may initially appear, since it functions to buttress rather than corrode many core normative commitments underpinning the liberal political project.

Onboard Hydrogen/Helium Sensors in Support of the Global Technical Regulation: An Assessment of Performance in Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Crash Tests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Post, M. B.; Burgess, R.; Rivkin, C.; Buttner, W.; O' Malley, K.; Ruiz, A.

2012-09-01

Automobile manufacturers in North America, Europe, and Asia project a 2015 release of commercial hydrogen fuel cell powered light-duty road vehicles. These vehicles will be for general consumer applications, albeit initially in select markets but with much broader market penetration expected by 2025. To assure international harmony, North American, European, and Asian regulatory representatives are striving to base respective national regulations on an international safety standard, the Global Technical Regulation (GTR), Hydrogen Fueled Vehicle, which is part of an international agreement pertaining to wheeled vehicles and equipment for wheeled vehicles.

Global regulators ExpA (GacA) and KdgR modulate extracellular enzyme gene expression through the RsmA-rsmB system in Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora.

Science.gov (United States)

Hyytiäinen, H; Montesano, M; Palva, E T

2001-08-01

The production of the main virulence determinants, the extracellular plant cell wall-degrading enzymes, and hence virulence of Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora is controlled by a complex regulatory network. One of the global regulators, the response regulator ExpA, a GacA homolog, is required for transcriptional activation of the extracellular enzyme genes of this soft-rot pathogen. To elucidate the mechanism of ExpA control as well as interactions with other regulatory systems, we isolated second-site transposon mutants that would suppress the enzyme-negative phenotype of an expA (gacA) mutant. Inactivation of kdgR resulted in partial restoration of extracellular enzyme production and virulence to the expA mutant, suggesting an interaction between the two regulatory pathways. This interaction was mediated by the RsmA-rsmB system. Northern analysis was used to show that the regulatory rsmB RNA was under positive control of ExpA. Conversely, the expression of rsmA encoding a global repressor was under negative control of ExpA and positive control of KdgR. This study indicates a central role for the RsmA-rsmB regulatory system during pathogenesis, integrating signals from the ExpA (GacA) and KdgR global regulators of extracellular enzyme production in E. carotovora subsp. carotovora.

Strategies for restoration of deep-water coral ecosystems based on a global survey of oil and gas regulations

Science.gov (United States)

Cordes, E. E.; Jones, D.; Levin, L. A.

2016-02-01

The oil and gas industry is one of the most active agents of the global industrialization of the deep sea. The wide array of impacts following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill highlighted the need for a systematic review of existing regulations both in US waters and internationally. Within different exclusive economic zones, there are a wide variety of regulations regarding the survey of deep-water areas prior to leasing and the acceptable set-back distances from vulnerable marine ecosystems once they are discovered. There are also varying mitigation strategies for accidental release of oil and gas, including active monitoring systems, temporary closings of oil and gas production, and marine protected areas. The majority of these regulations are based on previous studies of typical impacts from oil and gas drilling, rather than accidental releases. However, the probability of an accident from standard operations increases significantly with depth. The Oil & Gas working group of the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative is an international partnership of scientists, managers, non-governmental organizations, and industry professionals whose goal is to review existing regulations for the oil & gas industry and produce a best practices document to advise both developed and developing nations on their regulatory structure as energy development moves into deeper waters.

Conservation of σ28-Dependent Non-Coding RNA Paralogs and Predicted σ54-Dependent Targets in Thermophilic Campylobacter Species.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

My Thanh Le

Full Text Available Assembly of flagella requires strict hierarchical and temporal control via flagellar sigma and anti-sigma factors, regulatory proteins and the assembly complex itself, but to date non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs have not been described to regulate genes directly involved in flagellar assembly. In this study we have investigated the possible role of two ncRNA paralogs (CjNC1, CjNC4 in flagellar assembly and gene regulation of the diarrhoeal pathogen Campylobacter jejuni. CjNC1 and CjNC4 are 37/44 nt identical and predicted to target the 5' untranslated region (5' UTR of genes transcribed from the flagellar sigma factor σ54. Orthologs of the σ54-dependent 5' UTRs and ncRNAs are present in the genomes of other thermophilic Campylobacter species, and transcription of CjNC1 and CNC4 is dependent on the flagellar sigma factor σ28. Surprisingly, inactivation and overexpression of CjNC1 and CjNC4 did not affect growth, motility or flagella-associated phenotypes such as autoagglutination. However, CjNC1 and CjNC4 were able to mediate sequence-dependent, but Hfq-independent, partial repression of fluorescence of predicted target 5' UTRs in an Escherichia coli-based GFP reporter gene system. This hints towards a subtle role for the CjNC1 and CjNC4 ncRNAs in post-transcriptional gene regulation in thermophilic Campylobacter species, and suggests that the currently used phenotypic methodologies are insufficiently sensitive to detect such subtle phenotypes. The lack of a role of Hfq in the E. coli GFP-based system indicates that the CjNC1 and CjNC4 ncRNAs may mediate post-transcriptional gene regulation in ways that do not conform to the paradigms obtained from the Enterobacteriaceae.

Conservation of σ28-Dependent Non-Coding RNA Paralogs and Predicted σ54-Dependent Targets in Thermophilic Campylobacter Species

Science.gov (United States)

Le, My Thanh; van Veldhuizen, Mart; Porcelli, Ida; Bongaerts, Roy J.; Gaskin, Duncan J. H.; Pearson, Bruce M.; van Vliet, Arnoud H. M.

2015-01-01

Assembly of flagella requires strict hierarchical and temporal control via flagellar sigma and anti-sigma factors, regulatory proteins and the assembly complex itself, but to date non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have not been described to regulate genes directly involved in flagellar assembly. In this study we have investigated the possible role of two ncRNA paralogs (CjNC1, CjNC4) in flagellar assembly and gene regulation of the diarrhoeal pathogen Campylobacter jejuni. CjNC1 and CjNC4 are 37/44 nt identical and predicted to target the 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) of genes transcribed from the flagellar sigma factor σ54. Orthologs of the σ54-dependent 5' UTRs and ncRNAs are present in the genomes of other thermophilic Campylobacter species, and transcription of CjNC1 and CNC4 is dependent on the flagellar sigma factor σ28. Surprisingly, inactivation and overexpression of CjNC1 and CjNC4 did not affect growth, motility or flagella-associated phenotypes such as autoagglutination. However, CjNC1 and CjNC4 were able to mediate sequence-dependent, but Hfq-independent, partial repression of fluorescence of predicted target 5' UTRs in an Escherichia coli-based GFP reporter gene system. This hints towards a subtle role for the CjNC1 and CjNC4 ncRNAs in post-transcriptional gene regulation in thermophilic Campylobacter species, and suggests that the currently used phenotypic methodologies are insufficiently sensitive to detect such subtle phenotypes. The lack of a role of Hfq in the E. coli GFP-based system indicates that the CjNC1 and CjNC4 ncRNAs may mediate post-transcriptional gene regulation in ways that do not conform to the paradigms obtained from the Enterobacteriaceae. PMID:26512728

An index-based framework for assessing patterns and trends in river fragmentation and flow regulation by global dams at multiple scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grill, Günther; Lehner, Bernhard; Lumsdon, Alexander E; Zarfl, Christiane; MacDonald, Graham K; Reidy Liermann, Catherine

2015-01-01

The global number of dam constructions has increased dramatically over the past six decades and is forecast to continue to rise, particularly in less industrialized regions. Identifying development pathways that can deliver the benefits of new infrastructure while also maintaining healthy and productive river systems is a great challenge that requires understanding the multifaceted impacts of dams at a range of scales. New approaches and advanced methodologies are needed to improve predictions of how future dam construction will affect biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and fluvial geomorphology worldwide, helping to frame a global strategy to achieve sustainable dam development. Here, we respond to this need by applying a graph-based river routing model to simultaneously assess flow regulation and fragmentation by dams at multiple scales using data at high spatial resolution. We calculated the cumulative impact of a set of 6374 large existing dams and 3377 planned or proposed dams on river connectivity and river flow at basin and subbasin scales by fusing two novel indicators to create a holistic dam impact matrix for the period 1930–2030. Static network descriptors such as basin area or channel length are of limited use in hierarchically nested and dynamic river systems, so we developed the river fragmentation index and the river regulation index, which are based on river volume. These indicators are less sensitive to the effects of network configuration, offering increased comparability among studies with disparate hydrographies as well as across scales. Our results indicate that, on a global basis, 48% of river volume is moderately to severely impacted by either flow regulation, fragmentation, or both. Assuming completion of all dams planned and under construction in our future scenario, this number would nearly double to 93%, largely due to major dam construction in the Amazon Basin. We provide evidence for the importance of considering small to medium

Metrological traceability and harmonization of medical tests: a quantum leap forward is needed to keep pace with globalization and stringent IVD-regulations in the 21st century!

Science.gov (United States)

Cobbaert, Christa; Smit, Nico; Gillery, Philippe

2018-05-07

In our efforts to advance the profession and practice of clinical laboratory medicine, strong coordination and collaboration are needed more than ever before. At the dawn of the 21st century, medical laboratories are facing many unmet clinical needs, a technological revolution promising a plethora of better biomarkers, financial constraints, a growing scarcity of well-trained laboratory technicians and a sharply increasing number of International Organization for Standardization guidelines and new regulations to which medical laboratories should comply in order to guarantee safety and effectiveness of medical test results. Although this is a global trend, medical laboratories across continents and countries are in distinct phases and experience various situations. A universal underlying requirement for safe and global use of medical test results is the standardization and harmonization of test results. Since two decades and after a number of endeavors on standardization/harmonization of medical tests, it is time to reflect on the effectiveness of the approaches used. To keep laboratory medicine sustainable, viable and affordable, clarification of the promises of metrological traceability of test results for improving sick and health care, realization of formal commitment among all stakeholders of the metrological traceability chain and preparation of a joint and global plan for action are essential prerequisites. Policy makers and regulators should not only overwhelm the diagnostic sector with oversight and regulations but should also create the conditions by establishing a global professional forum for anchoring the metrological traceability concept in the medical test domain. Even so, professional societies should have a strong voice in their (inter-) national governments to negotiate long-lasting public policy commitment and funds for global standardization of medical tests.

Salutogenesis, globalization, and communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Petzold, Theodor Dierk; Lehmann, Nadja

2011-12-01

Achieving successful communication in transcultural contexts means integrating emotional communication patterns into a global context. Professional, rational communication is characteristic of the cultural dimension, and emotions are characteristic of the direct, interpersonal dimension of human existence. Humans strive to achieve coherence in all dimensions of their lives; this goal is in the end the most essential aspect of psychophysical self-regulation. A major role in integrating emotional needs and cultural features in global coherence is played by the attractor 'global affinity'. The transitions from emotional coherence to cultural coherence, and likewise from cultural coherence to global coherence, can cause considerable insecurity as well as psychological problems, which previously went by the name 'adjustment disorders'. However, instead of pathologizing these processes, we should understand them in a salutogenic sense as challenges important for both individual and collective development. The development of more coherence is regulated by the neuropsychological approach and avoidance system. This system can be consciously fostered by directing our attention to the commonalities of all human beings. Such a global salutogenic orientation furthers both communication and creativity in teamwork. This article introduces a consequent salutogenic and evolutionary systemic view of transcultural communication and demonstrates its effectiveness in a number of case examples.

Global control of reaction wheel pendulum through energy regulation and extended linearization of the state variables

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar D. Montoya-Giraldo

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the design and simulation of a global controller for the Reaction Wheel Pendulum system using energy regulation and extended linearization methods for the state feedback. The proposed energy regulation is based on the gradual reduction of the energy of the system to reach the unstable equilibrium point. The signal input for this task is obtained from the Lyapunov stability theory. The extended state feedback controller design is used to get a smooth nonlinear function that extends the region of operation to a bigger range, in contrast with the static linear state feedback obtained through the method of approximate linearization around an operating point. The general designed controller operates with a switching between the two control signals depending upon the region of operation; perturbations are applied in the control signal and the (simulated measured variables to verify the robustness and efficiency of the controller. Finally, simulations and tests using the model of the reaction wheel pendulum system, allow to observe the versatility and functionality of the proposed controller in the entire operation region of the pendulum.

The E. coli Global Regulator DksA Reduces Transcription during T4 Infection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer Patterson-West

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Bacteriophage T4 relies on host RNA polymerase to transcribe three promoter classes: early (Pe, requires no viral factors, middle (Pm, requires early proteins MotA and AsiA, and late (Pl, requires middle proteins gp55, gp33, and gp45. Using primer extension, RNA-seq, RT-qPCR, single bursts, and a semi-automated method to document plaque size, we investigated how deletion of DksA or ppGpp, two E. coli global transcription regulators, affects T4 infection. Both ppGpp0 and ΔdksA increase T4 wild type (wt plaque size. However, ppGpp0 does not significantly alter burst size or latent period, and only modestly affects T4 transcript abundance, while ΔdksA increases burst size (2-fold without affecting latent period and increases the levels of several Pe transcripts at 5 min post-infection. In a T4motAam infection, ΔdksA increases plaque size and shortens latent period, and the levels of specific middle RNAs increase due to more transcription from Pe’s that extend into these middle genes. We conclude that DksA lowers T4 early gene expression. Consequently, ΔdksA results in a more productive wt infection and ameliorates the poor expression of middle genes in a T4motAam infection. As DksA does not inhibit Pe transcription in vitro, regulation may be indirect or perhaps requires additional factors.

Public-private interactions in global food safety governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Ching-Fu

2014-01-01

In response to an apparent decline in global food safety, numerous public and private regulatory initiatives have emerged to restore public confidence. This trend has been particularly marked by the growing influence of private regulators such as multinational food companies, supermarket chains and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), who employ private standards, certification protocols, third-party auditing, and transnational contracting practices. This paper explores how the structure and processes of private food safety governance interact with traditional public governance regimes, focusing on Global Good Agricultural Practices (GlobalGAP) as a primary example of the former. Due to the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of public regulation in the face of global problems, private governance in food safety has gradually replaced states' command-and-control regulation with more flexible, market-oriented mechanisms. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of constructive regime interaction instead of institutional boundary building to global food safety governance. Public and private ordering must each play a role as integral parts of a larger, dynamic and evolving governance complex.

Global chemical pollution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Travis, C.C.; Hester, S.T.

1991-01-01

Over the past decade, public and governmental awareness of environmental problems has grown steadily, with an accompanying increase in the regulation of point sources of pollution. As a result, great strides have been made in cleaning polluted rivers and decreasing air pollution near factories. However, traditional regulatory approaches to environmental pollution have focused primarily on protecting the maximally exposed individual located in the immediate vicinity of the pollution source. Little attention has been given to the global implications of human production and use of synthetic chemicals. A consensus is emerging that even trace levels of environmental contamination can have potentially devastating environmental consequences. The authors maintain that ambient levels of pollution have risen to the point where human health is being affected on a global scale. Atmospheric transport is recognized as the primary mode of global distribution and entry into the food chain for organic chemicals. The following are examples of global chemical pollutants that result in human exposure of significant proportions: PCBs, dioxins, benzene, mercury and lead. Current regulatory approaches for environmental pollution do not incorporate ways of dealing with global pollution. Instead the major focus has been on protecting the maximally exposed individual. If we do not want to change our standard of living, the only way to reduce global chemical pollution is to make production and consumption processes more efficient and to lower the levels of production of these toxic chemicals. Thus the only reasonable solution to global pollution is not increased regulation of isolated point sources, but rather an increased emphasis on waste reduction and materials recycling. Until we focus on these issues, we will continue to experience background cancer risk in the 10 -3 range

An Investigation of Adolescent Girls' Global Self-Concept, Physical Self-Concept, Identified Regulation, and Leisure-Time Physical Activity in Physical Education

Science.gov (United States)

Beasley, Emily Kristin; Garn, Alex C.

2013-01-01

This study examined the relationships among identified regulation, physical self-concept, global self-concept, and leisure-time physical activity with a sample of middle and high school girls (N = 319) enrolled in physical education. Based on Marsh's theory of self-concept, it was hypothesized that a) physical self-concept would mediate the…

A global bioheat model with self-tuning optimal regulation of body temperature using Hebbian feedback covariance learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Ong, M L; Ng, E Y K

2005-12-01

In the lower brain, body temperature is continually being regulated almost flawlessly despite huge fluctuations in ambient and physiological conditions that constantly threaten the well-being of the body. The underlying control problem defining thermal homeostasis is one of great enormity: Many systems and sub-systems are involved in temperature regulation and physiological processes are intrinsically complex and intertwined. Thus the defining control system has to take into account the complications of nonlinearities, system uncertainties, delayed feedback loops as well as internal and external disturbances. In this paper, we propose a self-tuning adaptive thermal controller based upon Hebbian feedback covariance learning where the system is to be regulated continually to best suit its environment. This hypothesis is supported in part by postulations of the presence of adaptive optimization behavior in biological systems of certain organisms which face limited resources vital for survival. We demonstrate the use of Hebbian feedback covariance learning as a possible self-adaptive controller in body temperature regulation. The model postulates an important role of Hebbian covariance adaptation as a means of reinforcement learning in the thermal controller. The passive system is based on a simplified 2-node core and shell representation of the body, where global responses are captured. Model predictions are consistent with observed thermoregulatory responses to conditions of exercise and rest, and heat and cold stress. An important implication of the model is that optimal physiological behaviors arising from self-tuning adaptive regulation in the thermal controller may be responsible for the departure from homeostasis in abnormal states, e.g., fever. This was previously unexplained using the conventional "set-point" control theory.

Animal welfare in a global perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bracke, M.B.M.

2009-01-01

Global survey of animal-welfare regulations, practices and perceptions, with case studies on poultry meat from Brazil and Thailand, eggs from India and the USA, welfare regulations of farmed fish and welfare aspects related to (perceived) overpopulation of wildlife

Global Structural Flexibility of Metalloproteins Regulates Reactivity of Transition Metal Ion in the Protein Core: An Experimental Study Using Thiol-subtilisin as a Model Protein.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuo, Takashi; Kono, Takamasa; Shobu, Isamu; Ishida, Masaya; Gonda, Katsuya; Hirota, Shun

2018-02-21

The functions of metal-containing proteins (metalloproteins) are determined by the reactivities of transition metal ions at their active sites. Because protein macromolecular structures have several molecular degrees of freedom, global structural flexibility may also regulate the properties of metalloproteins. However, the influence of this factor has not been fully delineated in mechanistic studies of metalloproteins. Accordingly, we have investigated the relationship between global protein flexibility and the characteristics of a transition metal ion in the protein core using thiol-subtilisin (tSTL) with a Cys-coordinated Cu 2+ ion as a model system. Although tSTL has two Ca 2+ -binding sites, the Ca 2+ -binding status hardly affects its secondary structure. Nevertheless, guanidinium-induced denaturation and amide H/D exchange indicated the increase in the structural flexibility of tSTL by the removal of bound Ca 2+ ions. Electron paramagnetic resonance and absorption spectral changes have revealed that the protein flexibility determines the characteristics of a Cu 2+ ion in tSTL. Therefore, global protein flexibility should be recognized as an important factor that regulates the properties of metalloproteins. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Globalization and deficit and limitations of global governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stojanović Stanislav

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Character and dynamics of relationships in international politics, in which the stronger return to real politics content in the functioning of the foreign policy of the great powers, unequivocally affirms that globalization does not work to its declining power that is less credible design concept of modern world society. The global financial collapse that hit the world in 2008 is a convincing indication that most of the globalization is discredited. The belief in one humanity is becoming a less desirable concept. At the same time, with the increase in global issues that require solving, there are numerous human activities that involve unique or international regulation. The world is increasingly one homeostatic system of interdependent parts of a continent where many aspects of the borders between countries are difficult or even impossible to sustain. Hence the importance of global factors, some of which will fully depend on the articulation of individual and community life of people in the future, stressing the importance of the issue of joint management to ensure global peace and security and promote the prosperity around the world in a universally acceptable and effective way. Therefore, the demonstrated substantial shortcomings of global governance of the world, although they discourage belief in humanity, did not reduce the objective need for global access to many amenities of modern human existence. Many aspects of security, ranging from the security of the individual to the energy and environmental security in modern conditions are not conceivable without international access. However, global security management has been associated with numerous limitations and challenges.

Global analysis of epigenetic regulation of gene expression in response to drought stress in Sorghum.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reddy, Anireddy [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Ben-Hur, Asa [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)

2017-11-22

Abiotic stresses including drought are major limiting factors of crop yields and cause significant crop losses. Acquisition of stress tolerance to abiotic stresses requires coordinated regulation of a multitude of biochemical and physiological changes, and most of these changes depend on alterations in gene expression. The goal of this work is to perform global analysis of differential regulation of gene expression and alternative splicing, and their relationship with chromatin landscape in drought sensitive and tolerant cultivars. our Iso-Seq study revealed transcriptome-wide full-length isoforms at an unprecedented scale with over 11000 novel splice isoforms. Additionally, we uncovered alternative polyadenylation sites of ~11000 expressed genes and many novel genes. Overall, Iso-Seq results greatly enhanced sorghum gene annotations that are not only useful in analyzing all our RNA-seq, ChIP-seq and ATAC-seq data but also serve as a great resource to the plant biology community. Our studies identified differentially expressed genes and splicing events that are correlated with the drought-resistant phenotype. An association between alternative splicing and chromatin accessibility was also revealed. Several computational tools developed here (TAPIS and iDiffIR) have been made freely available to the research community in analyzing alternative splicing and differential alternative splicing.

THE NONLINEAR IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON CORRUPTION

OpenAIRE

Jayoti Das; Cassandra DiRienzo

2009-01-01

Some researchers have argued that globalization has increased the opportunity for corrupt practices, while others state that globalization has lead to a decrease in corruption as countries wishing to join the global economy must comply with international anti-corruption rules and regulations. This study empirically explores this paradox using the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and the Konjunkturforschungsstelle (KOF) globalization Index. The results suggest that a nonlinear relationship e...

Toward a System of Global Accountability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cameron, J.

2016-01-01

Post-Fukushima, the public expects and demands that nuclear regulators and operators worldwide have used lessons learned to identify and implement important actions and measures to prevent a similar event from happening again. Considerable work has been done at the national and international levels to achieve this. However, verifying the adequacy and appropriateness of measures taken in each country requires an enhanced level of global accountability that does not presently exist. The current global nuclear regulatory safety framework is based on the principle of national sovereignty and the result is that the world lacks a forum for publicizing safety concerns, beyond the national regulator, to the highest levels of government within member states. This runs the risk of significant deficiencies or non-compliance with internationally approved practices continuing unchecked even though some parties are aware of them. This also applies to flagging cases of insufficiently independent regulators or identifying inadequately prepared regulators in new nuclear countries. There are many vehicles for enhancing this transparency, e.g., WANO/INPO, regional regulatory fora, and international organizations including the OECD/NEA and IAEA. The world has never been more interconnected and it is time that the nuclear sector leverages this reality and adopts a system of global accountability for nuclear safety. (author)

A global regulatory science agenda for vaccines.

Science.gov (United States)

Elmgren, Lindsay; Li, Xuguang; Wilson, Carolyn; Ball, Robert; Wang, Junzhi; Cichutek, Klaus; Pfleiderer, Michael; Kato, Atsushi; Cavaleri, Marco; Southern, James; Jivapaisarnpong, Teeranart; Minor, Philip; Griffiths, Elwyn; Sohn, Yeowon; Wood, David

2013-04-18

The Decade of Vaccines Collaboration and development of the Global Vaccine Action Plan provides a catalyst and unique opportunity for regulators worldwide to develop and propose a global regulatory science agenda for vaccines. Regulatory oversight is critical to allow access to vaccines that are safe, effective, and of assured quality. Methods used by regulators need to constantly evolve so that scientific and technological advances are applied to address challenges such as new products and technologies, and also to provide an increased understanding of benefits and risks of existing products. Regulatory science builds on high-quality basic research, and encompasses at least two broad categories. First, there is laboratory-based regulatory science. Illustrative examples include development of correlates of immunity; or correlates of safety; or of improved product characterization and potency assays. Included in such science would be tools to standardize assays used for regulatory purposes. Second, there is science to develop regulatory processes. Illustrative examples include adaptive clinical trial designs; or tools to analyze the benefit-risk decision-making process of regulators; or novel pharmacovigilance methodologies. Included in such science would be initiatives to standardize regulatory processes (e.g., definitions of terms for adverse events [AEs] following immunization). The aim of a global regulatory science agenda is to transform current national efforts, mainly by well-resourced regulatory agencies, into a coordinated action plan to support global immunization goals. This article provides examples of how regulatory science has, in the past, contributed to improved access to vaccines, and identifies gaps that could be addressed through a global regulatory science agenda. The article also identifies challenges to implementing a regulatory science agenda and proposes strategies and actions to fill these gaps. A global regulatory science agenda will enable

Impact of global transcriptional regulation by ArcA, ArcB, Cra, Crp, Cya, Fnr, and Mlc on glucose catabolism in Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Perrenoud, Annik; Sauer, Uwe

2005-05-01

Even though transcriptional regulation plays a key role in establishing the metabolic network, the extent to which it actually controls the in vivo distribution of metabolic fluxes through different pathways is essentially unknown. Based on metabolism-wide quantification of intracellular fluxes, we systematically elucidated the relevance of global transcriptional regulation by ArcA, ArcB, Cra, Crp, Cya, Fnr, and Mlc for aerobic glucose catabolism in batch cultures of Escherichia coli. Knockouts of ArcB, Cra, Fnr, and Mlc were phenotypically silent, while deletion of the catabolite repression regulators Crp and Cya resulted in a pronounced slow-growth phenotype but had only a nonspecific effect on the actual flux distribution. Knockout of ArcA-dependent redox regulation, however, increased the aerobic tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle activity by over 60%. Like aerobic conditions, anaerobic derepression of TCA cycle enzymes in an ArcA mutant significantly increased the in vivo TCA flux when nitrate was present as an electron acceptor. The in vivo and in vitro data demonstrate that ArcA-dependent transcriptional regulation directly or indirectly controls TCA cycle flux in both aerobic and anaerobic glucose batch cultures of E. coli. This control goes well beyond the previously known ArcA-dependent regulation of the TCA cycle during microaerobiosis.

31 CFR 594.310 - Specially designated global terrorist; SDGT.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... (Continued) OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY GLOBAL TERRORISM SANCTIONS REGULATIONS General Definitions § 594.310 Specially designated global terrorist; SDGT. The term specially...

Coordinated Regulation of the EIIMan and fruRKI Operons of Streptococcus mutans by Global and Fructose-Specific Pathways.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Lin; Chakraborty, Brinta; Farivar, Tanaz; Burne, Robert A

2017-11-01

The glucose/mannose-phosphotransferase system (PTS) permease EII Man encoded by manLMN in the dental caries pathogen Streptococcus mutans has a dominant influence on sugar-specific, CcpA-independent catabolite repression (CR). Mutations in manL affect energy metabolism and virulence-associated traits, including biofilm formation, acid tolerance, and competence. Using promoter::reporter fusions, expression of the manLMN and the fruRKI operons, encoding a transcriptional regulator, a fructose-1-phosphate kinase and a fructose-PTS permease EII Fru , respectively, was monitored in response to carbohydrate source and in mutants lacking CcpA, FruR, and components of EII Man Expression of genes for EII Man and EII Fru was directly regulated by CcpA and CR, as evinced by in vivo and in vitro methods. Unexpectedly, not only was the fruRKI operon negatively regulated by FruR, but also so was manLMN Carbohydrate transport by EII Man had a negative influence on expression of manLMN but not fruRKI In agreement with the proposed role of FruR in regulating these PTS operons, loss of fruR or fruK substantially altered growth on a number of carbohydrates, including fructose. RNA deep sequencing revealed profound changes in gene regulation caused by deletion of fruK or fruR Collectively, these findings demonstrate intimate interconnection of the regulation of two major PTS permeases in S. mutans and reveal novel and important contributions of fructose metabolism to global regulation of gene expression. IMPORTANCE The ability of Streptococcus mutans and other streptococcal pathogens to survive and cause human diseases is directly dependent upon their capacity to metabolize a variety of carbohydrates, including glucose and fructose. Our research reveals that metabolism of fructose has broad influences on the regulation of utilization of glucose and other sugars, and mutants with changes in certain genes involved in fructose metabolism display profoundly different abilities to grow and

A Flexible Binding Site Architecture Provides New Insights into CcpA Global Regulation in Gram-Positive Bacteria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunpeng Yang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Catabolite control protein A (CcpA is the master regulator in Gram-positive bacteria that mediates carbon catabolite repression (CCR and carbon catabolite activation (CCA, two fundamental regulatory mechanisms that enable competitive advantages in carbon catabolism. It is generally regarded that CcpA exerts its regulatory role by binding to a typical 14- to 16-nucleotide (nt consensus site that is called a catabolite response element (cre within the target regions. However, here we report a previously unknown noncanonical flexible architecture of the CcpA-binding site in solventogenic clostridia, providing new mechanistic insights into catabolite regulation. This novel CcpA-binding site, named crevar, has a unique architecture that consists of two inverted repeats and an intervening spacer, all of which are variable in nucleotide composition and length, except for a 6-bp core palindromic sequence (TGTAAA/TTTACA. It was found that the length of the intervening spacer of crevar can affect CcpA binding affinity, and moreover, the core palindromic sequence of crevar is the key structure for regulation. Such a variable architecture of crevar shows potential importance for CcpA’s diverse and fine regulation. A total of 103 potential crevar sites were discovered in solventogenic Clostridium acetobutylicum, of which 42 sites were picked out for electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs, and 30 sites were confirmed to be bound by CcpA. These 30 crevar sites are associated with 27 genes involved in many important pathways. Also of significance, the crevar sites are found to be widespread and function in a great number of taxonomically different Gram-positive bacteria, including pathogens, suggesting their global role in Gram-positive bacteria.

Oligarchy versus Democracy and Regulation versus Deregulation under the Globalization Effect

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dumitru-Alexandru BODISLAV

2012-05-01

Full Text Available On capitalism that is created under the pressure of globalization there are created many economic systems that derived into a new model: the asymmetric model created from propriety rights’ perspective and the influence of interest groups, an asymmetric model that is called “oligarchy”(1. For a better understanding of oligarchy we consider an oligarchic society, where the political power is in the hands of the producers of goods, that tend to protect their propriety rights, but this way they create entry barriers, destroying the propriety rights of future potential producers. Capitalism was and is stressed by the (deregulation phenomena created by the competition which is shaped through globalization. With ease we can go from (deregulating to oligarchic pressure, which from the globalization’s perspective can give birth to the lagging or decoupling in the global economic system. This paper researches these two cases and inserts them into the global framework to result the evolution of society’s members’ welfare.

Ketamine and international regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Yanhui; Tang, Yi-Lang; Hao, Wei

2017-09-01

Ketamine is an anesthetic commonly used in low-income countries and has recently been shown to be effective for treatment-resistant depression. However, the illicit manufacturing, trafficking, and nonmedical use of ketamine are increasing globally, and its illicit use poses major public health challenges in many countries. To review the nonmedical use of ketamine in selected countries and its regulatory control. We conducted a review of literature identified from searches of the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) (1979-2016) and PubMed databases, supplemented by additional references identified by the authors. Special attention was given to the regulation of ketamine. Illicit manufacturing, trafficking, and use of ketamine appear to have begun on a large scale in several Asian nations, and it has subsequently spread to other regions. Regulations governing availability of ketamine vary across countries, but there is a clear trend toward tighter regulations. As nonmedical use of ketamine and its harmful consequences have worsened globally, stricter controls are necessary. Appropriate regulation of ketamine is important for international efforts to control ketamine's cross-border trafficking and its nonmedical use.

Globalization of the energy sector - a U.S. regulator`s perspective

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kallaur, Carolita [Offshore Minerals Management, U.S. Department of the Interior (United States)

1998-12-01

This publication relates to globalization of the energy sector addressing issues of significant importance to the United States. The author touches upon a number of activities MMS (Mineral Management Service) is involved in with a focus on a joint project being engaged in with NPD (Norwegian Petroleum Directorate) to help the Russian Federation develop a safety and environment regime for its offshore. The aim of the project are national standards that set requirements for local and regional governments, safety and environment requirements that conform to international standards, apply to both Russian and foreign firms, and sharing of best practices between NPD, MMS and Russian authorities

The Kontiki of Global Accounting.

OpenAIRE

George Mickhail

2000-01-01

Global financial reporting is experiencing a “credibility crisis” due to concerns about the quality of reporting of financial results by corporations, which has been eroding in the rush to meet market expectations. This controversy highlights the need to examine the increasing expectation of ‘harmonisation’ by stock exchanges around the world, companies seeking global capital flows and the financial statement users. Meanwhile, securities regulators attempt to redefine their accounting standar...

The Growth of Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Jette Steen

2013-01-01

Multinational corporations (MNCs) have come under pressure to adopt private regulatory initiatives such as supplier codes of conduct in order to address poor working conditions in global supply chain factories. While a well-known literature explores drivers and outcomes of such monitoring schemes...... requirements in global supply chains even though compliance is a “mission impossible” for many smaller firms. As a result of this development, the private regulatory system is facing growing strain.......Multinational corporations (MNCs) have come under pressure to adopt private regulatory initiatives such as supplier codes of conduct in order to address poor working conditions in global supply chain factories. While a well-known literature explores drivers and outcomes of such monitoring schemes......, this literature focuses mainly on large firms and has ignored the growing integration of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into global supply chains. Furthermore, the literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in SMEs primarily emphasizes domestic initiatives and not global challenges. Focusing...

Contract & agency labour: beyond self-regulation?

OpenAIRE

Cotton, Elizabeth

2010-01-01

A paper about the regulation of contract labour. Academic and legal aspects as well as case studies of global union federation work to organise and regulate contract labour in Thailand, Pakistan, Colombia, South Korea and at international level.

The global environment: An overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tolba, M.K.

1992-01-01

Global environmental chemistry today involves a rapidly expanding need both for new research and for the development of an interdiciplinary approach to the multiplicity of interconnected environmental problems. Every ecosystem shows signs of damage: growing quantities of wastes; decreasing water supplies; soil degradation; coastal zone deterioration; deforestation and climatic change; global warming due to ozone depletion. Solutions must involve a cooperative and holistic global effort in three areas: scientific understanding of how the interactive physical, chemical and biological processes regulate the total Earth system; public policy implications including closer liaison between scientists and policymakers;and understanding of the state of the global environment, what is going wrong, why, and whether it is getting worse

Sapfluxnet: a global database of sap flow measurements to unravel the ecological factors of transpiration regulation in woody plants

Science.gov (United States)

Poyatos, Rafael; Martínez-Vilalta, Jordi; Molowny-Horas, Roberto; Steppe, Kathy; Oren, Ram; Katul, Gabriel; Mahecha, Miguel

2016-04-01

Plant transpiration is one of the main components of the global water cycle, it controls land energy balance, determines catchment hydrological responses and exerts strong feedbacks on regional and global climate. At the same time, plant productivity, growth and survival are severely constrained by water availability, which is expected to decline in many areas of the world because of global-change driven increases in drought conditions. While global surveys of drought tolerance traits at the organ level are rapidly increasing our knowledge of the diversity in plant functional strategies to cope with drought stress, a whole-plant perspective of drought vulnerability is still lacking. Sap flow measurements using thermal methods have now been applied to measure seasonal patterns in water use and the response of transpiration to environmental drivers across hundreds of species of woody plants worldwide, covering a wide range of climates, soils and stand structural characteristics. Here, we present the first effort to build a global database of sub-daily, tree-level sap flow (SAPFLUXNET) that will be used to improve our understanding of physiological and structural determinants of plant transpiration and to further investigate the role of vegetation in controlling global water balance. We already have the expression of interest of data contributors representing >115 globally distributed sites, > 185 species and > 700 trees, measured over at least one growing season. However, the potential number of available sites and species is probably much higher given that > 2500 sap flow-related papers have been identified in a Scopus literature search conducted in November 2015. We will give an overview of how data collection, harmonisation and quality control procedures are implemented within the project. We will also discuss potential analytical strategies to synthesize hydroclimatic controls on sap flow into biologically meaningful traits related to whole-plant transpiration

Market, Regulation, Market, Regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frankel, Christian; Galland, Jean-Pierre

2015-01-01

barriers to trade in Europe, realized the free movement of products by organizing progressively several orders of markets and regulation. Based on historical and institutional documents, on technical publications, and on interviews, this article relates how the European Commission and the Member States had......This paper focuses on the European Regulatory system which was settled both for opening the Single Market for products and ensuring the consumers' safety. It claims that the New Approach and Standardization, and the Global Approach to conformity assessment, which suppressed the last technical...... alternatively recourse to markets and to regulations, at the three main levels of the New Approach Directives implementation. The article focuses also more specifically on the Medical Devices sector, not only because this New Approach sector has long been controversial in Europe, and has recently been concerned...

Globalization and protection of environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panahandeh, M.

