The Molecular Basis of Private Property

For political and economic theory in general, libertarianism in particular, property rights are a pillar of central importance. One might describe the schools of political and economic thought solely by their approach to property rights, for example libertarianism as expansive and communism as constrained, with a fair degree of accuracy on the system as a whole. Despite centuries of property rights philosophy, a fundamental weakness persists that can be most easily seen from a natural science perspective. Property classifications, such as between one's physical body, personal property, and other types of so-called private property, underlie much of the property rights theory, yet these classes are more of a result of technological limitations than philosophical or real economic distinctions. We demonstrate through a lens of molecular and developmental biology how distinctions between types of property are misguided or illusory. Using the developing human embryo as the most basic example of property acquisition, we show that all subsequent examples of greater property acquisition and its use are fundamentally the same. The point is further developed with other biological examples. Foundational concepts are of primary importance as their mistake persists through even the most elegant deductions. In order to defend itself from the political and economic attacks, the property rights ethic must be consistent and logical. For this, any artificial or contradictory concepts must be shed

The development of an index for assessing the circularity level of eco-labels

The Circular Economy concept is recognized as a promising instrument to address sustainability goals related to production and consumption patterns. This concept can be promoted through product labels which provide consumers with information about the product. So far, there is a lack of circular economy labels. The existing eco-labels mainly show the environmental impact of a product; however, few include some circularity aspects. Thus, this study addresses this gap by introducing an Eco-Label Circularity Index (ECI) based on scoring systems and Circular Economy principles in order to assess the circularity level of existing eco-labels. The proposed framework was applied to a sample of 27 eco-labels to test and demonstrate its applicability and provide insights into the circularity of the eco-labels examined. The findings show that the examined labels do not adequately cover Circular Economy issues through their certification process, hence they are unable to provide a clear indication of the products contribution to Circular Economy. The implementation of the ECI in this study demonstrates its use as a straightforward evaluation process and a useful first step in making the circular aspects of products transparent and reducing information asymmetry between producers and consumers. © 202

Regulation of arcuate genes by developmental exposures to endocrine-disrupting compounds in female rats

PubMedID: 27103539Developmental exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) alters reproduction and energy homeostasis, both of which are regulated by the arcuate nucleus (ARC). Little is known about the effects of EDC on ARC gene expression. In Experiment #1, pregnant dams were treated with either two doses of bisphenol A (BPA) or oil from embryonic day (E)18-21. Neonates were injected from postnatal day (PND)0-7. Vaginal opening, body weights, and ARC gene expression were measured. Chrm3 (muscarinic receptor 3) and Adipor1 (adiponectin receptor 1) were decreased by BPA. Bdnf (brain-derived neurotropic factor), Igf1 (insulin-like growth factor 1), Htr2c (5-hydroxytryptamine receptor), and Cck2r (cholescystokinin 2 receptor) were impacted. In Experiment #2, females were exposed to BPA, diethylstilbestrol (DES), di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, or methoxychlor (MXC) during E11-PND7. MXC and DES advanced the age of vaginal opening and ARC gene expression was impacted. These data indicate that EDCs alter ARC genes involved in reproduction and energy homeostasis in females. © 2016 Elsevier Inc.ES005022 National Institutes of Health: ES017059, ES017847, R00DK083457This research is supported by National Institutes of Health Grant R00DK083457 (T.A.R.), and ES017847 , ES017059 (M.U.), and NIEHS Center Grant ES005022 (T.A.R and M.U.). Dr. Elif Oruc, visiting scholar from Cukurova University, Turkey, supported in part by TUBITAK-BIDEB International, Postdoctoral Research Scholarship Program

Structure And Enzymatic Properties Of An Unusual Cysteine Tryptophylquinone-Dependent Glycine Oxidase From Pseudoalteromonas Luteoviolacea

