Pig producer perspectives on the use of meat inspection as an animal health and welfare diagnostic tool in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

Background
Currently, there is growing interest in developing ante and post mortem meat inspection (MI) to incorporate measures of pig health and welfare for use as a diagnostic tool on pig farms. However, the success of the development of the MI process requires stakeholder engagement with the process. Knowledge gaps and issues of trust can undermine the effective exchange and utilisation of information across the supply chain. A social science research methodology was employed to establish stakeholder perspectives towards the development of MI to include measures of pig health and welfare. In this paper the findings of semi-structured telephone interviews with 18 pig producers from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are presented.

Results
Producers recognised the benefit of the utilisation of MI data as a health and welfare diagnostic tool. This acknowledgment, however, was undermined for some by dissatisfaction with the current system of MI information feedback, by trust and fairness concerns, and by concerns regarding the extent to which data would be used in the producers’ interests. Tolerance of certain animal welfare issues may also have a negative impact on how producers viewed the potential of MI data. The private veterinary practitioner was viewed as playing a vital role in assisting them with the interpretation of MI data for herd health planning.

Conclusions
The development of positive relationships based on trust, commitment and satisfaction across the supply chain may help build a positive environment for the effective utilisation of MI data in improving pig health and welfare. The utilisation of MI as a diagnostic tool would benefit from the development of a communication strategy aimed at building positive relationships between stakeholders in the pig industry.

Irish Credit Unions: Investigating performance determinants and the opportunity cost of regulatory compliance

The study investigates how producer-specific environmental factors influence the performance of Irish credit unions. The empirical analysis uses a two-stage approach. The first stage measures efficiency by a data envelopment analysis (DEA) estimator, which explicitly incorporates the production of undesirable outputs such as bad loans in the modelling, and the second stage uses truncated regression to infer how various factors influence the (bias-corrected) estimated efficiency. A key finding of the analysis is that 68% of Irish credit unions do not incur an extra opportunity cost in meeting regulatory guidance on bad debt.

Overcoming Customer Dependency - A Case Study of Small Consumer Food Producers in Northern Ireland

Dependency on a small number of customer puts intense pressure on suppliers' profit margin and, in slow growing markets, limits their ability to grow. using stragtegic benchmarking information, a group of Northern Ireland consumer food producer are shown, depsite slow market growth and higher than averge customer dependency, to have increased market share while maintaining aboe vergate proitability. examination of the business strategic and develoment activites of the consumer food firms,and comparble information for other small food prodcuers in Ireland, suggests and emphasiss on cost-reduction and new prodcut development. A comparision of the productivity and prodcut range of the consuer food firms provides evidence of the success of these strategic. This suggests that even a relatively weak market situations, charactrised by dependency on a small number of customers, can be over come by effective and appropriate business strategy.

Acetaldehyde Production in the Direct Ethanol Fuel Cell: Mechanistic Elucidation by Density Functional Theory

This study employs density functional theory (DFT) calculations to examine the mechanism by which acetaldehyde is formed on platinum in a typical direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC). A pathway is found involving the formation of a strongly hydrogen-bonded complex between adsorbed ethanol and the surface hydroxyl (OH) species, followed by the facile alpha-dehydrogenation of ethanol, with spontaneous weakening of the hydrogen bond in favor of adsorbed acetaldehyde and water. This mechanism is found to be comparably viable on both the close-packed surface and the monatomic steps. Comparison of further reactions on these two sites strongly indicates that the steps act as net removers of acetaldehyde from the product stream, while the flat surface acts as a net producer.

Distinguishing between direct and indirect effects of predators in complex ecosystems

1. Global declines in biodiversity have stimulated much research into the consequences of species loss for ecosystems and the goods and services they provide. Species at higher trophic levels are at greater risk of human-induced extinction yet remarkably little is known about the effects of consumer species loss across multiple trophic levels in natural complex ecosystems. Previous studies have been criticized for lacking experimental realism and appropriate temporal scale, running for short periods that are not sufficient to detect many of the mechanisms operating in the field.
2. We manipulated the presence of two predator species and two groups of their prey (primary consumers) and measured their independent and interactive effects on primary producers in a natural marine benthic system. The presence of predators and their prey was manipulated in the field for 14 months to distinguish clearly the direct and indirect effects of predators on primary producers and to identify mechanisms driving responses.
3. We found that the loss of either predator species had indirect negative effects on species diversity and total cover of primary producers. These cascading effects of predator species loss were mediated by the presence of intermediate consumers. Moreover, the presence of different intermediate consumers, irrespective of the presence or absence of their predators, determined primary producer assemblage structure. We identified direct negative effects of predators on their prey and several indirect effects of predators on primary producers but not all interactions could have been predicted based on trophic level.
4. Our findings demonstrate the importance of trophic cascade effects coupled with non-trophic interactions when predicting the effects of loss of predator species on primary producers and consequently for ecosystem functioning. There is a pressing need for improved understanding of the effects of loss of consumers, based on realistic scenarios of diversity loss, to test conceptual frameworks linking predator diversity to variation in ecosystem functioning and for the protection of biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and related services.