2003-01-01

In recent years two trends have come into conflict in the international arena. The first is the globalization of economy and the second is the increased public concern over the environmental impact of economic activities and awareness of the global dimensions of many environmental problems. Nowadays confrontation of the issue of globalization and economic liberalization and protect of the environment is a matter of heated debate and environmentalists see globalization posing a threat to environment standards. The effects of liberalization on environment in the developing world have been analyzed from the perspective of the pollution- have hypothesis. The hypothesis suggests that the liberalization encourages a spatial displacement of the so-called d irty o r pollution- intensive industries from the developed countries with stricter environmental regulations to their preferential location in developing countries which enjoy minimal environmental regulations or capacity for environmental monitoring and enforcement. It also suggests that economic policies which promote foreign investment in the natural resources of developing countries will increase rates of natural-resource extraction in the developing world. according to the theory, the translational firms will employ cheep technologies in developing countries which are not environmental sound and no longer permitted to use in the industrialized world

NEW INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REGULATION: NECESSITY OR REQUIRED BY CRISIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cojocari Anatol

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The global economic and financial crisis showed the limits faced by the international financial system. International financial regulations in general, and especially the banking sector regulations, should be refined and adapted to build a stronger and stable international financial system. We analyze the main trends in international regulations: the proposed amendments on capital requirements, the introduction of a global standard for liquidity and indebtedness, the winding-up directive, as well as their impact on the Romanian financial system.

Cosmetic Surgery: Regulatory Challenges in a Global Beauty Market.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffiths, Danielle; Mullock, Alex

2017-02-28

The market for cosmetic surgery tourism is growing with an increase in people travelling abroad for cosmetic surgery. While the reasons for seeking cosmetic surgery abroad may vary the most common reason is financial, but does cheaper surgery abroad carry greater risks? We explore the risks of poorly regulated cosmetic surgery to society generally before discussing how harm might be magnified in the context of cosmetic tourism, where the demand for cheaper surgery drives the market and makes surgery accessible for increasing numbers of people. This contributes to the normalisation of surgical enhancement, creating unhealthy cultural pressure to undergo invasive and risky procedures in the name of beauty. In addressing the harms of poorly regulated surgery, a number of organisations purport to provide a register of safe and ethical plastic surgeons, yet this arguably achieves little and in the absence of improved regulation the risks are likely to grow as the global market expands to meet demand. While the evidence suggests that global regulation is needed, the paper concludes that since a global regulatory response is unlikely, more robust domestic regulation may be the best approach. While domestic regulation may increase the drive towards foreign providers it may also have a symbolic effect which will reduce this drive by making people more aware of the dangers of surgery, both to society and individual physical wellbeing.

Markets, religion, regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fischer, Johan

2016-01-01

Most recent scholarship on moral economies or religious markets argues for the compatibility of economies/markets and religious practices in particular national or regional contexts. However, over the last couple of decades or so religious markets have entered a new phase characterized by new forms...... of regulation, certification and standardization on a global scale. Building on research on global kosher (a Hebrew term meaning “fit” or “proper”), halal (an Arabic word that literally means “permissible” or “lawful”) and Hindu vegetarianism this paper argues that these economies or markets to a large extent...... are conditioned by and themselves condition forms of transnational governmentality, that is, new and often overlapping practices of government and grassroots politics. I explore religious economies and markets at three interrelated levels of the social scale: state and non-state regulation, the marketplace...

Manager of financial globalization? The European Union in global anti-money laundering and international accounting standard setting

OpenAIRE

Hilgers, Sven

2014-01-01

How does the European Union (EU) perform in international financial regulation? According to various scholars the global financial architecture has been shaped by the USA and the EU. But whereas the USA is without doubt the dominant actor or even described as hegemon in writing the rules for the global political economy and global financial markets, the EU seems to be a special kind of actor. The European Union is not only one of the biggest single financial markets in the world but also has ...

Global ethics: the nature and purpose

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ye. M. Sulima

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the factors of forming, the essence and importance of a global ethic as a moral regulator of intercultural interaction in the modern global society. The current global ethics built around basic common goals - peace and dignity of people, social justice, individual freedom, cultural pluralism, sustainable development - and allow plans to achieve different objectives, functioning set of identities and nationalities. It lies in increasing awareness of common fate, common human and social rights, interests, shared vulnerability to global environmental, social and political crises of necessity, consequent, to find common solutions and act on the basis of cultural dialogue and cooperation.

Modulating the Global Response Regulator, LuxO of V. cholerae Quorum Sensing System Using a Pyrazine Dicarboxylic Acid Derivative (PDCApy: An Antivirulence Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Hema

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Vibrio cholerae is a Gram-negative pathogen which causes acute diarrhoeal disease, cholera by the expression of virulence genes through quorum sensing (QS mechanism. The QS circuit of V. cholerae is controlled by the global quorum regulator, LuxO, which at low cell density (LCD state produces major virulence factors such as, toxin co-regulated pilus (TCP and cholera toxin (CT to mediate infection. On the contrary, at the high cell density (HCD state the virulent genes are downregulated and the vibrios are detached from the host intestinal epithelial cells, promoted by HapA protease. Hence, targeting the global regulator LuxO would be a promising approach to modulate the QS to curtail V. cholerae pathogenesis. In our earlier studies, LuxO targeted ligand, 2,3 pyrazine dicarboxylic acid (PDCA and its derivatives having desired pharmacophore properties were chemically synthesized and were shown to have biofilm inhibition as well as synergistic activity with the conventionally used antibiotics. In the present study, the QS modulatory effect of the PDCA derivative with pyrrolidine moiety designated as PDCApy against the V. cholerae virulence gene expression was analyzed at various growth phases. The data significantly showed a several fold reduction in the expression of the genes, tcp and ct whereas the expression of hapR was upregulated at the LCD state. In addition, PDCApy reduced the adhesion and invasion of the vibrios onto the INT407 intestinal cell lines. Collectively, our data suggest that PDCApy could be a potential QS modulator (QSM for the antivirulence therapeutic approach.

Small RNA-Controlled Gene Regulatory Networks in Pseudomonas putida

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bojanovic, Klara

evolved numerous mechanisms to controlgene expression in response to specific environmental signals. In addition to two-component systems, small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) have emerged as major regulators of gene expression. The majority of sRNAs bind to mRNA and regulate their expression. They often have...... multiple targets and are incorporated into large regulatory networks and the RNA chaper one Hfq in many cases facilitates interactions between sRNAs and their targets. Some sRNAs also act by binding to protein targets and sequestering their function. In this PhD thesis we investigated the transcriptional....... Detailed insights into the mechanisms through which P. putida responds to different stress conditions and increased understanding of bacterial adaptation in natural and industrial settings were gained. Additionally, we identified genome-wide transcription start sites, andmany regulatory RNA elements...

Ideological Hegemony and Global Governance

OpenAIRE

Thomas Ford Brown

2015-01-01

In this paper, I analyze libertarian discourse from the perspective of regulation theory, a~ a hegemonic ideology that underlies the emergence of a new mode of regulation. Within this general theoretical approach, I will also employ frames from regime theory as developed by international relations scholars, as well as the "epistemic community" approach from the same discipline. I want to suggest that free-market ideology could engender the emergence of rationalized global governance in order ...

Global regulation of robots using only position measurements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berghuis, Harry; Berghuis, Harry; Nijmeijer, Henk

1993-01-01

In this note we propose a simple solution to the regulation problem of rigid robots based on the availability of only joint position measurements. The controller consists of two parts: (1) a gravitation compensation, (2) a linear dynamic first-order compensator. The gravitation compensation part can

CLP Regulation and the transport of dangerous goods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergio Benassai

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Regulations concerning different modes of transport of dangerous goods are well harmonized at global level: they were then looked at as a model for developing Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS, (on which CLP Regulations is based. Transport regulations do not cover some hazard classes, such as germ cell mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, having been evaluated that such hazards are not relevant in transport because in general, in case of accident, no repeated and prolonged exposure takes place. Other differences with CLP Regulation are related to the use of "building block approach". Transport labels, which were used as a basis for GHS, can be used, instead of CLP pictograms, on packages during transport.

EU effect: Exporting emission standards for vehicles through the global market economy.

Science.gov (United States)

Crippa, M; Janssens-Maenhout, G; Guizzardi, D; Galmarini, S

2016-12-01

Emission data from EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research), rather than economic data, are used to estimate the effect of policies and of the global exports of policy-regulated goods, such as vehicles, on global emissions. The results clearly show that the adoption of emission standards for the road transport sector in the two main global markets (Europe and North America) has led to the global proliferation of emission-regulated vehicles through exports, regardless the domestic regulation in the country of destination. It is in fact more economically convenient for vehicle manufacturers to produce and sell a standard product to the widest possible market and in the greatest possible amounts. The EU effect (European Union effect) is introduced as a global counterpart to the California effect. The former is a direct consequence of the penetration of the EURO standards in the global markets by European and Japanese manufacturers, which effectively export the standard worldwide. We analyze the effect on PM 2.5 emissions by comparing a scenario of non-EURO standards against the current estimates provided by EDGAR. We find that PM 2.5 emissions were reduced by more than 60% since the 1990s worldwide. Similar investigations on other pollutants confirm the hypothesis that the combined effect of technological regulations and their diffusion through global markets can also produce a positive effect on the global environment. While we acknowledge the positive feedback, we also demonstrate that current efforts and standards will be totally insufficient should the passenger car fleets in emerging markets reach Western per capita figures. If emerging countries reach the per capita vehicle number of the USA and Europe under current technological conditions, then the world will suffer pre-1990 emission levels. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The regulation of appetite

OpenAIRE

Druce, M; Bloom, S R

2006-01-01

The worsening global obesity epidemic, particularly the increase in childhood obesity, has prompted research into the mechanisms of appetite regulation. Complex pathways modulate energy balance, involving appetite centres in the hypothalamus and brain stem, and hormonal signals of energy status released by the gut and by the periphery. Better understanding of appetite regulation improves understanding of the aetiology of obesity. Manipulation of this homoeostatic system offers potentially use...

Environmental Upgrading in Global Value Chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, René Taudal; Ponte, Stefano; Sornn-Friese, Henrik

2018-01-01

Ports are crucial hubs in the functioning of the global economy, and maritime transport is a major emitter of air pollutants. Ports have considerable potential for promoting environmental upgrading in maritime transport and along global value chains more generally, but so far have been only...... partially successful in doing so. We examine results, limitations and future potential of voluntary initiatives that have been carried out by selected European and North American port authorities, which are considered frontrunners in environmental management. Drawing from the insights of global value chain...... their organizational and physical boundaries: by lowering tool implementation complexity through stronger collaboration within global value chains; and by enhancing emission visibility through alliances with cargo-owners and regulators....

Changes of Global Infectious Disease Governance in 2000s: Rise of Global Health Security and Transformation of Infectious Disease Control System in South Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eun Kyung CHOI

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper focus upon the changes of global infectious disease governance in 2000s and the transformation of infectious disease control system in South Korea. Traditionally, infectious disease was globally governed by the quarantine regulated by the international conventions. When an infectious disease outbreak occurred in one country, each country prevented transmission of the disease through the standardized quarantine since the installation of international sanitary convention in 1892. Republic of Korea also organized the infectious disease control system with quarantine and disease report procedure after the establishment of government. Additionally, Korea National Health Institute(KNIH was founded as research and training institute for infectious disease. However, traditional international health regulation system faced a serious challenge by the appearance of emerging and re-emerging infectious disease in 1990s. As a result, global infectious disease governance was rapidly changed under the demand to global disease surveillance and response. Moreover, global health security frame became important after 2001 bioterror and 2003 SARS outbreak. Consequently, international health regulation was fully revised in 2005, which included not only infectious disease but also public health emergency. The new international health regime was differently characterized in several aspects; reinforcement of global cooperation and surveillance, enlargement of the role of supranational and international agencies, and reorganization of national capacity. KNIH was reorganized with epidemic control and research since late 1990s. However, in 2004 Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention(KCDC was established as a disease control institution with combining quarantine and other functions after 2003 SARS outbreak. KCDC unified national function against infectious disease including prevention, protection, response and research, as a national representative in

Changes of Global Infectious Disease Governance in 2000s: Rise of Global Health Security and Transformation of Infectious Disease Control System in South Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Eun Kyung; Lee, Jong-Koo

2016-12-01

This paper focus upon the changes of global infectious disease governance in 2000s and the transformation of infectious disease control system in South Korea. Traditionally, infectious disease was globally governed by the quarantine regulated by the international conventions. When an infectious disease outbreak occurred in one country, each country prevented transmission of the disease through the standardized quarantine since the installation of international sanitary convention in 1892. Republic of Korea also organized the infectious disease control system with quarantine and disease report procedure after the establishment of government. Additionally, Korea National Health Institute(KNIH) was founded as research and training institute for infectious disease. However, traditional international health regulation system faced a serious challenge by the appearance of emerging and re-emerging infectious disease in 1990s. As a result, global infectious disease governance was rapidly changed under the demand to global disease surveillance and response. Moreover, global health security frame became important after 2001 bioterror and 2003 SARS outbreak. Consequently, international health regulation was fully revised in 2005, which included not only infectious disease but also public health emergency. The new international health regime was differently characterized in several aspects; reinforcement of global cooperation and surveillance, enlargement of the role of supranational and international agencies, and reorganization of national capacity. KNIH was reorganized with epidemic control and research since late 1990s. However, in 2004 Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention(KCDC) was established as a disease control institution with combining quarantine and other functions after 2003 SARS outbreak. KCDC unified national function against infectious disease including prevention, protection, response and research, as a national representative in disease control. The

Regulation of alcohol marketing: a global view.

Science.gov (United States)

Casswell, Sally; Maxwell, Anna

2005-09-01

The marketing of alcohol produces a new challenge for policy development internationally, in part because of the increase in the use of new, unmeasured technologies. Many of these new developments are, as yet, relatively invisible in the policy arena. New approaches in branding, the utilization of marketing opportunities via branded events and new products provide additional complexity to attempts to monitor and to restrict the impact of marketing on young people and other vulnerable groups. Current attempts to restrict marketing globally, which rely primarily on voluntary codes and focus on traditional media, are inadequate to these challenges. A new statutory framework is required to enable the monitoring and control of the full marketing mix in ways which match the sophistication of the marketing efforts themselves.

The global energy industry: is competition among suppliers ensured?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Regibeau, P.

2000-01-01

Over the last 15 years, many factors have affected the effective degree of competition in coal, electricity, gas and oil. This paper concentrates on the effects of globalization, regulatory reform, privatization and inter-fuel mergers. While demand side globalization has led to increased competition, greater supply side globalization might lead to more collusive behaviour in sectors such as coal and electricity. Regulatory reform has helped foster competition in the US gas market and in several electricity markets. Still, regulators have imposed insufficient vertical separation and the regulation of international electricity transmission remains problematic. Privatization is very useful in enforcing initial changes in industry structure. Inter-fuel mergers might entail efficiency gains but they also raise significant issues for competition policy authorities. (orig.)

Remarks - Global energy outlook and externalities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, J.E.

1994-01-01

The author presents a global energy outlook, for the period 1990-2010. Then, he presents some views on the subject of externalities, some regulations and proscriptions about internalization of costs are detailed. (TEC)

Expression of the alaE gene is positively regulated by the global regulator Lrp in response to intracellular accumulation of l-alanine in Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Ihara, Kohei; Sato, Kazuki; Hori, Hatsuhiro; Makino, Yumiko; Shigenobu, Shuji; Ando, Tasuke; Isogai, Emiko; Yoneyama, Hiroshi

2017-04-01

The alaE gene in Escherichia coli encodes an l-alanine exporter that catalyzes the active export of l-alanine using proton electrochemical potential. In our previous study, alaE expression was shown to increase in the presence of l-alanyl-l-alanine (Ala-Ala). In this study, the global regulator leucine-responsive regulatory protein (Lrp) was identified as an activator of the alaE gene. A promoter less β-galactosidase gene was fused to an alaE upstream region (240 nucleotides). Cells that were lacZ-deficient and harbored this reporter plasmid showed significant induction of β-galactosidase activity (approximately 17-fold) in the presence of 6 mM l-alanine, l-leucine, and Ala-Ala. However, a reporter plasmid possessing a smaller alaE upstream region (180 nucleotides) yielded transformants with strikingly low enzyme activity under the same conditions. In contrast, lrp-deficient cells showed almost no β-galactosidase induction, indicating that Lrp positively regulates alaE expression. We next performed an electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and a DNase I footprinting assay using purified hexahistidine-tagged Lrp (Lrp-His). Consequently, we found that Lrp-His binds to the alaE upstream region spanning nucleotide -161 to -83 with a physiologically relevant affinity (apparent K D , 288.7 ± 83.8 nM). Furthermore, the binding affinity of Lrp-His toward its cis-element was increased by l-alanine and l-leucine, but not by Ala-Ala and d-alanine. Based on these results, we concluded that the gene expression of the alaE is regulated by Lrp in response to intracellular levels of l-alanine, which eventually leads to intracellular homeostasis of l-alanine concentrations. Copyright © 2016 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The contradictory impact of globalization and migration on gender equality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siim, Birte

2009-01-01

Globalization and migration have increased diversities and inequalities within and between nation-states and have created new problems regarding public policies intented to regulate political and socio-economic problems on national and global levels. Globalization and increased migration thus rep...... represent a thoeretical, normative and political challenge to understanding how gender and diversity at the national level are linked to processes of globalization. This article identifies some of the many issues involved in the Asia-Nordic 'local-global dialectic'....

The Global Regulator Spx Functions in the Control of Organosulfur Metabolism in Bacillus subtilis†

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Soon-Yong; Reyes, Dindo; Leelakriangsak, Montira; Zuber, Peter

2006-01-01

Spx is a global transcriptional regulator of the oxidative stress response in Bacillus subtilis. Its target is RNA polymerase, where it contacts the α subunit C-terminal domain. Recently, evidence was presented that Spx participates in sulfate-dependent control of organosulfur utilization operons, including the ytmI, yxeI, ssu, and yrrT operons. The yrrT operon includes the genes that function in cysteine synthesis from S-adenosylmethionine through intermediates S-adenosylhomocysteine, ribosylhomocysteine, homocysteine, and cystathionine. These operons are also negatively controlled by CymR, the repressor of cysteine biosynthesis operons. All of the operons are repressed in media containing cysteine or sulfate but are derepressed in medium containing the alternative sulfur source, methionine. Spx was found to negatively control the expression of these operons in sulfate medium, in part, by stimulating the expression of the cymR gene. In addition, microarray analysis, monitoring of yrrT-lacZ fusion expression, and in vitro transcription studies indicate that Spx directly activates yrrT operon expression during growth in medium containing methionine as sole sulfur source. These experiments have uncovered additional roles for Spx in the control of gene expression during unperturbed, steady-state growth. PMID:16885442

A global comparative overview of the legal regulation of stem cell research and therapy: Lessons for South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melodie Slabbert

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Stem cell research and its potential translation to regenerative medicine, tissue engineering and cell and gene therapy, have led to controversy and debates similar to the calls nearly 25 years ago for a ban involving recombinant DNA. Global legislative efforts in this field have been characterised by many legal, ethical and practical challenges, stemming from conflicting views regarding human embryonic research and cloning. National policy and regulatory developments have primarily been shaped by different understandings of relevant scientific objectives, as well as those relating to the moral and legal status of the human embryo, which have been used to justify or limit a range of permissible activities. Legal obscurity in this field, a consequence of inconsistent or vague legislative responses at a national and international level, leads to negative results, which include, among others, ethical violations; lack of collaboration and co-operation among researchers across national borders; stunted scientific progress; lack of public trust in stem cell research; proliferation of untested ‘stem cell therapies’; and safety issues. The purpose of this article is to explore the legal regulation of stem cell research and therapy globally, by comparing the permissibility of specific stem cell research activities in 35 selected jurisdictions, followed by a comparison of the regulatory approaches with regard to stem cell-based products in the European Union and the USA. A clearer understanding of the global regulatory framework will assist in formulating more effective legal responses at a national level and in navigating the uncertainties and risks associated with this complex and evolving scientific field.

Phosphatase Rtr1 Regulates Global Levels of Serine 5 RNA Polymerase II C-Terminal Domain Phosphorylation and Cotranscriptional Histone Methylation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Gerald O; Fox, Melanie J; Smith-Kinnaman, Whitney R; Gogol, Madelaine; Fleharty, Brian; Mosley, Amber L

2016-09-01

In eukaryotes, the C-terminal domain (CTD) of Rpb1 contains a heptapeptide repeat sequence of (Y1S2P3T4S5P6S7)n that undergoes reversible phosphorylation through the opposing action of kinases and phosphatases. Rtr1 is a conserved protein that colocalizes with RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) and has been shown to be important for the transition from elongation to termination during transcription by removing RNAPII CTD serine 5 phosphorylation (Ser5-P) at a selection of target genes. In this study, we show that Rtr1 is a global regulator of the CTD code with deletion of RTR1 causing genome-wide changes in Ser5-P CTD phosphorylation and cotranscriptional histone H3 lysine 36 trimethylation (H3K36me3). Using chromatin immunoprecipitation and high-resolution microarrays, we show that RTR1 deletion results in global changes in RNAPII Ser5-P levels on genes with different lengths and transcription rates consistent with its role as a CTD phosphatase. Although Ser5-P levels increase, the overall occupancy of RNAPII either decreases or stays the same in the absence of RTR1 Additionally, the loss of Rtr1 in vivo leads to increases in H3K36me3 levels genome-wide, while total histone H3 levels remain relatively constant within coding regions. Overall, these findings suggest that Rtr1 regulates H3K36me3 levels through changes in the number of binding sites for the histone methyltransferase Set2, thereby influencing both the CTD and histone codes. Copyright © 2016, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Emerging Global Political Economy and Implications for the Nigerian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The world has been transformed into a global political economy as a result of the unprecedented level of interconnectedness of political, economic, social and technological forces that permeate the contemporary global system. This paper identifies trade regulations, technology and capitalism as core factors responsible for ...

The Governance of Global Wealth Chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seabrooke, Leonard; Wigan, Duncan

) innovation capacities among suppliers of products used in wealth chains. We then differentiate five types of global value chain governance - market, modular, relational, captive, and hierarchy - which range from simple ‘off shelf’ products shielded from regulators by advantageous international tax laws...... to highly complex and flexible innovative financial products produced by large financial institutions and corporations. This paper highlights how Global Wealth Chains intersect with value chains and real economies, and provides three brief case studies on offshore shell companies, family property trusts......This working paper creates a theoretical framework to explain how Global Wealth Chains are created, maintained, and governed. We draw upon different strands of literature, including scholarship in international political economy and economic geography on Global Value Chains, literature on finance...

Global Picture of Protein Regulation in Response to Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) Stress of Two Brassica parachinensis Cultivars Differing in DBP Accumulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Hai-Ming; Huang, He-Biao; Du, Huan; Xiang, Lei; Mo, Ce-Hui; Li, Yan-Wen; Cai, Quan-Ying; Li, Hui; Liu, Jie-Sheng; Zhou, Dong-Mei; Wong, Ming-Hung

2018-05-09

iTRAQ analysis was used to map the proteomes of two Brassica parachinensis cultivars that differed in dibutyl phthalate (DBP) accumulation. A total of 5699 proteins were identified to obtain 152 differentially regulated proteins, of which 64 and 48 were specific to a high- and a low-DBP-accumulation cultivar, respectively. Genotype-specific biological processes were involved in coping with DBP stress, accounting for the variation in DBP tolerance and accumulation. Formation of high DBP accumulation in B. parachinensis might attribute to the more effective regulation of protein expression in physiology and metabolism, including (a) enhanced cell wall biosynthesis and modification, (b) better maintenance of photosynthesis and energy balance, (c) greatly improved total capacity for antioxidation and detoxification, and (d) enhanced cellular transport and signal transduction. Our novel findings contribute to a global picture of DBP-induced alterations of protein profiles in crops and provide valuable information for the development of molecular-assisted breeds of low-accumulation cultivars.

77 FR 35944 - Renewal of the Global Markets Advisory Committee

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-15

... international standards for regulating futures, swaps, options, and derivatives markets, as well as..., competitive, and financially sound futures and options markets. Meetings of the Global Markets Advisory... COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION Renewal of the Global Markets Advisory Committee AGENCY...

Regulation of fatty acid biosynthesis by the global regulator CcpA and the local regulator FabT in Streptococcus mutans

OpenAIRE

Faustoferri, R.C.; Hubbard, C.J.; Santiago, B.; Buckley, A.A.; Seifert, T.B.; Quivey, R.G.

2014-01-01

SMU.1745c, encoding a putative transcriptional regulator of the MarR family, maps to a location proximal to the fab gene cluster in Streptococcus mutans. Deletion of the SMU.1745c (fabTSm) coding region resulted in a membrane fatty acid composition comprised of longer-chained, unsaturated fatty acids (UFA), compared with the parent strain. Previous reports have indicated a role for FabT in regulation of genes in the fab gene cluster in other organisms, through binding to a palindromic DNA seq...

Global Health Security Demands a Strong International Health Regulations Treaty and Leadership From a Highly Resourced World Health Organization.

Science.gov (United States)

Burkle, Frederick M

2015-10-01

If the Ebola tragedy of West Africa has taught us anything, it should be that the 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR) Treaty, which gave unprecedented authority to the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide global public health security during public health emergencies of international concern, has fallen severely short of its original goal. After encouraging successes with the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic, the intent of the legally binding Treaty to improve the capacity of all countries to detect, assess, notify, and respond to public health threats has shamefully lapsed. Despite the granting of 2-year extensions in 2012 to countries to meet core surveillance and response requirements, less than 20% of countries have complied. Today it is not realistic to expect that these gaps will be solved or narrowed in the foreseeable future by the IHR or the WHO alone under current provisions. The unfortunate failures that culminated in an inadequate response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa are multifactorial, including funding, staffing, and poor leadership decisions, but all are reversible. A rush by the Global Health Security Agenda partners to fill critical gaps in administrative and operational areas has been crucial in the short term, but questions remain as to the real priorities of the G20 as time elapses and critical gaps in public health protections and infrastructure take precedence over the economic and security needs of the developed world. The response from the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network and foreign medical teams to Ebola proved indispensable to global health security, but both deserve stronger strategic capacity support and institutional status under the WHO leadership granted by the IHR Treaty. Treaties are the most successful means the world has in preventing, preparing for, and controlling epidemics in an increasingly globalized world. Other options are not sustainable. Given the gravity of ongoing

75 FR 33788 - Renewal of the Global Markets Advisory Committee

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-15

... appropriate international standards for regulating futures and derivatives markets, as well as intermediaries... financially sound futures and options markets. Meetings of the Global Markets Advisory Committee are open to... COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION Renewal of the Global Markets Advisory Committee AGENCY...

Global regulator SoxR is a negative regulator of efflux pump gene expression and affects antibiotic resistance and fitness in Acinetobacter baumannii.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Henan; Wang, Qi; Wang, Ruobing; Zhang, Yawei; Wang, Xiaojuan; Wang, Hui

2017-06-01

SoxR is a global regulator contributing to multidrug resistance in Enterobacteriaceae. However, the contribution of SoxR to antibiotic resistance and fitness in Acinetobacter baumannii has not yet been studied. Comparisons of molecular characteristics were performed between 32 multidrug-resistant A. baumannii isolates and 11 susceptible isolates. A soxR overexpression mutant was constructed, and its resistance phenotype was analyzed. The impact of SoxR on efflux pump gene expression was measured at the transcription level. The effect of SoxR on the growth and fitness of A. baumannii was analyzed using a growth rate assay and an in vitro competition assay. The frequency of the Gly39Ser mutation in soxR was higher in multidrug-resistant A. baumannii, whereas the soxS gene was absent in all strains analyzed. SoxR overexpression led to increased susceptibility to chloramphenicol (4-fold), tetracycline (2-fold), tigecycline (2-fold), ciprofloxacin (2-fold), amikacin (2-fold), and trimethoprim (2-fold), but it did not influence imipenem susceptibility. Decreased expression of abeS (3.8-fold), abeM (1.3-fold), adeJ (2.4-fold), and adeG (2.5-fold) were correlated with soxR overexpression (P baumannii.

Regulation of water resources for sustaining global future socioeconomic development

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, J.; SHI, H.; Sivakumar, B.

2016-12-01

With population projections indicating continued growth during this century, socio-economic problems (e.g., water, food, and energy shortages) will be most likely to occur, especially if proper planning, development, and management strategies are not adopted. In the present study, firstly, we explore the vital role of dams in promoting economic growth through analyzing the relationship between dams and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at both global and national scales. Secondly, we analyze the current situation of global water scarcity based on the data representing water resources availability, dam development, and the level of economic development. Third, with comprehensive consideration of population growth as the major driving force, water resources availability as the basic supporting factor, and topography as the important constraint, this study addresses the question of dam development in the future and predicts the locations of future dams around the world.

The Challenge of Global Poliomyelitis Eradication.

Science.gov (United States)

Garon, Julie R; Cochi, Stephen L; Orenstein, Walter A

2015-12-01

In the United States during the 1950's, polio was on the forefront of every provider and caregiver's mind. Today, most providers in the United States have never seen a case. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), which began in 1988 has reduced the number of cases by over 99%. The world is closer to achieving global eradication of polio than ever before but as long as poliovirus circulates anywhere in the world, every country is vulnerable. The global community can support the polio eradication effort through continued vaccination, surveillance, enforcing travel regulations and contributing financial support, partnerships and advocacy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Global Metabolic Regulation of the Snow Alga Chlamydomonas nivalis in Response to Nitrate or Phosphate Deprivation by a Metabolome Profile Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Na; Chen, Jun-Hui; Wei, Dong; Chen, Feng; Chen, Gu

2016-05-10

In the present work, Chlamydomonas nivalis, a model species of snow algae, was used to illustrate the metabolic regulation mechanism of microalgae under nutrient deprivation stress. The seed culture was inoculated into the medium without nitrate or phosphate to reveal the cell responses by a metabolome profile analysis using gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC/TOF-MS). One hundred and seventy-one of the identified metabolites clustered into five groups by the orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) model. Among them, thirty of the metabolites in the nitrate-deprived group and thirty-nine of the metabolites in the phosphate-deprived group were selected and identified as "responding biomarkers" by this metabolomic approach. A significant change in the abundance of biomarkers indicated that the enhanced biosynthesis of carbohydrates and fatty acids coupled with the decreased biosynthesis of amino acids, N-compounds and organic acids in all the stress groups. The up- or down-regulation of these biomarkers in the metabolic network provides new insights into the global metabolic regulation and internal relationships within amino acid and fatty acid synthesis, glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) and the Calvin cycle in the snow alga under nitrate or phosphate deprivation stress.

The Governance of Global Wealth Chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seabrooke, Leonard; Wigan, Duncan

liability and (3) innovation capacities among suppliers of products used in wealth chains. We then differentiate five types of global value chain governance - market, modular, relational, captive, an d hierarchy – which range from simple ‘off shelf’ products shielded from regulators by advantageous...... international tax laws to highly complex and flexible innovative financial products produced by large financial institutions and corporations. This article highlights how Global Wealth Cha ins intersect with value chains and real economies, and provides three brief case studies on offshore shell companies......This introduction to the Special Issue creates a theoretical framework to explain how Global Wealth Chains are created, maintained, and governed. We draw upon different strands of literature, including scholarship in international political economy and economic geography on Global Value Chains...

Conserved regulators of nucleolar size revealed by global phenotypic analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Neumüller, Ralph A; Gross, Thomas; Samsonova, Anastasia A; Vinayagam, Arunachalam; Buckner, Michael; Founk, Karen; Hu, Yanhui; Sharifpoor, Sara; Rosebrock, Adam P; Andrews, Brenda; Winston, Fred; Perrimon, Norbert

2013-08-20

Regulation of cell growth is a fundamental process in development and disease that integrates a vast array of extra- and intracellular information. A central player in this process is RNA polymerase I (Pol I), which transcribes ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes in the nucleolus. Rapidly growing cancer cells are characterized by increased Pol I-mediated transcription and, consequently, nucleolar hypertrophy. To map the genetic network underlying the regulation of nucleolar size and of Pol I-mediated transcription, we performed comparative, genome-wide loss-of-function analyses of nucleolar size in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Drosophila melanogaster coupled with mass spectrometry-based analyses of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) promoter. With this approach, we identified a set of conserved and nonconserved molecular complexes that control nucleolar size. Furthermore, we characterized a direct role of the histone information regulator (HIR) complex in repressing rRNA transcription in yeast. Our study provides a full-genome, cross-species analysis of a nuclear subcompartment and shows that this approach can identify conserved molecular modules.

Conserved Regulators of Nucleolar Size Revealed by Global Phenotypic Analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Neumüller, Ralph A.; Gross, Thomas; Samsonova, Anastasia A.; Vinayagam, Arunachalam; Buckner, Michael; Founk, Karen; Hu, Yanhui; Sharifpoor, Sara; Rosebrock, Adam P.; Andrews, Brenda; Winston, Fred; Perrimon, Norbert

2014-01-01

Regulation of cell growth is a fundamental process in development and disease that integrates a vast array of extra- and intracellular information. A central player in this process is RNA polymerase I (Pol I), which transcribes ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes in the nucleolus. Rapidly growing cancer cells are characterized by increased Pol I–mediated transcription and, consequently, nucleolar hypertrophy. To map the genetic network underlying the regulation of nucleolar size and of Pol I–mediated transcription, we performed comparative, genome-wide loss-of-function analyses of nucleolar size in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Drosophila melanogaster coupled with mass spectrometry–based analyses of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) promoter. With this approach, we identified a set of conserved and nonconserved molecular complexes that control nucleolar size. Furthermore, we characterized a direct role of the histone information regulator (HIR) complex in repressing rRNA transcription in yeast. Our study provides a full-genome, cross-species analysis of a nuclear subcompartment and shows that this approach can identify conserved molecular modules. PMID:23962978

High-resolution detection of DNA binding sites of the global transcriptional regulator GlxR in Corynebacterium glutamicum

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jungwirth, Britta; Sala, Claudia; Kohl, Thomas A

2013-01-01

of the 6C non-coding RNA gene and to non-canonical DNA binding sites within protein-coding regions. The present study underlines the dynamics within the GlxR regulon by identifying in vivo targets during growth on glucose and contributes to the expansion of knowledge of this important transcriptional......The transcriptional regulator GlxR has been characterized as a global hub within the gene-regulatory network of Corynebacterium glutamicum. Chromatin immunoprecipitation with a specific anti-GlxR antibody and subsequent high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) was applied to C. glutamicum to get new...... mapping of these data on the genome sequence of C. glutamicum, 107 enriched DNA fragments were detected from cells grown with glucose as carbon source. GlxR binding sites were identified in the sequence of 79 enriched DNA fragments, of which 21 sites were not previously reported. Electrophoretic mobility...

The Staphylococcus aureus Global Regulator MgrA Modulates Clumping and Virulence by Controlling Surface Protein Expression.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heidi A Crosby

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Staphylococcus aureus is a human commensal and opportunistic pathogen that causes devastating infections in a wide range of locations within the body. One of the defining characteristics of S. aureus is its ability to form clumps in the presence of soluble fibrinogen, which likely has a protective benefit and facilitates adhesion to host tissue. We have previously shown that the ArlRS two-component regulatory system controls clumping, in part by repressing production of the large surface protein Ebh. In this work we show that ArlRS does not directly regulate Ebh, but instead ArlRS activates expression of the global regulator MgrA. Strains lacking mgrA fail to clump in the presence of fibrinogen, and clumping can be restored to an arlRS mutant by overexpressing either arlRS or mgrA, indicating that ArlRS and MgrA constitute a regulatory pathway. We used RNA-seq to show that MgrA represses ebh, as well as seven cell wall-associated proteins (SraP, Spa, FnbB, SasG, SasC, FmtB, and SdrD. EMSA analysis showed that MgrA directly represses expression of ebh and sraP. Clumping can be restored to an mgrA mutant by deleting the genes for Ebh, SraP and SasG, suggesting that increased expression of these proteins blocks clumping by steric hindrance. We show that mgrA mutants are less virulent in a rabbit model of endocarditis, and virulence can be partially restored by deleting the genes for the surface proteins ebh, sraP, and sasG. While mgrA mutants are unable to clump, they are known to have enhanced biofilm capacity. We demonstrate that this increase in biofilm formation is partially due to up-regulation of SasG, a surface protein known to promote intercellular interactions. These results confirm that ArlRS and MgrA constitute a regulatory cascade, and that they control expression of a number of genes important for virulence, including those for eight large surface proteins.

Genetically modified foods as global public goods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susana Herrero Olarte

2014-07-01

Full Text Available "Genetically modified (GM food has become very important in the field of research, as a result of its expansion in recent decades. As the right to food is a human right, it cannot be left in the hands of private sector developments exclusively, due to the capacity of the public sector to limit or drive it, and in any case, contributing to food safety. To achieve this, and for its cross-border development, GM needs to be treated as Global Public Goods (GPG, defined as pure or impure public goods that cannot be provided or regulated from a national or regional level, but from a global perspective. Its definition as GPG, and the fact of being public goods, assumes greater involvement by the public sector for its supply or regulation. It is therefore necessary to analyze the positive and negative externalities generated by transgenic foods becoming public goods, but from a global perspective. The difficulty is, that according to the author, GMs are positive or negative, so that there is no consensus to restrict and even prevent them or encourage them. But, there is a consensus on some key issues of GM food, such as improving productivity, contributing to the reduction of the species, the dependence of farmers, or monopoly companies with the patent. Identifying these issues can serve to initiate the appropriate regulation."

Sensing the environment: regulation of local and global homeostasis by the skin's neuroendocrine system.

Science.gov (United States)

Slominski, Andrzej T; Zmijewski, Michal A; Skobowiat, Cezary; Zbytek, Blazej; Slominski, Radomir M; Steketee, Jeffery D

2012-01-01

endings to alert the brain on changes in the epidermal or dermal environments, or alternatively to activate other coordinating centers by direct (spinal cord) neurotransmission without brain involvement. Furthermore, rapid and reciprocal communications between epidermal and dermal and adnexal compartments are also mediated by neurotransmission including antidromic modes of conduction. In conclusion, skin cells and skin as an organ coordinate and/or regulate not only peripheral but also global homeostasis.

