European organic dairy farmers’ preference for animal health management within the farm management system

The expertise and knowledge of veterinary advisors on improving animal health management is key towards a better herd health status. However, veterinary advisors are not always aware of the goals and priorities of dairy farmers. To dairy farmers animal health is only one aspect of farm management and resources may be allocated to other more preferred areas. Veterinary advisors may experience this as non-compliant with their advice. To explore the preferences of European Union (EU) organic dairy farmers for improved animal health management relative to other farm management areas an adaptive conjoint analysis (ACA) was performed. A total of 215 farmers participated originating from organic dairy farms in France (n=70), Germany (n=60), Spain (n=28) and Sweden (n=57). The management areas udder health and claw health represented animal health management whereas barn, calf and pasture management represented potential conflicting management areas. Results indicate that EU organic dairy farmers differ in their preferences for improved animal health management within the farming system. In general, improved calf management was the most preferred area and improved claw health management was found to be least preferred, the remaining areas were of intermediate interest. Cluster analyses on claw health measures and udder health measures resulted in respectively seven and nine distinct preference profiles. The results indicate a high degree of variation in farmers’ preference, which cannot be explained by the typical herd characteristics. With the individual preferences revealed by ACA, a veterinary advisor can now find out whether his intended advice is directed at a favourable or unfavourable management area of the farmer. If the latter is the case the veterinarian should first create awareness of the problem to the farmer. Insights in individual farmers preferences will allow veterinary advisors to better understand why farmers were incompliant with their advice and improve their advice by showing, for example, the potential benefits of their advice.     

Eye-tracking women’s preferences for men’s somatotypes

Judging physical attractiveness involves sight, touch, sound and smells. Where visual judgments are concerned, attentional processes may have evolved to prioritize sex-typical traits that reflect cues signaling direct or indirect (i.e. genetic) benefits. Behavioral techniques that measure response times or eye movements provide a powerful test of this assumption by directly assessing how attractiveness influences the deployment of attention. We used eye-tracking to characterize women’s visual attention to men’s back-posed bodies, which varied in overall fat and muscle distribution, while they judged the potential of each model for a short- or long-term relationship. We hypothesized that when judging male bodily attractiveness women would focus more on the upper body musculature of all somatotypes, as it is a signal of metabolic health, immunocompetence and underlying endocrine function. Results showed that mesomorphs (muscular men) received the highest attractiveness ratings, followed by ectomorphs (lean men) and endomorphs (heavily-set men). For eye movements, attention was evenly distributed to the upper and lower back of both ectomorphs and mesomorphs. In contrast, for endomorphs the lower back, including the waist, captured more attention over the viewing period. These patterns in visual attention were evident in the first second of viewing, suggesting that body composition is identified early in viewing and guides attention to body regions that provide salient biological information during judgments of men’s bodily attractiveness.     

The use of PGF2α as ovulatory stimulus for timed artificial insemination in cattle

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a PGF2α-analogue (PGF) on ovulation and pregnancy rates after timed artificial insemination (TAI) in cattle. In experiment 1, crossbred dual-purpose heifers, in a crossover design (3 × 3), were given an intravaginal progesterone-releasing insert (controlled internal drug release [CIDR]) plus 1 mg estradiol benzoate (EB) intramuscularly (im) and 250 μg of a PGF-analogue im on Day 0. The CIDR inserts were removed 5 days after follicular wave emergence, and the heifers were randomly divided into three treatment groups to receive the following treatments: (1) 1 mg of EB im (EB group, n = 13); (2) 500 μg of PGF im (PG group, n = 13); or (3) saline (control group, n = 13), 24 hours after CIDR removal. Ovulation occurred earlier in EB (69.81 ± 3.23 hours) and PG groups (73.09 ± 3.23 hours) compared with control (83.07 ± 4.6 hours; P = 0.01) after CIDR removal. In experiment 2, pubertal beef heifers (n = 444), 12 to 14 months of age were used. On Day 0, the heifers were given a CIDR insert plus 2 mg EB im. On Day 9, the CIDR was removed and the heifers were given 500 μg of PGF im. Heifers were randomly assigned into one of three treatment groups: (1) 1 mg of EB (EB group; n = 145); (2) 500 μg of PGF (PG group; n = 149), both 24 hours after CIDR removal; or (3) 600 μg of estradiol cypionate (ECP group; n = 150) at CIDR removal. Timed artificial insemination occurred 48 hours after CIDR removal in the ECP group and 54 hours in the PG and EB groups. The percentage of heifers ovulating was higher in the PG group compared with the other groups (P = 0.08). However, the pregnancy rates did not differ among groups (47.6%, 45%, and 46.6%, for EB, PG, and ECP, respectively; P = 0.9). In experiment 3, 224 lactating beef cows, 40 to 50 days postpartum with 2.5 to 3.5 of body condition score were treated similarly as described in experiment 2, except for the ECP group, which was excluded. The treatments were as follows: 1 mg EB (EB group; n = 117) or 500 μg PGF (PG group; n = 107), 24 hours after CIDR removal. The calves were temporarily separated from their dams from Days 9 to 11. No difference was detected on the pregnancy rate between the EB and PG groups (58.1% vs. 47.6%, respectively; P = 0.11). Taken together, the combined results suggested that PGF2α could be successfully used to induce and synchronize ovulation in cattle undergoing TAI, with similar pregnancy rates when compared with other ovulatory stimuli (ECP and EB).     

