Low Complementarity Research Articles

Competitiveness Analysis and Factors Affecting Trade of Main Commodities between Indonesia and Turkey

This study aims to analyze the competitiveness, trade integration, trade complementarity, and factors affecting the export and import of main commodities between Indonesia and Turkey. Data used in this study is time series data in 1996-2018 and the methods used are Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), Intra-Industry Trade (IIT), Trade Complementarity Index (TCI), and Ordinary Least Square (OLS). Results of RCA showed Indonesia's main export commodities to Turkey are woven fabrics, stearic acid, palm oil and natural rubber. While IIT showed that there is only one way trade from Indonesia. Import commodities from Turkey are carpets, borax, wheat flour, and tobacco. TCI showed low complementarity between Indonesia�s export and Turkey�s import. GDP per capita has positive impact on exports and imports. The exchange rate has positive impact on exports and negative on imports. Price and tariff rate have negative impact on both exports and imports. Dummy Non-tariff barrier has negative impact on exports while in import side, it only affects the wheat flour negatively. The Government of Indonesia should pursue a strategy in trade cooperation as efforts to reduce trade barriers such as tariffs and non-tariffs for some commodities that have competitiveness in the Turkish market.

Transfer of Evaluative Contexts When Subtitling Film Translation (in German and Russian Languages)

The article presents the results of studying the patterns of evaluative meanings transfer when translating and subtitling films of various genres from German to Russian. Material for the study serves the original version and the translation of a military drama, a melodrama, a comedy, and a detective. The authors used the descriptive, comparative method, the methods of contextual, definitional analysis, quantitative calculations. The object of study includes the fragments of film dialogues in the source (German) language and the language of translation (Russian). The specificity of subtitling depends on the need of strict regarding the spatial and temporal parameters of the film text. Evaluation is interpreted as a semantic-pragmatic category (the impact involving appropriate semantization which is consistent with elocution through selecting the semantically relevant language). It is determined that the verbal component in the studied film text is highly informative, providing low complementarity of verbal and non-verbal components; the positive and negative evaluations are realized at the same frequency which is associated with a variety of topics and genres of films; the most frequent translational transformations, used in transferring evaluative meanings when subtitling, are synonymous substitutions, modulation technique, literal translation and specification; the most relevant methods of text compression, in this case, are a generalization and simplification. The authors verified the hypothesis of relevance for transferring the evaluative meaning through subtitling such elements of the valuation structure and the parameters of its verbalization as a type of evaluativity, object, basis, nature, degree, level of language expressions of evaluation, which detect differences between the source text and the text of translation. There are also stated the parameters which characterize the transfer of evaluative meanings and are the most resistant/stable to transformation and the most sensitive to transformation.

A new method to estimate aquatic invertebrate diversity in French shallow lakes and ponds

Shallow lakes and ponds are valuable ecosystems for conservation management. Aquatic invertebrates constitute a large proportion of diversity in these ecosystems, but their assessment is potentially time consuming and requires great expertise. The use of indicator taxa to estimate invertebrate diversity may resolve part of these difficulties. These indicators are rarely identified or their reliability is uncertain, i.e. they are based on partial inventories, neglecting groups with high diversity. In this study, invertebrate richness was assessed from 46 sites in France in various altitudinal, climatic, geological, human-impacted, and hydro-morphological contexts. Invertebrate identification was performed as accurately as possible in all taxonomic groups. Several potential indicators of diversity based on five key criteria were tested: strong direct correlation, identification facilities, strong cross-taxon congruence, low complementarity of the sampled habitats, and ubiquity for selected indicators. Three approaches were proposed to define these indicator groups: (1) a single taxonomic group as indicator, (2) a combination of targeted groups, and (3) a holistic inventory at low taxonomic resolution as a classical rapid assessment method for freshwater ecosystems. Results show that it is not recommended to use only one indicator group. The choice of several targeted groups could be a good intermediate solution but is not without bias. The rapid assessment inventory proposed is the most valuable method, and allows the estimation of invertebrate richness with a quasi-perfect correlation.

