Risk premia in Australian interest rates

The level of and movements in interest rates and the exchange rate can have a substantial impact on the economic performance of Australia's primary industries. Whether a country and/or exchange risk premium has resulted in higher interest rates and increased volatility in the exchange rate is therefore important to these industries. There is some evidence that a small country risk premium may have emerged during the early 1990s. In line with earlier studies, however, no evidence was found of such a premium during the 1980s. A further finding is that any exchange risk premium may have declined over the last decade or so. Possible links between risk premia and Australia's foreign debt and current account deficits are also examined.Financial Economics, Risk and Uncertainty,

New Ways of Mapping Social Inclusion in Dublin City

The Dublin City Area Based Partnerships are pleased to present this report “New Ways of Mapping Social Inclusion in Dublin City”. This initiative is a collaboration between the Area Based Partnerships, Dublin City Development Board (DCDB) and the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis (NIRSA). The commissioning of this report stemmed from a need to source accurate and timely data to aid the targeted delivery of supports to help those most at need within our communities. The research has created a localised evidence base which will ensure a more effective deployment of our limited resources. This will have the potential to achieve better outcomes within our communities. The report demonstrates that with the agreement of data holders we can significantly enhance our knowledge base and decision making. We expect that on reading this report, government bodies, and other relevant stakeholders will see the benefits in sharing information at a local level to inform policy making and, as a result, ensure the better targeting and delivery of public resource

New Ways of Mapping Social Inclusion in Dublin City

The Dublin City Area Based Partnerships are pleased to present this report “New Ways of Mapping Social Inclusion in Dublin City”. This initiative is a collaboration between the Area Based Partnerships, Dublin City Development Board (DCDB) and the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis (NIRSA). The commissioning of this report stemmed from a need to source accurate and timely data to aid the targeted delivery of supports to help those most at need within our communities. The research has created a localised evidence base which will ensure a more effective deployment of our limited resources. This will have the potential to achieve better outcomes within our communities. The report demonstrates that with the agreement of data holders we can significantly enhance our knowledge base and decision making. We expect that on reading this report, government bodies, and other relevant stakeholders will see the benefits in sharing information at a local level to inform policy making and, as a result, ensure the better targeting and delivery of public resource

Complementarities between Urban Centres on the Island of Ireland (NIRSA) Working Paper Series 56

Complementarity between urban centres is a key element of Ireland‟s National Spatial Strategy and Northern Ireland‟s Regional Development Strategy. Both documents encourage the development of complementary roles for urban centres, at both the intraregional and inter-regional or national scale. In addition, at the intra-regional scale, different roles and functions are accorded to different types of urban components. Although the documents do not define complementarity, in most cases the term appears to signify functional distinctiveness/specialisation of urban centres. Such complementarity can be defined at different level of functional aggregation. Both documents are vague as to the level of aggregation and provide few clear suggestions as to the different roles or functions that are accorded to the various urban components

Joined-up Thinking Across the Irish Border: Making the Data More Compatible

Levels of co-operation between government bodies, semi-state agencies, community groups and private industry in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are increasing rapidly with respect to issues such as coordinated infrastructure planning, health care, trade and enterprise, as well as peace and reconciliation. These initiatives require joined-up thinking and detailed rationales for their formation and funding, which in turn are dependent on evidence-based arguments. However, at present, providing consistent, coherent and reliable evidence on a cross-border basis for use at different scales is extremely difficult due to issues of data interoperability across the jurisdictions. In other words, data are often incompatible and therefore difficult to compare. Addressing issues of data interoperability is crucial to successful cross-border, evidence-based initiatives

Joined-up Thinking Across the Irish Border: Making the Data More Compatible

Levels of co-operation between government bodies, semi-state agencies, community groups and private industry in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are increasing rapidly with respect to issues such as coordinated infrastructure planning, health care, trade and enterprise, as well as peace and reconciliation. These initiatives require joined-up thinking and detailed rationales for their formation and funding, which in turn are dependent on evidence-based arguments. However, at present, providing consistent, coherent and reliable evidence on a cross-border basis for use at different scales is extremely difficult due to issues of data interoperability across the jurisdictions. In other words, data are often incompatible and therefore difficult to compare. Addressing issues of data interoperability is crucial to successful cross-border, evidence-based initiatives

