HEALTH, FOOD SAFETY AND MEAT DEMAND

For nearly two decades, the U.S. beef industry has faced a long term structural change, which has resulted in consumers shifting from beef to chicken. This shift has occurred due to consumer concerns on cholesterol consumption. More recently, this industry has confronted new challenges on the safety of beef, due to the potential presence of biological contaminants. This study incorporates a measure on food safety with a measure on health information in a meat demand system. Beef safety information is found to have a modest impact on beef demand, but is dominated by health information.meat demand, health, food safety, LA/AIDS, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries,

Molecular evidence for ten species and Oligo-Miocene vicariance within a nominal Australian gecko species (Crenadactylus ocellatus, Diplodactylidae)

Extent: 11p.BACKGROUND: Molecular studies have revealed that many putative ‘species’ are actually complexes of multiple morphologically conservative, but genetically divergent ‘cryptic species’. In extreme cases processes such as nonadaptive diversification (speciation without divergent selection) could mask the existence of ancient lineages as divergent as ecologically and morphologically diverse radiations recognised as genera or even families in related groups. The identification of such ancient, but cryptic, lineages has important ramifications for conservation, biogeography and evolutionary biology. Herein, we use an integrated multilocus genetic dataset (allozymes, mtDNA and nuclear DNA) to test whether disjunct populations of the widespread nominal Australian gecko species Crenadactylus ocellatus include distinct evolutionary lineages (species), and to examine the timing of diversification among these populations. RESULTS: We identify at least 10 deeply divergent lineages within the single recognised species Crenadactylus ocellatus, including a radiation of five endemic to the Kimberley region of north-west Australia, and at least four known from areas of less than 100 km2. Lineages restricted to geographically isolated ranges and semi-arid areas across central and western Australia are estimated to have began to diversify in the late Oligocene/early Miocence (~20-30 mya), concurrent with, or even pre-dating, radiations of many iconic, broadly sympatric and much more species-rich Australian vertebrate families (e.g. venomous snakes, dragon lizards and kangaroos). CONCLUSIONS: Instead of a single species, Crenadactylus is a surprisingly speciose and ancient vertebrate radiation. Based on their deep divergence and no evidence of recent gene flow, we recognise each of the 10 main lineages as candidate species. Molecular dating indicates that the genus includes some of the oldest vertebrate lineages confounded within a single species yet identified by molecular assessments of diversity. Highly divergent allopatric lineages are restricted to putative refugia across arid and semi-arid Australia, and provide important evidence towards understanding the history and spread of the Australian arid zone, suggesting at a minimum that semi-arid conditions were present by the early Miocene, and that severe aridity was widespread by the mid to late Miocene. In addition to documenting a remarkable instance of underestimation of vertebrate species diversity in a developed country, these results suggest that increasing integration of molecular dating techniques into cryptic species delimitation will reveal further instances where taxonomic conservatism has led to profound underestimation of not only species numbers, but also highly significant phylogenetic diversity and evolutionary history.Paul M. Oliver, Mark Adams and Paul Dought

Lie point symmetries and the geodesic approximation for the Schr\"odinger-Newton equations

We consider two problems arising in the study of the Schr\"odinger-Newton equations. The first is to find their Lie point symmetries. The second, as an application of the first, is to investigate an approximate solution corresponding to widely separated lumps of probability. The lumps are found to move like point particles under a mutual inverse-square law of attraction

Specialized pro‐resolving mediators: biosynthesis and biological role in bacterial infections

Acute inflammation caused by bacterial infections is an essential biological defence mechanism of the host in order to neutralize and clear the invaders and to return to homeostasis. Despite its protective function, inflammation may become persistent and uncontrolled, resulting in chronic diseases and tissue destruction as consequence of the unresolved inflammatory process. Therefore, spatiotemporal induction of endogenous inflammation resolution programs that govern bacterial clearance as well as tissue repair and regeneration, are of major importance in order to enable tissues to restore functions. Lipid mediators that are de‐novo biosynthesized from polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) mainly by lipoxygenases and cyclooxygenases, critically regulate the initiation, the maintenance but also the resolution of infectious inflammation and tissue regeneration. The discovery of specialized pro‐resolving mediators (SPMs) generated from omega‐3 PUFAs stimulated intensive research in inflammation resolution, especially in infectious inflammation elicited by bacteria. SPMs are immunoresolvents that actively terminate inflammation by limiting neutrophil influx, stimulating phagocytosis, bacterial killing and clearance as well as efferocytosis of apoptotic neutrophils and cellular debris by macrophages. Moreover, SPMs prevent collateral tissue damage, promote tissue repair and regeneration and lower antibiotic requirement. Here, we review the biosynthesis of SPMs in bacterial infections and cover specific mechanisms of SPMs that govern the resolution of bacteria‐initiated inflammation

Covalent interactions between lignin and hemicelluloses in plant secondary cell walls.

The plant secondary cell wall is a complex structure composed of polysaccharides and lignin, and is a key evolutionary innovation of vascular land plants. Although cell wall composition is well understood, the cross-linking of the different polymers is only now yielding to investigation. Cross-linking between hemicelluloses and lignin occurs via two different mechanisms: incorporation into lignin by radical coupling of ferulate substitutions on xylan in commelinid monocots, and incorporation of hemicellulosic glycosyl residues by re-aromatisation of lignification intermediates. Recent genetic evidence indicates that hemicellulose:lignin cross-linking has a substantial impact on plant cell wall recalcitrance. Engineering plant biomass with modified frequencies of cross-links will have significant impacts on biomass utilisation.O.M.T was a recipient of an iCASE studentship from the BBSRC and Novozymes (Reference BB/M015432/1). P.D. was supported by the Leverhulme Trust Centre for Natural Material Innovation and the OpenPlant Synthetic Biology Research Centre BB/L014130/1

