57 research outputs found
The deindustrialisation/tertiarisation hypothesis reconsidered: a subsystem application to the OECD7
The diffusion of outsourcing, both national and international, and
vertical FDIs among manufacturing firms, along with the higher integra-
tion of business services in manufacturing, has recently led to question
the empirical evidence supporting the Deindustrialisation/Tertiarisation
(DT) hypothesis. Rather than a \real" phenomenon, it has been argued,
DT would be an \apparent" one, mainly due to the reorganization of
production across national and sectoral boundaries.
The empirical studies that have dealt with the topic so far have
not been able to effectively rule out such possibility, because of two
main limitations: the sectoral level of the analysis and/or the national
focus. In order to overcome them, the paper carries out an appreciative
investigation of the actual extent of the DT occurred in the OECD
area over the '80s and the '90s by moving from a sector to a subsystem
perspective, thus retaining both direct and indirect relations, and by
referring to a \pseudo-World" of 7 OECD countries, thus taking into
account the \global" dimension of the phenomenon.
The results strongly support the DT hypothesis: although the weight
of business sector services in the manufacturing subsystem increased,
acting as a counterbalancing tendency to the manufacturing decline,
subsystem shares significantly decreased, thus confirming DT as a more
fundamental trend of modern economies
The DOCK Protein Sponge Binds to ELMO and Functions in Drosophila Embryonic CNS Development
Cell morphogenesis, which requires rearrangement of the actin cytoskeleton, is
essential to coordinate the development of tissues such as the musculature and
nervous system during normal embryonic development. One class of signaling
proteins that regulate actin cytoskeletal rearrangement is the evolutionarily
conserved CDM (C. elegans
Ced-5, human DOCK180,
Drosophila
Myoblast city, or Mbc) family of proteins, which function
as unconventional guanine nucleotide exchange factors for the small GTPase Rac.
This CDM-Rac protein complex is sufficient for Rac activation, but is enhanced
upon the association of CDM proteins with the ELMO/Ced-12 family of proteins. We
identified and characterized the role of Drosophila Sponge
(Spg), the vertebrate DOCK3/DOCK4 counterpart as an ELMO-interacting protein.
Our analysis shows Spg mRNA and protein is expressed in the visceral musculature
and developing nervous system, suggesting a role for Spg in later embryogenesis.
As maternal null mutants of spg die early in development, we
utilized genetic interaction analysis to uncover the role of Spg in central
nervous system (CNS) development. Consistent with its role in ELMO-dependent
pathways, we found genetic interactions with spg and
elmo mutants exhibited aberrant axonal defects. In
addition, our data suggests Ncad may be responsible for recruiting Spg to the
membrane, possibly in CNS development. Our findings not only characterize the
role of a new DOCK family member, but help to further understand the role of
signaling downstream of N-cadherin in neuronal development
Temporal Coordination of Gene Networks by Zelda in the Early Drosophila Embryo
In past years, much attention has focused on the gene networks that regulate early developmental processes, but less attention has been paid to how multiple networks and processes are temporally coordinated. Recently the discovery of the transcriptional activator Zelda (Zld), which binds to CAGGTAG and related sequences present in the enhancers of many early-activated genes in Drosophila, hinted at a mechanism for how batteries of genes could be simultaneously activated. Here we use genome-wide binding and expression assays to identify Zld target genes in the early embryo with the goal of unraveling the gene circuitry regulated by Zld. We found that Zld binds to genes involved in early developmental processes such as cellularization, sex determination, neurogenesis, and pattern formation. In the absence of Zld, many target genes failed to be activated, while others, particularly the patterning genes, exhibited delayed transcriptional activation, some of which also showed weak and/or sporadic expression. These effects disrupted the normal sequence of patterning-gene interactions and resulted in highly altered spatial expression patterns, demonstrating the significance of a timing mechanism in early development. In addition, we observed prevalent overlap between Zld-bound regions and genomic “hotspot” regions, which are bound by many developmental transcription factors, especially the patterning factors. This, along with the finding that the most over-represented motif in hotspots, CAGGTA, is the Zld binding site, implicates Zld in promoting hotspot formation. We propose that Zld promotes timely and robust transcriptional activation of early-gene networks so that developmental events are coordinated and cell fates are established properly in the cellular blastoderm embryo
Ontogenetic development of electric-organ discharges in a mormyrid fish, the bulldog Marcusenius macrolepidotus (South African form)
The emergence and development of the electric-organ discharge (EOD) in larvae and juvenile bulldog Marcusenius macrolepidotus was investigated. Larvae hatched 4–5 days after spawning, and the first EODs were recorded on days 9 and 10 at a standard length (LS) of c. 6·5 mm. The larval EOD waveform was virtually monopolar, with a strong head-positive phase followed by a weak head-negative phase of long duration. A small separate potential preceded the EOD by c. 1·6 ms (believed to represent postsynaptic potential from electrocyte stalks). In contrast to previous reports on Pollimyrus adspersus with its distinct larval and adult EODs, in M. macrolepidotus there was a gradual transformation of the larval into the adult EOD waveform. The transformation started at an LS of c. 17 mm (at an age of c. 40 days), first indications being a decrease in duration of the head-negative phase, and an increase of its peak amplitude relative to that of the head-positive phase. Still later, the weak postpotential of the adult EOD emerged on the rising edge of the head-negative phase. The transformation was nearly completed at an LS of c. 30 mm (at an age of c. 60 days). Evolutionary and behavioural consequences of this alternative path of EOD ontogeny are discussed
Bookkeeping conventions and the micro-macro link
The formal accounting logic of the national accounts and other macroeconomic statistics is not always well understood. In addition, the relation between macro statistics and micro accounting data often is not clear. This paper starts out by summarizing the main bookkeeping conventions at the macro level. A distinction is made between vertical and horizontal double-entry bookkeeping, which, if applied simultaneously, result in quadruple-entry bookkeeping. Vertical bookkeeping refers to the double-entry bookkeeping used in business practice. Horizontal bookkeeping requires that the transactions and other economic relationships between agents answer strict consistency rules regarding valuation, timing, and classification. At the micro level, this consistency is not guaranteed. The article reviews three options to reinforce the micro-macro link (proposals by Nancy and Richard Ruggles, proposals by Harry Postner, and the intermediate accounts in France), and concludes with a few suggestions that could be used in the upcoming revisions of the international statistical manuals. Copyright 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
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