Investing for Retirement in a Low Returns Environment: Making the Right Decisions to Make the Money Last

Low returns on financial assets and increasing longevity mean saving for retirement is becoming more challenging than it has been in the past. Generations retiring in the near term (boomers) face increased longevity, but have lived through periods with strong market returns boosting their assets, and many also have DB entitlements. Younger generations also face increasing longevity, and in addition are likely to earn much lower investment returns on their retirement assets and few have DB. The challenge for them is tougher. We model the likely outcomes for different cohorts under scenarios for savings behavior, investment returns and life expectancy. We take account of likely pillar one entitlements and varying replacement rate requirements and expected longevity in different demographic and income groups. We show that younger generations do face substantial challenges, but there are plausible courses of action involving increased contributions and delayed or partial retirement that can provide reasonable income replacement rates in retirement. We map out the steps that the retirement industry (government, employers, financial services providers) needs to take to support people in following these courses of action, such as providing more flexibility over social security

Integron prevalence and diversity in manured soil

Integron abundance and diversity were studied in soil amended with pig slurry. Real-time PCR illustrated a significant increase in class 1 integron prevalence post slurry-application with increased prevalence still evident at 10 months post-application. Culture dependent data revealed 10 genera, including putative human pathogens, carrying class 1 and 2 integrons

Ocean warming has greater and more consistent negative effects than ocean acidification on the growth and health of subtropical macroalgae

Macroalgae are the major habitat-forming organisms in many coastal temperate and subtropical marine systems. Although climate change has been identified as a major threat to the persistence of macroalgal beds, the combined effects of ocean warming and ocean acidification on algal performance are poorly understood. Here we investigate the effects of increased temperature and acidification on the growth, calcification and nutritional content of 6 common subtropical macroalgae; Sargassum linearifolium, Ulva sp., Amphiroa anceps, Corallina officinalis, Delisea pulchra and Laurencia decussata. Algae were reared in a factorial cross of 3 temperatures (23°C [ambient], 26°C and 28°C) and 3 pH levels (8.1 [ambient], 7.8 and 7.6) for 2 wk. The highest (28°C) temperature decreased the growth of all 6 macroalgal species, irrespective of the pH levels. In contrast, the effect of decreased pH on growth was variable. The growth of Ulva sp. and C. officinalis increased, L. decussata decreased, while the remaining 3 species were unaffected. Interestingly, the differential responses of macroalgae to ocean acidification were unrelated to whether or not a species was a calcifying alga, or their carbon-uptake mechanism—2 processes that are predicted to be sensitive to decreased pH. The growth of the calcifying algae (C. officinalis and A. anceps) was not affected by reduced pH but calcification of these 2 algae was reduced when exposed to a combination of reduced pH and elevated temperature. The 3 species capable of uptake of bicarbonate, S. linearifolium, L. decussata and Ulva sp., displayed positive, negative and neutral changes in growth, respectively, in response to reduced pH. The C:N ratio for 5 of the 6 species was unaffected by either pH or temperature. The consistent and predictable negative effects of temperature on the growth and calcification of subtropical macroalgae suggests that this stressor poses a greater threat to the persistence of subtropical macroalgal populations than ocean acidification under ongoing and future climate change

Protein disulfide-isomerase interacts with a substrate protein at all stages along its folding pathway

In contrast to molecular chaperones that couple protein folding to ATP hydrolysis, protein disulfide-isomerase (PDI) catalyzes protein folding coupled to formation of disulfide bonds (oxidative folding). However, we do not know how PDI distinguishes folded, partly-folded and unfolded protein substrates. As a model intermediate in an oxidative folding pathway, we prepared a two-disulfide mutant of basic pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) and showed by NMR that it is partly-folded and highly dynamic. NMR studies show that it binds to PDI at the same site that binds peptide ligands, with rapid binding and dissociation kinetics; surface plasmon resonance shows its interaction with PDI has a Kd of ca. 10−5 M. For comparison, we characterized the interactions of PDI with native BPTI and fully-unfolded BPTI. Interestingly, PDI does bind native BPTI, but binding is quantitatively weaker than with partly-folded and unfolded BPTI. Hence PDI recognizes and binds substrates via permanently or transiently unfolded regions. This is the first study of PDI's interaction with a partly-folded protein, and the first to analyze this folding catalyst's changing interactions with substrates along an oxidative folding pathway. We have identified key features that make PDI an effective catalyst of oxidative protein folding – differential affinity, rapid ligand exchange and conformational flexibility

