THE 2002 US FARM BILL AND INTERNATIONAL AGRI-FOOD TRADE: DUSTING OFF THE PREBISCH THESIS; SPECIAL REPORT

Recent developments in American agricultural and trade policy suggest that the US is backing away from its position as a staunch supporter of freer trade. In the long run, this action will weaken the competitive position of US agriculture and the other protected sectors of the US economy, as was the case when the US did this in the 1920's. It will also clearly harm US trading partners, such as Canada. We'll discuss the direct impacts of the Farm Bill on Canada in another, forthcoming special report. However, for our purposes in this report, the more immediate impact is to deter developing countries from pursuing freer trade as a means of increasing economic growth and improving standards of living. Support for freer trade from developing countries is essential if the current round of WTO is to achieve meaningful gains in trade liberalization. In turn, trade liberalization is absolutely required if low cost/resource rich countries such as the US and Canada are to have prosperous agri-food sectors. Current US policy initiatives give developing countries every incentive to retreat from liberalized trade to highly protectionist policies, just as outlined by Raoul Prebisch nearly 40 years ago. The impact of current US agricultural policy initiatives is to weaken the Doha agenda by forcing developing countries to unilaterally liberalize trade without any significant concessions from the US. This places developing countries in a very difficult position, and dramatically reduces the prospects for future gains through freer trade. In this special report, we outline the following issues that will impact the world agri-food trade context in the coming years: * International trade in primary commodities from the developing country perspective * The US Farm Bill and recent US trade policy initiatives * The agenda for the Doha Round of WTO * Impact of US policy initiatives on the success of WTOAgricultural and Food Policy,

PRICE DISCOVERY MECHANISMS AND ALTERNATIVES FOR CANADIAN AGRICULTURE; Part I: A Review of Pricing Mechanisms in Agriculture

The purpose of this section is to review pricing mechanisms in agriculture and food. We started by constructing a taxonomy and system of classification for pricing mechanisms that is rooted in economic theory. This framework was applied to 26 pricing mechanisms observed from the following product categories: · Beef · Hogs · Grains and oilseeds · Dairy · Poultry and Eggs · Processed Food and HorticultureDemand and Price Analysis,

Overdose rescues by trained and untrained participants and change in opioid use among substance-using participants in overdose education and naloxone distribution programs: a retrospective cohort study

Background: One approach to preventing opioid overdose, a leading cause of premature, preventable mortality, is to provide overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND). Two outstanding issues for OEND implementation include 1) the dissemination of OEND training from trained to untrained community members; and 2) the concern that OEND provides active substance users with a false sense of security resulting in increased opioid use. Methods: To compare overdose rescue behaviors between trained and untrained rescuers among people reporting naloxone rescue kit use; and determine whether heroin use changed after OEND, we conducted a retrospective cohort study among substance users in the Massachusetts OEND program from 2006 to 2010. We used chi square and t-test statistics to compare the differences in overdose management characteristics among overdoses managed by trained versus untrained participants. We employed Wilcoxon signed rank test to compare median difference among two repeated measures of substance use among participants with drug use information collected more than once. Results: Among 4,926 substance-using participants, 295 trained and 78 untrained participants reported one or more rescues, resulting in 599 rescue reports. We found no statistically significant differences in help-seeking (p = 0.41), rescue breathing (p = 0.54), staying with the victim (p = 0.84) or in the success of naloxone administration (p = 0.69) by trained versus untrained rescuers. We identified 325 OEND participants who had drug use information collected more than once. We found no significant overall change in the number of days using heroin in past 30 days (decreased 38%, increased 35%, did not change 27%, p = 0.52). Conclusion: Among 4926 substance users who participated in OEND, 373(7.6%) reported administering naloxone during an overdose rescue. We found few differences in behavior between trained and untrained overdose rescuers. Prospective studies will be needed to determine the optimal level of training and whether naloxone rescue kits can meet an over-the-counter standard. With no clear evidence of increased heroin use, this concern should not impede expansion of OEND programs or policies that support them

Does It Still Show a Deficit? Arguing Post-COVID-19 Health Financing System in Bogor, Indonesia

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bogor City Government regulated to cover the health financing claim during the Indonesian National Health Insurance (NHI) integration period due to the lower amount of health care claim per episode in regional hospitals compared to ones that NHI paid. This study aimed to address post-COVID-19 health financing at two hospitals in Bogor City, West Java Province, Indonesia. Descriptive analysis using the aggregate statistical summaries was taken to explore the medical care episodes of the data series at two hospitals for the last two years. Of the 890 checked medical records data, the deficit occurred in 197 (22.1%) medical care episodes, while five (0.6%) exceeded the hospitals' tariffs. The remaining 688 (77.3%) medical care episodes had suits with the Indonesian Case Based Groups. Almost a quarter of medical care episodes in aggregate experienced a deficit in the two years before the pandemic. This study is the first to provide new insight into the discussion on medical care financing in a developing country's post-pandemic era in a newly-implemented NHI system

Influence of Rising Water Temperature on the Temperate Seagrass Species Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) in the Northeast USA

