Continental shift? An analysis of convergence trends in European real estate equities

European economic and political integration have been recognised as having implications for patterns of performance in national real estate and capital markets and have generated a wide body of research and commentary. In 1999, progress towards monetary integration within the European Union culminated in the introduction of a common currency and monetary policy. This paper investigates the effects of this ‘event’ on the behaviour of stock returns in European real estate companies. A range of statistical tests is applied to the performance of European property companies to test for changes in segmentation, co-movement and causality. The results suggest that, relative to the wider equity markets, the dispersion of performance is higher, correlations are lower, a common contemporaneous factor has much lower explanatory power whilst lead-lag relationships are stronger. Consequently, the evidence of transmission of monetary integration to real estate securities is less noticeable than to general securities. Less and slower integration is attributed to the relatively small size of the real estate securities market and the local and national nature of the majority of the companies’ portfolios.

Can carbon surface oxidation shift the pore size distribution curve calculated from Ar, N(2) and CO(2) adsorption isotherms? Simulation results for a realistic carbon model

Using the virtual porous carbon model proposed by Harris et al, we study the effect of carbon surface oxidation on the pore size distribution (PSD) curve determined from simulated Ar, N(2) and CO(2) isotherms. It is assumed that surface oxidation is not destructive for the carbon skeleton, and that all pores are accessible for studied molecules (i.e., only the effect of the change of surface chemical composition is studied). The results obtained show two important things, i.e., oxidation of the carbon surface very slightly changes the absolute porosity (calculated from the geometric method of Bhattacharya and Gubbins (BG)); however, PSD curves calculated from simulated isotherms are to a greater or lesser extent affected by the presence of surface oxides. The most reliable results are obtained from Ar adsorption data. Not only is adsorption of this adsorbate practically independent from the presence of surface oxides, but, more importantly, for this molecule one can apply the slit-like model of pores as the first approach to recover the average pore diameter of a real carbon structure. For nitrogen, the effect of carbon surface chemical composition is observed due to the quadrupole moment of this molecule, and this effect shifts the PSD curves compared to Ar. The largest differences are seen for CO2, and it is clearly demonstrated that the PSD curves obtained from adsorption isotherms of this molecule contain artificial peaks and the average pore diameter is strongly influenced by the presence of electrostatic adsorbate-adsorbate as well as adsorbate-adsorbent interactions.

Development of colour and firmness in strawberry crops is UV light sensitive, but colour is not a good predictor of several quality parameters

BACKGROUND: Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duchesne var. Elsanta) plants were grown in polytunnels covered with three polythene films that transmitted varying levels of ultraviolet (UV) light. Fruit were harvested under near-commercial conditions and quality and yield were measured. During ripening, changes in the colour parameters of individual fruit were monitored, and the accuracy of using surface colour to predict other quality parameters was determined by analysing the correlation between colour and quality parameters within UV treatments. RESULTS: Higher exposure to UV during growth resulted in the fruit becoming darker at harvest and developing surface colour more quickly; fruit were also firmer at harvest, but shelf life was not consistently affected by the UV regime. Surface colour measurements were poorly correlated to firmness, shelf life or total phenolics, anthocyanins and ellagic acid contents. CONCLUSION: Although surface colour of strawberry fruits was affected by the UV regime during growth, and this parameter is an important factor in consumer perception, we concluded that the surface colour at the time of harvest was, contrary to consumer expectations, a poor indicator of firmness, potential shelf life or anthocyanin content. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry

Weaning diet induces sustained metabolic phenotype shift in the pig and influences host response to Bifidobacterium lactis NCC2818

Background The process of weaning causes a major shift in intestinal microbiota and is a critical period for developing appropriate immune responses in young mammals.Objective To use a new systems approach to provide an overview of host metabolism and the developing immune system in response to nutritional intervention around the weaning period.Design Piglets (n=14) were weaned onto either an egg-based or soya-based diet at 3 weeks until 7 weeks, when all piglets were switched onto a fish-based diet. Half the animals on each weaning diet received Bifidobacterium lactis NCC2818 supplementation from weaning onwards. Immunoglobulin production from immunologically relevant intestinal sites was quantified and the urinary (1)H NMR metabolic profile was obtained from each animal at post mortem (11 weeks).Results Different weaning diets induced divergent and sustained shifts in the metabolic phenotype, which resulted in the alteration of urinary gut microbial co-metabolites, even after 4 weeks of dietary standardisation. B lactis NCC2818 supplementation affected the systemic metabolism of the different weaning diet groups over and above the effects of diet. Additionally, production of gut mucosa-associated IgA and IgM was found to depend upon the weaning diet and on B lactis NCC2818 supplementation.ConclusionThe correlation of urinary (1)H NMR metabolic profile with mucosal immunoglobulin production was demonstrated, thus confirming the value of this multi-platform approach in uncovering non-invasive biomarkers of immunity. This has clear potential for translation into human healthcare with the development of urine testing as a means of assessing mucosal immune status. This might lead to early diagnosis of intestinal dysbiosis and with subsequent intervention, arrest disease development. This system enhances our overall understanding of pathologies under supra-organismal control.