A biological framework for understanding farmers’ plant breeding

We present a framework for understanding farmer plant breeding (including both choice of varieties and populations and plant selection) in terms of the basic biological model of scientific plant breeding, focusing on three key components of that model: 1) genetic variation, 2) environmental variation and variation of genotype-by-environment interaction, and 3) plant selection. For each of these concepts we suggest questions for research on farmers’plant breeding (farmers’ knowledge, practice, and crop varieties and growing environments). A sample of recent research shows a range of explicit and implicit answers to these questions which are often contradictory, suggesting that generalizations based on experience with specific varieties, environments or farmers may not be valid. They also suggest that farmers’ practice reflects an understanding of their crop varieties and populations that is in many ways fundamentally similar to that of plant breeders; yet, is also different, in part because the details of their experiences are different. Further research based on this framework should be valuable for participatory or collaborative plant breeding that is currently being proposed to reunite farmer and scientific plant breeding.     

Farmers’ preferences for result-based schemes for grassland conservation in Slovenia

Government-funded payments for ecosystem services (PES) have increasingly been used to facilitate transactions between users of environmental services and their providers. In order to improve the link between payments and the service provided, some countries in the EU have promoted result-based schemes (RBS), which remunerate farmers for ecological results, as part of their agricultural policy. Since PES programs are voluntary, it is important to understand farmers’ responses before more large-scale implementations of RBS are initiated. Using a choice experiment and a mixed logit model, we elicited the preferences of farmers in two Natura 2000 sites in Slovenia for different design elements of a hypothetical scheme for dry grassland conservation. We found that the majority of farmers preferred the result-based approach over the management-based scheme both in terms of payment conditions and monitoring; one group of farmers preferred the RBS very strongly (average WTA of more than 500 EUR/ha/yr) and another group less strongly (average WTA about 200 EUR/ha/yr). Farmers also showed a higher preference for on-farm advise and training in small groups than for lectures, which would be offered to a larger audience. A collective bonus, which would incentivise coordination and could potentially increase participation rates in the scheme, significantly influenced the farmers’ willingness to adopt the scheme. However, the estimated average WTA was comparable or lower than the 40 EUR/ha annual bonus payment. Older farmers and those who managed small and semi-subsistent farms were significantly more likely to be highly resistant to scheme adoption no matter its design.     

Cyclic variation in women’s preferences for masculine traits

Women’s preferences for several male traits, including voices, change over the menstrual cycle, but the proximate causes of these changes are unknown. This paper explores relationships between levels of estradiol, progesterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, prolactin, and testosterone (estimated using menstrual cycle information) and women’s preferences for male vocal masculinity in normally cycling and hormonally contracepting heterosexual females. Preferences for vocal masculinity decreased with predicted progesterone levels and increased with predicted prolactin levels in normally cycling—but not hormonally contracepting—women. Adaptive explanations for menstrual variation in women’s preferences for masculine traits are discussed and evaluated in light of these findings.     

