181 research outputs found
Charitable giving for overseas development: UK trends over a quarter century
No full textCharitable giving is an important source of funding for overseas development and emergency relief. Donations in the UK are about a quarter of the size of government development aid. There has been strong growth over time, reflecting the activities of development charities and the public response to humanitarian emergencies. The paper examines how this charitable giving has changed since 1978, using a newly constructed panel data set on donations to individual UK charities. When did the increase take place? Did the public respond to events such as Live Aid or has there been a steady upward trend? What has been the relationship with changes in household income? Which charities have grown fastest? Have new charities displaced old? How do changes in giving for overseas compare with changes in giving for other causes
Role of ERK1/ERK2 and p70(S6K) pathway in insulin signalling of protein synthesis
No full textThe signalling pathways by which insulin triggers protein synthesis were studied using an antisense strategy to deplete ERK1/ERK2 and rapamycin to inhibit the p70(S6K) pathway. The results indicated that ERK1/ERK2 principally regulated the amount of the protein synthesis machinery available in the cell while the p70S6K pathway contributed to modulating its activation in response to insulin. ERK1/ERK2 also mediated in a small proportion of insulin-stimulated protein synthesis which included the induction of c-fos protein. When c-fos induction was blocked the majority of insulin-stimulated protein synthesis still occurred and thus did not require transcriptional regulation of c-fos or its targets
A study of the effect of process parameter variation upon the characteristics of screen printed piezoelectric materials
No full textA study of the effect of composition and processing of screen printable piezoelectric materials has been undertaken. Printable pastes of various compositions were produced using a commercially available Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) powder mixed with binder and solvents. A range of devices were produced by printing PZT pastes onto alumina (Al_2O_3) substrates. Devices were fired using variations on common thick film processing techniques and poled under varying conditions. Samples were compared by measurement of piezoelectric charge constant, d_3_3 and using scanning electron microscopy techniques. An optimised method for the measurement of d_3_3 was developed. Results show that formulations may be produced that enhance the final value of d_3_3 whilst promoting mechanical strength. Firing temperature, firing time, poling time and poling temperature are all shown to effect the final value of d_3_3 achieved. (author)Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN027105 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo
Localization of an accessory helicase at the replisome is critical in sustaining efficient genome duplication
No full text© The Author(s) 2010. Published by Oxford University PressGenome duplication requires accessory helicases to displace proteins ahead of advancing replication forks. Escherichia coli contains three helicases, Rep, UvrD and DinG, that might promote replication of protein-bound DNA. One of these helicases, Rep, also interacts with the replicative helicase DnaB. We demonstrate that Rep is the only putative accessory helicase whose absence results in an increased chromosome duplication time. We show also that the interaction between Rep and DnaB is required for Rep to maintain rapid genome duplication. Furthermore, this Rep–DnaB interaction is critical in minimizing the need for both recombinational processing of blocked replication forks and replisome reassembly, indicating that colocalization of Rep and DnaB minimizes stalling and subsequent inactivation of replication forks. These data indicate that E. coli contains only one helicase that acts as an accessory motor at the fork in wild-type cells, that such an activity is critical for the maintenance of rapid genome duplication and that colocalization with the replisome is crucial for this function. Given that the only other characterized accessory motor, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rrm3p, associates physically with the replisome, our demonstration of the functional importance of such an association indicates that colocalization may be a conserved feature of accessory replicative motors.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/G005915/1 and BB/E0020690 to P.M.); MRC (G0800970 to R.G.L.); Leverhulme Trust (to C.J.R.). Funding for open access charge: BBSRC
Charitable Giving for Overseas Development: UK trends over a quarter century
No full textCharitable giving is an important source of funding for overseas development and emergency relief. Donations in the UK are about a quarter of the size of government development aid. There has been strong growth over time, reflecting the activities of development charities and the public response to humanitarian emergencies. The paper examines how this charitable giving has changed since 1978, using a newly constructed panel data set on donations to individual UK charities. When did the increase take place? Did the public respond to events such as Live Aid or has there been a steady upward trend? What has been the relationship with changes in household income? Which charities have grown fastest? Have new charities displaced old? How do changes in giving for overseas compare with changes in giving for other causes?charitable giving, overseas development
Changes in hydrological extremes and climate variability in the Severn Uplands
