To be or not to be an auctioneer: Some thoughts on the legal nature of online eBay auctions and the protection of consumers

This paper discusses the legal classification of online “eBay” auctions. The discussion has key implications on the scope of consumer protection law as sale by auctions are, for example, excluded from the scope of the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000. The paper uncovers that online “eBay” auctions cannot always be considered as traditional auctions and that eBay, as an intermediary, is not to be considered as an auctioneer. This creates difficulties associated with a distributive application of consumer protection laws such as the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000. Another set of difficulties is associated with a lenient legal regime applicable to the liability of eBay under the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 . The paper concludes that there is an urgent need to clarify the legal classification of online auctions and to rethink the liability of online auction sites to better protect consumers

Can resilience be built through micro-finance tools? : A case study of coping and adaptation strategies to climate-related shocks in Piura, Peru

This study focuses on the livelihoods of rural households in the region of Piura in northern Peru, who are either farmers or livestock holders. The livelihood systems of these farmers are exposed to and vulnerable to climate-related shocks like floods and droughts and the El Niño phenomenon. A particular emphasis is put on the analysis of the livelihoods and strategies of these households in order to examine the range of assets, their relations and interdependencies as well as the prevailing social, institutional, political, and environmental structures that are influencing the livelihoods. In addition, the coping and adaptation strategies of the farmers are investigated with a focus on the actions and available measures that the farmers take in anticipation of or during a natural phenomenon, and also to understand how they will act and adapt to these events in the future. Hence their understanding of climate change and possible measures of how to cope with it are assessed and recommendations concerning long-term adaptation strategies with regard to climatic events are made. The second part of the research investigates what kind of protection local farmers need, which kind of financial services schemes are demanded and appropriate for the region, and determines the perception and understanding of insurance in order to design marketing strategies and programs to educate and inform the clients. This analysis also determines the ability of the market to support these micro-insurance and other financial services. It is very important to know the specific conditions of the area, with regard to institutions and actors involved in order to design appropriate financial instruments. A particular emphasis is put on determining in which way micro-insurance or other financial services can play a role in fostering the resilience of these communities. It is particularly important to evaluate what conditions are necessary to make these mechanisms sustainable and accessible to local farmers. Investigating the possibilities for offering micro-finance services to agriculture in the area, e.g., especially bundled schemes such as micro-insurance coupled with micro-credit, are of particular interest. Moreover, the possibilities for climate-risk management insurance instruments, like area-based climate indexes, bundled schemes and others are evaluated

Audit market structure, fees and choice in a period of structural change: evidence from the UK – 1998–2003

This paper presents evidence on audit market concentration and auditor fee levels in the UK market in the crucial period of structural change following the PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) merger and encompassing Andersen’s demise (1998–2003). Given the current interest in auditor choice, analysis is also undertaken at the individual audit firm level and by industry sector. There is evidence of significant upward pressure on audit fees since 2001 but only for smaller auditees. Audit fee income for top tier auditors (Big 5/4) did not change significantly while the number of auditees fell significantly, consistent with a move towards larger, less risky, clients. A decomposition analysis of the aggregate Big 5/4 concentration ratio changes over the period identifies the impact of four distinct consumer-based reasons for change: leavers; net joiners; non-par auditor switches; and (only for the audit fees measure) audit fee changes. Andersen’s demise markedly reduced the level of inequality among the top tier firms but PwC retained its position as a ‘dominant firm’. On switching to the new auditor, former Andersen clients experienced an initial audit fee rise broadly in line with inflation, with no evidence of fee premia or discounting. They also reported significantly lower NAS fees, consistent with audit firms and auditees responding to public concerns about perceptions of auditor independence. There is no general evidence of knowledge spillover effects or cross-subsidisation of the audit fee by NAS. The combined findings provide no evidence to indicate that recent structural changes have resulted in anticompetitive pricing; the key concerns remain the lack of audit firm choice and issues concerning the governance and accountability of audit firms

IL-23 suppresses innate immune response independently of IL-17A during carcinogenesis and metastasis

IL-23 is an important molecular driver of Th17 cells and has strong tumor-promoting proinflammatory activity postulated to occur via adaptive immunity. Conversely, more recently it has been reported that IL-17A elicits a protective inflammation that promotes the activation of tumor-specific CD8(+) T cells. Here we show the much broader impact of IL-23 in antagonizing antitumor immune responses primarily mediated by innate immunity. Furthermore, the majority of this impact was independent of IL-17A, which did not appear critical for many host responses to tumor initiation or metastases. IL-23-deficient mice were resistant to experimental tumor metastases in three models where host NK cells controlled disease. Immunotherapy with IL-2 was more effective in mice lacking IL-23, and again the protection afforded was NK cell mediated and independent of IL-17A. Further investigation revealed that loss of IL-23 promoted perforin and IFN-gamma antitumor effector function in both metastasis models examined. IL-23-deficiency also strikingly protected mice from tumor formation in two distinct mouse models of carcinogenesis where the dependence on host IL-12p40 and IL-17A was quite different. Notably, in the 3'-methylcholanthrene (MCA) induction of fibrosarcoma model, this protection was completely lost in the absence of NK cells. Overall, these data indicate the general role that IL-23 plays in suppressing natural or cytokine-induced innate immunity, promoting tumor development and metastases independently of IL-17A

