Accountability for Responsibility: An assessment of the Transnational Capitalist Class' role in driving a Global CSR Agenda

Globalisation has led to the establishment of a new hierarchy of leadership. At the helm is the Transnational Capitalist Class (TCC) , which oversees the direction of Multi National Corporations (MNCs) at a global level. Can the TCC, as leaders in the governance agenda, drive a global CSR agenda, or, perhaps, the question should be: do they want to drive a CSR agenda?
The hypothesis of this article is that, as the structure of global leadership and governance has changed, so too has the potential for aligning national CSR agendas to a globally accepted standard. This is unlikely due to systematic limitations inherent in a transitional structural realignment of global leadership. Whereas the design of global leadership has changed due to processes of globalization, the bodies that can regulate this leadership have not developed at the same pace. Regulation on issues such as CSR remains at national, federal and supra-­-national levels suggesting that TCCs have a free reign in dictating agenda. This new class (TCC) may bear a responsibility for CSR but there is a lack of accountability if it is not fulfilled.

Strong Coupling and Long-Range Collective Interactions in Optomechanical Arrays

We investigate the collective optomechanics of an ensemble of scatterers inside a Fabry-Pérot resonator and identify an optimized configuration where the ensemble is transmissive, in contrast to the usual reflective optomechanics approach. In this configuration, the optomechanical coupling of a specific collective mechanical mode can be several orders of magnitude larger than the single-element case, and long-range interactions can be generated between the different elements since light permeates throughout the array. This new regime should realistically allow for achieving strong single-photon optomechanical coupling with massive resonators, realizing hybrid quantum interfaces, and exploiting collective long-range interactions in arrays of atoms or mechanical oscillators.

Long-range Transcriptome Sequencing Reveals Cancer Cell Growth Regulatory Chimeric mRNA

mRNA chimeras from chromosomal translocations often play a role as transforming oncogenes. However, cancer transcriptomes also contain mRNA chimeras that may play a role in tumor development, which arise as transcriptional or post-transcriptional events. To identify such chimeras, we developed a deterministic screening strategy for long-range sequence analysis. High-throughput, long-read sequencing was then performed on cDNA libraries from major tumor histotypes and corresponding normal tissues. These analyses led to the identification of 378 chimeras, with an unexpectedly high frequency of expression (˜2 x 10(-5) of all mRNA). Functional assays in breast and ovarian cancer cell lines showed that a large fraction of mRNA chimeras regulates cell replication. Strikingly, chimeras were shown to include both positive and negative regulators of cell growth, which functioned as such in a cell-type-specific manner. Replication-controlling chimeras were found to be expressed by most cancers from breast, ovary, colon, uterus, kidney, lung, and stomach, suggesting a widespread role in tumor development.

Environmental and genetic control of arsenic accumulation and speciation in rice grain:comparing a range of common cultivars grown in contaminated sites across Bangladesh, China, and India

The concentration of arsenic (As) in rice grains has been identified as a risk to human health. The high proportion of inorganic species of As (As(i)) is of particular concern as it is a nonthreshold, class 1 human carcinogen. To be able to breed rice with low grain As, an understanding of genetic variation and the effect of different environments on genetic variation is needed. In this study, 13 cultivars grown at two field sites each in Bangladesh, India, and China are evaluated for grain As. There was a significant site, genotype, and site by genotype interaction for total grain As. Correlations were observed only between sites in Bangladesh and India, not between countries or within the Chinese sites. For seven cultivars the As was speciated which revealed significant effects of site, genotype, and site by genotype interaction for percentage As(i). Breeding low grain As cultivars that will have consistently low grain As and low As(i), over multiple environments using traditional breeding approaches may be difficult, although CT9993-5-10-1-M, Lemont, Azucena, and Te-qing in general had low grain As across the field sites.

High-affinity NO(3-)-H+ cotransport in the fungus Neurospora:induction and control by pH and membrane voltage

