Study on a new approach to business failure and insolvency : Comparative legal analysis of the Member States’ relevant provisions and practices, Tender No. JUST/2012/JCIV/CT/0194/A4

This report, commissioned by the European Commission DG Justice, documents a comparative study on substantive insolvency law throughout the EU. It also includes an analysis of the EC Recommendation on a new approach to business failure and insolvency and its implementation in Member States. The report\u2019s findings and analysis were based on data on various insolvency law matters which was provided by national reporters from all EU Member States and two comparator countries, the United States and Norway. The report provides a horizontal cross-cutting analysis of the data identifying areas where disparities in national law create problems that have impacts outside of national boundaries. The areas covered by the report are : the duties and liabilities of directors and director disqualification; rules on the ranking of claims/order of priorities and the conditions under which certain detrimental acts can be avoided; conditions that exist for the opening of insolvency proceedings and fast-track or standardised procedures for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs); the extent to which the EC Recommendation on a new approach to business failure and insolvency and the provision of second chance for entrepreneurs is reflected in Member States\u2019 approach; procedures available to overindebted consumers and explaining how over-indebtedness is dealt with in the Member States including the conditions and timeframe for debt reduction and discharge; and conncected matters such as length of the procedures, involvement of creditors, publicity and cost

Fatty Acid Composition of Beef from Cattle Fed Wet Distillers Grains Diets Supplemented with Vitamin E

Crossbred yearlings (n = 90) were allotted to one of ten diets containing 0%, 20% and 40% wet distillers grains (WDG) with or without vitamin E supplementation and distillers solubles. Strip loin and tenderloin steaks were obtained and tested for their fatty acid profiles using gas chromatography. WDG diets increased linearly (P \u3c 0.05) the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) containing 18 or more carbons and trans fatty acids in both muscles. No significant differences were found for total saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Dietary inclusion of neither vitamin E nor distiller solubles significantly changed PUFA, trans, omega-6 or omega-3 fats in strip loins and tenderloins. Therefore, changes in the fat¬ty acid profile of beef are a consequence of WDG, not the solubles or vitamin E

Effect of \u3ci\u3eLactobacillus acidophilus\u3c/i\u3e Strain N P51 on\u3ci\u3e Escherichia coli \u3c/i\u3e0157:H7 Fecal Shedding and Finishing Performance in Beef Feedlot Cattle

A 2-year study was conducted during the summer months (May to September) to test the effectiveness of feeding Lactobacillus acidophilus strain NP51 on the proportion of cattle shedding Escherichia coli 0157:H7 in the feces and evaluate the effect of the treatment on finishing performance. Steers (n = 448) were assigned randomly to pens, and pens of cattle were assigned randomly to NP5 1 supplementation or no supplementation (control). NP5 1 products were mixed with water and applied as the feed was mixed daily in treatment-designated trucks at the rate of l09 CFU per steer. Fecal samples were collected (n = 3,360) from the rectum from each animal every 3 weeks, and E. coli 0157:H7 was isolated by standard procedures, using selective enrichment, immunomagnetic separation, and PCR confirmation. The outcome variable was the recovery of E. coli 0157:H7 from feces, and was modeled using logistic regression accounting for year, repeated measures of pens of cattle, and block. No significant differences were detected for gain, intakes, or feed efficiency of control or NP51-fed steers. The probability for cattle to shed E. coli 0157:H7 varied significantly between 2002 and 2003 (P = 0.004). In 2002 and 2003, the probability for NP5 1-treated steers to shed E. coli 0157:H7 over the test periods was 13 and 21 %, respectively, compared with 21 and 28% among controls. Over the 2 years, NP51-treated steers were 35% less likely to shed E. coli 0157: H7 than were steers in untreated pens (odds ratio = 0.58, P = 0.008). This study is consistent with previous reports that feeding NP51 is effective in reducing E. coli 0157:H7 fecal shedding in feedlot cattle

