Successful Competition Research Articles

Zinc trafficking: 1,10-phenanthroline, glutathione, and other metal binding ligands form adducts with proteomic Zn2+

Hypotheses were tested that the proteome of pig kidney LLC-PK1 cells (i) contains Zn-proteins that react with a diversity of native and pharmacologically active metal-binding ligands to form ternary complexes and (ii) includes proteins that bind Zn2+ nonspecifically and together form ternary adducts with a variety of metal-binding agents. The method to observe ternary complex formation with Zn-proteins and proteome•Zn involved preformation of fluorescent TSQ [6-Methoxy-(8-p-toluenesulfonamido)quinoline]-Zn-proteins and/or proteome•Zn-TSQ adducts followed by competitive reaction with selected ligands. The loss of TSQ-dependent fluorescence signaled the replacement of TSQ by the competing ligand in the starting adducts. In vitro, 1,10-phenanthroline competed effectively with TSQ for binding to Zn-proteins in the proteome. The successful competition of 1,10-phenanthroline with TSQ-Zn-proteins was also observed in cells. Similarly, 1,10-phenanthroline was shown to bind to a sizable fraction of Zn2+ associated adventitiously with proteome (proteome•Zn). Other synthetic ligands that bind to Zn-proteins and proteome•Zn include 2,2-bipyridyl, 8-hydroxyquinoline, 2,2'-dicarboxypyridine, and pyrithione. Such results suggest that ligand binding to such sites may play a role in the observed biological effects of these and other metal-binding molecules. Although cysteine does not significantly compete with TSQ, glutathione displaces TSQ from Zn-proteins and proteome•Zn at concentrations well below those found in cells, implying that ternary complex formation involving glutathione may be physiologically significant.

‘And may the best…thing win!’: Posthuman actor–networks in RuPaul’s Drag Race

Over the past fourteen years, the highly successful reality TV competition series RuPaul’s Drag Race has popularized drag as the male performance of an idealized female form. Current scholarship on the show mostly investigates its human components in terms of race, body types or social networks, but the plethora of not necessarily gendered non-human actors that contribute to drag performance remains underappreciated. Drawing on actor–network and assemblage theories in a posthuman framework to acknowledge the shared and convergent agencies of humans and things, this article focuses on three major areas: first, the progressive opening of RuPaul’s Drag Race’s runway to creatures whose gender becomes less relevant because they can no longer be viewed as human or were not human to start with; second, drag performance that relies on crucial assemblages of human and non-human co-stars; third, the monetary incentive that pervades the show and becomes one of its most powerful actors.

BELONGING TO LINES AND FAMILIES OF THE TRAKEHNER HORSES IN DRESSAGE AND THEIR SPORTS PERFORMANCE

Изучение работоспособности лошадей тракененской породы в спорте за последние годы проводилось не достаточно. Несомненно, что для успешной конкуренции на мировом уровне необходимо дальнейшее совершенствование хозяйственно полезных качеств лошадей этой породы и, в первую очередь, работоспособности в классических видах конного спорта. В статье проведено исследование по возрастному составу, принадлежности к линиям и семействам, результатам выступлений лошадей в выездке за 2021 год по методике оценки работоспособности, рекомендованной ВНИИК. Возрастной состав лошадей показывает, что максимальный спортивный возраст приходится на 12–13 лет (19,2%), при этом наибольший процент из них составляют кобылы. Наиболее многочисленным является семейство Фатьме 177 (20,8%), далее – Демант 60 (12,4%) и Киевитт 68 (7,5%), большинство лошадей получены в сочетаниях линий с семействам: Пильгер – Фатьме 177 (4,2%), Пильгер – Самша 117 (3,6%), Пифагораз – Фатьме 177 (3,3%), Пильгер – Киевитт 68 (2,8%). Наблюдалось более высокое значение ранга у лошадей разных линий в сочетании с семейством Фатьме 177: Пильгер – Фатьме 177, Пифагораз – Фатьме 177, Дуглас – Фатьме 177. Лошади семейства Фатьме принимали участие в соревнованиях высшего уровня и по среднему значению ранга превышали всех стартовавших в 2021 году лошадей. The study of the performance of the Trakehner horses in sports in recent years has not been carried out enough. Undoubtedly, for successful competition at the world level, it is necessary to further improve the economic utility of horses of this breed and, first of all, their performance in classical equestrian sports. The article conducted a study on the age composition, belonging to lines and families, the results of horse performances in dressage for 2021 according to the performance assessment methodology recommended by RRIHB. The age composition of horses shows that the maximum sports age is 12–13 years (19.2%), mares making up the largest percentage of them. The most numerous family is Fatme 177 (20.8%), further Demant 60 (12.4%) and Kievitt 68 (7.5%), most horses were obtained in combinations of lines with families: Pilger – Fatme 177 (4.2%), Pilger – Samsha 117 (3.6%), Pythagoraz – Fatma 177 (3.3%), Pilger – Kievitt 68 (2.8%). A higher rank value was observed in horses of different lines in combination with the Fatme 177 family: Pilger – Fatme 177, Pythagoraz – Fatme 177, Douglas – Fatme 177. Horses of the Fatme family took part in top-level competitions and in terms of average rank exceeded all horses that started in 2021.

