Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

IBEC warns of threats to Irish economic growth

BREXIT POSSIBILITY CREATING COMPETITIVENESS RISK FOR IRISH EXPORTERS, SAYS LOBBY GROUP

    

BREXIT YES VOTE COULD SPARK DEVALUATION OF STERLING WHICH WOULD MEAN PRODUCTS FROM IRISH COMPANIES SELLING INTO THE UK WOULD EFFECTIVELY BE 30% MORE

Ibec the employers lobby group, expects economic growth of 4.6% this year and 3.9% for 2017. But it warned that uncertainty from the growing “economic headwinds” facing Ireland means the actual performance could deviate “substantially” from these numbers.

Its latest quarterly economic outlook warned that the possibility of a British exit from the European Union was creating a major competitiveness risk for Irish exporters into the UK. It also warned on the dangers of a global economic slowdown, spiralling wage growth at home and constraints due to Ireland’s acute housing shortage.

Ibec said a Brexit vote could spark a devaluation of sterling. That would mean products from Irish companies selling into the UK would effectively be 30 per cent more expensive following the June referendum than they were in January.

Different path

  Danny McCoy, the chief executive of Ibec, said that even if the UK votes to remain within the EU, it has set itself “on a different path” to the rest of Europe that could harm Irish economic prospects.

“Even if the UK stays, an ever-closer union is not for them. That’s massive [for Ireland]. Over time, it could lead to a significant drift away from the European core,” he said.

Ibec warned the UK would not be bound by state aid rules were it to leave the EU, potentially creating competition for Ireland for mobile foreign investment.

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On the upside, it said a Brexit could create opportunities for the Irish financial sector to capitalise by attracting UK-domiciled institutions that want an EU “home”.

Sean Kelly, leader of the Fine Gael delegation in the European Parliament, also warned yesterday of the dangers of a Brexit for Ireland, which he said would “severely damage” trade.

Ibec’s report predicts “continued increases in rental prices in and around the main cities” in Ireland due to the accommodation shortage.

“The current housing crisis is a supply side problem and is not likely to go away until enough houses are built to meet demand,” it said. However, it warned that building costs were still too high.

“There is a lazy assumption out there that just because house prices are rising, there will be huge investment in building,” said Mr McCoy. “But it isn’t like that. Investors in the sector have other places to put their money, such as into commercial property.”

Ibec is forecasting 2.1% employment growth, or an extra 40,000 jobs in the economy, with short-term unemployment almost down to pre-crisis levels. Wages will grow by about 2% this year.

The improvement in the labour market, meanwhile, should lead to a 4.1% increase in consumer spending in 2016, it said, although retail competition will keep price growth to a minimum.

Luas dispute

However, Ibec warned that the Luas dispute was an example of how wage demands are spiralling in some sectors and that the economy needs to focus on maintaining competitiveness.

“If wage growth stays within productivity growth, then you’ve no problem,” said Mr McCoy, “but there is no way of co-ordinating wages at a national level.”

He said that he was not calling for a return to a centralised system of collective bargaining over wages, as per the pre-crash social partnership deals, “but there does need to be some centralised forum for social dialogue on the elements that affect pay. We need an anchor for wage expectations.”

Ibec highlighted that there was a “ clear upward momentum in wage trends”, especially in certain sectors such as technology and in administration and support services.

It said that the still relatively high unemployment level of 8.8% was not acting as an effective brake on wage growth, as it normally would, because of the concentration of long-term unemployment in jobless figures.

Ireland’s brewers building a brighter future for their trade

  

RAY RYAN REPORTS THAT BREWERS IN IRELAND ARE BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE FOR THEMSELVES BY INCREASING THEIR INVESTMENT IN NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT.

Beer production remains an important sector within the Irish drinks industry in terms of indigenous manufacturing and the provision of jobs.

It accounts for about 50% of the market, directly employs around 2,500 people, and exports more than 40% of its production.

