Shotguns vs Lasers: Identifying barriers and facilitators to scaling-up plant molecular farming for high-value health products.

Plant molecular farming (PMF) is a convenient and cost-effective way to produce high-value recombinant proteins that can be used in the production of a range of health products, from pharmaceutical therapeutics to cosmetic products. New plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) provide a means to enhance PMF systems more quickly and with greater precision than ever before. However, the feasibility, regulatory standing and social acceptability of both PMF and NPBTs are in question. This paper explores the perceptions of key stakeholders on two European Union (EU) Horizon 2020 programmes-Pharma-Factory and Newcotiana-towards the barriers and facilitators of PMF and NPBTs in Europe. One-on-one qualitative interviews were undertaken with N = 20 individuals involved in one or both of the two projects at 16 institutions in seven countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Spain and the UK). The findings indicate that the current EU regulatory environment and the perception of the public towards biotechnology are seen as the main barriers to scaling-up PMF and NPBTs. Competition from existing systems and the lack of plant-specific regulations likewise present challenges for PMF developing beyond its current niche. However, respondents felt that the communication of the benefits and purpose of NPBT PMF could provide a platform for improving the social acceptance of genetic modification. The importance of the media in this process was highlighted. This article also uses the multi-level perspective to explore the ways in which NPBTs are being legitimated by interested parties and the systemic factors that have shaped and are continuing to shape the development of PMF in Europe

Integrating short-term demand response into long-term investment planning

Planning models have been used for many years to optimize generation investments in electric power systems. More recently, these models have been extended in order to treat demand-side management on an equal footing. This paper stresses the importance of integrating short-term demand response to time-varying prices into those investment models. Three different methodologies are suggested to integrate short-term responsiveness into a long-term model assuming that consumer response can be modelled using price-elastic demand and that generators behave competitively. First, numerical results show that considering operational constraints in an investment model results in less inflexible base load capacity and more mid-range capacity that has higher ramp rates. Then, own-price and cross-price elasticities are included in order to incorporate consumers’ willingness to adjust the demand profile in response to price changes. Whereas own-price elasticities account for immediate response to price signals, cross-price elasticities account for shifting loads to other periods. As energy efficiency programs sponsored by governments or utilities also influence the load profile, the interaction of energy efficiency expenditures and demand response is also modelled. In particular, reduced responsiveness to prices can be a side effect when consumers have become more energy efficient. Comparison of model results for a single year optimization with and without demand response shows the peak reduction and valley filling effects of response to real-time prices for an illustrative example with a large amount of wind power injections. Additionally, increasing demand elasticity increases the optimal amount of installed wind power capacity. This suggests that demand-side management can result in environmental benefits not only through reducing energy use, but also by facilitating integration of renewable energy

Joint astrometric solution of Hipparcos and Gaia: A recipe for the Hundred Thousand Proper Motions project

The first release of astrometric data from Gaia is expected in 2016. It will contain the mean stellar positions and magnitudes from the first year of observations. For more than 100 000 stars in common with the Hipparcos Catalogue it will be possible to compute very accurate proper motions due to the time difference of about 24 years between the two missions. This Hundred Thousand Proper Motions (HTPM) project will be part of the first release. Our aim is to investigate how early Gaia data can be optimally combined with information from the Hipparcos Catalogue in order to provide the most accurate and reliable results for HTPM. The Astrometric Global Iterative Solution (AGIS) was developed to compute the astrometric core solution based on the Gaia observations and will be used for all releases of astrometric data from Gaia. We adapt AGIS to process Hipparcos data in addition to Gaia observations, and use simulations to verify and study the joint solution method. For the HTPM stars we predict proper motion accuracies between 14 and 134 muas/yr, depending on stellar magnitude and amount of Gaia data available. Perspective effects will be important for a significant number of HTPM stars, and in order to treat these effects accurately we introduce a scaled model of kinematics. We define a goodness-of-fit statistic which is sensitive to deviations from uniform space motion, caused for example by binaries with periods of 10-50 years. HTPM will significantly improve the proper motions of the Hipparcos Catalogue well before highly accurate Gaia- only results become available. Also, HTPM will allow us to detect long period binary and exoplanetary candidates which would be impossible to detect from Gaia data alone. The full sensitivity will not be reached with the first Gaia release but with subsequent data releases. Therefore HTPM should be repeated when more Gaia data become available.Comment: Revised manuscript following referee report. Accepted for publication in A&

Over ‘sexed’ regulation and the disregarded worker: an overview of the impact of sexual entertainment policy on lap-dancing club workers

