1,362 research outputs found
Exchange Rates and Competitiveness. Quarterly Economic Commentary Special Article, October 1988
Employment in manufacturing industry in 1987 was 35,000 below its 1980
peak-according to the results of the Labour Force Surveys (CSO). It has been
suggested by some authors that this is the result of a steady decline in
competitiveness since the establishment of the European Monetary System
(EMS) in 1979. (See for example Bacon (1986) and Walsh (1988) on this point).
This loss in competitiveness is attributed to increases in labour costs relative
to other EMS member states which have not been offset by movements in the
exchange rate of the Irish pound. A devaluation has been suggested as a
possible means of improving competitivenss and boosting output and
employment in industry. The present paper questions such arguments. It
argues that the decline in manufacturing employment reflects a number of
factors besides changes in labour cost competitiveness and that a devaluation
would not, therefore, be as effective as is sometimes suggested
Medium-Term Prospects for Ireland: An Update. Quarterly Economic Commentary Special Article, April 1990
The Institute publishes its Medium-Term Review approximately every eighteen
months. The Review attempts to project likely prospects for the Irish economy,
predicated on trends in the world economy and the stance of domestic policy.
Since we published our last Review in June 1989, some important and
unexpected political events have taken place in Eastern Europe which could
have substantial political and economic implications for developments within
the EC and Ireland over the next few years. These events were not foreseen
when we wrote the Review last June, although many of the other forces
determining our future growth have developed as we expected ( e.g., the
impending slow-down of the UK economy, relatively buoyant growth in the rest
of the EC and the implementation of the EC Structural Fund projects, albeit
at a lower level and different timing than envisaged in the National Development
Plan 1989-1993)
Spiders fluoresce variably across many taxa
The evolution of fluorescence is largely unexplored, despite the newfound occurrence of this phenomenon in a variety of organisms. We document that spiders fluoresce under ultraviolet illumination, and find that the expression of this trait varies greatly among taxa in this species-rich group. All spiders we examined possess fluorophores in their haemolymph, but bright fluorescence appears to result when a spider sequesters fluorophores in its setae or cuticle. By sampling widely across spider taxa, we determine that fluorescent expression is labile and has evolved multiple times. Moreover, examination of the excitation and emission properties of extracted fluorophores reveals that spiders possess multiple fluorophores and that these differ among some families, indicating that novel fluorophores have evolved during spider diversification. Because many spiders fluoresce in wavelengths visible to their predators and prey (birds and insects), we propose that natural selection imposed by predator–prey interactions may drive the evolution of fluorescence in spiders
Progress Report on the Fluorox Process for April 30, 1957-January 14, 1958
Progress in the Fluorox program is reported. The chemical reaction of primary interest in the Fluorox program is the oxidation of UF/sub 4/ with O/sub 2/, 2UF/sub 4/ + O/sub 2/ = UO/sub 2/F/sub 2/ + UF/sub 6/; however, to study this process at higher temperatures, the thermal decomposition of UO/sub 2/F/sub 2/, 3UO/sub 2/F/sub 2/ = 2/3 U/sub 3 /O/sub 8/ + UF/sub 6/ + 1/3 O/sub 2/, is being investigated by thermogravimetric methods in the temperature range 750 to 900 deg C. A fluidized bed reactor and a flame reactor have been used successfully to perform the continuous oxidation of UF/sub 4/ with O/sub 2/. The 3-in. fluidized bed reactor was operated up to 825 deg C on both a continuous and batch basis while the flame reactor was used to continuously react finely divided UF/sub 4/ with O/sub 2/ in a CO-O/sub 2/ flame at temperatures greater than 1200 deg C. (auth
Mobile Localization in nonlinear Schrodinger lattices
Using continuation methods from the integrable Ablowitz-Ladik lattice, we
have studied the structure of numerically exact mobile discrete breathers in
the standard Discrete Nonlinear Schrodinger equation. We show that, away from
that integrable limit, the mobile pulse is dressed by a background of resonant
plane waves with wavevectors given by a certain selection rule. This background
is seen to be essential for supporting mobile localization in the absence of
integrability. We show how the variations of the localized pulse energy during
