House price Keynesianism and the contradictions of the modern investor subject

This article conceptualises the marked downturn in UK house prices in the 2007-2009 period in relation to longer-term processes of national economic restructuring centred on a new model of homeownership. The structure of UK house prices has been impacted markedly by the Labour Government‟s efforts to ingrain a particular notion of financial literacy amid the move towards an increasingly asset-based system of welfare. New model welfare recipients and new model homeowners have thereby been co-constituted in a manner consistent with a new UK growth regime of „house price Keynesianism‟. However, the investor subjects who drive such growth are necessarily rendered uncertain as compared with the idealised image of Government policy because of their reliance on the credit-creating decisions of private financial institutions. The recent steep decline in UK house prices is explained here as an epiphenomenon of the disruptive effect on the idealised image caused by the dependence of investor subjects on pricing dynamics not of their making

Toxigenic Aspergillus section Flavi and aflatoxins in Dried Yam Chips in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract: The distribution of aflatoxigenic Aspergillus and quantity of aflatoxins were determined in 40 dried yam chip samples collected from four markets in Ibadan, Nigeria. A control chip was prepared to assess the influence of storage duration on toxin accumulation. Two hundred and thirty-four isolates of the Aspergillus section Flavi group were recovered from 92.5% of the chips. A. flavus L-strain was the most occurring taxon (>60% incidence) while S BG strain and A. parasiticus were the least predominant (<4.5% incidence). The relative proportion of toxigenic to atoxigenic strains varied across markets with significant (P<0.05) incidence of atoxigenic over toxigenic in 75% of the locations. The overall incidence for B-and G-aflatoxin contamination was 97.5% with aflatoxin B 1 having the highest concentration of 190µg/kg. About 67.5% of the chip samples violated the EC regulation on aflatoxin levels in food. Consequently, contaminating mould and toxin reduction strategies targeted towards the post-production storage methods should be considered since there was the highest positive correlation (r=0.99) for the influence of storage duration on aflatoxin concentration in the contaminated samples. This will ensure public health safety

Exogenous regulation of the potatoes’ adaptive potential when using bio stimulants

Potato from the Solanaceae family is one of the most important crops in the world and its cultivation is common in many places. The average yield of this crop is 20 Mg·ha-1 and it is compatible with climatic conditions in many parts of the world. The experiment studied the possibility of exogenous regulation of the adaptive potential available for four potato cultivars through the use of growth stimulants with different action mechanisms: 24-epibrassinolide (EBL) and chitosan biopolymer (CHT). The results allowed us to establish significant differences in growth parameters, plant height, leaf index, vegetation index, chlorophyll content, and yield structure. Monitoring growth and predicting yields well before harvest are essential to effectively managing potato productivity. Studies have confirmed the empirical relationship between the normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) and N-tester vegetation index data at various stages of potato growth with yield data. Statistical linear regression models were used to develop an empirical relationship between the NDVI and N-tester data and yield at different stages of crop growth. The equations have a maximum determination coefficient (R2) of 0.63 for the N-tester and 0.74 for the NDVI during the flowering phase (BBCH1 65). NDVI and N-tester vegetation index positively correlated with yield data at all growth stages