In England and Wales, with the introduction of Section 27 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009, lap-dancing clubs can now be licensed as Sexual Entertainment Venues. This article considers such, offering a critique of Section 27, arguing that this legislation is not evidence-based, with lap-dancing policy, like other sex-work policies, often associated with crime, deviance and immorality. Furthermore, it is argued that sex-work policies are gradually being homogenised as well as increasingly criminalised. Other criticisms relate to various licensing loopholes which lead to some striptease venues remaining unlicensed and unregulated, potentially impacting on the welfare of erotic dancers. In addition, restrictions on the numbers of lap-dancing venues may exacerbate dancer unemployment, drawing these women into poverty. Finally, The Policing and Crime Act reflects how the political focus is being directed away from the exploitation of workers, on to issues relating to crime and deviance, despite limited evidence to support this focus

Spatial and Temporal Variations in Interstellar Absorption toward HD 72127AB

New optical spectra of Ca II and Na I toward HD 72127AB provide additional evidence for both spatial and temporal variations in the complex interstellar absorption along the two sight lines; archival UV spectra yield information on the abundances, depletions, and physical conditions in the gas toward HD 72127A. Similarities in the strengths of various tracers of interstellar material in the two lines of sight suggest that the total hydrogen column densities [N(H) ~ 2.5 x 10^{20} cm^{-2}] and the depletions and ionization in the main components at low LSR velocities also are similar. Toward HD 72127A, the main components are relatively cool (T < 900 K), but with depletions resembling those found in warm, diffuse disc clouds; the generally weaker components at higher velocities have much milder depletions, more like those found in halo clouds. Several trace neutral species -- Ca I, Cr I, and Fe I -- are much stronger toward HD 72127B, however. The column density of Cr I, for example, is about 30 times the value determined toward zeta Oph (the only previous detection of that species in the ISM). Dielectronic recombination in warmer gas (T > 5000 K) may be largely responsible for the enhanced abundances of those trace neutral species toward HD 72127B. If the main components toward HD 72127AB are associated with material in the Vela SNR, the differences in abundances and physical conditions occur on scales of about 1100 AU.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, accepted to MNRA

A search for interstellar anthracene toward the Perseus anomalous microwave emission region

We report the discovery of a new broad interstellar (or circumstellar) band at 7088.8 +- 2.0 \AA coincident to within the measurement uncertainties with the strongest band of the anthracene cation (C$_{14}$H$_{10}$$^+$) as measured in gas-phase laboratory spectroscopy at low temperatures (Sukhorukov et al.2004). The band is detected in the line of sight of star Cernis 52, a likely member of the very young star cluster IC 348, and is probably associated with cold absorbing material in a intervening molecular cloud of the Perseus star forming region where various experiments have recently detected anomalous microwave emission. From the measured intensity and available oscillator strength we find a column density of N$_{an^+}$= 1.1(+-0.4) x 10$^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$ implying that ~0.008% of the carbon in the cloud could be in the form of C$_{14}$H$_{10}$$^+$. A similar abundance has been recently claimed for the naphthalene cation (Iglesias-Groth et al. 2008) in this cloud. This is the first location outside the Solar System where specific PAHs are identified. We report observations of interstellar lines of CH and CH$^+$ that support a rather high column density for these species and for molecular hydrogen. The strength ratio of the two prominent diffuse interstellar bands at 5780 and 5797 \AA suggests the presence of a ``zeta'' type cloud in the line of sight (consistent with steep far-UV extinction and high molecular content). The presence of PAH cations and other related hydrogenated carbon molecules which are likely to occur in this type of clouds reinforce the suggestion that electric dipole radiation from fast spinning PAHs is responsible of the anomalous microwave emission detected toward Perseus.Comment: Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

Plenary Lecture 2: Milk and dairy produce and CVD: new perspectives on dairy and cardiovascular health

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. One of the key dietary recommendations for CVD prevention is reduction of saturated fat intake. Yet despite milk and dairy foods contributing on average 27 % of saturated fat intake in the UK diet, evidence from prospective cohort studies does not support a detrimental effect of milk and dairy foods on risk of CVD. This paper provides a brief overview of the role of milk and dairy products in the diets of UK adults, and will summarise the evidence in relation to the effects of milk and dairy consumption on CVD risk factors and mortality. The majority of prospective studies and meta-analyses examining the relationship between milk and dairy product consumption and risk of CVD show that milk and dairy products, excluding butter, are not associated with detrimental effects on CVD mortality or risk biomarkers, that include serum LDL cholesterol. In addition, there is increasing evidence that milk and dairy products are associated with lower blood pressure and arterial stiffness. These apparent benefits of milk and dairy foods have been attributed to their unique nutritional composition, and suggest that the elimination of milk and dairy may not be the optimum strategy for CVD risk reduction