Theory-based lifestyle educational intervention through intensive community leaders' affects healthy lifestyles adoption of middle-aged Nekemte populations: A quasi-experimental control study.

The intensive participation of community leaders in teamwork is essential for healthy lifestyle adoption and lifestyle disease prevention. Adult-centered lifestyle education intervention is a simple method and requires less power. However, the effect of community leaders' engagement in education on the effectiveness of intervention, adults' team performance, and satisfaction was not noticed in west Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effect of theory-based education intervention through intensive community leaders on the intervention mapping approach to healthy lifestyle adoption of middle-aged Nekemte dwellers. A pretest-post-assessment quasi-experimental control study was conducted from January to July 2019 and post-data was collected in August 2019. Out of 266 apparently healthy, 253 middle-aged final analyzed. After 3 months of intensive education for the intervention group, weekly 1 session of 30 to 50 minutes was given for the other 3 months and the team was led by community leaders. With SPSS version 24 data analyzed for descriptive statistics, difference-in-differences the mean difference, independent t test, and the correlation between variables were analyzed using Spearman, and significance was considered at P value <.05. At baseline there was no significant difference among the 2 groups. While healthy lifestyle adoption improved, anthropometric measures showed a reduction among the intervention group compared to the control group. This study showed that among the middle-aged in the intervention group compared with the control group, preceding behaviors ( P < 0·001), self-efficacy ( P < 0·001), affects related behavior ( P < .001), interpersonal influences ( P < 0·001), perceived benefits ( P = 0·001), barriers ( P = 0·003) and commitment to action of a plan ( P < 0·001) were significantly changed at the end line. The role of the team leader's effort was 92.19% for successful competition of the intervention and the average scaling rate of team effectiveness is 73.19% and significantly associated with effectiveness ( R = 0.82, P < .01), leaders effort ( R = 0.73, P < .01), and satisfaction ( R = 0.84, P < .01). A community-based team leader has a positive correlation with effectiveness and implementations of lifestyle education intervention. The study revealed that theory-based educational intervention through intensive community leaders is effective in participants' retention, healthy lifestyle adoption, anthropometric measure reduction, improving adults' team performance & satisfaction, and rapid implementation of intervention at the community level. Hereby theory-based educational intervention through intensive community leaders is a prominent educational tool to implement lifestyle education, health lifestyle adoption, and prevent chronic diseases. The findings imply the need for targeting the middle-aged in designing healthy lifestyle education interventions.