Exports last year increased by over 10% to around €265m as stronger trade to Britain, other European Union markets and the United States is helping to boost trade.

The craft beer sector in Ireland continues to be a success story, making up an estimated 1.2% of the market, with 40% of microbreweries exporting.

That represents a small portion of the overall Irish beverage exports to 130 markets worldwide last year. However, it highlights a huge potential for growth.

The craft beer industry alone is worth an estimated $12.5bn in annual sales in the United States. New York and Boston, cities with large numbers of people with Irish ancestry and many Irish pubs, are obvious marketing targets.

A number of Irish brewers are already exporting to the US. Some are focusing on on-trade channels while others are connecting with craft breweries and creating partnerships that are potentially beneficial to both sides.

With beer consumption in Ireland now approaching the average level of most northern European countries, the Irish Brewers Association is working to ensure that people are aware of their industry’s contribution to social and economic life.

Over 60 microbreweries now operate in Ireland with 22 of them having started in the past two years. The number is expected to exceed 100 by 2020.

The value added by the overall beer sector to the economy was €1.72bn in 2014. It spends €400m purchasing goods and services including transport and agricultural products.

It raised some €425m in excise receipts. The beer- related contribution to employment represents 44,741 jobs.

A new report by Europe Economics, ‘The Contribution made by Beer to the European Economy’ commissioned by the Brewers of Europe, found that brewing companies in Ireland are responding to the opportunities and challenges they are facing by increasing investment, particularly in product development.

The report says production fell slightly between 2013 and 2014, which it says reflects conditions in international markets.

It also says that the industry exported 2.8 million hectolitres of beer in 2014, and that 64% of beer in Ireland is consumed “in the on-trade”, meaning in restaurants and pubs.

The report also found the total beer-related contribution to government revenues increased from 2013 to 2014, with increases in excise duties and on-trade and off-trade Vat, in particular.

Jonathan McDade, the head of the Irish Brewers Association, said the Irish beer industry is experiencing an exciting period of development.

“As the report states, investment in product development is also up. These trends reflect an increasingly diverse beer sector, with more high-quality Irish beer products for consumers at home and abroad,” he said.

“This is having a knock on effect on employment, up by around 370 between 2013 and 2014 to almost 44,800 jobs,” he said.

Seamus O’Hara, managing director, Carlow Brewing Company (O’Hara’s Craft Beers), is the new chairman of the Irish Brewers Association, the representative industry group for brewers and beer distributors.

He grew up in Bagenalstown, Co Carlow. After completing a master’s degree in biotechnology at UCD, he moved to Britain, where he worked in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors with firms such as AstraZenca and Glaxo Smith Kline.

It was during this time that he was first exposed to the diversity and flavours of craft beers. In 1991, he moved back to Ireland, where he took up a position with Enterprise Ireland and 10 years later he left to co-found a new venture-capital firm, Seroba-Kernel.

In 1996, he and his brother Eamon set up Carlow Brewing Company on a small-scale part-time basis. In 2011, Seamus made the decision to move full-time into brewing.

The company’s website says there has never been a more exciting time to be part of the craft beer scene in Ireland.

“Craft beer consumers are becoming more numerous, confident and adventurous than ever before leading to demand for a wide variety of flavours and styles.

“Pubs and off-licenses are playing their part too and many now stock a broad range of Irish craft beer to meet customer demand,” it says.

Half of everything that the Carlow brewery produces is exported to more than 25 countries, including the US, France, Italy, Russia, Norway and Croatia.

Mr O’Hara, one of the craft brewing industry’s most recognisable pioneers, told the recent Teagasc National Malting Barely Growers Association conference that the sector is a growing business.

The craft beer products are still relatively small at 1.5% to 2% of the overall beer market in Ireland but with the right momentum there is a potential to grow this to 10%. “It is a great honour to be entrusted with the role of chairperson of the Irish Brewers Association, particularly as the Carlow Brewing Company celebrates its 20 year anniversary this year.

