On Globalization and the Growth of Governments

This paper investigates the relationship between trade openness and the size of government, both theoretically and empirically. We show that openness can increase the size of governments through two channels: (1) a terms of trade externality, whereby trade lowers the domestic cost of taxation and (2) the demand for insurance, whereby trade raises risk and public transfers. We provide a unified framework for studying and testing these two mechanisms. First, we show how their relative strength depends on a key parameter, the elasticity of substitution between domestic and foreign goods. Second, while the terms of trade externality leads to inefficiently large governments, the increase in public spending due to the demand for insurance is optimal. We show that large volumes of trade may result in welfare losses if the terms of trade externality is strong enough while small volumes of trade are always beneficial. Third, we provide new evidence on the positive association between openness and the size of government and test whether it is consistent with the terms of trade externality or the demand for insurance. Our findings suggest that the positive relationship is remarkably robust and that the terms of trade externality may be the driving force behind it, thus raising warnings that globalization may have led to inefficiently large governments.

Predation drives interpopulation differences in parental care expression.

Expressing parental care after oviposition or parturition is usually an obligate (evolved) trait within a species, despite evolutionary theory predicting that widespread species should vary in whether or not they express parental care according to local selection pressures. The lizard Eutropis longicaudata expresses maternal care only in a single population throughout its large geographical range, but why this pattern occurs is unknown. We used reciprocal translocation and predator exclusion experiments to test whether this intraspecific variation is a fixed trait within populations and whether predator abundance explains this perplexing pattern. Wild-caught female lizards that were reciprocally translocated consistently guarded or abandoned eggs in line with their population of origin. By contrast, most lizards raised in a common garden environment and subsequently released as adults adopted the maternal care strategy of the recipient population, even when the parents originated from a population lacking maternal care. Egg predation represents a significant fitness cost in the populations where females display egg-guarding behaviour, but guarding eggs outweighs this potential cost by increasing hatching success. These results imply that predators can be a driving force in the expression of parental care in instances where it is normally absent and that local selection pressure is sufficient to cause behavioural divergence in whether or not parental care is expressed.

On the cultural transmission of corruption

We provide a cultural explanation to the phenomenon of corruption in the framework of an overlapping generations model with intergenerational transmissionof values. We show that the economy has two steady states with different levels of corruption. The driving force in the equilibrium selection process is the education effort exerted by parents which depends on the distribution of ethics in the population and on expectations about future policies. We propose some policy interventions which via parents' efforts have long-lasting effects on corruption and show the success of intensive education campaigns. Educating the young is a key element in reducing corruption successfully.

How political parties, rather than member-states, are building the European Union

Political party formation and coalition building in the European Parliament is being a driving force for making governance of the highly pluralistic European Union relatively effective and consensual. In spite of successive enlargements and the very high number of electoral partiesobtaining representation in the European Union institutions, the number of effective European Political Groups in the European Parliament has decreased from the first direct election in 1979 to the fifth in 1999. The formal analysis of national party¹s voting power in different Europeanparty configurations can explain the incentives for national parties to join large European Political Groups instead of forming smaller nationalistic groupings. Empirical evidence shows increasing cohesion of European Political Groups and an increasing role of the European Parliament in EU inter-institutional decision making. As a consequence of this evolution, intergovernmentalism is being replaced with federalizing relations. The analysis can support positive expectations regarding the governability of the European Union after further enlargements provided that new member states have party systems fitting the European PoliticalGroups.

