1986 : a significant year of change for tourism organisation in Scotland?

Developing from the impetus provided by the last Government review of tourism, the results of which were announced by Norman Lamont in November 1983, last year witnessed a flurry of official reports and initiatives. For the first time since the 1969 Development of Tourism Act became law, the issue of governmental tourist organisation was clearly on the decision making agenda. The New Year has now opened with the publication of a Select Committee enquiry into the organisation of Government involvement in tourism. The events of 1985 and the far reaching reforms proposed in the Select Committee Report suggest that a possible centralisation of official UK/GB tourism responsibilities is in the offing. This would strip the Scottish Office of its Ministerial oversight of Scottish tourism and lead to the scrapping of the Scottish Tourist Board (STB). This Perspective outlines the main events of 1985 and the principal proposals contained in the recently published Select Committee report before discussing some of the more important implications for Scotland and its tourist industry

The Glasgow Garden Festival : making Glasgow miles better?

This paper discusses the Glasgow Garden Festival (GGF), which, opened its gates to the general public on April 28, 1988 and represented a crucial step in Glasgow's development as a tourism destination. The Festival, alongside Glasgow's designation as the European City of Culture in 1990 can be seen as the basis of a strong events-led tourism development strategy. The sponsors and organisers of the Festival had set a target of 3 million visitors through the gates by the time the Festival closed on September 26, 1988. In fact, the Festival has achieved a throughput of 4.25 million people

Hypothalamic Nutrient Sensing

Nutrient sensing neurons are unique in coupling changes in the concentration of nutrients to changes in neuronal activity. These neurons typically exist in regions of the brain where the blood brain barrier is fenestrated, such as the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. Glucose and leucine are nutrients known to be sensed by neurons in this brain region, but the mechanisms by which they are sensed, and cells that sense them require further study. Using calcium imaging of adult neuron cultures from the mouse mediobasal hypothalamus, I demonstrated that leucine bidirectionally regulates neuronal activity in a neurochemically heterogeneous population of neurons, including AgRP/NPY and POMC neurons. Using pharmacological tools, I demonstrated, unexpectedly, that this acute sensing is independent of mTOR and leucine metabolism, known pathways involved in leucine sensing in vivo. Leucine sensing is LAT1 independent. The response principally relies on calcium entry into the cell across the plasma membrane, but IP3 sensitive calcium stores play a role in neurons inhibited by leucine. Using phosphoTRAP and single cell RNA sequencing, I aimed to identify a molecular marker for leucine sensing cells to allow their manipulation in vivo. PhosphoTRAP, and subsequent pharmacological studies identified a T Type calcium channel may be a marker for leucine sensing cells. AgRP neurons are essential for feeding, and also play roles in controlling glucose homeostasis. Using chemogenetics to selectively activate these neurons, I demonstrated, in contrast to a similar, recently published study, that blood glucose concentrations did not rise upon activation of these neurons. A subpopulation of AgRP neurons express glucokinase, and some AgRP neurons are glucose inhibited, but the role of glucokinase in these neurons has not been characterised. Our lab generated an AgRP neuron specific glucokinase knock out mouse line. Preliminary results suggest 18 – 25 week old female AgRP glucokinase knock out mice may have altered glucose tolerance, but conclusions can only be drawn once further mice have been phenotyped, and the success of the glucokinase knock out from AgRP neurons has been confirmed.University of Cambridge Clinical Schoo

Nicotinic α4 Receptor-Mediated Cholinergic Influences on Food Intake and Activity Patterns in Hypothalamic Circuits.

