The European Market for Organic Products: Growth and Development

The European Market for organic food has been growing rapidly in terms of both supply and demand during the 1990s. However, national markets develop in many different directions. In some countries the market share ist quiet high while in others a market for organic farming products nearly does not exist. This book detects and compares the national markets of the main organic products in 18 European countries - the 15 EU countries plus Switzerland, Norway and the Czech Republic - on the basis of the most comprehensive collection of data ever presented covering the period 1993 - 1997/1998. It is shown that European demand is far from being satisfied and the major efforts in organising a transparent international market and developing marketing strategies is necessary to realise this potential. This book is aimed at policy makers, the private sector, researchers and students in the field of economics and politics of organic farming

Non-adiabatic Josephson Dynamics in Junctions with in-Gap Quasiparticles

Conventional models of Josephson junction dynamics rely on the absence of low energy quasiparticle states due to a large superconducting gap. With this assumption the quasiparticle degrees of freedom become "frozen out" and the phase difference becomes the only free variable, acting as a fictitious particle in a local in time Josephson potential related to the adiabatic and non-dissipative supercurrent across the junction. In this article we develop a general framework to incorporate the effects of low energy quasiparticles interacting non-adiabatically with the phase degree of freedom. Such quasiparticle states exist generically in constriction type junctions with high transparency channels or resonant states, as well as in junctions of unconventional superconductors. Furthermore, recent experiments have revealed the existence of spurious low energy in-gap states in tunnel junctions of conventional superconductors - a system for which the adiabatic assumption typically is assumed to hold. We show that the resonant interaction with such low energy states rather than the Josephson potential defines nonlinear Josephson dynamics at small amplitudes.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Use of genetically modified bacteria for drug delivery in humans: Revisiting the safety aspect

The use of live, genetically modified bacteria as delivery vehicles for biologics is of considerable interest scientifically and has attracted significant commercial investment. We have pioneered the use of the commensal gut bacterium Bacteroides ovatus for the oral delivery of therapeutics to the gastrointestinal tract. Here we report on our investigations of the biological safety of engineered B. ovatus bacteria that includes the use of thymineless death as a containment strategy and the potential for the spread of transgenes in vivo in the mammalian gastrointestinal tract. We demonstrate the ability of GM-strains of Bacteroides to survive thymine starvation and overcome it through the exchange of genetic material. We also provide evidence for horizontal gene transfer in the mammalian gastrointestinal tract resulting in transgene-carrying wild type bacteria. These findings sound a strong note of caution on the employment of live genetically modified bacteria for the delivery of biologics

Study protocol: Determinants of participation and quality of life of adolescents with cerebral palsy: a longitudinal study (SPARCLE2)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Children and adults with impairments such as cerebral palsy have lower participation in life situations than able-bodied people. Less is known about their subjective perception of their lives, called their quality of life.</p> <p>During adolescence, rapid physical and psychological changes occur; although these may be more difficult for disabled than for able-bodied adolescents, little research has examined the lives of disabled adolescents.</p> <p>In 2003-4 a European Union funded project, SPARCLE, visited 818 children aged 8-12 years with cerebral palsy, sampled from population-based registers in nine European regions. The quality of life reported by these disabled children was similar to that of the general population but their participation was lower; levels of participation varied between countries even for children with similar severity of cerebral palsy.</p> <p>We are currently following up these children, now aged 13-17 years, to identify (i) to what extent contemporaneous factors (pain, impairment, psychological health and parental stress) predict their participation and quality of life, (ii) what factors modify how participation and quality of life at age 8-12 years are associated with participation and quality of life in adolescence, and (iii) whether differences between European countries in participation and quality of life can be explained by variations in environmental factors.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>Trained researchers will visit families to administer questionnaires to capture the adolescents' type and severity of impairment, socio-demographic characteristics, participation, quality of life, psychological health, pain, environmental access and parental stress. We will use multivariable models (linear, logistic or ordinal) to assess how adolescent participation, quality of life, psychological health, pain, environmental access and parental stress, vary with impairment and socio-demographic characteristics and, where possible, how these outcomes compare with general population data. For participation and quality of life, longitudinal analyses will assess to what extent these are predicted by corresponding levels in childhood and what factors modify this relationship. Structural equation modelling will be used to identify indirect relationships mediated by other factors.</p

Speculative Price Bubbles in Urban Housing Markets in Germany

The surge in the German house prices starting in 2010 raised fears about the emergence of a speculative bubble. Given a local nature of housing markets, it is not clear to what extent the bubble, if any, is spread across different cities. In this paper, we test for speculative house price bubbles in 127 large German cities over the last 20 years. Along with testing bubbles for each city separately, we apply two new testing approaches: a panel data and principal components version of explosive root tests. We define bubble as an explosive growth of prices that is not supported by the rent increase. Therefore, to check for the existence of bubbles, we examine prices, rents, and price-to-rent ratios. We find evidence for explosive price increases in many cities, especially for the case of newly built housing. However, only in few urban housing markets prices decouple from their fundamental values. On the national level, we do not see evidence for speculative price movements. Overall, we find that the danger of a build-up of a speculative price bubble in the German housing market is rather moderate

