Plastidic Phosphoglucose Isomerase Is an Important Determinant of Starch Accumulation in Mesophyll Cells, Growth, Photosynthetic Capacity, and Biosynthesis of Plastidic Cytokinins in Arabidopsis

Phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI) catalyzes the reversible isomerization of glucose-6-phosphate and fructose-6-phosphate. It is involved in glycolysis and in the regeneration of glucose-6-P molecules in the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (OPPP). In chloroplasts of illuminated mesophyll cells PGI also connects the Calvin-Benson cycle with the starch biosynthetic pathway. In this work we isolated pgi1-3, a mutant totally lacking pPGI activity as a consequence of aberrant intron splicing of the pPGI encoding gene, PGI1. Starch content in pgi1-3 source leaves was ca. 10-15% of that of wild type (WT) leaves, which was similar to that of leaves of pgi1-2, a T-DNA insertion pPGI null mutant. Starch deficiency of pgi1 leaves could be reverted by the introduction of a sex1 null mutation impeding beta-amylolytic starch breakdown. Although previous studies showed that starch granules of pgi1-2 leaves are restricted to both bundle sheath cells adjacent to the mesophyll and stomata guard cells, microscopy analyses carried out in this work revealed the presence of starch granules in the chloroplasts of pgi1-2 and pgi1-3 mesophyll cells. RT-PCR analyses showed high expression levels of plastidic and extra-plastidic beta-amylase encoding genes in pgi1 leaves, which was accompanied by increased beta-amylase activity. Both pgi1-2 and pgi1-3 mutants displayed slow growth and reduced photosynthetic capacity phenotypes even under continuous light conditions. Metabolic analyses revealed that the adenylate energy charge and the NAD(P) H/NAD(P) ratios in pgi1 leaves were lower than those of WT leaves. These analyses also revealed that the content of plastidic 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP)-pathway derived cytokinins (CKs) in pgi1 leaves were exceedingly lower than in WT leaves. Noteworthy, exogenous application of CKs largely reverted the low starch content phenotype of pgi1 leaves. The overall data show that pPGI is an important determinant of photosynthesis, energy status, growth and starch accumulation in mesophyll cells likely as a consequence of its involvement in the production of OPPP/glycolysis intermediates necessary for the synthesis of plastidic MEP-pathway derived hormones such as CKs.

La evolución de la intensidad energética de la industria vasca entre 1982-2001: Un análisis de descomposición

In this article an index decomposition methodology is used to estimate the effect of intersectorial and intrasectorial changes in explaining the 38% reduction in industrial energy intensity in the Basque Autonomous Community from 1982 to 2001. Period-wise additive decomposition results show that (1) the decline is fully explained by intrasectorial changes and that (2) intersectorial changes have not contributed to reduce but to increase the energy intensity of the Basque industrial sector. However, timeseries decomposition analysis shows that (1) four different phases can be distinguished in the evolution of energy intensity of the Basque industry from 1982 to 2001 and (2) that the evolution of the “Iron and Steel” sector is determinant when explaining those phases. Moreover, the analysis stresses the necessity to disaggregate the “Iron and Steel” sector in order to be able to distinguish purely technological effects from the rest of intrasectorial changes.

Consumer Confidence and Yield Spreads in Europe

This paper shows the extraordinary capacity of yield spreads to anticipate consumption growth as proxy by the Economic Sentiment Indicator elaborated by the European Commission in order to predict turning points in business cycles. This new evidence complements the well known results regarding the usefulness of the slope of the term structure of interest rates to predict real economic conditions and, in particular, recessions by using a direct measure of expectations. A linear combination of European yield spreads explains a surprising 93.7% of the variability of the Economic Sentiment Indicator. Yield spreads seem to be a key determinant of consumer confidence in Europe.