Acceptance conditions in automated negotiation

In every negotiation with a deadline, one of the negotiating parties has to accept an offer to avoid a break off. A break off is usually an undesirable outcome for both parties, therefore it is important that a negotiator employs a proficient mechanism to decide under which conditions to accept. When designing such conditions one is faced with the acceptance dilemma: accepting the current offer may be suboptimal, as better offers may still be presented. On the other hand, accepting too late may prevent an agreement from being reached, resulting in a break off with no gain for either party. Motivated by the challenges of bilateral negotiations between automated agents and by the results and insights of the automated negotiating agents competition (ANAC), we classify and compare state-of-the-art generic acceptance conditions. We focus on decoupled acceptance conditions, i.e. conditions that do not depend on the bidding strategy that is used. We performed extensive experiments to compare the performance of acceptance conditions in combination with a broad range of bidding strategies and negotiation domains. Furthermore we propose new acceptance conditions and we demonstrate that they outperform the other conditions that we study. In particular, it is shown that they outperform the standard acceptance condition of comparing the current offer with the offer the agent is ready to send out. We also provide insight in to why some conditions work better than others and investigate correlations between the properties of the negotiation environment and the efficacy of acceptance condition

Modified Wet Distillers Grains Finishing Diets May Increase the Levels of Polyunsaturated and Trans Fatty Acids of Beef

Yearling steers (n=268) were fed 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% or 50 % modified wet distillers grains with solubles (MWDGS; DM basis). Marbling attributes, intramuscular fat content and fatty acid profile of beef were analyzed. Treatments did not alter marbling score, marbling distribution or fat content. Slight differences were identified for marbling texture of Choice carcasses. Values of polyunsaturated, Omega 6 and trans fatty acids linearly increased as levels of modified wet distillers grains increased. Feeding this byproduct increases polyunsaturated, trans and Omega 6 fatty acids in beef

A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of late Na current inhibition (ranolazine) in coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD): impact on angina and myocardial perfusion reserve.

AimsThe mechanistic basis of the symptoms and signs of myocardial ischaemia in patients without obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) and evidence of coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) is unclear. The aim of this study was to mechanistically test short-term late sodium current inhibition (ranolazine) in such subjects on angina, myocardial perfusion reserve index, and diastolic filling.Materials and resultsRandomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover, mechanistic trial in subjects with evidence of CMD [invasive coronary reactivity testing or non-invasive cardiac magnetic resonance imaging myocardial perfusion reserve index (MPRI)]. Short-term oral ranolazine 500-1000 mg twice daily for 2 weeks vs. placebo. Angina measured by Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) and SAQ-7 (co-primaries), diary angina (secondary), stress MPRI, diastolic filling, quality of life (QoL). Of 128 (96% women) subjects, no treatment differences in the outcomes were observed. Peak heart rate was lower during pharmacological stress during ranolazine (-3.55 b.p.m., P < 0.001). The change in SAQ-7 directly correlated with the change in MPRI (correlation 0.25, P = 0.005). The change in MPRI predicted the change in SAQ QoL, adjusted for body mass index (BMI), prior myocardial infarction, and site (P = 0.0032). Low coronary flow reserve (CFR <2.5) subjects improved MPRI (P < 0.0137), SAQ angina frequency (P = 0.027), and SAQ-7 (P = 0.041).ConclusionsIn this mechanistic trial among symptomatic subjects, no obstructive CAD, short-term late sodium current inhibition was not generally effective for SAQ angina. Angina and myocardial perfusion reserve changes were related, supporting the notion that strategies to improve ischaemia should be tested in these subjects.Trial registrationclinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01342029

High-Sensitivity Electronic Stark Spectrometer Featuring a Laser-Driven Light Source

We report developmental details of a high-sensitivity Stark absorption spectrometer featuring a laser-driven light source. The light source exhibits intensity fluctuations of ∼0.3% over timescales ranging from 1 min to 12 h, minimal drift (≤ 0.1%/h), and very little 1/f noise at frequencies greater than 200 Hz, which are comparable to or better than an arc-driven light source. Additional features of the spectrometer include balanced detection with multiplex sampling, which yielded lower noise in A, and constant wavelength or wavenumber (energy) spectral bandpass modes. We achieve noise amplitudes of ∼7 × 10−4 and ∼6 × 10−6 in measurements of single A and ΔA spectra (with 92 data points) taking ∼7 and ∼19 min, respectively