“The Irish Brewers Association, has represented the interest of brewers in Ireland since 1908. Since then the industry has changed drastically and in 2016 we continue to experience exciting developments, with new breweries opening across the country and established players expanding and investing,” he said.

Mr O’Hara said the number of microbreweries operating here has more than trebled since 2012. Consumers have never had more choice. His appointment association chairman was another acknowledgement of the importance of the craft sector to the wider brewing industry.

“I hope that I can use my experience in developing a small but successful brewery within a fledgling industry to guide the Irish Brewers Association over the next two years,” he said.

British pet insurers paid out record claims for last year 2015

  

PET INSURERS DEALT WITH 686,000 CLAIMS FOR DOGS.

Pet insurers paid out a record £657 million in claims in 2015 – equating to £1.8 million every day – according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

The figures show that in 2015, t he number and cost of claims reached record levels, with 911,000 pet insurance claims made, up 9% on 2014. Their cost, at £657 million, was also up 9% on the previous year.

The average claim was for £721 last year, while the average pet insurance premium was £241.

Pet insurers dealt with 686,000 claims for dogs costing £501 million. For cats, 193,000 claims were handled, worth £105 million.

Despite the record payouts last year, most pet owners remain uninsured, the ABI said. Only one in four of the nine million dog owners and one in seven of the 7.9 million cat owners are thought to have pet insurance.

The ABI said some of the more unusual pet insurance claims handled include the r emoval of a sock eaten by a dog, and treatment for a cat which fell from a fourth floor window.

Mark Shepherd, general insurance manager at the ABI, said: “The record levels of claims handled by pet insurers highlights that owning a pet can be costly as well as rewarding.”

Protein rich weight loss diet can lead to a better night’s sleep

   

Previous studies have already linked the effect of sleep on weight loss and diet but a new study looked on the opposite perspective and focused on the effect of protein weight loss diet on sleep.

A group of researchers from the Purdue University in Indiana found out that obese and overweight people who follow a high protein-diet for several months have better sleep at night. The study initially involved 14 participants – 11 women and 3 men – who were asked to follow a high-protein diet based on pork and beef or soy and legume products in the first pilot study. On the other hand, the main study focused on 44 obese and overweight participants with ages 35 to 65 years old who were assigned into two groups; the first group was asked to follow a normal protein diet while the other group was given a high protein weight loss diet.  The study was led by Wayne Campbell, a professor of nutrition science at Purdue University, and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The protein diets given to the participants were designed by a dietitian who ensured that the participants’ daily recommended energy intakes were met. Furthermore, a total of 750 calories worth of carbohydrates and fats were removed from the diets per day while maintaining the amount of protein assigned to each group. The protein sources for the diets were beef, pork, soy, legumes and milk protein.

The participants of the main study were able to adapt to the diet after three weeks and continued on their protein diets for 16 weeks. During this period, the participants were able to consume 0.8 or 1.5 kilograms of protein for each kg of body weight daily. They were also given a survey every month to assess the quality of their sleep during the course of the study.

In the pilot study, results showed that the 14 participants reported to have better sleep after four weeks of consuming a high protein weight loss diet. The same trend was observed in the sleep quality of participants who followed the high protein diet in the main study after three to four months.

ANTARCTIC BIRDS CAN RECOGNIZE INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE, AND ATTACK INTRUDERS

    

ANTARCTIC BROWN SKUAS ARE CAPABLE OF RECOGNIZING INDIVIDUAL HUMANS, A NEW PAPER HAS SHOWN.

Birds living among people are able to differentiate between individual humans but scientists have now found that skuas (above right) living in remote Antarctica can also recognise people who had previously accessed their nests. The researchers from Inha University and Korea Polar Research Institute in South Korea performed a series of experiments on brown skuas living in Antarctica.