Unraveling the electronic structures of low-valent naphthalene and anthracene iron complexes: x-ray, spectroscopic, and density functional theory studies

Naphthalene and anthracene transition metalates are potent reagents, but their electronic structures have remained poorly explored. A study of four Cp*-substituted iron complexes (Cp* = pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) now gives rare insight into the bonding features of such species. The highly oxygen- and water-sensitive compounds [K(18-crown- 6){Cp*Fe(η4-C10H8)}] (K1), [K(18-crown-6){Cp*Fe(η4-C14H10)}] (K2), [Cp*Fe(η4-C10H8)] (1), and [Cp*Fe(η4-C14H10)] (2) were synthesized and characterized by NMR, UV−vis, and 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy. The paramagnetic complexes 1 and 2 were additionally characterized by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The molecular structures of complexes K1, K2, and 2 were determined by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Cyclic voltammetry of 1 and 2 and spectroelectrochemical experiments revealed the redox properties of these complexes, which are reversibly reduced to the monoanions [Cp*Fe(η4-C10H8)]− (1−) and [Cp*Fe(η4-C14H10)]− (2−) and reversibly oxidized to the cations [Cp*Fe(η6-C10H8)]+ (1+) and [Cp*Fe(η6-C14H10)]+ (2+). Reduced orbital charges and spin densities of the naphthalene complexes 1−/0/+ and the anthracene derivatives 2−/0/+ were obtained by density functional theory (DFT) methods. Analysis of these data suggests that the electronic structures of the anions 1− and 2− are best represented by low-spin FeII ions coordinated by anionic Cp* and dianionic naphthalene and anthracene ligands. The electronic structures of the neutral complexes 1 and 2 may be described by a superposition of two resonance configurations which, on the one hand, involve a low-spin FeI ion coordinated by the neutral naphthalene or anthracene ligand L, and, on the other hand, a low-spin FeII ion coordinated to a ligand radical L•−. Our study thus reveals the redox noninnocent character of the naphthalene and anthracene ligands, which effectively stabilize the iron atoms in a low formal, but significantly higher spectroscopic oxidation state.

Borrowing and shift-induced interference: contrasting patterns in French-Germanic contact in Brussels and Strasbourg

The main aim of the present article is to test hypotheses derived from the model for contact- induced language change as formulated in Thomason and Kaufman (1988 et seq.). As the model correctly predicts the asymmetries between the mutual influences of the Germanic and the Romance varieties in Brussels and Strasbourg it is a very powerful tool for describing the contact patterns in these cities. The analysis shows that the contact patterns are very similar, both from a quantitative and from a qualitative point of view, despite important differences in the sociolinguistic situation of both cities. The striking similarities in the outcome of language contact seem to find a plausible explanation in the fact that the language contact situations in both cities are similar from a typological point of view: in each city a variety of French is in contact with a Germanic variety (Alsatian and Brussels Dutch). Thus, the claim of the present article is that the structure of the languages plays a more prominent role in the outcome of language contact than the sociolinguistic history of the speakers.

Atlantic Ocean influence on a shift in European climate in the 1990s

European climate exhibits variability on a wide range of timescales. Understanding the nature and drivers of this variability is an essential step in developing robust climate predictions and risk assessments. The Atlantic Ocean has been suggested as an important driver of variability in European climate on decadal timescales1, but the importance of this influence in recent decades has been unclear, partly because of difficulties in separating the influence of the Atlantic Ocean from other contributions, for example, from the tropical Pacific Ocean and the stratosphere. Here we analyse four data sets derived from observations to show that, during the 1990s, there was a substantial shift in European climate towards a pattern characterized by anomalously wet summers in northern Europe, and hot, dry, summers in southern Europe, with related shifts in spring and autumn. These changes in climate coincided with a substantial warming of the North Atlantic Ocean, towards a state last seen in the 1950s. The patterns of European climate change in the 1990s are consistent with earlier changes attributed to the influence of the North Atlantic Ocean, and provide compelling evidence that the Atlantic Ocean was the key driver. Our results suggest that the recent pattern of anomalies in European climate will persist as long as the North Atlantic Ocean remains anomalously warm.

