Collaborating with the enemy? A view from Down Under on GM research partnerships

Abstract This chapter explores the distribution of funding and approvals for GM crops in Australia in order to determine if private interests dominate public research in agricultural biotechnology and if public interests can be served by collaborations with private organizations. Although a highly detailed analysis is not possible given the available data, it is contended that the Australian setting provides a different perspective on the potential for various forms of public-private collaborations in GM research, as well as an excellent test bed for assessing effects of diverse types of funding and institutional arrangements. Three brief GM case studies from the Australian context are presented to explore key issues arising and underlying complexities associated with GM research: (i) drought-tolerant wheat; (ii) high-amylose wheat; and (iii) Vitamin A-enhanced 'super banana'.Rachel A. Ankeny, Heather J. Bray, Kelly A. McKinle

The spiritual organization: critical reflections on the instrumentality of workplace spirituality

Authors' draft of article. Final version published by Routledge in Journal of Management, Spirituality and Religion available online at: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/14766086.aspThis paper offers a theoretical contribution to the current debate on workplace spirituality by: (a) providing a selective critical review of scholarship, research and corporate practices which treat workplace spirituality in performative terms, that is, as a resource or means to be manipulated instrumentally and appropriated for economic ends; (b) extending Ezioni’s analysis of complex organizations and proposing a new category, the ‘spiritual organization’, and; (c) positing three alternative positions with respect to workplace spirituality that follow from the preceding critique. The spiritual organization can be taken to represent the development of a trajectory of social technologies that have sought, incrementally, to control the bodies, minds, emotions and souls of employees. Alternatively, it might be employed to conceptualize the way in which employees use the workplace as a site for pursuing their own spiritualities (a reverse instrumentalism). Finally, we consider the possible incommensurability of ‘work organization’ and ‘spirituality’ discourses

Evidence of Color Coherence Effects in W+jets Events from ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV

We report the results of a study of color coherence effects in ppbar collisions based on data collected by the D0 detector during the 1994-1995 run of the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, at a center of mass energy sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV. Initial-to-final state color interference effects are studied by examining particle distribution patterns in events with a W boson and at least one jet. The data are compared to Monte Carlo simulations with different color coherence implementations and to an analytic modified-leading-logarithm perturbative calculation based on the local parton-hadron duality hypothesis.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to Physics Letters

On the mechanisms governing gas penetration into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection

A new 1D radial fluid code, IMAGINE, is used to simulate the penetration of gas into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection (MGI). The main result is that the gas is in general strongly braked as it reaches the plasma, due to mechanisms related to charge exchange and (to a smaller extent) recombination. As a result, only a fraction of the gas penetrates into the plasma. Also, a shock wave is created in the gas which propagates away from the plasma, braking and compressing the incoming gas. Simulation results are quantitatively consistent, at least in terms of orders of magnitude, with experimental data for a D 2 MGI into a JET Ohmic plasma. Simulations of MGI into the background plasma surrounding a runaway electron beam show that if the background electron density is too high, the gas may not penetrate, suggesting a possible explanation for the recent results of Reux et al in JET (2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 093013)

The synthesis of fluorescent DNA intercalator precursors through efficient multiple heck reactions

A highly efficient synthesis of p-carboethoxy-tristyryl and carboethoxy-terastyrenyl benzene derivatives through a multiple Heck cross coupling reaction is reported. This reaction provides an efficient route to DNA intercalator precursors containing a benzene core

The diffusion of multiple ionic species in meteor trails

Meteor trails are composed of a number of different types of ions that are produced during the meteoroid ablation process. The diffusion of meteoric plasma is usually presented in terms of the diffusion of a single ionic species, but this ignores the possibility of non-linear diffusion due to complex meteor trail composition. This study uses numerical simulations to investigate what effect multi-ion diffusion has on the time-decay of meteor radar echoes, and whether multi-ion diffusion could be responsible for the anomalous diffusion coefficient estimates produced by radars operating at different frequencies. It is found that the diffusion of different species of ions in meteor trails does not produce the same discrepancies seen in estimates of the ambipolar diffusion coefficient made using meteor radar. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.J.P. Younger, I.M. Reid, R.A. Vincen

The Impact of Age on Mortality, Impairment, and Disability among Adults with Acute Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

Given the potential effects of age on mortality, impairment, and disability among individuals with traumatic spinal cord injury [(SCI), we examined these issues using a large, prospectively accrued clinical database. This study includes all patients who were enrolled in the Third National Spinal Cord Injury Study (NASCIS 3). Motor, sensory, and pain outcomes were assessed using NASCIS scores. Functional outcome was evaluated using the Functional Independence Measure (FIM). Data analyses included regression models adjusted for major potential confounders (i.e., sex, ethnicity, Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score, blood alcohol concentration on admission, drug protocol, cause, and level and severity of SCI). Mortality rates among older people (≥65 years) were significantly greater than those of younger individuals at 6 weeks, at 6 months, and at 1 year following SCI (38.6% versus 3.1%; p < 0.0001). Among survivors, age was not significantly correlated with motor recovery or change in pain scores in the acute and chronic stages after SCI based on regression analyses adjusted for major confounders. However, older individuals experienced greater functional deficit (based on FIM scores) than younger individuals, despite experiencing similar rates of sensorimotor recovery (based on NASCIS scores). Our results suggest that older individuals have a substantially increased mortality rate during the first year following traumatic SCI in comparison with younger patients. Among survivors, the potential of older patients with SCI to neurologically improve within the first year post-injury does not appear to translate into similar functional recovery compared to that seen in younger individuals. Given this fact, rehabilitation protocols that are more focused on functional recovery may reduce disability among older people with acute traumatic SCI

Inspiration from old dyes: Tris(stilbene) compounds as potent gram-positive antibacterial agents

Herein we describe the preparation and structure-activity relationship studies on range of stilbene based compounds and their antibacterial activity. Two related compounds, each bearing carboxylic acid moieties, exhibit good activity against several bacterial strains, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus MRSA (ATCC 33592 and NCTC 10442). Compound 10 was most active against Moraxella catarrhalis with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 0.12-0.25 μg mL-1 and against Staphylococcus spp. with MICs ranging from 2-4 μg mL-1. The derivative 17 showed increased activity with MICs of 0.06-0.25 μg mL-1 against M. catarrhalis and 0.12-1 against Staphylococcus spp. This level of activity is similar to that reported for S. aureus for antibiotics, such as vancomycin, with MICs of ≤2.0 μg mL-1 and clindamycin with MICs of ≤0.5 μg mL -1. As an indicator of toxicity, 17 was tested for its ability to lyse sheep erythrocytes, and showed low haemolytic activity. Such results highlight the value of tris(stilbene) compounds as antibacterial agents providing suitable properties for further development. Routes to new antibiotics: The preparation of and structure-activity relationship studies on a range of stilbene based compounds revealed two related compounds, each bearing carboxylic acid moieties, exhibiting pronounced activity against several bacterial strains including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA (see scheme, dba = dibenzylidene acetone)