Study of loss in superconducting coplanar waveguide resonators

Superconducting coplanar waveguide (SCPW) resonators have a wide range of applications due to the combination of their planar geometry and high quality factors relative to normal metals. However, their performance is sensitive to both the details of their geometry and the materials and processes that are used in their fabrication. In this paper, we study the dependence of SCPW resonator performance on materials and geometry as a function of temperature and excitation power. We measure quality factors greater than $2\times10^6$ at high excitation power and $6\times10^5$ at a power comparable to that generated by a single microwave photon circulating in the resonator. We examine the limits to the high excitation power performance of the resonators and find it to be consistent with a model of radiation loss. We further observe that while in all cases the quality factors are degraded as the temperature and power are reduced due to dielectric loss, the size of this effect is dependent on resonator materials and geometry. Finally, we demonstrate that the dielectric loss can be controlled in principle using a separate excitation near the resonance frequencies of the resonator.Comment: Replacing original version. Changes made based on referee comments. Fixed typo in equation (3) and added appendi

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of an allosteric inhibitor of HSET that targets cancer cells with supernumerary centrosomes

Centrosomes associate with spindle poles; thus, the presence of two centrosomes promotes bipolar spindle assembly in normal cells. Cancer cells often contain supernumerary centrosomes, and to avoid multipolar mitosis and cell death, these are clustered into two poles by the microtubule motor protein HSET. We report the discovery of an allosteric inhibitor of HSET, CW069, which we designed using a methodology on an interface of chemistry and biology. Using this approach, we explored millions of compounds in silico and utilized convergent syntheses. Only compound CW069 showed marked activity against HSET in vitro. The inhibitor induced multipolar mitoses only in cells containing supernumerary centrosomes. CW069 therefore constitutes a valuable tool for probing HSET function and, by reducing the growth of cells containing supernumerary centrosomes, paves the way for new cancer therapeutics

Supervisory Board Qualification of German Banks - Legal Standards and Survey Evidence

Improving the regulation of banks has been at the centre of economic policy actions since the outbreak of the global financial crisis. One of the many and conceptually very different measures proposed is to improve the corporate governance of banks by setting qualification standards for banks' non-executive directors. To explore the rationale of such a regulation implemented in Germany, we conducted a detailed survey among supervisory board members of German banks covering their educational background, professional status and experience, as well as non-occupation related activities. We document that general education among supervisory board members is high, but very few board members can rely on a professional background in banking and finance. Surprisingly, we find that this is especially true for chairpersons and that a higher share of professionals among board members primarily reflects the presence of employee representatives. However, as regards competencies and skills required to enforce changes against the management, chairpersons more often report leadership experience than ordinary members. Furthermore, some of these fi ndings strongly depend on the bank's legal form, its size and business model, suggesting that both market forces and institutional characteristics of banking markets are important determinants of the qualification level of non-executive directors.Seit Ausbruch der globalen Finanzkrise steht das Thema Bankenregulierung ganz oben auf der wirtschaftspolitischen Agenda. Die Reformansätze sind vielfältig und unterscheiden sich konzeptionell zum Teil sehr deutlich. Eine Gruppe von Vorschlägen zielt auf die Verbesserung der internen Corporate Governance von Kreditinstituten ab, beispielsweise durch bankaufsichtliche Vorgaben an die Qualifikation ihrer Kontrollorganmitglieder. Der vorliegende Beitrag hinterfragt diesen in Deutschland bereits im Jahr 2009 implementierten Ansatz auf Basis einer detaillierten Befragung, unter anderem zu Ausbildung, beruflichem Hintergrund und nebenberuflichen Tätigkeiten von Kontrollorganmitgliedern. Die Befragungsergebnisse zeigen, dass Kontrollorganmitglieder im Mittel über einen hohen Bildungsstand verfügen. Sie haben jedoch nur recht selten berufliche Erfahrung in der Finanzindustrie. Insbesondere gilt dies für die Vorsitzenden der Kontrollorgane. Der beobachtete höhere Anteil an Kontrollorganmitgliedern mit Berufserfahrung in der Finanzindustrie bei öffentlich-rechtlichen Sparkassen und Aktiengesellschaften spiegelt die verstärkte Präsenz von Arbeitnehmervertretern wider. Mehrheitlich verfügen Kontrollorganmitglieder über Führungserfahrung, besonders häufig können Vorsitzende darauf verweisen. Viele der erhobenen Qualifikationsmerkmale variieren stark mit Rechtsform, Größe und Geschäftsmodell des beaufsichtigten Instituts. Marktkräfte und institutionelle Charakteristika des deutschen Bankensektors sind demnach wichtige Bestimmungsfaktoren für das Qualifikationsniveau von Kontrollorganmitgliedern

Glas halb voll oder halb leer? Eine Analyse der Qualifikation von Kontrollorganmitgliedern deutscher Banken

Die bislang umfangreichste empirische Studie zur Kompetenz von Aufsichts- und Verwaltungsräten deutscher Banken zeigt: Der allgemeine Ausbildungsstand von Mitgliedern in den Kontrollorganen von Sparkassen, Genossenschaftsbanken und Privatbanken ist zwar hoch. Außer den Arbeitnehmer-Vertretern verfügen jedoch wenige Kontrolleure über branchenspezifische Fachkompetenz. Dieser Befund trifft überraschenderweise in besonderem Maße für die Vorsitzenden der Gremien zu. Allerdings besitzen diese eine im Vergleich zu den übrigen Mitgliedern stärker ausgeprägte Führungserfahrung. Insgesamt hängt das Qualifikationsniveau von der Rechtsform und Größe sowie dem Geschäftsmodell der Banken ab