Experimental and modeled UV erthemal irradiance under overcast conditions: the role of cloud optical depth

This paper evaluates the relationship between the cloud modification factor (CMF) in the ultraviolet erythe- mal range and the cloud optical depth (COD) retrieved from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) "cloud mode" algorithm under overcast cloudy conditions (confirmed with sky images) at Granada, Spain, mainly for non-precipitating, overcast and relatively homogenous water clouds. Empirical CMF showed a clear exponential dependence on experimental COD values, decreasing approximately from 0.7 for COD=10 to 0.25 for COD=50. In addition, these COD measurements were used as input in the LibRadtran radia tive transfer code allowing the simulation of CMF values for the selected overcast cases. The modeled CMF exhibited a dependence on COD similar to the empirical CMF, but modeled values present a strong underestimation with respect to the empirical factors (mean bias of 22 %). To explain this high bias, an exhaustive comparison between modeled and experimental UV erythemal irradiance (UVER) data was performed. The comparison revealed that the radiative transfer simulations were 8 % higher than the observations for clear-sky conditions. The rest of the bias (~14 %) may be attributed to the substantial underestimation of modeled UVER with respect to experimental UVER under overcast conditions, although the correlation between both dataset was high (R2 ~ 0.93). A sensitive test showed that the main reason responsible for that underestimation is the experimental AERONET COD used as input in the simulations, which has been retrieved from zenith radiances in the visible range. In this sense, effective COD in the erythemal interval were derived from an iteration procedure based on searching the best match between modeled and experimental UVER values for each selected overcast case. These effective COD values were smaller than AERONET COD data in about 80 % of the overcast cases with a mean relative difference of 22 %.

Liquid AP-UV-MALDI enables stable ion yields of multiply charged peptide and protein ions for sensitive analysis by mass spectrometry

In biological mass spectrometry (MS), two ionization techniques are predominantly employed for the analysis of larger biomolecules, such as polypeptides. These are nano-electrospray ionization [1, 2] (nanoESI) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization [3, 4] (MALDI). Both techniques are considered to be “soft”, allowing the desorption and ionization of intact molecular analyte species and thus their successful mass-spectrometric analysis. One of the main differences between these two ionization techniques lies in their ability to produce multiply charged ions. MALDI typically generates singly charged peptide ions whereas nanoESI easily provides multiply charged ions, even for peptides as low as 1000 Da in mass. The production of highly charged ions is desirable as this allows the use of mass analyzers, such as ion traps (including orbitraps) and hybrid quadrupole instruments, which typically offer only a limited m/z range (< 2000–4000). It also enables more informative fragmentation spectra using techniques such as collisioninduced dissociation (CID) and electron capture/transfer dissociation (ECD/ETD) in combination with tandem MS (MS/MS). [5, 6] Thus, there is a clear advantage of using ESI in research areas where peptide sequencing, or in general, the structural elucidation of biomolecules by MS/MS is required. Nonetheless, MALDI with its higher tolerance to contaminants and additives, ease-of-operation, potential for highspeed and automated sample preparation and analysis as well as its MS imaging capabilities makes it an ionization technique that can cover bioanalytical areas for which ESI is less suitable. [7, 8] If these strengths could be combined with the analytical power of multiply charged ions, new instrumental configurations and large-scale proteomic analyses based on MALDI MS(/MS) would become feasible.

Projections of UV radiation changes in the 21st century: impact of ozone recovery and cloud effects

Monthly averaged surface erythemal solar irradiance (UV-Ery) for local noon from 1960 to 2100 has been derived using radiative transfer calculations and projections of ozone, temperature and cloud change from 14 chemistry climate models (CCM), as part of the CCMVal-2 activity of SPARC. Our calculations show the influence of ozone depletion and recovery on erythemal irradiance. In addition, we investigate UV-Ery changes caused by climate change due to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. The latter include effects of both stratospheric ozone and cloud changes. The derived estimates provide a global picture of the likely changes in erythemal irradiance during the 21st century. Uncertainties arise from the assumed scenarios, different parameterizations – particularly of cloud effects on UV-Ery – and the spread in the CCM projections. The calculations suggest that relative to 1980, annually mean UV-Ery in the 2090s will be on average 12% lower at high latitudes in both hemispheres, 3% lower at mid latitudes, and marginally higher (1 %) in the tropics. The largest reduction (16 %) is projected for Antarctica in October. Cloud effects are responsible for 2–3% of the reduction in UV-Ery at high latitudes, but they slightly moderate it at mid-latitudes (1 %). The year of return of erythemal irradiance to values of certain milestones (1965 and 1980) depends largely on the return of column ozone to the corresponding levels and is associated with large uncertainties mainly due to the spread of the model projections. The inclusion of cloud effects in the calculations has only a small effect of the return years. At mid and high latitudes, changes in clouds and stratospheric ozone transport by global circulation changes due to greenhouse gases will sustain the erythemal irradiance at levels below those in 1965, despite the removal of ozone depleting substances.