Patients’ preferences for osteoporosis drug treatment: a discrete-choice experiment

Introduction

The patient’s perspective is becoming increasingly important in clinical and policy decisions. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the preferences of patients with, or at risk of, osteoporosis for medication attributes, and to establish how patients trade between these attributes.

Methods

A discrete choice experiment survey was designed and patients were asked to choose between two hypothetical unlabelled drug treatments (and an opt-out option) that vary in five attributes: efficacy in reducing the risk of fracture, type of potential common side-effects, mode and frequency of administration and out-of-pocket costs. An efficient experimental design was used to construct the treatment option choice sets and a mixed logit panel data model was used to estimate patients’ preferences and trade-offs between attributes.

Results

A total of 257 patients with, or at risk of, osteoporosis completed the experiment. As expected, patients preferred treatment with higher effectiveness and lower cost. They also preferred either an oral monthly tablet or 6-month subcutaneous injection above weekly oral tablets, 3-month subcutaneous, 3-month intravenous or yearly intravenous injections. Patients disliked being at risk of gastro-intestinal disorders more than being at risk of skin reactions and flu-like symptoms. There was significant variation in preferences across the sample for all attributes except subcutaneous injection.

Conclusions

This study revealed that osteoporotic patients preferred 6-month subcutaneous injection and oral monthly tablet, and disliked gastro-intestinal disorders. Moreover, patients were willing to pay a personal contribution or to trade treatment efficacy for better levels of other attributes. Preferences for treatment attributes varied across patients and this highlights the importance of clinical decision-making taking individual preferences into account to improve osteoporosis care.     

Production objectives,trait and breed preferences of farmers keeping N’Dama,Fulani Zebu and crossbred cattle and implications for breeding programs

Many local livestock breeds in developing countries are being replaced by exotic breeds, leading to a loss of genetic resources. In southern Mali, for the past two decades, a trend towards increasing crossbreeding between the trypanotolerant N’Dama cattle and the trypano-susceptible Fulani Zebu cattle has been taking place. A survey with 160 farmers owning a cattle herd was carried out in southern Mali to investigate their production objectives, as well as trait and breed preferences and correlated socio-economic determinants in order to understand farmers’ breeding decisions and to identify comparative advantages of three breed groups (N’Dama, Fulani Zebu and crossbreds) raised in the study area. Data were analyzed using an exploded logit model. The reasons for raising cattle, as well as trait and breed preferences reflected the multiple objectives of the farmers. Draught power and savings were the most important production objectives. Productive traits were ranked highest; farmers reported large body size as the most preferred trait, followed by fertility, draught ability and milk yield. Crossbreds were the favored breed group. Breed preferences were mainly explained by ‘resistance to disease’ for N’Dama cattle and ‘high market price’ for Fulani Zebu and crossbred cattle. Production objectives, trait and breed preferences were mainly influenced by farmer group (local farmers and settled transhumants). Local farmers put comparatively more emphasis on livestock functions linked to crop production such as draught power. They had a higher preference for traction ability as a selection trait and preferred N’Dama over Fulani Zebu cattle. Settled transhumants emphasized milk yield as a selection trait and preferred Fulani Zebu over N’Dama. The results indicate that the trend towards more crossbreeding will continue putting the N’Dama breed under high risk of genetic dilution in southern Mali. The N’Dama cattle remain a valuable breed due to their adaptive traits such as disease and drought tolerance and their good traction ability, fulfilling the diverse objectives of local farmers. Crossbreeding was found to be a promising breeding strategy, which might contribute to the maintenance of the local breed, provided that breeding schemes are thoroughly planned and organized.     

Rearing goat kids away from their dams 2. Understanding farmers’ views on changing management practices

