North Sea Oil and Genuine Saving in the Scottish Economy

The World Bank has published estimates of sustainability of consumption paths by adjusting saving rates to take account of the depletion of non-renewable resources. During the period of North Sea oil production Scotland has been in a fiscal union with the rest of the UK. The present paper adjusts the World Bank data to produce separate genuine saving estimates for Scotland and the rest of the UK for 1970-2009, based on a ‘derivation’ principle for oil revenues. The calculations indicate that Scotland has had a negative genuine saving rate for most of the period of exploitation of North Sea oil resources, with genuine saving being positive in the rest of the UK during this period.

North Sea Oil and Genuine Saving in the Scottish Economy

The World Bank has published estimates of sustainability of consumption paths by adjusting saving rates to take account of the depletion of non-renewable resources. During the period of North Sea oil production Scotland has been in a fiscal union with the rest of the UK. The present paper adjusts the World Bank data to produce separate genuine saving estimates for Scotland and the rest of the UK for 1970-2009, based on a ‘derivation’ principle for oil revenues. The calculations indicate that Scotland has had a negative genuine saving rate for most of the period of exploitation of North Sea oil resources, with genuine saving being positive in the rest of the UK during this period.

Structure of a multisubunit complex that promotes DNA branch migration.

The RuvA and RuvB proteins of Escherichia coli, which are induced in response to DNA damage, are important in the formation of heteroduplex DNA during genetic recombination and related recombinational repair processes. In vitro studies show that RuvA binds Holiday junctions and acts as a specificity factor that targets the RuvB ATPase, a hexameric ring protein, to the junction. Together, RuvA and RuvB promote branch migration, an ATP-dependent reaction that increases the length of the heteroduplex DNA. Electron microscopic visualization of RuvAB now provides a new insight into the mechanism of this process. We observe the formation of a tripartite protein complex in which RuvA binds the crossover and is sandwiched between two hexameric rings of RuvB. The Holliday junction within this complex adopts a square-planar structure. We propose a molecular model for branch migration, a unique feature of which is the role played by the two oppositely oriented RuvB ring motors.

Monetary policy strategies, financial institutions and financial markets in the Middle East and North Africa: an overview

Three polar types of monetary architecture are identified together with the institutional and market infrastructure required for each type and the kinds of monetary policy feasible in each case: a ‘basic’ architecture where there is little or no financial system as such but an elementary central bank which is able to fix the exchange rate, as a substitute for a proper monetary policy; a ‘modern’ monetary architecture with developed banks, financial markets and central bank where policy choices include types of inflation targeting; and an ‘intermediate’ monetary architecture where less market-based monetary policies involving less discretion are feasible. A range of data is used to locate the various MENA countries with respect to these polar types. Five countries (Iran, Libya, Sudan, Syria and Yemen) are identified as those with the least developed monetary architecture, while Bahrain and Jordan are identified as the group at the other end of the spectrum, reaching beyond the intermediate polar type in some dimensions but not others. The countries in between vary on different dimensions but all lie between basic and intermediate architectures. The key general findings are that the MENA countries are both less differentiated and less ‘developed’ than might have been expected. The paper ends by calling for research on the costs and benefits of different types of monetary architecture.

Epidémiologie clinique: définitions, utilités et raisons pour un développement en Suisse. [Clinical epidemiology: definitions, uses and reasons for development in Switzerland].

Clinical epidemiology is the most currently used name for a comparatively new branch of medicine covering a certain number of activities related to the practice of clinical medicine, but using epidemiological techniques and methods. Clinical epidemiology has only just begun to be known in Europe, whereas units are being increasingly developed and expanded in North America, particularly within the clinical departments of hospitals. The methods it offers are valid for both practicing physicians and hospital doctors (or those being trained in hospitals) and serve the purpose of promoting a better quality medical service, especially where a more adequate evaluation of the effectiveness of diagnostic methods, therapy and prognosis in medicine is concerned. Clinical epidemiology proposes a methodology of medical reasoning and of decision-making, as well as techniques intended to facilitate the indispensable task of keeping up with advances in medical knowledge.

Prevalence and risk factors for gastro-esophageal reflux disease in the North-Eastern part of Bangladesh.

