Foreign investment in Scotland

A significant feature of the UK economy throughout the post-war period has been the growth in direct foreign investment in manufacturing industries. For the host nation the main benefits are employment creation, income generation and import reduction or export expansion. Scotland has been particularly successful in attracting the lion's inward investment for example in the period 1945- 1965 a total of 108,500 jobs were created by foreign firms setting up manufacturing units in the despite its size, obtained 46,221 (42.6%), whereas the second most SE England, gained only 16,926 (15.6%). The reasons for this success have been attributed primarily to a combination of the availability of labour in Scotland, the financial inducements offered by central government as part of regional policy and, the undoubted attraction of the environment, notably of course golf courses, for foreign businessmen. This brief paper explores the nature of Scotland's direct foreign investment and the reasons for its success

Review of the quarter's economic trends [April 1980]

This brief paper surveys recent world and UK economic data and reveals that there are some signs to suggest that the world economy will withstand the 1979 oil price shock better than it did in 1973/74. The main difference is that the 1979 price rise was not super-imposed on as severe an inflation as that which occurred on the previous occasion. The present rate of increase in the world prices should not reach the levels of the last cycle when the twelve month increase in manufacturing prices peaked at 23%. Advance warning by US economists that 1979 was going to be a year of difficulty did not go unnoticed by businessmen in that country who took steps in 1978 to avoid a repetition of the inventory boom and bust cycle which had proved so costly in the recession of 1973/74. Also, consumer expectations are adjusting towards a continuing rise in the price of oil. In the UK real GDP is expected to fall by 2½% from mid-year 1980. Thereafter, it is assumed to grow at an average annual rate of 1% for the next four years

The tax and price index

A feature of this year's Budget was the shift in emphasis from direct taxation to indirect taxation. The annual yield of income tax has been reduced by £4½ billion while that of direct taxes was increased by a similar amount. It must be acknowledged that the new tax and price index has a number of deficiencies. It is only applicable to a proportion of the population, namely those who pay tax and whose gross income is less than £10,000 per annum. It takes no account of the social wage, nor of changes in benefits, such as the recent restructuring of child allowance. It smoothes out tax payments over a full year even though, for administrative reasons, these may fluctuate widely from month to month. This brief paper explores some of these deficiencies in more detail and assess their impact on taxation

The Scottish economy [October 1979]

The previous two issues of this Commentary have both indicated that the Scottish economy has been performing poorly since the mid 1970's. This is true in both an absolute and a relative sense. Manufacturing production only increased by 1.2% between 1976 and 1978 and, after dropping below 1975 levels in the first quarter of 1979, is unlikely to show any substantial improvement for the year as a whole. In an international context the 1975-1978 performance can best be described as appalling. Over the same period industrial production in Eire grew by 28%, in Japan and the US by 23% and in West Germany and France by 15%. Inertia in developing new markets and lack of competitiveness in existing markets both contributed substantially to the virtual stagnation of Scottish output. Because the problems are so diverse, so too must be the solutions

Binding Site Alteration Is Responsible for Field-Isolated Resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis Cry2A Insecticidal Proteins in Two Helicoverpa Species

Background Evolution of resistance by target pests is the main threat to the long-term efficacy of crops expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal proteins. Cry2 proteins play a pivotal role in current Bt spray formulations and transgenic crops and they complement Cry1A proteins because of their different mode of action. Their presence is critical in the control of those lepidopteran species, such as Helicoverpa spp., which are not highly susceptible to Cry1A proteins. In Australia, a transgenic variety of cotton expressing Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab (Bollgard II) comprises at least 80% of the total cotton area. Prior to the widespread adoption of Bollgard II, the frequency of alleles conferring resistance to Cry2Ab in field populations of Helicoverpa armigera and Helicoverpa punctigera was significantly higher than anticipated. Colonies established from survivors of F2 screens against Cry2Ab are highly resistant to this toxin, but susceptible to Cry1Ac. Methodology/Principal Findings Bioassays performed with surface-treated artificial diet on neonates of H. armigera and H. punctigera showed that Cry2Ab resistant insects were cross-resistant to Cry2Ae while susceptible to Cry1Ab. Binding analyses with 125I-labeled Cry2Ab were performed with brush border membrane vesicles from midguts of Cry2Ab susceptible and resistant insects. The results of the binding analyses correlated with bioassay data and demonstrated that resistant insects exhibited greatly reduced binding of Cry2Ab toxin to midgut receptors, whereas no change in 125I-labeled-Cry1Ac binding was detected. As previously demonstrated for H. armigera, Cry2Ab binding sites in H. punctigera were shown to be shared by Cry2Ae, which explains why an alteration of the shared binding site would lead to cross-resistance between the two Cry2A toxins. Conclusion/Significance This is the first time that a mechanism of resistance to the Cry2 class of insecticidal proteins has been reported. Because we found the same mechanism of resistance in multiple strains representing several field populations, we conclude that target site alteration is the most likely means that field populations evolve resistance to Cry2 proteins in Helicoverpa spp. Our work also confirms the presence in the insect midgut of specific binding sites for this class of proteins. Characterizing the Cry2 receptors and their mutations that enable resistance could lead to the development of molecular tools to monitor resistance in the [email protected]; [email protected]

Zonage du territoire pour améliorer la gestion de la chasse à l'orignal

Actuellement la réserve faunique Ashuapmushuan offre de piètres résultats en matière de chasse à l’orignal. Un zonage qui ne couvre qu’une partie de la réserve faunique ainsi qu’une faible mise en valeur de la ressource est des raisons qui expliquent ce faible rendement. La réalisation d’un zonage prenant en compte l’accès, les contraintes physiques, les meilleures zones potentielles de chasse et les éléments à harmoniser avec la communauté de Mashteuiatsh sera produite. Ce nouveau zonage offrira la possibilité d’appliquer une meilleure gestion de la chasse à l’orignal et permettra au gestionnaire d’utiliser toute la superficie de la réserve faunique Ashuapmushuan tout en étant capable de cibler les secteurs les plus productifs. La production d’outil comme les données numériques ciblant les zones potentielles de rut offre la possibilité de supporter la clientèle à court terme en espérant améliorer le rendement. Ces réalisations permettront par la suite de mettre en valeur la ressource et l’activité de la chasse dans des endroits ciblés qui représentent les meilleures chances de réussite

Projet pilote sur la mise en valeur de l'activité de la chasse à l'orignal

Ce projet vise à expérimenter un nouveau produit en matière de chasse à l’orignal qui interpelle l’implication de la Première Nation Ilnu de façon à harmoniser les différentes activités et favoriser à maximiser les retombés découlant de la chasse sportive sur leur territoire ancestral. L’objectif ultime est toujours d’augmenter le taux de succès de chasse sur la Réserve Faunique Ashuapmushuan, en mettant de l’avant une idée qui met l’emphase sur l’implication des autochtones, qui utilisent le même territoire pour pratiquer leurs activités traditionnelles. Le projet propose de valider les zones de rut potentiel de certains territoires afin d’y mettre en valeur l’activité de la chasse à l’orignal et de supporter la clientèle en leur offrant un service de guide autochtone. Plus précisément, une recherche sur les différents produits de chasse à l’orignal disponible sera effectuée. Un nombre défini de groupes de chasse et de territoires sera ciblé, les zones de rut potentielles qui ont été ciblées dans le précédent projet seront validées, ces zones seront mises en valeur en utilisant plusieurs moyens et enfin la clientèle sera supportée dans l’activité de chasse. Le tout, dans l’optique d’offrir aux différents territoires fauniques structurés un exemple pouvant être exporté à leur territoire respectif