56,970 research outputs found

    Speaking up and being heard: the changing metadiscourse about ‘voice’ in British parliamentary debates since 1800

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    As a metaphor for political power, participation, and legitimacy, the concept of ‘voice’ is central to considerations of representative politics during the modern era. Little is known about how political actors themselves understood and referred to their own voices, those of others, and their respective significance for representative politics. This article focuses on the British Parliament, which was since the eighteenth century regarded as a paradigmatic incarnation of political voice and as the pinnacle of modern representative government. Based on a corpus of Hansard debates from 1800 to 2005, we analyse MPs’ explicit references to ‘voice’ in parliamentary debates. We aim to explore the salience of ‘voice’ for MPs and of different aspects of voice as a vehicle for expressing political will. We also shed light on how metadiscursive references to ‘voice’ change over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

    New possibilities for women’s empowerment through agroecology in Himachal Pradesh, India

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    In 2018, the state of Himachal Pradesh in north India launched an initiative to convert all its farmers to natural farming (NF), an agroecological approach. The aim was to address multiple challenges related to rural livelihoods, high input costs, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. This paper is based on a qualitative case study of the state programme to transition farmers to NF. It seeks to understand how its mechanisms support and empower small and marginal women farmers. In addition to identifying mechanisms that facilitate the effective uptake of NF, the case study sought women’s views on whether these mechanisms increased spaces for decision making and developed capabilities and autonomy. Framed within the vision of reclaiming food sovereignty, various mechanisms such as training in villages, participating in NF groups and networks, visits to model farms, and adopting leadership roles offered new pathways for women farmers to gain confidence and capabilities. Women began to participate in spaces that had been culturally and structurally denied to them. This case study demonstrates how agroecology initiatives, with a particular emphasis on gender, can offer women various opportunities for decision making, income generation, and creative expression. These initiatives also expand community agency and enable the acquisition of knowledge necessary for sustainable ecosystems

    Recent advances on erythorbyl fatty acid esters as multi-functional food emulsifiers

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    Over the past few decades, food scientists have investigated a wide range of emulsifiers to manufacture stable and safe emulsion-based food products. More recently, the development of emulsifiers with multi-functionality, which is the ability to have more than two functions, has been considered as a promising strategy for resolving rancidification and microbial contamination in emulsions. Erythorbyl fatty acid esters (EFEs) synthesized by enzymatic esterification of hydrophilic erythorbic acid and hydrophobic fatty acid have been proposed as multifunctional emulsifiers since they simultaneously exhibit amphiphilic, antioxidative, and antibacterial properties in both aqueous and emulsion systems. This review provides current knowledge about EFEs in terms of enzymatic synthesis and multi-functionality. All processes for synthesizing and identifying EFEs are discussed. Each functionality of EFEs and the proposed mechanism are described with analytical methodologies and experimental details. It would provide valuable insights into the development and application of a multi-functional emulsifier in food emulsion chemistry

    Exploring the metabolomic landscape: Perilla frutescens as a promising enhancer of production, flavor, and nutrition in Tan lamb meat

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    Addressing health-related concerns linked to the metabolite profile of lamb meat has become paramount, in line with the growing demand for enhanced flavor and taste. We examined the impact of Perilla frutescens seeds on Tan lamb growth, carcass traits, and metabolite profiles. Three diets were employed: a low-concentrate group (LC), a high-concentrate group (HC), and a PFS group (the LC diet supplemented with 3% Perilla frutescens seeds) on a dry matter basis. Forty-five male Tan-lambs (approximately six months) with similar body weights (25.1 kg ± 1.12 SD) were randomly assigned to one of these three groups for 84-day feeding, including an initial 14-day adjustment phase. The supplementation of PFS resulted in increased average daily gain (P < 0.01) and improved carcass quality and meat color (P < 0.05). Additionally, it led to an enhancement in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (P < 0.05) and a reduction in the omega-6/omega-3 ratio (P < 0.05). Using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, 369 volatile compounds were identified with enhanced levels of acetaldehyde and 1,2,4-trimethyl-benzene associated with PFS (P < 0.05). Among the 807 compounds identified by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, there were 66 significantly differential compounds (P < 0.05), including 43 hydrophilic metabolites and 23 lipids. PFS supplementation led to significant alterations in 66 metabolites, with three metabolites including 2,5-diisopropyl-3-methylphenol, 3-hydroxydecanoic acid, and lysophosphatidylcholine (15:0) emerging as potential PFS-related biomarkers. The study indicates that PFS supplementation can enhance Tan-lamb growth, feed efficiency, and meat quality, potentially providing lamb meat with improved flavor and nutritional characteristics