Post-Modernity and Consumerism in the Globalized World

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cláudia Maria Moreira Kloper Mendonça

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This work is the result of bibliographic research , aiming to address the issues relevant for the understanding of the subject " globalization and consumption front postmodernity ." The postmodern society is a globalized and consumerist society and the individual must be protected since it vulnerable to consumer market dictates in this globalized era . And in this respect , the law comes to the important role of regulating these consumer relations for the protection of vulnerable and hypervulnerable people such as the elderly and children .

Medical devices regulations, standards and practices

CERN Document Server

Ramakrishna, Seeram; Wang, Charlene

2015-01-01

Medical Devices and Regulations: Standards and Practices will shed light on the importance of regulations and standards among all stakeholders, bioengineering designers, biomaterial scientists and researchers to enable development of future medical devices. Based on the authors' practical experience, this book provides a concise, practical guide on key issues and processes in developing new medical devices to meet international regulatory requirements and standards. Provides readers with a global perspective on medical device regulationsConcise and comprehensive information on how to desig

Construction of new synthetic biology tools for the control of gene expression in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002.

Science.gov (United States)

Zess, Erin K; Begemann, Matthew B; Pfleger, Brian F

2016-02-01

Predictive control of gene expression is an essential tool for developing synthetic biological systems. The current toolbox for controlling gene expression in cyanobacteria is a barrier to more in-depth genetic analysis and manipulation. Towards relieving this bottleneck, this work describes the use of synthetic biology to construct an anhydrotetracycline-based induction system and adapt a trans-acting small RNA (sRNA) system for use in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002. An anhydrotetracycline-inducible promoter was developed to maximize intrinsic strength and dynamic range. The resulting construct, PEZtet , exhibited tight repression and a maximum 32-fold induction upon addition of anhydrotetracycline. Additionally, a sRNA system based on the Escherichia coli IS10 RNA-IN/OUT regulator was adapted for use in Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002. This system exhibited 70% attenuation of target gene expression, providing a demonstration of the use of sRNAs for differential gene expression in cyanobacteria. These systems were combined to produce an inducible sRNA system, which demonstrated 59% attenuation of target gene expression. Lastly, the role of Hfq, a critical component of sRNA systems in E. coli, was investigated. Genetic studies showed that the Hfq homolog in Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002 did not impact repression by the engineered sRNA system. In summary, this work describes new synthetic biology tools that can be applied to physiological studies, metabolic engineering, or sRNA platforms in Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Analysis of the Impact of Globalization on Employment in Ukraine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gryshkin Vadym O.

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is analyzing the impact of globalization on employment in Ukraine and studying foreign experience in regulation of the labor market under conditions of globalization. The theoretical aspects of employment of population at the stage of market transformation of economy have been analyzed. The comprehensive analysis of the current state of employment in Ukraine has been conducted. The dynamics of the main indicators of employment of population and labor migration has been considered and analyzed. The shortcomings in the mechanism of employment regulation are revealed and measures to overcome them on the basis of the positive experience of developed countries are proposed. The necessity of adapting the foreign experience to the Ukrainian realities and the possibility of its use in the national territory is justified. The main tasks of the state policy on regulating the employment of Ukraine’s population under conditions of globalization are presented.

Global regulation of mRNA translation and stability in the early Drosophila embryo by the Smaug RNA-binding protein.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Linan; Dumelie, Jason G; Li, Xiao; Cheng, Matthew Hk; Yang, Zhiyong; Laver, John D; Siddiqui, Najeeb U; Westwood, J Timothy; Morris, Quaid; Lipshitz, Howard D; Smibert, Craig A

2014-01-07

Smaug is an RNA-binding protein that induces the degradation and represses the translation of mRNAs in the early Drosophila embryo. Smaug has two identified direct target mRNAs that it differentially regulates: nanos and Hsp83. Smaug represses the translation of nanos mRNA but has only a modest effect on its stability, whereas it destabilizes Hsp83 mRNA but has no detectable effect on Hsp83 translation. Smaug is required to destabilize more than one thousand mRNAs in the early embryo, but whether these transcripts represent direct targets of Smaug is unclear and the extent of Smaug-mediated translational repression is unknown. To gain a panoramic view of Smaug function in the early embryo, we identified mRNAs that are bound to Smaug using RNA co-immunoprecipitation followed by hybridization to DNA microarrays. We also identified mRNAs that are translationally repressed by Smaug using polysome gradients and microarrays. Comparison of the bound mRNAs to those that are translationally repressed by Smaug and those that require Smaug for their degradation suggests that a large fraction of Smaug's target mRNAs are both translationally repressed and degraded by Smaug. Smaug directly regulates components of the TRiC/CCT chaperonin, the proteasome regulatory particle and lipid droplets, as well as many metabolic enzymes, including several glycolytic enzymes. Smaug plays a direct and global role in regulating the translation and stability of a large fraction of the mRNAs in the early Drosophila embryo, and has unanticipated functions in control of protein folding and degradation, lipid droplet function and metabolism.

The Legal Regulation of Cybersecurity

OpenAIRE

Darius Štitilis

2013-01-01

Cybercrime has become a global phenomenon, which is causing more harm to individual citizens, organizations, society and the state. Most countries in the world compare cybercrime with offences such as terrorism and drug trafficking due to its risks and profitability. Cybersecurity is the central category to fight cybercrime in cyberspace. Therefore, the strategic legal regulation of cybersecurity is one of the most relevant problems in EU, including Lithuania. So far cybersecurity legal regul...

Liquidity regulation and bank behavior

OpenAIRE

Bonner, C.

2014-01-01

In response to the 2007-08 financial crisis, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision proposed two liquidity standards to reinforce banks’ resilience to liquidity risks. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the impact of liquidity regulation on bank behavior. The first of four main chapters analyzes the development of global liquidity standards, their objectives as well as their interaction with capital standards. The analysis suggests that regulating capital is associated with declinin...

A globally integrated climate policy for Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernstein, S.; Brunnee, J.; Duff, D.G.; Green, A.J.

2008-01-01

This book explored policy ideas and options from various perspectives, including science, law, political science, economics and sociology. The costs, opportunities and imperatives to participate in international diplomatic initiatives were considered along with the opportunities of regional global carbon markets. Canada's current policy on climate change negotiations have been focused on domestic regulation and incentives for technological responses and the setting of a domestic carbon price. The sense of urgency about global warming was discussed and the need for action to respond to the threat of global climate change was emphasized. The book also reviewed Canada's role in international climate policies and presented parameters and imperatives for global regime building in Canada. Domestic policy tools were also reviewed along with policy obstacles and opportunities. refs., tabs., figs.

Recent Activities on Global Nuclear Safety Regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Kun-Woo; Park, Jeong-Seop; Kim, Do-Hyoung

2006-01-01

Recently, rapid progress on the globalization of the nuclear safety issues is being made in IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and its member states. With the globalization, the need for international cooperation among international bodies and member states continues to grow for resolving these universal nuclear safety issues. Furthermore, the importance of strengthening the global nuclear safety regime is emphasized through various means, such as efforts in application of IAEA safety standards to all nuclear installations in the world and in strengthening the code of conduct and the convention on nuclear safety. In this regards, it is important for us to keep up with the activities related with the global nuclear safety regime as an IAEA member state and a leading country in nuclear safety regulation

The Current Approaches to the Harmonization of Interests of Participants of Competitive Relationships at the Global Level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shvydanenko Oleg A.

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The key problems of development of participants of global competitive relationships, approaches to harmonization of their interests have been considered. The article defines essence of the global system of regulation of competitive relationships, the technology of its formation, improvement and development, taking into account the reasonable assemblage of relevant principles. The main tasks and processes of formation of the competitive culture in the context of globalization changes have been highlighted. The strategic directions of improvement of the system of regulation of competitive relationships in accordance with transformation of external conditions of development of globalizing space and strengthening of international character of competition have been specified. The organizational-economic mechanism of the system of regulation of competitive relationships has been provided.

Regulatory Competition in Global Financial Markets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ringe, Georg

2015-01-01

competition are a reality in today’s global financial market, and the financial sector is different from their traditional fields of application: the ease of arbitrage, the fragility of banking and the risks involved are exceptional. Most importantly, regulatory arbitrage does not or only rarely occurs......The decades-long discussion on the merits of regulatory competition appears in a new light on the global financial market. There are a number of strategies that market participants use to avoid the reach of regulation, in particular by virtue of shifting trading abroad or else relocating activities...

Regulation of metabolic networks by small molecule metabolites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kanehisa Minoru

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The ability to regulate metabolism is a fundamental process in living systems. We present an analysis of one of the mechanisms by which metabolic regulation occurs: enzyme inhibition and activation by small molecules. We look at the network properties of this regulatory system and the relationship between the chemical properties of regulatory molecules. Results We find that many features of the regulatory network, such as the degree and clustering coefficient, closely match those of the underlying metabolic network. While these global features are conserved across several organisms, we do find local differences between regulation in E. coli and H. sapiens which reflect their different lifestyles. Chemical structure appears to play an important role in determining a compounds suitability for use in regulation. Chemical structure also often determines how groups of similar compounds can regulate sets of enzymes. These groups of compounds and the enzymes they regulate form modules that mirror the modules and pathways of the underlying metabolic network. We also show how knowledge of chemical structure and regulation could be used to predict regulatory interactions for drugs. Conclusion The metabolic regulatory network shares many of the global properties of the metabolic network, but often varies at the level of individual compounds. Chemical structure is a key determinant in deciding how a compound is used in regulation and for defining modules within the regulatory system.

Implications of differences in bioanalytical regulations between Canada, USA and South America.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Mark E

2011-02-01

To complete globally, pharmaceutical companies desire to use bioanalytical data and reports as a single version for all filings; not revising for specific countries or regions. Historically, this meant following the US FDA and International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use guidance/guidelines; finding them sufficient to achieve global acceptance. However, a growing challenge of the past decade has been additional country-specific and regional regulations that have been released. The differences between the bioanalytical regulations among countries have been recognized as a challenge to the pharmaceutical industry and its CRO partners. Harmonization of the regulations at a global level has been the subject of a number of recent articles and editorials, and the topic has been vigorously discussed at several conferences over the past year. Since all have been in agreement about the need to harmonize regulations, this article will not focus on harmonization but rather it will provide a comparison of the USA/Canadian regulations versus those of South America, in particular Brazil, noting the additional work needed to achieve compliance with country-specific regulations. All countries discussed have specific guidance or regulations on clinical bioequivalence studies, and due to the higher standards for these studies, the regulations for bioequivalence studies will be used as the basis for comparison in the article.

REGULATION OF NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna A. Muravyeva

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The paper looks into the diverse aspects of qualifications system regulation, designed for balancing the supply and demand in the labor and educational service markets. Both the objects and mechanisms of such regulation are described. Special attention is given to institutions, involved in regulation of qualifications, and their jurisdiction. Another emphasis is on the industry-related regulation of qualifications which proved to be effective both on the national and European level. Such structures were first established on the national levels to regulate the qualifications and ensure their comparability and compatibility, given the economic globalization and growing labor and academic mobility. The author points out the role of the ministries of education and labor in maintaining a steady qualifications system, and outlines the positive experience of Great Britain using the industry councils for continuing development of qualifications system.

OxyR of Haemophilus parasuis is a global transcriptional regulator important in oxidative stress resistance and growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Yongping; Wen, Yiping; Wen, Xintian; Cao, Sanjie; Huang, Xiaobo; Wu, Rui; Zhao, Qin; Liu, Mafeng; Huang, Yong; Yan, Qigui; Han, Xinfeng; Ma, Xiaoping; Dai, Ke; Ding, Lingqiang; Liu, Sitong; Yang, Jian

2018-02-15

Haemophilus parasuis is an opportunistic pathogen and the causative agent of Glässer's disease in swine. This disease has high morbidity and mortality rates in swine populations, and is responsible for major economic losses worldwide. Survival of H. parasuis within the host requires mechanisms for coping with oxidative stress conditions. In many bacteria, OxyR is known to mediate protection against oxidative stress; however, little is known about the role of OxyR in H. parasuis. In the current study, an oxyR mutant strain was constructed in H. parasuis strain SC1401 and designated H. parasuis SC1401∆oxyR. The oxyR mutant strain had a slower growth rate and impaired biofilm formation compared to the wild type strain. Complementation restored the growth-associated phenotypes to wild type levels. Oxidative stress susceptibility testing, using a range of concentrations of H 2 O 2 , indicated that H. parasuis SC1401∆oxyR was more sensitive to oxidative stress than the wild type strain. RNA sequencing transcriptome analysis comparing H. parasuis SC1401 with H. parasuis SC1401∆oxyR identified 466 differentially expressed genes. These genes were involved in a wide range of biological processes, including: oxidative stress, transcriptional regulation, and DNA replication, recombination, and repair. These findings provide a foundation for future research to examine the role of OxyR as a global transcriptional regulator and to better define its role in oxidative stress resistance in H. parasuis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Foreign experience of regulating international trade transactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klymenko L. V.

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the international experience of state regulating international trade transactions; nature, directions and contradictions of contemporary processes of globalization are defined; components of regulatory and incentive means in system of state supporting foreign trade activity of commodity producers are considered; general provisions for the improvement of state regulation mechanisms of export-import activities in Ukraine are determined.

Hard work in soft regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hohnen, Pernille; Hasle, Peter; Helbo Jespersen, Anne

Certified occupational health and safety management (OHSM) systems have become a global instrument in the regulation of work environment. However, their actual impact on occupational health and safety – in particular on ‘softer’ psychosocial areas of the working environment – has been questioned...

The Governance of Global Wealth Chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seabrooke, Leonard; Wigan, Duncan

2017-01-01

This article offers a theoretical framework to explain how Global Wealth Chains (GWCs) are created, maintained, and governed. We draw upon different strands of literature, including scholarship in International Political Economy and Economic Geography on Global Value Chains, literature on finance...... innovative financial products produced by large financial institutions and corporations. This article highlights how GWCs intersect with value chains, and provides brief case examples of wealth chains and how they interact.......This article offers a theoretical framework to explain how Global Wealth Chains (GWCs) are created, maintained, and governed. We draw upon different strands of literature, including scholarship in International Political Economy and Economic Geography on Global Value Chains, literature on finance...... capacities among suppliers of products used in wealth chains. We then differentiate five types of GWC governance – Market, Modular, Relational, Captive, and Hierarchy – which range from simple ‘off shelf’ products shielded from regulators by advantageous international tax laws to highly complex and flexible...

Ideological Hegemony and Global Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Ford Brown

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper, I analyze libertarian discourse from the perspective of regulation theory, a~ a hegemonic ideology that underlies the emergence of a new mode of regulation. Within this general theoretical approach, I will also employ frames from regime theory as developed by international relations scholars, as well as the "epistemic community" approach from the same discipline. I want to suggest that free-market ideology could engender the emergence of rationalized global governance in order to maintain free trade, property rights, and other regulatory concerns of the emerging mode of accumulation, and that such a world state could conceivably extend liberalism's life by carrying liberalism to its extreme.

"With human health it's a global thing": Canadian perspectives on ethics in the global governance of an influenza pandemic.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Alison K; Smith, Maxwell J; McDougall, Christopher W; Bensimon, Cécile; Perez, Daniel Felipe

2015-03-01

We live in an era where our health is linked to that of others across the globe, and nothing brings this home better than the specter of a pandemic. This paper explores the findings of town hall meetings associated with the Canadian Program of Research on Ethics in a Pandemic (CanPREP), in which focus groups met to discuss issues related to the global governance of an influenza pandemic. Two competing discourses were found to be at work: the first was based upon an economic rationality and the second upon a humanitarian rationality. The implications for public support and the long-term sustainability of new global norms, networks, and regulations in global public health are discussed.

Global gene expression in muscle from fasted/refed trout reveals up-regulation of genes promoting myofibre hypertrophy but not myofibre production.

Science.gov (United States)

Rescan, Pierre-Yves; Le Cam, Aurelie; Rallière, Cécile; Montfort, Jérôme

2017-06-07

Compensatory growth is a phase of rapid growth, greater than the growth rate of control animals, that occurs after a period of growth-stunting conditions. Fish show a capacity for compensatory growth after alleviation of dietary restriction, but the underlying cellular mechanisms are unknown. To learn more about the contribution of genes regulating hypertrophy (an increase in muscle fibre size) and hyperplasia (the generation of new muscle fibres) in the compensatory muscle growth response in fish, we used high-density microarray analysis to investigate the global gene expression in muscle of trout during a fasting-refeeding schedule and in muscle of control-fed trout displaying normal growth. The compensatory muscle growth signature, as defined by genes up-regulated in muscles of refed trout compared with control-fed trout, showed enrichment in functional categories related to protein biosynthesis and maturation, such as RNA processing, ribonucleoprotein complex biogenesis, ribosome biogenesis, translation and protein folding. This signature was also enriched in chromatin-remodelling factors of the protein arginine N-methyl transferase family. Unexpectedly, functional categories related to cell division and DNA replication were not inferred from the molecular signature of compensatory muscle growth, and this signature contained virtually none of the genes previously reported to be up-regulated in hyperplastic growth zones of the late trout embryo myotome and to potentially be involved in production of new myofibres, notably genes encoding myogenic regulatory factors, transmembrane receptors essential for myoblast fusion or myofibrillar proteins predominant in nascent myofibres. Genes promoting myofibre growth, but not myofibre formation, were up-regulated in muscles of refed trout compared with continually fed trout. This suggests that a compensatory muscle growth response, resulting from the stimulation of hypertrophy but not the stimulation of hyperplasia

Whither tobacco product regulation?

Science.gov (United States)

McNeill, Ann; Hammond, David; Gartner, Coral

2012-03-01

Despite decades of industry innovation and regulatory efforts, the harmfulness of conventional cigarettes has not changed. There are several pitfalls in this area, including the long time lag before health impacts of product regulatory changes become apparent, the danger of consumers deriving false reassurance of lesser harm in the interim period, the lack of relevant expertise and the lack of an internationally agreed and evidence-based strategic approach. Articles 9 and 10 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control provide the potential for such a global strategy, and knowledge and research has increased significantly over recent years. However, there are huge opportunity costs in implementing product disclosure and regulatory strategies: most national regulators have very limited human and financial resources, which should be focused on other evidence-based tobacco control interventions. We believe therefore that it is now time to abandon the notion of safe or safer cigarettes while moving consumers towards cleaner nicotine products as soon as possible. In parallel to this, we recommend a number of other strategies be implemented including: reducing the appeal of all tobacco products, forbidding new tobacco products or brand variants being marketed without evidence of reduced harm, appeal or addictiveness, and developing a tobacco industry resourced, but industry independent, Framework Convention on Tobacco Control global repository to assist national regulators in understanding and regulating the products on their markets.

Global climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gugele, B.; Radunsky, K.; Spangl, W.

2001-01-01

In Austria the CO 2 emissions increased by 5.9 % from 1990 to 1999, the other greenhouse gases by 2.6 %. The Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Environment and Water Management, in cooperation with other ministries and the countries, has worked out an action plan for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, to meet the targets of the Kyoto protocol. This study analyzes the greenhouse gas emissions in Austria, in the European Union and globally. The measured emission values throughout Austria and in the other European countries are given in tables, the environmental impact for Austria and globally is discussed, statistical data and time series of the emission sources are given and legal regulations and measures for an effective environmental emission control in Austria, the European Union and worldwide are discussed. In particular the impact of fossil-fuel power plants on the greenhouse gas emissions is analysed. (a.n.)

Ethical leadership and regulation in the business scene

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Luis Álvarez Arce

2011-06-01

Full Text Available In an increasingly integrated global business arena, local singularities still play a crucial role in many aspects. Business ethics is affected by this duality in profound ways. Legislators have tried to provide uniform ethical guidelines for transnational companies. In this effort to streamline the ethical management of the multinational corporation, regulation could be thought of as an attempt to reduce the role of the leader. We argue that this solution mistakenly presumes a high degree of uniformity across countries. In this paper, we consider how different legal traditions can be used to explain the divergences in implementation and configuration of ethics hotlines. We find that although national regulators established a legal standard (Sarbanes Oxley Act for global companies, significant differences exist across legal traditions, which sometimes go even deeper, to region and country specific nuances. Legal regulation may never substitute a leader in ethical matters.

Global warming description using Daisyworld model with greenhouse gases.

Science.gov (United States)

Paiva, Susana L D; Savi, Marcelo A; Viola, Flavio M; Leiroz, Albino J K

2014-11-01

Daisyworld is an archetypal model of the earth that is able to describe the global regulation that can emerge from the interaction between life and environment. This article proposes a model based on the original Daisyworld considering greenhouse gases emission and absorption, allowing the description of the global warming phenomenon. Global and local analyses are discussed evaluating the influence of greenhouse gases in the planet dynamics. Numerical simulations are carried out showing the general qualitative behavior of the Daisyworld for different scenarios that includes solar luminosity variations and greenhouse gases effect. Nonlinear dynamics perspective is of concern discussing a way that helps the comprehension of the global warming phenomenon. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Regulation and Supervision of The Global Financial System. A Proposal for Institutional Reform

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Denters, H.M.G.

2009-01-01

nternational financial markets are supervised primarily by national authorities. However, national authorities are inherently incapable to regulate and supervise seamless globalised financial markets. To the extent international regulators exist, they constitute a disorderly patchwork of

Regulation of online pharmacy: an Australian perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernath, Paul

2003-02-01

This article argues that existing Australian regulations do not adequately cover online pharmacies or Internet advertising of medicines and that existing penalties and sanctions are often ineffective, potentially placing public health and safety at risk. Suggestions are made for future regulatory approaches. It is concluded that as well as an effective program of public education, cautious domestic legislative reform is necessary to ensure specific regulation of Australian online pharmacy practice and Internet advertising of medicines. In addition, the global nature of the Internet demands international co-operation and increased regulator and consumer vigilance.

The Impact of Globalization on Career and Technical Education in Taiwan, Republic of China

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Robert T. Y.

2004-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of globalization on career and technical education in Taiwan, Republic of China. Globalization has been characterized as a fundamental process of change. Especially after our country joined the WTO in 2001, the effects of globalization and the WTO regulations compelled career and technical…

Globalization in the post - colonial world

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Korobeynikova Larisa A.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a new interpretation of globalization within the boundaries of the author’s concept of soft globalization, which exploits a normatively attractive alternative to the concept of the Empire. It is argued here that the conditions of development of contemporary post - colonial world communities do not require any unification in the form of the Empire, but instead the creation of a non repressive mechanism of social regulation - the implementation of a form of soft globalization, a globalization with a mental form are expedient here. Historically, globalization occurred in a strict material(i.e. economical and military form that prompted the conditions for the evolution of civilization as the Empire: a case in which the development of the world occurs under the power of a single dominating state. Imperialistic politics leads to colonial politics formation. The history of the phenomena of civilization shows many instances of Empire globalization. Globalization in the Empire form was already observed at the time of the Roman Empire. At this time processes of development inside the Empire were manifestations of globalization in its highest cultural shape. But ancient Rome was also a social and political experiment that acquired the attributes of a purely material globalization in the end, and historically brought about the irreversible crash of the Roman Empire itself. Contemporary fluctuations referring to the process of globalization can be registered in the US’s attempts of material domination inside this or that existing case of civilization, which causes colonialism appearance. The main idea stressed in the paper is that only a mental globalization could succeed in the end.

From Protectionism to Neo-Protectionism: New Dimensions of Liberal Regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Panchenko Volodymyr

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article summarizes the main concepts of the policy of protectionism. It was proved that the shaded or semi-open nature of protectionism of the 21st century model does not fall under classical manifestations of protectionism recorded in the WTO documents, and therefore further hybridization of its forms actualizes the need for their classification in order to attract the attention of the scientific community to new challenges to the global regulation of the system of international economic relations. It was discovered, that protectionism in the process of economical globalization has evolved from trade policy based on introduction of tariff limitations, and later from non-tariff protection instruments, into a complex comprehensive state mechanism for increasing competitiveness of the national economy in the process of globalization, which we call neo-protectionism. Was provided a classification of neo-protectionism and were singled out forms of manifestation of each of its types. Were established country features of neo-protectionism policy. Was established that flexibility of tools for implementing neo-protectionism policy, absence of a unified approach to interpreting the methods of achieving goals announced by the state, differences in priorities and unity of the goals of all instruments, which are to stimulate restoration of economic growth, can be considered as determinative signs of new regulation. It was found that state intervention becomes an inherent characteristic of liberal politics. Was observed that neo-protectionism with its flexible instruments becomes a policy of reducing asymmetric distribution of benefits from globalization and reaction to global imbalances, which again emphasizes the thesis that state participation in regulation of economic processes is an objective reality, and we are witnessing transformation of the previously announced trend towards deregulation into re-regulation.

Incremental passivity and output regulation for switched nonlinear systems

Science.gov (United States)

Pang, Hongbo; Zhao, Jun

2017-10-01

This paper studies incremental passivity and global output regulation for switched nonlinear systems, whose subsystems are not required to be incrementally passive. A concept of incremental passivity for switched systems is put forward. First, a switched system is rendered incrementally passive by the design of a state-dependent switching law. Second, the feedback incremental passification is achieved by the design of a state-dependent switching law and a set of state feedback controllers. Finally, we show that once the incremental passivity for switched nonlinear systems is assured, the output regulation problem is solved by the design of global nonlinear regulator controllers comprising two components: the steady-state control and the linear output feedback stabilising controllers, even though the problem for none of subsystems is solvable. Two examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Risk, regulation and biotechnology: the case of GM crops.

Science.gov (United States)

Smyth, Stuart J; Phillips, Peter W B

2014-07-03

The global regulation of products of biotechnology is increasingly divided. Regulatory decisions for genetically modified (GM) crops in North America are predictable and efficient, with numerous countries in Latin and South America, Australia and Asia following this lead. While it might have been possible to argue that Europe's regulations were at one time based on real concerns about minimizing risks and ensuring health and safety, it is increasingly apparent that the entire European Union (EU) regulatory system for GM crops and foods is now driven by political agendas. Countries within the EU are at odds with each other as some have commercial production of GM crops, while others refuse to even develop regulations that could provide for the commercial release of GM crops. This divide in regulatory decision-making is affecting international grain trade, creating challenges for feeding an increasing global population.

Global Trends in Mercury Management

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Kyunghee

2012-01-01

The United Nations Environmental Program Governing Council has regulated mercury as a global pollutant since 2001 and has been preparing the mercury convention, which will have a strongly binding force through Global Mercury Assessment, Global Mercury Partnership Activities, and establishment of the Open-Ended Working Group on Mercury. The European Union maintains an inclusive strategy on risks and contamination of mercury, and has executed the Mercury Export Ban Act since December in 2010. The US Environmental Protection Agency established the Mercury Action Plan (1998) and the Mercury Roadmap (2006) and has proposed systematic mercury management methods to reduce the health risks posed by mercury exposure. Japan, which experienced Minamata disease, aims vigorously at perfection in mercury management in several ways. In Korea, the Ministry of Environment established the Comprehensive Plan and Countermeasures for Mercury Management to prepare for the mercury convention and to reduce risks of mercury to protect public health. PMID:23230466

The politics of global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moss, N.

1991-01-01

The probable warming of the world over the next few decades due to human activity presents a unique threat. The threat of global warming has been brought about by the activities of the entire human race, and only action by a large part of the human race can slow down the process or halt it. Other unwanted effects of industrial activity are trans-national, and require international agreements to regulate them, most obviously radioactivity from nuclear power accidents, acid rain and river pollution; but climatic change, unlike these, is global. International negotiations are going on now to deal with the problem of global warming, mostly by reducing the emission of gases that contribute to it. These are preliminary, yet already different perceptions and conflicting interests are emerging. The aim of the present negotiations is a convention for the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) to be held in June 1992, the so-called ''Earth Summit''. (author)

Global Supply and Demand of Opioids for Pain Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Kunnumpurath, Sreekumar; Julien, Natasha; Kodumudi, Gopal; Kunnumpurath, Anamika; Kodumudi, Vijay; Vadivelu, Nalini

2018-04-04

The goal of this review is to evaluate the global supply and demand of opioids used for pain management and discuss how it relates to the utilization of opioids around the world. The purpose of the review is also to determine the factors that contribute to inappropriate pain management. The total global production of opium for opioid manufacturing is enough to supply the growing global demands. However, licit opioids are only consumed by 20% of the world population. Most people throughout the world had no access to opioid analgesics for pain relief in case of need. Opioid misuse and abuse is not only a phenomena plague by the USA but globally across many countries. Many countries have a lack of availability of opioids, contributing factors being strict government regulations limiting access, lack of knowledge of the efficacy of opioid analgesics in treating acute and chronic pain and palliative care, and the stigma that opioids are highly addictive. For the countries in which opioids are readily available and prescribed heavily, diversion, misuse, abuse, and the resurgence of heroin have become problems leading to morbidity and mortality. It is pertinent to find a balance between having opioids accessible to patients in need, with ensuring that opioids are regulated along with other illicit drugs to decrease abuse potential.

RegA, an AraC-Like Protein, Is a Global Transcriptional Regulator That Controls Virulence Gene Expression in Citrobacter rodentium▿

Science.gov (United States)

Hart, Emily; Yang, Ji; Tauschek, Marija; Kelly, Michelle; Wakefield, Matthew J.; Frankel, Gad; Hartland, Elizabeth L.; Robins-Browne, Roy M.

2008-01-01

Citrobacter rodentium is an attaching and effacing pathogen which causes transmissible colonic hyperplasia in mice. Infection with C. rodentium serves as a model for infection of humans with enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. To identify novel colonization factors of C. rodentium, we screened a signature-tagged mutant library of C. rodentium in mice. One noncolonizing mutant had a single transposon insertion in an open reading frame (ORF) which we designated regA because of its homology to genes encoding members of the AraC family of transcriptional regulators. Deletion of regA in C. rodentium resulted in markedly reduced colonization of the mouse intestine. Examination of lacZ transcriptional fusions using promoter regions of known and putative virulence-associated genes of C. rodentium revealed that RegA strongly stimulated transcription of two newly identified genes located close to regA, which we designated adcA and kfcC. The cloned adcA gene conferred autoaggregation and adherence to mammalian cells to E. coli strain DH5α, and a kfc mutation led to a reduction in the duration of intestinal colonization, but the kfc mutant was far less attenuated than the regA mutant. These results indicated that other genes of C. rodentium whose expression required activation by RegA were required for colonization. Microarray analysis revealed a number of RegA-regulated ORFs encoding proteins homologous to known colonization factors. Transcription of these putative virulence determinants was activated by RegA only in the presence of sodium bicarbonate. Taken together, these results show that RegA is a global regulator of virulence in C. rodentium which activates factors that are required for intestinal colonization. PMID:18765720

RegA, an AraC-like protein, is a global transcriptional regulator that controls virulence gene expression in Citrobacter rodentium.

Science.gov (United States)

Hart, Emily; Yang, Ji; Tauschek, Marija; Kelly, Michelle; Wakefield, Matthew J; Frankel, Gad; Hartland, Elizabeth L; Robins-Browne, Roy M

2008-11-01

Citrobacter rodentium is an attaching and effacing pathogen which causes transmissible colonic hyperplasia in mice. Infection with C. rodentium serves as a model for infection of humans with enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. To identify novel colonization factors of C. rodentium, we screened a signature-tagged mutant library of C. rodentium in mice. One noncolonizing mutant had a single transposon insertion in an open reading frame (ORF) which we designated regA because of its homology to genes encoding members of the AraC family of transcriptional regulators. Deletion of regA in C. rodentium resulted in markedly reduced colonization of the mouse intestine. Examination of lacZ transcriptional fusions using promoter regions of known and putative virulence-associated genes of C. rodentium revealed that RegA strongly stimulated transcription of two newly identified genes located close to regA, which we designated adcA and kfcC. The cloned adcA gene conferred autoaggregation and adherence to mammalian cells to E. coli strain DH5alpha, and a kfc mutation led to a reduction in the duration of intestinal colonization, but the kfc mutant was far less attenuated than the regA mutant. These results indicated that other genes of C. rodentium whose expression required activation by RegA were required for colonization. Microarray analysis revealed a number of RegA-regulated ORFs encoding proteins homologous to known colonization factors. Transcription of these putative virulence determinants was activated by RegA only in the presence of sodium bicarbonate. Taken together, these results show that RegA is a global regulator of virulence in C. rodentium which activates factors that are required for intestinal colonization.

Balancing Public and Private Regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martijn Scheltema

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS might develop into a viable alternative to public regulation. However, it turns on the (regulatory circumstances whether that holds true in practice. If public regulation on CSR topics is lacking, governments are unable to agree upon certain topics on a global level or diverging public regulation exists, VSS can be helpful to set global standards. Obviously, private standards will especially be helpful if they are commensurate with local public legislation (and e.g. treaties and/or are accepted by local governments. If one neglects this, numerous domestic structures might exist that frustrate VSS. Furthermore, governments have to remain vigilant as to whether these private regimes do not result in market disruption, consumer detriment or hamper trade. VSS might also compete with public arrangements which might limit the uptake of VSS. However, if public regulation exists VSS might be a viable alternative if compliance with not too compelling public norms by market participants is rather poor and the public policymaker is aiming to incentivize the better performing part of the market to embark on higher standards and thus only desires to regulate the less performing part of the market. However, of paramount importance is the effectiveness of VSS in order to be a viable alternative to public regulation. The effectiveness of VSS should be assessed using an integrated multi-disciplinary (comparative approach entailing legal, impact-assessment, legitimacy, governance and behavioural aspects. Only effective VSS in the aforementioned sense are a true alternative to public regulation.Beyond that, the legal perspective in connection with (the effectiveness of VSS is discussed, featuring FSC and UTZ Certified as an example. It is important from this perspective that VSS have a clear and sufficiently selective objective and sufficiently specific norms, are regularly evaluated, entail ‘conflict of law rules’ and

Global warming -- Science and anti-science

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Preining, O. [Univ. of Vienna, Wien (Austria). Inst. for Experimental Physics]|[Austrian Academy of Sciences, Wien (Austria). Clean Air Commission

1995-06-01

The global warming debate has sparked many facts activities in almost all sectors of human endeavors. There are the hard facts, the measurements of the greenhouse gases, the statistics of human activities responsible for emissions, the demographic figures. There are the soft facts, the interpretations of the hard facts requiring additional assumptions. There are the media, the press, television, for whom environmental problems make good stories, these can be used to rise emotions, to make heroes and antiheroes. There are politicians, the global warming debate can be used even in electron campaigns. Global warming is a topic within and beyond science. The judgment (and hence use) of scientific facts is overwhelmingly influenced by the ``Weltbild`` (underlying beliefs how the world operates), and consequently opposing positions of well-known scientists arise. There are the attempts to invent futures of man on Earth: policies, regulations, laws on nation, international, and global levels shall facilitate a change in the basic behavior of all men. The global warming issue has many facets and cannot be successfully discussed without including, e.g., the North-South dialogue, world population, etc.

Creating a Global Law Graduate: The Need, Benefits and Practical Approaches to Internationalise the Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

O'Sullivan, Carmel; McNamara, Judith

2015-01-01

The increasingly integrated world has facilitated important international and trans-border trends, such as a progressively connected global economy, a significant growth in transnational business transactions and an increase in global regulation of global issues. Such globalisation has had a transformational impact on the legal profession in a…

Possibilities for global governance of converging technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Roco, Mihail C.

2008-01-01

The convergence of nanotechnology, modern biology, the digital revolution and cognitive sciences will bring about tremendous improvements in transformative tools, generate new products and services, enable opportunities to meet and enhance human potential and social achievements, and in time reshape societal relationships. This paper focuses on the progress made in governance of such converging, emerging technologies and suggests possibilities for a global approach. Specifically, this paper suggests creating a multidisciplinary forum or a consultative coordinating group with members from various countries to address globally governance of converging, emerging technologies. The proposed framework for governance of converging technologies calls for four key functions: supporting the transformative impact of the new technologies; advancing responsible development that includes health, safety and ethical concerns; encouraging national and global partnerships; and establishing commitments to long-term planning and investments centered on human development. Principles of good governance guiding these functions include participation of all those who are forging or affected by the new technologies, transparency of governance strategies, responsibility of each participating stakeholder, and effective strategic planning. Introduction and management of converging technologies must be done with respect for immediate concerns, such as privacy, access to medical advancements, and potential human health effects. At the same time, introduction and management should also be done with respect for longer-term concerns, such as preserving human integrity, dignity and welfare. The suggested governance functions apply to four levels of governance: (a) adapting existing regulations and organizations; (b) establishing new programs, regulations and organizations specifically to handle converging technologies; (c) building capacity for addressing these issues into national policies and

Possibilities for global governance of converging technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roco, Mihail C.

