Fair play: strengthening integrity and transparency in cricket

Sport allows billions of people – be they professional athletes, supporters or amateurs playing for pleasure and health – to experience great emotion, to learn the value and importance of rules, and to develop respect for others. Those at the top of sport – heads of international federations as well as volunteer leaders at local clubs – have a duty to set high standards and lead with integrity, not least because of the enormous influence sport has in shaping social values. Poor governance and corruption damage not only the image of sport, its federations and representatives but they compromise sport’s ability to spread the value of fair play and integrity, especially to young people. The more money involved, the greater the risks. Today high profile sports, like cricket, have become multi-million dollar global businesses. They are also closely linked to betting, both legal and illegal, making them vulnerable to manipulation and a possible prey to organised crime. They are constantly in the spotlight, which magnifies both the good they can do and the bad. Too often these days, however, it is the scandals that make the headlines. Cricket has a proud tradition as a by-word for fair play. But there is a danger this will be lost if the key problems it faces today – from match-fixing and spot fixing to questionable finances in independent leagues – are not addressed. With this action plan Transparency International focuses on the most obvious and dangerous corruption risks posed by poor governance. It provides a road map of the essential actions that the International Cricket Council (ICC) can take to bring needed changes to cricket, step by step. Our approach is to use the experience we have gained in 20 years fighting corruption and developing good governance principles for politics and business, and applying this to governance in sports organisations. We strongly believe that the ICC can play a significant role in setting the tone of how cricket should be run and have an impact on compelling its members to adhere to basic principles of good governance. This report is offered by the Transparency International movement to the game’s leaders, administrators, players and supporters worldwide. We hope it will stimulate debate and change

Workshop Proceeding of the 2nd Workshop on Green (Responsible, Ethical and Social) IT and IS – the Corporate Perspective (GRES-IT/IS)

For the 2nd Workshop on Green (Responsible, Ethical and Social) IT and IS – the Corporate Perspective (GRES-IT/IS), extended abstracts from various fields of the information systems research community have been submitted. We received 36 extended abstracts and were happy to invite seven of them for presentation.Series: Working Papers on Information Systems, Information Business and Operation

Understanding European Regional Diversity - Lessons learned from Case Studies

The content of this report is a deliverable to the FP 7 project RUFUS (Rural future Networks) concerning the case studies made within the project. As a deliverable in a EU framework project it reports extensively on the methods and empirical data collected in the project’s case studies. The work has as an overarching motive to translate research findings into implications that are relevant for policy makers in the EU. The conclusions from the case studies are therefore of two types – the findings made and the implications they might give for policy making within the field of rural development

Malonate-bound structure of the glycerophosphodiesterase from Enterobacter aerogenes (GpdQ) and characterization of the native Fe2+ metal-ion preference

A combination of spectroscopic and crystallographic data have been used to identify the native metal-ion preference of GpdQ. These data suggest that GpdQ is a homobinuclear non-haem iron enzyme

Electronic Structure Analysis of the Dinuclear Metal Center in the Bioremediator Glycerophosphodiesterase (GpdQ) from Enterobacter aerogenes

The glycerophosphodiesterase (GpdQ) from Enterobacter aerogenes is a promiscuous, dinuclear metallohydrolase that has potential application in the remediation of organophosphate nerve agents and pesticides. GpdQ employs an unusual reaction mechanism in which the enzyme is predominantly mononuclear in the resting state, and substrate binding induces the formation of the catalytically competent dinuclear center (Hadler et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 14129). Reactivity is further modulated by the coordination flexibility of Asn80, a ligand that binds to the second, loosely bound metal ion (Hadler et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 11900). It is proposed that hydrolysis is initiated by a terminal, metal-bound hydroxide molecule which is activated at unusually low pH by electrostatic/hydrogen bonding interactions with a bridging hydroxide species. In this study, electronic structure analysis of the dinuclear center is employed to study the coordination environment of the dinuclear center at the resting and product-bound stage of catalysis. This is achieved through the use of variable temperature, variable field magnetic circular dichroism experiments involving the Co(II)-substituted wild type enzyme and its Asn80Asp variant. The data support the above model for the catalytic mechanism whereby the metal ion-bridging hydroxide molecule activates a terminally bound hydroxide nucleophile. Replacement of Asn80 by an aspartate residue does prevent coordination flexibility but also leads to cleavage of the μ-hydroxide bridge and reduced reactivity. This is the first study to investigate the electronic structure of an enzyme with a μ-1,1-carboxylate bridged dicobalt(II) center

Electronic Structure Analysis of the Dinuclear Metal Center in the Bioremediator Glycerophosphodiesterase (GpdQ) from Enterobacter aerogenes

The glycerophosphodiesterase (GpdQ) from Enterobacter aerogenes is a promiscuous, dinuclear metallohydrolase that has potential application in the remediation of organophosphate nerve agents and pesticides. GpdQ employs an unusual reaction mechanism in which the enzyme is predominantly mononuclear in the resting state, and substrate binding induces the formation of the catalytically competent dinuclear center (Hadler et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 14129). Reactivity is further modulated by the coordination flexibility of Asn80, a ligand that binds to the second, loosely bound metal ion (Hadler et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 11900). It is proposed that hydrolysis is initiated by a terminal, metal-bound hydroxide molecule which is activated at unusually low pH by electrostatic/hydrogen bonding interactions with a bridging hydroxide species. In this study, electronic structure analysis of the dinuclear center is employed to study the coordination environment of the dinuclear center at the resting and product-bound stage of catalysis. This is achieved through the use of variable temperature, variable field magnetic circular dichroism experiments involving the Co(II)-substituted wild type enzyme and its Asn80Asp variant. The data support the above model for the catalytic mechanism whereby the metal ion-bridging hydroxide molecule activates a terminally bound hydroxide nucleophile. Replacement of Asn80 by an aspartate residue does prevent coordination flexibility but also leads to cleavage of the μ-hydroxide bridge and reduced reactivity. This is the first study to investigate the electronic structure of an enzyme with a μ-1,1-carboxylate bridged dicobalt(II) center

Euphresco Strategic Research Agenda 2017-2022

The Euphresco Strategic Research Agenda was developed to set the research priorities that Euphresco members will support over the next 5-10 years (through their national and transnational research activities) in order to help protect agriculture, horticulture, forestry and the environment from quarantine and emerging new pests; it will set a common ground to increase coordination and co-operation between nationally-based, regional and international phytosanitary research programmes. The agenda’s core is made of 7 research priorities (and 18 research objectives), that summarise common strategic areas to guide future phytosanitary research