Znaczenie wymiany bilateralnej w handlu zagranicznym produktami rolno-spożywczymi UE i USA

Celem artykułu było określenie znaczenia wymiany bilateralnej w handlu zagranicznym produktami rolno-spożywczymi UE i USA w latach 2001-2016 oraz wskazanie potencjalnych możliwości jej rozwoju w warunkach implementacji TTIP. W badaniach wykorzystano dane pochodzące z baz ComExt w zasobach Urzędu Statystycznego Unii Europejskiej (Eurostat) oraz Global Agricultural Trade System, pod nadzorem służb zagranicznych Departamentu Rolnictwa Stanów Zjednoczonych (FAS/USDA). Na podstawie przeprowadzonych analiz można stwierdzić, że w latach 2001-2016 UE i USA były dla siebie ważnymi partnerami handlowymi, jednak wartość bilateralnych obrotów produktami rolno-żywnościowymi pozostawała stosunkowo niewielka. W dużej mierze wynikało to z relatywnie niskiego stopnia komplementarności struktur produkcji rolniczej w tych krajach, a w rezultacie nieznacznego popytu na artykuły rolne strefy klimatu umiarkowanego w USA, które z powodzeniem, a zwykle także taniej są tam wytwarzane i które stanowią nadwyżki eksportowe tego kraju. Sposobem na zintensyfikowanie wzajemnych powiązań handlowych UE i USA może być utworzenie transatlantyckiej strefy wolnego handlu, skutkujące silnym efektem kreacji obrotów bilateralnych stron TTIP, przy jednoczesnym ograniczonym wpływie porozumienia na relacje z pozostałymi partnerami handlowymi.

Hydrocarbon binding by proteins: structures of protein binding sites for ≥C10 linear alkanes or long-chain alkyl and alkenyl groups.

In order to identify potential de novo enzyme templates for the cleavage of C–C single bonds in long-chain hydrocarbons, we analyzed protein structures that bind substrates containing alkyl and alkenyl functional groups. A survey of ligand-containing protein structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank resulted in 874 entries, consisting of 194 unique ligands that have ≥10 carbons in a linear chain. Fatty acids and phospholipids are the most abundant types of ligands. Hydrophobic amino acids forming α-helical structures frequently line the binding pockets. Occupation of these binding sites was evaluated by calculating both the buried surface area and volume employed by the ligands; these quantities are similar to those computed for drug–protein complexes. Surface complementarity is relatively low due to the nonspecific nature of the interaction between the long-chain hydrocarbons and the hydrophobic amino acids. The selected PDB structures were annotated on the basis of their SCOP and EC identification numbers, which will facilitate design template searches based on structural and functional homologies. Relatively low surface complementarity and ∼55% volume occupancy, also observed in synthetic-host, alkane-guest systems, suggest general principles for the recognition of long-chain linear hydrocarbons.

On the dependence of the growth rate on the elasticity of substitution in a network

We consider the dependence of the growth rate on the elasticity of substitution within the framework of a model with the agents’ mutual dependence. This model is interpreted as a network structure. The development is explained as the agents’ increase in values in the dynamic system described by functions which display constant elasticity of substitution (CES). We investigate the cases of high and low complementarity of activities. In particular, we receive conditions allowing to identify the cases when the elasticity of substitution has a positive (negative) effect on the growth rate under high (low) complementarity of activities. Additionally, we analyse the influence of the individual agents’ productivity on the growth rate. Finally, we give a potential generalisation of the model allowing for different growth rates of the agents.

A useful method of identifying of miRNAs which can down-regulate Zeb-2

BackgroundAlthough identification of the target mRNAs of micro RNAs (miRNAs) is essential to understanding their function, the low complementarity between miRNAs and their target mRNAs has complicated this process. In this study, we sought to identify miRNAs which reduce the expression of the transcription factor Zeb-2, a transcriptional repressor of E-cadherin which is known to be down regulated by members of the miR-200 family (miR-200a,b,c miR-429, and miR-141).FindingsWe first used a computational target predicting system to identify 82 candidate miRNAs which bound the 3′UTR region of the Zeb-2 mRNA. Of these 82 miRNAs, precursors for 51 were available in our miRNA precursor library. Pre-miR™ Precursor Molecules for these 51 miRNAs were co-transfected into NIH3T3 cells with a luciferase reporter vector containing the 3′UTR region of the Zeb-2 mRNA. Seven miRNAs (miR-141, mi-183, miR-200a, miR-200b, miR-200c, miR-429 and miR-666-5p) were shown to down-regulate luciferase activity and Western blotting analysis confirmed that Pre-miR™ Precursor Molecules for these seven miRNAs induced expression of E-cadherin and miScript target protector against miR-183 and miR-666-5p abrogated this effect. Moreover, an Anti-miR™ miRNA Inhibitor targeting miR-183 and miR-666-5p repressed expression of E-cadherin.ConclusionsWe have established a method to identify miRNAs that bind the 3′UTR region of the Zeb-2 mRNA and that induce expression of E-cadherin, possibly by down-regulating the expression of Zeb-2. Our method may be more widely applicable for identifying miRNAs that bind target mRNA 3′UTR regions and down-regulate the expression of proteins encoded by these mRNAs.