Despite a common disorder population-based data on gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) in Bangladesh is lacking. This epidemiological study was designed to determine the prevalence of GERD and its association with lifestyle factors. This population-based cross-sectional study was done by door to door interview of randomly selected persons in both urban and rural areas of North Eastern part of Bangladesh by using a validated questionnaire. A cutoff point 3 was chosen as a valid and reliable scale to confirm GERD. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS-12 version and the level of significance was set at P < or = 0.05. A total of 2000 persons with an age range of 15 to 85 years were interviewed; 1000 subjects from urban area and 1000 from rural area. Among the study subjects 1064 were male and 936 were female. A total of 110 persons (5.5%) were found to have GERD symptoms and among them 47 were men and 67 were women. The monthly, weekly and daily prevalence of heart-burn and or acid regurgitation was 5.5%, 5.25% and 2.5% respectively. Female sex, increased age and lower level of education were significantly associated with GERD symptoms. Prevalence was found more among city dwellers (approximately 6.0% versus 4.8%), married (6.23%, n = 86), widowed/widowers (16.83%, n = 17) and day labourer (8.78%). Level of education inversely influenced the prevalence. No significant association of GERD was found with body mass index (BMI) and smoking. Prevalence of GERD in North-Eastern part of Bangladesh was lower than that of western world. Prevalence was found higher in urban population, women, married, widowed/widowers and in poor an dilliterate persons. BMI and smoking had no significant association with GERD.

Disease-causing mutations improving the branch site and polypyrimidine tract: pseudoexon activation of LINE-2 and antisense Alu lacking the poly(T)-tail.

Cryptic exons or pseudoexons are typically activated by point mutations that create GT or AG dinucleotides of new 5' or 3' splice sites in introns, often in repetitive elements. Here we describe two cases of tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency caused by mutations improving the branch point sequence and polypyrimidine tracts of repeat-containing pseudoexons in the PTS gene. In the first case, we demonstrate a novel pathway of antisense Alu exonization, resulting from an intronic deletion that removed the poly(T)-tail of antisense AluSq. The deletion brought a favorable branch point sequence within proximity of the pseudoexon 3' splice site and removed an upstream AG dinucleotide required for the 3' splice site repression on normal alleles. New Alu exons can thus arise in the absence of poly(T)-tails that facilitated inclusion of most transposed elements in mRNAs by serving as polypyrimidine tracts, highlighting extraordinary flexibility of Alu repeats in shaping intron-exon structure. In the other case, a PTS pseudoexon was activated by an A>T substitution 9 nt upstream of its 3' splice site in a LINE-2 sequence, providing the first example of a disease-causing exonization of the most ancient interspersed repeat. These observations expand the spectrum of mutational mechanisms that introduce repetitive sequences in mature transcripts and illustrate the importance of intronic mutations in alternative splicing and phenotypic variability of hereditary disorders.

Recerca versus docència en una experiència d'internalització dels estudis de Geografia a la Universitat de Girona: The faces of landscape, Catalonia and North Karelia = Research versus teaching in one experience of internationalization of the Geography degree studies in the University of Girona: The faces of landscape, Catalonia and North Karelia

Un dels reptes cabdals de la Universitat és enllaçar l’experiència de recerca amb la docència, així com promoure la internacionalització dels estudis, especialment a escala europea, tenint present que ambdues poden actuar com a catalitzadores de la millora de la qualitat docent. Una de les fórmules d’internacionalització és la realització d’assignatures compartides entre universitats de diferents països, fet que suposa l’oportunitat d’implementar noves metodologies docents. En aquesta comunicació es presenta una experiència en aquesta línia desenvolupada entre la Universitat de Girona i la Universitat de Joensuu (Finlàndia) en el marc dels estudis de Geografia amb la realització de l’assignatura 'The faces of landscape: Catalonia and North Karelia'. Aquesta es desenvolupa al llarg de dues setmanes intensives, una en cadascuna de les Universitats. L’objectiu és presentar i analitzar diferents significats del concepte paisatge aportant també metodologies d’estudi tant dels aspectes físics i ecològics com culturals que s’hi poden vincular i que són les que empren els grups de recerca dels professors responsables de l’assignatura. Aquesta part teòrica es completa amb una presentació de les característiques i dinàmiques pròpies dels paisatges finlandesos i catalans i una sortida de camp. Per a la part pràctica es constitueixen grups d’estudi multinacionals que treballen a escala local algun dels aspectes en els dos països, es comparen i es realitza una presentació i defensa davant del conjunt d’estudiants i professorat. La llengua vehicular de l’assignatura és l’anglès.