УДИВИТЕЛЬНЫЕ ПРИКЛЮЧЕНИЯ РЕГИСТРАЦИИ В ИНТЕЛЛЕКТУАЛЬНОМ ПРАВЕ

The article questions the feasibility and adequacy of registration procedure and registers in the area of intellectual rights and the rights derived therefrom, taking into account informational (rather than proprietary) nature of those rights. The author analyses the competing public- and private- law concepts of intellectual rights, title-generating and title-validating effects of entries in the private and public registers of intellectual rights and comes to the conclusion that the overlap of diverse and contradictory receptions of objects of intellectual right and methods of their protection does not provide the domestic institution of registration of those rights with public reliability or logical consistency. The mandatory protectability of registered objects of intellectual rights (similar to Torrens title system) maintained by some binding judicial interpretation, along with the infringer’s inability to even prove the right of prior use in their respect, is however energetically refuted by courts on the basis of the rules on latent succession, abuse or unfair competition, and this effectively turns entries in the registers into rebuttable presumptions. Therefore, a registrar, despite extremely complex administrative procedures, may not be held anyhow responsible for their reliability.

Integrated analysis of potential microbial consortia, soil nutritional status, and agro-climatic datasets to modulate P nutrient uptake and yield effectiveness of wheat under climate change resilience.

Climate change has a devastating effect on wheat production; therefore, crop production might decline by 2030. Phosphorus (P) nutrient deficiency is another main limiting factor of reduced yield. Hence, there is a dire need to judiciously consider wheat yield, so that human requirements and nutrition balance can be sustained efficiently. Despite the great significance of biostimulants in sustainable agriculture, there is still a lack of integrated technology encompassing the successful competitiveness of inoculated phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) in agricultural systems in the context of climatic conditions/meteorological factors and soil nutritional status. Therefore, the present study reveals the modulation of an integrated P nutrient management approach to develop potential PSB consortia for recommended wheat varieties by considering the respective soil health and agro-climatic conditions. The designed consortia were found to maintain adequate viability for up to 9 months, verified through field emission scanning electron microscopy and viable count. Furthermore, a significant increase in grain yield (5%-8%) and seed P (4%) content was observed in consortia-inoculated wheat plants with 20% reduced Diammonium phosphate (DAP) application under net house conditions. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis of roots and amplification of the gcd gene of Ochrobactrum sp. SSR indicated the survival and rhizosphere competency of the inoculated PSB. Categorical principal component analysis (CAT-PCA) showed a positive correlation of inoculated field-grown wheat varieties in native soils to grain yield, soil P content, and precipitation for sites belonging to irrigated plains and seed P content, soil organic matter, and number of tillers for sites belonging to Northern dry mountains. However, the impact of inoculation at sites belonging to the Indus delta was found significantly correlated to soil potassium (K) content, electrical conductivity (EC), and temperature. Additionally, a significant increase in grain yield (15%) and seed P (14%) content was observed in inoculated wheat plants. Thus, the present study demonstrates for the first time the need to integrate soil biological health and agro-climatic conditions for consistent performance of augmented PSB and enhanced P nutrient uptake to curtail soil pollution caused by the extensive use of agrochemicals. This study provides innovative insights and identifies key questions for future research on PSB to promote its successful implementation in agriculture.

Increasing the level of customer orientation of the staff

At the current level of development of economic relations, for successful competition in the market environment, it is necessary to focus on the consumer who wants to combine individual personal characteristics and harmonious coexistence with other personalities. The consumer seeks to independently regulate the purchase of various services in order to improve the quality of life. Currently, consumer preferences dictate the requirements for the quality of services provided.What to do, how to improve the quality of services if resources are limited? In this situation, you can use a powerful tool to improve the quality of services and customer satisfaction, such as customer orientation of staff. The main advantage of customer orientation is the establishment of long&lt;term relationships with the client. In conditions of strict cost savings, retaining regular customers is much more profitable for the organization than attracting new ones.

