The robustness of flood insurance regimes given changing risk resulting from climate change

The changing risk of flooding associated with climate change presents different challenges for the different flood insurance market models in use around the world, which vary in respect of consumer structure and their risk transfer mechanism. A review of international models has been undertaken against three broad criteria for the functioning and sustainability of a flood insurance scheme: knowing the nature of the insurable risk; the availability of an insurable population; and the presence of a solvent insurer. The solvency of insurance markets appears strong, partly because insurers and reinsurers can choose to exclude markets which would give rise to insolvency or can diversify their portfolios to include offsetting perils. Changing risk may threaten solvency if increasing risk is not recognised and adjusted for but insurability of flood risk may be facilitated by the use of market based and hybrid schemes offering greater diversification and more flexibility. While encouragement of mitigation is in theory boosted by risk based pricing, availability and affordability of insurance may be negatively impacted. This threatens the sustainability of an insurable population, therefore the inclusion of the state in partnership is beneficial in ensuring continuity of cover, addressing equity issues and incentivising mitigation

Legal coercion, respect & reason-responsive agency

Legal coercion seems morally problematic because it is susceptible to the Hegelian objection that it fails to respect individuals in a way that is ‘due to them as men’. But in what sense does legal coercion fail to do so? And what are the grounds for this requirement to respect? This paper is an attempt to answer these questions. It argues that (a) legal coercion fails to respect individuals as reason-responsive agents; and (b) individuals ought to be respected as such in virtue of the fact that they are human beings. Thus it is in this sense that legal coercion fails to treat individuals with the kind of respect ‘due to them as men’.The Leverhulme Trust (ECF-2012-032); AHRC (AH/H015655/1

Perturbation of Chromatin Structure Globally Affects Localization and Recruitment of Splicing Factors

Chromatin structure is an important factor in the functional coupling between transcription and mRNA processing, not only by regulating alternative splicing events, but also by contributing to exon recognition during constitutive splicing. We observed that depolarization of neuroblastoma cell membrane potential, which triggers general histone acetylation and regulates alternative splicing, causes a concentration of SR proteins in nuclear speckles. This prompted us to analyze the effect of chromatin structure on splicing factor distribution and dynamics. Here, we show that induction of histone hyper-acetylation results in the accumulation in speckles of multiple splicing factors in different cell types. In addition, a similar effect is observed after depletion of the heterochromatic protein HP1α, associated with repressive chromatin. We used advanced imaging approaches to analyze in detail both the structural organization of the speckle compartment and nuclear distribution of splicing factors, as well as studying direct interactions between splicing factors and their association with chromatin in vivo. The results support a model where perturbation of normal chromatin structure decreases the recruitment efficiency of splicing factors to nascent RNAs, thus causing their accumulation in speckles, which buffer the amount of free molecules in the nucleoplasm. To test this, we analyzed the recruitment of the general splicing factor U2AF65 to nascent RNAs by iCLIP technique, as a way to monitor early spliceosome assembly. We demonstrate that indeed histone hyper-acetylation decreases recruitment of U2AF65 to bulk 3' splice sites, coincident with the change in its localization. In addition, prior to the maximum accumulation in speckles, ∼20% of genes already show a tendency to decreased binding, while U2AF65 seems to increase its binding to the speckle-located ncRNA MALAT1. All together, the combined imaging and biochemical approaches support a model where chromatin structure is essential for efficient co-transcriptional recruitment of general and regulatory splicing factors to pre-mRNA

Recognising barriers to implementation of Blue-Green infrastructure: a Newcastle case study

There is a recognised need for a fundamental change in how the UK manages urban water and flood risk in response to increasingly frequent rainfall events coupled with planned urban expansion. Approaches centred on ‘living with and making space for water’ are increasingly adopted internationally. Nonetheless, widespread implementation of Blue-Green infrastructure (BGI) is currently hampered by barriers that impede uptake and innovation. We investigate the barriers to implementation of BGI in Newcastle, UK, through a series of semi-structured interviews with professional stakeholders. We identify and categorise 17 types of barrier and identify targeted strategies to overcome the dominant barriers. We recommend promotion of BGI’s capacity to meet the objectives of multiple organisations and Local Authority departments, in addition to managing urban water. We conclude that strong business cases, supported by monetised evidence of benefits, and collaborative, inter-agency working could advance implementation of BGI within the current flood risk management legislation

1981 Report of Agricultural Research, Southeast Kansas Branch Station

This annual research report is to inform area farmers of what is being attempted and accomplished at the Southeast Kansas Branch Experiment Station to serve the area. During 1980 the Station headquarters was moved from Mound Valley to Parsons, the location of one of the units of the Station since 1967. Effort at the Mound Valley location continues without reduction. The third unit of the Station is near Columbus. This report covers four areas of research emphasis: crops, forages, beef cattle, and soil and water management. The information is intended for producers, industry cooperators, and other interested persons

1981 Report of Agricultural Research, Southeast Kansas Branch Station

This annual research report is to inform area farmers of what is being attempted and accomplished at the Southeast Kansas Branch Experiment Station to serve the area. During 1980 the Station headquarters was moved from Mound Valley to Parsons, the location of one of the units of the Station since 1967. Effort at the Mound Valley location continues without reduction. The third unit of the Station is near Columbus. This report covers four areas of research emphasis: crops, forages, beef cattle, and soil and water management. The information is intended for producers, industry cooperators, and other interested persons

1982 Report of Agricultural Research, Southeast Kansas Branch Station

Through annual research reports the Southeast Kansas Branch Experiment Station attempts to keep the area\u27s consumers and producers of agricultural products informed on the Station\u27s research accomplishments. In serving the area, we conduct research at fields located at Parsons, site of the headquarters; at Mound Valley, the original location of the Branch Station; and at Columbus, which has been in the Kansas State University research system for nearly 60 years. This report for 1981 covers four areas of research emphasis: Soil and Water Management, Forages, Crops, and Beef Cattle. We sincerely hope that it will be useful to area producers and consumers, industry cooperators, Extension personnel and others

1979 Research Results Southeast Kansas Branch Agricultural Experiment Station

Southeast Kansas Experiment Station is in its 30th year of operation. The emphasis has changed over this period to reflect changes in agricultural emphases of the area. The professional research staff consists of four scientists, each with a broad area of research responsibility. Together they emphasize improvement in crop production, forage production, beef cattle production and soil and water management