Improving animal welfare is an important aim of livestock industries and is dependent on human management. Understanding attitudes to change and perceived barriers is therefore a key consideration for welfare scientists. A survey that aimed to investigate farmers’ attitudes towards changing goat kid-rearing practices was distributed. Likert scales examined willingness to change and the importance of factors in decision-making alongside open-text responses for further explanation. A total of 242 farmers (United States of America (USA) 72; United Kingdom (UK) 71; Australia 33; Canada 23; New Zealand 20; European Union 14; Other 9) rearing goat kids away from their dams responded. All respondents rated from one (highly unwilling) to seven (highly willing), how willing they would be to supply three enrichment types. Willingness to provide enrichments differed (χ²(2) = 190.114, P < 0.001), with farmers most likely to provide climbing or loose items rather than swinging items. The most common reasons cited for unwillingness to provide enrichment were related to safety (101 responses/76.5%). Those currently abruptly weaning were asked how willing they would be to use gradual weaning methods. Those abruptly weaning from ad libitum milk systems (n = 47) showed no difference in willingness to change to different gradual weaning methods; the median (Interquartile Range (IQR)) for the willingness to change to removing teats was 2 (1–4), reducing milk temperature 3 (1–5) and diluting milk 2 (1–5), with most concerns relating to feasibility. Those abruptly weaning from bottle feeding (n = 18) also showed no difference in willingness to change to gradual weaning methods. Median (IQR) score for willingness to change to reduced number of bottle feeds was 4 (1–7), reducing milk quantity 3 (1–6.25), and diluting milk 1 (1–5), respectively. Health concerns were the most common reason for not being willing to change. All 242 respondents were asked to rate how important different factors are when deciding to implement a new management practice. There was a significant difference in importance between factors (χ²(2) = 34.779, P < 0.001). Median (IQR) importance of the factors was labour/time 5 (4–7), cost 5 (4–7), evidence beneficial to welfare 6 (5–7), evidence beneficial to health 6 (5–7), and evidence beneficial to growth 6 (4–7). To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine goat farmers’ attitudes towards changing management practices and could help ensure that future research addresses farmer concerns and therefore has the best opportunity to be implemented on-farm.     

Understanding chaperone specificity: evidence for a ‘client code’

The interactions of molecular chaperones with clients can be regulated by chaperone post-translational modification (PTMs) collectively known as the ‘chaperone code’. What is less understood is how PTMs on client proteins may impact chaperone–client interactions. In this forum, we discuss the possibility of a ‘client code’.     

Social preferences for partners carrying ‘good genes’ in wild house mice

Female wild strain house mice (Mus musculus) can use olfactory cues to discriminate males carrying lethal t-alleles (+/t) from those that do not carry such alleles (+/+). When tested in an arena, female mice tend to avoid +/t males and preferentially direct approaches to +/+ males. The magnitude of a female's avoidance of +/t males is related to the female's own genotype. Females who are themselves +/t show greater avoidance than +/+ females. Male mice tend to be more aggressive toward females carrying t-alleles and are less likely to attempt copulations with such females than with +/+ females. I suggest that these social preferences may be related to mating preferences, providing an example of mating preference based on genetic quality. Furthermore, avoidance of +/t individuals as mates could account for the lower than expected frequency of t-alleles in natural populations.     

Understanding the genetic and molecular pathogenesis of Friedreich’s ataxia through animal and cellular models

In 1996, a link was identified between Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA), the most common inherited ataxia in men, and alterations in the gene encoding frataxin (FXN). Initial studies revealed that the disease is caused by a unique, most frequently biallelic, expansion of the GAA sequence in intron 1 of FXN. Since the identification of this link, there has been tremendous progress in understanding frataxin function and the mechanism of FRDA pathology, as well as in developing diagnostics and therapeutic approaches for the disease. These advances were the subject of the 4th International Friedreich’s Ataxia Conference held on 5th–7th May in the Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Illkirch, France. More than 200 scientists gathered from all over the world to present the results of research spanning all areas of investigation into FRDA (including clinical aspects, FRDA pathogenesis, genetics and epigenetics of the disease, development of new models of FRDA, and drug discovery). This review provides an update on the understanding of frataxin function, developments of animal and cellular models of the disease, and recent advances in trying to uncover potential molecules for therapy.     