Antarctic brown skuas are large brownish birds that eat fish and other small animals, and they have been known to steal prey from other predators. They’ve even been observed pilfering sips of breast milk from nursing elephant seals. Living life as a food thief, or a kleptoparasite as biologists call it, requires a relatively high level of intelligence.

But brown skuas (Stercorarius antarcticus) may be even smarter than we thought. A study published in March in the journal Animal Cognition found that these large birds can recognize individual people.

Korean scientists at a research station on King George Island, off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, embarked on a study of seven brown skua nests, to see if the birds were breeding and how many young they were having. However, they noticed that the birds would begin to act much more aggressively and even attack—swooping in on researchers and hitting them on the head with their feet—after the researcher had visited the nest a couple times.

Antarctic brown skuas are capable of recognizing individual humans, a new paper has shown.

But it didn’t stop there. “When I was with other researchers, the birds flew over me and tried to hit me,” said Yeong-Deok Han, a doctoral student at Inha University, in a statement. “Even when I changed my field clothes, they followed me. The birds seemed to know me no matter what I wear.”

This strongly suggested that the brown skuas were recognizing Han. Other birds such as crows, ravens and magpies have already been shown to recognize individual humans. However, this ability remains rare among birds, so far as we know.  To further explore this possibility, the scientists set up an experiment in which a pair of researchers—one who had approached the nest before (labeled as the “intruder), and one who hadn’t—walked toward the nest and waited for a few seconds as the birds flew toward them. They then walked in different directions (away from the nest). In each case, for all seven breeding pairs of birds tested, the skuas followed the intruder and ignored the newcomer.

“It is amazing that brown skuas, which evolved and lived in human-free habitats, recognized individual humans just after three or four visits,” said Won Young Lee, a senior researcher from Korea Polar Research Institute. “It seems that they have very high levels of cognitive abilities.”

Since the change of clothes didn’t deter the birds, it suggests they are able to recognize humans by looking at their face, or perhaps recognizing differences in body posture and gait, according to the study.

Most birds that can recognize human individuals, like crows, have lived in the same area as humans for longer, so it’s possible that evolution could have helped select for this human-identifying ability. With brown skuas, however, they have only been exposed to humans since the 1950s, so evolutionary pressures almost certainly haven’t played a role in developing this ability, the researchers wrote.     

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Irish Courts to get new power to overrule banks under new Coalition arrears plan

  

• Government planning further measures to tackle worrying mortgage arrears crisis

The Government is expected to announce its final mortgage arrears package at the end of the month, following the spring economic statement

The Government has received tacit backing from the EU Commission for an easing of tight fiscal curbs ahead of its spring economic statement later this month.

The development comes as the Coalition takes further steps to tackle the mortgage arrears crisis.

The Government is finalising plans which would see courts given power to overrule banks when they reject proposals from borrowers with arrears.

Ministers are considering proposals to allow the Circuit Court to impose alternative arrangements to those suggested by banks or other lenders.

Currently, banks can veto deals arranged by advisers to struggling borrowers.

The Government is expected to announce its final mortgage arrears package at the end of the month, following the spring economic statement.

In what would amount to a significant weakening of the banks’ veto, the Circuit Court could decide proposals put forward by advisers to people in mortgage distress offered a viable route to “return to solvency”, according to sources.

Main priority

Coalition figures say the main priority is to keep families in their homes and the aim of the new measures is to encourage people “willing to work their way through their difficulties” to engage in the personal insolvency system.

Should the court decide a bank had unreasonably rejected a proposed settlement put forward by insolvency advisers, it could assess the proposal and impose an arrangement if it felt it was both workable and in the public interest, the sources said.

The new initiative is described as “examinership for homeowners”, taking its lead from the process under which struggling businesses operate as a going concern with the approval of the courts.

One source suggested it would provide “another weapon to borrowers” to encourage them to engage with their lenders.

Bankruptcy term

While the reduction of the bankruptcy term from three years to one is still being considered, it is understood the new court review system is seen as a more effective way of allowing people to stay in their homes.