Openness, government size and the terms of trade

This paper investigates the relationship between trade openness and the size of government, both theoretically and empirically. We show that openness can increase the size of governments through two channels: (1) a terms of trade externality, whereby trade lowers the domestic cost of taxation and (2) the demand for insurance, whereby trade raises risk and public transfers. We provide a unified framework for studying and testing these two mechanisms. First, we show how their relative strength depends on a key parameter, the elasticity of substitution between domestic and foreign goods. Second, while the terms of trade externality leads to inefficiently large governments, the increase in public spending due to the demand for insurance is optimal. We show that large volumes of trade may result in welfare losses if the terms of trade externality is strong enough while small volumes of trade are always beneficial. Third, we provide new evidence on the positive association between openness and the size of government and test whether it is consistent with the terms of trade externality or the demand for insurance. Our findings suggest that the positive relationship is remarkably robust and that the terms of trade externality may be the driving force behind it, thus raising warnings that globalization may have led to inefficiently large governments.

Two-stage, extreme albitization of A-type granites from Rajasthan, NW India

Albitization is a common process during which hydrothermal fluids convert plagioclase and/or K-feldspar into nearly pure albite; however, its specific mechanism in granitoids is not well understood. The c. 1700 Ma A-type metaluminous ferroan granites in the Khetri complex of Rajasthan, NW India, have been albitized to a large extent by two metasomatic fronts, an initial transformation of oligoclase to nearly pure albite and a subsequent replacement of microcline by albite, with sharp contacts between the microcline-bearing and microcline-free zones. Albitization has bleached the original pinkish grey granite and turned it white. The mineralogical changes include transformation of oligoclase (similar to An(12)) and microcline (similar to Or(95)) to almost pure albite (similar to An(0 center dot 5-2)), amphibole from potassian ferropargasite (X-Fe 0 center dot 84-0 center dot 86) to potassic hastingsite (X-Fe 0 center dot 88-0 center dot 97) and actinolite (X-Fe 0 center dot 32-0 center dot 67), and biotite from annite (X-Fe 0 center dot 71-0 center dot 74) to annite (X-Fe 0 center dot 90-0 center dot 91). Whole-rock isocon diagrams show that, during albitization, the granites experienced major hydration, slight gain in Si and major gain in Na, whereas K, Mg, Fe and Ca were lost along with Rb, Ba, Sr, Zn, light rare earth elements and U. Whole-rock Sm-Nd isotope data plot on an apparent isochron of 1419 +/- 98 Ma and reveal significant disturbance and at least partial resetting of the intrusion age. Severe scatter in the whole-rock Rb-Sr isochron plot reflects the extreme Rb loss in the completely albitized samples, effectively freezing Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios in the albite granites at very high values (0 center dot 725-0 center dot 735). This indicates either infiltration of highly radiogenic Sr from the country rock or, more likely, radiogenic ingrowth during a considerable time lag (estimated to be at least 300 Myr) between original intrusion and albitization. The albitization took place at similar to 350-400 degrees C. It was caused by the infiltration of an ascending hydrothermal fluid that had acquired high Na/K and Na/Ca ratios during migration through metamorphic rocks at even lower temperatures in the periphery of the plutons. Oxygen isotope ratios increase from delta O-18 = 7 parts per thousand in the original granite to values of 9-10 parts per thousand in completely albitized samples, suggesting that the fluid had equilibrated with surrounding metamorphosed crust. A metasomatic model, using chromatographic theory of fluid infiltration, explains the process for generating the observed zonation in terms of a leading metasomatic front where oligoclase of the original granite is converted to albite, and a second, trailing front where microcline is also converted to albite. The temperature gradients driving the fluid infiltration may have been produced by the high heat production of the granites themselves. The confinement of the albitized granites along the NE-SW-trending Khetri lineament and the pervasive nature of the albitization suggest that the albitizing fluids possibly originated during reactivation of the lineament. More generally, steady-state temperature gradients induced by the high internal heat production of A-type granites may provide the driving force for similar metasomatic and ore-forming processes in other highly enriched granitoid bodies.

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The driving force behind arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) interactions is an exchange of nutrients between fungus and plant. Glomeromycotan fungi are obligate symbionts and rely on the carbon provided by their plant hosts to complete their life cycle. In return, the fungus provides nutritional benefits to the plant, notably by delivering minerals. The majority of the nutrient exchange is thought to occur in root cortical cells containing the highly-branched fungal arbuscules. In this chapter, we describe the molecular components of the arbusculated cell and the proteins involved in the transfer of nutrients between fungus and plants. We consider, in detail, the passage of phosphorous and nitrogen from the soil to the arbusculated cell and the concomitant delivery of carbon to the fungal symbiont. In natural conditions, the exchange of nutrients does not need to be completely equitable and selective pressure may act on both partners to push the balance in their favour. In cultivated plants, the artificial environment may further distort the balance. We discuss how a better understanding of the molecular regulation of nutrient transfer benefits attempts to optimise AM associations for agriculture use.

Diversity and Affirmative Action in Iowa, October 5, 2009

This report documents the progress of the executive branch of Iowa state government in the areas of diversity and affirmative action in employment. While the State has had an affirmative action program since 1986, the focus is shifting toward a more comprehensive view of diversity in order to create a richer and more welcoming workplace. To that end, Governor Chester J. Culver initiated Executive Order Four (EO4) in October of 2007. The goal of EO4 is to achieve and maintain a diverse workforce in state government. In FY 2009, EO4 remained an important driving force for diversity related issues. New this year, each department‘s diversity and affirmative action information contained in this report was also required for the State‘s workforce planning process. Because of the change in the reporting process, some departments submitted full workforce plans and others submitted the required excerpts from the workforce planning template for diversity and affirmative action. We expect full workforce plans from all departments in FY 2010.

Mitochondrial Fatty Acid Oxidation in Obesity

Significance: Current lifestyles with high-energy diets and little exercise are triggering an alarming growth in obesity. Excess of adiposity is leading to severe increases in associated pathologies, such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, cancer, arthritis, asthma, and hypertension. This, together with the lack of efficient obesity drugs, is the driving force behind much research. Recent Advances: Traditional anti-obesity strategies focused on reducing food intake and increasing physical activity. However, recent results suggest that enhancing cellular energy expenditure may be an attractive alternative therapy. Critical Issues: This review evaluates recent discoveries regarding mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (FAO) and its potential as a therapy for obesity. We focus on the still controversial beneficial effects of increased FAO in liver and muscle, recent studies on how to potentiate adipose tissue energy expenditure, and the different hypotheses involving FAO and the reactive oxygen species production in the hypothalamic control of food intake. Future Directions: The present review aims to provide an overview of novel anti-obesity strategies that target mitochondrial FAO and that will definitively be of high interest in the future research to fight against obesity-related disorders. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 00, 000000.

Coupled synthesis and translocation restrains polyphosphate to acidocalcisome-like vacuoles and prevents its toxicity.

Eukaryotes contain inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) and acidocalcisomes, which sequester polyP and store amino acids and divalent cations. Why polyP is sequestered in dedicated organelles is not known. We show that polyP produced in the cytosol of yeast becomes toxic. Reconstitution of polyP translocation with purified vacuoles, the acidocalcisomes of yeast, shows that cytosolic polyP cannot be imported, whereas polyP produced by the vacuolar transporter chaperone (VTC) complex, an endogenous vacuolar polyP polymerase, is efficiently imported and does not interfere with growth. PolyP synthesis and import require an electrochemical gradient, probably as a driving force for polyP translocation. VTC exposes its catalytic domain to the cytosol and carries nine vacuolar transmembrane domains. Mutations in the VTC transmembrane regions, which are likely to constitute the translocation channel, block not only polyP translocation but also synthesis. Given that they are far from the cytosolic catalytic domain of VTC, this suggests that the VTC complex obligatorily couples synthesis of polyP to its import in order to avoid toxic intermediates in the cytosol. Sequestration of otherwise toxic polyP might be one reason for the existence of acidocalcisomes in eukaryotes.

Calcium reabsorption in the distal tubule: regulation by sodium, pH, and flow.

We developed a mathematical model of Ca transport along the late distal convoluted tubule (DCT2) and the connecting tubule (CNT) to investigate the mechanisms that regulate Ca reabsorption in the DCT2-CNT. The model accounts for apical Ca influx across transient receptor potential vanilloid 5 (TRPV5) channels and basolateral Ca efflux via plasma membrane Ca-ATPase pumps and type 1 Na/Ca exchangers (NCX1). Model simulations reproduce experimentally observed variations in Ca uptake as a function of extracellular pH, Na, and Mg concentration. Our results indicate that amiloride enhances Ca reabsorption in the DCT2-CNT predominantly by increasing the driving force across NCX1, thereby stimulating Ca efflux. They also suggest that because aldosterone upregulates both apical and basolateral Na transport pathways, it has a lesser impact on Ca reabsorption than amiloride. Conversely, the model predicts that full NCX1 inhibition and parathyroidectomy each augment the Ca load delivered to the collecting duct severalfold. In addition, our results suggest that regulation of TRPV5 activity by luminal pH has a small impact, per se, on transepithelial Ca fluxes; the reduction in Ca reabsorption induced by metabolic acidosis likely stems from decreases in TRPV5 expression. In contrast, elevations in luminal Ca are predicted to significantly decrease TRPV5 activity via the Ca-sensing receptor. Nevertheless, following the administration of furosemide, the calcium-sensing receptor-mediated increase in Ca reabsorption in the DCT2-CNT is calculated to be insufficient to prevent hypercalciuria. Altogether, our model predicts complex interactions between calcium and sodium reabsorption in the DCT2-CNT.

Dynamically generated open-charm baryons beyond the zero-range approximation

The interaction of the low-lying pseudoscalar mesons with the ground-state baryons in the charm sector is studied within a coupled-channel approach using a t-channel vector-exchange driving force. The amplitudes describing the scattering of the pseudoscalar mesons off the ground-state baryons are obtained by solving the Lippmann-Schwinger equation. We analyze in detail the effects of going beyond the t=0 approximation. Our model predicts the dynamical generation of several open-charm baryon resonances in different isospin and strangeness channels, some of which can be clearly identified with recently observed states.

Dynamical properties of nonmarkovian stochastic differential equations

We study nonstationary non-Markovian processes defined by Langevin-type stochastic differential equations with an OrnsteinUhlenbeck driving force. We concentrate on the long time limit of the dynamical evolution. We derive an approximate equation for the correlation function of a nonlinear nonstationary non-Markovian process, and we discuss its consequences. Non-Markovicity can introduce a dependence on noise parameters in the dynamics of the correlation function in cases in which it becomes independent of these parameters in the Markovian limit. Several examples are discussed in which the relaxation time increases with respect to the Markovian limit. For a Brownian harmonic oscillator with fluctuating frequency, the non-Markovicity of the process decreases the domain of stability of the system, and it can change an infradamped evolution into an overdamped one.

Energy transduction in periodically driven non-hermitian systems

We show a new mechanism to extract energy from nonequilibrium fluctuations typical of periodically driven non-Hermitian systems. The transduction of energy between the driving force and the system is revealed by an anomalous behavior of the susceptibility, leading to a diminution of the dissipated power and consequently to an improvement of the transport properties. The general framework is illustrated by the analysis of some relevant cases.

Self-similar community structure in a network of human interactions

We propose a procedure for analyzing and characterizing complex networks. We apply this to the social network as constructed from email communications within a medium sized university with about 1700 employees. Email networks provide an accurate and nonintrusive description of the flow of information within human organizations. Our results reveal the self-organization of the network into a state where the distribution of community sizes is self-similar. This suggests that a universal mechanism, responsible for emergence of scaling in other self-organized complex systems, as, for instance, river networks, could also be the underlying driving force in the formation and evolution of social networks.