The persistence of the corporate farms: they survived the transition but do they have future under the CAP

The newly emergent landowners in the 1990s left their land in the corporate farms due to the low level of farm profitability and the high risk in the general economic environment. The accession to the EU and the introduction of the CAP Single Area Payment (SAP) could induce incentives to landowners to withdraw their land if they are not satisfied with the level of rent. The negotiations between the corporate farm managers and the landowners concerning the rent level have been conceptualised as a simple two-player one-shot game. Overall conclusion is that although the SAP might induce more landowners to ask for a rent increase, it is unlikely that they will massively withdraw their land from the corporate farms. However, financially constrained farms might quickly loose their capacity to compete for land in the conditions of an increased land demand.Corporate farms, Land rent, Single farm payment, Slovakia, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management,

Productive Entry Pathways of Human Rhinoviruses

Currently, complete or partial genome sequences of more than 150 human rhinovirus (HRV) isolates are known. Twelve species A use members of the low-density lipoprotein receptor family for cell entry, whereas the remaining HRV-A and all HRV-B bind ICAM-1. HRV-Cs exploit an unknown receptor. At least all A and B type viruses depend on receptor-mediated endocytosis for infection. In HeLa cells, they are internalized mainly by a clathrin- and dynamin-dependent mechanism. Upon uptake into acidic compartments, the icosahedral HRV capsid expands by ~4% and holes open at the 2-fold axes, close to the pseudo-3-fold axes and at the base of the star-shaped dome protruding at the vertices. RNA-protein interactions are broken and new ones are established, the small internal myristoylated capsid protein VP4 is expelled, and amphipathic N-terminal sequences of VP1 become exposed. The now hydrophobic subviral particle attaches to the inner surface of endosomes and transfers its genomic (+) ssRNA into the cytosol. The RNA leaves the virus starting with the poly(A) tail at its 3′-end and passes through a membrane pore contiguous with one of the holes in the capsid wall. Alternatively, the endosome is disrupted and the RNA freely diffuses into the cytoplasm

Imaging apparatus and controller for photographing products

The invention provides an all-in-one imaging apparatus for photographing products, particularly suitable for photographing fashion related products such as apparel products, fashion accessories or other life style products. The imaging apparatus comprising a table part, a portable controller for user interaction with the table part, and a storage for storing images. The table part comprises a substantially horizontal table surface for supporting the product, lights, a fixture for fixing a camera, a backlighting system below the table surface, and an embedded system comprising an embedded computer and a wireless communication controller. The embedded computer controls the camera, switches the backlighting system, wirelessly transmits a live stream from the camera to the portable controller, and wirelessly receives instructions from the portable controller

Electrical transport properties of bulk Nic_{c}Fe1−c_{1-c} alloys and related spin-valve systems

Within the Kubo-Greenwood formalism we use the fully relativistic, spin-polarized, screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method together with the coherent-potential approximation for layered systems to calculate the resistivity for the permalloy series Ni$_{c}$Fe$_{1-c}$. We are able to reproduce the variation of the resistivity across the entire series; notably the discontinuous behavior in the vicinity of the structural phase transition from bcc to fcc. The absolute values for the resistivity are within a factor of two of the experimental data. Also the giant magnetoresistance of a series of permalloy-based spin-valve structures is estimated; we are able to reproduce the trends and values observed on prototypical spin-valve structures.Comment: 6 pages, ReVTeX + 4 figures (Encapsulated Postscript), submitted to PR