CONSUMER’S BEHAVIOR MODEL OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

The article is devoted to the formation of a model of consumer behavior in the market of transport services, as a key tool for developing strategies that contribute to improving customer service, increasing efficiency and successful competition in the market. In today's world, where access to transportation services is becoming more diverse and technologically advanced, understanding consumer behavior patterns becomes important for companies that offer transportation services. The article proposes a model of the behavior of the consumer of transport services, which includes external and internal factors of influence on the consumer's behavior, the consumer's subconscious and the stages of the consumer's choice of a transport service. Aspects of the consumer's subconscious that influence his choice of transport service have been determined, the understanding of which will allow enterprises in the transport industry to better adapt their services and marketing strategies to the needs and expectations of consumers, which will ensure the improvement of service quality and increase customer satisfaction. The behavior of the consumer of transport services is the result of the interaction of various internal and external factors, knowledge of which will allow transport companies to adapt to changes in market conditions and provide consumers with services that meet their needs and expectations. The stages of consumer behavior proposed in the model will allow transport companies to understand how purchase decisions are made and provide them with advantages over competitors. The results of the research can be used in the future by transport companies that seek to effectively adapt to changes in the consumer market and provide services that meet the needs and expectations of consumers in modern conditions, which will provide them with competitive advantages in the market.

The impact of foreign language pragma-professional communicative competence on the job performance of IT specialists

This study examines the impact of foreign language pragma-professional communicative competence on the job performance of IT specialists. Pragma-professional communicative competence refers to the ability to effectively communicate technical information in a professional setting. The research suggests that IT specialists with higher levels of pragma-professional communicative competence are morelikely to be perceived as effective communicators by their peers and managers, have higher job satisfaction, successfully complete projects on time and within budget, and have greater chances of being promoted within their organizations. The study concludes that having high levels of pragma-professional communicative competence is crucial for the success of IT specialists in their field, but it's not the only factor for job performance, job-specific technical skills, experience, and problem-solving abilities also play a role. The research design was a mixed approach: focus group interview and correlation. The correlation shows that PPCC has a significant impact on successful project competition and effective collaboration.

Economic and mathematical modeling in logistics activities of agricultural enterprises

Introduction. The successful functioning and competitiveness of any enterprise in the agricultural sector directly depends on the coordinated interaction of all subsystems of the enterprise, including logistics. The introduction of pandemic quarantine due to COVID-19 and military operations in Ukraine forced the economy to adapt to a different mode of operation. However, some industries cannot fully transition to remote modes. Logistics cannot yet be fully virtualized. Along with the transition to the most remote mode of operation, the delivery of consumer goods and personal orders continues, which challenges enterprises to find ways to improve logistics activities. Purpose. Based on the conducted research and analysis, develop a mathematical model for finding the best suboptimal solutions for the problem of reducing the transport costs of agricultural enterprises during the transportation (sale) of products. Methodology. In the process of the research, an economic-mathematical model was built on the example of a production-transportation problem on the optimization of the transportation plan of some homogeneous products directly from suppliers to consumers, on the example of the activity of the agricultural enterprise PPC "Agrocentr" in the Dnipropetrovsk region. The model was tested on the statistical data of the company's work for 2021, modern Microsoft Excel spreadsheet software was used, namely, the Solution Search tool and Google Sheets tools. Results. It has been proven that the results of the optimization of the product transportation plan make it possible to use the production potential of the enterprise in the most effective way and ensure the lowest costs during the sale of products. Such a model can be used to analyze the activity of any agricultural enterprise, for different periods of time, and will also reveal the features of the transportation of products not only of the enterprise, but also of its individual divisions, and in addition, it makes it possible to make management decisions at various stages of production and sales of products.

