ECO-LABELING STRATEGIES: THE ECO-PREMIUM PUZZLE IN THE WINE INDUSTRY

Eco-labeling signals that a product has been eco-certified. While there is increasing use of eco-labeling practices, there is still little understanding of the conditions under which eco-labels can command price premiums. In this paper, we argue that the certification of environmental practices by a third party should be analyzed as a strategy distinct from although related to the advertisement of the eco-certification through a label posted on the product. By assessing eco-labeling and eco-certification strategies separately, we are able to identify benefits associated with the certification process independently from those associated with the actual label. More specifically, we argue in the context of the wine industry that eco-certification can provide benefits, such as improved reputation in the industry or increased product quality, which can lead to a price premium without the need to use the eco-label. We estimate this price premium of wine due to the eco-certification of grapes using 13,400 observations of wine price, quality rating, varietals, vintage, and number of bottles produced, for the period 1998-2005. Overall, certifying wine increases the price by 13%, yet including an eco-label reduces the price by 20%. This result confirms the negative connotation associated by consumers with organic wine. The price premium of this luxury good due to certification acts independently from its label, a confounding result not previously demonstrated by related literature.organic wine, wine market, price premium, eco-wine, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy,

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Scenes from January Term 2006; clockwise from top left, Austrialia, India and Londo

The relationship between parental and adolescent mental health: internalising disorders, attachment prototype and schema profile

PURPOSE OF STUDY: Several studies have noted that the vulnerability that appears to stem from insecure attachment may originate with cognitive processes (Ingram, 2003). The conceptual similarities between Bowlby's (1969, 1973) attachment theory and Young's (1994) schema theory have been noted (Mason et al, 2005). Few studies have examined the relationship of attachment style, cognitive style and affect in adolescence. Moreover, studies of depressed children and adolescents in clinical samples have rarely reported on the status of mothers (Hammen et al, 1999) or fathers, representing gaps in existing knowledge given that many children and adolescents may have disorders that are functionally linked in some way to their parents (Hammen et al, 1999; Goodman & Gotlib, 1999). The present exploratory study investigated two mechanisms of risk for adolescent internalising disorders, modelling of parents attachment style, cognitive style and affect and indirect learning through attachment representations.METHOD: A cross-sectional between-subjects postal questionnaire design was employed. A clinical sample of 10 adolescents with internalising disorders and their parents (10 mothers and 2 fathers) completed a questionnaire battery incorporating self-report measures of attachment style, affect symptomatology and cognitive style.RESULTS: Correlational analysis did not provide support for the modelling hypothesis with regard to matching between adolescents and mothers attachment styles, cognitive styles or affect. Adolescents cognitive style was not found to be related to mothers affect or history of internalising problems. However, significant relationships were evident between adolescents' cognitive schemas, internalising symptomatology and attachment style.CONCLUSIONS: The significant results obtained are consistent with interpersonal relationship and cognitive vulnerability theories ofrisk but need to be interpreted with the caution necessary to an exploratory study. Implications concerning mechanisms of risk for adolescent internalising disorders are discussed and several directions for future research provided

Phylogenomic Study Indicates Widespread Lateral Gene Transfer in \u3ci\u3eEntamoeba\u3c/i\u3e and Suggests a Past Intimate Relationship with Parabasalids