High-affinity nitrate transport was examined in intact hyphae of Neurospora crassa using electrophysiological recordings to characterize the response of the plasma membrane to NO3- challenge and to quantify transport activity. The NO3(-)-associated membrane current was determined using a three electrode voltage clamp to bring membrane voltage under experimental control and to compensate for current dissipation along the longitudinal cell axis. Nitrate transport was evident in hyphae transferred to NO3(-)-free, N-limited medium for 15 hr, and in hyphae grown in the absence of a nitrogen source after a single 2-min exposure to 100 microM NO3-. In the latter, induction showed a latency of 40-80 min and rose in scalar fashion with full transport activity measurable approx. 100 min after first exposure to NO3-; it was marked by the appearance of a pronounced sensitivity of membrane voltage to extracellular NO3- additions which, after induction, resulted in reversible membrane depolarizations of (+)54-85 mV in the presence of 50 microM NO3-; and it was suppressed when NH4+ was present during the first, inductive exposure to NO3-. Voltage clamp measurements carried out immediately before and following NO3- additions showed that the NO3(-)-evoked depolarizations were the consequence of an inward-directed current that appeared in parallel with the depolarizations across the entire range of accessible voltages (-400 to +100 mV). Measurements of NO3- uptake using NO3(-)-selective macroelectrodes indicated a charge stoichiometry for NO3- transport of 1(+):1(NO3-) with common K(m) and Jmax values around 25 microM and 75 pmol NO3- cm-2sec-1, respectively, and combined measurements of pHo and [NO3-]o showed a net uptake of approx. 1 H+ with each NO3- anion. Analysis of the NO3- current demonstrated a pronounced voltage sensitivity within the normal physiological range between -300 and -100 mV as well as interactions between the kinetic parameters of membrane voltage, pHo and [NO3-]o. Increasing the bathing pH from 5.5 to 8.0 reduced the current and the associated membrane depolarizations 2- to 4-fold. At a constant pHo of 6.1, driving the membrane voltage from -350 to -150 mV resulted in an approx. 3-fold reduction in the maximum current and a 5-fold rise in the apparent affinity for NO3-. By contrast, the same depolarization effected an approx. 20% fall in the K(m) for transport as a function in [H+]o. These, and additional results are consistent with a charge-coupling stoichiometry of 2(H+) per NO3- anion transported across the membrane, and implicate a carrier cycle in which NO3- binding is kinetically adjacent to the rate-limiting step of membrane charge transit. The data concur with previous studies demonstrating a pronounced voltage-dependence to high-affinity NO3- transport system in Arabidopsis, and underline the importance of voltage as a kinetic factor controlling NO3- transport; finally, they distinguish metabolite repression of NO3- transport induction from its sensitivity to metabolic blockade and competition with the uptake of other substrates that draw on membrane voltage as a kinetic substrate.

Old drug, New target:Ellipticines selectively inhibit RNA Polymerase I transcription

Transcription byRNApolymerase I (Pol-I) is the main driving force behind ribosome biogenesis, a fundamental cellular process that requires the coordinated transcription of all three nuclear polymerases. Increased Pol-I transcription and the concurrent increase in ribosome biogenesis has been linked to the high rates of proliferation in cancers. The ellipticine family contains a number of potent anticancer therapeutic agents, some having progressed to stage I and II clinical trials; however, the mechanism by which many of the compounds work remains unclear. It has long been thought that inhibition of Top2 is the main reason behind the drugs antiproliferative effects. Here we report that a number of the ellipticines, including 9-hydroxyellipticine, are potent and specific inhibitors of Pol-I transcription, with IC50 in vitro and in cells in the nanomolar range. Essentially, the drugs did not affect Pol-II and Pol-III transcription, demonstrating a high selectivity.Wehave shown that Pol-I inhibition occurs by a p53-, ATM/ATR-, and Top2-independent mechanism. We discovered that the drug influences the assembly and stability of preinitiation complexes by targeting the interaction between promoter recognition factor SL1 and the rRNA promoter. Our findings will have an impact on the design and development of novel therapeutic agents specifically targeting ribosome biogenesis.

Synthesis of spherical ultra-high-surface-area monodisperse amphipathic polymer sponges in the low-micrometer size range

Spherical, ultra-high specific surface area monodisperse polymer particles with diameters in the low micrometer size range are disclosed for the first time. The polymer particles are able to sorb significant levels of both hydrocarbon solvents and water, acting in effect as amphipathic micro-sponges. Exciting possibilities for exploitation of the particles in chromatography, diagnostics, sensors, delivery vehicles and catalysis are suggested.

Dual-Reflector Antenna with a Reflectarray Subreflector for Wide Beam Scanning Range at 120GHz

A dual-reflector antenna composed by a small reconfigurable reflectarray subreflector and a large parabolic main reflector is proposed for beam scanning application in the 120 GHz frequency band. The beam scanning is achieved by changing the phase distribution on the reflectarray surface which is supposed to contain reconfigurable cells. The phase distribution for the different beam deflecting states is obtained with a synthesis technique based on the analysis of the antenna in receive mode.

The effects of past, present and future climate change on range-wide genetic diversity in northern North Atlantic marine species

It is now accepted that changes in the Earth’s climate are having a profound effect on the distributions of a wide variety of species. One aspect of these changes that has only recently received any attention, however, is their potential effect on levels of within-species genetic diversity. Theoretical, empirical and modelling studies suggest that the impact of trailing-edge population extirpation on range-wide intraspecific diversity will be most pronounced in species that harbour the majority of their genetic variation at low latitudes as a result of changes during the Quaternary glaciations. In the present review, I describe the historical factors that have determined current patterns of genetic variation across the ranges of Northern North Atlantic species, highlight the fact that the majority of these species do indeed harbour a disproportionate level of genetic diversity in rear-edge populations, and outline how combined species distribution modelling and genetic analyses can provide insights into the potential effects of climate change on their overall genetic diversity.