Environmental Certification as a Buffer Against the Liabilities of Newness and Smallness: Firm Performance Benefits

Sustainable entrepreneurship encourages a focus on innovation, efficiency and environmentally-friendly actions. Certification enables firms to accumulate legitimacy that enables stakeholders to know of, and understand, a firm’s activities: it is a mechanism to buffer against the liabilities of newness and smallness. Building on insights from the resource-based view of the firm, institutional theory and signalling theory, this article conceptualises environmental certification as an observable high-quality resource investment signal. This resource fosters innovation and encourages certified firms to accumulate and mobilise legitimacy. Regression analysis detected that very young and micro firms who cited the compounded signal of certification reported significantly higher levels of effectiveness. Micro firms that cited the compounded signal of certification reported weakly significantly higher levels profitability. Certification enables very young, rather than young firms, to address the liabilities of newness, and enables micro, rather than small firms, to address the liabilities of smallness

Pattern matching and pattern discovery algorithms for protein topologies

We describe algorithms for pattern matching and pattern learning in TOPS diagrams (formal descriptions of protein topologies). These problems can be reduced to checking for subgraph isomorphism and finding maximal common subgraphs in a restricted class of ordered graphs. We have developed a subgraph isomorphism algorithm for ordered graphs, which performs well on the given set of data. The maximal common subgraph problem then is solved by repeated subgraph extension and checking for isomorphisms. Despite the apparent inefficiency such approach gives an algorithm with time complexity proportional to the number of graphs in the input set and is still practical on the given set of data. As a result we obtain fast methods which can be used for building a database of protein topological motifs, and for the comparison of a given protein of known secondary structure against a motif database

“The great source” microplastic abundance and characteristics along the river Thames

This study focused on quantifying the abundance of microplastics within the surface water of the River Thames, UK. Ten sites in eight areas were sampled within the tidal Thames, starting from Teddington and ending at Southend-on-Sea. Three litres of water was collected monthly at high tide from land-based structures from each site from May 2019 to May 2021. Samples underwent visual analysis for microplastics categorised based on type, colour and size. 1041 pieces were tested using Fourier transform spectroscopy to identify chemical composition and polymer type. 6401 pieces of MP were found during sampling with an average MP of 12.27 pieces L⁻¹ along the river Thames. Results from this study show that microplastic abundance does not increase along the river

Chromatin Accessibility-Based Characterization of the Gene Regulatory Network Underlying Plasmodium falciparum Blood-Stage Development.

Underlying the development of malaria parasites within erythrocytes and the resulting pathogenicity is a hardwired program that secures proper timing of gene transcription and production of functionally relevant proteins. How stage-specific gene expression is orchestrated in vivo remains unclear. Here, using the assay for transposase accessible chromatin sequencing (ATAC-seq), we identified ∼4,000 regulatory regions in P. falciparum intraerythrocytic stages. The vast majority of these sites are located within 2 kb upstream of transcribed genes and their chromatin accessibility pattern correlates positively with abundance of the respective mRNA transcript. Importantly, these regions are sufficient to drive stage-specific reporter gene expression and DNA motifs enriched in stage-specific sets of regulatory regions interact with members of the P. falciparum AP2 transcription factor family. Collectively, this study provides initial insights into the in vivo gene regulatory network of P. falciparum intraerythrocytic stages and should serve as a valuable resource for future studies

A Pilot Evaluation of an Online Tool Designed to Aid Development of Basic Laboratory Skills

A pilot study was conducted using a cohort of 18 students, studying for their Bioscience Masters, and carrying out project work throughout the summer. On arrival for a laboratory class the students were asked to complete a baseline confidence log and answer a knowledge quiz. The confidence log and quiz were developed from ideas suggested in Draper et al., (1996). The forms assessed confidence and knowledge in terms of specific, basic laboratory skills which would be able to be practised on the UEL Virtual Lab (http://www.uelconnect.org.uk/hab/UELVirtualLab.html). The confidence log used a visual analogue scale and students were asked to rate how confident they felt in performing a basic laboratory procedures or calculations formulated from each of the sections in the UEL Virtual Lab. The quiz paper had 10 questions testing knowledge of basic laboratory skills

User guide BGS Coastal Vulnerability Index version 1

Coastal vulnerability indexing is a GIS-based analysis tool for indicating multi-hazards and interdependencies within the coastal zone of Great Britain (GB). The mainland of Great Britain is surrounded by over 11 000 miles of coastline. It is a very diverse coastline both in terms of geology and geomorphology, ranging from the high chalk cliffs of Sussex to the flat expanses of The Wash and Morecambe Bay. The coast has been shaped by the continual forces of erosion from the wind, waves and tide and the characteristics and composition of the coastline dictate the degree of its vulnerability. The winter storms of 2013-14 starkly demonstrated the vulnerability of the GB coastline to erosion and overtopping but during media enquiries it became clear that a national picture of the sections of coastline susceptible to erosion didn’t exist. The Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) has been created to bring together a suite of data to fill this knowledge gap. With climate change forecasts of an increase in the frequency and intensity of winter storms, BGS has developed a coastal vulnerability index (CVI), drawing on existing BGS datasets and expertise, and we intend to work in collaboration with other organisations to help manage these changes in the future. The CVI will offer anyone with assets or an interest in the coastline around Great Britain access to easy-to use indexes linked to geohazard data. This will allow users to interpret potential interdependencies in terms of erosion, flooding, habitat and other vulnerabilities. Version 1 of the CVI represents the natural geological coastline (around the mainland of GB only) as if no coastal defences or made ground are present. Due to their complex geometry, the coastlines of N and W Scotland have not been included in version 1. This will be of particular value in areas where coastal defences are no longer maintained. Future versions of the CVI will include all coastal defences and made ground

RAS mutation prevalence among patients with metastatic colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis of real-world data

AIM: A confirmed wild-type RAS tumor status is commonly required for prescribing anti-EGFR treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer. This noninterventional, observational research project estimated RAS mutation prevalence from real-world sources. MATERIALS & METHODS: Aggregate RAS mutation data were collected from 12 sources in three regions. Each source was analyzed separately; pooled prevalence estimates were then derived from meta-analyses. RESULTS: The pooled RAS mutation prevalence from 4431 tumor samples tested for RAS mutation status was estimated to be 43.6% (95% CI: 38.8-48.5%); ranging from 33.7% (95% CI: 28.4-39.3%) to 54.1% (95% CI: 51.7-56.5%) between sources. CONCLUSION: The RAS mutation prevalence estimates varied among sources. The reasons for this are not clear and highlight the need for further research