УПРАВЛІННЯ РИЗИКАМИ ЯК НАПРЯМ ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ КОНКУРЕНТОСПРОМОЖНОСТІ ПІДПРИЄМСТВА

Тask statement. The aim of the article is to investigate risk management peculiarities and determine their impact on the competitiveness of an enterprise. Research results. The article analyzes the characteristics of modern risks, including technological changes, globalization, dynamic markets, environmental threats, pandemics, political unrest, social risks, and financial instability. Internal factors contributing to the emergence of risks in the enterprise, which play a key role in shaping its competitiveness and resilience, are identified. The risk management mechanism encompasses a set of measures for risk identification, assessment, and minimization. The most common means and techniques to influence risks include risk reduction, preservation, transfer, avoidance, acceptance, prevention, and mitigation. The article identifies and analyzes the main directions for effectively reducing risks during project implementation, including risk assessment, the development of contingency plans, efficient time management, the utilization of modern technologies and tools, and the development of team competencies. Conclusion. Effective risk management requires all project participants to realize that the real risk lies not in the execution of modern projects but in their abandonment, which may lead to a loss of competitiveness and market positions in the future. The competitiveness of modern enterprises depends on their ability to manage potential risks effectively. Enterprises that take risks into account can adapt to changes more rapidly, develop strategies to counter adverse impacts, and implement flexible business models. Risk consideration opens up new opportunities for innovation and the creation of competitive advantages, forming the basis for successful competitiveness in the dynamic contemporary business environment.

‘Thou shalt not worship idols’

Classic ethnographic studies focusing on traditional chieftaincy in Ghana, West Africa, have revolved around issues such as succession rules, installation rituals, or competition for positions of power. However, becoming and being a chief in a predominantly Christian society, like present-day Ghana, has raised new kinds of concerns. Many churches, particularly those that belong to the Pentecostal-charismatic movement, reject traditional ritual life aimed at ancestors and other kinds of spirits as immoral. Since chiefs are fundamentally ritual leaders, who perform sacrifices on behalf of their communities, chieftaincy has assumed an increasingly negative character in Pentecostal discourses. In them chieftaincy is often equated with ‘idol worship’ and thus in direct conflict with the Ten Commandments. Ethical rules of ‘world religions’, such as the Ten Commandments, transcend particularity and their strength is based on an impression that they are applicable everywhere. As pointed out by Webb Keane, this requires mediation work that makes the rules transportable and gives them a potential to be re-contextualized in different places. The article looks at how different interpretations of religious rules are used by Ghanaian Christians and chiefs when debating the in/compatibility of traditional chieftaincy with Christianity. These debates are understood as a part of a process of historical and cultural recontextualization, that is, determining what the commandments mean in the particular time and place that they inhabit.

Can Business Groups Survive Institutional Advancements? Examining the Role of Internal Market for Non-Tradable, Intangible Assets

Business groups are observed everywhere except in the U.S. and U.K.; their global presence is widely acknowledged. The most successful explanation for this preponderance has been based on the relative efficiency of business groups’ internal market vis-à-vis the external market conventionally observed in underdeveloped or emerging economies. Unsurprisingly, this view cannot explain why business groups also prosper in advanced economies where their internal market is thought to no longer match efficient external markets. This study addresses this contradiction by drawing attention to non-tradable, intangible assets and putting forward an institution-free, micro-level explanation. Specifically, we reason that the external market for organizational capabilities is bound to be missing regardless of institutional advancements and economic development due to human beings’ innate cognitive limits and information and behavioral uncertainties, while business groups’ internal markets may overcome these limits via their distinctive organizing mechanism underpinned by group identity, solidarity, mutual trust, shared organizational architecture, and enhanced communicability. In other words, business groups can outperform the external market in coordinating and facilitating exchanges of non-tradable assets and organizational capabilities in particular that are becoming increasingly crucial for successful competition. Using panel data of large business groups in Korea during the periods between 2003 and 2016, we confirm that affiliation with business groups and accessing their internal market enhances technological capability. Thus, this study extends our understanding of business groups beyond the institution-based explanation.

The Development of a Modern Cellulose Industry in South America

AbstractBrazil, Chile, and Uruguay today account for well over a third of world exports of cellulose, yet this industry only came into existence in the late twentieth century. The evolution of this industry across the three countries is the object of this study. This nascent industry required direct government support in all three countries to be successful. Forestry laws and government investments in research, education, and factory construction were all needed to encourage local and foreign capital. There were differences among these countries in their linkages to other economic sectors as well as their export mix. But in all three countries, the forestry industry was part of a general modernization of agriculture that allowed for successful competition in world markets.

