Consumers' willingness-to-pay for organic conversion-grade food: Evidence from five EU countries

In recent years, in overall value, the EU has become a net importer of organic food to supply increasing demand. Financial support for farmers during the conversion period has been made to help expand organic production as this was seen as a barrier to conversion. Meanwhile, farmers have been marketing products produced in this conversion period and labelled as such, the extent to which is described here for the UK, Portugal, Denmark, Ireland and Italy. Consumers' attitudes towards, and willingness-to-pay for, conversion-grade food in these countries is examined. It was found that consumers would be prepared to pay a premium for conversion-grade produce of around half the premium for organic produce with vegetables attracting a higher premium than meat. Finally, the potential of policies for marketing conversion-grade products to encourage more conversion is examined, together with barriers to achieving this. It is concluded that barriers to marketing such products, particularly from retailers, will be formidable. Thus, alternative policies are suggested. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Expression profiles in the progression of ductal carcinoma in the breast

An understanding of the multi-step nature of cancer as it is in the breast, as a series of pivotal genetic/epigenetic modifications is irrefutably a milestone in diagnostics, prognostics and eventually providing a cure. Here we have utilised a variant of analysis of variance (ANOVA) as a model for the identification and tracking of specific mRNA species whose transcription has been significantly altered at each grade in the progression of ductal carcinoma, making it possible to correlate histological progression with the genetic events underlying breast cancer. We show that in the progression of ductal carcinomas, from grade 1 to 3, there is a reduction in the actual number of mRNA species, which are significantly over or under expressed. We also show that this technique can be employed to generate differential gene expression patterns, whereby the combined expression profile of the tailored spectra of genes in the comparison of each ductal grade is sufficient to render them on clearly separate arms of an array-wise hierarchical cluster dendrogram.

The collaborative P-GRADE grid portal

Grid portals are increasingly used to provide uniform access to the grid infrastructure. This paper describes how the P-GRADE Grid Portal could be used in a collaborative manner to facilitate group work and support the notion of Virtual Organisations. We describe the development issues involved in the construction of a collaborative portal, including ensuring a consistent view between participants of a collaborative workflow and management of proxy credentials to allow separate nodes of the workflow to be submitted to different grids.

The contributions of domain-general and numerical factors to third-grade arithmetic skills and mathematical learning disability

Explanations of the marked individual differences in elementary school mathematical achievement and mathematical learning disability (MLD or dyscalculia) have involved domain-general factors (working memory, reasoning, processing speed and oral language) and numerical factors that include single-digit processing efficiency and multi-digit skills such as number system knowledge and estimation. This study of third graders (N = 258) finds both domain-general and numerical factors contribute independently to explaining variation in three significant arithmetic skills: basic calculation fluency, written multi-digit computation, and arithmetic word problems. Estimation accuracy and number system knowledge show the strongest associations with every skill and their contributions are both independent of each other and other factors. Different domain-general factors independently account for variation in each skill. Numeral comparison, a single digit processing skill, uniquely accounts for variation in basic calculation. Subsamples of children with MLD (at or below 10th percentile, n = 29) are compared with low achievement (LA, 11th to 25th percentiles, n = 42) and typical achievement (above 25th percentile, n = 187). Examination of these and subsets with persistent difficulties supports a multiple deficits view of number difficulties: most children with number difficulties exhibit deficits in both domain-general and numerical factors. The only factor deficit common to all persistent MLD children is in multi-digit skills. These findings indicate that many factors matter but multi-digit skills matter most in third grade mathematical achievement.

Low-grade inflammation, diet composition and health: current research evidence and its translation

The importance of chronic low-grade inflammation in the pathology of numerous age-related chronic conditions is now clear. An unresolved inflammatory response is likely to be involved from the early stages of disease development. The present position paper is the most recent in a series produced by the International Life Sciences Institute's European Branch (ILSI Europe). It is co-authored by the speakers from a 2013 workshop led by the Obesity and Diabetes Task Force entitled ‘Low-grade inflammation, a high-grade challenge: biomarkers and modulation by dietary strategies’. The latest research in the areas of acute and chronic inflammation and cardiometabolic, gut and cognitive health is presented along with the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying inflammation–health/disease associations. The evidence relating diet composition and early-life nutrition to inflammatory status is reviewed. Human epidemiological and intervention data are thus far heavily reliant on the measurement of inflammatory markers in the circulation, and in particular cytokines in the fasting state, which are recognised as an insensitive and highly variable index of tissue inflammation. Potential novel kinetic and integrated approaches to capture inflammatory status in humans are discussed. Such approaches are likely to provide a more discriminating means of quantifying inflammation–health/disease associations, and the ability of diet to positively modulate inflammation and provide the much needed evidence to develop research portfolios that will inform new product development and associated health claims.

Media damage following detergent sclerotherapy appears to be secondary to the induction of inflammation and apoptosis: an immunohistochemical study elucidating previous histological observations

Objective/Background: Traditionally, sclerotherapy has been thought to work by the cytotoxic effect of the sclerosant upon the endothelium alone. However, studies have shown that sclerotherapy is more successful in smaller veins than in larger veins. This could be explained by the penetration of the sclerosant, or its effect, into the media. This study aimed to investigate intimal and medial damage profiles after sclerosant treatment. Methods: Fresh human varicose veins were treated ex vivo with either 1% or 3% sodium tetradecyl sulphate (STS) for 1 or 10 minutes. The effect of the sclerosant on the vein wall was investigated by immunofluorescent labelling of transverse vein sections using markers for endothelium (CD31), smooth muscle (a-actin), apoptosis (p53) and inflammation (intercellular adhesion molecule-1 [ICAM-1]). Polidocanol (POL; 3%) treatment at 10 minutes was similarly investigated. Results: Endothelial cell death was concentration- and time-dependent for STS but incomplete for both sclerosants. Time, but not concentration, significantly affected cell death (p > .001). A 40% and 30% maximum reduction was observed for STS and POL, respectively. Destruction of 20e30% of smooth muscle cells was found up to 250 mm from the lumen after 3% STS treatment for 10 minutes. POL treatment for 10 minutes showed inferior destruction of medial cells. Following STS treatment and 24-hour tissue culture, p53 and ICAM-1 were upregulated to a depth of around 300 mm. This effect was not observed with POL. Conclusion: Inflammatory and apoptotic markers show the same distribution as medial cell death, implying that sclerotherapy with STS works by inducing apoptosis in the vein wall rather than having an effect restricted to the endothelium. Incomplete loss of endothelial cells and penetration of the sclerosant effect up to 250 mm into the media suggest that medial damage is crucial to the success of sclerotherapy and may explain why it is less effective in larger veins.