2008-01-01

The convergence of nanotechnology, modern biology, the digital revolution and cognitive sciences will bring about tremendous improvements in transformative tools, generate new products and services, enable opportunities to meet and enhance human potential and social achievements, and in time reshape societal relationships. This paper focuses on the progress made in governance of such converging, emerging technologies and suggests possibilities for a global approach. Specifically, this paper suggests creating a multidisciplinary forum or a consultative coordinating group with members from various countries to address globally governance of converging, emerging technologies. The proposed framework for governance of converging technologies calls for four key functions: supporting the transformative impact of the new technologies; advancing responsible development that includes health, safety and ethical concerns; encouraging national and global partnerships; and establishing commitments to long-term planning and investments centered on human development. Principles of good governance guiding these functions include participation of all those who are forging or affected by the new technologies, transparency of governance strategies, responsibility of each participating stakeholder, and effective strategic planning. Introduction and management of converging technologies must be done with respect for immediate concerns, such as privacy, access to medical advancements, and potential human health effects. At the same time, introduction and management should also be done with respect for longer-term concerns, such as preserving human integrity, dignity and welfare. The suggested governance functions apply to four levels of governance: (a) adapting existing regulations and organizations; (b) establishing new programs, regulations and organizations specifically to handle converging technologies; (c) building capacity for addressing these issues into national policies and

Possibilities for global governance of converging technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roco, Mihail C. [National Science Foundation (NSF) (United States)], E-mail: mroco@nsf.gov

2008-01-15

The convergence of nanotechnology, modern biology, the digital revolution and cognitive sciences will bring about tremendous improvements in transformative tools, generate new products and services, enable opportunities to meet and enhance human potential and social achievements, and in time reshape societal relationships. This paper focuses on the progress made in governance of such converging, emerging technologies and suggests possibilities for a global approach. Specifically, this paper suggests creating a multidisciplinary forum or a consultative coordinating group with members from various countries to address globally governance of converging, emerging technologies. The proposed framework for governance of converging technologies calls for four key functions: supporting the transformative impact of the new technologies; advancing responsible development that includes health, safety and ethical concerns; encouraging national and global partnerships; and establishing commitments to long-term planning and investments centered on human development. Principles of good governance guiding these functions include participation of all those who are forging or affected by the new technologies, transparency of governance strategies, responsibility of each participating stakeholder, and effective strategic planning. Introduction and management of converging technologies must be done with respect for immediate concerns, such as privacy, access to medical advancements, and potential human health effects. At the same time, introduction and management should also be done with respect for longer-term concerns, such as preserving human integrity, dignity and welfare. The suggested governance functions apply to four levels of governance: (a) adapting existing regulations and organizations; (b) establishing new programs, regulations and organizations specifically to handle converging technologies; (c) building capacity for addressing these issues into national policies and

Competition, Regulation and Development Research Forum ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Many developing countries have adopted market-oriented reforms as a part of the globalization and liberalization process. However, due to market distortions, the need to ensure proper access to essential services requires effective regulation. Accordingly, developing countries are legislating or revising their ...

Global Nuclear Safety and Security Network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Lingquan

2013-01-01

The objectives of the Regulatory Network are: - to contribute to the effectiveness of nuclear regulatory systems; - to contribute to continuous enhancements, and - to achieve and promote radiation and nuclear safety and security by: • Enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of international cooperation in the regulation of nuclear and radiation safety of facilities and activities; • Enabling adequate access by regulators to relevant safety and security information; • Promoting dissemination of information on safety and security issues as well as information of good practices for addressing and resolving these issues; • Enabling synergies among different web based networks with a view to strengthening and enhancing the global nuclear safety framework and serving the specific needs of regulators and international organizations; • Providing additional information to the public on international regulatory cooperation in safety and security matters

July: "Soils are living: Overview of soil biodiversity, global issues, and new resources"

Science.gov (United States)

The July poster will provide an overview of soil biology and the many ecosystem functions that soil organisms drive including their impact on global biodiversity, climate regulation, soil health/stability, and plant growth. Five main global issues related to soil biodiversity will be presented such ...

Enhancing Global Competitiveness: Benchmarking Airline Operational Performance in Highly Regulated Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Bowen, Brent D.; Headley, Dean E.; Kane, Karisa D.

1998-01-01

Enhancing competitiveness in the global airline industry is at the forefront of attention with airlines, government, and the flying public. The seemingly unchecked growth of major airline alliances is heralded as an enhancement to global competition. However, like many mega-conglomerates, mega-airlines will face complications driven by size regardless of the many recitations of enhanced efficiency. Outlined herein is a conceptual model to serve as a decision tool for policy-makers, managers, and consumers of airline services. This model is developed using public data for the United States (U.S.) major airline industry available from the U/S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, and other public and private sector sources. Data points include number of accidents, pilot deviations, operational performance indicators, flight problems, and other factors. Data from these sources provide opportunity to develop a model based on a complex dot product equation of two vectors. A row vector is weighted for importance by a key informant panel of government, industry, and consumer experts, while a column vector is established with the factor value. The resulting equation, known as the national Airline Quality Rating (AQR), where Q is quality, C is weight, and V is the value of the variables, is stated Q=C[i1-19] x V[i1-19]. Looking at historical patterns of AQR results provides the basis for establishment of an industry benchmark for the purpose of enhancing airline operational performance. A 7 year average of overall operational performance provides the resulting benchmark indicator. Applications from this example can be applied to the many competitive environments of the global industry and assist policy-makers faced with rapidly changing regulatory challenges.

Effects of RoHs and REACH regulations on firm-level production and export, and the role of global value chains : the cases of Malaysia and Vietnam

OpenAIRE

Otsuki, Tsunehiro; Honda, Keiichiro; Michida, Etsuyo; Nabeshima, Kaoru; Ueki, Yasushi

2015-01-01

This paper uses firm-level data to examine the impact of foreign chemical safety regulations such as RoHS and REACH on the production costs and export performance of firms in Malaysia and Vietnam. This paper also investigates the role of global value chains in enhancing the likelihood that a firm complies with RoHS and REACH. We find that in addition to the initial setup costs for compliance, EU RoHS (REACH) implementation imposes on firms additional variable production costs by requiring add...

Outcome and value uncertainties in global-change policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammitt, J.K.

1995-01-01

Choices among environmental policies can be informed by analysis of the potential physical, biological, and social outcomes of alternative choices, and analysis of social preferences among these outcomes. Frequently, however, the consequences of alternative policies cannot be accurately predicted because of substantial outcome uncertainties concerning physical, chemical, biological, and social processes linking policy choices to consequences. Similarly, assessments of social preferences among alternative outcomes are limited by value uncertainties arising from limitations of moral principles, the absence of economic markets for many environmental attributes, and other factors. Outcome and value uncertainties relevant to global-change policy are described and their magnitudes are examined for two cases: stratospheric-ozone depletion and global climate change. Analysis of information available in the mid 1980s, when international ozone regulations were adopted, suggests that contemporary uncertainties surrounding CFC emissions and the atmospheric response were so large that plausible ozone depletion, absent regulation, ranged from negligible to catastrophic, a range that exceeded the plausible effect of the regulations considered. Analysis of climate change suggests that, important as outcome uncertainties are, uncertainties about values may be even more important for policy choice. 53 refs., 3 figs., 3 tabs

Tackling the global NCD crisis: innovations in law and governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Bryan; Gostin, Lawrence O

2013-01-01

35 million people die annually of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), 80% of them in low- and middle-income countries - representing a marked epidemiological transition from infectious to chronic diseases and from richer to poorer countries. The total number of NCDs is projected to rise by 17% over the coming decade, absent significant interventions. The NCD epidemic poses unique governance challenges: the causes are multifactorial, the affected populations diffuse, and effective responses require sustained multi-sectorial cooperation. The authors propose a range of regulatory options available at the domestic level, including stricter food labeling laws, regulation of food advertisements, tax incentives for healthy lifestyle choices, changes to the built environment, and direct regulation of food and drink producers. Given the realities of globalization, such interventions require global cooperation. In 2011, the UN General Assembly held a High-level meeting on NCDs, setting a global target of a 25% reduction in premature mortality from NCDs by 2025. Yet concrete plans and resource commitments for reaching this goal are not yet in the offing, and the window is rapidly closing for achieving these targets through prevention - as opposed to treatment, which is more costly. Innovative global governance for health is urgently needed to engage private industry and civil society in the global response to the NCD crisis. © 2013 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

International Maritime Transport Sector Regulation Systems and their Impact on World Shipping and Global Trade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrzej Grzelakowski

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of the paper is to analyze the impact of two nowadays existing global regulatory systems of the world maritime transport sector on international shipping industry and global trade development. The author has focused on the characterization of the autonomous regulatory system represented in this sector by freight market with typical for it mechanism as well as on public regulatory system expressed in form of the existing international regulatory scheme introduced by IMO and other international organizations. Both regulatory mechanisms has been analyzed and viewed in terms of efficiency and effectiveness of their influence upon shipping industry and global commodity markets. At the end, the results of functioning of both regulatory subsystems have been assessed with the aim to indicate how they are able to create growth potential for the world maritime transport and trade sector as well as the global economy.

Cryptocurrencies & the Challenge of Global Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Garry Jacbs

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The recent explosive development of new forms of digital currency opens up unprecedented opportunities and poses significant regulatory challenges. This new form of digital currency lowers the costs and other barriers to the global movement of money, international trade, foreign investment and speculation, while simultaneously enhancing the anonymity on which tax evasion, money-laundering and other illegal activities thrive. It also liberates the creation of money and regulation of economic activities from the political control of national governments and central banks. Since the value of a currency is related to the size of the population, strength of the economy and value of transactions that utilize it, a basket of cryptocurrencies could emerge as the first prototype of a world currency whose value is backed by the total productive capacity of the entire human community. Moreover, the triad of Internet, distributed ledger technologies and cryptocurrencies could serve as the basis for the development of new global economic potentials in a manner similar and a degree far exceeding the economic impact of the World Wide Web over the past two decades. At the same time, the rapid deployment of cryptocurrencies could have profound impact on the capacity of governments to tax transactions, income and wealth, one of the main pillars of the modern nation state. The development of autonomous global cryptocurrencies could dramatically reduce the control and effectiveness of existing regulatory mechanisms at the national level and generate considerable pressure for the evolution of more effective institutions for global governance. They could provide compelling incentives for national governments to enhance international cooperation and strengthen the functioning of international institutions to fill the regulatory void. International organizations will play an important role in harnessing the potentials and minimizing the risks arising from the growing

Stabilization and regulation of nonlinear systems a robust and adaptive approach

CERN Document Server

Chen, Zhiyong

2015-01-01

The core of this textbook is a systematic and self-contained treatment of the nonlinear stabilization and output regulation problems. Its coverage embraces both fundamental concepts and advanced research outcomes and includes many numerical and practical examples. Several classes of important uncertain nonlinear systems are discussed. The state-of-the art solution presented uses robust and adaptive control design ideas in an integrated approach which demonstrates connections between global stabilization and global output regulation allowing both to be treated as stabilization problems. Stabilization and Regulation of Nonlinear Systems takes advantage of rich new results to give students up-to-date instruction in the central design problems of nonlinear control, problems which are a driving force behind the furtherance of modern control theory and its application. The diversity of systems in which stabilization and output regulation become significant concerns in the mathematical formulation of practical contr...

THE ROLE AND PLACE TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS IN GLOBALIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lytvynenko Kristina

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. At present, transnational corporations (TNCs are leading the world economy. Each year, the number of TNCs increases, which increases their share in the global economy as a whole. The largest investment projects in the world are concentrated in such corporations, which are a major impetus for the development of countries in which all the capacities of transnational corporations are located. Through the structure of TNCs there are financial and commodity flows that are crucial for the development and improvement of the world economy. The above shows that the study and further research of transnational corporations in the globalization processes is an actual topic of the present. Purpose. The purpose of the paper is to study the peculiarities and trends of the activities of transnational corporations in the conditions of globalization of the world economy. Results. The basis of the new global economic system are TNCs that have large financial resources, implement advanced technologies, have significant spatial markets and conduct an active, globally, investment policy. Conclusions. A transnational corporation is part of the world economy, which is subject to the laws of the development of TNCs and reflects the reciprocal impact on the world economy, a product of globalization processes. The direct relationship between TNCs and the process of globalization comes from the study of the stages of the evolution of transnational corporations. The role of TNCs in the modern world is intensifying, in this connection, the role of national economies is falling, which leads to a conflict of interest between multinational corporations and states. Such conflicts can have a bad effect on the state of the economy and the stability of the state. Therefore, it is necessary to regulate the activities of TNCs. Modern activity of transnationalization has acquired many new features, it can affect not only the world economy, but also the country�

Quercetin enhances adiponectin secretion by a PPAR-gamma independent mechanism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wein, Silvia; Behm, Norma; Petersen, Rasmus Koefoed

2010-01-01

To study possible insulin sensitizing, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects of the flavonol quercetin, rats were fed a high-fat diet (19%, w/w) with (HFQ) or without (HF) 0.03% quercetin or a flavonoid-poor low-fat (5%, w/w) maintenance diet (LF) over 4 weeks. Body weight was measured...... and WAT mRNA levels of adiponectin were elevated compared with the HF group, however, PPAR-gamma mRNA concentration in WAT was decreased (HFQ vs. HF). Compared to both other groups quercetin feeding significantly reduced oxidative stress, measured by plasma 8-iso-PGF(2alpha), while body weight gain, body...... composition and plasma leptin levels were not affected. Neither quercetin nor its metabolites induced PPAR-gamma-mediated transactivation in vitro. Adiponectin stimulating effects of quercetin are PPAR-gamma-independent and prevent impairment of insulin sensitivity without affecting body weight...

Explaining (Missing) Regulator Paradigm Shifts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wigger, Angela; Buch-Hansen, Hubert

2014-01-01

The global financial and economic crisis has prompted some scholars to suggest that a fundamental regulatory shift away from neoliberalism will take place – both in general and in the field of EU competition regulation. This paper shows that so far no radical break with the neoliberal type...... regulation after the crisis in the 1970s, the paper argues that the preconditions for a fundamental shift in this issue area are not present this time around. Several reasons account for this: the current crisis has been construed by economic and political elites as a crisis within and not of neoliberal...

Atmospheric pollution: history, science, and regulation

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Jacobson, Mark Z

2002-01-01

..., stratospheric ozone reduction, and global climate change - is provided. Each chapter discusses the history and science behind these problems, their consequences, and the effort made through government intervention and regulation to mitigate them. The book contains numerous student examples and problems, more than 200 color illustrations,...

Global civil society: between nation states and transnational corporations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. A. Kvitka

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Global civil society is the subject of the formation of a new world order and the modern humanitarian outlook, which is based on the primacy of justice and human rights. One of the actors head of global civil society is an international non-governmental organizations. But wrong to equate global civil society with the activities of these organizations only. Mostly they influence governments and their humanitarian and international politics. Meanwhile, the role of global civil and its society various institutions is much greater and significant. The article discusses the various aspects of the civil society from the position that it took place between transnational companies (TNCs and nation-states. The role of the latter is gradually reduced - economic regulation take on multinationals and public administration is a field of activity of various institutions and structures that scientists considered it as a manifestation of global civil society. In Ukraine, which is also involved in the process of globalization, global civil society is one of the main factors of its national civil society.

Groundwater development stress: Global-scale indices compared to regional modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Alley, William; Clark, Brian R.; Ely, Matt; Faunt, Claudia

2018-01-01

The increased availability of global datasets and technologies such as global hydrologic models and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites have resulted in a growing number of global-scale assessments of water availability using simple indices of water stress. Developed initially for surface water, such indices are increasingly used to evaluate global groundwater resources. We compare indices of groundwater development stress for three major agricultural areas of the United States to information available from regional water budgets developed from detailed groundwater modeling. These comparisons illustrate the potential value of regional-scale analyses to supplement global hydrological models and GRACE analyses of groundwater depletion. Regional-scale analyses allow assessments of water stress that better account for scale effects, the dynamics of groundwater flow systems, the complexities of irrigated agricultural systems, and the laws, regulations, engineering, and socioeconomic factors that govern groundwater use. Strategic use of regional-scale models with global-scale analyses would greatly enhance knowledge of the global groundwater depletion problem.

On the social nature of global self-esteem: a replication study.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephan, Yannick; Maiano, Christophe

2007-10-01

Few researchers have considered the relationship between global self-esteem and the reflected appraisal of others in one's life, or how reflected appraisals and global self-esteem may change as a result of interpersonal feedback. In this study, the authors collected data from 110 undergraduate students on (a) their global self-esteem and the reflected appraisals of multiple others in their lives and (b) how these dimensions changed in hypothetical interpersonal-feedback situations. Results showed that participants' global self-esteem was related to the reflected appraisals of their fathers, teachers, and friends. The results also indicated that others' reflected appraisals and the individual's global self-esteem fluctuated according to the nature (i.e., positive vs. negative) of the hypothetical interpersonal feedback. Overall, the findings emphasize the social nature and regulation of global self-esteem.

The Destructuring and Restructuring of Global Labor Markets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Johannes Dragsbæk

in global labor markets and industrial relations. The third part situates more squarely the impact of globalization on the catching-up strategies of Russia and China, while the next section digs into the transformation of the industrial relations regimes in Russia and China in comparative perspective....... Finally, the paper rounds up by pointing to the main similarities and differences between industrial relations, work and labor market regulation in Russia and China, but also with implications for a broader context. In order to come to terms with the crisis of former socialist type societ...

The Crc global regulator inhibits the Pseudomonas putida pWW0 toluene/xylene assimilation pathway by repressing the translation of regulatory and structural genes.

Science.gov (United States)

Moreno, Renata; Fonseca, Pilar; Rojo, Fernando

2010-08-06

In Pseudomonas putida, the expression of the pWW0 plasmid genes for the toluene/xylene assimilation pathway (the TOL pathway) is subject to complex regulation in response to environmental and physiological signals. This includes strong inhibition via catabolite repression, elicited by the carbon sources that the cells prefer to hydrocarbons. The Crc protein, a global regulator that controls carbon flow in pseudomonads, has an important role in this inhibition. Crc is a translational repressor that regulates the TOL genes, but how it does this has remained unknown. This study reports that Crc binds to sites located at the translation initiation regions of the mRNAs coding for XylR and XylS, two specific transcription activators of the TOL genes. Unexpectedly, eight additional Crc binding sites were found overlapping the translation initiation sites of genes coding for several enzymes of the pathway, all encoded within two polycistronic mRNAs. Evidence is provided supporting the idea that these sites are functional. This implies that Crc can differentially modulate the expression of particular genes within polycistronic mRNAs. It is proposed that Crc controls TOL genes in two ways. First, Crc inhibits the translation of the XylR and XylS regulators, thereby reducing the transcription of all TOL pathway genes. Second, Crc inhibits the translation of specific structural genes of the pathway, acting mainly on proteins involved in the first steps of toluene assimilation. This ensures a rapid inhibitory response that reduces the expression of the toluene/xylene degradation proteins when preferred carbon sources become available.

A Surfactant-Induced Functional Modulation of a Global Virulence Regulator from Staphylococcus aureus.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sukhendu Mandal

Full Text Available Triton X-100 (TX-100, a useful non-ionic surfactant, reduced the methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus significantly. Many S. aureus proteins were expressed in the presence of TX-100. SarA, one of the TX-100-induced proteins, acts as a global virulence regulator in S. aureus. To understand the effects of TX-100 on the structure, and function of SarA, a recombinant S. aureus SarA (rSarA and its derivative (C9W have been investigated in the presence of varying concentrations of this surfactant using various probes. Our data have revealed that both rSarA and C9W bind to the cognate DNA with nearly similar affinity in the absence of TX-100. Interestingly, their DNA binding activities have been significantly increased in the presence of pre-micellar concentration of TX-100. The increase of TX-100 concentrations to micellar or post-micellar concentration did not greatly enhance their activities further. TX-100 molecules have altered the secondary and tertiary structures of both proteins to some extents. Size of the rSarA-TX-100 complex appears to be intermediate to those of rSarA and TX-100. Additional analyses show a relatively moderate interaction between C9W and TX-100. Binding of TX-100 to C9W has, however, occurred by a cooperative pathway particularly at micellar and higher concentrations of this surfactant. Taken together, TX-100-induced structural alteration of rSarA and C9W might be responsible for their increased DNA binding activity. As TX-100 has stabilized the somewhat weaker SarA-DNA complex effectively, it could be used to study its structure in the future.

Duplex formation between the sRNA DsrA and rpoS mRNA is not sufficient for efficient RpoS synthesis at low temperature

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hämmerle, H.; Večerek, Branislav; Resch, A.; Bläsi, U.

2013-01-01

Roč. 10, č. 12 (2013), s. 1834-1841 ISSN 1547-6286 Institutional support: RVO:61388971 Keywords : DsrA * Hfq * Riboregulation Subject RIV: EE - Microbiology, Virology Impact factor: 5.377, year: 2013 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24448230

Lessons and policy implications from the global financial crisis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Claessens, S.; Dell'Ariccia, G.; Igan, D.; Laeven, L.A.H.; Caprio, G.; Beck, T.; Claessens, S.; Schmukler, S.L.

2013-01-01

The crisis has brought to light a number of deficiencies in financial regulation and architecture, particularly in the treatment of systemically important financial institutions, the assessments of systemic risks and vulnerabilities, and the resolution of financial institutions. The global nature of

Competition, the Global Crisis, and Alternatives to Neoliberal Capitalism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wigger, Angela; Buch-Hansen, Hubert

2013-01-01

regulation and other regulatory provisions, excessive competition (over-competition) in the process of capital accumulation has become a major global force with highly detrimental social and environmental downsides. From the vantage point of a historical materialist perspective, the article provides...

Global financial reform since 2008: Achievements and shortcomings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Šoškić Dejan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The global financial crisis that started in the U.S. had an immediate spillover to the rest of the world financial markets. Next, a decrease in real economic output throughout the developed world occurred simultaneously with high bailout costs for the salvaging of banks and other financial institutions. This vicious combination was at the core of the bank-sovereign interdependence and the sovereign debt crisis of the eurozone. As early as 2008, the G20 announced a thorough global reform agenda with an aim to tackle the root causes of the crises and to transform the system of global financial regulation. Some important reform steps have been made; still, more than six years on, the job is not finished. Where are we in terms of global financial reform, and are we close to creating a more secure global financial system significantly less prone to crisis and bailouts with taxpayers’ money? [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179005: Risks of Financial Institutions and Markets in Serbia - A Microeconomic and Macroeconomic Approach

Mechanisms of private meta-governance: an analysis of global private governance for sustainable development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Glasbergen, P.

2011-01-01

One of the main characteristics of global governance for sustainable development is its fragmentation. Next to public regulations, there are often many private regulations in force on the same issue, which are induced by collaborations between businesses and NGOs. Traditionally, it is assumed that

Electric power globalization and reforming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soares Neto, Jose Lino

1999-01-01

The central issue of debate was the need to align the energy sector's options and organization with changing global patterns of economic and social development, characterized by the increasing role played by the private sector, greater integration in the world economy, and new economic and social priorities such as efficiency, decentralization, deregulation, and a closer attention to environmental issues. The aim of the work was to define the economic and political forces of the electric power sector regulation restructuring

Review of Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment and its Relevance to Environmental Regulators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew C Singer

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The environment is increasingly being recognised for the role it might play in the global spread of clinically-relevant antibiotic resistance. Environmental regulators monitor and control many of the pathways responsible for the release of resistance-driving chemicals into the environment (e.g., antimicrobials, metals, biocides. Hence, environmental regulators should be contributing significantly to the development of global and national antimicrobial resistance (AMR action plans. It is argued that the lack of environment-facing mitigation actions included in existing AMR action plans is likely a function of our poor fundamental understanding of many of the key issues. Here, we aim to present the problem with AMR in the environment through the lens of an environmental regulator, using the Environment Agency (England’s regulator as an example from which parallels can be drawn globally. The issues that are pertinent to environmental regulators are drawn out to answer: What are the drivers and pathways of AMR? How do these relate to the normal work, powers and duties of environmental regulators? What are the knowledge gaps that hinder the delivery of environmental protection from AMR? We offer several thought experiments for how different mitigation strategies might proceed. We conclude that: 1 AMR Action Plans do not tackle all the potentially relevant pathways and drivers of AMR in the environment; and 2 AMR Action Plans are deficient, in part, because the science to inform policy is lacking and this needs to be addressed.

Economy of education: National and global aspects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oksana Ishchenko-Padukova

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Our paper focuses on the national economy of education. We assume that under the current conditions of the globalized world, the economy of education reveals its two-fold nature: on the one hand, it represents an element of the national economic system, and on the other, it is also a structural component of the global education system. Therefore, national economy of education is shaped up by both internal and external factors represented by national and international influences. We analyze here the functional composition and the methods of legal regulation of the economy of education under the conditions and provisions of the global geopolitical transformations. In addition, we use the empirical model of returns to education for showing the factors that impact the employability of young graduates at the labor market. Our results confirm the importance of education for achieving higher levels of income, both nationally and internationally. Finally, we come to the conclusion that its target function consists of the global promotion of national education and consolidation of national competitive position within the world education space.

Construction of a global pain systems network highlights phospholipid signaling as a regulator of heat nociception.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G Gregory Neely

Full Text Available The ability to perceive noxious stimuli is critical for an animal's survival in the face of environmental danger, and thus pain perception is likely to be under stringent evolutionary pressure. Using a neuronal-specific RNAi knock-down strategy in adult Drosophila, we recently completed a genome-wide functional annotation of heat nociception that allowed us to identify α2δ3 as a novel pain gene. Here we report construction of an evolutionary-conserved, system-level, global molecular pain network map. Our systems map is markedly enriched for multiple genes associated with human pain and predicts a plethora of novel candidate pain pathways. One central node of this pain network is phospholipid signaling, which has been implicated before in pain processing. To further investigate the role of phospholipid signaling in mammalian heat pain perception, we analysed the phenotype of PIP5Kα and PI3Kγ mutant mice. Intriguingly, both of these mice exhibit pronounced hypersensitivity to noxious heat and capsaicin-induced pain, which directly mapped through PI3Kγ kinase-dead knock-in mice to PI3Kγ lipid kinase activity. Using single primary sensory neuron recording, PI3Kγ function was mechanistically linked to a negative regulation of TRPV1 channel transduction. Our data provide a systems map for heat nociception and reinforces the extraordinary conservation of molecular mechanisms of nociception across different species.

Construction of a Global Pain Systems Network Highlights Phospholipid Signaling as a Regulator of Heat Nociception

Science.gov (United States)

Mair, Norbert; Racz, Ildiko; Milinkeviciute, Giedre; Meixner, Arabella; Nayanala, Swetha; Griffin, Robert S.; Belfer, Inna; Dai, Feng; Smith, Shad; Diatchenko, Luda; Marengo, Stefano; Haubner, Bernhard J.; Novatchkova, Maria; Gibson, Dustin; Maixner, William; Pospisilik, J. Andrew; Hirsch, Emilio; Whishaw, Ian Q.; Zimmer, Andreas; Gupta, Vaijayanti; Sasaki, Junko; Kanaho, Yasunori; Sasaki, Takehiko; Kress, Michaela; Woolf, Clifford J.; Penninger, Josef M.

2012-01-01

The ability to perceive noxious stimuli is critical for an animal's survival in the face of environmental danger, and thus pain perception is likely to be under stringent evolutionary pressure. Using a neuronal-specific RNAi knock-down strategy in adult Drosophila, we recently completed a genome-wide functional annotation of heat nociception that allowed us to identify α2δ3 as a novel pain gene. Here we report construction of an evolutionary-conserved, system-level, global molecular pain network map. Our systems map is markedly enriched for multiple genes associated with human pain and predicts a plethora of novel candidate pain pathways. One central node of this pain network is phospholipid signaling, which has been implicated before in pain processing. To further investigate the role of phospholipid signaling in mammalian heat pain perception, we analysed the phenotype of PIP5Kα and PI3Kγ mutant mice. Intriguingly, both of these mice exhibit pronounced hypersensitivity to noxious heat and capsaicin-induced pain, which directly mapped through PI3Kγ kinase-dead knock-in mice to PI3Kγ lipid kinase activity. Using single primary sensory neuron recording, PI3Kγ function was mechanistically linked to a negative regulation of TRPV1 channel transduction. Our data provide a systems map for heat nociception and reinforces the extraordinary conservation of molecular mechanisms of nociception across different species. PMID:23236288

Regulation of Adult CNS Axonal Regeneration by the Post-transcriptional Regulator Cpeb1

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wilson Pak-Kin Lou

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS neurons are unable to regenerate following axonal injury, leading to permanent functional impairments. Yet, the reasons underlying this regeneration failure are not fully understood. Here, we studied the transcriptome and translatome shortly after spinal cord injury. Profiling of the total and ribosome-bound RNA in injured and naïve spinal cords identified a substantial post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. In particular, transcripts associated with nervous system development were down-regulated in the total RNA fraction while remaining stably loaded onto ribosomes. Interestingly, motif association analysis of post-transcriptionally regulated transcripts identified the cytoplasmic polyadenylation element (CPE as enriched in a subset of these transcripts that was more resistant to injury-induced reduction at the transcriptome level. Modulation of these transcripts by overexpression of the CPE binding protein, Cpeb1, in mouse and Drosophila CNS neurons promoted axonal regeneration following injury. Our study uncovered a global evolutionarily conserved post-transcriptional mechanism enhancing regeneration of injured CNS axons.

Evolving Role of the Power Sector Regulator: A Clean Energy Regulators Initiative Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zinaman, O.; Miller, M.; Bazilian, M.

2014-04-01

This paper seeks to briefly characterize the evolving role of power sector regulation. Given current global dynamics, regulation of the power sector is undergoing dramatic changes. This transformation is being driven by various factors including technological advances and cost reductions in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and demand management; increasing air pollution and climate change concerns; and persistent pressure for ensuring sustainable economic development and increased access to energy services by the poor. These issues add to the already complex task of power sector regulation, of which the fundamental remit remains to objectively and transparently ensure least-cost service delivery at high quality. While no single regulatory task is trivial to undertake, it is the prioritization and harmonization of a multitude of objectives that exemplifies the essential challenge of power sector regulation. Evolving regulatory roles can be understood through the concept of existing objectives and an additional layer of emerging objectives. Following this categorization, we describe seven existing objectives of power sector regulators and nine emerging objectives, highlighting key challenges and outlining interdependencies. This essay serves as a preliminary installment in the Clean Energy Regulatory Initiative (CERI) series, and aims to lay the groundwork for subsequent reports and case studies that will explore these topics in more depth.

Globalisation of tobacco industry influence and new global responses

Science.gov (United States)

Yach, D.; Bettcher, D.

2000-01-01

The globalisation of tobacco marketing, trade, research, and industry influence represents a major threat to public health worldwide. Drawing upon tobacco industry strategy documents prepared over several decades, this paper will demonstrate how the tobacco industry operates as a global force, regarding the world as its operating market by planning, developing, and marketing its products on a global scale. The industry has used a wide range of methods to buy influence and power, and penetrate markets across the world. It has an annual turnover of almost US$400 billion. In contrast, until recently tobacco control lacked global leadership and strategic direction and had been severely underfunded. As part of moving towards a more sustainable form of globalisation, a global enabling environment linked to local actions should focus on the following strategies: global information management; development of nationally and locally grounded action; global regulation, legal instruments, and foreign policy; and establishment of strong partnerships with purpose. As the vector of the tobacco epidemic, the tobacco industry's actions fall far outside of the boundaries of global corporate responsibility. Therefore, global and local actions should not provide the tobacco industry with the two things that it needs to ensure its long term profitability: respectability and predictability.


Keywords: globalisation of tobacco marketing PMID:10841858

Counteraction of Oxidative Stress by Vitamin E Affects Epigenetic Regulation by Increasing Global Methylation and Gene Expression of MLH1 and DNMT1 Dose Dependently in Caco-2 Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katja Zappe

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Obesity- or diabetes-induced oxidative stress is discussed as a major risk factor for DNA damage. Vitamin E and many polyphenols exhibit antioxidative activities with consequences on epigenetic regulation of inflammation and DNA repair. The present study investigated the counteraction of oxidative stress by vitamin E in the colorectal cancer cell line Caco-2 under normal (1 g/l and high (4.5 g/l glucose cell culture condition. Malondialdehyde (MDA as a surrogate marker of lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species (ROS was analyzed. Gene expression and promoter methylation of the DNA repair gene MutL homolog 1 (MLH1 and the DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1 as well as global methylation by LINE-1 were investigated. Results revealed a dose-dependent counteracting effect of vitamin E on H2O2-induced oxidative stress. Thereby, 10 μM vitamin E proved to be more efficient than did 50 μM in reducing MDA. Further, an induction of MLH1 and DNMT1 gene expression was noticed, accompanied by an increase in global methylation. Whether LINE-1 hypomethylation is a cause or effect of oxidative stress is still unclear. In conclusion, supplementation of exogenous antioxidants like vitamin E in vitro exhibits beneficial effects concerning oxidative stress as well as epigenetic regulation involved in DNA repair.

AFSC/ABL: Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (GLOBEC) fish and oceanography data

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Understanding the processes that regulate early marine survival of salmon is a major goal of the Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (GLOBEC) Northeast Pacific (NEP)...

Diverse Regulators of Human Ribosome Biogenesis Discovered by Changes in Nucleolar Number

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katherine I. Farley-Barnes

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Ribosome biogenesis is a highly regulated, essential cellular process. Although studies in yeast have established some of the biological principles of ribosome biogenesis, many of the intricacies of its regulation in higher eukaryotes remain unknown. To understand how ribosome biogenesis is globally integrated in human cells, we conducted a genome-wide siRNA screen for regulators of nucleolar number. We found 139 proteins whose depletion changed the number of nucleoli per nucleus from 2–3 to only 1 in human MCF10A cells. Follow-up analyses on 20 hits found many (90% to be essential for the nucleolar functions of rDNA transcription (7, pre-ribosomal RNA (pre-rRNA processing (16, and/or global protein synthesis (14. This genome-wide analysis exploits the relationship between nucleolar number and function to discover diverse cellular pathways that regulate the making of ribosomes and paves the way for further exploration of the links between ribosome biogenesis and human disease.

A global picture of pharmacy technician and other pharmacy support workforce cadres.

Science.gov (United States)

Koehler, Tamara; Brown, Andrew

Understanding how pharmacy technicians and other pharmacy support workforce cadres assist pharmacists in the healthcare system will facilitate developing health systems with the ability to achieve universal health coverage as it is defined in different country contexts. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the present global variety in the technician and other pharmacy support workforce cadres considering; their scope, roles, supervision, education and legal framework. A structured online survey instrument was administered globally using the Survey Monkey platform, designed to address the following topic areas: roles, responsibilities, supervision, education and legislation. The survey was circulated to International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) member organisations and a variety of global list serves where pharmaceutical services are discussed. 193 entries from 67 countries and territories were included in the final analysis revealing a vast global variety with respect to the pharmacy support workforce. From no pharmacy technicians or other pharmacy support workforce cadres in Japan, through a variety of cadre interactions with pharmacists, to the autonomous practice of pharmacy support workforce cadres in Malawi. From strictly supervised practice with a focus on supply, through autonomous practice for a variety of responsibilities, to independent practice. From complete supervision for all tasks, through geographical varied supervision, to independent practice. From on the job training, through certificate level vocational courses, to 3-4 year diploma programs. From well-regulated and registered, through part regulation with weak implementation, to completely non-regulated contexts. This paper documents wide differences in supervision requirements, education systems and supportive legislation for pharmacy support workforce cadres globally. A more detailed understanding of specific country practice settings is required if the use of pharmacy

Filling some black holes: modeling the connection between urbanization, infrastructure, and global service intensity

OpenAIRE

Van De Vijver, Elien; Derudder, Ben; Bassens, David; Witlox, Frank

2014-01-01

This empirical article combines insights from previous research on the level of knowledge-intensive service in metropolitan areas with the aim to develop an understanding of the spatial structure of the global service economy. We use a stepwise regression model with the Globalization and World Cities research network's measure of globalized service provisioning as the dependent variable and a range of variables focusing on population, infrastructure, urban primacy, and national regulation as ...

Globalizing animal care and use: making the dream a reality

Science.gov (United States)

Bielitzki, J. T.

1999-01-01

What will drive the globalization of animal care in the 21st century? Will targeted concerns from privately funded groups be the motivating factors? Will the threat of disease, and the concomitant hue and cry from a threatened public, be responsible for bringing nations together to collaborate on rules and regulations? The author, who is responsible for the animal use protocols on NASA's space station, explains why globalization on Planet Earth may be guided by what happens in outer space.

Global Analysis of RNA Secondary Structure in Two Metazoans

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fan Li

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The secondary structure of RNA is necessary for its maturation, regulation, processing, and function. However, the global influence of RNA folding in eukaryotes is still unclear. Here, we use a high-throughput, sequencing-based, structure-mapping approach to identify the paired (double-stranded RNA [dsRNA] and unpaired (single-stranded RNA [ssRNA] components of the Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans transcriptomes, which allows us to identify conserved features of RNA secondary structure in metazoans. From this analysis, we find that ssRNAs and dsRNAs are significantly correlated with specific epigenetic modifications. Additionally, we find key structural patterns across protein-coding transcripts that indicate that RNA folding demarcates regions of protein translation and likely affects microRNA-mediated regulation of mRNAs in animals. Finally, we identify and characterize 546 mRNAs whose folding pattern is significantly correlated between these metazoans, suggesting that their structure has some function. Overall, our findings provide a global assessment of RNA folding in animals.

Simulation analysis of globally integrated logistics and recycling strategies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, S.J.; Hiroshi, K. [Hiroshima Inst. of Tech., Graduate School of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Dept. of In formation and Intelligent Systems Engineering, Hiroshima (Japan)

2004-07-01

This paper focuses on the optimal analysis of world-wide recycling activities associated with managing the logistics and production activities in global manufacturing whose activities stretch across national boundaries. Globally integrated logistics and recycling strategies consist of the home country and two free trading economic blocs, NAFTA and ASEAN, where significant differences are found in production and disassembly cost, tax rates, local content rules and regulations. Moreover an optimal analysis of globally integrated value-chain was developed by applying simulation optimization technique as a decision-making tool. The simulation model was developed and analyzed by using ProModel packages, and the results help to identify some of the appropriate conditions required to make well-performed logistics and recycling plans in world-wide collaborated manufacturing environment. (orig.)

Ethical food standard schemes and global trade

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Daugbjerg, Carsten; Botterill, Linda Courtenay

2012-01-01

Global food trade embodies a range of different interpretations of the nature of food and its role in society. On the one hand, the WTO food regulation regime, in particular the SPS agreement, is based upon a somewhat instrumental value of food consumption in which food is seen as a commodity...... base of each institution while giving expression to both materialist and postmaterialist understandings of the nature of food....... to be traded in accordance with international trade rules. At the same time, a number of private standards, such as GlobalG.A.P and various organic standards, are emerging which embody broadly postmaterialist values that suggest that food purchasing and consumption are also social, ethical and perhaps even...

Impaired chromatin remodelling at STAT1-regulated promoters leads to global unresponsiveness of Toxoplasma gondii-infected macrophages to IFN-γ.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christine Lang

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Intracellular pathogens including the apicomplexan and opportunistic parasite Toxoplasma gondii profoundly modify their host cells in order to establish infection. We have shown previously that intracellular T. gondii inhibit up-regulation of regulatory and effector functions in murine macrophages (MΦ stimulated with interferon (IFN-γ, which is the cytokine crucial for controlling the parasites' replication. Using genome-wide transcriptome analysis we show herein that infection with T. gondii leads to global unresponsiveness of murine macrophages to IFN-γ. More than 61% and 89% of the transcripts, which were induced or repressed by IFN-γ in non-infected MΦ, respectively, were not altered after stimulation of T. gondii-infected cells with IFN-γ. These genes are involved in a variety of biological processes, which are mostly but not exclusively related to immune responses. Analyses of the underlying mechanisms revealed that IFN-γ-triggered nuclear translocation of STAT1 still occurred in Toxoplasma-infected MΦ. However, STAT1 bound aberrantly to oligonucleotides containing the IFN-γ-responsive gamma-activated site (GAS consensus sequence. Conversely, IFN-γ did not induce formation of active GAS-STAT1 complexes in nuclear extracts from infected MΦ. Mass spectrometry of protein complexes bound to GAS oligonucleotides showed that T. gondii-infected MΦ are unable to recruit non-muscle actin to IFN-γ-responsive DNA sequences, which appeared to be independent of stimulation with IFN-γ and of STAT1 binding. IFN-γ-induced recruitment of BRG-1 and acetylation of core histones at the IFN-γ-regulated CIITA promoter IV, but not β-actin was diminished by >90% in Toxoplasma-infected MΦ as compared to non-infected control cells. Remarkably, treatment with histone deacetylase inhibitors restored the ability of infected macrophages to express the IFN-γ regulated genes H2-A/E and CIITA. Taken together, these results indicate that Toxoplasma

The present effect of global warming on U.S. industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bendel, W.B.

1993-01-01

This paper will discuss how global warming issues are currently affecting U.S. industry. Global climate models are projecting global temperature increases in the 1.5-4.5 degrees C range within the next 50-60 years. This increase is based on the assumption that CO 2 emissions into the atmosphere will continue to increase 1-2% per year, resulting in a doubling of preindustrial CO 2 levels by mid twenty-first century. These projections may cause U.S. industry to readjust its thinking with respect to the benefits of pollution prevention as they relate to global warming, corporate image enhancement, global competitiveness and risk assessment or balance. Real or perceived impacts of global warming are already influencing U.S. competitiveness within the global economy because Japan and the European countries are taking the global warming threat more seriously than is the U.S. Mitigation of CO 2 emissions through carbon taxes or permitting will be discussed. Options available to U.S. industry to deal with the current uncertainties of global warming will be presented. Examples of how specific companies are coping with this issue will be given. Finally, recommendations are presented for proactive planning to determine which segments, divisions or facilities in a multinational company would be most sensitive to CO 2 stabilization regulations

Regulation of mRNA translation during mitosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanenbaum, Marvin E; Stern-Ginossar, Noam; Weissman, Jonathan S; Vale, Ronald D

2015-08-25

Passage through mitosis is driven by precisely-timed changes in transcriptional regulation and protein degradation. However, the importance of translational regulation during mitosis remains poorly understood. Here, using ribosome profiling, we find both a global translational repression and identified ~200 mRNAs that undergo specific translational regulation at mitotic entry. In contrast, few changes in mRNA abundance are observed, indicating that regulation of translation is the primary mechanism of modulating protein expression during mitosis. Interestingly, 91% of the mRNAs that undergo gene-specific regulation in mitosis are translationally repressed, rather than activated. One of the most pronounced translationally-repressed genes is Emi1, an inhibitor of the anaphase promoting complex (APC) which is degraded during mitosis. We show that full APC activation requires translational repression of Emi1 in addition to its degradation. These results identify gene-specific translational repression as a means of controlling the mitotic proteome, which may complement post-translational mechanisms for inactivating protein function.

Hazardous substances in electronics: the effects of European Union risk regulation on China

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Biedenkopf, K.

2012-01-01

This article argues that European Union (EU) risk regulation of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) was both a trigger and formative factor in the development of similar Chinese regulation. The attractiveness and global interdependence of the EU market in EEE impelled a

Regulatory Competition in Global Financial Markets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ringe, Georg

2016-01-01

Regulatory arbitrage in financial markets refers to a number of strategies that market participants use to avoid the reach of regulation, in particular by virtue of moving trading abroad or relocating activities or operations of financial institutions to other jurisdictions. Where this happens...... institutions' excessive risk-taking. If such risk-taking would be judged by market discipline instead of posing a risk to global financial stability, the main downside of regulatory competition could be restrained. Within the boundaries of such a system, competition could then operate and contribute...... their standards solely to attract business and thereby impose externalities on the worldwide financial market by undermining financial stability as a global public good. Policymakers worldwide are experimenting with remedies to respond to the phenomenon. I introduce the importance of an effective special...

A direct link between the global regulator PhoP and the Csr regulon in Y. pseudotuberculosis through the small regulatory RNA CsrC.

Science.gov (United States)

Nuss, Aaron M; Schuster, Franziska; Kathrin Heroven, Ann; Heine, Wiebke; Pisano, Fabio; Dersch, Petra

2014-01-01

In this study we investigated the influence of the global response regulator PhoP on the complex regulatory cascade controlling expression of early stage virulence genes of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis via the virulence regulator RovA. Our analysis revealed the following novel features: (1) PhoP activates expression of the CsrC RNA in Y. pseudotuberculosis, leading to activation of RovA synthesis through the CsrABC-RovM cascade, (2) activation of csrC transcription is direct and PhoP is shown to bind to two separate PhoP box-like sites, (3) PhoP-mediated activation results in transcription from two different promoters closely downstream of the PhoP binding sites, leading to two distinct CsrC RNAs, and (4) the stability of the CsrC RNAs differs significantly between the Y. pseudotuberculosis strains YPIII and IP32953 due to a 20 nucleotides insertion in CsrC(IP32953), which renders the transcript more susceptible to degradation. In summary, our study showed that PhoP-mediated influence on the regulatory cascade controlling the Csr system and RovA in Y. pseudotuberculosis varies within the species, suggesting that the Csr system is a focal point to readjust and adapt the genus to different hosts and reservoirs.

Agricultural insecticides threaten surface waters at the global scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Stehle, Sebastian; Schulz, Ralf

2015-05-05

Compared with nutrient levels and habitat degradation, the importance of agricultural pesticides in surface water may have been underestimated due to a lack of comprehensive quantitative analysis. Increasing pesticide contamination results in decreasing regional aquatic biodiversity, i.e., macroinvertebrate family richness is reduced by ∼30% at pesticide concentrations equaling the legally accepted regulatory threshold levels (RTLs). This study provides a comprehensive metaanalysis of 838 peer-reviewed studies (>2,500 sites in 73 countries) that evaluates, for the first time to our knowledge on a global scale, the exposure of surface waters to particularly toxic agricultural insecticides. We tested whether measured insecticide concentrations (MICs; i.e., quantified insecticide concentrations) exceed their RTLs and how risks depend on insecticide development over time and stringency of environmental regulation. Our analysis reveals that MICs occur rarely (i.e., an estimated 97.4% of analyses conducted found no MICs) and there is a complete lack of scientific monitoring data for ∼90% of global cropland. Most importantly, of the 11,300 MICs, 52.4% (5,915 cases; 68.5% of the sites) exceeded the RTL for either surface water (RTLSW) or sediments. Thus, the biological integrity of global water resources is at a substantial risk. RTLSW exceedances depend on the catchment size, sampling regime, and sampling date; are significantly higher for newer-generation insecticides (i.e., pyrethroids); and are high even in countries with stringent environmental regulations. These results suggest the need for worldwide improvements to current pesticide regulations and agricultural pesticide application practices and for intensified research efforts on the presence and effects of pesticides under real-world conditions.

Liquidity regulation and the implementation of monetary policy

OpenAIRE

Morten L. Bech; Todd Keister

2013-01-01

In addition to revamping existing rules for bank capital, Basel III introduces a new global framework for liquidity regulation. One part of this framework is the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR), which requires banks to hold sufficient high-quality liquid assets to survive a 30-day period of market stress. As monetary policy typically involves targeting the interest rate on loans of one of these assets — central bank reserves — it is important to understand how this regulation may impact the ef...

Development in the Regulation of Wages and Working Conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høgedahl, Laust Kristian; Jørgensen, Henning

2017-01-01

The Nordic countries are renowned for their high level of unionization and collective bargaining. However, globalization, Europeanization, and an increasing individualization are often pictured as factors suppressing collective regulation. In this article, we look at the developments in the regul...... and in employee awareness, but Danish wage and salary earners also have an interest in extra support in the form of generalization and/or a politically regulated minimum wage....... in the regulation of wages and working conditions from a macro perspective by combing two large crosssectional surveys into a longitudinal study with point of departure in the Danish case. We find that collective bargaining coverage continues to stand surprisingly strong, both in terms of being very widespread...

SAPFLUXNET: towards a global database of sap flow measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Poyatos, Rafael; Granda, Víctor; Molowny-Horas, Roberto; Mencuccini, Maurizio; Steppe, Kathy; Martínez-Vilalta, Jordi

2016-12-01

Plant transpiration is the main evaporative flux from terrestrial ecosystems; it controls land surface energy balance, determines catchment hydrological responses and influences regional and global climate. Transpiration regulation by plants is a key (and still not completely understood) process that underlies vegetation drought responses and land evaporative fluxes under global change scenarios. Thermometric methods of sap flow measurement have now been widely used to quantify whole-plant and stand transpiration in forests, shrublands and orchards around the world. A large body of research has applied sap flow methods to analyse seasonal and diurnal patterns of transpiration and to quantify their responses to hydroclimatic variability, but syntheses of sap flow data at regional to global scales are extremely rare. Here we present the SAPFLUXNET initiative, aimed at building the first global database of plant-level sap flow measurements. A preliminary metadata survey launched in December 2015 showed an encouraging response by the sap flow community, with sap flow data sets from field studies representing >160 species and >120 globally distributed sites. The main goal of SAPFLUXNET is to analyse the ecological factors driving plant- and stand-level transpiration. SAPFLUXNET will open promising research avenues at an unprecedented global scope, namely: (i) exploring the spatio-temporal variability of plant transpiration and its relationship with plant and stand attributes, (ii) summarizing physiological regulation of transpiration by means of few water-use traits, usable for land surface models, (iii) improving our understanding of the coordination between gas exchange and plant-level traits (e.g., hydraulics) and (iv) analysing the ecological factors controlling stand transpiration and evapotranspiration partitioning. Finally, SAPFLUXNET can provide a benchmark to test models of physiological controls of transpiration, contributing to improve the accuracy of

Coordinated approaches to quantify long-term ecosystem dynamics in response to global change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Y.; Melillo, J.; Niu, S.

2011-01-01

a coordinated approach that combines long-term, large-scale global change experiments with process studies and modeling. Long-term global change manipulative experiments, especially in high-priority ecosystems such as tropical forests and high-latitude regions, are essential to maximize information gain......Many serious ecosystem consequences of climate change will take decades or even centuries to emerge. Long-term ecological responses to global change are strongly regulated by slow processes, such as changes in species composition, carbon dynamics in soil and by long-lived plants, and accumulation...... to be the most effective strategy to gain the best information on long-term ecosystem dynamics in response to global change....

Understanding the Role of the Master Regulator XYR1 in Trichoderma reesei by Global Transcriptional Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

dos Santos Castro, Lilian; de Paula, Renato G.; Antoniêto, Amanda C. C.; Persinoti, Gabriela F.; Silva-Rocha, Rafael; Silva, Roberto N.

2016-01-01

We defined the role of the transcriptional factor—XYR1—in the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei during cellulosic material degradation. In this regard, we performed a global transcriptome analysis using RNA-Seq of the Δxyr1 mutant strain of T. reesei compared with the parental strain QM9414 grown in the presence of cellulose, sophorose, and glucose as sole carbon sources. We found that 5885 genes were expressed differentially under the three tested carbon sources. Of these, 322 genes were upregulated in the presence of cellulose, while 367 and 188 were upregulated in sophorose and glucose, respectively. With respect to genes under the direct regulation of XYR1, 30 and 33 are exclusive to cellulose and sophorose, respectively. The most modulated genes in the Δxyr1 belong to Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes (CAZymes), transcription factors, and transporters families. Moreover, we highlight the downregulation of transporters belonging to the MFS and ABC transporter families. Of these, MFS members were mostly downregulated in the presence of cellulose. In sophorose and glucose, the expression of these transporters was mainly upregulated. Our results revealed that MFS and ABC transporters could be new players in cellulose degradation and their role was shown to be carbon source-dependent. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of XYR1 to control cellulase gene expression in T. reesei in the presence of cellulosic material, thereby potentially enhancing its application in several biotechnology fields. PMID:26909077

Epigenetic regulation of open chromatin in pluripotent stem cells

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Hiroshi; Kikyo, Nobuaki

2014-01-01

The recent progress in pluripotent stem cell research has opened new avenues of disease modeling, drug screening, and transplantation of patient-specific tissues that had been unimaginable until a decade ago. The central mechanism underlying pluripotency is epigenetic gene regulation; the majority of cell signaling pathways, both extracellular and cytoplasmic, eventually alter the epigenetic status of their target genes during the process of activating or suppressing the genes to acquire or maintain pluripotency. It has long been thought that the chromatin of pluripotent stem cells is globally open to enable the timely activation of essentially all genes in the genome during differentiation into multiple lineages. The current article reviews descriptive observations and the epigenetic machinery relevant to what is supposed to be globally open chromatin in pluripotent stem cells. This includes microscopic appearance, permissive gene transcription, chromatin remodeling complexes, histone modifications, DNA methylation, noncoding RNAs, dynamic movement of chromatin proteins, nucleosome accessibility and positioning, and long-range chromosomal interactions. Detailed analyses of each element, however, have revealed that the globally open chromatin hypothesis is not necessarily supported by some of the critical experimental evidence, such as genome-wide nucleosome accessibility and nucleosome positioning. Further understanding of the epigenetic gene regulation is expected to determine the true nature of the so-called globally open chromatin in pluripotent stem. PMID:24695097

Identification of transcription factors linked to cell cycle regulation in Arabidopsis

OpenAIRE

Dehghan Nayeri, Fatemeh

2014-01-01

Cell cycle is an essential process in growth and development of living organisms consists of the replication and mitotic phases separated by 2 gap phases; G1 and G2. It is tightly controlled at the molecular level and especially at the level of transcription. Precise regulation of the cell cycle is of central significance for plant growth and development and transcription factors are global regulators of gene expression playing essential roles in cell cycle regulation. This study has uncovere...

An International Model for Antibiotics Regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Aguirre, Emilie

We face a global antibiotics resistance crisis. Antibiotic drugs are rapidly losing their effectiveness, potentially propelling us toward a post-antibiotic world. The largest use of antibiotics in the world is in food-producing animals. Food producers administer these drugs in routine, low doses—the types of doses that are incidentally the most conducive to breeding antibiotic resistance. In general, individual countries have been too slow to act in regulating misuse and overuse of antibiotics in foodproducing animals. This problem will only worsen with the significant projected growth in meat consumption and production expected in emerging economies in the near future. Although individual countries regulating antibiotics can have important effects, one country alone cannot insulate itself entirely from the effects of antibiotic resistance, nor can one country solve the crisis for itself or for the world. The global nature of the food system and the urgency of the problem require immediate global solutions. Adapting a democratic experimentalist approach at the international level can help achieve this goal. Using an international democratic experimentalist framework in conjunction with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) would provide for increased systematized data collection and lead to heightened, scientifically informed OIE standards, enforceable by the World Trade Organization (WTO), which could have a significant impact on the reduction of subtherapeutic use of antibiotics internationally. International democratic experimentalism addresses the global intricacy, time sensitivity, context- and culture-specificity, and knowledgeintensiveness of this problem. By encouraging more countries to experiment to solve this problem, the democratic experimentalist model would help develop a larger database of solutions to enable more meaningful cross-country comparisons across a wider range of contexts. This approach maintains democratic governance and

Genome-wide Analysis of Gene Regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Yun

to protein: through epigenetic modifications, transcription regulators or post-transcriptional controls. The following papers concern several layers of gene regulation with questions answered by different HTS approaches. Genome-wide screening of epigenetic changes by ChIP-seq allowed us to study both spatial...... and temporal alterations of histone modifications (Papers I and II). Coupling the data with machine learning approaches, we established a prediction framework to assess the most informative histone marks as well as their most influential nucleosome positions in predicting the promoter usages. (Papers I...... they regulated or if the sites had global elevated usage rates by multiple TFs. Using RNA-seq, 5’end-seq in combination with depletion of 5’exonuclease as well as nonsensemediated decay (NMD) factors, we systematically analyzed NMD substrates as well as their degradation intermediates in human cells (Paper V...

The global prospects of taxation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anđelković Mileva

2015-01-01

Full Text Available As the process of establishing international economic and financial relations between national economies is on the rise, many states encounter substantial difficulties in the process of collecting their tax claims. The most powerful countries in the world try to overcome this controversy by changing the international tax rules. The turning point was the financial-economic crisis of2008-2009, when the international community more vigorously embarked on resolving international tax issues. The OECD, the G20, the UN, the EU and a number of other powerful international organizations continued their activities on establishing a stronger framework of the international tax system. Global tax initiatives embodied in the soft law regulations have changed (to a varied extent the structure of national tax systems as well as the direction of national policies, and ultimately undermined the financial foundations of the social welfare state. The world's 'taxation landscape' is indisputably dominated by two major processes embodied in the concepts of tax harmonization and tax competition. The global crisis in financing contemporary states has weakened their resistance towards more extensive international tax cooperation. As a result, they increasingly accept global tax standards and are more vigorously involved in the international exchange of tax information for the purpose of counteracting international tax fraud. Changes in national tax systems are necessarily accompanied by changing relations between tax administrations and multinational companies as large taxpayers. The traditional public law relations are gradually changed by introducing some elements of 'negotiations and mutual agreement', which are aimed at strengthening mutual trust and avoiding unnecessary disputes and costs. Although they are currently no more than theoretical assumptions and political considerations, there are proposals for introducing global taxes and establishing the world tax

Bioseguridad in Mexico: Pursuing Security between Local and Global Biologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Wanderer, Emily Mannix

2017-09-01

In the aftermath of the 2009 outbreak of H1N1 influenza, scientists in Mexico sought to develop bioseguridad, that is, to protect biological life in Mexico by safely conducting research on infectious disease. Drawing on ethnographic research in laboratories and with scientists in Mexico, I look at how scientists make claims about local differences in regulations, infrastructure, bodies, and culture. The scientists working with infectious microbes sought to establish how different microbial ecologies, human immune systems, and political and regulatory systems made the risks of research different in Mexico from other countries. In developing bioseguridad, the idea of globalized biology that animates many public health projects was undermined as scientists attended to the elements of place that affected human health and safety. Scientists argued for the importance of local biologies, generating tension with global public health projects and regulations premised on the universality of biology. © 2016 by the American Anthropological Association.

Challenges in global ballast water management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Endresen, Oyvind; Lee Behrens, Hanna; Brynestad, Sigrid; Bjoern Andersen, Aage; Skjong, Rolf

2004-01-01

Ballast water management is a complex issue raising the challenge of merging international regulations, ship's specific configurations along with ecological conservation. This complexity is illustrated in this paper by considering ballast water volume, discharge frequency, ship safety and operational issues aligned with regional characteristics to address ecological risk for selected routes. A re-estimation of ballast water volumes gives a global annual level of 3500 Mton. Global ballast water volume discharged into open sea originating from ballast water exchange operations is estimated to approximately 2800 Mton. Risk based decision support systems coupled to databases for different ports and invasive species characteristics and distributions can allow for differentiated treatment levels while maintaining low risk levels. On certain routes, the risk is estimated to be unacceptable and some kind of ballast water treatment or management should be applied

Globalization, Inequality & International Economic Law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frank J. Garcia

2017-04-01

Full Text Available International law in general, and international economic law in particular, to the extent that either has focused on the issue of inequality, has done so in terms of inequality between states. Largely overlooked has been the topic of inequality within states and how international law has influenced that reality. From the perspective of international economic law, the inequality issue is closely entwined with the topics of colonialism and post-colonialism, the proper meaning of development, and globalization. While international economic law has undoubtedly contributed to the rise of inequality, it is now vital that the subject of international economic law be examined for how it may contribute to the lessening of inequality. To do so will require a shift in the way that we think, in order to address inequality as a problem of an emerging global market society, and how best to regulate that society and its institutions.

From European Union to World Union: Building Effective and Democratic Global Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John McClintock

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Sovereignty-sharing has placed European countries in a position to resolve their common problems through law, not war. As a result, the EU member states now live in peace together and take peace, justice and order for granted. The system of global governance is dysfunctional – some states are failing and the Security Council lacks legitimacy. Humanity does not have a mechanism to resolve its global problems through law, making it difficult – if not impossible – to resolve global problems such as famine, hunger, climate change, war and terrorism, nuclear proliferation, regulation of corporations – including banks, destruction of fish stocks, and population. Sharing of sovereignty at the global level can address these problems, starting in the area of food security, then proceeding to climate management and other fields. Shared sovereignty can eliminate famine and hunger globally.

Design principles for global commons: Natural resources and emerging technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul C. Stern

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Ostrom’s design principles for managing common pool resources were developed largely by examining local commons involving natural resources. This paper enumerates several key characteristics that distinguish such commons from more complex commons involving global resources and the risks of emerging technologies. It considers the degree to which the design principles transfer to those commons and concludes that although they have considerable external validity, the list needs some modification and elaboration to apply to global resources and risk commons. A list of design principles is offered for global resource commons and the risks of emerging technologies. Applying Ostrom’s approach to global resources and emerging technologies can improve understanding and expand the solution set for these problems from international treaties, top-down national regulation, and interventions in market pricing systems to include non-governmental institutions that embody principles of self-governance.

The evolution, etiology and eventualities of the global health security regime.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, Steven J

2010-11-01

Attention to global health security governance is more important now than ever before. Scientists predict that a possible influenza pandemic could affect 1.5 billion people, cause up to 150 million deaths and leave US$3 trillion in economic damages. A public health emergency in one country is now only hours away from affecting many others. Using regime analysis from political science, the principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures by which states govern health security are examined in the historical context of their punctuated evolution. This methodology illuminates the catalytic agents of change, distributional consequences and possible future orders that can help to better inform progress in this area. Four periods of global health security governance are identified. The first is characterized by unilateral quarantine regulations (1377-1851), the second by multiple sanitary conferences (1851-92), the third by several international sanitary conventions and international health organizations (1892-1946) and the fourth by the hegemonic leadership of the World Health Organization (1946-????). This final regime, like others before it, is challenged by globalization (e.g. limitations of the new International Health Regulations), changing diplomacy (e.g. proliferation of global health security organizations), new tools (e.g. global health law, human rights and health diplomacy) and shock-activated vulnerabilities (e.g. bioterrorism and avian/swine influenza). This understanding, in turn, allows us to appreciate the impact of this evolving regime on class, race and gender, as well as to consider four possible future configurations of power, including greater authority for the World Health Organization, a concert of powers, developing countries and civil society organizations. This regime analysis allows us to understand the evolution, etiology and eventualities of the global health security regime, which is essential for national and international health

Institutional preconditions of socio-ecological-economic regulation of environmental management activities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. A. Plaksunova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The need to regulate environmental management activities of institutional entities arises when it affects the interests of third-party entities or threatened by the ongoing entity manufacturing practices its own resilience, to achieve the main goal. The complexity and diversity of the forms of socio-ecological and ecological-economic issues at different levels of the economic system leads to the development of many directions and views on the expansion of the management process of these levels (global, national, regional, local and techniques from rigid-deklorative state before combination with the market. In this respect, the neoclassical economic theory actively generated new analytical ideas and concept that enables to respond adequately to emerging economic realities. So we can distinguish the following approaches to regulate environmental management activities: T. Malthus and D. Ricardo, revealing issues of social, ecological and economic implications of limited natural resources in the context of the law of diminishing effectiveness and the need to regulate environmental management activities. John. St. Mill and George proved to be ineffective in addressing environmental problems in the industrial economy of the type of the imperfection of the institutions of society, justifying the occurrence of crises protohistoric speculation nature's benefits. A. Pigou developed the theory of externalities, which revealed the need for state regulation of the environmental management activities of economic entities, harmonization of individual and social interests. Research I. Kula, F. Khan and P. Samuelson identified a pattern about the formation of the system of regulation nature-safety activities, not only within individual States but also on a global level. R. Crows have shown that the methods of direct state regulation of nature economic activity is not as good as it seems at first glance and so you should not underestimate the role and potential

The Global Enery and Water Cycle Experiment Science Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Chahine, M. T.

1997-01-01

The distribution of water in the atmosphere and at the surface of the Earth is the most influential factor regulating our environment, not only because water is essential for life but also because through phase transitions it is the main energy source that control clouds and radiation and drives the global circulation of the atmosphere.

Basel III – Between Global Thinking and Local Acting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasile DEDU

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The financial crisis has demonstrated that self-regulation is not sufficient to markets and financial institutions with systemic importance.Permissive regulatory policies, allowing the development speed of global banking financial system, have played an important role in emphasizing the upward slope of the financial crisis.The new regulations known as Basel III framework aimed the strengthening of prudential capital and liquidity of financial institutions and create a stronger banking and financial system more resilient to shocks.Basel III is trying to eliminate the shortcomings of Basel II, by more extensive rules on integrated risk management in banking and financial environment.

Globalization and working time: Work-place hours and flexibility in Germany

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Burgoon, B.; Raess, D.

2007-01-01

This paper examines how economic globalization affects work-place arrangements regulating working time in industrialized countries. Exposure to foreign direct investment and trade can have off-setting effects for work-place bargaining over standard hours and work-time flexibilization, and can be

Liquidity Regulation, the Central Bank, and the Money Market

OpenAIRE

Scheubel, Beatrice; Körding, Julia

2013-01-01

As reliance on excessively short-term wholesale funding has been one of the major causes for the 2007-2009 financial crisis, recent advances in global liquidity regulation try to curb the excessive reliance on short-term wholesale funding without being clear on how such an approach will affect the overall equilibrium on money markets. In particular, liquidity regulation may interfere with the central bank's influence on short-term money market rates. This paper tries to fill the gap in unders...

Dynamic Transcriptional Regulation of Fis in Salmonella During the Exponential Phase.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hui; Wang, Lei; Li, Ping; Hu, Yilang; Zhang, Wei; Tang, Bo

2015-12-01

Fis is one of the most important global regulators and has attracted extensive research attention. Many studies have focused on comparing the Fis global regulatory networks for exploring Fis function during different growth stages, such as the exponential and stationary stages. Although the Fis protein in bacteria is mainly expressed in the exponential phase, the dynamic transcriptional regulation of Fis during the exponential phase remains poorly understood. To address this question, we used RNA-seq technology to identify the Fis-regulated genes in the S. enterica serovar Typhimurium during the early exponential phase, and qRT-PCR was performed to validate the transcriptional data. A total of 1495 Fis-regulated genes were successfully identified, including 987 Fis-repressed genes and 508 Fis-activated genes. Comparing the results of this study with those of our previous study, we found that the transcriptional regulation of Fis was diverse during the early- and mid-exponential phases. The results also showed that the strong positive regulation of Fis on Salmonella pathogenicity island genes in the mid-exponential phase transitioned into insignificant effect in the early exponential phase. To validate these results, we performed a cell infection assay and found that Δfis only exhibited a 1.49-fold decreased capacity compared with the LT2 wild-type strain, indicating a large difference from the 6.31-fold decrease observed in the mid-exponential phase. Our results provide strong evidence for a need to thoroughly understand the dynamic transcriptional regulation of Fis in Salmonella during the exponential phase.

The route of joint of the transnational corporations and globalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luminiţa PISTOL

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Today’s discussions on globalization are more alive and controversial. As is acknowledged as a fact, globalization is studied not only as an economic category but as a process, system, phenomenon. Currently, on international level, a variety of companies operate. From all of these, the transnational corporation represent particular interest, being designated as an "entity-key of global economic activity, a creative net worth to devote a large proportion of global resources needed to sustain economic growth processes. The new trend in the TNC’s sites emphasize, efforts to promote corporate social responsibility that contributes to change the attitude of many corporations and individuals working for them. Company efforts are visible in contributions to community development and environmental impact. Corporations want to impose their own standards of development, which reflects some positive attitude towards regulations that support behavioral codes, which they argue. Globalization has opened the way for limited progress, offered alternatives to local development, has generated deep changes, n dimensional complex with sometimes unpre-dictable consequences on economic and socio-institutional development.

A Csr-type regulatory system, including small non-coding RNAs, regulates the global virulence regulator RovA of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis through RovM.

Science.gov (United States)

Heroven, Ann Kathrin; Böhme, Katja; Rohde, Manfred; Dersch, Petra

2008-06-01

The MarR-type regulator RovA controls expression of virulence genes of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in response to environmental signals. Using a genetic strategy to discover components that influence rovA expression, we identified new regulatory factors with homology to components of the carbon storage regulator system (Csr). We showed that overexpression of a CsrB- or a CsrC-type RNA activates rovA, whereas a CsrA-like protein represses RovA synthesis. We further demonstrate that influence of the Csr system on rovA is indirect and occurs through control of the LysR regulator RovM, which inhibits rovA transcription. The CsrA protein had also a major influence on the motility of Yersinia, which was independent of RovM. The CsrB and CsrC RNAs are differentially expressed in Yersinia. CsrC is highly induced in complex but not in minimal media, indicating that medium-dependent rovM expression is mediated through CsrC. CsrB synthesis is generally very low. However, overexpression of the response regulator UvrY was found to activate CsrB production, which in turn represses CsrC synthesis independent of the growth medium. In summary, the post-transcriptional Csr-type components were shown to be key regulators in the co-ordinated environmental control of physiological processes and virulence factors, which are crucial for the initiation of Yersinia infections.

Toward international law on global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shultz, E.B. Jr.; Johns, C.; Pauken, M.T.

1991-01-01

Legal precedent in the history of international environmental law is considered. Then, the legal principles, rights and obligations related to transboundary environmental interference are drawn from the precedent. From this legal and historical background, and a brief overview of the principal technical aspects of the emerging global warming problem, the authors suggest a number of possible international protocols. These include outlines of multilateral treaties on energy efficiency, reduction in utilization of coal, increased adoption efficiency, reduction in utilization of coal, increased adoption of renewable and solar energy, and stimulation of several types of forestation, with creation of practical regimes and remedies. Each protocol has its own environmental social and economic merits and urgency, apart from the prevention of global warming. In each suggested protocol, the political obstacles are analyzed. Suggestions are presented for reduction of levels of disagreement standing in the way of obtaining viable treaties likely to be upheld in practice by the signatories. An agenda for study and action is presented, on the assumption that prudence dictates that international environmental law must be expanded as soon as feasible to regulate global warming

Food and pharmaceuticals. Lessons learned from global contaminations with melamine/cyanuric acid and diethylene glycol.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, C A; Brown, S A

2010-01-01

Recently, contamination of pharmaceuticals with diethylene glycol (DEG) and food with melamine and cyanuric acid has demonstrated the impact of globalization on drug and food safety. By examining the details of these outbreaks, some important lessons can be learned. Toxicoses from contaminated food and drugs are often identified only when large numbers of people or animals are affected and numerous deaths result. Populations most at risk are those repeatedly exposed to a single product. Toxicoses may be complex, involving synergism among relatively nontoxic co-contaminants. Although some contamination may occur inadvertently, practices of deliberate contamination of food and drug ingredients may be widespread but escape detection in poorly regulated markets. If this deliberate contamination is motivated by personal financial gain, it is likely to recur and be concealed. The contaminated raw material produced in a poorly regulated market may cross national boundaries and be used in manufacturing processes for numerous products, sometimes in more well-regulated markets. Once in the production chain, contaminated raw materials may be widely disseminated. It is not clear that regulatory organizations have the capacity to identify significant contaminations despite their best efforts. The veterinary and medical communities, in cooperation with regulatory agencies, should develop cooperative programs designed to detect and limit these global outbreaks. Although addressing regional or national outbreaks remains an important role for regulatory agencies, the veterinary and medical communities must develop proactive global approaches to this global problem.

Self-organized global control of carbon emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Zhenyuan; Fenn, Daniel J.; Hui, Pak Ming; Johnson, Neil F.

2010-09-01

There is much disagreement concerning how best to control global carbon emissions. We explore quantitatively how different control schemes affect the collective emission dynamics of a population of emitting entities. We uncover a complex trade-off which arises between average emissions (affecting the global climate), peak pollution levels (affecting citizens’ everyday health), industrial efficiency (affecting the nation’s economy), frequency of institutional intervention (affecting governmental costs), common information (affecting trading behavior) and market volatility (affecting financial stability). Our findings predict that a self-organized free-market approach at the level of a sector, state, country or continent can provide better control than a top-down regulated scheme in terms of market volatility and monthly pollution peaks. The control of volatility also has important implications for any future derivative carbon emissions market.

Dual function of the McaS small RNA in controlling biofilm formation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Mikkel Girke; Thomason, Maureen K.; Havelund, Johannes

2013-01-01

, and biofilm formation. Moreover, ectopic McaS expression leads to induction of two additional CsrA-repressed genes encoding diguanylate cyclases. Collectively, our study shows that McaS is a dual-function sRNA with roles in the two major post-transcriptional regulons controlled by the RNA-binding proteins Hfq...

Structural Genomics of Bacterial Virulence Factors

Science.gov (United States)

2006-05-01

Moller, T., T. Franch , P. Hojrup, D.R. Keene, H.P. Bachinger, R.G. Brennan, and P. Valentin-Hansen. 2002. Hfq: a bacterial Sm-like protein that...level, an unre- sponsiveness to external stimuli, or an inability to obtain readily available food or water, along with any of the following accompa

OECD/NEA International Conference on Global Nuclear Safety Enhancement Organised in co-operation with the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) of Japan On the Occasion of the 50. Anniversary of Japan Joining the OECD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Shunichi; Oshima, Kenzo; Fuketa, Toyoshi; Echavarri, Luis E.; ); Ostendorff, William C.; Viktorovich Ferapontov, Alexey; Lachaume, Jean-Luc; Yoo, Guk Hee; Lyons, James E.; ); Weightman, Mike; ); Gurria, Angel; ); Ishihara, Hirotaka

2014-04-01

On 8 April 2014 in Tokyo, Japan, an international conference on enhancing global nuclear safety was held by the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD), in co-operation with the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) of Japan. This document brings together the 12 presentations (slides) given at this conference organized in 3 sessions: 1 - Opening Session: Opening Remarks (S. Tanaka); Statement by L.E. Echavarri; Session 1 - Global Safety Enhancements: USNRC Actions in Response to the Fukushima Nuclear Accident (W.C. Ostendorff); Synergy of National and International Regulatory Efforts to Enhance Global Nuclear Safety (A. Viktorovich Ferapontov); Global Safety Enhancements, The French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN)'s position (J.L. Lachaume); Nuclear Safety and Security Commission builds up safety and security (G.H. Yoo); Session 2 - Learning from Experience to Improve Safety: Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Accident and Responses in New Regulatory Requirements (T. Fuketa); NEA Activities to Enhance the Nuclear Regulatory Framework (L.E. Echavarri); Learning from Experience to Improve Safety - its importance, its mechanisms and its challenges (J.E. Lyons); Learning from Experience to Improve Nuclear Safety - A Perspective from the UK (M. Weightman); Conclusions and Closing Remarks (A. Gurria, H. Ishihara)

The United Nations and One Health: the International Health Regulations (2005) and global health security.