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) play an important role in regulating appetite and have been shown to do so by influencing neural activity in the hypothalamus. To shed light on the hypothalamic circuits governing acetylcholine's (ACh) regulation of appetite this study investigated the influence of hypothalamic nAChRs expressing the α4 subunit. We found that antagonizing the α4β2 nAChR locally in the lateral hypothalamus with di-hydro-ß-erythroidine (DHβE), an α4 nAChR antagonist with moderate affinity, caused an increase in food intake following free access to food after a 12 hour fast, compared to saline-infused animals. Immunocytochemical analysis revealed that orexin/hypocretin (HO), oxytocin, and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-containing neurons in the A13 and A12 of the hypothalamus expressed the nAChR α4 subunit in varying amounts (34%, 42%, 50%, and 51%, respectively) whereas melanin concentrating hormone (MCH) neurons did not, suggesting that DHβE-mediated increases in food intake may be due to a direct activation of specific hypothalamic circuits. Systemic DHβE (2 mg/kg) administration similarly increased food intake following a 12 hour fast. In these animals a subpopulation of orexin/hypocretin neurons showed elevated activity compared to control animals and MCH neuronal activity was overall lower as measured by expression of the immediate early gene marker for neuronal activity cFos. However, oxytocin neurons in the paraventricular hypothalamus and TH-containing neurons in the A13 and A12 did not show differential activity patterns. These results indicate that various neurochemically distinct hypothalamic populations are under the influence of α4β2 nAChRs and that cholinergic inputs to the lateral hypothalamus can affect satiety signals through activation of local α4β2 nAChR-mediated transmission.This work was supported by the Royal Society and the European Union (Latin America/European Liason, LAEL).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from PLOS via http://dx.doi.org/1371/journal.pone.013332

The British economy [May 1986]

Since the last quarter of 1985 developments in the UK economy have been dominated by the sharp falls in oil prices. With UK interest rates high by international standards and the weakness of the US dollar there has, however, been no repetition of a sterling crisis on the scale of that in January 1985. The most immediate impact of the lower oil prices was felt in terms of the Chancellor's limited scope for income tax reductions in the March Budget. On balance, the UK will benefit in the medium term as a consequence of the stimulus given by lower oil prices to international trade and the depreciation of sterling against the major European currencies

The Scottish economy [August 1984]

Throughout much of the last two years the official view has been that the Scottish recession was less severe than that experienced in the United Kingdom as a whole. Indeed, the Secretary of State has proclaimed to a variety of audiences, including the House of Commons, that Scotland was, and still is , leading the country out of recession. This diagnosis has not met with universal approval, as it appears to be founded primarily on the growth of the Scottish electronics sector and on the smaller proportionate rise in unemployment which has occurred in Scotland than in Britain as a whole. This latter fact is not particularly surprising as the pre-recession level of unemployment in Scotland was markedly above that of the rest of Britain

Outlook and appraisal [August 1984]

Growth in the British economy came almost to a halt during the first half of this year. As a result , even a speedy resolution of the coal dispute would be unlikely to push the GDP growth rate this year above 2.5 Though much of July's interest rate increase has already been reversed, it is likely to prove more difficult to reverse the effects on the retail price index and thus attain the goal of H.5% inflation at the end of the year. The uncompetitive nature of the housing finance market makes a speedy and full unwinding of the recent rise in mortgage rates unlikely

The world economy [May 1986]

Developments in the first part of 1986 continue to be dominated by the sharp fall in the price of oil and the deceleration of the US economy. With the lack of agreement on pricing and output policy among OPEC members the outlook for oil markets remains uncertain. The present low oil prices provide benefits to oil - importing countries in the form of falls in industrial costs and improvements in trade balances. In the short-run it may have also helped trigger reductions in interest rates. The longer OPEC fails to exercise effective control over oil markets, the greater these benefits will be. However, while there is the resulting possibility of growth without the usual inflationary consequences, the world economy remains characterised by major imbalances

The British economy [August 1986]

External events have had a considerable impact on the UK economy. In line with developments elsewhere, UK growth has slowed, interest rates have been reduced and the inflation rate has fallen. However, underlying inflationary pressures in the UK continue to operate with relatively rapid growth of average earnings and substantial growth of private sector liquidity

The world economy [November 1986]

Recent developments in the UK economy suggest that the slowdown of growth in 1985 may only have been a temporary phenomenon. External events are continuing to play a significant role. Yet it is the trends within the domestic economy that are a major source of unease. Underlying inflationary pressures continue to operate via the relatively fast growth in average earnings, low productivity growth, the growth of private sector liquidity and the recent significant decrease in the value of sterling. An increase in the growth of non-oil imports adds to fears for the current account of the balance of payments. Perceptions of uncertainty in Government policy particularly towards the exchange rate are a continuing cause for concern