The Role of Subjectivity and Knowledge Power Struggles in the Formation of Public Policy

There is a growing incentive for sociologists to demonstrate the use value of their research. Research ‘impact’ is a driver of research funding and a measure of academic standing. Academic debate on this issue has intensified since Burawoy’s (2004) call for a ‘public’ sociology. However the academy is no longer the sole or primary producer of knowledge and empirical sociologists need to contend with the ‘huge swathes’ of social data that now exist (Savage and Burrows, 2007). This article furthers these debates by considering power struggles between competing forms of knowledge. Using a case study, it specifically considers the power struggle between normative and empirical knowledge, and how providers of knowledge assert legitimacy for their truth claims. The article concludes that the idea of ‘impact’ and ‘use-value’ are extremely complex and depends in the policy context on knowledge power struggles, and on how policy makers want to view the world. © The Author(s) 2012

A normative approach to the criminalisation of cartel activity

Although cartel behaviour is almost universally (and rightly) condemned, it is not clear why cartel participants deserve the full wrath of the criminal law and its associated punishment. To fill this void, I develop a normative (or principled) justification for the criminalisation of conduct characteristic of ‘hard core’ cartels. The paper opens with a brief consideration of the rhetoric commonly used to denounce cartel activity, eg that it ‘steals from’ or ‘robs’ consumers. To put the discussion in context, a brief definition of ‘hard core’ cartel behaviour is provided and the harms associated with this activity are identified. These are: welfare losses in the form of appropriation (from consumer to producer) of consumer surplus, the creation of deadweight loss to the economy, the creation of productive inefficiency (hindering innovation of both products and processes), and the creation of so-called X-inefficiency. As not all activities which cause harm ought to be criminalised, a theory as to why certain harms in a liberal society can be criminalised is developed. It is based on JS Mill's harm to others principle (as refined by Feinberg) and on a choice of social institutions using Rawls's ‘veil of ignorance.’ The theory is centred on the value of individual choice in securing one's own well-being, with the market as an indispensable instrument for this. But as applied to the harm associated with cartel conduct, this theory shows that none of the earlier mentioned problems associated with this activity provide sufficient justification for criminalisation. However, as the harm from hard core cartel activity strikes at an important institution which permits an individual's ability to secure their own well-being in a liberal society, criminalisation of hard core cartel behaviour can have its normative justification on this basis.

An efficient unbounded lock-free queue for multi-core systems

The use of efficient synchronization mechanisms is crucial for implementing fine grained parallel programs on modern shared cache multi-core architectures. In this paper we study this problem by considering Single-Producer/Single- Consumer (SPSC) coordination using unbounded queues. A novel unbounded SPSC algorithm capable of reducing the row synchronization latency and speeding up Producer-Consumer coordination is presented. The algorithm has been extensively tested on a shared-cache multi-core platform and a sketch proof of correctness is presented. The queues proposed have been used as basic building blocks to implement the FastFlow parallel framework, which has been demonstrated to offer very good performance for fine-grain parallel applications. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

WB Yeats: No Country for Old Men

I originated, developed and wrote this one-hour documentary for RTE Television on newly discovered aspects of the life of WB Yeats. I am credited as producer and co-writer.

Ballybrando

I was writer and creative producer on this hour-long documentary for RTE Television about Marlon Brando's involvement in a failed movie filmed in Ireland.

SPR immunosensor for the detection of okadaic acid in mussels using magnetic particles as antibody carriers

Protein G-coated magnetic particles (MPs) were used as immobilisation supports for an antibody against okadaic acid (MAb(OA)) and carriers into a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) device for the development of a direct competitive immunosensor for okadaic acid (OA). SPR analysis of MAb(OA)-MP conjugates demonstrated that conjugations were successful with complete immobilisation of all the antibody biomolecules onto the MPs. Moreover, MAb(OA)-MP conjugates provided up to 11-fold higher SPR signals, compared to free MAb(OA). The use of conjugates in the direct competition assay provided a 3-fold lower LOD mu g/L (2.6 mu g of OA/L, equivalent to 12 mu g of OA/kg mussel meat). The presence of mussel matrix did not interfere in the OA quantification as seen in the calibration curves. Mussel samples, obtained from Ebro Delta's bays (NW Mediterranean) during a diarrheic shellfish poisoning (DSP) event and in the presence of Dinophysis sacculus, an OA producer, in the shellfish production area, were analysed with the MP-based SPR immunosensor. The OA contents correlated with those obtained by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) (y = 0.984x -5.273, R-2 = 0.789, p <0.001) and by mouse bioassay (MBA).