No full textHydrological extremes within the UK have increased in intensity, frequency andpersistence over recent years and are predicted to increase in variability throughout the 21stcentury. Past and future changes in hydrological extremes relative to climate change wereinvestigated within Severn Uplands, a climate sensitive catchment. Using the Mann-Kendall trend detection test, time-series analysis over a 30-year period revealed asignificant increase in winter and autumn precipitation and a decrease in summerprecipitation. The analysis of flow time-series indicated an increase in winter and Julyflows and a decrease in spring flows. Changes in climate variability over the same periodshowed increases in air temperature and SST, and a reduction in snow cover. Climatevariables were found to largely correlate with hydrological extremes which werecharacteristic of certain weather types and largely influenced by the NAO.To model future flows within the Severn Uplands a hydrological model (HEC-HMS) wasused to simulate hydrological processes. The extreme hydrological event of November-December 2006 was used to calibrate the model. The difference between using radar andgauge precipitation data to drive the model was quantified. Radar data resulted in thesmallest prediction accuracy followed by gauge-corrected radar data (corrected using themean-field bias where gauge rainfall was interpolated using cokriging) and then gaugeprecipitation which had the largest prediction accuracy. Model accuracy was sufficientusing the gauge corrected radar and gauge precipitation data as inputs, so both were alteredfor future predictions to investigate the propagation of uncertainty. Predicted changes intemperature and precipitation by the UKCIP02 scenarios were used to alter the baselineextreme event to predict changes in peak flow and outflow volume. Both radar- and gaugedrivenhydrological modelling predicted large flow increases for the 21st century withincreases up to 8% by the 2020s, 18% by the 2050s and 30% by the 2080s. Discrepanciesbetween predictions were observed when using the different data inputs
Growth differentiation factor 9: bone morphogenetic protein 15 synergism and the potential involvement of heterodimerization
No full textLetterDavid G. Mottershead, Craig A. Harrison, Thomas D. Mueller, Peter G. Stanton, Robert B. Gilchrist and Kenneth P. McNatt
Living Standards Domain of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing
No full textThis paper, which represents the living standards domain of the new Canadian Index of Wellbeing, provides a comprehensive overview of trends in a number of indicators of living standards over the 1981-2008 period in Canada. Part one examines trends in average and median income and wealth indicators in Canada. Part two looks at the distribution of the income and wealth of Canadians over time, including trends in poverty. Part three discusses trends in income fluctuations or volatility. Part four analyzes trends in the economic security of Canadians, including labour market security, food security, housing security, and the security provided by the social safety net. The report also presents a synthesis of overall trends in living standards, discusses living standard measurement issues, and puts forward a set of headline indicators to capture the essentials of what has been happening to the living standards of Canadians. Finally, the report comments on the sustainability of current levels of living standards. The report provides a comprehensive examination of a large number of indicators of living standards in Canada over the last quarter century and has identified a number of these indicators as headline indicators for the new Canadian Index of Wellbeing. The bottom line is that Canada has become a much richer country, but the top quintile has received the lion’s share of rising income and wealth. Looking at the nine headline indicators for which time series are available, one can immediately see that living standards of Canadians have not unambiguously improved between 1981 and 2008. Indeed, Canadians experienced a widening of income and wealth inequalities. There have been poverty reductions, but the reductions were not nearly as large as the increase in wealth inequality. The unemployment rate is down to a record low for the 1981-2008 period, and yet the incidence of long-term unemployment is higher now than in 1981. Economic security measured by the CSLS index has also fallen, spurred by a significant decrease in economic security caused by the financial risk associated with illness. Since 1981, many dimensions of living standards in Canada have not improved, and that in spite of a 52.6 per cent surge in gross domestic product per capita. Looking forward, the challenges for Canada’s policymakers are significant, but need to be tackled if Canada is to become a fairer, healthier and richer country.Living standards, quality of life, income, housing affordability, wealth, inequality, poverty, productivity, employment quality, net worth, income, disposable income, low income, labour market, economic security, employment, unemployment
ADAM SMITH'S OPTIMISTIC TELEOLOGICAL VIEW OF HISTORY
No full textAdam Smith's four-stage theory provides the framework for his writings on history. The fourth stage is the commercial epoch; the culmination of history in this stage is a key component in the conventional interpretation of Adam Smith as a prophet of commercialism. In two historical case studies Smith shows the capacity of commercial society to regenerate itself. This potent capacity suggests that commercial society is inevitable. At a certain point in time it also overcomes the major obstacles to its permanence. Smith's philosophy of history anticipates the end of history views of Kant and Hegel.Political Economy,
Rees Matrix Covers and Semidirect Products of Regular Semigroups
No full textAbstractIn a recent paper (Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 349 (1997), 4265–4310), P.G. Trotter and the author introduced a “regular” semidirect product U∗V of e-varieties U and V. Among several specific situations investigated there was the case V=RZ, the e-variety of right zero semigroups. Applying a covering theorem of McAlister, it was shown there that in several important cases (for instance for the e-variety of inverse semigroups), U∗RZ is precisely the e-variety LU of “locally U” semigroups.The main result of the current paper characterizes membership of a regular semigroup S in U∗RZ in a number of ways; one in terms of an associated category SE and another in terms of S regularly dividing a regular Rees matrix semigroup over a member of U. The categorical condition leads directly to a characterization of the equality U∗RZ=LU in terms of a graphical condition on U, slightly weaker than “e-locality.” Among consequences of known results on e-locality, the conjecture CR∗RZ=LCR (with CR denoting the e-variety of completely regular semigroups), is therefore verified. The connection with matrix semigroups then leads to a range of Rees matrix covering theorems that, while slightly weaker than McAlister's, apply to a broader range of examples. K. Auinger and P. G. Trotter (Pseudovarieties, regular semigroups and semidirect products, J. London Math. Soc. (2)58 (1998), 284–296) have used our results to describe the pseudovarieties generated by several important classes of (finite) regular semigroups
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