2,987 research outputs found
Field study results on the probability and risk of a horizontal gene transfer from transgenic herbicide-resistant oilseed rape pollen to gut bacteria of bees
No full textBees are specifically subjected to intimate contacts with transgenic plants due to their feeding activities on pollen. In this study, the probability and ecological risk of a gene transfer from pollen to gut bacteria of bees was investigated with larvae of Apis mellifera (honeybee), Bombus terrestris (bumblebee), and Osmia bicornis (red mason bee), all collected at a flowering transgenic oilseed rape field. The plants were genetically engineered with the pat-gene, conferring resistance against glufosinate (syn. phosphinothricin), a glutamine-synthetase inhibitor in plants and microorganisms. Ninety-six bacterial strains were isolated and characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, revealing that Firmicutes represented 58% of the isolates, Actinobacteria 31%, and Proteobacteria 11%, respectively. Of all isolates, 40% were resistant to 1 mM glufosinate, and 11% even to 10 mM. Resistant phenotypes were found in all phylogenetic groups. None of the resistant phenotypes carried the recombinant pat-gene in its genome. The threshold of detecting gene transfer in this field study was relatively insensitive due to the high background of natural glufosinate resistance. However, the broad occurrence of glufosinate-resistant bacteria from different phylogenetic groups suggests that rare events of horizontal gene transfer will not add significantly to natural bacterial glufosinate resistance
On the cost of delayed currency fixing announcements
No full textIn Foreign Exchange Markets vanilla and barrier options are traded frequently. The market standard is a cutoff time of 10:00 a.m. in New York for the strike of vanillas and a knock-out event based on a continuously observed barrier in the inter bank market. However, many clients, particularly from Italy, prefer the cutoff and knock-out event to be based on the fixing published by the European Central Bank on the Reuters Page ECB37. These barrier options are called discretely monitored barrier options. While these options can be priced in several models by various techniques, the ECB source of the fixing causes two problems. First of all, it is not tradable, and secondly it is published with a delay of about 10 - 20 minutes. We examine here the effect of these problems on the hedge of those options and consequently suggest a cost based on the additional uncertainty encountered. --exotic options,currency fixings
Methanogenesis in biogas reactors under inhibitory ammonia concentration requires community-wide tolerance
No full textAbstract Ammonia (NH 3 ) inhibition represents a major limitation to methane production during anaerobic digestion of organic material in biogas reactors. This process relies on co-operative metabolic interactions between diverse taxa at the community-scale. Despite this, most investigations have focused singularly on how methanogenic Archaea respond to NH 3 stress. With a high-NH 3 pre-adapted and un-adapted community, this study investigated responses to NH 3 inhibition both at the community-scale and down to individual taxa. The pre-adapted community performed methanogenesis under inhibitory NH 3 concentrations better than the un-adapted. While many functionally important phyla were shared between the two communities, only taxa from the pre-adapted community were robust to NH 3 . Functionally important phyla were mostly comprised of sensitive taxa (≥ 50%), yet all groups, including methanogens, also possessed tolerant individuals (10–50%) suggesting that potential mechanisms for tolerance are non-specific and widespread. Hidden Markov Model–based phylogenetic analysis of methanogens confirmed that NH 3 tolerance was not restricted to specific taxonomic groups, even at the genus level. By reconstructing covarying growth patterns via network analyses, methanogenesis by the pre-adapted community was best explained by continued metabolic interactions (edges) between tolerant methanogens and other tolerant taxa (nodes). However, under non-inhibitory conditions, sensitive taxa re-emerged to dominate the pre-adapted community, suggesting that mechanisms of NH 3 tolerance can be disadvantageous to fitness without selection pressure. This study demonstrates that methanogenesis under NH 3 inhibition depends on broad-scale tolerance throughout the prokaryotic community. Mechanisms for tolerance seem widespread and non-specific, which has practical significance for the development of robust methanogenic biogas communities. Key points • Ammonia pre-adaptation allows for better methanogenesis under inhibitory conditions. • All functionally important prokaryote phyla have some ammonia tolerant individuals. • Methanogenesis was likely dependent on interactions between tolerant individuals
Risk assessment of the cultivation of a stacked Bt-maize variety (MON89034 × MON88017) for nematode communities
No full textHoess S, Reiff N, Ottermanns R, et al. Risk assessment of the cultivation of a stacked Bt-maize variety (MON89034xMON88017) for nematode communities. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 2015;91:109-118