Science.gov (United States)

Nuttall, I; Miyagishima, K; Roth, C; de La Rocque, S

2014-08-01

The One Health approach encompasses multiple themes and can be understood from many different perspectives. This paper expresses the viewpoint of those in charge of responding to public health events of international concern and, in particular, to outbreaks of zoonotic disease. Several international organisations are involved in responding to such outbreaks, including the United Nations (UN) and its technical agencies; principally, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO); UN funds and programmes, such as the United Nations Development Programme, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Children's Fund; the UN-linked multilateral banking system (the World Bank and regional development banks); and partner organisations, such as the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). All of these organisations have benefited from the experiences gained during zoonotic disease outbreaks over the last decade, developing common approaches and mechanisms to foster good governance, promote policies that cut across different sectors, target investment more effectively and strengthen global and national capacities for dealing with emerging crises. Coordination among the various UN agencies and creating partnerships with related organisations have helped to improve disease surveillance in all countries, enabling more efficient detection of disease outbreaks and a faster response, greater transparency and stakeholder engagement and improved public health. The need to build more robust national public human and animal health systems, which are based on good governance and comply with the International Health Regulations (2005) and the international standards set by the OIE, prompted FAO, WHO and the OIE to join forces with the World Bank, to provide practical tools to help countries manage their zoonotic disease risks and develop adequate resources to prevent and control disease

Shaping nursing profession regulation through history - a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Stievano, A; Caruso, R; Pittella, F; Shaffer, F A; Rocco, G; Fairman, J

2018-03-23

The aim of this systematic review was to provide a critical synthesis of the factors that historically shaped the advancements of nursing regulators worldwide. An in-depth examination of the different factors that moulded regulatory changes over time is pivotal to comprehend current issues in nursing. In the light of global health scenarios, the researchers explored the factors that historically influenced the socio-contextual circumstances upon which governments made regulatory changes. A systematic search was performed on the following databases: PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, OpenGrey and ScienceDirect. The review included papers from January 2000 to October 2016 published in English. The authors used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and an inductive thematic approach for synthesis. Two main themes were identified: factors underpinning current challenges and historical and contextual triggers of regulation. The first theme was composed of three aspects: education, migration and internationalization, and policy and regulation; the second theme consisted of four attributes: demographics, economics, history of registration and wars, and historical changes in nursing practice. Factors that shaped nursing regulation were linked to changing demographics and economics, education, history of nursing registration, shifting patterns of migration and internationalization, nursing practice, policy and regulation and significant societal turns often prompted by wars. A deeper understanding of the developments of the nursing regulatory institutions provides the foundation for portable standards that can be applied across an array of jurisdictions to guarantee a better public safety. Understanding factors that socially, legislatively and politically have influenced the development of regulatory bodies over time helps to mould local, national and international policies that have a stronger impact on health worldwide. To achieve this

Outline of the transition from national to international audit regulation in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Claus; Warming-Rasmussen, Bent

2004-01-01

) regulation to a predominately international orientation in audit regulation. The most central changes in audit regulations in the last years have concerned the auditor's independence. Denmark has for instance repealed the demand for general independence, according to which auditors were not allowed to have......Seen in a historic perspective, the development of audit regulation in Denmark reflects a few but very influential business scandals causing changes in law-regulation, and a profession which have reacted to confidence crises through an increasing level of selfregulation. Audit regulation also...... reflects international developments in corporate regulation initiatives often in the wake of corporate failures with global impetus on the lost of trust in listed companies and their financial reporting. The purpose of this paper is to examine the transition from national (though international inspired...

The Theoretical and Methodological Bases to Form the Parity of State Regulation of the National Economy and Market Self-Regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yahno Tetiana P.

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to summarize the existing approaches regarding the optimal balance of mechanisms of economic regulation and identify factors that influence the formation of the parity of state regulation and market self-regulation of economy. The analysis of the existing studies has made it possible to establish that the mixed economy model, which is organized on the basis of the market price system but uses various forms of government intervention to correct macroeconomic instability, is the most optimal one for effective development. The smoothing, preventing of negative consequences of effects of market regulators is the goal of state regulation of economy. It is substantiated that the optimal correlation of mechanisms of state regulation and market self-regulation is not a constant value. The maximum effective ratio in application of these mechanisms will not always be achieved under condition of equal government intervention and self-regulation. It depends on the country’s potential, its involvement in the system of the world market economy, level of development of the society, as well as historical features of the country’s development and phase of the economic cycle. Prospects for further research are the substantiation of a new paradigm for the formation of the parity of state regulation and market self-regulation in the context of financial uncertainty and effect of supranational regulators, growing contradictions of globalization-regionalization based on the use of the system and synergetic approach.

Anti-cyclic regulation of the Ukrainian economy under current conditions of the international markets volatility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Volodymyr Satsyk

2009-04-01

Full Text Available In the article there are considered the theoretical and methodological basis of anti-cyclic regulation of the countries’ economy under conditions of the world economy globalization. It suggests the analysis of practices of implementing of anti-cyclic policy in highly developed states, its defining features and directions under current global financial and economic crisis. There has been researched a practical toolkit of economic cycles diagnostics and cyclic fluctuations of total business activity in Ukraine based on this study. There are suggested recommendations concerning the formation of the effective mechanism of anti-cyclic regulation of the Ukrainian economy.

From global bioethics to ethical governance of biomedical research collaborations.

Science.gov (United States)

Wahlberg, Ayo; Rehmann-Sutter, Christoph; Sleeboom-Faulkner, Margaret; Lu, Guangxiu; Döring, Ole; Cong, Yali; Laska-Formejster, Alicja; He, Jing; Chen, Haidan; Gottweis, Herbert; Rose, Nikolas

2013-12-01

One of the features of advanced life sciences research in recent years has been its internationalisation, with countries such as China and South Korea considered 'emerging biotech' locations. As a result, cross-continental collaborations are becoming common generating moves towards ethical and legal standardisation under the rubric of 'global bioethics'. Such a 'global', 'Western' or 'universal' bioethics has in turn been critiqued as an imposition upon resource-poor, non-Western or local medical settings. In this article, we propose that a different tack is necessary if we are to come to grips with the ethical challenges that inter-continental biomedical research collaborations generate. In particular we ask how national systems of ethical governance of life science research might cope with increasingly global research collaborations with a focus on Sino-European collaboration. We propose four 'spheres' - deliberation, regulation, oversight and interaction - as a helpful way to conceptualise national systems of ethical governance. Using a workshop-based mapping methodology (workshops held in Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Xian, Shenzen and London) we identified three specific ethical challenges arising from cross-continental research collaborations: (1) ambiguity as to which regulations are applicable; (2) lack of ethical review capacity not only among ethical review board members but also collaborating scientists; (3) already complex, researcher-research subject interaction is further complicated when many nationalities are involved. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Globalizing Social Welfare and Labor Markets in East and Southeast Asia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Johannes Dragsbæk

2007-01-01

experienced social pressures for restricting the workings of globalization: The first is the fear of job losses through the mechanisms of outsourcing and imports of cheapers industrial products. The second is the anxiety of ethnic and cultural dilution due to the emergence of new patters of labor migration...... and workers negotiate for the promotion of national development and the creation of a civil society which might minimize the adverse effects of globalization! This paper explores the impact of neo-liberal globalization on labor markets and social welfare in East and Southeast Asia. It draws upon recent...... debates in the framework of comparative political economy over the impact of neo-liberal globalization on labor market regulation and social welfare adjustment. The focus is on the radical change of work arrangements with an accompanying loss of the social relevance of the work place and of labour...

CTFS-ForestGEO: a worldwide network monitoring forests in an era of global change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anderson-Teixeira, Kristina J. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst. (SCBI), Front Royal, VA (United States). National Zoological Park. Conservation Ecology Center; Davies, Stuart J. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC (United States). Dept. of Botany; Bennett, Amy C. [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst. (SCBI), Front Royal, VA (United States). National Zoological Park. Conservation Ecology Center; Gonzalez-Akre, Erika B. [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst. (SCBI), Front Royal, VA (United States). National Zoological Park. Conservation Ecology Center; Muller-Landau, Helene C. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Joseph Wright, S. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Abu Salim, Kamariah [Univ. of Brunei Darussalam, Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei). Faculty of Science. Environmental and Life Sciences; Almeyda Zambrano, Angélica M. [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst. (SCBI), Front Royal, VA (United States). National Zoological Park. Conservation Ecology Center; Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Stanford Woods Inst. for the Environment; Univ. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (United States). Dept. of Geography; Alonso, Alfonso [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst., Washington, DC (United States). National Zoological Park. Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability; Baltzer, Jennifer L. [Wilfrid Laurier Univ., Waterloo, ON (Canada). Dept. of Biology; Basset, Yves [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Bourg, Norman A. [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst. (SCBI), Front Royal, VA (United States). National Zoological Park. Conservation Ecology Center; Broadbent, Eben N. [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst. (SCBI), Front Royal, VA (United States). National Zoological Park. Conservation Ecology Center; Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Stanford Woods Inst. for the Environment; Univ. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (United States). Dept. of Geography; Brockelman, Warren Y. [Mahidol Univ., Bangkok (Thailand). Dept. of Biology; Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh [Dept. of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok (Thailand). Research Office; Burslem, David F. R. P. [Univ. of Aberdeen (United Kingdom). School of Biological Sciences; Butt, Nathalie [Univ. of Queensland, St. Lucia (Australia). School of Biological Sciences; Univ. of Oxford (United Kingdom). School of Geography and the Environment. Environmental Change Inst.; Cao, Min [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Kunming (China). Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden. Key Lab. of Tropical Forest Ecology; Cardenas, Dairon [Sinchi Amazonic Inst. of Scientific Research, Bogota (Colombia); Chuyong, George B. [Univ. of Buea (Cameroon). Dept. of Botany and Plant Physiology; Clay, Keith [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States). Dept. of Biology; Cordell, Susan [USDA Forest Service, Hilo, HI (United States). Inst. of Pacific Islands Forestry; Dattaraja, Handanakere S. [Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore (India). Centre for Ecological Sciences; Deng, Xiaobao [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Kunming (China). Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden. Key Lab. of Tropical Forest Ecology; Detto, Matteo [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Du, Xiaojun [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Inst. of Botany; Duque, Alvaro [Univ. Nacional de Colombia, Medellin (Colombia). Dept. de Ciencias Forestales; Erikson, David L. [National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC (United States). Dept. of Botany; Ewango, Corneille E. N. [Okapi Wildlife Reserve, Epulu (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Centre de Formation et de Recherche en Conservation Forestiere (CEFRECOF); Fischer, Gunter A. [Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Tai Po, Hong Kong (China); Fletcher, Christine [Forest Research Inst. Malaysia (FRIM), Selangor (Malaysia); Foster, Robin B. [The Field Museum, Chicago, IL (United States). Botany Dept.; Giardina, Christian P. [USDA Forest Service, Hilo, HI (United States). Inst. of Pacific Islands Forestry; Gilbert, Gregory S. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States). Environmental Studies Dept.; Gunatilleke, Nimal [Univ. of Peradeniya (Sri Lanka). Faculty of Science. Dept. of Botany; Gunatilleke, Savitri [Univ. of Peradeniya (Sri Lanka). Faculty of Science. Dept. of Botany; Hao, Zhanqing [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shenyang (China). State Key Lab. of Forest and Soil Ecology. Inst. of Applied Ecology; Hargrove, William W. [USDA-Forest Service Station Headquarters, Asheville, NC (United States). Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center; Hart, Terese B. [Lukuru Wildlife Research Foundation, Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba Project; Hau, Billy C. H. [Univ. of Hong Kong (China). School of Biological Sciences. Kadoorie Inst.; He, Fangliang [Univ. of Alberta, Edmonton, AB (Canada). Dept. of Renewable Resources; Hoffman, Forrest M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Computational Earth Sciences Group; Howe, Robert W. [Univ. of Wisconsin, Green Bay, WI (United States). Dept. of Natural and Applied Sciences; Hubbell, Stephen P. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Inman-Narahari, Faith M. [Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI (United States). College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources; Jansen, Patrick A. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Wageningen Univ. (Netherlands). Resource Ecology Group; Jiang, Mingxi [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Wuhan (China). Wuhan Botanical Garden; Johnson, Daniel J. [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States). Dept. of Biology; Kanzaki, Mamoru [Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Graduate School of Agriculture; Kassim, Abdul Rahman [Forest Research Inst. Malaysia (FRIM), Selangor (Malaysia); Kenfack, David [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC (United States). Dept. of Botany; Kibet, Staline [National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi (Kenya); Univ. of Nairobi (Kenya). Land Resource Management and Agricultural Technology Dept.; Kinnaird, Margaret F. [Mpala Research Centre, Nanyuki (Kenya); Wildlife Conservation Society, New York, NY (United States). Global Conservation Programs; Korte, Lisa [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst., Washington, DC (United States). National Zoological Park. Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability; Kral, Kamil [Silva Tarouca Research Inst., Brno (Czech Republic). Dept. of Forest Ecology; Kumar, Jitendra [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Computational Earth Sciences Group; Larson, Andrew J. [Univ. of Montana, Missoula, MT (United States). College of Forestry and Conservation. Dept. of Forest Management; Li, Yide [Chinese Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou (China). Research Inst. of Tropical Forestry; Li, Xiankun [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Guilin (China). Guangxi Inst. of Botany; Liu, Shirong [Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing (China). Research Inst. of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection; Lum, Shawn K. Y. [Nanyang Technological Univ. (Singapore). National Inst. of Education. Natural Sciences and Science Education Academic Group; Lutz, James A. [Utah State Univ., Logan, UT (United States). Wildland Resources Dept.; Ma, Keping [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Inst. of Botany; Maddalena, Damian M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Computational Earth Sciences Group; Makana, Jean-Remy [Wildlife Conservation Society, Brazzaville (Democratic Republic of the Congo); Malhi, Yadvinder [Univ. of Oxford (United Kingdom). School of Geography and the Environment. Environmental Change Inst.; Marthews, Toby [Univ. of Oxford (United Kingdom). School of Geography and the Environment. Environmental Change Inst.; Mat Serudin, Rafizah [Univ. of Brunei Darussalam, Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei). Faculty of Science. Environmental and Life Sciences; McMahon, Sean M. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD (United States). Forest Ecology Group; McShea, William J. [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst., Front Royal, VA (United States). National Zoological Park. Conservation Ecology Center; Memiaghe, Hervé R. [Inst. de Recherche en Ecologie Tropicale, Libreville (Gabon). Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique; Mi, Xiangcheng [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Inst. of Botany; Mizuno, Takashi [Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Graduate School of Agriculture; Morecroft, Michael [Natural England, Sheffield (United Kingdom); Myers, Jonathan A. [Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States). Dept. of Biology; Novotny, Vojtech [New Guinea Binatang Research Centre, Madang (Papua New Guinea); Univ. of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic). Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Faculty of Science. Biology Centre; de Oliveira, Alexandre A. [Univ. of Sao Paulo (Brazil). Inst. of Biosciences. Ecology Dept.; Ong, Perry S. [Univ. of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City (Philippines). Inst. of Biology; Orwig, David A. [Harvard Univ., Petersham, MA (United States). Harvard Forest; Ostertag, Rebecca [Univ. of Hawaii, Hilo, HI (United States). Dept. of Biology; den Ouden, Jan [Wageningen Univ. (Netherlands). Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group; Parker, Geoffrey G. [Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD (United States). Forest Ecology Group; Phillips, Richard P. [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States). Dept. of Biology; Sack, Lawren [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Sainge, Moses N. [Tropical Plant Exploration Group (TroPEG), Mundemba (Cameroon); Sang, Weiguo [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Inst. of Botany; Sri-ngernyuang, Kriangsak [Maejo Univ., Chiang Mai (Thailand). Faculty of Architecture and Environmental Design; Sukumar, Raman [Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore (India). Centre for Ecological Sciences; Sun, I-Fang [National Dong Hwa Univ., Hualian (Taiwan). Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies; Sungpalee, Witchaphart [Maejo Univ., Chiang Mai (Thailand). Faculty of Architecture and Environmental Design; Suresh, Hebbalalu Sathyanarayana [Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore (India). Centre for Ecological Sciences; Tan, Sylvester [Sarawak Forest Dept., Kuching (Malaysia); Thomas, Sean C. [Univ. of Toronto, ON (Canada). Faculty of Forestry; Thomas, Duncan W. [Washington State Univ., Vancouver, WA (United States). School of Biological Sciences; Thompson, Jill [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Penicuik, Scotland (United Kingdom); Univ. of Puerto Rico Rio Pedras, San Juan (Puerto Rico). Dept. of Environmental Science. Inst. for Tropical Ecosystem Studies; Turner, Benjamin L. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Uriarte, Maria [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States). Dept. of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology; Valencia, Renato [Pontifical Catholic Univ. of Ecuador, Quito (Ecuador). Dept. of Biological Sciences; Vallejo, Marta I. [Inst. Alexander von Humboldt, Bogota (Colombia); Vicentini, Alberto [National Inst. of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus (Brazil); Vrška, Tomáš [Silva Tarouca Research Inst., Brno (Czech Republic). Dept. of Forest Ecology; Wang, Xihua [East China Normal Univ. (ECNU), Shanghai (China). School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences; Wang, Xugao [Lukuru Wildlife Research Foundation, Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba Project; Weiblen, George [Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN (United States). Dept. of Plant Biology; Wolf, Amy [Univ. of Wisconsin, Green Bay, WI (United States). Dept. of Biology. Dept. of Natural and Applied Sciences; Xu, Han [Chinese Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou (China). Research Inst. of Tropical Forestry; Yap, Sandra [Univ. of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City (Philippines). Inst. of Biology; Zimmerman, Jess [Univ. of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras, San Juan (Puerto Rico). Dept. of Environmental Science. Inst. for Tropical Ecosystem Studies

2014-09-25

Global change is impacting forests worldwide, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem services, including climate regulation. Understanding how forests respond is critical to forest conservation and climate protection. This review describes an international network of 59 long-term forest dynamic research sites useful for characterizing forest responses to global change. The broad suite of measurements made at the CTFS-ForestGEO sites make it possible to investigate the complex ways in which global change is impacting forest dynamics. ongoing research across the network is yielding insights into how and why the forests are changing, and continued monitoring will provide vital contributions to understanding worldwide forest diversity and dynamics in a era of global change

Riboregulation of the bacterial actin-homolog MreB by DsrA small noncoding RNA.

Science.gov (United States)

Cayrol, Bastien; Fortas, Emilie; Martret, Claire; Cech, Grzegorz; Kloska, Anna; Caulet, Stephane; Barbet, Marion; Trépout, Sylvain; Marco, Sergio; Taghbalout, Aziz; Busi, Florent; Wegrzyn, Grzegorz; Arluison, Véronique

2015-01-01

The bacterial actin-homolog MreB is a key player in bacterial cell-wall biosynthesis and is required for the maintenance of the rod-like morphology of Escherichia coli. However, how MreB cellular levels are adjusted to growth conditions is poorly understood. Here, we show that DsrA, an E. coli small noncoding RNA (sRNA), is involved in the post-transcriptional regulation of mreB. DsrA is required for the downregulation of MreB cellular concentration during environmentally induced slow growth-rates, mainly growth at low temperature and during the stationary phase. DsrA interacts in an Hfq-dependent manner with the 5' region of mreB mRNA, which contains signals for translation initiation and thereby affects mreB translation and stability. Moreover, as DsrA is also involved in the regulation of two transcriptional regulators, σ(S) and the nucleoid associated protein H-NS, which negatively regulate mreB transcription, it also indirectly contributes to mreB transcriptional down-regulation. By using quantitative analyses, our results evidence the complexity of this regulation and the tangled interplay between transcriptional and post-transcriptional control. As transcription factors and sRNA-mediated post-transcriptional regulators use different timescales, we propose that the sRNA pathway helps to adapt to changes in temperature, but also indirectly mediates long-term regulation of MreB concentration. The tight regulation and fine-tuning of mreB gene expression in response to cellular stresses is discussed in regard to the effect of the MreB protein on cell elongation.

Global transcriptional repression in C. elegans germline precursors by regulated sequestration of TAF-4.

Science.gov (United States)

Guven-Ozkan, Tugba; Nishi, Yuichi; Robertson, Scott M; Lin, Rueyling

2008-10-03

In C. elegans, four asymmetric divisions, beginning with the zygote (P0), generate transcriptionally repressed germline blastomeres (P1-P4) and somatic sisters that become transcriptionally active. The protein PIE-1 represses transcription in the later germline blastomeres but not in the earlier germline blastomeres P0 and P1. We show here that OMA-1 and OMA-2, previously shown to regulate oocyte maturation, repress transcription in P0 and P1 by binding to and sequestering in the cytoplasm TAF-4, a component critical for assembly of TFIID and the pol II preinitiation complex. OMA-1/2 binding to TAF-4 is developmentally regulated, requiring phosphorylation by the DYRK kinase MBK-2, which is activated at meiosis II after fertilization. OMA-1/2 are normally degraded after the first mitosis, but ectopic expression of wild-type OMA-1 is sufficient to repress transcription in both somatic and later germline blastomeres. We propose that phosphorylation by MBK-2 serves as a developmental switch, converting OMA-1/2 from oocyte to embryo regulators.

The scaling structure of the global road network.

Science.gov (United States)

Strano, Emanuele; Giometto, Andrea; Shai, Saray; Bertuzzo, Enrico; Mucha, Peter J; Rinaldo, Andrea

2017-10-01

Because of increasing global urbanization and its immediate consequences, including changes in patterns of food demand, circulation and land use, the next century will witness a major increase in the extent of paved roads built worldwide. To model the effects of this increase, it is crucial to understand whether possible self-organized patterns are inherent in the global road network structure. Here, we use the largest updated database comprising all major roads on the Earth, together with global urban and cropland inventories, to suggest that road length distributions within croplands are indistinguishable from urban ones, once rescaled to account for the difference in mean road length. Such similarity extends to road length distributions within urban or agricultural domains of a given area. We find two distinct regimes for the scaling of the mean road length with the associated area, holding in general at small and at large values of the latter. In suitably large urban and cropland domains, we find that mean and total road lengths increase linearly with their domain area, differently from earlier suggestions. Scaling regimes suggest that simple and universal mechanisms regulate urban and cropland road expansion at the global scale. As such, our findings bear implications for global road infrastructure growth based on land-use change and for planning policies sustaining urban expansions.

Financial Globalization and the New Capitalism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ion Bucur

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Financial globalization, a complex phenomenon that has multiple facets, is directly influenced by some aspects characterizing the current stage of capitalism. In order to decrypt the set of such interferences, the consequences have been emphasized of the excessive trust in the market mechanisms, the role of deregulation and liberalization in promoting a new economic direction, as well as other theses representing the essence of neo-liberal revolution. The realities specific to the last three decays of the 20th century generated enhanced criticism regarding the myth of pure and perfect transparency, the market inability of self-regulation and the illusion of perfect information.The excesses of neo-liberalism imposed the need for a new paradigm, concretized in the mutations in the nature and mechanisms of capitalism, the domination of finances and knowledge, a paradigm in which market globalization and financial profitability logic are becoming priorities.In the second part of the article the conditions are analyzed that favored the occurrence and expansion of financial globalization, as well as the multiple implications of such over the micro and macro-economical mechanisms. A particular focus is on describing the characteristics of financial globalization in the current phase: the occurrence of new financial players (institutional investors and tools, markets de-localization and un-intermediated financial operations. As a conclusion, the tendencies are noticed of the financial world economy to become fragile, of fading connections between the financial and the real economy, of enhanced risk for financial accidents to propagate. Based on these observations, the extent is emphasized to which financial globalization provides the possibility of the financial crises to occur and expand.

Business regulation and economic growth in the Western Balkan countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Engjell PERE

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Actually economic policies in many countries aimed to stimulate their economic growth, particularly after negative impact of the global economic crisis. In this regards, fiscal regulation are an important aspect of those policies, that can promote or obstacle the economic growth in general. In this point of view this paper aims to analyze the system of administration rules in different Western Balkans Countries, (which includes Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia (FYROM, Montenegro and Serbia. Moreover, a special attention is given investigation of the regulation and administrative facilitation aspects of doing business in the above-mentioned countries, whether this system stimulates, or not, the development of private business and economic growth.The paper is divided into three main sections. The first part provides a retrospective of economic growth in the Western Balkan countries and the dependence of this growth on global economic development. The second part proceeds with the investigations of the impact of administrative regulation on economic growth. The third part, based on an econometric model, will analyze the correlation between economic growth and elaborated indicators which present the level of business administrative regulation system. Furthermore, this last section discusses the results and concludes. In this analysis, the paper is based substantially on the data base of "Doing Business 2013" (World Bank.

Industrial lightning. Towards a global cost approach of an industrial lightning installation; Eclairage industriel. Pour une approche en cout global d'une installation d'eclairage industriel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-07-01

This document proposes an approach of the global cost of an industrial lightning installation and provides information on the benefits and its associated performance of a good industrial lightning, examples of applications, the available products and the regulation texts of the domain. (A.L.B.)

The global health law trilogy: towards a safer, healthier, and fairer world.

Science.gov (United States)

Gostin, Lawrence O; DeBartolo, Mary Clare; Katz, Rebecca

2017-10-21

Global health advocates often turn to medicine and science for solutions to enduring health risks, but law is also a powerful tool. No state acting alone can ward off health threats that span borders, requiring international solutions. A trilogy of global health law-the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, International Health Regulations (2005), and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework-strives for a safer, healthier, and fairer world. Yet, these international agreements are not well understood, and contain gaps in scope and enforceability. Moreover, major health concerns remain largely unregulated at the international level, such as non-communicable diseases, mental health, and injuries. Here, we offer reforms for this global health law trilogy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effects of regulation, legislation and policy on consumption of edible insects in the global world

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wilderspin, Dana Elisabeth; Halloran, Afton Marina Szasz

2018-01-01

With an expanding edible insect industry, regulators, legislators, and policy-makers face increasingly difficult decisions regarding trade, production, harvesting, and consumption. It is becoming clearer that no panacea or one-size-fits-all solutions exist for regulating the industry, and that so...

Water balance creates a threshold in soil pH at the global scale

Science.gov (United States)

Slessarev, E. W.; Lin, Y.; Bingham, N. L.; Johnson, J. E.; Dai, Y.; Schimel, J. P.; Chadwick, O. A.

2016-12-01

Soil pH regulates the capacity of soils to store and supply nutrients, and thus contributes substantially to controlling productivity in terrestrial ecosystems. However, soil pH is not an independent regulator of soil fertility—rather, it is ultimately controlled by environmental forcing. In particular, small changes in water balance cause a steep transition from alkaline to acid soils across natural climate gradients. Although the processes governing this threshold in soil pH are well understood, the threshold has not been quantified at the global scale, where the influence of climate may be confounded by the effects of topography and mineralogy. Here we evaluate the global relationship between water balance and soil pH by extracting a spatially random sample (n = 20,000) from an extensive compilation of 60,291 soil pH measurements. We show that there is an abrupt transition from alkaline to acid soil pH that occurs at the point where mean annual precipitation begins to exceed mean annual potential evapotranspiration. We evaluate deviations from this global pattern, showing that they may result from seasonality, climate history, erosion and mineralogy. These results demonstrate that climate creates a nonlinear pattern in soil solution chemistry at the global scale; they also reveal conditions under which soils maintain pH out of equilibrium with modern climate.

Global health and global health ethics

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Benatar, S. R; Brock, Gillian

2011-01-01

...? What are our responsibilities and how can we improve global health? Global Health and Global Health Ethics addresses these questions from the perspective of a range of disciplines, including medicine, philosophy and the social sciences...

Review of the Current State of UAV Regulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Stöcker

2017-05-01

Full Text Available UAVs—unmanned aerial vehicles—facilitate data acquisition at temporal and spatial scales that still remain unachievable for traditional remote sensing platforms. However, current legal frameworks that regulate UAVs present significant barriers to research and development. To highlight the importance, impact, and diversity of UAV regulations, this paper provides an exploratory investigation of UAV regulations on the global scale. For this, the methodological approach consists of a research synthesis of UAV regulations, including a thorough literature review and a comparative analysis of national regulatory frameworks. Similarities and contrasting elements in the various national UAV regulations are explored including their statuses from the perspectives of past, present, and future trends. Since the early 2000s, countries have gradually established national legal frameworks. Although all UAV regulations have one common goal—minimizing the risks to other airspace users and to both people and property on the ground—the results reveal distinct variations in all the compared variables. Furthermore, besides the clear presence of legal frameworks, market forces such as industry design standards and reliable information about UAVs as public goods are expected to shape future developments.

The Global Arena of Food Law: Emerging Contours of a Meta-Framework

NARCIS (Netherlands)

B. van der Meulen (Bernd)

2010-01-01

textabstractFood is one of the most regulated social and economic sectors. At the global level several organisations such as the UN, FAO, WHO, the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the WTO play a role in food governance through formulating and enforcing rules regarding production, manufacturing,

Can warming particles enter global climate discussions?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bond, Tami C

2007-01-01

'Soot' or 'black carbon', which comes from incomplete combustion, absorbs light and warms the atmosphere. Although there have been repeated suggestions that reduction of black carbon could be a viable part of decreasing global warming, it has not yet been considered when choosing actions to reduce climatic impact. In this paper, I examine four conceptual barriers to the consideration of aerosols in global agreements. I conclude that some of the major objections to considering aerosols under hemispheric or global agreements are illusory because: (1) a few major sources will be addressed by local regulations, but the remainder may not be addressed by traditional air quality management; (2) climate forcing by carbon particles is not limited to 'hot spots'-about 90% of it occurs at relatively low concentrations; (3) while aerosol science is complex, the most salient characteristics of aerosol behavior can be condensed into tractable metrics including, but not limited to, the global warming potential; (4) despite scientific uncertainties, reducing all aerosols from major sources of black carbon will reduce direct climate warming with a very high probability. This change in climate forcing accounts for at least 25% of the accompanying CO 2 forcing with significant probability (25% for modern diesel engines, 90% for superemitting diesels, and 55% for cooking with biofuels). Thus, this fraction of radiative forcing should not be ignored

Threatened biodiversity, the nema eia regulations and cultivation of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Until such listing, unresolved legal questions that inhibited the effective consideration of biodiversity in agricultural decision-making prior to the promulgation of the NEMA EIA regulations are likely to persist—to the detriment of a globally imperilled biodiversity. This contribution sets out to identify some of the key issues that ...

Implications of the global financial crisis for the response to diseases of poverty within overall health sector development: the case of tuberculosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Maher, Dermot

2010-01-01

The global financial crisis poses a threat to global health, and may exacerbate diseases of poverty, e.g. HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. Exploring the implications of the global financial crisis for the health sector response to tuberculosis is useful to illustrate the practical problems and propose possible solutions. The response to tuberculosis is considered in the context of health sector development. Problems and solutions are considered in five key areas: financing, prioritization, government regulation, integration and decentralization. Securing health gains in global tuberculosis control depends on protecting expenditure by governments of countries badly affected by tuberculosis and by donors, taking measures to increase efficiencies, prioritizing health expenditures and strengthening government regulation. Lessons learned will be valuable for stakeholders involved in the health sector response to tuberculosis and other diseases of poverty.

Global budgets in Maryland: early evidence on revenues, expenses, and margins in regulated and unregulated services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Malmmose, Margit; Mortensen, Karoline; Holm, Claus

2018-01-01

suggest that regulated profit ratios for treatment hospitals increased (from 5% in2007 to 8% in 2013) and regulated expense-to-gross patient revenue ratios decreased (75%in 2007 and 68% in 2013) relative to the controls. Simultaneously, the profit margins fortreatment hospitals’ unregulated services...

Studies of global warming and global energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inaba, Atsushi

1993-01-01

Global warming caused by increase in atmospheric CO 2 concentration has been the focus of many recent global energy studies. CO 2 is emitted to the atmosphere mainly from the combustion of fossil fuels. This means that global warming is fundamentally a problem of the global energy system. An analysis of the findings of recent global energy studies is made in this report. The results are categorized from the viewpoint of concern about global warming. The analysis includes energy use and CO 2 emissions, measures taken to restrain CO 2 emissions and the cost of such measure, and suggestions for long term global energy generation. Following this comparative analysis, each of the studies is reviewed in detail. (author) 63 refs

Altered global gene expression profiles in human gastrointestinal epithelial Caco2 cells exposed to nanosilver

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saura C. Sahu

Full Text Available Extensive consumer exposure to food- and cosmetics-related consumer products containing nanosilver is of public safety concern. Therefore, there is a need for suitable in vitro models and sensitive predictive rapid screening methods to assess their toxicity. Toxicogenomic profile showing subtle changes in gene expressions following nanosilver exposure is a sensitive toxicological endpoint for this purpose. We evaluated the Caco2 cells and global gene expression profiles as tools for predictive rapid toxicity screening of nanosilver. We evaluated and compared the gene expression profiles of Caco-2 cells exposed to 20 nm and 50 nm nanosilver at a concentration 2.5 μg/ml. The global gene expression analysis of Caco2 cells exposed to 20 nm nanosilver showed that a total of 93 genes were altered at 4 h exposure, out of which 90 genes were up-regulated and 3 genes were down-regulated. The 24 h exposure of 20 nm silver altered 15 genes in Caco2 cells, out of which 14 were up-regulated and one was down-regulated. The most pronounced changes in gene expression were detected at 4 h. The greater size (50 nm nanosilver at 4 h exposure altered more genes by more different pathways than the smaller (20 nm one. Metallothioneins and heat shock proteins were highly up-regulated as a result of exposure to both the nanosilvers. The cellular pathways affected by the nanosilver exposure is likely to lead to increased toxicity. The results of our study presented here suggest that the toxicogenomic characterization of Caco2 cells is a valuable in vitro tool for assessing toxicity of nanomaterials such as nanosilver. Keywords: Nanosilver, Silver nanoparticles, Nanoparticles, Toxicogenomics, DNA microarray, Global gene expression profiles, Caco2 cells

Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurs to Win Their Sustainable Competitive Advantages within Globalization Era

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lenny Gunawan

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to discuss globalization’s impacts on the world’s financial characteristics today. The findings inform that globalization promotes entrepreneurship because through globalization, financial markets have grown to be more efficient and flexible which can be seen through lower transaction costs, less binding financial regulations than before, less governments’ intervention within private sector and national economy structures, increasing number of market participants which leads to more access to information. Thus, globalization does create a better environment for entrepreneurs in achieving their competitive advantages and further to sustain them. This research was done by collecting data from papers, journals, modules, and internet databases. The data was analyzed and then concluded. Having applied the analytical process, it can be concluded that globalization does promotes entrepreneurship because it enables entrepreneurs to gain greater benefits at a certain degree of freedom than before in order to achieve and maintain their competitive advantages.

Global warming: Towards a strategy for Ontario

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-01-01

A discussion paper is provided as background to a proposed public review of a strategy for Ontario's response to global warming. Global warming arises from the generation of greenhouse gases, which come from the use of fossil fuels, the use of chlorofluorocarbons, and deforestation. Energy policy is the backbone of achieving climate stability since the burning of fossil fuels releases most of the greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide. Canada is, by international standards, a very energy-intensive country and is among the world's largest emitters of carbon dioxide on a per capita basis. Ontario is the largest energy-using province in Canada, and fossil fuels represent over 80% of provincial energy use. A proposed goal for Ontario is to provide leadership in stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gases, while minimizing the social, economic, and environmental costs in Ontario of adapting to global warming. A proposed first step to address global warming is to achieve reductions in expected emissions of the greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, so that levels by the year 2000 are lower than in 1989. Current policies and regulations helping to reduce the greenhouse effect include some of the current controls on automotive emissions and the adoption by the provincial electric utility of targets to reduce electricity demand. New initiatives include establishment of minimum energy efficiency standards and reduction of peak-day electricity use. Action steps for future consideration are detailed in the categories of greenhouse gas emissions reductions, carbon dioxide absorption, and research and analysis into global warming

Globalisation and health: the need for a global vision.

Science.gov (United States)

Schrecker, Ted; Labonté, Ronald; De Vogli, Roberto

2008-11-08

The reduction of health inequities is an ethical imperative, according to the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH). Drawing on detailed multidisciplinary evidence assembled by the Globalization Knowledge Network that supported the CSDH, we define globalisation in mainly economic terms. We consider and reject the presumption that globalisation will yield health benefits as a result of its contribution to rapid economic growth and associated reductions in poverty. Expanding on this point, we describe four disequalising dynamics by which contemporary globalisation causes divergence: the global reorganisation of production and emergence of a global labour-market; the increasing importance of binding trade agreements and processes to resolve disputes; the rapidly increasing mobility of financial capital; and the persistence of debt crises in developing countries. Generic policies designed to reduce health inequities are described with reference to the three Rs of redistribution, regulation, and rights. We conclude with an examination of the interconnected intellectual and institutional challenges to reduction of health inequities that are created by contemporary globalisation.

Impact of regulatory science on global public health

OpenAIRE

Meghal Patel; Margaret Ann Miller

2012-01-01

Regulatory science plays a vital role in protecting and promoting global public health by providing the scientific basis for ensuring that food and medical products are safe, properly labeled, and effective. Regulatory science research was first developed for the determination of product safety in the early part of the 20th Century, and continues to support innovation of the processes needed for regulatory policy decisions. Historically, public health laws and regulations were enacted followi...

Global Environmental Governance as a Regulatory and Guarantee Criterion for Environmental Justice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denise Schmitt Siqueira Garcia

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article deals with the theme of Global Environmental Governance to the achievement of Environmental Justice, presenting as general objective to analyze the importance of the first in its public, business and civil society spheres for the regulation and guarantee of the second. Noting up at the end that the Environmental Justice, as a common humanitarian problem, presents itself as the main objective of Global Environmental Governance. In the methodology was adopted the inductive method, having been applied the techniques of the referent, category, operational concepts, bibliographical research and file.