Glycine oxidase from Pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea (PlGoxA) is a cysteine tryptophylquinone (CTQ)-dependent enzyme. Sequence analysis and phylogenetic analysis place it in a newly designated subgroup (group IID) of a recently identified family of LodA-like proteins, which are predicted to possess CTQ. The crystal structure of PlGoxA reveals that it is a homotetramer. It possesses an N-terminal domain with no close structural homologues in the Protein Data Bank. The active site is quite small because of intersubunit interactions, which may account for the observed cooperativy toward glycine. Steady-state kinetic analysis yielded the following values: kcat = 6.0 ± 0.2 s-1, K0.5 = 187 ± 18 μM, and h = 1.77 ± 0.27. In contrast to other quinoprotein amine dehydrogenases and oxidases that exhibit anomalously large primary kinetic isotope effects on the rate of reduction of the quinone cofactor by the amine substrate, no significant primary kinetic isotope effect was observed for this reaction of PlGoxA. The absorbance spectrum of glycine-reduced PlGoxA exhibits features in the range of 400-650 nm that have not previously been seen in other quinoproteins. Thus, in addition to the unusual structural features of PlGoxA, the kinetic and chemical reaction mechanisms of the reductive half-reaction of PlGoxA appear to be distinct from those of other amine dehydrogenases and amine oxidases that use tryptophylquinone and tyrosylquinone cofactors

Loss Of Erα Partially Reverses The Effects Of Maternal High-Fat Diet On Energy Homeostasis In Female Mice

Maternal high-fat diet (HFD) alters hypothalamic developmental programming and disrupts offspring energy homeostasis in rodents. 17β-estradiol (E2) also influences hypothalamic programming through estrogen receptor (ER) α. Therefore, we hypothesized that females lacking ERα would be more susceptible to maternal HFD. To address this question, heterozygous ERα knockout (WT/KO) dams were fed a control breeder chow diet (25% fat) or a semi-purified HFD (45% fat) 4 weeks prior to mating with WT/KO males or heterozygous males with an ERα DNA-binding domain mutation knocked in (WT/KI) to produce WT, ERα KO, or ERα KIKO females lacking ERE-dependent ERα signaling. Maternal HFD increased body weight in WT and KIKO, in part, due to increased adiposity and daytime carbohydrate utilization in WT and KIKO, while increasing nighttime fat utilization in KO. Maternal HFD also increased plasma leptin, IL-6, and MCP-1 in WT and increased arcuate expression of Kiss1 and Esr1 (ERα) and liver expression of G6pc and Pepck in WT and KIKO. Contrary to our hypothesis, these data suggest that loss of ERα signaling blocks the influence of maternal HFD on energy homeostasis, inflammation, and hypothalamic and liver gene expression and that restoration of ERE-independent ERα signaling partially reestablishes susceptibility to maternal HFD

Structural Determinants of the Specific Activities of an L-Amino Acid Oxidase from Pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea CPMOR-1 with Broad Substrate Specificity

The Pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea strain CPMOR-1 expresses a flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-dependent L-amino acid oxidase (LAAO) with broad substrate specificity. Steady-state kinetic analysis of its reactivity towards the 20 proteinogenic amino acids showed some activity to all except proline. The relative specific activity for amino acid substrates was not correlated only with Km or kcat values, since the two parameters often varied independently of each other. Variation in Km was attributed to the differential binding affinity. Variation in kcat was attributed to differential positioning of the bound substrate relative to FAD that decreased the reaction rate. A structural model of this LAAO was compared with structures of other FAD-dependent LAAOs that have different substrate specificities: an LAAO from snake venom that prefers aromatic amino acid substrates and a fungal LAAO that is specific for lysine. While the amino acid sequences of these LAAOs are not very similar, their overall structures are comparable. The differential activity towards specific amino acids was correlated with specific residues in the active sites of these LAAOs. Residues in the active site that interact with the amino and carboxyl groups attached to the α-carbon of the substrate amino acid are conserved in all of the LAAOs. Residues that interact with the side chains of the amino acid substrates show variation. This provides insight into the structural determinants of the LAAOs that dictate their different substrate preferences. These results are of interest for harnessing these enzymes for possible applications in biotechnology, such as deracemization