The Formation of GM-free and GM Coasean Clubs : Will They Form and If So How Much Can They Achieve?

The unintended presence of traces of genetically modified (GM) crops in the harvests of non-GM crops plays a prominent role in the debate over the coexistence of GM and non-GM crops. One way to address the issue is the formation of GM-free or GM-only clubs. We model the decisions of individual farmers to cultivate either GM or non-GM crops and combine this with a game theoretic model of club formation to investigate the feasibility of such clubs. We consider two liability regimes: GM farmers are liable or they are not. We consider two benchmarks: Nash equilibrium without negotiations and the efficient allocation and compare those with partial co-operation through a Coasean club. We find that in both regimes a relatively large club can form but they are not always necessary to reach the efficient allocation. In fact, if farmers can freely decide under profit maximisation what to cultivate, they reach 95% of an efficient allocation. This holds independent of the property rights system and provides strong support for coexistence policies based on ex-post liability such as in the US and Spain.</p

Maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches to stock assessment when data are questionable

This study examines the use of age-structured maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches for stock assessment of the Namibian monkfish, Lophius vomerinus, resource with questionable data, in which time series are short, abundance indices are variable, and research data conflict with commercial data. Bayesian approaches with both noninformative and informative priors are investigated to determine if they enhance estimation stability. Three data scenarios are assessed: commercial and research survey data, research survey data only, and commercial data only. Both statistical approaches show that resource abundance has decreased with exploitable biomass estimated at approximately 44% of pristine levels. The maximum likelihood and the Bayesian approach with noninformative priors result in similar estimates. As the abundance data contained little information pertaining to possible density dependence within the stock–recruit relationship, only a Bayesian approach with informative priors reduces uncertainty in the steepness parameter h. Estimated management quantities are sensitive both to the set of data sources and whether prior information was informative or not. The strengths of the Bayesian approach include the integration of prior information with uncertain data, the exploration of data conflicts, and the ability to show the uncertainty in estimates of management parameters. Its weakness is that estimation stability is dependent on the choice of priors, which alters some posterior distributions of management quantities

Linkage mapping of the gpdA gene of Aspergillus nidulans

In the last few years many genes of several Aspergillus species have been cloned and sequenced. For many of these genes mutant alleles and genetic linkage data are also available. However, for those genes for which no mutant alleles have been isolated, genetic mapping was not possible. Here we report linkage mapping of the glyceraldehyde-3- phosphate dehydrogenase gene (gpdA) of A. nidulans for which no mutant alleles have been isolated. The method used is applicable to all other cloned genes

The New Testament and empire: on the importance of theory

Peer reviewed.Discussions on the relationship between empires and biblical texts can benefit greatly from the theorisation of empire. It entails perceiving empire as a constantly constructed entity, by both the powerful and the subjugated, as well as the concomitant responses situated in attraction to and subversion of empire, i.e. its negotiation. The discussion is primarily related to the 1st century CE context, but finds important sociorhetorical antecedents in ancient Israelite history and textual traditions.Research Institute for Theology and Religio

Regarding: ‘Explorative study to identify novel candidate genes related to oxaliplatin efficacy and toxicity using a DNA repair array'

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From both sides now: Crossover effects influence navigation in patients with unilateral neglect

Unilateral neglect is a challenging disorder that pervades a range of behaviours following stroke and hampers recovery. Although a preponderance of clinical studies measure performance on a range of bedside assessments, including line bisection and cancellation tasks, there have been calls for studies to embrace more relevant functional measures. Here, for the first time, we present data from two separate tasks that characterise the performance of seven patients with unilateral neglect when navigating a power wheelchair. The tasks involved negotiating an obstacle course and steering a central path between gaps of different sizes. Results from the obstacle course confirmed the clinical observation and predicted bias of contralesional errors. However, the second task revealed a robust "crossover" effect. Patients deviated to the ipsilesional side for large gaps but deviated increasingly contralesionally when steering through small gaps in behaviour that was analogous to that previously shown on line bisection tasks. Contrary to being seen as an unintuitive finding, further analysis of these errors suggests that patients are giving disproportionate weight to the location of the ipsilesional object when plotting a midline course between two objects. Our results provide a platform for further studies to investigate the modulation and rehabilitation of this important skill

A vector for Aspergillus transformation conferring phleomycin resistance.

Recently, transformation of Aspergillus species with vector pAN7-1, conferring resistance to hygromycin B was reported (Punt et al. 1987 Gene 56:117-124)