The legal regulation of career course in Latvian Police

OpenAIRE

Kitija Bite

2013-01-01

ANNOTATION The research „The legal regulation of career course in Latvian Police” describes the existing legal regulation of all Service elements. In order to unveil the intended purpose several aspects were analyzed – selection and professional training for the Service, organization of the career and termination of legal relationships. The structure of the research is constituted by the given elements, where a chapter is dedicated to each of them. With regard to foreign exp...

Exploiting the oil-GDP effect to support renewables deployment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Awerbuch, Shimon; Sauter, Raphael

2006-01-01

The empirical evidence from a growing body of academic literature clearly suggests that oil price increases and volatility dampen macroeconomic growth by raising inflation and unemployment and by depressing the value of financial and other assets. Surprisingly, this issue seems to have received little attention from energy policy makers. In percentage terms, the oil-GDP effect is relatively small, producing losses in the order of 0.5% of GDP for a 10% oil price increase. In absolute terms however, even a 10% oil price rise-oil has risen at least 50% in the last year alone-produces GDP losses that, could they have been averted, would significantly offset the cost of increased RE deployment. This paper draws on the empirical oil-GDP literature, which we summarize, to show that (i) by displacing gas and oil, renewable energy investments can help nations avoid costly macroeconomic losses produced by the oil-GDP effect and (ii) that these avoided losses represent a significant external macroeconomic benefit of such investments. We show that a 10% increase in RE share avoids GDP losses in the range of $29-$53 billion in the US and the EU ($49-$90 billion for OECD). These avoided losses offset one-fifth of the RE investment needs projected by the EREC and half the OECD investment projected by a G-8 Task Force. For the US, the figures further suggest that each additional kW of renewables, on average, avoids $250-$450 in GDP losses, a figure that varies across technologies as a function of annual capacity factors. We approximate that the offset is worth $200/kW for wind and solar and $800/kW for geothermal and biomass. While we focus only on renewables, the GDP offset will apply in some measure to other non-fossil technologies including energy efficiency, DSM and nuclear. The societal valuation of non-fossil alternatives must reflect these avoided GDP losses, whose benefit is not fully captured by private investors. This said, we fully recognize that wealth created in this

Exploiting the oil-GDP effect to support renewables deployment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Awerbuch, S.; Sauter, R.

2006-01-01

The empirical evidence from a growing body of academic literature clearly suggests that oil price increases and volatility dampen macroeconomic growth by raising inflation and unemployment and by depressing the value of financial and other assets. Surprisingly, this issue seems to have received little attention from energy policy makers. In percentage terms, the oil-GDP effect is relatively small, producing losses in the order of 0.5% of GDP for a 10% oil price increase. In absolute terms however, even a 10% oil price rise-oil has risen at least 50% in the last year alone-produces GDP losses that, could they have been averted, would significantly offset the cost of increased RE deployment. This paper draws on the empirical oil-GDP literature, which we summarize, to show that (i) by displacing gas and oil, renewable energy investments can help nations avoid costly macroeconomic losses produced by the oil-GDP effect and, (ii) that these avoided losses represent a significant external macroeconomic benefit of such investments. We show that a 10% increase in RE share avoids GDP losses in the range of $29-$53 billion in the US and the EU ($49-$90 billion for OECD). These avoided losses offset one-fifth of the RE investment needs projected by the EREC and half the OECD investment projected by a G-8 Task Force. For the US, the figures further suggest that each additional kW of renewables, on average, avoids $250-$450 in GDP losses, a figure that varies across technologies as a function of annual capacity factors. We approximate that the offset is worth $200/kW for wind and solar and $800/kW for geothermal and biomass. While we focus only on renewables, the GDP offset will apply in some measure to other non-fossil technologies including energy efficiency, DSM and nuclear. The societal valuation of non-fossil alternatives must reflect these avoided GDP losses, whose benefit is not fully captured by private investors. This said, we fully recognize that wealth created in this

Myths and reality of «latvian national opposition» in the second world war: struggle for free Latvia or ordinary fascism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Е Н Панин

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The theme researched by the author has important historical-political significance. The author showed the essence of the «Latvian national opposition during the Second World War that played an auxiliary role for Hitler Germany in its plans for world domination - in bloody crimes against humanity. Being covered by «noble slogans of protection of Latvia from bolshevism», Latvian nationalists and fascists were the instrument in the war against the Soviet Union.

Short-Term Forecasting of Loads and Wind Power for Latvian Power System: Accuracy and Capacity of the Developed Tools

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Radziukynas V.

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The paper analyses the performance results of the recently developed short-term forecasting suit for the Latvian power system. The system load and wind power are forecasted using ANN and ARIMA models, respectively, and the forecasting accuracy is evaluated in terms of errors, mean absolute errors and mean absolute percentage errors. The investigation of influence of additional input variables on load forecasting errors is performed. The interplay of hourly loads and wind power forecasting errors is also evaluated for the Latvian power system with historical loads (the year 2011 and planned wind power capacities (the year 2023.

Short-Term Forecasting of Loads and Wind Power for Latvian Power System: Accuracy and Capacity of the Developed Tools

Science.gov (United States)

Radziukynas, V.; Klementavičius, A.

2016-04-01

The paper analyses the performance results of the recently developed short-term forecasting suit for the Latvian power system. The system load and wind power are forecasted using ANN and ARIMA models, respectively, and the forecasting accuracy is evaluated in terms of errors, mean absolute errors and mean absolute percentage errors. The investigation of influence of additional input variables on load forecasting errors is performed. The interplay of hourly loads and wind power forecasting errors is also evaluated for the Latvian power system with historical loads (the year 2011) and planned wind power capacities (the year 2023).

Grandmothers migrating, working and caring: Latvian women between survival and self-realisation

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King Russell

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the circumstances surrounding the migration of older Latvian women and their multi-dimensional lives as economic migrants and as distant carers and supporters of diverse family members who remain in Latvia. In post-Soviet Latvia, especially since the 2008 financial crisis and the austerity measures which took away hope for a decent old-age pension, older women migrate abroad in order to salvage their economic wellbeing and support their multi-generation families, which can run to four generations – their children and grandchildren plus, often, their elderly parents. Migration enables these women to maintain multidirectional flows of care and also to achieve economic and psychosocial independence. Therefore, care practices that reach four generations put the figure of the grandmother at the core of transnational care relations. Research evidence for this paper comprises 50 in-depth interviews with older Latvian migrant women aged from their mid-40s to their late 60s in the UK and elsewhere. The paper demonstrates the complexity and richness of these women’s working lives, built around enhanced economic wellbeing, multiple and transnational caring responsibilities, and a new sense of self-worth and empowerment.

Geographic origin of publications in radiological journals as a function of GDP and percentage of GDP spent on research.

Science.gov (United States)

Halpenny, Darragh; Burke, John; McNeill, Graeme; Snow, Aisling; Torreggiani, William C

2010-06-01

The aim of this study was to examine the geographic origin of publications in the highest impacting radiology journals and to examine the link between the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) spent on research by a country and the output of radiology publications. The five highest impacting general radiology journals (according to the ISI Web of Knowledge database) were selected over a 6-year period from January 2002 to December 2007. Publications were totaled according to the country of the corresponding author. Publications (total and corrected for population size) were assessed according to the GDP of a given country and the percentage of GDP spent on research in that country. Correlation was determined using Spearman's rank. In total, 10,925 papers were identified. The top 10 nations produced 83.9% of the total number of papers. The United States was the most prolific country, with 41.7% of the total. The second-ranked and third-ranked countries were Germany (11.6%) and Japan (6.7%). Corrected for GDP, smaller European countries outperformed larger nations. Switzerland (0.925 publications per billion of GDP), Austria (0.694 publications per billion of GDP), and Belgium (0.648 publications per billion of GDP) produced the most papers per billion of GDP. When corrected for percentage of GDP spent on research, European countries again ranked highest, with Greece, Turkey, and Belgium having the best ratios. The percentage of GDP spent on research was positively correlated with the number of publications in high-ranking radiology journals (r = 0.603, P GDP and the percentage of GDP spent on research may give more meaningful results. When GDP is taken into consideration, smaller European countries are more productive. The importance of investment in radiologic research is emphasized by the association between increased funding of research and the number of publications in high-impacting radiology journals. Copyright (c) 2010 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All

Structures of NodZ α1,6-fucosyltransferase in complex with GDP and GDP-fucose

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brzezinski, Krzysztof [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States); Polish Academy of Sciences, 61-704 Poznan (Poland); Dauter, Zbigniew [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States); Jaskolski, Mariusz, E-mail: mariuszj@amu.edu.pl [Polish Academy of Sciences, 61-704 Poznan (Poland); A. Mickiewicz University, 60-780 Poznan (Poland); Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States)

2012-02-01

Crystal structures of the bacterial α1,6-fucosyltransferase NodZ in complex with GDP and GDP-fucose are presented. Rhizobial NodZ α1,6-fucosyltransferase (α1,6-FucT) catalyzes the transfer of the fucose (Fuc) moiety from guanosine 5′-diphosphate-β-l-fucose to the reducing end of the chitin oligosaccharide core during Nod-factor (NF) biosynthesis. NF is a key signalling molecule required for successful symbiosis with a legume host for atmospheric nitrogen fixation. To date, only two α1,6-FucT structures have been determined, both without any donor or acceptor molecule that could highlight the structural background of the catalytic mechanism. Here, the first crystal structures of α1,6-FucT in complex with its substrate GDP-Fuc and with GDP, which is a byproduct of the enzymatic reaction, are presented. The crystal of the complex with GDP-Fuc was obtained through soaking of native NodZ crystals with the ligand and its structure has been determined at 2.35 Å resolution. The fucose residue is exposed to solvent and is disordered. The enzyme–product complex crystal was obtained by cocrystallization with GDP and an acceptor molecule, penta-N-acetyl-l-glucosamine (penta-NAG). The structure has been determined at 1.98 Å resolution, showing that only the GDP molecule is present in the complex. In both structures the ligands are located in a cleft formed between the two domains of NodZ and extend towards the C-terminal domain, but their conformations differ significantly. The structures revealed that residues in three regions of the C-terminal domain, which are conserved among α1,2-, α1,6- and protein O-fucosyltransferases, are involved in interactions with the sugar-donor molecule. There is also an interaction with the side chain of Tyr45 in the N-terminal domain, which is very unusual for a GT-B-type glycosyltransferase. Only minor conformational changes of the protein backbone are observed upon ligand binding. The only exception is a movement of the loop

Implementing US GDP in Chained Prices for Cross-country GDP Growth and Sectoral Comparisons: Application to Selected ASEAN Countries

OpenAIRE

Dumagan, Jesus C.

2008-01-01

GDP in constant prices of ASEAN countries suffers from substitution bias by ignoring relative price changes and makes GDP growth and shares dependent on the base year. These analytical deficiencies led the US since the mid-1990s to convert GDP from constant to chained prices. Thus, cross-country comparisons in constant prices are analytically shaky even with the same base year. Therefore, this paper implements US GDP in chained prices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand to allev...

Characterization of the GDP-D-mannose biosynthesis pathway in Coxiella burnetii: the initial steps for GDP-β-D-virenose biosynthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Narasaki, Craig T; Mertens, Katja; Samuel, James E

2011-01-01

Coxiella burnetii, the etiologic agent of human Q fever, is a gram-negative and naturally obligate intracellular bacterium. The O-specific polysaccharide chain (O-PS) of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of C. burnetii is considered a heteropolymer of the two unusual sugars β-D-virenose and dihydrohydroxystreptose and mannose. We hypothesize that GDP-D-mannose is a metabolic intermediate to GDP-β-D-virenose. GDP-D-mannose is synthesized from fructose-6-phosphate in 3 successive reactions; Isomerization to mannose-6-phosphate catalyzed by a phosphomannose isomerase (PMI), followed by conversion to mannose-1-phosphate mediated by a phosphomannomutase (PMM) and addition of GDP by a GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GMP). GDP-D-mannose is then likely converted to GDP-6-deoxy-D-lyxo-hex-4-ulopyranose (GDP-Sug), a virenose intermediate, by a GDP-mannose-4,6-dehydratase (GMD). To test the validity of this pathway in C. burnetii, three open reading frames (CBU0671, CBU0294 and CBU0689) annotated as bifunctional type II PMI, as PMM or GMD were functionally characterized by complementation of corresponding E. coli mutant strains and in enzymatic assays. CBU0671, failed to complement an Escherichia coli manA (PMM) mutant strain. However, complementation of an E. coli manC (GMP) mutant strain restored capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis. CBU0294 complemented a Pseudomonas aeruginosa algC (GMP) mutant strain and showed phosphoglucomutase activity (PGM) in a pgm E. coli mutant strain. Despite the inability to complement a manA mutant, recombinant C. burnetii PMI protein showed PMM enzymatic activity in biochemical assays. CBU0689 showed dehydratase activity and determined kinetic parameters were consistent with previously reported data from other organisms. These results show the biological function of three C. burnetii LPS biosynthesis enzymes required for the formation of GDP-D-mannose and GDP-Sug. A fundamental understanding of C. burnetii genes that encode PMI, PMM and GMP is

Political Component of Russian-Latvian Relations at the Present Stage (2014–early 2017

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marat F. Kasem

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article examines origins and causes of tensions in relations between Russia and Latvia today, their manifestations, and possible scenarios of their development in the future. The dominant feature of today’s Russian-Latvian relations is their political component. This situation first emerged in 2014, the year of the coup d’etat in Ukraine and the year of the Crimea joining Russia. The spirit of confrontation in Russian-Latvian relations and the increasing degree of tension has been fueled not by Russia but by Latvia, and, in the background of the situation, NATO, and, first and foremost, the United States. In 2005 the Latvian National Security Concept Program underscored “absence of military threat for Latvia or other Baltic states,” in 2015 the new edition changes its focus completely and mentions the “Russian threat.” Latvia does not play an independent role in foreign relations with Russia, but the country is using Russia as playing the role of an aggressor. As Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are fully dependent on the US and the EU, they are forced to comply with foreign policy orders of their Western creditors, even if these demands contradict these countries’ own interests. Considerable changes have taken place in Latvia in the early 1917, when the legal status of US military personnel was changed.Consistently implementing these changes will turn virtually the entire territory of Latvia into the military infrastructure of the United States. As US military bases are being created in Latvia, it is equivalent of having American troops on the border with Russia. Obviously, Russia does not threaten Latvia in any way. An open conflict with NATO and the US could be used only as a last resort. But nothing depends on Moscow’s wishes anymore, and we can only watch the Baltic States being dragged further away from Russia. If previously, hoping to start a major European war, Washington placed its faith in Kyiv, now they find that

THE EVALUATION OF DIVERSITY OF EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MODELS OF LATVIAN RURAL SCHOOLS

OpenAIRE

Katane, Irēna; Laizāne, Anna

2015-01-01

Under conditions of changes and instability in any state rural schools are faced to look for different directions of development in order to manage in the rural areas. Thus the inner structure of rural schools becomes complex and causes formation of new educational environmental models of Latvian rural schools. The aims of the article: 1) to give substantiation of the concept model; 2) to give classification of educational environmental models of rural schools; 3) to emphasize the advantages ...

Current problems in Russian-Latvian relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mezhevich Nikolay

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Current relations between Russia and Latvia are still influenced by a series of mutual claims that appeared after the demise of the USSR. Latvia — as well as Estonia and Lithuania — is both an EU and NATO member state. However, unlike the above mentioned countries, its relations with Russia are developing at a more pragmatic level. Numerous political differences often result in economic losses both for Latvia and Russia. Despite the fact that Latvia has been an independent state for more than 20 years, there are still some unresolved issues in its relations with Russia. Today, relations between the two countries are often viewed through the prism of EU — Russia relations. Nonetheless, they often do not fit this context. Settling differences between Latvia and Russia will contribute to trade relations, which are increasingly important for both parties. In order to prevent and localise emerging conflicts, diplomats, politicians, and experts should interpret Russian-Latvian relations in view of the national features without referring to theoretical models based on the mythological “unity” of the three Baltic States.

How much have electricity shortages hampered China's GDP growth?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, Y.S.; Wong, W.K.; Woo, C.K.

2013-01-01

Based on an econometric analysis of the annual growth data for China's GDP and electricity generation from 1953 to 2010, we find that electricity generation growth Granger causes GDP growth, but not vice versa. We also find that the GDP elasticity of electricity generation is about 0.6, implying that a 1% increase in China's electricity generation growth would increase GDP growth by 0.6%. While Deng's reform raised China's GDP growth rate by about 5% per year, it did not alter the GDP elasticity of electricity generation. Hence, an obvious strategy to promote China's economic growth would be accelerating electricity generation expansion. Rapidly adding thermal generation units, however, could have large-scale, adverse environmental impacts. We therefore support China's 2011 five-year plan, which calls for expanding investments in renewable energy, conservation and energy efficiency as well as improving China's integrated electricity planning and cost-based pricing decisions. - Highlights: ► China's electricity generation growth is found to Granger cause GDP growth, but not vice versa. ► The estimate of the GDP elasticity of electricity generation is about 0.6. ► A 1% increase in China's electricity generation growth would increase GDP growth by 0.6%

Rescue of Notch signaling in cells incapable of GDP-L-fucose synthesis by gap junction transfer of GDP-L-fucose in Drosophila.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayukawa, Tomonori; Matsumoto, Kenjiroo; Ishikawa, Hiroyuki O; Ishio, Akira; Yamakawa, Tomoko; Aoyama, Naoki; Suzuki, Takuya; Matsuno, Kenji

2012-09-18

Notch (N) is a transmembrane receptor that mediates cell-cell interactions to determine many cell-fate decisions. N contains EGF-like repeats, many of which have an O-fucose glycan modification that regulates N-ligand binding. This modification requires GDP-L-fucose as a donor of fucose. The GDP-L-fucose biosynthetic pathways are well understood, including the de novo pathway, which depends on GDP-mannose 4,6 dehydratase (Gmd) and GDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-D-mannose 3,5-epimerase/4-reductase (Gmer). However, the potential for intercellularly supplied GDP-L-fucose and the molecular basis of such transportation have not been explored in depth. To address these points, we studied the genetic effects of mutating Gmd and Gmer on fucose modifications in Drosophila. We found that these mutants functioned cell-nonautonomously, and that GDP-L-fucose was supplied intercellularly through gap junctions composed of Innexin-2. GDP-L-fucose was not supplied through body fluids from different isolated organs, indicating that the intercellular distribution of GDP-L-fucose is restricted within a given organ. Moreover, the gap junction-mediated supply of GDP-L-fucose was sufficient to support the fucosylation of N-glycans and the O-fucosylation of the N EGF-like repeats. Our results indicate that intercellular delivery is a metabolic pathway for nucleotide sugars in live animals under certain circumstances.

Is Decoupling GDP Growth from Environmental Impact Possible?

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, James D; Sutton, Paul C; Werner, Adrian D; Costanza, Robert; Mohr, Steve H; Simmons, Craig T

2016-01-01

The argument that human society can decouple economic growth-defined as growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP)-from growth in environmental impacts is appealing. If such decoupling is possible, it means that GDP growth is a sustainable societal goal. Here we show that the decoupling concept can be interpreted using an easily understood model of economic growth and environmental impact. The simple model is compared to historical data and modelled projections to demonstrate that growth in GDP ultimately cannot be decoupled from growth in material and energy use. It is therefore misleading to develop growth-oriented policy around the expectation that decoupling is possible. We also note that GDP is increasingly seen as a poor proxy for societal wellbeing. GDP growth is therefore a questionable societal goal. Society can sustainably improve wellbeing, including the wellbeing of its natural assets, but only by discarding GDP growth as the goal in favor of more comprehensive measures of societal wellbeing.

GDP-tubulin incorporation into growing microtubules modulates polymer stability.

Science.gov (United States)

Valiron, Odile; Arnal, Isabelle; Caudron, Nicolas; Job, Didier

2010-06-04

Microtubule growth proceeds through the endwise addition of nucleotide-bound tubulin dimers. The microtubule wall is composed of GDP-tubulin subunits, which are thought to come exclusively from the incorporation of GTP-tubulin complexes at microtubule ends followed by GTP hydrolysis within the polymer. The possibility of a direct GDP-tubulin incorporation into growing polymers is regarded as hardly compatible with recent structural data. Here, we have examined GTP-tubulin and GDP-tubulin incorporation into polymerizing microtubules using a minimal assembly system comprised of nucleotide-bound tubulin dimers, in the absence of free nucleotide. We find that GDP-tubulin complexes can efficiently co-polymerize with GTP-tubulin complexes during microtubule assembly. GDP-tubulin incorporation into microtubules occurs with similar efficiency during bulk microtubule assembly as during microtubule growth from seeds or centrosomes. Microtubules formed from GTP-tubulin/GDP-tubulin mixtures display altered microtubule dynamics, in particular a decreased shrinkage rate, apparently due to intrinsic modifications of the polymer disassembly properties. Thus, although microtubules polymerized from GTP-tubulin/GDP-tubulin mixtures or from homogeneous GTP-tubulin solutions are both composed of GDP-tubulin subunits, they have different dynamic properties, and this may reveal a novel form of microtubule "structural plasticity."

GDP and efficiency of Russian economy

Science.gov (United States)

Borodachev, Sergey M.

2018-01-01

The goal is to study GDP (gross domestic product) as an unobservable characteristic of the Russian national economy state on the basis of more reliable observed data on gross output (systems output) and final consumption (systems control). To do this, the dynamic Leontief model is presented in a system-like form and its parameters and GDP dynamics are estimated by the Kalman filter (KF). We consider that all previous year's investments affect the growth of the gross output by the next year. The weights of these investments in the sum are equal to unity and decrease in geometric progression. The estimation of the model parameters was carried out by the maximum likelihood method. The original data on the gross output and final consumption in the period from 1995 to 2015 years where taken from the Rosstat website, where maximally aggregated economy of Russia is reflected in the system of national accounts. The growth of direct costs and capital expenditures at gross output increase has been discovered, which indicates the extensive character of the development of the economy. Investments are being absorbed 2 - 4 years; any change of them causes a surge of commissioned fixed assets fluctuation with a period of 2 years. Then these parameter values were used in the KF to estimate the states of the system. The emerging tendency of the transition of GDP growth to its fall means that the rate of growth of final consumption is higher than the rate of GDP growth. In general, the behavior of the curve of Rosstat GDP obviously follows the declared investments, whereas in the present calculation it is closer to the behavior of final consumption. Estimated GDP and investments that really increased it were significantly less after the crisis of 2008-2009 years than officially published data.

The Latvian Legion (1943-1945) and Its Role in Latvia’s History

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-13

Latvian nation “encoded” into its genes a hatred for communism. During the years of independence a whole new generation was raised,37 a generation that...hands of a bigger occupational force but also as a tool of one’s selfish desire for glory and satisfaction. Consequent analysis of the LL’s...military leaders of being selfish and only willing to earn more “iron crosses,” therefore sending the soldiers to the “craziest” tasks.20 The author of

Cloning and characterization of GDP-perosamine synthetase (Per) from Escherichia coli O157:H7 and synthesis of GDP-perosamine in vitro

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Guohui; Liu Jun; Liu Xiang; Chen Min; Zhang Houcheng; Wang, Peng George

2007-01-01

GDP-perosamine synthetase (Per, E.C. not yet classified) is important to the synthesis of Escherichia coli O157:H7 O-antigen. The mutant in per gene can disrupt the synthesis of O157 O-antigen. In this study, GDP-perosamine synthetase was cloned from E. coli O157:H7 and over-expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3). The recombinant His-tagged Per fusion protein was a decamer with molecular weight of 431 kDa. The optimal pH value of this recombinant protein was 7.5. The divalent ions had no significant effect on Per-catalyzed reaction. The K m and K cat /K m for GDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-D-mannose were 0.09 mM and 2.1 x 10 5 M -1 S -1 , and those for L-glutamate were 2 mM and 0.52 x 10 5 M -1 S -1 , respectively. Per was used to synthesize GDP-perosamine from GDP-mannose together with recombinant GDP-mannose dehydratase (GMD, E.C. 4.2.1.47). The purified GDP-perosamine was identified by MS and NMR. In summary, this work provided a feasible approach for the synthesis of GDP-perosamine which can lead to the study of LPS biosynthesis of pathogenic E. coli O157:H7

Structures of NodZ α1,6-fucosyltransferase in complex with GDP and GDP-fucose.

Science.gov (United States)

Brzezinski, Krzysztof; Dauter, Zbigniew; Jaskolski, Mariusz

2012-02-01

Rhizobial NodZ α1,6-fucosyltransferase (α1,6-FucT) catalyzes the transfer of the fucose (Fuc) moiety from guanosine 5'-diphosphate-β-L-fucose to the reducing end of the chitin oligosaccharide core during Nod-factor (NF) biosynthesis. NF is a key signalling molecule required for successful symbiosis with a legume host for atmospheric nitrogen fixation. To date, only two α1,6-FucT structures have been determined, both without any donor or acceptor molecule that could highlight the structural background of the catalytic mechanism. Here, the first crystal structures of α1,6-FucT in complex with its substrate GDP-Fuc and with GDP, which is a byproduct of the enzymatic reaction, are presented. The crystal of the complex with GDP-Fuc was obtained through soaking of native NodZ crystals with the ligand and its structure has been determined at 2.35 Å resolution. The fucose residue is exposed to solvent and is disordered. The enzyme-product complex crystal was obtained by cocrystallization with GDP and an acceptor molecule, penta-N-acetyl-L-glucosamine (penta-NAG). The structure has been determined at 1.98 Å resolution, showing that only the GDP molecule is present in the complex. In both structures the ligands are located in a cleft formed between the two domains of NodZ and extend towards the C-terminal domain, but their conformations differ significantly. The structures revealed that residues in three regions of the C-terminal domain, which are conserved among α1,2-, α1,6- and protein O-fucosyltransferases, are involved in interactions with the sugar-donor molecule. There is also an interaction with the side chain of Tyr45 in the N-terminal domain, which is very unusual for a GT-B-type glycosyltransferase. Only minor conformational changes of the protein backbone are observed upon ligand binding. The only exception is a movement of the loop located between strand βC2 and helix αC3. In addition, there is a shift of the αC3 helix itself upon GDP

The measurement of Cs-137 in Latvian forest litter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riekstina, D.; Veveris, O.

1998-01-01

The role of forests in the distribution of cesium 137 over the Latvian territory affected by the Chernobyl accident was examined. Concentrations of this radionuclide in soil in pine, spruce, and birch forests and in non-forest areas in Rucava (affected by the accident) and in Taurene (non-polluted zone) were compared. In Rucava, the concentrations of Cs-137 fluctuated over the region of 108-724 Bq/kg in a pine forest, 205-2270 Bq/kg in a spruce forest, and 15-30 Bq/kg beyond the forest region. In Taurene, the corresponding figures were 42-157, 19-133, and 3-19 Bq/kg, respectively. The data confirm the appreciable role of coniferous forests in the absorption of Cs-137 from the air and its redistribution within the forest area. (P.A.)

GDP growth and the yield curvature

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Stig Vinther

2014-01-01

This paper examines the forecastability of GDP growth using information from the term structure of yields. In contrast to previous studies, the paper shows that the curvature of the yield curve contributes with much more forecasting power than the slope of yield curve. The yield curvature also...... predicts bond returns, implying a common element to time-variation in expected bond returns and expected GDP growth....

The Impact of Corruption on GDP Per Capita

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nazar Mustapha

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The paper studies the impact of corruption on the GDP per capita. A panel data covers the period between 2003 and 2011. The objective is to test the hypothesis that there is a strong negative impact of corruption on the GDP per capita. Three tests were conducted, the pool OLS, The Fixed Effect and the Random effect estimations. The main result of this study is that all three tests had shown strong statistically significant negative impact of corruption on the GDP per capita.

FX enzyme and GDP-L-Fuc transporter expression in colorectal cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Villar-Portela, Susana; Muinelo-Romay, Laura; Cuevas, Elisa; Gil-Martín, Emilio; Fernández-Briera, Almudena

2013-08-01

Fucosylation is regulated by fucosyltransferases, the guanosine diphosphate-L-fucose (GDP-L-Fuc) synthetic pathway, and the GDP-L-fucose transporter (GDP-L-Fuc Tr). We have reported previously an increased level of α(1,6)fucosyltransferase activity and expression in colorectal cancer (CRC). The present study aimed to analyse the expression profiles of the FX enzyme and GDP-L-Fuc Tr in a cohort of operated CRC patients to elucidate their role in α(1,6)fucosylation in this neoplasm. We assessed the immunohistochemical expression of FX and GDP-L-Fuc Tr in a series of tumour samples and healthy tissues from CRC specimens. FX expression was observed in 58 of 91 (63.7%) tumours and 23 of 28 (82.1%) corresponding healthy samples. GDP-L-Fuc Tr expression was detected in 86 of 102 (84.3%) colorectal tumours, and 13 of 27 (48.1%) healthy tissue specimens. The expression of GDP-L-Fuc Tr was statistically higher in tumours than in healthy tissues (P GDP-L-Fuc Tr expression in tumour samples (P = 0.003). GDP-L-Fuc Tr overexpression in the tumour tissue of CRC patients suggests that GDP-L-Fuc transport to the Golgi apparatus may be an important factor associated with increased α(1,6)fucosylation in CRC. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Latvian experience of 'Regional Project on Quality Control and Quality Assurance for Nuclear Analytical Techniques' (RER/2/004)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skujina, Anita

2002-01-01

This report outlined the Latvian Radiation Safety Centre experience gained from the participation in the project. The accomplishments of the project are presented and the main difficulties are identified. In the course of the project 16 operating procedures and 17 instructions have been developed and the laboratory operations have been set in accordance with the ISO 17025 requirements

Life Cycle Assessment of Biogas Production from Marine Macroalgae: a Latvian Scenario

Science.gov (United States)

Pilicka, Iluta; Blumberga, Dagnija; Romagnoli, Francesco

2011-01-01

There is potential environmental benefit to be gained from the use of algae because of their ability to fix CO2, no need for direct land use and utilization of bio-waste (rich in potassium, phosphate and nitrogen based compounds) as a nutrients. The aim of the research is to assess the impact of biogas production and the final use in a cogeneration unit system from a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in comparison with a similar reference system using a non-renewable source (e.g. natural gas). The paper is intended to be a preliminary study for understanding the implementation of this novel technology in a Latvian context.

Causality relationship between electricity consumption and GDP in Bangladesh

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mozumder, Pallab; Marathe, Achla

2007-01-01

In this paper, we examine the causal relationship between the per capita electricity consumption and the per capita GDP for Bangladesh using cointegration and vector error correction model. Our results show that there is unidirectional causality from per capita GDP to per capita electricity consumption. However, the per capita electricity consumption does not cause per capita GDP in case of Bangladesh. The finding has significant implications from the point of view of energy conservation, emission reduction and economic development

Prediction of Malaysian monthly GDP

Science.gov (United States)

Hin, Pooi Ah; Ching, Soo Huei; Yeing, Pan Wei

2015-12-01

The paper attempts to use a method based on multivariate power-normal distribution to predict the Malaysian Gross Domestic Product next month. Letting r(t) be the vector consisting of the month-t values on m selected macroeconomic variables, and GDP, we model the month-(t+1) GDP to be dependent on the present and l-1 past values r(t), r(t-1),…,r(t-l+1) via a conditional distribution which is derived from a [(m+1)l+1]-dimensional power-normal distribution. The 100(α/2)% and 100(1-α/2)% points of the conditional distribution may be used to form an out-of sample prediction interval. This interval together with the mean of the conditional distribution may be used to predict the month-(t+1) GDP. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), estimated coverage probability and average length of the prediction interval are used as the criterions for selecting the suitable lag value l-1 and the subset from a pool of 17 macroeconomic variables. It is found that the relatively better models would be those of which 2 ≤ l ≤ 3, and involving one or two of the macroeconomic variables given by Market Indicative Yield, Oil Prices, Exchange Rate and Import Trade.

Causal Relationship between Construction Production and GDP in Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hakkı Kutay Bolkol

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This study empirically investigates the causal relationship between construction production and GDP for Turkey during 2005Q1-2013Q4 period. Because it is found that, there is no cointegration which means there is no long run relationship between variables, VAR Granger Causality Method is used to test the causality in short run. The findings reveal that, the causality runs from GDP to Building Production and Building Production to Non-Building Production (i.e. bidirectional relationship. Findings of this paper suggest that, because there is no long run relationship between Construction Production (Building and Non-Building and GDP and also in short run the causality runs from GDP to Construction Production, the growth strategy based on mainly Construction Sector growth is not a good idea for Turkey.

Causal Relationship between Construction Production and GDP in Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hakkı Kutay Bolkol

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This study empirically investigates the causal relationship between construction production and GDP for Turkey during 2005Q1-2013Q4 period. Because it is found that, there is no cointegration which means there is no long run relationship between variables, VAR Granger Causality Method is used to test the causality in short run. The findings reveal that, the causality runs from GDP to Building Production and Building Production to Non-Building Production (i.e. bidirectional relationship. Findings of this paper suggest that, because there is no long run relationship between Construction Production (Building and Non-Building and GDP and also in short run the causality runs from GDP to Construction Production, the growth strategy based on mainly Construction Sector growth is not a good idea for Turkey.

Inflation, GDP growth and population change in the USA

OpenAIRE

Ivan Kitov

2005-01-01

Inflation in the USA between 1960 and 2004 is studied in the framework of the revealed rigidity of the personal income distribution normalized to the total nominal GDP. Inflation is found to be a mechanism, which prevents changes in the relative incomes induced by economic growth and population changes - both in number and age structure. A model is developed linking CPI to GDP growth rate and relative change of the number of people of some specific age. The GDP growth rate is characterized by...

The Underground Economy and GDP Estimation in Developing ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The estimation of gross domestic product (GDP) in most developing countries portrays a lot of meaning; most often it is very low. This could be true or false. The existence of underground economy in this economies tend to undermine the estimation of GDP in developing economies, because the size of such economy is ...

Democracy, GDP, and the Impact of Natural Disasters

Science.gov (United States)

van der Vink, G.; Brett, A. P.; Burgess, E.; Cecil-Cockwell, D.; Chicoine, A.; Difiore, P.; Harding, J.; Millian, C.; Olivi, E.; Piaskowy, S.; Sproat, J.; van der Hoop, H.; Walsh, P.; Warren, A.; West, L.; Wright, G.

2007-05-01

In 1998 Amartya Sen won the Nobel Prize in economics for the observation that there has never been a famine in a nation with a democratic form of government and a free press. We find that a similar relationship can be demonstrated for all natural disasters. Data from the United Nations Food Programme and the United States Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance is used to display strong correlations between the democracy index, GDP, and the humanitarian impact of natural disasters. We find that nations in which disasters have high humanitarian impact, approximated by lives lost, are also nations which are below the median per capita GDP and the median democracy level. While the response to natural disasters varies from country to country, several additional global trends are observed. Since 1964, the number of recorded natural disasters has increased by a factor of five. During this same time period the number of deaths has decreased significantly. In particular, the humanitarian impact of the 'typical' natural disaster has decreased by a factor of five. Post-disaster foreign aid is the common response from the international community when a natural disaster strikes. Our study also compares the history of foreign aid grants distributed by the US Office of Foreign Disaster Aid (OFDA) with the number of deaths worldwide from natural disasters. We find that the amount of aid given is responsive to the degree of global humanitarian impact.

Renewable energy: An efficient mechanism to improve GDP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chien Taichen; Hu Jinli

2008-01-01

This article analyzes the effects of renewable energy on GDP for 116 economies in 2003 through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. In order to decipher the mechanism of how the use of renewables improves macroeconomic efficiency, we decompose GDP by the 'expenditure approach'. Although previous theory predicts positive effects of renewables on capital formation and trade balance, the SEM results show that renewables have a significant positive influence on capital formation only. The result that renewables do not have a significant impact on trade balance implies that renewables do not have an import substitution effect. Thus, we confirm the positive relationship between renewable energy and GDP through the path of increasing capital formation, but not for the path of increasing trade balance

PROBLEMS OF MASTERING LATVIAN AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS

OpenAIRE

Lazdiņa, Sanita

2008-01-01

The objective of the paper is to illuminate the interpretation of the term „Applied Linguistics” in Latvia and abroad (in Western Europe, the USA and Russia), and thereby identifying possibilities and grounds for the research of Latvian as a second language in the context of the development of applied linguistics in Latvia. Apart from theoretical literature, the author also uses data from observations of classroom discussions, which were obtained in three secondary schools and one elementary ...

Latvian dialects in the 21st century: old and new borders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Stafecka

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Latvian dialects in the 21st century: old and new borders Although historical regional dialects are still relatively well preserved in Latvia, nowadays one can no longer speak of dialects and sub-dialects in the traditional sense because, due to changes of administrative borders, the traditional sub-dialects are subject to attrition and gradual loss. In particular, the contact zone of Central and High Latvian dialect has changed markedly. The border of High Latvian dialect has moved to the east. Since 2013, a project “Latvian Dialects in the 21st Century: a Socio­linguistic Aspect” is being carried out in order to gain an insight into contemporary Latvian dialect situation, analyzing at least three sub-dialects in each dialect. However, we can speak of dialect borders in another aspect. For instance, the borders between the preservation of dialectal features and the impact of standard language, as well as the borders of maintenance of sub-dialectal feature among the speakers of different age groups. Attention is also paid to the use of sub-dialects in central and peripheral parts of territories. The first research results showed that people who live further from the centre use the sub-dialect more often – especially in communication with family members (including the younger generation, relatives and neighbours. The preliminary results show a different situation among dialects. In the sub-dialects of the Middle dialect, which is closest to Standard Latvian, the borderline between sub-dialect and standard language has almost disappeared, since the infor­mants practically do not feel any difference between them. In the Livonianized dialect, there are several features that are still more or less present in the speech of all generations – generalization of masculine gender, reduc­tion of word endings, etc. However, in this dialect, too, the language used by younger speakers is gradually losing the dialectal features. The situation differs

Does electricity consumption panel Granger cause GDP? A new global evidence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Narayan, Paresh Kumar [School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Faculty of Business and Economics, Deakin University, Melbourne (Australia); Narayan, Seema [School of Economics, Finance, and Marketing, RMIT University, Melbourne (Australia); Popp, Stephan [Department of Economics, University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany)

2010-10-15

The goal of this paper is to undertake a panel data investigation of long-run Granger causality between electricity consumption and real GDP for seven panels, which together consist of 93 countries. We use a new panel causality test and find that in the long-run both electricity consumption and real GDP have a bidirectional Granger causality relationship except for the Middle East where causality runs only from GDP to electricity consumption. Finally, for the G6 panel the estimates reveal a negative sign effect, implying that increasing electricity consumption in the six most industrialised nations will reduce GDP. (author)

Policy relevance of various proposals for greening GDP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Wit, G.

1996-02-01

From the study on the title subject it appears that the use of a number of separate physical indicators is valuable for policy making but that it would be helpful for policy to develop (alongside the conventional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and these environmental indicators) an extra 'green' GDP. The analysis of the various surveyed proposals of greening GDP results into the conclusion that adjustments should be made as follows: (1) adjustment for the net depletion of natural resources according to the net price method, (2) adjustment for the degradation of nature by polluting emissions with the aid of shadow prices derived from politics, and (3) adjustment for certain categories of environmental defensive expenditures. The major reasons for this recommendation are: (1) such a GDP can facilitate government in decisions where trade-offs between production and a clean environment are at stake, (2) the recommended way of valuation minimizes the inherent subjectiveness of valuing nature, (3) the way of valuation of nature is not likely to lead to an overestimation, and (4) at least for the Netherlands the proposal is operational in the near future. In Chapter 2 a set of evaluation criteria is designed. One evaluation criterion is the potential policy relevance of a proposed indicator, i.e. its relevance when the indicator measures exactly what it is intended to measure. In Chapter 3 the potential policy relevance of an adjusted GDP is elaborated. Another evaluation criterion is the scientific validity of a proposed indicator: is the indicator really measuring what it is intended to measure? To judge whether this is the case for the various proposals for adjusting GDP, a theoretical framework that facilitates such a judgement is discussed in Chapter 4. In Chapters 5, 6 and 7 actual evaluation of the various proposals for environmental indicators is carried out. In Chapter 5 proposals regarding the depletion of natural resources are evaluated. (Abstract Truncated)

GDP Matters: Cost Effectiveness of Cochlear Implantation and Deaf Education in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Emmett, Susan D; Tucci, Debara L; Smith, Magteld; Macharia, Isaac M; Ndegwa, Serah N; Nakku, Doreen; Mukara, Kaitesi B; Kaitesi, Mukara B; Ibekwe, Titus S; Mulwafu, Wakisa; Gong, Wenfeng; Francis, Howard W; Saunders, James E

2015-09-01

Cochlear implantation and deaf education are cost effective in Sub-Saharan Africa. Cost effectiveness of pediatric cochlear implantation has been well established in developed countries but is unknown in low resource settings, where access to the technology has traditionally been limited. With incidence of severe-to-profound congenital sensorineural hearing loss 5 to 6 times higher in low/middle-income countries than the United States and Europe, developing cost-effective management strategies in these settings is critical. Costs were obtained from experts in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Malawi using known costs and published data, with estimation when necessary. A disability adjusted life years (DALY) model was applied using 3% discounting and 10-year length of analysis. Sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of device cost, professional salaries, annual number of implants, and probability of device failure. Cost effectiveness was determined using the WHO standard of cost-effectiveness ratio/gross domestic product per capita (CER/GDP) less than 3. Cochlear implantation was cost effective in South Africa and Nigeria, with CER/GDP of 1.03 and 2.05, respectively. Deaf education was cost effective in all countries investigated, with CER/GDP ranging from 0.55 to 1.56. The most influential factor in the sensitivity analysis was device cost, with the cost-effective threshold reached in all countries using discounted device costs that varied directly with GDP. Cochlear implantation and deaf education are equally cost effective in lower-middle and upper-middle income economies of Nigeria and South Africa. Device cost may have greater impact in the emerging economies of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Malawi.

View from Behavioral Economics Theory: Case of Latvian Rural Entrepreneurs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Igo Cals

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The theory of classical economics treats entrepreneurs as subjects who make rational economic decisions. Empirical surveys prove the fact that daily economic decisions made by a separate economic entity can be explained by concepts of behavioral economics rather than classical economics. The economic behavior of entrepreneurs happens to be based on bounded rationality instead of financial justification. The objective of an economic activity presented as economically efficient can turn out to be socially important to a specific entrepreneur and not to national economy as a whole. In the EU countries, agriculture is a subsidised industry of national economy. In this light, status consumption and purchase of positional goods should create a special interest among economists. The objective of this article is to present true reasons of economic decisions made by rural entrepreneurs and to analyse the value hierarchy of Latvian rural entrepreneurs through carrying out a field work and with the help of set of instruments developed by modern economics theory.

Latvian Security and Defense Policy within the Twenty-First Century Security Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rublovskis Raimonds

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to analyze fundamental factors which form and profoundly shape security and defense policy of the Republic of Latvia. One can argue that historical background, geographical location, common institutional history within the former Soviet Union, the Russia factor, the relative smallness of the territory of state and the population, the ethnic composition of the population, the low density of the population and rather limited financial and manpower resources available for the defense of the Republic of Latvia are the key factors of influence on the state security and defense policy. The core principles of the security and defense policy of Latvia are the membership in powerful global military alliance of NATO and bilateral strategic partnership with the United States. However, security and defense cooperation among the three Baltic States as well as enhanced cooperation within the Baltic-Nordic framework is seen as an important supplementary factor for the increased security of the Republic of Latvia. Latvia has developed a sustainable legal and institutional framework in order to contribute to state security and defense; however, security challenges and significant changes within the global security environment of the twenty-first century will further challenge the ability of the Republic of Latvia to sustain its current legal framework, and more importantly, current institutional structure of Latvian security and defense architecture. Significant internal and external challenges will impact the fundamental pillars of Latvian security and defense policy, such as American strategic shift to the Pacific, and lack of political will to increase defense budgets in European part of NATO. It has to be clear that very independence, security and defense of the Republic of Latvia depend on the ability of NATO to remain an effective organization with timely and efficient decision-making, and the ability of the United States to remain

Implementation of the EU directive on the energy performance of buildings: Development of the Latvian Scheme for energy auditing of buildings and inspection of boilers. Project document

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-07-01

'Development of the Latvian Scheme for energy auditing of buildings and inspection of boilers' includes major steps in implementing the EU EPB directive in Latvia. The EPB directive includes a number of efforts: 1. A methodology for calculation of the integrated energy performance of buildings 2. Application of minimum requirements on the energy performance for new buildings 3. Application of minimum requirements on the energy performance for larger existing buildings subject to major renovation 4. Energy performance certification (energy labelling) of buildings 5. Regular inspection of boilers and of air-conditioning systems in buildings, and assessment of heating installations in older systems. The present project includes activities connected to point 4 and point 5. The results will include 4 steps in implementing the EU EPB directive: 1) A Latvian training of certified independent energy auditors to be active conducting energy audits and issuing energy performance certificates. Including a handbook in energy auditing. 2) A Latvian training of certified independent experts for inspection of boilers, air-con systems and assessing older heating systems. Including a handbook in boiler inspection. 3) A proposal for the institutional set-up for a connected scheme for energy auditing and a scheme for boiler inspection 4) Initial information on the scheme of energy auditors and of the boiler inspection. (au)

On the relationship between GDP and energy consumption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sudarsono, B.

1978-01-01

The validity of a coupling between the growth in GDP and the growth in energy consumption is reviewed and its importance is discussed. The usefulness of a GDP energy consumption relationship for energy projections is investigated with particular reference to the case of Indonesia. A particular form of such a relationship is obtained for Indonesia with income elasticity decreasing as a function of time and its use is compared with other results. (author)

Labelled drug-related public expenditure in relation to gross domestic product (GDP) in Europe: a luxury good?

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Prieto, Luis

2010-01-01

"Labelled drug-related public expenditure" is the direct expenditure explicitly labelled as related to illicit drugs by the general government of the state. As part of the reporting exercise corresponding to 2005, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction\\'s network of national focal points set up in the 27 European Union (EU) Member States, Norway, and the candidates countries to the EU, were requested to identify labelled drug-related public expenditure, at the country level. This was reported by 10 countries categorised according to the functions of government, amounting to a total of EUR 2.17 billion. Overall, the highest proportion of this total came within the government functions of Health (66%), and Public Order and Safety (POS) (20%). By country, the average share of GDP was 0.023% for Health, and 0.013% for POS. However, these shares varied considerably across countries, ranging from 0.00033% in Slovakia, up to 0.053% of GDP in Ireland in the case of Health, and from 0.003% in Portugal, to 0.02% in the UK, in the case of POS; almost a 161-fold difference between the highest and the lowest countries for Health, and a 6-fold difference for POS. Why do Ireland and the UK spend so much in Health and POS, or Slovakia and Portugal so little, in GDP terms? To respond to this question and to make a comprehensive assessment of drug-related public expenditure across countries, this study compared Health and POS spending and GDP in the 10 reporting countries. Results found suggest GDP to be a major determinant of the Health and POS drug-related public expenditures of a country. Labelled drug-related public expenditure showed a positive association with the GDP across the countries considered: r = 0.81 in the case of Health, and r = 0.91 for POS. The percentage change in Health and POS expenditures due to a one percent increase in GDP (the income elasticity of demand) was estimated to be 1.78% and 1.23% respectively. Being highly income elastic

Enhancing GDP-fucose production in recombinant Escherichia coli by metabolic pathway engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhai, Yafei; Han, Donglei; Pan, Ying; Wang, Shuaishuai; Fang, Junqiang; Wang, Peng; Liu, Xian-wei

2015-02-01

Guanosine 5'-diphosphate (GDP)-fucose is the indispensible donor substrate for fucosyltransferase-catalyzed synthesis of fucose-containing biomolecules, which have been found involving in various biological functions. In this work, the salvage pathway for GDP-fucose biosynthesis from Bacterioides fragilis was introduced into Escherichia coli. Besides, the biosynthesis of guanosine 5'-triphosphate (GTP), an essential substrate for GDP-fucose biosynthesis, was enhanced via overexpression of enzymes involved in the salvage pathway of GTP biosynthesis. The production capacities of metabolically engineered strains bearing different combinations of recombinant enzymes were compared. The shake flask fermentation of the strain expressing Fkp, Gpt, Gmk and Ndk obtained the maximum GDP-fucose content of 4.6 ± 0.22 μmol/g (dry cell mass), which is 4.2 fold that of the strain only expressing Fkp. Through fed-batch fermentation, the GDP-fucose content further rose to 6.6 ± 0.14 μmol/g (dry cell mass). In addition to a better productivity than previous fermentation processes based on the de novo pathway for GDP-fucose biosynthesis, the established schemes in this work also have the advantage to be a potential avenue to GDP-fucose analogs encompassing chemical modification on the fucose residue. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

GDP Structure and Economic Performance in Sub-Saharan Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luboš Smutka

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Africa belongs to important regions of the world economy with specific problems distinguishing this part of the world from other regions. The region is suffering because of limited economy structure and high level of poverty. Low economic performance ranks most of African countries among the worldwide poorest ones (both from the point of view of total economy performance and also individuals living standards; the development is hindered by political instability and also by other accompanied problems as high level of corruption, deficit of democracy, low level of education, limited investments, criminality, local conflicts, civil wars etc. On the other hand, African natural, economy and social resources and unexploited opportunities in many areas offer a potential for a considerable economic development. Understanding the current economic position of African states thus may reveal causes of problematic development and outline ways to overcome existing shortcomings. The aim of the paper is to analyze main changes in area of GDP structure formation (agricultural, industrial and services sector share in GDP and value performance which have occurred in selected African (Sub-Saharan countries. Changes are analyzed both in relation to the total GDP and GDP per capita. The authors identify main trends of economic development in the Sub-Saharan region and to specify differences among Sub-Saharan countries with the intention to identify particular groups of African countries according to their economic structure and to identify differences in their GDP formation.

Exploring the relationship between energy consumption and GDP: Evidence from Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borozan, Djula

2013-01-01

The main purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between total energy consumption and real gross domestic product (GDP) covering the period between 1992 and 2010 in Croatia. The methodology employed in this paper is based on the bivariate vector autoregression (VAR) and Granger causality tests. Moreover, the impulse response function and variance decomposition analysis are employed to trace the dynamic response paths of shocks to the system. The empirical analysis shows that, when it is allowed for any deterministic component in the data, total energy consumption and real GDP are not co-integrated in the period observed. Furthermore, there is a unidirectional causality running from total energy consumption to GDP, and an impulse response to GDP caused by energy consumption, being mainly embodied in the first years. The results indicate that total energy consumption is an important component determining economic growth in Croatia and that energy conservation policy should be formulated and implemented wisely. This paper also tests the causality between real GDP and consumption of the five energy variables by using the bivariate VAR. The main implication of these tests is that individual energy forms matter when it comes to energy policy formulation. - Highlights: • There is a unidirectional causality running from energy consumption to real GDP in Croatia. • There is an impulse response to real GDP caused by energy consumption, being mainly embodied in the first years. • Energy consumption is an important component determining economic growth. • Individual energy forms matter when it comes to energy policy formulation

Demonstration Analysis of Relationship Between R&D Investment and GDP

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

HAN Bo-tang; LIU Bai-shan; CHEN Keng

2005-01-01

To reveal the quantitative relationship between research and development (R&D) investment and gross domestic product (GDP) in China, we have demonstrated and analyzed the relationship between R&D investment and science and technology (S&T) progress, and based on a mount of S&T statistical data, have proceeded demonstration research of the relationship between R&D investment and GDP in China with Solow and vector auto regression (VAR) models. Cubic curve fitting and cross-correlation analysis of them with SPSS have shown that there is a strong synchronic relationship between R&D investment and GDP.

GDP PER CAPITA, PROTEST INTENSITY AND REGIME TYPE: A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Korotayev

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The study suggests that the relationship between per capita GDP and intensity of antigovernment demonstrations is not negative as tends to be believed; we are rather dealing with an inverted U-shaped relationship: the highest levels of antigovernment demonstration intensity are typical for countries with neither the lowest nor the highest values of GDP per capita, but rather with intermediate values of this indicator. Thus, for higher values of per capita GDP we observe a negative correlation between GDP per capita and the antigovernment demonstration intensity, and for lower values it is positive. This correlation is partly explained by the following points: (1 GDP growth in authoritarian regimes leads to increased pro-democracy movement, and hence to intensifi cation of the anti-government demonstrations. And since in our database (as well as in reality authoritarian states constitute a very high percentage of the number of states with the lowest values of per capita income, the effect of the growth of internal pressure on authoritarian regimes towards democracy with economic growth to some extent (but no not completely explains a strong correlation between GDP per capita and the intensity of antigovernment demonstrations for low and middle income countries. (2 In the range of per capita GDP up to $ 20000, the increase in per capita GDP is quite strongly correlated with a decrease in the proportion of authoritarian regimes and the increasing share of nonauthoritarian regimes (democratic and intermediate. The presence of non-authoritarian regimes in this range is signifi cantly positively correlated with the higher intensity of anti-government demonstrations. This is another mechanism that contributes to the presence of a strong positive correlation between GDP per capita and the intensity of anti-government demonstrations in the range of interest to us. At the same time we have done a further analysis that has

Energy-GDP relationship revisited: An example from GCC countries using panel causality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Iriani, Mahmoud A.

2006-01-01

This work investigates the causality relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) and energy consumption in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Recently developed panel cointegration and causality techniques are used to uncover the direction of energy-GDP causality in the GCC. Empirical results indicate a unidirectional causality running from GDP to energy consumption. Evidence shows no support for the hypothesis that energy consumption is the source of GDP growth in the GCC countries. Such results suggest that energy conservation policies may be adopted without much concern about their adverse effects on the growth of GCC economies

Was the Recent Downturn in US GDP Predictable?

OpenAIRE

Mehmet Balcilar; Rangan Gupta; Anandamayee Majumdar; Stephen M. Miller

2012-01-01

This paper uses small set of variables-- real GDP, the inflation rate, and the short-term interest rate -- and a rich set of models -- athoeretical and theoretical, linear and nonlinear, as well as classical and Bayesian models -- to consider whether we could have predicted the recent downturn of the US real GDP. Comparing the performance by root mean squared errors of the models to the benchmark random-walk model, the two theoretical models, especially the nonlinear model, perform well on th...

The relationship between health and GDP in OECD countries in the very long run.

Science.gov (United States)

Swift, Robyn

2011-03-01

This paper uses Johansen multivariate cointegration analysis to examine the relationship between health and GDP for 13 OECD countries over the last two centuries, for periods ranging from 1820-2001 to 1921-2001. A similar, long run, cointegrating relationship between life expectancy and both total GDP and GDP per capita was found for all the countries estimated. The relationships have a significant influence on both total GDP and GPD per capita in most of the countries estimated, with 1% increase in life expectancy resulting in an average 6% increase in total GDP in the long run, and 5% increase in GDP per capita. Total GDP and GDP per capita also have a significant influence on life expectancy for most countries. There is no evidence of changes in the relationships for any country over the periods estimated, indicating that shifts in the major causes of illness and death over time do not appear to have influenced the link between health and economic growth. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The crystal structure of human GDP-L-fucose synthase.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Huan; Sun, Lihua; Li, Jian; Xu, Chunyan; Yu, Feng; Liu, Yahui; Ji, Chaoneng; He, Jianhua

2013-09-01

Human GDP-l-fucose synthase, also known as FX protein, synthesizes GDP-l-fucose from its substrate GDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-d-mannose. The reaction involves epimerization at both C-3 and C-5 followed by an NADPH-dependent reduction of the carbonyl at C-4. In this paper, the first crystal structure of human FX protein was determined at 2.37 Å resolution. The asymmetric unit of the crystal structure contains four molecules which form two homodimers. Each molecule consists of two domains, a Rossmann-fold NADPH-binding motif and a carboxyl terminal domain. Compared with the Escherichia coli GDP-l-fucose synthase, the overall structures of these two enzymes have four major differences. There are four loops in the structure of human FX protein corresponding to two α-helices and two β-sheets in that of the E. coli enzyme. Besides, there are seven different amino acid residues binding with NAPDH comparing human FX protein with that from E. coli. The structure of human FX reveals the key catalytic residues and could be useful for the design of drugs for the treatment of inflammation, auto-immune diseases, and possibly certain types of cancer.

Genetic metabolic complementation establishes a requirement for GDP-fucose in Leishmania.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Hongjie; Novozhilova, Natalia M; Bandini, Giulia; Turco, Salvatore J; Ferguson, Michael A J; Beverley, Stephen M

2017-06-23

To survive in its sand fly vector, the trypanosomatid protozoan parasite Leishmania first attaches to the midgut to avoid excretion, but eventually it must detach for transmission by the next bite. In Leishmania major strain Friedlin, this is controlled by modifications of the stage-specific adhesin lipophosphoglycan (LPG). During differentiation to infective metacyclics, d-arabinopyranose (d-Ara p ) caps the LPG side-chain galactose residues, blocking interaction with the midgut lectin PpGalec, thereby leading to parasite detachment and transmission. Previously, we characterized two closely related L. major genes ( FKP40 and AFKP80 ) encoding bifunctional proteins with kinase/pyrophosphorylase activities required for salvage and conversion of l-fucose and/or d-Ara p into the nucleotide-sugar substrates required by glycosyltransferases. Whereas only AFKP80 yielded GDP-d-Ara p from exogenous d-Ara p , both proteins were able to salvage l-fucose to GDP-fucose. We now show that Δ afkp80 - null mutants ablated d-Ara p modifications of LPG as predicted, whereas Δ fkp40 - null mutants resembled wild type (WT). Fucoconjugates had not been reported previously in L. major , but unexpectedly, we were unable to generate fkp40 - / afkp80 - double mutants, unless one of the A/FKPs was expressed ectopically. To test whether GDP-fucose itself was essential for Leishmania viability, we employed "genetic metabolite complementation." First, the trypanosome de novo pathway enzymes GDP-mannose dehydratase (GMD) and GDP-fucose synthetase (GMER) were expressed ectopically; from these cells, the Δ fkp40 - /Δ afkp80 - double mutant was now readily obtained. As expected, the Δ fkp40 - /Δ afkp80 - /+ TbGMD-GMER line lacked the capacity to generate GDP-Ara p , while synthesizing abundant GDP-fucose. These results establish a requirement for GDP-fucose for L. major viability and predict the existence of an essential fucoconjugate(s). © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and

Functional expression of a human GDP-L-fucose transporter in Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Förster-Fromme, Karin; Schneider, Sarah; Sprenger, Georg A; Albermann, Christoph

2017-02-01

To investigate the translocation of nucleotide-activated sugars from the cytosol across a membrane into the endoplasmatic reticulum or the Golgi apparatus which is an important step in the synthesis of glycoproteins and glycolipids in eukaryotes. The heterologous expression of the recombinant and codon-adapted human GDP-L-fucose antiporter gene SLC35C1 (encoding an N-terminal OmpA-signal sequence) led to a functional transporter protein located in the cytoplasmic membrane of Escherichia coli. The in vitro transport was investigated using inverted membrane vesicles. SLC35C1 is an antiporter specific for GDP-L-fucose and depending on the concomitant reverse transport of GMP. The recombinant transporter FucT1 exhibited an activity for the transport of 3 H-GDP-L-fucose with a V max of 8 pmol/min mg with a K m of 4 µM. The functional expression of SLC35C1 in GDP-L-fucose overproducing E. coli led to the export of GDP-L-fucose to the culture supernatant. The export of GDP-L-fucose by E. coli provides the opportunity for the engineering of a periplasmatic fucosylation reaction in recombinant bacterial cells.

Modulation of guanosine nucleotides biosynthetic pathways enhanced GDP-L-fucose production in recombinant Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Won-Heong; Shin, So-Yeon; Kim, Myoung-Dong; Han, Nam Soo; Seo, Jin-Ho

2012-03-01

Guanosine 5'-triphosphate (GTP) is the key substrate for biosynthesis of guanosine 5'-diphosphate (GDP)-L-fucose. In this study, improvement of GDP-L-fucose production was attempted by manipulating the biosynthetic pathway for guanosine nucleotides in recombinant Escherichia coli-producing GDP-L-fucose. The effects of overexpression of inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP) dehydrogenase, guanosine 5'-monophosphate (GMP) synthetase (GuaB and GuaA), GMP reductase (GuaC) and guanosine-inosine kinase (Gsk) on GDP-L-fucose production were investigated in a series of fed-batch fermentations. Among the enzymes tested, overexpression of Gsk led to a significant improvement of GDP-L-fucose production. Maximum GDP-L-fucose concentration of 305.5 ± 5.3 mg l(-1) was obtained in the pH-stat fed-batch fermentation of recombinant E. coli-overexpressing Gsk, which corresponds to a 58% enhancement in the GDP-L-fucose production compared with the control strain overexpressing GDP-L-fucose biosynthetic enzymes. Such an enhancement of GDP-L-fucose production could be due to the increase in the intracellular level of GMP.

GDP per capita since 1820

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bolt, Jutta; Timmer, Marcel; van Zanden, Jan Luiten

2014-01-01

Since 1820, the world economy experienced spectacular growth in output and income. This chapter builds upon the work by Angus Maddison and shows that the world’s average GDP per capita increased by a factor of 10 between 1820 and the 2010. Yet, this growth was spread very unevenly, resulting in a

Biochemical characterization of GDP-L-fucose de novo synthesis pathway in fungus Mortierella alpina

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren, Yan; Perepelov, Andrei V.; Wang, Haiyan; Zhang, Hao; Knirel, Yuriy A.; Wang, Lei; Chen, Wei

2010-01-01

Mortierella alpina is a filamentous fungus commonly found in soil, which is able to produce large amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids. L-Fucose is an important sugar found in a diverse range of organisms, playing a variety of biological roles. In this study, we characterized the de novo biosynthetic pathway of GDP-L-fucose (the nucleotide-activated form of L-fucose) in M. alpina. Genes encoding GDP-D-mannose 4,6-dehydratase (GMD) and GDP-keto-6-deoxymannose 3,5-epimerase/4-reductase (GMER) were expressed heterologously in Escherichia coli. The recombinant enzymes were produced as His-tagged fusion proteins. Conversion of GDP-mannose to GDP-4-keto-6-deoxy mannose by GMD and GDP-4-keto-6-deoxy mannose to GDP-L-fucose by GMER were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis, electro-spray ionization-mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The k m values of GMD for GDP-mannose and GMER for GDP-4-keto-6-deoxy mannose were determined to be 0.77 mM and 1.047 mM, respectively. Both NADH and NADPH may be used by GMER as the coenzyme. The optimum temperature and pH were determined to be 37 o C and pH 9.0 (GMD) or pH 7.0 (GMER). Divalent cations are not required for GMD and GMER activity, and the activities of both enzymes may be enhanced by DTT. To our knowledge this is the first report on the characterization of GDP-L-fucose biosynthetic pathway in fungi.

Enhanced production of GDP-L-fucose by overexpression of NADPH regenerator in recombinant Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Won-Heong; Chin, Young-Wook; Han, Nam Soo; Kim, Myoung-Dong; Seo, Jin-Ho

2011-08-01

Biosynthesis of guanosine 5'-diphosphate-L-fucose (GDP-L-fucose) requires NADPH as a reducing cofactor. In this study, endogenous NADPH regenerating enzymes such as glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), isocitrate dehydrogenase (Icd), and NADP(+)-dependent malate dehydrogenase (MaeB) were overexpressed to increase GDP-L-fucose production in recombinant Escherichia coli. The effects of overexpression of each NADPH regenerating enzyme on GDP-L-fucose production were investigated in a series of batch and fed-batch fermentations. Batch fermentations showed that overexpression of G6PDH was the most effective for GDP-L-fucose production. However, GDP-L-fucose production was not enhanced by overexpression of G6PDH in the glucose-limited fed-batch fermentation. Hence, a glucose feeding strategy was optimized to enhance GDP-L-fucose production. Fed-batch fermentation with a pH-stat feeding mode for sufficient supply of glucose significantly enhanced GDP-L-fucose production compared with glucose-limited fed-batch fermentation. A maximum GDP-L-fucose concentration of 235.2 ± 3.3 mg l(-1), corresponding to a 21% enhancement in the GDP-L-fucose production compared with the control strain overexpressing GDP-L-fucose biosynthetic enzymes only, was achieved in the pH-stat fed-batch fermentation of the recombinant E. coli overexpressing G6PDH. It was concluded that sufficient glucose supply and efficient NADPH regeneration are crucial for NADPH-dependent GDP-L-fucose production in recombinant E. coli.