Lateral gene transfer (LGT) has impacted the evolutionary history of eukaryotes, though to a lesser extent than in bacteria and archaea. Detecting LGT and distinguishing it from single gene tree artifacts is difficult, particularly when considering very ancient events (i.e., over hundreds of millions of years). Here, we use two independent lines of evidence - A taxon-rich phylogenetic approach and an assessment of the patterns of gene presence/absence- to evaluate the extent of LGT in the parasitic amoebozoan genus Entamoeba. Previous work has suggested that a number of genes in the genome of Entamoeba spp. were acquired by LGT. Our approach, using an automated phylogenomic pipeline to build taxon-rich gene trees, suggests that LGT is more extensive than previously thought. Our analyses reveal that genes have frequently entered the Entamoeba genome via nonvertical events, including at least 116 genes acquired directly from bacteria or archaea, plus an additional 22 genes in which Entamoeba plus one other eukaryote are nested among bacteria and/or archaea. These genes may make good candidates for novel therapeutics, as drugs targeting these genes are less likely to impact the human host. Although we recognize the challenges of inferring intradomain transfers given systematic errors in gene trees, we find 109 genes supporting LGT from a eukaryote to Entamoeba spp., and 178 genes unique to Entamoeba spp. And one other eukaryotictaxon (i.e., presence/absence data). Inspection of these intradomain LGTs provide evidence of a common sister relationship between genes of Entamoeba (Amoebozoa) and parabasalids (Excavata). We speculate that this indicates a past close relationship (e.g., symbiosis) between ancestors of these extant lineages

Pulmonary Nocardiosisin an ImmunocompetentHost

Introduction: • Nocardia is known to cause severe pulmonary or disseminated infection in immunocompromised patients, but can cause infection in immunocompetent patients. Providers should consider Nocardiosis in immunocompetent patients with prolonged and unexplained respiratory failure. • The preferred therapy for pulmonary Nocardiosis is a sulfa antibiotic for 3-6 months. Toxicity from prolonged use of alternative agents presents a therapeutic challenge in those with sulfa allergy. Case Report: • An 85 year-old woman with a history of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and heart failure with preserved EF presented to her primary care provider with 1 week of cough and progressive dyspnea. Chest x-ray (CXR) was normal, and echocardiogram demonstrated known HFpEFwithout new abnormalities. • Two months later, she presented to the hospital with progressive dyspnea, chest tightness, and was found to be hypoxic. CXR on admission showed bilateral consolidations as well as mediastinal and hilar adenopathy. She was treated with ceftriaxone & azithromycin for presumed community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). • Due to treatment failure, a CT Chest was obtained and showed a mass-like consolidation in the right middle lobe; she was discharged with a several-week prednisone taper for treatment of presumed cryptogenic organizing pneumonia. • Two weeks later, she returned for worsening dyspnea, chest pressure, malaise, and hypoxia. She was again treated for CAP and discharged. • One month later, she was admitted for similar symptoms, and a CT-guided lung biopsy showed several small clusters of long Gram-positive bacteria consistent with Nocardia spp. Tissue culture was positive for Nocardia cyriacigeorgicacomplex. • The patient was offered a challenge of her sulfa allergy (reported as a rash), but refused. She was started on linezolid in anticipation of a 6 month course of therapy. • Her hospitalization was complicated by cardiac & renal dysfunction. Due to severely impaired quality of life, the patient elected for hospice care and died approximately 2 weeks after discharge. Discussion: • Nocardiosis most commonly presents as a pulmonary infection as inhalation is the primary route of exposure. • More than half of all reported Nocardiosis cases are associated with preexisting immunocompromise such as organ transplantation, AIDS, diabetes, chronic granulomatous disease and alcoholism. More recently published case reports depict Nocardia infections in immunocompetent patients with a prior history of lung disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, and bronchiectasis. • Our patient was neither immunocompromised, nor had a prior history of lung disease, though was an elderly person. Immunosenescenceis associated with decline in innate as well as T-cell immunity, which may have imparted risk to our patient. • The mainstay for treatment of Nocardia infections is trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX). Alternative oral agents include minocycline, amoxicillin-clavulanate, and linezolid. • Had our patient not chosen the route of hospice care, close monitoring for linezolid toxicity would have been necessary with possible TMP-SMX re-challenge for long term therapy.https://digitalcommons.psjhealth.org/psv_internal/1007/thumbnail.jp

Indication of electron neutrino appearance from an accelerator-produced off-axis muon neutrino beam

The T2K experiment observes indications of nu(mu) -> nu(mu) e appearance in data accumulated with 1.43 x 10(20) protons on target. Six events pass all selection criteria at the far detector. In a three-flavor neutrino oscillation scenario with |Delta m(23)(2)| = 2.4 x 10(-3) eV(2), sin(2)2 theta(23) = 1 and sin(2)2 theta(13) = 0, the expected number of such events is 1.5 +/- 0.3(syst). Under this hypothesis, the probability to observe six or more candidate events is 7 x 10(-3), equivalent to 2.5 sigma significance. At 90% C.L., the data are consistent with 0.03(0.04) < sin(2)2 theta(13) < 0.28(0.34) for delta(CP) = 0 and a normal (inverted) hierarchy

A longitudinal study of factors associated with acute and chronic mastitis and their impact on lamb growth rate in 10 suckler sheep flocks in Great Britain

A 2-year prospective, longitudinal study of 10 suckler sheep flocks in Great Britain was run to identify factors associated with acute mastitis (AM) and chronic mastitis, and their impact on lamb growth rate. Data were collected on AM, intramammary masses (IMM; a marker for chronic mastitis), udder and teat conformation, teat lesions, body condition, ewe nutrition, litter size, lamb weight and general flock management. Each flock was visited twice each year, approximately 4 weeks before lambing and 9 weeks into lactation, for two years and all ewes present at a visit were examined. There were 7021 examinations in total. AM was reported in 2.1–3.0% of ewes/year; this ranged from 0.0% to 37.1% by flock. IMM were detected in 4.7% of ewes in pregnancy and 10.9% of ewes in lactation. Once an IMM had been detected there was an increased risk of future IMM although IMM were not consistently present. The majority of ewes had good udder conformation to suckle lambs. Factors associated with AM, IMM in pregnant and lactating ewes, udder conformation and lamb daily live weight gain were explored using mixed effect multivariable models. An increased risk of AM was associated with underfeeding protein in pregnancy (OR 4.05), forward pointing teats (OR 2.54), downward pointing teats (OR 4.68), rearing ≥ 2 lambs (OR 2.65), non-traumatic teat lesions (OR 2.09); and marginally associated with the presence of IMM. An increased risk of IMM in lactation was associated with AM during lactation (OR 12.39), IMM in pregnancy (OR 4.79), IMM in the previous lactation (OR 4.77), underfeeding energy in pregnancy (OR 6.66) and traumatic teat lesions (OR 2.48). An increased risk of IMM in pregnancy was associated with IMM in the previous pregnancy, IMM in the previous lactation and underfeeding energy in the previous lactation (OR 2.95). Lower lamb daily live weight gain was associated with traumatic teat lesions, IMM in lactation (−0.01 kg/day) and AM (−0.04 kg/day). We conclude that inadequate nutrition is an important cause of mastitis in suckler ewes which farmers could address in part using current nutritional guidelines but further work is needed. The relationship between AM and IMM indicates that separating or culling ewes with IMM would help reduce AM

Turning the Crown Upside Down: Gene Tree Parsimony Roots the Eukaryotic Tree of Life

The first analyses of gene sequence data indicated that the eukaryotic tree of life consisted of a long stem of microbial groups topped by a crown-containing plants, animals, and fungi and their microbial relatives. Although more recent multigene concatenated analyses have refined the relationships among the many branches of eukaryotes, the root of the eukaryotic tree of life has remained elusive. Inferring the root of extant eukaryotes is challenging because of the age of the group (∼1.7-2.1 billion years old), tremendous heterogeneity in rates of evolution among lineages, and lack of obvious outgroups for many genes. Here, we reconstruct a rooted phylogeny of extant eukaryotes based on minimizing the number of duplications and losses among a collection of gene trees. This approach does not require outgroup sequences or assumptions of orthology among sequences. We also explore the impact of taxon and gene sampling and assess support for alternative hypotheses for the root. Using 20 gene trees from 84 diverse eukaryotic lineages, this approach recovers robust eukaryotic clades and reveals evidence for a eukaryotic root that lies between the Opisthokonta (animals, fungi and their microbial relatives) and all remaining eukaryotes