Disabled students doing activism: Borrowing from and trespassing neoliberal reason in English higher education

The neoliberal rationale in English higher education promotes institutional and individual competition for economic success, often at the cost of equity and universalism. Within such context, there is a tendency to formalise student voice, for example, through professionalisation of students’ unions. This paper argues that neoliberalism and its effects on university practices enforce ableist culture, further marginalising disabled students. More specifically, the paper is concerned with how Disabled Students’ Officers – official full- or part-time student representatives of disabled students in English students’ unions – practise activism in response to universities’ neoliberal agendas. By utilising Foucault’s concept of governmentality and qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with Disabled Students’ Officers, we explore the ways of doing disability activism in their experience. The findings indicate that activism as it is practised by participants is complex and contradictory, combining neoliberal ways of acting, i.e., evidence production, committee-based work and lobbying, with more subtle forms of critique and resistance related to collectivism, arts and ethics of care. By enabling critical reflections on participants’ experiences, this paper strives to encourage debate on renewed strategies and complexity and contradiction in activism, but also to highlight the potential for trespassing the dominant neoliberal rationale in higher education.

Vietnamese financial institutions in the aftermath of Covid-19

This article points to look for the proper methodologies for financial institutions in Vietnam within the consequence of Covid-19 widespread. Inside an interesting setting, the widespread has coincidently made formative chances for money related issues. Beneath this circumstance along the quickening handle of computerized change, this article appears that monetary educate should concentrate on research and advancement for human capital and innovation within the post-pandemic period. Such techniques are anticipated to encourage successful competition in terms of item contrasts and ideal costs as well as maintainable improvement based on budgetary, clientele, handling, and preparing components.

Popularization or Population of Science and the Future

Science is experiencing a different model for a wider dissemination with the widely accessibility of internet today at the information age and high connectivity. This technological development has changed the daily life of peoples globally and has been mainly appraised with positive effects, but very little, if any, negative ones are being discussed, specifically on fundamental matters. In this article I would like to present the emerging negativities and potential detrimental effects on science and its advances to be made. Popularization and population are two words chosen and used here to describe the way in which dissemination of available and accessible scientific information is being made. The new Open Access model of publication and its apparent dominance in the academic publishing market by commercial companies for publication of scientific papers are passing the threshold point and eroding the quality of science in my view. Scientific societies as the most important groups to the establishment of academic standards and to keep new science discoveries to be checked are increasingly forced to cope with the commercial publication practices in terms of speeding up the reviewing and publishing more and quickly, competing for the publishing market and profit to be made, and most importantly, compromising the academic standards. When profit is the major driving force for the publishers, including scientific societies, quality of science in academic papers is yielded to the financial interest and profit, and the purposes of publishing are not for science and its development as the goal. The role of scientific publication in our society must be checked by relevant administration of the governments and national academies together with the scientific societies so that the quality of academic publication of scientific results in science can be maintained at high confident level to serve the society in a positive manner into the future. Commercial publication is another avenue to allow more scientific results to be published in additional to journals by societies, but the relationship between them must be a quality-based judgement and decision, not a pure business competition for success to rule this market.

Comparison of the Physical Fitness Profile of Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Athletes with Reference to Training Experience.

Background: In combat sports, successful competition and training require comprehensive motor fitness. The aim of this study was to diagnose the level of physical fitness and to determine the level of differences between athletes of combat sports characterized by stand-up fighting, such as Muay Thai; and ground fighting, such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Methods: The study examined and compared 30 participants divided into two equal groups: Muay Thai athletes (n = 15; age: 24.24 ± 3.24; body height: 174.91 ± 5.19; body weight: 77.56 ± 7.3), and Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) (n = 15; age: 22.82 ± 1.81; body height: 175.72 ± 7.03; body weight: 77.11 ± 8.12). Basic characteristics of the somatic build were measured. Selected manifestations of the motor potential of motor skills were also evaluated using selected tests from the EUROFIT test battery, the International Test of Physical Fitness, and computer tests of coordination skills. Relative strength and maximal anaerobic work (MAW) indices were calculated. The strength of the relationship between the effect of motor fitness and training experience was also assessed. Results: The athletes of both groups (Muay Thai and BJJ) presented similar levels of basic characteristics of the somatic build. Motor fitness in the tested groups showed significant differences between the athletes of these sports in static strength (p = 0.010), relative strength (p = 0.006), arm muscle strength in pull-ups (p = 0.035), and functional strength in bent arm hanging (p = 0.023). Higher levels of these components of motor fitness were found for the athletes in the BJJ athletes. In the Muay Thai group, significant very high strength of association was found between training experience and five strength tests. Furthermore, a significantly high strength of association was found in two tests. In the BJJ group, significant relationships with very high correlation were found between the variables in five strength tests. Conclusions: Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes performed better in strength tests (static strength, relative strength, shoulder girdle strength, functional strength). High correlations between the training load and the level of physical fitness were found in flexibility and strength tests in BJJ athletes and most strength tests in Muay Thai athletes.

