PurposeIn many real-life situations ranging from financial to volcanic data, growth is described either by a power law – which is linear in log-log scale or by a quadratic dependence in the log-log ...scale. The purpose of this paper is to explain this empirical fact.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use natural scale invariance requirements.FindingsIn this paper, the authors used natural scale invariance requirement to explain the ubiquity of quadratic log-log dependencies. The authors also explain what to do if quadratic log-log models turn out to be insufficiently accurate. In this case, scale-invariance requirements lead to dependencies which in the log-log scale take cubic, 4th order, etc. form.Originality/valueTo the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first theoretical explanation of the empirical quadratic log-log dependence.
Rho GTPase regulatory proteins in podocytes Matsuda, Jun; Asano-Matsuda, Kana; Kitzler, Thomas M. ...
Kidney international,
February 2021, 2021-02-00, 20210201, Letnik:
99, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The Rho family of small GTPases (Rho GTPases) are the master regulators of the actin cytoskeleton and consist of 22 members. Previous studies implicated dysregulation of Rho GTPases in podocytes in ...the pathogenesis of proteinuric glomerular diseases. Rho GTPases are primarily regulated by the three families of proteins; guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs; 82 members), GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs; 69 members), and GDP dissociation inhibitors (GDIs; 3 members). Since the regulatory proteins far outnumber their substrate Rho GTPases and act in concert in a cell/context-dependent manner, the upstream regulatory mechanism directing Rho GTPases in podocytes is largely unknown. In this review, we summarize recent advances in the understanding of the role of Rho GTPase regulatory proteins in podocytes, including the known mutations of these proteins that cause proteinuria in humans. We also provide critical appraisal of the in vivo and in vitro studies and identify the knowledge gap in the field that will require further studies.
Mitochondrial translation defects can be due to mutations affecting mitochondrial- or nuclear-encoded components. The number of known nuclear genes involved in mitochondrial translation has ...significantly increased in the past years. RCC1L (WBSCR16), a putative GDP/GTP exchange factor, has recently been described to interact with the mitochondrial large ribosomal subunit. In humans, three different RCC1L isoforms have been identified that originate from alternative splicing but share the same N-terminus, RCC1LV1, RCC1LV2 and RCC1LV3. All three isoforms were exclusively localized to mitochondria, interacted with its inner membrane and could associate with homopolymeric oligos to different extent. Mitochondrial immunoprecipitation experiments showed that RCC1LV1 and RCC1LV3 associated with the mitochondrial large and small ribosomal subunit, respectively, while no significant association was observed for RCC1LV2. Overexpression and silencing of RCC1LV1 or RCC1LV3 led to mitoribosome biogenesis defects that resulted in decreased translation. Indeed, significant changes in steady-state levels and distribution on isokinetic sucrose gradients were detected not only for mitoribosome proteins but also for GTPases, (GTPBP10, ERAL1 and C4orf14), and pseudouridylation proteins, (TRUB2, RPUSD3 and RPUSD4). All in all, our data suggest that RCC1L is essential for mitochondrial function and that the coordination of at least two isoforms is essential for proper ribosomal assembly.
The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program's Operational Linescan System (DMSP-OLS) nighttime lights imagery has proven to be a powerful remote sensing tool to monitor urbanization and assess ...socioeconomic activities at large scales. However, the existence of incompatible digital number (DN) values and geometric errors severely limit application of nighttime light image data on multiyear quantitative research. In this paper, we extend and improve previous studies on intercalibrating nighttime lights image data to obtain more compatible and reliable nighttime lights time-series (NLT) image data for China and the U.S. through four steps, namely, intercalibration, geometric correction, steady-increase adjustment, and population data correction. We then use gross domestic product (GDP) data to test the processed NLT image data indirectly and find that sum light (summed DN value of pixels in a nighttime light image) maintains apparent increase trends with relatively large GDP growth rates but does not increase or decrease with relatively small GDP growth rates. As nighttime light is a sensitive indicator for economic activity, the temporally consistent trends between sum light and GDP growth rate imply that brightness of nighttime lights on the ground is correctly represented by the processed NLT image data. Finally, through analyzing the corrected NLT image data from 1992 to 2008, we find that China experienced apparent nighttime lights development in 1992-1997 and 2001-2008, respectively, and the U.S. showed nighttime lights decay in large areas after 2001.
