European Issues from a Spanish Perspective: Contribution to EU-27 Watch nr 7

This paper analyses various European issues –the Irish referendum, the French EU Presidency, the EU’s Mediterranean relations, the Pact on immigration and asylum and the future of the Euro, among others– from a Spanish perspective. The EU-27 Watch is part of EU-CONSENT, a network of Excellence for joint research and teaching comprising more than 50 research institutes (of which the Elcano Royal Institute is one) that addresses questions on the mutually reinforcing effects of deepening and widening the EU. The project sheds light on key issues and challenges of European integration. The aim is to give a full comparative picture of debates on European integration and current developments in European politics in each of these countries. This is the Spanish contribution to the project. It should be pointed out that the EU-Watch covers from January to June 2008 and that it was completed in July 2008

European Issues from a Spanish Perspective: Contribution to the EU-25/27 Watch

This paper analyses various European issues –the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, future enlargement, Kosovo’s independence, the Mediterranean Union project, relations with Russia and the Budget review– from a Spanish perspective. The EU-25/27 Watch is part of EU-CONSENT, a network of Excellence for joint research and teaching comprising more than 50 research institutes (of which the Elcano Royal Institute is one) that addresses questions of the mutually reinforcing effects of deepening and widening the EU. The project sheds light on key issues and challenges of European integration. The aim is to give a full comparative picture of debates on European integration and current developments in European politics in each of these countries. This is the Spanish contribution to the project

Abandono de terrazas de cultivo: recolonización vegetal y erosión en el sureste peninsular

[Resumen] El paisaje del sureste peninsular ha estado marcado, en los últimos decenios, por los cambios en los aprovechamientos de las laderas subáridas. Frente a concepciones lineales de los procesos erosivos que afectan a estos espacios, la metodología empleada y los resultados obtenidos evidencian la necesidad de abordar este tema con planteamientos puramente geográficos, donde se valora el papel de los factores abióticos y bióticos del medio, sin olvidar que ambos son decisivos en la comprensión y explicación del paisaje desde una visión antropocéntrica.[Abstract] In the last decades the southeast peninsular landscape has been affected by the changes in the used subarid slopes. Opposite to lineal conceptions of erosive processes in these areas, the employed methodology and the obtained resu1ts show the need to research this subject with purely geographic patterns in which the abiotic and biotic factors are valued without forgetting that both are decisives in the understanding and explication of the lanscape from an human perspectiv

Caracterización productiva de las estirpes de cerdo ibérico reconocidas dentro del libro genealógico de la raza y del catálogo oficial de razas de ganado de España

Ministerio de Agricultura y Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (España

Actuaciones dentro del plan de recuperación de una raza autóctona en peligro de extinción: la raza ovina churra lebrijana. Caracteres cualitativos externos y faneróptica

La raza ovina Churra Lebrijana se localiza en la Sierra Norte de Sevilla y Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche. En la actualidad, se encuentra en grave peligro de extinción, contando con no más de 200 efectivos repartidos en dos explotaciones. Ante la necesidad de abordar la llevanza del Libro Genealógico de la raza, previa concesión, por los organismos administrativos pertinentes, se están llevando a cabo una serie de actuaciones, encuadradas en un proyecto INIA, con la finalidad de preservarla. En este sentido, se han obtenido un total de 23 variables cualitativas correspondientes a las regiones de la cabeza, tronco, mamas y extremidades, así como caracteres de índole faneróptica. Se han controlado un total de 22 ejemplares (16 hembras y el total de sementales de la raza), localizados en dos explotaciones de Andalucía. Para sentar las bases que permitan recuperar y conservar la raza, es necesario realizar un análisis previo que determine la variabilidad de los caracteres analizados a fin de poder encuadrar /discriminar aquellos animales que se ajusten o no al patrón racial propuesto.Proyecto de Investigación RZ-03-019, INIA, Ministerio de Educación y Cienci