Abundance and composition data of microbiomes in agricultural biogas plants of Lower Saxony, Germany, with variation in organic substrates, process parameters and nutrientsOpenAgrarOpenAgrar
No full textThis article presents high-throughput DNA sequencing, quantitative PCR data of microbial communities, and process parameters as recovered from eight biogas plants (BPs) located in Lower Saxony, Germany. Samples were collected from both the main (MD) and secondary digesters (SD). Additionally, for 4 BPs, samples were also obtained from the residue digester storage (RDS). Different BPs employed various types of substrates originating from cattle manure, chicken manure, pig manure, or renewable resources. Information on physico-chemical process parameters and concentrations of macro- and micro-nutrients in the BPs is provided. Total DNA from all samples were extracted using a phenol-chloroform-based method. To determine the abundance of bacteria and archaea, their 16S rRNA genes were quantified by real-time PCR (qPCR), and to characterize their community composition, paired-end DNA sequence reads were generated from PCR amplicons with Illumina MiSeq. All statistical analyses were performed in R to explore the microbial diversity, abundance, and community structure among different BPs and digesters (MD, SD, RDS). The presence and distribution of the major bacterial and archaeal phyla indicated for each BP unique and diverse microbial communities with typically higher bacterial than archaeal abundances
Aura Satz in conversation with Christoph Cox, April/May 2017
No full textA conversation between Aura Satz and Christoph Cox, exploring sirens and emergency signals, acoustic ecology, and economies of attention. Aura Satz is a film-maker and sound artist who has performed, exhibited and screened her work nationally and internationally, including at Tate Modern; Oberhausen Short Film Festival (Oberhausen); the Rotterdam Film Festival (Rotterdam); the New York Film Festival (NY); Gallery 44 (Toronto); InterCommunication Centre (Tokyo) and the Sydney Biennale. In 2012, she was shortlisted for the Samsung Art+ Award and the Jarman Award. She teaches at the Royal College of Art, London. She was in conversation with Christoph Cox, a philosopher, critic, and curator who teaches at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He is the author of Sonic Flux: Sound, Art, and Metaphysics (University of Chicago Press, forthcoming) and Nietzsche: Naturalism and Interpretation (University of California Press, 1999), and co-editor of Realism Materialism Art (Sternberg, 2015) and Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music (Continuum, 2004/Bloomsbury, 2017). Cox is editor-at-large at Cabinet magazine. His writing has appeared in numerous journals including October, Artforum, Journal of the History of Philosophy, Journal of Visual Culture, The Review of Metaphysics. He has curated exhibitions at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, The Kitchen, CONTEXT Art Miami and other venues
Private Equity und Familienunternehmen: eine Untersuchung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbauunternehmen
No full textDespite the common view that there is inherently a relationship of confliction, it is now impossible to imagine the financing of family-owned enterprises in Germany without the alternative method of Private Equity financing. Based on a survey on Private Equity in family owned companies specialising in the mechanical engineering sector, this working paper identifies that Private Equity in general is not as unwanted as once assumed. Overall more than 3/4 of the surveyed companies do not exclude investment capital. However, the study demonstrates that the time of large buy-outs is arguably up, and minority capital has now come into vogue. This working paper examines, from the viewpoint of the managing directors of the studied companies, the conceptions and beliefs held by such persons about Private Equity. Generally speaking, besides loss of control, managing directors primarily fear Private Equity because of exaggerated returns on investment at the expense of the long-term development of the company. On the other hand, this paper also highlights that managing directors expect that Private Equity can have a positive element as it can enable bank independence, especially at a time when it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain creditworthiness. Further, this paper analyses the relationship between the managing director of the family enterprise and the Private Equity investor. Because of the special situation of the managing director in a family owned company, trust between that person and the Private Equity investor is one of the most important factors. If there is a lack of trust the business relation is troubled from the start. --Private equity,buyout,family owned enterprises,minority capital,credit crisis,MBO,MBI,return on investments,LBO,leveraged finance,M&A
Cycle time estimation using artificial neural networks
No full textauthor: Christoph Gerhold, BScMasterarbeit Universität Innsbruck 201
Cycle time estimation using artificial neural networks
No full textauthor: Christoph Gerhold, BScMasterarbeit Universität Innsbruck 201
Cycle time estimation using artificial neural networks
No full textauthor: Christoph Gerhold, BScMasterarbeit Universität Innsbruck 201
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