The new framework for investor protection : CMND 9432

Worried by the prospect of as yet undiscovered frauds and the siphoning off of millions from the pockets of the public to those of some crooked tycoon, the Government has in its recent White Paper (Cmnd 9432) introduced new proposals for the regulation of investment business. The new proposals are designed to provide the public with additional safeguards that prevent fraud malpractice. To this end, a statutory framework is proposed within which two self-regulatory bodies function with the aim of encouraging "the commitment of individuals in the financial services industry to high standards". The Securities and Investment Board is responsible for the regulation of securities and investments, and the Marketing of Investments Board for the regulation of marketing of pre-packaged investments

The investment trust discount

The British Coal Pension Funds' bid for Globe Investment Trust, although not directly involving Scottish investment trusts, reflects an ever present threat to a substantial part of the Scottish fund management sector. This paper discusses Scottish investment trusts and fund managers

Some aspects of portfolio management in a financial institution

This study attempts to set out in detail some of the factors and influeuces affecting portfolio decisions. In particular it attempts to outline the factors affecting portfolio selection decisions in an investment management organisation. Influences on share selection such as the need for diversification in portfolios, the desire to buy marketable stocks and the use of sector selection - a technique for selecting shares by their industry characteristics - as well as a variety of institutional factors are discussed at some length. Specific factors involved in investment analysis, such as intrinsic value analysis, and methods of portfolio evaluations are also considered. With this basis it is then possible to investigate more fully the value and usefulness of one of the managers decision rules. The technique investigated - sector selection - was on the one hand, felt by the investment managers to be a central and important part of their portfolio construction techniques contributing significantly to the performance of their portfolios, whilst on the other hand it was believed by the author, on the basis of preliminary observations, to be of rather less consequence. To resolve this conflict a multi-stage analysis (discussed below) was devised to provide empirical evidence as to the theoretical validity and practical usefulness of the technique

Impact of Environmental Factors on Bacteriocin Promoter Activity in Gut-Derived Lactobacillus salivarius

peer-reviewedBacteriocin production is regarded as a desirable probiotic trait that aids in colonization and persistence in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Strains of Lactobacillus salivarius, a species associated with the GIT, are regarded as promising probiotic candidates and have a number of associated bacteriocins documented to date. These include multiple class IIb bacteriocins (salivaricin T, salivaricin P, and ABP-118) and the class IId bacteriocin bactofencin A, which show activity against medically important pathogens. However, the production of a bacteriocin in laboratory media does not ensure production under stressful environmental conditions, such as those encountered within the GIT. To allow this issue to be addressed, the promoter regions located upstream of the structural genes encoding the L. salivarius bacteriocins mentioned above were fused to a number of reporter proteins (green fluorescent protein [GFP], red fluorescent protein [RFP], and luciferase [Lux]). Of these, only transcriptional fusions to GFP generated signals of sufficient strength to enable the study of promoter activity in L. salivarius. While analysis of the class IIb bacteriocin promoter regions indicated relatively weak GFP expression, assessment of the promoter of the antistaphylococcal bacteriocin bactofencin A revealed a strong promoter that is most active in the absence of the antimicrobial peptide and is positively induced in the presence of mild environmental stresses, including simulated gastric fluid. Taken together, these data provide information on factors that influence bacteriocin production, which will assist in the development of strategies to optimize in vivo and in vitro production of these antimicrobials.This work was funded by a SFI PI award “Obesibiotics” (11/PI/1137) to PD

Enriched surface acidity for surfactant-free suspensions of carboxylated carbon nanotubes purified by centrifugation

AbstractIt is well known that surfactant-suspended carbon nanotube (CNT) samples can be purified by centrifugation to decrease agglomerates and increase individually-dispersed CNTs. However, centrifugation is not always part of protocols to prepare CNT samples used in biomedical applications. Herein, using carboxylated multi-walled CNTs (cMWCNTs) suspended in water without a surfactant, we developed a Boehm titrimetric method for the analysis of centrifuged cMWCNT suspensions and used it to show that the surface acidity of oxidized carbon materials in aqueous cMWCNT suspensions was enriched by ∼40% by a single low-speed centrifugation step. This significant difference in surface acidity between un-centrifuged and centrifuged cMWCNT suspensions has not been previously appreciated and is important because the degree of surface acidity is known to affect the interactions of cMWCNTs with biological systems

Listeriolysin S, a Novel Peptide Haemolysin Associated with a Subset of Lineage I Listeria monocytogenes

peer-reviewedStreptolysin S (SLS) is a bacteriocin-like haemolytic and cytotoxic virulence factor that plays a key role in the virulence of Group A Streptococcus (GAS), the causative agent of pharyngitis, impetigo, necrotizing fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Although it has long been thought that SLS and related peptides are produced by GAS and related streptococci only, there is evidence to suggest that a number of the most notorious Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria, including Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium botulinum and Staphylococcus aureus, produce related peptides. The distribution of the L. monocytogenes cluster is particularly noteworthy in that it is found exclusively among a subset of lineage I strains; i.e., those responsible for the majority of outbreaks of listeriosis. Expression of these genes results in the production of a haemolytic and cytotoxic factor, designated Listeriolysin S, which contributes to virulence of the pathogen as assessed by murine- and human polymorphonuclear neutrophil–based studies. Thus, in the process of establishing the existence of an extended family of SLS-like modified virulence peptides (MVPs), the genetic basis for the enhanced virulence of a proportion of lineage I L. monocytogenes may have been revealed.Work is funded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan, through a Science Foundation Ireland Investigator award to CH, PR and PC (06/IN.1/B98)

Lotka-Volterra predator-prey models analytic and numerical methods.

The Lotka-Volterra equations are a classical model of the populations of interacting species. In the case of two interacting species, we present a closed parametric solution to a particular case of the Lotka-Volterra model. We also determine closed expressions for the branch points, bounds on the parameter, amplitude of the oscillation of the prey and predator populations, and period of this model in terms of the Lambert W function. In the case of three interacting species, under certain conditions solutions are again periodic. However, standard numerical methods often fail to preserve this periodicity, as well as other important properties of the model. The underlying geometry of the three-species predator-prey model is developed through the framework of Poisson dynamics. It is shown that the system is bi-Poisson and possesses two independent first integrals. Numerical methods for approximating solutions to the model are constructed which incorporate the underlying Poisson geometry of the continuous system. These methods preserve the periodicity of solutions, and the error in the first integrals remains bounded. Simulations are used to show that these methods produce more accurate results than standard numerical methods which do not consider the Poisson structure of the equations.Master of Science (MSc) in Computational Science