Fertility in dairy cows following presynchronization and administering twice the luteolytic dose of prostaglandin F2α as one or two injections in the 5-day timed artificial insemination protocol

The objectives were to evaluate pregnancy per AI (P/AI) of dairy cows subjected to the 5-day timed AI protocol under various synchronization and luteolytic treatments. Cows were either presynchronized or received supplemental progesterone during the synchronization protocol, and received a double luteolytic dose of PGF_2α, either as one or two injections. In Experiment 1, dairy cows (n = 737; Holstein = 250, Jersey = 80, and crossbred = 407) in two seasonal grazing dairy farms were randomly assigned to one of four treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. The day of AI was considered study Day 0. Half of the cows were presynchronized (G6G: PGF_2α on Day −16 and GnRH on Day −14) and received the 5-day timed AI protocol using 1 mg of cloprostenol, either as a single injection (G6G-S: GnRH on Day −8, PGF_2α on Day −3, and GnRH + AI on Day 0) or divided into two injections of 0.5 mg each (G6G-T: GnRH on Day −8, PGF_2α on Day −3 and −2, and GnRH + AI on Day 0). The remaining cows were not presynchronized and received a controlled internal drug-release (CIDR) insert containing progesterone from GnRH to the first PGF_2α injection of the 5-day timed AI protocol, and 1 mg of cloprostenol either as a single injection on Day -3 (CIDR-S) or divided into two injections of 0.5 mg each on Days -3 and -2 (CIDR-T). Ovaries were examined by ultrasonography on Days −8 and −3 and plasma progesterone concentrations were determined on Days −3 and 0. In Experiment 2, 655 high-producing Holstein cows had their estrous cycle presynchronized with PGF_2α at 46 ± 3 and 60 ± 3 days postpartum and were randomly assigned to receive 50 mg of dinoprost during the 5-day timed AI protocol, either as a single injection or divided into two injections of 25 mg each. Pregnancies per AI were determined on Days 35 and 64 after AI in both experiments. In Experiment 1, presynchronization with G6G increased the proportion of cows with a CL on Day −8 (80.6 vs. 58.8%), ovulation to the first GnRH of the protocol (64.2 vs. 50.2%), and the presence (95.6 vs. 88.4%) and number (1.79 vs. 1.30) of CL at PGF_2α compared with CIDR cows. Luteolysis was greater for two injections compared to a single PGF_2α injection (two PGF_2α = 95.9 vs. single PGF_2α = 72.2%), especially in presynchronized cows (G6G-T = 96.2 vs. G6G-S = 61.7%). For cows not presynchronized, two PGF_2α injections had no effect on P/AI (CIDR-S = 30.2 vs. CIDR-T = 34.3%), whereas for presynchronized cows, it improved P/AI (G6G-S = 28.7 vs. G6G-T = 45.4%). In Experiment 2, the two-PGF_2α injection increased P/AI on Days 35 (two PGF_2α = 44.5 vs. single PGF_2α = 36.4%) and 64 (two PGF_2α = 40.3% vs. single PGF_2α = 32.6%) after AI. Presynchronization and dividing the dose of PGF_2α (either cloprostenol or dinoprost) into two injections increased P/AI in lactating dairy cows subjected to the 5-day timed AI protocol.     

Understanding farmers’ willingness in arable land protection cooperation by using fsQCA: Roles of perceived benefits and policy incentives

Under small-scale farming operations, farmers’ willingness in arable land protection cooperation (FWALPC) is a feasible way to realize the trinity protection of arable land in China. However, farmers often fall into the dilemma of collective action due to lack of motivation and free-riding behavior. On the basis of the configuration perspective, this paper conducted a questionnaire survey on 197 farmers in Xingning City by using the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method to explore the causal complex mechanism of the seven antecedent conditions of perceived benefits and policy incentives on the FWALPC. Results show the following: (1) Among individual factors, perceived economic benefits, policy subsidies, and government propaganda constitute the necessary conditions for the FWALPC. (2) The drive path of high-level FWALPC can be divided into four types: perceived ecological benefits leading type, perceived social benefits leading type, perceived emotional benefit–government regulation leading type, and government propaganda leading type. (3) The driving path of low-level FWALPC has one type and has a causal asymmetry relationship with high-level FWALPC. This research enriches and develops the relevant theories of collective action behavior of small farmers, and provides a new perspective for how land managers can improve FWALPC.     