The missing pieces for better future predictions in subarctic ecosystems: a Torneträsk case study

Arctic and subarctic ecosystems are experiencing substantial changes in hydrology, vegetation, permafrost conditions, and carbon cycling, in response to climatic change and other anthropogenic drivers, and these changes are likely to continue over this century. The total magnitude of these changes results from multiple interactions among these drivers. Field measurements can address the overall responses to different changing drivers, but are less capable of quantifying the interactions among them. Currently, a comprehensive assessment of the drivers of ecosystem changes, and the magnitude of their direct and indirect impacts on subarctic ecosystems, is missing. The Torneträsk area, in the Swedish subarctic, has an unrivalled history of environmental observation over 100 years, and is one of the most studied sites in the Arctic. In this study, we summarize and rank the drivers of ecosystem change in the Torneträsk area, and propose research priorities identified, by expert assessment, to improve predictions of ecosystem changes. The research priorities identified include understanding impacts on ecosystems brought on by altered frequency and intensity of winter warming events, evapotranspiration rates, rainfall, duration of snow cover and lake-ice, changed soil moisture, and droughts. This case study can help us understand the ongoing ecosystem changes occurring in the Torneträsk area, and contribute to improve predictions of future ecosystem changes at a larger scale. This understanding will provide the basis for the future mitigation and adaptation plans needed in a changing climate

Twenty-Two Years of Warming, Fertilisation and Shading of Subarctic Heath Shrubs Promote Secondary Growth and Plasticity but Not Primary Growth

Most manipulation experiments simulating global change in tundra were short-term or did not measure plant growth directly. Here, we assessed the growth of three shrubs (Cassiope tetragona, Empetrum hermaphroditum and Betula nana) at a subarctic heath in Abisko (Northern Sweden) after 22 years of warming (passive greenhouses), fertilisation (nutrients addition) and shading (hessian fabric), and compare this to observations from the first decade of treatment. We assessed the growth rate of current-year leaves and apical stem (primary growth) and cambial growth (secondary growth), and integrated growth rates with morphological measurements and species coverage. Primary- and total growth of Cassiope and Empetrum were unaffected by manipulations, whereas growth was substantially reduced under fertilisation and shading (but not warming) for Betula. Overall, shrub height and length tended to increase under fertilisation and warming, whereas branching increased mostly in shaded Cassiope. Morphological changes were coupled to increased secondary growth under fertilisation. The species coverage showed a remarkable increase in graminoids in fertilised plots. Shrub response to fertilisation was positive in the short-term but changed over time, likely because of an increased competition with graminoids. More erected postures and large, canopies (requiring enhanced secondary growth for stem reinforcement) likely compensated for the increased light competition in Empetrum and Cassiope but did not avoid growth reduction in the shade intolerant Betula. The impact of warming and shading on shrub growth was more conservative. The lack of growth enhancement under warming suggests the absence of long-term acclimation for processes limiting biomass production. The lack of negative effects of shading on Cassiope was linked to morphological changes increasing the photosynthetic surface. Overall, tundra shrubs showed developmental plasticity over the longer term. However, such plasticity was associated clearly with growth rate trends only in fertilised plots

Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Associated Factor 6 Is Not Required for Atherogenesis in Mice and Does Not Associate with Atherosclerosis in Humans

BACKGROUND: Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factors (TRAFs) are important signaling molecules for a variety of pro-atherogenic cytokines including CD40L, TNF alpha, and IL1beta. Several lines of evidence identified TRAF6 as a pro-inflammatory signaling molecule in vitro and we previously demonstrated overexpression of TRAF6 in human and Murine atherosclerotic plaques. This study investigated the role of TRAF6-deficiency in mice developing atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disease. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Lethally irradiated low density lipoprotein receptor-deficient mice (TRAF6(+/+)/LDLR(-/-)) were reconstituted with TRAF6-deficient fetal liver cells (FLC) and consumed high cholesterol diet for 18 weeks to assess the relevance of TRAF6 in hematopoietic cells for atherogenesis. Additionally, TRAF6(+/-)/LDLR(-/-) mice received TRAF6-deficient FLC to gain insight into the role of TRAF6 deficiency in resident cells. Surprisingly, atherosclerotic lesion size did not differ between the three groups in both aortic roots and abdominal aortas. Similarly, no significant differences in plaque composition could be observed as assessed by immunohistochemistry for macrophages, lipids, smooth muscle cells, T-cells, and collagen. In accord, in a small clinical study TRAF6/GAPDH total blood RNA ratios did not differ between groups of patients with stable coronary heart disease (0.034+/-0.0021, N = 178), acute coronary heart disease (0.029+/-0.0027, N = 70), and those without coronary heart disease (0.032+/-0.0016, N = 77) as assessed by angiography. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that TRAF6 is not required for atherogenesis in mice and does not associate with clinical disease in humans. These data suggest that pro- and anti-inflammatory features of TRAF6 signaling outweigh each other in the context of atherosclerosis