What happened to the knowledge economy? ICT, intangible investment and Britain's productivity record revisited

A major puzzle is that despite the apparent importance of innovation around the "knowledge economy", UK macro performance appears unaffected: investment rates are flat, and productivity has slowed down. We investigate whether measurement issues might account for the puzzle. The standard National Accounts treatment of most spending on "knowledge" or "intangible" assets is as intermediate consumption. Thus they do not count as either GDP or investment. We ask how treating such spending as investment affects some key macro variables, namely, market sector gross value added (MGVA), business investment, capital and labour shares, growth in labour and total factor productivity, and capital deepening. We find (a) MGVA was understated by about 6% in 1970 and 13% in 2004 (b) instead of the nominal business investment/MGVA ratio falling since 1970 it is has been rising (c) instead of the labour compensation/MGVA ratio being flat since 1970 it has been falling (d) growth in labour productivity and capital deepening has been understated and growth in total factor productivity overstated (e) total factor productivity growth has not slowed since 1990 but has been accelerating

How Much Does the UK Invest in Intangible Assets?

We attempt to replicate for the UK the Corrado, Hulten and Sichel (2005, 2006) work on spending on intangible assets in the US. Their work suggests private sector expenditure (investment) on intangibles is about 13% (11%) of US GDP 1998-2000, with intangible investment about equal to tangible capital investment. Our work, using a similar method, suggests the UK private sector spent, in 2004, about £127bn on intangibles, which is about 11% of UK GDP. The implied investment figure is around £116bn (10% of GDP) which is about equal to UK investment in tangible assets. Of the £127bn expenditure, (in round numbers) about 15% is spent on software, about 10% on scientific R&D, almost 20% on non-scientific R&D (design, product development etc.), about 14% on branding, about 20% on training and the rest on organisational capital.Intangible assets, R&D, Training, Organisational capital, Investment

What Happened to the Knowledge Economy? ICT, Intangible Investment and Britain's Productivity Record Revisited

A major puzzle is that despite the apparent importance of innovation around the "knowledge economy", UK macro performance appears unaffected: investment rates are flat, and productivity has slowed down. We investigate whether measurement issues might account for the puzzle. The standard National Accounts treatment of most spending on "knowledge" or "intangible" assets is as intermediate consumption. Thus they do not count as either GDP or investment. We ask how treating such spending as investment affects some key macro variables, namely, market sector gross value added (MGVA), business investment, capital and labour shares, growth in labour and total factor productivity, and capital deepening. We find (a) MGVA was understated by about 6% in 1970 and 13% in 2004 (b) instead of the nominal business investment/MGVA ratio falling since 1970 it is has been rising (c) instead of the labour compensation/MGVA ratio being flat since 1970 it has been falling (d) growth in labour productivity and capital deepening has been understated and growth in total factor productivity overstated (e) total factor productivity growth has not slowed since 1990 but has been accelerating.Intangible assets, Productivity, R&D, Training, Organisational capital, Investment

An Analysis of Self-Selected and Assigned Writing of Third Grade Students

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in student performance .in writing when the topic for writing was self-selected or when the topic was assigned. Ten third-grade students from two classrooms in an urban elementary school participated in this study. During a period of ten weeks, each student produced four pieces of writing. The topic of two of the four pieces was assigned. The other two pieces were formulated from self-selected topics. The data were analyzed to determine which individuals and class wrote more for assigned pieces and which individuals and class wrote more for pieces where the topic was selected by the students. This was done by finding the total number of words written in each sample. The mean totals of these words were then compared. The students\u27 work was next subject to a rubric to determine if there was a difference in the quality of the writing. The results of this study indicated that there was a difference in student performance in writing when the topic for writing was self-selected or when the topic was assigned. Students, who were given the opportunity to select their own writing topics regularly, produced better quality self-selected writing pieces. These pieces had coherent story structure and developed plots. These students showed some difficulty in answering to a task. Students from a classroom where assignments were commonly given produced better quality assignments, yet struggle with developing a plot and organizing a coherent story line on self-selected pieces of writing

Caratterizzazione fisica del particolato diesel mediante strumentazioni avanzate.

