THE EMERGING OF A MULTILATERAL FORUM FOR DEBT RESTRUCTURING: THE PARIS CLUB

This paper describes the evolution of intergovernmental relationships on debt rescheduling. It starts describing some experiences that aroused in the 18th Century and which negotiations were carried out, in many occasions, with the help of gunboat diplomacy. The settlement of liabilities that were created at the aftermath of the two 20th Century World Wars, which were – at least for some countries –- not exactly debt but war reparations, gave some insights in how to deal with these problems allowing the debtor country to find its own path to get out of the debt overhang. The settlement of these foreign liabilities may give some guidelines for dealing with debt restructuring in more general cases The creation of the Paris Club – which is a very civilized way to settle debt defaults compared to gunboat diplomacy – is analyzed and described here: first its emergency as an ad hoc transitory institution and later its evolution toward its definitive establishment in the international financial system landscape. It is also suggested that for a combination of events, which included the launch in Evian of the G-8’s so-called Evian Approach for the Paris Club, as well as the lack of support of some major industrialized countries to the implementation of a Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism (SDRM), the Paris Club has become the only feasible international intergovernmental debt restructuring mechanism in spite of numerous shortcomings embodied in it. On this basis, some improvements of the actual mechanism are proposed, without precluding the possibility of the implementation of a more equilibrated SDRM in the future.

Maîtrise de la fécondité et planification familiale au Sud

La transition démographique en Amérique Latine a commencé aux environs de 1930 avec la baisse de la mortalité. Dans un premier temps, la fécondité a augmenté, soutenue par une hausse de la nuptialité, jusqu'à atteindre un maximum vers 1965 entre 6,5 et 7,5 enfants par femme, dans tous les pays sauf quatre (Argentine, Chili, Cuba et Uruguay). A partir de 1965, deux formes d'évolution sont observées : la première repose sur un nouveau modèle de reproduction et un changement important de la condition féminine, qui concerne les groupes sociaux qui ont été les principaux bénéficiaires du développement socio-économique ; le deuxième modèle, qui peut être qualifié de "malthusianisme de la pauvreté", est une conséquence directe des programmes de planification familiale, dans un contexte de détérioration des niveaux de vie des secteurs rejetés en marge du développement. (Résumé d'auteur

Paris Club: Intergovernmental Relations in Debt Restructuring

This paper proposes to (1) summarize existing literature on the causes of deforestation and the magnitude of the various forest benefit components; (2) critically discuss the usefulness of forest valuation exercises; (3) discuss the main market failures underlying deforestation; and (4) highlight the relationship between different property rights regimes, market failures, and policy effectiveness

Synthesis of Metal-Organic Frameworks for Carbon Capture

Current issues at the forefront of environmental concern include problems relating to increased levels of the greenhouse gas CO2 in the atmosphere. Levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have reached a historic high and for this reason, researchers have placed much focus on carbon capture and sequestration. Metal-organic frameworks have been studied as a potential solution to this problem. MOFs are a class of highly porous, crystalline material composed of metal nodes and organic linkers that can be engineered to demonstrate carbon capture abilities. One method of designing MOFs with carbon capture ability is the inclusion of Lewis basic groups such as imidazole into the linkers. This work explores the synthesis of MOFs utilizing various linkers containing imidazole to create systems capable of selective absorption of CO2 at low pressures. Various solvent systems and inclusion of modulating reagents will be explored as new MOF systems are tested

Specific functions of individual class III peroxidase genes

In higher plants, class III peroxidases exist as large multigene families (e.g. 73 genes in Arabidopsis thaliana). The diversity of processes catalysed by peroxidases as well as the large number of their genes suggests the possibility of a functional specialization of each isoform. In addition, the fact that peroxidase promoter sequences are very divergent and that protein sequences contain both highly conserved domains and variable regions supports this hypothesis. However, two difficulties are associated with the study of the function of specific peroxidase genes: (i) the modification of the expression of a single peroxidase gene often results in no visible mutant phenotype, because it is compensated by redundant genes; and (ii) peroxidases show low substrate specificity in vitro resulting in an unreliable indication of peroxidase specific activity unless complementary data are available. The generalization of molecular biology approaches such as whole transcriptome analysis and recombinant DNA combined with biochemical approaches provide unprecedented tools for overcoming these difficulties. This review highlights progress made with these new techniques for identifying the specific function of individual class III peroxidase genes taking as an example the model plant A. thaliana, as well as discussing some other plant