Panpsychic Organicism: Sewall Wright’s Philosophy for Understanding Complex Genetic Systems

Sewall Wright first encountered the complex systems characteristic of gene combinations while a graduate student at Harvard’s Bussey Institute from 1912 to 1915. In Mendelian breeding experiments, Wright observed a hierarchical dependence of the organism’s phenotype on dynamic networks of genetic interaction and organization. An animal’s physical traits, and thus its autonomy from surrounding environmental constraints, depended greatly on how genes behaved in certain combinations. Wright recognized that while genes are the material determinants of the animal phenotype, operating with great regularity, the special nature of genetic systems contributes to the animal phenotype a degree of spontaneity and novelty, creating unpredictable trait variations by virtue of gene interactions. As a result of his experimentation, as well as his keen interest in the philosophical literature of his day, Wright was inspired to see genetic systems as conscious, living organisms in their own right. Moreover, he decided that since genetic systems maintain ordered stability and cause unpredictable novelty in their organic wholes (the animal phenotype), it would be necessary for biologists to integrate techniques for studying causally ordered phenomena (experimental method) and chance phenomena (correlation method). From 1914 to 1921 Wright developed his “method of path coefficient” (or “path analysis”), a new procedure drawing from both laboratory experimentation and statistical correlation in order to analyze the relative influence of specific genetic interactions on phenotype variation. In this paper I aim to show how Wright’s philosophy for understanding complex genetic systems (panpsychic organicism) logically motivated his 1914–1921 design of path analysis.     

Mathematical models for mobile network member’s coordination through coverage development-based contract

Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal - This study examines a mobile phone network in three models: (1) mobile network model: one mobile operator, one mobile phone manufacturer, and one...     

Stallion spermatozoa selected by single layer centrifugation are capable of fertilization after storage for up to 96 h at 6°C prior to artificial insemination

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: One of the challenges faced by equine breeders is ensuring delivery of good quality semen doses for artificial insemination when the mare is due to ovulate. Single Layer Centrifugation (SLC) has been shown to select morphologically normal spermatozoa with intact chromatin and good progressive motility from the rest of the ejaculate, and to prolong the life of these selected spermatozoa in vitro. The objective of the present study was a proof of concept, to determine whether fertilizing ability was retained in SLC-selected spermatozoa during prolonged storage. FINDINGS: Sixteen mares were inseminated with SLC-selected sperm doses that had been cooled and stored at 6°C for 48 h, 72 h or 96 h. Embryos were identified in 11 mares by ultrasound examination 16-18 days after presumed ovulation. CONCLUSION: SLC-selected stallion spermatozoa stored for up to 96 h are capable of fertilization.     

Farmers’ practices,motivators and barriers for adoption of treatments of digital dermatitis in dairy farms

This study aimed to catalogue the digital dermatitis (DD) treatment practices used by French dairy farmers and to identify the motivators and barriers to the adoption of these treatments. A semi-structured survey was conducted involving 65 farmers in the main dairy production areas of France in the spring of 2009. The different treatment modalities implemented by farmers since the first diagnosis of DD in their herds were described. The reasons for adopting or abandoning these treatments were then investigated based on criteria of perceived effectiveness, labour, time, cost and toxicity related to their use. For individual treatments, farmers used 30 different products, applied through three different routes, for 1 to 21 consecutive days. For collective treatments, farmers used 31 products, applied through four different routes, at a rate ranging from once a day to once a year. Several products, especially antibiotics, were used without observing the manufacturer's instructions. The principal criteria for the adoption of a treatment was the perceived effectiveness in healing DD lesions and in limiting recurrence, while the principal barriers to adopting a treatment were the time and labour required for its application, followed by cost. Topical oxytetracycline treatments applied individually were used and adopted the most. They were perceived to be effective in healing DD lesions. However, these treatments were judged labour and time consuming, particularly when many animals had to be treated. Collective treatments combining formalin and copper sulphate often were applied topically using walk-though footbaths. These treatments often were judged to be insufficiently effective in healing DD lesions, difficult to implement, labour and time consuming and costly. The plethora of DD treatment practices and the misuse of some treatments could suggest that there is a lack of guidelines available to farmers on the optimal use and expected effectiveness of treatments. Clinical trials should be conducted to develop recommendations based on scientific rather than empirical data, and to identify the DD control measures which consume the least amount of time and labour.     

Understanding the chemistry of the artificial electron acceptors PES,PMS, DCPIP and Wurster’s Blue in methanol dehydrogenase assays

JBIC Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry - Methanol dehydrogenases (MDH) have recently taken the spotlight with the discovery that a large portion of these enzymes in nature utilize...