Carbon dioxide fixation via production of succinic acid from glycerol in engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae

BackgroundThe microbial production of succinic acid (SA) from renewable carbon sources via the reverse TCA (rTCA) pathway is a process potentially accompanied by net-fixation of carbon dioxide (CO2). Among reduced carbon sources, glycerol is particularly attractive since it allows a nearly twofold higher CO2-fixation yield compared to sugars. Recently, we described an engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain which allowed SA production in synthetic glycerol medium with a maximum yield of 0.23 Cmol Cmol−1. The results of that previous study suggested that the glyoxylate cycle considerably contributed to SA accumulation in the respective strain. The current study aimed at improving the flux into the rTCA pathway accompanied by a higher CO2-fixation and SA yield.ResultsBy changing the design of the expression cassettes for the rTCA pathway, overexpressing PYC2, and adding CaCO3 to the batch fermentations, an SA yield on glycerol of 0.63 Cmol Cmol−1 was achieved (i.e. 47.1% of the theoretical maximum). The modifications in this 2nd-generation SA producer improved the maximum biomass-specific glycerol consumption rate by a factor of nearly four compared to the isogenic baseline strain solely equipped with the dihydroxyacetone (DHA) pathway for glycerol catabolism. The data also suggest that the glyoxylate cycle did not contribute to the SA production in the new strain. Cultivation conditions which directly or indirectly increased the concentration of bicarbonate, led to an accumulation of malate in addition to the predominant product SA (ca. 0.1 Cmol Cmol−1 at the time point when SA yield was highest). Off-gas analysis in controlled bioreactors with CO2-enriched gas-phase indicated that CO2 was fixed during the SA production phase.ConclusionsThe data strongly suggest that a major part of dicarboxylic acids in our 2nd-generation SA-producer was formed via the rTCA pathway enabling a net fixation of CO2. The greatly increased capacity of the rTCA pathway obviously allowed successful competition with other pathways for the common precursor pyruvate. The overexpression of PYC2 and the increased availability of bicarbonate, the co-substrate for the PYC reaction, further strengthened this capacity. The achievements are encouraging to invest in future efforts establishing a process for SA production from (crude) glycerol and CO2.

Collectivization of smallholder farmers, strategic competition, and market performance: Experiences from two selected villages of West Bengal, India

AbstractGiven the structure and functioning of agricultural markets and the policies and institutional space, smallholder farmers in India often face the risks of strategic failures, which force them to either opt for distress selling, operate as fringe retailers or participate in the existing supply or value chains on given conditions. In this perspective, this paper examines if smallholder farmers' collectives can potentially strengthen their market position vis‐à‐vis other individual players and enable them to explore strategic options in a greater way. On the basis of the structure–conduct–performance theory and field experiences from two selected villages of West Bengal (India), the paper finds that the collectivization of smallholder farmers helps in exploring a larger set of strategic options for better outcomes. Further, the choice of the strategy set varies across the collectives depending on their composition, functioning, and resource endowments. Nevertheless, there is a possibility of strategic failures because of intra‐ as well as intercollective conflicts and competition from other players. The success in this regard would, therefore, depend on how the collectives democratically resolve such conflicts and develop capacity and capabilities to enhance their competitiveness for greater strategic success. Besides, addressing market imperfections through policy and institutional interventions would also be crucial.