El tratamiento jurídico de las migraciones internacionales a través de las regulaciones globalistas de gestión de mano de obra (The Legal Treatment of International Migrations Through Globalized Labour Management Regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iker Barbero González

2011-05-01

Full Text Available This article deals with the emerging global tendency to regulate international migrations, not by regarding a universal humanitarian and labour Law, but according to neoliberal normative production standards: flexibility, informality, governance… Supranational institutions such as the WTO, the IOM or the EU are establishing normative agreements (GATS, the NAFTA, the EEC… that regulate migrations as labour and in profit of the global markets. The new contractual models become fragmented titles that recognize rights as immigrant workers and not as a persons or human beings, placing in a legal limbo those who migrate outside the established mechanisms and that not meet the qualification requirements of the global workforce. This text is addressed to the analysis of the categorization of migrants as disposable labour in the global management of the flows.Este texto está dedicado al análisis de la categorización del migrante como mera “mano de obra” en la gestión global de los flujos. Existe una tendencia global a regular las migraciones, no desde un Derecho formal universal, sino desde lo que podría ser denominado en sentido amplio “Soft Law”. Así, las distintas normas que, a nivel mundial, se encargan de ordenar las migraciones son creadas de acuerdo a los criterios de producción jurídica característicos de la etapa contemporánea de globalización neoliberal: flexibilidad, informalidad, descentralización, gobernanza, etc. Instituciones supranacionales como la OIM, la OMC o la Unión Europea (con la intervención de los Estados nación o sin ella establecen estándares normativos (el AGCS o GATS, el TLCNA, la Blue Card, etc, mediante los cuales se regulan los flujos de migrantes atendiendo a las necesidades del mercado mundial. Los nuevos modelos contractuales se convierten en títulos fragmentados reconocedores de derechos en tanto que trabajador inmigrante y no como persona o ser humano, situando de esta manera, en un penoso

Proteomic Analysis of a Global Regulator GacS Sensor Kinase in the Rhizobacterium, Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chul Hong Kim

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The GacS/GacA system in the root colonizer Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6 is a key regulator of many traits relevant to the biocontrol function of this bacterium. Proteomic analysis revealed 12 proteins were down-regulated in a gacS mutant of P. chlororaphis O6. These GacS-regulated proteins functioned in combating oxidative stress, cell signaling, biosynthesis of secondary metabolism, and secretion. The extent of regulation was shown by real-time RT-PCR to vary between the genes. Mutants of P. chlororaphis O6 were generated in two GacS-regulated genes, trpE, encoding a protein involved in tryptophan synthesis, and prnA, required for conversion of tryptophan to the antimicrobial compound, pyrrolitrin. Failure of the trpE mutant to induce systemic resistance in tobacco against a foliar pathogen causing soft rot, Pectobacterium carotovorum SCCI, correlated with reduced colonization of root surfaces implying an inadequate supply of tryptophan to support growth. Although colonization was not affected by mutation in the prnA gene, induction of systemic resistance was reduced, suggesting that pyrrolnitrin was an activator of plant resistance as well as an antifungal agent. Study of mutants in the other GacS-regulated proteins will indicate further the features required for biocontrol-activity in this rhizobacterium.

the civil society and the regulation of the extractive industry in nigeria

African Journals Online (AJOL)

RAYAN_

in Global Environmental Governance” in Daniel Esty & Maria Ivanova (eds.) ... 7 Bridget Hutter & Joan O'Mahony, “Business Regulation: Reviewing the Regulatory. Potential of ... Institutions in oil Communities” (2008) 55 (1) Africa Today, p. 89.

The PhoBR two-component system regulates antibiotic biosynthesis in Serratia in response to phosphate

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

Background Secondary metabolism in Serratia sp. ATCC 39006 (Serratia 39006) is controlled via a complex network of regulators, including a LuxIR-type (SmaIR) quorum sensing (QS) system. Here we investigate the molecular mechanism by which phosphate limitation controls biosynthesis of two antibiotic secondary metabolites, prodigiosin and carbapenem, in Serratia 39006. Results We demonstrate that a mutation in the high affinity phosphate transporter pstSCAB-phoU, believed to mimic low phosphate conditions, causes upregulation of secondary metabolism and QS in Serratia 39006, via the PhoBR two-component system. Phosphate limitation also activated secondary metabolism and QS in Serratia 39006. In addition, a pstS mutation resulted in upregulation of rap. Rap, a putative SlyA/MarR-family transcriptional regulator, shares similarity with the global regulator RovA (regulator of virulence) from Yersina spp. and is an activator of secondary metabolism in Serratia 39006. We demonstrate that expression of rap, pigA-O (encoding the prodigiosin biosynthetic operon) and smaI are controlled via PhoBR in Serratia 39006. Conclusion Phosphate limitation regulates secondary metabolism in Serratia 39006 via multiple inter-linked pathways, incorporating transcriptional control mediated by three important global regulators, PhoB, SmaR and Rap. PMID:19476633

The PhoBR two-component system regulates antibiotic biosynthesis in Serratia in response to phosphate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Everson Lee

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Secondary metabolism in Serratia sp. ATCC 39006 (Serratia 39006 is controlled via a complex network of regulators, including a LuxIR-type (SmaIR quorum sensing (QS system. Here we investigate the molecular mechanism by which phosphate limitation controls biosynthesis of two antibiotic secondary metabolites, prodigiosin and carbapenem, in Serratia 39006. Results We demonstrate that a mutation in the high affinity phosphate transporter pstSCAB-phoU, believed to mimic low phosphate conditions, causes upregulation of secondary metabolism and QS in Serratia 39006, via the PhoBR two-component system. Phosphate limitation also activated secondary metabolism and QS in Serratia 39006. In addition, a pstS mutation resulted in upregulation of rap. Rap, a putative SlyA/MarR-family transcriptional regulator, shares similarity with the global regulator RovA (regulator of virulence from Yersina spp. and is an activator of secondary metabolism in Serratia 39006. We demonstrate that expression of rap, pigA-O (encoding the prodigiosin biosynthetic operon and smaI are controlled via PhoBR in Serratia 39006. Conclusion Phosphate limitation regulates secondary metabolism in Serratia 39006 via multiple inter-linked pathways, incorporating transcriptional control mediated by three important global regulators, PhoB, SmaR and Rap.

Large-Scale Phosphoproteomics Reveals Shp-2 Phosphatase-Dependent Regulators of Pdgf Receptor Signaling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Batth, Tanveer S; Papetti, Moreno; Pfeiffer, Anamarija

2018-01-01

Despite its low cellular abundance, phosphotyrosine (pTyr) regulates numerous cell signaling pathways in health and disease. We applied comprehensive phosphoproteomics to unravel differential regulators of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK)-initiated signaling networks upon activation by Pdgf-ββ, Fgf-2...... of Pdgfr pTyr signaling. Application of a recently introduced allosteric Shp-2 inhibitor revealed global regulation of the Pdgf-dependent tyrosine phosphoproteome, which significantly impaired cell migration. In addition, we present a list of hundreds of Shp-2-dependent targets and putative substrates...

Global environmental change and the biology of arbuscular mycorrhizas: gaps and challenges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fitter, A.H.; Heinemeyer, A.; Husband, R.

2004-01-01

Our ability to make predictions about the impact of global environmental change on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and on their role in regulating biotic response to such change is seriously hampered by our lack of knowledge of the basic biology of these ubiquitous organisms. Current information...

The globalization of energy activities: what are the issues?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Percebois, J.

2001-01-01

Globalization in many sectors such as information, research and development, finance, technology, etc. led to the implementation of transnational networks to facilitate decision-making. The result is that governments are left to regulation functions. This globalization also led to a larger gap between North and South. Developing countries represent 80 per cent of world population, yet only produce less than 33 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). In the energy sector, developing countries have limited access to energy and use it less efficiently, since they do not master the latest technologies. States must retain their power to regulate this sector to ensure competition takes place in a fair environment within specified guidelines. Licenses must be issued through bidding or auctioned off, but in every case the State must ensure that commitments are met. It must also ensure that pricing is fair. Access for third parties to the power distribution system must be adequate, especially when the company operates in a monopoly environment. The State ends up managing a new category of risks (called major risks) that the private sector is not willing to consider, for example global warming or the management of nuclear waste. Confidence in market mechanisms is limited. Energy exchanges and others represent an economic growth factor and a potential guarantee for world peace. Who is responsible for the social costs associated with economic growth, and what are the solutions? A major issue left to decision-makers is the sharing of wealth within humankind and nations, and the State has a vital role to play. 5 refs., 5 tabs

CodY-Dependent Regulation of Sporulation in Clostridium difficile.

Science.gov (United States)

Nawrocki, Kathryn L; Edwards, Adrianne N; Daou, Nadine; Bouillaut, Laurent; McBride, Shonna M

2016-08-01

Clostridium difficile must form a spore to survive outside the gastrointestinal tract. The factors that trigger sporulation in C. difficile remain poorly understood. Previous studies have suggested that a link exists between nutritional status and sporulation initiation in C. difficile In this study, we investigated the impact of the global nutritional regulator CodY on sporulation in C. difficile strains from the historical 012 ribotype and the current epidemic 027 ribotype. Sporulation frequencies were increased in both backgrounds, demonstrating that CodY represses sporulation in C. difficile The 027 codY mutant exhibited a greater increase in spore formation than the 012 codY mutant. To determine the role of CodY in the observed sporulation phenotypes, we examined several factors that are known to influence sporulation in C. difficile Using transcriptional reporter fusions and quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis, we found that two loci associated with the initiation of sporulation, opp and sinR, are regulated by CodY. The data demonstrate that CodY is a repressor of sporulation in C. difficile and that the impact of CodY on sporulation and expression of specific genes is significantly influenced by the strain background. These results suggest that the variability of CodY-dependent regulation is an important contributor to virulence and sporulation in current epidemic isolates. This report provides further evidence that nutritional state, virulence, and sporulation are linked in C. difficile This study sought to examine the relationship between nutrition and sporulation in C. difficile by examining the global nutritional regulator CodY. CodY is a known virulence and nutritional regulator of C. difficile, but its role in sporulation was unknown. Here, we demonstrate that CodY is a negative regulator of sporulation in two different ribotypes of C. difficile We also demonstrate that CodY regulates known effectors of sporulation, Opp and Sin

Global sensitivity analysis of a dynamic model for gene expression in Drosophila embryos

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, Gregory D.; Drewell, Robert A.

2015-01-01

It is well known that gene regulation is a tightly controlled process in early organismal development. However, the roles of key processes involved in this regulation, such as transcription and translation, are less well understood, and mathematical modeling approaches in this field are still in their infancy. In recent studies, biologists have taken precise measurements of protein and mRNA abundance to determine the relative contributions of key factors involved in regulating protein levels in mammalian cells. We now approach this question from a mathematical modeling perspective. In this study, we use a simple dynamic mathematical model that incorporates terms representing transcription, translation, mRNA and protein decay, and diffusion in an early Drosophila embryo. We perform global sensitivity analyses on this model using various different initial conditions and spatial and temporal outputs. Our results indicate that transcription and translation are often the key parameters to determine protein abundance. This observation is in close agreement with the experimental results from mammalian cells for various initial conditions at particular time points, suggesting that a simple dynamic model can capture the qualitative behavior of a gene. Additionally, we find that parameter sensitivites are temporally dynamic, illustrating the importance of conducting a thorough global sensitivity analysis across multiple time points when analyzing mathematical models of gene regulation. PMID:26157608

CdtR Regulates TcdA and TcdB Production in Clostridium difficile.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shelley A Lyon

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Clostridium difficile is a global health burden and the leading cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea worldwide, causing severe gastrointestinal disease and death. Three well characterised toxins are encoded by this bacterium in two genetic loci, specifically, TcdB (toxin B and TcdA (toxin A in the Pathogenicity Locus (PaLoc and binary toxin (CDT in the genomically distinct CDT locus (CdtLoc. Toxin production is controlled by regulators specific to each locus. The orphan response regulator, CdtR, encoded within the CdtLoc, up-regulates CDT production. Until now there has been no suggestion that CdtR influences TcdA and TcdB production since it is not carried by all PaLoc-containing strains and CdtLoc is not linked genetically to PaLoc. Here we show that, in addition to CDT, CdtR regulates TcdA and TcdB production but that this effect is strain dependent. Of clinical relevance, CdtR increased the production of TcdA, TcdB and CDT in two epidemic ribotype 027 human strains, modulating their virulence in a mouse infection model. Strains traditionally from animal lineages, notably ribotype 078 strains, are increasingly being isolated from humans and their genetic and phenotypic analysis is critical for future studies on this important pathogen. Here we show that CdtR-mediated toxin regulation did not occur in other strain backgrounds, including a ribotype 078 animal strain. The finding that toxin gene regulation is strain dependent highlights the regulatory diversity between C. difficile isolates and the importance of studying virulence regulation in diverse lineages and clinically relevant strains. Our work provides the first evidence that TcdA, TcdB and CDT production is linked by a common regulatory mechanism and that CdtR may act as a global regulator of virulence in epidemic 027 strains.

Globalization challenges in a globalized world

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dr.Sc. Gjon Boriçi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Globalization is an ongoing phenomenon trying to redefine the economic, social, cultural and political dynamics of contemporary societies. The communication among countries and not only them, has been increased expanding political ties, making possible greater economic integration and wider cultural relations combined with augmented global wealth across the world. But, the process of globalization is in wider terms considered a beneficial one, but also viewed by some countries as a menace to national sovereignty and national culture. This paper tries to explain the obstacles to the process of globalization and its attendant benefits. Although globalization has arisen as a result of a more stable world, the factors that had contributed to its rise also help the factions interested to bring destabilization. In an academic approach in this article, between the research and comparative methods, I have been trying to get the maxims between economy, politics and diplomacy in their efforts of affecting the global era.

The Transcriptome of Streptococcus pneumoniae Induced by Local and Global Changes in Supercoiling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adela G. de la Campa

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The bacterial chromosome is compacted in a manner optimal for DNA transactions to occur. The degree of compaction results from the level of DNA-supercoiling and the presence of nucleoid-binding proteins. DNA-supercoiling is homeostatically maintained by the opposing activities of relaxing DNA topoisomerases and negative supercoil-inducing DNA gyrase. DNA-supercoiling acts as a general cis regulator of transcription, which can be superimposed upon other types of more specific trans regulatory mechanism. Transcriptomic studies on the human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae, which has a relatively small genome (∼2 Mb and few nucleoid-binding proteins, have been performed under conditions of local and global changes in supercoiling. The response to local changes induced by fluoroquinolone antibiotics, which target DNA gyrase subunit A and/or topoisomerase IV, involves an increase in oxygen radicals which reduces cell viability, while the induction of global supercoiling changes by novobiocin (a DNA gyrase subunit B inhibitor, or by seconeolitsine (a topoisomerase I inhibitor, has revealed the existence of topological domains that specifically respond to such changes. The control of DNA-supercoiling in S. pneumoniae occurs mainly via the regulation of topoisomerase gene transcription: relaxation triggers the up-regulation of gyrase and the down-regulation of topoisomerases I and IV, while hypernegative supercoiling down-regulates the expression of topoisomerase I. Relaxation affects 13% of the genome, with the majority of the genes affected located in 15 domains. Hypernegative supercoiling affects 10% of the genome, with one quarter of the genes affected located in 12 domains. However, all the above domains overlap, suggesting that the chromosome is organized into topological domains with fixed locations. Based on its response to relaxation, the pneumococcal chromosome can be said to be organized into five types of domain: up-regulated, down-regulated

Global Analysis of Photosynthesis Transcriptional Regulatory Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Imam, Saheed; Noguera, Daniel R.; Donohue, Timothy J.

2014-01-01

Photosynthesis is a crucial biological process that depends on the interplay of many components. This work analyzed the gene targets for 4 transcription factors: FnrL, PrrA, CrpK and MppG (RSP_2888), which are known or predicted to control photosynthesis in Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) identified 52 operons under direct control of FnrL, illustrating its regulatory role in photosynthesis, iron homeostasis, nitrogen metabolism and regulation of sRNA synthesis. Using global gene expression analysis combined with ChIP-seq, we mapped the regulons of PrrA, CrpK and MppG. PrrA regulates ∼34 operons encoding mainly photosynthesis and electron transport functions, while CrpK, a previously uncharacterized Crp-family protein, regulates genes involved in photosynthesis and maintenance of iron homeostasis. Furthermore, CrpK and FnrL share similar DNA binding determinants, possibly explaining our observation of the ability of CrpK to partially compensate for the growth defects of a ΔFnrL mutant. We show that the Rrf2 family protein, MppG, plays an important role in photopigment biosynthesis, as part of an incoherent feed-forward loop with PrrA. Our results reveal a previously unrealized, high degree of combinatorial regulation of photosynthetic genes and significant cross-talk between their transcriptional regulators, while illustrating previously unidentified links between photosynthesis and the maintenance of iron homeostasis. PMID:25503406

Global analysis of photosynthesis transcriptional regulatory networks.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saheed Imam

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Photosynthesis is a crucial biological process that depends on the interplay of many components. This work analyzed the gene targets for 4 transcription factors: FnrL, PrrA, CrpK and MppG (RSP_2888, which are known or predicted to control photosynthesis in Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq identified 52 operons under direct control of FnrL, illustrating its regulatory role in photosynthesis, iron homeostasis, nitrogen metabolism and regulation of sRNA synthesis. Using global gene expression analysis combined with ChIP-seq, we mapped the regulons of PrrA, CrpK and MppG. PrrA regulates ∼34 operons encoding mainly photosynthesis and electron transport functions, while CrpK, a previously uncharacterized Crp-family protein, regulates genes involved in photosynthesis and maintenance of iron homeostasis. Furthermore, CrpK and FnrL share similar DNA binding determinants, possibly explaining our observation of the ability of CrpK to partially compensate for the growth defects of a ΔFnrL mutant. We show that the Rrf2 family protein, MppG, plays an important role in photopigment biosynthesis, as part of an incoherent feed-forward loop with PrrA. Our results reveal a previously unrealized, high degree of combinatorial regulation of photosynthetic genes and significant cross-talk between their transcriptional regulators, while illustrating previously unidentified links between photosynthesis and the maintenance of iron homeostasis.

Intelligent Chatter Bot for Regulation Search

Science.gov (United States)

De Luise, María Daniela López; Pascal, Andrés; Saad, Ben; Álvarez, Claudia; Pescio, Pablo; Carrilero, Patricio; Malgor, Rafael; Díaz, Joaquín

2016-01-01

This communication presents a functional prototype, named PTAH, implementing a linguistic model focused on regulations in Spanish. Its global architecture, the reasoning model and short statistics are provided for the prototype. It is mainly a conversational robot linked to an Expert System by a module with many intelligent linguistic filters, implementing the reasoning model of an expert. It is focused on bylaws, regulations, jurisprudence and customized background representing entity mission, vision and profile. This Structure and model are generic enough to self-adapt to any regulatory environment, but as a first step, it was limited to an academic field. This way it is possible to limit the slang and data numbers. The foundations of the linguistic model are also outlined and the way the architecture implements the key features of the behavior.

Enhancing Social Responsibility within Global Supply Chains: Is Legal Regulation the Optimal Solution?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katerina Peterková

2011-03-01

Full Text Available This paper was presented at the first meeting of the NSU study group “Conceptions of ethical and social values in post-secular society: Towards a new ethical imagination in a cosmopolitan world society”, held on January 28-30, 2011 at Copenhagen Business School. First, this paper examines the voluntary (ethical v. mandatory (legal basis of corporate social responsibility (CSR. Second, it examines the relationship between CSR, law and business ethics. Third, it tries to answer the question if there is a need for a hard[2] legal regulation of CSR within international supply relationships or if ethical norms, e.g. expressed in the form of self-regulation, may better serve the purpose. And finally, it suggests possible ways for the future development of suitable regulatory methods for enhancing social standards within international supply chains. The questions are approached solely from the perspectives of legal theory and socio-legal analysis.

Salt Marshes as Potential Indicatore of Global Climate Change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kim, Daehyun; Cairens, David; Jung, S.H.

2011-01-01

Coastal scientists postulate that salt marshes are significantly affected by dynamics of global climate. However, few studies have explicitly proposed a perspective that regards salt marshes as potential indicators of climate change. This review article evaluates the possibility of salt marshes...... as indicators of global climate change, focusing upon three major aspects: sedimentary, vegetation, and biogeochemical dynamics. The previous literature concerned with these aspects commonly argues that the primary impact of climate change on salt marshes occurs via sea-level variations, because hydrologic...... fluctuations regulate the frequency, duration, and depth of over-marsh flooding events. Sedimentary, floristic, and biogeochemical dynamics prove to be significantly influenced by sealevel changes regardless of climate zones, and hence, undoubtedly possess a potential for indicating climate signatures. However...

Globalization And Its Influence On The Development Of International Law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga M. Mesheriakova

2014-09-01

Full Text Available In the present article author researches questions of globalization impact on the international law. Author notes that today it is possible to talk about the new phase of globalization that is associated with the development of bilateral regional agreements, as well as changes in the configuration of the trade and political landscape. In the article author also reveals the essence of processes that determine development of international law in the century of globalization. Along with the formation of a new branch of law - integration law, which is a kind of legal mechanism to govern global public relations, development of modern public law is determined by the changing of nature of production and international specialization, as well as multinational corporations. In the conclusion author points out possibility of the own monetary system creation in the integration community, even in the format of multi-speed integration, what allows EU member states together confront to dollar and yuan, what contributes to the achievement of their national interests in the economic sphere, therefore, legal mechanism established the European Union takes into account both regional and economic aspects that are associated with the process of globalization. With new trends in the development of modern international law it is necessary to develop advanced models of legal regulation for processes caused by globalization.

THE GLOBALIZATION OF THE WORLD ECONOMY AND ITS IMPACT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACCOUNTING REPORTS IN UKRAINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihail PRODANCIUK

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The article explains the impact of the globalization processes in Ukraine's economy on the development of accounting reports systems. Also described is the essence of harmonization and standardization of accounting reports and financial reports. There are four scientific positions known that characterize standardization records worldwide. There are submitted proposals regarding accounting reports regulation in Ukraine in terms of economic globalization.

CTFS-ForestGEO: A worldwide network monitoring forests in an era of global change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Anderson-Teixeira, K.J.; Davies, S.J.; Bennett, A.C.; Gonzalez-Akre, E.B.; Muller-Landau, H.C.; Wright, S.J.; Abu Salim, K.; Almeyda Zambrano, A.M.; Jansen, P.A.; Ouden, den J.

2015-01-01

Global change is impacting forests worldwide, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem services including climate regulation. Understanding how forests respond is critical to forest conservation and climate protection. This review describes an international network of 59 long-term forest dynamics

The Regulation of electronic money institutions in the SADC region ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

It looks in particular at how the institutions that issue new electronic money products are regulated ... This development has become global and involves both developed and developing countries, including regions such as the SADC. ... regulatory challenges that came about with the development of electronic money and to ...

Challenges for modeling global gene regulatory networks during development: insights from Drosophila.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilczynski, Bartek; Furlong, Eileen E M

2010-04-15

Development is regulated by dynamic patterns of gene expression, which are orchestrated through the action of complex gene regulatory networks (GRNs). Substantial progress has been made in modeling transcriptional regulation in recent years, including qualitative "coarse-grain" models operating at the gene level to very "fine-grain" quantitative models operating at the biophysical "transcription factor-DNA level". Recent advances in genome-wide studies have revealed an enormous increase in the size and complexity or GRNs. Even relatively simple developmental processes can involve hundreds of regulatory molecules, with extensive interconnectivity and cooperative regulation. This leads to an explosion in the number of regulatory functions, effectively impeding Boolean-based qualitative modeling approaches. At the same time, the lack of information on the biophysical properties for the majority of transcription factors within a global network restricts quantitative approaches. In this review, we explore the current challenges in moving from modeling medium scale well-characterized networks to more poorly characterized global networks. We suggest to integrate coarse- and find-grain approaches to model gene regulatory networks in cis. We focus on two very well-studied examples from Drosophila, which likely represent typical developmental regulatory modules across metazoans. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Globalization of international migration: Social challenges and policy implication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I A Aleshkovski

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In the second half of the XX century, the humankind witnessed the insurmountable and irreversible power of globalization processes, which influence all spheres of social life and establish a global system of interdependency between countries and nations. Globalization within impetuous changes in global political, social and economic systems has determined dramatic shifts in the international migration processes that lead to the new stage of migration history. In nowadays globalized world, international migration has become a reality for almost all corners of the globe. The author considers features of the recent trends of international migration: the unprecedented growth of the international migration flows; the widening geography of international migration that involves nearly all countries of the world; qualitative changes in the structure of international migration flows; the key role of economic migration; the permanent growth and structural intricateness of irregular migration; the increasing scale and geographical widening of forced migration; the growing importance of international migration for the demographic development of the world, countries of both origin and destination. All these trends combined prove that the international migration patterns have become more complex. The author analyzes the legal framework of the international migration processes, and gives recommendations on the ways to improve the control and regulation of migration processes. Specific issues related to the social challenges of international migration are also discussed in the article.

Assessing the Impact of Stricter Alcohol Advertising Standards: The Case of Beam Global Spirits.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Craig S; Sparks, Alicia; Jernigan, David H

2016-08-01

Reducing youth exposure to alcohol advertising is a global health priority. In most countries around the world, the alcohol industry is given the opportunity to regulate itself with respect to advertising practices. Generally, the alcohol industry self-regulations are lax, allowing youth to be disproportionately exposed to alcohol advertising. However, Beam Global Spirits and Wine (Beam) voluntarily adopted more restrictive advertising standards in the United States in 2007. This study assessed Beam's compliance with their new standard and estimates its effect on youth exposure and advertising costs. We found that Beam's compliance with its more restrictive standards was imperfect, but never-the-less, we estimated that youth exposure to alcohol advertising was reduced compared to other spirits brands. Beam's more restrictive standards did not increase their advertising costs and therefore other alcohol companies should consider adopting similar standards around the world.

An innovative model for regulating supplement products: Natural health products in Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nestmann, Earle R.; Harwood, Melody; Martyres, Stephanie

2006-01-01

On 1 January 2004, Health Canada officially added a new term to the global list of synonyms for dietary supplements: natural health products (NHP). Developed with the intent of providing Canadian consumers with ready access to NHP that are safe, effective, and of high quality, the Natural Health Products Regulations (the NHP regulations) are applicable to the sale, manufacture, packaging, labelling, importation, distribution, and storage of NHP, and are administered by the recently formed Natural Health Products Directorate (NHPD) within Health Canada. This paper provides an overview of the process for regulating supplement products in Canada

Anti-Globalization or Alter-Globalization? Mapping the Political Ideology of the Global Justice Movement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

B. Steger, Manfred; Wilson, E.K.

Steger, Manfred B. and Erin K. Wilson. (2012) Anti-Globalization or Alter-Globalization? Mapping the Political Ideology of the Global Justice Movement. International Studies Quarterly, doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2478.2012.00740.x?(c) 2012 International Studies Association Globalization has unsettled

Correlation analyses revealed global microRNA-mRNA expression associations in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lan; Zhu, Jiang; Deng, Fei-Yan; Wu, Long-Fei; Mo, Xing-Bo; Zhu, Xiao-Wei; Xia, Wei; Xie, Fang-Fei; He, Pei; Bing, Peng-Fei; Qiu, Ying-Hua; Lin, Xiang; Lu, Xin; Zhang, Lei; Yi, Neng-Jun; Zhang, Yong-Hong; Lei, Shu-Feng

2018-02-01

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can regulate gene expression through binding to complementary sites in the 3'-untranslated regions of target mRNAs, which will lead to existence of correlation in expression between miRNA and mRNA. However, the miRNA-mRNA correlation patterns are complex and remain largely unclear yet. To establish the global correlation patterns in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), multiple miRNA-mRNA correlation analyses and expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analysis were conducted in this study. We predicted and achieved 861 miRNA-mRNA pairs (65 miRNAs, 412 mRNAs) using multiple bioinformatics programs, and found global negative miRNA-mRNA correlations in PBMC from all 46 study subjects. Among the 861 pairs of correlations, 19.5% were significant (P correlation network was complex and highlighted key miRNAs/genes in PBMC. Some miRNAs, such as hsa-miR-29a, hsa-miR-148a, regulate a cluster of target genes. Some genes, e.g., TNRC6A, are regulated by multiple miRNAs. The identified genes tend to be enriched in molecular functions of DNA and RNA binding, and biological processes such as protein transport, regulation of translation and chromatin modification. The results provided a global view of the miRNA-mRNA expression correlation profile in human PBMCs, which would facilitate in-depth investigation of biological functions of key miRNAs/mRNAs and better understanding of the pathogenesis underlying PBMC-related diseases.

Revitalising primary healthcare requires an equitable global economic system - now more than ever.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders, David; Baum, Fran E; Benos, Alexis; Legge, David

2011-08-01

The promised revitalisation of primary healthcare (PHC) is happening at a time when the contradictions and unfairness of the global economic system have become clear, suggesting that the current system is unsustainable. In the past two decades, one of the most significant impediments to the implementation of comprehensive PHC has been neoliberal economic policies and their imposition globally. This article questions what will be required for PHC to flourish. PHC incorporates five key principles: equitable provision of services, comprehensive care, intersectoral action, community involvement and appropriate technology. This article considers intersectoral action and comprehensiveness and their potential to be implemented in the current global environment. It highlights the constraints to intersectoral action through a case study of nutrition in the context of globalisation of the food chain. It also explores the challenges to implementing a comprehensive approach to health that are posed by neoliberal health sector reforms and donor practices. The paper concludes that even well-designed health systems based on PHC have little influence over the broader economic forces that shape their operation and their ability to improve health. Reforming these economic forces will require greater regulation of the national and global economic environment to emphasise people's health rather than private profit, and action to address climate change. Revitalisation of PHC and progress towards health equity are unlikely without strong regulation of the market. The further development and strengthening of social movements for health will be key to successful advocacy action.

Bioavailable atmospheric phosphorous supply to the global ocean: a 3-D global modeling study

Science.gov (United States)

Myriokefalitakis, Stelios; Nenes, Athanasios; Baker, Alex R.; Mihalopoulos, Nikolaos; Kanakidou, Maria

2016-12-01

The atmospheric cycle of phosphorus (P) is parameterized here in a state-of-the-art global 3-D chemistry transport model, taking into account primary emissions of total P (TP) and soluble P (DP) associated with mineral dust, combustion particles from natural and anthropogenic sources, bioaerosols, sea spray and volcanic aerosols. For the present day, global TP emissions are calculated to be roughly 1.33 Tg-P yr-1, with the mineral sources contributing more than 80 % to these emissions. The P solubilization from mineral dust under acidic atmospheric conditions is also parameterized in the model and is calculated to contribute about one-third (0.14 Tg-P yr-1) of the global DP atmospheric source. To our knowledge, a unique aspect of our global study is the explicit modeling of the evolution of phosphorus speciation in the atmosphere. The simulated present-day global annual DP deposition flux is 0.45 Tg-P yr-1 (about 40 % over oceans), showing a strong spatial and temporal variability. Present-day simulations of atmospheric P aerosol concentrations and deposition fluxes are satisfactory compared with available observations, indicating however an underestimate of about 70 % on current knowledge of the sources that drive the P atmospheric cycle. Sensitivity simulations using preindustrial (year 1850) anthropogenic and biomass burning emission scenarios showed a present-day increase of 75 % in the P solubilization flux from mineral dust, i.e., the rate at which P is converted into soluble forms, compared to preindustrial times, due to increasing atmospheric acidity over the last 150 years. Future reductions in air pollutants due to the implementation of air-quality regulations are expected to decrease the P solubilization flux from mineral dust by about 30 % in the year 2100 compared to the present day. Considering, however, that all the P contained in bioaerosols is readily available for uptake by marine organisms, and also accounting for all other DP sources, a total

The Politics of Financial Regulation Expertise

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ban, Cornel; Seabrooke, Leonard; Freitas, Sarah

Who controls global policy debates on shadow banking regulation? By looking at the policy recommendations of the Bank of International Settlements, the International Monetary Fund and the Financial Stability Board, we show how experts tied to these institutions secured control over how shadow...... banking is treated. In so doing, these technocrats reinforced each other’s expertise and excluded some potential competitors (legal scholars), coopted others (select Fed and elite academic economists). The findings have important implications for studying the relationship between IOs technocrats...

The Canadian Government perspective on cost-effective regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, J.K.; Iwankow, C.

1996-01-01

Fiscal constraint, globalization of markets, and accelerated technological change have resulted in a new focus on the cost-effectiveness of government activities and, in turn, on methods of policy evaluation. An exploration of regulatory problems, and the use of regulation as a public policy instrument, reveals a commonalty of experience in all industrialized countries. This paper provides a brief synopsis of the Government of Canada's perspective on cost-effective regulation. To understand cost-effective regulation, this paper examines the principles of regulatory reform which underlie the current strategy of the federal government (collaborative decision-making mechanisms., methods of clear policy evaluation, and well defined lines of accountability). It discusses the nature of, and rationale for, government regulation, the reasons for regulatory reform in the economy, and the principal aims of Canadian regulatory reform and regulatory policy assessment. It does so by specifically addressing the role of cost-benefit analysis in the process of regulatory assessment - a method which involves systematically identifying, and quantifying where possible, the social benefits and costs associated with alternative public policy actions - with a particular focus on regulation which affects the Canadian nuclear industry. (author). 51 refs

The Canadian Government perspective on cost-effective regulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martin, J K; Iwankow, C [Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

1997-12-31

Fiscal constraint, globalization of markets, and accelerated technological change have resulted in a new focus on the cost-effectiveness of government activities and, in turn, on methods of policy evaluation. An exploration of regulatory problems, and the use of regulation as a public policy instrument, reveals a commonalty of experience in all industrialized countries. This paper provides a brief synopsis of the Government of Canada`s perspective on cost-effective regulation. To understand cost-effective regulation, this paper examines the principles of regulatory reform which underlie the current strategy of the federal government (collaborative decision-making mechanisms., methods of clear policy evaluation, and well defined lines of accountability). It discusses the nature of, and rationale for, government regulation, the reasons for regulatory reform in the economy, and the principal aims of Canadian regulatory reform and regulatory policy assessment. It does so by specifically addressing the role of cost-benefit analysis in the process of regulatory assessment - a method which involves systematically identifying, and quantifying where possible, the social benefits and costs associated with alternative public policy actions - with a particular focus on regulation which affects the Canadian nuclear industry. (author). 51 refs.

Taking chances in the face of threat: romantic risk regulation and approach motivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Cavallo, Justin V; Fitzsimons, Gráinne M; Holmes, John G

2009-06-01

Four studies examine the hypothesis that goals adopted by high and low self-esteem people (HSEs and LSEs) to manage risk in romantic relationships may reflect global shifts in approach motivation and subsequently affect risk taking in nonsocial domains. In Studies 1 and 2, threats to participants' romantic relationships heightened HSEs' self-reported general approach motivation while lowering LSEs' approach motivation. In Studies 2 through 4, HSEs exhibited riskier decision making (i.e., a greater tendency to pursue rewards and ignore risks) in nonsocial domains following a relationship threat manipulation whereas LSEs made more conservative decisions. These results suggest that the romantic risk regulation may be inherently linked to a broader approach and avoidance system and that specific risk regulation behaviors may be driven by global motivational shifts to a greater degree than previously theorized.

Support for Ethical Consumerism and Welfare States in the Global Economy : Complements or Substitutes?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Burgoon, B.; Fransen, L.

This paper explores attitudes about alternative paths to promoting labor and social standards in the global political economy: public welfare-state policy protecting workers and social standards through policy and regulation, versus private ‘red consumerism’ protecting standards through consumer

Globalization of the pharmaceutical industry and the growing dependency of developing countries: the case of Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Semin, Semih; Güldal, Dilek

2008-01-01

In developing countries, the effect of globalization on the pharmaceutical sector has resulted in a decrease in exportation and domestic production, accompanied by an increase in importation of pharmaceuticals and a rise in prices and expenditures. As an example of a developing country, Turkey has been facing the long-standing and increasing pressure of global regulations placed on its pharmaceutical sector. This has led to an increasing dependency on multinational companies and a gradual deterioration of an already weakened domestic pharmaceutical sector. This case study of Turkey offers points to consider in the world of increasing globalization, as it offers lessons on ways of examining the effects of globalization on the pharmaceutical industry of developing countries.

Hydrologic regulation of plant rooting depth.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Ying; Miguez-Macho, Gonzalo; Jobbágy, Esteban G; Jackson, Robert B; Otero-Casal, Carlos

2017-10-03

Plant rooting depth affects ecosystem resilience to environmental stress such as drought. Deep roots connect deep soil/groundwater to the atmosphere, thus influencing the hydrologic cycle and climate. Deep roots enhance bedrock weathering, thus regulating the long-term carbon cycle. However, we know little about how deep roots go and why. Here, we present a global synthesis of 2,200 root observations of >1,000 species along biotic (life form, genus) and abiotic (precipitation, soil, drainage) gradients. Results reveal strong sensitivities of rooting depth to local soil water profiles determined by precipitation infiltration depth from the top (reflecting climate and soil), and groundwater table depth from below (reflecting topography-driven land drainage). In well-drained uplands, rooting depth follows infiltration depth; in waterlogged lowlands, roots stay shallow, avoiding oxygen stress below the water table; in between, high productivity and drought can send roots many meters down to the groundwater capillary fringe. This framework explains the contrasting rooting depths observed under the same climate for the same species but at distinct topographic positions. We assess the global significance of these hydrologic mechanisms by estimating root water-uptake depths using an inverse model, based on observed productivity and atmosphere, at 30″ (∼1-km) global grids to capture the topography critical to soil hydrology. The resulting patterns of plant rooting depth bear a strong topographic and hydrologic signature at landscape to global scales. They underscore a fundamental plant-water feedback pathway that may be critical to understanding plant-mediated global change.