Weaning diet induces sustained metabolic phenotype shift in the pig and influences host response to Bifidobacterium lactis NCC2818

Background: The process of weaning causes a major shift in intestinal microbiota and is a critical period for developing appropriate immune responses in young mammals. Objective: To use a new systems approach to provide an overview of host metabolism and the developing immune system in response to nutritional intervention around the weaning period. Design: Piglets (n¼14) were weaned onto either an eggbased or soya-based diet at 3 weeks until 7 weeks, when all piglets were switched onto a fish-based diet. Half the animals on each weaning diet received Bifidobacterium lactis NCC2818 supplementation from weaning onwards. Immunoglobulin production from immunologically relevant intestinal sites was quantified and the urinary 1H NMR metabolic profile was obtained from each animal at post mortem (11 weeks). Results: Different weaning diets induced divergent and sustained shifts in the metabolic phenotype, which resulted in the alteration of urinary gut microbial co-metabolites, even after 4 weeks of dietary standardisation. B lactis NCC2818 supplementation affected the systemic metabolism of the different weaning diet groups over and above the effects of diet. Additionally, production of gut mucosa-associated IgA and IgM was found to depend upon the weaning diet and on B lactis NCC2818 supplementation. Conclusion: The correlation of urinary 1H NMR metabolic profile with mucosal immunoglobulin production was demonstrated, thus confirming the value of this multiplatform approach in uncovering non-invasive biomarkers of immunity. This has clear potential for translation into human healthcare with the development of urine testing as a means of assessing mucosal immune status. This might lead to early diagnosis of intestinal dysbiosis and with subsequent intervention, arrest disease development. This system enhances our overall understanding of pathologies under supra-organismal control.

Perceptual shift in bilingualism: brain potentials reveal plasticity in pre-attentive colour perception

The validity of the linguistic relativity principle continues to stimulate vigorous debate and research. The debate has recently shifted from the behavioural investigation arena to a more biologically grounded field, in which tangible physiological evidence for language effects on perception can be obtained. Using brain potentials in a colour oddball detection task with Greek and English speakers, a recent study suggests that language effects may exist at early stages of perceptual integration [Thierry, G., Athanasopoulos, P., Wiggett, A., Dering, B., & Kuipers, J. (2009). Unconscious effects of language-specific terminology on pre-attentive colour perception. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106, 4567–4570]. In this paper, we test whether in Greek speakers exposure to a new cultural environment (UK) with contrasting colour terminology from their native language affects early perceptual processing as indexed by an electrophysiological correlate of visual detection of colour luminance. We also report semantic mapping of native colour terms and colour similarity judgements. Results reveal convergence of linguistic descriptions, cognitive processing, and early perception of colour in bilinguals. This result demonstrates for the first time substantial plasticity in early, pre-attentive colour perception and has important implications for the mechanisms that are involved in perceptual changes during the processes of language learning and acculturation.

Low cost, patterning of human hNT brain cells on parylene-C with UV & IR laser machining

This paper describes the use of 800nm femtosecond infrared (IR) and 248nm nanosecond ultraviolet (UV) laser radiation in performing ablative micromachining of parylene-C on SiO2 substrates for the patterning of human hNT astrocytes. Results are presented that support the validity of using IR laser ablative micromachining for patterning human hNT astrocytes cells while UV laser radiation produces photo-oxidation of the parylene-C and destroys cell patterning. The findings demonstrate how IR laser ablative micromachining of parylene-C on SiO2 substrates can offer a low cost, accessible alternative for rapid prototyping, high yield cell patterning.

Quantification of UV-B flux through time using UV-B-absorbing compounds contained in fossil Pinus sporopollenin

• UV-B radiation currently represents c. 1.5% of incoming solar radiation. However, significant changes are known to have occurred in the amount of incoming radiation both on recent and on geological timescales. Until now it has not been possible to reconstruct a detailed measure of UV-B radiation beyond c. 150 yr ago. • Here, we studied the suitability of fossil Pinus spp. pollen to record variations in UV-B flux through time. In view of the large size of the grain and its long fossil history, we hypothesized that this grain could provide a good proxy for recording past variations in UV-B flux. • Two key objectives were addressed: to determine whether there was, similar to other studied species, a clear relationship between UV-B-absorbing compounds in the sporopollenin of extant pollen and the magnitude of UV-B radiation to which it had been exposed; and to determine whether these compounds could be extracted from a small enough sample size of fossil pollen to make reconstruction of a continuous record through time a realistic prospect. • Preliminary results indicate the excellent potential of this species for providing a quantitative record of UV-B through time. Using this technique, we present the first record of UV-B flux during the last 9500 yr from a site near Bergen, Norway.