This book provides a unique blend of data on insect life spans, physiology, enzymology and other molecular features associated with digestion and nutrient absorption to enrich the knowledge on insects and to disclose putative molecular targets for the development of new insect control technologies and for improving insect raising procedures to be used as food and feed. With this aim, the book overviews the types of diets consumed by insects, describing their chemical components demanding digestion and discusses the evolutionary selective pressures on insects associated with feeding. Digestive enzymes are classified and detailed according to their activity on substrates and their evolutionary protein families. The technical details on how to obtain reliable enzymological parameters are discussed. The book reviews the structural changes in enzymes associated with the adaptation of insects to new diets and in avoiding natural plant inhibitors. Midgut features that enhance digestive and nutrient absorption efficiency and their underlying molecular mechanisms are described regarding insects pertaining to key points in evolution. Evolutionary trends of the mechanisms of digestion and nutrient absorption are discussed.
This book addresses some essential topics in the science of energy converting devices emphasizing recent aspects of nano-derived materials in the application for the protection of the environment, storage, and energy conversion. The aim, therefore, is to provide the basic background knowledge. The electron transfer process and structure of the electric double layer and the interaction of species with surfaces and the interaction, reinforced by DFT theory for the current and incoming generation of fuel cell scientists to study the interaction of the catalytic centers with their supports. The chief focus of the chapters is on materials based on precious and non-precious centers for the hydrogen electrode, the oxygen electrode, energy storage, and in remediation applications, where the common issue is the rate-determining step in multi-electron charge transfer processes in electrocatalysis. These approaches are used in a large extent in science and technology, so that each chapter demonstrates the connection of electrochemistry, in addition to chemistry, with different areas, namely, surface science, biochemistry, chemical engineering, and chemical physics.
This paper examines the transmission of changes in the U.S. monetary policy to localcurrency sovereign bond yields of Brazil and Mexico. Using vector error-correction models, we find that the U.S. 10-year bond yield was a key driver of long-term yields in these countries, and that Brazilian yields were more sensitive to U.S. shocks than Mexican yields during 2010–13. Remarkably, the propagation of shocks from U.S. long-term yields was amplified by changes in the policy rate in Brazil, but not in Mexico. Our counterfactual analysis suggests that yields in both countries temporarily overshot the values predicted by the model in the aftermath of the Fed’s “tapering” announcement in May 2013. This study suggests that emerging markets will need to contend with potential spillovers from shifts in monetary policy expectations in the U.S., which often lead to higher government bond interest rates and bouts of volatility.
Following the financial crisis and subsequent impacts of economic slowdown and austerity, the emergence of new local governance models and innovation is a very timely issue. The same goes for identifying new types of funding schemes and fiscal models prompted by austerity with the reduction in financial resources for local governments. This book offers a broad perspective on some of the organizational and financial problems faced by cities and local governments across Europe and analyses the reactions and reforms implemented to address current economic and public finance conditions. The geographical coverage of the case studies, multidisciplinary background of the contributing authors and focus on a multiplicity of issues and challenges that confront local governments, not just financial issues as is often the case, means this book is relevant to a wide readership. The book is written for post-graduate students, advanced undergraduates, and researchers in the multidisciplinary field of local government studies (Public Administration, Geography, Political Science, Law, Economy and Sociology), as well as practitioners working in local government institutions.
Through a variety of analytical lenses - formal modeling, econometrics and case study comparisons - Carlos Rufín fills a gap in the political economy of second-wave, or microeconomic, reforms around the world. More specifically, he does so in the context of the electricity supply industry, where such reforms have been as problematic as they have been widespread. The author shows that ideological considerations and bargaining over the distribution of economic rents accruing from certain institutional arrangements are powerful shapers of institutional change. At the same time, the legacy of the past does not appear to have a clear or systematic effect on the direction of second-wave reforms that seek to transform existing economic institutions. If distributional conflicts can be resolved, these conclusions provide grounds for optimism about the ability to create new institutions even in countries where little favorable precedent exists.
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