Oxidative functionalization mechanisms in organic synthesis using fenton reaction systems

We argued an oxywater-oxene concept for hydrogen peroxide transformation in Fenton reaction systems and used this interpretation for mechanisms explanation of hydroperoxide monooxygen oxidative functionalization processes (alkane and arene hydroxylation, alkene epoxidation, Baeyer-Villiger ketone oxidation to ester, organonitrogen compounds N-oxidation and organosulfur compounds S-oxidation) and dioxygen alkene and alkadiene functionalization processes (synthesis of hydroperoxides and cyclic peroxides)

Heating with biomass in the United Kingdom: Lessons from New Zealand

In this study we review the current status of residential solid fuel (RSF) use in the UK and compare it with New Zealand, which has had severe wintertime air quality issues for many years that is directly attributable to domestic wood burning in heating stoves. Results showed that RSF contributed to more than 40 μg m−3 PM10 and 10 μg m−3 BC in some suburban locations of New Zealand in 2006, with significant air quality and climate impacts. Models predict RSF consumption in New Zealand to decrease slightly from 7 PJ to 6 PJ between 1990 and 2030, whereas consumption in the UK increases by a factor of 14. Emissions are highest from heating stoves and fireplaces, and their calculated contribution to radiative forcing in the UK increases by 23% between 2010 and 2030, with black carbon accounting for more than three quarters of the total warming effect. By 2030, the residential sector accounts for 44% of total BC emissions in the UK and far exceeds emissions from the traffic sector. Finally, a unique bottom-up emissions inventory was produced for both countries using the latest national survey and census data for the year 2013/14. Fuel- and technology-specific emissions factors were compared between multiple inventories including GAINS, the IPCC, the EMEP/EEA and the NAEI. In the UK, it was found that wood consumption in stoves was within 30% of the GAINS inventory, but consumption in fireplaces was substantially higher and fossil fuel consumption is more than twice the GAINS estimate. As a result, emissions were generally a factor of 2–3 higher for biomass and 2–6 higher for coal. In New Zealand, coal and lignite consumption in stoves is within 24% of the GAINS inventory estimate, but wood consumption is more than 7 times the GAINS estimate. As a result, emissions were generally a factor of 1–2 higher for coal and several times higher for wood. The results of this study indicate that emissions from residential heating stoves and fireplaces may be underestimated in climate models. Emissions are increasing rapidly in the UK which may result in severe wintertime air quality reductions, as seen in New Zealand, and contribute to climate warming unless controls are implemented such as the Ecodesign emissions limits

Alteration of certain physiological and biochemical parameters in livers of rainbow trout fed methyl sterculate

The cyclopropene fatty acids, sterculic and malvalic, occur naturally in a major food lipid, cottonseed oil, and have been implicated in several physiological disorders. Rainbow trout in this study were fed semipurified diets containing 200 or 300 ppm methyl sterculate, and the effects on hepatic lipid and glycogen levels, lipid incorporation of radioactive phosphate and fatty acids, and mitochondrial energy production were investigated. Chronic ingestion of methyl sterculate caused numerous histological changes and some necrosis in the liver. Glycogen accumulated in irregular pockets, but the level in whole liver was not increased over controls. Hepatic lipid accumulation was noted after several weeks, reaching a level six times that of controls after six months. Liver weight of the sterculate-fed fish decreased in proportion to body weight during the first three weeks on the sterculate diet, but after three months became significantly greater than controls. Ingestion of 200 ppm methyl sterculate for two weeks by trout caused reduced incorporation of both phosphate and fatty acids into phospholipids. The major reductions were found in minor fractions. Label incorporation into cardiolipin, important for mitochondrial function, was reduced ten-fold by the dietary sterculate. Incorporation into a minor unknown phospholipid which constituted less than 1% of total phospholipids was reduced as much as 135-fold in the mitochondrial fraction. Incorporation of 1-¹⁴C-oleate into diglycerides was also inhibited. The major changes caused by methyl sterculate appear to occur in mitochondria. Neither the level of cytochrome P⁴⁵⁰ nor the activity of NADPH neotetrazolium reductase, both of which occur in the endoplasmic reticulum, was altered. P/0 ratios and the ability to oxidize oleic acid to CO₂ were curtailed after only two weeks on a diet containing methyl sterculate

EMT-Induced Stemness and Tumorigenicity Are Fueled by the EGFR/Ras Pathway

10.1371/journal.pone.0070427PLoS ONE88-POLN