Exceptional evolutionary divergence of human muscle and brain metabolomes parallels human cognitive and physical uniqueness

Metabolite concentrations reflect the physiological states of tissues and cells. However, the role of metabolic changes in species evolution is currently unknown. Here, we present a study of metabolome evolution conducted in three brain regions and two non-neural tissues from humans, chimpanzees, macaque monkeys, and mice based on over 10,000 hydrophilic compounds. While chimpanzee, macaque, and mouse metabolomes diverge following the genetic distances among species, we detect remarkable acceleration of metabolome evolution in human prefrontal cortex and skeletal muscle affecting neural and energy metabolism pathways. These metabolic changes could not be attributed to environmental conditions and were confirmed against the expression of their corresponding enzymes. We further conducted muscle strength tests in humans, chimpanzees, and macaques. The results suggest that, while humans are characterized by superior cognition, their muscular performance might be markedly inferior to that of chimpanzees and macaque monkeys.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Regional convergence in Greece in the 1980s: an econometric investigation

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate empirically regional convergence in Greece during the 1981-1991 period of participation in the European Economic Community (EEC). Census data at NUTS III level of regional disaggregation are used. A number of structural policies undertaken in the 1980s, motivated by membership in the EEC, were conducive to regional convergence among the 51 NUTS III regions of Greece. Four different dependent variables and three model specifications are used to test the hypothesis of regional convergence. The overall evidence does not reject the idea of regional convergence. The estimated convergence coefficients are relatively similar across the three model specifications but they vary with the dependent variable used to measure convergence.

Regional Income Fluctuations: Common Trends And Common Cycles

This paper investigates trend and cycle dynamics in per capita income for the major U.S. regions during the 1956-1995 period. Cointegration and serial correlation common features information are used in jointly decomposing the series into trend and cycle components. We find considerable differences in the volatility of regional cycles. Controlling for differences in volatility, we find a great deal of comovement in the cyclical response for all regions but the Far West. Possible sources underlying differences in regional cycles are explored, such as the share of a region's income accounted for by manufacturing, defense spending as a proportion of a region's income, oil price shocks, and the stance of monetary policy. Somewhat surprisingly, we find that the share of manufacturing in a region seems to account for little of the variation in regional cycles relative to national cycles, but manufacturing share differentially affects trend growth for four of the seven regions studied. © 2001 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Exceptional evolutionary divergence of human muscle and brain metabolomes parallels human cognitive and physical uniqueness

<div><p>Metabolite concentrations reflect the physiological states of tissues and cells. However, the role of metabolic changes in species evolution is currently unknown. Here, we present a study of metabolome evolution conducted in three brain regions and two non-neural tissues from humans, chimpanzees, macaque monkeys, and mice based on over 10,000 hydrophilic compounds. While chimpanzee, macaque, and mouse metabolomes diverge following the genetic distances among species, we detect remarkable acceleration of metabolome evolution in human prefrontal cortex and skeletal muscle affecting neural and energy metabolism pathways. These metabolic changes could not be attributed to environmental conditions and were confirmed against the expression of their corresponding enzymes. We further conducted muscle strength tests in humans, chimpanzees, and macaques. The results suggest that, while humans are characterized by superior cognition, their muscular performance might be markedly inferior to that of chimpanzees and macaque monkeys.</p></div

Regional output spillovers in China: Estimates from a VAR model

Inter-regional spillover effects are central to China's growth policy; yet relatively little is known about the strength and duration of these spillovers and whether their characteristics have changed over time. This article examines the spillover of output between the three commonly considered regions of China: coastal, central and western regions. We find that there are strong spillovers from the coastal region to both other regions, from the central region to the western region, but that shocks to the western region have no flow-on effect on the other two regions. Thus, a policy of developing the coastal region is likely to indirectly benefit the other two regions. Our results suggest surprisingly little change in the pattern of spillovers over the period 1953-2003, although parameter instability in the beginning of the period limits the extent of possible analysis of this issue. Copyright (c) 2007 the author(s). Journal compilation (c) 2007 RSAI.

Inter-regional Spillovers of Policy Shocks in China

Groenewold N., Chen A. and Lee G. Inter-regional spillovers of policy shocks in China, Regional Studies. Inter-regional output spillovers from policy shocks are analysed in a three-region vector-autoregressive (VAR)-based model of China using investment as the policy variable. The contemporaneous effect of policy is greater in the coastal region than in the other two regions, and the effect in the central region is larger than in the western region, suggesting that at least part of the expenditure boosts in the poorer inland regions find their way to the coastal provinces. These results are confirmed when the effects of the policy shocks are simulated over time and are found to be generally robust to alternative model specifications. [image omitted] Groenewold N., Chen A. et Lee G. Les retombees regionales des chocs politiques en Chine, Regional Studies. A partir d'un modele de la Chine a trois regions du type VAR, on analyse les retombees interregionales de production qui resultent des chocs politiques, employant l'investissement comme variable de politique. L'effet contemporain de la politique s'avere plus important dans la zone cotiere qu'il ne l'est dans les deux autres regions, et l'effet dans la region centrale s'avere plus important qu'il ne l'est dans la region occidentale, ce qui laisse supposer que l'impulsion donnee aux depenses dans les zones interieures plus defavorisees alimente dans une certaine mesure les provinces cotieres. Les resultats se confirment suite a une simulation des effets temporels des chocs de politique et s'averent fiables en regle generale par rapport aux autres specifications des modeles. Chine Regional Retombees de politique Groenewold N., Chen A. und Lee G. Interregionale Ubertragungen aufgrund politischer Schocks in China, Regional Studies. Wir analysieren interregionale Leistungsubertragungen aufgrund politischer Schocks in einem VAR-basierten Dreiregionen-Modell von China, wobei wir die Investitionen als politische Variable heranziehen. Die zeitgleichen Effekte der Politik fallen in der Kustenregion starker aus als in den anderen beiden Regionen, und der Effekt in der zentralen Region ist grosser als in der westlichen Region. Dies lasst darauf schliessen, dass zumindest ein Teil der Ausgabensteigerungen in den armeren Inlandregionen seinen Weg in die Kustenprovinzen findet. Die Ergebnisse bestatigen sich, wenn wir die Effekte uber den Zeitraum der politischen Schocks hinweg simulieren, und erweisen sich generell als robust gegenuber alternativen Modellspezifikationen. China Regional Politikubertragungen Groenewold N., Chen A. y Lee G. Desbordamientos interregionales en los choques politicos en China, Regional Studies. Con ayuda de las inversiones como nuestra variable politica, analizamos los desbordamientos de la produccion interregional de los choques de la politica a traves de un modelo VAR basado en tres regiones de China. El efecto contemporaneo de la politica es superior en la region costera que en las otras dos y el efecto en la region central es mayor que en la region occidental lo que sugiere que como minimo parte de los impulsos inversores en las regiones interiores mas pobres se orientan hacia las provincias costeras. Estos resultados se confirman cuando simulamos los efectos durante el transcurso del tiempo de los choques politicos y observamos que, en general, son contundentes comparandolos con especificaciones de modelos alternativos. China Regional Desbordamientos politicosChina, Regional, Policy spillovers,