Well-placed sources said while bankruptcy for businesses could provide a clean break, figures from the Insolvency Service of Ireland showed 70 per cent of homeowners who opted for bankruptcy ended up losing their homes

Separately, Coalition figures expect banks to act on the issue of standard variable rate mortgages in the coming months.

Earlier this week, Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the Dáil the banks had a moral duty to pass on lower European Central Bank interest rates from which they benefited.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin this week received a 20-page draft of the spring economic statement in which they will outline a joint fiscal plan for 2016 and the years beyond it.

At issue now is how they refine the document before publication on April 28th.

Following positive signals from Brussels, the Coalition will be in a position to signal greater scope to raise expenditure and cut tax next year without running the risk of an objection from the commission.

New move presents Irish Government with increased room for economic manoeuvre in the run-up to the general election.

      

• Chopra says ECB’s threats to Ireland were ‘outrageous’

The European Central Bank acted in an “outrageous” manner and went beyond its remit when it pressured Ireland to commit to years of austerity, according to Ajai Chopra.

The International Monetary Fund’s former Ireland mission chief made the damning assessment during an address at Oxford University.

A recording of his speech uncovered by the Irish Independent reveals Mr Chopra telling an audience that the so-called ‘Trichet letters’ were an “outrageous overreach” of the ECB’s mandate.

In a stinging criticism of the bank, Mr Chopra says he isn’t surprised people in Ireland were upset about the letters between the former ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet and the late Brian Lenihan in 2010 in which Mr Trichet threatened to cut off funds for the Irish banks if the Government did not apply for a bailout.

“The letters actually pressed Ireland to do fiscal consolidation, it pressed them to undertake vague structural reforms without specifying what these were, and that, in my view, is an outrageous overreach by a central bank,” Mr Chopra said.

And he also claimed that the possible effects of burning the bondholders that were put forward by Europe were “exaggerated.”

He told the Irish Independent last night that he had nothing further to add beyond the comments in his address.

The blunt intervention by the man considered the public face of the Irish bailout will cause ructions in the ECB and will pile pressure on the Banking Inquiry here to get answers from the Frankfurt body on its controversial role in the bailout.

The ECB eventually released the letters last November, giving a fresh insight into the build-up to Ireland’s entry into the IMF/EU programme in late 2010.

The letters urged the then-government to commit to structural reforms and restructuring of the financial sector.

“That is not their job,” Mr Chopra said. “Their mandate is to meet inflation. And if you lecture the ECB as to how they might go about that, they talk about their independence.

“But when it comes to lecturing others about fiscal policy or structural policy, they’re not at all hesitant. I’m not surprised that the people in Ireland were very upset about these letters from [Jean-Claude] Trichet.”

Mr Trichet has refused to appear before the Banking Inquiry but he has said he is prepared to speak to Irish politicians at an event in Dublin at the end of the month.

There had been a long dispute between the Inquiry and the ECB over the attendance of Mr Trichet before the committee, which aims to establish the events leading up to the bailout.

Mr Chopra accepted that if you are the lender of last resort, such as the ECB was, it was reasonable for it to ask Ireland about the condition of its banks, and to say that if it isn’t possible to have them recapitalised via the markets, an international rescue package should be sought.

“My reading of the letters is that, if you’re the lender of last resort and you see this [a spike] happening with your liquidity support, I think it’s perfectly reasonable for you to ask the borrower, ‘what is the condition of your banks, are they solvent and do you have a plan to make these banks viable?’

“Every lender of last resort has to be asking these questions and also be saying, ‘look if you can’t recapitalise these banks by borrowing on the market, you’d better get an international rescue loan to recapitalise your banks’.”

During Mr Chopra’s address at the Political Economy of Financial Markets event at Oxford, the former IMF senior official, who is now a visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC, also alluded to a number of disagreements between the IMF and Europe concerning Ireland. He said the two sides had “fairly good working relations” but that “it took a lot of effort”.