All forms of economic production and exchange involve the use of energy directly and in the transformation of materials. Until recently, cheap and seemingly limitless fossil energy has allowed most ...of society to ignore the importance of contributions to the economic process from the biophysical world as well as the potential limits to growth. This paper centers on assessing the energy costs of modern day society and its relation to GDP. Our most important focus is the characteristics of our major energy sources including each fuel's energy return on investment (EROI). The EROI of our most important fuels is declining and most renewable and non-conventional energy alternatives have substantially lower EROI values than traditional conventional fossil fuels. At the societal level, declining EROI means that an increasing proportion of energy output and economic activity must be diverted to attaining the energy needed to run an economy, leaving less discretionary funds available for “non-essential” purchases which often drive growth. The declining EROI of traditional fossil fuel energy sources and the effect of that on the world economy are likely to result in a myriad of consequences, most of which will not be perceived as good.
•For nations examined, the EROI for oil and gas has declined during recent decades.•Lower EROI for oil may be masked by natural gas extracted/used in oil production.•The EROI trend for US coal is ambiguous; the EROI for Chinese coal is declining.•Renewable energies lack desirable fossil fuel traits, including often higher EROI, but create fewer pollutants.•Declines in EROI of main fuels have a large impact on economies.
Socio-Economic Development and Protests Korotayev, Andrey V.; Sawyer, Patrick S.; Romanov, Daniil M.
Comparative sociology,
06/2021, Letnik:
20, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Abstract
The current article investigates societal indicators associated with economic development that may account for the strong positive correlation between
GDP
per capita and protest intensity. ...The authors’ tests reveal that the expansion of democratization, education, and urbanization are one of the main influences accounting for this positive relationship between
GDP
per capita growth and anti-government protest intensity. Moreover, when controlling for these factors, the relationship between
GDP
per capita and anti-state protests becomes negative indicating that the forces associated with economic development at a certain point play a larger role than economic growth itself. The results of this study, thus, have implications for both Resource Mobilization and Cultural Theorists due to the fact that further
GDP
per capita growth becomes an inhibitor of protests in the high-income countries instead of a promoter.
This research investigates the time-varying causality between energy consumption (renewable and non-renewable) by the U.S. energy sectors and real GDP covering the period 1973:Q1-2018:Q4. Unlike ...previous literature, this study does not only use a conventional causality technique, but also incorporates a time-varying causality approach to see whether the relationship between renewable and non-renewable energy consumption by sector and real GDP changes over the study period. The results obtained from the Toda-Yamamoto approach reveal a causality relationship in the case of industrial and transportation sectors. The results from the time-varying causality technique, however, indicate that the causality relationship is detected for all sectors over different time periods. This study therefore addresses the shortcomings of the conventional causality test, which emphasizes the importance of time-varying in determining the underlining relationship. Given the energy-GDP causality, it is worth noting that the validity of a causality hypothesis proposed by a conventional method does not necessarily dominate the whole sample period. Policy implications are discussed.
•Causality between energy use and real output is examined in the US.•Energy use is proxied by renewable and non-renewable energy consumption by sector.•The time-varying framework matters in determining the causality.
We propose that natural disasters enable frequent and severe market manipulation. Remittances have impact on economic growth of African nations. We tested this proposition by employing panel data ...from 42 African nations from 2001 to 2020.The fixed effect model is representative of all models used in this study. The unemployment rate (UR) is used as an instrumental variable in the Generalized Momentum Method (GMM) estimation to reduce the endogeneity problem. This study suggests that remittances have a significant positive impact on the economic growth of African nations.
The taxation of multinational enterprises is often a sensitive subject due to the implications it can have on foreign direct investments on the one hand and on the budget of a country and PIB on the ...other. In this paper we will focus on the dynamics of taxation of multinational enterprises in the European Union, following the evolution of corporate tax rates in the member states in order to notice the differences and to determine if the practice of lower or higher tax rates has a different impact on GDP of a country. We hope that the results of our research will represent a basis for decisions on tax rates in the situation where the application of a lower or higher tax rate can have a significant impact on a country's GDP.
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