Hydrologic regulation of plant rooting depth

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Ying; Miguez-Macho, Gonzalo; Jobbágy, Esteban G.; Jackson, Robert B.; Otero-Casal, Carlos

2017-10-01

Plant rooting depth affects ecosystem resilience to environmental stress such as drought. Deep roots connect deep soil/groundwater to the atmosphere, thus influencing the hydrologic cycle and climate. Deep roots enhance bedrock weathering, thus regulating the long-term carbon cycle. However, we know little about how deep roots go and why. Here, we present a global synthesis of 2,200 root observations of >1,000 species along biotic (life form, genus) and abiotic (precipitation, soil, drainage) gradients. Results reveal strong sensitivities of rooting depth to local soil water profiles determined by precipitation infiltration depth from the top (reflecting climate and soil), and groundwater table depth from below (reflecting topography-driven land drainage). In well-drained uplands, rooting depth follows infiltration depth; in waterlogged lowlands, roots stay shallow, avoiding oxygen stress below the water table; in between, high productivity and drought can send roots many meters down to the groundwater capillary fringe. This framework explains the contrasting rooting depths observed under the same climate for the same species but at distinct topographic positions. We assess the global significance of these hydrologic mechanisms by estimating root water-uptake depths using an inverse model, based on observed productivity and atmosphere, at 30″ (˜1-km) global grids to capture the topography critical to soil hydrology. The resulting patterns of plant rooting depth bear a strong topographic and hydrologic signature at landscape to global scales. They underscore a fundamental plant-water feedback pathway that may be critical to understanding plant-mediated global change.

Global approach of mean service satisfaction assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed Dooguy Kora

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A theoretical expression for mobile service satisfaction assessment has been proposed. Mobile networks users’ satisfaction is a major concern for the operators and regulators. Therefore a certain level of network qualification is required to be offered to consumers by operators thanks to the decisions initiated by the regulation authority. For the assessment of the level of satisfaction, several methodologies and tools (measuring and monitoring have emerged. Ranking in two broad categories, namely the objective and subjective methods, both have advantages as well as disadvantages. This Letter has proposed a unified approach to evaluate more objectively users’ level of satisfaction of a service based on the most common network key performance indicators (KPIs rate following the different methods. This approach's main advantage is that it has taken advantages of the different positive aspects of the existing methods and outperformed their limitations thanks to the introduced concept of global KPI. In addition, the size of samples according to each method has been considered. A mean service satisfaction theoretical expression has been proposed to regulation authority, consumers association and operators as common base of service satisfaction assessment.

Global Citizenship and Global Universities. The Age of Global Interdependence and Cosmopolitanism

Science.gov (United States)

Torres, Carlos Alberto

2015-01-01

This article focuses on the role of global universities and globalisations in an age of global interdependence and cosmopolitanism. Competing agendas that result from actions and reactions to multiple globalisations are considered in relation to global citizenship education. These agendas are crucial in understanding dilemmas of the local and the…

THE BASIS OF THE MARKET REGULATION OF PAYMENT CARDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khetagurov G. V.

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to basics and the regulation problems of the modern payment cards market. In particular, it addresses the key participants in a payment system, which include the Central Bank, credit organizations, settlement and clearing centers. The paper explores the basic functions of the participants. The author analyzes approaches of card payment systems to development and implementation monitoring of standards and regulations relative to the technology: hardware and software, communication channels, etc. The article contains analysis of information exchange in the framework of payment cards market and specific features of the design and development of a payment infrastructure. It discusses the economic model of the payment cards market, which is based on commission payments. The paper describes the key fees. At the final stage of the study, the author examines the role of different global regulators in the payment card market, conducts an analysis of the foundations of the Russian legislation regulating this market.

The Csr system regulates genome-wide mRNA stability and transcription and thus gene expression in Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Esquerré, Thomas; Bouvier, Marie; Turlan, Catherine; Carpousis, Agamemnon J; Girbal, Laurence; Cocaign-Bousquet, Muriel

2016-04-26

Bacterial adaptation requires large-scale regulation of gene expression. We have performed a genome-wide analysis of the Csr system, which regulates many important cellular functions. The Csr system is involved in post-transcriptional regulation, but a role in transcriptional regulation has also been suggested. Two proteins, an RNA-binding protein CsrA and an atypical signaling protein CsrD, participate in the Csr system. Genome-wide transcript stabilities and levels were compared in wildtype E. coli (MG1655) and isogenic mutant strains deficient in CsrA or CsrD activity demonstrating for the first time that CsrA and CsrD are global negative and positive regulators of transcription, respectively. The role of CsrA in transcription regulation may be indirect due to the 4.6-fold increase in csrD mRNA concentration in the CsrA deficient strain. Transcriptional action of CsrA and CsrD on a few genes was validated by transcriptional fusions. In addition to an effect on transcription, CsrA stabilizes thousands of mRNAs. This is the first demonstration that CsrA is a global positive regulator of mRNA stability. For one hundred genes, we predict that direct control of mRNA stability by CsrA might contribute to metabolic adaptation by regulating expression of genes involved in carbon metabolism and transport independently of transcriptional regulation.

Multilevel governance of global environmental change: perspectives from science, sociology and the law

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Winter, Gerd

2006-01-01

...-regulation, of horizontal transfer of national policies, of regional integration, and of improved coordination between international environmental organisations, as well as basic principles for sustainable use of resources. Addressing both academics and politicians, this book will stimulate the debate about the means of improving global governance. ...

A Global Geospatial Ecosystem Services Estimate of Urban Agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Clinton, Nicholas; Stuhlmacher, Michelle; Miles, Albie; Uludere Aragon, Nazli; Wagner, Melissa; Georgescu, Matei; Herwig, Chris; Gong, Peng

2018-01-01

Though urban agriculture (UA), defined here as growing of crops in cities, is increasing in popularity and importance globally, little is known about the aggregate benefits of such natural capital in built-up areas. Here, we introduce a quantitative framework to assess global aggregate ecosystem services from existing vegetation in cities and an intensive UA adoption scenario based on data-driven estimates of urban morphology and vacant land. We analyzed global population, urban, meteorological, terrain, and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) datasets in Google Earth Engine to derive global scale estimates, aggregated by country, of services provided by UA. We estimate the value of four ecosystem services provided by existing vegetation in urban areas to be on the order of 33 billion annually. We project potential annual food production of 100-180 million tonnes, energy savings ranging from 14 to 15 billion kilowatt hours, nitrogen sequestration between 100,000 and 170,000 tonnes, and avoided storm water runoff between 45 and 57 billion cubic meters annually. In addition, we estimate that food production, nitrogen fixation, energy savings, pollination, climate regulation, soil formation and biological control of pests could be worth as much as 80-160 billion annually in a scenario of intense UA implementation. Our results demonstrate significant country-to-country variability in UA-derived ecosystem services and reduction of food insecurity. These estimates represent the first effort to consistently quantify these incentives globally, and highlight the relative spatial importance of built environments to act as change agents that alleviate mounting concerns associated with global environmental change and unsustainable development.

Lysine acetylation targets protein complexes and co-regulates major cellular functions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Choudhary, Chuna Ram; Kumar, Chanchal; Gnad, Florian

2009-01-01

Lysine acetylation is a reversible posttranslational modification of proteins and plays a key role in regulating gene expression. Technological limitations have so far prevented a global analysis of lysine acetylation's cellular roles. We used high-resolution mass spectrometry to identify 3600......, cell cycle, splicing, nuclear transport, and actin nucleation. Acetylation impaired phosphorylation-dependent interactions of 14-3-3 and regulated the yeast cyclin-dependent kinase Cdc28. Our data demonstrate that the regulatory scope of lysine acetylation is broad and comparable with that of other...

Globalization

OpenAIRE

Tulio Rosembuj

2006-01-01

There is no singular globalization, nor is the result of an individual agent. We could start by saying that global action has different angles and subjects who perform it are different, as well as its objectives. The global is an invisible invasion of materials and immediate effects.

Global phosphoproteomic analysis of human skeletal muscle reveals a network of exercise-regulated kinases and AMPK substrates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hoffman, Nolan J; Parker, Benjamin L; Chaudhuri, Rima

2015-01-01

-intensity exercise bout, revealing 1,004 unique exercise-regulated phosphosites on 562 proteins. These included substrates of known exercise-regulated kinases (AMPK, PKA, CaMK, MAPK, mTOR), yet the majority of kinases and substrate phosphosites have not previously been implicated in exercise signaling. Given...

Gold Mining in the Peruvian Amazon: Global Prices, Deforestation, and Mercury Imports

Science.gov (United States)

Jennifer J Swenson; Catherine E Carter; Jean-Christophe Domec; Cesar I Delgado

2011-01-01

Many factors such as poverty, ineffective institutions and environmental regulations may prevent developing countries from managing how natural resources are extracted to meet a strong market demand. Extraction for some resources has reached such proportions that evidence is measurable from space. We present recent evidence of the global demand for a single commodity...

Global Awareness in the Classroom: Global Classroom Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Education Canada, 2004

2004-01-01

As countries around the world move toward global integration, knowledge of how Canada interrelates globally is becoming an increasingly useful asset. It is important that young Canadians learn what it means to become responsible global citizens. Awareness about global issues and appreciation of Canada's efforts in international development offer a…

Institutionalizing environmental protection through self-regulation: the case of environmental standards adoption in Lithuania.

Science.gov (United States)

Bileisis, Mantas; Misiune, Ieva

2017-04-01

The impacts of human activity in the environment have a global dimension, but there are no effective global governance instruments to enforce environmental standards. At the same time, many national governments lack incentives to pursue strict environmental policies. In this context, self-regulation is seen as an alternative venue to address environmental challenges. This work aims to identify factors that influence companies to engage in environmental self-regulation? For this aim in March 2015 a survey of 482 companies was conducted. The target group were companies operating in Lithuania that hold ISO14001 certificates - one of the most prolific instruments for self-regulation. The questionnaire was designed to test assumptions developed in new institutionalist literature which claim that common practices can emerge through isomorphism.- The results showed that the main motive for environmental self-regulation is the desire to improve company image, rather than protecting the environment per se. Another important finding was that the main source of pressure to adopt self-regulation was based less on the perceived demands but the customers. Rather the driver for the adoption was a feeling of a need no to fall behind industry leaders. Thus, normative isomorphism is the main mechanism through which environmental self-regulation proliferates. We claim for a rapid proliferation of environmental self-regulation perceived industry leaders need to be identified and they need to be persuaded that environmental standards are key for the development of the industry. However, this also raises questions of sustainability. Few industries have long standing leaders, and through successful investment and technological development new actors can arise and this may risk stalling or even reversing self-regulation.

Graduated Sovereignty and Global Governance Gaps: Special Economic Zones and the Illicit Trade In Tobacco Products.

Science.gov (United States)

Holden, Chris

2017-07-01

Illicit trade in tobacco products has been a significant problem globally for many years. It allows cigarettes to be sold far below their legal price and thus contributes to higher consumption, morbidity and mortality, and deprives state treasuries of a substantial amount of revenue. This article identifies special economic zones (SEZs), particularly free trade zones, as a key conduit for this illicit trade. The development of SEZs as weak points in the global governance architecture is explained with reference to the concept of 'graduated sovereignty', whereby the uniform management of territory by modern states has given way to a more spatially selective form of territorial governance, in which some slices of territory are more fully integrated into the world economy than others via various forms of differential regulation. Attempts to comprehensively (re)regulate SEZs, in the face of growing evidence of the dysfunctionalities that they can engender, have so far been unsuccessful. It is concluded that the neo-liberal global economy has facilitated a regulatory 'race to the bottom', a problem that can only ultimately be overcome by international negotiation and agreement.

The Influence of Low-carbon Economy on Global Trade Pattern

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao-jing, Guo

Since global warming has seriously endangered the living environment of human being and their health and safety, the development of low-carbon economy has become an irreversible global trend. Under the background of economic globalization, low-carbon economy will surely exert a significant impact on global trade pattern. Countries are paying more and more attention to the green trade. The emission permits trade of carbon between the developed countries and the developing countries has become more mature than ever. The carbon tariff caused by the distribution of the "big cake" will make the low-cost advantage in developing countries cease to exist, which will, in turn, affect the foreign trade, economic development, employment and people's living in developing countries. Therefore, under the background of this trend, we should perfect the relevant laws and regulations on trade and environment as soon as possible, optimize trade structure, promote greatly the development of service trade, transform thoroughly the mode of development in foreign trade, take advantage of the international carbon trading market by increasing the added value of export products resulted from technological innovation to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results and promote common development.

Metabolic Regulation of a Bacterial Cell System with Emphasis on Escherichia coli Metabolism

Science.gov (United States)

Shimizu, Kazuyuki

2013-01-01

It is quite important to understand the overall metabolic regulation mechanism of bacterial cells such as Escherichia coli from both science (such as biochemistry) and engineering (such as metabolic engineering) points of view. Here, an attempt was made to clarify the overall metabolic regulation mechanism by focusing on the roles of global regulators which detect the culture or growth condition and manipulate a set of metabolic pathways by modulating the related gene expressions. For this, it was considered how the cell responds to a variety of culture environments such as carbon (catabolite regulation), nitrogen, and phosphate limitations, as well as the effects of oxygen level, pH (acid shock), temperature (heat shock), and nutrient starvation. PMID:25937963

Globalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tulio Rosembuj

2006-12-01

Full Text Available There is no singular globalization, nor is the result of an individual agent. We could start by saying that global action has different angles and subjects who perform it are different, as well as its objectives. The global is an invisible invasion of materials and immediate effects.

Business Conflict and Risk Regulation: Understanding the Influence of the Pesticide Industry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jansen, Kees

2017-01-01

Despite the criticism, frequent in the literature, of business influence on the formulation of pesticide risk regulation, there has been remarkably little systematic study of this practice. This article discusses Costa Rica pesticide producers’ business influence on global and national efforts to

Comprehensive effective and efficient global public health surveillance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McNabb Scott JN

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract At a crossroads, global public health surveillance exists in a fragmented state. Slow to detect, register, confirm, and analyze cases of public health significance, provide feedback, and communicate timely and useful information to stakeholders, global surveillance is neither maximally effective nor optimally efficient. Stakeholders lack a globa surveillance consensus policy and strategy; officials face inadequate training and scarce resources. Three movements now set the stage for transformation of surveillance: 1 adoption by Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO of the revised International Health Regulations (IHR[2005]; 2 maturation of information sciences and the penetration of information technologies to distal parts of the globe; and 3 consensus that the security and public health communities have overlapping interests and a mutual benefit in supporting public health functions. For these to enhance surveillance competencies, eight prerequisites should be in place: politics, policies, priorities, perspectives, procedures, practices, preparation, and payers. To achieve comprehensive, global surveillance, disparities in technical, logistic, governance, and financial capacities must be addressed. Challenges to closing these gaps include the lack of trust and transparency; perceived benefit at various levels; global governance to address data power and control; and specified financial support from globa partners. We propose an end-state perspective for comprehensive, effective and efficient global, multiple-hazard public health surveillance and describe a way forward to achieve it. This end-state is universal, global access to interoperable public health information when it’s needed, where it’s needed. This vision mitigates the tension between two fundamental human rights: first, the right to privacy, confidentiality, and security of personal health information combined with the right of sovereign, national entities

Comprehensive effective and efficient global public health surveillance.

Science.gov (United States)

McNabb, Scott J N

2010-12-03

At a crossroads, global public health surveillance exists in a fragmented state. Slow to detect, register, confirm, and analyze cases of public health significance, provide feedback, and communicate timely and useful information to stakeholders, global surveillance is neither maximally effective nor optimally efficient. Stakeholders lack a globa surveillance consensus policy and strategy; officials face inadequate training and scarce resources.Three movements now set the stage for transformation of surveillance: 1) adoption by Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) of the revised International Health Regulations (IHR[2005]); 2) maturation of information sciences and the penetration of information technologies to distal parts of the globe; and 3) consensus that the security and public health communities have overlapping interests and a mutual benefit in supporting public health functions. For these to enhance surveillance competencies, eight prerequisites should be in place: politics, policies, priorities, perspectives, procedures, practices, preparation, and payers.To achieve comprehensive, global surveillance, disparities in technical, logistic, governance, and financial capacities must be addressed. Challenges to closing these gaps include the lack of trust and transparency; perceived benefit at various levels; global governance to address data power and control; and specified financial support from globa partners.We propose an end-state perspective for comprehensive, effective and efficient global, multiple-hazard public health surveillance and describe a way forward to achieve it. This end-state is universal, global access to interoperable public health information when it's needed, where it's needed. This vision mitigates the tension between two fundamental human rights: first, the right to privacy, confidentiality, and security of personal health information combined with the right of sovereign, national entities to the ownership and stewardship

Future atmospheric abundances and climate forcings from scenarios of global and regional hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Velders, Guus J. M.; Fahey, David W.; Daniel, John S.; Andersen, Stephen O.; McFarland, Mack

2015-12-01

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are manufactured for use as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances that are being phased out globally under Montreal Protocol regulations. While HFCs do not deplete ozone, many are potent greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. Here, new global scenarios show that baseline emissions of HFCs could reach 4.0-5.3 GtCO2-eq yr-1 in 2050. The new baseline (or business-as-usual) scenarios are formulated for 10 HFC compounds, 11 geographic regions, and 13 use categories. The scenarios rely on detailed data reported by countries to the United Nations; projections of gross domestic product and population; and recent observations of HFC atmospheric abundances. In the baseline scenarios, by 2050 China (31%), India and the rest of Asia (23%), the Middle East and northern Africa (11%), and the USA (10%) are the principal source regions for global HFC emissions; and refrigeration (40-58%) and stationary air conditioning (21-40%) are the major use sectors. The corresponding radiative forcing could reach 0.22-0.25 W m-2 in 2050, which would be 12-24% of the increase from business-as-usual CO2 emissions from 2015 to 2050. National regulations to limit HFC use have already been adopted in the European Union, Japan and USA, and proposals have been submitted to amend the Montreal Protocol to substantially reduce growth in HFC use. Calculated baseline emissions are reduced by 90% in 2050 by implementing the North America Montreal Protocol amendment proposal. Global adoption of technologies required to meet national regulations would be sufficient to reduce 2050 baseline HFC consumption by more than 50% of that achieved with the North America proposal for most developed and developing countries.

Reflections on 'medical tourism' from the 2016 Global Healthcare Policy and Management Forum

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Crooks, V.A.; Ormond, M.E.; Jin, Ki Nam

2017-01-01

In October 2016, the Global Healthcare Policy and Management Forum was held at Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea. The goal of the forum was to discuss the role of the state in regulating and supporting the development of medical tourism. Forum attendees came from 10 countries. In this short

The global response of Nostoc punctiforme ATCC 29133 to UVA stress, assessed in a temporal DNA microarray study.

Science.gov (United States)

Soule, Tanya; Gao, Qunjie; Stout, Valerie; Garcia-Pichel, Ferran

2013-01-01

Cyanobacteria in nature are exposed not only to the visible spectrum of sunlight but also to its harmful ultraviolet components (UVA and UVB). We used Nostoc punctiforme ATCC 29133 as a model to study the UVA response by analyzing global gene expression patterns using genomic microarrays. UVA exposure resulted in the statistically detectable differential expression of 573 genes of the 6903 that were probed, compared with that of the control cultures. Of those genes, 473 were up-regulated, while only 100 were down-regulated. Many of the down-regulated genes were involved in photosynthetic pigment biosynthesis, indicating a significant shift in this metabolism. As expected, we detected the up-regulation of genes encoding antioxidant enzymes and the sunscreen, scytonemin. However, a majority of the up-regulated genes, 47%, were unassignable bioinformatically to known functional categories, suggesting that the UVA stress response is not well understood. Interestingly, the most dramatic up-regulation involved several contiguous genes of unassigned metabolism on plasmid A. This is the first global UVA stress response analysis of any phototrophic microorganism and the differential expression of 8% of the genes of the Nostoc genome indicates that adaptation to UVA in Nostoc has been an evolutionary force of significance. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Photochemistry and Photobiology © 2012 The American Society of Photobiology.

RISK AS AN OBJECT OF STATE REGULATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Perfilyev A. A.

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to consider the possible mechanism of enterprise risk management from macroeconomic perspective. The need for investment risk management from the standpoint of the economy as a whole is determined by the following circumstances. Financial market conditions affecting the investment decisions of companies raises the financial markets in the category of the main sources of investment resources. This creates a state's interest in the effect on these sources, but it doesn't have effective ways to influence the investors’ decisions. Transition of regulator from influencing the cash flows to the regulation of investment activity creates a new paradigm for the financial management of the economy, which is based on a well-known fact that in the global economy the demand for goods and services is presented as a demand, mediated by investment decisions. The motives and mechanisms of investment decisions in a closed economy are well described by modern financial theory. In financial theory a mechanism of financial risk management is developed primarily from the standpoint of an investor, ignoring the problem in a broader context - within whole financial market of a country. Expanding the area of investment decisions international financial markets generate a need for new approaches to study of investment risks of corporations, which in this field are connected with country risk and should be considered as an object of state regulation. An analysis of fundamentals of the financial theory about the behavior of the investor, the state and the role of global financial markets in the choice of investors reveals that investment motives of corporations and mechanisms of regulators' influence on the cash flow are loosely bound in the matter of the volume of investments, which ones agree to implement, while others expect to receive. In our view, there is a need for a mechanism allowing the state to influence the investment decisions

Global Strategy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Peter Ping

2013-01-01

Global strategy differs from domestic strategy in terms of content and process as well as context and structure. The content of global strategy can contain five key elements, while the process of global strategy can have six major stages. These are expounded below. Global strategy is influenced...... by rich and complementary local contexts with diverse resource pools and game rules at the national level to form a broad ecosystem at the global level. Further, global strategy dictates the interaction or balance between different entry strategies at the levels of internal and external networks....

Understanding health systems, health economies and globalization: the need for social science perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Susan F; Bisht, Ramila; Baru, Rama; Pitchforth, Emma

2012-08-31

The complex relationship between globalization and health calls for research from many disciplinary and methodological perspectives. This editorial gives an overview of the content trajectory of the interdisciplinary journal 'Globalization and Health' over the first six years of production, 2005 to 2010. The findings show that bio-medical and population health perspectives have been dominant but that social science perspectives have become more evident in recent years. The types of paper published have also changed, with a growing proportion of empirical studies. A special issue on 'Health systems, health economies and globalization: social science perspectives' is introduced, a collection of contributions written from the vantage points of economics, political science, psychology, sociology, business studies, social policy and research policy. The papers concern a range of issues pertaining to the globalization of healthcare markets and governance and regulation issues. They highlight the important contribution that can be made by the social sciences to this field, and also the practical and methodological challenges implicit in the study of globalization and health.

Understanding health systems, health economies and globalization: the need for social science perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murray Susan F

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract The complex relationship between globalization and health calls for research from many disciplinary and methodological perspectives. This editorial gives an overview of the content trajectory of the interdisciplinary journal ‘Globalization and Health’ over the first six years of production, 2005 to 2010. The findings show that bio-medical and population health perspectives have been dominant but that social science perspectives have become more evident in recent years. The types of paper published have also changed, with a growing proportion of empirical studies. A special issue on ‘Health systems, health economies and globalization: social science perspectives’ is introduced, a collection of contributions written from the vantage points of economics, political science, psychology, sociology, business studies, social policy and research policy. The papers concern a range of issues pertaining to the globalization of healthcare markets and governance and regulation issues. They highlight the important contribution that can be made by the social sciences to this field, and also the practical and methodological challenges implicit in the study of globalization and health.

World health organization perspective on implementation of International Health Regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Hardiman, Maxwell Charles

2012-07-01

In 2005, the International Health Regulations were adopted at the 58th World Health Assembly; in June 2007, they were entered into force for most countries. In 2012, the world is approaching a major 5-year milestone in the global commitment to ensure national capacities to identify, investigate, assess, and respond to public health events. In the past 5 years, existing programs have been boosted and some new activities relating to International Health Regulations provisions have been successfully established. The lessons and experience of the past 5 years need to be drawn upon to provide improved direction for the future.

International earth science information network for global change decision making

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Autrey-Hunley, C.; Kuhn, W.R.; Kasischke, E.; Trichel, M.T.; Coppola, R.

1991-01-01

Effective environmental decision making depends upon the ability to predict physical changes in the environment, societal responses to these changes, and how both the physical changes and societal responses will be affected by changes in government regulations, public perceptions and the environment. Technological advances in remote sensing have provided a wealth of earth science data necessary to study global change problems; the Earth Observatory System will provide an unprecedented data source in the late 1990's. The Consortium for an International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) will combine earth science data (both satellite and ground-based) with data on the social sciences (e.g., economics, demographics, public health) to support informed policy decisions and to transfer knowledge on global change and its causes to the public.

Reporting of Outbreaks of Foodborne Illness under the International Health Regulations

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

During the past 20 years, the global food trade has increased and, with it, the potential for the spread of foodborne illnesses caused by imported foods. The World Health Organization in 2007 implemented new International Health Regulations which help guide reporting of foodborne outbreaks. In this podcast, CDC's Dr. Scott McNabb discusses a study in the September 2008 issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases which analyzed foodborne outbreaks in Australia in the early part of this decade and assessed how many would have been reported under the current health regulations.

EU Criminal Law and the Regulation of Information and Communication Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah Summers

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The opportunities afforded by the global information space give rise to the potential for the commission of new crimes –crimes such as hacking or denial of service attacks– and for existing crimes, such as speech offences or fraud, to be committed in new ways and with potentially larger consequences. One of the biggest challenges for the regulation of information and communications technology is that the global information space does not respect national boundaries. In order to be successful, any regulatory approach will call for some degree of cooperation between countries. This poses an obvious problem for those seeking to develop a regulatory structure. This challenge is particularly relevant in the criminal law context, as the criminal law has traditionally been considered to be the product and responsibility of national law. This article considers the EU’s regulatory approach in this area. The aim here is not to offer a critique of the EU’s regulatory structure in the context of cybercrime, but rather to use the situation in the EU to illustrate various issues arising in the context of the criminal law regulation of information and communications technology. This article examines some of the issues which have arisen in the context of the regulation of cyber activity at the EU level as a result of this tension between national sovereignty and broader overarching EU regulation and assesses the relevance of these issues in the context of criminal law regulation more broadly. Consideration of the processes of criminalisation and harmonisation provides the basis for an analysis of the manner in which the EU seeks to justify its involvement in criminal law in this field.

Evolution of Bacterial Global Modulators: Role of a Novel H-NS Paralogue in the Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli Strain 042.

Science.gov (United States)

Prieto, A; Bernabeu, M; Aznar, S; Ruiz-Cruz, S; Bravo, A; Queiroz, M H; Juárez, A

2018-01-01

Bacterial genomes sometimes contain genes that code for homologues of global regulators, the function of which is unclear. In members of the family Enterobacteriaceae , cells express the global regulator H-NS and its paralogue StpA. In Escherichia coli , out of providing a molecular backup for H-NS, the role of StpA is poorly characterized. The enteroaggregative E. coli strain 042 carries, in addition to the hns and stpA genes, a third gene encoding an hns paralogue ( hns2 ). We present in this paper information about its biological function. Transcriptomic analysis has shown that the H-NS2 protein targets a subset of the genes targeted by H-NS. Genes targeted by H-NS2 correspond mainly with horizontally transferred (HGT) genes and are also targeted by the Hha protein, a fine-tuner of H-NS activity. Compared with H-NS, H-NS2 expression levels are lower. In addition, H-NS2 expression exhibits specific features: it is sensitive to the growth temperature and to the nature of the culture medium. This novel H-NS paralogue is widespread within the Enterobacteriaceae . IMPORTANCE Global regulators such as H-NS play key relevant roles enabling bacterial cells to adapt to a changing environment. H-NS modulates both core and horizontally transferred (HGT) genes, but the mechanism by which H-NS can differentially regulate these genes remains to be elucidated. There are several instances of bacterial cells carrying genes that encode homologues of the global regulators. The question is what the roles of these proteins are. We noticed that the enteroaggregative E. coli strain 042 carries a new hitherto uncharacterized copy of the hns gene. We decided to investigate why this pathogenic E. coli strain requires an extra H-NS paralogue, termed H-NS2. In our work, we show that H-NS2 displays specific expression and regulatory properties. H-NS2 targets a subset of H-NS-specific genes and may help to differentially modulate core and HGT genes by the H-NS cellular pool.

Multi-regional clinical trials and global drug development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Premnath Shenoy

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Drug development has been globalized, and multi-regional clinical trial (MRCT for regulatory submission has widely been conducted by many discovery based global pharmaceutical companies with the objective of reducing the time lag of launch in key markets and improve patient access to new and innovative treatments. Sponsors are facing several challenges while conducting multiregional clinical trials. Challenges under the heads statistics, clinical, regulatory operational, and ethics have been discussed. Regulators in different countries such as USA, EU-Japan, and China have issued guidance documents in respect of MRCT's. Lack of harmonization in the design and planning of MRCT is perceived to create a difficult situation to sponsors adversely affecting progressing MRCT in more and more discoveries. International conference on hormonisation (ICH has initiated the process for having a harmonized guidance document on MRCT. This document is likely to be issued in early 2017.

Global Development of Commercial Underground Coal Gasification

Science.gov (United States)

Blinderman, M. S.

2017-07-01

Global development of Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) is considered here in light of latest trends of energy markets and environmental regulations in the countries that have been traditional proponents of UCG. The latest period of UCG development triggered by initial success of the Chinchilla UCG project (1997-2006) has been characterized by preponderance of privately and share-market funded developments. The deceleration of UCG commercialization has been in part caused by recent significant decrease of world oil, gas and coal prices. Another substantial factor was lack of necessary regulations governing extraction and conversion of coal by UCG method in the jurisdictions where the UCG projects were proposed and developed. Along with these objective causes there seem to have been more subjective and technical reasons for a slowdown or cancelation of several significant UCG projects, including low efficiency, poor environmental performance, and inability to demonstrate technology at a sufficient scale and/or at a competitive cost. Latest proposals for UCG projects are briefly reviewed.

The impact of endurance exercise on global and AMPK gene-specific DNA methylation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

King-Himmelreich, Tanya S.; Schramm, Stefanie; Wolters, Miriam C.; Schmetzer, Julia; Möser, Christine V.; Knothe, Claudia [pharmazentrum frankfurt/ZAFES, Institut für Klinische Pharmakologie, Klinikum der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Theodor Stern Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Resch, Eduard [Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME), Project Group for Translational Medicine & Pharmacology (TMP), 60596, Frankfurt/Main (Germany); Peil, Johannes [Sports Clinic, Bad Nauheim, MCI GmbH, In der Aue 30-32, 61231, Bad Nauheim (Germany); Geisslinger, Gerd [pharmazentrum frankfurt/ZAFES, Institut für Klinische Pharmakologie, Klinikum der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Theodor Stern Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME), Project Group for Translational Medicine & Pharmacology (TMP), 60596, Frankfurt/Main (Germany); Niederberger, Ellen, E-mail: e.niederberger@em.uni-frankfurt.de [pharmazentrum frankfurt/ZAFES, Institut für Klinische Pharmakologie, Klinikum der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Theodor Stern Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt am Main (Germany)

2016-05-27

Alterations in gene expression as a consequence of physical exercise are frequently described. The mechanism of these regulations might depend on epigenetic changes in global or gene-specific DNA methylation levels. The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) plays a key role in maintenance of energy homeostasis and is activated by increases in the AMP/ATP ratio as occurring in skeletal muscles after sporting activity. To analyze whether exercise has an impact on the methylation status of the AMPK promoter, we determined the AMPK methylation status in human blood samples from patients before and after sporting activity in the context of rehabilitation as well as in skeletal muscles of trained and untrained mice. Further, we examined long interspersed nuclear element 1 (LINE-1) as indicator of global DNA methylation changes. Our results revealed that light sporting activity in mice and humans does not alter global DNA methylation but has an effect on methylation of specific CpG sites in the AMPKα2 gene. These regulations were associated with a reduced AMPKα2 mRNA and protein expression in muscle tissue, pointing at a contribution of the methylation status to AMPK expression. Taken together, these results suggest that exercise influences AMPKα2 gene methylation in human blood and eminently in the skeletal muscle of mice and therefore might repress AMPKα2 gene expression. -- Highlights: •AMPK gene methylation increases after moderate endurance exercise in humans and mice. •AMPKα mRNA and protein decrease after moderate endurance exercise in mice. •Global DNA methylation is not affected under the same conditions.

The impact of endurance exercise on global and AMPK gene-specific DNA methylation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King-Himmelreich, Tanya S.; Schramm, Stefanie; Wolters, Miriam C.; Schmetzer, Julia; Möser, Christine V.; Knothe, Claudia; Resch, Eduard; Peil, Johannes; Geisslinger, Gerd; Niederberger, Ellen

2016-01-01

Alterations in gene expression as a consequence of physical exercise are frequently described. The mechanism of these regulations might depend on epigenetic changes in global or gene-specific DNA methylation levels. The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) plays a key role in maintenance of energy homeostasis and is activated by increases in the AMP/ATP ratio as occurring in skeletal muscles after sporting activity. To analyze whether exercise has an impact on the methylation status of the AMPK promoter, we determined the AMPK methylation status in human blood samples from patients before and after sporting activity in the context of rehabilitation as well as in skeletal muscles of trained and untrained mice. Further, we examined long interspersed nuclear element 1 (LINE-1) as indicator of global DNA methylation changes. Our results revealed that light sporting activity in mice and humans does not alter global DNA methylation but has an effect on methylation of specific CpG sites in the AMPKα2 gene. These regulations were associated with a reduced AMPKα2 mRNA and protein expression in muscle tissue, pointing at a contribution of the methylation status to AMPK expression. Taken together, these results suggest that exercise influences AMPKα2 gene methylation in human blood and eminently in the skeletal muscle of mice and therefore might repress AMPKα2 gene expression. -- Highlights: •AMPK gene methylation increases after moderate endurance exercise in humans and mice. •AMPKα mRNA and protein decrease after moderate endurance exercise in mice. •Global DNA methylation is not affected under the same conditions.

The Collaboration Challenge: Global Partnerships to Achieve Global Goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Bzdak, Michael

2017-01-01

As capitalism is being re-invented and the voices of multiple stakeholders are becoming more prevalent and demanding, it is the perfect time for the private sector to embrace large-scale collaboration and a shared sense of purpose. Since the explosive growth of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the 1990s, a new era of responsibility, purpose and a re-envisioned capitalism are dramatically apparent. Beyond financial support, business leaders have the opportunity to galvanize networks, advocate for regulation and policy change, and form supporting consortia to support global development. The role of the private sector in development has changed significantly from a model of benevolent contributor to a model of collaborator, investor, business partner and exponential value creator. The new era of collaboration should move beyond a shared value mindset to new models of partnership where each contributor plays an equal role in defining challenges and designing solutions with the greater goal of sustainable value creation. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have the unprecedented opportunity to take leadership roles in engaging the private sector in more game-changing collaborations.

Scaling properties reveal regulation of river flows in the Amazon through a forest reservoir

Science.gov (United States)

Salazar, Juan Fernando; Villegas, Juan Camilo; María Rendón, Angela; Rodríguez, Estiven; Hoyos, Isabel; Mercado-Bettín, Daniel; Poveda, Germán

2018-03-01

Many natural and social phenomena depend on river flow regimes that are being altered by global change. Understanding the mechanisms behind such alterations is crucial for predicting river flow regimes in a changing environment. Here we introduce a novel physical interpretation of the scaling properties of river flows and show that it leads to a parsimonious characterization of the flow regime of any river basin. This allows river basins to be classified as regulated or unregulated, and to identify a critical threshold between these states. We applied this framework to the Amazon river basin and found both states among its main tributaries. Then we introduce the forest reservoir hypothesis to describe the natural capacity of river basins to regulate river flows through land-atmosphere interactions (mainly precipitation recycling) that depend strongly on the presence of forests. A critical implication is that forest loss can force the Amazonian river basins from regulated to unregulated states. Our results provide theoretical and applied foundations for predicting hydrological impacts of global change, including the detection of early-warning signals for critical transitions in river basins.

Global Peace through the Global University System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cengiz Hakan AYDIN

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Utopia is defined in Encarta Dictionary as “an ideal and perfect place or state, where everyone lives in harmony and everything is for the best.” Developments all around the world especially in the last decade have supported the idea that global peace is nothing but just a utopian dream. However, for centuries a group of believers have always been in search of global peace via different means. This book, titled as “Global Peace through the Global University System”, can be considered as one of the artifacts of this search.Actually this book is a collection of papers presented in working conference on the Global University System (GUS hosted by the University of Tampere, Finland in 1999. The main goal of the conference was bringing international experts to share their philosophy, past and present experiences about the GUS. The conference was held by the University of Tampere because UNESCO has an agreement with the University to establish the UNESCOChair in Global e-Learning.

Transnational anew, competitive at last: the oil market in the globalization era

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noel, P.

2003-01-01

International political economy can be conceived as the study of the interaction between the confrontation of state sovereignties, whose regulation is primarily a question of power and secondarily of norms and institutional procedures and global economic activity (production and exchanges), which is a process of strategic interaction. The problem consists then in understanding how these two components are linked, influence over each other, support or conflict with each other in the global oil system. To consider oil in terms of International Political Economy (IPE), is thus to see it simultaneously as a potential object of inter-state confrontation and of economic competition. (A.L.B.)

Transnational anew, competitive at last: the oil market in the globalization era

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noel, P

2003-07-01

International political economy can be conceived as the study of the interaction between the confrontation of state sovereignties, whose regulation is primarily a question of power and secondarily of norms and institutional procedures and global economic activity (production and exchanges), which is a process of strategic interaction. The problem consists then in understanding how these two components are linked, influence over each other, support or conflict with each other in the global oil system. To consider oil in terms of International Political Economy (IPE), is thus to see it simultaneously as a potential object of inter-state confrontation and of economic competition. (A.L.B.)