“A lot of things had to be first negotiated with the Europeans before we could negotiate them with the Irish.

“And that took time. And also, to be honest, they didn’t have the experience or the technology at the beginning of this process,” he said.

Mr Chopra recalled being at a meeting with an Irish official during which one of the European negotiators said something that was “very stupid”.

“At that time, the Irish went out and hired foreigners, including Brits, to help them with what they were doing. And this person just shot them down,” Mr Chopra recalled.

“The person who made the stupid comment made the comment and ended it by saying, ‘I’m not a bank supervisor or bank restructuring expert’. And the person from the Irish side, who happened to be British, said, ‘It shows’.”

Mr Chopra reiterated that it was unfair for Irish taxpayers to suffer the cost of bailing out the banks when senior bondholders got their money back.

“The IMF staff right from the beginning was very much in favour of imposing losses on senior bondholders. The EU partners were dead against it, especially the ECB,” he said.

“The reason given by the Europeans was exaggerated. Yes, there would have been spill-overs. It would not have been so much of a disaster, but the Europeans were just terrified about the implications for bank funding markets.”

Mr Chopra also accused the ECB of being “gung-ho” in terms of imposing lots of austerity early, and he said the Irish Government was also “quite aggressive” on the fiscal front.

He gained celebrity status among a downbeat populous who were attracted to his charisma but concerned at the policies he advocated.

Ajai Chopra was the public face of the austerity programme in Ireland, which was perceived as being imposed by unsympathetic foreigners more concerned with economic theory than the people whose lives were being ravaged by the recession.

The iconic photograph at the outset of the bailout negotiations captured a sharp-suited Chopra walking past the Shelbourne Hotel with his entourage, as a homeless man with a cup begged for change.

That image travelled around the world and became synonymous with the plight of this country during that fateful period.

Fast-forward three years and Chopra was portrayed in a very different image as he donned a vintage costume during a visit to Bunratty Castle, Co Clare.

It was that of a 19th century banker, and by all accounts, he graciously agreed to the request from the photographer to wear it, and could see the humour.

Chopra became a household name for that very reason. He didn’t shy away from publicity – unlike other technocrats.

   Jean-Claude Trichet

Jean-Claude Trichet’s involvement with Ireland has long been controversial, for his alleged role in bumping the country into a bailout.

The Frenchman has held firm to his claim that Ireland’s decision to ask for international funding was one solely taken by the Government, and he never accepted that pressure may have been brought to bear.

But it’s not just in Ireland that he’s stoked controversy.

The former European Central Bank chief headed up the Frankfurt-based body during the early years of the global financial meltdown and his management of that crisis has swung between praise and deep criticism.

He has been quick to point out that he saw the crisis coming before it struck, but claimed his warnings fell on deaf ears.

As far back as 2005, the Frenchman was warning of a looming financial disaster triggered by credit deals that few people understood.

And when the crisis did break out, he won praise for managing to avert a greater meltdown by issuing emergency loans to banks.

But that praise turned to impatience and head-scratching after he refused to follow the lead of other central bankers and cut interest rates.

That has been viewed as one of his biggest mistakes.

Discovered new turbo-charged protein that can fight any cancer or virus’

   

A protein which ‘turbo-charges’ the immune system so that it can fight off any cancer or virus has been discovered by scientists.

In a breakthrough described as a ‘game-changer’ for cancer treatment, researchers at Imperial College London found a previously unknown molecule which boosts the body’s ability to fight off chronic illnesses.

Scientists at the college who led the study are now developing a gene therapy based on the protein and hope to begin human trials in three years.

“This is exciting because we have found a completely different way to use the immune system to fight cancer,” said Professor Philip Ashton-Rickardt, from the Section of Immunobiology in the Department of Medicine at Imperial, who led the study.

“It could be a game-changer for treating a number of different cancers and viruses.