Effects of brain tissue oxygen (PbtO2) guided management on patient outcomes following severe traumatic brain injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Monitoring and optimisation of brain tissue oxygen tension (PbtO2) has been associated with improved neurological outcome and survival in observational studies of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). We carried out a systematic review of randomized controlled trials to determine if PbtO2-guided management is associated with differential neurological outcomes, survival, and adverse events. Searches were carried out to 10 February 2022 in Medline (OvidSP), 11 February in EMBASE (OvidSP) and 8 February in Cochrane library. Randomized controlled trials comparing PbtO2 and ICP-guided management to ICP-guided management alone were included. The primary outcome was survival with favourable neurological outcome at 6-months post injury. Data were extracted by two independent authors and GRADE certainty of evidence assessed. There was no difference in the proportion of patients with favourable neurological outcomes with PbtO2-guided management (relative risk [RR] 1.42, 95% CI 0.97 to 2.08; p = 0.07; I2 = 0%, very low certainty evidence) but PbtO2-guided management was associated with reduced mortality (RR 0.54, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.93; p = 0.03; I2 = 42%; very low certainty evidence) and ICP (mean difference (MD) - 4.62, 95% CI - 8.27 to - 0.98; p = 0.01; I2 = 63%; very low certainty evidence). There was no significant difference in the risk of adverse respiratory or cardiovascular events. PbtO2-guided management in addition to ICP-based care was not significantly associated with increased favourable neurological outcomes, but was associated with increased survival and reduced ICP, with no difference in respiratory or cardiovascular adverse events. However, based on GRADE criteria, the certainty of evidence provided by this meta-analysis was consistently very low. MESH: Brain Ischemia; Intensive Care; Glasgow Outcome Scale; Randomized Controlled Trial; Craniocerebral Trauma

Saliva Alternative to Upper Respiratory Swabs for SARS-CoV-2 Diagnosis

PCR of upper respiratory specimens is the diagnostic standard for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. However, saliva sampling is an easy alternative to nasal and throat swabbing. We found similar viral loads in saliva samples and in nasal and throat swab samples from 110 patients with coronavirus disease

Genome-wide association for milk production and lactation curve parameters in Holstein dairy cows

The aim of this study was to identify genomic regions associated with 305-day milk yield and lactation curve parameters on primiparous (n = 9,910) and multiparous (n = 11,158) Holstein cows. The SNP solutions were estimated using a weighted single-step genomic BLUP approach and imputed high-density panel (777k) genotypes. The proportion of genetic variance explained by windows of 50 consecutive SNP (with an average of 165 Kb) was calculated, and regions that accounted for more than 0.50% of the variance were used to search for candidate genes. Estimated heritabilities were 0.37, 0.34, 0.17, 0.12, 0.30 and 0.19, respectively, for 305-day milk yield, peak yield, peak time, ramp, scale and decay for primiparous cows. Genetic correlations of 305-day milk yield with peak yield, peak time, ramp, scale and decay in primiparous cows were 0.99, 0.63, 0.20, 0.97 and -0.52, respectively. The results identified three windows on BTA14 associated with 305-day milk yield and the parameters of lactation curve in primi- and multiparous cows. Previously proposed candidate genes for milk yield supported by this work include GRINA, CYHR1, FOXH1, TONSL, PPP1R16A, ARHGAP39, MAF1, OPLAH and MROH1, whereas newly identified candidate genes are MIR2308, ZNF7, ZNF34, SLURP1, MAFA and KIFC2 (BTA14). The protein lipidation biological process term, which plays a key role in controlling protein localization and function, was identified as the most important term enriched by the identified genes