Inverted Haavelmo Effects in a General Equilibrium Analysis of the Impact of Implementing the Scottish Variable Rate of Income Tax.

The Scottish Parliament has the authority to make a balanced-budget expansion or contraction in public expenditure, funded by corresponding local changes in the basic rate of income tax of up to 3p in the pound. This fiscal adjustment is known as the Scottish Variable Rate of income tax, though it has never, as yet, been used. In this paper we attempt to identify the impact on aggregate economic activity in Scotland of implementing these devolved fiscal powers. This is achieved through theoretical analysis and simulation using a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model for Scotland. This analysis generalises the conventional Keynesian model so that negative balanced-budget multipliers values are possible, reflecting a regional “inverted Haavelmo effect”. Key parameters determining the aggregate economic impact are the extent to which the Scottish Government create local amenities valuable to the Scottish population and the extent to which this is incorporated into local wage bargaining.

Identification of particular groups of microRNAs that positively or negatively impact on beta cell function in obese models of type 2 diabetes.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: MicroRNAs are key regulators of gene expression involved in health and disease. The goal of our study was to investigate the global changes in beta cell microRNA expression occurring in two models of obesity-associated type 2 diabetes and to assess their potential contribution to the development of the disease. METHODS: MicroRNA profiling of pancreatic islets isolated from prediabetic and diabetic db/db mice and from mice fed a high-fat diet was performed by microarray. The functional impact of the changes in microRNA expression was assessed by reproducing them in vitro in primary rat and human beta cells. RESULTS: MicroRNAs differentially expressed in both models of obesity-associated type 2 diabetes fall into two distinct categories. A group including miR-132, miR-184 and miR-338-3p displays expression changes occurring long before the onset of diabetes. Functional studies indicate that these expression changes have positive effects on beta cell activities and mass. In contrast, modifications in the levels of miR-34a, miR-146a, miR-199a-3p, miR-203, miR-210 and miR-383 primarily occur in diabetic mice and result in increased beta cell apoptosis. These results indicate that obesity and insulin resistance trigger adaptations in the levels of particular microRNAs to allow sustained beta cell function, and that additional microRNA deregulation negatively impacting on insulin-secreting cells may cause beta cell demise and diabetes manifestation. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: We propose that maintenance of blood glucose homeostasis or progression toward glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes may be determined by the balance between expression changes of particular microRNAs.

Low-frequency drug-resistant HIV-1 and risk of virological failure to first-line NNRTI-based ART: a multicohort European case-control study using centralized ultrasensitive 454 pyrosequencing.

OBJECTIVES: It is still debated if pre-existing minority drug-resistant HIV-1 variants (MVs) affect the virological outcomes of first-line NNRTI-containing ART. METHODS: This Europe-wide case-control study included ART-naive subjects infected with drug-susceptible HIV-1 as revealed by population sequencing, who achieved virological suppression on first-line ART including one NNRTI. Cases experienced virological failure and controls were subjects from the same cohort whose viraemia remained suppressed at a matched time since initiation of ART. Blinded, centralized 454 pyrosequencing with parallel bioinformatic analysis in two laboratories was used to identify MVs in the 1%-25% frequency range. ORs of virological failure according to MV detection were estimated by logistic regression. RESULTS: Two hundred and sixty samples (76 cases and 184 controls), mostly subtype B (73.5%), were used for the analysis. Identical MVs were detected in the two laboratories. 31.6% of cases and 16.8% of controls harboured pre-existing MVs. Detection of at least one MV versus no MVs was associated with an increased risk of virological failure (OR = 2.75, 95% CI = 1.35-5.60, P = 0.005); similar associations were observed for at least one MV versus no NRTI MVs (OR = 2.27, 95% CI = 0.76-6.77, P = 0.140) and at least one MV versus no NNRTI MVs (OR = 2.41, 95% CI = 1.12-5.18, P = 0.024). A dose-effect relationship between virological failure and mutational load was found. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-existing MVs more than double the risk of virological failure to first-line NNRTI-based ART.

Purification and activity standardisation of a (166m)Ho solution.

