"When and Why the Council of Ministers of the EU Votes Explicitly"

This paper reports newly collected empirical data sets on explicitly contested voting at ministerial level in the Council of Ministers of the European Union. These data sets cover the period 1994-2004, with more detail for the years 1998-2004. They provide us with rather steady patterns of explicitly contested voting across the period in terms of: proportions of decisions taken where contested voting was recorded; the different levels of contestation by country; and the issue areas in which explicit voting occurred more often. The data sets draw on the material available on the Council's own website, but they have been supplemented by hand-collected data, in particular as regards issue areas and types of decision. Once arranged appropriately the data sets will be posted on the web, so that other researchers can have access to the material. The initial analysis of the data is reported in the second edition of Hayes-Renshaw and Wallace, The Council of Ministers, Palgrave, forthcoming, Chapter 10. The data show that explicit voting on agreed decisions at ministerial level is rather rare, that in nearly half the roll calls dissent is expressed only by singleton member states, that nearly half the cases concern 'technical' decisions on agriculture and fisheries, and that Germany more often votes 'no' or abstains than any other member state. The data confirm that ministers generally endorse collective decisions by consensus, even on the 70% or so cases where they could activate qualified majority voting (QMV). To the extent that voting takes place in these latter cases, it occurs implicitly rather than explicitly, operates mostly at the level of officials rather than ministers, and is not recorded systematically in publicly accessible form. These patterns are consistent with earlier accounts based on qualitative interview evidence

Transcriptional regulation of copper metabolism genes in the liver of fetal and neonatal control and iron-deficient rats

Acknowledgments The authors’ work is supported by Scottish Government (Rural and Environmental Scientific and Analytical Services). We are grateful to Ms Val Stevens for analytical and technical assistance and to the Biological Resource Facility staff for husbandry and maintenance of the experimental animals. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

When and Why the Council of Ministers of the EU Votes Explicitly

This paper reports newly collected empirical data sets on explicitly contested voting at ministerial level in the Council of Ministers of the European Union. These data sets cover the period 1994-2004, with more detail for the years 1998-2004. They provide us with rather steady patterns of explicitly contested voting across the period in terms of: proportions of decisions taken where contested voting was recorded; the different levels of contestation by country; and the issue areas in which explicit voting occurred more often. The data sets draw on the material available on the Council's own website, but they have been supplemented by hand-collected data, in particular as regards issue areas and types of decision. Once arranged appropriately the data sets will be posted on the web, so that other researchers can have access to the material. The initial analysis of the data is reported in the second edition of Hayes-Renshaw and Wallace, The Council of Ministers, Palgrave, forthcoming, Chapter 10. The data show that explicit voting on agreed decisions at ministerial level is rather rare, that in nearly half the roll calls dissent is expressed only by singleton member states, that nearly half the cases concern 'technical' decisions on agriculture and fisheries, and that Germany more often votes 'no' or abstains than any other member state. The data confirm that ministers generally endorse collective decisions by consensus, even on the 70% or so cases where they could activate qualified majority voting (QMV). To the extent that voting takes place in these latter cases, it occurs implicitly rather than explicitly, operates mostly at the level of officials rather than ministers, and is not recorded systematically in publicly accessible form. These patterns are consistent with earlier accounts based on qualitative interview evidence.Council of Ministers; majority voting

Aquafaba from commercially canned chickpeas as potential egg replacer for the development of vegan mayonnaise : recipe optimization and storage stability

This work is part of the Strategic Research Programme 2016-2021 and is funded by the Scottish Government's Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS). Microscopy was performed in the Microscopy and Histology Core Facility at the University of Aberdeen.Peer reviewedPostprin

Processes underlying the nutritional programming of embryonic development by iron deficiency in the rat

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The effect of maternal iron deficiency on zinc and copper levels and on genes of zinc and copper metabolism during pregnancy in the rat

Fe deficiency is relatively common in pregnancy and has both short- and long-term consequences. However, little is known about the effect on the metabolism of other micronutrients. A total of fifty-four female rats were fed control (50 mg Fe/kg) or Fe-deficient diets (7·5 mg/kg) before and during pregnancy. Maternal liver, placenta and fetal liver were collected at day 21 of pregnancy for Cu and Zn analysis and to measure expression of the major genes of Cu and Zn metabolism. Cu levels increased in the maternal liver (P=0·002) and placenta (P=0·018) of Fe-deficient rats. Zn increased (P&lt;0·0001) and Cu decreased (P=0·006) in the fetal liver. Hepatic expression of the Cu chaperones antioxidant 1 Cu chaperone (P=0·042) and cytochrome c oxidase Cu chaperone (COX17, P=0·020) decreased in the Fe-deficient dams, while the expression of the genes of Zn metabolism was unaltered. In the placenta, Fe deficiency reduced the expression of the chaperone for superoxide dismutase 1, Cu chaperone for superoxide dismutase (P=0·030), ceruloplasmin (P=0·042) and Zn transport genes, ZRT/IRT-like protein 4 (ZIP4, P=0·047) and Zn transporter 1 (ZnT1, P=0·012). In fetal liver, Fe deficiency increased COX17 (P=0·020), ZRT/IRT-like protein 14 (P=0·036) and ZnT1 (P=0·0003) and decreased ZIP4 (P=0·004). The results demonstrate that Fe deficiency during pregnancy has opposite effects on Cu and Zn levels in the fetal liver. This may, in turn, alter metabolism of these nutrients, with consequences for development in the fetus and the neonate.</p