La tesi ha riguardato l'analisi fisica del particolato diesel mediante strumentazioni avanzate. Lo studio è stato effettuato su un filtro antiparticolato open-trap destinato a retrofit di autovetture pre-euro IV, con lo scopo di valutarne l'efficienza utilizzando strumenti ordinari e avanzati, con particolare attenzione alla determinazione del numero di particelle emesse dall'autovettura prima e dopo l'installazione di tale filtro. Tale interesse deriva dalla volontà della Commissione Europea di definire nuovi standard di emissione di autovetture diesel e benzina (Normativa Euro V) che limitino, oltre che la massa del particolato emessa, anche il numero delle particelle. Per ottenere tali risultati sono pero' necessarie nuove e piu' avanzate tecnologie (come quelle utilizzate in questa tesi), che permetteranno misurazioni sempre più affidabili e riproducibili

PHOSPHO-REGULATION OF ACA8, A PLASMA MEMBRANE CA2+-ATPASE OF ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA

ACA8 is a plasma membrane-localized isoform of calmodulin (CaM)-regulated Ca2+-ATPase of Arabidopsis thaliana. Phospho-proteomic studies identified several phosphopeptides corresponding to portions of its regulatory N-terminus. Each of the Ser found to be phosphorylated in those studies (S19, S22, S27, S29, S57, and S99) has been mutated to Asp, to mimic phosphorylation of the ACA8 N-terminus, and to Ala to prevent phosphorylation. Mutants have been expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and characterized: as shown by the low activation by CaM, mutants S19D, S57D, S22D and S27D are deregulated. Moreover, the low response to CaM of ACA8 mutants S22A, S27A, and S29A points the relevance of these serine residues per se in determining the amplitude of the response of ACA8 to CaM. To analyse the effect of S to D mutation on the kinetic of CaM binding, His-tagged N-termini of wild-type and mutant ACA8 (6His-1M-I116) were expressed in Escherichia coli, affinity-purified and used in surface plasmon resonance experiments. All the analysed mutations affect the kinetics of interaction with CaM to some extent: in most cases, the altered kinetics result in marginal changes in affinity, with the exception of mutants S57D (KD 10-fold higher than wild-type ACA8) and S99D (KD about half that of wild-type ACA8). Since S19 is in a consensus motive for calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) the ACA8 N-terminus has been subjected to in vitro phosphorylation assays with two isoforms of A. thaliana CDPKs: CDPK1, that phosphorylates ACA2 (an endoplasmic reticulum localised isoform of A. thaliana ACA) and CDPK16, a plasma membrane localised isoform of CDPK. Results show that both kinases are able to phosphorylate ACA8 N-terminus, but CDPK16 with higher extent. Phosphorylation of mutant 6His-1M-I116 peptides mapped CDPK16 phosphorylation site at S19 and at S22. Furthermore, we identified by two-hybrid screening two isoforms of CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPKs) as putative interactors of ACA8 N-terminus region: CIPK9 and CIPK14. BiFC analysis in Nicotiana benthamiana confirmed the two-hybrid results, showing that interaction between ACA8 full length and CIPK9 or CIPK14 occurs in planta at the plasma membrane. Moreover, phosphorylation assay demonstrate that both kinases phosphorylate ACA8 N-terminus in vitro. Implications of these results are discussed

Genome-wide patterns of genetic variation among wild and cultivated grapevines (V. vinifera L.)