La situación energética en Bolivia

Con la nacionalización de los hidrocarburos en Bolivia culminó una larga lucha reivindicativa y de consignas del partido de Gobierno en relación a los recursos naturales. La firma de nuevos Contratos de Operación con las empresas petroleras demostró el pragmatismo y la flexibilidad con los que puede negociar las medidas de la nacionalización así como el grado de influencia que ha alcanzado Hugo Chávez sobre el Gobierno boliviano. El descubrimiento de apreciables reservas de gas natural en la década de 1990 ha sido un factor preponderante para cambiar la realidad política de Bolivia, al despertar un fuerte sentimiento nacionalista traducido en la repulsa al modelo económico, a las elites políticas y a las empresas petroleras. El resurgimiento nacionalista y estatista agudizó la inestabilidad política, modificó la legislación del sector y posibilitó la llegada al poder del Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), partido político del presidente Morales. El Gobierno del MAS, en cumplimiento de su programa, nacionalizó los hidrocarburos, otorgó a la empresa estatal Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales de Bolivia (YPFB) la dirección y control de todas las operaciones petroleras y conminó a las empresas del sector a negociar contratos adecuados a la nueva legislación

La situación energética en Bolivia

Con la nacionalización de los hidrocarburos en Bolivia culminó una larga lucha reivindicativa y de consignas del partido de gobierno en relación a los recursos naturales. La firma de nuevos Contratos de Operación con las empresas petroleras demostró el pragmatismo y la flexibilidad con los que puede negociar las medidas de la nacionalización así como el grado de influencia que ha alcanzado Hugo Chávez sobre el gobierno boliviano. El descubrimiento de apreciables reservas de gas natural en la década de 1990 ha sido un factor preponderante para cambiar la realidad política de Bolivia, al despertar un fuerte sentimiento nacionalista traducido en la repulsa al modelo económico, a las elites políticas y a las empresas petroleras. El resurgimiento nacionalista y estatista agudizó la inestabilidad política, modificó la legislación del sector y posibilitó la llegada al poder del Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), partido político del presidente Evo Morales. El gobierno del MAS, en cumplimiento de su programa, nacionalizó los hidrocarburos, otorgó a la empresa estatal Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales de Bolivia (YPFB), la dirección y control de todas las operaciones petroleras y conminó a las empresas del sector a negociar contratos adecuados a la nueva legislación

Transcriptome analysis of various flower and silique development stages indicates a set of class III peroxidase genes potentially involved in pod shattering in Arabidopsis thaliana

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Plant class III peroxidases exist as a large multigenic family involved in numerous functions suggesting a functional specialization of each gene. However, few genes have been linked with a specific function. Consequently total peroxidase activity is still used in numerous studies although its relevance is questionable. Transcriptome analysis seems to be a promising tool to overcome the difficulties associated with the study of this family. Nevertheless available microarrays are not completely reliable for this purpose. We therefore used a macroarray dedicated to the 73 class III peroxidase genes of <it>A. thaliana </it>to identify genes potentially involved in flower and fruit development.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The observed increase of total peroxidase activity during development was actually correlated with the induction of only a few class III peroxidase genes which supports the existence of a functional specialization of these proteins. We identified peroxidase genes that are predominantly expressed in one development stage and are probable components of the complex gene networks involved in the reproductive phase. An attempt has been made to gain insight into plausible functions of these genes by collecting and analyzing the expression data of different studies in plants. Peroxidase activity was additionally observed <it>in situ </it>in the silique dehiscence zone known to be involved in pod shattering. Because treatment with a peroxidase inhibitor delayed pod shattering, we subsequently studied mutants of transcription factors (TF) controlling this mechanism. Three peroxidases genes -<it>AtPrx13</it>, <it>AtPrx30 </it>and <it>AtPrx55- </it>were altered by the TFs involved in pod shatter.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data illustrated the problems caused by linking only an increase in total peroxidase activity to any specific development stage or function. The activity or involvement of specific class III peroxidase genes needs to be assessed. Several genes identified in our study had not been linked to any particular development stage or function until now. Notably <it>AtPrx13</it>, which is one of the peroxidase genes not present on commercially available microarrays. A systematic survey of class III peroxidase genes expression is necessary to reveal specific class III peroxidase gene functions and the regulation and evolution of this key multifunctional enzyme family. The approach used in this study highlights key individual genes that merit further investigation.</p

Las variables determinantes de la fecundidad Métodos clásicos, avances recientes, perspectivas

International audienceEn esta ponencia, nos planteamos las siguientes preguntas: ¿cómo se observa el empoderamiento de las mujeres en sus relaciones con la fecundidad? y también ¿se pueden observar esas relaciones con los datos de encuestas de los que disponemos? Presentamos, en primer lugar, las consideraciones teóricas que nos han guiado. Luego usaremos datos de las encuestas GGS de las Naciones Unidas para destacar las variables determinantes más significativas para la fecundidad. Finalmente la encuesta EDER (encuesta demográfica retrospectiva) de México (1998) nos permite buscar relaciones entre las variables de las que disponemos y las trayectorias de fecundidad comparando mujeres y hombres mexicanos, de tres grupos de generaciones nacidos entre 1936 y 1968, urbanos y rurales. Es sólo un acercamiento a algunas observaciones de las cuales no disponemos, ya que no se han realizado encuestas del tipo GGS en América latina. La necesidad de llevarlas a cabo se subraya con estos resultados