“This is a completely unknown protein. Nobody had ever seen it before or was even aware that it existed. It looks and acts like no other protein.”

The protein – named lymphocyte expansion molecule, or LEM, promotes the spread of cancer-killing ‘T cells’ by generating large amounts of energy.

Normally when the immune system detects cancer, it goes into overdrive trying to fight the disease, flooding the body with T cells. But it quickly runs out of steam.

The new protein causes an energy boost that makes T cells in such great numbers the cancer cannot fight them off.

It also causes a boost of immune memory cells which are able to recognise tumours and viruses they have encountered previously so there is less chance that they will return.

The team made the discovery while screening mice with genetic mutations. Researchers are hoping to produce a gene therapy whereby T cells of cancer patients could be enhanced with the protein and then injected back into the body.

Maple leaves syrup may answer drug-resistant bacteria

Canadadin Researchers say

  

Canada’s masthead maple tree leave has something more to offer to fight infections acting as an accelerator to antibiotics, especially in dealing with drug-resistant variety, said a new Canadian study.

A concentrated extract of maple syrup combined with common antibiotics can increase the microbes’ susceptibility and help answer the growing concern about the overuse of antibiotics across the world, say researchers from the McGill University in Canada.

Led by Nathalie Tufenkji, the team of researchers from the Department of Chemical Engineering extracted maple syrup consisting of phenolic compounds, which is abundantly available from the maples trees grown in northern Americas.

In their lab tests, the researchers found the extract on its own has little effect in fighting bacteria but combined with other antibiotics can deter infections of certain type of bacteria, including the common E. Coli and urniary tract infection from Proteus mirabilits.

The combination antibiotics and maple tree syrup was able to act on drug-resistant bacteria called biofilms, which are a major concern now. It was able to treat the catheter-related urinary tract infections, in particular, said researchers.

The Sugar maple is generally tapped for sap, which is then boiled to make maple syrup or to produce maple sugar or maple taffy. It takes about 40 litres of sugar maple sap to make 1 litre of syrup but only Acerspecies may be tapped for syrup.

However, researchers have a long way to go before finally concluding on its veracity. “We would have to do in vivo tests, and eventually clinical trials, before we can say what the effect would be in humans,” Tufenkji said.

If proved, the findings may have the potential simple approach to reduce antibiotics overuse or tackle the drug-resistent bacteria. “I could see maple syrup extract being incorporated eventually, for example, into the capsules of antibiotics,” said Tugenkji.

To get the phenolic-rich extract from the maple leaves, they had frozen them before using in the study. The extract has also proved effective in changing the gene expression of the bacteria, repressing their gene number.

A bizarre moment as hundreds of leaping carp ‘attack’ university rowing team as they train on a lake

 

The students were practicing their strokes when the fish began propelling themselves out of river into the air – with some even leaping clean over the boat.

This bizarre footage shows the moment a shoal of carp began leaping out of the water – appearing to attack a passing university rowing team.

The students were practicing their strokes when the fish began propelling themselves out of river into the air.

The Giant Asian carp leap so high in their air some appear to jump clean over the rowing boat as it passes.

A few of the carp even land in a smaller boat as it passes through the stretch of water.

The Giant Asian carp shot into the air as the rowers and their boat passed by

The first year students at Washington University were training on the Creve Coeur Lake in Missouri when the strange incident took place.

Filmmaker Benjamin Rosenbaum, filmed the rowers as the passed under a bridge towards the end of their session.

Gentle rippling in the water suddenly get larger until the fish begin flinging themselves into the air, the Express reports.

The rowers can be seen shielding themselves as the fish jump and splash around them.

Splash: Some of the fish even managed to jump clean over the boat

Asian Carps – which can grow to up to 100lbs in weight – are reported to leap from water when frightened.

The video ends with a close up of some of the bemused rowing crew.

Asian carp are known for getting easily frightened by boats and can leap up to 10ft high from the water.