Grapevine (V. vinifera L.) is one of the most important crops worldwide due to its global distribution and economic value. Two forms of grapevine still co-exist nowadays: the cultivated form V. vinifera subsp. sativa and the wild form V. vinifera subsp. sylvestris, which is considered the ancestor of present cultivars. Archeological and historical findings suggest that cultivated grapevines have been domesticated from wild populations of V. sylvestris circa 8,000 BP in the Near East. However, recent genetic analyses raised the outstanding question whether multiple domestication events occurred. During domestication the biology of grapes changed dramatically to guarantee greater yield, higher sugar content and more regular production. The changes in berry and bunch size as well as the transition from dioecious wild plants to hermaphrodite cultivated grapes were crucial. Additional studies on the genetic relationship between wild and cultivated grapevines are required in order to understand how this phenotypic evolution occurred and to clarify the process of adaptation to domestication in grapevine. This will be useful for the future genetic improvement of viticulture. In this regard, we investigated the genetic and phenotypic variation within a germplasm collection of wild and cultivated grapevine accessions. The whole population was first genotyped with the commercial GrapeReSeq Illumina 20K SNP array, yielding 16K good quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Afterwards, a novel Restriction Associated DNA-sequencing (RADseq) procedure was developed in order to further increase the density of molecular markers across the grapevine genome. By applying this novel RAD-seq protocol to the whole population, 37K SNPs were identified, which reflected a considerable level of genetic diversity between sativa and sylvestris accessions. The two merged SNP matrices were filtered for SNP loci with a missing rate > 0.2 and a minor allele frequency (MAF) < 0.05. The final panel of 27K SNPs evenly distributed along the grapevine genome was used to investigate the population structure by using both Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and the cluster algorithm implemented in fastSTRUCTURE software. In line with previous research, both analyses highlighted a low but clear differentiation between sativa and sylvestris individuals. Therefore, the extent of Linkage Disequilibrium (LD) was evaluated within the whole grapevine population and in the two subspecies separately. LD, as measured by the classical r2 correlation coefficient, decayed below 0.2 within 10 kb in the whole population. On the other hand, a slower LD decay was observed in the wild compartment, where r2 reached values below 0.2 within 20 kb. This result can be related with an elevated level of inbreeding among wild individuals, linked to a small effective population size and the missing gene-flow between wild populations. Population differentiation statistic (FST) was computed across the grapevine genomes looking for genomic regions with divergent allele frequencies between the two grapevine subspecies. An overall low level of genetic differentiation (FST = 0.12) was observed between cultivated and wild grapes, suggesting the occurrence of genetic exchange among the two subspecies. However, a non-random distribution of divergent sites was observed along the whole genome: over two thousands of SNP loci revealed a significant level of differentiation between sativa and sylvestris, validated empirically with a permutation test. 1,714 annotated genes were found in LD with these most significant SNPs, and showed an enrichment of predicted functions related to the metabolic processes of nitrogen and carbohydrate as well as to the perception and adaptation to environmental stimuli. A slightly reduction of nucleotide diversity in the sylvestris (πsylvestris/ πsativa ~0.95) was observed in almost all the identified genes involved in stress responses, suggesting that a selection is likely acting in wild populations for adaptation to several environmental changes. Therefore, these results point the attention towards sylvestris grapevines as valuable resources of resilience genes or alleles, which may have been lost in cultivated grapevine during the domestication process. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) approach has been applied as an alternative strategy to identify the genes and mutations that have been targets of selection during crop domestication. Therefore, the germplasm collection of cultivated and wild grapevines has been evaluated in two years for single berry and single bunch weight, number of bunches per plant, yield and berry composition (sugar, organic acid and K+ concentrations, titratable acidity and pH). A great phenotypic variation was observed within and between the two grapevine subspecies, notably for berry size, pH, acid contents and titratable acidity. The association test, carried out accounting for confounding factors, identified significant genotype-phenotype correlations for all traits, except for single berry weight. Genes encoding proteins related to Ca2+ sequestration and signalling, transcription factors and enzymes involved in the metabolism of polyamines were identified in linkage with the SNPs significantly associated to yield and bunch weight. At the same time, genes with a central role in the control of berry flesh pH and acidity were detected, such as the isocitrate lyase and V-type proton ATPase subunit a3 genes. Therefore, the present research has proven for the first time the feasibility of population genetics and association mapping approaches for dissecting the genomic basis of phenotypic variation in a complex genetic system as grapevine. Moreover, further evidence of the relevance of wild grapevine as a model for understanding the mechanisms of adaptation to natural conditions has been provided. These results pave the way for understanding how wild and cultivated grapevines react to environmental stimuli, which will benefit the development of new breeding strategies to face the ongoing climate changes and the growing demand of a sustainable viticulture

Analyse numérique de l'écoulement turbulent se développant derrière une marche descendante par simulation des grandes échelles

Théorie de Kolmogorov : cascade d'énergie -- Modélisation et simulation de la turbulence -- Modèles de sous-maille utilisés dans la simulation des grandes échelles -- Méthodes numériques -- Simulation des grandes échelles -- Notion de filtrage -- Les filtres -- Propriétés des filtres -- Équations de Navier-stokes filtrées -- Caractéristiques d'un modèle de sous-maille -- Modélisation de sous-maille -- Modèle de Smagorinsky -- Modèle de fonction de structure -- Modèle de similitude d'échelles -- Modèles dynamiques -- Résolution des équations de Navier-Stokes tridimensionnelles -- Méthode à pas fractionnaire et discrétisation de l'équation de Navier-Stokes -- L'équation du mouvement -- L'équation de Poisson pour la pression -- Discussion sur le schéma numérique utilisé -- Résumé de l'algorithme numérique utilisé -- Vérification et validation du code -- Simulation tridimensionnelle de l'écoulement turbulent derrière une marche descendante