its motion are balanced by the interaction with this background, allowing the
localization mobility along the lattice.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure
Airway basal stem cells: a perspective on their roles in epithelial homeostasis and remodeling
The small airways of the human lung undergo pathological changes in pulmonary disorders, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, bronchiolitis obliterans and cystic fibrosis. These clinical problems impose huge personal and societal healthcare burdens. The changes, termed ‘pathological airway remodeling’, affect the epithelium, the underlying mesenchyme and the reciprocal trophic interactions that occur between these tissues. Most of the normal human airway is lined by a pseudostratified epithelium of ciliated cells, secretory cells and 6–30% basal cells, the proportion of which varies along the proximal-distal axis. Epithelial abnormalities range from hypoplasia (failure to differentiate) to basal- and goblet-cell hyperplasia, squamous- and goblet-cell metaplasia, dysplasia and malignant transformation. Mesenchymal alterations include thickening of the basal lamina, smooth muscle hyperplasia, fibrosis and inflammatory cell accumulation. Paradoxically, given the prevalence and importance of airway remodeling in lung disease, its etiology is poorly understood. This is due, in part, to a lack of basic knowledge of the mechanisms that regulate the differentiation, maintenance and repair of the airway epithelium. Specifically, little is known about the proliferation and differentiation of basal cells, a multipotent stem cell population of the pseudostratified airway epithelium. This Perspective summarizes what we know, and what we need to know, about airway basal cells to evaluate their contributions to normal and abnormal airway remodeling. We contend that exploiting well-described model systems using both human airway epithelial cells and the pseudostratified epithelium of the genetically tractable mouse trachea will enable crucial discoveries regarding the pathogenesis of airway disease
Magnetoelectric ordering of BiFeO3 from the perspective of crystal chemistry
In this paper we examine the role of crystal chemistry factors in creating
conditions for formation of magnetoelectric ordering in BiFeO3. It is generally
accepted that the main reason of the ferroelectric distortion in BiFeO3 is
concerned with a stereochemical activity of the Bi lone pair. However, the lone
pair is stereochemically active in the paraelectric orthorhombic beta-phase as
well. We demonstrate that a crucial role in emerging of phase transitions of
the metal-insulator, paraelectric-ferroelectric and magnetic disorder-order
types belongs to the change of the degree of the lone pair stereochemical
activity - its consecutive increase with the temperature decrease. Using the
structural data, we calculated the sign and strength of magnetic couplings in
BiFeO3 in the range from 945 C down to 25 C and found the couplings, which
undergo the antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic transition with the temperature
decrease and give rise to the antiferromagnetic ordering and its delay in
regard to temperature, as compared to the ferroelectric ordering. We discuss
the reasons of emerging of the spatially modulated spin structure and its
suppression by doping with La3+.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 3 table
GRHL2 coordinates regeneration of a polarized mucociliary epithelium from basal stem cells
Pseudostratified airway epithelium of the lung is composed of polarized ciliated and secretory cells maintained by basal stem/progenitor cells. An important question is how lineage choice and differentiation are coordinated with apical–basal polarity and epithelial morphogenesis. Our previous studies indicated a key integrative role for the transcription factor Grainyhead-like 2 (Grhl2). In this study, we present further evidence for this model using conditional gene deletion during the regeneration of airway epithelium and clonal organoid culture. We also use CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in primary human basal cells differentiating into organoids and mucociliary epithelium in vitro. Loss of Grhl2 inhibits organoid morphogenesis and the differentiation of ciliated cells and reduces the expression of both notch and ciliogenesis genes ( Mcidas , Rfx2 , and Myb ) with distinct Grhl2 regulatory sites. The genome editing of other putative target genes reveals roles for zinc finger transcription factor Znf750 and small membrane adhesion glycoprotein in promoting ciliogenesis and barrier function as part of a network of genes coordinately regulated by Grhl2
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