U.S. CONSUMER ATTITUDES TOWARD FOOD BIOTECHNOLOGY

This study examines consumer attitudes in the U.S. toward genetically modified food over time. Five surveys conducted by the International Food Information Council (1999 - 2001) are used to determine what factors significantly influence consumers' willingness to try food products genetically modified to reduce pesticide usage or improve taste.Consumer/Household Economics,

Engaging audiences with difficult pasts: the Voices of ’68 Project at the Ulster Museum, Belfast

Can history museums influence the relationship between divided communities? This paper explores why an initially modest collaboration between the authors and the Ulster Museum on the non‐violent Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement of 1968/69, eventually had substantial impact beyond the museum’s walls. Having placed the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement within the context of both the international protests of 1968 and the specific environment of Northern Ireland, particularly the virtual civil war known as the Troubles, the paper turns to the role of museums in responding to the legacy of this past, and the evolving practice of the Ulster Museum, as background to the project. The latter began as a limited intervention within an existing display, based on oral histories and underpinned by the theory of ‘agonism’, proposing that divided communities must learn to live with difference. It eventually included exhibitions, workshops, school study days, curricular materials and online provision. It has directly influenced the Northern Ireland GCSE History Curriculum and been held up as an example of good practice within the province’s peace process. The paper discusses why the project succeeded – location within a national museum; credibility with protagonists, academics, communities and audiences; starting small; a willingness to take risks and share control; multiple perspectives; and an acceptance that not everyone will be satisfied. With a version of the Voices of 68 exhibition now installed in the Museum’s permanent gallery, the next challenges are longitudinal studies on its impact and assessing the approach’s relevance to other museums working in post‐conflict societies

Enabling biomimetic place-based design at scale

Amidst the inter-related challenges of climate change, resource scarcity, and population growth, the built environment must be designed in a way that recognises its role in shaping and being shaped by complex social and ecological systems. This includes avoiding the degradation of living systems in the design and construction of buildings and infrastructure, as well as enhancing the built environment's resilience to disturbance by those systems. This paper explores the potential for biomimetic place-based design (BPD) to inform resilient and regenerative built environment outcomes by learning from local ecosystems. One recognised hurdle is the upfront resourcing required to establish the biomimetic knowledge base for each project. However, conducting BPD projects at-scale (i.e., city or region) can improve the method's value-proposition by better leveraging upfront research efforts, design concepts, and strategies. This research identifies existing barriers to the widespread adoption of BPD and presents an action framework for capability-building across industry, government, and academia to enable application at-scale. Drawing on findings from workshops in the USA and Australia, it creates a resource for colleagues looking to apply BPD in a city or region and offers next steps for research and development.</p

U.S. CONSUMER ATTITUDES TOWARD FOOD BIOTECHNOLOGY

This study examines consumer attitudes in the U.S. toward genetically modified food over time. Five surveys conducted by the International Food Information Council (1999 - 2001) are used to determine what factors significantly influence consumers' willingness to try food products genetically modified to reduce pesticide usage or improve taste

Metnase mediates chromosome decatenation in acute leukemia cells

After DNA replication, sister chromatids must be untangled, or decatenated, before mitosis so that chromatids do not tear during anaphase. Topoisomerase IIα (Topo IIα) is the major decatenating enzyme. Topo IIα inhibitors prevent decatenation, causing cells to arrest during mitosis. Here we report that acute myeloid leukemia cells fail to arrest at the mitotic decatenation checkpoint, and their progression through this checkpoint is regulated by the DNA repair component Metnase (also termed SETMAR). Metnase contains a SET histone methylase and transposase nuclease domain, and is a component of the nonhomologous end-joining DNA double-strand break repair pathway. Metnase interacts with Topo IIα and enhances its decatenation activity. Here we show that multiple types of acute leukemia cells have an attenuated mitotic arrest when decatenation is inhibited and that in an acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell line this is mediated by Metnase. Of further importance, Metnase permits continued proliferation of these AML cells even in the presence of the clinical Topo IIα inhibitor VP-16. In vitro, purified Metnase prevents VP-16 inhibition of Topo IIα decatenation of tangled DNA. Thus, Metnase expression levels may predict AML resistance to Topo IIα inhibitors, and Metnase is a potential therapeutic target for small molecule interference