MicroRNA-181a – a tale of discrepancies

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short noncoding RNAs that act as post-transcriptional regulators. The low complementarity required between the sequences of a miRNA and its target mRNA enables a single miRNA to act on a large range of targets. Thus miRNAs have an intersecting complex effect that spans a multiplicity of pathways and processes. In this review, the different roles of a vital miRNA, miR-181a, in physiological and pathological developments are collated in an attempt to highlight the intersections of such processes and to show how the deregulation of miR-181a could in one context drive malignancy, whereas in another it can lead to autoimmunity. Such deregulation could be related to the faulty levels of one of its own targets, p53, which was recently reported to control an array of miRNAs, one of which is miR-181a. This sheds light on a hidden loop of chaos behind chronic diseases such as autoimmunity and cancer.

Phylogenetic and phenotypic originality and abundance in a cerrado plant community

AbstractThe originality of a species is how much that species contributes to the rarity of traits in a community. Here we tested the relation between abundance and both phylogenetic and phenotypic originality. We measured nine traits associated with defence against herbivory, as well as phylogenetic information and abundance for woody plant species in a woodland cerrado in southeastern Brazil. About 90% of the species accounted for about 50% of the phylogenetic and phenotypic originality: most woody species had low originality. Abundance was related to tougher leaves, lower specific leaf area and lower originality based on nutritional quality. Our results suggest that herbivory may reduce the abundance of species with low resistance to herbivory and with different nutritional quality. Nevertheless, abundance was not related to either phylogenetic or phenotypic originality, so extinction of rare species may not endanger overall community function as long as more abundant species are retained. We argue that this is a consequence of the low complementarity of a large number of woody species.

Structural contributions to multidrug recognition in the multidrug resistance (MDR) gene regulator, BmrR

Current views of multidrug (MD) recognition focus on large drug-binding cavities with flexible elements. However, MD recognition in BmrR is supported by a small, rigid drug-binding pocket. Here, a detailed description of MD binding by the noncanonical BmrR protein is offered through the combined use of X-ray and solution studies. Low shape complementarity, suboptimal packing, and efficient burial of a diverse set of ligands is facilitated by an aromatic docking platform formed by a set of conformationally fixed aromatic residues, hydrophobic pincer pair that locks the different drug structures on the adaptable platform surface, and a trio of acidic residues that enables cation selectivity without much regard to ligand structure. Within the binding pocket is a set of BmrR-derived H-bonding donor and acceptors that solvate a wide range of ligand polar substituent arrangements in a manner analogous to aqueous solvent. Energetic analyses of MD binding by BmrR are consistent with structural data. A common binding orientation for the different BmrR ligands is in line with promiscuous allosteric regulation.

Bats of Borneo: diversity, distributions and representation in protected areas

Protected areas are valuable in conserving tropical biodiversity, but an insufficient understanding of species diversity and distributions makes it difficult to evaluate their effectiveness. This is especially true on Borneo, a species rich island shared by three countries, and is particularly concerning for bats, a poorly known component of mammal diversity that may be highly susceptible to landscape changes. We reviewed the diversity, distributions and conservation status of 54 bat species to determine the representation of these taxa in Borneo’s protected areas, and whether these reserves complement each other in terms of bat diversity. Lower and upper bound estimates of bat species composition were characterised in 23 protected areas and the proposed boundaries of the Heart of Borneo conservation area. We used lower and upper bound estimates of species composition. By using actual inventories, species representation was highly irregular, and even if some reserves were included in the Heart of Borneo, the protected area network would still exhibit low complementarity. By inferring species presence from distributions, composition between most reserves was similar, and complementarity was much higher. Predicting species richness using abundance information suggested that bat species representation in reserves may lie between these two extremes. We recommend that researchers better sample biodiversity over the island and address the conservation threats faced in Borneo both within and outside protected areas. While the Heart of Borneo Initiative is commendable, it should not divert attention from other conservation areas.

