An Empirical Analysis of Scale and Scope Economies and Technical Change in an Irish Multiproduct Banking Firm

In contrast to most empirical investigations of the efficiency of multiproduct financial institutions, which either estimate scale and scope economies with a given state of technology, or only analyse technical change in the presence of overall scale economies, this study estimates overall scale economies, product-specific scale economies and scope economies in the presence of both neutral and non-neutral technical change. Also, in contrast to most other empirical studies in this area, standard errors are computed for all relevant statistics. The findings indicate diseconomies of scope; overall diseconomies of scale; product-specific economies are decreasing for investments and increasing for loans; in addition to substantial neutral technical change, biased technical change is labour- and capital-saving and deposits-using in character.

Using temporal analysis of products and flux response technology to determine diffusion coefficients in catalytic monoliths

The importance of accurately measuring gas diffusivity in porous materials has led to a number of methods being developed. In this study the Temporal Analysis of Products (TAP) reactor and Flux Response Technology (FRT) have been used to examine the diffusivity in the washcoat supported on cordierite monoliths. Herein, the molecular diffusion of propane within four monoliths with differently prepared alumina/CeZrOx washcoats was investigated as a function of temperature. Moment-based analysis of the observed TAP responses led to the calculation of the apparent intermediate gas constant, Kp, that characterises adsorption into the mesoporous network and apparent time delay, tapp, that characterises residence time in the mesoporous network. Additionally, FRT has been successfully adapted as an extensive in situ perturbation technique in measuring intraphase diffusion coefficients in the washcoats of the same four monolith samples. The diffusion coefficients obtained by moment-based analysis of TAP responses are larger than the coefficients determined by zero length column (ZLC) analysis of flux response profiles with measured values of the same monolith samples between 20 and 100 °C ranging from 2–5×10^-9 m² s^-1 to 4–8×10^-10 m² s^-1, respectively. The TAP and FRT data, therefore, provide a range of the lower and upper limits of diffusivity, respectively. The reported activation energies and diffusivities clearly correlate with the difference in the washcoat structure of different monolith samples.

Accounting for the effects of lipids in stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N values) analysis of skin and blubber of balaenopterid whales

RATIONALE Stable isotope values (d¹³C and d¹⁵N) of darted skin and blubber biopsies can shed light on habitat use and diet of cetaceans, which are otherwise difficult to study. Non-dietary factors affect isotopic variability, chiefly the depletion of C due to the presence of C-rich lipids. The efficacy of post hoc lipid-correction models (normalization) must be tested. METHODS For tissues with high natural lipid content (e.g., whale skin and blubber), chemical lipid extraction or normalization is necessary. C:N ratios, d¹³C values and d¹⁵N values were determined for duplicate control and lipid-extracted skin and blubber of fin (Balaenoptera physalus), humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) and minke whales (B. acutorostrata) by continuous-flow elemental analysis isotope ratio mass spectrometry (CF-EA-IRMS). Six different normalization models were tested to correct d¹³C values for the presence of lipids. RESULTS Following lipid extraction, significant increases in d¹³C values were observed for both tissues in the three species. Significant increases were also found for d¹⁵N values in minke whale skin and fin whale blubber. In fin whale skin, the d¹⁵N values decreased, with no change observed in humpback whale skin. Non-linear models generally out-performed linear models and the suitability of models varied by species and tissue, indicating the need for high model specificity, even among these closely related taxa. CONCLUSIONS Given the poor predictive power of the models to estimate lipid-free d13C values, and the unpredictable changes in d N values due to lipid-extraction, we recommend against arithmetical normalization in accounting for lipid effects on d13C values for balaenopterid skin or blubber samples. Rather, we recommend that duplicate analysis of lipid-extracted (d13C values) and non-treated tissues (d15N values) be used. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Analysis of Betaine and Choline Contents of Aleurone, Bran, and Flour Fractions of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Using 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy

In conventional milling, the aleurone layer is combined with the bran fraction. Studies indicate that the bran fraction of wheat contains the majority of the phytonutrients betaine and choline, with relatively minor concentrations in the refined flour. This present study suggests that the wheat aleurone layer (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Tiger) contains the greatest concentration of both betaine and choline (1553.44 and 209.80 mg/100 g of sample, respectively). The bran fraction contained 866.94 and 101.95 mg/100 g of sample of betaine and choline, respectively, while the flour fraction contained 23.30 mg/100 g of sample (betaine) and 28.0 mg/100 g of sample (choline). The betaine content for
the bran was lower, and the choline content was higher compared to previous studies, although it is known that there is large variation in betaine and choline contents between wheat cultivars. The ratio of betaine/choline in the aleurone fraction was approximately 7:1; in the bran, the ratio was approximately 8:1; and in the flour fraction, the ratio was approximately 1:1. The study further
emphasizes the superior phytonutrient composition of the aleurone layer.
INTRODUCTION
Wheat is a valuable source of betaine, choline (1, 2), B
vitamins, vitamin E, and a number of minerals, including iron,
zinc, magnesium, and phosphorus (3). Epidemiological studies
indicate that whole-grain consumption is protective against
several chronic diseases (4-12). It has not been fully elucidated
how whole-grain cereals or specific fractions (13) exert their
protective effect, but it is thought to be due to their content of
several nutrients associated with the reduced risk of disease.
Conventionally, whole grain is separated during milling into
bran, germ, and flour (14). The nutrient composition of these
fractions differ markedly; refined wheat flour contains approximately
50% less vitamins and minerals than whole-grain
flour (