Carcass and Meat Quality Traits in an Embden×Toulouse Goose Cross Raised in Organic Dehesa

his study assessed the influence of genetic type (Embden-Anser anser, EE; Toulouse-Anser anser, TT and F1 cross, ET) for meat characteristics (carcass, meat quality and fatty acid (FA) profiles), of domestic geese “Anser anser domesticus” raised in dehesa as an alternative, organic feeding system. Carcass and breast muscle weight (p<0.01) were greater for the ET group at the same live weight. None of the groups showed differences in the production of fatty liver with this type of feeding. Higher values were found for maximum Warner–Bratzler shear force (between 7.62 and 8.87 kg/cm2), which implies the improvement of this parameter. High levels of oleic FAs were obtained, especially for the TT group. The polyunsaturated/saturated FA ratio was highest for the ET group (p<0.001), reflecting the optimum nutritional values as a component of a healthy consumer die

Global mRNA expression analysis in myosin II deficient strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae reveals an impairment of cell integrity functions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The <it>Saccharomyces cerevisiae MYO1 </it>gene encodes the myosin II heavy chain (Myo1p), a protein required for normal cytokinesis in budding yeast. Myo1p deficiency in yeast (<it>myo1Δ</it>) causes a cell separation defect characterized by the formation of attached cells, yet it also causes abnormal budding patterns, formation of enlarged and elongated cells, increased osmotic sensitivity, delocalized chitin deposition, increased chitin synthesis, and hypersensitivity to the chitin synthase III inhibitor Nikkomycin Z. To determine how differential expression of genes is related to these diverse cell wall phenotypes, we analyzed the global mRNA expression profile of <it>myo1Δ </it>strains.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Global mRNA expression profiles of <it>myo1Δ </it>strains and their corresponding wild type controls were obtained by hybridization to yeast oligonucleotide microarrays. Results for selected genes were confirmed by real time RT-PCR. A total of 547 differentially expressed genes (p ≤ 0.01) were identified with 263 up regulated and 284 down regulated genes in the <it>myo1Δ </it>strains. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed the significant over-representation of genes in the protein biosynthesis and stress response categories. The <it>SLT2/MPK1 </it>gene was up regulated in the microarray, and a <it>myo1Δslt2Δ </it>double mutant was non-viable. Overexpression of ribosomal protein genes <it>RPL30 </it>and <it>RPS31 </it>suppressed the hypersensitivity to Nikkomycin Z and increased the levels of phosphorylated Slt2p in <it>myo1Δ </it>strains. Increased levels of phosphorylated Slt2p were also observed in wild type strains under these conditions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Following this analysis of global mRNA expression in yeast <it>myo1Δ </it>strains, we conclude that 547 genes were differentially regulated in <it>myo1Δ </it>strains and that the stress response and protein biosynthesis gene categories were coordinately regulated in this mutant. The <it>SLT2/MPK1 </it>gene was confirmed to be essential for <it>myo1Δ </it>strain viability, supporting that the up regulated stress response genes are regulated by the <it>PKC1 </it>cell integrity pathway. Suppression of Nikkomycin Z hypersensitivity together with Slt2p phosphorylation was caused by the overexpression of ribosomal protein genes <it>RPL30 </it>and <it>RPS31</it>. These ribosomal protein mRNAs were down regulated in the <it>myo1Δ </it>arrays, suggesting that down regulation of ribosomal biogenesis may affect cell integrity in <it>myo1Δ </it>strains.</p

“Global” graph problems tend to be intractable

AbstractA notion of “information-flow complexity” is used to formally measure the degree to which a graph problem is a “global” problem (in the sense of “global” vs. “local” optimization). Under this measure a number of intractable problems including VERTEX COVER, GRAPH 3-COLORABILITY, HAMILTONIAN CIRCUIT, and other NP-complete problems are exponentially more “global” than a number of tractable problems including EDGE COVER, GRAPH 2-COLORABILITY, EULERIAN CIRCUIT, and other problems in P