Sea surface temperature (SST) has increased worldwide since the beginning of the 20th century, a trend which is expected to continue. Changes in SST can have significant impacts on marine biota, including population-level shifts and alterations in community structure and diversity, and changes in the timing of ecosystem events. Seagrasses are a group of foundation species that grow in shallow coastal and estuarine systems, where they provide many ecosystem services. Eelgrass, Zostera marina L., is the dominant seagrass species in the Northeast United States of America (USA). Multiple factors have been cited for losses in this region, including light reduction, eutrophication, and physical disturbance. Warming has the potential to exacerbate seagrass loss. Here, we investigate regional changes in eelgrass presence and abundance in relation to local water temperature using monitoring data from eight sites in the Northeastern USA (New Hampshire to Maryland) where a consistent monitoring protocol, SeagrassNet, has been applied. We use a hurdle model consisting of a generalized additive mixed model (GAMM) with binomial and beta response distributions for modeling eelgrass presence and abundance, respectively, in relation to the local summer average water temperature. We show that summer water temperature one year prior to monitoring is a significant predictor of eelgrass presence, but not abundance, on a regional scale. Above average summer temperatures correspond to a decrease in probability of eelgrass presence (and increased probability of eelgrass absence) the following year. Cooler than average temperatures in the preceding year, down to approximately 0.5°C below the site average, are associated with the highest predicted probability of eelgrass presence. Our findings suggest vulnerability in eelgrass meadows of the Northeast USA and emphasize the value of unified approaches to seagrass monitoring, conservation and management at the seascape scale

Inhibition of the hERG potassium channel by phenanthrene:a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pollutant

The lipophilic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) phenanthrene is relatively abundant in polluted air and water and can access and accumulate in human tissue. Phenanthrene has been reported to interact with cardiac ion channels in several fish species. This study was undertaken to investigate the ability of phenanthrene to interact with hERG (human Ether-à-go-go-Related Gene) encoded Kv11.1 K(+) channels, which play a central role in human ventricular repolarization. Pharmacological inhibition of hERG can be proarrhythmic. Whole-cell patch clamp recordings of hERG current (I(hERG)) were made from HEK293 cells expressing wild-type (WT) and mutant hERG channels. WT I(hERG1a) was inhibited by phenanthrene with an IC(50) of 17.6 ± 1.7 µM, whilst I(hERG1a/1b) exhibited an IC(50) of 1.8 ± 0.3 µM. WT I(hERG) block showed marked voltage and time dependence, indicative of dependence of inhibition on channel gating. The inhibitory effect of phenanthrene was markedly impaired by the attenuated inactivation N588K mutation. Remarkably, mutations of S6 domain aromatic amino acids (Y652, F656) in the canonical drug binding site did not impair the inhibitory action of phenanthrene; the Y652A mutation augmented I(hERG) block. In contrast, the F557L (S5) and M651A (S6) mutations impaired the ability of phenanthrene to inhibit I(hERG), as did the S624A mutation below the selectivity filter region. Computational docking using a cryo-EM derived hERG structure supported the mutagenesis data. Thus, phenanthrene acts as an inhibitor of the hERG K(+) channel by directly interacting with the channel, binding to a distinct site in the channel pore domain. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00018-021-03967-8

Metagenomic profiling of ticks: Identification of novel rickettsial genomes and detection of tick-borne canine parvovirus

Background: Across the world, ticks act as vectors of human and animal pathogens. Ticks rely on bacterial endosymbionts, which often share close and complex evolutionary links with tick-borne pathogens. As the prevalence, diversity and virulence potential of tick-borne agents remain poorly understood, there is a pressing need for microbial surveillance of ticks as potential disease vectors. Methodology/Principal Findings: We developed a two-stage protocol that includes 16S-amplicon screening of pooled samples of hard ticks collected from dogs, sheep and camels in Palestine, followed by shotgun metagenomics on individual ticks to detect and characterise tick-borne pathogens and endosymbionts. Two ticks isolated from sheep yielded an abundance of reads from the genus Rickettsia, which were assembled into draft genomes. One of the resulting genomes was highly similar to Rickettsia massiliae strain MTU5. Analysis of signature genes showed that the other represents the first genome sequence of the potential pathogen Candidatus Rickettsia barbariae. Ticks from a dog and a sheep yielded draft genome sequences of Coxiella strains. A sheep tick yielded sequences from the sheep pathogen Anaplasma ovis, while Hyalomma ticks from camels yielded sequences belonging to Francisella-like endosymbionts. From the metagenome of a dog tick from Jericho, we generated a genome sequence of a canine parvovirus. Significance: Here, we have shown how a cost-effective two-stage protocol can be used to detect and characterise tick-borne pathogens and endosymbionts. In recovering genome sequences from an unexpected pathogen (canine parvovirus) and a previously unsequenced pathogen (Candidatus Rickettsia barbariae), we demonstrate the open-ended nature of metagenomics. We also provide evidence that ticks can carry canine parvovirus, raising the possibility that ticks might contribute to the spread of this troublesome virus