How Coupled Are Decoupled Farm Payments? A Review of the Evidence

This survey paper explores the literature on decoupling of farm programs that has emerged in the last 10 years. The paper identifies and assesses the various channels of potential coupling of decoupled farm payments and provides taxonomy of coupling mechanisms found in theoretical and empirical papers. Coupling of decoupled payments is pervasive but effects when measurable are small, with the exception of the impact on land values. The paper points to unresolved issues on potential coupling mechanisms for further research.Subsidies; agricultural policy; decoupled; decoupling; farm payments; programs program; support

Decoupled Farm Payments and the Role of Base Acreage and Yield Updating Under Uncertainty

In the context of U.S. farm policy, this paper analyzes the effect that expectations about base acreage and yield updating in future policies have on a farmer's production decisions in the presence of price, yield and policy uncertainty. We consider a risk averse farmer producing a single crop whose income consists of market revenue and government payments. We consider two policy regimes. Decisions on acreage and fertilizer use made in the current policy regime are linked to government payments in the future policy regime through the possibility of a base acreage and yield update in the future regime. There is policy uncertainty about the possibility of the updates being allowed in the future. We combine stochastic dynamic programming with present value calculations to link current acreage and input use decisions to future program payments. The average optimal planted acreage and fertilizer use are increasing in the subjective probability of the future update. The estimated maximum percentage increase in the average optimal planted acreage is 6.25%. The estimated maximum percentage increase in the average yield, resulting from optimal fertilizer use is much smaller at 0.134%.

QSAR model development for early stage screening of monoclonal antibody therapeutics to facilitate rapid developability

PhD ThesisMonoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and related therapeutics are highly desirable from a biopharmaceutical perspective as they are highly target specific and well tolerated within the human system. Nevertheless, several mAbs have been discontinued or withdrawn based either on their inability to demonstrate efficacy and/or due to adverse effects. With nearly 80% of drugs failing in clinical development mainly due to lack of efficacy and safety there arises an urgent need for better understanding of biological activity, affinity, pharmacology, toxicity, immunogenicity etc. thus leading to early prediction of success/failure. In this study a hybrid modelling framework was developed that enabled early stage screening of mAbs. The applicability of the experimental methods was first tested on chemical compounds to assess the assay quality following which they were used to assess potential off target adverse effects of mAbs. Furthermore, hypersensitivity reactions were assessed using Skimune™, a non-artificial human skin explants based assay for safety and efficacy assessment of novel compounds and drugs, developed by Alcyomics Ltd. The suitability of Skimune™ for assessing the immune related adverse effects of aggregated mAbs was studied where aggregation was induced using a heat stress protocol. The aggregates were characterised by protein analysis techniques such as analytical ultra-centrifugation following which the immunogenicity tested using Skimune™ assay. Numerical features (descriptors) of mAbs were identified and generated using ProtDCal, EMBOSS Pepstat software as well as amino acid scales for different. Five independent and novel X block datasets consisting of these descriptors were generated based on the physicochemical, electronic, thermodynamic, electronic and topological properties of amino acids: Domain, Window, Substructure, Single Amino Acid, and Running Sum. This study describes the development of a hybrid QSAR based model with a structured workflow and clear evaluation metrics, with several optimisation steps, that could be beneficial for broader and more generic PLS modelling. Based on the results and observation from this study, it was demonstrated incremental improvement via selection of datasets and variables help in further optimisation of these hybrid models. Furthermore, using hypersensitivity and cross reactivity as responses and physicochemical characteristics of mAbs as descriptors, the QSAR models generated for different applicability domains allow for rapid early stage screening and developability. These models were validated with external test set comprising of proprietary compounds from industrial partners, thus paving way for enhanced developability that tackles manufacturing failures as well as attrition rates.European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions grant agreemen

Assessment of the accuracy of DFT (Density Functional Theory) for the photochromic behavior of dihydroazulene (DHA)

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-42).Efficient utilization of the sun as a renewable and clean energy source is one of the greatest goals and challenges of this century due to the increasing demand for energy and its environmental impact. Photoactive molecules that can store the sun's energy in the form of chemical bonds have been of interest to harness the sun's energy since the 1970s. However, all of the photoactive systems studied have problems with degradation making them impractical. Recently, the Grossman Group used computation to show that nanotemplating of the azobenzene photoactivesystem improves problems with degradation. We believe that this could be a platform technology for other photoactive systems like azobenzene. We would like to use high throughput screenings to identify other promising photoactive molecules. We would like to use Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations for these studies, since DFT is the least computationally intense Quantum Mechanical model used on large chemical systems. For photosystems like azobenzene, nombomadiene, and diruthenium fulvalene, DFT predictions have been found to match well with experimental predictions, suggesting that DFT can be used to confidently predict properties of these fuels. However, for dihydroazulene(DHA) photoactive predictions using different DFT functionals do not match with each other and experiment. Our analysis suggests that lack of error cancelation due to a drastic change in the conjugation in DHA as compared to VHF might account for the variation in predictions based on different DFT functionals. It was also found that the DFT functional, [psi]B97X-D, makes similar predictions as the more computationally intense post Hartree-Fock methods by including couple cluster terms that better capture weak interactions.by Arathi Ramachandran.S.B