    Atmospheric Degradation of Ecologically Important Biogenic Volatiles:Investigating the Ozonolysis of (E)-β-Ocimene, Isomers of α and β-Farnesene, α-Terpinene and 6-Methyl-5-Hepten-2-One, and Their Gas-Phase Products

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    Biogenic volatile organic compounds (bVOCs), synthesised by plants, are important mediators of ecological interactions that can also undergo a series of reactions in the atmosphere. Ground-level ozone is a secondary pollutant generated through sunlight-driven reactions between nitrogen oxides (NOx) and VOCs. Its levels have increased since the industrial revolution and reactions involving ozone drive many chemical processes in the troposphere. While ozone precursors often originate in urban areas, winds may carry these hundreds of kilometres, causing ozone formation to also occur in less populated rural regions. Under elevated ozone conditions, ozonolysis of bVOCs can result in quantitative and qualitative changes in the gas phase, reducing the concentrations of certain bVOCs and resulting in the formation of other compounds. Such changes can result in disruption of bVOC-mediated behavioural or ecological interactions. Through a series of gas-phase experiments using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS), we investigated the products and their yields from the ozonolysis of a range of ubiquitous bVOCs, which were selected because of their importance in mediating ecological interactions such as pollinator and natural enemy attraction and plant-to-plant communication, namely: (E)-β-ocimene, isomers of α and β-farnesene, α-terpinene and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one. New products from the ozonolysis of these compounds were identified, and the formation of these compounds is consistent with terpene-ozone oxidation mechanisms. We present the degradation mechanism of our model bVOCs and identify their reaction products. We discuss the potential ecological implications of the degradation of each bVOC and of the formation of reaction products

    The effects of banking market structure on corporate cash holdings and the value of cash

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    We investigate the impact of the local banking market structure on the level of corporate cash holdings and the value of cash. We find that, in more concentrated banking markets, firms increase their cash holdings by issuing more equity. The marginal value of $1 cash increases by 10 cents with a one-standard-deviation increase in bank concentration. The positive relationship between bank concentration and value of cash is robust to a rich set of tests such as for firms having access to bond markets or firms using syndicated loans and is more prominent for more financially constrained firms. We also explore the mechanism, and our results suggest that in more concentrated banking markets firms demand more cash to shield against default risk

    On the mucoadhesive properties of synthetic and natural polyampholytes

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    Hypothesis The mucoadhesive characteristics of amphoteric polymers (also known as polyampholytes) can vary and are influenced by factors such as the solution's pH and its relative position against their isoelectric point (pHIEP). Whilst the literature contains numerous reports on mucoadhesive properties of either cationic or anionic polymers, very little is known about these characteristics for polyampholytes Experiments Here, two amphoteric polymers were synthesized by reaction of linear polyethylene imine (l-PEI) with succinic or phthalic anhydride and their mucoadhesive properties were compared to bovine serum albumin (BSA), selected as a natural polyampholyte. Interactions between these polymers and porcine gastric mucin were studied using turbidimetric titration and isothermal titration calorimetry across a wide range of pHs. Model tablets were designed, coated with these polymers and tested to evaluate their adhesion to porcine gastric mucosa at different pHs. Moreover, a retention study using fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labelled polyampholytes deposited onto mucosal surfaces was also conducted Findings All these studies indicated the importance of solution pH and its relative position against pHIEP in the mucoadhesive properties of polyampholytes. Both synthetic and natural polyampholytes exhibited strong interactions with mucin and good mucoadhesive properties at pH < pHIEP

    Use of ZDR columns for early detection of severe convection within the operational radar network of the United Kingdom

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    Differential reflectivity () columns were observed using a Met Office three‐dimensional radar composite. An algorithm for automatic detection of columns was developed, based on dB and dBZ. Across three case days, detected columns were found to precede severe convection in tracked convective cells with a range of lead times from 0 to 20 min depending on the case day. Requiring maxima above 1.4 dB and 30 dBZ of and respectively was an appropriate second condition for all three cases although the skill in the early detection of severe convection varied across case days. Despite the high probability of detections, the high false alarm rate accompanied by low critical success index and data latency limit performance based on the three cases considered in this study. Nevertheless, the ability to detect columns in operational radar data with a useful lead time prior to severe convection in certain conditions is a promising development towards advancing nowcasting of severe convection in the United Kingdom
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