Turismo rural como estrategia de diversificación: factores determinantes y resultados en Galicia

[ES] Los determinantes y los resultados de la estrategia de diversificación se han abordado frecuentemente en la literatura. Son sin embargo pocos los estudios que analizan la diversificación en sectores concretos donde el impulso para diversificar no es estrictamente económico, sino político o social. La diversificación de la actividad agrícola hacia el turismo en Galicia es un claro ejemplo de este fenómeno. El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar cuales son los factores que motivan a titulares de explotaciones agrarias gallegas a iniciar una estrategia de diversificación hacia el turismo, así como las dimensiones de los resultados empresariales relevantes para dichos propietarios. Los resultados del análisis sobre una muestra representativa de los establecimientos de turismo rural de Galicia indican la multidimensionalidad y heterogeneidad de los constructos analizados. Las motivaciones sociales adquieren gran protagonismo, del mismo modo que las medidas subjetivas de resultado empresarial relacionadas con la mejora del entorno y la orientación al cliente.

"Verwundete Orte" in Hettches Nox und Pareis Die Schattenboxerin

[EN] Body and space play a determinant role in the formation of societies, according to the social analyst Richard Sennet. His thesis that the configuration of spaces in history, such as that of the cities, is closely linked to the perception of the own body offers a relevant theorethical approach for the analysis of Nox (1995) by Thomas Hettche and Die Schattenboxerin (1999) by Inka Parei. In both novels bodies are perceived conscientiously by the self as a wounded and exhausted “I”, but also as a rebellious and fighting “self”. Both novels offer a concept of the body as an inadequate and wounded space, which is actually a key procedure to successfully face the similarly unstable geographical, social and political context of Germany after the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

Learning and management skills: the internationalization of Grupo Arcor. Analysis from a process-based approach

This paper analyzes the path of the international expansion of Grupo Arcor, an Argentine multinational company specializing in confectionery. The objective is to entify corporate strategies and business learning that led this Latin American firm to establish itself as one of the leading manufacturers in confectionery industry ,particularly in the 21st Century. The analysis is primarily qualitative in order to identify the economic dimension as a determinant in the internationalization process; a processbased approach from the Uppsala Model is used for this. However, the study is also complemented with a regression analysis to test if the firm was driven to expand internationally by the expectations on the degree of globalization of the industry and the accumulation of experience in foreign markets, and if the company was influenced by psychic distance in choosing the location of its investment; given the influence of these variables in Grupo Arcor business strategies. Our findings suggest that Grupo Arcor, was able to become global due to strategies such as vertical integration, diversification of products and geographical markets (based on psychic distance) and indeed some strategies were consequence of the globalization of the sector and the accumulation of experience in foreign markets.

Estrategias de diversificación en los grupos familiares y no familiares: principales diferencias según el tipo de grupo no familiar

[ES] Durante la última década surge un interés por el estudio de la estructura de propiedad como elemento determinante de la diversificación. Sin embargo, existe una carencia de investigaciones que analicen la influencia de la naturaleza del último propietario en el nivel y tipo de diversificación. Por ello, el objeto del presente trabajo es analizar las estrategias de diversificación empleadas por los grandes grupos empresariales españoles cuya empresa matriz cotiza en los mercados de valores, estudiando las diferencias existentes entre grupos familiares y no familiares, y considerando en estos últimos la naturaleza del último propietario. Se parte de una muestra de noventa y nueve grupos empresariales, donde se identifican las compañías que constituyen el grupo empresarial, siendo empleadas como metodologías econométricas los modelos logísticos binomiales y los modelos datos panel. Los resultados muestran como la naturaleza familiar del grupo influye positivamente en la especialización y en el empleo de estrategias de diversificación relacionada, y negativamente en el empleo de estrategias de diversificación no relacionada. Los grupos familiares difieren en mayor medida de aquellos grupos no familiares donde no existe un accionista de referencia que pueda ejercer el control efectivo del grupo y la dispersión de la propiedad es mayor, los denominados grupos sin control efectivo . La investigación permite profundizar en el análisis de las diferencias existentes entre grupos familiares y no familiares, y más concretamente en el ámbito de las estrategias de crecimiento, considerando la naturaleza del último propietario de los grupos no familiares.