Biosensors for the analysis of microbiological and chemical contaminants in food

Increases in food production and the ever-present threat of food contamination from microbiological and chemical sources have led the food industry and regulators to pursue rapid, inexpensive methods of analysis to safeguard the health and safety of the consumer. Although sophisticated techniques such as chromatography and spectrometry provide more accurate and conclusive results, screening tests allow a much higher throughput of samples at a lower cost and with less operator training, so larger numbers of samples can be analysed. Biosensors combine a biological recognition element (enzyme, antibody, receptor) with a transducer to produce a measurable signal proportional to the extent of interaction between the recognition element and the analyte. The different uses of the biosensing instrumentation available today are extremely varied, with food analysis as an emerging and growing application. The advantages offered by biosensors over other screening methods such as radioimmunoassay, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, fluorescence immunoassay and luminescence immunoassay, with respect to food analysis, include automation, improved reproducibility, speed of analysis and real-time analysis. This article will provide a brief footing in history before reviewing the latest developments in biosensor applications for analysis of food contaminants (January 2007 to December 2010), focusing on the detection of pathogens, toxins, pesticides and veterinary drug residues by biosensors, with emphasis on articles showing data in food matrices. The main areas of development common to these groups of contaminants include multiplexing, the ability to simultaneously analyse a sample for more than one contaminant and portability. Biosensors currently have an important role in food safety; further advances in the technology, reagents and sample handling will surely reinforce this position.

Au Nanoparticles for Applications in Analysis of Cellular and Biomolecular Recognitions

Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) have attracted a great interest in fabrication of various biosensor systems for analysis of cellular and biomolecular recognitions. In conjunction with vast conjugation chemistry available, the materials are easily coupled with biomolecules such as nucleic acids, antigens or antibodies in order to achieve their many potential applications as ligand carriers or transducing platforms for preparation, detection and quantification purposes. Furthermore, the nanoparticles possess easily tuned and unique optical/ physical/ chemical characteristics, and high surface areas, making them ideal candidates to this end. In this topic, sensing mechanisms based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), particle aggregation, catalytic property, and Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) of AuNPs as well as barcoding technologies including DNA biobarcodes will be discussed.

Metamaterials Nanosensor for Label-free Analysis of Conformation and Molecular Interaction of Biomolecules

Analysis of molecular interaction and conformational dynamics of biomolecules is of paramount importance in understanding of their vital functions in complex biological systems, disease detection, and new drug development. Plasmonic biosensors based upon surface plasmon resonance and localized surface plasmon resonance have become the predominant workhorse for detecting accumulated biomass caused by molecular binding events. However, unlike surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), the plasmonic biosensors indeed are not suitable tools to interrogate vibrational signatures of conformational transitions required for biomolecules to interact. Here, we show that plasmonic metamaterials can offer two transducing channels for parallel acquisition of optical transmission and sensitive SERS spectra at the biointerface, simultaneously probing the conformational states and binding affinity of biomolecules, e.g. G-quadruplexes, in different environments (Fig. 1). We further demonstrate the use of the metamaterials for fingerprinting and detection of arginine-glycine-glycine domain of nucleolin, a cancer biomarker which specifically binds to a G-quadruplex, with the picomolar sensitivity. The dual-mode nanosensor will significantly contribute to unraveling the complexes of the conformational dynamics of biomolecules as well as to improving specificity of biodetection assays.

Genome scan meta-analysis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, part II:Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a common disorder with high heritability and a 10-fold increase in risk to siblings of probands. Replication has been inconsistent for reports of significant genetic linkage. To assess evidence for linkage across studies, rank-based genome scan meta-analysis (GSMA) was applied to data from 20 schizophrenia genome scans. Each marker for each scan was assigned to 1 of 120 30-cM bins, with the bins ranked by linkage scores (1 = most significant) and the ranks averaged across studies (R(avg)) and then weighted for sample size (N(sqrt)[affected casess]). A permutation test was used to compute the probability of observing, by chance, each bin's average rank (P(AvgRnk)) or of observing it for a bin with the same place (first, second, etc.) in the order of average ranks in each permutation (P(ord)). The GSMA produced significant genomewide evidence for linkage on chromosome 2q (PAvgRnk