As part of a project to use the long-lived (T(1/2)=1200a) (166m)Ho as reference source in its reference ionisation chamber, IRA standardised a commercially acquired solution of this nuclide using the 4pibeta-gamma coincidence and 4pigamma (NaI) methods. The (166m)Ho solution supplied by Isotope Product Laboratories was measured to have about 5% Europium impurities (3% (154)Eu, 0.94% (152)Eu and 0.9% (155)Eu). Holmium had therefore to be separated from europium, and this was carried out by means of ion-exchange chromatography. The holmium fractions were collected without europium contamination: 162h long HPGe gamma measurements indicated no europium impurity (detection limits of 0.01% for (152)Eu and (154)Eu, and 0.03% for (155)Eu). The primary measurement of the purified (166m)Ho solution with the 4pi (PC) beta-gamma coincidence technique was carried out at three gamma energy settings: a window around the 184.4keV peak and gamma thresholds at 121.8 and 637.3keV. The results show very good self-consistency, and the activity concentration of the solution was evaluated to be 45.640+/-0.098kBq/g (0.21% with k=1). The activity concentration of this solution was also measured by integral counting with a well-type 5''x5'' NaI(Tl) detector and efficiencies computed by Monte Carlo simulations using the GEANT code. These measurements were mutually consistent, while the resulting weighted average of the 4pi NaI(Tl) method was found to agree within 0.15% with the result of the 4pibeta-gamma coincidence technique. An ampoule of this solution and the measured value of the concentration were submitted to the BIPM as a contribution to the Système International de Référence.

Estudio para la implantación de un ERP en una empresa de fabricación de depósitos

Aquest projecte intenta proporcionar les bases per la selecció i implantació d’un ERP a una empresa mitjana. S’analitzen des dels primers passos a realitzar per l’empresa que adquirirà l’ERP fins els que realitza el proveïdor per garantir l’èxit de la implantació. Primerament, i des del punt de vista del client, es realitza una anàlisi interna per detectar la necessitat d’un canvi de sistema i es detalla una metodologia a seguir per a l’elecció de l’ERP i del proveïdor d’aquest, minimitzant el risc d’error. Des del punt de vista del proveïdor es seguirà una metodologia d’implantació pas per pas, ja què un canvi de sistema és una tasca molt complexa. He intentat aportar la meva experiència al realitzar aquest projecte ja que he tingut l'oportunitat de viure una implantació des de les dues òptiques i he aprofitat per indagar en les tasques que s’hi realitzen.

Polítiques del càstig? Anàlisi comparada del discurs de la política penitenciària a Dinamarca, França, Anglaterra i Gal·les, i el Canadà

L'objectiu principal de l'estudi ha estat conèixer els marcs cognitius i institucionals que tenen les polítiques penitenciàries de Dinamarca, França, Regne Unit i Gal·les i Canadà. Es comparen els discursos presents de fonts directes i indirectes que donen fonamentació semàntica a cada una de les accions polítiques reals d'aquests països. En aquest sentit, es parteix del paradigma que la acció és una comunicació, un discurs que produeix el sistema, que s'orienta significativament al voltant dels marcs cognitius de construcció autoreferencial. Aquests marcs s'agrupen per a la seva presentació en 4 nivells de categories conceptuals: a) fonaments político-filosòfics de la organització social del país en qüestió b) fonaments político-semàntics en la seva forma d'Estat; c) fonaments político-filosòfics en la forma del seu dret penal i el seu sistema penitenciari d) fonaments político-filosòfics de la seva execució penitenciària. Es tracta, doncs, d'analitzar el sentit mateix del càstig i de les formes que adopta. Amb tot això, es presenten arguments suficients que estableixen el valor diferencial de cada política penitenciària, malgrat els esforços d'homogeneïtzació que s'han volgut fer en el procés anomenat d'europeïtzació. En segon lloc es presenta una comparació dels quatre casos, en funció de les categories establertes i una reflexió crítica respecte les maneres que s’està duent a terme el debat sobre la europeïtzació de les polítiques penitenciàries. Amb tot això, es mostra com el anomenat vocable "reinserció social", es desdibuixa i es posa en dubte en funció de la singularitat de cada política, i ressaltat per la tendència de la europeïtzació de les polítiques penitenciàries.

¿Políticas del castigo? Análisis comparativo del discurso de política penitenciaria en Dinamarca, Francia, Inglaterra y Gales y Canadá

El objetivo principal del estudio ha sido responder a la cuestión sobre los marcos cognitivos e institucionales que soportan las Políticas Penitenciarias de Dinamarca, Francia, Reino Unido y Gales, y Canadá. Se presentan pautas de comparación, analizando los discursos presentes de fuentes directas e indirectas.

Naturally acquired antibodies against the major merozoite surface coat protein (MSP-1) of Plasmodium falciparum acquired by residents in an endemic area of Colombia

A preliminary baseline epidemiological malaria survey was conducted in the village of Punta Soldado, Colombia. Parasite prevalence and density as well as serological data were obtained from 151 asymptomatic children and adults. Fifty individuals were infected with Plasmodium falciparum. The mean parasite density was 184 parasites/mm3. Greater than 90 of the sample population were P. falciparum antibody positive as detected by the indirect immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT). The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect antibodies against the major merozoite surface protein (MSP-1) of P. falciparum. In this population, anti-MSP-1 antibody concentration is acquired in an age dependent manner with equal immunogenicity to both the N- and C-terminal regions of the molecule. Infection at the time of sampling was associated with a higher anti-MSP-1 antibody concentration than that found in non-infected individuals. Further studies are planned to assess the role of immune and non-immune factors in limiting the number of cases of severe malaria seen in this population.

Species delimitation: A case study in a problematic ant taxon

Species delimitation has been invigorated as a discipline in systematics by an influx of new character sets, analytical methods, and conceptual advances. We use genetic data from 68 markers, combined with distributional, bioclimatic, and coloration information, to hypothesize boundaries of evolutionarily independent lineages (species) within the widespread and highly variable nominal fire ant species Solenopsis saevissima, a member of a species group containing invasive pests as well as species that are models for ecological and evolutionary research. Our integrated approach uses diverse methods of analysis to sequentially test whether populations meet specific operational criteria (contingent properties) for candidacy as morphologically cryptic species, including genetic clustering, monophyly, reproductive isolation, and occupation of distinctive niche space. We hypothesize that nominal S. saevissima comprises at least 4-6 previously unrecognized species, including several pairs whose parapatric distributions implicate the development of intrinsic premating or postmating barriers to gene flow. Our genetic data further suggest that regional genetic differentiation in S. saevissima has been influenced by hybridization with other nominal species occurring in sympatry or parapatry, including the quite distantly related Solenopsis geminata. The results of this study illustrate the importance of employing different classes of genetic data (coding and noncoding regions and nuclear and mitochondrial DNA [mtDNA] markers), different methods of genetic data analysis (tree-based and non-tree based methods), and different sources of data (genetic, morphological, and ecological data) to explicitly test various operational criteria for species boundaries in clades of recently diverged lineages, while warning against over reliance on any single data type (e.g., mtDNA sequence variation) when drawing inferences.

TWEAK-FN14 signaling induces lysosomal degradation of a cIAP1-TRAF2 complex to sensitize tumor cells to TNFalpha.

Synthetic inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) antagonists induce degradation of IAP proteins such as cellular IAP1 (cIAP1), activate nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) signaling, and sensitize cells to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha). The physiological relevance of these discoveries to cIAP1 function remains undetermined. We show that upon ligand binding, the TNF superfamily receptor FN14 recruits a cIAP1-Tnf receptor-associated factor 2 (TRAF2) complex. Unlike IAP antagonists that cause rapid proteasomal degradation of cIAP1, signaling by FN14 promotes the lysosomal degradation of cIAP1-TRAF2 in a cIAP1-dependent manner. TNF-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK)/FN14 signaling nevertheless promotes the same noncanonical NF-kappaB signaling elicited by IAP antagonists and, in sensitive cells, the same autocrine TNFalpha-induced death occurs. TWEAK-induced loss of the cIAP1-TRAF2 complex sensitizes immortalized and minimally passaged tumor cells to TNFalpha-induced death, whereas primary cells remain resistant. Conversely, cIAP1-TRAF2 complex overexpression limits FN14 signaling and protects tumor cells from TWEAK-induced TNFalpha sensitization. Lysosomal degradation of cIAP1-TRAF2 by TWEAK/FN14 therefore critically alters the balance of life/death signals emanating from TNF-R1 in immortalized cells.

Les institucions de protecció de la persona en el dret civil de Catalunya

El treball analitza les institucions de protecció de la persona en el dret civil de Catalunya, d’acord amb la nova regulació del llibre segon CCCat: la potestat parental, la tutela, la curatela, el defensor judicial, la guarda de fet, l’assistència, la protecció patrimonial de la persona discapacitada o dependent, i la protecció dels menors desemparats