Strategic use of transfer prices and relative performance evaluation

Die Trennung von Eigentum und Kontrolle in großen Unternehmen führt zum Problem die Zielkonsistenz sicherstellen zu müssen. Gleichzeitig ergeben sich dadurch aber auch Chancen. In Märkten, welche von unvollkommener Konkurrenz gekennzeichnet sind, erlaubt diese Trennung dem Eigentümer sich selbst an ein von der Gewinnmaximierung abweichendes Verhalten zu binden. Wenn sich das Verhalten der Konkurrenten dadurch beeinflussen lässt, handelt es sich um eine strategische Entscheidung. Ein positives Ergebnis wird erreicht, wenn der strategische Effekt dieser Entscheidung den Verzerrungseffekt der Abweichung vom Gewinnmaximierungsziel überwiegt. Es ist bekannt, dass die Verwendung sowohl von Strategischen Transferpreisen (STP) als auch von Relativer Performance Evaluation (RPE) als Anreizsysteme in Duopolmodellen zu solch positiven Effekten führt. Dierkes (2004) hat sich der Beantwortung der Frage angenommen, welcher dieser beiden Mechanismen zum besseren Ergebnis führt. Seine Schlussfolgerung ist, dass RPE über STP dominiert. Aufgrund der Wichtigkeit dieser Erkenntnis wird sein Modell in dieser Arbeit gründlich diskutiert und erklärt. Des Weiteren wird dem Leser durch die Diskussion themenspezifischer und weiterführender Literatur eine tiefere Einsicht in dieses Forschungsgebiet vermittelt. Dadurch wird dieser in die Lage versetzt, Dierkes‘ Arbeit kritisch zu betrachten und sowohl vernachlässigte Aspekte als auch praktische Implikationen zu erkennen. Dies führt zu dem Ergebnis, dass RPE für die meisten Annahmen tatsächlich die dominierende Strategie darstellt. Wird hingegen von der Annahme vollständiger Information Abstand genommen oder werden zusätzliche Unsicherheiten mit einbezogen, so können sich die Schlussfolgerungen signifikant verändern. Ebenso führt auch ein Wechsel von einem Bertrand zu einem Cournot Modell zu starken Veränderungen der Ergebnisse.The separation of ownership and management in the large corporation presents the problem of goal alignment but also offers an opportunity. In an imperfectly competitive market this separation allows the owner of a firm to self-commit to a goal differently than profit maximization. Doing so becomes a strategic decision when it affects the behavior of competing firms. If the strategic effect of this decision outweighs the distorting effect then deviation from profit maximization is beneficial. Strategic transfer prices (STP) and relative performance evaluation (RPE) have both been acknowledged to provide the positive effects above mentioned when used as an incentive system in a duopoly setting. The question which of the two is better has been addressed by Dierkes (2004) with the conclusion that RPE dominates STP. Therefore, this paper thoroughly discusses and explains his model. However, the reader is given more insight through the discussion of related literature. This allows one to yield a more critical view of Dierkes’ work and to point out practical implications and omitted aspects. It appears that RPE is indeed a dominant strategy in most settings. Nonetheless, switching from a Bertrand to a Cournot environment, dropping the assumption of complete information or including additional uncertainties might significantly change the conclusions

Bacterial artificial chromosomes improve recombinant protein production in mammalian cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The development of appropriate expression vectors for large scale protein production constitutes a critical step in recombinant protein production. The use of conventional expression vectors to obtain cell lines is a cumbersome procedure. Often, stable cell lines produce low protein yields and production is not stable over the time. These problems are due to silencing of randomly integrated expression vectors by the surrounding chromatin. To overcome these chromatin effects, we have employed a Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) as expression vector to obtain stable cell lines suitable for protein production.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this work, we explore the efficacy of a Bacterial Artificial Chromosome based vector applied to production of the constant region of the human IgG1. Direct comparison of bulk HEK 293 cell cultures generated with a "conventional" vector or with a BAC-based vector showed that the BAC-based vector improved the protein yield by a factor of 10. Further analysis of stable cell clones harboring the BAC-based vector showed that the protein production was directly proportional to the number of integrated BAC copies and that the protein production was stable for at least 30 passages.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Generation of stable cell clones for protein production using Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes offers a clear advantage over the use of conventional vectors. First, protein production is increased by a factor of 10; second, protein production is stable overtime and third, generation of BAC-based expression vectors does not imply a significant amount of work compare to a conventional vector. Therefore, BAC-based vectors may become an attractive tool for protein production.</p