Uzbek Gas for Export: Will Political Maneuvering between China and Russia Result in Higher Export Price?
The main research question is “Will political maneuvering between China and Russia result in higher export price for Uzbek gas?” In 2008, the price of gas exports from Uzbekistan was US$160 per 1,000 cubic meters. On the other hand Gazprom used to charge its European customers an average of US$350 per 1,000 cubic meters. 
 
On July 1, 2008, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan has begun laying their respective stretches of the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline. The construction began at the settlement of Saet in the Bukhara region. The cost of the Uzbek stretch of the gas pipeline is estimated to be over USD 2 billion. The total cost of the 1,818-kilometer long gas pipeline Turkmenistan-China is about USD7 billion. If implemented, the Turkmenistan-China pipeline might undermine Russia’s ability to manipulate the Central Asian gas market and stir up energy competition between Russia and China. It should be noted that with estimated natural gas reserves of 66.2 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), Uzbekistan is the third largest natural gas producer in the Commonwealth of Independent States (after Russia and Turkmenistan) and one of the top fifteen natural gas-producing countries in the world. 
 
According to the schedule approved by the decree of the Uzbek President, the first line of the gas pipeline and compressor station is expected to be completed by the end of 2009. According to schedule, the first stage will end in January 2010. The second line of the gas pipeline and two more compressor stations are expected to be launched by January 2012. 
 
Gazprom’s reaction to this development was almost immediate. Therefore, the purchase prices in these countries more than doubled in 2009 compared to the levels at which Gazprom has bought gas in 2008 
 
The conclusion of the research is that alternative pipeline to China will strengthen the bargaining power of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and may result in higher export gas prices. However, given the fact that Chinese themselves are unwilling to match the price that Europeans are paying for gas, the increase will not be very significant. Therefore, Uzbekistan, as well other Central Asian countries, should continue their efforts to construct and participate in other alternative gas pipelines, such as Trans-Caspian, Nabucco, Trans-Afghan, and Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline projects.
Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors
An implant includes a biocorrodible metallic material having a coating. The coating contains at least one layer in which ionic channels are embedded.
A single amino acid substitution in elongation factor Tu disrupts interaction between the ternary complex and the ribosome
Elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu).GTP has the primary function of promoting the efficient and correct interaction of aminoacyl-tRNA with the ribosome. Very little is known about the elements in EF-Tu involved in this interaction. We describe a mutant form of EF-Tu, isolated in Salmonella typhimurium, that causes a severe defect in the interaction of the ternary complex with the ribosome. The mutation causes the substitution of Val for Gly-280 in domain II of EF-Tu. The in vivo growth and translation phenotypes of strains harboring this mutation are indistinguishable from those of strains in which the same tuf gene is insertionally inactivated. Viable cells are not obtained when the other tuf gene is inactivated, showing that the mutant EF-Tu alone cannot support cell growth. We have confirmed, by partial protein sequencing, that the mutant EF-Tu is present in the cells. In vitro analysis of the natural mixture of wild-type and mutant EF-Tu allows us to identify the major defect of this mutant. Our data shows that the EF-Tu is homogeneous and competent with respect to guanine nucleotide binding and exchange, stimulation of nucleotide exchange by EF-Ts, and ternary complex formation with aminoacyl-tRNA. However various measures of translational efficiency show a significant reduction, which is associated with a defective interaction between the ribosome and the mutant EF-Tu.GTP.aminoacyl-tRNA complex. In addition, the antibiotic kirromycin, which blocks translation by binding EF-Tu on the ribosome, fails to do so with this mutant EF-Tu, although it does form a complex with EF-Tu. Our results suggest that this region of domain II in EF-Tu has an important function and influences the binding of the ternary complex to the codon-programmed ribosome during protein synthesis. Models involving either a direct or an indirect effect of the mutation are discussed.