The Importance of Creative Industry Agglomerations in Explaining the Wealth of European Regions

This paper examines the existence of regional agglomerations of manufacturing, service and creative industries, the relationship between these industries and the wealth of regions and their industrial structure. Through an analysis of 250 European regions, three important conclusions can be inferred from the results obtained in this paper. The first is that creative industries play an important role in the wealth of a region. The second is that the most creative regions are characterized by having more high-tech manufacturing industries than the rest of the regions although the number of low-tech manufacturing firms is similar. Lastly, the industrial structure of each region has a greater influence on regional wealth than the existence of industrial agglomerations. The importance of this paper resides in the fact that up until now no analysis has demonstrated that creative industries are the most important industries in regional wealth.

Creative clusters in Europe: a microdata approach

Creative industries are highly concentrated forming clusters. One of the main problems for the identification of clusters of creative industries in Europe is the lack of data, constrained in practice to regions (NUTS 2) and influenced by the heterogeneity in the definition of NUTS across countries. This research uses firm-level data geo-referenced at address level and geostatistical modeling to identify clusters of creative industries in fifteen European countries. The procedure is independent of administrative divisions and national boundaries and allows to produce a precise geography of the clusters of creative industries in Europe.

Distinct roles for NtrC and GlnK in nitrogen regulation of the Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP cyanuric acid utilization operon

8 páginas, 1 figura, 3 tablas.The Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP atzDEF operon encodes the enzymes involved in cyanuric acid mineralization, the final stage of the s-triazine herbicide atrazine degradative pathway. We have previously shown that atzDEF is under nitrogen control in both its natural host and Pseudomonas putida KT2442. Expression of atzDEF requires the divergently encoded LysR-type transcriptional regulator AtzR. Here, we take advantage of the poor induction of atzDEF in Escherichia coli to identify Pseudomonas factors involved in nitrogen control of atzDEF expression. Simultaneous production of P. putida NtrC and GlnK, along with AtzR, restored the normal atzDEF regulatory pattern. Gene expression analysis in E. coli and P. putida indicated that NtrC activates atzR expression, while the role of GlnK is to promote AtzR activation of atzDEF under nitrogen limitation. Activation of atzDEF in a mutant background deficient in GlnK uridylylation suggests that post-translational modification is not strictly required for transduction of the nitrogen limitation signal to AtzR. The present data and our previous results are integrated in a regulatory circuit that describes all the known responses of the atzDEF operon.This work was funded by grants BIO2004-01354, BIO2007-63754 and CSD2007-00005 (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Spain), fellowships of the FPU program (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia), awarded to V.G.-G. and A.B.H., and student research fellowships from the Ministerio de Educación, Política Social y Deporte and CSIC, awarded to A.J.-F.Peer reviewe

Advances in the pathogenesis of canine leishmaniosis: epidemiologic and diagnostic implications

Canine leishmaniosis caused by Leishmania infantum (Syn. L. chagasi) is an important zoonosis with a complex pathogenesis. Parasite transmission occurs via female sandflies that inject promastigotes into the skin of the host. The interaction between the parasite and skin immune system is influenced by the repeated infectious bites and the simultaneous intradermal injection of sandfly saliva. Amastigotes are transported via infected macrophages to the regional lymph nodes and finally dissemination may occur. The outcome of the infection depends on host factors (genetic background, cell-mediated and humoral immune response, cytokine milieu, concurrent diseases) and parasite virulence. Resistance may be breed-associated; it is characterized by low to undetectable antibody production and effective cell-mediated immunity, and is orchestrated by cytokines such as interleukin-2, interferon-gamma and tumour necrosis factor-alpha. Susceptibility may be genetically determined or acquired (advanced age, concurrent diseases); in these dogs, parasite multiplication goes unrestricted and overproduction of specific and nonspecific antibodies occurs, leading to multiple organ pathology. Resistance or susceptibility is not an all-or-nothing phenomenon and many intermediate phenotypes may be found. From a diagnostic point of view, although clinical cases are readily identified using microscopy and serology, investigation should not stop at this point and an extensive search for underlying diseases is advised, especially in aged dogs. Conversely, microscopy and conventional serology are frequently negative in asymptomatic infected dogs; to identify such dogs, polymerase chain reaction, evaluation of cutaneous delayed-type hypersensitivity, in vitro lymphocyte proliferation test to Leishmania antigen, and Western blotting may be employed