Exploring the Escalation Process of Academic Bullying: A Qualitative Study

Higher education in India is known to have a high incidence of workplace bullying, but less is known about the mechanisms of escalation. The present study pinpoints the elements of escalation and their characteristics within academic bullying. The thematic analysis of the data collected through semistructured in-depth interviews of twenty faculty members in private-unaided colleges across India, identified six common elements of escalation: trigger, resources assessment, reactance, rejection, helplessness and withdrawal. This study will help employers to establish more effective anti-bullying policies. Additionally, this study is one of the few attempts to address academic bullying in the Indian context

Decoupled Farm Payments and the Role of Base Acreage and Yield Updating Under Uncertainty

We analyze the coupling effect of expectations about base acreage and yield updating in future farm policy on production decisions in the presence of price, yield, and policy uncertainty for a risk-averse farmer producing a single crop. The farmer receives market revenue and government payments. Using stochastic dynamic programming, optimum decisions under present value calculations positively link current acreage and fertilizer decisions to future government payments through expected updates of base acreage and yield in the future regime. Moving from a zero probability of updating to a probability of one increases optimum acreage and yield by 6.25% and 0.134%, respectively

Cooperative nest building and brood care by nestmates and non nestmates in Ropalidia marginata: implications for the evolution of eusociality

In the primitively eusocial wasp, Ropalidia marginata, low levels of intra-colony genetic relatedness, lack of intra-colony kin discrimination and acceptance of young wasps into alien colonies, prompted us to investigate whether or not there exists a cost of such high genetic variability. Freshly eclosed wasps were paired either with their nestmates or with their non nestmates and their performance in nest building and brood care were compared. There was no demonstrable difference between nestmate and non nestmate pairs in terms of success in raising adult offspring, time required for nest initiation, brood developmental period and productivity. There was also no difference in the efficiency of cooperation and division of labour between the nestmate pairs and non nestmate pairs. These results reinforce the idea that the haplodiploidy hypothesis is insufficient to explain the prevalence of worker behaviour in R. marginata and emphasize the importance of factors other than genetic relatedness in the evolution of eusociality

Surveillance as a Disciplinary Mechanism in Manjula Padmanabhan’s The Island of Lost Girls

The Island of Lost Girls is a dystopian novel by the Indian English writer Manjula Padmanabhan. The novel features an apocalyptic world of environmental degradation and sexual violence. It can be also categorised as science fiction.  The novel, a sequel of Padmanabhan’s earlier Escape is about the continuation of the story of Youngest and Meiji.  Youngest’s attempts to unite with Meiji forms the crux of the story. Youngest escapes from the Forbidden Country in Escape by making a deal with General. The General uses surveillance a disciplinary mechanism to control Youngest while on his mission. In Discipline and Punish Michel Foucault adapts the idea of panopticon from Jeremy Bentham to show the power of disciplinary gaze.  The paper intends to study the panoptic surveillance mechanism used in the novel and its efficacy/ inefficacy in disciplining individuals

Lasuna rasayana in management of parkinsonism-a case report

Parkinsonism is a disease with insidious onset and slow progression. It is one of the most common extrapyramidal disorders seen in clinical practice. Parkinsonism can be correlated with Kampavata in Ayurveda based on similar symptomatology. This case presents an intriguing scenario of Parkinsonism, with the patient having undergone allopathic medication for the last two years. Additionally, Ayurvedic treatments and Rasayana therapy have been introduced as complementary measures. The patient underwent Avaranagna and Vatavyadi chikitsa, incorporating practices such as Agni deepanam, Amapachanam, Snehana svedanam, Shodanam, and Rasayana chikitsa for a holistic therapeutic approach. Patients assessment was conducted using modified Hoehn and Yahr scale, Schwab and England ADL scale, Parkinson’s disease composite scale and PDQ 39 scale on the 0th day and 42th day.  Quality of life scale PDQ-39 SI score was improved from 53.25 pre-treatment to 35.79 post treatment. Following 42 days of treatment incorporated with ayurvedic treatment procedures, coupled with Rasayana therapy, demonstrated a notable amelioration of symptoms, a reduction in disability, and an enhancement in the overall quality of life