Natural variation of rice strigolactone biosynthesis is associated with the deletion of two MAX1 orthologs

Rice (Oryza sativa) cultivar Azucena--belonging to the Japonica subspecies--exudes high strigolactone (SL) levels and induces high germination of the root parasitic plant Striga hermonthica. Consistent with the fact that SLs also inhibit shoot branching, Azucena is a low-tillering variety. In contrast, Bala, an Indica cultivar, is a low-SL producer, stimulates less Striga germination, and is highly tillered. Using a Bala × Azucena F6 population, a major quantitative trait loci--qSLB1.1--for the exudation of SL, tillering, and induction of Striga germination was detected on chromosome 1. Sequence analysis of the corresponding locus revealed a rearrangement of a 51- to 59-kbp stretch between 28.9 and 29 Mbp in the Bala genome, resulting in the deletion of two cytochrome P450 genes--SLB1 and SLB2--with high homology to the Arabidopsis SL biosynthesis gene, MAX1. Both rice genes rescue the Arabidopsis max1-1 highly branched mutant phenotype and increase the production of the SL, ent-2'-epi-5-deoxystrigol, when overexpressed in Bala. Furthermore, analysis of this region in 367 cultivars of the publicly available Rice Diversity Panel population shows that the rearrangement at this locus is a recurrent natural trait associated with the Indica/Japonica divide in rice.

Invaders, Launchpads and Hybrids: The Importance of Transmediality in British Science Fiction Film in the 1950s

With its origins in the trick films of the 1890s and early 1900s, British science fiction film has a long history. While Things to Come (1936) is often identified as significant for being written by H.G.Wells, one of the fathers of science fiction as a genre, the importance of the interactions between media in the development of British science fiction film are often set aside. This chapter examines the importance of broadcast media to film-making in Britain, focusing on the 1950s as a period often valourised in writings about American science fiction, to the detriment of other national expressions of the genre. This period is key to the development of the genre in Britain, however, with the establishment of television as a popular medium incorporating the development of domestic science fiction television alongside the import of American products, together with the spread of the very term ‘science fiction’ through books, pulps and comics as well as radio, television and cinema. It was also the time of a backlash against the perceived threat of American soft cultural power embodied in the attractive shine of science fiction with its promise of a bright technological future. In particular, this chapter examines the significance of the relationship between the BBC television and radio services and the film production company Hammer, which was responsible for multiple adaptations of BBC properties, including a number of science fiction texts. The Hammer adaptation of the television serial The Quatermass Experiment proved to be the first major success for the company, moving it towards its most famous identity as producer of horror texts, though often horror with an underlying scientific element, as with their successful series of Frankenstein films. This chapter thus argues that the interaction between film and broadcast media in relation to science fiction was crucial at this historical juncture, not only in helping promote the identities of filmmakers like Hammer, but also in supporting the identity of the BBC and its properties, and in acting as a nexus for the then current debates on taste and national identity.

The Shakespearean Auteur and the Televisual Medium

In the wake offundamental shifts in television, programming and production have seen television creations which rival—even go beyond—standard cinema in scope, length and character development. This essay takes the distinctive approach of applying auteur theory to the small screen, exploring what understandings of the auteur might mean for a new era of television Shakespeare, and, as its case-study, considers the BBC’s Hollow Crown series. Characterized by a feature-film appearance, a multimillion pound budget, and an all-star cast, the series is exemplary of how television is now made; hence, the essay argues, the series needs to be investigated in relation to the most recent understandings of the medium. Central to this investigation is the way in which producer Sam Mendes’s vision imprintsitself upon each of the series’s four episodes, and the first part of the essay is accordingly concerned with his recognizable style and credentials as the series “showrunner.” However, Mendes’s is not the only auteurial stamp on the series, and the essay is equally concerned with how each of Mendes’s three co-directors places his or her auteurial signature on the Shakespearean source material in such a way as to lend each production a unique character. These individualized creative visions, the essay argues, unfold in concert with Mendes’s conceptualization of the series in its entirety. Ultimately, televisual auteurism is understood as a complex phenomenon that allows for more than one creative approach to be entertained.

Regulating Genetically Modified Organisms in Ireland – Laissez faire approach?

This chapter examines the legal framework applicable to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Ireland, bearing in mind the limited presence of GMOs. As a member of the European Union (EU), a specific, process-based regime applies regarding the authorisation and regulation of GMOs. This is intended to ensure a high level of environmental and human health protection and also enable producer and consumer choice. This regime is highly harmonized, but allows some flexibility regarding its implementation and, soon, the potential to opt-out from cultivation in part or entirely. Although, Ireland has only legislated on the area to the extent and in the manner required by the EU, it may avail of the opt-out in future – understandable in light of the lack of any cultivation currently and the green image of Ireland.
Complementary horizontal legislation and common law principles, relevant to labelling and varying forms of liability, deal with most issues that might arise quite comprehensively. However, they are quite complicated, overlapping and untailored and it is worth considering whether specific legislation should be developed to deal with liability related to GMOs.
Overall, Ireland holds varying stances to different forms of GMOs, with the greatest acceptance and use of GM-feed for pragmatic reasons. It has not developed a specific Irish approach, copy-pasting EU legislation and relying upon existing law to deal with any issues. This is understandable in light of the high level of harmonization and limited presence of GMOs in Ireland, but nonetheless will need to be developed as the availability of GMOs increases.