The U.S. State Department Position at the Geneva Conference on Indochina in 1954

This paper intends to provide a coherent analysis of the United States position at the Geneva Conference on Indochina in 1954. The paper is based on U.S. State Department documents, edited in 1981 in the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series. At the Berlin Conference in January 1954, the French, against the will of the United States, placed Indochina on the agenda of the Geneva Conference, which was to start on May 8, 1954. The United States, concerned that the French might accept an unfavorable Communist settlement, regarded participation in the Conference as essential in light of their global anticommunist containment theory. From the Berlin Conference on until the middle of June, the United States tried to prevent a settlement which would result in the loss of Indochina to the Communists. Favoring a French military victory over the Vietminh, the United States indicated willingness to intervene on the French side in order to strengthen French determination to continue fighting. The documents show that the United States obviously designed military intervention in order to prevent a French surrender to the Communists, but not as a real alternative to end the war. While hoping for a French victory, the United States vigorously opposed the negotiations at Indochina. After the fall of the Laniel government on June 12, the new premier Pierre Mendes-France\u27s determination to negotiate a settlement on Indochina forced the United States to rethink its position towards negotiations. The U.S. administration faced two possibilities, namely disassociation from the Conference, which might cause a worldwide loss of American prestige, or continued participation, which would make the United States responsible for the further development at Indochina. The administration knew that in all probability continued participation would result in American responsibility for a partition of Vietnam. With the decision to continue high-level representation at Geneva, President Dwight D. Eisenhower had decided for the latter option. His decision put the United States in a position where it could further support the Diem regime. Having participated in the Conference, the United States could also justify the maintenance--and later expansion--of the number of its Military Advisers as a necessary means to protect the democratic South Vietnamese regime. With the decision to continue participation at the Geneva Conference and in Indochina, the United States laid the foundations for later American involvement in Indochina. In light of this analysis, the Geneva Conference was a crucial step on the American road to Vietnam

Assessing and Addressing Atmospheric Nitrogen Impacts on Natura 2000 Sites in Wales (AAANIS): project report

The aim of this work is to assist in developing an approach to address the impact of nitrogen deposition on Natura 2000 sites in Wales

Adaptive laboratory evolution principles and applications for biotechnology

Adaptive laboratory evolution is a frequent method in biological studies to gain insights into the basic mechanisms of molecular evolution and adaptive changes that accumulate in microbial populations during long term selection under specified growth conditions. Although regularly performed for more than 25 years, the advent of transcript and cheap next-generation sequencing technologies has resulted in many recent studies, which successfully applied this technique in order to engineer microbial cells for biotechnological applications. Adaptive laboratory evolution has some major benefits as compared with classical genetic engineering but also some inherent limitations. However, recent studies show how some of the limitations may be overcome in order to successfully incorporate adaptive laboratory evolution in microbial cell factory design. Over the last two decades important insights into nutrient and stress metabolism of relevant model species were acquired, whereas some other aspects such as niche-specific differences of non-conventional cell factories are not completely understood. Altogether the current status and its future perspectives highlight the importance and potential of adaptive laboratory evolution as approach in biotechnological engineering.(VLID)90682

Inventory of ammonia emissions from UK agriculture 2009

The National Ammonia Reduction Strategy Evaluation System (NARSES) model (spreadsheet version) was used to estimate ammonia (NH3) emissions from UK agriculture for the year 2009. Year-specific livestock numbers and fertiliser N use were added for 2009 and revised for previous years. The estimate for 2009 was 231.8 kt NH3, representing a 2.3 kt increase from the previously submitted estimate for 2008. Backward and forward projections using the 2009 model structure gave estimates of 317, 245 and 244 kt NH3 for the years 1990, 2010 and 2020, respectively. This inventory reports emission from livestock agriculture and from nitrogen fertilisers applied to agricultural land. There are a number of other minor sources reported as ‘agriculture’ in the total UK emission inventory, including horses not kept on agricultural holdings, emissions from composting and domestic fertiliser use

A synthetic biology approach to self-regulatory recombinant protein production in Escherichia coli

Background: Recombinant protein production is a process of great industrial interest, with products that range from pharmaceuticals to biofuels. Since high level production of recombinant protein imposes significant stress in the host organism, several methods have been developed over the years to optimize protein production. So far, these trial-and-error techniques have proved laborious and sensitive to process parameters, while there has been no attempt to address the problem by applying Synthetic Biology principles and methods, such as integration of standardized parts in novel synthetic circuits. Results: We present a novel self-regulatory protein production system that couples the control of recombinant protein production with a stress-induced, negative feedback mechanism. The synthetic circuit allows the down-regulation of recombinant protein expression through a stress-induced promoter. We used E. coli as the host organism, since it is widely used in recombinant processes. Our results show that the introduction of the self-regulatory circuit increases the soluble/insoluble ratio of recombinant protein at the expense of total protein yield. To further elucidate the dynamics of the system, we developed a computational model that is in agreement with the observed experimental data, and provides insight on the interplay between protein solubility and yield. Conclusion: Our work introduces the idea of a self-regulatory circuit for recombinant protein products, and paves the way for processes with reduced external control or monitoring needs. It demonstrates that the library of standard biological parts serves as a valuable resource for initial synthetic blocks that needs to be further refined to be successfully applied in practical problems of biotechnological significance. ^Finally, the development of a predictive model in conjunction with experimental validation facilitates a better understanding of the underlying dynamics and can be used as a guide to experimental design.(VLID)90663

Access to pharmaceutical products in six European countries – analysis of different pharmaceutical distribution systems

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to draw a comprehensive picture of the pharmaceutical wholesale sector, outlining its socio-economic importance compared to different distribution systems such as short-line wholesaling, direct sales from manufacturers, Reduced Wholesale Arrangements (RWA) and Direct to Pharmacy (DTP) arrangements. Its role is considered from an economic, effectiveness and, most importantly, a public health viewpoint with qualitative and quantitative methods, focusing on France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.METHODS: First, data has been sourced from annual GIRP and IMS-Health statistics; second, a systematic literature research verified the empirical findings; third, an online-questionnaire was directed to pharmacies. Further data have been sourced from a questionnaire, addressing GIRP-full-member associations and wholesale companies (return rate 86%).RESULTS: On a weighted average, pharmaceutical full-line wholesalers in the observed countries alone pre-finance € 10.2 bn over a period of 41 days the entire medicine-market and secure the cash-flow of the social-insurers (Germany: € 2.60 bn for 38 days; Italy: € 2.27 bn for 68 days; the UK: € 1.48 bn for 36 days; France: € 1.28 bn for 22 days; Spain: € 969.76 m for 27 days; the Netherlands: € 399.09 m for 30 days on average). On average, pharmaceutical full-line wholesalers are bundling products of 18.28 manufacturers per delivery. The process costs would increase by € 164,922.43 to € 171,510.06 per year, if there were no pharmaceutical full-line wholesalers. These additional costs would have to be paid by manufacturers, pharmacies and finally by patients. Regarding the satisfaction with different distribution models, the results of the online-questionnaire show that pharmacists in the observed countries are very satisfied with the distribution through their pharmaceutical full-line wholesalers.CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that pharmaceutical full-line wholesalers have an important and unique position in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Special functions like the pre-financing of the entire medicinal product market, or the guarantee of the continuous supply of all medicinal products verify these findings