GDP Release Preferentially Occurs on the Phosphate Side in Heterotrimeric G-proteins

Science.gov (United States)

Louet, Maxime; Martinez, Jean; Floquet, Nicolas

2012-01-01

After extra-cellular stimulation of G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs), GDP/GTP exchange appears as the key, rate limiting step of the intracellular activation cycle of heterotrimeric G-proteins. Despite the availability of a large number of X-ray structures, the mechanism of GDP release out of heterotrimeric G-proteins still remains unknown at the molecular level. Starting from the available X-ray structure, extensive unconstrained/constrained molecular dynamics simulations were performed on the complete membrane-anchored Gi heterotrimer complexed to GDP, for a total simulation time overcoming 500 ns. By combining Targeted Molecular Dynamics (TMD) and free energy profiles reconstruction by umbrella sampling, our data suggest that the release of GDP was much more favored on its phosphate side. Interestingly, upon the forced extraction of GDP on this side, the whole protein encountered large, collective motions in perfect agreement with those we described previously including a domain to domain motion between the two ras-like and helical sub-domains of Gα. PMID:22829757

A Probit Model for the State of the Greek GDP Growth

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Stavros Degiannakis

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The paper provides probability estimates of the state of the GDP growth. A regime-switching model defines the probability of the Greek GDP being in boom or recession. Then probit models extract the predictive information of a set of explanatory (economic and financial variables regarding the state of the GDP growth. A contemporaneous, as well as a lagged, relationship between the explanatory variables and the state of the GDP growth is conducted. The mean absolute distance (MAD between the probability of not being in recession and the probability estimated by the probit model is the function that evaluates the performance of the models. The probit model with the industrial production index and the realized volatility as the explanatory variables has the lowest MAD value of 6.43% (7.94% in the contemporaneous (lagged relationship.

A reassessment of the relationship between GDP and life satisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Proto, Eugenio; Rustichini, Aldo

2013-01-01

The scientific debate on the relation between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and self reported indices of life satisfaction is still open. In a well-known finding, Easterlin reported no significant relationship between happiness and aggregate income in time-series analysis. However, life satisfaction appears to be strictly monotonically increasing with income when one studies this relation at a point in time across nations. Here, we analyze the relation between per capita GDP and life satisfaction without imposing a functional form and eliminating potentially confounding country-specific factors. We show that this relation clearly increases in country with a per capita GDP below 15,000 USD (2005 in Purchasing Power Parity), then it flattens for richer countries. The probability of reporting the highest level of life satisfaction is more than 12% lower in the poor countries with a per capita GDP below 5,600 USD than in the counties with a per capita GDP of about 15,000 USD. In countries with an income above 17,000 USD the probability of reporting the highest level of life satisfaction changes within a range of 2% maximum. Interestingly enough, life satisfaction seems to peak at around 30,000 USD and then slightly but significantly decline among the richest countries. These results suggest an explanation of the Easterlin paradox: life satisfaction increases with GDP in poor country, but this relation is approximately flat in richer countries. We explain this relation with aspiration levels. We assume that a gap between aspiration and realized income is negatively perceived; and aspirations to higher income increase with income. These facts together have a negative effect on life satisfaction, opposite to the positive direct effect of the income. The net effect is ambiguous. We predict a higher negative effect in individuals with higher sensitivity to losses (measured by their neuroticism score) and provide econometric support of this explanation.

Effects of maternal mortality on gross domestic product (GDP) in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Effects of maternal mortality on gross domestic product (GDP) in the WHO ... capital (K), educational enrolment (EN) and exports (X) had a positive sign; while labor ... Maternal mortality of a single person was found to reduce per capita GDP by ...

DOES ENERGY CONSUMPTION VOLATILITY AFFECT REAL GDP VOLATILITY? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS FOR THE UK

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Abdul Rashid

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This paper empirically examines the relation between energy consumption volatility and unpredictable variations in real gross domestic product (GDP in the UK. Estimating the Markov switching ARCH model we find a significant regime switching in the behavior of both energy consumption and GDP volatility. The results from the Markov regime-switching model show that the variability of energy consumption has a significant role to play in determining the behavior of GDP volatilities. Moreover, the results suggest that the impacts of unpredictable variations in energy consumption on GDP volatility are asymmetric, depending on the intensity of volatility. In particular, we find that while there is no significant contemporaneous relationship between energy consumption volatility and GDP volatility in the first (low-volatility regime, GDP volatility is significantly positively related to the volatility of energy utilization in the second (high-volatility regime.

Low GDP Solution and Glucose-Sparing Strategies for Peritoneal Dialysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Szeto, Cheuk Chun; Johnson, David W

2017-01-01

Long-term exposure to a high glucose concentration in conventional peritoneal dialysis (PD) solution has a number of direct and indirect (via glucose degradation products [GDP]) detrimental effects on the peritoneal membrane, as well as systemic metabolism. Glucose- or GDP-sparing strategies often are hypothesized to confer clinical benefits to PD patients. Icodextrin (glucose polymer) solution improves peritoneal ultrafiltration and reduces the risk of fluid overload, but these beneficial effects are probably the result of better fluid removal rather than being glucose sparing. Although frequently used for glucose sparing, the role of amino acid-based solution in this regard has not been tested thoroughly. When glucose-free solutions are used in a combination regimen, published studies showed that glycemic control was improved significantly in diabetic PD patients, and there probably are beneficial effects on peritoneal function. However, the long-term effects of glucose-free solutions, used either alone or as a combination regimen, require further studies. On the other hand, neutral pH-low GDP fluids have been shown convincingly to preserve residual renal function and urine volume. The cost effectiveness of these solutions supports the regular use of neutral pH-low GDP solutions. Nevertheless, further studies are required to determine whether neutral pH-low GDP solutions exert beneficial effects on patient-level outcomes, such as peritonitis, technique survival, and patient survival. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Study of a cohort of Latvian workers having participated to the decontamination of the nuclear site of Chernobyl

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Viel, J.F.

1999-01-01

In the consequences attributable to the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, it is debated whether post-disaster psycho-pathology is related to the perception of the level of contamination or the level of contamination itself. To address this issue, the authors have assessed the association of various exposure mental and psychosomatic distress, on a sample of 1,1412 Latvian liquidators drawn from the State Latvian Chernobyl clean-up workers registry. The outcome considered was a mixed mental/psychosomatic disorder occurring during the time period 1986-1995. Comparisons between subgroups of the cohort, classified according to exposure type or level, were based on the proportional hazards model. Length of work (≥ 28 days) in a 10 km radius from the reactor (relative risk (RR) = 1.39, 95 percent confidence interval (CI) 1.14-1.70), work (> 1 time) on the damaged reactor roof (RR 1.46, 95 percent CI 1.02-2.09), forest work (RR 1.41,95 percent CI 1.19-1.68), and fresh fruits consumption (≥ 1 time/day) (RR 1.72,95 percent CI 1.12-2.65) are risk factors for mixed mental/ psychosomatic disorder. Construction of the sarcophagus (RR 1.82, 95 percent CI 0.89-3.72), is also associated with this outcome, although non significantly. These findings confirm that some exposure variables represent risk factors for mental disorders and suggest some radiation-induced consequences although surely overweight by stress-related effects. (author)

Exploiting the Oil-GDP Effect to Support Renewables Deployment

OpenAIRE

Shimon Awerbuch; Raphael Sauter

2005-01-01

The empirical evidence from a growing body of academic literature clearly suggests that oil price increases and volatility dampen macroeconomic growth by raising inflation and unemployment and by depressing the value of financial and other assets. Surprisingly, this issue seems to have received little attention from energy policy makers. In percentage terms, the Oil-GDP effect is relatively small, producing losses in the order of 0.5% of GDP for a 10% oil price increase. In absolute terms how...

THE IMPLICATIONS OF EMERGENCE OF CHINA TOWARDS ASEAN-5: FDI-GDP PERSPECTIVE

OpenAIRE

Puah, Chin-Hong; Kueh, Jerome Swee-Hui; Lau, Evan

2007-01-01

The relationship between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Gross Domestic Products (GDP) had become the centre piece of recent researches in identifying the short run and long run implications between the two variables. Using the hypotheses of FDI led GDP and GDP led FDI as theoretical framework, this study intends to analyze the implications of the rise of China towards the ASEAN-5 countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand from the perspective of FDI an...

GDP Growth and the Interdependency of Volatility Spillovers

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Martin O’Brien

2012-03-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the dynamics of cross-country GDP volatility transmission and their conditional correlations. We use quarterly data (1961-2008 for Australia, Canada, the UK and the US to construct and estimate a multivariate generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (MGARCH model. According to the results from the mean growth equations, we identified significant cross-country GDP growth spillover among these countries. Furthermore, the growth volatility between the US and Canada indicates the highest conditional correlation. As expected, we also found that the shock influences are mainly exerted by the larger economies onto the smaller economies.

Biochemical analysis of leishmanial and human GDP-Mannose Pyrophosphorylases and selection of inhibitors as new leads.

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Wei; Daligaux, Pierre; Lazar, Noureddine; Ha-Duong, Tâp; Cavé, Christian; van Tilbeurgh, Herman; Loiseau, Philippe M; Pomel, Sébastien

2017-04-07

Leishmaniases are an ensemble of diseases caused by the protozoan parasite of the genus Leishmania. Current antileishmanial treatments are limited and present main issues of toxicity and drug resistance emergence. Therefore, the generation of new inhibitors specifically directed against a leishmanial target is an attractive strategy to expand the chemotherapeutic arsenal. GDP-Mannose Pyrophosphorylase (GDP-MP) is a prominent therapeutic target involved in host-parasite recognition which has been described to be essential for parasite survival. In this work, we produced and purified GDP-MPs from L. mexicana (LmGDP-MP), L. donovani (LdGDP-MP), and human (hGDP-MP), and compared their enzymatic properties. From a rationale design of 100 potential inhibitors, four compounds were identified having a promising and specific inhibitory effect on parasite GDP-MP and antileishmanial activities, one of them exhibits a competitive inhibition on LdGDP-MP and belongs to the 2-substituted quinoline series.

Selected aspects of GDP value and structure development in sub-Saharan Africa

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Luboš Smutka

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Africa belongs to the poorest regions of the world. This statement may be applied especially to its sub-Saharan part. The paper analyses some basic structural characteristics related to the economic development of sub-Saharan region. The article reveals existing differences between countries and regions of sub-Saharan Africa and analyses key problems which influence economic development of individual states. An emphasis is placed on analysing an unsuitable GDP structure and on external economic relations which affect this structure. Results of an investigation show that the GDP of sub-Saharan countries is to a large extend generated by the primary sector of their economies, which is dominant in the total GDP value and its position is continuously strengthening due to a high dynamics of its growth. Having regard to the external environment, there can be stated that the foreign trade has contributed to the GDP growth of the whole region only to a limited degree (this does not apply to all countries seen as individuals. The integration process in sub-Saharan Africa may be characterized as questionable. Many integration groupings are operating in the region, but their influence on economic growth is limited due a low potential for mutual cooperation based on specialisation and use of comparative advantages. The economies of sub-Saharan countries are very sensitive to changes in their external economic environment. In this regard, there is important to highlight the very strong sensitivity of the GDP in the sub-Saharan region in relation to the World GDP (mainly to European and US GDP because both regions belong to the most important trading partners of Africa as a whole.

Posttranslational modifications of Rab proteins cause effective displacement of GDP dissociation inhibitor.

Science.gov (United States)

Oesterlin, Lena K; Goody, Roger S; Itzen, Aymelt

2012-04-10

Intracellular vesicular trafficking is regulated by approximately 60 members of the Rab subfamily of small Ras-like GDP/GTP binding proteins. Rab proteins cycle between inactive and active states as well as between cytosolic and membrane bound forms. Membrane extraction/delivery and cytosolic distribution of Rabs is mediated by interaction with the protein GDP dissociation inhibitor (GDI) that binds to prenylated inactive (GDP-bound) Rab proteins. Because the Rab:GDP:GDI complex is of high affinity, the question arises of how GDI can be displaced efficiently from Rab protein in order to allow the necessary recruitment of the Rab to its specific target membrane. While there is strong evidence that DrrA, as a bacterially encoded GDP/GTP exchange factor, contributes to this event, we show here that posttranslational modifications of Rabs can also modulate the affinity for GDI and thus cause effective displacement of GDI from Rab:GDI complexes. These activities have been found associated with the phosphocholination and adenylylation activities of the enzymes AnkX and DrrA/SidM, respectively, from the pathogenic bacterium Legionella pneumophila. Both modifications occur after spontaneous dissociation of Rab:GDI complexes within their natural equilibrium. Therefore, the effective GDI displacement that is observed is caused by inhibition of reformation of Rab:GDI complexes. Interestingly, in contrast to adenylylation by DrrA, AnkX can covalently modify inactive Rabs with high catalytic efficiency even when GDP is bound to the GTPase and hence can inhibit binding of GDI to Rab:GDP complexes. We therefore speculate that human cells could employ similar mechanisms in the absence of infection to effectively displace Rabs from GDI.

Enzymatic Synthesis of GDP-α-l-fucofuranose by MtdL and Hyg20.

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Xiangjing; Xie, Yunchang; Huang, Hongbo; Chen, Qi; Ma, Junying; Li, Qinglian; Ju, Jianhua

2018-02-16

Two mutases, MtdL and Hyg20, are reported. Both are able to functionally drive the biosynthesis of GDP-α-l-fucofuranose. Both enzymes catalyze similar functions, catalytically enabling the bidirectional reaction between GDP-β-l-fucopyranose and GDP-α-l-fucofuranose using only divalent cations as cofactors. This realization is but one of a number of important insights into fucofuranose biosynthesis presented herein.

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF THIN GDP SHELLS USED AS CRYOGENIC DIRECT DRIVE TARGETS AT OMEGA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

NIKROO, A.; CZECHOWICZ, D.; CHEN, K.C.; DICKEN, M.; MORRIS, C.; ANDREWS, R.; GREENWOOD, A.L; CASTILLO, E.

2003-09-01

OAK-B135 Thin glow discharge polymer (GDP) shells are currently used as the targets for cryogenic direct drive laser fusion experiments. These shells need to be filled with nearly 1000 atm of D 2 and cooled to cryogenic temperatures without failing due to buckling and bursting pressures they experience in this process. Therefore, the mechanical and permeation properties of these shells are of utmost importance in successful and rapid filling with D 2 . In this paper, they present an overview of buckle and burst pressures of several different types of GDP shells. These include those made using traditional GDP deposition parameters (standard GDP) using a high deposition pressure and using modified parameters (strong GDP) of low deposition pressure that leads to more robust shells

A reassessment of the relationship between GDP and life satisfaction.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eugenio Proto

Full Text Available The scientific debate on the relation between Gross Domestic Product (GDP and self reported indices of life satisfaction is still open. In a well-known finding, Easterlin reported no significant relationship between happiness and aggregate income in time-series analysis. However, life satisfaction appears to be strictly monotonically increasing with income when one studies this relation at a point in time across nations. Here, we analyze the relation between per capita GDP and life satisfaction without imposing a functional form and eliminating potentially confounding country-specific factors. We show that this relation clearly increases in country with a per capita GDP below 15,000 USD (2005 in Purchasing Power Parity, then it flattens for richer countries. The probability of reporting the highest level of life satisfaction is more than 12% lower in the poor countries with a per capita GDP below 5,600 USD than in the counties with a per capita GDP of about 15,000 USD. In countries with an income above 17,000 USD the probability of reporting the highest level of life satisfaction changes within a range of 2% maximum. Interestingly enough, life satisfaction seems to peak at around 30,000 USD and then slightly but significantly decline among the richest countries. These results suggest an explanation of the Easterlin paradox: life satisfaction increases with GDP in poor country, but this relation is approximately flat in richer countries. We explain this relation with aspiration levels. We assume that a gap between aspiration and realized income is negatively perceived; and aspirations to higher income increase with income. These facts together have a negative effect on life satisfaction, opposite to the positive direct effect of the income. The net effect is ambiguous. We predict a higher negative effect in individuals with higher sensitivity to losses (measured by their neuroticism score and provide econometric support of this explanation.

Effects of maternal mortality on gross domestic product (GDP) in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

WHO African region has got the highest maternal mortality rate compared to the other five regions. Maternal mortality is hypothesized to have significantly negative effect on the gross domestic product (GDP). The objective of the current study was to estimate the loss in GDP attributable to maternal mortality in the WHO ...

Slavic Loanwords in the Terms for Dumplings in Latvian

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Brigita Bušmane

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Slavic Loanwords in the Terms for Dumplings in Latvian Food is an essential part of the material culture of every nation. It frequently preserves national traditions and old names longer than other spheres do, additionally, it lets observe the influence of other cultures. According to dictionary data, dumplings were known in Latvia already in the 18th century. Many names for them have been attested in regional subdialects of Latvian; borrowings usually cover wide areas. In this article, basing on ethnographic and linguistic material notations of different antiquity thus tracing the use of names for dumplings almost a century long and referring to dictionary data from 18th–19th century, the author tried to reveal the use and distribution of names for dumplings of Slavic origin in subdialects of Lat­vian, as well as to offer fragmentary data on the use of particular Slavic borrowings in neighboring languages. The Slavic borrowings kļocka, zacirka alongside variant names are widespread in Eastern Latvia, i.e. in a rather narrow or wide area of the High Latvian dialect. In Eastern Latvia, the names klučki, klučkas derived from the Germanic borrowing kluči, with insertion of the consonant k under influence of Russian, have also been registered. From the semantic angle, the borrowings kļockas, klučkas and their variants are denoting dumplings made of various raw materials (e.g., different kinds of flour, also pea-flour, potatoes. Further references to ingredients of this food and its preparation are included in the explanation of the Slavic borrowing zacirka and its variants most typical for the peasants vocabulary in Latgale. The Slavic borrowings examined in this article have not seldom (even up to the last decades of the 20th century been serving as the only names of the said dish in the speech of representants of the oldest generation in the particular area in Eastern Latvia.   Słowiańskie zapożyczenia wśród nazw pierogów w j

GTP- and GDP-Dependent Rab27a Effectors in Pancreatic Beta-Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamaoka, Mami; Ishizaki, Toshimasa; Kimura, Toshihide

2015-01-01

Small guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) participate in a wide variety of cellular functions including proliferation, differentiation, adhesion, and intracellular transport. Conventionally, only the guanosine 5'-triphosphate (GTP)-bound small GTPase interacts with effector proteins, and the resulting downstream signals control specific cellular functions. Therefore, the GTP-bound form is regarded as active, and the focus has been on searching for proteins that bind the GTP form to look for their effectors. The Rab family small GTPase Rab27a is highly expressed in some secretory cells and is involved in the control of membrane traffic. The present study reviews recent progress in our understanding of the roles of Rab27a and its effectors in pancreatic beta-cells. In the basal state, GTP-bound Rab27a controls insulin secretion at pre-exocytic stages via its GTP-dependent effectors. We previously identified novel guanosine 5'-diphosphate (GDP)-bound Rab27-interacting proteins. Interestingly, GDP-bound Rab27a controls endocytosis of the secretory membrane via its interaction with these proteins. We also demonstrated that the insulin secretagogue glucose converts Rab27a from its GTP- to GDP-bound forms. Thus, GTP- and GDP-bound Rab27a regulate pre-exocytic and endocytic stages in membrane traffic, respectively. Since the physiological importance of GDP-bound GTPases has been largely overlooked, we consider that the investigation of GDP-dependent effectors for other GTPases is necessary for further understanding of cellular function.

Biosynthesis of GDP-fucose and other sugar nucleotides in the blood stages of Plasmodium falciparum.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanz, Sílvia; Bandini, Giulia; Ospina, Diego; Bernabeu, Maria; Mariño, Karina; Fernández-Becerra, Carmen; Izquierdo, Luis

2013-06-07

Carbohydrate structures play important roles in many biological processes, including cell adhesion, cell-cell communication, and host-pathogen interactions. Sugar nucleotides are activated forms of sugars used by the cell as donors for most glycosylation reactions. Using a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-based method, we identified and quantified the pools of UDP-glucose, UDP-galactose, UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, GDP-mannose, and GDP-fucose in Plasmodium falciparum intraerythrocytic life stages. We assembled these data with the in silico functional reconstruction of the parasite metabolic pathways obtained from the P. falciparum annotated genome, exposing new active biosynthetic routes crucial for further glycosylation reactions. Fucose is a sugar present in glycoconjugates often associated with recognition and adhesion events. Thus, the GDP-fucose precursor is essential in a wide variety of organisms. P. falciparum presents homologues of GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase and GDP-L-fucose synthase enzymes that are active in vitro, indicating that most GDP-fucose is formed by a de novo pathway that involves the bioconversion of GDP-mannose. Homologues for enzymes involved in a fucose salvage pathway are apparently absent in the P. falciparum genome. This is in agreement with in vivo metabolic labeling experiments showing that fucose is not significantly incorporated by the parasite. Fluorescence microscopy of epitope-tagged versions of P. falciparum GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase and GDP-L-fucose synthase expressed in transgenic 3D7 parasites shows that these enzymes localize in the cytoplasm of P. falciparum during the intraerythrocytic developmental cycle. Although the function of fucose in the parasite is not known, the presence of GDP-fucose suggests that the metabolite may be used for further fucosylation reactions.

Biosynthesis of GDP-fucose and Other Sugar Nucleotides in the Blood Stages of Plasmodium falciparum*

Science.gov (United States)

Sanz, Sílvia; Bandini, Giulia; Ospina, Diego; Bernabeu, Maria; Mariño, Karina; Fernández-Becerra, Carmen; Izquierdo, Luis

2013-01-01

Carbohydrate structures play important roles in many biological processes, including cell adhesion, cell-cell communication, and host-pathogen interactions. Sugar nucleotides are activated forms of sugars used by the cell as donors for most glycosylation reactions. Using a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-based method, we identified and quantified the pools of UDP-glucose, UDP-galactose, UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, GDP-mannose, and GDP-fucose in Plasmodium falciparum intraerythrocytic life stages. We assembled these data with the in silico functional reconstruction of the parasite metabolic pathways obtained from the P. falciparum annotated genome, exposing new active biosynthetic routes crucial for further glycosylation reactions. Fucose is a sugar present in glycoconjugates often associated with recognition and adhesion events. Thus, the GDP-fucose precursor is essential in a wide variety of organisms. P. falciparum presents homologues of GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase and GDP-l-fucose synthase enzymes that are active in vitro, indicating that most GDP-fucose is formed by a de novo pathway that involves the bioconversion of GDP-mannose. Homologues for enzymes involved in a fucose salvage pathway are apparently absent in the P. falciparum genome. This is in agreement with in vivo metabolic labeling experiments showing that fucose is not significantly incorporated by the parasite. Fluorescence microscopy of epitope-tagged versions of P. falciparum GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase and GDP-l-fucose synthase expressed in transgenic 3D7 parasites shows that these enzymes localize in the cytoplasm of P. falciparum during the intraerythrocytic developmental cycle. Although the function of fucose in the parasite is not known, the presence of GDP-fucose suggests that the metabolite may be used for further fucosylation reactions. PMID:23615908

Biochemical characterization of an isoform of GDP-D-mannose-4,6-dehydratase from Mortierella alpina.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hongchao; Zhang, Chen; Chen, Haiqin; Yang, Qin; Zhou, Xin; Gu, Zhennan; Zhang, Hao; Chen, Wei; Chen, Yong Q

2016-10-01

To clarify the molecular mechanism of GDP-L-fucose biosynthesis in Mortierella alpina. Analysis of the M. alpina genome suggests that there were two isofunctional GDP-D-mannose-4,6-dehydratase genes (GMD1 and GMD2) that have never been found in a microorganism before. GMD2 was expressed heterologously in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. The addition of exogenous NAD(+) or NADP(+) was not essential for GMD2 activity. GMD2 may have considerable importance for GDP-L-fucose biosynthesis under nitrogen starvation. The transcriptional regulation of GMD1 may be more susceptible to GDP and GTP than that of GMD2. Significant changes were observed in the concentration of GDP-L-fucose (30 and 36 % inhibition respectively) and total fatty acids (18 and 12 % inhibition respectively) in M. alpina grown on GMD inhibitors medium, which suggests that GDP-L-fucose is functionally significant in lipid metabolism. This is the first time that an isofunctional GDP-D-mannose-4,6-dehydratase has been characterized in a microorganism.

Metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum to produce GDP-L-fucose from glucose and mannose.

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Young-Wook; Park, Jin-Byung; Park, Yong-Cheol; Kim, Kyoung Heon; Seo, Jin-Ho

2013-06-01

Wild-type Corynebacterium glutamicum was metabolically engineered to convert glucose and mannose into guanosine 5'-diphosphate (GDP)-L-fucose, a precursor of fucosyl-oligosaccharides, which are involved in various biological and pathological functions. This was done by introducing the gmd and wcaG genes of Escherichia coli encoding GDP-D-mannose-4,6-dehydratase and GDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-D-mannose-3,5-epimerase-4-reductase, respectively, which are known as key enzymes in the production of GDP-L-fucose from GDP-D-mannose. Coexpression of the genes allowed the recombinant C. glutamicum cells to produce GDP-L-fucose in a minimal medium containing glucose and mannose as carbon sources. The specific product formation rate was much higher during growth on mannose than on glucose. In addition, the specific product formation rate was further increased by coexpressing the endogenous phosphomanno-mutase gene (manB) and GTP-mannose-1-phosphate guanylyl-transferase gene (manC), which are involved in the conversion of mannose-6-phosphate into GDP-D-mannose. However, the overexpression of manA encoding mannose-6-phosphate isomerase, catalyzing interconversion of mannose-6-phosphate and fructose-6-phosphate showed a negative effect on formation of the target product. Overall, coexpression of gmd, wcaG, manB and manC in C. glutamicum enabled production of GDP-L-fucose at the specific rate of 0.11 mg g cell(-1) h(-1). The specific GDP-L-fucose content reached 5.5 mg g cell(-1), which is a 2.4-fold higher than that of the recombinant E. coli overexpressing gmd, wcaG, manB and manC under comparable conditions. Well-established metabolic engineering tools may permit optimization of the carbon and cofactor metabolisms of C. glutamicum to further improve their production capacity.

Negative cooperativity in binding of muscarinic receptor agonists and GDP as a measure of agonist efficacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Jakubík, J; Janíčková, H; El-Fakahany, E E; Doležal, V

2011-03-01

Conventional determination of agonist efficacy at G-protein coupled receptors is measured by stimulation of guanosine-5'-γ-thiotriphosphate (GTPγS) binding. We analysed the role of guanosine diphosphate (GDP) in the process of activation of the M₂ muscarinic acetylcholine receptor and provide evidence that negative cooperativity between agonist and GDP binding is an alternative measure of agonist efficacy. Filtration and scintillation proximity assays measured equilibrium binding as well as binding kinetics of [³⁵S]GTPγS and [³H]GDP to a mixture of G-proteins as well as individual classes of G-proteins upon binding of structurally different agonists to the M₂ muscarinic acetylcholine receptor. Agonists displayed biphasic competition curves with the antagonist [³H]-N-methylscopolamine. GTPγS (1 µM) changed the competition curves to monophasic with low affinity and 50 µM GDP produced a similar effect. Depletion of membrane-bound GDP increased the proportion of agonist high-affinity sites. Carbachol accelerated the dissociation of [³H]GDP from membranes. The inverse agonist N-methylscopolamine slowed GDP dissociation and GTPγS binding without changing affinity for GDP. Carbachol affected both GDP association with and dissociation from G(i/o) G-proteins but only its dissociation from G(s/olf) G-proteins. These findings suggest the existence of a low-affinity agonist-receptor conformation complexed with GDP-liganded G-protein. Also the negative cooperativity between GDP and agonist binding at the receptor/G-protein complex determines agonist efficacy. GDP binding reveals differences in action of agonists versus inverse agonists as well as differences in activation of G(i/o) versus G(s/olf) G-proteins that are not identified by conventional GTPγS binding. © 2011 The Authors. British Journal of Pharmacology © 2011 The British Pharmacological Society.

Macroenvironmental factors including GDP per capita and physical activity in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Cameron, Adrian J; Van Stralen, Maartje M; Kunst, Anton E; Te Velde, Saskia J; Van Lenthe, Frank J; Salmon, Jo; Brug, Johannes

2013-02-01

Socioeconomic inequalities in physical activity at the individual level are well reported. Whether inequalities in economic development and other macroenvironmental variables between countries are also related to physical activity at the country level is comparatively unstudied. We examined the relationship between country-level data on macroenvironmental factors (gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, public sector expenditure on health, percentage living in urban areas, and cars per 1000 population) with country-level physical activity prevalence obtained from previous pan-European studies. Studies that assessed leisuretime physical activity (n = 3 studies including 27 countries in adults, n = 2 studies including 28 countries in children) and total physical activity (n = 3 studies in adults including 16 countries) were analyzed separately as were studies among adults and children. Strong and consistent positive correlations were observed between country prevalence of leisure-time physical activity and country GDP per capita in adults (average r = 0.70; all studies, P G 0.05). In multivariate analysis, country prevalence of leisure-time physical activity among adults remained associated with country GDP per capita (two of three studies) but not urbanization or educational attainment. Among school-age populations, no association was found between country GDP per capita and country prevalence of leisure-time physical activity. In those studies that assessed total physical activity (which also includes occupational and transport physical activity), no association with country GDP per capita was observed. Clear differences in national leisure-time physical activity levels throughout Europe may be a consequence of economic development. Lack of economic development of some countries in Europe may make increasing leisure-time physical activity more difficult. Further examination of the link between country GDP per capita and national physical activity levels (across

GDP-L-fucose is required for boundary definition in plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonçalves, Beatriz; Maugarny-Calès, Aude; Adroher, Bernard; Cortizo, Millán; Borrega, Nero; Blein, Thomas; Hasson, Alice; Gineau, Emilie; Mouille, Grégory; Laufs, Patrick; Arnaud, Nicolas

2017-12-16

The CUP-SHAPED COTYLEDON (CUC) transcription factors control plant boundary formation, thus allowing the emergence of novel growth axes. While the developmental roles of the CUC genes in different organs and across species are well characterized, upstream and downstream events that contribute to their function are still poorly understood. To identify new players in this network, we performed a suppressor screen of CUC2g-m4, a line overexpressing CUC2 that has highly serrated leaves. We identified a mutation that simplifies leaf shape and affects MURUS1 (MUR1), which is responsible for GDP-L-fucose production. Using detailed morphometric analysis, we show that GDP-L-fucose has an essential role in leaf shape acquisition by sustaining differential growth at the leaf margins. Accordingly, reduced CUC2 expression levels are observed in mur1 leaves. Furthermore, genetic analyses reveal a conserved role for GDP-L-fucose in different developmental contexts where it contributes to organ separation in the same pathway as CUC2. Taken together, our results reveal that GDP-L-fucose is necessary for proper establishment of boundary domains in various developmental contexts. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

The Arabidopsis Golgi-localized GDP-L-fucose transporter is required for plant development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rautengarten, Carsten; Ebert, Berit; Liu, Lifeng

2016-01-01

assays, we show that GFT preferentially transports GDP-L-fucose over other nucleotide sugars in vitro, while GFT1-silenced plants are almost devoid of L-fucose in cell wall-derived xyloglucan and rhamnogalacturonan II. Furthermore, these lines display reduced L-fucose content in N-glycan structures......Nucleotide sugar transport across Golgi membranes is essential for the luminal biosynthesis of glycan structures. Here we identify GDP-fucose transporter 1 (GFT1), an Arabidopsis nucleotide sugar transporter that translocates GDP-L-fucose into the Golgi lumen. Using proteo-liposome-based transport...... accompanied by severe developmental growth defects. We conclude that GFT1 is the major nucleotide sugar transporter for import of GDP-L-fucose into the Golgi and is required for proper plant growth and development....

The Arabidopsis Golgi-localized GDP-L-fucose transporter is required for plant development.

Science.gov (United States)

Rautengarten, Carsten; Ebert, Berit; Liu, Lifeng; Stonebloom, Solomon; Smith-Moritz, Andreia M; Pauly, Markus; Orellana, Ariel; Scheller, Henrik Vibe; Heazlewood, Joshua L

2016-07-06

Nucleotide sugar transport across Golgi membranes is essential for the luminal biosynthesis of glycan structures. Here we identify GDP-fucose transporter 1 (GFT1), an Arabidopsis nucleotide sugar transporter that translocates GDP-L-fucose into the Golgi lumen. Using proteo-liposome-based transport assays, we show that GFT preferentially transports GDP-L-fucose over other nucleotide sugars in vitro, while GFT1-silenced plants are almost devoid of L-fucose in cell wall-derived xyloglucan and rhamnogalacturonan II. Furthermore, these lines display reduced L-fucose content in N-glycan structures accompanied by severe developmental growth defects. We conclude that GFT1 is the major nucleotide sugar transporter for import of GDP-L-fucose into the Golgi and is required for proper plant growth and development.

Decoupling of CO2 emissions and GDP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yves Rocha de Salles Lima

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The objetive of this work is to analyze the variation of CO2 emissions and GDP per capita throughout the years and identify the possible interaction between them. For this purpose, data from the International Energy Agency was collected on two countries, Brazil and the one with the highest GDP worldwide, the United States. Thus, the results showed that CO2 emissions have been following the country’s economic growth for many years. However, these two indicators have started to decouple in the US in 2007 while in Brazil the same happened in 2011. Furthermore, projections for CO2 emissions are made until 2040, considering 6 probable scenarios. These projections showed that even if the oil price decreases, the emissions will not be significantly affected as long as the economic growth does not decelerate.

Modulation of GDP-fucose level for generating proteins with reduced rate of fucosylation (WO2010141855).

Science.gov (United States)

Taupin, Philippe

2011-09-01

The application (WO2010141855) is in the field of glycobiology, and involves the control of the rate of fucosylation of proteins by exogenous factors. It aims at controlling the rate of protein fucosylation with inhibitors (drugs or nucleic acid antagonists) of enzymes involved in the synthesis of GDP-fucose. Mammalian cell lines were cultured in the presence of inhibitors, for example, siRNA. The rates of GDP-fucose in cells and during protein fucosylation were characterized. The level of protein fucosylation decreases rapidly in response to a decrease in GDP-fucose level. The relationship between the rate of fucosylation of proteins and the level of GDP-fucose in a cell is non-linear. Reduction in the rate of protein fucosylation can be achieved with a minimal reduction of the level of GDP-fucose in cells. The paradigm may be used to synthesize proteins and antibodies, with a reduced rate of fucosylation. The application claims that the use of drugs or nucleic acid antagonists that inhibit the enzymes involved in GDP-fucose biosynthesis optimizes the level of GDP-fucose present in cells, and reduces the rate of fucosylation of glycoproteins.

The energy-GDP nexus: Evidence from a panel of Pacific Island countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mishra, Vinod; Smyth, Russell; Sharma, Susan

2009-01-01

The Pacific Island countries are small island economies that are increasingly dependent on energy for growth and development, yet highly susceptible to climate change. Thus, the relationship between energy consumption and GDP is crucial for realizing their future development and growth objectives. This article tests for Granger causality and provides long-run structural estimates for the relationship between energy consumption, GDP and urbanization for a panel of Pacific Island countries. For the panel as a whole in the long-run there is bidirectional Granger causality between energy consumption and GDP and these variables exert a positive impact on each other. A 1% increase in energy consumption increases GDP by 0.11%, while a 1% increase in GDP increases energy consumption by 0.23%. The findings suggest that for the panel as a whole these countries should increase investment in energy infrastructure and regulatory reform of energy infrastructure to improve delivery efficiency, continue to promote alternative energy sources and put in place energy conservation policies to reduce unnecessary wastage. These strategies seek to realize the dual objectives of reducing the adverse effects of energy use on the environment, while avoiding the negative effect on economic growth of reducing energy consumption. (author)

News Related to Future GDP Growth as a Risk Factor in Equity Returns

OpenAIRE

Vassalou, Maria

2001-01-01

A model that includes a factor that captures news related to future Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth along with the market factor can explain the cross-section of equity returns about as well as the Fama-French model can. Furthermore, the Fama-French factors HML and SMB appear to contain mainly news related to future GDP growth. When news related to future GDP growth is present in the asset-pricing model, HML and SMB lose their ability to explain the cross-section.

A structural VAR analysis of electricity consumption and real GDP: Evidence from the G7 countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narayan, Paresh Kumar; Narayan, Seema; Prasad, Arti

2008-01-01

In this paper, we depart from the literature on electricity consumption-real GDP in that for the first time we examine the reaction of real GDP to shocks in electricity consumption. To achieve this goal, we use the structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model and examine the impact of electricity consumption shocks on real GDP for the G7 countries. We find that except for the USA, electricity consumption has a statistically significant positive impact on real GDP over short horizons. This finding implies that except for the USA, electricity conservation policies will hurt real GDP in the G7 countries

Dynamic regulation of GDP binding to G proteins revealed by magnetic field-dependent NMR relaxation analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Toyama, Yuki; Kano, Hanaho; Mase, Yoko; Yokogawa, Mariko; Osawa, Masanori; Shimada, Ichio

2017-02-22

Heterotrimeric guanine-nucleotide-binding proteins (G proteins) serve as molecular switches in signalling pathways, by coupling the activation of cell surface receptors to intracellular responses. Mutations in the G protein α-subunit (Gα) that accelerate guanosine diphosphate (GDP) dissociation cause hyperactivation of the downstream effector proteins, leading to oncogenesis. However, the structural mechanism of the accelerated GDP dissociation has remained unclear. Here, we use magnetic field-dependent nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation analyses to investigate the structural and dynamic properties of GDP bound Gα on a microsecond timescale. We show that Gα rapidly exchanges between a ground-state conformation, which tightly binds to GDP and an excited conformation with reduced GDP affinity. The oncogenic D150N mutation accelerates GDP dissociation by shifting the equilibrium towards the excited conformation.

Energy consumption and GDP in Turkey : Is there a co-integration relationship?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Montfort, van K.; Lise, W.

2007-01-01

Energy consumption and GDP are expected to grow by 5.9% and 7% annually until 2025 in Turkey. This paper tries to unfold the linkage between energy consumption and GDP by undertaking a co-integration analysis for Turkey with annual data over the period 1970-2003. The analysis shows that energy

Energy consumption and GDP in Turkey: is there a co-integration relationship?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Montfort, C.A.G.M.; Lise, W.

2007-01-01

Energy consumption and GDP are expected to grow by 5.9% and 7% annually until 2025 in Turkey. This paper tries to unfold the linkage between energy consumption and GDP by undertaking a co-integration analysis for Turkey with annual data over the period 1970-2003. The analysis shows that energy

Effect of exchange rate policy on GDP and GDP components: The Kyrgyz Republic Case

OpenAIRE

Fuat SEKMEN; Nurbek MADMAROV

2018-01-01

The choice of exchange rate regimes in the countries to take advantage of stabilization policies was quite difficult. After the breakdown of the USSR, the KR among the former member countries in the Central Asia was the first to introduce its national currency on 10th of May 1993. After that time, it has done several adjustments in the exchange rate policy to preserve the value of the som from external shocks. In the study, the effectiveness of the exchange rate policy on GDP a...

Assessment of antibiotic prescribing in Latvian general practitioners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dumpis Uga

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Though general antibiotic consumption data is available, information on the actual patterns of prescribing antibiotics locally is difficult to obtain. An easy to use methodology was designed to assess ambulatory management of infections by Latvian general practitioners (GPs. Methods GPs were asked to record data in a patient data collection form for every patient that received antibiotics. Study period – (7 days one week in November, 2008. Data recorded included the following details: an antibiotic, the prescribed dose, dosing interval, route of administration combined with the demographic factors of the patient and clinical diagnosis based on a pre-defined list. Results Two hundred forty eight forms out of the 600 (41% were returned by post. Antibiotics were prescribed in 6.4% (1711/26803 of outpatient consultations. In total, 1763 antibiotics were prescribed during the study period. Ninety seven percent of the patients received monotherapy and only 47 (2.7% patients were prescribed two antibiotics. The most commonly prescribed antibiotics were amoxicillin (33.9% of prescribed, amoxicillin/clavulanate (18,7% and clarithromycin (7.6%. The most commonly treated indications were pharyngitis (29.8%, acute bronchitis (25.3% and rhinosinusitis (10.2%. Pneumonia was mostly treated with amoxicillin/clavulanate (25,7%, amoxicillin (15.7% and clarithromycin (19.3%. Conclusions Methodology employed provided useful additional information on ambulatory practice of prescribing antibiotics and could be used in further assessment studies. Educational interventions should be focused on treatment of acute pharyngitis and bronchitis in children and unnecessary use of quinolones in adults for uncomplicated urinary tract infection.

Epidemiology of Voice Disorders in Latvian School Teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Trinite, Baiba

2017-07-01

The prevalence of voice disorders in the teacher population in Latvia has not been studied so far and this is the first epidemiological study whose goal is to investigate the prevalence of voice disorders and their risk factors in this professional group. A wide cross-sectional study using stratified sampling methodology was implemented in the general education schools of Latvia. The self-administered voice risk factor questionnaire and the Voice Handicap Index were completed by 522 teachers. Two teachers groups were formed: the voice disorders group which included 235 teachers with actual voice problems or problems during the last 9 months; and the control group which included 174 teachers without voice disorders. Sixty-six percent of teachers gave a positive answer to the following question: Have you ever had problems with your voice? Voice problems are more often found in female than male teachers (68.2% vs 48.8%). Music teachers suffer from voice disorders more often than teachers of other subjects. Eighty-two percent of teachers first faced voice problems in their professional carrier. The odds of voice disorders increase if the following risk factors exist: extra vocal load, shouting, throat clearing, neglecting of personal health, background noise, chronic illnesses of the upper respiratory tract, allergy, job dissatisfaction, and regular stress in the working place. The study findings indicated a high risk of voice disorders among Latvian teachers. The study confirmed data concerning the multifactorial etiology of voice disorders. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Geographic origin of publications in radiological journals as a function of GDP and percentage of GDP spent on research.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Halpenny, Darragh

2010-06-01

The aim of this study was to examine the geographic origin of publications in the highest impacting radiology journals and to examine the link between the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) spent on research by a country and the output of radiology publications.

Nonlinear Effects of Remittances on Per Capita GDP Growth in Bangladesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gazi Mainul Hassan

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the impact of inward remittances flows on per capita gross domestic product (GDP growth in Bangladesh during 1976–2012. We find that the growth effect of remittances is negative at first but becomes positive at a later stage, evidence of a non-linear relationship. Unproductive use of remittances was rampant in the beginning when they were received by migrant families, but better social and economic investments led to more productive utilization of remittances receipts at later periods. This suggests a U-shaped relationship between remittances and per capita GDP growth. Unlike what is suggested in the literature, that the effect of remittances is more pronounced in a less financially developed economy, our evidence does not show that the effect of remittances on per capita GDP growth in Bangladesh is conditional on the level of financial development.

GDP Spatialization and Economic Differences in South China Based on NPP-VIIRS Nighttime Light Imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, M.

2017-12-01

Accurate data on gross domestic product (GDP) at pixel level are needed to understand the dynamics of regional economies. GDP spatialization is the basis of quantitative analysis on economic diversities of different administrative divisions and areas with different natural or humanistic attributes. Data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), carried by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite, are capable of estimating GDP, but few studies have been conducted for mapping GDP at pixel level and further pattern analysis of economic differences in different regions using the VIIRS data. This paper produced a pixel-level (500 m × 500 m) GDP map for South China in 2014 and quantitatively analyzed economic differences among diverse geomorphological types. Based on a regression analysis, the total nighttime light (TNL) of corrected VIIRS data were found to exhibit R2 values of 0.8935 and 0.9243 for prefecture GDP and county GDP, respectively. This demonstrated that TNL showed a more significant capability in reflecting economic status (R2 > 0.88) than other nighttime light indices (R2 simple linear correlations at both prefecture and county levels. The corrected NPP-VIIRS data showed a better fit than the original data, and the estimation at the county level was better than at the prefecture level. The pixel-level GDP map indicated that: (a) economic development in coastal areas was higher than that in inland areas; (b) low altitude plains were the most developed areas, followed by low altitude platforms and low altitude hills; and (c) economic development in middle altitude areas, and low altitude hills and mountains remained to be strengthened.

Thermodynamics of the GTP-GDP-operated conformational switch of selenocysteine-specific translation factor SelB.

Science.gov (United States)

Paleskava, Alena; Konevega, Andrey L; Rodnina, Marina V

2012-08-10

SelB is a specialized translation factor that binds GTP and GDP and delivers selenocysteyl-tRNA (Sec-tRNA(Sec)) to the ribosome. By analogy to elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu), SelB is expected to control the delivery and release of Sec-tRNA(Sec) to the ribosome by the structural switch between GTP- and GDP-bound conformations. However, crystal structures of SelB suggested a similar domain arrangement in the apo form and GDP- and GTP-bound forms of the factor, raising the question of how SelB can fulfill its delivery function. Here, we studied the thermodynamics of guanine nucleotide binding to SelB by isothermal titration calorimetry in the temperature range between 10 and 25 °C using GTP, GDP, and two nonhydrolyzable GTP analogs, guanosine 5'-O-(γ-thio)triphosphate (GTPγS) and guanosine 5'-(β,γ-imido)-triphosphate (GDPNP). The binding of SelB to either guanine nucleotide is characterized by a large heat capacity change (-621, -467, -235, and -275 cal × mol(-1) × K(-1), with GTP, GTPγS, GDPNP, and GDP, respectively), associated with compensatory changes in binding entropy and enthalpy. Changes in heat capacity indicate a large decrease of the solvent-accessible surface area in SelB, amounting to 43 or 32 amino acids buried upon binding of GTP or GTPγS, respectively, and 15-19 amino acids upon binding GDP or GDPNP. The similarity of the GTP and GDP forms in the crystal structures can be attributed to the use of GDPNP, which appears to induce a structure of SelB that is more similar to the GDP than to the GTP-bound form.

Different effects of guanine nucleotides (GDP and GTP) on protein-mediated mitochondrial proton leak.

Science.gov (United States)

Woyda-Ploszczyca, Andrzej M; Jarmuszkiewicz, Wieslawa

2014-01-01

In this study, we compared the influence of GDP and GTP on isolated mitochondria respiring under conditions favoring oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and under conditions excluding this process, i.e., in the presence of carboxyatractyloside, an adenine nucleotide translocase inhibitor, and/or oligomycin, an FOF1-ATP synthase inhibitor. Using mitochondria isolated from rat kidney and human endothelial cells, we found that the action of GDP and GTP can differ diametrically depending on the conditions. Namely, under conditions favoring OXPHOS, both in the absence and presence of linoleic acid, an activator of uncoupling proteins (UCPs), the addition of 1 mM GDP resulted in the state 4 (non-phosphorylating respiration)-state 3 (phosphorylating respiration) transition, which is characteristic of ADP oxidative phosphorylation. In contrast, the addition of 1 mM GTP resulted in a decrease in the respiratory rate and an increase in the membrane potential, which is characteristic of UCP inhibition. The stimulatory effect of GDP, but not GTP, was also observed in inside-out submitochondrial particles prepared from rat kidney mitochondria. However, the effects of GDP and GTP were more similar in the presence of OXPHOS inhibitors. The importance of these observations in connection with the action of UCPs, adenine nucleotide translocase (or other carboxyatractyloside-sensitive carriers), carboxyatractyloside- and purine nucleotide-insensitive carriers, as well as nucleoside-diphosphate kinase (NDPK) are considered. Because the measurements favoring oxidative phosphorylation better reflect in vivo conditions, our study strongly supports the idea that GDP cannot be considered a significant physiological inhibitor of UCP. Moreover, it appears that, under native conditions, GTP functions as a more efficient UCP inhibitor than GDP and ATP.

Recognition and stabilization of geranylgeranylated human Rab5 by the GDP Dissociation Inhibitor (GDI).

Science.gov (United States)

Edler, Eileen; Stein, Matthias

2017-10-25

The small GTPase Rab5 is the key regulator of early endosomal fusion. It is post-translationally modified by covalent attachment of two geranylgeranyl (GG) chains to adjacent cysteine residues of the C-terminal hypervariable region (HVR). The GDP dissociation inhibitor (GDI) recognizes membrane-associated Rab5(GDP) and serves to release it into the cytoplasm where it is kept in a soluble state. A detailed new structural and dynamic model for human Rab5(GDP) recognition and binding with human GDI at the early endosome membrane and in its dissociated state is presented. In the cytoplasm, the GDI protein accommodates the GG chains in a transient hydrophobic binding pocket. In solution, two different binding modes of the isoprenoid chains inserted into the hydrophobic pocket of the Rab5(GDP):GDI complex can be identified. This equilibrium between the two states helps to stabilize the protein-protein complex in solution. Interprotein contacts between the Rab5 switch regions and characteristic patches of GDI residues from the Rab binding platform (RBP) and the C-terminus coordinating region (CCR) reveal insight on the formation of such a stable complex. GDI binding to membrane-anchored Rab5(GDP) is initially mediated by the solvent accessible switch regions of the Rab-specific RBP. Formation of the membrane-associated Rab5(GDP):GDI complex induces a GDI reorientation to establish additional interactions with the Rab5 HVR. These results allow to devise a detailed structural model for the process of extraction of GG-Rab5(GDP) by GDI from the membrane and the dissociation from targeting factors and effector proteins prior to GDI binding.

Impact of GDP Information Technology in Developing of Regional Central Business (Case 50 Airports IT City Development in Indonesia)

Science.gov (United States)

Suyono, Joko; Sukoco, Agus; Ikhsan Setiawan, M.; Suhermin; Rahim, Robbi

2017-12-01

Indonesia a great number of populations and demand of air transportation services keep increasing by the year in line with the increasing of population and welfare its people. Need for telematics solutions to support goods transport and distribution in cities is mainly due to the complexity of the processes taking place in urban transport systems and the importance of the optimisation of transport operations via ensuring adequate availability of linear and point infrastructure, while reducing the adverse impacts of the transport system on the environment. Efficient infrastructure supports economic growth, improves quality of life, and it is important for national security. Impact of GDP Information Technology in developing of Regional Central Business especially SME Business, are very large correlations and very significant supported by Passenger Arrival and Departure, Baggage Loaded and Unloaded, Cargo Loaded and Unloaded, Separated regional asset, Grant, Capital Expenditure, Investment of Regional Gov., GDP Agriculture-Forestry-Fishing, GDP Manufacturing, GDP Electricity-Gas, GDP Water supply- Sewerage-Waste Management-Remediation Activities, GDP Financial-Insurance Activities, GDP Business Activities, GDP Public Administration and Defense-Compulsory Social Security, GDP Education and GDP Other Services Activities

Electricity consumption-real GDP causality nexus: Evidence from a bootstrapped causality test for 30 OECD countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narayan, Paresh Kumar; Prasad, Arti

2008-01-01

The goal of this paper is to examine any causal effects between electricity consumption and real GDP for 30 OECD countries. We use a bootstrapped causality testing approach and unravel evidence in favour of electricity consumption causing real GDP in Australia, Iceland, Italy, the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, Korea, Portugal, and the UK. The implication is that electricity conservation policies will negatively impact real GDP in these countries. However, for the rest of the 22 countries our findings suggest that electricity conversation policies will not affect real GDP

GDP-D-mannose epimerase regulates male gametophyte development, plant growth and leaf senescence in Arabidopsis.

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Tiancong; Liu, Zhipeng; Fan, Meng; Chen, Yan; Tian, Haixia; Wu, Dewei; Gao, Hua; Ren, Chunmei; Song, Susheng; Xie, Daoxin

2017-09-04

Plant GDP-D-mannose epimerase (GME) converts GDP-D-mannose to GDP-L-galactose, a precursor of both L-ascorbate (vitamin C) and cell wall polysaccharides. However, the genetic functions of GME in Arabidopsis are unclear. In this study, we found that mutations in Arabidopsis GME affect pollen germination, pollen tube elongation, and transmission and development of the male gametophyte through analysis of the heterozygous GME/gme plants and the homozygous gme plants. Arabidopsis gme mutants also exhibit severe growth defects and early leaf senescence. Surprisingly, the defects in male gametophyte in the gme plants are not restored by L-ascorbate, boric acid or GDP-L-galactose, though boric acid rescues the growth defects of the mutants, indicating that GME may regulate male gametophyte development independent of L-ascorbate and GDP-L-galactose. These results reveal key roles for Arabidopsis GME in reproductive development, vegetative growth and leaf senescence, and suggest that GME regulates plant growth and controls male gametophyte development in different manners.

Energy Efficiency and Importance of Renewable Energy Sources in Latvia

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Skapare, I.; Kreslins, A.

2007-10-01

The main goal of Latvian energy policy is to ensure safe and environmentally friendly long-term energy supply at cost-effective prices, contributing to enhance competitiveness, and to ensure safe energy transit. The Latvian Parliament approved an Energy Efficiency Strategy in 2000. Its objective is to decrease energy consumption per unit of GDP by 25% by 2010. Awareness raising, implementation of standards and economic incentives for self financing are the main instruments to increase energy efficiency, mentioned in the strategy. Latvia, as many other European Union member states, is dependent on the import of primary energy resources. The Latvian Renewable Energy strategy is still under development. The only recent study on RES was developed in the framework of a PHARE program in year 2000: "Renewable energy resource program", where three main objectives for a future RES strategy were proposed: 1. To increase the use of wood waste and low value wood and forest residues. 2. To improve efficiency of combustion technologies and to replace outdated plants. 3. To increase the use of renewables in Combined Heat and Power plants (CHP). Through the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership, partners will develop a set of new shared activities, and coordinate and strengthen existing efforts in this area.

Cointegration, error-correction, and the relationship between GDP and energy. The case of South Korea and Singapore

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glasure, Yong U.; Lee, Aie-Rie

1998-01-01

This paper examines the causality issue between energy consumption and GDP for South Korea and Singapore, with the aid of cointegration and error-correction modeling. Results of the cointegration and error-correction models indicate bidirectional causality between GDP and energy consumption for both South Korea and Singapore. However, results of the standard Granger causality tests show no causal relationship between GDP and energy consumption for South Korea and unidirectional causal relationship from energy consumption to GDP for Singapore

Analysis of the Correlation between GDP and the Final Consumption

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Constantin ANGHELACHE

2011-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the results of the researches performed by the author regarding the evolution of Gross Domestic Product. One of the main aspects of GDP analysis is the correlation with the final consumption, an important macroeconomic indicator. The evolution of the Gross Domestic Product is highly influenced by the evolution of the final consumption. To analyze the correlation, the paper proposes the use of the linear regression model, as one of the most appropriate instruments for such scientific approach. The regression model described in the article uses the GDP as resultant variable and the final consumption as factorial variable.

The effect of low-GDP solution on ultrafiltration and solute transport in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients.

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Cho, Kyu-Hyang; Do, Jun-Young; Park, Jong-Won; Yoon, Kyung-Woo; Kim, Yong-Lim

2013-01-01

Several studies have reported benefits for human peritoneal mesothelial cell function of a neutral-pH dialysate low in glucose degradation products (GDPs). However, the effects of low-GDP solution on ultrafiltration (UF), transport of solutes, and control of body water remain elusive. We therefore investigated the effect of low-GDP solution on UF, solute transport, and control of body water. Among 79 new continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients, 60 completed a 12-month protocol (28 in a lactate-based high-GDP solution group, 32 in a lactate-based low-GDP solution group). Clinical indices--including 24-hour UF volume (UFV), 24-hour urine volume (UV), residual renal function, and dialysis adequacy--were measured at months 1, 6, and 12. At months 1, 6, and 12, UFV, glucose absorption, 4-hour dialysate-to-plasma (D/P) creatinine, and 1-hour D/P Na(+) were assessed during a modified 4.25% peritoneal equilibration test (PET). Body composition by bioelectric impedance analysis was measured at months 1 and 12 in 26 CAPD patients. Daily UFV was lower in the low-GDP group. Despite similar solute transport and aquaporin function, the low-GDP group also showed lower UFV and higher glucose absorption during the PET. Factors associated with UFV during the PET were lactate-based high-GDP solution and 1-hour D/P Na(+). No differences in volume status and obesity at month 12 were observed, and improvements in hypervolemia were equal in both groups. Compared with the high-GDP group, the low-GDP group had a lower UFV during a PET and a lower daily UFV during the first year after peritoneal dialysis initiation. Although the low-GDP group had a lower daily UFV, no difficulties in controlling edema were encountered.

Beyond GDP: Classifying Alternative Measures for Progress

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Bleys, Brent

2012-01-01

Both the potential pitfalls of macro-economic policies focused on stimulating economic growth and the problems involved in using GDP as a measure of well-being or economic welfare have long been recognized by economists and researchers from other social sciences. Therefore, it is no surprise that alternative measures for policy-making have been…

5'-Phospho-RNA Acceptor Specificity of GDP Polyribonucleotidyltransferase of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus in mRNA Capping.

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Ogino, Minako; Ogino, Tomoaki

2017-03-15

The GDP polyribonucleotidyltransferase (PRNTase) domain of the multifunctional L protein of rhabdoviruses, such as vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and rabies virus, catalyzes the transfer of 5'-phospho-RNA (pRNA) from 5'-triphospho-RNA (pppRNA) to GDP via a covalent enzyme-pRNA intermediate to generate a 5'-cap structure (GpppA). Here, using an improved oligo-RNA capping assay with the VSV L protein, we showed that the Michaelis constants for GDP and pppAACAG (VSV mRNA-start sequence) are 0.03 and 0.4 μM, respectively. A competition assay between GDP and GDP analogues in the GpppA formation and pRNA transfer assay using GDP analogues as pRNA acceptors indicated that the PRNTase domain recognizes the C-2-amino group, but not the C-6-oxo group, N-1-hydrogen, or N-7-nitrogen, of GDP for the cap formation. 2,6-Diaminopurine-riboside (DAP), 7-deazaguanosine (7-deaza-G), and 7-methylguanosine (m 7 G) diphosphates efficiently accepted pRNA, resulting in the formation of DAPpppA, 7-deaza-GpppA, and m 7 GpppA (cap 0), respectively. Furthermore, either the 2'- or 3'-hydroxyl group of GDP was found to be required for efficient pRNA transfer. A 5'-diphosphate form of antiviral ribavirin weakly inhibited the GpppA formation but did not act as a pRNA acceptor. These results indicate that the PRNTase domain has a unique guanosine-binding mode different from that of eukaryotic mRNA capping enzyme, guanylyltransferase. IMPORTANCE mRNAs of nonsegmented negative-strand (NNS) RNA viruses, such as VSV, possess a fully methylated cap structure, which is required for mRNA stability, efficient translation, and evasion of antiviral innate immunity in host cells. GDP polyribonucleotidyltransferase (PRNTase) is an unconventional mRNA capping enzyme of NNS RNA viruses that is distinct from the eukaryotic mRNA capping enzyme, guanylyltransferase. In this study, we studied the pRNA acceptor specificity of VSV PRNTase using various GDP analogues and identified chemical groups of GDP as

Electricity supply, employment and real GDP in India: evidence from cointegration and Granger-causality tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghosh, Sajal

2009-01-01

This study probes nexus between electricity supply, employment and real GDP for India within a multivariate framework using autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach of cointegration. Long-run equilibrium relationship has been established among these variables for the time span 1970-71 to 2005-06. The study further establishes long- and short-run Granger causality running from real GDP and electricity supply to employment without any feedback effect. Thus, growth in real GDP and electricity supply are responsible for the high level of employment in India. The absence of causality running from electricity supply to real GDP implies that electricity demand and supply side measures can be adopted to reduce the wastage of electricity, which would not affect future economic growth of India.

Base-modified GDP-mannose derivatives and their substrate activity towards a yeast mannosyltransferase.

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Collier, Alice; Wagner, Gerd K

2017-11-27

We have previously developed a new class of inhibitors and chemical probes for glycosyltransferases through base-modification of the sugar-nucleotide donor. The key feature of these donor analogues is the presence of an additional substituent at the nucleobase. To date, the application of this general concept has been limited to UDP-sugars and UDP-sugar-dependent glycosyltransferases. Herein, we report for the first time the application of our approach to a GDP-mannose-dependent mannosyltransferase. We have prepared four GDP-mannose derivatives with an additional substituent at either position 6 or 8 of the nucleobase. These donor analogues were recognised as donor substrates by the mannosyltransferase Kre2p from yeast, albeit with significantly lower turnover rates than the natural donor GDP-mannose. The presence of the additional substituent also redirected enzyme activity from glycosyl transfer to donor hydrolysis. Taken together, our results suggest that modification of the donor nucleobase is, in principle, a viable strategy for probe and inhibitor development against GDP-mannose-dependent GTs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Housing Cycles in Switzerland - A Time-Varying Approach

OpenAIRE

Drechsel, Dirk

2015-01-01

In light of the strong increase of house prices in Switzerland, we analyze the effects of mortgage rate shocks, changes in the interplay between housing demand and supply and GDP growth on house prices for the time period 1981- 2014. We employ Bayesian time-varying coefficients vector autoregressions to allow different monetary and immigration regimes over time. A number of structural changes, such as regulatory changes in the aftermath of the 1990s real estate crisis, the introduction of fre...

GDP-bound and nucleotide-free intermediates of the guanine nucleotide exchange in the Rab5·Vps9 system.

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Uejima, Tamami; Ihara, Kentaro; Goh, Tatsuaki; Ito, Emi; Sunada, Mariko; Ueda, Takashi; Nakano, Akihiko; Wakatsuki, Soichi

2010-11-19

Many GTPases regulate intracellular transport and signaling in eukaryotes. Guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) activate GTPases by catalyzing the exchange of their GDP for GTP. Here we present crystallographic and biochemical studies of a GEF reaction with four crystal structures of Arabidopsis thaliana ARA7, a plant homolog of Rab5 GTPase, in complex with its GEF, VPS9a, in the nucleotide-free and GDP-bound forms, as well as a complex with aminophosphonic acid-guanylate ester and ARA7·VPS9a(D185N) with GDP. Upon complex formation with ARA7, VPS9 wedges into the interswitch region of ARA7, inhibiting the coordination of Mg(2+) and decreasing the stability of GDP binding. The aspartate finger of VPS9a recognizes GDP β-phosphate directly and pulls the P-loop lysine of ARA7 away from GDP β-phosphate toward switch II to further destabilize GDP for its release during the transition from the GDP-bound to nucleotide-free intermediates in the nucleotide exchange reaction.

Backbone resonance assignments for G protein α(i3) subunit in the GDP-bound state.

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Mase, Yoko; Yokogawa, Mariko; Osawa, Masanori; Shimada, Ichio

2014-10-01

Guanine-nucleotide binding proteins (G proteins) serve as molecular switches in signaling pathways, by coupling the activation of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) at the cell surface to intracellular responses. In the resting state, G protein forms a heterotrimer, consisting of the G protein α subunit with GDP (Gα·GDP) and the G protein βγ subunit (Gβγ). Ligand binding to GPCRs promotes the GDP-GTP exchange on Gα, leading to the dissociation of the GTP-bound form of Gα (Gα·GTP) and Gβγ. Then, Gα·GTP and Gβγ bind to their downstream effector enzymes or ion channels and regulate their activities, leading to a variety of cellular responses. Finally, Gα hydrolyzes the bound GTP to GDP and returns to the resting state by re-associating with Gβγ. The G proteins are classified with four major families based on the amino acid sequences of Gα: i/o, s, q/11, and 12/13. Here, we established the backbone resonance assignments of human Gαi3, a member of the i/o family with a molecular weight of 41 K, in complex with GDP. The chemical shifts were compared with those of Gα(i3) in complex with a GTP-analogue, GTPγS, which we recently reported, indicating that the residues with significant chemical shift differences are mostly consistent with the regions with the structural differences between the GDP- and GTPγS-bound states, as indicated in the crystal structures. The assignments of Gα(i3)·GDP would be useful for the analyses of the dynamics of Gα(i3) and its interactions with various target molecules.

Characterization of an fungal l-fucokinase involved in Mortierella alpina GDP-l-fucose salvage pathway.

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Wang, Hongchao; Zhang, Chen; Chen, Haiqin; Yang, Qin; Zhou, Xin; Gu, Zhennan; Zhang, Hao; Chen, Wei; Chen, Yong Q

2016-08-01

GDP-l-fucose functions as a biological donor for fucosyltransferases, which are required for the catalysis of l-fucose to various acceptor molecules including oligosaccharides, glycoproteins and glycolipids. Mortierella alpina is one of the highest lipid-producing fungi and can biosynthesis GDP-l-fucose in the de novo pathway. Analysis of the M. alpina genome suggests that there is a gene encoding l-fucokinase (FUK) for the conversion of fucose to l-fucose-1-phosphate in the GDP-l-fucose salvage pathway, which has never been found in fungi before. This gene was characterized to explore its role in GDP-l-fucose synthesis. The yield of GDP-l-fucose is relatively higher in lipid accumulation phase (0.096 mg per g cell) than that in cell multiplication phase (0.074 mg per g cell) of M. alpina Additionally, the transcript level of FUK is up regulated by nitrogen exhaustion when M. alpina starts to accumulate lipid, highlights the functional significance of FUK in the GDP-l-fucose biosynthesis in M. alpina Gene encoding FUK was expressed heterologously in Escherichia coli and the resulting protein was purified to homogeneity. The product of FUK reaction was analyzed by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Kinetic parameters and other properties of FUK were investigated. Comparative analyses between the FUK protein and other homologous proteins were performed. To our knowledge, this study is the first to report a comprehensive characterization of FUK in a fungus. Mortierella alpina could be used as an alternative source for the production of GDP-l-fucose. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The Production and Utilization of GDP-glucose in the Biosynthesis of Trehalose 6-Phosphate by Streptomyces venezuelae.

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Asención Diez, Matías D; Miah, Farzana; Stevenson, Clare E M; Lawson, David M; Iglesias, Alberto A; Bornemann, Stephen

2017-01-20

Trehalose-6-phosphate synthase OtsA from streptomycetes is unusual in that it uses GDP-glucose as the donor substrate rather than the more commonly used UDP-glucose. We now confirm that OtsA from Streptomyces venezuelae has such a preference for GDP-glucose and can utilize ADP-glucose to some extent too. A crystal structure of the enzyme shows that it shares twin Rossmann-like domains with the UDP-glucose-specific OtsA from Escherichia coli However, it is structurally more similar to Streptomyces hygroscopicus VldE, a GDP-valienol-dependent pseudoglycosyltransferase enzyme. Comparison of the donor binding sites reveals that the amino acids associated with the binding of diphosphoribose are almost all identical in these three enzymes. By contrast, the amino acids associated with binding guanine in VldE (Asn, Thr, and Val) are similar in S. venezuelae OtsA (Asp, Ser, and Phe, respectively) but not conserved in E. coli OtsA (His, Leu, and Asp, respectively), providing a rationale for the purine base specificity of S. venezuelae OtsA. To establish which donor is used in vivo, we generated an otsA null mutant in S. venezuelae The mutant had a cell density-dependent growth phenotype and accumulated galactose 1-phosphate, glucose 1-phosphate, and GDP-glucose when grown on galactose. To determine how the GDP-glucose is generated, we characterized three candidate GDP-glucose pyrophosphorylases. SVEN_3027 is a UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, SVEN_3972 is an unusual ITP-mannose pyrophosphorylase, and SVEN_2781 is a pyrophosphorylase that is capable of generating GDP-glucose as well as GDP-mannose. We have therefore established how S. venezuelae can make and utilize GDP-glucose in the biosynthesis of trehalose 6-phosphate. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

The Production and Utilization of GDP-glucose in the Biosynthesis of Trehalose 6-Phosphate by Streptomyces venezuelae*

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Asención Diez, Matías D.; Miah, Farzana; Stevenson, Clare E. M.; Lawson, David M.; Iglesias, Alberto A.; Bornemann, Stephen

2017-01-01

Trehalose-6-phosphate synthase OtsA from streptomycetes is unusual in that it uses GDP-glucose as the donor substrate rather than the more commonly used UDP-glucose. We now confirm that OtsA from Streptomyces venezuelae has such a preference for GDP-glucose and can utilize ADP-glucose to some extent too. A crystal structure of the enzyme shows that it shares twin Rossmann-like domains with the UDP-glucose-specific OtsA from Escherichia coli. However, it is structurally more similar to Streptomyces hygroscopicus VldE, a GDP-valienol-dependent pseudoglycosyltransferase enzyme. Comparison of the donor binding sites reveals that the amino acids associated with the binding of diphosphoribose are almost all identical in these three enzymes. By contrast, the amino acids associated with binding guanine in VldE (Asn, Thr, and Val) are similar in S. venezuelae OtsA (Asp, Ser, and Phe, respectively) but not conserved in E. coli OtsA (His, Leu, and Asp, respectively), providing a rationale for the purine base specificity of S. venezuelae OtsA. To establish which donor is used in vivo, we generated an otsA null mutant in S. venezuelae. The mutant had a cell density-dependent growth phenotype and accumulated galactose 1-phosphate, glucose 1-phosphate, and GDP-glucose when grown on galactose. To determine how the GDP-glucose is generated, we characterized three candidate GDP-glucose pyrophosphorylases. SVEN_3027 is a UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, SVEN_3972 is an unusual ITP-mannose pyrophosphorylase, and SVEN_2781 is a pyrophosphorylase that is capable of generating GDP-glucose as well as GDP-mannose. We have therefore established how S. venezuelae can make and utilize GDP-glucose in the biosynthesis of trehalose 6-phosphate. PMID:27903647

Spatial disparity dynamics of ecosystem service values and GDP in Shaanxi Province, China in the last 30 years.

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Li, Tianhong; Ding, Yao

2017-01-01

The regional policy in China is shifting from solely gross domestic product (GDP) orientation to development that is more balanced between economic growth and ecological protection, as well as achieving equality among regions. Using land use maps and the adjusted value coefficients to assess ecosystem service values (ESV) for the 1980s, 1995, 2000, and 2010, we estimated the ESV in Shaanxi Province for different years, and characterized the spatial and temporal distribution of ESV and GDP. The results demonstrated that the total value of ecosystem services in Shaanxi Province increased from 208.95 billion Yuan in the 1980s to 309.76 billion Yuan in 2010. Variation Coefficient (Cv) and Theil index (T) were used to reflect the disparities of GDP or ESV within the study area. The values of Cv in descending order are GDP, ESV per capita, ESV, and GDP per capita. The Theil indexes of GDP were much greater than the ones of ESV. Variations of Cv and T showed that disparity in GDP kept increasing from the 1980s to 2000, then decreased; while no significant change in regional disparity of ESV were detected in parallel. The cities with higher GDP usually contributed little to ESV, and vice versa. The variation in GDP and ESV, in terms of the prefectural totals and per capita values, increased from the 1980s to 2010. This study provides an accessible way for local decision makers to evaluate the regional balance between economic growth and ecosystem services.

The relationship between global oil price shocks and China's output: A time-varying analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cross, Jamie; Nguyen, Bao H.

2017-01-01

We employ a class of time-varying Bayesian vector autoregressive (VAR) models on new standard dataset of China's GDP constructed by to examine the relationship between China's economic growth and global oil market fluctuations between 1992Q1 and 2015Q3. We find that: (1) the time varying parameter VAR with stochastic volatility provides a better fit as compared to it's constant counterparts; (2) the impacts of intertemporal global oil price shocks on China's output are often small and temporary in nature; (3) oil supply and specific oil demand shocks generally produce negative movements in China's GDP growth whilst oil demand shocks tend to have positive effects; (4) domestic output shocks have no significant impact on price or quantity movements within the global oil market. The results are generally robust to three commonly employed indicators of global economic activity: Kilian's global real economic activity index, the metal price index and the global industrial production index, and two alternative oil price metrics: the US refiners' acquisition cost for imported crude oil and the West Texas Intermediate price of crude oil. - Highlights: • A class of time-varying BVARs is used to examine the relationship between China's economic growth and global oil market fluctuations. • The impacts of intertemporal global oil price shocks on China's output are often small and temporary in nature. • Oil supply and specific oil demand shocks generally produce negative movements in China's GDP growth while oil demand shocks tend to have positive effects. • Domestic output shocks have no significant impact on price or quantity movements within the global oil market.

One-pot synthesis of GDP-l-fucose by a four-enzyme cascade expressed in Lactococcus lactis.

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Li, Ling; Kim, Seul-Ah; Heo, Ji Eun; Kim, Tae-Jip; Seo, Jin-Ho; Han, Nam Soo

2017-12-20

GDP-l-fucose is an l-fucose donor to synthesize fucosylated compounds such as human milk oligosaccharides or Lewis antigen. In this study, we used Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris NZ9000 to express 4 enzymes, ManB, ManC, Gmd, and WcaG and produced GDP-l-fucose by using one-pot synthesis method with mannose-6-phosphate as substrate and the enzymes as biocatalyst. For preparation of enzyme mixture, 4 genes (manB, manC, gmd, and wcaG) cloned from Escherichia coli were transformed into L. lactis strains using pNZ8008 and the recombinant cell lysates were obtained after cultivation. When mannose-6-phosphate was used as the substrate, the consecutive reactions with ManB, ManC, Gmd, and WcaG resulted in the successful production of GDP-l-fucose (0.13mM). When GDP-d-mannose was used as the substrate, it was entirely converted to GDP-l-fucose (0.2mM; 0.12g/L) via 2 enzymatic reactions mediated by Gmd and WcaG. This is the first report of GDP-l-fucose production by using multiple enzymes expressed in lactic acid bacteria. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The CHEK2 del5395 is a founder mutation without direct effects for cancer risk in the latvian population

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Plonis J

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Our objective was to determine: 1 whether the checkpoint kinase 2 (CHEK2 del5395 (g.27417113-27422508 del, NC_000022.11 is a founder mutation in the Latvian population, 2 if there is an association between CHEK2 del5395 mutation and cancer risk, and 3 and whether the CHEK2 del5395 mutation impacts cancer predisposition in Chernobyl disaster liquidators (the civil and military personnel who were called upon to deal with consequences of the 1986 nuclear disaster as well as geriatric populations. We recruited 438 breast cancer patients, 568 colorectal cancer patients, 399 ovarian cancer patients, 419 prostate cancer patients, 526 healthy blood donors, 480 Chernobyl disaster liquidators and 444 geriatric cancer-free participants. DNA samples were isolated from blood samples and subjected to multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR. The truncation of del5395 was estimated by fragment size of the multiplex PCR.All groups were compared to the healthy blood donors using Fisher’s exact test. All p values were two-sided and the odds ratios (OR calculated by two-by-two table. In cancer groups, the del5395 mutation was most frequently observed in the ovarian cancer group (1.00%, OR = 1.32. In control groups, the del5395 mutation was most frequent (0.76% in the healthy donors, which exceeded its frequency in the Chernobyl liquidators group and the geriatric group by 0.01 and 0.08%, respectively. For all groups, the OR appeared to be >1 only in ovarian cancer patients. However, OR rates showed no statistical significance in either cancer or control groups, with the p value fluctuating within the range of 0.39-1.00. The CHEK2 gene del5395 is a founder mutation in the Latvian population, which, however, does not have a direct impact on genetic predisposition toward colorectal, breast, ovarian and prostate cancer.

Disaggregated energy consumption and GDP in Taiwan: A threshold co-integration analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, J.-L.; Lin, C.-H.

2008-01-01

Energy consumption growth is much higher than economic growth for Taiwan in recent years, worsening its energy efficiency. This paper provides a solid explanation by examining the equilibrium relationship between GDP and disaggregated energy consumption under a non-linear framework. The threshold co-integration test developed with asymmetric dynamic adjusting processes proposed by Hansen and Seo [Hansen, B.E., Seo, B., 2002. Testing for two-regime threshold cointegration in vector error-correction models. Journal of Econometrics 110, 293-318.] is applied. Non-linear co-integrations between GDP and disaggregated energy consumptions are confirmed except for oil consumption. The two-regime vector error-correction models (VECM) show that the adjustment process of energy consumption toward equilibrium is highly persistent when an appropriately threshold is reached. There is mean-reverting behavior when the threshold is reached, making aggregate and disaggregated energy consumptions grow faster than GDP in Taiwan

5′-Phospho-RNA Acceptor Specificity of GDP Polyribonucleotidyltransferase of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus in mRNA Capping

Science.gov (United States)

Ogino, Minako

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT The GDP polyribonucleotidyltransferase (PRNTase) domain of the multifunctional L protein of rhabdoviruses, such as vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and rabies virus, catalyzes the transfer of 5′-phospho-RNA (pRNA) from 5′-triphospho-RNA (pppRNA) to GDP via a covalent enzyme-pRNA intermediate to generate a 5′-cap structure (GpppA). Here, using an improved oligo-RNA capping assay with the VSV L protein, we showed that the Michaelis constants for GDP and pppAACAG (VSV mRNA-start sequence) are 0.03 and 0.4 μM, respectively. A competition assay between GDP and GDP analogues in the GpppA formation and pRNA transfer assay using GDP analogues as pRNA acceptors indicated that the PRNTase domain recognizes the C-2-amino group, but not the C-6-oxo group, N-1-hydrogen, or N-7-nitrogen, of GDP for the cap formation. 2,6-Diaminopurine-riboside (DAP), 7-deazaguanosine (7-deaza-G), and 7-methylguanosine (m7G) diphosphates efficiently accepted pRNA, resulting in the formation of DAPpppA, 7-deaza-GpppA, and m7GpppA (cap 0), respectively. Furthermore, either the 2′- or 3′-hydroxyl group of GDP was found to be required for efficient pRNA transfer. A 5′-diphosphate form of antiviral ribavirin weakly inhibited the GpppA formation but did not act as a pRNA acceptor. These results indicate that the PRNTase domain has a unique guanosine-binding mode different from that of eukaryotic mRNA capping enzyme, guanylyltransferase. IMPORTANCE mRNAs of nonsegmented negative-strand (NNS) RNA viruses, such as VSV, possess a fully methylated cap structure, which is required for mRNA stability, efficient translation, and evasion of antiviral innate immunity in host cells. GDP polyribonucleotidyltransferase (PRNTase) is an unconventional mRNA capping enzyme of NNS RNA viruses that is distinct from the eukaryotic mRNA capping enzyme, guanylyltransferase. In this study, we studied the pRNA acceptor specificity of VSV PRNTase using various GDP analogues and identified chemical groups

Systems GMM estimates of the health care spending and GDP relationship: a note.

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Kumar, Saten

2013-06-01

This paper utilizes the systems generalized method of moments (GMM) [Arellano and Bover (1995) J Econometrics 68:29-51; Blundell and Bond (1998) J Econometrics 87:115-143], and panel Granger causality [Hurlin and Venet (2001) Granger Causality tests in panel data models with fixed coefficients. Mime'o, University Paris IX], to investigate the health care spending and gross domestic product (GDP) relationship for organisation for economic co-operation and development countries over the period 1960-2007. The system GMM estimates confirm that the contribution of real GDP to health spending is significant and positive. The panel Granger causality tests imply that a bi-directional causality exists between health spending and GDP. To this end, policies aimed at raising health spending will eventually improve the well-being of the population in the long run.

Comparative study of structural models of Leishmania donovani and human GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylases.

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Daligaux, Pierre; Bernadat, Guillaume; Tran, Linh; Cavé, Christian; Loiseau, Philippe M; Pomel, Sébastien; Ha-Duong, Tâp

2016-01-01

Leishmania is the parasite responsible for the neglected disease leishmaniasis. Its virulence and survival require biosynthesis of glycoconjugates, whose guanosine diphospho-d-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GDP-MP) is a key player. However, experimentally resolved structures of this enzyme are still lacking. We herein propose structural models of the GDP-MP from human and Leishmania donovani. Based on a multiple sequences alignment, the models were built with MODELLER and then carefully refined with all atom molecular dynamics simulations in explicit solvent. Their quality was evaluated against several standard criteria, including their ability to bind GDP-mannose assessed by redocking calculations. Special attention was given in this study to interactions of the catalytic site residues with the enzyme substrate and competitive inhibitors, opening the perspective of medicinal chemistry developments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

The Suitability of Different Nighttime Light Data for GDP Estimation at Different Spatial Scales and Regional Levels

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Zhaoxin Dai

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Nighttime light data offer a unique view of the Earth’s surface and can be used to estimate the spatial distribution of gross domestic product (GDP. Historically, using a simple regression function, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS has been used to correlate regional and global GDP values. In early 2013, the first global Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP visible infrared imaging radiometer suite (VIIRS nighttime light data were released. Compared with DMSP/OLS, they have a higher spatial resolution and a wider radiometric detection range. This paper aims to study the suitability of the two nighttime light data sources for estimating the GDP relationship between the provincial and city levels in Mainland China, as well as of different regression functions. First, NPP/VIIRS nighttime light data for 2014 are corrected with DMSP/OLS data for 2013 to reduce the background noise in the original data. Subsequently, three regression functions are used to estimate the relationship between nighttime light data and GDP statistical data at the provincial and city levels in Mainland China. Then, through the comparison of the relative residual error (RE and the relative root mean square error (RRMSE parameters, a systematical assessment of the suitability of the GDP estimation is provided. The results show that the NPP/VIIRS nighttime light data are better than the DMSP/OLS data for GDP estimation, whether at the provincial or city level, and that the power function and polynomial models are better for GDP estimation than the linear regression model. This study reveals that the accuracy of GDP estimation based on nighttime light data is affected by the resolution of the data and the spatial scale of the study area, as well as by the land cover types and industrial structures of the study area.

The influence of energy consumption of China on its real GDP from aggregated and disaggregated viewpoints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Wei; Yang, Shuyun

2013-01-01

This paper investigated the causal relationship between energy consumption and gross domestic product (GDP) in China at both aggregated and disaggregated levels during the period of 1978–2009 by using a modified version of the Granger (1969) causality test proposed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) within a multivariate framework. The empirical results suggested the existence of a negative bi-directional Granger causality running from aggregated energy consumption to real GDP. At disaggregated level of energy consumption, the results were complicated. For coal, empirical findings suggested that there was a negative bi-directional Granger causality running from coal consumption to real GDP. However, for oil and gas, empirical findings suggested a positive bi-directional Granger causality running from oil as well as gas consumption to real GDP. Though these results supported the feedback hypothesis, the negative relationship might be attributed to the growing economy production shifting towards less energy intensive sectors and excessive energy consumption in relatively unproductive sectors. The results indicated that policies with reducing aggregated energy consumption and promoting energy conservation may boost China's economic growth. - Highlights: ► A negative bi-directional Granger causality runs from energy consumption to real GDP. ► The same result runs from coal consumption to real GDP, but oil and gas it does not. ► The results partly derive from excessive energy consumption in unproductive sectors. ► Reducing aggregated energy consumption probably promotes the development of China's economy

Latvia’s Recession: The Cost of Adjustment With An “Internal Devaluation”

OpenAIRE

Mark Weisbrot; Rebecca Ray

2010-01-01

The Latvian recession, which is now more than two years old, has seen a world-historical drop in GDP of more than 25 percent. The IMF projects another 4 percent drop this year, and predicts that the total loss of output from peak to bottom will reach 30 percent. This would make Latvia’s loss more than that of the U.S. Great Depression downturn of 1929-1933. This paper argues that the depth of the recession and the difficulty of recovery are attributable in large part to the decision to mainta...

Natural gas - an instrument for the improvement of energy and environmental indicators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, A.; Gedrovics, M.; Ekmanis, J.; Zeltins, N.

2004-01-01

The article presents a comparison of the future member states to the EU-15 by their area, population, the GDP and the specific consumption of primary energy. The article carries out a comparison of natural gas, black oil and firewood in the emission aspect, showing that natural gas has certain advantages considering the amount and composition of flue gases. A characteristic of the Latvian government is given as to its revising the directives of the European Union and adopting local documents meeting the requirements of these directives. (authors)

Moving Beyond GDP: Cost Effectiveness of Cochlear Implantation and Deaf Education in Latin America.

Science.gov (United States)

Emmett, Susan D; Tucci, Debara L; Bento, Ricardo F; Garcia, Juan M; Juman, Solaiman; Chiossone-Kerdel, Juan A; Liu, Ta J; de Muñoz, Patricia Castellanos; Ullauri, Alejandra; Letort, Jose J; Mansilla, Teresita; Urquijo, Diana P; Aparicio, Maria L; Gong, Wenfeng; Francis, Howard W; Saunders, James E

2016-09-01

Cochlear implantation (CI) and deaf education are cost effective management strategies of childhood profound sensorineural hearing loss in Latin America. CI has been widely established as cost effective in North America and Europe and is considered standard of care in those regions, yet cost effectiveness in other economic environments has not been explored. With 80% of the global hearing loss burden existing in low- and middle-income countries, developing cost effective management strategies in these settings is essential. This analysis represents the continuation of a global assessment of CI and deaf education cost effectiveness. Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela participated in the study. A Disability Adjusted Life Years model was applied with 3% discounting and 10-year length of analysis. Experts from each country supplied cost estimates from known costs and published data. Sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of device cost, professional salaries, annual number of implants, and probability of device failure. Cost effectiveness was determined using the World Health Organization standard of cost effectiveness ratio/gross domestic product per capita (CER/GDP)GDP 0.07-0.93). CI was cost effective in all countries (CER/GDP 0.69-2.96), with borderline cost effectiveness in the Guatemalan sensitivity analysis (Max CER/GDP 3.21). Both cochlear implantation and deaf education are widely cost effective in Latin America. In the lower-middle income economy of Guatemala, implant cost may have a larger impact. GDP is less influential in the middle- and high-income economies included in this study.

Influence of GDP on interaction of transducin with cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase and rhodopsin from bovine retinal rods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rybin, V.O.

1986-01-01

In the presence of guanine nucleotides and rhodopsin-containing membranes from bovine retinal rod outer segments transducin stimulates light-sensitive cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase 5.5- to 7-fold. The activation constant (K/sub act/) for GTP and Gpp(NH)p is equal to 0.25 μM, while that for GDP and GDPβS is 14 and 110 μM, respectively. GDP free of admixtures of other nucleotides does not activate phosphodiesterase at concentrations up to 1 mM, but is bound to transducin and inhibits the Gpp(NH)p-dependent activation of phosphodiesterase. The nature of the interaction of transducin with depolarized rhodopsin also depends on the type of guanine nucleotide bound: in the presence of GDP rhodopsin-containing membranes bind 70-100% of the transducin, whereas in the presence of Gpp(NH)p only 13% of the protein is bound. The data obtained indicate that GDP and GTP convert transducin to two different functional states: the transducin-GTP complex is bound to phosphodiesterase and activates it, while the transducin-GDP complex is bound primarily to rhodopsin

NDK Interacts with FtsZ and Converts GDP to GTP to Trigger FtsZ Polymerisation--A Novel Role for NDK.

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Saurabh; Jakkala, Kishor; Srinivasan, Ramanujam; Arumugam, Muthu; Ranjeri, Raghavendra; Gupta, Prabuddha; Rajeswari, Haryadi; Ajitkumar, Parthasarathi

2015-01-01

Nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDK), conserved across bacteria to humans, synthesises NTP from NDP and ATP. The eukaryotic homologue, the NDPK, uses ATP to phosphorylate the tubulin-bound GDP to GTP for tubulin polymerisation. The bacterial cytokinetic protein FtsZ, which is the tubulin homologue, also uses GTP for polymerisation. Therefore, we examined whether NDK can interact with FtsZ to convert FtsZ-bound GDP and/or free GDP to GTP to trigger FtsZ polymerisation. Recombinant and native NDK and FtsZ proteins of Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis were used as the experimental samples. FtsZ polymersation was monitored using 90° light scattering and FtsZ polymer pelleting assays. The γ32P-GTP synthesised by NDK from GDP and γ32P-ATP was detected using thin layer chromatography and quantitated using phosphorimager. The FtsZ bound 32P-GTP was quantitated using phosphorimager, after UV-crosslinking, followed by SDS-PAGE. The NDK-FtsZ interaction was determined using Ni2+-NTA-pulldown assay and co-immunoprecipitation of the recombinant and native proteins in vitro and ex vivo, respectively. NDK triggered instantaneous polymerisation of GDP-precharged recombinant FtsZ in the presence of ATP, similar to the polymerisation of recombinant FtsZ (not GDP-precharged) upon the direct addition of GTP. Similarly, NDK triggered polymerisation of recombinant FtsZ (not GDP-precharged) in the presence of free GDP and ATP as well. Mutant NDK, partially deficient in GTP synthesis from ATP and GDP, triggered low level of polymerisation of MsFtsZ, but not of MtFtsZ. As characteristic of NDK's NTP substrate non-specificity, it used CTP, TTP, and UTP also to convert GDP to GTP, to trigger FtsZ polymerisation. The NDK of one mycobacterial species could trigger the polymerisation of the FtsZ of another mycobacterial species. Both the recombinant and the native NDK and FtsZ showed interaction with each other in vitro and ex vivo, alluding to the possibility of direct

NDK Interacts with FtsZ and Converts GDP to GTP to Trigger FtsZ Polymerisation - A Novel Role for NDK

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Saurabh; Jakkala, Kishor; Srinivasan, Ramanujam; Arumugam, Muthu; Ranjeri, Raghavendra; Gupta, Prabuddha; Rajeswari, Haryadi; Ajitkumar, Parthasarathi

2015-01-01

Introduction Nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDK), conserved across bacteria to humans, synthesises NTP from NDP and ATP. The eukaryotic homologue, the NDPK, uses ATP to phosphorylate the tubulin-bound GDP to GTP for tubulin polymerisation. The bacterial cytokinetic protein FtsZ, which is the tubulin homologue, also uses GTP for polymerisation. Therefore, we examined whether NDK can interact with FtsZ to convert FtsZ-bound GDP and/or free GDP to GTP to trigger FtsZ polymerisation. Methods Recombinant and native NDK and FtsZ proteins of Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis were used as the experimental samples. FtsZ polymersation was monitored using 90° light scattering and FtsZ polymer pelleting assays. The γ32P-GTP synthesised by NDK from GDP and γ32P-ATP was detected using thin layer chromatography and quantitated using phosphorimager. The FtsZ bound 32P-GTP was quantitated using phosphorimager, after UV-crosslinking, followed by SDS-PAGE. The NDK-FtsZ interaction was determined using Ni2+-NTA-pulldown assay and co-immunoprecipitation of the recombinant and native proteins in vitro and ex vivo, respectively. Results NDK triggered instantaneous polymerisation of GDP-precharged recombinant FtsZ in the presence of ATP, similar to the polymerisation of recombinant FtsZ (not GDP-precharged) upon the direct addition of GTP. Similarly, NDK triggered polymerisation of recombinant FtsZ (not GDP-precharged) in the presence of free GDP and ATP as well. Mutant NDK, partially deficient in GTP synthesis from ATP and GDP, triggered low level of polymerisation of MsFtsZ, but not of MtFtsZ. As characteristic of NDK’s NTP substrate non-specificity, it used CTP, TTP, and UTP also to convert GDP to GTP, to trigger FtsZ polymerisation. The NDK of one mycobacterial species could trigger the polymerisation of the FtsZ of another mycobacterial species. Both the recombinant and the native NDK and FtsZ showed interaction with each other in vitro and ex vivo, alluding

VvGONST-A and VvGONST-B are Golgi-localised GDP-sugar transporters in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.).

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Utz, Daniella; Handford, Michael

2015-02-01

Plant nucleotide-sugar transporters (NSTs) are responsible for the import of nucleotide-sugar substrates into the Golgi lumen, for subsequent use in glycosylation reactions. NSTs are specific for either GDP- or UDP-sugars, and almost all transporters studied to date have been isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana L. In order to determine the conservation of the import mechanism in other higher plant species, here we report the identification and characterisation of VvGONST-A and VvGONST-B from grapevine (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Thompson Seedless), which are the orthologues of the GDP-sugar transporters GONST3 and GONST4 in Arabidopsis. Both grapevine NSTs possess the molecular features characteristic of GDP-sugar transporters, including a GDP-binding domain (GXL/VNK) towards the C-terminal. VvGONST-A and VvGONST-B expression is highest at berry setting and decreases throughout berry development and ripening. Moreover, we show using green fluorescent protein (GFP) tagged versions and brefeldin A treatments, that both are localised in the Golgi apparatus. Additionally, in vitro transport assays after expression of both NSTs in tobacco leaves indicate that VvGONST-A and VvGONST-B are capable of transporting GDP-mannose and GDP-glucose, respectively, but not a range of other UDP- and GDP-sugars. The possible functions of these NSTs in glucomannan synthesis and/or glycosylation of sphingolipids are discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Rac1--GDP trimer complex binds zinc with tetrahedral and octahedral coordination, displacing magnesium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prehna, G.; Stebbins, C

2007-01-01

The Rho family of small GTPases represent well characterized signaling molecules that regulate many cellular functions such as actin cytoskeletal arrangement and the cell cycle by acting as molecular switches. A Rac1-GDP-Zn complex has been crystallized in space group P3221 and its crystal structure has been solved at 1.9 {angstrom} resolution. These trigonal crystals reveal the unexpected ability of Rac1 to coordinate Zn atoms in a tetrahedral fashion by use of its biologically relevant switch I and switch II regions. Upon coordination of zinc, the switch I region is stabilized in the GDP-bound conformation and contributes to a Rac1 trimer in the asymmetric unit. Zinc coordination causes switch II to adopt a novel conformation with a symmetry-related molecule. Additionally, zinc was found to displace magnesium from its octahedral coordination at switch I, although GDP binding remained stable. This structure represents the first reported Rac1-GDP-Zn complex, which further underscores the conformational flexibility and versatility of the small GTPase switch regions.

A Rac1-GDP Trimer Complex Binds Zinc with Tetrahedral and Octahedral Coordination, Displacing Magnesium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prehna,G.; Stebbins, E.

2007-01-01

The Rho family of small GTPases represent well characterized signaling molecules that regulate many cellular functions such as actin cytoskeletal arrangement and the cell cycle by acting as molecular switches. A Rac1-GDP-Zn complex has been crystallized in space group P3{sub 2}21 and its crystal structure has been solved at 1.9 {angstrom} resolution. These trigonal crystals reveal the unexpected ability of Rac1 to coordinate Zn atoms in a tetrahedral fashion by use of its biologically relevant switch I and switch II regions. Upon coordination of zinc, the switch I region is stabilized in the GDP-bound conformation and contributes to a Rac1 trimer in the asymmetric unit. Zinc coordination causes switch II to adopt a novel conformation with a symmetry-related molecule. Additionally, zinc was found to displace magnesium from its octahedral coordination at switch I, although GDP binding remained stable. This structure represents the first reported Rac1-GDP-Zn complex, which further underscores the conformational flexibility and versatility of the small GTPase switch regions.

Macro determinants of cause-specific injury mortality in the OECD countries: an exploration of the importance of GDP and unemployment.

Science.gov (United States)

Muazzam, Sana; Nasrullah, Muazzam

2011-08-01

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and unemployment has a strong documented impact on injury mortality. The aim of our study is to investigate the relationship of GDP per capita and unemployment with gender- and cause-specific injury mortalities in the member nations of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Country-based data on injury mortality per 100,000 population, including males and females aged 1-74, for the 4 year period 1996-1999, were gathered from the World Health Organization's Statistical Information System. We selected fourteen cause-specific injury mortalities. Data on GDP, unemployment rate and population growth were taken from World Development Indicators. GDP and unemployment rate per 100 separately were regressed on total and cause-specific injury mortality rate per 100,000 for males and females. Overall in the OECD countries, GDP per capita increased 12.5% during 1996-1999 (P = 0.03) where as unemployment rate decreased by 12.3% (P = 0.05). Among males, most cause-specific injury mortality rates decreased with increasing GDP except motor vehicle traffic crashes (MTC) that increased with increasing GDP (coefficient = 0.75; P GDP (coefficient = 0.31; P = 0.04). When we modeled cause-specific injury mortality rates with unemployment, injuries due to firearm missiles (coefficient = 0.53; P GDP is more related to cause-specific injury mortality than unemployment. Injury mortality does not relate similarly to each diagnosis-specific cause among males and females. Further research on causation with more predictors is needed.

CORRECTION OF CHAIN-LINKING METHOD BY MEANS OF LLOYD-MOULTON-FISHER-TÖRNQVIST INDEX ON CROATIAN GDP DATA

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Ante Rozga

2013-02-01

Full Text Available National statistical agencies of European Union use chain-linking method to achieve the best possible decomposition of GDP. The main advantage of this method is its simplicity, thus it can be applied in practice, which makes it particularly attractive in the situation when GDP has to be compiled on due time. By this method transformation-substitution effect – inherent to rational producers and consumers, has been implicitly built into GDP compilation, which is prior assumption of normative economic theory. On empirical (ex-post ground it gives more precise volume-price decomposition. In this paper, by means of constructing LMTF index and Fisher index derived from the previous one, it is suggested how to improve chain linking method, due to following reasons: a it is theoretically restrictive, b it gives only rough GDP decomposition into volume and price and, what seems to be its main disadvantage, c it gives additively inconsistent GDP.

Analysis of value added services on GDP Growth Rate using Data Mining Techniques

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Douglas KUNDA

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The growth of Information Technology has spawned large amount of databases and huge data in numerous areas. The research in databases and information technology has given rise to an approach to store and manipulate this data for further decision making. In this paper certain data mining techniques were adopted to analyze the data that shows relevance with desired attributes. Regression technique was adopted to help us find out the influence of Agriculture, Service and Manufacturing on the performance of gross domestic product (GDP. Trend and time series technique was applied to the data to help us find out what trend of GDP with respect to service, agriculture and manufacturing sector for the past decade has been. Finally Correlation was also used to help us analyze the relationship among the variables (service, agriculture and manufacturing sector. From the three techniques analyzed, service value added variable was the most prominent variable which showed the strong influence on GDP growth rate.

A novel GDP-D-glucose phosphorylase involved in quality control of the nucleoside diphosphate sugar pool in Caenorhabditis elegans and mammals.

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Lital N; Gomez, Tara A; Clarke, Steven G; Linster, Carole L

2011-06-17

The plant VTC2 gene encodes GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase, a rate-limiting enzyme in plant vitamin C biosynthesis. Genes encoding apparent orthologs of VTC2 exist in both mammals, which produce vitamin C by a distinct metabolic pathway, and in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans where vitamin C biosynthesis has not been demonstrated. We have now expressed cDNAs of the human and worm VTC2 homolog genes (C15orf58 and C10F3.4, respectively) and found that the purified proteins also display GDP-hexose phosphorylase activity. However, as opposed to the plant enzyme, the major reaction catalyzed by these enzymes is the phosphorolysis of GDP-D-glucose to GDP and D-glucose 1-phosphate. We detected activities with similar substrate specificity in worm and mouse tissue extracts. The highest expression of GDP-D-glucose phosphorylase was found in the nervous and male reproductive systems. A C. elegans C10F3.4 deletion strain was found to totally lack GDP-D-glucose phosphorylase activity; this activity was also found to be decreased in human HEK293T cells transfected with siRNAs against the human C15orf58 gene. These observations confirm the identification of the worm C10F3.4 and the human C15orf58 gene expression products as the GDP-D-glucose phosphorylases of these organisms. Significantly, we found an accumulation of GDP-D-glucose in the C10F3.4 mutant worms, suggesting that the GDP-D-glucose phosphorylase may function to remove GDP-D-glucose formed by GDP-D-mannose pyrophosphorylase, an enzyme that has previously been shown to lack specificity for its physiological D-mannose 1-phosphate substrate. We propose that such removal may prevent the misincorporation of glucosyl residues for mannosyl residues into the glycoconjugates of worms and mammals.

A Novel GDP-d-glucose Phosphorylase Involved in Quality Control of the Nucleoside Diphosphate Sugar Pool in Caenorhabditis elegans and Mammals*

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Lital N.; Gomez, Tara A.; Clarke, Steven G.; Linster, Carole L.

2011-01-01

The plant VTC2 gene encodes GDP-l-galactose phosphorylase, a rate-limiting enzyme in plant vitamin C biosynthesis. Genes encoding apparent orthologs of VTC2 exist in both mammals, which produce vitamin C by a distinct metabolic pathway, and in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans where vitamin C biosynthesis has not been demonstrated. We have now expressed cDNAs of the human and worm VTC2 homolog genes (C15orf58 and C10F3.4, respectively) and found that the purified proteins also display GDP-hexose phosphorylase activity. However, as opposed to the plant enzyme, the major reaction catalyzed by these enzymes is the phosphorolysis of GDP-d-glucose to GDP and d-glucose 1-phosphate. We detected activities with similar substrate specificity in worm and mouse tissue extracts. The highest expression of GDP-d-glucose phosphorylase was found in the nervous and male reproductive systems. A C. elegans C10F3.4 deletion strain was found to totally lack GDP-d-glucose phosphorylase activity; this activity was also found to be decreased in human HEK293T cells transfected with siRNAs against the human C15orf58 gene. These observations confirm the identification of the worm C10F3.4 and the human C15orf58 gene expression products as the GDP-d-glucose phosphorylases of these organisms. Significantly, we found an accumulation of GDP-d-glucose in the C10F3.4 mutant worms, suggesting that the GDP-d-glucose phosphorylase may function to remove GDP-d-glucose formed by GDP-d-mannose pyrophosphorylase, an enzyme that has previously been shown to lack specificity for its physiological d-mannose 1-phosphate substrate. We propose that such removal may prevent the misincorporation of glucosyl residues for mannosyl residues into the glycoconjugates of worms and mammals. PMID:21507950

UNDERGROUND ECONOMY, GDP AND STOCK MARKET

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Caus Vasile Aurel

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Economic growth is affected by the size and dynamics of underground economy. Determining this size is a subject of research for many authors. In this paper we present the relationship between underground economy dynamics and the dynamics of stock markets. The observations are based on regression used by Tanzi (1983 and the relationship between GDP and stock market presented in Tudor (2008. The conclusion of this paper is that the dynamics of underground economy is influenced by dynamic of financial markets. Thus, using specific stock market mathematical tools analysis, one can analyze the dynamic of underground economy

Microflora of root filled teeth with apical periodontitis in Latvian patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Mindere, Anda; Kundzina, Rita; Nikolajeva, Vizma; Eze, Daina; Petrina, Zaiga

2010-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the microbial flora of root filled teeth with apical periodontitis and to determine the prevalence of β-lactamase producing strains in isolated bacteria in Latvian patients. 33 root filled teeth with asymptomatic persisting periapical lesions were selected for the present study. During nonsurgical endodontic retreatment, the root filling material was removed and canals were sampled. Determination of microbial species was based on series of biochemical tests using identification kits. All strains of bacteria were tested for β-lactamase production by using chromogenic nitrocefin-impregnated slides. Bacteria were found in 32 (97%) of initial specimens from the teeth. The number of isolated microbial strains in the specimens ranged from one to six (mean 2.7). 79% of the isolated microbial species were Gram-positive bacteria. The most common isolates were Streptococcus (27%), Actinomyces (27%), Staphylococcus (18%), Enterococcus (18%) and Lactobacillus (18%) spp. Yeasts were found as four isolates in 3 cases (9%). β-lactamase-producing bacterial strains were detected in 12 specimens, 36% of the patients. The most common enzyme-producing bacteria belonged to Actinomyces and Staphylococcus spp. The microbial flora in previously treated root canals with apical periodontitis is limited to a small number of predominantly Gram-positive microbial species. The most common isolates are Streptococcus, Actinomyces, Staphylococcus, Enterococcus and Lactobacillus spp. A moderately high prevalence of β-lactamase producing bacterial strains was detected in patients with root filled teeth with apical periodontitis.

KONTRIBUSI SEKTOR PARIWISATA TERHADAP GDP INDONESIA TAHUN 2004 - 2009

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Alfiah Mudrikah

2014-10-01

negara. Abstract ___________________________________________________________________ Indonesia has a rich and abundant natural resources as well as supported by oceans and thousands of islands that surrounds it. A variety of natural resource wealth has become its own potential for Indonesia to develop a tourism especially in the field of nature. Indonesia as the world's largest archipelago country which comprises 17,508 islands or also known as nusantara maritime or country, has realized the importance of tourism to the economy because the growth of tourism in Indonesia is always on top of the Indonesia's economic growth (Soebagyo 2012. Therefore, tourism has always been the center of attention for tourists to visit the tourist attractions.The tourism industry is one of the right ways in increasing the economic progress of society like locally and globally. Tourism has many benefits and influence, among others, in addition to generating foreign exchange the country and expand employment, the tourism sector aims to maintain the sustainability of nature and local culture developed (Dritasto and Anggraeni goddess 2013. In 2008 Indonesia tourism contributes to the gross domestic product (GDP amounting to Rp. 153,25 billion or 3.09% of the total GDP of Indonesia (BPS, 2010. In 2009, his contribution was increased to 3.25%. Any tourism GDP growth since 2001 always indicates a growth rate higher than the national GDP. Although still show numbers in 2009, while GDP growth of tourism reached 8.18% of the national GDP, while only 4.37%. In the same year, foreign exchange from tourism is the third largest contributor of foreign exchange of the country, after oil and gas and palm oil. This ranking shows increasing trend since 2006 which was only ranked 6th of 11 commodities foreign exchange source countries.                                                                  �

Causal linkages between electricity consumption and GDP in Thailand: evidence from the bounds test

OpenAIRE

Jiranyakul, Komain

2014-01-01

This paper investigates the causal relationship between electricity consumption and real GDP by applying the bounds testing for cointegration in a multivariate framework. The error correction mechanism is employed to detect causal relationship in the presence of cointegration among three variables. Empirical results for Thailand during 2001Q1 and 2014Q2 suggest that there is long-run bidirectional causality between electricity consumption and real GDP. The source of causation in the long run ...

EAST/SeSAME syndrome - review of the literature and introduction of four new Latvian patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Marta, C; Ieva, M; Inna, I; Mareta, A; Sandra, K; Pereca, J; Janis, S; Dita, P; Jurgis, S

2018-05-03

EAST (Epilepsy, Ataxia, Sensorineural deafness, Tubulopathy) or SeSAME (Seizures, Sensorineural deafness, Ataxia, Mental retardation, and Electrolyte imbalance) syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive syndrome first described in 2009 independently by Bockenhauer and Scholl. It is caused by mutations in KCNJ10, which encodes Kir4.1, an inwardly rectifying K + channel found in the brain, inner ear, kidney and eye. To date, 16 mutations in at least 28 patients have been reported. In this paper, we review mutations causing EAST/SeSAME syndrome, clinical manifestations in detail, and efficacy of treatment in previously reported patients. We also report a new Latvian kindred with four patients. In contrast to the majority of previous reports, we found a progressive course of the disorder in terms of hearing impairment and neurologic deficit. The treatment is based on antiepileptic drugs, electrolyte replacement, hearing aids and mobility devices. Future research should concentrate on recognizing the lesions in the central nervous system to evaluate new potential diagnostic criteria and on formally evaluating intellectual disability. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Web Supplement to "Teaching Chain-Weight Real GDP Measures."

Science.gov (United States)

Cahill, Miles B.

2003-01-01

Describes a Web site that is a companion to the Miles Cahill article, "Teaching Chain-Weight Real GDP Measures." States that the exercises are useful because intermediate level textbooks treat this topic casually. Indicates that the Web site contains the comment tool, an overview of the concepts, and links to article references. (JEH)

Revitalising Borders: Memory, Mobility and Materiality in a Latvian-Russian Border Region

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Aija Lulle

2016-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper I investigate how an international border is 'revitalised' in political discourses as opposed to lived experiences. Based on narratives I have collected from border dwellers on both sides of the current border between Latvia and Rus-sia and placing them into a broader context of current border debates, I analyse how geographical and social mobility is remembered from Soviet times and reworked in current contexts. I argue that while politically the border is revitalised through aban-doning and forgetting the Soviet past and through the idea of constant threats in the future, locally it is revitalised through giving a life to the abandoned: memories of 'vigorous times' in life-courses and material things. People who dwell at the border did not move themselves: the international border moved several times in one cen-tury leaving border dwellers' memories and significant places on the 'other' side. I focus on how these borders were crossed in the past, how they are (not crossed now, and the social meanings assigned to these circumstances. In the current con-text I follow diverse paths of reasoning that describe how the uneven flow of goods and people through the Latvian-Russian border shapes the power dynamic against which the people living in the border area used to reconstruct imaginaries of 'Soviet times' versus 'Europe' and 'vigorous times' versus decline.

A High-Throughput Assay for Rho Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors Based on the Transcreener GDP Assay.

Science.gov (United States)

Reichman, Melvin; Schabdach, Amanda; Kumar, Meera; Zielinski, Tom; Donover, Preston S; Laury-Kleintop, Lisa D; Lowery, Robert G

2015-12-01

Ras homologous (Rho) family GTPases act as molecular switches controlling cell growth, movement, and gene expression by cycling between inactive guanosine diphosphate (GDP)- and active guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound conformations. Guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) positively regulate Rho GTPases by accelerating GDP dissociation to allow formation of the active, GTP-bound complex. Rho proteins are directly involved in cancer pathways, especially cell migration and invasion, and inhibiting GEFs holds potential as a therapeutic strategy to diminish Rho-dependent oncogenesis. Methods for measuring GEF activity suitable for high-throughput screening (HTS) are limited. We developed a simple, generic biochemical assay method for measuring GEF activity based on the fact that GDP dissociation is generally the rate-limiting step in the Rho GTPase catalytic cycle, and thus addition of a GEF causes an increase in steady-state GTPase activity. We used the Transcreener GDP Assay, which relies on selective immunodetection of GDP, to measure the GEF-dependent stimulation of steady-state GTP hydrolysis by small GTPases using Dbs (Dbl's big sister) as a GEF for Cdc42, RhoA, and RhoB. The assay is well suited for HTS, with a homogenous format and far red fluorescence polarization (FP) readout, and it should be broadly applicable to diverse Rho GEF/GTPase pairs. © 2015 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.

Carbon emissions, logistics volume and GDP in China: empirical analysis based on panel data model.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Xiaopeng; Ren, Dongfang; Shi, Jiaxing

2016-12-01

This paper studies the relationship among carbon emissions, GDP, and logistics by using a panel data model and a combination of statistics and econometrics theory. The model is based on the historical data of 10 typical provinces and cities in China during 2005-2014. The model in this paper adds the variability of logistics on the basis of previous studies, and this variable is replaced by the freight turnover of the provinces. Carbon emissions are calculated by using the annual consumption of coal, oil, and natural gas. GDP is the gross domestic product. The results showed that the amount of logistics and GDP have a contribution to carbon emissions and the long-term relationships are different between different cities in China, mainly influenced by the difference among development mode, economic structure, and level of logistic development. After the testing of panel model setting, this paper established a variable coefficient model of the panel. The influence of GDP and logistics on carbon emissions is obtained according to the influence factors among the variables. The paper concludes with main findings and provides recommendations toward rational planning of urban sustainable development and environmental protection for China.

The GDP-Energy Link

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bourdaire, J.M.

2000-01-01

The analysis of primary or final energy consumptions as a function of total regional GDP, aggregated on the basis of purchasing power parities, does not bring significant results for the transition economies because of the poor quality of their data. Conversely, for the market economies, such an analysis highlights the regularity of the trends as long as final prices remain unchanged, the nature of energy shock impacts and the close relationship between the energy intensity and the level of final prices. French energy evolutions are similar and lead to question what the benefits brought by energy efficiency policies are. These benefits seem to be qualitative only, i.e. more comfort and well-being, with no indication of lesser energy consumption as long as the final prices remain unchanged. The conclusion is three-fold: importance of prices reflecting all costs, choice of supply policies which can shoulder energy shocks, and need to continue and deepen the energy debate. (authors)

What makes Ras an efficient molecular switch: a computational, biophysical, and structural study of Ras-GDP interactions with mutants of Raf.

Science.gov (United States)

Filchtinski, Daniel; Sharabi, Oz; Rüppel, Alma; Vetter, Ingrid R; Herrmann, Christian; Shifman, Julia M

2010-06-11

Ras is a small GTP-binding protein that is an essential molecular switch for a wide variety of signaling pathways including the control of cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis. In the GTP-bound state, Ras can interact with its effectors, triggering various signaling cascades in the cell. In the GDP-bound state, Ras looses its ability to bind to known effectors. The interaction of the GTP-bound Ras (Ras(GTP)) with its effectors has been studied intensively. However, very little is known about the much weaker interaction between the GDP-bound Ras (Ras(GDP)) and Ras effectors. We investigated the factors underlying the nucleotide-dependent differences in Ras interactions with one of its effectors, Raf kinase. Using computational protein design, we generated mutants of the Ras-binding domain of Raf kinase (Raf) that stabilize the complex with Ras(GDP). Most of our designed mutations narrow the gap between the affinity of Raf for Ras(GTP) and Ras(GDP), producing the desired shift in binding specificity towards Ras(GDP). A combination of our best designed mutation, N71R, with another mutation, A85K, yielded a Raf mutant with a 100-fold improvement in affinity towards Ras(GDP). The Raf A85K and Raf N71R/A85K mutants were used to obtain the first high-resolution structures of Ras(GDP) bound to its effector. Surprisingly, these structures reveal that the loop on Ras previously termed the switch I region in the Ras(GDP).Raf mutant complex is found in a conformation similar to that of Ras(GTP) and not Ras(GDP). Moreover, the structures indicate an increased mobility of the switch I region. This greater flexibility compared to the same loop in Ras(GTP) is likely to explain the natural low affinity of Raf and other Ras effectors to Ras(GDP). Our findings demonstrate that an accurate balance between a rigid, high-affinity conformation and conformational flexibility is required to create an efficient and stringent molecular switch. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd

The disruption of GDP-fucose de novo biosynthesis suggests the presence of a novel fucose-containing glycoconjugate in Plasmodium asexual blood stages.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanz, Sílvia; López-Gutiérrez, Borja; Bandini, Giulia; Damerow, Sebastian; Absalon, Sabrina; Dinglasan, Rhoel R; Samuelson, John; Izquierdo, Luis

2016-11-16

Glycosylation is an important posttranslational protein modification in all eukaryotes. Besides glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchors and N-glycosylation, O-fucosylation has been recently reported in key sporozoite proteins of the malaria parasite. Previous analyses showed the presence of GDP-fucose (GDP-Fuc), the precursor for all fucosylation reactions, in the blood stages of Plasmodium falciparum. The GDP-Fuc de novo pathway, which requires the action of GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase (GMD) and GDP-L-fucose synthase (FS), is conserved in the parasite genome, but the importance of fucose metabolism for the parasite is unknown. To functionally characterize the pathway we generated a PfGMD mutant and analyzed its phenotype. Although the labelling by the fucose-binding Ulex europaeus agglutinin I (UEA-I) was completely abrogated, GDP-Fuc was still detected in the mutant. This unexpected result suggests the presence of an alternative mechanism for maintaining GDP-Fuc in the parasite. Furthermore, PfGMD null mutant exhibited normal growth and invasion rates, revealing that the GDP-Fuc de novo metabolic pathway is not essential for the development in culture of the malaria parasite during the asexual blood stages. Nonetheless, the function of this metabolic route and the GDP-Fuc pool that is generated during this stage may be important for gametocytogenesis and sporogonic development in the mosquito.

The disruption of GDP-fucose de novo biosynthesis suggests the presence of a novel fucose-containing glycoconjugate in Plasmodium asexual blood stages

Science.gov (United States)

Sanz, Sílvia; López-Gutiérrez, Borja; Bandini, Giulia; Damerow, Sebastian; Absalon, Sabrina; Dinglasan, Rhoel R.; Samuelson, John; Izquierdo, Luis

2016-01-01

Glycosylation is an important posttranslational protein modification in all eukaryotes. Besides glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchors and N-glycosylation, O-fucosylation has been recently reported in key sporozoite proteins of the malaria parasite. Previous analyses showed the presence of GDP-fucose (GDP-Fuc), the precursor for all fucosylation reactions, in the blood stages of Plasmodium falciparum. The GDP-Fuc de novo pathway, which requires the action of GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase (GMD) and GDP-L-fucose synthase (FS), is conserved in the parasite genome, but the importance of fucose metabolism for the parasite is unknown. To functionally characterize the pathway we generated a PfGMD mutant and analyzed its phenotype. Although the labelling by the fucose-binding Ulex europaeus agglutinin I (UEA-I) was completely abrogated, GDP-Fuc was still detected in the mutant. This unexpected result suggests the presence of an alternative mechanism for maintaining GDP-Fuc in the parasite. Furthermore, PfGMD null mutant exhibited normal growth and invasion rates, revealing that the GDP-Fuc de novo metabolic pathway is not essential for the development in culture of the malaria parasite during the asexual blood stages. Nonetheless, the function of this metabolic route and the GDP-Fuc pool that is generated during this stage may be important for gametocytogenesis and sporogonic development in the mosquito. PMID:27849032

Characterization of GDP-mannose dehydrogenase from the brown alga Ectocarpus siliculosus providing the precursor for the alginate polymer.

Science.gov (United States)

Tenhaken, Raimund; Voglas, Elena; Cock, J Mark; Neu, Volker; Huber, Christian G

2011-05-13

Alginate is a major cell wall polymer of brown algae. The precursor for the polymer is GDP-mannuronic acid, which is believed to be derived from a four-electron oxidation of GDP-mannose through the enzyme GDP-mannose dehydrogenase (GMD). So far no eukaryotic GMD has been biochemically characterized. We have identified a candidate gene in the Ectocarpus siliculosus genome and expressed it as a recombinant protein in Escherichia coli. The GMD from Ectocarpus differs strongly from related enzymes in bacteria and is as distant to the bacterial proteins as it is to the group of UDP-glucose dehydrogenases. It lacks the C-terminal ∼120 amino acid domain present in bacterial GMDs, which is believed to be involved in catalysis. The GMD from brown algae is highly active at alkaline pH and contains a catalytic Cys residue, sensitive to heavy metals. The product GDP-mannuronic acid was analyzed by HPLC and mass spectroscopy. The K(m) for GDP-mannose was 95 μM, and 86 μM for NAD(+). No substrate other than GDP-mannose was oxidized by the enzyme. In gel filtration experiments the enzyme behaved as a dimer. The Ectocarpus GMD is stimulated by salts even at low molar concentrations as a possible adaptation to marine life. It is rapidly inactivated at temperatures above 30 °C.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE AND GDP /JIPP CURVE/

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariana Kaneva

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The relationship between telecommunications infrastructure and economic activity is under discussion in many scientific papers. Most of the authors use for research and analysis the Jipp curve. A lot of doubts about the correctness of the Jipp curve appear in terms of applying econometric models. The aim of this study is a review of the Jipp curve, refining the possibility of its application in modern conditions. The methodology used in the study is based on dynamic econometric models, including tests for nonstationarity and tests for causality. The focus of this study is directed to methodological problems in measuring the local density types of telecommunication networks. This study offers a specific methodology for assessing the Jipp law, through VAR-approach and Granger causality tests. It is proved that mechanical substitution of momentary aggregated variables (such as the number of subscribers of a telecommunication network at the end of the year and periodically aggregated variables (such as GDP per capita in the Jipp�s curve is methodologically wrong. Researchers have to reconsider the relationship set in the Jipp�s curve by including additional variables that characterize the Telecommunications sector and the economic activity in a particular country within a specified time period. GDP per capita should not be regarded as a single factor for the local density of telecommunications infrastructure. New econometric models studying the relationship between the investments in telecommunications infrastructure and economic development may be not only linear regression models, but also other econometric models. New econometric models should be proposed after testing and validating with sound economic theory and econometric methodology.

Short-term and long-term effects of GDP on traffic deaths in 18 OECD countries, 1960-2011.

Science.gov (United States)

Dadgar, Iman; Norström, Thor

2017-02-01

Research suggests that increases in gross domestic product (GDP) lead to increases in traffic deaths plausibly due to the increased road traffic induced by an expanding economy. However, there also seems to exist a long-term effect of economic growth that is manifested in improved traffic safety and reduced rates of traffic deaths. Previous studies focus on either the short-term, procyclical effect, or the long-term, protective effect. The aim of the present study is to estimate the short-term and long-term effects jointly in order to assess the net impact of GDP on traffic mortality. We extracted traffic death rates for the period 1960-2011 from the WHO Mortality Database for 18 OECD countries. Data on GDP/capita were obtained from the Maddison Project. We performed error correction modelling to estimate the short-term and long-term effects of GDP on the traffic death rates. The estimates from the error correction modelling for the entire study period suggested that a one-unit increase (US$1000) in GDP/capita yields an instantaneous short-term increase in the traffic death rate by 0.58 (pGDP leads to an immediate increase in traffic deaths. However, after the mid-1970s this short-term effect is more than outweighed by a markedly stronger protective long-term effect, whereas the reverse is true for the period before the mid-1970s. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Interconversion of two GDP-bound conformations and their selection in an Arf-family small G protein.

Science.gov (United States)

Okamura, Hideyasu; Nishikiori, Masaki; Xiang, Hongyu; Ishikawa, Masayuki; Katoh, Etsuko

2011-07-13

ADP-ribosylation factor (Arf) and other Arf-family small G proteins participate in many cellular functions via their characteristic GTP/GDP conformational cycles, during which a nucleotide(∗)Mg(2+)-binding site communicates with a remote N-terminal helix. However, the conformational interplay between the nucleotides, the helix, the protein core, and Mg(2+) has not been fully delineated. Herein, we report a study of the dynamics of an Arf-family protein, Arl8, under various conditions by means of NMR relaxation spectroscopy. The data indicated that, when GDP is bound, the protein core, which does not include the N-terminal helix, reversibly transition between an Arf-family GDP form and another conformation that resembles the Arf-family GTP form. Additionally, we found that the N-terminal helix and Mg(2+), respectively, stabilize the aforementioned former and latter conformations in a population-shift manner. Given the dynamics of the conformational changes, we can describe the Arl8 GTP/GDP cycle in terms of an energy diagram. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Disease-Causing Mutations in the G Protein Gαs Subvert the Roles of GDP and GTP.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Qi; Shokat, Kevan M

2018-05-17

The single most frequent cancer-causing mutation across all heterotrimeric G proteins is R201C in Gαs. The current model explaining the gain-of-function activity of the R201 mutations is through the loss of GTPase activity and resulting inability to switch off to the GDP state. Here, we find that the R201C mutation can bypass the need for GTP binding by directly activating GDP-bound Gαs through stabilization of an intramolecular hydrogen bond network. Having found that a gain-of-function mutation can convert GDP into an activator, we postulated that a reciprocal mutation might disrupt the normal role of GTP. Indeed, we found R228C, a loss-of-function mutation in Gαs that causes pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1a (PHP-Ia), compromised the adenylyl cyclase-activating activity of Gαs bound to a non-hydrolyzable GTP analog. These findings show that disease-causing mutations in Gαs can subvert the canonical roles of GDP and GTP, providing new insights into the regulation mechanism of G proteins. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Short-term forecasting of Czech quarterly GDP using monthly indicators

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Arnoštová, K.; Havrlant, D.; Růžička, L.; Tóth, Peter

2011-01-01

Roč. 61, č. 6 (2011), s. 566-583 ISSN 0015-1920 Institutional research plan: CEZ:MSM0021620846 Keywords : GDP forecasting * bridge models * principal components Subject RIV: AH - Economics Impact factor: 0.346, year: 2011 http://journal.fsv.cuni.cz/storage/1235_toth.pdf

Digital Transformation and Its Influence on GDP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mićić Ljubiša

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Digital transformation as integration of digital technology into business results in fundamental changes of way world does business, communicate and develops on national and international level. There is increase of high-tech public spending which is connected with increase of need for high-tech as well as importance and benefits that it brings to development of economy. This so called digital or high-tech sector is one of the strategic sectors in the leading world economies, starting from the US and the European Union. EU recognized it in strategic document “Europe 2020” which sees this sector as key factor in smart growth based on tech knowledge and innovation. Europe, especially western and northern Europe, is trying to keep its competitiveness in global tech arena with USA and fast developing countries such as China and India as well as Asian tech giants such are Japan, South Korea and Singapore. There is increase of European countries investment in digital transformation through private and public ICT sector development which usually has positive impact on economic growth as well as key indicators such are GDP, productivity and employment. This paper provides basic review of digital transformation and high-tech sector in Europe as well as comparison between EU and Western Balkan countries. Additionally, there is analysis of influence of ICT spending on GDP growth. Paper could serve as basic for further research in area of influence of tech investment on key macroeconomics indicators.

The contribution of tourism industry on the GDP growth of Western Balkan countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Čerović Slobodan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Tourism industry records various economic, social, political and others influences and provides itself important position in the overall economic development of many countries. The analysis of the available data of tourist arrivals and number of tourist overnight stays in observed countries of the Western Balkans (Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro led us to conduct research in order to determine tourism contribution to the overall economic growth. Based on the modified methodology used by Brida et al. (2008 for calculating real GDP growth rates and tourism contribution to the overall economic growth, the paper indicates that tourism makes a modest direct contribution to the overall economic growth in the examined countries, regardless of the continuous increase in the number of foreign tourist arrivals. The level of tourism contribution to the overall economic growth varies and it is primarily related to diversity and quality of supply (the highest contribution is recorded in Montenegro, while lowest contribution is observed in Macedonia.

Multivariate granger causality between electricity consumption, exports and GDP: Evidence from a panel of Middle Eastern countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narayan, Paresh Kumar; Smyth, Russell

2009-01-01

This paper examines the causal relationship between electricity consumption, exports and gross domestic product (GDP) for a panel of Middle Eastern countries. We find that for the panel as a whole there are statistically significant feedback effects between these variables. A 1 per cent increase in electricity consumption increases GDP by 0.04 per cent, a 1 per cent increase in exports increases GDP by 0.17 per cent and a 1 per cent increase in GDP generates a 0.95 per cent increase in electricity consumption. The policy implications are that for the panel as a whole these countries should invest in electricity infrastructure and step up electricity conservation policies to avoid a reduction in electricity consumption adversely affecting economic growth. Further policy implications are that for the panel as a whole promoting exports, particularly non-oil exports, is a means to promote economic growth and that expansion of exports can be realized without having adverse effects on energy conservation policies

The Remittance-GDP Relationship in the Liberalized Regime of Bangladesh: Cointegration and Innovation Accounting

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Biru Paksha PAUL

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Bangladesh, being one of the top remittance-recipient countries in the world, has drawn attention to the remittance-output relationship in recent years. The results on this aspect are nevertheless inconclusive. Working on a relatively liberalized regime from 1979 to 2009, this study finds a long run positive relationship between remittances and GDP in Bangladesh. The adjustment of this relation, however, goes against traditional belief in that GDP does not respond to the movements in remittances while correcting disequilibrium after a shock in the system, but the reverse is true. There is no evidence on remittance-led growth in the short run. Innovation accounting shows that the impact of output on remittances is remarkably stronger than that of remittances on output. These findings have policy implications for other emerging nations in that GDP growth is capable of attracting further remittances arguably through increasing investment demand and initiating institutional reforms in the economy.

Granger Causalities Between Interest Rate, Price Level, Money Supply and Real Gdp in the Czech Republic

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Tomáš Urbanovský

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The main aim of this paper is to investigate relationships between selected macroeconomic variables – interest rate, price level, money supply and real GDP – in the Czech Republic in order to find out definite implications of its interactions and give recommendations to macroeconomic policy authorities. Two implemented vector autoregression models with different lag length reached slightly different conclusions. VAR(1 suggests that three pairs of Granger causality exist, in particular between price level and interest rate, between real GDP and interest rate and between real GDP and price level. VAR(2 uncovered two more pairs of Granger causality between money supply and interest rate and between money supply and price level. Despite better prediction power of VAR(2 in case of money supply, low correlation coefficient comprising variable money supply raises doubts about the factual existence of causality between money supply and other variables. However, both models allow forecasting the direction of change in case of variables interest rate and real GDP with the same success rate nearly 82 %. Both VARs also agreed that interest rate could be changed by change of price level and that interest rate could be changed by change of real GDP. These conclusions represent potential recommendations to macroeconomic policy authorities. For the purpose of further research, exchange rate variable will be included in the model instead of interest rate, because effect of interest rate turned out to be limited in times of weakened state of Czech economy.

Calculating China’s Historical Economic Aggregate: A GDP-centered Overview

NARCIS (Netherlands)

XU, Yi; Ni, Yuping; van Leeuwen, Bas

2016-01-01

Since the 1990s, thanks to the concerted efforts of domestic and international scholars, the research on China’s historical GDP that began in the 1930s has received widespread attention, and is becoming a widely discussed issue at the forefront of research on world economic history. At the same

Transforming growth factor β signaling upregulates the expression of human GDP-fucose transporter by activating transcription factor Sp1.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Yu-Xin; Ma, Anna; Liu, Li

2013-01-01

GDP-fucose transporter plays a crucial role in fucosylation of glycoproteins by providing activated fucose donor, GDP-fucose, for fucosyltransferases in the lumen of the Golgi apparatus. Fucose-containing glycans are involved in many biological processes, which are essential for growth and development. Mutations in the GDP-fucose transporter gene cause leukocyte adhesion deficiency syndrome II, a disease characterized by slow growth, mental retardation and immunodeficiency. However, no information is available regarding its transcriptional regulation. Here, by using human cells, we show that TGF-β1 specifically induces the GDP-fucose transporter expression, but not other transporters tested such as CMP-sialic acid transporter, suggesting a diversity of regulatory pathways for the expression of these transporters. The regulatory elements that are responsive to the TGF-β1 stimulation are present in the region between bp -330 and -268 in the GDP-fucose transporter promoter. We found that this region contains two identical octamer GC-rich motifs (GGGGCGTG) that were demonstrated to be essential for the transporter expression. We also show that the transcription factor Sp1 specifically binds to the GC-rich motifs in vitro and Sp1 coupled with phospho-Smad2 is associated with the promoter region covering the Sp1-binding motifs in vivo using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays. In addition, we further confirmed that Sp1 is essential for the GDP-fucose transporter expression stimulated by TGF-β1 using a luciferase reporter system. These results highlight the role of TGF-β signaling in regulation of the GDP-fucose transporter expression via activating Sp1. This is the first transcriptional study for any nucleotide sugar transporters that have been identified so far. Notably, TGF-β1 receptor itself is known to be modified by fucosylation. Given the essential role of GDP-fucose transporter in fucosylation, the finding that TGF-β1 stimulates the expression of

The Effects of Tourism on the GDP of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia in the Process of European Integration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Slobodan Čerović

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Tourism is a socio-economic phenomenon exerting considerable economic, social and political impact, thus securing itself an important position in the overall economic growth. The principal purpose of this paper is to present the effects of the EU integration process on tourist movements in Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro during the period 2006-2014, as 2006 was the year when one of the surveyed countries initiated EU accession negotiations, and tourism sector contribution to GDP in these countries in the period from 2002-2013 based on the data available for these years. To that end, the authors have compared the relationship between the number of foreign tourist arrivals and overnight stays and the GDP rates in the surveyed countries. Upon reviewing the available sources, the authors have reached the conclusion that during the EU integration period, an increase in the number of foreign tourists and overnight stays positively correlated with the GDP growth. EU integration process has had a positive bearing on tourism movements in the surveyed countries. The panel regression method has shown that despite a continuous increase in the number of foreign tourist arrivals, tourism sector still makes a modest direct contribution to the overall economic growth of the surveyed countries (Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia. Also, the Granger causality test was applied to demonstrate that it is not possible to predict GDP values in any of the surveyed countries based on the tourism revenue growth, while tourism contribution to GDP in Macedonia and Montenegro can be predicted based on their GDP.

7-methylguanosine diphosphate (m(7)GDP) is not hydrolyzed but strongly bound by decapping scavenger (DcpS) enzymes and potently inhibits their activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Wypijewska, Anna; Bojarska, Elzbieta; Lukaszewicz, Maciej; Stepinski, Janusz; Jemielity, Jacek; Davis, Richard E; Darzynkiewicz, Edward

2012-10-09

Decapping scavenger (DcpS) enzymes catalyze the cleavage of a residual cap structure following 3' → 5' mRNA decay. Some previous studies suggested that both m(7)GpppG and m(7)GDP were substrates for DcpS hydrolysis. Herein, we show that mononucleoside diphosphates, m(7)GDP (7-methylguanosine diphosphate) and m(3)(2,2,7)GDP (2,2,7-trimethylguanosine diphosphate), resulting from mRNA decapping by the Dcp1/2 complex in the 5' → 3' mRNA decay, are not degraded by recombinant DcpS proteins (human, nematode, and yeast). Furthermore, whereas mononucleoside diphosphates (m(7)GDP and m(3)(2,2,7)GDP) are not hydrolyzed by DcpS, mononucleoside triphosphates (m(7)GTP and m(3)(2,2,7)GTP) are, demonstrating the importance of a triphosphate chain for DcpS hydrolytic activity. m(7)GTP and m(3)(2,2,7)GTP are cleaved at a slower rate than their corresponding dinucleotides (m(7)GpppG and m(3)(2,2,7)GpppG, respectively), indicating an involvement of the second nucleoside for efficient DcpS-mediated digestion. Although DcpS enzymes cannot hydrolyze m(7)GDP, they have a high binding affinity for m(7)GDP and m(7)GDP potently inhibits DcpS hydrolysis of m(7)GpppG, suggesting that m(7)GDP may function as an efficient DcpS inhibitor. Our data have important implications for the regulatory role of m(7)GDP in mRNA metabolic pathways due to its possible interactions with different cap-binding proteins, such as DcpS or eIF4E.

The relationship between pollutant emissions, renewable energy, nuclear energy and GDP: empirical evidence from 18 developed and developing countries

Science.gov (United States)

Ben Mbarek, Mounir; Saidi, Kais; Amamri, Mounira

2018-07-01

This document investigates the causal relationship between nuclear energy (NE), pollutant emissions (CO2 emissions), gross domestic product (GDP) and renewable energy (RE) using dynamic panel data models for a global panel consisting of 18 countries (developed and developing) covering the 1990-2013 period. Our results indicate that there is a co-integration between variables. The unit root test suggests that all the variables are stationary in first differences. The paper further examines the link using the Granger causality analysis of vector error correction model, which indicates a unidirectional relationship running from GDP per capita to pollutant emissions for the developed and developing countries. However, there is a unidirectional causality from GDP per capita to RE in the short and long run. This finding confirms the conservation hypothesis. Similarly, there is no causality between NE and GDP per capita.

Meta-Analysis of the Oil Price Elasticity of the GDP for Policy Analysis: Documentation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leiby, Paul Newsome [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Bowman, David Charles [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Oladosu, Gbadebo A. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Uria Martinez, Rocio [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Johnson, Megan M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2017-08-01

Given the important role of oil in economic activities, policy makers are interested in estimates of the potential damage to the economy from oil price shocks, particularly during periods of rapid and large increases that accompany severe shocks. Such estimates are needed to quantify the economic costs of oil price shocks, and to evaluate the potential benefits of alternative policy responses. Although research on the economic impacts of oil price shocks is extensive and has generally found that large increases in oil prices exert negative economic impacts, the range of estimates, summarized by the oil price elasticity of the GDP or other aggregate measure of economic activity, is very wide. There are also conditions under which the relationship between the oil price and the economy could be positive. The range of estimates of the oil price elasticity of the GDP for the United States is typified by averages from the studies of Hamilton (2005, 2012) and Kilian and Vigfusson (2014), in which the implied elasticities were -0.014 to - 0.069 and +0.004 to -0.052, respectively. We employ a meta-regression approach to systematically summarize available estimates of the oil price elasticity of the GDP for oil importing economies, and examine the role of key factors. The resulting regression model was used to estimate the oil price elasticity of the GDP for the United States. Based on this we estimate the mean elasticity for the United States at -0.0238, with a 68% confidence interval of -0.0075 to -0.0402, four quarters after a shock.

Structural insights into GDP-mediated regulation of a bacterial acyl-CoA thioesterase.

Science.gov (United States)

Khandokar, Yogesh B; Srivastava, Parul; Cowieson, Nathan; Sarker, Subir; Aragao, David; Das, Shubagata; Smith, Kate M; Raidal, Shane R; Forwood, Jade K

2017-12-15

Thioesterases catalyze the cleavage of thioester bonds within many activated fatty acids and acyl-CoA substrates. They are expressed ubiquitously in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes and are subdivided into 25 thioesterase families according to their catalytic active site, protein oligomerization, and substrate specificity. Although many of these enzyme families are well-characterized in terms of function and substrate specificity, regulation across most thioesterase families is poorly understood. Here, we characterized a TE6 thioesterase from the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis Structural analysis with X-ray crystallographic diffraction data to 2.0-Å revealed that each protein subunit harbors a hot dog-fold and that the TE6 enzyme forms a hexamer with D3 symmetry. An assessment of thioesterase activity against a range of acyl-CoA substrates revealed the greatest activity against acetyl-CoA, and structure-guided mutagenesis of putative active site residues identified Asn 24 and Asp 39 as being essential for activity. Our structural analysis revealed that six GDP nucleotides bound the enzyme in close proximity to an intersubunit disulfide bond interactions that covalently link thioesterase domains in a double hot dog dimer. Structure-guided mutagenesis of residues within the GDP-binding pocket identified Arg 93 as playing a key role in the nucleotide interaction and revealed that GDP is required for activity. All mutations were confirmed to be specific and not to have resulted from structural perturbations by X-ray crystallography. This is the first report of a bacterial GDP-regulated thioesterase and of covalent linkage of thioesterase domains through a disulfide bond, revealing structural similarities with ADP regulation in the human ACOT12 thioesterase. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

One pot synthesis of GDP-mannose by a multi-enzyme cascade for enzymatic assembly of lipid-linked oligosaccharides.

Science.gov (United States)

Rexer, Thomas F T; Schildbach, Anna; Klapproth, Jan; Schierhorn, Angelika; Mahour, Reza; Pietzsch, Markus; Rapp, Erdmann; Reichl, Udo

2018-01-01

Glycosylation of proteins is a key function of the biosynthetic-secretory pathway in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi apparatus. Glycosylated proteins play a crucial role in cell trafficking and signaling, cell-cell adhesion, blood-group antigenicity, and immune response. In addition, the glycosylation of proteins is an important parameter in the optimization of many glycoprotein-based drugs such as monoclonal antibodies. In vitro glycoengineering of proteins requires glycosyltransferases as well as expensive nucleotide sugars. Here, we present a designed pathway consisting of five enzymes, glucokinase (Glk), phosphomannomutase (ManB), mannose-1-phosphate-guanyltransferase (ManC), inorganic pyrophosphatase (PmPpA), and 1-domain polyphosphate kinase 2 (1D-Ppk2) expressed in E. coli for the cell-free production and regeneration of GDP-mannose from mannose and polyphosphate with catalytic amounts of GDP and ADP. It was shown that GDP-mannose is produced at various conditions, that is pH 7-8, temperature 25-35°C and co-factor concentrations of 5-20 mM MgCl 2 . The maximum reaction rate of GDP-mannose achieved was 2.7 μM/min at 30°C and 10 mM MgCl 2 producing 566 nmol GDP-mannose after a reaction time of 240 min. With respect to the initial GDP concentration (0.8 mM) this is equivalent to a yield of 71%. Additionally, the cascade was coupled to purified, transmembrane-deleted Alg1 (ALG1ΔTM), the first mannosyltransferase in the ER-associated lipid-linked oligosaccharide (LLO) assembly. Thereby, in a one-pot reaction, phytanyl-PP-(GlcNAc) 2 -Man 1 was produced with efficient nucleotide sugar regeneration for the first time. Phytanyl-PP-(GlcNAc) 2 -Man 1 can serve as a substrate for the synthesis of LLO for the cell-free in vitro glycosylation of proteins. A high-performance anion exchange chromatography method with UV and conductivity detection (HPAEC-UV/CD) assay was optimized and validated to determine the enzyme kinetics. The established

Micronutrient deficiencies in early childhood can lower a country's GDP: The Myanmar example.

Science.gov (United States)

Win, Aung Zaw

2016-01-01

Myanmar (Burma) is a developing country in South East Asia. While Myanmar is among the 20 countries where 80% of the world's malnourished children live, its military consumes the majority of the national budget. Children who are malnourished between conception and age two are at high risk for impaired physical and mental development, which adversely affects the country's productivity and growth. Myanmar is facing three major micronutrient deficiencies which are iodine, iron and vitamin A deficiencies. The three micronutrient deficiencies can cost about 2.4% of the country's GDP. Children are the future of Myanmar and persistent micronutrient deficiencies will hamper its economic growth and lower its GDP. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Carbon dioxide emissions, GDP, energy use, and population growth: a multivariate and causality analysis for Ghana, 1971-2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Asumadu-Sarkodie, Samuel; Owusu, Phebe Asantewaa

2016-07-01

In this study, the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions, GDP, energy use, and population growth in Ghana was investigated from 1971 to 2013 by comparing the vector error correction model (VECM) and the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL). Prior to testing for Granger causality based on VECM, the study tested for unit roots, Johansen's multivariate co-integration and performed a variance decomposition analysis using Cholesky's technique. Evidence from the variance decomposition shows that 21 % of future shocks in carbon dioxide emissions are due to fluctuations in energy use, 8 % of future shocks are due to fluctuations in GDP, and 6 % of future shocks are due to fluctuations in population. There was evidence of bidirectional causality running from energy use to GDP and a unidirectional causality running from carbon dioxide emissions to energy use, carbon dioxide emissions to GDP, carbon dioxide emissions to population, and population to energy use. Evidence from the long-run elasticities shows that a 1 % increase in population in Ghana will increase carbon dioxide emissions by 1.72 %. There was evidence of short-run equilibrium relationship running from energy use to carbon dioxide emissions and GDP to carbon dioxide emissions. As a policy implication, the addition of renewable energy and clean energy technologies into Ghana's energy mix can help mitigate climate change and its impact in the future.

Regional GDP in Britain, 1871-1911: some estimates

OpenAIRE

Nicholas Crafts

2004-01-01

The paper builds on a method proposed by Geary and Stark (2002) for estimating regional incomes in Victorian Britain. This is modified by using tax data to allocate non-wage income across regions. The results suggest that the coefficient of variation of regional GDP per head was rising rapidly prior to World War I in similar fashion to the late twentieth century such that its level in 1911 and 2001 was about the same. In both episodes of globalization there were big winners and big losers amo...

The Rabies Virus L Protein Catalyzes mRNA Capping with GDP Polyribonucleotidyltransferase Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Ogino, Minako; Ito, Naoto; Sugiyama, Makoto; Ogino, Tomoaki

2016-05-21

The large (L) protein of rabies virus (RABV) plays multiple enzymatic roles in viral RNA synthesis and processing. However, none of its putative enzymatic activities have been directly demonstrated in vitro. In this study, we expressed and purified a recombinant form of the RABV L protein and verified its guanosine 5'-triphosphatase and GDP polyribonucleotidyltransferase (PRNTase) activities, which are essential for viral mRNA cap formation by the unconventional mechanism. The RABV L protein capped 5'-triphosphorylated but not 5'-diphosphorylated RABV mRNA-start sequences, 5'-AACA(C/U), with GDP to generate the 5'-terminal cap structure G(5')ppp(5')A. The 5'-AAC sequence in the substrate RNAs was found to be strictly essential for RNA capping with the RABV L protein. Furthermore, site-directed mutagenesis showed that some conserved amino acid residues (G1112, T1170, W1201, H1241, R1242, F1285, and Q1286) in the PRNTase motifs A to E of the RABV L protein are required for cap formation. These findings suggest that the putative PRNTase domain in the RABV L protein catalyzes the rhabdovirus-specific capping reaction involving covalent catalysis of the pRNA transfer to GDP, thus offering this domain as a target for developing anti-viral agents.

Concentration of rat brown adipose tissue uncoupling protein may not be correlated with 3H-GDP binding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henningfield, M.F.; Swick, A.G.; Swick, R.W.

1986-01-01

Rats fed diets low in protein or exposed to cold show an increase in brown adipose tissue (BAT) mitochondrial 3 H-GDP binding. To investigate this phenomenon further, the uncoupling protein associated with BAT function was measured immunochemically on nitrocellulose blots. Quantitation of uncoupling protein was achieved by densitometer scanning with a BioRad densitometer. Peaks were integrated with Chromatochart software and an Apple IIe computer. A standard curve of purified uncoupling protein (50 to 500 ng) was used to calculate uncoupling protein concentration. There is a 1.5-fold increase in uncoupling protein per mg of protein in BAT mitochondria from rats exposed to cold for 15 days. There was no decrease in uncoupling protein from rats exposed to the cold followed by 24 h at 27 0 C although 3 H-GDP binding had decreased by half. Rats fed diets containing either 5 or 15% lactalbumin for 3 weeks did not show differences in uncoupling protein concentration although 3 H-GDP binding was 1.5-fold greater in BAT mitochondria from the low protein group. These results indicate that GDP binding does not necessarily reflect the concentration of uncoupling protein in BAT mitochondria

Vacuum ultraviolet excited luminescence properties of sol–gel derived GdP5O14:Eu3+ powders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mbarek, Aïcha; Chadeyron, Geneviève; Boyer, Damien; Avignant, Daniel; Fourati, Mohieddine; Zambon, Daniel

2014-01-01

Sol–gel route has successfully been used to synthesize pure and Eu 3+ doped polycrystalline samples of the GdP 5 O 14 pentaphosphates. The as-prepared samples have structurally been characterized using X-ray diffraction. Optical properties in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) of Eu 3+ activated GdP 5 O 14 samples prepared either by sol–gel process or solid-state reaction were investigated at room temperature for comparison. In this GdP 5 O 14 host matrix the P 5 O 14 ultraphosphate groups were proved to exhibit an efficient absorption in the VUV range. The excitation spectra recorded in the VUV-UV spectral region from 120 nm to 350 nm have revealed the presence of Gd 3+ 4f–5d interconfiguration transitions, Gd 3+ –O 2− and Eu 3+ –O 2− charge transfer states(CTS)in addition to intraconfiguration transitions of Gd 3+ ions.Furthermore the Gd 3+ →Eu 3+ energy transfer process was investigated and discussed in the framework of the multiphonon relaxation process. Besides, the GdP 5 O 14 :Eu 3+ phosphor led to a strong red emission under 147/172 nm excitation, so that it can be considered as a promising red phosphor for mercury-free lamps and plasma display panels applications. -- Highlights: • Lanthanide pentaphosphates were synthesized by the sol–gel process. • A broad absorption was evidenced in the VUV range for GdP 5 O 14 :Eu 3+ . • An efficient energy transfer was proved from pentaphosphate lattice to Eu 3+ ions

A Model for Urban Environment and Resource Planning Based on Green GDP Accounting System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linyu Xu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The urban environment and resources are currently on course that is unsustainable in the long run due to excessive human pursuit of economic goals. Thus, it is very important to develop a model to analyse the relationship between urban economic development and environmental resource protection during the process of rapid urbanisation. This paper proposed a model to identify the key factors in urban environment and resource regulation based on a green GDP accounting system, which consisted of four parts: economy, society, resource, and environment. In this model, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP method and a modified Pearl curve model were combined to allow for dynamic evaluation, with higher green GDP value as the planning target. The model was applied to the environmental and resource planning problem of Wuyishan City, and the results showed that energy use was a key factor that influenced the urban environment and resource development. Biodiversity and air quality were the most sensitive factors that influenced the value of green GDP in the city. According to the analysis, the urban environment and resource planning could be improved for promoting sustainable development in Wuyishan City.

Identification and characterization of Arabidopsis AtNUDX9 as a GDP-d-mannose pyrophosphohydrolase: its involvement in root growth inhibition in response to ammonium.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Hiroyuki; Maruta, Takanori; Ogawa, Takahisa; Tanabe, Noriaki; Tamoi, Masahiro; Yoshimura, Kazuya; Shigeoka, Shigeru

2015-09-01

GDP-d-mannose (GDP-d-Man) is an important intermediate in ascorbic acid (AsA) synthesis, cell wall synthesis, protein N-glycosylation, and glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchoring in plants. Thus, the modulation of intracellular levels of GDP-d-Man could be important for maintaining various cellular processes. Here an Arabidopsis GDP-d-Man pyrophosphohydrolase, AtNUDX9 (AtNUDT9; At3g46200), which hydrolysed GDP-d-Man to GMP and mannose 1-phosphate, was identified. The K m and V max values for GDP-d-Man of AtNUDX9 were 376±24 μM and 1.61±0.15 μmol min(-1) mg(-1) protein, respectively. Among various tissues, the expression levels of AtNUDX9 and the total activity of GDP-d-Man pyrophosphohydrolase were the highest in the roots. The GDP-d-Man pyrophosphohydrolase activity was increased in the root of plants grown in the presence of ammonium. No difference was observed in the levels of AsA in the leaf and root tissues of the wild-type and knockout-nudx9 (KO-nudx9) plants, whereas a marked increase in N-glycoprotein levels and enhanced growth were detected in the roots of KO-nudx9 plants in the presence of ammonium. These results suggest that AtNUDX9 is involved in the regulation of GDP-d-Man levels affecting ammonium sensitivity via modulation of protein N-glycosylation in the roots. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

Comparison of gemcitabin, cisplatin, and dexamethasone (GDP), CHOP, and CHOPE in the first-line treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphomas.

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Bo; Hu, Shaoxuan; Yang, Jianliang; Zhou, Shengyu; Liu, Peng; Qin, Yan; Gui, Lin; Yang, Sheng; Lin, Hua; Zhang, Changgong; Xing, Puyuan; Wang, Lin; Dong, Mei; Zhou, Liqiang; Sun, Yan; He, Xiaohui; Shi, Yuankai

2016-10-01

Optimal chemotherapy regimen for peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL) has not been fully defined. This study aimed to evaluate the optimal chemotherapy regimen in the first-line treatment for PTCL patients. Between 2003 and 2014, 93 consecutive patients with PTCL were enrolled in this study. Of 93 patients, 42 patients received CHOPE, 40 patients with CHOP, and 11 patients with GDP regimen. Response could be evaluated in 88 of 93 patients at the end of primary treatment. The CR rate for patients received CHOP (n = 38), CHOPE (n = 39), and GDP (n = 11) were 28.9, 51.3, and 45.5%, respectively, (P = 0.132) with an ORR of 65.8, 76.9, and 90.9%, respectively, (P = 0.210). The median follow-up time was 17.1 (1.4-108.3) months. Median progression-free survival (PFS) in CHOP (n = 40), CHOPE (n = 42), and GDP (n = 11) groups were 6.0, 15.3, and 9.7 months (P = 0.094) with 1-year PFS of 35.0, 54.8, and 45.5%, respectively, (P = 0.078). One-year OS for patients received CHOP (n = 40), CHOPE (n = 42), and GDP (n = 11) were 65.0, 83.3, and 100%, respectively, (P = 0.013) (CHOP vs CHOPE, P = 0.030; CHOP vs GDP, P = 0.024; CHOPE vs GDP, P = 0.174). CHOPE has a trend to improve CR rate, 1-year PFS and OS compared with CHOP alone. GDP shows promising efficacy which worth further exploration in large cohort studies. Clinical experience presented in this study may serve as reference for future large cohort studies.

A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF GDP AND FINAL CONSUMPTION USING SIMPLE LINEAR REGRESSION. THE CASE OF ROMANIA 1990–2010

OpenAIRE

Aniela Balacescu; Marian Zaharia

2011-01-01

This paper aims to examine the causal relationship between GDP and final consumption. The authors used linear regression model in which GDP is considered variable results, and final consumption variable factor. In drafting article we used Excel software application that is a modern computing and statistical data analysis.

Impact of GDP and tax revenue on health care financing: An empirical investigation from Indian states

OpenAIRE

Deepak Kumar BEHERA; Umakant DASH

2017-01-01

This paper investigates the long run impact of GDP and tax revenue on public health care expenditure using panel FMOLS and DOLS models for sixteen major states of India over the period 1980-2013. This study is more relevant in order to measure the progress in universal health care financing across the states of India because states are heterogeneous in terms of health care spending, associated with low tax bases and low level of GDP growth. The empirical result shows that healt...

GDP Growth, Potential Output, and Output Gaps in Mexico

OpenAIRE

Ebrima A Faal

2005-01-01

This paper analyzes the sources of Mexico's economic growth since the 1960s and compares various decompositions of historical growth into its trend and cyclical components. The role of the implied output gaps in the inflationary process is then assessed. Looking ahead, the paper presents medium-term paths for GDP based on alternative assumptions for productivity growth rates. The results indicate that the most important factor underlying the slowdown in output growth was a decline in trend to...

The Rabies Virus L Protein Catalyzes mRNA Capping with GDP Polyribonucleotidyltransferase Activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Minako Ogino

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The large (L protein of rabies virus (RABV plays multiple enzymatic roles in viral RNA synthesis and processing. However, none of its putative enzymatic activities have been directly demonstrated in vitro. In this study, we expressed and purified a recombinant form of the RABV L protein and verified its guanosine 5′-triphosphatase and GDP polyribonucleotidyltransferase (PRNTase activities, which are essential for viral mRNA cap formation by the unconventional mechanism. The RABV L protein capped 5′-triphosphorylated but not 5′-diphosphorylated RABV mRNA-start sequences, 5′-AACA(C/U, with GDP to generate the 5′-terminal cap structure G(5′ppp(5′A. The 5′-AAC sequence in the substrate RNAs was found to be strictly essential for RNA capping with the RABV L protein. Furthermore, site-directed mutagenesis showed that some conserved amino acid residues (G1112, T1170, W1201, H1241, R1242, F1285, and Q1286 in the PRNTase motifs A to E of the RABV L protein are required for cap formation. These findings suggest that the putative PRNTase domain in the RABV L protein catalyzes the rhabdovirus-specific capping reaction involving covalent catalysis of the pRNA transfer to GDP, thus offering this domain as a target for developing anti-viral agents.

GDP-to-GTP exchange on the microtubule end can contribute to the frequency of catastrophe.

Science.gov (United States)

Piedra, Felipe-Andrés; Kim, Tae; Garza, Emily S; Geyer, Elisabeth A; Burns, Alexander; Ye, Xuecheng; Rice, Luke M

2016-11-07

Microtubules are dynamic polymers of αβ-tubulin that have essential roles in chromosome segregation and organization of the cytoplasm. Catastrophe-the switch from growing to shrinking-occurs when a microtubule loses its stabilizing GTP cap. Recent evidence indicates that the nucleotide on the microtubule end controls how tightly an incoming subunit will be bound (trans-acting GTP), but most current models do not incorporate this information. We implemented trans-acting GTP into a computational model for microtubule dynamics. In simulations, growing microtubules often exposed terminal GDP-bound subunits without undergoing catastrophe. Transient GDP exposure on the growing plus end slowed elongation by reducing the number of favorable binding sites on the microtubule end. Slower elongation led to erosion of the GTP cap and an increase in the frequency of catastrophe. Allowing GDP-to-GTP exchange on terminal subunits in simulations mitigated these effects. Using mutant αβ-tubulin or modified GTP, we showed experimentally that a more readily exchangeable nucleotide led to less frequent catastrophe. Current models for microtubule dynamics do not account for GDP-to-GTP exchange on the growing microtubule end, so our findings provide a new way of thinking about the molecular events that initiate catastrophe. © 2016 Piedra et al. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). Two months after publication it is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

A New Neutral-pH Low-GDP Peritoneal Dialysis Fluid

Science.gov (United States)

Himmele, Rainer; Jensen, Lynn; Fenn, Dominik; Ho, Chih-Hu; Sawin, Dixie-Ann; Diaz-Buxo, Jose A.

2012-01-01

♦ Background: Conventional peritoneal dialysis fluids (PDFs) consist of ready-to-use solutions with an acidic pH. Sterilization of these fluids is known to generate high levels of glucose degradation products (GDPs). Although several neutral-pH, low-GDP PD solutions have been developed, none are commercially available in the United States. We analyzed pH and GDPs in Delflex Neutral pH (Fresenius Medical Care North America, Waltham, MA, USA), the first neutral-pH PDF to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. ♦ Methods: We evaluated whether patients (n = 26; age range: 18 - 78 years) could properly mix the Delflex Neutral pH PDF after standardized initial training. We further analyzed the concentrations of 10 different glucose degradation products in Delflex Neutral pH PDF and compared the results with similar analyses in other commercially available biocompatible PDFs. ♦ Results: All pH measurements (n = 288) in the delivered Delflex Neutral pH solution consistently fell within the labeled range of 7.0 ± 0.4. Analysis of mixing errors showed no significant impact on the pH results. Delflex Neutral pH, Balance (Fresenius Medical Care, Bad Homburg, Germany), BicaVera (Fresenius Medical Care), and Gambrosol Trio (Gambro Lundia AB, Lund, Sweden) exhibited similar low total GDP concentrations, with maximums in the 4.25% solutions of 88 μmol/L, 74 μmol/L, 74 μmol/L, and 79 μmol/L respectively; the concentration in Physioneal (Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Deerfield, IL, USA) was considerably higher at 263.26 μmol/L. The total GDP concentration in Extraneal (Baxter Healthcare Corporation) was 63 μmol/L, being thus slightly lower than the concentrations in the 4.25% glucose solutions, but higher than the concentrations in the 1.5% and 2.5% glucose solutions. ♦ Conclusions: The new Delflex Neutral pH PDF consistently delivers neutral pH with minimal GDPs. PMID:22383632

Increasing household debts and its relation to GDP, interest rate and house price: Malaysia’s perspective

OpenAIRE

Rahman, Sharezan; Masih, Mansur

2014-01-01

The increase in household debts in Malaysia which has escalated to about 86% of total GDP is deemed to be at worrying stage as it may in turn trigger another financial crisis. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the increase in household debts and its relation to GDP, interest rate and house price via time series techniques. Data collected from Datastream and monthly statistical bulletin span from 1999 to 2014 on quarterly basis. The results show that there is a cointegrating long run r...

Economic Growth and the Environment - or the Extinction of the GDP-dinosaur

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Røpke, Inge

1997-01-01

Abstract Market economies are fundamentally characterized by economic growth. Growth rates may be higher or lower, but the GDP seldom stagnates or diminishes - and when it does, this is considered a symptom of crisis. During the past few decades environmental problems have caused increasing conce...

The Impact of the Airline Freight Transportation on GDP in Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Okşan Kibritçi Artar

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The demand of passenger and freight transportation has been increasing tremendously each day due to the globalization process. Therefore, the acceleration in the transportation demand has a natural impact on the distances that the freights have been carried through in overall. In this prospect, international logistics provides an economic utility from the sustainability viewpoint in the global competition arena. World-wide supply and distribution channels have become so sophisticated, resulting in having vitality in the field therefore boosting its share in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP. High impact of liberalization in the air transportation markets has been affecting the market of Turkey as well as USA and EU. Moreover, it is one of the industries that have survived from the global financial crises which is also critical from the competition based strategies. In this study, the relation between the GDP and the air freight traffic of Turkey has been analyzed by using an econometric model. As a result, it has been found that there is a statistically significant relationship between those parameters.

Oil price fluctuations and Its effect on GDP growth

OpenAIRE

Gonzalez , Aaron; Nabiyev, Sherzod

2009-01-01

During the year of 2008, the world has experienced historically high oil prices reaching an all time high of 147 USD per barrel in midsummer. The extreme volatility of what is consider the number one source of energy reopened discussions about energy sustainability and the plausible effects of an oil shock in the global economy.   How reliable oil price is as an economic variable predicting fluctuations in GDP growth remains controversial. Several models have been developed by scholars target...

U.S. Department of Energy physical protection upgrades at the Latvian Academy of Sciences Nuclear Research Center, Latvia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haase, M.; Hine, C.; Robertson, C.

1996-01-01

Approximately five years ago, the Safe, Secure Dismantlement program was started between the US and countries of the Former Soviet Union (FSU). The purpose of the program is to accelerate progress toward reducing the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation, including such threats as theft, diversion, and unauthorized possession of nuclear materials. This would be accomplished by strengthening the material protection, control, and accounting systems within the FSU countries. Under the US Department of Energy''s program of providing cooperative assistance to the FSU countries in the areas of Material Protection, Control, and Accounting (MPC and A), the Latvian Academy of Sciences Nuclear Research Center (LNRC) near Riga, Latvia, was identified as a candidate site for a cooperative MPC and A project. The LNRC is the site of a 5-megawatt IRT-C pool-type research reactor. This paper describes: the process involved, from initial contracting to project completion, for the physical protection upgrades now in place at the LNRC; the intervening activities; and a brief overview of the technical aspects of the upgrades

Health Care Expenditure and GDP in Oil Exporting Countries: Evidence From OPEC Data, 1995-2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Fazaeli, Ali Akbar; Ghaderi, Hossein; Salehi, Masoud; Fazaeli, Ali Reza

2015-06-11

There is a large body of literature examining income in relation to health expenditures. The share of expenditures in health sector from GDP in developed countries is often larger than in non-developed countries, suggesting that as the level of economic growth increases, health spending increase, too. This paper estimates long-run relationships between health expenditures and GDP based on panel data of a sample of 12 countries of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), using data for the period 1995-2012. We use panel data unit root tests, cointegration analysis and ECM model to find long-run and short-run relation. This study examines whether health is a luxury or a necessity for OPEC countries within a unit root and cointegration framework. Panel data analysis indicates that health expenditures and GDP are co-integrated and have Engle and Granger causality. In addition, in oil countries that have oil export income, the share of government expenditures in the health sector is often greater than in private health expenditures similar developed countries. The findings verify that health care is not a luxury good and income has a robust relationship to health expenditures in OPEC countries.

Overexpression of an alfalfa GDP-mannose 3, 5-epimerase gene enhances acid, drought and salt tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis by increasing ascorbate accumulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Lichao; Wang, Yanrong; Liu, Wenxian; Liu, Zhipeng

2014-11-01

GDP-mannose 3', 5'-epimerase (GME) catalyses the conversion of GDP-D-mannose to GDP-L-galactose, an important step in the ascorbic acid (ascorbic acid) biosynthetic pathway in higher plants. In this study, a novel cDNA fragment (MsGME) encoding a GME protein was isolated and characterised from alfalfa (Medicago sativa). An expression analysis confirmed that MsGME expression was induced by salinity, PEG and acidity stresses. MsGME overexpression in Arabidopsis enhanced tolerance of the transgenic plants to salt, drought and acid. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that the transcript levels of GDP-D-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GMP), L-galactose-phosphate 1-P phosphatase (GP) and GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase (GGP) were increased in transgenic Arabidopsis (T3 generation). Moreover, the ascorbate content was increased in transgenic Arabidopsis. Our results suggest that MsGME can effectively enhance tolerance of transgenic Arabidopsis to acid, drought and salt by increasing ascorbate accumulation.

ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND REAL GDP IN IRAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Akbar Naji Meidani

2014-01-01

Full Text Available As one of the most important production factors and one of the most urgent final products, energy has a special position in the growth and development of the country. This paper examines the causal relationship between Real GDP and energy consumption in various economic sectors including (household and commercial, industry, transportation and agriculture sectors for Iran during 1967–2010 using the time series technique known as the Toda-Yamamoto method. Moreover, an error correction model is also estimated so that the results of these two methods are compared. We found a strong unidirectional causality from energy consumption in industry sector to real gross domestic product. Energy consumption in industry sector can observably promote the development of economy.

Growth under Extractive Institutions? Latin American Per Capita GDP in Colonial Times

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abad, Leticia Arroyo; Zanden, Jan Luiten van

2016-01-01

This article presents new estimations of per capita GDP in colonial times for the two pillars of the Spanish empire: Mexico and Peru. We find dynamic economies as evidenced by increasing real wages, urbanization, and silver mining. Their growth trajectories are such that both regions reduced the gap

Analysis of The Gross Domestic Product (G.D.P) of Nigeria:1960-2012

African Journals Online (AJOL)

PROF. OLIVER OSUAGWA

2015-06-01

Jun 1, 2015 ... Gross Domestic Product takes into account the market value of ... economic growth of Nigeria using GDP as an indicator and ... where the best opportunity of investors lies. Paul [6] ... the information encoded in past events and.

Evidence of A Bimodal US GDP Growth Rate Distribution: A Wavelet Approach

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Sandro Claudio Lera

2017-04-01

Full Text Available We present a quantitative characterisation of the fluctuations of the annualized growth rate of the real US GDP per capita at many scales, using a wavelet transform analysis of two data sets, quarterly data from 1947 to 2015 and annual data from 1800 to 2010. The chosen mother wavelet (first derivative of the Gaussian function applied to the logarithm of the real US GDP per capita provides a robust estimation of the instantaneous growth rate at different scales. Our main finding is that business cycles appear at all scales and the distribution of GDP growth rates can be well approximated by a bimodal function associated to a series of switches between regimes of strong growth rate $\\rho_\\text{high}$ and regimes of low growth rate $\\rho_\\text{low}$. The succession of such two regimes compounds to produce a remarkably stable long term average real annualized growth rate of 1.6% from 1800 to 2010 and $\\approx 2.0\\%$ since 1950, which is the result of a subtle compensation between the high and low growth regimes that alternate continuously. Thus, the overall growth dynamics of the US economy is punctuated, with phases of strong growth that are intrinsically unsustainable, followed by corrections or consolidation until the next boom starts. We interpret these findings within the theory of "social bubbles" and argue as a consequence that estimations of the cost of the 2008 crisis may be misleading. We also interpret the absence of strong recovery since 2008 as a protracted low growth regime $\\rho_\\text{low}$ associated with the exceptional nature of the preceding large growth regime.

Interaction effects of region-level GDP per capita and age on labour market transition rates in Italy

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Luca Zanin

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract The aim of this paper is to measure the effect of the interaction between age for the population of males and females aged 18 to 74 and region-level GDP per capita on labour market transition probabilities in Italy. We compare different occupational states in a sample of males and females who remained in their region of residence at two points in time (12 months apart. We estimate the transition probabilities using a flexible hierarchical logit model with interaction effects between worker age and region-level GDP per capita. We apply this model using longitudinal data from the Italian Labour Force Survey that cover the 2004–2013 period. We find empirical support for the assumption that people in the same age cohort have different labour market opportunities based on the level of GDP per capita in their region of residence. These differences are particularly relevant among younger workers.

The Concept of Information Sharing Behaviors in Complex Organizations: Research in Latvian Enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrejs Cekuls

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors influencing behaviors of information sharing in complex organizations. Evaluation of the previous studies on provision of information turnover process and the role of organizational culture in competitive intelligence of business environment in Latvia indicated the trends that employees of Latvian enterprises lack incentive to share information. Tasks of the study were to research the basis of the review of scientific sources and study aspects influencing habits of information sharing in complex organizations. For this particular study, the focus group is selected as the most appropriate data collection method for high-quality research. To find out individuals' opinions and attitudes two focus group discussions were carried out. Members from various industries and with different employment period were included in discussion groups. In aggregate, opinions of the employees from 41 different companies were summarized regarding the aspects affecting the process of information sharing in organizations. Results of researches show that that influence the sharing of information are closely related to the values: interpersonal trust, organizational trust, and organizational identification, support, fairness etc. Results of discussions showed that it is important for a manager to be aware of the factors affecting the performance of the organization. To identify the need for changes, a manager should follow events in the environment and analyze the extent, to which they affect the performance of the organization. Complexity science suggests that maturity to changes emerges when the system is far from balance, but the tension makes to accept changes.

Drumlins and related glaciogenic landforms of the Madliena Tilted Plain, Central Latvian Lowland

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Kristaps Lamsters

2012-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents new results on the morphometry and spatial distribution of the glaciogenic landforms and ice flow directions in the Madliena Tilted Plain that occupies the eastern part of the Central Latvian Lowland. Landforms were investigated by usingtopographic maps at scales of 1:25 000 and 1:10 000. There were identified and mapped 1461 glaciogenic landforms such as drumlins, end moraine ridges, eskers, ribbed moraines, marginal ridges, lateral shear margin moraines and recessional formations. Particular attention is given to the morphometry, spatial distribution, and the internal structure of drumlins. Glacial landscape of the study area was formed by the Zemgale ice lobe in course of deglaciation of the Late Weichselian Fennoscandian Ice Sheet, when the ice decay was interrupted by the reactivation of the Middle Lithuanian and the NorthLithuanian glacial phases at the end of the Oldest Dryas (18–15 ka BP. The detailed study of the internal structure of the Brenceni drumlin suggests that it consists of glaciotectonically disturbed glacio-aquatic sediments and of a single till thrust sheet between sand sediments on the flank of the drumlin. Morphometric analysis of the drumlin field shows that the mean length of drumlins is about 850 m; the mean width indicates the average size 280 m, and the mean elongation ratio is 3.0. The obtained statistics compared to the morphometry of drumlins worldwide, show close similarity, so it coincides with the concept that in general morphometry of drumlins is mostly independent of their location and the characteristics of the ice streams.

Developing a comprehensive time series of GDP per capita for 210 countries from 1950 to 2015

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James Spencer L

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Income has been extensively studied and utilized as a determinant of health. There are several sources of income expressed as gross domestic product (GDP per capita, but there are no time series that are complete for the years between 1950 and 2015 for the 210 countries for which data exist. It is in the interest of population health research to establish a global time series that is complete from 1950 to 2015. Methods We collected GDP per capita estimates expressed in either constant US dollar terms or international dollar terms (corrected for purchasing power parity from seven sources. We applied several stages of models, including ordinary least-squares regressions and mixed effects models, to complete each of the seven source series from 1950 to 2015. The three US dollar and four international dollar series were each averaged to produce two new GDP per capita series. Results and discussion Nine complete series from 1950 to 2015 for 210 countries are available for use. These series can serve various analytical purposes and can illustrate myriad economic trends and features. The derivation of the two new series allows for researchers to avoid any series-specific biases that may exist. The modeling approach used is flexible and will allow for yearly updating as new estimates are produced by the source series. Conclusion GDP per capita is a necessary tool in population health research, and our development and implementation of a new method has allowed for the most comprehensive known time series to date.

Estimation of Potential GDP and output Gap. Comparative Perspective

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Dorin Măntescu

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the analysis is to assess the impact of the crisis on the potential output and output gaps, to study their evolution by using a comparative approach for a sample of EU countries that were in majority included recently in financial assistance and macroeconomic adjustment programmes. The potential GDP growth rates calculated using the Cobb Douglas production function and Hodrick-Prescott methodology, decelerated substantially across the board in the countries studied once the international economic and financial crisis hit, recording even negative rates of growth in Cyprus, Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain. In addition to the specific factors that characterise each country, there is a series of common features that will affect the developments of the potential GDP on a long-term basis, such as the increase of global risk aversion correlated with the reduction of the banking exposures, the slow economic recovery in the EU, and last but not least the incoming ageing process, which will exert an additional negative impact on the growth potential of the EU member states. The article makes a series of economic policy recommendations to promote key measures aiming to increase the flexibility of the goods, services, and labour markets, to improve the prioritisation of public expenditures especially capital spending, and to improve the management of the public assets including real estate and public buildings by promoting a mix of measures including privatisation, monetisation and a wider involvement of the private sector in their management.

Renewable and nonrenewable energy consumption, real GDP and CO2 emissions nexus: a structural VAR approach in Pakistan

OpenAIRE

Muhammad, Shahbaz Shabbir; Muhammad, Zeshan; Muhammad, Shahbaz

2011-01-01

Any rise in real GDP crafts higher energy demand in Pakistan. This short-term rising energy requirement is fulfilled with the help of nonrenewable and renewable energy consumption, but nonrenewable energy consumption adds more in it. The rise in nonrenewable energy consumption lifts real GDP up in short-run. Forecast error variance decomposition illustrates nonrenewable energy consumption alone passes 87% variation in the CO2 emissions. This verifies fossil fuels are accountable for environme...

Superoxide activates a GDP-sensitive proton conductance in skeletal muscle mitochondria from king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus).

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Talbot, Darren A; Hanuise, Nicolas; Rey, Benjamin; Rouanet, Jean-Louis; Duchamp, Claude; Brand, Martin D

2003-12-26

We present the partial nucleotide sequence of the avian uncoupling protein (avUCP) gene from king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus), showing that the protein is 88-92% identical to chicken (Gallus gallus), turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), and hummingbird (Eupetomena macroura). We show that superoxide activates the proton conductance of mitochondria isolated from king penguin skeletal muscle. GDP abolishes the superoxide-activated proton conductance, indicating that it is mediated via avUCP. In the absence of superoxide there is no GDP-sensitive component of the proton conductance from penguin muscle mitochondria demonstrating that avUCP plays no role in the basal proton leak.

Structural and functional analysis of a FeoB A143S G5 loop mutant explains the accelerated GDP release rate.

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Guilfoyle, Amy P; Deshpande, Chandrika N; Vincent, Kimberley; Pedroso, Marcelo M; Schenk, Gerhard; Maher, Megan J; Jormakka, Mika

2014-05-01

GTPases (G proteins) hydrolyze the conversion of GTP to GDP and free phosphate, comprising an integral part of prokaryotic and eukaryotic signaling, protein biosynthesis and cell division, as well as membrane transport processes. The G protein cycle is brought to a halt after GTP hydrolysis, and requires the release of GDP before a new cycle can be initiated. For eukaryotic heterotrimeric Gαβγ proteins, the interaction with a membrane-bound G protein-coupled receptor catalyzes the release of GDP from the Gα subunit. Structural and functional studies have implicated one of the nucleotide binding sequence motifs, the G5 motif, as playing an integral part in this release mechanism. Indeed, a Gαs G5 mutant (A366S) was shown to have an accelerated GDP release rate, mimicking a G protein-coupled receptor catalyzed release state. In the present study, we investigate the role of the equivalent residue in the G5 motif (residue A143) in the prokaryotic membrane protein FeoB from Streptococcus thermophilus, which includes an N-terminal soluble G protein domain. The structure of this domain has previously been determined in the apo and GDP-bound states and in the presence of a transition state analogue, revealing conformational changes in the G5 motif. The A143 residue was mutated to a serine and analyzed with respect to changes in GTPase activity, nucleotide release rate, GDP affinity and structural alterations. We conclude that the identity of the residue at this position in the G5 loop plays a key role in the nucleotide release rate by allowing the correct positioning and hydrogen bonding of the nucleotide base. © 2014 FEBS.

JA ES BŪTU SMUKS, ES GRIBĒTU BŪT MEITENE! (‘If I Were Pretty, I Would Like To Be A Girl!’. Debating Transsexualism In The Latvian Parliament

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CHOJNICKA JOANNA

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The article investigates a debate on the issues of legal recognition of gender which took place in the Latvian Parliament in 2009 and which is considered a rich source of material for a two-fold analysis. As an example of gendered discourse, it shows the differences between female and male MPs’ ways of tackling this uncomfortable subject. As a discourse about gender, which allows one to study the speakers’ arguments and attitudes, it reveals prejudice, lack of knowledge and conservative thinking. The analysis thus illustrates the language and arguments employed in the public sphere when discussing face-threatening, taboo topics.

GDP per capita and the biological standard of living in contemporary developing countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brinkman, Henk-Jan; Drukker, J.W.; Slot, Brigitte

1997-01-01

This paper investigates whether a divergence between the biological standard of living (commonly measured by some anthropometric indicator) and GDP per capita during the early phases of industrialization, as observed for many now-developed countries in the nineteenth century, can also be found for

Does a Change in Price of Fuel Affect GDP Growth? An Examination of the U.S. Data from 1950–2013

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Michael Aucott

2014-10-01

Full Text Available We examined data on fuel consumption and costs for the years 1950 through 2013, along with economic and population data, to determine the percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP spent each year on fuels, including fossil fuels and nuclear ore, and the growth of the economy. We found that these variables are inversely correlated. This suggests that the availability and cost of energy is a significant determinant of economic performance. We believe this relation is consistent with analyses based on the energy return on investment (EROI concept in that increasingly scarce, and hence expensive, fuels are a drag on economic growth. The best-fitting linear equation relating the percent of GDP (energy cost share and year-over-year (YoY GDP change variables suggests that a threshold exists in the vicinity of 4%; if the percent of GDP spent on fuels is greater than this, poorer economic performance has been likely. Currently, about 5% of GDP is spent on fuels; most of this is for liquids. Continued weak economic performance appears likely unless improvements in energy efficiency, on the order of a factor of 3 for liquid fuels, and/or a more rapid adoption of renewable or nuclear energy sources can be achieved, provided that the EROI of these new sources proves to be sufficiently high.

Gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin (GDP) as salvage chemotherapy for patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T cell lymphoma-not otherwise specified.

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Qi, Fei; Dong, Mei; He, Xiaohui; Li, Yexiong; Wang, Weihu; Liu, Peng; Yang, Jianliang; Gui, Lin; Zhang, Changgong; Yang, Sheng; Zhou, Shengyu; Shi, Yuankai

2017-02-01

Standard therapeutic options for patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T cell lymphoma-not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS) remain unclear. There are few large cohort studies specifically focused on gemcitabine-based chemotherapy for PTCL-NOS. We retrospectively reviewed patients with relapsed or refractory PTCL-NOS who received salvage GDP (gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin) chemotherapy at the Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) and Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), Beijing, China, from May 2008 to August 2014. Twenty-five patients were enrolled and analyzed. The median number of cycles of GDP chemotherapy per patient was four (range, 2-8 cycles). Overall response rate was 64.0% (16/25) with five achieved complete remission or complete remission unconfirmed. After a median follow-up of 9 months, median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival after relapse or progression (second-PFS) were 9.3 and 5.4 months. One-year PFS rate and 1-year OS rate were 27.4% and 43.9%, respectively. Median second-PFS was significantly longer in patients sensitive to GDP than the ones resistant to the treatment (10.3 vs. 2.8 months, p GDP including neutropenia (8/25), thrombocytopenia (5/25), and anemia (4/25). Taken together, our study suggests that GDP is an effective and optional salvage regimen for relapsed or refractory PTCL-NOS.

The Impact of E-Commerce and GDP on the Revenue of “One”

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Rezarta Zhaku - Hani

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Thanks to e-commerce it has never been easier to conduct business throughout the world and it has never been timelier enriching international customers. E-commerce is also an incurable tool for new businesses as it allows them to rapidly broaden their customers, interact with customers in businesses throughout the world, an inexpensive market and advertise the company worldwide. In the other hand the impact of GDP, positive or negative, is a very important one for the revenue of organizations within a country. Given the fact that e-commerce has become a very profitable way to conduct business and GDP is another important factor for organizations, we have decided through this paper to analyze their impact on the revenue of one of the biggest mobile operators in Macedonia called “ONE”. At the end of the research we will be able to show whether investing in e-commerce has been profitable for the Macedonian mobile operator “ONE”.

Coupling an Intercalibration of Radiance-Calibrated Nighttime Light Images and Land Use/Cover Data for Modeling and Analyzing the Distribution of GDP in Guangdong, China

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Ziyang Cao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Spatialized GDP data is important for studying the relationships between human activities and environmental changes. Rapid and accurate acquisition of these datasets are therefore a significant area of study. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS radiance-calibrated nighttime light (RC NTL images exhibit the potential for providing superior estimates for GDP spatialization, as they are not restricted by the saturated pixels which exist in nighttime stable light (NSL images. However, the drawback of light overflow is the limited accuracy of GDP estimation, and GDP data estimations based on RC NTL images cannot be directly used for temporal analysis due to a lack of on-board calibration. This study develops an intercalibration method to address the comparability problem. Additionally, NDVI images are used to reduce the light overflow effect. In this way, the secondary and tertiary industry outputs are estimated by using intercalibrated RC NTL images. Primary industry production is estimated by using land use/cover data. Ultimately, four 1 km gridded GDP maps of Guangdong for 2000, 2004, 2006 and 2010 are generated. The verification results of the proposed intercalibration method demonstrate that this method is reasonable and can be effectively implemented. These maps can be used to analyze the distribution and spatiotemporal changes of GDP density in Guangdong.

Study on effectiveness of gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin (GDP) for relapsed or refractory AIDS-related non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

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Zhong, Dong Ta; Shi, Chun Mei; Chen, Qiang; Huang, Jing Ze; Liang, Jian Gang

2012-11-01

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) remains the second most common malignant complication in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Even though NHL is commonly chemosensitive to primary treatment, failure or relapse still occurs in a large number of patients. We conducted this retrospective study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin (GDP) for relapsed or refractory AIDS-related NHL (AIDS-NHL). Forty-eight patients with relapsed or refractory AIDS-NHL were treated with intravenous combination chemotherapy with GDP. The overall objective response rate was 54.1% (95% confidence interval, CI, 40.1-68.3%), with 10 complete responses and 16 partial responses. The 2-year overall survival rate (OS) was 70.8% (95% CI 58.0-83.7%), and the 5-year OS was 41.7% (95% CI 27.7-55.6%). The 2-year progression-free survival rate (PFS) was 37.5% (95% CI 23.8-51.2%), and the 5-year PFS was 25.0% (95% CI 12.8-37.3%). The median progression-free survival was 8.8 months (95% CI 0-20.3 months), and the median overall survival was 40.6 months (95% CI 22.6-58.6 months). Patients with B cell tumors who relapsed but had no B symptoms were clinical stage I/II, had infiltration fewer than two extranodal sites, had CD4⁺ counts >200 cells/μL, and had lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) less than the upper limit of normal benefited from GDP. The level of LDH had a significant impact on the response rate to chemotherapy with GDP (P = 0.015). Myelosuppression was the main side effect; the incidence of grade 3-4 anemia was 8.3%; leukopenia, 37.5%; and thrombocytopenia, 48.3%. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine variables for OS and PFS. This study confirms that GDP is an effective and safe salvage regimen in relapsed or refractory AIDS-NHL, was associated with modest declines in CD4⁺ lymphocyte counts, and did not promote HIV-1 viral replication.

GDP vs. GNH. A NEW PARADIGM

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CHEPTEA MADALINA

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Human being should be seen as the most important asset of economic life, and its well-being should be considered as an important indicator in having a realistic account regarding the level of prosperity and evolution of a nation. Although the concept of GNH (Gross National Happiness has been introduced by economists like Richard Layard, and we have the example of Kingdom of Buthan where happiness is the only measurement means for quantifying the well-being of the population, governments and even economy tend to completely ignore such a parameter. We are more involved in an increasing consumeristic society, in wars, fighting for supremacy, gaining more territories, producing and spreading disease and medicines and we are less and less preoccupied by the inner being, by the human beings around us, by our fellow creatures. This paper is an attempt to prove that GNH (Gross National Happiness should be the means of measuring the prosperity of a nation, and replace at least partially GDP (Gross Domestic Product.

Mammalian translation elongation factor eEF1A2: X-ray structure and new features of GDP/GTP exchange mechanism in higher eukaryotes.

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Crepin, Thibaut; Shalak, Vyacheslav F; Yaremchuk, Anna D; Vlasenko, Dmytro O; McCarthy, Andrew; Negrutskii, Boris S; Tukalo, Michail A; El'skaya, Anna V

2014-11-10

Eukaryotic elongation factor eEF1A transits between the GTP- and GDP-bound conformations during the ribosomal polypeptide chain elongation. eEF1A*GTP establishes a complex with the aminoacyl-tRNA in the A site of the 80S ribosome. Correct codon-anticodon recognition triggers GTP hydrolysis, with subsequent dissociation of eEF1A*GDP from the ribosome. The structures of both the 'GTP'- and 'GDP'-bound conformations of eEF1A are unknown. Thus, the eEF1A-related ribosomal mechanisms were anticipated only by analogy with the bacterial homolog EF-Tu. Here, we report the first crystal structure of the mammalian eEF1A2*GDP complex which indicates major differences in the organization of the nucleotide-binding domain and intramolecular movements of eEF1A compared to EF-Tu. Our results explain the nucleotide exchange mechanism in the mammalian eEF1A and suggest that the first step of eEF1A*GDP dissociation from the 80S ribosome is the rotation of the nucleotide-binding domain observed after GTP hydrolysis. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Continuous national gross domestic product (GDP) time series for 195 countries: past observations (1850-2005) harmonized with future projections according to the Shared Socio-economic Pathways (2006-2100)

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Geiger, Tobias

2018-04-01

Gross domestic product (GDP) represents a widely used metric to compare economic development across time and space. GDP estimates have been routinely assembled only since the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, making comparisons with prior periods cumbersome or even impossible. In recent years various efforts have been put forward to re-estimate national GDP for specific years in the past centuries and even millennia, providing new insights into past economic development on a snapshot basis. In order to make this wealth of data utilizable across research disciplines, we here present a first continuous and consistent data set of GDP time series for 195 countries from 1850 to 2009, based mainly on data from the Maddison Project and other population and GDP sources. The GDP data are consistent with Penn World Tables v8.1 and future GDP projections from the Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs), and are freely available at http://doi.org/10.5880/pik.2018.010 (Geiger and Frieler, 2018). To ease usability, we additionally provide GDP per capita data and further supplementary and data description files in the online archive. We utilize various methods to handle missing data and discuss the advantages and limitations of our methodology. Despite known shortcomings this data set provides valuable input, e.g., for climate impact research, in order to consistently analyze economic impacts from pre-industrial times to the future.

Influence of GTP/GDP and magnesium ion on the solvated structure of the protein FtsZ: a molecular dynamics study.

Science.gov (United States)

Jamous, Carla; Basdevant, Nathalie; Ha-Duong, Tap

2014-01-01

We present here a structural analysis of ten extensive all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of the monomeric protein FtsZ in various binding states. Since the polymerization and GTPase activities of FtsZ depend on the nature of a bound nucleotide as well as on the presence of a magnesium ion, we studied the structural differences between the average conformations of the following five systems: FtsZ-Apo, FtsZ-GTP, FtsZ-GDP, FtsZ-GTP-Mg, and FtsZ-GDP-Mg. The in silico solvated average structure of FtsZ-Apo significantly differs from the crystallographic structure 1W59 of FtsZ which was crystallized in a dimeric form without nucleotide and magnesium. The simulated Apo form of the protein also clearly differs from the FtsZ structures when it is bound to its ligand, the most important discrepancies being located in the loops surrounding the nucleotide binding pocket. The three average structures of FtsZ-GTP, FtsZ-GDP, and FtsZ-GTP-Mg are overall similar, except for the loop T7 located at the opposite side of the binding pocket and whose conformation in FtsZ-GDP notably differs from the one in FtsZ-GTP and FtsZ-GTP-Mg. The presence of a magnesium ion in the binding pocket has no impact on the FtsZ conformation when it is bound to GTP. In contrast, when the protein is bound to GDP, the divalent cation causes a translation of the nucleotide outwards the pocket, inducing a significant conformational change of the loop H6-H7 and the top of helix H7.

Chemical synthesis of guanosine diphosphate mannuronic acid (GDP-ManA) and its C-4-O-methyl and C-4-deoxy congeners.

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Zhang, Qingju; Howell, P Lynne; Overkleeft, Herman S; Filippov, Dmitri V; van der Marel, Gijsbert A; Codée, Jeroen D C

2017-10-10

Described is the first synthesis of guanosine diphosphate mannuronic acid (GDP-ManA), the sugar donor used by algae and bacteria for the production of alginate, an anionic polysaccharide composed of β-d-mannuronic acid (ManA) and α-l-guluronic acid (GulA). Understanding the biosynthesis of these polyanionic polysaccharides on the molecular level, opens up avenues to use and modulate the biosynthesis machinery for biotechnological and therapeutic applications. The synthesis reported here delivers multi-milligram amounts of the GDP-ManA donor that can be used to study the polymerase (Alg8 in Pseudomonas aeruginosa) that generates the poly-ManA chain. Also reported is the assembly of two close analogues of GDP-ManA: the first bears a C-4-O-methyl group, while the second has been deoxygenated at this position. Both molecules may be used as "chain stoppers" in future enzymatic ManA polymerisation reactions. The crucial pyrophosphate linkage of the GDP-mannuronic acids has been constructed by the phosphorylation of the appropriate ManA-1-phosphates with a guanosine phosphoramidite. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Shock compression of glow discharge polymer (GDP): density functional theory (DFT) simulations and experiments on Sandia's Z-machine

Science.gov (United States)

Mattsson, Thomas R.; Cochrane, K. R.; Ao, T.; Lemke, R. W.; Flicker, D. G.; Schoff, M. E.; Blue, B. E.; Hamel, S.; Herrmann, M. C.

2015-11-01

Glow discharge polymer (GDP) is used extensively as capsule/ablation material in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) capsules. Accurate knowledge of the equation of state (EOS) under shock and release is particularly important for high-fidelity design, analysis, and optimization of ICF experiments since the capsule material is subject to several converging shocks as well as release towards the cryogenic fuel. We performed Density Functional Theory (DFT) based quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations, to gain knowledge of the behavior of GDP - including the effect of changes in chemical composition. The shock pressures calculated from DFT are compared experimental data taken on magnetically launched flyer plate impact experiments on at Sandia's Z-machine. Large GDP samples were grown in a planar geometry to improve the sample quality and maintained in a nitrogen atmosphere following manufacturing, thus allowing for a direct comparison to the DFT/QMD simulations. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's NNSA under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

Study of a cohort of Latvian workers having participated to the decontamination of the nuclear site of Chernobyl; Etude d`une cohorte de travailleurs lettons ayant participe a la decontamination du site nucleaire de Tchernobyl

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Viel, J.F. [Faculte de Medecine de Besancon, 25 (France)

1999-11-01

In the consequences attributable to the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, it is debated whether post-disaster psycho-pathology is related to the perception of the level of contamination or the level of contamination itself. To address this issue, the authors have assessed the association of various exposure mental and psychosomatic distress, on a sample of 1,1412 Latvian liquidators drawn from the State Latvian Chernobyl clean-up workers registry. The outcome considered was a mixed mental/psychosomatic disorder occurring during the time period 1986-1995. Comparisons between subgroups of the cohort, classified according to exposure type or level, were based on the proportional hazards model. Length of work ({>=} 28 days) in a 10 km radius from the reactor (relative risk (RR) = 1.39, 95 percent confidence interval (CI) 1.14-1.70), work (> 1 time) on the damaged reactor roof (RR 1.46, 95 percent CI 1.02-2.09), forest work (RR 1.41,95 percent CI 1.19-1.68), and fresh fruits consumption ({>=} 1 time/day) (RR 1.72,95 percent CI 1.12-2.65) are risk factors for mixed mental/ psychosomatic disorder. Construction of the sarcophagus (RR 1.82, 95 percent CI 0.89-3.72), is also associated with this outcome, although non significantly. These findings confirm that some exposure variables represent risk factors for mental disorders and suggest some radiation-induced consequences although surely overweight by stress-related effects. (author)

Exploring the correlation between the sequence composition of the nucleotide binding G5 loop of the FeoB GTPase domain (NFeoB) and intrinsic rate of GDP release.

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Guilfoyle, Amy P; Deshpande, Chandrika N; Schenk, Gerhard; Maher, Megan J; Jormakka, Mika

2014-12-12

GDP release from GTPases is usually extremely slow and is in general assisted by external factors, such as association with guanine exchange factors or membrane-embedded GPCRs (G protein-coupled receptors), which accelerate the release of GDP by several orders of magnitude. Intrinsic factors can also play a significant role; a single amino acid substitution in one of the guanine nucleotide recognition motifs, G5, results in a drastically altered GDP release rate, indicating that the sequence composition of this motif plays an important role in spontaneous GDP release. In the present study, we used the GTPase domain from EcNFeoB (Escherichia coli FeoB) as a model and applied biochemical and structural approaches to evaluate the role of all the individual residues in the G5 loop. Our study confirms that several of the residues in the G5 motif have an important role in the intrinsic affinity and release of GDP. In particular, a T151A mutant (third residue of the G5 loop) leads to a reduced nucleotide affinity and provokes a drastically accelerated dissociation of GDP.

Health insurance or subsidy has universal advantage for management of hospital malnutrition unrelated to GDP.

Science.gov (United States)

Klek, Stanislaw; Chourdakis, Michael; Abosaleh, Dima Abdulqudos; Amestoy, Alejandra; Baik, Hyun Wook; Baptista, Gertrudis; Barazzoni, Rocco; Fukushima, Ryoji; Hartono, Josef; Jayawardena, Ranil; Garcia, Rafael Jimenez; Krznaric, Zeljko; Nyulasi, Ibolya; Parallada, Gabriela; Francisco, Eliza Mei Perez; Panisic-Sekeljic, Marina; Perman, Mario; Prins, Arina; Del Rio Requejo, Isabel Martinez; Reddy, Ravinder; Singer, Pierre; Sioson, Marianna; Ukleja, Andrew; Vartanian, Carla; Fuentes, Nicolas Velasco; Waitzberg, Dan Linetzky; Zoungrana, Steve Leonce; Galas, Aleksander

2017-03-01

Protein-energy and micronutrient malnutrition are global public health problems which, when not prevented and severe, require medical management by clinicians with nutrition expertise, preferably as a collectively skilled team, especially when disease-related. This study aimed to investigate barriers and facilitators of clinical nutrition services (CNS), especially the use of oral, enteral (EN) and parenteral (PN) nutrition in institutional and home settings. An international survey was performed between January and December 2014 in twenty-six countries from all continents. Electronic questionnaires were distributed to 28 representatives of clinical nutrition (PEN) societies, 27 of whom responded. The questionnaire comprised questions regarding a country's economy, reimbursement for CNS, education about and the use of EN and PN. The prevalence of malnutrition was not related to gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita (p=0.186). EN and PN were used in all countries surveyed (100%), but to different extents. Reimbursement of neither EN nor PN use depended on GDP, but was associated with increased use of EN and PN in hospitals (p=0.035), although not evident for home or chronic care facilities. The size of GDP did not affect the use of EN (p=0.256), but it mattered for PN (p=0.019). A worldwide survey by nutrition support societies did not find a link between national economic performance and the implementation of medical nutrition services. Reimbursement for CNS, available through health insurance systems, is a factor in effective nutrition management.

The effect of carbon tax on carbon emission abatement and GDP: a case study

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiao; Leung, Yee; Xu, Yuan; Yung, Linda Chor Wing

2017-10-01

Carbon tax has been advocated as an effective economic instrument for the abatement of CO2 emission by various countries, including China, the world's biggest carbon emission country. However, carbon emission abatement cannot be done while ignoring the impact on economic growth. A delicate balance needs to be achieved between the two to find an appropriate pathway for sustainable development. This paper applies a multi-objective optimization approach to analyze the impact of levying carbon tax on the energy-intensive sectors of Guangdong province in China under the constraint of emission reduction target. This approach allows us to evaluate carbon emission minimization while maximizing GDP. For policy analysis, we construct five scenarios for evaluation and optimal choice. The results of the analysis show that a lower initial carbon tax rate is not necessarily better, and that a carbon tax is an effective means to reduce CO2 emissions while maintaining a certain level of GDP growth.

Assessment of the present and future offshore wind power potential: a case study in a target territory of the Baltic Sea near the Latvian coast.

Science.gov (United States)

Lizuma, Lita; Avotniece, Zanita; Rupainis, Sergejs; Teilans, Artis

2013-01-01

Offshore wind energy development promises to be a significant domestic renewable energy source in Latvia. The reliable prediction of present and future wind resources at offshore sites is crucial for planning and selecting the location for wind farms. The overall goal of this paper is the assessment of offshore wind power potential in a target territory of the Baltic Sea near the Latvian coast as well as the identification of a trend in the future wind energy potential for the study territory. The regional climate model CLM and High Resolution Limited Area Model (Hirlam) simulations were used to obtain the wind climatology data for the study area. The results indicated that offshore wind energy is promising for expanding the national electricity generation and will continue to be a stable resource for electricity generation in the region over the 21st century.

Crystal Structures of the Scaffolding Protein LGN Reveal the General Mechanism by Which GoLoco Binding Motifs Inhibit the Release of GDP from Gαi *

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Jia, Min; Li, Jianchao; Zhu, Jinwei; Wen, Wenyu; Zhang, Mingjie; Wang, Wenning

2012-01-01

GoLoco (GL) motif-containing proteins regulate G protein signaling by binding to Gα subunit and acting as guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitors. GLs of LGN are also known to bind the GDP form of Gαi/o during asymmetric cell division. Here, we show that the C-terminal GL domain of LGN binds four molecules of Gαi·GDP. The crystal structures of Gαi·GDP in complex with LGN GL3 and GL4, respectively, reveal distinct GL/Gαi interaction features when compared with the only high resolution structure known with GL/Gαi interaction between RGS14 and Gαi1. Only a few residues C-terminal to the conserved GL sequence are required for LGN GLs to bind to Gαi·GDP. A highly conserved “double Arg finger” sequence (RΨ(D/E)(D/E)QR) is responsible for LGN GL to bind to GDP bound to Gαi. Together with the sequence alignment, we suggest that the LGN GL/Gαi interaction represents a general binding mode between GL motifs and Gαi. We also show that LGN GLs are potent guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitors. PMID:22952234

Performance Analysis of Air-to-Water Heat Pump in Latvian Climate Conditions

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Kazjonovs, Janis; Sipkevics, Andrejs; Jakovics, Andris; Dancigs, Andris; Bajare, Diana; Dancigs, Leonards

2014-12-01

Strategy of the European Union in efficient energy usage demands to have a higher proportion of renewable energy in the energy market. Since heat pumps are considered to be one of the most efficient heating and cooling systems, they will play an important role in the energy consumption reduction in buildings aimed to meet the target of nearly zero energy buildings set out in the EU Directive 2010/31/EU. Unfortunately, the declared heat pump Coefficient of Performance (COP) corresponds to a certain outdoor temperature (+7 °C), therefore different climate conditions, building characteristics and settings result in different COP values during the year. The aim of this research is to investigate the Seasonal Performance factor (SPF) values of air-to-water heat pump which better characterize the effectiveness of heat pump in a longer selected period of time, especially during the winter season, in different types of residential buildings in Latvian climate conditions. Latvia has four pronounced seasons of near-equal length. Winter starts in mid-December and lasts until mid-March. Latvia is characterized by cold, maritime climate (duration of the average heating period being 203 days, the average outdoor air temperature during the heating period being 0.0 °C, the coldest five-day average temperature being -20.7 °C, the average annual air temperature being +6.2 °C, the daily average relative humidity being 79 %). The first part of this research consists of operational air-towater heat pump energy performance monitoring in different residential buildings during the winter season. The second part of the research takes place under natural conditions in an experimental construction stand which is located in an urban environment in Riga, Latvia. The inner area of this test stand, where air-to-water heat pump performance is analyzed, is 9 m2. The ceiling height is 3 m, all external wall constructions (U = 0.16 W/(m2K)) have ventilated facades. To calculate SPF, the

Exploring the oil price and real GDP nexus for a small island economy, the Fiji Islands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasad, Arti; Narayan, Paresh Kumar; Narayan, Jashwini

2007-01-01

The goal of this paper is to examine the relationship between real GDP and oil prices using time series data for the period 1970-2005. Our main finding is that an increase in oil has a positive, albeit inelastic, impact on real GDP, inconsistent with the bulk of the literature. We argue that this is not a surprising result for the Fiji Islands. Our central argument focuses on two aspects of the Fijian economy: (1) the fact that actual output in Fiji has been around 50 per cent less than potential output; thus, Fiji's actual output has not reached a threshold level at which oil prices can negatively impact output; and (2) a rise in oil prices filters through to value added, which in turn is reflected in a larger actual output

eIF2β is critical for eIF5-mediated GDP-dissociation inhibitor activity and translational control.

Science.gov (United States)

Jennings, Martin D; Kershaw, Christopher J; White, Christopher; Hoyle, Danielle; Richardson, Jonathan P; Costello, Joseph L; Donaldson, Ian J; Zhou, Yu; Pavitt, Graham D

2016-11-16

In protein synthesis translation factor eIF2 binds initiator tRNA to ribosomes and facilitates start codon selection. eIF2 GDP/GTP status is regulated by eIF5 (GAP and GDI functions) and eIF2B (GEF and GDF activities), while eIF2α phosphorylation in response to diverse signals is a major point of translational control. Here we characterize a growth suppressor mutation in eIF2β that prevents eIF5 GDI and alters cellular responses to reduced eIF2B activity, including control of GCN4 translation. By monitoring the binding of fluorescent nucleotides and initiator tRNA to purified eIF2 we show that the eIF2β mutation does not affect intrinsic eIF2 affinities for these ligands, neither does it interfere with eIF2 binding to 43S pre-initiation complex components. Instead we show that the eIF2β mutation prevents eIF5 GDI stabilizing nucleotide binding to eIF2, thereby altering the off-rate of GDP from eIF2•GDP/eIF5 complexes. This enables cells to grow with reduced eIF2B GEF activity but impairs activation of GCN4 targets in response to amino acid starvation. These findings provide support for the importance of eIF5 GDI activity in vivo and demonstrate that eIF2β acts in concert with eIF5 to prevent premature release of GDP from eIF2γ and thereby ensure tight control of protein synthesis initiation. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Shock compression of glow discharge polymer (GDP): density functional theory (DFT) simulations and experiments on Sandia's Z machine

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Cochrane, Kyle R.; Ao, T.; Lemke, R. W.; Hamel, S.; Schoff, M. E.; Blue, B. E.; Herrmann, M. C.; Mattsson, T. R.

2014-03-01

Glow discharge polymer (GDP) is used extensively as capsule/ablation material in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) capsules. Accurate knowledge of the equation of state (EOS) under shock and release is particularly important for high-fidelity design, analysis, and optimization of ICF experiments since the capsule material is subject to several converging shocks as well as release towards the cryogenic fuel. We performed Density Functional Theory (DFT) based quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations, to gain knowledge of the behavior of GDP - for example regarding the role of chemical dissociation during shock compression, we find that the dissociation regime along the Hugoniot extends from 50 GPa to 250 GPa. The shock pressures calculated from DFT are compared experimental data taken at Sandia's Z-machine. The GDP samples were grown in a planar geometry to improve the sample quality and maintained in a nitrogen atmosphere following manufacturing, thus allowing for a direct comparison to the DFT/QMD simulations. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's NNSA under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

Implementation of investment and working capital financing allocated by banks towards the added GDP, labors, and welfare in four regencies in Madura

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Didin Fatihudin

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the implementation of investment financing absorption and private bank sectors working capital to increase GDP, employment, and welfare of the four counties in Madura island (Bangkalan, Sampang, Pamekasan, Sumenep. This is the development of a previous study. This explanatory study is based on the model devel-opment concept or theory with Path Analysis through the data normality, multicolli-nearity, and heteroscedasticity test as well as causality. The data were taken from Bank Indonesia, Investment Coordinating Board, and the Central Bureau of Statistics. This is a time series data of 2002 to 2006. It shows that the financing of investment to GDP has significant and negative effect, financing of investment to labor absorption has signifi-cant and negative effect; financing working capital to GDP has significant and positive effect; financing of working capital to labor absorption has significant and negative effect; GDP in the labor market has no significant nor positive effect; GDP for the welfare effect, it has positive but not significant effect; employment in the welfare has a significant and positive effect. The direct effect or indirect implementation of financing from banks to finance investments and working capital to the entrepreneurs has increasingly a significant and positive effect. Absorption has dominated world finance working capital financing, following the least consumption and investment. Thus, it was natural that the implementa-tion of the investment credit and working capital has a significant and positive effect on economic growth, absorption of labor, and welfare in all four counties in Madura.

Regional GDP Convergence in the European Regions in the light of the Economic Recession

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Nils Karl; Cornett, Andreas P.

2014-01-01

This article investigates the implications of the slowdown of the European economies since 2007 on the process of GDP convergence at the regional NUTS 2 level. We use a nominal data set on GPD per capita divided into the periods 1995-2006 and 2007-2010. Using the notion of β-convergence we find...

Vehicle Ownership Analysis Based on GDP per Capita in China: 1963–2050

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Tian Wu

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the Gompertz function of per capita GDP and vehicle stock to forecast the vehicle ownership of China through to 2050 against a background of increasing energy use and CO2 emissions associated with the potential demands of on-road vehicles. We forecast the level of vehicle stock in China based on the extant patterns of vehicle development in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD countries, Europe, the United States and Japan. The results show that the OECD pattern and European pattern are more suitable for describing China’s vehicle stock growth when compared with Japanese and U.S. patterns. The study finds that China’s vehicle stock has developed as an S-shaped curve. During the forecast period, the inflection point of the increasing curve appears around the year 2030, with the annual growth of vehicle ownership increasing from 6.13% to 9.50% in the prior period prior and subsequently dropping to 0.45% in 2050. Based on the sensitivity analysis and robustness check, the impact of different Gompertz curve parameters and GDP growth rates on vehicle stock projection are analyzed.

Alcohol-Attributable Fraction in Liver Disease: Does GDP Per Capita Matter?

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Kröner, Paul T; Mankal, Pavan Kumar; Dalapathi, Vijay; Shroff, Kavin; Abed, Jean; Kotler, Donald P

2015-01-01

The alcohol-attributable fraction (AAF) quantifies alcohol's disease burden. Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is influenced by alcohol consumption per capita, duration, gender, ethnicity, and other comorbidities. In this study, we investigated the association between AAF/alcohol-related liver mortality and alcohol consumption per capita, while stratifying to per-capita gross domestic product (GDP). Data obtained from the World Health Organization and World Bank for both genders on AAF on liver disease, per-capita alcohol consumption (L/y), and per-capita GDP (USD/y) were used to conduct a cross-sectional study. Countries were classified as "high-income" and "very low income" if their respective per-capita GDP was greater than $30,000 or less than $1,000. Differences in total alcohol consumption per capita and AAF were calculated using a 2-sample t test. Scatterplots were generated to supplement the Pearson correlation coefficients, and F test was conducted to assess for differences in variance of ALD between high-income and very low income countries. Twenty-six and 27 countries met the criteria for high-income and very low income countries, respectively. Alcohol consumption per capita was higher in high-income countries. AAF and alcohol consumption per capita for both genders in high-income and very low income countries had a positive correlation. The F test yielded an F value of 1.44 with P = .357. No statistically significant correlation was found among alcohol types and AAF. Significantly higher mortality from ALD was found in very low income countries relative to high-income countries. Previous studies had noted a decreased AAF in low-income countries as compared to higher-income countries. However, the non-statistically significant difference between AAF variances of low-income and high-income countries was found by this study. A possible explanation is that both high-income and low-income populations will consume sufficient amount of alcohol, irrespective of its

Biochemical and Functional Studies on the Burkholderia cepacia Complex bceN Gene, Encoding a GDP-D-Mannose 4,6-Dehydratase

Science.gov (United States)

Pinheiro, Pedro F.; Leitão, Jorge H.

2013-01-01

This work reports the biochemical and functional analysis of the Burkholderia cenocepacia J2315 bceN gene, encoding a protein with GDP-D-mannose 4,6-dehydratase enzyme activity (E.C.4.2.1.47). Data presented indicate that the protein is active when in the tetrameric form, catalyzing the conversion of GDP-D-mannose into GDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-D-mannose. This sugar nucleotide is the intermediary necessary for the biosynthesis of GDP-D-rhamnose, one of the sugar residues of cepacian, the major exopolysaccharide produced by environmental and human, animal and plant pathogenic isolates of the Burkholderia cepacia complex species. Vmax and Km values of 1.5±0.2 µmol.min−1.mg−1 and 1024±123 µM, respectively, were obtained from the kinetic characterization of the B. cenocepacia J2315 BceN protein by NMR spectroscopy, at 25°C and in the presence of 1 mol MgCl2 per mol of protein. The enzyme activity was strongly inhibited by the substrate, with an estimated Ki of 2913±350 µM. The lack of a functional bceN gene in a mutant derived from B. cepacia IST408 slightly reduced cepacian production. However, in the B. multivorans ATCC17616 with bceN as the single gene in its genome with predicted GMD activity, a bceN mutant did not produce cepacian, indicating that this gene product is required for cepacian biosynthesis. PMID:23460819

Biochemical and functional studies on the Burkholderia cepacia complex bceN gene, encoding a GDP-D-mannose 4,6-dehydratase.

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Sílvia A Sousa

Full Text Available This work reports the biochemical and functional analysis of the Burkholderia cenocepacia J2315 bceN gene, encoding a protein with GDP-D-mannose 4,6-dehydratase enzyme activity (E.C.4.2.1.47. Data presented indicate that the protein is active when in the tetrameric form, catalyzing the conversion of GDP-D-mannose into GDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-D-mannose. This sugar nucleotide is the intermediary necessary for the biosynthesis of GDP-D-rhamnose, one of the sugar residues of cepacian, the major exopolysaccharide produced by environmental and human, animal and plant pathogenic isolates of the Burkholderia cepacia complex species. Vmax and Km values of 1.5±0.2 µmol.min(-1.mg(-1 and 1024±123 µM, respectively, were obtained from the kinetic characterization of the B. cenocepacia J2315 BceN protein by NMR spectroscopy, at 25°C and in the presence of 1 mol MgCl2 per mol of protein. The enzyme activity was strongly inhibited by the substrate, with an estimated Ki of 2913±350 µM. The lack of a functional bceN gene in a mutant derived from B. cepacia IST408 slightly reduced cepacian production. However, in the B. multivorans ATCC17616 with bceN as the single gene in its genome with predicted GMD activity, a bceN mutant did not produce cepacian, indicating that this gene product is required for cepacian biosynthesis.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRIMARY ENERGY CONSUMPTION, PRODUCTION AND GROSS DOMESTIC INCOME (GDP IN TURKEY

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ÖZGE KORKMAZ

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The ability to reach a sustainable economic growth of countries initially depends on the usage of energy resources efficiently. But an unequal  distribution of energy resources in the world increases the dependency on energy in countries which have insufficient energy resources such as Turkey. Therefore, it has a great importance to analyze the share of imported energy resources for economic growth. The correlation between energy consumption and changes in gross domestic product, increases the importance of energy policies while determining  the economical policies of countries. In this study, the causality relationship between energy consumption, energy generation  and GDP in Turkey are examined using annual data for the period 1960-2009. Johansen Cointegration Causality Test and Vector Error Correction Mechanism (VECM is used for this study. Empirical results for the period under discussion there is a relationship between the variables and error correction mechanism based on long-term Granger causality test. It showed that  bileteral causality  with the energy consumption to GDP.

Expression and crystallographic studies of the Arabidopsis thaliana GDP-D-mannose pyrophosphorylase VTC1.

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Zhao, Shun; Liu, Lin

2016-10-01

GDP-D-mannose pyrophosphorylase catalyzes the production of GDP-D-mannose, an intermediate product in the plant ascorbic acid (AsA) biosynthetic pathway. This enzyme is a key regulatory target in AsA biosynthesis and is encoded by VITAMIN C DEFECTIVE 1 (VTC1) in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome. Here, recombinant VTC1 was expressed, purified and crystallized. Diffraction data were obtained from VTC1 crystals grown in the absence and presence of substrate using X-rays. The ligand-free VTC1 crystal diffracted X-rays to 3.3 Å resolution and belonged to space group R32, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 183.6, c = 368.5 Å, α = β = 90, γ = 120°; the crystal of VTC1 in the presence of substrate diffracted X-rays to 1.75 Å resolution and belonged to space group P2 1 , with unit-cell parameters a = 70.8, b = 83.9, c = 74.5 Å, α = γ = 90.0, β = 114.9°.

GDP and environment pressure: The role of energy in Latin America and the Caribbean

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zilio, Mariana; Recalde, Marina

2011-01-01

This paper analyzes the relationship between economic growth and energy consumption for a sample of 21 Latin American and Caribbean countries during the 1970–2007 period. The investigation is made on the bases of the Energy Environmental Kuznets Curve (EEKC) hypothesis, using a panel data analysis. Energy consumption at aggregate level is used as an indicator of human environmental pressure and GDP per capita as an indicator of economic activity. Based in a cointegration approach, our results does not support the existence of a stable long run relationship between the series, rejecting the validity of such hypothesis for the selected sample over the 1970–2007 period. - Highlights: ► We analyze the relationship between energy consumption and per capita GDP. ► The main objective is to study the environmental pressure of energy consumption. ► We use the theoretical framework of EKC hypothesis. ► We found a U-shaped pattern instead of an inverted one. ► Socio-economic and institutional factors of the sample could explain our results.

A step function model to evaluate the real monetary value of man-sievert with real GDP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Na, Seong H.; Kim, Sun G.

2009-01-01

For use in a cost-benefit analysis to establish optimum levels of radiation protection in Korea under the ALARA principle, we introduce a discrete step function model to evaluate man-sievert monetary value in the real economic value. The model formula, which is unique and country-specific, is composed of real GDP, the nominal risk coefficient for cancer and hereditary effects, the aversion factor against radiation exposure, and average life expectancy. Unlike previous researches on alpha-value assessment, we show different alpha values in the real term, differentiated with respect to the range of individual doses, which would be more realistic and informative for application to the radiation protection practices. GDP deflators of economy can reflect the society's situations. Finally, we suggest that the Korean model can be generalized simply to other countries without normalizing any country-specific factors.

A step function model to evaluate the real monetary value of man-sievert with real GDP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Na, Seong H. [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, 19 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-338 (Korea, Republic of)], E-mail: shna@kins.re.kr; Kim, Sun G. [School of Business, Daejeon University, Yong Woon-dong, Dong-gu, Daejeon 300-716 (Korea, Republic of)], E-mail: sunkim@dju.ac.kr

2009-07-15

For use in a cost-benefit analysis to establish optimum levels of radiation protection in Korea under the ALARA principle, we introduce a discrete step function model to evaluate man-sievert monetary value in the real economic value. The model formula, which is unique and country-specific, is composed of real GDP, the nominal risk coefficient for cancer and hereditary effects, the aversion factor against radiation exposure, and average life expectancy. Unlike previous researches on alpha-value assessment, we show different alpha values in the real term, differentiated with respect to the range of individual doses, which would be more realistic and informative for application to the radiation protection practices. GDP deflators of economy can reflect the society's situations. Finally, we suggest that the Korean model can be generalized simply to other countries without normalizing any country-specific factors.

A step function model to evaluate the real monetary value of man-sievert with real GDP.

Science.gov (United States)

Na, Seong H; Kim, Sun G

2009-01-01

For use in a cost-benefit analysis to establish optimum levels of radiation protection in Korea under the ALARA principle, we introduce a discrete step function model to evaluate man-sievert monetary value in the real economic value. The model formula, which is unique and country-specific, is composed of real GDP, the nominal risk coefficient for cancer and hereditary effects, the aversion factor against radiation exposure, and average life expectancy. Unlike previous researches on alpha-value assessment, we show different alpha values in the real term, differentiated with respect to the range of individual doses, which would be more realistic and informative for application to the radiation protection practices. GDP deflators of economy can reflect the society's situations. Finally, we suggest that the Korean model can be generalized simply to other countries without normalizing any country-specific factors.

Concurrent IMRT and weekly cisplatin followed by GDP chemotherapy in newly diagnosed, stage IE to IIE, nasal, extranodal NK/T-Cell lymphoma.

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Ke, Q-H; Zhou, S-Q; Du, W; Liang, G; Lei, Y; Luo, F

2014-12-12

On the basis of the benefits of frontline radiation in early-stage, extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL), we conducted the trial of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) followed by three cycles of gemcitabine, dexamethasone and cisplatin (GDP). Thirty-two patients with newly diagnosed, stage IE to IIE, nasal ENKTL received CCRT (that is, all patients received intensity-modulated radiotherapy 56 Gy and cisplatin 30 mg/m(2) weekly, 3-5 weeks). Three cycles of GDP (gemcitabine 1000 mg/m(2) intravenously (i.v.) on days 1 and 8, dexamethasone 40 mg orally on days 1-4 and cisplatin 75 mg/m(2) i.v. on day 1 (GDP), every 21 days as an outpatient were scheduled after CCRT. All patients completed CCRT, which resulted in 100% response that included 24 complete responses (CRs) and eight partial responses. The CR rate after CCRT was 75.0% (that is, 24 of 32 responses). Twenty-eight of the 32 patients completed the planned three cycles of GDP, whereas four patients did not because they withdrew (n = 1) or because they had an infection (n = 3). The overall response rate and the CR rate were 90.6% (that is, 29 of 32 responses) and 84.4% (that is, 27 of 32 responses), respectively. Only two patient experienced grade 3 toxicity during CCRT (nausea), whereas 13 of the 30 patients experienced grade 4 neutropenia. The estimated 3-year overall survival and progression-free rates were 87.50% and 84.38%, respectively. In conclusion, CCRT followed by GDP chemotherapy can be a feasible and effective treatment strategy for stage IE to IIE nasal ENKTL.

Pragmatic Aspects of the Translation of Slang and Four-Letter Words.

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Zauberga, Ieva

1994-01-01

Offers a historical view of the Latvian language to show ways in which different political realities have affected Latvian vocabulary; for instance, in terms of loan words, and ways in which Latvian perceptions of loans shed light on cross-cultural aspects of translation. Discusses strategies by which Latvian translators have tried to solve these…

A check of Maddison’s gdp data. Benford’s Law with some range problems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Paldam, Martin

The paper studies if the Maddison set of data for GDP per capita follows a statistical regu-larity, known as Benford’s Law. It is a simple logarithmic relation on the frequency of the first digit in a data set. These data ought to follow the law as they are Maddison’s calibration of data compiled...

The impact of HIV prevalence, conflict, corruption, and GDP/capita on treatment cascades: data from 137 countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Levi, Jacob; Pozniak, Anton; Heath, Katherine; Hill, Andrew

2018-04-01

In 2014, UNAIDS and partners set the 90-90-90 targets for the HIV treatment cascade. Multiple social, political and structural factors might influence progress towards these targets. We assessed how close countries and regions are to reaching these targets, and compared cascade outcomes with HIV prevalence, gross domestic product (GDP)/capita, conflict and corruption. Country-level HIV cascade data on diagnosis, ART coverage and viral suppression, from 2010 to 2016 were extracted from national reports, published papers and the www.AIDSinfoOnline database, and analysed. Weighted least-squares regression was used to assess predictors of cascade achievement: region, HIV prevalence, GDP/capita, the 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which is an international ranking system, and the 2016 Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks all countries based on three main categories: societal safety, militarisation and conflict. Data were available for diagnosis for 84 countries, ART coverage for 137 countries, and viral suppression for 94 countries. Regions with the lowest ART coverage were South-east Asia and Pacific (36%), Eastern Europe and Central Asia (17%), and Middle East and North Africa (13%). Lower HIV prevalence was associated with poorer cascade results. Countries with higher GDP/capita achieved higher ART coverage ( P corruption had lower ART coverage ( P 2.5 all had ART coverage of corruption and conflict levels.

An Empirical Analysis of Differences in GDP per Capita and the Role of Human Capital

Science.gov (United States)

Sfakianakis, George; Magoutas, Anastasios I.; Georgopoulos, Demosthenes

2010-01-01

Using a generalized production function approach and insights from empirical research on the determinants of growth, this paper assesses the relative importance of specific factors in explaining differences in the levels of per capita GDP. Emphasis is placed on education, physical capital accumulation, the share of the public sector in economic…

The Impact of Metal Age® Training Programme on the Well-Being of Latvian Office Workers

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Sprūdža Dagmāra

2016-10-01

Full Text Available There are many factors that affect the well-being and health of employees and the productivity of organisations. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the Metal Age training programme (MA® on the well-being of office workers, including investigation of work ability, the stress-causing factors and role of leadership. The study was carried out using questions from four international questionnaires about stress, leadership, and work ability. The intervention group had a training course between the surveys using the ME® method. Several employee stress-causing factors were identified: bad relationship with their workmates was mentioned by 94% of workers; competitive and strenuous atmosphere — by more than 80%; psychological violence or bullying at the workplace by more than 80%, and more than 75% of employee’s could not relax after work. Wellness and microclimate in the workplaces were on a relatively high level: the average rating of seven Kiva questions was 7.5. The respondent attitude after ME® did not change significantly. Latvian office workers displayed moderate and good work ability (Work Ability Index, WAI 34.5–38.6. The best work ability was shown in the age group from 20 to 49 (WAI 34.8–39.4; work ability decreased with age. The best correlation was observed between Work Ability Index and “get into situations, that invoke negative feelings” (r = 0.26 and “carrying out ongoing tasks because of other intervening or more urgent matters” (r = −0.24. After ME® the reaction to some stress-causing factors was improved.

In silico analysis of the fucosylation-associated genome of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni: cloning and characterization of the enzymes involved in GDP-L-fucose synthesis and Golgi import.

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, Nathan A; Anderson, Tavis K; Wu, Xiao-Jun; Yoshino, Timothy P

2013-07-09

Carbohydrate structures of surface-expressed and secreted/excreted glycoconjugates of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni are key determinants that mediate host-parasite interactions in both snail and mammalian hosts. Fucose is a major constituent of these immunologically important glycans, and recent studies have sought to characterize fucosylation-associated enzymes, including the Golgi-localized fucosyltransferases that catalyze the transfer of L-fucose from a GDP-L-fucose donor to an oligosaccharide acceptor. Importantly, GDP-L-fucose is the only nucleotide-sugar donor used by fucosyltransferases and its availability represents a bottleneck in fucosyl-glycotope expression. A homology-based genome-wide bioinformatics approach was used to identify and molecularly characterize the enzymes that contribute to GDP-L-fucose synthesis and Golgi import in S. mansoni. Putative functions were further investigated through molecular phylogenetic and immunocytochemical analyses. We identified homologs of GDP-D-mannose-4,6-dehydratase (GMD) and GDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-D-mannose-3,5-epimerase-4-reductase (GMER), which constitute a de novo pathway for GDP-L-fucose synthesis, in addition to a GDP-L-fucose transporter (GFT) that putatively imports cytosolic GDP-L-fucose into the Golgi. In silico primary sequence analyses identified characteristic Rossman loop and short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase motifs in GMD and GMER as well as 10 transmembrane domains in GFT. All genes are alternatively spliced, generating variants of unknown function. Observed quantitative differences in steady-state transcript levels between miracidia and primary sporocysts may contribute to differential glycotope expression in early larval development. Additionally, analyses of protein expression suggest the occurrence of cytosolic GMD and GMER in the ciliated epidermal plates and tegument of miracidia and primary sporocysts, respectively, which is consistent with previous localization of highly

The Drosophila Neurally Altered Carbohydrate Mutant Has a Defective Golgi GDP-fucose Transporter*

Science.gov (United States)

Geisler, Christoph; Kotu, Varshika; Sharrow, Mary; Rendić, Dubravko; Pöltl, Gerald; Tiemeyer, Michael; Wilson, Iain B. H.; Jarvis, Donald L.

2012-01-01

Studying genetic disorders in model organisms can provide insights into heritable human diseases. The Drosophila neurally altered carbohydrate (nac) mutant is deficient for neural expression of the HRP epitope, which consists of N-glycans with core α1,3-linked fucose residues. Here, we show that a conserved serine residue in the Golgi GDP-fucose transporter (GFR) is substituted by leucine in nac1 flies, which abolishes GDP-fucose transport in vivo and in vitro. This loss of function is due to a biochemical defect, not to destabilization or mistargeting of the mutant GFR protein. Mass spectrometry and HPLC analysis showed that nac1 mutants lack not only core α1,3-linked, but also core α1,6-linked fucose residues on their N-glycans. Thus, the nac1 Gfr mutation produces a previously unrecognized general defect in N-glycan core fucosylation. Transgenic expression of a wild-type Gfr gene restored the HRP epitope in neural tissues, directly demonstrating that the Gfr mutation is solely responsible for the neural HRP epitope deficiency in the nac1 mutant. These results validate the Drosophila nac1 mutant as a model for the human congenital disorder of glycosylation, CDG-IIc (also known as LAD-II), which is also the result of a GFR deficiency. PMID:22745127

KONJAC1 and 2 Are Key Factors for GDP-Mannose Generation and Affect l-Ascorbic Acid and Glucomannan Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sawake, Shota [Saitama Univ. (Japan); Tajima, Noriaki [Saitama Univ. (Japan); Mortimer, Jenny C. [Univ. of Cambridge (United Kingdom); RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Yokohama (Japan); Joint BioEnergy Inst. (JBEI), Emeryville, CA (United States); Lao, Jeemeng [Joint BioEnergy Inst. (JBEI), Emeryville, CA (United States); Ishikawa, Toshiki [Saitama Univ. (Japan); Yu, Xiaolan [Univ. of Cambridge (United Kingdom); Yamanashi, Yukiko [Saitama Univ. (Japan); Yoshimi, Yoshihisa [Saitama Univ. (Japan); Kawai-Yamada, Maki [Saitama Univ. (Japan); Dupree, Paul [Saitama Univ. (Japan); Tsumuraya, Yoichi [Saitama Univ. (Japan); Kotake, Toshihisa [Saitama Univ. (Japan); Univ. of Cambridge (United Kingdom)

2015-12-01

Humans are unable to synthesize L-ascorbic acid (AsA), yet it is required as a cofactor in many critical biochemical reactions. The majority of human dietary AsA is obtained from plants. In Arabidopsis thaliana, a GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GMPP), VITAMIN C DEFECTIVE1 (VTC1), catalyzes a rate-limiting step in AsA synthesis: the formation of GDP-Man. In this study, we identified two nucleotide sugar pyrophosphorylase-like proteins, KONJAC1 (KJC1) and KJC2, which stimulate the activity of VTC1. The kjc1kjc2 double mutant exhibited severe dwarfism, indicating that KJC proteins are important for growth and development. The kjc1 mutation reduced GMPP activity to 10% of wild-type levels, leading to a 60% reduction in AsA levels. On the contrary, overexpression of KJC1 significantly increased GMPP activity. The kjc1 and kjc1kjc2 mutants also exhibited significantly reduced levels of glucomannan, which is also synthesized from GDP-Man. Recombinant KJC1 and KJC2 enhanced the GMPP activity of recombinant VTC1 in vitro, while KJCs did not show GMPP activity. Yeast two-hybrid assays suggested that the stimulation of GMPP activity occurs via interaction of KJCs with VTC1. These results suggest that KJCs are key factors for the generation of GDP-Man and affect AsA level and glucomannan accumulation through the stimulation of VTC1 GMPP activity.

KONJAC1 and 2 Are Key Factors for GDP-Mannose Generation and Affect l-Ascorbic Acid and Glucomannan Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sawake, Shota; Tajima, Noriaki; Mortimer, Jenny C; Lao, Jeemeng; Ishikawa, Toshiki; Yu, Xiaolan; Yamanashi, Yukiko; Yoshimi, Yoshihisa; Kawai-Yamada, Maki; Dupree, Paul; Tsumuraya, Yoichi; Kotake, Toshihisa

2015-12-01

Humans are unable to synthesize l-ascorbic acid (AsA), yet it is required as a cofactor in many critical biochemical reactions. The majority of human dietary AsA is obtained from plants. In Arabidopsis thaliana, a GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GMPP), VITAMIN C DEFECTIVE1 (VTC1), catalyzes a rate-limiting step in AsA synthesis: the formation of GDP-Man. In this study, we identified two nucleotide sugar pyrophosphorylase-like proteins, KONJAC1 (KJC1) and KJC2, which stimulate the activity of VTC1. The kjc1kjc2 double mutant exhibited severe dwarfism, indicating that KJC proteins are important for growth and development. The kjc1 mutation reduced GMPP activity to 10% of wild-type levels, leading to a 60% reduction in AsA levels. On the contrary, overexpression of KJC1 significantly increased GMPP activity. The kjc1 and kjc1kjc2 mutants also exhibited significantly reduced levels of glucomannan, which is also synthesized from GDP-Man. Recombinant KJC1 and KJC2 enhanced the GMPP activity of recombinant VTC1 in vitro, while KJCs did not show GMPP activity. Yeast two-hybrid assays suggested that the stimulation of GMPP activity occurs via interaction of KJCs with VTC1. These results suggest that KJCs are key factors for the generation of GDP-Man and affect AsA level and glucomannan accumulation through the stimulation of VTC1 GMPP activity. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.

Study of correlation between the growth of micro and small business, the evolution of brazilian GDP and unemployment

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Erica Vieira Silva

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This paper aim to study the correlation between the growth of micro and small businesses and the evolution of the national GDP. In order to develop this study, the period from 2003 to 2013 of both variables was considered. Thus, GDP and Unemployment Average Rate data provided by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE was collected, as well as Micro and Small Businesses information provided by SEBRAE. From that point, points of analysis relevant to the study were collected and the statistical method of linear correlation was applied, in order to verify the existence or absence of a correlation between the study variables. The results indicate a linear correlation between the objects of study in the study period.

The Arf-GDP-regulated recruitment of GBF1 to Golgi membranes requires domains HDS1 and HDS2 and a Golgi-localized protein receptor.

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Quilty, Douglas; Chan, Calvin J; Yurkiw, Katherine; Bain, Alexandra; Babolmorad, Ghazal; Melançon, Paul

2018-04-19

We previously proposed a novel mechanism by which the enzyme Golgi-specific Brefeldin A resistance factor 1 (GBF1) is recruited to the membranes of the cis -Golgi, based on in vivo experiments. Here, we extended our in vivo analysis on the production of regulatory Arf-GDP and observed that ArfGAP2 and ArfGAP3 do not play a role in GBF1 recruitment. We confirm that Arf-GDP localization is critical, as a TGN-localized Arf-GDP mutant protein fails to promote GBF1 recruitment. We also reported the establishment of an in vitro GBF1 recruitment assay that supports the regulation of GBF1 recruitment by Arf-GDP. This in vitro assay yielded further evidence for the requirement of a Golgi-localized protein because heat denaturation or protease treatment of Golgi membranes abrogated GBF1 recruitment. Finally, combined in vivo and in vitro measurements indicated that the recruitment to Golgi membranes via a putative receptor requires only the HDS1 and HDS2 domains in the C-terminal half of GBF1. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

The Role of SMEs in Assessing the Contribution of Entrepreneurship to GDP in the Romanian Business Environment

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Dan Armeanu

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Given the negative effects of the economic crisis on the Romanian economy, entrepreneurship represents one of the main pillars of economic recovery and the authorities need to act in support of private entrepreneurship initiative. Even though entrepreneurship does not equate to the small and medium-sized enterprises, there is strong support in literature regarding the importance of SMEs in national economies due to the authorities` potential of intervention and their contribution to gross value added. The fluctuating evolution of the Romanian business environment has led to a high volatility of its contribution to GDP, which is especially true in the case of SMEs due to their lack of technology and capital and difficult access to financing, as well as limited know-how compared to the large companies that control the Romanian market. Successful entrepreneurial initiative leads to sustainable businesses and ensures a smooth transition from business ideas to the creation of value added, thus supporting economic growth and the narrowing of macroeconomic gaps which have been generated during the economic recession. As a distinctive and dynamic component of Romanian entrepreneurship, the SME segment has a significant contribution to GDP. This study aims at assessing the contribution of entrepreneurship, through its SME segment, to Romania`s GDP in the main economic sectors and, at the same time, the estimation of output gap at sectoral level, thus filling a gap in entrepreneurship-related domestic literature.

Classification of Global Land Development Phases by Forest and GDP Changes for Appropriate Land Management in the Mid-Latitude

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Cholho Song

2017-08-01

Full Text Available To implement appropriate land management strategies, it is essential to identify past and current land cover and land use conditions. In addition, an assessment of land development phases (LDPs in a human-dominated landscape coupled with an analysis of the water-food-ecosystem (WFE nexus can deepen our understanding of sustainable land management. In this study, we proposed the concept of land development phases (LDPs by forest and GDP changes using previously-applied theoretical and empirical approaches. The positive relationship between GDP growth and forest stock changes was used to analyze the timing of forest stock changes as five-year averages, which were aggregated over 20 years to classify LDPs. In addition, forest area changes compared with GDP and GDP per capita changes were analyzed to identify LDPs. Based on two conceptual approaches, we suggested global land into three LDPs: degradation, restoration and sustainability. Using this approach, most of Europe, North America and northeast Asia were classified as sustainability phases, while Africa and Central Asia in the Mid-Latitude region appeared to have degradation or restoration phases. The LDPs described could be improved with further incorporation of solid data analysis and clear standards, but even at this stage, these LDP classifications suggest points for implementing appropriate land management. In addition, indices from comparative analysis of the LDPs with the WFE nexus can be connected with socio-economic global indices, such as the Global Hunger Index, the Food Production Index and the Climate Change Performance Index. The LDPs have the potential to facilitate appropriate land management strategies through integrating WFE nexus and ecosystem services; we propose future research that uses this integration for the Mid-Latitude region and worldwide.

One recommendation of nuclear power export. GDP model application to the countries which expressed nuclear power introduction and consideration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iida, Tekehiko

2010-01-01

South Korea has been excited in nuclear business after the success in the contract to build nuclear power plants in UAE. Since more than 60 countries expressed nuclear power introduction and new countries were on the rise with exporting reactor technology accumulated, new era over nuclear renaissance seems to begin. This article at first classified countries, which expressed nuclear power introduction, with an economic level of GDP per capita. Then each classified country's requirements of nuclear power introduction were taken into consideration such as economic development, consumption pattern and technology attitude. As a result recommendation of nuclear power export was proposed. Different approach to each country targeted was suggested as shown in 'nuclear power GDP model'. (T. Tanaka)

CO2, GDP and RET: An aggregate economic equilibrium analysis for Turkey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumbaroglu, Guerkan; Karali, Nihan; Arikan, Yildiz

2008-01-01

There is a worldwide interest in renewable electricity technologies (RETs) due to growing concerns about global warming and climate change. As an EU candidate country whose energy demand increases exponentially, Turkey inevitably shares this common interest on RET. This study, using an aggregate economic equilibrium model, explores the economic costs of different policy measures to mitigate CO 2 emissions in Turkey. The model combines energy demands, capital requirements and labor inputs at a constant elasticity of substitution under an economy-wide nested production function. Growing energy demand, triggered by economic growth, is met by increased supply and initiates new capacity additions. Investment into RET is encouraged via the incorporation of (a) endogenous technological learning through which the RET cost declines as a function of cumulative capacity, and (b) a willingness to pay (WTP) function which imposes the WTP of consumers as a lower bound on RET installation. The WTP equation is obtained as a function of consumer income categories, based on data gathered from a pilot survey in which the contingent valuation methodology was employed. The impacts of various emission reduction scenarios on GDP growth and RET diffusion are explored. As expected, RET penetration is accelerated under faster technological learning and higher WTP conditions. It is found that stabilizing CO 2 emissions to year 2005 levels causes economic losses amounting to 17% and 23% of GDP in the years 2020 and 2030, respectively

Dažas problēmas latviešu literārās valodas izveides procesā

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Jānis Rozenbergs

2011-12-01

Full Text Available SOME PROBLEMS OF THE FORMATION PROCESS OF THE LATVIAN LITERARY LANGUAGESummary0. Literary language is the most complete variety of language, manifesting its functions in the best way possible and unifying the nation, as well as representing national mentality among other nations and their languages.0.1. When speaking about the Latvian literary language and its formation, it seems useful to acknowledge that the literary language is (1 the language of the entire nation, (2 is being consciously cultivated and (3 has written form.0.2. When dealing with the Latvian literary language formation processes, one should take into consideration (a the specific external (sociopolitical conditions, (b the sources of the literary language, (c aspects of language development and its research.1. Development of the Latvian language has been affected by external sociopolitical factors and factors of migration of representatives of various cultural layers; these factors have both stimulated and hampered the overall formation of the language both in space and time.2. Research of the Latvian literary language is complicated, because the most reliable proofs of this process are written texts, which in Latvian appeared only in the 16th century. Therefore both folk-lore and the spoken language can be used as sources.2.1. From the 16th to the 19th century written texts were mainly produced by German clergymen who in the beginning (in the 16th century had a poor knowledge of Latvian. Therefore these texts must be properly handled by differentiating the sociopolitical and philological activities of the Germans. Beginning with the 17th century a normative approach has been consciously applied to the language and thus a common variety of the language is being created by maximally keeping aloof of various patois forms.2.2. The source of analysis of the literary language and the process of its formation is the abundant Latvian folk-lore and especially the folk-songs (dainas

Testing for causality between the foreign direct investment, current account deficit, GDP and total credit: Evidence from G7

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Akbas Yusuf Ekrem

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, countries were analyzed between 1990 and 2011 in order to determine whether a causal relationship exists among current account deficit, GDP, foreign direct investment, and total credits of G7. Analysis took into account the cross-sectional dependence and was applied to test the causality among the variables form the panel. Firstly, panel unit root tests were used for determining stationary of variables. As a result of the panel unit root tests, it was found that GDP and foreign direct investment have a stationary structure and that total credits and current account deficit contain unit root. In order to see whether there is a long-term relationship among the variables or not, the panel co-integration test was used. As a result of the test, it was concluded that there is a co-integration relationship among the series. The possibility of a causal relationship was analyzed among the variables using the causality test developed by Elena Ivona Dumitrescu and Christophe Hurlin (2012. Results of the analysis showed a unidirectional causal relationship from current account deficit and foreign direct investment to GDP. Bidirectional causality was found between current account deficit and total credits. Finally, a unidirectional relationship was found from foreign direct investment to current account deficit and total credits.

The effect of private investment, exports, imports, inflation and GDP on per capita premium: Evidence from members of OPEC countries

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Reza Abedini

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In this study, we examine the relationship between GDP, export, import, private sector investment and inflation on insurance per capita of OPEC countries. Insurance is a non-banking institution that by making sure and secure, can make and develop manufacturing and service rendering easier. Insurance companies can make financial steady and reduce stress. So, it plays essential role in economy. For this aim, data over the period 2003-2011 is collected. We use regression and SPSS software for analysis. Results for 80 year – country show that there was a positive and significant correlation between GDP, export, import, inflation and insurance per capita, which shows whenever productivity increases, insurance increases too. Results also show that there was a positive relationship between import and insurance per capita. In addition, results show that there was a positive and significant relationship between inflation and dependent variable. However, there was no significant relationship between exports and insurance per capita. The results show that there was no significant relationship between GDP and insurance per capita and finally, there was a non-significant and negative relationship between private sector investment and insurance per capita.

Disruption of the GDP-mannose synthesis pathway in Streptomyces coelicolor results in antibiotic hyper-susceptible phenotypes.

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Howlett, Robert; Anttonen, Katri; Read, Nicholas; Smith, Margaret C M

2018-04-01

Actinomycete bacteria use polyprenol phosphate mannose as a lipid linked sugar donor for extra-cytoplasmic glycosyl transferases that transfer mannose to cell envelope polymers, including glycoproteins and glycolipids. We showed recently that strains of Streptomyces coelicolor with mutations in the gene ppm1 encoding polyprenol phosphate mannose synthase were both resistant to phage φC31 and have greatly increased susceptibility to antibiotics that mostly act on cell wall biogenesis. Here we show that mutations in the genes encoding enzymes that act upstream of Ppm1 in the polyprenol phosphate mannose synthesis pathway can also confer phage resistance and antibiotic hyper-susceptibility. GDP-mannose is a substrate for Ppm1 and is synthesised by GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GMP; ManC) which uses GTP and mannose-1-phosphate as substrates. Phosphomannomutase (PMM; ManB) converts mannose-6-phosphate to mannose-1-phosphate. S. coelicolor strains with knocked down GMP activity or with a mutation in sco3028 encoding PMM acquire phenotypes that resemble those of the ppm1 - mutants i.e. φC31 resistant and susceptible to antibiotics. Differences in the phenotypes of the strains were observed, however. While the ppm1 - strains have a small colony phenotype, the sco3028 :: Tn5062 mutants had an extremely small colony phenotype indicative of an even greater growth defect. Moreover we were unable to generate a strain in which GMP activity encoded by sco3039 and sco4238 is completely knocked out, indicating that GMP is also an important enzyme for growth. Possibly GDP-mannose is at a metabolic branch point that supplies alternative nucleotide sugar donors.

The Effects of Oil Price Shocks on real GDP in Iran

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Mohammad Taghi Khosravi Larijani

2013-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the asymmetric effects of oil price shocks on GDP have been investigated by co-integration analysis in Iran economy during the period 1960-2010. We used Hodrick-Prescott filtering to separate positive shocks from negative shocks. The results showed that in long run the negative shocks have stronger effects on output than positive ones that can have damaging repercussions on economic growth. The findings have practical policy implications for decision makers in the area of macroeconomic planning. The use of stabilization and savings funds and diversification of the real sector seems crucial to minimize the harmful effects of oil booms and busts

The relationship between electricity consumption, electricity prices and GDP in Pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jamil, Faisal; Ahmad, Eatzaz

2010-01-01

This study analyzes the relationship among electricity consumption, its price and real GDP at the aggregate and sectoral level in Pakistan. Using annual data for the period 1960-2008, the study finds the presence of unidirectional causality from real economic activity to electricity consumption. In particular, growth in output in commercial, manufacturing and agricultural sectors tend to increase electricity consumption, while in residential sector, growth in private expenditures is the cause of rising electricity consumption. The study concludes that electricity production and management needs to be better integrated with overall economic planning exercises. This is essential to avoid electricity shortfalls and unplanned load shedding.

CO2 Emissions, Real GDP, Renewable Energy and Tourism: Evidence from Panel of the Most-Visited Countries

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Eyüp Doğan

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Previous studies on the energy-environment-growth literature overlook the investigation of the most-visited countries. Since these countries do not only belong to the largest economies and the top carbon dioxide (CO2 emitters in the world but are also listed in renewable energy country attractiveness index, this study analyzes the impacts of real GDP, renewable energy and tourism on the level of CO2 emissions for the top 10 mostvisited countries. Applying several panel econometric approaches, we find out that renewable energy mitigates the pollution whereas real GDP and tourism contribute to the level of emissions. Thus, regulatory policies are necessary to increase the awareness of sustainable tourism. In addition, the use of renewable energy and the adoption of clean technologies in tourism sector as well as in producing goods and services play a significant role in CO2 mitigation.

Causal relationship between CO₂ emissions, real GDP, energy consumption, financial development, trade openness, and urbanization in Tunisia.

Science.gov (United States)

Farhani, Sahbi; Ozturk, Ilhan

2015-10-01

The aim of this paper is to examine the causal relationship between CO2 emissions, real GDP, energy consumption, financial development, trade openness, and urbanization in Tunisia over the period of 1971-2012. The long-run relationship is investigated by the auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to cointegration and error correction method (ECM). The results of the analysis reveal a positive sign for the coefficient of financial development, suggesting that the financial development in Tunisia has taken place at the expense of environmental pollution. The Tunisian case also shows a positive monotonic relationship between real GDP and CO2 emissions. This means that the results do not support the validity of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. In addition, the paper explores causal relationship between the variables by using Granger causality models and it concludes that financial development plays a vital role in the Tunisian economy.

Low-GDP peritoneal dialysis fluid ('balance') has less impact in vitro and ex vivo on epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of mesothelial cells than a standard fluid.

Science.gov (United States)

Bajo, María Auxiliadora; Pérez-Lozano, María Luisa; Albar-Vizcaino, Patricia; del Peso, Gloria; Castro, María-José; Gonzalez-Mateo, Guadalupe; Fernández-Perpén, Antonio; Aguilera, Abelardo; Sánchez-Villanueva, Rafael; Sánchez-Tomero, J Antonio; López-Cabrera, Manuel; Peter, Mirjam E; Passlick-Deetjen, Jutta; Selgas, Rafael

2011-01-01

Peritoneal membrane deterioration during peritoneal dialysis (PD) is associated with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of mesothelial cells (MC), which is believed to be mainly due to glucose degradation products (GDPs) present in PD solutions. Here we investigate the impact of GDPs in PD solutions on the EMT of MC in vitro and ex vivo. For in vitro studies, omentum-derived MC were incubated with standard PD fluid or low-GDP solution diluted 1:1 with culture medium. For ex vivo studies, 33 patients, who were distributed at random to either the 'standard' or the 'low GDP' groups, were followed over 24 months. Effluents were collected every 6 months to determine EMT markers in effluent MC. Exposure of MC to standard fluid in vitro resulted in morphological change into a non-epitheloid shape, down-regulation of E-cadherin, indicative of EMT, and in a strong induction of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression. In contrast, in vitro exposure of MC to low-GDP solution did not lead to these phenotype changes. This could be confirmed ex vivo, as the prevalence of non-epitheloid phenotype of MC in the standard group was significantly higher with increasing PD duration and MC isolated from this group showed significantly higher levels of EMT-associated molecules including fibronectin, collagen I, VEGF, IL-8 and TGF-β levels when compared with the low-GDP group. Over time, the expression of E-cadherin also decreased in the standard but increased in the low-GDP group. In addition, the levels of EMT-associated molecules (fibronectin, VEGF and IL-8) increased in the standard but decreased in the low-GDP group. A similar trend was also observed for collagen I and for TGF-β (for the first year), but did not reach global statistical significance. Accordingly, effluent MC with non-epitheloid morphology showed significantly lower levels of E-cadherin and greater levels of fibronectin, collagen I, VEGF and IL 8 when compared with MC with epitheloid phenotype

Structure of the protein core of translation initiation factor 2 in apo, GTP-bound and GDP-bound forms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simonetti, Angelita; Marzi, Stefano; Fabbretti, Attilio; Hazemann, Isabelle; Jenner, Lasse; Urzhumtsev, Alexandre; Gualerzi, Claudio O.; Klaholz, Bruno P.

2013-01-01

The crystal structures of the eubacterial translation initiation factor 2 in apo form and with bound GDP and GTP reveal conformational changes upon nucleotide binding and hydrolysis, notably of the catalytically important histidine in the switch II region. Translation initiation factor 2 (IF2) is involved in the early steps of bacterial protein synthesis. It promotes the stabilization of the initiator tRNA on the 30S initiation complex (IC) and triggers GTP hydrolysis upon ribosomal subunit joining. While the structure of an archaeal homologue (a/eIF5B) is known, there are significant sequence and functional differences in eubacterial IF2, while the trimeric eukaryotic IF2 is completely unrelated. Here, the crystal structure of the apo IF2 protein core from Thermus thermophilus has been determined by MAD phasing and the structures of GTP and GDP complexes were also obtained. The IF2–GTP complex was trapped by soaking with GTP in the cryoprotectant. The structures revealed conformational changes of the protein upon nucleotide binding, in particular in the P-loop region, which extend to the functionally relevant switch II region. The latter carries a catalytically important and conserved histidine residue which is observed in different conformations in the GTP and GDP complexes. Overall, this work provides the first crystal structure of a eubacterial IF2 and suggests that activation of GTP hydrolysis may occur by a conformational repositioning of the histidine residue

Structure of the protein core of translation initiation factor 2 in apo, GTP-bound and GDP-bound forms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simonetti, Angelita [IGBMC (Institute of Genetics and of Molecular and Cellular Biology), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR 7104/Institut National de la Santé de la Recherche Médicale - INSERM U964/Université de Strasbourg, 1 Rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch (France); Marzi, Stefano [Architecture et Réactivité de l’ARN, UPR 9002 CNRS, IBMC (Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology), 15 Rue R. Descartes, 67084 Strasbourg, France, Université de Strasbourg, 67000 Strasbourg (France); Fabbretti, Attilio [University of Camerino, 62032 Camerino (Monaco) (Italy); Hazemann, Isabelle; Jenner, Lasse [IGBMC (Institute of Genetics and of Molecular and Cellular Biology), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR 7104/Institut National de la Santé de la Recherche Médicale -INSERM U964/Université de Strasbourg, 1 Rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch (France); Urzhumtsev, Alexandre [IGBMC (Institute of Genetics and of Molecular and Cellular Biology), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR 7104/Institut National de la Santé de la Recherche Médicale - INSERM U964/Université de Strasbourg, 1 Rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch (France); Université de Lorraine, 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy (France); Gualerzi, Claudio O. [University of Camerino, 62032 Camerino (Monaco) (Italy); Klaholz, Bruno P., E-mail: klaholz@igbmc.fr [IGBMC (Institute of Genetics and of Molecular and Cellular Biology), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR 7104/Institut National de la Santé de la Recherche Médicale - INSERM U964/Université de Strasbourg, 1 Rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch (France)

2013-06-01

The crystal structures of the eubacterial translation initiation factor 2 in apo form and with bound GDP and GTP reveal conformational changes upon nucleotide binding and hydrolysis, notably of the catalytically important histidine in the switch II region. Translation initiation factor 2 (IF2) is involved in the early steps of bacterial protein synthesis. It promotes the stabilization of the initiator tRNA on the 30S initiation complex (IC) and triggers GTP hydrolysis upon ribosomal subunit joining. While the structure of an archaeal homologue (a/eIF5B) is known, there are significant sequence and functional differences in eubacterial IF2, while the trimeric eukaryotic IF2 is completely unrelated. Here, the crystal structure of the apo IF2 protein core from Thermus thermophilus has been determined by MAD phasing and the structures of GTP and GDP complexes were also obtained. The IF2–GTP complex was trapped by soaking with GTP in the cryoprotectant. The structures revealed conformational changes of the protein upon nucleotide binding, in particular in the P-loop region, which extend to the functionally relevant switch II region. The latter carries a catalytically important and conserved histidine residue which is observed in different conformations in the GTP and GDP complexes. Overall, this work provides the first crystal structure of a eubacterial IF2 and suggests that activation of GTP hydrolysis may occur by a conformational repositioning of the histidine residue.

Global impact of a climate treaty if the Human Development Index replaces GDP as a welfare proxy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Bergh, Jeroen; Botzen, W.J.W.

2018-01-01

This study explores the implications of shifting the narrative of climate policy evaluation from one of costs/benefits or economic growth to a message of improving social welfare. Focusing on the costs of mitigation and the associated impacts on gross domestic product (GDP) may translate into a

The Chloroplast Division Protein ARC6 Acts to Inhibit Disassembly of GDP-bound FtsZ2.

Science.gov (United States)

Sung, Min Woo; Shaik, Rahamthulla; TerBush, Allan D; Osteryoung, Katherine W; Vitha, Stanislav; Holzenburg, Andreas

2018-05-16

Chloroplasts host photosynthesis and fulfill other metabolic functions that are essential to plant life. They have to divide by binary fission to maintain their numbers throughout cycles of cell division. Chloroplast division is achieved by a complex ring-shaped division machinery located on both the inner (stromal) and the outer (cytosolic) side of the chloroplast envelope. The inner division ring (termed the Z ring) is formed by the assembly of tubulin-like FtsZ1 and FtsZ2 proteins. ARC6 is a key chloroplast division protein that interacts with the Z ring. ARC6 spans the inner envelope membrane, is known to stabilize or maintain the Z ring, and anchors the Z ring to the inner membrane through interaction with FtsZ2. The underlying mechanism of Z-ring stabilization is not well understood. Here, biochemical and structural characterization of ARC6 was conducted using light scattering, sedimentation, and light and transmission electron microscopy. The recombinant protein was purified as a dimer. The results indicated that a truncated form of ARC6 (tARC6), representing the stromal portion of ARC6, affects FtsZ2 assembly without forming higher-order structures, and exerts its effect via FtsZ2 dynamics. tARC6 prevented GDP-induced FtsZ2 disassembly and caused a significant net increase in FtsZ2 assembly when GDP was present. Single particle analysis and 3D reconstruction were performed to elucidate the structural basis of ARC6 activity. Together, the data reveal that a dimeric form of tARC6 binds to FtsZ2 filaments and does not increase FtsZ polymerization rates but rather inhibits GDP-associated FtsZ2 disassembly. Published under license by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Kinesin expands and stabilizes the GDP-microtubule lattice

Science.gov (United States)

Peet, Daniel R.; Burroughs, Nigel J.; Cross, Robert A.

2018-05-01

Kinesin-1 is a nanoscale molecular motor that walks towards the fast-growing (plus) ends of microtubules, hauling molecular cargo to specific reaction sites in cells. Kinesin-driven transport is central to the self-organization of eukaryotic cells and shows great promise as a tool for nano-engineering1. Recent work hints that kinesin may also play a role in modulating the stability of its microtubule track, both in vitro2,3 and in vivo4, but the results are conflicting5-7 and the mechanisms are unclear. Here, we report a new dimension to the kinesin-microtubule interaction, whereby strong-binding state (adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-bound and apo) kinesin-1 motor domains inhibit the shrinkage of guanosine diphosphate (GDP) microtubules by up to two orders of magnitude and expand their lattice spacing by 1.6%. Our data reveal an unexpected mechanism by which the mechanochemical cycles of kinesin and tubulin interlock, and so allow motile kinesins to influence the structure, stability and mechanics of their microtubule track.

Effects of Conversion to a Bicarbonate/Lactate-Buffered, Neutral-pH, Low-GDP PD Regimen in Prevalent PD: A 2-Year Randomized Clinical Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Farhat, Karima; Douma, Caroline E; Ferrantelli, E; Ter Wee, Pieter M; Beelen, Robert H J; van Ittersum, Frans J

2017-01-01

♦ BACKGROUND: The use of pH-neutral peritoneal dialysis (PD) fluids low in glucose degradation products (GDP) may better preserve the peritoneal membrane and have fewer systemic effects. The effects of conversion from conventional to neutral-pH, low-GDP PD fluids in prevalent patients are unclear. Few studies on the role of neutral-pH, low-GDP PD have studied residual renal function, ultrafiltration, peritonitis incidence and technique failure, transport characteristics, and local and systemic markers of inflammation in prevalent PD patients. ♦ METHODS: In a multi-center open-label randomized clinical trial (RCT), we randomly assigned 40 of 78 stable continuous ambulatory PD (CAPD) and automated PD (APD) patients to treatment with bicarbonate/lactate, neutral-pH, low-GDP PD fluid (Physioneal; Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Deerfield, IL, USA) and compared them with 38 patients continuing their current standard lactate-buffered PD fluid (PDF) (Dianeal; Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Deerfield, IL, USA) during 2 years. Primary outcome was residual renal function (RRF) and ultrafiltration (UF) during peritoneal equilibration test (PET); peritonitis incidence was a secondary outcome. Furthermore, clinical parameters as well as several biomarkers in effluents and serum were measured. ♦ RESULTS: During follow-up, RRF did not differ between the groups. In the Physioneal group ultrafiltration (UF) during PET remained more or less stable (-20 mL [confidence interval (CI): -163.5 - 123.5 mL]; p = 0.7 over 24 months), whereas it declined in the Dianeal group (-243 mL [CI: -376.6 to -109.4 mL]; p GDP PD fluids, although there is a possibility that the study was underpowered to detect a difference. Decline in UF during standardized PET was lower after 2 years in the Physioneal group. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis.

Impact of GDP, spending on R&D, number of universities and scientific journals on research publications among Asian countries.

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Sultan Ayoub Meo

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare the impact of Gross Domestic Product (GDP per capita, spending on Research and Development (R&D, number of universities, and Indexed Scientific Journals on total number of research documents (papers, citations per document and Hirsch index (H-index in various science and social science subjects among Asian countries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, 40 Asian countries were included. The information regarding Asian countries, their GDP per capita, spending on R&D, total number of universities and indexed scientific journals were collected. We recorded the bibliometric indicators, including total number of research documents, citations per document and H-index in various science and social sciences subjects during the period 1996-2011. The main sources for information were World Bank, SCI-mago/Scopus and Web of Science; Thomson Reuters. RESULTS: The mean per capita GDP for all the Asian countries is 14448.31±2854.40 US$, yearly per capita spending on R&D 0.64±0.16 US$, number of universities 72.37±18.32 and mean number of ISI indexed journal per country is 17.97±7.35. The mean of research documents published in various science and social science subjects among all the Asian countries during the period 1996-2011 is 158086.92±69204.09; citations per document 8.67±0.48; and H-index 122.8±19.21. Spending on R&D, number of universities and indexed journals have a positive correlation with number of published documents, citations per document and H-index in various science and social science subjects. However, there was no association between the per capita GDP and research outcomes. CONCLUSION: The Asian countries who spend more on R&D have a large number of universities and scientific indexed journals produced more in research outcomes including total number of research publication, citations per documents and H-index in various science and social science subjects.

Impact of GDP, spending on R&D, number of universities and scientific journals on research publications among Asian countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Meo, Sultan Ayoub; Al Masri, Abeer A; Usmani, Adnan Mahmood; Memon, Almas Naeem; Zaidi, Syed Ziauddin

2013-01-01

This study aimed to compare the impact of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, spending on Research and Development (R&D), number of universities, and Indexed Scientific Journals on total number of research documents (papers), citations per document and Hirsch index (H-index) in various science and social science subjects among Asian countries. In this study, 40 Asian countries were included. The information regarding Asian countries, their GDP per capita, spending on R&D, total number of universities and indexed scientific journals were collected. We recorded the bibliometric indicators, including total number of research documents, citations per document and H-index in various science and social sciences subjects during the period 1996-2011. The main sources for information were World Bank, SCI-mago/Scopus and Web of Science; Thomson Reuters. The mean per capita GDP for all the Asian countries is 14448.31±2854.40 US$, yearly per capita spending on R&D 0.64±0.16 US$, number of universities 72.37±18.32 and mean number of ISI indexed journal per country is 17.97±7.35. The mean of research documents published in various science and social science subjects among all the Asian countries during the period 1996-2011 is 158086.92±69204.09; citations per document 8.67±0.48; and H-index 122.8±19.21. Spending on R&D, number of universities and indexed journals have a positive correlation with number of published documents, citations per document and H-index in various science and social science subjects. However, there was no association between the per capita GDP and research outcomes. The Asian countries who spend more on R&D have a large number of universities and scientific indexed journals produced more in research outcomes including total number of research publication, citations per documents and H-index in various science and social science subjects.

Dabartinių baltų bendrinių kalbų balsių spektrai

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lidija Kaukėnienė

2011-12-01

Full Text Available THE SPECTRA OF ISOLATED VOWELS OF THE STANDARD BALTIC LANGUAGESSummaryThe article examines the spectra of isolated vowels of the standard Baltic languages, their acoustic, articulation features and their relationship with D. Jones’ cardinal vowels.The acoustic features of the separate vowels of Lithuanian and Latvian are not the same. The vowels [aˑ], [a], [i], [e̤ˑ], [u] are not pronounced in the same place. The timbre of Latvian [i], [e̤ˑ] is higher than that of similar vowels in Lithuanian, but the timbre of isolated Lithuanian [eˑ] is higher than that of the similar Latvian vowel. The timbre of the Latvian isolated vowels [aˑ], [a], [ɔ], [uˑ], [u] is lower than that of similar Lithuanian vowels. The Latvian isolated vowels [iˑ], [uˑ] have a higher F1, that is, they are more open than the corresponding Lithuanian vowels.Besides Latvian isolated [i], [e̤ˑ], [uˑ] are more tense and [u], [ɔ] are more rounded than similar Lithuanian vowels but Lithuanian [iˑ] is more tense than its Latvian correspondent.The spectral analysis and acoustic data allow us to claim that the isolated vowels of the standard Baltic languages are similar to the secondary and primary cardinal vowels. The marked extreme articulation is typical of Latvian and Lithuanian [oˑ], [ɔ], [iˑ], [uˑ].

Evidence that the primary effect of phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor 2(alpha) in rabbit reticulocyte lysate is inhibition of the release of eukaryotic initiation factor-2.GDP from 60 S ribosomal subunits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gross, M.; Redman, R.; Kaplansky, D.A.

1985-01-01

The phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 2 alpha that occurs when rabbit reticulocyte lysate is incubated in the absence of hemin or with poly(I.C) causes inhibition of polypeptide chain initiation by preventing a separate factor (termed RF) from promoting the exchange of GTP for GDP on eIF-2. When lysate was incubated in the presence of hemin and [ 14 C] eIF-2 or [alpha- 32 P]GTP, the authors observed binding of eIF-2 and GDP or GTP to 60 S ribosomal subunits that was slightly greater than that bound to 40 S subunits and little binding to 80 S ribosomes. When incubation was in the absence of hemin or in the presence of hemin plus 0.1 microgram/ml poly(I.C), eIF-2 and GDP binding to 60 S subunits was increased 1.5- to 2-fold, that bound to 80 S ribosomes was almost as great as that bound to 60 S subunits, and that bound to 40 S subunits was unchanged. The data indicate that about 40% of the eIF-2 that becomes bound to 60 S subunits and 80 S ribosomes in the absence of hemin or with poly(I.C) is eIF-2(alpha-P) and suggest that the eIF-2 and GDP bound is probably in the form of a binary complex. The rate of turnover of GDP (presumably eIF-2.GDP) on 60 S subunits and 80 S ribosomes in the absence of hemin is reduced to less than 10% the control rate, because the dissociation of eIF-2.GDP is inhibited. Our findings suggest that eIF-2.GTP binding to and eIF-2.GDP release from 60 S subunits may normally occur and serve to promote subunit joining

Gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin (GDP) is an effective and well-tolerated salvage therapy for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Moccia, Alden A; Hitz, Felicitas; Hoskins, Paul; Klasa, Richard; Power, Maryse M; Savage, Kerry J; Shenkier, Tamara; Shepherd, John D; Slack, Graham W; Song, Kevin W; Gascoyne, Randy D; Connors, Joseph M; Sehn, Laurie H

2017-02-01

The optimal choice of salvage therapy for patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) or Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) remains unknown. Based on promising results of phase II trials, the preferred salvage regimen in British Columbia since 2002 has been the out-patient regimen, gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin (GDP). We conducted a retrospective analysis including all patients with relapsed/refractory DLBCL or HL who received GDP as salvage therapy between September 2002 and June 2010. We identified 235 patients: 152 DLBCL, 83 HL. Overall response rates were 49% and 71% for patients with DLBCL and HL, respectively. Within the transplant-eligible population, 52% of patients with DLBCL and 96% of patients with HL proceeded to stem cell transplantation. The 2-year progression-free survival and overall survival were 21% and 28% in the DLBCL cohort, and 58% and 85% in the HL group. GDP is an effective and well-tolerated out-patient salvage regimen for relapsed/refractory DLBCL and HL.

Interest rate risk and other determinants of post WWII U.S. government debt/GDP dynamics

OpenAIRE

George J. Hall; Thomas J. Sargent

2010-01-01

This paper uses the sequence of government budget constraints to motivate estimates of interest payments on the U.S. Federal government debt. We explain why our estimates differ conceptually and quantitatively from those reported by the U.S. government. We use our estimates to account for contributions to the evolution of the debt to GDP ratio made by inflation, growth, and nominal returns paid on debts of different maturities.

Impact of GDP, spending on R&D, number of universities and scientific journals on research publications in pharmacological sciences in Middle East.

Science.gov (United States)

Meo, S A; Usmani, A M; Vohra, M S; Bukhari, I A

2013-10-01

Research in pharmacological science is vital to support the health needs of human beings. Measuring the research output provides information that forms the basis of strategic decisions. This study aimed to investigate the impact of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), spending on Research and Development (R&D), number of universities and scientific journals on research documents (papers), citable documents, citations per document and H-index in pharmacological science among Middle East countries. All the 16 Middle East countries were included in the study. The information regarding GDP, spending on R&D, total number of universities and indexed scientific journals were collected. We recorded the total number of research documents, citable documents, citations per document and H-index in pharmacological science during the period 1996-2011. The main sources for information were World Bank, Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports (Thomson Reuters) and SCI-mago/Scopus. The mean per capita GDP of all the Middle East countries is 18125.49±5386.28 US$, spending on R&D 0.63±0.28% of GDP in US$, number of universities 36.56±11.33 and mean ISI indexed journal are 8.25±3.93. The number of research documents published in pharmacological science among the Middle East countries during the period 1996-2011 is 1344.44±499.34; citable documents 1286.37±476.34; citations per document 7.62± 0.84; and H-index is 30.68±6.32. There was a positive correlation between spending on R&D and citations per documents (r = 0.56, p = 0.02), H-Index (r = 0.56, p = 0.02); number of universities and research documents (r = 0.72, p = 0.002), citable documents (r = 0.72, p = 0.001); ISI indexed journals and research documents (r = 0.88, p = 0.0001), citable documents (r = 0.88, p = 0.0001), H-Index (r = 0.67, p = 0.004). However, there was no correlation between the GDP per capita and research outcome in pharmacological science. There is a positive association between spending on R&D, number of

UK and Twenty Comparable Countries GDP-Expenditure-on-Health 1980-2013: The Historic and Continued Low Priority of UK Health-Related Expenditure.

Science.gov (United States)

Harding, Andrew J E; Pritchard, Colin

2016-07-10

It is well-established that for a considerable period the United Kingdom has spent proportionally less of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health-related services than almost any other comparable country. Average European spending on health (as a % of GDP) in the period 1980 to 2013 has been 19% higher than the United Kingdom, indicating that comparable countries give far greater fiscal priority to its health services, irrespective of its actual fiscal value or configuration. While the UK National Health Service (NHS) is a comparatively lean healthcare system, it is often regarded to be at a 'crisis' point on account of low levels of funding. Indeed, many state that currently the NHS has a sizeable funding gap, in part due to its recently reduced GDP devoted to health but mainly the challenges around increases in longevity, expectation and new medical costs. The right level of health funding is a political value judgement. As the data in this paper outline, if the UK 'afforded' the same proportional level of funding as the mean average European country, total expenditure would currently increase by one-fifth. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Analysis of the Temporal and Spatial Distribution of Lake and Reservoir Water Quality in China and Changes in Its Relationship with GDP from 2005 to 2010

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Xiaojie Meng

2015-02-01

Full Text Available We analyzed the spatial distribution of lake and reservoir water quality in China, and the trends from 2005 to 2010, based on monitoring data from 28 large Chinese lakes and reservoirs. We used a comprehensive water pollution index (WPI to describe water quality and also identified the major pollutants. Using GDP data, we analyzed the relationships between economic factors and water quality. We found that although the water quality of large reservoirs is improving or remaining stable, despite economic growth, the water quality of most lakes either did not change or worsened. The outlook is pessimistic, as water quality in most lakes has decreased to Grade V or worse. The water quality was lowest for northern lakes and highest for southern lakes due to a combination of the local industrial structure and lower rainfall in the north. The primary pollutants generally remained stable during the study period. For some lakes, fluoride and volatile phenols became the primary pollutants, indicating more diverse sources of contamination. We divided the 28 bodies of water into four types based on the median WPI and GDP. The dominant combinations were low WPI with low GDP and high WPI with high GDP, as a result of the balance among economic development, the natural environment and environmental policy.

Salvage chemotherapy of gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin (GDP) for patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphomas: a consortium for improving survival of lymphoma (CISL) trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Byeong-Bae; Kim, Won Seog; Suh, Cheolwon; Shin, Dong-Yeop; Kim, Jeong-A; Kim, Hoon-Gu; Lee, Won Sik

2015-11-01

There is no standard salvage chemotherapy for relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs). Gemcitabine combined with cisplatin has been known as an effective regimen for lymphoma treatment in the salvage setting. We investigated the efficacy and toxicity of gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin (GDP) for relapsed or refractory PTCLs in search of a more effective and less toxic therapy. Patients with relapsed or refractory PTCLs with more than one previous regimen were eligible. Treatment consisted of gemcitabine 1000 mg/m(2) intravenously (i.v.) on days 1 and 8, dexamethasone 40 mg orally on days 1-4, and cisplatin 70 mg/m(2) i.v. on day 1, and then every 21 days. Patients could proceed to autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) after four cycles of GDP or receive up to six treatment cycles. Twenty-five eligible patients were evaluated for toxicity and response. The diagnoses of participants included 14 cases of PTCL-not otherwise specified (NOS) (56 %) and four cases of angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (16 %) among others. The median age of the patients was 59 years (range 20-75 years). After treatments with GDP, which delivered a median of four GDP cycles, there were 12 patients with complete responses (CR; 48 %) and six with partial responses (PR; 24 %). The overall response rate (RR) was 72 %. Four patients preceded to ASCT, and three patients finally achieved CR. The median progression free survival was 9.3 months (95 % confidence interval (CI); 4.1-14.6) with a median follow-up duration of 27.1 months. In a total of 86 cycles of GDP, grade 3 or 4 neutropenia and thrombocytopenia occurred in 16.3 and 12.8 % of cycles, respectively. Three patients (3.3 %) experienced febrile neutropenia. GDP is a highly effective and optimal salvage regimen for relapsed or refractory PTCLs and can be administered with acceptable toxicity.

Countercyclical capital buffers and real-time credit-to-GDP gap estimates: A South African perspective

OpenAIRE

Farrell, Greg

2014-01-01

Countercyclical capital buffers are intended to protect the banking sector and the broader economy from episodes of excessive credit growth, which have been associated with financial sector procyclicality and the build-up of systemic risk. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has suggested in its guidance to national authorities that the credit-to-GDP gap be used as a guide to taking decisions regarding the countercyclical capital buffer. This paper provides a South African pers...

Exploring Patterns of Soil Organic Matter Decomposition with Students and the Public Through the Global Decomposition Project (GDP)

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, J. H.; Natali, S.

2014-12-01

The Global Decomposition Project (GDP) is a program designed to introduce and educate students and the general public about soil organic matter and decomposition through a standardized protocol for collecting, reporting, and sharing data. This easy-to-use hands-on activity focuses on questions such as "How do environmental conditions control decomposition of organic matter in soil?" and "Why do some areas accumulate organic matter and others do not?" Soil organic matter is important to local ecosystems because it affects soil structure, regulates soil moisture and temperature, and provides energy and nutrients to soil organisms. It is also important globally because it stores a large amount of carbon, and when microbes "eat", or decompose organic matter they release greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, which affects the earth's climate. The protocol describes a commonly used method to measure decomposition using a paper made of cellulose, a component of plant cell walls. Participants can receive pre-made cellulose decomposition bags, or make decomposition bags using instructions in the protocol and easily obtained materials (e.g., window screen and lignin-free paper). Individual results will be shared with all participants and the broader public through an online database. We will present decomposition bag results from a research site in Alaskan tundra, as well as from a middle-school-student led experiment in California. The GDP demonstrates how scientific methods can be extended to educate broader audiences, while at the same time, data collected by students and the public can provide new insight into global patterns of soil decomposition. The GDP provides a pathway for scientists and educators to interact and reach meaningful education and research goals.

CAUSALITY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GDP AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN GEORGIA, AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA

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Huseyin Kalyoncu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This research aims to investigate the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia during the period of 1995–2009. The Engle-Granger cointegration and Granger causality tests are used in order to analyse the causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth. It is crucial to see the directions of causality between two variables for the policy makers. For Georgia and Azerbaijan it is found that these two variables are not cointegrated. In case of Armenia these two variables are cointegrated. Accordingly, causality analysis is conducted for Armenia. The research outcomes reveal that there is unidirectional causality from per capita GDP to per capita energy consumption for Armenia.

Impact of Oxidative Stress on Ascorbate Biosynthesis in Chlamydomonas via Regulation of the VTC2 Gene Encoding a GDP-l-galactose Phosphorylase*

Science.gov (United States)

Urzica, Eugen I.; Adler, Lital N.; Page, M. Dudley; Linster, Carole L.; Arbing, Mark A.; Casero, David; Pellegrini, Matteo; Merchant, Sabeeha S.; Clarke, Steven G.

2012-01-01

The l-galactose (Smirnoff-Wheeler) pathway represents the major route to l-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) biosynthesis in higher plants. Arabidopsis thaliana VTC2 and its paralogue VTC5 function as GDP-l-galactose phosphorylases converting GDP-l-galactose to l-galactose-1-P, thus catalyzing the first committed step in the biosynthesis of l-ascorbate. Here we report that the l-galactose pathway of ascorbate biosynthesis described in higher plants is conserved in green algae. The Chlamydomonas reinhardtii genome encodes all the enzymes required for vitamin C biosynthesis via the l-galactose pathway. We have characterized recombinant C. reinhardtii VTC2 as an active GDP-l-galactose phosphorylase. C. reinhardtii cells exposed to oxidative stress show increased VTC2 mRNA and l-ascorbate levels. Genes encoding enzymatic components of the ascorbate-glutathione system (e.g. ascorbate peroxidase, manganese superoxide dismutase, and dehydroascorbate reductase) are also up-regulated in response to increased oxidative stress. These results indicate that C. reinhardtii VTC2, like its plant homologs, is a highly regulated enzyme in ascorbate biosynthesis in green algae and that, together with the ascorbate recycling system, the l-galactose pathway represents the major route for providing protective levels of ascorbate in oxidatively stressed algal cells. PMID:22393048

Development of the Latvian scheme for energy auditing of buildings and inspection of boilers and air-conditioning systems. Final report institutional set-up

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2004-12-01

To implement EU directive 93/76/EEC on reduction of carbon dioxide emission by increasing energy efficiency and EU directive 2002/91/EC on building energy efficiency, Latvia must establish and institutional scheme and define all the organisations involved. From a general perspective the institutional scheme must as a minimum include the following four key players: the administrator, the operating unit, the auditors or independent experts, and finally the client. Furthermore, institutions dealing with financing of energy efficiency improvement activities, training and certification of experts, information about auditing and energy efficiency etc. need to be involved. At present there is no governmental or private Latvian organisation that could fully rearrange and assume the duties of an energy audit scheme secretariat. It is therefore recommended initially to place the secretariat as a separate, new unit within the Ministry of Economy, financed by the Ministry of Economy, with the intention of establishing at a later stage (after e.g. 5 years) a separate, new agency, an Energy Efficiency Agency partly financed by the incomes from the energy audit and boiler inspection schemes. The Secretariat should, both in its initial phase and later, assign the tasks of training, information campaigns, quality assurance and evaluation to external organisations. (BA)

THE OPTIMAL RATE OF R&D EXPENDITURES ÎN GDP – BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE

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Steliana SANDU

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The relation between economic growth, competitiveness, productivity, on one hand, and investment in research and development (R&D, on the other, has been the research subject of numerous scientific studies. The significant contribution of the investment in R&D to productivity growth, competitiveness and economic growth is generally acknowledged. Some authors have attempted to empirically and theoretically estimate the optimal level of R&D investment at the micro and mezo level, following different paths, according to their option for the aggregation level of analysis or to the different indicators selected as most relevant. Yet, the identification of the R&D investment level that maximizes the productivity growth rate at macroeconomic level seems to have been rather marginal to the general research interest. Available scientific papers estimate it by relating the share of R&D spending in GDP to productivity, expressed through the Total Factor Productivity or labour productivity per hour worked. This paper looks into the correlation between the spending for research and development in some EU countries, as a share of GDP, underlining the relative positions to the optimal interval for R&D investment, according to Mario Coccia estimations, and the corresponding rates of labour productivity growth, during the 2000-2009 period. Special attention will be given to Romania’s positioning in European context, in order to identify potential solutions to future improvement.

The Opinion of Latvian Teachers About the Most Suitable Teaching Methods and Possibilities to Make Lessons Interesting

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Porozovs Juris

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Student’s learning motivation and learning outcomes depend on the ability of the teacher to interest students, the chosen teaching methods and proficiency to manage the learning process. Teacher who can successfully choose teaching content, material resources and different teaching methods is able to cause interest about his subject. Teacher who is interested in teaching process himself can help students to learn a subject. The aim of the study was to find out the Latvian teachers' opinion about the disturbing factors affecting the achievement of high learning outcomes for students, the most suitable teaching methods and the possibilities to make lessons interesting. The survey of teachers of different schools in Latvia regarding their students’ learning motivation was carried out. The data from 482 teachers’ answers were analysed. The results of the research showed that the majority of surveyed teachers consider that learning motivation of Latvia students has decreased during the last few years. Teachers point out several factors, which do not allow students to reach high learning outcomes, the most important of them are: the inability of students to link career and success with learning and lack of life goals; inability of students to concentrate attention during lessons; indisposition of students to do homework. The teachers consider laboratory works, discussions, project works, group works and teacher’s presentations and narrative of new material as the most suitable teaching methods. Teachers consider that the most important personality trait of teachers and learning motivation for students to improve their skills is the teacher’s ability to teach the subject in an interesting way. Teachers believe that lessons can be made interesting if modern technologies and teaching methods are used during lessons and when the teacher is able to connect the subject with real life.

Is It What You Measure That Really Matters? The Struggle to Move beyond GDP in Canada

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Anders Hayden

2016-07-01

Full Text Available In light of Gross Domestic Product’s (GDP well-known limitations as a wellbeing indicator, many alternative measures have been developed around the world. Some advocates of “beyond GDP” measures argue that they are key to shifting societal priorities away from economic growth toward sustainability, equity, and well-being. Is there any evidence to date that alternative indicators have lived up to their supporters’ expectations, whether the hope is for a radical transformation of social priorities away from GDP growth or a reformist vision of better policymaking without challenging the growth paradigm? What are the obstacles to fulfilling those expectations? This article examines the Canadian experience, drawing on interviews with researchers, non-governmental organization (NGO leaders, public-sector officials, and politicians, along with analysis of relevant documents. The hopes of Canadian proponents of new wellbeing measures have been largely disappointed to date, as no impact on federal or provincial policy is evident. Obstacles facing both a transformative and more limited reformist vision are examined. The Canadian case also suggests that use of new socio-economic indicators is best seen as one product of political efforts to bring ecological and social values into decision-making, rather than as the transformative force that will cause a change in societal priorities.

Temporal causal relationship between stock market capitalization, trade openness and real GDP: evidence from Thailand

OpenAIRE

Jiranyakul, Komain

2014-01-01

This study examines both short-run and long-run causal relationship between stock market capitalization, trade openness and economic growth in Thailand. Quarterly data over the period from the first quarter of 1993 to the fourth quarter of 2013 are used in the analysis. The results from this study show that there exists a unidirectional long-run causality running from stock market capitalization and trade openness to real GDP. In the short run, stock market capitalization does not causes econ...

Prediction of net energy consumption based on economic indicators (GNP and GDP) in Turkey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soezen, Adnan; Arcaklioglu, Erol

2007-01-01

The most important theme in this study is to obtain equations based on economic indicators (gross national product-GNP and gross domestic product-GDP) and population increase to predict the net energy consumption of Turkey using artificial neural networks (ANNs) in order to determine future level of the energy consumption and make correct investments in Turkey. In this study, three different models were used in order to train the ANN. In one of them (Model 1), energy indicators such as installed capacity, generation, energy import and energy export, in second (Model 2), GNP was used and in the third (Model 3), GDP was used as the input layer of the network. The net energy consumption (NEC) is in the output layer for all models. In order to train the neural network, economic and energy data for last 37 years (1968-2005) are used in network for all models. The aim of used different models is to demonstrate the effect of economic indicators on the estimation of NEC. The maximum mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) was found to be 2.322732, 1.110525 and 1.122048 for Models 1, 2 and 3, respectively. R 2 values were obtained as 0.999444, 0.999903 and 0.999903 for training data of Models 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The ANN approach shows greater accuracy for evaluating NEC based on economic indicators. Based on the outputs of the study, the ANN model can be used to estimate the NEC from the country's population and economic indicators with high confidence for planing future projections

The crystal structure of elongation factor G complexed with GDP, at 2.7 A resolution.

OpenAIRE

Czworkowski, J; Wang, J; Steitz, T A; Moore, P B

1994-01-01

Elongation factor G (EF-G) catalyzes the translocation step of protein synthesis in bacteria, and like the other bacterial elongation factor, EF-Tu--whose structure is already known--it is a member of the GTPase superfamily. We have determined the crystal structure of EF-G--GDP from Thermus thermophilus. It is an elongated molecule whose large, N-terminal domain resembles the G domain of EF-Tu, except for a 90 residue insert, which covers a surface that is involved in nucleotide exchange in E...

Book Review: "The Road to Sustainability, GDP and Future Generations" Pulselli et al, WIT Press, Southhampton, UK 197p 2008

Science.gov (United States)

“The Road to Sustainability, GDP and future generations” by Pulselli, F.M., Bastianoni, S., Marchettini, N. Tiezzi, E. was reviewed upon request by the journal’s editor. Briefly, this book presents the authors’ perspective on the complex and important topic of sustainability. Su...

Two Nucleolar Proteins, GDP1 and OLI2, Function As Ribosome Biogenesis Factors and Are Preferentially Involved in Promotion of Leaf Cell Proliferation without Strongly Affecting Leaf Adaxial–Abaxial Patterning in Arabidopsis thaliana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koji Kojima

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Leaf abaxial–adaxial patterning is dependent on the mutual repression of leaf polarity genes expressed either adaxially or abaxially. In Arabidopsis thaliana, this process is strongly affected by mutations in ribosomal protein genes and in ribosome biogenesis genes in a sensitized genetic background, such as asymmetric leaves2 (as2. Most ribosome-related mutants by themselves do not show leaf abaxialization, and one of their typical phenotypes is the formation of pointed rather than rounded leaves. In this study, we characterized two ribosome-related mutants to understand how ribosome biogenesis is linked to several aspects of leaf development. Previously, we isolated oligocellula2 (oli2 which exhibits the pointed-leaf phenotype and has a cell proliferation defect. OLI2 encodes a homolog of Nop2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a ribosome biogenesis factor involved in pre-60S subunit maturation. In this study, we found another pointed-leaf mutant that carries a mutation in a gene encoding an uncharacterized protein with a G-patch domain. Similar to oli2, this mutant, named g-patch domain protein1 (gdp1, has a reduced number of leaf cells. In addition, gdp1 oli2 double mutants showed a strong genetic interaction such that they synergistically impaired cell proliferation in leaves and produced markedly larger cells. On the other hand, they showed additive phenotypes when combined with several known ribosomal protein mutants. Furthermore, these mutants have a defect in pre-rRNA processing. GDP1 and OLI2 are strongly expressed in tissues with high cell proliferation activity, and GDP1-GFP and GFP-OLI2 are localized in the nucleolus. These results suggest that OLI2 and GDP1 are involved in ribosome biogenesis. We then examined the effects of gdp1 and oli2 on adaxial–abaxial patterning by crossing them with as2. Interestingly, neither gdp1 nor oli2 strongly enhanced the leaf polarity defect of as2. Similar results were obtained with as2 gdp1 oli2

Gadolinium heteropoly complex K 17[Gd(P 2W 17O 61) 2] as a potential MRI contrast agent

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Guoying; Feng, Jianghua; Wu, Huifeng; Pei, Fengkui; Fang, Ke; Lei, Hao

2004-10-01

Gadolinium heteropoly complex K17[Gd(P2W17O61)2] has been evaluated by in vitro and in vivo experiments as a potential contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The thermal analysis and conductivity study indicate that this complex has good thermal stability and wide pH stability range. The T1 relaxivity is 7.59 mM-1 s-1 in aqueous solution and 7.97 mM-1 s-1 in 0.725 mmol l-1 bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution at 25 °C and 9.39 T, respectively. MR imaging of three male Sprague-Dawley rats showed remarkable enhancement in rat liver after intravenous injection, which persisted longer than with Gd-DTPA. The signal intensity increased by 57.1±16.9% during the whole imaging period at 0.082 mmol kg-1dose. Our preliminary in vitro and in vivo studies indicate that K17[Gd(P2W17O61)2] is a potential liver-specific MRI contrast agent.

Why Globally GDP, Trade, Profits, Wages, Employment Decrease and Why Poverty Increases?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Štrukelj

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the paper is to propose a scientific explanation ofwhy GDP, trade, profits, wages and employment have been globallydecreasing and why poverty has been globally increasing betweenthe 2nd quarter of 2008 and the 3rd quarter of 2009. I explainthese facts in a scientific manner, that is, by deriving thepresent state of the global economy (crisis from the principles ofthe present global economy (predominately organized in a capitalisticmanner. I therefore prove that the crisis necessarily followsfrom the way the present global economy functions. I arguethat the reason for the crisis is the fundamental contradiction betweenthe purpose of companies (increasing profits and necessaryways in which companies try to increase profits, and that theconsequences of this fundamental contradiction are triggered bya general lack of credits.

Two tomato GDP-D-mannose epimerase isoforms involved in ascorbate biosynthesis play specific roles in cell wall biosynthesis and development.

Science.gov (United States)

Mounet-Gilbert, Louise; Dumont, Marie; Ferrand, Carine; Bournonville, Céline; Monier, Antoine; Jorly, Joana; Lemaire-Chamley, Martine; Mori, Kentaro; Atienza, Isabelle; Hernould, Michel; Stevens, Rebecca; Lehner, Arnaud; Mollet, Jean Claude; Rothan, Christophe; Lerouge, Patrice; Baldet, Pierre

2016-08-01

GDP-D-mannose epimerase (GME, EC 5.1.3.18) converts GDP-D-mannose to GDP-L-galactose, and is considered to be a central enzyme connecting the major ascorbate biosynthesis pathway to primary cell wall metabolism in higher plants. Our previous work demonstrated that GME is crucial for both ascorbate and cell wall biosynthesis in tomato. The aim of the present study was to investigate the respective role in ascorbate and cell wall biosynthesis of the two SlGME genes present in tomato by targeting each of them through an RNAi-silencing approach. Taken individually SlGME1 and SlGME2 allowed normal ascorbate accumulation in the leaf and fruits, thus suggesting the same function regarding ascorbate. However, SlGME1 and SlGME2 were shown to play distinct roles in cell wall biosynthesis, depending on the tissue considered. The RNAi-SlGME1 plants harbored small and poorly seeded fruits resulting from alterations of pollen development and of pollination process. In contrast, the RNAi-SlGME2 plants exhibited vegetative growth delay while fruits remained unaffected. Analysis of SlGME1- and SlGME2-silenced seeds and seedlings further showed that the dimerization state of pectin rhamnogalacturonan-II (RG-II) was altered only in the RNAi-SlGME2 lines. Taken together with the preferential expression of each SlGME gene in different tomato tissues, these results suggest sub-functionalization of SlGME1 and SlGME2 and their specialization for cell wall biosynthesis in specific tomato tissues. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

JPRS Report:. Soviet Union, Political Affairs

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

1990-01-01

...; REPUBLIC PARTY AND STATE AFFAIRS - Baltic Unity Efforts Assessed, Baltic Military District Loyal to USSR Law, Latvia Paramilitary Leader on Group's Role, Formation of Latvian Defense Units, Latvian...

Determining the causal relationships among entrepreneurship, educational attainment and per capita GDP in high-income OECD countries

OpenAIRE

Feyza BALAN; Seda OZEKICIOGLU; Cuneyt KILIC

2016-01-01

The entrepreneurship has been evaluated as playing a central role in explaining economic growth by many economists and policy makers. This role has recently been the subject of a growing literature. However, entrepreneurship literature generally has been focused on evaluating the effect of entrepreneurship on economic growth. This study will evaluate the causal relationships among women’s and men’s entrepreneurship, women’s and men’s educational attainment and per capita GDP in...

Long-term labour productivity and GDP projections for the EU25 Member States : a production function framework

OpenAIRE

Carone, Giuseppe; Denis, Cécile; Mc Morrow, Kieran; Mourre, Gilles; Röger, Werner

2006-01-01

This paper presents the results of long run labour productivity and GDP growth rate projections (until 2050) for each of the 25 EU Member States and provides a detailed overview of the forecast methodology used. These projections were undertaken in order to provide an internationally comparable macroeconomic framework against which to assess the potential economic and fiscal effects of ageing populations. The projections presented in this paper, using a common production function methodology ...

Long-term labour productivity and GDP projections for the EU25 Member States : a production function framework

OpenAIRE

Carone, Giuseppe; Denis, Cécile; Mc Morrow, Kieran; Mourre, Gilles; Röger, Werner

2006-01-01

This paper presents the results of long run labour productivity and GDP growth rate projections (until 2050) for each of the 25 EU Member States and provides a detailed overview of the forecast methodology used. These projections were undertaken in order to provide an internationally comparable macroeconomic framework against which to assess the potential economic and fiscal effects of ageing populations. The projections presented in this paper, using a common production function methodol...

The relationship between GDP and electricity consumption in 10 Asian countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, S.-T.; Kuo, H.-I; Chen, C.-C.

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study is to estimate the relationships between GDP and electricity consumption in 10 newly industrializing and developing Asian countries using both single data sets and panel data procedures. The empirical results from single data set indicate that the causality directions in the 10 Asian countries are mixed while there is a uni-directional short-run causality running from economic growth to electricity consumption and a bi-directional long-run causality between electricity consumption and economic growth if the panel data procedure is implemented. These empirical findings imply that electricity conservation policies through both rationalizing the electricity supply efficiency improvement to avoid the wastage of electricity and managing demand side to reduce the electricity consumption without affecting the end-user benefits could be initiated without adverse effect on economic growth. The findings on the long-run relationship indicate that a sufficiently large supply of electricity can ensure that a higher level of economic growth

Comparative study of microbiological, chemical and sensory properties of kefirs produced in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Science.gov (United States)

Anton, Dea; Raudsepp, Piret; Roasto, Mati; Meremäe, Kadrin; Kuusik, Sirje; Toomik, Peeter; Elias, Priit; Laikoja, Katrin; Kaart, Tanel; Lepiku, Martin; Püssa, Tõnu

2016-02-01

In the current study the microbiological, sensory and chemical properties of 24 kefirs (12 producers) from Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian retail market were determined using gas chromatography (GC), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-MS/MS-Q-TOF and LC-ion trap MS/MS), spectrophotometry and other methods. Antihypertensive, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibiting, antioxidant and antibacterial peptides were found in the kefir samples. According to the results of principal component analysis of 200 most abundant compounds obtained with HPLC-MS/MS-Q-TOF analysis, Estonian kefirs differed from the rest. Kefirs of Latvian and Lithuanian origin showed similarities in several characteristics, probably related to the starter cultures and technological processes. The fatty acids composition of all Baltic kefirs was uniform. The antioxidant capacity of the kefirs varied slightly, whereas intermediate positive correlation (r = 0.32, P kefirs. Only one third of analysed kefirs met the requirements of the minimum sum of viable microorganisms, indicated in the Codex Standard for Fermented Milks.

CO2 Emissions, Real GDP, Renewable Energy and Tourism: Evidence from Panel of the Most-Visited Countries

OpenAIRE

Eyüp Doğan

2017-01-01

Previous studies on the energy-environment-growth literature overlook the investigation of the most-visited countries. Since these countries do not only belong to the largest economies and the top carbon dioxide (CO2) emitters in the world but are also listed in renewable energy country attractiveness index, this study analyzes the impacts of real GDP, renewable energy and tourism on the level of CO2 emissions for the top 10 mostvisited countries. Applying several panel econometri...

Discovering the Impact of ICT, FDI and Human Capital on GDP: a Cross-sectional Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Domenico Campisi

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the impact that human capital, information and communication technology (ICT and foreign direct investment (FDI have on GDP. Crosssectional data from a set of 20 OECD and 24 non-OECD countries in 2007 are analysed employing data envelopment analysis (DEA and classification and regression tree (CART techniques. The paper illustrates that the level and quality of access to ICT infrastructures plays an important role in determining a country’s level of technical efficiency. The paper also indicates the presence of a catch-up process, led by technological innovation, on the part of emerging countries.

The GDP-switched GAF domain of DcpA modulates the concerted synthesis/hydrolysis of c-di-GMP in Mycobacterium smegmatis.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hui-Jie; Li, Na; Luo, Ye; Jiang, Yong-Liang; Zhou, Cong-Zhao; Chen, Yuxing; Li, Qiong

2018-04-09

The second messenger c-di-GMP [bis-(3'-5')-cyclic dimeric guanosine monophosphate] plays a key role in bacterial growth, survival and pathogenesis, and thus its intracellular homeostasis should be finely maintained. Mycobacterium smegmatis encodes a GAF (mammalian c G MP-regulated phosphodiesterases, Anabaena a denylyl cyclases and Escherichia coli transcription activator F hlA) domain containing bifunctional enzyme DcpA ( d iguanylate c yclase and p hosphodiesterase A ) that catalyzes the synthesis and hydrolysis of c-di-GMP . Here, we found that M. smegmatis DcpA catalyzes the hydrolysis of c-di-GMP at a higher velocity, compared with synthetic activity, resulting in a sum reaction from the ultimate substrate GTP to the final product pGpG [5'-phosphoguanylyl-(3'-5')-guanosine]. Fusion with the N-terminal GAF domain enables the GGDEF (Gly-Gly-Asp-Glu-Phe) domain of DcpA to dimerize and accordingly gain synthetic activity. Screening of putative metabolites revealed that GDP is the ligand of the GAF domain. Binding of GDP to the GAF domain down-regulates synthetic activity, but up-regulates hydrolytic activity, which, in consequence, might enable a timely response to the transient accumulation of c-di-GMP at the stationary phase or under stresses. Combined with the crystal structure of the EAL (Glu-Ala-Leu) domain and the small-angle X-ray scattering data, we propose a putative regulatory model of the GAF domain finely tuned by the intracellular GTP/GDP ratio. These findings help us to better understand the concerted control of the synthesis and hydrolysis of c-di-GMP in M. smegmatis in various microenvironments. © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

Hierarchical structure of the European countries based on debts as a percentage of GDP during the 2000-2011 period

Science.gov (United States)

Kantar, Ersin; Deviren, Bayram; Keskin, Mustafa

2014-11-01

We investigate hierarchical structures of the European countries by using debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the countries as they change over a certain period of time. We obtain the topological properties among the countries based on debt as a percentage of GDP of European countries over the period 2000-2011 by using the concept of hierarchical structure methods (minimal spanning tree, (MST) and hierarchical tree, (HT)). This period is also divided into two sub-periods related to 2004 enlargement of the European Union, namely 2000-2004 and 2005-2011, in order to test various time-window and observe the temporal evolution. The bootstrap techniques is applied to see a value of statistical reliability of the links of the MSTs and HTs. The clustering linkage procedure is also used to observe the cluster structure more clearly. From the structural topologies of these trees, we identify different clusters of countries according to their level of debts. Our results show that by the debt crisis, the less and most affected Eurozone’s economies are formed as a cluster with each other in the MSTs and hierarchical trees.

A conserved phenylalanine as a relay between the α5 helix and the GDP binding region of heterotrimeric Gi protein α subunit.

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Kaya, Ali I; Lokits, Alyssa D; Gilbert, James A; Iverson, Tina M; Meiler, Jens; Hamm, Heidi E

2014-08-29

G protein activation by G protein-coupled receptors is one of the critical steps for many cellular signal transduction pathways. Previously, we and other groups reported that the α5 helix in the G protein α subunit plays a major role during this activation process. However, the precise signaling pathway between the α5 helix and the guanosine diphosphate (GDP) binding pocket remains elusive. Here, using structural, biochemical, and computational techniques, we probed different residues around the α5 helix for their role in signaling. Our data showed that perturbing the Phe-336 residue disturbs hydrophobic interactions with the β2-β3 strands and α1 helix, leading to high basal nucleotide exchange. However, mutations in β strands β5 and β6 do not perturb G protein activation. We have highlighted critical residues that leverage Phe-336 as a relay. Conformational changes are transmitted starting from Phe-336 via β2-β3/α1 to Switch I and the phosphate binding loop, decreasing the stability of the GDP binding pocket and triggering nucleotide release. When the α1 and α5 helices were cross-linked, inhibiting the receptor-mediated displacement of the C-terminal α5 helix, mutation of Phe-336 still leads to high basal exchange rates. This suggests that unlike receptor-mediated activation, helix 5 rotation and translocation are not necessary for GDP release from the α subunit. Rather, destabilization of the backdoor region of the Gα subunit is sufficient for triggering the activation process. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Lenalidomide combined with R-GDP in a patient with refractory CD5-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: A promising response and review.

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Zhang, Yaping; Wang, Xinfeng; Liu, Yifei; Sun, Chunfeng; Shi, Wenyu; Huang, Hongming

2018-07-03

CD5-positive (CD5+) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is associated with poor survival compared with CD5-negative DLBCL. The clinical characteristics of CD5+ DLBCL are different from both CD5-negative DLBCL and other CD5+ B cell lymphomas. There is currently no promising chemotherapy for CD5+ DLBCL. Herein, we report a 49-year-old Asian male with refractory CD5+ DLBCL. He complained of aggravated abdominal pain and weight loss. Computed tomography scan revealed abdominal masses, widespread lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, and intussusception of the ileocecal junction with bowel wall thickening. Core needle aspiration biopsy of an abdominal mass was performed and immunohistochemistry revealed DLBCL of nongerminal center type. In this report, the dose-intensified R-Hyper CVAD (A) regimen as salvage therapy was introduced but failed to result in substantial improvement over the initially standard R-CHOP regimen. Next, the R-GDP regimen was administered as second-line treatment, but only resulted in a partial response. However, the addition of lenalidomide to R-GDP (R2-GDP) resulted in complete remission. The clinical features, pathogenesis, and possible mechanism of action of lenalidomide in CD5+ DLBCL have been described in the literature. The results of the present case report and literature searches indicate that CD5+ DLBCL may share a common pathway with activated B-cell like (ABC) DLBCL as determined by gene expression profiling. Lenalidomide is expected to induce favorable responses in patients with CD5+ DLBCL.

NMR 1H,13C, 15N backbone and 13C side chain resonance assignment of the G12C mutant of human K-Ras bound to GDP.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Alok K; Lee, Seung-Joo; Rigby, Alan C; Townson, Sharon A

2018-05-02

K-Ras is a key driver of oncogenesis, accounting for approximately 80% of Ras-driven human cancers. The small GTPase cycles between an inactive, GDP-bound and an active, GTP-bound state, regulated by guanine nucleotide exchange factors and GTPase activating proteins, respectively. Activated K-Ras regulates cell proliferation, differentiation and survival by signaling through several effector pathways, including Raf-MAPK. Oncogenic mutations that impair the GTPase activity of K-Ras result in a hyperactivated state, leading to uncontrolled cellular proliferation and tumorogenesis. A cysteine mutation at glycine 12 is commonly found in K-Ras associated cancers, and has become a recent focus for therapeutic intervention. We report here 1 H N, 15 N, and 13 C resonance assignments for the 19.3 kDa (aa 1-169) human K-Ras protein harboring an oncogenic G12C mutation in the GDP-bound form (K-RAS G12C-GDP ), using heteronuclear, multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. Backbone 1 H- 15 N correlations have been assigned for all non-proline residues, except for the first methionine residue.

Synthesis of a tritium labeled photolabile analogue of farnesyl diphosphate: (E,E)-[1-3H]-(2-diazo-3-trifluoropropionyloxy)geranyl diphosphate (DATFP-GDP)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, J.; Benedict, C.R.

1996-01-01

Tritiated (E,E)-(2-diazo-3-trifluoropropionyloxy)geranyl disphosphate (DATFP-GDP) has been used as a photolabile analogue of (E,E)-farnesyl diphosphate (E,E-FDP) for an aid in isolating enzymes utilizing E,E-FDP as a substrate. We now report an alternative method of synthesizing this probe in which the tritium label is introduced in the step just before the introduction of the diphospate group. Thus, DATFP-geranial is oxidized to DATFP-geranial with activated manganese dioxide. The tritium label is introduced by reduction of the aldehyde with NaBT 4 . The DATFP-group successfully withstands both of these steps. The overall yield for these two steps is 69%. Diphosphorylation of the resulting alcohol afforded DATFP-[1- 3 H]-GDP in 8% yield with a specific activity of 48.6 μCi/μmol and radiochemical purity of 94%. (Author)

Uzvārdi ar fizioģeogrāfiskas (paaugstināta reljefa semantikas etimonu

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pauls Balodis

2012-04-01

Full Text Available SURNAMES OF GEOGRAPHICAL(ELEVATED TERRAIN ORIGINSummaryThe focus of the study is on Latvian personal names, which are coined on the the basis of Latvian apellative lexis. Personal names coined from the lexemes of the respective language, i.e., unborrowed anthroponyms, were chosen for comparison (in the Estonian, Finnish, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian and German language.There are many surnames of geographical origin (530 or 19.6% of all surnames of Latvian origin in Latvian anthroponymic system and, according to their original meaning, they are very diverse: surnames, the etymon of which (a indicates elevated or lowered terrain; (b is connected to water courses and water bodies; (c other surnames.There are around 180 compound surnames with the second component -kalns ʻ-hill’ and 13 with the second component -kalniņš ʻ-small hill’ in the reverse dictionary of V. Staltmane’s monograph, e.g. Rožkalns (45, Brīvkalns (40, Zaļkalns (37.In most cases these surnames have originated from homestead names or other topo­nyms, but calquing is also possible. There are several examples that show clear parallels between Latvian and Finno-Ugric languages, whereas the respective surname is not re­corded in the modern German language system (e.g., Latv. Apškalns ‘hill of aspen trees’ – Est. Haavamägi (9, Haavamäe (11 – Finn. Haapamäki – German *Espenberg.There are several surnames of geographical origin recorded only in Latvian: Ābelskalns ‘apple-tree hill’ (3, Dzintarkalns ‘amber hill’ (1, etc.This semantic sub-group of geographical etymons is extensively represented in Finn­ish and Estonian surname system. There are many compound surnames, which do not have analogues in the Latvian language, among them – Etelämäki ‘south hill’, Tuisku­vaara ‘blizzard hill’.On the other hand, in German there are compound surnames with the second com­ponent -berg, which does not occur in Latvian, e.g. Brandberg ‘fire hill�

Phase 1 study of inotuzumab ozogamicin combined with R-GDP for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory CD22+ B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Sangha, Randeep; Davies, Andrew; Dang, Nam H; Ogura, Michinori; MacDonald, David A; Ananthakrishnan, Revathi; Paccagnella, M Luisa; Vandendries, Erik; Boni, Joseph; Goh, Yeow Tee

2017-01-01

Objective : To evaluate safety, tolerability, and preliminary activity of inotuzumab ozogamicin (InO) plus rituximab, gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin (R-GDP) in patients with relapsed/refractory CD22+ B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Methods : Patients received InO plus R-GDP (21-day cycle; six-cycle maximum) using up-and-down dose-escalation schema for gemcitabine and cisplatin to define the highest dosage regimen(s) with acceptable toxicity (Part 1; n  = 27). Part 2 ( n  = 10) confirmed safety and tolerability; Part 3 ( n  = 18) evaluated preliminary efficacy. Results: Among 55 patients enrolled, 42% were refractory at baseline (median 2 [range, 1-6] prior therapies); 38% had diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The highest dosage regimen with acceptable toxicity was InO 0.8 mg/m 2 , rituximab 375 mg/m 2 , cisplatin 50 mg/m 2 , gemcitabine 500 mg/m 2 (day 1 only) and dexamethasone 40 mg (days 1-4); this was confirmed in Part 2, in which three patients had dose-limiting toxicities (grade 4 thrombocytopenia [ n  = 2], febrile neutropenia [ n  = 2]). Most frequent treatment-related adverse events were thrombocytopenia (any grade, 85%; grade ≥3, 75%) and neutropenia (69%; 62%). Overall (objective) response rate (ORR) was 53% (11 complete, 18 partial responses); ORR was 71%, 33%, and 62% in patients with follicular lymphoma ( n  = 14), DLBCL ( n  = 21), and mantle cell lymphoma ( n  = 13), respectively. Conclusions: InO 0.8 mg/m 2 plus R-GDP was associated with manageable toxicity, although gemcitabine and cisplatin doses were lower than in the standard R-GDP regimen due to hematologic toxicity. Evidence of antitumor activity was observed; however, these exploratory data should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size and short follow-up duration (Clinicaltrials.gov number: NCT01055496).

Impacts of GDP, Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption, Energy Consumption Intensity, and Economic Structure on SO2 Emissions: A Multi-Variate Panel Data Model Analysis on Selected Chinese Provinces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haoran Zhao

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Atmospheric pollution gradually become a focus of concern all over the world owing to its detrimental influence on human health as well as long range impact on global ecosystem. This paper investigated the relationship among SO2 emissions, GDP, fossil fuel energy consumption, energy consumption intensity, and economic structure of five provinces in China with the highest SO2 emissions spanning from 2002–2015 based on panel data model. Through comparatively analyzing the coefficients in the established panel data model for Hebei, Henan, Inner Mongolia, Shandong, and Shanxi, we can obtain that: (1 fossil fuel energy consumption made the most devotion to SO2 discharge compared with GDP, energy consumption intensity, and economic structure. And the more the fossil fuel energy consumption, the more the devotion made by it to SO2 discharge. (2 GDP devoted less to SO2 emissions than fossil fuel energy consumption, and the larger the scale of the economy, the greater the contribution made by it to SO2 emissions. (3 The higher the proportion of the secondary industry added value accounted in GDP, the more the devotion made by the economic structure and energy consumption intensity to SO2 emissions. Through analyzing the Granger causality examination results, it can be concluded that: (1 there existed a bi-directional causal relationship between fossil fuel energy consumption and SO2 emissions among five selected provinces. (2 There existed uni-directional causal nexus running from GDP to SO2 emissions, from energy consumption intensity to SO2 emissions, and from economic structure to SO2 emissions among five chosen provinces. Based on the empirical analysis, several policy implications were proposed to provide references for policy makers, which were (1 Giving full play to the guiding role of price signals, and improving the price policy for desulfurization. (2 Formulating a new comprehensive evaluation system to measure the regional development level

Estimating Potential GDP for the Romanian Economy and Assessing the Sustainability of Economic Growth: A Multivariate Filter Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Armeanu

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In the current context of economic recovery and rebalancing, the necessity of modelling and estimating the potential output and output gap emerges in order to assess the quality and sustainability of economic growth, the monetary and fiscal policies, as well as the impact of business cycles. Despite the importance of potential GDP and the output gap, there are difficulties in reliably estimating them, as many of the models proposed in the economic literature are calibrated for developed economies and are based on complex macroeconomic relationships and a long history of robust data, while emerging economies exhibit high volatility. The object of this study is to develop a model in order to estimate the potential GDP and output gap and to assess the sustainability of projected growth using a multivariate filter approach. This trend estimation technique is the newest approach proposed by the economic literature and has gained wide acceptance with researchers and practitioners alike, while also being used by the IMF for Romania. The paper will be structured as follows. We first discuss the theoretical background of the model. The second section focuses on an analysis of the Romanian economy for the 1995–2013 time frame, while also providing a forecast for 2014–2017 and an assessment of the sustainability of Romania’s economic growth. The third section sums up the results and concludes.

Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli to produce 2'-fucosyllactose via salvage pathway of guanosine 5'-diphosphate (GDP)-l-fucose.

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Young-Wook; Seo, Nari; Kim, Jae-Han; Seo, Jin-Ho

2016-11-01

2'-Fucosyllactose (2-FL) is one of the key oligosaccharides in human milk. In the present study, the salvage guanosine 5'-diphosphate (GDP)-l-fucose biosynthetic pathway from fucose was employed in engineered Escherichia coli BL21star(DE3) for efficient production of 2-FL. Introduction of the fkp gene coding for fucokinase/GDP-l-fucose pyrophosphorylase (Fkp) from Bacteroides fragilis and the fucT2 gene encoding α-1,2-fucosyltransferase from Helicobacter pylori allows the engineered E. coli to produce 2-FL from fucose, lactose and glycerol. To enhance the lactose flux to 2-FL production, the attenuated, and deleted mutants of β-galactosidase were employed. Moreover, the 2-FL yield and productivity were further improved by deletion of the fucI-fucK gene cluster coding for fucose isomerase (FucI) and fuculose kinase (FucK). Finally, fed-batch fermentation of engineered E. coli BL21star(DE3) deleting lacZ and fucI-fucK, and expressing fkp and fucT2 resulted in 23.1 g/L of extracellular concentration of 2-FL and 0.39 g/L/h productivity. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 2443-2452. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

"Mama" and "Papa" in Child Language

Science.gov (United States)

Ruke-Dravina, Velta

1976-01-01

This case study of two Latvian children attempts to show how the parental terms for"mummy" and "daddy" in Latvian are acquired, paying particular attention to the changing relationship between the input and output forms during the acquisition process. (Author/RM)

Relative sea-level rise and the conterminous United States : Consequences of potential land inundation in terms of population at risk and GDP loss

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haer, Toon; Kalnay, Eugenia; Kearney, Michael; Moll, Henk

2013-01-01

Global sea-level rise poses a significant threat not only for coastal communities as development continues but also for national economies. This paper presents estimates of how future changes in relative sea-level rise puts coastal populations at risk, as well as affect overall GDP in the

The power vacuum: the effect of the electricity power crisis on GDP in South Africa in the context of an uncertain coal supply.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sorensen, P. [Freyaafdrammen (South Africa)

2011-07-01

In 1988 the South African government released a white paper advocating an increased electricity supply to meet social obligations. Large sectors of the rural population in South Africa were not electrified. The National Electrification Program (NEP) was launched in 1994 to wipe out the electrification backlog by 2012. The target of the first phase of NEP was achieved. By 2003, a basic 50kWh electricity per month was supplied free of charge, due to the poverty of the population. In 1996, the GEAR (Growth, Employment and Redistribution) strategy was introduced to generate 6% GDP growth, create 400,000 new jobs each year and increase foreign investment. But the race for GDP growth could result in high electricity consumption and frequent interruptions, particularly in energy-intensive industries which had been introduced in South Africa. The national coal production rate has been reached and surpassed its peak, leading to the end of the cheap coal era in South Africa but more expensive coal could slow down industrial development.

A Sustainable Energy System in Latvia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Lotte Holmberg

2002-01-01

This paper presents some of the problems in the Latvian energy system, the Latvian economy and how a sustainable restructuring of the energy system with renewable energy, co-generation and the production of energy technology can help solve some of the problems....

Analysis of European Union Economy in Terms of GDP Components

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simona VINEREAN

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The impact of the crises on national economies represented a subject of analysis and interest for a wide variety of research studies. Thus, starting from the GDP composition, the present research exhibits an analysis of the impact of European economies, at an EU level, of the events that followed the crisis of 2007 – 2008. Firstly, the research highlighted the existence of two groups of countries in 2012 in European Union, namely segments that were compiled in relation to the structure of the GDP’s components. In the second stage of the research, a factor analysis was performed on the resulted segments, that showed that the economies of cluster A are based more on personal consumption compared to the economies of cluster B, and in terms of government consumption, the situation is reversed. Thus, between the two groups of countries, a different approach regarding the role of fiscal policy in the economy can be noted, with a greater emphasis on savings in cluster B. Moreover, besides the two groups of countries resulted, Ireland and Luxembourg stood out because these two countries did not fit in either of the resulted segments and their economies are based, to a large extent, on the positive balance of the external balance.

Recurrent De Novo Mutations Disturbing the GTP/GDP Binding Pocket of RAB11B Cause Intellectual Disability and a Distinctive Brain Phenotype.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamers, Ideke J C; Reijnders, Margot R F; Venselaar, Hanka; Kraus, Alison; Jansen, Sandra; de Vries, Bert B A; Houge, Gunnar; Gradek, Gyri Aasland; Seo, Jieun; Choi, Murim; Chae, Jong-Hee; van der Burgt, Ineke; Pfundt, Rolph; Letteboer, Stef J F; van Beersum, Sylvia E C; Dusseljee, Simone; Brunner, Han G; Doherty, Dan; Kleefstra, Tjitske; Roepman, Ronald

2017-11-02

The Rab GTPase family comprises ∼70 GTP-binding proteins, functioning in vesicle formation, transport and fusion. They are activated by a conformational change induced by GTP-binding, allowing interactions with downstream effectors. Here, we report five individuals with two recurrent de novo missense mutations in RAB11B; c.64G>A; p.Val22Met in three individuals and c.202G>A; p.Ala68Thr in two individuals. An overlapping neurodevelopmental phenotype, including severe intellectual disability with absent speech, epilepsy, and hypotonia was observed in all affected individuals. Additionally, visual problems, musculoskeletal abnormalities, and microcephaly were present in the majority of cases. Re-evaluation of brain MRI images of four individuals showed a shared distinct brain phenotype, consisting of abnormal white matter (severely decreased volume and abnormal signal), thin corpus callosum, cerebellar vermis hypoplasia, optic nerve hypoplasia and mild ventriculomegaly. To compare the effects of both variants with known inactive GDP- and active GTP-bound RAB11B mutants, we modeled the variants on the three-dimensional protein structure and performed subcellular localization studies. We predicted that both variants alter the GTP/GDP binding pocket and show that they both have localization patterns similar to inactive RAB11B. Evaluation of their influence on the affinity of RAB11B to a series of binary interactors, both effectors and guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs), showed induction of RAB11B binding to the GEF SH3BP5, again similar to inactive RAB11B. In conclusion, we report two recurrent dominant mutations in RAB11B leading to a neurodevelopmental syndrome, likely caused by altered GDP/GTP binding that inactivate the protein and induce GEF binding and protein mislocalization. Copyright © 2017 American Society of Human Genetics. All rights reserved.

Analysis of renewable and nonrenewable energy consumption, real GDP and CO2 emissions: A structural VAR approach in Romania

OpenAIRE

Shahbaz, Muhammad; Zeshan, Muhammad; Tiwari, Aviral Kumar

2011-01-01

Impulse responses of our structural VAR portray a positive correlation between the real GDP of Romania and energy consumption. The present study employs the annual data covering the period 1980-2008, and brings to light the factors playing important role in satisfying the energy requirements, its economic and social implications. Any short-run rise in energy requirements is contented with the help of nonrenewable energy consumption, for renewable energy is not so common in Romania. In additio...

Russian Capital in Latvia: Trends and Perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N A Volgina

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article deals the issue of the positions of Russian capital in Latvian market. The paper aims to estimate the volume and dynamics of Russian capital inflows into Latvia in compliance with Russian economic interests; to identify key sectors of Latvian economy that Russian capital is interested to invest in; to systemize information concerning Russian firms investing in Latvia; to assess the role of Russian capital in Latvian economy in comparison with other foreign investors; to propose author’s view on challenges and perspectives of Latvian-Russian investment cooperation in the situation of economic sanctions and geo-political conflict in east Ukraine. The author underlines that at the end of 2013, investments of Russian business to Latvia constituted about 5.0% of the total FDI stock and by that time Russia was the 7th largest investor with 0.5 bln euro of capital invested. The main sectors of Russian interests in Latvia are - gas supply, transport communications (transit corridors, banking and real estate. The article concludes that though the future of Russian-Latvian economic relations in the short-run is on a substantial pressure of geopolitical factors, the economic interests in mutual investment relations will prevail in the long-run perspectives.

Direct evidence for GTP and GDP-Pi intermediates in microtubule assembly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melki, R.; Carlier, M.F.; Pantaloni, D.

1990-01-01

Identification of the kinetic intermediates in GTP hydrolysis on microtubules and characterization of their assembly properties is essential in understanding microtubule dynamics. By using an improved glass filter assay that selectively traps microtubules with a dead time of 2 s and monitoring taxol-induced rapid assembly of microtubules from [γ- 32 P, 3 H]GTP-tubulin 1:1 complex, direct evidence has been obtained for GTP- and GDP-P i -microtubule transient states in the early stages of the polymerization process. A simple kinetic analysis of GTP hydrolysis on microtubules within two sequential pseudo-first-order processes led to apparent first-order rate constants of 0.065 s -1 for the cleavage of the γ-phosphate and 0.02 s -1 for the liberation of P i , assuming a simple random model. Apparent rate constants for GTP hydrolysis and P i release were independent of the composition of the buffer used to polymerize tubulin. The significance of these values with respect to those derived from previous studies from this and other laboratories and the possibility of a vectorial model for GTP hydrolysis are discussed

GDP-L-fucose: {beta}-D-galactoside 2-{alpha}-Lfucosyltransferases, DNA sequences encoding the same, method for producing the same and a method of genotyping a person

Science.gov (United States)

Lowe, J.B.; Lennon, G.; Rouquier, S.; Giorgi, D.; Kelly, R.J.

1998-09-15

The gene encoding GDP-L-fucose: {beta}-D-Galactoside 2-{alpha}-Lfucosyltransferase has been cloned, and a mutation in this gene has been found to be responsible for an individual being a non-secretor. 30 figs.

Developing Green GDP Accounting for Thai Agricultural Sector Using the Economic Input Output - Life Cycle Assessment to Assess Green Growth

OpenAIRE

Attavanich, Witsanu; Mungkung, Rattanawan; Mahathanaseth, Itthipong; Sanglestsawai, Santi; Jirajari, Athiwatr

2016-01-01

There is no indicator measuring Thailand’s green growth by valuing the resource degradation and environmental damage costs. This article aims to estimate Thailand’s green gross domestic (GDP) that takes into account environmental damage costs with the detailed analysis on the agricultural sector using the Economic Input Output - Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) approach. The representative product in each sector was selected based on the available life cycle inventory data, economic values and...

Biosynthesis of the fungal cell wall polysaccharide galactomannan requires intraluminal GDP-mannose.

Science.gov (United States)

Engel, Jakob; Schmalhorst, Philipp S; Routier, Françoise H

2012-12-28

Fungal cell walls frequently contain a polymer of mannose and galactose called galactomannan. In the pathogenic filamentous fungus Aspergillus fumigatus, this polysaccharide is made of a linear mannan backbone with side chains of galactofuran and is anchored to the plasma membrane via a glycosylphosphatidylinositol or is covalently linked to the cell wall. To date, the biosynthesis and significance of this polysaccharide are unknown. The present data demonstrate that deletion of the Golgi UDP-galactofuranose transporter GlfB or the GDP-mannose transporter GmtA leads to the absence of galactofuran or galactomannan, respectively. This indicates that the biosynthesis of galactomannan probably occurs in the lumen of the Golgi apparatus and thus contrasts with the biosynthesis of other fungal cell wall polysaccharides studied to date that takes place at the plasma membrane. Transglycosylation of galactomannan from the membrane to the cell wall is hypothesized because both the cell wall-bound and membrane-bound polysaccharide forms are affected in the generated mutants. Considering the severe growth defect of the A. fumigatus GmtA-deficient mutant, proving this paradigm might provide new targets for antifungal therapy.

Account for sector heterogeneity in China's energy consumption. Sector price indices vs. GDP deflator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, Chunbo

2010-01-01

A common practice in decomposition analyses is to deflate output indicators to purge the impact of inflation by using a general deflator. This practice fails to account for sector heterogeneity and can be hazardous. Although the general identified patterns are largely correct, the calculated magnitudes can be misleading or even wrongly signed. Instead, it is strongly recommended that sector heterogeneity is accounted for by using individual sector price indices for all relevant sectors instead of one general (GDP) deflator. This paper analyzes this advanced decomposition using Chinese data and compares to the usual method of using only one deflator. It is found that while most differences are only of quantitative quality, some show even a qualitative difference. Furthermore, the rising energy intensity in the early 2000s, which has been discussed by previous studies, vanishes completely. (author)

Electric power consumption and GDP in Brazil: a cointegration analysis; Consumo de energia eletrica e PIB no Brasil: uma analise de cointegracao

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva, Bruno Goncalves da; Parente, Virginia [Universidade de Sao Paulo (IEE/USP), SP (Brazil). Inst. de Eletrotecnica e Energia], emails: brunosilva@usp.br, vparente@iee.usp.br

2010-07-01

There are many studies aimed at estimating the long-run relationship between GDP and energy. The main objective of this paper is to analyze this relationship for Brazil, taking as a starting point to other studies already done with cointegration methodology to other countries of the world, in order to determine how the Brazilian domestic product is related to energy consumption country.

GDP-L-fucose: .beta.-D-galactoside 2-.alpha.-L-fucosyltransferases, DNA sequences encoding the same, method for producing the same and a method of genotyping a person

Science.gov (United States)

Lowe, John B.; Lennon, Gregory; Rouquier, Sylvie; Giorgi, Dominique; Kelly, Robert J.

1998-01-01

The gene encoding GDP-L-fucose: .beta.-D-Galactoside 2-.alpha.-L-fucosyltransferase has been cloned, and a mutation in this gene has been found to be responsible for an individual being a non-secretor.

Energy intensity: a new look

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khatib, H.

1995-01-01

Energy intensity is compared among different countries by dividing their energy use by their gross domestic product (GDP) in dollar terms. GDP (US$), being a varying monetary value, will have different meaning in different countries because of the varying means of converting it into dollars. Therefore distorted results of energy intensity are obtained. The newly devised concept of presenting GDP in terms of purchasing power parity in dollars (US PPP) goes a long way to solving this distortion. It also allows the energy intensity of developing countries to be presented in a more favourable way. (author)

DSM energy saving pilot project report. Furniture Plant Teika, Riga, Latvia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ananevski, V.; Kalejs, M.; Hercogs, J.; Blumbergs, U.

1995-07-01

The purpose of this pilot project was to carry out energy audit into the furniture plant TEIKA and energy saving measures. Another aim was to transfer the Danish know how and experience obtained through the Danish effort in Latvian industries consumers. Therefore great attention is paid to energy mapping in order to show possibilities of the Danish methodisms. This report is a part of the Joint Latvian - Danish Project Demand Side Management and Energy Saving. It is a results of collaborative efforts between a Latvian team, consisting of the specialists from Latvenergo and on the other hand a Danish team, which was represented by the Danish Power Consult company NESA. (EG)

Biosynthesis of the Common Polysaccharide Antigen of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1: Characterization and Role of GDP-D-Rhamnose:GlcNAc/GalNAc-Diphosphate-Lipid α1,3-D-Rhamnosyltransferase WbpZ.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shuo; Hao, Youai; Lam, Joseph S; Vlahakis, Jason Z; Szarek, Walter A; Vinnikova, Anna; Veselovsky, Vladimir V; Brockhausen, Inka

2015-06-15

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces two major cell surface lipopolysaccharides, characterized by distinct O antigens, called common polysaccharide antigen (CPA) and O-specific antigen (OSA). CPA contains a polymer of D-rhamnose (D-Rha) in α1-2 and α1-3 linkages. Three putative glycosyltransferase genes, wbpX, wbpY, and wbpZ, are part of the CPA biosynthesis cluster. To characterize the enzymatic function of the wbpZ gene product, we chemically synthesized the donor substrate GDP-D-Rha and enzymatically synthesized GDP-D-[(3)H]Rha. Using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, we showed that WbpZ transferred one D-Rha residue from GDP-D-Rha in α1-3 linkage to both GlcNAc- and GalNAc-diphosphate-lipid acceptor substrates. WbpZ is also capable of transferring D-mannose (D-Man) to these acceptors. Therefore, WbpZ has a relaxed specificity with respect to both acceptor and donor substrates. The diphosphate group of the acceptor, however, is required for activity. WbpZ does not require divalent metal ion for activity and exhibits an unusually high pH optimum of 9. WbpZ from PAO1 is therefore a GDP-D-Rha:GlcNAc/GalNAc-diphosphate-lipid α1,3-D-rhamnosyltransferase that has significant activity of GDP-D-Man:GlcNAc/GalNAc-diphosphate-lipid α1,3-D-mannosyltransferase. We used site-directed mutagenesis to replace the Asp residues of the two DXD motifs with Ala. Neither of the mutant constructs of wbpZ (D172A or D254A) could be used to rescue CPA biosynthesis in the ΔwbpZ knockout mutant in a complementation assay. This suggested that D172 and D254 are essential for WbpZ function. This work is the first detailed characterization study of a D-Rha-transferase and a critical step in the development of CPA synthesis inhibitors. This is the first characterization of a D-rhamnosyltransferase and shows that it is essential in Pseudomonas aeruginosa for the synthesis of the common polysaccharide antigen. Copyright © 2015, American Society for

Deciphering the sugar biosynthetic pathway and tailoring steps of nucleoside antibiotic A201A unveils a GDP-l-galactose mutase.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Qinghua; Chen, Qi; Song, Yongxiang; Huang, Hongbo; Li, Jun; Ma, Junying; Li, Qinglian; Ju, Jianhua

2017-05-09

Galactose, a monosaccharide capable of assuming two possible configurational isomers (d-/l-), can exist as a six-membered ring, galactopyranose (Gal p ), or as a five-membered ring, galactofuranose (Gal f ). UDP-galactopyranose mutase (UGM) mediates the conversion of pyranose to furanose thereby providing a precursor for d-Gal f Moreover, UGM is critical to the virulence of numerous eukaryotic and prokaryotic human pathogens and thus represents an excellent antimicrobial drug target. However, the biosynthetic mechanism and relevant enzymes that drive l-Gal f production have not yet been characterized. Herein we report that efforts to decipher the sugar biosynthetic pathway and tailoring steps en route to nucleoside antibiotic A201A led to the discovery of a GDP-l-galactose mutase, MtdL. Systematic inactivation of 18 of the 33 biosynthetic genes in the A201A cluster and elucidation of 10 congeners, coupled with feeding and in vitro biochemical experiments, enabled us to: ( i ) decipher the unique enzyme, GDP-l-galactose mutase associated with production of two unique d-mannose-derived sugars, and ( ii ) assign two glycosyltransferases, four methyltransferases, and one desaturase that regiospecifically tailor the A201A scaffold and display relaxed substrate specificities. Taken together, these data provide important insight into the origin of l-Gal f -containing natural product biosynthetic pathways with likely ramifications in other organisms and possible antimicrobial drug targeting strategies.

The Energy-GDP Nexus. Addressing an old question with new methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coers, R.J.; Sanders, M.

2012-01-15

This paper reassesses the causal relationship between per capita energy use and gross domestic product, while controlling for capital and labour (productivity) inputs in a panel of 30 OECD countries over the past 40 years. The paper uses panel unit root and cointegration testing and specifies an appropriate vector error correction model to analyse the nexus between income and energy use. In doing so we contribute to an old debate using modern tools that shed a new light. There is some evidence that over the short-run bidirectional causality exists. Our results also show a strong unidirectional causality running from capital formation and GDP to energy usage. In the long run the reverse causality, found in recent work, is lost. We then show that we can reproduce these earlier results in our data if we reproduce a slightly misspecified model for the Engle-Granger two-step procedure used in these earlier papers. Our findings thus imply that results are very sensitive to model misspecification and careful testing of specifications is required. Our results have some strong policy implications. They suggest that policies aimed at reducing energy usage or promoting energy efficiency are not likely to have a detrimental effect on economic growth, except over the very short run.

Family-wide characterization of the DENN domain Rab GDP-GTP exchange factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshimura, Shin-ichiro; Gerondopoulos, Andreas; Linford, Andrea; Rigden, Daniel J; Barr, Francis A

2010-10-18

A key requirement for Rab function in membrane trafficking is site-specific activation by GDP-GTP exchange factors (GEFs), but the majority of the 63 human Rabs have no known GEF. We have performed a systematic characterization of the 17 human DENN domain proteins and demonstrated that they are specific GEFs for 10 Rabs. DENND1A/1B localize to clathrin patches at the plasma membrane and activate Rab35 in an endocytic pathway trafficking Shiga toxin to the trans-Golgi network. DENND2 GEFs target to actin filaments and control Rab9-dependent trafficking of mannose-6-phosphate receptor to lysosomes. DENND4 GEFs target to a tubular membrane compartment adjacent to the Golgi, where they activate Rab10, which suggests a function in basolateral polarized sorting in epithelial cells that compliments the non-DENN GEF Sec2 acting on Rab8 in apical sorting. DENND1C, DENND3, DENND5A/5B, MTMR5/13, and MADD activate Rab13, Rab12, Rab39, Rab28, and Rab27A/27B, respectively. Together, these findings provide a basis for future studies on Rab regulation and function.

The causality relationship between energy consumption and GDP in G-11 countries revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, C.-C.

2006-01-01

This paper explores whether energy conservation policies can be implemented in countries with the same level of development. That is, is restraining energy consumption without compromising economic growth feasible in all industrialized countries? A new Granger non-causality testing procedure developed by Toda and Yamamoto [1995, Journal of Econometrics 66, 225-250] is applied to re-investigate the relationship, if any, between energy consumption and income in 11 major industrialized countries. The results clearly do not support the view that energy consumption and income are neutral with respect to each other, except in the case of the United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden where a neutral relationship is found. Bi-directional causality in the United States and uni-directional running from energy consumption to GDP in Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland are found. This indicates that energy conservation may hinder economic growth in the latter five countries. Further, the causality relationship appears to be uni-directional but reversed for France, Italy and Japan which implies that, in these three countries, energy conservation may be viable without being detrimental to economic growth

A sodium gadolinium phosphate with two different types of tunnel structure: Synthesis, crystal structure, and optical properties of Na3GdP2O8

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fang, M.; Cheng, W.-D.; Zhang, H.; Zhao, D.; Zhang, W.-L.; Yang, S.-L.

2008-01-01

A sodium gadolinium phosphate crystal, Na 3 GdP 2 O 8 , has been synthesized by a high-temperature solution reaction, and it exhibits a new structural family of the alkali-metal-rare-earth phosphate system. Although many compounds with formula M 3 LnP 2 O 8 have been reported, but they were shown to be orthorhombic [R. Salmon, C. Parent, M. Vlasse, G. LeFlem, Mater. Res. Bull. 13 (1978) 439] rather than monoclinic as shown in this paper. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis shows the structure to be monoclinic with space group C2/c and the cell parameters: a=27.55 (25), b=5.312 (4), c=13.935(11) A, β=91.30(1) o , and V=2038.80 A 3 , Z=4. Its structure features a three-dimensional GdP 2 O 8 3- anionic framework with two different types of interesting tunnels at where Na atoms are located by different manners. The framework is constructed by Gd polyhedra and isolated PO 4 tetrahedra. It is different from the structure of K 3 NdP 2 O 8 [R. Salmon, C. Parent, M. Vlasse, G. LeFlem, Mater. Res. Bull. 13 (1978) 439] with space group P2 1 /m that shows only one type of tunnel. The emission spectrum and the absorption spectrum of the compound have been investigated. Additionally, the calculations of band structure, density of states, dielectric constants, and refractive indexes have been also performed with the density functional theory method. The obtained results tend to support the experimental data. - Graphical abstract: Projection of the structure of Na 3 GdP 2 O 8 with a unit cell edge along the b-axis. The Na-O bonds are omitted for clarity

Energy metrics for driving competitiveness of countries: Energy weakness magnitude, GDP per barrel and barrels per capita

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coccia, Mario

2010-01-01

Energy metrics is the development of a whole new theoretical framework for the conception and measurement of energy and economic system performances, energy efficiency and productivity improvements with important political economy implications consistent with the best use of all natural and economic resources. The purpose of this research is to present some vital energy indicators based on magnitude and scale of energy weakness, GDP per barrel of oil that is an indicator of energy productivity and barrels (of oil) per capita that is an indicator of energy efficiency. Energy metrics can support the monitoring of energy and economic system performances in order to design effective energy strategy and political economy interventions focused on the 'competitive advantage' increase of countries in modern economies.

National income inequality and declining GDP growth rates are associated with increases in HIV diagnoses among people who inject drugs in Europe: a panel data analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolopoulos, Georgios K; Fotiou, Anastasios; Kanavou, Eleftheria; Richardson, Clive; Detsis, Marios; Pharris, Anastasia; Suk, Jonathan E; Semenza, Jan C; Costa-Storti, Claudia; Paraskevis, Dimitrios; Sypsa, Vana; Malliori, Melpomeni-Minerva; Friedman, Samuel R; Hatzakis, Angelos

2015-01-01

There is sparse evidence that demonstrates the association between macro-environmental processes and drug-related HIV epidemics. The present study explores the relationship between economic, socio-economic, policy and structural indicators, and increases in reported HIV infections among people who inject drugs (PWID) in the European Economic Area (EEA). We used panel data (2003-2012) for 30 EEA countries. Statistical analyses included logistic regression models. The dependent variable was taking value 1 if there was an outbreak (significant increase in the national rate of HIV diagnoses in PWID) and 0 otherwise. Explanatory variables included the growth rate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the share of the population that is at risk for poverty, the unemployment rate, the Eurostat S80/S20 ratio, the Gini coefficient, the per capita government expenditure on health and social protection, and variables on drug control policy and drug-using population sizes. Lags of one to three years were investigated. In multivariable analyses, using two-year lagged values, we found that a 1% increase of GDP was associated with approximately 30% reduction in the odds of an HIV outbreak. In GDP-adjusted analyses with three-year lagged values, the effect of the national income inequality on the likelihood of an HIV outbreak was significant [S80/S20 Odds Ratio (OR) = 3.89; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.15 to 13.13]. Generally, the multivariable analyses produced similar results across three time lags tested. Given the limitations of ecological research, we found that declining economic growth and increasing national income inequality were associated with an elevated probability of a large increase in the number of HIV diagnoses among PWID in EEA countries during the last decade. HIV prevention may be more effective if developed within national and European-level policy contexts that promote income equality, especially among vulnerable groups.

National income inequality and declining GDP growth rates are associated with increases in HIV diagnoses among people who inject drugs in Europe: a panel data analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Georgios K Nikolopoulos

Full Text Available There is sparse evidence that demonstrates the association between macro-environmental processes and drug-related HIV epidemics. The present study explores the relationship between economic, socio-economic, policy and structural indicators, and increases in reported HIV infections among people who inject drugs (PWID in the European Economic Area (EEA.We used panel data (2003-2012 for 30 EEA countries. Statistical analyses included logistic regression models. The dependent variable was taking value 1 if there was an outbreak (significant increase in the national rate of HIV diagnoses in PWID and 0 otherwise. Explanatory variables included the growth rate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP, the share of the population that is at risk for poverty, the unemployment rate, the Eurostat S80/S20 ratio, the Gini coefficient, the per capita government expenditure on health and social protection, and variables on drug control policy and drug-using population sizes. Lags of one to three years were investigated.In multivariable analyses, using two-year lagged values, we found that a 1% increase of GDP was associated with approximately 30% reduction in the odds of an HIV outbreak. In GDP-adjusted analyses with three-year lagged values, the effect of the national income inequality on the likelihood of an HIV outbreak was significant [S80/S20 Odds Ratio (OR = 3.89; 95% Confidence Interval (CI: 1.15 to 13.13]. Generally, the multivariable analyses produced similar results across three time lags tested.Given the limitations of ecological research, we found that declining economic growth and increasing national income inequality were associated with an elevated probability of a large increase in the number of HIV diagnoses among PWID in EEA countries during the last decade. HIV prevention may be more effective if developed within national and European-level policy contexts that promote income equality, especially among vulnerable groups.

Review of Data Preprocessing Methods for Sign Language Recognition Systems based on Artificial Neural Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zorins Aleksejs

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article presents an introductory analysis of relevant research topic for Latvian deaf society, which is the development of the Latvian Sign Language Recognition System. More specifically the data preprocessing methods are discussed in the paper and several approaches are shown with a focus on systems based on artificial neural networks, which are one of the most successful solutions for sign language recognition task.

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy followed by GDP chemotherapy for newly diagnosed stage I/II extranodal natural killer/T cell lymphoma, nasal type.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yu; Yang, Jianliang; Liu, Peng; Zhou, Shengyu; Gui, Lin; He, Xiaohui; Qin, Yan; Zhang, Changgong; Yang, Sheng; Xing, Puyuan; Sun, Yan; Shi, Yuankai

2017-09-01

Extranodal natural killer (NK)/T cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKTL) is an aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma and the majority of ENKTL cases are diagnosed at the localized stage. Radiotherapy in combination with chemotherapy has been used for localized ENKTL, but the optimal combination treatment modality and the best first-line chemotherapy regimen have not been defined. In this retrospective study, 44 patients with newly diagnosed, stages I/II ENKTL were enrolled and received intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT, 50-56 Gy) followed by GDP (gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin) chemotherapy. The median number of chemotherapy cycles per patient was 4 (range, 2-6 cycles). At the end of treatment, the overall response rate was 95% (42/44), including 39 patients (89%) who attained complete response. Two patients developed systemic progression after IMRT. With a median follow-up of 37.5 months, the 3-year overall survival (OS) rate and progression-free survival (PFS) rate were 85% (95% CI, 74 to 96%) and 77% (95% CI, 64 to 91%), respectively. Locoregional and systemic failure rates for this treatment were 9% (4/44) and 14% (6/44), respectively. The most common grades 3 to 4 adverse events included leukopenia (37%), neutropenia (34%), and mucositis (25%). No treatment-related deaths were observed. This study suggested high efficacy and low toxicity of IMRT followed by GDP regimen chemotherapy for newly diagnosed stage I/II ENKTL patients. These results require further investigation in prospective trials.

Impact of GDP, spending on R&D, the number of universities and scientific journals on research publications in environmental sciences in the Middle East

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sultan Ayoub Meo

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Objectives: This study aimed to assess the impact of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP, spending on Research and Development (R&D, the number of universities and scientific journals on the published research documents, citable documents, citations per document and H-index in environmental sciences in the Middle East countries. Materials and Methods: All the 16 Middle East countries were included in the study. Information regarding the GDP, spending on R&D, the total number of universities and indexed journals was collected. Total number of research documents (papers, citable documents, citations per document and H-index in environmental sciences during the period 1996-2011 was recorded. The study used the World Bank, SCI-mago/Scopus, Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports (Thomson Reuters as the main sources of information. Results: The mean GDP per capita of all the Middle East countries amounted to 18 125.49±5386.28 US$, spending on R&D was 0.63±0.28 US$, the number of universities equaled 36.56±11.33 and mean ISI indexed journals amounted to 8.25±3.93. The mean number of research documents published in environmental sciences in the Middle East countries during the period 1996-2011 was 2202.12±883.98; citable documents: 2156.87±865.09; citations per document: 8.74±0.73; and the H-index: 35.37±6.17. There was a positive correlation between the money spent on R&D and citations per documents (r = 0.6, p = 0.01, H-Index (r = 0.6, p = 0.01; the number of universities and a total of research documents (r = 0.65, p = 0.006, citable documents (r = 0.65, p = 0.006, H-Index (r = 0.50, p = 0.04, as well as ISI indexed journals and total research documents (r = 0.94, p = 0.0001, citable documents (r = 0.94, p = 0.0001, H-Index (r = 0.73, p = 0.001. Conclusions: The Middle East countries which spend more on R&D and which have a large number of universities and ISI indexed journals are likely to produce more significant volume of research papers in

Impact of GDP, spending on R&D, the number of universities and scientific journals on research publications in environmental sciences in the Middle East.

Science.gov (United States)

Meo, Sultan Ayoub; Al Masri, Abeer A; Usmani, Adnan Mahmood; Halepoto, Dost Muhammad

2013-10-01

This study aimed to assess the impact of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), spending on Research and Development (R&D), the number of universities and scientific journals on the published research documents, citable documents, citations per document and H-index in environmental sciences in the Middle East countries. All the 16 Middle East countries were included in the study. Information regarding the GDP, spending on R&D, the total number of universities and indexed journals was collected. Total number of research documents (papers), citable documents, citations per document and H-index in environmental sciences during the period 1996-2011 was recorded. The study used the World Bank, SCI-mago/Scopus, Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports (Thomson Reuters) as the main sources of information. The mean GDP per capita of all the Middle East countries amounted to 18 125.49±5386.28 US$, spending on R&D was 0.63±0.28 US$, the number of universities equaled 36.56±11.33 and mean ISI indexed journals amounted to 8.25±3.93. The mean number of research documents published in environmental sciences in the Middle East countries during the period 1996-2011 was 2202.12±883.98; citable documents: 2156.87±865.09; citations per document: 8.74±0.73; and the H-index: 35.37±6.17. There was a positive correlation between the money spent on R&D and citations per documents (r = 0.6, p = 0.01), H-Index (r = 0.6, p = 0.01); the number of universities and a total of research documents (r = 0.65, p = 0.006), citable documents (r = 0.65, p = 0.006), H-Index (r = 0.50, p = 0.04), as well as ISI indexed journals and total research documents (r = 0.94, p = 0.0001), citable documents (r = 0.94, p = 0.0001), H-Index (r = 0.73, p = 0.001). The Middle East countries which spend more on R&D and which have a large number of universities and ISI indexed journals are likely to produce more significant volume of research papers in the field of environmental science.

Visualization of time series statistical data by shape analysis (GDP ratio changes among Asia countries)

Science.gov (United States)

Shirota, Yukari; Hashimoto, Takako; Fitri Sari, Riri

2018-03-01

It has been very significant to visualize time series big data. In the paper we shall discuss a new analysis method called “statistical shape analysis” or “geometry driven statistics” on time series statistical data in economics. In the paper, we analyse the agriculture, value added and industry, value added (percentage of GDP) changes from 2000 to 2010 in Asia. We handle the data as a set of landmarks on a two-dimensional image to see the deformation using the principal components. The point of the analysis method is the principal components of the given formation which are eigenvectors of its bending energy matrix. The local deformation can be expressed as the set of non-Affine transformations. The transformations give us information about the local differences between in 2000 and in 2010. Because the non-Affine transformation can be decomposed into a set of partial warps, we present the partial warps visually. The statistical shape analysis is widely used in biology but, in economics, no application can be found. In the paper, we investigate its potential to analyse the economic data.

Artistic Alliances and Revolutionary Rivalries in the Baltic Art World, 1890-1914

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Bart Pushaw

2016-11-01

Full Text Available In the areas now known as Estonia and Latvia, art remained a matter for the Baltic German minority throughout the nineteenth century. When ethnic Estonian and Latvian artists gained prominence in the late 1890s, their presence threatened Baltic German hegemony over the region’s culture. In 1905, revolution in the Russian Empire spilled into the Baltic Provinces, sparking widespread anti-German violence. The revolution also galvanized Latvian and Estonian artists towards greater cultural autonomy and independence from Baltic German artistic institutions. This paper argues that the situation for artists before and after the 1905 revolution was not simply divisive along ethnic lines, as some nationalist historians have suggested. Instead, this paper examines how Baltic German, Estonian and Latvian artists oscillated between common interests, inspiring rivalries, and politicized conflicts, questioning the legitimacy of art as a universalizing language in multicultural societies.

The perverse impact of external reference pricing (ERP): a comparison of orphan drugs affordability in 12 European countries. A call for policy change

Science.gov (United States)

Young, K. E.; Soussi, I.; Toumi, M.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Objective: The study compared the relative cost differences of similar orphan drugs among high and low GDP countries in Europe: Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, UK. Methods: Annual treatment costs per patient were calculated. Relative costs were computed by dividing the costs by each economic parameter: nominal GDP per capita, GDP in PPP per capita, % GDP contributed by the government, government budget per inhabitant, % GDP spent on healthcare, % GDP spent on pharmaceuticals, and average annual salary. An international comparison of the relative costs was done using UK as the reference country and results were analysed descriptively. Results: 120 orphan drugs were included. The median annual costs of orphan drugs in all countries varied minimally (cost ratios: 0.87 to 1.08). When the costs were adjusted using GDP per capita, the EU-5 and Nordic countries maintained minimal difference in median cost. However, the lower GDP countries showed three to six times higher relative costs. The same pattern was evident when costs were adjusted using the other economic parameters. Conclusion: When the country’s ability to pay is taken into consideration, lower GDP countries pay relatively higher costs for similarly available orphan drugs in Europe. PMID:29081920

Influence of Bicarbonate/Low-GDP Peritoneal Dialysis Fluid (Bicavera) on In Vitro and Ex Vivo Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition of Mesothelial Cells

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández–Perpén, Antonio; Pérez–Lozano, María Luisa; Bajo, María–Auxiliadora; Albar–Vizcaino, Patricia; Correa, Pilar Sandoval; del Peso, Gloria; Castro, María–José; Aguilera, Abelardo; Ossorio, Marta; Peter, Mirjam E.; Passlick–Deetjen, Jutta; Aroeira, Luiz S.; Selgas, Rafael; López–Cabrera, Manuel; Sánchez–Tomero, J. Antonio

2012-01-01

♦ Background: Peritoneal membrane damage induced by peritoneal dialysis (PD) is largely associated with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of mesothelial cells (MCs), which is believed to be a result mainly of the glucose degradation products (GDPs) present in PD solutions. ♦ Objectives: This study investigated the impact of bicarbonate-buffered, low-GDP PD solution (BicaVera: Fresenius Medical Care, Bad Homburg, Germany) on EMT of MCs in vitro and ex vivo. ♦ Methods: In vitro studies: Omentum-derived MCs were incubated with lactate-buffered standard PD fluid or BicaVera fluid diluted 1:1 with culture medium. Ex vivo studies: From 31 patients randomly distributed to either standard or BicaVera solution and followed for 24 months, effluents were collected every 6 months for determination of EMT markers in effluent MCs. ♦ Results: Culturing of MCs with standard fluid in vitro resulted in morphology change to a non-epithelioid shape, with downregulation of E-cadherin (indicative of EMT) and strong induction of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression. By contrast, in vitro exposure of MCs to bicarbonate/low-GDP solution had less impact on both EMT parameters. Ex vivo studies partially confirmed the foregoing results. The BicaVera group, with a higher prevalence of the non-epithelioid MC phenotype at baseline (for unknown reasons), showed a clear and significant trend to gain and maintain an epithelioid phenotype at medium- and longer-term and to show fewer fibrogenic characteristics. By contrast, the standard solution group demonstrated a progressive and significantly higher presence of the non-epithelioid phenotype. Compared with effluent MCs having an epithelioid phenotype, MCs with non-epithelioid morphology showed significantly lower levels of E-cadherin and greater levels of fibronectin and VEGF. In comparing the BicaVera and standard solution groups, MCs from the standard solution group showed significantly higher secretion of

Analysis of Correlations between Economic Growth (Rate of Real GDP and the Underground Economy

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Pripoaie Silviu

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Analysis of performance of any economy involves the measurement and correlation of threebasic elements: the rate of economic growth, the rate of inflation and unemployment rate. When the rateof growth (rate of real GDP is high, the production of goods and services is growing and thereforeincreasing the number of jobs, decrease unemployment and raise living standards. If the economy is inrecession phase, increasing fiscal pressure to ensure the necessary budgetary funds triggers complexeconomic mechanisms. Rules more strictly is that those who are not able to operate in the normaleconomy to slide towards the underground economy, and this not because he wants to tax evasion, butbecause they simply can not cope with new regulations. It is widely accepted in economic theory andpractice the idea that reliability scale macroeconomic indicators of a country is affected by size ofunderground economy and the various tests made so far on this subject, focusing either on the socialaspect or the economic or moral, or emphasizes the illegal or the edge of legality. This has led to variousstudies in this area do not provide comparable data or provide data to the contrary. Worldwide were putin place, however, some calculation methods provided that applied the same country and same period,the results are rarely consistent, sometimes even in fundamentally different.

Zilbes intonāciju stabilitāte divu paaudžu laikā

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Velta Rūķe-Draviņa

2011-07-01

Full Text Available STABILITY OF SYLLABLE INTONATION IN TWO GENERATIONS Material for the history of Latvian intonationsSummaryThe purpose of this study is to investigate: 1 the retention of the Latvian language syllable intonation in the course of an individual's lifetime, 2 the possibility of transference of an intonation system from one generation to another in bilingual surroundings.This work analyzes three idiolects in the same family, namely, a Latvian-Swedish bilingual's (born 1946, Stockholm idiosyncracies of pronunciation in comparison to the language of his par­ents, who each represent the intonation system of their native region: the mother — Selian, the father — Southwestern-Kursa dialects.This investigation determines that an intonation system acquired in childhood and stabi­lized at grammar school age remains stable even later on in the life of the individual, and does not change even with prolonged contact with speakers of other intonation systems in the same family over a period of thirty years.If each of the parents has his own intonation system, and only one of them speaks with the intonations common to the literary language, then there is a high probability that the child will acquire the latter variant.In ideal balanced bilingual circumstances, a bilingual individual can learn genuine into­nations in both languages, i.e. in this case in Swedish the phonological contrast between "accent 1" and "accent 2", but in Latvian, the contrast between the level tone and the non-level tone.

Latvia in the System of European Territorial Security: a View from the Inside and Outside

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Lanko Dmitry

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This article focuses on Latvian contribution to European security, which, for the purposes of this study, is understood as a territorial system of regional security. Such system is a combination of interconnected institutions with Latvian participation operating in the field of security, Latvian cooperation with other European countries in the field of security, and the European perception of major security challenges and threats (that Latvia may or may not agree with. A systemic approach to studying the role of Latvia in the territorial system of European security requires a solid theoretical framework. The theories of international relations discussed in this article fall into two categories: those where territorial security systems are viewed as a product of external factors, and those that focus on internal regional factors. In this article, the authors rely on a variety of methods, including those that are characteristic of classical theories of international relations (such as realism and liberalism, and those employed in social constructivism studies. It is concluded that Latvian cooperation with institutions and countries of the territorial system of European security is rather limited, which indicates either a lack of the country’s integration into the system or a crisis of the system itself. An important result of the study is the validation of a systemic approach to studying regional security systems. This angle proves particularly useful in identifying crises of territorial systems of regional security in various regions of the world.

Latvija v territorial'noj sisteme evropejskoj bezopasnosti: vzgljad iznutri i izvne

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Lanko D.

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This article focuses on Latvian contribution to European security, which, for the purposes of this study, is understood as a territorial system of regional security. Such system is a combination of interconnected institutions with Latvian participation operating in the field of security, Latvian cooperation with other European countries in the field of security, and the European perception of major security challenges and threats (that Latvia may or may not agree with. A systemic approach to studying the role of Latvia in the territorial system of European security requires a solid theoretical framework. The theories of international relations discussed in this article fall into two categories: those where territorial security systems are viewed as a product of external factors, and those that focus on internal regional factors. In this article, the authors rely on a variety of methods, including those that are characteristic of classical theories of international relations (such as realism and liberalism, and those employed in social constructivism studies. It is concluded that Latvian cooperation with institutions and countries of the territorial system of European security is rather limited, which indicates either a lack of the country’s integration into the system or a crisis of the system itself. An important result of the study is the validation of a systemic approach to studying regional security systems. This angle proves particularly useful in identifying crises of territorial systems of regional security in various regions of the world.

The impact of monetary policy and exchange rate regime on real GDP and prices in the Republic of Macedonia

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Zeqiri Izet

2010-09-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the relative costs and benefits associated with introducing a more active monetary and a different exchange rate regime in the Republic of Macedonia. In this finding, the econometrics result show that introducing a more active monetary policy and a different strategy of the exchange rate targeting in order to promote rapid economic growth could easy disturb macroeconomic stability (after having achieved it at a substantial cost without any significant economic benefits. Therefore, introducing a more active monetary policy and a different strategy of the exchange rate regime is likely to incur more costs than benefits, since changes of the monetary policy and exchange rate regime type do not show a persistent effect on real GDP, while changes of money stock and exchange rate regime do show a strong and persistent effect on prices level.

La tasa de variación del PIB en un modelo simple de determinación de la renta || The Variation of GDP in a Simple Model of Income Determination

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Escartin, Eduardo

2017-06-01

Full Text Available En este artículo se demuestra que en un modelo simple de determinación de la renta, cuando se tienen en cuenta funciones de consumo lineales, la tasa de variación del producto interior bruto (PIB es igual al cociente entre el incremento de la inversión y la suma del consumo exógeno más la inversión inicial. Esto significa que la pendiente de la función de consumo no influye en la tasa de variación del PIB y que lo relevante para esa tasa de variación es el consumo exógeno y la inversión inicial. || In this paper, we prove that in a simple model of income determination, when taking into account linear functions, the change rate for the gross domestic product (GDP is equal to the quotient of the increase in investment and the sum of exogenous consumption plus the initial investment. This means that the slope of the consumption function does not influence the change rate for the GDP and what matters for this variation rate is the exogenous consumption and the initial investment.

DSM energy saving pilot project report. Company Augstceltne Ltd., Riga, Latvia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krievins, P.; Cakuls, A.; Kaross, V.; Jansons, D.

1995-05-01

This report is a part of the Joint Latvian - Danish Project DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT AND ENERGY SAVING. The Project is a part of the Danish aid and technology transfer to Latvia. It is the result of collaborative efforts between a Latvian team, consisting of the specialists from Latvenergo and a Danish team, which was represented by Danish Power Consult. The purpose of this pilot project was not only to carry out energy audit in the company Augstceltne Ltd and propose demand side management and energy saving measures. Another task of the project was the application of DPC energy audit methodic, measuring equipment and software in Latvian conditions and the promotion of energy saving programs in Latvia in this way. The Company Augstceltne Ltd was created to rent the rest of premises for many other independent companys and to earn money for surviving. Now the Company has 9 buildings with a total area of 26,920 square meters. The tower block has 23 floors and it is the main business centre. 66 companies are located in the building. (EG)

Opinion of Teachers and Directors About Implementation and Using of Information and Communication Technologies in Schools of Latvia

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Porozovs Juris

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Modern education is closely connected with implementation and use of information and communication technologies (ICT in the teaching process. ICT is recommended to be used in schools in Europe to develop competences of students to become high-quality professionals and active citizens in the society. A questionnaire survey of teachers and directors of Latvian schools was carried out in order to evaluate the use of ICT in Latvian schools and attitude of teaching staff towards this process. The results of the questionnaire survey showed that Latvian schools are not supplied with ICT to a satisfactory level. It is necessary to raise the competence of many teachers in the field of ICT. The attitude of teachers to the use of ICT in the study process is more positive in comparison with school directors. Important factors for improvement of ICT use in schools are ICT training for teachers, computer accessibility for teaching staff, sufficient supply of qualitative ICT teaching materials and computers in schools and encouragement of teachers to use ICT.

Je me souviens de tout, Richard (Rolands Kalniņš, Studio de Riga, 1967 : une manifestation précoce d'une mémoire concurrente de la Grande Guerre patriotique I Remember Everything, Richard (Rolands Kalniņš, Riga Film Studio, 1967: A Precocious Manifestation of a Competing Memory with the Great Patriotic War

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Juliette Denis

2012-01-01

Full Text Available It is usually said that the memory of the war period had been completely reversed in the former Soviet borderlands since the collapse of the USSR, turning former “traitors” into heroes or victims. However, attempts to set up a new approach of the Nazi occupation and collaboration are rooted in the “Thaw” period. I remember everything, Richard – dealing with the Latvian legion, started to be considered in 1957. That coincided both with the massive return of the Latvian deportees from Siberia, and with a renewal of trials against war criminals. Produced only in 1966, the film reflected the social tensions going along with the sensitive topic, and presented a point of view far more nuanced than the official figure of the “Latvian traitor” imposed during the Stalinist period. Based on interviews, archival material and film analysis, this article aims at understanding through the film-making process the connection between the deep changes of the political meaning of the war period, and the social composition of film production.

The Measurement of ‘Fiscal Burden’ on GDP instead of on National Net Value Added Produced: A Chapter in Fiscal Illusion

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F. FORTE

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The work calls attention to a major macroeconomic fiscal illusion: that arising from the current official practice of expressing the main fiscal indicators, and particularly the tax burden, as a percentage of GDP rather than NDPF (Net Domestic Product at Factor Costs. This methodology causes a systematic undervaluation of the tax burden, by something between 25% (Sweden and Austria and 15% (Switzerland. Correctly measured, the tax burden in most European countries is above 50% and in the Nordic countries above 65%, or close to it! Thus, tax payers are deceived about the true cost and size of the public economy. GDP’s origin and widespread adoption is examined as well as the development of the notion of national income adopted to assess the tax burden.

Enefit gaining Latvian customers

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2011-01-01

3. märtsil toimunud Riia linnapea Nils Usakovsi ja Enefiti esindajate kohtumisel räägiti firma tariifidest, mida nad võiks munitsipaalettevõtetele ja -organisatsioonidele pakkuda. Latvenergo tõstab hindu 1. aprillil

An estimation of crude oil import demand in Turkey: Evidence from time-varying parameters approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ozturk, Ilhan; Arisoy, Ibrahim

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to model crude oil import demand and estimate the price and income elasticities of imported crude oil in Turkey based on a time-varying parameters (TVP) approach with the aim of obtaining accurate and more robust estimates of price and income elasticities. This study employs annual time series data of domestic oil consumption, real GDP, and oil price for the period 1966–2012. The empirical results indicate that both the income and price elasticities are in line with the theoretical expectations. However, the income elasticity is statistically significant while the price elasticity is statistically insignificant. The relatively high value of income elasticity (1.182) from this study suggests that crude oil import in Turkey is more responsive to changes in income level. This result indicates that imported crude oil is a normal good and rising income levels will foster higher consumption of oil based equipments, vehicles and services by economic agents. The estimated income elasticity of 1.182 suggests that imported crude oil consumption grows at a higher rate than income. This in turn reduces oil intensity over time. Therefore, crude oil import during the estimation period is substantially driven by income. - Highlights: • We estimated the price and income elasticities of imported crude oil in Turkey. • Income elasticity is statistically significant and it is 1.182. • The price elasticity is statistically insignificant. • Crude oil import in Turkey is more responsive to changes in income level. • Crude oil import during the estimation period is substantially driven by income.

The role of transit in the economy of Latvia

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Gžibovska Nataļja

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Transit is an important issue in the history of world economy, including the economy of Latvia. Transit makes a significant contribution to the budget of many transit countries, one of which is the Republic of Latvia. These countries do not have significant natural resources and prefer to focus on logistics and infrastructure in order to facilitate the transit process. This article focuses on the role of transit in the economy of Latvia, whose unique geographical position makes the country an effective transport corridor (bridge in both the west-east and north-south directions. The article presents the results of an opinion poll conducted at Latvian transit enterprises regarding their future development and offers an overview of the main seaports and the Rīga international airport. The author examines the issue of Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization and its impact on the Latvian transit, the prolongation of EU sanctions against Belarus, and the use of Latvian transport infrastructure for handling the non-military cargo traffic to/from Afghanistan. In conclusion, a forecast of possible transit development in Latvia is provided.

Rol' tranzita v jekonomike Latvii [The role of transit in the economy of Latvia

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Gžibovska Nataļja

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Transit is an important issue in the history of world economy, including the economy of Latvia. Transit makes a significant contribution to the budget of many transit countries, one of which is the Republic of Latvia. These countries do not have significant natural resources and prefer to focus on logistics and infrastructure in order to facilitate the transit process. This article focuses on the role of transit in the economy of Latvia, whose unique geographical position makes the country an effective transport corridor (bridge in both the west-east and north-south directions. The article presents the results of an opinion poll conducted at Latvian transit enterprises regarding their future development and offers an overview of the main seaports and the Rīga international airport. The author examines the issue of Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization and its impact on the Latvian transit, the prolongation of EU sanctions against Belarus, and the use of Latvian transport infrastructure for handling the non-military cargo traffic to/from Afghanistan. In conclusion, a forecast of possible transit development in Latvia is provided.

La misura della pressione fiscale in rapporto al prodotto interno lordo in luogo del prodotto interno netto:un capitolo dell'illusione fiscale (The Measurement of ‘Fiscal Burden’ on GDP instead of on National Net Value Added Produced: ...

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Francesco Forte

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The Measurement of ‘Fiscal Burden’ on GDP instead of on National Net Value Added Produced: A Chapter in Fiscal Illusion The work calls attention to a major macroeconomic fiscal illusion: that arising from the current official practice of expressing the main fiscal indicators, and particularly the tax burden, as a percentage of GDP rather than NDPF (Net Domestic Product at Factor Costs. This methodology causes a systematic undervaluation of the tax burden, by something between 25% (Sweden and Austria and 15% (Switzerland. Correctly measured, the tax burden in most European countries is above 50% and in the Nordic countries above 65%, or close to it! Thus, tax payers are deceived about the true cost and size of the public economy. GDP’s origin and widespread adoption is examined as well as the development of the notion of national income adopted to assess the tax burden.  JEL Codes: H20, H21 

Kindlin-2 Association with Rho GDP-Dissociation Inhibitor α Suppresses Rac1 Activation and Podocyte Injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Ying; Guo, Chen; Ma, Ping; Lai, Yumei; Yang, Fan; Cai, Jun; Cheng, Zhehao; Zhang, Kuo; Liu, Zhongzhen; Tian, Yeteng; Sheng, Yue; Tian, Ruijun; Deng, Yi; Xiao, Guozhi; Wu, Chuanyue

2017-12-01

Alteration of podocyte behavior is critically involved in the development and progression of many forms of human glomerular diseases. The molecular mechanisms that control podocyte behavior, however, are not well understood. Here, we investigated the role of Kindlin-2, a component of cell-matrix adhesions, in podocyte behavior in vivo Ablation of Kindlin-2 in podocytes resulted in alteration of actin cytoskeletal organization, reduction of the levels of slit diaphragm proteins, effacement of podocyte foot processes, and ultimately massive proteinuria and death due to kidney failure. Through proteomic analyses and in vitro coimmunoprecipitation experiments, we identified Rho GDP-dissociation inhibitor α (RhoGDI α ) as a Kindlin-2-associated protein. Loss of Kindlin-2 in podocytes significantly reduced the expression of RhoGDI α and resulted in the dissociation of Rac1 from RhoGDI α , leading to Rac1 hyperactivation and increased motility of podocytes. Inhibition of Rac1 activation effectively suppressed podocyte motility and alleviated the podocyte defects and proteinuria induced by the loss of Kindlin-2 in vivo Our results identify a novel Kindlin-2-RhoGDI α -Rac1 signaling axis that is critical for regulation of podocyte structure and function in vivo and provide evidence that it may serve as a useful target for therapeutic control of podocyte injury and associated glomerular diseases. Copyright © 2017 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Holographic cinematography of time-varying reflecting and time-varying phase objects using a Nd:YAG laser

Science.gov (United States)

Decker, A. J.

1982-01-01

The use of a Nd:YAG laser to record holographic motion pictures of time-varying reflecting objects and time-varying phase objects is discussed. Sample frames from both types of holographic motion pictures are presented. The holographic system discussed is intended for three-dimensional flow visualization of the time-varying flows that occur in jet-engine components.

Placenta-specific novel splice variants of Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor β are highly expressed in cancerous cells

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Hatakeyama Keiichi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Alternative splicing of pre-mRNA transcripts not only plays a role in normal molecular processes but is also associated with cancer development. While normal transcripts are ubiquitously expressed in normal tissues, splice variants created through abnormal alternative splicing events are often expressed in cancer cells. Although the Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor β (ARHGDIB gene has been found to be ubiquitously expressed in normal tissues and involved in cancer development, the presence of splice variants of ARHGDIB has not yet been investigated. Results Validation analysis for the presence of and exon structures of splice variants of ARHGDIB, performed using reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing, successfully identified novel splice variants of ARHGDIB, that is, 6a, 6b, and 6c, in colon, pancreas, stomach, and breast cancer cell lines. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that these variants were also highly expressed in normal placental tissue but not in other types of normal tissue. Conclusions Expression of ARHGDIB variants 6a, 6b, and 6c appears to be restricted to cancer cells and normal placental tissue, suggesting that these variants possess cancer-specific functions and, as such, are potential cancer-related biomarkers.

Time-varying BRDFs.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Bo; Sunkavalli, Kalyan; Ramamoorthi, Ravi; Belhumeur, Peter N; Nayar, Shree K

2007-01-01

The properties of virtually all real-world materials change with time, causing their bidirectional reflectance distribution functions (BRDFs) to be time varying. However, none of the existing BRDF models and databases take time variation into consideration; they represent the appearance of a material at a single time instance. In this paper, we address the acquisition, analysis, modeling, and rendering of a wide range of time-varying BRDFs (TVBRDFs). We have developed an acquisition system that is capable of sampling a material's BRDF at multiple time instances, with each time sample acquired within 36 sec. We have used this acquisition system to measure the BRDFs of a wide range of time-varying phenomena, which include the drying of various types of paints (watercolor, spray, and oil), the drying of wet rough surfaces (cement, plaster, and fabrics), the accumulation of dusts (household and joint compound) on surfaces, and the melting of materials (chocolate). Analytic BRDF functions are fit to these measurements and the model parameters' variations with time are analyzed. Each category exhibits interesting and sometimes nonintuitive parameter trends. These parameter trends are then used to develop analytic TVBRDF models. The analytic TVBRDF models enable us to apply effects such as paint drying and dust accumulation to arbitrary surfaces and novel materials.

What Buys Happiness? Analyzing Trends in Subjective Well-Being in 15 European Countries, 1973-2002

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjørnskov, Christian; Gupta, Nabanita Datta

Trends in life satisfaction are examined across 15 European countries employing a modified version of Kendall's Tau. Analyses show that GDP growth relative to growth in the preceding period is a determinant of the trends; the same holds for the growth in life expectancy while the contemporaneous ...... growth in the current account balance exerts a positive influence. Relative unemployment growth becomes significant when interacted with a measure of political ideology. The effects of relative GDP growth vary with median ideology.......Trends in life satisfaction are examined across 15 European countries employing a modified version of Kendall's Tau. Analyses show that GDP growth relative to growth in the preceding period is a determinant of the trends; the same holds for the growth in life expectancy while the contemporaneous...

Два своеобразных словаря латышского языка

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Оярс [Ojārs] Бушс [Bušs

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Latviešu-igauņu vārdnīca. Projektijuht [Manager of the project] Arvi Tavast. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus, 2015, 737 pp. Igauņu-latviešu vārdnīca. Atb. red. [Ed.] Valts Ernštreits. Rīga: Latviešu valodas aģentūra, Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus, 2015, 1096 pp.   Review Two Peculiar Dictionaries of Latvian Estonian-Latvian dictionary (ed. Valts Ernštreits and Latvian-Estonian dictionary (manager of the project Arvi Tavast have been published at the same time and with the same design. Each of the dictionaries consists from more than forty thousand headwords, however they are not of the same size, Estonian-Latvian dictionary has significantly more pages. The reason is the Estonian-Latvian dictionary is a traditional bilingual dictionary, were we can find among other information a lot of illustrations for the use of translated lexis. Latvian-Estonian dictionary could be probably called an experimental dictionary. It is compiled on the basis of the parallel corpus, the lexical materials have been mostly processed automatically using specialized software, pro­fessional lexicographers did not participated in the compiling of this dictionary. As a result this Latvian-Estonian dictionary seems more like a glossary, we do not have examples of the use of translated words in this dictionary. What is very strange is that quite a lot of headwords are not words, they are groups of words. This experimental dictionary demonstrates that software alone still is not able to compile a dictionary of high quality without the help of experienced lexicographers.   Recenzja Dwa osobliwe słowniki języka łotewskiego Słowniki estońsko-łotewski (red. Valts Ernštreits i łotewsko-estoński (kierownik projektu Arvi Tavast zostały opublikowane jednocześnie i w takiej samej szacie graficznej. W każdym z nich zawarto ponad 40 tysięcy haseł, jednakże słowniki te nie mają identycznej objętości, gdyż słownik estońsko-łotewski liczy znacznie

GHG emissions, GDP growth and the Kyoto Protocol: A revisit of Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Wei Ming; Lee, Grace W.M. [Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, 71, Chou-Shan Road, Taipei 106 (China); Wu, Chih Cheng [Energy and Air Pollution Control Section, New Materials R and D Department, China Steel Corporation, 1, Chung-Kang Road, Siaogang District, Kaohsiung 81233 (China)

2008-01-15

The Kyoto Protocol attempts through political negotiations to guide participating industrialized countries' greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a positive growing trend, to reach a peak point (or turning point), and then be reduced to a negative growth. That means the relationship between decreasing GHG emissions and economic growth may be described by an inverted-U curve (or called a bell-shaped curve), which is consistent with the concept of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. This research observed that the economic development and GHG emissions in Economies in Transition (EITs) exhibit a hockey-stick curve trend (or called quasi-L-shape curve), that also generates a lot of 'hot air' which is significant to the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, through the analysis of single-country time series data and GDP data, this research demonstrated that statistical data for most of the Annex II countries do not possess evidence that supports the EKC hypothesis for GHG emissions. The results from this study also indicated that the 38 industrialized countries are unable to meet their targets under the Kyoto Protocol within the specified time period, which are probably caused by the econometric method's inability to predict accurately the extents and development of innovative technologies and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. If the international community truly wants to reduce the GHG emissions, the effectiveness of the existing international framework for emissions reduction needs to be reconsidered seriously, and the global cooperation mechanism also needs to be greatly enhanced. (author)

GHG emissions, GDP growth and the Kyoto Protocol: A revisit of Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang Weiming [Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, 71, Chou-Shan Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan (China); Lee, Grace W.M. [Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, 71, Chou-Shan Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan (China)], E-mail: gracelee@ntu.edu.tw; Wu Chihcheng [Energy and Air Pollution Control Section, New Materials R and D Department, China Steel Corporation, 1, Chung-Kang Road, Siaogang District, Kaohsiung 81233, Taiwan (China)

2008-01-15

The Kyoto Protocol attempts through political negotiations to guide participating industrialized countries' greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a positive growing trend, to reach a peak point (or turning point), and then be reduced to a negative growth. That means the relationship between decreasing GHG emissions and economic growth may be described by an inverted-U curve (or called a bell-shaped curve), which is consistent with the concept of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. This research observed that the economic development and GHG emissions in Economies in Transition (EITs) exhibit a hockey-stick curve trend (or called quasi-L-shape curve), that also generates a lot of 'hot air' which is significant to the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, through the analysis of single-country time series data and GDP data, this research demonstrated that statistical data for most of the Annex II countries do not possess evidence that supports the EKC hypothesis for GHG emissions. The results from this study also indicated that the 38 industrialized countries are unable to meet their targets under the Kyoto Protocol within the specified time period, which are probably caused by the econometric method's inability to predict accurately the extents and development of innovative technologies and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. If the international community truly wants to reduce the GHG emissions, the effectiveness of the existing international framework for emissions reduction needs to be reconsidered seriously, and the global cooperation mechanism also needs to be greatly enhanced.

GHG emissions, GDP growth and the Kyoto Protocol: A revisit of Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Weiming; Lee, Grace W.M.; Wu Chihcheng

2008-01-01

The Kyoto Protocol attempts through political negotiations to guide participating industrialized countries' greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a positive growing trend, to reach a peak point (or turning point), and then be reduced to a negative growth. That means the relationship between decreasing GHG emissions and economic growth may be described by an inverted-U curve (or called a bell-shaped curve), which is consistent with the concept of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. This research observed that the economic development and GHG emissions in Economies in Transition (EITs) exhibit a hockey-stick curve trend (or called quasi-L-shape curve), that also generates a lot of 'hot air' which is significant to the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, through the analysis of single-country time series data and GDP data, this research demonstrated that statistical data for most of the Annex II countries do not possess evidence that supports the EKC hypothesis for GHG emissions. The results from this study also indicated that the 38 industrialized countries are unable to meet their targets under the Kyoto Protocol within the specified time period, which are probably caused by the econometric method's inability to predict accurately the extents and development of innovative technologies and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. If the international community truly wants to reduce the GHG emissions, the effectiveness of the existing international framework for emissions reduction needs to be reconsidered seriously, and the global cooperation mechanism also needs to be greatly enhanced

A varying-α brane world cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Youm, Donam

2001-08-01

We study the brane world cosmology in the RS2 model where the electric charge varies with time in the manner described by the varying fine-structure constant theory of Bekenstein. We map such varying electric charge cosmology to the dual variable-speed-of-light cosmology by changing system of units. We comment on cosmological implications for such cosmological models. (author)

The Electronic Historical Latvian Dictionary Based on the Corpus of Early Written Latvian Texts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Everita Andronova

2016-12-01

Główny nacisk położono na opis haseł słownikowych, zawierający istotne uwagi praktyczne i teoretyczne. Omówiono poszczególne części hasła słownikowego, po czym umieszczono komentarz odnoszący się do różnych kwestii związanych z daną częścią (np. wybór hasła wyrazowego i przedstawienia wersji pisowni i do przyję­tych rozwiązań. Szczególną uwagę poświęcono główce hasła, objaśnieniu znaczenia wynikającego z przykładów występujacych w korpusie, różnym rodzajom kolokacji i ich przedstawieniu w słowniku, jak też informacjom etymologicznym. Na końcu zamieszczono zwięzły przegląd oprogramowania słownikowego TLex 2013, oparty na doświadczeniu autorów, zdobytym podczas pracy z tym narzędziem.

Ab initio computational study of reaction mechanism of peptide bond formation on HF/6-31G(d,p) level

Science.gov (United States)

Siahaan, P.; Lalita, M. N. T.; Cahyono, B.; Laksitorini, M. D.; Hildayani, S. Z.

2017-02-01

Peptide plays an important role in modulation of various cell functions. Therefore, formation reaction of the peptide is important for chemical reactions. One way to probe the reaction of peptide synthesis is a computational method. The purpose of this research is to determine the reaction mechanism for peptide bond formation on Ac-PV-NH2 and Ac-VP-NH2 synthesis from amino acid proline and valine by ab initio computational approach. The calculations were carried out by theory and basis set HF/6-31G(d,p) for four mechanisms (path 1 to 4) that proposed in this research. The results show that the highest of the rate determining step between reactant and transition state (TS) for path 1, 2, 3, and 4 are 163.06 kJ.mol-1, 1868 kJ.mol-1, 5685 kJ.mol-1, and 1837 kJ.mol-1. The calculation shows that the most preferred reaction of Ac-PV-NH2 and Ac-VP-NH2 synthesis from amino acid proline and valine are on the path 1 (initiated with the termination of H+ in proline amino acid) that produce Ac-PV-NH2.

The Analysis of the Evolution of Tax Revenues in EU Member States during 2009-2013

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cornelia Elena Tureac

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The state budget is a financial plan at the macroeconomic level, and it is designed as a set of accounts of the nation, which reflects the current year and next year projections on all economic agents in the country / region. The size of the public sector varies significantly from one Member State to another, which means that the financial resources available to the public sector differ substantially at the European Union level. The paper includes an analysis of the evolution of the main indicators corresponding to public financial resources at EU level achieved between January 2009 - December 2012 or December 2013, where data processing was available. The information was taken from the Eurostat statistics database. The research methodology used in this work was done by the use of indicators: the share of total public revenue in GDP; the share of taxes in GDP of production and imports; the share of current taxes on income, wealth etc. in GDP; the share of social security contributions in GDP. In the analysis there were considered, of the total financial resources of government, only the taxes levied on production and imports, current taxes on income, wealth etc. and social security contributions. In conclusion, the share of government revenues in GDP increases, but there are states where it decreases, such as Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Germany and Sweden. The public financial resources share in GDP at the level of the Eurozone was always higher in relation to the entire European Union, but always keeping the difference around 0.8 to 0.9 percentage points. France recorded the highest share of social security contributions in GDP (18.8% in 2009 and 19.4% in 2013 while Denmark has the lowest share of these financial resources in GDP, i.e. only 1.9% in 2009 and 1.8% in 2013.

Zhang neural network for online solution of time-varying convex quadratic program subject to time-varying linear-equality constraints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yunong; Li Zhan

2009-01-01

In this Letter, by following Zhang et al.'s method, a recurrent neural network (termed as Zhang neural network, ZNN) is developed and analyzed for solving online the time-varying convex quadratic-programming problem subject to time-varying linear-equality constraints. Different from conventional gradient-based neural networks (GNN), such a ZNN model makes full use of the time-derivative information of time-varying coefficient. The resultant ZNN model is theoretically proved to have global exponential convergence to the time-varying theoretical optimal solution of the investigated time-varying convex quadratic program. Computer-simulation results further substantiate the effectiveness, efficiency and novelty of such ZNN model and method.

Spacetime-varying couplings and Lorentz violation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostelecky, V. Alan; Lehnert, Ralf; Perry, Malcolm J.

2003-01-01

Spacetime-varying coupling constants can be associated with violations of local Lorentz invariance and CPT symmetry. An analytical supergravity cosmology with a time-varying fine-structure constant provides an explicit example. Estimates are made for some experimental constraints

Analyzing the economic cost of the Kyoto protocol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khanna, N.

2001-01-01

This paper examines the cost of meeting the Kyoto Protocol commitments under alternative assumptions regarding technology and technical change. Real GDP is modeled as a function of the capital, labor, and energy inputs. The analysis is based on data for 23 Annex 1 countries from 1965 to 1999. Two important results emerge. First, the standard assumption of Hicks neutral technical change and time and scale independent output elasticities is not supported by the data. Second, when technical change is allowed to be biased in favor of the energy and capital inputs, and when the output elasticities vary with the level of factor use and over time, the loss in real GDP due to the Kyoto commitments rises substantially. On average, the loss in real GDP is one and a half times higher than obtained under the standard assumptions. 26 refs

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African Journals Online (AJOL)

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Different indicators showed varied ... the average annual growth rate in GDP was 9.5% in ... Generally, most previous studies on the correlates of ... Sex: It is widely believed that the gender of the household ...... Analyzing Health Equity Using.

Karuteene kirjandusele / Jaan Puhvel

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Puhvel, Jaan, 1932-

2007-01-01

Arvustus: Rubulis, Aleksis. Baltic literature : a survey of Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian literatures. London : The University of Notre Dame Press, 1970. Ilmunud: Books Abroad, 1971, nr. 45, lk. 354-355, pealkirjata

Latvian advertising industry expects growth

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2005-01-01

Läti Reklaami Assotsiatsiooni (LRA) aastakonverentsil arutati reklaamitööstuse arengusuundi. Balti reklaamiturule prognoositakse suurt kasvu, kuna praegu kulutatakse kõigest 33 eurot inimese kohta, mis on kümme korda vähem kui näiteks Suurbritannias või Iirimaal

Thixotropic Properties of Latvian Clays

OpenAIRE

Lakevičs, Vitālijs; Stepanova, Valentīna; Ruplis, Augusts

2015-01-01

This research studies Latvia originated Devon (Tūja, Skaņkalne), quaternary (Ceplīši), Jurassic, (Strēļi) and Triassic (Vadakste) deposit clays as well as Lithuania originated Triassic (Akmene) deposit clays. Thixotropic properties of clay were researched by measuring relative viscosity of clay in water suspensions. Relative viscosity is measured with a hopper method. It was detected that, when concentration of suspension is increased, clay suspension’s viscosity also increases. It happens un...

Is there a relationship between public expenditures in energy R and D and carbon emissions per GDP? An empirical investigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garrone, Paola; Grilli, Luca

2010-01-01

Energy innovation plays a crucial role in the reduction of carbon emissions. In order to design climate and energy policies that promote the development, deployment and diffusion of new energy technologies, policy makers not only require a theoretical understanding of the energy innovation system, but also empirical evidence of the effects that policy actions have had. This paper focuses on public energy R and D, a traditional and controversial option among the various climate technology policies, and empirically analyses its relationship with carbon emissions per GDP (i.e. carbon intensity) and its two components: energy intensity and the carbon factor. Evidence of the causality links that have prevailed in 13 advanced economies over the 1980-2004 period has been obtained through dynamic panel models. Our findings confirm that government R and D spending is not sufficient by itself to boost the energy innovation process. Public energy R and D has been successful in improving energy efficiency at country level, but it has failed to have a significant impact on the carbon factor and carbon intensity. At the same time the formation of energy R and D budgets is found to be significantly affected by carbon trends. (author)

High league bench players and starters: differences in group interactions, group cohesion, role acceptance and self-confidence in football teams

OpenAIRE

Simonenkova Irina Petrovna

2015-01-01

Main staff players differ from bench players in their perceptions and demonstrate different responses. This research compares the situation of bench players with the situation of starters in high league Latvian football teams.

Estonia : a tie in elections / Kaarel Lahe

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Lahe, Kaarel

2003-01-01

Autor analüüsib Eesti parlamendivalimiste tulemusi, Res Publica edu võimalikke põhjusi ning prognoosib loodava valitsuskoalitsiooni võimalikke osapooli. Diagramm. Vt. samas: Res Publica - a repetition of the Latvian case?

Clinical aspects of the health disturbances in Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident clean-up workers (liquidators) from Latvia.

Science.gov (United States)

Eglite, M E; Zvagule, T J; Rainsford, K D; Reste, J D; Curbakova, E V; Kurjane, N N

2009-06-01

The health status of some 6,000 workers from Latvia who went to clean-up the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP) site following the explosion on 26 April 1986 has been analyzed. The data on these workers have been recorded in the Latvian State Register of Occupational disease patients and people exposed to ionizing radiation due to Chernobyl NPP accident (Latvian State Register) that was established in 1994. From these data, estimates have been made of external ionizing radiation to which these workers were exposed together with observations on the impact of exposure to heavy metals (especially lead and zinc) and radioactive isotopes released during the reactor 'meltdown'. These factors along with psycho-emotional and social-economic stresses account for a marked excess of mortality and morbidity in the group of CNPP accident clean-up workers compared with that of the non-exposed normal Latvian population adjusted for age and sex. The number of diseases or conditions in the CNPP accident clean-up workers has progressively risen from an average of 1.3 in 1986 to 10.9 in 2007. This exceeds for the Latvian population when adjusted for age and sex. The most serious conditions affect the nervous, digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine (especially thyroid) and immunological systems. While the morbidity associated with diseases of the respiratory and digestive systems has decreased in recent years that in the other systems is increasing. In recent years, there has been an increased occurrence of cancers affecting the thyroid, prostate and stomach. Clinical and laboratory investigations suggest that surviving CNPP accident clean-up workers exhibit signs of immuno-inflammatory reactions causing premature aging with evidence of autoimmune diseases and immunological deficiencies or abnormalities. It is suggested that the CNPP accident clean-up workers may have a specific syndrome, the 'Chernobyl post-radiation neurosomatic polypathy', due to sustained oxidant

Convergence of carbon dioxide emissions in different sectors in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Juan; Zhang, Kezhong

2014-01-01

In this paper, we analyze differences in per capita carbon dioxide emissions from 1996 to 2010 in six sectors across 28 provinces in China and examine the σ-convergence, stochastic convergence and β-convergence of these emissions. We also investigate the factors that impact the convergence of per capita carbon dioxide emissions in each sector. The results show that per capita carbon dioxide emissions in all sectors converged across provinces from 1996 to 2010. Factors that impact the convergence of per capita carbon dioxide emissions in each sector vary: GDP (gross domestic product) per capita, industrialization process and population density impact convergence in the Industry sector, while GDP per capita and population density impact convergence in the Transportation, Storage, Postal, and Telecommunications Services sector. Aside from GDP per capita and population density, trade openness also impacts convergence in the Wholesale, Retail, Trade, and Catering Service sector. Population density is the only factor that impacts convergence in the Residential Consumption sector. - Highlights: • Analyze differences in CO 2 emissions in six sectors among 28 provinces in China. • Examine the convergence of CO 2 emissions in six sectors. • Investigate factors impact on convergence of CO 2 emissions in each sector. • Factors impact on convergence of per capita CO 2 emissions in each sector vary

Krediidipanga suur kosilane Moskvast / Raul Ranne

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Ranne, Raul

2005-01-01

Krediidipanga hiljemalt juunis toimuval aktsiaemissioonil antakse uute aktsiate märkimise eesõigus Latvian Business Bankile, millest lõviosa kuulub Venemaa suurpangale Bank of Moscow. Lisa: Krediidipanga suurimad aktsionärid täna

Intellectual Capital Management in Transport Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asta Znakovaitė

2011-03-01

Full Text Available This article presents an analysis of intellectual capital; its management, features and processes by which intellectual capital of a company can be evaluated. The main elements of intellectual capital (human, structural and relationship capital are presented and used in research. After surveying bibliography, intellectual capital evaluation model, which applies to Lithuanian and Latvian companies operating in the transport sector, is created. The research is based on the value-added intellectual capital factor model, the relationship between indicators, multi-asset return correlation and regression analysis and generation of alternatives to intellectual capital performance-enhancing. Following an assessment of intellectual capital of Lithuanian and Latvian transport sectors, on the basis of the results, it was found that the intellectual capital is a key factor in corporation management to increase revenue. Article in Lithuanian

Culture, attention, and emotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Grossmann, Igor; Ellsworth, Phoebe C; Hong, Ying-yi

2012-02-01

This research provides experimental evidence for cultural influence on one of the most basic elements of emotional processing: attention to positive versus negative stimuli. To this end, we focused on Russian culture, which is characterized by brooding and melancholy. In Study 1, Russians spent significantly more time looking at negative than positive pictures, whereas Americans did not show this tendency. In Study 2, Russian Latvians were randomly primed with symbols of each culture, after which we measured the speed of recognition for positive versus negative trait words. Biculturals were significantly faster in recognizing negative words (as compared with baseline) when primed with Russian versus Latvian cultural symbols. Greater identification with Russian culture facilitated this effect. We provide a theoretical discussion of mental processes underlying cultural differences in emotion research.

Phenolic Composition and Sensory Properties of Ciders Produced from Latvian Apples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Riekstina-Dolge Rita

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Polyphenol compounds are very important components of cider – they are responsible for the colour and the bitterness and astringency balance of cider. The polyphenolic profile of apples and apple drinks is influenced by several factors: apple variety, climate, maturity, and technological processes applied. This research paper concerns the influence of apple variety on the phenolic compounds and sensory properties of cider. Fermentation of 12 varieties of apple juice with Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast ‘71B-1122’ (Lalvin, Canada was performed in a laboratory of the Faculty of Food Technology of the Latvia University of Agriculture. The total phenol content (TPC was determined according to the Folin-Ciocalteu spectrophotometric method. Individual phenolic compounds were analysed using HPLC. Sensory properties (clarity, the apple, fruit and yeast aroma, the apple and yeast taste, sourness, astringency, and bitterness were evaluated by trained panelists using a line scale. Special attention was paid to the use of dessert apples for the production of cider. The most important sensory properties of cider are the aroma and taste of apples and fruit. All cider samples showed the intensity of apple aroma ranging from 5.3 to 7.6 points, and higher results were obtained for cider from the bvariety ‘Auksis’ apples. The TPC in cider samples varied from 792.68 to 3399.78 mg L-1: Among crab apples, the highest TPC was detected in ciders made from the ‘Hyslop’ and ’Riku’ varieties, whereas among dessert apples, the highest TPC was detected in ciders made from the ‘Antonovka’ variety. Among the twelve phenols identified in cider samples, chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid were the dominating ones. Variation in the sensory properties of ciders was dependent on the physicochemical composition of the apples used.