Differential sensitivity of basal and acetylcholine-induced activity of nitric oxide to blockade by asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) in the rat aorta

&lt;b&gt;Background and purpose&lt;/b&gt;: Previous work has shown that NG-monomethyl-l-arginine (l-NMMA) paradoxically inhibits basal, but not ACh-stimulated activity of nitric oxide in rat aorta. The aim of this study was to determine if the endogenously produced agent, asymmetric NG, NG-dimethyl-l-arginine (ADMA), also exhibits this unusual selective blocking action. &lt;b&gt;Experimental approach&lt;/b&gt;: The effect of ADMA on basal nitric oxide activity was assessed by examining its ability to enhance phenylephrine (PE)-induced tone in endothelium-containing rings. Its effect on ACh-induced relaxation was assessed both in conditions where ADMA greatly enhanced PE tone and where tone was carefully matched with control tissues at a range of different levels. &lt;b&gt;Key results&lt;/b&gt;: ADMA (100 µM) potentiated PE-induced contraction, consistent with inhibition of basal nitric oxide activity. Higher concentrations (300–1000 µM) had no greater effect. Although ADMA (100 µM) also appeared to block ACh-induced relaxation when it enhanced PE tone to maximal levels, virtually no block was seen at intermediate levels of tone in the presence of ADMA. Even ADMA at 1000 µM had no effect on the maximal relaxation to ACh, although it produced a small (two- to threefold) reduction in sensitivity. ADMA and l-NMMA, like l-arginine (all at 1000 µM), protected ACh-induced relaxation against blockade by l-NAME (30 µM). &lt;b&gt;Conclusions and implications&lt;/b&gt;: In the rat aorta, ADMA, like l-NMMA, blocks basal activity of nitric oxide, but has little effect on that stimulated by ACh. Further studies are required to explain these seemingly anomalous actions of ADMA and l-NMMA

Evidence for the naphthalene cation in a region of the interstellar medium with anomalous microwave emission

We report high resolution spectroscopy of the moderately reddened (A$_V$=3) early type star Cernis 52 located in a region of the Perseus molecular cloud complex with anomalous microwave emission. In addition to the presence of the most common diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) we detect two new interstellar or circumstellar bands coincident to within 0.01% in wavelength with the two strongest bands of the naphthalene cation (C$_{10}$H$_{8}^+$) as measured in gas-phase laboratory spectroscopy at low temperatures and find marginal evidence for the third strongest band. Assuming these features are caused by the naphthalene cation, from the measured intensity and available oscillator strengths we find that 0.008 % of the carbon in the cloud could be in the form of this molecule. We expect hydrogen additions to cause hydronaphthalene cations to be abundant in the cloud and to contribute via electric dipole radiation to the anomalous microwave emission. The identification of new interstellar features consistent with transitions of the simplest polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon adds support to the hypothesis that this type of molecules are the carriers of both diffuse interstellar bands and anomalous microwave emission.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

The Red Rectangle: Its Shaping Mechanism and its Source of Ultraviolet Photons

The proto-planetary Red Rectangle nebula is powered by HD 44179, a spectroscopic binary (P = 318 d), in which a luminous post-AGB component is the primary source of both luminosity and current mass loss. Here, we present the results of a seven-year, eight-orbit spectroscopic monitoring program of HD 44179, designed to uncover new information about the source of the Lyman/far-ultraviolet continuum in the system as well as the driving mechanism for the bipolar outflow producing the current nebula. Our observations of the H-alpha line profile around the orbital phase of superior conjunction reveal the secondary component to be the origin of the fast (max. v~560$km s$^{-1}$) bipolar outflow in the Red Rectangle. The variation of total H-alpha flux from the central H II region with orbital phase also identifies the secondary or its surroundings as the source of the far-ultraviolet ionizing radiation in the system. The estimated mass of the secondary (~0.94 M$\sun$) and the speed of the outflow suggest that this component is a main sequence star and not a white dwarf, as previously suggested. We identify the source of the Lyman/far-ultraviolet continuum in the system as the hot, inner region (T$_{max} \ge 17,000$K) of an accretion disk surrounding the secondary, fed by Roche lobe overflow from the post-AGB primary at a rate of about$2 - 5\times10^{-5}$M$\sun$yr$^{-1}$. The total luminosity of the accretion disk around the secondary is estimated to be at least 300 L$\sun$, about 5% of the luminosity of the entire system. (abridged)Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap