From brand congruence to the ‘virtuous circle’: branding and the commercialization of public service broadcasting

In debates about the commercialization of public service broadcasting little attention has been paid to the ways in which the public might experience the commercial and public service activities of public service broadcasters and the impact that this may have on attitudes towards public service broadcasting. This is despite the fact that public service broadcasters increasingly depend on public support for their continued survival. Using the case study of the BBC, this article examines the ways in which the corporation has adopted strategic brand management to negotiate the relationship between its commercial and public service activities. Focusing on specific examples of the BBC’s commercial and public services, the article reveals a tension between the corporation’s attempts to ensure that all activities support its public purposes and its need to ensure separation between public and commercial work. Focusing on the consumer’s experience of the BBC brand, the article argues that rather than seeing commercial activity and public service broadcasting as inherently contradictory, we should be looking at the ways in which public service broadcasters can better communicate the relationship between their commercial and public service activities while continuing to argue for the social and cultural value of publicly funded broadcasting

The \u3ci\u3epho1;2a\u27-m1.1\u3c/i\u3e allele of \u3ci\u3ePhosphate1\u3c/i\u3e conditions misregulation of the phosphorus starvation response in maize (\u3ci\u3eZea mays ssp. mays L.\u3c/i\u3e)

Plant PHO1 proteins play a central role in the translocation and sensing of inorganic phosphate. The maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) genome encodes two co-orthologs of the Arabidopsis PHO1 gene, designated ZmPho1;2a and ZmPho1;2b. Here, we report the characterization of the transposon footprint allele Zmpho1;2a\u27-m1.1, which we refer to hereafter as pho1;2a. The pho1;2a allele is a stable derivative formed by excision of an Activator transposable element from the ZmPho1;2a gene. The pho1;2a allele contains an 8-bp insertion at the point of transposon excision that disrupts the reading frame and is predicted to generate a premature translational stop. We show that the pho1;2a allele is linked to a dosage-dependent reduction in Pho1;2a transcript accumulation and a mild reduction in seedling growth. Characterization of shoot and root transcriptomes under full nutrient, low nitrogen, low phosphorus, and combined low nitrogen and low phosphorus conditions identified 1100 differentially expressed genes between wild-type plants and plants carrying the pho1;2a mutation. Of these 1100 genes, 966 were upregulated in plants carrying pho1;2a, indicating the wildtype PHO1;2a to predominantly impact negative gene regulation. Gene set enrichment analysis of the pho1;2a-misregulated genes revealed associations with phytohormone signaling and the phosphate starvation response. In roots, differential expression was broadly consistent across all nutrient conditions. In leaves, differential expression was largely specific to low phosphorus and combined low nitrogen and low phosphorus conditions. Of 276 genes upregulated in the leaves of pho1;2a mutants in the low phosphorus condition, 153 were themselves induced in wild-type plants with respect to the full nutrient condition. Our observations suggest that Pho1;2a functions in the fine-tuning of the transcriptional response to phosphate starvation through maintenance and/or sensing of plant phosphate status

Metabolic Deficiences Revealed in the Biotechnologically Important Model Bacterium Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)

The Escherichia coli B strain BL21(DE3) has had a profound impact on biotechnology through its use in the production of recombinant proteins. Little is understood, however, regarding the physiology of this important E. coli strain. We show here that BL21(DE3) totally lacks activity of the four [NiFe]-hydrogenases, the three molybdenum- and selenium-containing formate dehydrogenases and molybdenum-dependent nitrate reductase. Nevertheless, all of the structural genes necessary for the synthesis of the respective anaerobic metalloenzymes are present in the genome. However, the genes encoding the high-affinity molybdate transport system and the molybdenum-responsive transcriptional regulator ModE are absent from the genome. Moreover, BL21(DE3) has a nonsense mutation in the gene encoding the global oxygen-responsive transcriptional regulator FNR. The activities of the two hydrogen-oxidizing hydrogenases, therefore, could be restored to BL21(DE3) by supplementing the growth medium with high concentrations of Ni2+ (Ni2+-transport is FNR-dependent) or by introducing a wild-type copy of the fnr gene. Only combined addition of plasmid-encoded fnr and high concentrations of MoO42− ions could restore hydrogen production to BL21(DE3); however, to only 25–30% of a K-12 wildtype. We could show that limited hydrogen production from the enzyme complex responsible for formate-dependent hydrogen evolution was due solely to reduced activity of the formate dehydrogenase (FDH-H), not the hydrogenase component. The activity of the FNR-dependent formate dehydrogenase, FDH-N, could not be restored, even when the fnr gene and MoO42− were supplied; however, nitrate reductase activity could be recovered by combined addition of MoO42− and the fnr gene. This suggested that a further component specific for biosynthesis or activity of formate dehydrogenases H and N was missing. Re-introduction of the gene encoding ModE could only partially restore the activities of both enzymes. Taken together these results demonstrate that BL21(DE3) has major defects in anaerobic metabolism, metal ion transport and metalloprotein biosynthesis

Landscape transcriptomics as a tool for addressing global change effects across diverse species

Landscape transcriptomics is an emerging field studying how genome-wide expression patterns reflect dynamic landscape-scale environmental drivers, including habitat, weather, climate, and contaminants, and the subsequent effects on organismal function. This field is benefitting from advancing and increasingly accessible molecular technologies, which in turn are allowing the necessary characterization of transcriptomes from wild individuals distributed across natural landscapes. This research is especially important given the rapid pace of anthropogenic environmental change and potential impacts that span levels of biological organization. We discuss three major themes in landscape transcriptomic research: connecting transcriptome variation across landscapes to environmental variation, generating and testing hypotheses about the mechanisms and evolution of transcriptomic responses to the environment, and applying this knowledge to species conservation and management. We discuss challenges associated with this approach and suggest potential solutions. We conclude that landscape transcriptomics has great promise for addressing fundamental questions in organismal biology, ecology, and evolution, while providing tools needed for conservation and management of species

Increased Hydrogen Production by Genetic Engineering of Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli is capable of producing hydrogen under anaerobic growth conditions. Formate is converted to hydrogen in the fermenting cell by the formate hydrogenlyase enzyme system. The specific hydrogen yield from glucose was improved by the modification of transcriptional regulators and metabolic enzymes involved in the dissimilation of pyruvate and formate. The engineered E. coli strains ZF1 (ΔfocA; disrupted in a formate transporter gene) and ZF3 (ΔnarL; disrupted in a global transcriptional regulator gene) produced 14.9, and 14.4 µmols of hydrogen/mg of dry cell weight, respectively, compared to 9.8 µmols of hydrogen/mg of dry cell weight generated by wild-type E. coli strain W3110. The molar yield of hydrogen for strain ZF3 was 0.96 mols of hydrogen/mol of glucose, compared to 0.54 mols of hydrogen/mol of glucose for the wild-type E. coli strain. The expression of the global transcriptional regulator protein FNR at levels above natural abundance had a synergistic effect on increasing the hydrogen yield in the ΔfocA genetic background. The modification of global transcriptional regulators to modulate the expression of multiple operons required for the biosynthesis of formate hydrogenlyase represents a practical approach to improve hydrogen production

Biochemical properties of Paracoccus denitrificans FnrP:Reactions with molecular oxygen and nitric oxide

In Paracoccus denitrificans, three CRP/FNR family regulatory proteins, NarR, NnrR and FnrP, control the switch between aerobic and anaerobic (denitrification) respiration. FnrP is a [4Fe-4S] cluster containing homologue of the archetypal O2 sensor FNR from E. coli and accordingly regulates genes encoding aerobic and anaerobic respiratory enzymes in response to O2, and also NO, availability. Here we show that FnrP undergoes O2-driven [4Fe-4S] to [2Fe-2S] cluster conversion that involves up to 2 O2 per cluster, with significant oxidation of released cluster sulfide to sulfane observed at higher O2 concentrations. The rate of the cluster reaction was found to be ~6-fold lower than that of E. coli FNR, suggesting that FnrP can remain transcriptionally active under microaerobic conditions. This is consistent with a role for FnrP in activating expression of the high O2 affinity cytochrome c oxidase under microaerobic conditions. Cluster conversion resulted in dissociation of the transcriptionally active FnrP dimer into monomers. Therefore, along with E. coli FNR, FnrP belongs to the subset of FNR proteins in which cluster type is correlated with association state. Interestingly, two key charged residues, Arg140 and Asp154, that have been shown to play key roles in the monomer-dimer equilibrium in E. coli FNR are not conserved in FnrP, indicating that different protomer interactions are important for this equilibrium. Finally, the FnrP [4Fe-4S] cluster is shown to undergo reaction with multiple NO molecules, resulting in iron nitrosyl species and dissociation into monomers

Transforming Last-Mile Logistics: Opportunities for more Sustainable Deliveries

Road congestion, air pollution and sustainability are increasingly important in major cities. We look to understand how last-mile deliveries in the parcel sector are impacting our roads. Using formative field work and quantitative analysis of consignment manifests and location data, we identify how the effectiveness of life-style couriers is contributing to both environmental and non-environmental externalities. This paper presents an analysis of delivery performances and practices in last-mile logistics in central London, quantifying the impacts differing levels of experience have on overall round efficiency. We identify eleven key opportunities for technological support for last-mile parcel deliveries that could contribute to both driver eectiveness and sustainability. We finish by examining how HCI can lead to improved environmental and social justice by re-considering and realizing future collaborative visions in last-mile logistics

Differential game theory for versatile physical human-robot interaction

The last decades have seen a surge of robots working in contact with humans. However, until now these contact robots have made little use of the opportunities offered by physical interaction and lack a systematic methodology to produce versatile behaviours. Here, we develop an interactive robot controller able to understand the control strategy of the human user and react optimally to their movements. We demonstrate that combining an observer with a differential game theory controller can induce a stable interaction between the two partners, precisely identify each other’s control law, and allow them to successfully perform the task with minimum effort. Simulations and experiments with human subjects demonstrate these properties and illustrate how this controller can induce different representative interaction strategies

Characterization of introgression from the teosinte Zea mays ssp. mexicana to Mexican highland maize

Background The spread of maize cultivation to the highlands of central Mexico was accompanied by substantial introgression from the endemic wild teosinte Zea mays ssp. mexicana, prompting the hypothesis that the transfer of beneficial variation facilitated local adaptation. Methods We used whole-genome sequence data to map regions of Zea mays ssp. mexicana introgression in three Mexican highland maize individuals. We generated a genetic linkage map and performed Quantitative Trait Locus mapping in an F2 population derived from a cross between lowland and highland maize individuals. Results Introgression regions ranged in size from several hundred base pairs to Megabase-scale events. Gene density within introgression regions was comparable to the genome as a whole, and over 1,000 annotated genes were located within introgression events. Quantitative Trait Locus mapping identified a small number of loci linked to traits characteristic of Mexican highland maize. Discussion Although there was no strong evidence to associate quantitative trait loci with regions of introgression, we nonetheless identified many Mexican highland alleles of introgressed origin that carry potentially functional sequence variants. The impact of introgression on stress tolerance and yield in the highland environment remains to be fully characterized