Urban specialisation, complementarity and spatial development strategies on the island of Ireland

Complementarity is one of the key concepts underlying the spatial development strategies introduced on the island of Ireland a decade ago. While neither Northern Ireland's Regional Development Strategy nor Ireland's National Spatial Strategy defines the concept explicitly, both documents suggest that it relates to differences in functional roles between places, thereby linking complementarity to the concept of sectoral specialisation. Using data on employment by industrial group from the respective censuses of population, this paper examines the extent to which urban centres in Ireland displayed complementary patterns of specialisation at the regional level at the time the spatial strategies were introduced. The analysis finds little evidence of this, revealing instead a strong tendency towards similar specialisations of neighbouring centres, including those in cross-border settings. The findings point to the need for a more nuanced specification of the policy precept of inter-urban complementarity that is sensitive to both sectoral and geographical scale

MicroRNAs targeting oncogenes are down-regulated in pancreatic malignant transformation from benign tumors

BACKGROUND MicroRNA (miRNA) expression profiles have been described in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), but these have not been compared with pre-malignant pancreatic tumors. We wished to compare the miRNA expression signatures in pancreatic benign cystic tumors (BCT) of low and high malignant potential with PDAC, in order to identify miRNAs deregulated during PDAC development. The mechanistic consequences of miRNA dysregulation were further evaluated. METHODS Tissue samples were obtained at a tertiary pancreatic unit from individuals with BCT and PDAC. MiRNA profiling was performed using a custom microarray and results were validated using RT-qPCR prior to evaluation of miRNA targets. RESULTS Widespread miRNA down-regulation was observed in PDAC compared to low malignant potential BCT. We show that amongst those miRNAs down-regulated, miR-16, miR-126 and let-7d regulate known PDAC oncogenes (targeting BCL2, CRK and KRAS respectively). Notably, miR-126 also directly targets the KRAS transcript at a "seedless" binding site within its 3'UTR. In clinical specimens, miR-126 was strongly down-regulated in PDAC tissues, with an associated elevation in KRAS and CRK proteins. Furthermore, miR-21, a known oncogenic miRNA in pancreatic and other cancers, was not elevated in PDAC compared to serous microcystic adenoma (SMCA), but in both groups it was up-regulated compared to normal pancreas, implicating early up-regulation during malignant change. CONCLUSIONS Expression profiling revealed 21 miRNAs down-regulated in PDAC compared to SMCA, the most benign lesion that rarely progresses to invasive carcinoma. It appears that miR-21 up-regulation is an early event in the transformation from normal pancreatic tissue. MiRNA expression has the potential to distinguish PDAC from normal pancreas and BCT. Mechanistically the down-regulation of miR-16, miR-126 and let-7d promotes PDAC transformation by post-transcriptional up-regulation of crucial PDAC oncogenes. We show that miR-126 is able to directly target KRAS; re-expression has the potential as a therapeutic strategy against PDAC and other KRAS-driven cancers

Review of Rural Development Instruments: DG Agri project 2006-G4-10. Final Report

The aim of the study was to review the policy instruments under the framework of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), 2007-13, by: • reviewing intervention rationales and instruments and their use against the objectives, priorities and key actions in the EU Strategic Guidelines; • assessing whether and how RD rationales and instruments should be adapted to deliver these more effectively. The study involved 8 tasks, grouped into 3 themes of analysis: 1) the targeting of EU-27 rural development expenditure, 2000-13, including the development of databases of EU-27 rural area characteristics and ‘indicators of need’ for RD; 2) consideration of the adequacy of the current EAFRD framework, based upon an evaluation of instruments’ cost-effectiveness; the a priori development of a typology of RD interventions and catalogue of instruments; an analysis of delivery mechanisms; and assessment of instruments in ‘fiches’; 3) conclusions and recommendations. In the event, progress in finalising national and/or regional RDPs 2007-13 was delayed,over the study period. Thus, the approach was modified to incorporate more qualitative analysis and the expenditure analysis was made using incomplete figures (July 2007), so 4% of total EAFRD planned expenditure was missing