Regional Trade Arrangements in Africa: Past Performance and the Way Forward

Abstract: Regional trade arrangements (RTAs) in Africa have been ineffective in promoting trade and foreign direct investment. Relatively high external trade barriers and low resource complementarity between member countries limit both intra‐ and extraregional trade. Small market size, poor transport facilities and high trading costs make it difficult for African countries to reap the potential benefits of RTAs. To increase regional trade and investment, African countries need to undertake more broad‐based liberalization and streamline existing RTAs, supported by improvements in infrastructure and trade facilitation. Early action to strengthen the domestic revenue base would help address concerns over revenue losses from trade liberalization.

From Forest to Ffarmland: Butterfly Diversity and Habitat Associations Along a Gradient of Forest Conversion in Southwestern Cameroon

Worldwide, tropical landscapes are increasingly dominated by human land use systems and natural forest cover is decreasing rapidly. We studied frugivorous butterflies and several vegetation parameters in 24 sampling stations distributed over near-primary forest (NF), secondary forest (SF), agroforestry and annual culture sites in the Northeastern part of the Korup region, SW Cameroon. As in other studies, both butterfly species richness and abundance were significantly affected by habitat modification. Butterfly richness and abundance were highest in SF and agroforestry sites and significantly lower in NF and annual crop sites. Butterfly species richness increased significantly with increasing tree density, but seemed to decrease with increasing herb diversity and density in annual crop farms. A significant negative correlation was found between butterfly geographic range and their preference for NF sites. Our results also showed that agroforestry systems, containing remnants of natural forest, can help to sustain high site richness, but appear to have low complementarity through loss of endemic species confined to more undisturbed habitats. Our study also indicated that the abundance of selected restricted-range butterflies, particularly in the family Nymphalidae, appears to be a good indicator to assess and monitor forest disturbance.

RESPONSES OF DIVERSITY AND INVASIBILITY TO BURNING IN A NORTHERN OAK SAVANNA

The role of diversity in buffering environmental change remains poorly tested in natural systems. Diversity might enhance stability if different species have different disturbance susceptibilities (i.e., functional complementarity). Alternatively, diversity might decrease stability because, at high diversity, populations are predicted to be more temporally variable and therefore more vulnerable to extinction following perturbation. There is theoretical support for both hypotheses but limited empirical evidence. I examine these issues with experimental burning along a natural diversity gradient in a savanna where fire has been suppressed for 150 years. I examined how two components of stability, resistance (invasion by added and naturally recruiting species) and resilience (recovery of the pre-disturbance light levels, the primary limiting resource in this system), varied with diversity. I also examined how the abundance of dominant species and soil depth affected stability, as both are negatively correlated with diversity and could have hidden impacts (e.g., invasion resistance on shallow soils correlated with diversity but caused by moisture stress). Species-rich communities were stable because they contained fire-tolerant species that, despite their rarity, significantly increased in cover after fire, reduced light availability, and limited seedling survival. Species-poor communities were rapidly invaded, apparently due to the combined effects of (1) trade-offs between competitive ability and disturbance tolerance (dominants in species-poor areas were competitive but fire sensitive), and (2) low functional complementarity. Colonization by woody plants was also significantly higher in low-diversity plots; these species are known to form a new stable state that excludes all savanna taxa. The abundance of dominants and soil depth were negatively correlated with diversity because they appear to determine its spatial variation in the absence of fire, but diversity alone accounted for variation in stability. Without burning, most subordinates are confined to shallower soils where they play a minor role in controlling resource flows and production. Diversity, therefore, was more important for buffering the effects of change than controlling ecosystem function under undisturbed conditions. If applicable to other systems, the results indicate that species loss will compound the negative effects of environmental change on ecosystem function by limiting the ability of ecosystems to respond.