The Evolution of the Climate Change Regime: Beyond a North-South Divide?

This research primarily analyses relevant climate bargaining dynamics that have been informed by a North-South impasse. This working paper argues that the first stage of negotiations for a climate convention indeed witnessed a North-South divide which became institutionalized in the Framework Convention on Climate Change. However, in subsequent negotiation rounds the key loci of bargaining struggles was centered between developed countries, in which relevant North-South cooperation dynamics were also present. Finally, this paper assesses the unfinished post-Kyoto bargaining process in which two trends are already being observed: both the emergence of a new geopolitics between the United States and major developing countries, and a fragmentation process within the South, in which the Copenhagen Accord itself has begun to institutionalize such fragmentation.

Laser scanning-based recognition of rotational movements on a deep seated gravitational instability: The Cinque Torri case (North-Eastern Italian Alps)

The Cinque Torri group (Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy) is an articulated system of unstable carbonatic rock monoliths located in a very important tourism area and therefore characterized by a significant risk. The instability phenomena involved represent an example of lateral spreading developed over a larger deep seated gravitational slope deformation (DSGSD) area. After the recent fall of a monolith of more than 10 000 m3, a scientific study was initiated to monitor the more unstable sectors and to characterize the past movements as a fundamental tool for predicting future movements and hazard assessment. To achieve greater insight on the ongoing lateral spreading process, a method for a quantitative analysis of rotational movements associated with the lateral spreading has been developed, applied and validated. The method is based on: i) detailed geometrical characterization of the area by means of laser scanner techniques; ii) recognition of the discontinuity sets and definition of a reference frame for each set, iii) correlation between the obtained reference frames related to a specific sector and a stable external reference frame, and iv) determination of the 3D rotations in terms of Euler angles to describe the present settlement of the Cinque Torri system with respect to the surrounding stable areas. In this way, significant information on the processes involved in the fragmentation and spreading of a former dolomitic plateau into different rock cliffs has been gained. The method is suitable to be applied to similar case studies.

Spatio-temporal variations in reproductive patterns and population structure of Pasiphaea multidentata (Decapoda: Caridea) in the Blanes canyon and adjacent margin, North-western Mediterranean Sea

The bathyal faunal communities of the NW Mediterranean slopes have been studied consistently in the last two decades, with a special focus on population structure, trophic dynamics and benthopelagic coupling of commercial deep-sea decapod crustaceans and fishes (reviewed in Sardà et al. 2004) and associated species (Cartes and Sardà, 1993; Company and Sardà, 1997, 2000; Cartes et al., 2001; Company et al., 2001, 2003, 2004). One of the major topographic features in the North-western Mediterranean slope is the presence of submarine canyons. Canyons play a major role in funnelling energy and organic matter from the shelf to bathyal and abyssal depths (Puig et al., 2000), but the implications of this enhanced organic supply in the deep-sea benthic communities is still mostly unknown. Trophic supply can follow two major pathways – vertical deposition in the water column (Billett et al., 1983; Baldwin et al., 1998; Lampitt et al., 2001) or down-slope advection on the margins (Puig et al., 2001; Bethoux et al., 2002; Canals et al., 2006) – and can be a limiting factor in the deep-sea, being especially important in the oligotrophic Mediterranean Sea (Sardà et al., 2004). Differences in the quantity, quality and timing of organic matter input to the deep seafloor have been used to explain patterns of biomass and abundance in benthic communities (Levin et al., 1994; Gooday & Turley, 1990; Billett et al., 2001; Galéron et al., 2001; Puig et al., 2001; Gage, 2003) as well as other biological process and in particular the existence of seasonal reproduction (Tyler et al., 1994; Company et al., 2004 (MEPS). Reproduction is a highly energetic process tightly linked to food availability and quality.