Economic Impacts of Climate Change on Vegetative Agriculture Markets in Israel

We integrate the combined agricultural production effects of forecasted changes in CO2, temperature and precipitation into a multi-regional, country-wide partial equilibrium positive mathematical programming model. By conducting a meta-analysis of 2103 experimental observations from 259 agronomic studies we estimate production functions relating yields to CO2 concentration and temperature for 55 crops. We apply the model to simulate climate change in Israel based on 15 agricultural production regions. Downscaled projections for CO2 concentration, temperature and precipitation were derived from three general circulation models and four representative concentration pathways, showing temperature increase and precipitation decline throughout most of the county during the future periods 2041–2060 and 2061–2080. Given the constrained regional freshwater and non-freshwater quotas, farmers will adapt by partial abandonment of agriculture lands, increasing focus on crops grown in controlled environments at the expense of open-field and rain-fed crops. Both agricultural production and prices decline, leading to reduced agricultural revenues; nevertheless, production costs reduce at a larger extent such that farming profits increase. As total consumer surplus also augments, overall social welfare rises. We find that this outcome is reversed if the positive fertilization effects of increased CO2 concentrations are overlooked

From Research to Practice: Which Research Strategy Contributes More to Clinical Excellence? Comparing High-Volume versus High-Quality Biomedical Research

The question when and to what extent academic research can benefit society is of great interest to policy-makers and the academic community. Physicians in university hospitals represent a highly relevant test-group for studying the link between research and practice because they engage in biomedical academic research while also providing medical care of measurable quality. Physicians' research contribution to medical practice can be driven by either high-volume or high-quality research productivity, as often pursuing one productivity strategy excludes the other. To empirically examine the differential contribution to medical practice of the two strategies, we collected secondary data on departments across three specializations (Cardiology, Oncology and Orthopedics) in 50 U.S.-based university hospitals served by 4,330 physicians. Data on volume and quality of biomedical research at each department was correlated with publicly available ratings of departments' quality of care, demonstrating that high-quality research has significantly greater contribution to quality of care than high-volume research

What Makes Farmers Follow the Standard? The Role of Regional Characteristics, Local Alternatives, and Policy Support in Non-State Market Driven Governance in the Arava, Israel

Supermarkets have become a major actor in driving a shift to more sustainable agricultural practices throughout the agri-food value chains, using certification schemes and other instruments known as non-state market driven (NSMD) governance. This paper explores what factors may affect farmers’ willingness to join such mechanism once it is in place, based on the case study of pepper growers in the Arava region in southern Israel. Based on an extensive farmers survey and interviews with other stakeholders in the region, we find that regional characteristics such as export dependency, homogeneity in regional production patterns, prior experience and farm level awareness are tied with NSMD adoption. Adoption is also made possible by the availability of services offering alternative practices to the farmers, and the different ways public policy supports the shift, and in turn is affected by it.Energie and Industri

Fibroblast growth factor homologous factors control neuronal excitability through modulation of voltage-gated sodium channels

Neurons integrate and encode complex synaptic inputs into action potential outputs through a process termed "intrinsic excitability." Here, we report the essential contribution of fibroblast growth factor homologous factors (FHFs), a family of voltage-gated sodium channel binding proteins, to this process. Fhf1-/-Fhf4-/- mice suffer from severe ataxia and other neurological deficits. In mouse cerebellar slice recordings, WT granule neurons can be induced to fire action potentials repetitively (approximately 60 Hz), whereas Fhf1-/-Fhf4-/- neurons often fire only once and at an elevated voltage spike threshold. Sodium channels in Fhf1-/-Fhf4-/- granule neurons inactivate at more negative membrane potential, inactivate more rapidly, and are slower to recover from the inactivated state. Altered sodium channel physiology is sufficient to explain excitation deficits, as tested in a granule cell computer model. These findings offer a physiological mechanism underlying human spinocerebellar ataxia induced by Fhf4 mutation and suggest a broad role for FHFs in the control of excitability throughout the CNS

Crystal Structure of a Fibroblast Growth Factor Homologous Factor (FHF) Defines a Conserved Surface on FHFs for Binding and Modulation of Voltage-gated Sodium Channels*

Voltage-gated sodium channels (Nav) produce sodium currents that underlie the initiation and propagation of action potentials in nerve and muscle cells. Fibroblast growth factor homologous factors (FHFs) bind to the intracellular C-terminal region of the Nav α subunit to modulate fast inactivation of the channel. In this study we solved the crystal structure of a 149-residue-long fragment of human FHF2A which unveils the structural features of the homology core domain of all 10 human FHF isoforms. Through analysis of crystal packing contacts and site-directed mutagenesis experiments we identified a conserved surface on the FHF core domain that mediates channel binding in vitro and in vivo. Mutations at this channel binding surface impaired the ability of FHFs to co-localize with Navs at the axon initial segment of hippocampal neurons. The mutations also disabled FHF modulation of voltage-dependent fast inactivation of sodium channels in neuronal cells. Based on our data, we propose that FHFs constitute auxiliary subunits for Navs