CETA Without Blinders : How Cutting ‘Trade Costs and More’ Will Cause Unemployment, Inequality and Welfare Losses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Storm, S.T.H.; Kohler, P

2016-01-01

Proponents of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) emphasize its prospective economic benefits, with economic growth increasing due to rising trade volumes and investment. Widely cited official projections suggest modest GDP gains after about a decade, varying from between 0.003% to

Krediidipank läks Vene kapitali kontrolli alla / Peeter Raidla

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Raidla, Peeter, 1955-

2005-01-01

Ilmunud ka: Delovõje Vedomosti 10. aug. lk. 2. Vene kapitalile kuuluv Latvian Business Bank omandas aktsiaostude tulemusena enamuse Eesti Krediidipangast. Diagramm: Krediidipanga aktsionärid. Vt. samas lühiintervjuud Krediidipanga juhatuse esimehe Andrus Klugega

Matching Value Propositions with Varied Customer Needs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heikka, Eija-Liisa; Frandsen, Thomas; Hsuan, Juliana

2018-01-01

Organizations seek to manage varied customer segments using varied value propositions. The ability of a knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) provider to formulate value propositions into attractive offerings to varied customers becomes a competitive advantage. In this specific business based...... on often highly abstract service offerings, this requires the provider to have a clear overview of its knowledge and resources and how these can be configured to obtain the desired customization of services. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how a KIBS provider can match value propositions...... with varied customer needs utilizing service modularity. To accomplish this purpose, a qualitative multiple case study is organized around 5 projects allowing within-case and cross-case comparisons. Our findings describe how through the configuration of knowledge and resources a sustainable competitive...

Evidenced Formal Coverage Index and universal healthcare enactment: A prospective longitudinal study of economic, social, and political predictors of 194 countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Feigl, Andrea B; Ding, Eric L

2013-11-01

Determinants of universal healthcare (UHC) are poorly empirically understood. We undertook a comprehensive study of UHC development using a novel Evidenced Formal Coverage (EFC) index that combines three key UHC elements: legal framework, population coverage, and accessibility. Applying the EFC index measures (legislation, ≥90% skilled birth attendance, ≥85% formal coverage) to 194 countries, aggregating time-varying data from 1880-2008, this study investigates which macro-economic, political, and social indicators are major longitudinal predictors of developing EFC globally, and in middle-income countries. Overall, 75 of 194 countries implemented legal-text UHC legislation, of which 51 achieved EFC. In a country-year prospective longitudinal analysis of EFC prediction, higher GDP-per-capita (per GDP-per-capita doubling, relative risk [RR]=1.77, 95% CI: 1.49-2.10), higher primary school completion (per +20% completion, RR=2.30, 1.65-3.21), and higher adult literacy were significantly associated with achieving EFC. Results also identify a GDP-per-capita of I$5000 as a minimum level for development of EFC. GDP-per-capita and education were each robust predictors in middle-income countries, and education remained significant even controlling for time-varying GDP growth. For income-inequality, the GINI coefficient was suggestive in its role in predicting EFC (p=0.024). For social and political indicators, a greater degree of ethnic fractionalization (per +25%, RR=0.51, 0.38-0.70), proportional electoral system (RR=2.80, 1.22-6.40), and dictatorships (RR=0.10, 0.05-0.27) were further associated with EFC. The novel EFC index and this longitudinal prospective study together indicate that investment in both economic growth and education should be seen of equal importance for development of UHC. Our findings help in understanding the social and political drivers of universal healthcare, especially for transitioning countries. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All

Investigations on Health Conditions of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident Recovery Workers from Latvia in Late Period after Disaster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reste Jeļena

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The paper summarises the main findings on Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP accident recovery workers from Latvia and their health disturbances, which have been studied by the authors during the last two decades. Approximately 6000 persons from Latvia participated in CNPP clean-up works in 1986–1991. During their work period in Chernobyl they were exposed to external as well as to internal irradiation, but since their return to Latvia they were living in a relatively uncontaminated area. Regular careful medical examinations and clinical studies of CNPP clean-up workers have been conducted during the 25 years after disaster, gathering knowledge on radiation late effects. The aim of the present review is to summarise the most important information about Latvian CNPP clean-up worker health revealed by thorough follow-up and research conducted in the period of 25 years after the accident. This paper reviews data of the Latvian State Register of Persons Exposed to Radiation due to CNPP Accident and gives insight in main health effects found by the researchers from the Centre of Occupational and Radiological Medicine (Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital and Rīga Stradiņš University in a number of epidemiological, clinical, biochemical, immunological, and physiological studies. Latvian research data on health condition of CNPP clean-up workers in the late period after disaster indicate that ionising radiation might cause premature ageing and severe polymorbidity in humans.

Design of 2D time-varying vector fields.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Guoning; Kwatra, Vivek; Wei, Li-Yi; Hansen, Charles D; Zhang, Eugene

2012-10-01

Design of time-varying vector fields, i.e., vector fields that can change over time, has a wide variety of important applications in computer graphics. Existing vector field design techniques do not address time-varying vector fields. In this paper, we present a framework for the design of time-varying vector fields, both for planar domains as well as manifold surfaces. Our system supports the creation and modification of various time-varying vector fields with desired spatial and temporal characteristics through several design metaphors, including streamlines, pathlines, singularity paths, and bifurcations. These design metaphors are integrated into an element-based design to generate the time-varying vector fields via a sequence of basis field summations or spatial constrained optimizations at the sampled times. The key-frame design and field deformation are also introduced to support other user design scenarios. Accordingly, a spatial-temporal constrained optimization and the time-varying transformation are employed to generate the desired fields for these two design scenarios, respectively. We apply the time-varying vector fields generated using our design system to a number of important computer graphics applications that require controllable dynamic effects, such as evolving surface appearance, dynamic scene design, steerable crowd movement, and painterly animation. Many of these are difficult or impossible to achieve via prior simulation-based methods. In these applications, the time-varying vector fields have been applied as either orientation fields or advection fields to control the instantaneous appearance or evolving trajectories of the dynamic effects.

Comprehending idioms cross-linguistically.

Science.gov (United States)

Bortfeld, Heather

2003-01-01

Speakers of three different languages (English, Latvian, and Mandarin) rated sets of idioms from their language for the analyzability of the relationship between each phrase's literal and figurative meaning. For each language, subsets of idioms were selected based on these ratings. Latvian and Mandarin idioms were literally translated into English. Across three experiments, people classified idioms from the three languages according to their figurative meanings. Response times and error rates indicate that participants were able to interpret unfamiliar (e.g., other languages') idioms depending largely on the degree to which they were analyzable, and that different forms of processing were used both within and between languages depending on this analyzability. Results support arguments for a continuum of analyzability (Bortfeld & McGlone, 2001), along which figurative speech ranges from reflecting general conceptual structures to specific cultural and historical references.

Ilustratīvā materiāla atveide „Mūsdienu latviešu valodas vārdnīcā”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ieva Zuicena

2012-04-01

Full Text Available THE QUESTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES IN EXPLANATORY DICTIONARIES AND THE DICTIONARY OF CONTEMPORARY LATVIAN LANGUAGESummaryThere are two kinds of illustrative examples that are used in explanatory dictionaries: quotations and combination of words (phrases. Quotations are usually included in large dictionaries of many volumes, but phrases are popular in ordinary explanatory dictionar­ies.In explanatory dictionaries illustrative examples have several functions: 1 to confirm that a corresponding word really exists in language; 2 to demonstrate how the word is used in a context; 3 to supply with additional information.In the Dictionary of Contemporary Latvian Language illustrative examples are mainly given in the form of phrases, although sometimes quotations are also used, because there are several word groups that need a larger context (e.g., words with a figurative meaning, stylistically marked words or meanings, interjections.

Genome mining of the sordarin biosynthetic gene cluster from Sordaria araneosa Cain ATCC 36386: characterization of cycloaraneosene synthase and GDP-6-deoxyaltrose transferase.

Science.gov (United States)

Kudo, Fumitaka; Matsuura, Yasunori; Hayashi, Takaaki; Fukushima, Masayuki; Eguchi, Tadashi

2016-07-01

Sordarin is a glycoside antibiotic with a unique tetracyclic diterpene aglycone structure called sordaricin. To understand its intriguing biosynthetic pathway that may include a Diels-Alder-type [4+2]cycloaddition, genome mining of the gene cluster from the draft genome sequence of the producer strain, Sordaria araneosa Cain ATCC 36386, was carried out. A contiguous 67 kb gene cluster consisting of 20 open reading frames encoding a putative diterpene cyclase, a glycosyltransferase, a type I polyketide synthase, and six cytochrome P450 monooxygenases were identified. In vitro enzymatic analysis of the putative diterpene cyclase SdnA showed that it catalyzes the transformation of geranylgeranyl diphosphate to cycloaraneosene, a known biosynthetic intermediate of sordarin. Furthermore, a putative glycosyltransferase SdnJ was found to catalyze the glycosylation of sordaricin in the presence of GDP-6-deoxy-d-altrose to give 4'-O-demethylsordarin. These results suggest that the identified sdn gene cluster is responsible for the biosynthesis of sordarin. Based on the isolated potential biosynthetic intermediates and bioinformatics analysis, a plausible biosynthetic pathway for sordarin is proposed.

Efeito da suplementação de glutamina sobre variáveis hematológicas e do estado nutricional de ratas desnutridas Glutamine supplementation effect in hematological parameters and nutritional status of rats submitted to malnutrition protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natália Cristina Lima Rodrigues

2007-12-01

Full Text Available RACIONAL: A glutamina é o aminoácido mais abundante no sangue, por desempenhar importante papel no sistema imune. É considerado aminoácido condicionalmente essencial em situações como desnutrição protéico-calórica. OBJETIVO: Verificar o efeito da dieta suplementada com glutamina sobre variáveis bioquímicas e hematológicas de ratas submetidas a protocolo de desnutrição, induzido por dieta rica em lactose. MÉTODOS: Ratas Wistar fêmeas (n=20 e com 21 dias de idade, foram submetidas ou não à desnutrição calórico-protéica induzida por diarréia, através da administração de dieta rica em lactose 60% durante 15 dias. Após o período de desnutrição, animais eutróficos ou desnutridos permaneceram durante 30 dias com oferta de diferentes dietas (padrão e experimentais. De acordo com estado e tratamento nutricionais, os animais foram distribuídos aleatoriamente em quatro grupos distintos: 1 GC: animais eutróficos + dieta padrão, 2 GD: animais desnutridos + dieta rica em lactose (60%, 3 GDGLN: animais desnutridos + dieta rica em glutamina (2%; e 4 GDP: animais desnutridos + dieta padrão. Após os 30 dias de tratamento nutricional, amostras de sangue foram obtidas por punção cardíaca para avaliação de variáveis bioquímicas (proteínas totais, albumina, uréia e hematológicas (quantificação da série vermelha e branca. RESULTADOS: Após 15 dias do início do experimento o ganho de peso dos grupos GD (46,4 ± 2,60g, GDGLN (39,2 ± 8,9g e GDP (33,2 ± 11,5g foi menor em relação ao controle (64 ± 4,24g, PBACKGROUND: Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in blood stream, playing an important role in the immune system. It is conditionally considered an essential amino acid to certain state conditions such as protein-energy malnutrition. AIM: To verify the effect of glutamine diet supplemented on hematological and biochemical variables in rats subjected to protocol of malnutrition, induced by an enriched lactose

Design of 2D Time-Varying Vector Fields

KAUST Repository

Chen, Guoning

2012-10-01

Design of time-varying vector fields, i.e., vector fields that can change over time, has a wide variety of important applications in computer graphics. Existing vector field design techniques do not address time-varying vector fields. In this paper, we present a framework for the design of time-varying vector fields, both for planar domains as well as manifold surfaces. Our system supports the creation and modification of various time-varying vector fields with desired spatial and temporal characteristics through several design metaphors, including streamlines, pathlines, singularity paths, and bifurcations. These design metaphors are integrated into an element-based design to generate the time-varying vector fields via a sequence of basis field summations or spatial constrained optimizations at the sampled times. The key-frame design and field deformation are also introduced to support other user design scenarios. Accordingly, a spatial-temporal constrained optimization and the time-varying transformation are employed to generate the desired fields for these two design scenarios, respectively. We apply the time-varying vector fields generated using our design system to a number of important computer graphics applications that require controllable dynamic effects, such as evolving surface appearance, dynamic scene design, steerable crowd movement, and painterly animation. Many of these are difficult or impossible to achieve via prior simulation-based methods. In these applications, the time-varying vector fields have been applied as either orientation fields or advection fields to control the instantaneous appearance or evolving trajectories of the dynamic effects. © 1995-2012 IEEE.

Design of 2D Time-Varying Vector Fields

KAUST Repository

Chen, Guoning; Kwatra, Vivek; Wei, Li-Yi; Hansen, Charles D.; Zhang, Eugene

2012-01-01

Design of time-varying vector fields, i.e., vector fields that can change over time, has a wide variety of important applications in computer graphics. Existing vector field design techniques do not address time-varying vector fields. In this paper, we present a framework for the design of time-varying vector fields, both for planar domains as well as manifold surfaces. Our system supports the creation and modification of various time-varying vector fields with desired spatial and temporal characteristics through several design metaphors, including streamlines, pathlines, singularity paths, and bifurcations. These design metaphors are integrated into an element-based design to generate the time-varying vector fields via a sequence of basis field summations or spatial constrained optimizations at the sampled times. The key-frame design and field deformation are also introduced to support other user design scenarios. Accordingly, a spatial-temporal constrained optimization and the time-varying transformation are employed to generate the desired fields for these two design scenarios, respectively. We apply the time-varying vector fields generated using our design system to a number of important computer graphics applications that require controllable dynamic effects, such as evolving surface appearance, dynamic scene design, steerable crowd movement, and painterly animation. Many of these are difficult or impossible to achieve via prior simulation-based methods. In these applications, the time-varying vector fields have been applied as either orientation fields or advection fields to control the instantaneous appearance or evolving trajectories of the dynamic effects. © 1995-2012 IEEE.

Time-varying Crash Risk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, Peter; Feunoua, Bruno; Jeon, Yoontae

We estimate a continuous-time model with stochastic volatility and dynamic crash probability for the S&P 500 index and find that market illiquidity dominates other factors in explaining the stock market crash risk. While the crash probability is time-varying, its dynamic depends only weakly on re...

Time varying voltage combustion control and diagnostics sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Chorpening, Benjamin T [Morgantown, WV; Thornton, Jimmy D [Morgantown, WV; Huckaby, E David [Morgantown, WV; Fincham, William [Fairmont, WV

2011-04-19

A time-varying voltage is applied to an electrode, or a pair of electrodes, of a sensor installed in a fuel nozzle disposed adjacent the combustion zone of a continuous combustion system, such as of the gas turbine engine type. The time-varying voltage induces a time-varying current in the flame which is measured and used to determine flame capacitance using AC electrical circuit analysis. Flame capacitance is used to accurately determine the position of the flame from the sensor and the fuel/air ratio. The fuel and/or air flow rate (s) is/are then adjusted to provide reduced flame instability problems such as flashback, combustion dynamics and lean blowout, as well as reduced emissions. The time-varying voltage may be an alternating voltage and the time-varying current may be an alternating current.

Detection of dynamically varying interaural time differences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kohlrausch, Armin; Le Goff, Nicolas; Breebaart, Jeroen

2010-01-01

of fringes surrounding the probe is equal to the addition of the effects of the individual fringes. In this contribution, we present behavioral data for the same experimental condition, called dynamically varying ITD detection, but for a wider range of probe and fringe durations. Probe durations varied...

Transferability of results of cost utility analyses for biologicals in inflammatory conditions for Central and Eastern European countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Gulácsi, László; Rencz, Fanni; Péntek, Márta; Brodszky, Valentin; Lopert, Ruth; Hevér, Noémi V; Baji, Petra

2014-05-01

Several Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries require cost-utility analyses (CUAs) to support reimbursement formulary listing. However, CUAs informed by local evidence are often unavailable, and the cost-effectiveness of the several currently reimbursed biologicals is unclear. To estimate the cost-effectiveness as multiples of per capita GDP/quality adjusted life years (QALY) of four biologicals (infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab, golimumab) currently reimbursed in six CEE countries in six inflammatory rheumatoid and bowel disease conditions. Systematic literature review of published cost-utility analyses in the selected conditions, using the United Kingdom (UK) as reference country and with study selection criteria set to optimize the transfer of results to the CEEs. Prices in each CEE country were pro-rated against UK prices using purchasing power parity (PPP)-adjusted per capita GDP, and local GDP per capita/QALY ratios estimated. Central and Eastern European countries list prices were 144-333% higher than pro rata prices. Out of 85 CUAs identified by previous systematic literature reviews, 15 were selected as a convenience sample for estimating the cost-effectiveness of biologicals in the CEE countries in terms of per capita GDP/QALY. Per capita GDP/QALY values varied from 0.42 to 6.4 across countries and conditions (Bulgaria: 0.97-6.38; Czech Republic: 0.42-2.76; Hungary: 0.54-3.54; Poland: 0.59-3.90; Romania: 0.77-5.07; Slovakia: 0.55-3.61). While results must be interpreted with caution, calculating pro rata (cost-effective) prices and per capita GDP/QALY ratios based on CUAs can aid reimbursement decision-making in the absence of analyses using local data.

"Mind the gap" : impersonaalsusest ja personaalsusest fs-i luules (teiste eesti luuletajate kontekstis) / Aare Pilv ; inglise keelest tlk. Silver Rattasepp

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Pilv, Aare, 1976-

2007-01-01

Artikli aluseks on ingliskeelne ettekanne Underi ja Tuglase Kirjanduskeskuse seminaril "Turn of the Century, Turns in Literature II : Estonian and Latvian Literature in the European Context at the Turn of the 20th/21st Centuries" Viinistus 22.-23. mail 2007

[Pauls Balodis. Latviešu personvārdu etimoloģiskās semantikas teorētiskais modelis un tā realizācija] / Lembit Vaba

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Vaba, Lembit 1945-

2010-01-01

Arvustus: Balodis, Pauls. Latviešu personvārdu etimoloģiskās semantikas teorētiskais modelis un tā realizācija = Theoretical model of the etymological semantics of Latvian personal names and its realization. Riga, 2008

Eesti isikunimed läänemeremaade rahvaste kontekstis / Lembit Vaba

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Vaba, Lembit, 1945-

2009-01-01

Arvustus: Balodis, Pauls. Latviešu personvārdu etimoloģiskās semantikas teorētiskais modelis un tā realizācija = Theoretical model of the etymological semantics of Latvian personal names and its realization. Riga, 2008

Estimating varying coefficients for partial differential equation models.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xinyu; Cao, Jiguo; Carroll, Raymond J

2017-09-01

Partial differential equations (PDEs) are used to model complex dynamical systems in multiple dimensions, and their parameters often have important scientific interpretations. In some applications, PDE parameters are not constant but can change depending on the values of covariates, a feature that we call varying coefficients. We propose a parameter cascading method to estimate varying coefficients in PDE models from noisy data. Our estimates of the varying coefficients are shown to be consistent and asymptotically normally distributed. The performance of our method is evaluated by a simulation study and by an empirical study estimating three varying coefficients in a PDE model arising from LIDAR data. © 2017, The International Biometric Society.

New varying speed of light theories

CERN Document Server

Magueijo, J

2003-01-01

We review recent work on the possibility of a varying speed of light (VSL). We start by discussing the physical meaning of a varying $c$, dispelling the myth that the constancy of $c$ is a matter of logical consistency. We then summarize the main VSL mechanisms proposed so far: hard breaking of Lorentz invariance; bimetric theories (where the speeds of gravity and light are not the same); locally Lorentz invariant VSL theories; theories exhibiting a color dependent speed of light; varying $c$ induced by extra dimensions (e.g. in the brane-world scenario); and field theories where VSL results from vacuum polarization or CPT violation. We show how VSL scenarios may solve the cosmological problems usually tackled by inflation, and also how they may produce a scale-invariant spectrum of Gaussian fluctuations, capable of explaining the WMAP data. We then review the connection between VSL and theories of quantum gravity, showing how ``doubly special'' relativity has emerged as a VSL effective model of quantum space...

Familial juvenile hyperuricemic nephropathy : report on a new mutation and a pregnancy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lhotta, Karl; Gehringer, A; Jennings, P; Kronenberg, F.; Brezinka, C; Andersone, I; Strazdins, V

BACKGROUND: Familial juvenile hyperuricemic nephropathy (FJHN) is a rare autosomal dominant disease caused by mutations in the uromodulin gene (UMOD) and leading to gout, tubulointerstitial nephropathy and end-stage renal disease. CASE REPORTS AND RESULTS: A Latvian family suffering from FJHN is

Varying constants, black holes, and quantum gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlip, S.

2003-01-01

Tentative observations and theoretical considerations have recently led to renewed interest in models of fundamental physics in which certain 'constants' vary in time. Assuming fixed black hole mass and the standard form of the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy, Davies, Davis and Lineweaver have argued that the laws of black hole thermodynamics disfavor models in which the fundamental electric charge e changes. I show that with these assumptions, similar considerations severely constrain 'varying speed of light' models, unless we are prepared to abandon cherished assumptions about quantum gravity. Relaxation of these assumptions permits sensible theories of quantum gravity with ''varying constants,'' but also eliminates the thermodynamic constraints, though the black hole mass spectrum may still provide some restrictions on the range of allowable models

Clonación molecular de los genes GDP-L-galactosa fosforilasa, L-galactosa deshidrogenasa y L-galactono-1.4-lactona deshidrogenasa de la vía biosintética de vitamina C en Myrciaria dubia (camu camu)

OpenAIRE

Egoávil, Alina; Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana; Torres, Julián; Cobos, Marianela; Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana; Imán, Sixto A.; Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana; Marapara, Jorge L.; Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana; Castro, Juan C.; Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana

2016-01-01

El objetivo del estudio fue realizar la clonación molecular de los genes que codifican las enzimas, GDP-L-galactosa fosforilasa (GGF), L-galactosa deshidrogenasa (GDH) y L-galactono-1,4-lactona deshidrogenasa (GLDH) de la ruta biosintética de vitamina C de Myrciaria dubia (Kunth) McVaugh. Los frutos fueron obtenidos de la Colección Nacional de Germoplasma de M. dubia del Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria. El ARN se purificó, se sintetizó el ADNc y amplificó con cebadores degenerados, s...

Latvian education's uneasy course / Ben Nimmo

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Nimmo, Ben

2005-01-01

Läti Haridus- ja Teadusministeeriumi andmetel õppis 2004.-2005. õppeaastal 55 protsenti Läti üliõpilastest ärinduse, õiguse ja majandusega seotud erialasid. Haridusministeeriumi kõrghariduse osakonna juhataja Janis Cakste ja Läti Kaubandus- ja Tööstuskoja tegevdirektor Janis Leja annavad ülevaate sellise olukorra põhjustest ning selgitavad insenerierialade populariseerimise vajadust

Latvian president addresses unfair spending rumors

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2008-01-01

Läti presidendi Valdis Zatlersi sõnul on oluline läbipaistev kommunikatsioon valitsuse ja riigi elanike vahel, et vältida valeinformatsiooni tekkimist Läti majandusliku olukorra kohta. Samuti peab Läti pingutama, et võtta 2012. aastal kasutusele euro

EC suspicious of Latvian audit results

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2011-01-01

Alates 1. novembrist 2010 ei ole Läti Euroopa Liidu Solidaarsusfondist finantseerimist saanud, kuigi selle abil läbiviidavad projektid pole peatatud, kuna see oli riigi otsus. Finantseerimine peaks taastuma juunis, kui Euroopa Komisjoniga lepitakse riigi rahanduse juhtimis- ja järelevalveprogrammis kokku

Latvians awarded with Cross of Liberty

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2011-01-01

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves avas 12. novembril 2011 Eesti sõjameeste mälestuskirikus Toris mälestustahvli 50 Läti kodanikule, keda Eesti Vabariik on koostöö eest Vabadussõjas austanud Vabadusristi aumärgiga

An analysis of tourism contribution to economic growth in SADC ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study how the tourism sector can be an engine of economic growth in SADC member countries. The paper found the contribution of tourism to GDP, employment, export receipts and investment is significant. Although this sector's contribution to the economy varies among SADC countries, the the study found that ...

河南省水利投融资结构及其与GDP关系分析%Structure of Water Conservancy Investment and Financing in Relation to GDP in Henan Province

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

岳伟丽

2015-01-01

Evaluation on the current mode and economic benefits of water conservancy investment and financing is the premise of its system reform. Based on the water conservancy investment and financing data during the period of 1991—2010 in Henan Province,this study firstly analyzed the sources of funds and the structure of water conservancy investment and financing,and then discussed its trends in recent 20 years. Finally,water conservancy investment and financing in relation to GDP was quantitatively evaluated. The results show that water con-servancy investment funds in Henan Province mainly come from three channels of the investment in the central,provincial and local self fi-nancing investment;the national debt has become an important source of investment in a certain period of time. Although in recent years the investment and financing has a diversification trend,but other financing sources of funds are still relatively small proportion. In recent 10 years,investment in the central and provincial investment and other investments are increased with increment of GDP. In addition to other in-vestments,water conservancy investments and financings in relation to GDP are binomial or exponential relationship.%评价当前水利投融资方式及其经济效益是开展水利投融资体制改革的前提。以河南省为例，基于1991—2010年水利投融资数据，分析了水利投融资的资金来源与结构，探讨了近20 a来水利主要投融资资金变化趋势，定量分析了各项投融资资金与GDP的关系。结果表明：河南省水利投融资资金主要来源于中央投资、省级投资和地方自筹3个渠道，国债在一定时期成为投资的重要来源。尽管近年来河南省水利投融资呈现多元化趋势，但其他投融资资金所占比例还相对较小。中央投资、省级投资及其他投资均随GDP的增长而增加；总投资、中央投资、省级投资与GDP之间具有�

Comparative empirical analysis of temporal relationships between construction investment and economic growth in the United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Navid Ahmadi

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The majority of policymakers believe that investments in construction infrastructure would boost the economy of the United States (U.S.. They also assume that construction investment in infrastructure has similar impact on the economies of different U.S. states. In contrast, there have been studies showing the negative impact of construction activities on the economy. However, there has not been any research attempt to empirically test the temporal relationships between construction investment and economic growth in the U.S. states, to determine the longitudinal impact of construction investment on the economy of each state. The objective of this study is to investigate whether Construction Value Added (CVA is the leading (or lagging indicator of real Gross Domestic Product (real GDP for every individual state of the U.S. using empirical time series tests. The results of Granger causality tests showed that CVA is a leading indicator of state real GDP in 18 states and the District of Columbia; real GDP is a leading indicator of CVA in 10 states and the District of Columbia. There is a bidirectional relationship between CVA and real GDP in 5 states and the District of Columbia. In 8 states and the District of Columbia, not only do CVA and real GDP have leading/lagging relationships, but they are also cointegrated. These results highlight the important role of the construction industry in these states. The results also show that leading (or lagging lengths vary for different states. The results of the comparative empirical analysis reject the hypothesis that CVA is a leading indicator of real GDP in the states with the highest shares of construction in the real GDP. The findings of this research contribute to the state of knowledge by quantifying the temporal relationships between construction investment and economic growth in the U.S. states. It is expected that the results help policymakers better understand the impact of construction investment

Deterrence in the Human Domain: A COIN Framework to Deterring Unconventional Warfare in Shaping Operations

Science.gov (United States)

2017-05-25

confuse or gain support among populations.86 This digital IO capability integrated with UW troops enables population manipulation and the ability to...in Daugavpils at 50.4 percent.91 Here ethnic Russians feel discriminated against by the Latvian government’s continual denial of citizenship , despite

Mediation analysis with time varying exposures and mediators.

Science.gov (United States)

VanderWeele, Tyler J; Tchetgen Tchetgen, Eric J

2017-06-01

In this paper we consider causal mediation analysis when exposures and mediators vary over time. We give non-parametric identification results, discuss parametric implementation, and also provide a weighting approach to direct and indirect effects based on combining the results of two marginal structural models. We also discuss how our results give rise to a causal interpretation of the effect estimates produced from longitudinal structural equation models. When there are time-varying confounders affected by prior exposure and mediator, natural direct and indirect effects are not identified. However, we define a randomized interventional analogue of natural direct and indirect effects that are identified in this setting. The formula that identifies these effects we refer to as the "mediational g-formula." When there is no mediation, the mediational g-formula reduces to Robins' regular g-formula for longitudinal data. When there are no time-varying confounders affected by prior exposure and mediator values, then the mediational g-formula reduces to a longitudinal version of Pearl's mediation formula. However, the mediational g-formula itself can accommodate both mediation and time-varying confounders and constitutes a general approach to mediation analysis with time-varying exposures and mediators.

Eestlased Karlovy Varys / J. R.

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

J. R.

2007-01-01

Ilmar Raagi mängufilm "Klass" osaleb 42. Karlovy Vary rahvusvahelise filmifestivali võistlusprogrammis "East of the West" ja Asko Kase lühimängufilm "Zen läbi prügi" on valitud festivali kõrvalprogrammi "Forum of Independents"

Comparison of Linear Microinstability Calculations of Varying Input Realism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rewoldt, G.

2003-01-01

The effect of varying ''input realism'' or varying completeness of the input data for linear microinstability calculations, in particular on the critical value of the ion temperature gradient for the ion temperature gradient mode, is investigated using gyrokinetic and gyrofluid approaches. The calculations show that varying input realism can have a substantial quantitative effect on the results

Comparison of linear microinstability calculations of varying input realism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rewoldt, G.; Kinsey, J.E.

2004-01-01

The effect of varying 'input realism' or varying completeness of the input data for linear microinstability calculations, in particular on the critical value of the ion temperature gradient for the ion temperature gradient mode, is investigated using gyrokinetic and gyrofluid approaches. The calculations show that varying input realism can have a substantial quantitative effect on the results

Retracted article: Flexible Fourier Stationary Test in GDP per capita for Central Eastern European Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meng-Nan Zhu

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Statement of Retraction (http://www.efri.uniri.hr/prikaz.asp?txt_id=7366 This is to notify our respectful reading public that the Editorial Board of the journal Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci, časopis za ekonomsku teoriju i praksu/ Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, Journal of Economics and Business has retracted the following article from publication: “Flexible Fourier Stationary Test in GDP per capita for Central Eastern European Countries“, by Hsu-Ling Chang, Chi-Wei Su, Meng-Nan Zhu, published in our journal Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci, časopis za ekonomsku teoriju i praksu/ Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, Journal of Economics and Business, 2011, vol. 29 (1, pp. 51-63 and almost concurrently published in the journal Eastern European Economics, 2011, vol. 49 (3, pp. 54-65. Being in contact with Josef C Brada, Professor Emeritus, Editor of the journal Eastern European Economics (EEE, we realized that the paper had been sent to both journals, although first published in the EEE and then in our Journal. According to professor Brada’s and our analysis, the paper published in these two journals is exactly the same, except for minor differences in wording, most likely due to editing the text before publication. The outstanding differences are in the title and the fact that the paper published in our Journal has three authors and in EEE journal has two. Whatsoever, owing to the fact that the article had been sent to both journals almost at the same time, it had been impossible to find out the case during the review procedure. Due to this unpleasant situation, our Editorial Board would like to inform our valuable readers that all the necessary measures to retract the paper from our publication have been undertaken and according to publishing ethical principles, cooperation with the authors of the retracted paper have been stopped. Although, in this case neither EEE nor our Journal had any

Liver-related mortality in countries of the developed world: an ecological study approach to explain the variability.

Science.gov (United States)

von Wulffen, M; Clark, P J; Macdonald, G A; Raj, A S; Kendall, B J; Powell, E E; Jones, M P; Holtmann, G

2016-07-01

Liver-related mortality varies across developed nations. To assess the relative role of various risk factors in relation to liver-related mortality in an ecological study approach. Data for liver-related mortality, prevalence data for hepatitis B and C, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), alcohol consumption per capita, Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM), overweight and obesity were extracted from peer-reviewed publications or WHO databases for different developed countries. As potential other risk-modifying factors, purchase power parity (PPP)-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and health expenditure per capita were assessed. As an environmental 'hygiene factor', we also assessed the effect of the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori. Only countries with a PPP-adjusted GDP greater than $20 000 and valid information for at least 8 risk modifiers were included. Univariate and multivariate analyses were utilised to quantify the contribution to the variability in liver-related mortality. The proportion of chronic liver diseases (CLD)-related mortality ranged from 0.73-2.40% [mean 1.56%, 95% CI (1.43-1.69)] of all deaths. Univariately, CLD-related mortality was significantly associated with Hepatitis B prevalence, alcohol consumption, PPP-adjusted GDP (all P < 0.05) and potentially H. pylori prevalence (P = 0.055). Other investigated factors, including hepatitis C, did not yield significance. Backward elimination suggested hepatitis B, alcohol consumption and PPP-adjusted GDP as risk factors (explaining 66.3% of the variability). Hepatitis B infection, alcohol consumption and GDP, but not hepatitis C or other factors, explain most of the variance of liver-related mortality. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Marketingový mix HC Enegie Karlovy Vary

OpenAIRE

Štrobl, Adam

2016-01-01

Title: Marketing mix of HC Energie Karlovy Vary Objectives: This thesis is based on a questionnaire responses obtained from HC Energie Karlovy Vary fans. Its objective is focused on evaluation of their opinions on the marketing mix, their subsequent interpretation, and finally even development of recommendations for improvement based on previous analysis. Methods: Two methods are used to analyse the marketing mix. The first method is qualitative participant observation. The second method is a...

Õunpuu Karlovy Varys edukas

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2010-01-01

45. Karlovy Vary filmifestivali võistlusprogrammis "East of the West" märgiti ära Veiko Õunpuu film "Püha Tõnu kiusamine". Peaauhind läks rumeenlase Cristi Puiu filmile "Aurora". Grand prix´sai Augustĺ Vila film "La mosquitera". Teisi preemiasaajaid

Ludvigs Pelekis and the development of the nuclear physics in Latvia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taure, I.; Ulmanis, U.

2004-01-01

It is given the life and activities of Latvian nuclear physicist Ludvigs Pelekis. His main tasks in the experimental nuclear physics and their applications - nuclear spectroscopy with scintillation spectrometers and coincidence cuircides, gamma-ray defectoscopy, neutron activation analysis methods and their use in different branches. (authors)

Global Stability of Polytopic Linear Time-Varying Dynamic Systems under Time-Varying Point Delays and Impulsive Controls

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. de la Sen

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the stability properties of a class of dynamic linear systems possessing several linear time-invariant parameterizations (or configurations which conform a linear time-varying polytopic dynamic system with a finite number of time-varying time-differentiable point delays. The parameterizations may be timevarying and with bounded discontinuities and they can be subject to mixed regular plus impulsive controls within a sequence of time instants of zero measure. The polytopic parameterization for the dynamics associated with each delay is specific, so that (q+1 polytopic parameterizations are considered for a system with q delays being also subject to delay-free dynamics. The considered general dynamic system includes, as particular cases, a wide class of switched linear systems whose individual parameterizations are timeinvariant which are governed by a switching rule. However, the dynamic system under consideration is viewed as much more general since it is time-varying with timevarying delays and the bounded discontinuous changes of active parameterizations are generated by impulsive controls in the dynamics and, at the same time, there is not a prescribed set of candidate potential parameterizations.

Assessing the effect of oil price on world food prices: Application of principal component analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esmaeili, Abdoulkarim; Shokoohi, Zainab

2011-01-01

The objective of this paper is to investigate the co-movement of food prices and the macroeconomic index, especially the oil price, by principal component analysis to further understand the influence of the macroeconomic index on food prices. We examined the food prices of seven major products: eggs, meat, milk, oilseeds, rice, sugar and wheat. The macroeconomic variables studied were crude oil prices, consumer price indexes, food production indexes and GDP around the world between 1961 and 2005. We use the Scree test and the proportion of variance method for determining the optimal number of common factors. The correlation coefficient between the extracted principal component and the macroeconomic index varies between 0.87 for the world GDP and 0.36 for the consumer price index. We find the food production index has the greatest influence on the macroeconomic index and that the oil price index has an influence on the food production index. Consequently, crude oil prices have an indirect effect on food prices. - Research Highlights: →We investigate the co-movement of food prices and the macroeconomic index. →The crude oil price has indirect effect on the world GDP via its impacts on food production index. →The food production index is the source of causation for CPI and GDP is affected by CPI. →The results confirm an indirect effect among oil price, food price principal component.

Natural Gas Consumption of Emerging Economies in the Industrialization Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian Chai

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Natural gas has become more and more important in the world energy market with the change of energy consumption structure and consumption subjects. This paper applies the panel smooth transition regression (PSTR model to study the nonlinear relationship between natural gas consumption and economic variables of emerging economies, and the empirical results show that: (1 There is a non-linear relationship among natural gas consumption, GDP per capita, industrialization and urbanization rate; (2 The optimal PSTR model is a two-regime model by using the lagged industrialization as a transition variable, and the impact of GDP per capita and of industrialization on natural gas consumption shows incomplete symmetry in low and high regime, respectively; (3 The result of time-varying elasticity analysis indicates that natural gas consumption is inelastic to GDP per capita, but elastic to both industrialization and urbanization. The elasticity of GDP per capita generally decrease with fluctuation, the elasticity of industrialization tends to rise, and the elasticity of urbanization is linear at high level; (4 Regional difference shows that there are 10 emerging economies are in first regime (below industrialization of 43.2%, and the remaining 6 are in second regime. This provides reference for countries in different transformation periods to make economic policies adapting to energy saving, energy structure optimization and other sustainable development strategies.

Optimistlik Karlovy Vary / Jaan Ruus

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Ruus, Jaan, 1938-2017

2007-01-01

42. Karlovy Vary rahvusvahelise filmifestivali auhinnatud filmidest (žürii esimees Peter Bart). Kristallgloobuse sai Islandi-Saksamaa "Katseklaasilinn" (režii Baltasar Kormakur), parimaks režissööriks tunnistati norralane Bard Breien ("Negatiivse mõtlemise kunst"). Austraallase Michael James Rowlandi "Hea õnne teekond" sai žürii eripreemia

Sajandivahetuse pöörded II : seminar läti ja eesti kirjandusest / Anneli Mihkelev

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Mihkelev, Anneli

2007-01-01

21.-23. mail toimunud eesti ja läti kirjandusteadlaste seminarist pealkirjaga "Turn of the Century, Turns in Literature II : Estonian and Latvian Literatures in European Context at the Beginning of the 20th/21st Centuries" ("Muutused eesti ja läti kirjanduses XX ja XXI sajandi vahetusel")

"Most Learn Almost Nothing": Building Democratic Citizenship by Engaging Controversial History through Inquiry in Post-Communist Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Misco, Thomas

2011-01-01

This article addresses the challenges and pathways of Holocaust education in post-communist countries through two case studies. I first examine historiographical, institutional and cultural obstacles to deep and meaningful treatments of the Holocaust within Latvian and Romanian schools. Drawing upon the unique experiences both countries had with…

Swedish Taxation in a 150-year Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stenkula Mikael

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the development of taxation in Sweden from 1862 to 2010. The examination includes six key aspects of the Swedish tax system, namely the taxation of labor income, capital income, wealth, inheritances and gifts, consumption and real estate. The importance of these taxes varied greatly over time and Sweden increasingly relied on broad-based taxes (such as income taxes and general consumption taxes and taxes that were less visible to the public (such as payroll taxes and social security contributions. The tax-to-GDP ratio was initially low and relatively stable, but from the 1930s, the ratio increased sharply for nearly 50 years. Towards the end of the period, the tax-to-GDP ratio declined significantly.

Time-varying value of electric energy efficiency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mims, Natalie A.; Eckman, Tom; Goldman, Charles

2017-06-30

Electric energy efficiency resources save energy and may reduce peak demand. Historically, quantification of energy efficiency benefits has largely focused on the economic value of energy savings during the first year and lifetime of the installed measures. Due in part to the lack of publicly available research on end-use load shapes (i.e., the hourly or seasonal timing of electricity savings) and energy savings shapes, consideration of the impact of energy efficiency on peak demand reduction (i.e., capacity savings) has been more limited. End-use load research and the hourly valuation of efficiency savings are used for a variety of electricity planning functions, including load forecasting, demand-side management and evaluation, capacity and demand response planning, long-term resource planning, renewable energy integration, assessing potential grid modernization investments, establishing rates and pricing, and customer service. This study reviews existing literature on the time-varying value of energy efficiency savings, provides examples in four geographically diverse locations of how consideration of the time-varying value of efficiency savings impacts the calculation of power system benefits, and identifies future research needs to enhance the consideration of the time-varying value of energy efficiency in cost-effectiveness screening analysis. Findings from this study include: -The time-varying value of individual energy efficiency measures varies across the locations studied because of the physical and operational characteristics of the individual utility system (e.g., summer or winter peaking, load factor, reserve margin) as well as the time periods during which savings from measures occur. -Across the four locations studied, some of the largest capacity benefits from energy efficiency are derived from the deferral of transmission and distribution system infrastructure upgrades. However, the deferred cost of such upgrades also exhibited the greatest range

Experimental evidence for amplitude death induced by a time-varying interaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Suresh, K. [Centre for Nonlinear Dynamics, School of Physics, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024, Tamil Nadu (India); Shrimali, M.D. [Department of Physics, Central University of Rajasthan, NH-8, Bandar Sindri, Ajmer 305 801 (India); Prasad, Awadhesh [Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007 (India); Thamilmaran, K., E-mail: maran.cnld@gmail.com [Centre for Nonlinear Dynamics, School of Physics, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024, Tamil Nadu (India)

2014-08-01

In this paper, we study the time-varying interaction in coupled oscillatory systems. For this purpose, we have designed a novel time-varying resistive network using an analog switch and inverter circuits. We have applied this time-varying resistive network to mutually coupled identical Chua's oscillators. When the resistances are varied in time, we find that amplitude death arises in coupled identical oscillators. This has been observed numerically as well as verified through hardware experiments. - Highlights: • We have implemented the time-varying interaction in coupled oscillatory systems. • We have designed a novel time-varying resistive network using an analog switch and inverter circuits. • When the resistances are varied in time, we find that amplitude death arises in coupled identical oscillators.

Brane world cosmologies with varying speed of light

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Youm, Donam

2001-02-01

We study cosmologies in the Randall-Sundrum models, incorporating the possibility of time-varying speed of light and Newton's constant. The cosmologies with varying speed of light (VSL) were proposed by Moffat and by Albrecht and Magueijo as an alternative to inflation for solving the cosmological problems. We consider the case in which the speed of light varies with time after the radion or the scale of the extra dimension has been stabilized. We elaborate on the conditions under which the flatness problem and the cosmological constant problem can be resolved. Particularly, the VSL cosmologies may provide a possible mechanism for bringing the quantum corrections to the fine-tuned brane tensions after the SUSY breaking under control. (author)

THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: SHARE OF GDP, EXPORTS AND EMPLOYMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Veselinova

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The focus of this paper is the analysis of the role of the textile industry in the national economy of the Republic of Macedonia. The main objective is to consider what determines the actual structure in this particular industry and how it affects the national economic categories, such as: the gross domestic product, exports and the level of employment. The research resultspresent that more than one third of the total exports, as well as more than one third of the employed population in the manufacturing sector accounted for the textile industry, but this industry creates only 3% of the national GDP. Conclusions reveal that the above mentioned statistics is due to the very low level of additional value among all the products that consist this industry’s exports. It is expected that the developed countrieswould tend to keep the creative activities of the manufacturing process in their own terms and transfer the basic production activities in other less developed countries. But the textile companies from the countries in the South-East Europe (among which is the Republic of Macedonia could play the role of a bridge between the modern textile brands and the niche producers in MiddleandFar East.

Kondratiev type cyclicality of the Romanian economy, grounded in three key statistical indicators: GDP, CPI or CLI and debt

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gheorghe Săvoiu

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The evolution of the economies is certainly cyclical, and the “K” type waves, or type Kondratiev cycles, represent a perennial piece of evidence of this. Relatively criticized by many economic theories, with the ignorance typical of all those who try to disprove forecasts and projections in the field of business, and at the same time highly appreciated by those who prove a validated predictive power (which is the case of the Austrian school of economics, Kondratiev cycles, currently in their fifth stage, are the main target of the presnet paper. The introductory section is a reflection, simultaneously critical and appreciative, on cyclicality, while the arguments have a strong technological emphasis. To be credible and pragmatic, the applied method section has recourse to three favourite tools: gross domestic product (GDP price consumer index (PCI or cost of living index (CLI, and debt (public or external, paying due tribute to the constructors and international harmonizers, in point of statistics and instruments (from Nicholas Georgescu Roengen to Victor Axenciuc, who initiated and, respectively, completed a genuine epistemological process of the long cycle in modern Romanian economy, which this article presents, recognizing the quality of a supercycle to the Kondratiev cycle. The logic and useful nature of cyclical thinking, and its major importance today, conferred by the contribution of the Austrian school of economics, are included at the end of this article, generating a series of concluding remarks in a double perspective: that of an essay or statistical description, and and no less a ritical analysis of the Kondratiev type cyclicity of the national economy.

Tracking time-varying coefficient-functions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Henrik Aalborg; Nielsen, Torben Skov; Joensen, Alfred K.

2000-01-01

is a combination of recursive least squares with exponential forgetting and local polynomial regression. It is argued, that it is appropriate to let the forgetting factor vary with the value of the external signal which is the argument of the coefficient functions. Some of the key properties of the modified method...... are studied by simulation...

Esmaklassiline Karlovy Vary / Jaanus Noormets

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Noormets, Jaanus

2007-01-01

Ilmar Raagi mängufilm "Klass" võitis 42. Karlovy Vary rahvusvahelise filmifestivalil kaks auhinda - ametliku kõrvalvõistlusprogrammi "East of the West" eripreemia "Special mention" ja Euroopa väärtfilmikinode keti Europa Cinemas preemia. Ka Asko Kase lühifilmi "Zen läbi prügi linastumisest ning teistest auhinnasaajatest ning osalejatest

The application of headspace gas chromatography coupled to tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry for the analysis of furan in baby food samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Pugajeva, Iveta; Rozentale, Irina; Viksna, Arturs; Bartkiene, Elena; Bartkevics, Vadims

2016-12-01

Selective methodology employing a tandem quadrupole mass spectrometer coupled to a gas chromatograph with headspace autosampler (HS-GC-MS/MS) was elaborated in this study. Application of the elaborated procedure resulted in a limit of detection of 0.021μgkg(-1) and a limit of quantification of 0.071μgkg(-1). The mean recoveries during in-house validation ranged from 89% to 109%, and coefficients of variation for repeatability ranged from 4% to 11%. The proposed analytical method was applied for monitoring the furan content of 30 commercial baby food samples available on the Latvian retail market. The level of furan found in these samples varied from 0.45 to 81.9μgkg(-1), indicating that infants whose sole diet comprises baby food sold in jars and cans are exposed constantly to furan. Samples containing vegetables and meat had higher levels of furan than those containing only fruits. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The relation between wealth and health: Evidence from a world panel of countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Worm Hansen, Casper

2012-01-01

Based on a world sample of countries, this paper presents panel data evidence that documents a U-shaped relation between GDP per capita (wealth) and life expectancy (health). The evidence also shows that excluding the possibility of a nonmonotonic relationship induces erroneous conclusions about...... the time-varying wealth-health correlation. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved....

Anistropically varying conductivity in irreversible electroporation simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Labarbera, Nicholas; Drapaca, Corina

2017-11-01

One recent area of cancer research is irreversible electroporation (IRE). Irreversible electroporation is a minimally invasive procedure where needle electrodes are inserted into the body to ablate tumor cells with electricity. The aim of this paper is to propose a mathematical model that incorporates a tissue's conductivity increasing more in the direction of the electrical field as this has been shown to occur in experiments. It was necessary to mathematically derive a valid form of the conductivity tensor such that it is dependent on the electrical field direction and can be easily implemented into numerical software. The derivation of a conductivity tensor that can take arbitrary functions for the conductivity in the directions tangent and normal to the electrical field is the main contribution of this paper. Numerical simulations were performed for isotropic-varying and anisotropic-varying conductivities to evaluate the importance of including the electrical field's direction in the formulation for conductivity. By starting from previously published experimental results, this paper derived a general formulation for an anistropic-varying tensor for implementation into irreversible electroporation modeling software. The anistropic-varying tensor formulation allows the conductivity to take into consideration both electrical field direction and magnitude, as opposed to previous published works that only took into account electrical field magnitude. The anisotropic formulation predicts roughly a five percent decrease in ablation size for the monopolar simulation and approximately a ten percent decrease in ablation size for the bipolar simulations. This is a positive result as previously reported results found the isotropic formulation to overpredict ablation size for both monopolar and bipolar simulations. Furthermore, it was also reported that the isotropic formulation overpredicts the ablation size more for the bipolar case than the monopolar case. Thus, our

Analysis of time-varying psoriasis lesion image patterns

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maletti, Gabriela Mariel; Ersbøll, Bjarne Kjær; Nielsen, Allan Aasbjerg

2004-01-01

The multivariate alteration detection transform is applied to pairs of within and between time varying registered psoriasis image patterns. Color band contribution to the variates explaining maximal change is analyzed.......The multivariate alteration detection transform is applied to pairs of within and between time varying registered psoriasis image patterns. Color band contribution to the variates explaining maximal change is analyzed....

Specimen loading list for the varying temperature experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qualls, A.L.; Sitterson, R.G.

1998-01-01

The varying temperature experiment HFIR-RB-13J has been assembled and inserted in the reactor. Approximately 5300 specimens were cleaned, inspected, matched, and loaded into four specimen holders. A listing of each specimen loaded into the steady temperature holder, its position in the capsule, and the identification of the corresponding specimen loaded into the varying temperature holder is presented in this report

Education in the Soviet Baltic Republics.

Science.gov (United States)

Soviet Education, 1981

1981-01-01

Includes 11 articles about education in the Soviet Baltic Republics. The articles include historical studies of Estonian and Latvian schools and medieval Estonian folk games. The impact of Marxist educational theories and Soviet policies on educational research, teacher education, and teaching methods in the Baltic region from 1920-50 is…

Effects of Authoritarianism on the Teaching of National History: The Case of Latvia

Science.gov (United States)

Abens, Aija

2015-01-01

Recent research on history teaching has begun to focus on political motivation. This paper is the result of the author's dissertation, which investigates Latvian history teaching under the authoritarian regimes of Ulmanis and Stalin. It reveals the effects of authoritarianism on goals, curriculum, teaching materials and methods, and the teacher's…

The economy-energy CO{sub 2} connection: a review of trends and challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Darmstadter, J. [Resources for the Future, Washington, DC (United States)

2001-07-01

Though highly aggregative and a straightforward arithmetic identity, a useful 'decomposition' of the change in CO{sub 2} emissions breaks out four constituent elements: (1) population, (2) GDP/person, (3) energy consumption/unit GDP, and (4) CO{sub 2} emissions/unit energy consumption. Other things equal, slower population growth means less growth in CO{sub 2} release, while higher GDP/capita signifies a greater volume of CO{sub 2} emitted. The energy/GDP ratio measures an economy's aggregate energy intensity, reflecting structural, technological and energy-use characteristics of society. The CO{sub 2}/energy element spotlights the effect of a changing mix of energy sources with varying carbon characteristics. This paper concentrates in particular on the 3rd and 4th components of this dissection. In the case of the energy/GDP ratio, the author examines the impact of energy price change on energy demand as well as the contribution of 'autonomous' technological advance. Electronic commerce injects a growing and conceivably significant factor into enhanced energy efficiency. In the case of the CO{sub 2}/energy ratio, such developments as increased use of natural gas in electric generation and - more conjecturally - use of renewables, are likely to prove important. The prospect of a sharp turnaround in the trend of US (and other industrial country) CO{sub 2} emissions and of at least moderate deceleration in the case of developing countries is found to constitute a formidable, but by no means hopeless, challenge. The deterrent effect of rising energy prices would appear to be at least one condition for that goal to be attainable. 15 refs., 2 tabs.

Varied line-space gratings and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McKinney, W.R.

1991-01-01

This paper presents a straightforward analytical and numerical method for the design of a specific type of varied line-space grating system. The mathematical development will assume plane or nearly-plane spherical gratings which are illuminated by convergent light, which covers many interesting cases for synchrotron radiation. The gratings discussed will have straight grooves whose spacing varies across the principal plane of the grating. Focal relationships and formulae for the optical grating-pole-to-exist-slit distance and grating radius previously presented by other authors will be derived with a symbolic algebra system. It is intended to provide the optical designer with the tools necessary to design such a system properly. Finally, some possible advantages and disadvantages for application to synchrotron to synchrotron radiation beamlines will be discussed

Eesti film võistleb Karlovy Varys

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2008-01-01

8. juulil esilinastub Karlovy Vary filmifestivalil Rene Vilbre noortefilm "Mina olin siin", mille aluseks on Sass Henno romaan "Mina olin siin. Esimene arest", stsenaariumi kirjutas Ilmar Raag. Film võistleb võistlusprogrammis "East of the West"

Entropy Rate of Time-Varying Wireless Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cika, Arta; Badiu, Mihai Alin; Coon, Justin P.

2018-01-01

In this paper, we present a detailed framework to analyze the evolution of the random topology of a time-varying wireless network via the information theoretic notion of entropy rate. We consider a propagation channel varying over time with random node positions in a closed space and Rayleigh...... fading affecting the connections between nodes. The existence of an edge between two nodes at given locations is modeled by a Markov chain, enabling memory effects in network dynamics. We then derive a lower and an upper bound on the entropy rate of the spatiotemporal network. The entropy rate measures...

Multivariate time-varying volatility modeling using probabilistic fuzzy systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Basturk, N.; Almeida, R.J.; Golan, R.; Kaymak, U.

2016-01-01

Methods to accurately analyze financial risk have drawn considerable attention in financial institutions. One difficulty in financial risk analysis is the fact that banks and other financial institutions invest in several assets which show time-varying volatilities and hence time-varying financial

Usaldusväärne teejuht läti kohanimemaastikul / Lembit Vaba

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Vaba, Lembit, 1945-

2016-01-01

Arvustus: Balode, Laimute, Bušš, Ojārs. No Abavas līdz Zilupei : vietvārdu cilmes īsā vārdnīca = From Abava to Zilupe : the origin of Latvian geographical names : a short dictionary. Rīga : Latviešu valodas aģentūra, 2015

USSR and Eastern Europe Scientific Abstracts, Engineering and Equipment, Number 38

Science.gov (United States)

1977-12-27

Institute for the Construction of Trunk Pipelines; KAPLAN , A. S., Latvian Scientific Research Institute of Construction and YAMBOR, YA. YA., Institute of...numbers a-, and a2 is studied. The appearance of harmonics such as na± + ma2 is considered, when n and m are integers. Particular attention is given to

Primary School Teachers' Views on a Holistic Approach to Facilitating the Acquisition of Musical Cultural Values

Science.gov (United States)

Badjanova, Jelena

2013-01-01

Recent tendencies in education highlight the need to align the system of general education in Latvia with the tenets of sustainability. In keeping with this broad target orientation, this paper re-examines international and Latvian experiences and perspectives on the application of a holistic approach to the content of primary education. This…

Agricultural growth, the status of women, and fertility.

Science.gov (United States)

Whittington, L A; Stapleton, D C

1995-08-01

This study tests the hypothesis that fertility is affected differently by economic growth depending upon the specific sector (agriculture, manufacturing, heavy industry, and services) where growth occurred. The hypothesis is that fertility responses are not identical across sectors. The sample includes 51 World Bank member countries in varying stages of development. The econometric model pertains to 1965-88 and the percentage change in the total fertility rate (TFR). During the study period the average TFR declined by over 22%, but the extent of change varied by country and included, for instance, countries such as Ethiopia that experienced fertility increases from 5.8 to 6.5. Hong Kong's TFR declined by 66% from 4.7 to 1.6. Analysis included measures of changes in gross domestic product (GDP) for each of the four sectors and change in real per capita exports in agricultural commodities, resources, and manufactured products. Changes in educational status and changes in infant mortality were also included in some models. There were mixed results for the impact of total GDP. Sectoral analysis shows a positive, small significant impact on TFR from changes in the GDP per capita in agriculture (domestic and export products), and a negative, small significant impact from manufacturing growth. Heavy industry and services produced insignificant impact. In the model with only domestic consumption, results show a stronger coefficient and continued significance for agricultural productivity, agricultural exports, and manufacturing changes per capita. Manufacturing exports produced a negative, insignificant impact. The null hypothesis is rejected only in models comparing aggregate GDP in agriculture and manufacturing industries plus control variables (excluding heavy industry and services). Only secondary education was a negative, significant determinant of fertility. Infant mortality was insignificant when sectoral growth and education were included in the model. The evidence

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LEADING PORTS OF LATVIA: COMPETITIVENESS OF LIEPAJA PORT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diāna Līduma

2015-06-01

Full Text Available There are 10 operating ports in Latvia and 3 of them – Liepaja, Ventspils and Riga ports are regarded as the leading commercial ports. Role of port operation in the economics of region and country is essential from the point of view of employment and entrepreneurship. This is based with data on investment of operation of Latvian ports in GDP, on average it is assessed to be 5-7% annually. In the context of employment, Liepaja Port gives work to 6.9% of human resources of the city. However, concern about the competitiveness of Liepaja Port influenced by the proximity of more developed competitive ports, technical possibilities of the port and dynamics of freight turnover has occurred in recent years. Therewith in framework of this article in the context of such criteria as location of ports and their technical parameters, volumes of freight, specialization and costs of ports, the operation of leading ports of Latvia is intercompared and analyzed by clarifying whether Liepaja Port is competitive among other ports of Latvia. Opinions of port experts on perspectives of port development and statistical data of ports from 2011-2013 are analyzed within the framework of the article. The aim of the research is to clarify the comparative advantages of ports of Latvia. The research revealed that the provision of competitiveness of Liepaja Port is to be related with application of the available free territories, advantages of location in relation to the Scandinavian market, and the necessity to develop the cooperation among ports of Latvia to offer joint freight acquisition, distributions and unified logistics solution and strengthen the position of ports in the circumstances of international competition.

Genetic polymorphisms in varied environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, J R

1971-12-03

Thirteen experimenital populationis of Drosophila willistoni were maintained in cages, in some of which the environments were relatively constant and in others varied. After 45 weeks, the populations were assayed by gel electrophoresis for polymorphisms at 22 protein loci. The average heterozygosity per individual and the average unmber of alleles per locus were higher in populations maintained in heterogeneous environments than in populations in more constant enviroments.

Pemodelan Markov Switching Dengan Time-varying Transition Probability

OpenAIRE

Savitri, Anggita Puri; Warsito, Budi; Rahmawati, Rita

2016-01-01

Exchange rate or currency is an economic variable which reflects country's state of economy. It fluctuates over time because of its ability to switch the condition or regime caused by economic and political factors. The changes in the exchange rate are depreciation and appreciation. Therefore, it could be modeled using Markov Switching with Time-Varying Transition Probability which observe the conditional changes and use information variable. From this model, time-varying transition probabili...

Observer-based linear parameter varying H∞ tracking control for hypersonic vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yiqing Huang

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This article aims to develop observer-based linear parameter varying output feedback H∞ tracking controller for hypersonic vehicles. Due to the complexity of an original nonlinear model of the hypersonic vehicle dynamics, a slow–fast loop linear parameter varying polytopic model is introduced for system stability analysis and controller design. Then, a state observer is developed by linear parameter varying technique in order to estimate the unmeasured attitude angular for slow loop system. Also, based on the designed linear parameter varying state observer, a kind of attitude tracking controller is presented to reduce tracking errors for all bounded reference attitude angular inputs. The closed-loop linear parameter varying system is proved to be quadratically stable by Lypapunov function technique. Finally, simulation results show that the developed linear parameter varying H∞ controller has good tracking capability for reference commands.

Estrelas variáveis

OpenAIRE

Viana, Sérgio Manuel de Oliveira

2001-01-01

A observação do céu nocturno é uma prática que vem da Antiguidade. Desde então e durante muito tempo pensou-se que as estrelas mantinham o brilho constante. Assim foi até ao século XVI, quando David Fabricius observou uma estrela cujo brilho variava periodicamente. Dois séculos mais tarde, Jonh Goodricke descobriu uma segunda estrela e com o desenvolvimento de instrumentos de observação este conjunto foi muito alargado e hoje inclui o Sol.A variação do brilho das estrelas variáveis permite d...

Vesicle biomechanics in a time-varying magnetic field.

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Hui; Curcuru, Austen

2015-01-01

Cells exhibit distortion when exposed to a strong electric field, suggesting that the field imposes control over cellular biomechanics. Closed pure lipid bilayer membranes (vesicles) have been widely used for the experimental and theoretical studies of cellular biomechanics under this electrodeformation. An alternative method used to generate an electric field is by electromagnetic induction with a time-varying magnetic field. References reporting the magnetic control of cellular mechanics have recently emerged. However, theoretical analysis of the cellular mechanics under a time-varying magnetic field is inadequate. We developed an analytical theory to investigate the biomechanics of a modeled vesicle under a time-varying magnetic field. Following previous publications and to simplify the calculation, this model treated the inner and suspending media as lossy dielectrics, the membrane thickness set at zero, and the electric resistance of the membrane assumed to be negligible. This work provided the first analytical solutions for the surface charges, electric field, radial pressure, overall translational forces, and rotational torques introduced on a vesicle by the time-varying magnetic field. Frequency responses of these measures were analyzed, particularly the frequency used clinically by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The induced surface charges interacted with the electric field to produce a biomechanical impact upon the vesicle. The distribution of the induced surface charges depended on the orientation of the coil and field frequency. The densities of these charges were trivial at low frequency ranges, but significant at high frequency ranges. The direction of the radial force on the vesicle was dependent on the conductivity ratio between the vesicle and the medium. At relatively low frequencies (biomechanics under a time-varying magnetic field. Biological effects of clinical TMS are not likely to occur via alteration of the biomechanics of brain

A New Baltic Population-Specific Human Genetic Marker in the PMCA4 Gene.

Science.gov (United States)

Stavusis, Janis; Inashkina, Inna; Lace, Baiba; Pelnena, Dita; Limborska, Svetlana; Khrunin, Andrey; Kucinskas, Vaidutis; Krumina, Astrida; Piekuse, Linda; Zorn, Branko; Fodina, Violeta; Punab, Margus; Erenpreiss, Juris

2016-01-01

The PMCA gene family consists of 4 genes and at least 21 splice variants; among these, the Ca2+ ATPase 4 (PMCA4) gene encodes a plasma membrane protein abundantly expressed in several tissues, including the kidney, heart, and sperm. Knockout of PMCA4 causes infertility due to immotile sperm in mouse models. We therefore investigated variants in this gene for potential association with infertility in groups of Estonian (n = 191) and Latvian (n = 92) men with reduced sperm motility. All exons, exon-intron boundaries, 5' and 3' untranslated regions, and the promoter region of the PMCA4 gene were analysed by direct sequencing for a group of Estonian infertile men. Genotyping of guanine and adenine alleles of rs147729934 was performed, using a custom-designed TaqMan® probe for a group of Latvian infertile men as well as additional groups from Latvia and several groups of people with proven ethnicity from the Baltic region. Although we did not identify any significant associations between variants in the gene and infertility, our results indicated that in all studied Latvian and Estonian groups the adenine allele of the variant rs147729934 was present at a higher frequency than expected. Analysis of additional samples indicated that the adenine allele of rs147729934 likely originated once in the modern-day Baltic or western Russia area, as the frequency of the minor adenine allele observed in this region is remarkably higher than that in the general European population. Our results revealed no significant difference in frequencies of genetic variants in PMCA4 gene between men with normal and those with reduced sperm motility. The adenine allele of the variant rs147729934 is potentially an informative tool for future population studies concerning ancient Baltic and Finno-Ugric history. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.