Extended base pair complementarity between U1 snRNA and the 5' splice site does not inhibit splicing in higher eukaryotes, but rather increases 5' splice site recognition

Spliceosome formation is initiated by the recognition of the 5′ splice site through formation of an RNA duplex between the 5′ splice site and U1 snRNA. We have previously shown that RNA duplex formation between U1 snRNA and the 5′ splice site can protect pre-mRNAs from degradation prior to splicing. This initial RNA duplex must be disrupted to expose the 5′ splice site sequence for base pairing with U6 snRNA and to form the active spliceosome. Here, we investigated whether hyperstabilization of the U1 snRNA/5′ splice site duplex interferes with splicing efficiency in human cell lines or nuclear extracts. Unlike observations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we demonstrate that an extended U1 snRNA/5′ splice site interaction does not decrease splicing efficiency, but rather increases 5′ splice site recognition and exon inclusion. However, low complementarity of the 5′ splice site to U1 snRNA significantly increases exon skipping and RNA degradation. Although the splicing mechanisms are conserved between human and S.cerevisiae, these results demonstrate that distinct differences exist in the activation of the spliceosome.

Stabilization of Non-productive Conformations Underpins Rapid Electron Transfer to Electron-transferring Flavoprotein

Crystal structures of protein complexes with electron-transferring flavoprotein (ETF) have revealed a dual protein-protein interface with one region serving as anchor while the ETF FAD domain samples available space within the complex. We show that mutation of the conserved Glu-165beta in human ETF leads to drastically modulated rates of interprotein electron transfer with both medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase and dimethylglycine dehydrogenase. The crystal structure of free E165betaA ETF is essentially identical to that of wild-type ETF, but the crystal structure of the E165betaA ETF.medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase complex reveals clear electron density for the FAD domain in a position optimal for fast interprotein electron transfer. Based on our observations, we present a dynamic multistate model for conformational sampling that for the wild-type ETF. medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase complex involves random motion between three distinct positions for the ETF FAD domain. ETF Glu-165beta plays a key role in stabilizing positions incompatible with fast interprotein electron transfer, thus ensuring high rates of complex dissociation.

Regional Trade Arrangements in Africa: Past Performance and the Way Forward

Regional trade arrangements (RTAs) in Africa have been ineffective in promoting trade and foreign direct investment. Relatively high external trade barriers and low resource complementarity between member countries limit both intra- and extraregional trade. Small market size, poor transport facilities and high trading costs make it difficult for African countries to reap the potential benefits of RTAs. To increase regional trade and investment, African countries need to undertake more broad-based liberalization and streamline existing RTAs, supported by improvements in infrastructure and trade facilitation. Early action to strengthen the domestic revenue base would help address concerns over revenue losses from trade liberalization.

Regional Trade Arrangements in Africa: Past Performance and the Way Forward

Regional trade arrangements (RTAs) in Africa have been ineffective in promoting trade and foreign direct investment. Relatively high external trade barriers and low resource complementarity between member countries limit both intra- and extraregional trade. Small market size, poor transport facilities and high trading costs make it difficult for African countries to reap the potential benefits of RTAs. To increase regional trade and investment, African countries need to undertake more broad-based liberalization and streamline existing RTAs, supported by improvements in infrastructure and trade facilitation. Early action to strengthen the domestic revenue base would help address concerns over revenue losses from trade liberalization.

The architecture of the binding site in redox protein complexes: implications for fast dissociation.

Interprotein electron transfer is characterized by protein interactions on the millisecond time scale. Such transient encounters are ensured by extremely high rates of complex dissociation. Computational analysis of the available crystal structures of redox protein complexes reveals features of the binding site that favor fast dissociation. In particular, the complex interface is shown to have low geometric complementarity and poor packing. These features are consistent with the necessity for fast dissociation since the absence of close packing facilitates solvation of the interface and disruption of the complex.

Inter-firm complementarities in R&D: a re-examination of the relative performance of joint ventures

We compare duopoly outcomes between two alternative modes of research and development (R&D), viz. independent R&D and non-cooperative research joint ventures (RJVs), when there are complementarities between firm-specific R&D resources. When complementarity is high, RJVs lead to higher technological improvement and the reverse holds for low complementarity. In the intermediate range, the comparison depends on the relative imperfection in spillovers afflicting independent R&D. In sharp contrast to results on cooperative RJVs, non-cooperative RJVs lead to higher technological improvement when spillovers affecting independent R&D are low; the reverse holds for high spillovers. When RJVs yield higher technological improvement, they also yield higher industry profit and social welfare.