Editorial statement: The first year of the European Journal of Government and Economics

<p>In this editorial statement we present a balance of the first year of life of the <em>European Journal of Government and Economics</em>. We discuss the main developments that concern the journal’s indexation by academic databases. We also comment on the approval of a code of publication ethics and malpractice. Finally, we emphasise the dangers of excessive technical sophistication and the need to keep an integrated approach between the fields of political science and economics, according to the spirit of the journal.</p

Editorial statement: The first two years of EJGE

In this editorial statement we explain the developments in the European Journal of Government and Economics in its second year of existence. In this period, the journal has continued its international expansion, entered some new indices and started to experience its impact, as measured by the number of citations in other journals. After two years of publication, we have also learned some lessons that should help us redefine the role of EJGE

Editorial statement: Why do we need a European Journal of Government and Economics?

In this editorial statement we explain the reasons for the creation of the European Journal of Government and Economics. We argue that there is a general shortage of academic journals. Although the new journal we are starting will not solve or significantly reduce this problem, it will represent a marginal step in the right direction. We also explain our views regarding some important aspects of the journal’s policy, such as indexing and open access

Editorial statement: The first five years of the European Journal of Government and Economics

This editorial statement reflects on the experience from the first five years of the European Journal of Government and Economics and proposes some broad ideas about what we believe should be the future of the journal in the following years. The developments and ideas presented here are divided in three parts: achievements and difficulties of the past five-year period, the renewal of the editorial team, and new challenges for the future

Editorial statement: Lessons from Goodhart's law for the management of the journal

In this editorial statement we summarise some of the discussions we have had in the last months regarding the risks associated with the use of indicators for the measurement of research outputs, and how these risks should affect the management of the European Journal of Government and Economics. In particular, we focus on the consequences of the so-called Goodhart's law, which states that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. We also explain the latest developments in the journal in the light of our previous editorial statements, and present our strategy for the upcoming years

Combined analysis of genome-wide expression and copy number profiles to identify key altered genomic regions in cancer

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.-- Proceedings of the International Conference of the Brazilian Association for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (X-meeting 2011).[Background]: Analysis of DNA copy number alterations and gene expression changes in human samples have been used to find potential target genes in complex diseases. Recent studies have combined these two types of data using different strategies, but focusing on finding gene-based relationships. However, it has been proposed that these data can be used to identify key genomic regions, which may enclose causal genes under the assumption that disease-associated gene expression changes are caused by genomic alterations. [Results]: Following this proposal, we undertake a new integrative analysis of genome-wide expression and copy number datasets. The analysis is based on the combined location of both types of signals along the genome. Our approach takes into account the genomic location in the copy number (CN) analysis and also in the gene expression (GE) analysis. To achieve this we apply a segmentation algorithm to both types of data using paired samples. Then, we perform a correlation analysis and a frequency analysis of the gene loci in the segmented CN regions and the segmented GE regions; selecting in both cases the statistically significant loci. In this way, we find CN alterations that show strong correspondence with GE changes. We applied our method to a human dataset of 64 Glioblastoma Multiforme samples finding key loci and hotspots that correspond to major alterations previously described for this type of tumors. [Conclusions]: Identification of key altered genomic loci constitutes a first step to find the genes that drive the alteration in a malignant state. These driver genes can be found in regions that show high correlation in copy number alterations and expression changesThis work has been supported by funds provided by the Local Government Junta de Castilla y León (JCyL, ref. project: CSI07A09), by the Spanish Government (ISCiii, ref. project PS09/00843) and by the European Commission (Research Grant ref. FP7-HEALTH-2007-223411). SA thanks the JCyL and the European Social Fund (ESF-EU) for a research grant.Peer Reviewe

The role of confidence in the evolution of the Spanish economy: empirical evidence from an ARDL model

The aim of this paper is to verify the existence and to determine the nature of long-term relationships between economic agents' confidence, measured by the Economic Sentiment Index (ESI), with some of the "fundamentals" of the Spanish economy. In particular, by modeling this type of relations, we try to determine whether confidence is a dependent (explained) or independent (explanatory) variable. Along with confidence, in our model we incorporate variables such as risk premium of sovereign debt, financial market volatility, unemployment, inflation, public and private debt and the net lending/net borrowing of the economy. For the purpose of obtaining some empirical evidence on the exogenous or endogenous character of the above mentioned variables an ARDL (Autoregressive-Distributed Lag) model is formulated. The model is estimated with quarterly data of the Spanish economy for the period 1990-2012. Our findings suggest that: (a) unemployment is the dependent variable, (b) there is an inverse relationship between ESI in Spain and unemployment; and (c) the Granger causality goes from confidence to unemployment

Metabolic changes upon GLS inhibition by CB-839 in glioma cell lines

Many tumors use Gln for both energy generation and as a biosynthetic precursor. Glutaminases (GAs) catalyze the first step of glutaminolysis by converting glutamine (Gln) into glutamate and ammonia in the mitochondria. In humans, two genes encode for glutaminases: GLS and GLS2. We examined the metabolic consequences of inhibiting GLS activity in glioma cells by using the clinically relevant inhibitor CB-839. We treated three glioblastoma (GBM) cell lines with CB-839 and performed untargeted metabolomics and isotope tracing experiments using U-13C-labeled Gln and 15N-labeled Gln in the amido group to ascertain the metabolic fates of Gln carbon and nitrogen. Untargeted metabolomics results showed that CB-839 treatment significantly depleted tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCAC) intermediates and related metabolites in the three human glioblastoma cell lines assayed. This result was also confirmed by a lower labeling from U-13C- Gln in these metabolites. U-13C- Gln tracing also revealed reductive carboxylation-related labeling in these cell lines, and this pathways was also suppressed by CB-839. Metabolomics results showed an accumulation of the de novo purine biosynthesis intermediates inosine monophosphate and/or AICAR, and a decrease in uridine monophosphate, while 15N-Gln tracing results showed a decreased labeling from Gln amido group in AMP, GMP, UMP and CTP in T98G cell line when treated with CB-839. Finally, metabolomics showed higher levels of trimethyllysine and, in T98G cells, a 22-fold increase in 5-methyl-cytosine.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Metabolic Adjustments following Glutaminase Inhibition by CB-839 in Glioblastoma Cell Lines

Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common primary brain tumor. Unfortunately, it is also one of the cancer types that has the worst morbidity and mortality ratios, so new targets and treatments need to be found. The metabolism of glutamine is fundamental for the proliferation of many tumor cells, including glioblastomas. Glutaminase isoenzyme GLS is one of the responsible enzymes for the pro-oncogenic pathways that induce metabolic reprogramming and leads to altered levels of some amino acids and other key intermediary metabolites in glioblastoma. Using the clinically approved GLS inhibitor CB-839 (Telaglenastat), we found significant changes in glutamine metabolism, including both the oxidative and reductive fates of Gln-derived alpha-ketoglutarate in the tricarboxylic acid cycle, in three glioblastoma cell lines. One of them, the T98G glioblastoma cell line, showed the greatest modification of metabolite levels involved in the de novo biosynthetic pathways for nucleotides, as well as a higher content of methylated and acetylated metabolites.This research was funded by Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología of Spain, grant number RTI2018-096866-B-I00 (to J.M.M. and J.M.) and Junta de Andalucía, Grant UMA18-FEDERJA-082 (to J.M.). R.J.D. is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Cancer Institute (R35CA220444901), the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, and the Moody Foundation. J.D.l.S.-J. is granted by FPU17/04084, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades. Partial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málag