Agriculture in the Face of Changing Markets, Institutions and Policies: Challenges and Strategies

Since the late 1980s, agriculture in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) has been under considerable adjustment pressure due to changing political, economic and institutional environments. These changes have been linked to the transition process, as well as the ongoing integration into the European Union and the world market. Reduced subsidies, increased environmental and food quality demands, as well as structural changes in the supply, processing and food retailing sector call for major structural adjustments and the improvement of farmersâ managerial abilities. Though such changes always carry significant threats to farms, they also offer new opportunities for the farms' entrepreneurial engagement. Upcoming changes in the agricultural environment and their possible consequences for farm structures across Europe are thus still timely subjects. The objective of the IAMO Forum 2006 is to contribute to the success of agriculture in the CEECs, as well as their neighboring countries, in todayâs increasingly competitive environment. Concrete questions the conference focuses on are: What are the most suitable farm organizations, cooperative arrangements and contractual forms? How to improve efficiency and productivity? Where do market niches lie and what are the new product demands? This book contains 33 invited and selected contributions. These papers will be presented at the IAMO Forum 2006 in order to offer a platform for scientists, practitioners and policy-makers to discuss challenges and potential strategies at the farm, value chain, rural society and policy levels in order to cope with the upcoming challenges. IAMO Forum 2006, as well as this book, would not have been possible without the engagement of many people and institutions. We thank the authors of the submitted abstracts and papers, as well as the referees, for their evaluation of the abstracts from which the papers were selected. In particular, we would like to express our thanks to OLIVER JUNGKLAUS, GABRIELE MEWES, KLAUS REINSBERG and ANGELA SCHOLZ, who significantly contributed to the organization of the Forum. Furthermore, our thanks goes to SILKE SCHARF for her work on the layout and editing support of this book, and to JIM CURTISS, JAMIE BULLOCH, and DÃNALL Ã MEARÃIN for their English proof-reading. As experience from previous years documents, the course of the IAMO Forum continues to profit from the support and engagement of the IAMO administration, which we gratefully acknowledge. Last but not least, we are very grateful to the Robert Bosch Foundation, the Federal Ministry of Nutrition, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV), the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Haniel Foundation and the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO) for their respective financial support.Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management, Industrial Organization, International Development, Labor and Human Capital, Land Economics/Use, Productivity Analysis,

MIRRAGGE – Minimum Information Required for Reproducible AGGregation Experiments

Reports on phase separation and amyloid formation for multiple proteins and aggregation-prone peptides are recurrently used to explore the molecular mechanisms associated with several human diseases. The information conveyed by these reports can be used directly in translational investigation, e.g., for the design of better drug screening strategies, or be compiled in databases for benchmarking novel aggregation-predicting algorithms. Given that minute protocol variations determine different outcomes of protein aggregation assays, there is a strong urge for standardized descriptions of the different types of aggregates and the detailed methods used in their production. In an attempt to address this need, we assembled the Minimum Information Required for Reproducible Aggregation Experiments (MIRRAGGE) guidelines, considering first-principles and the established literature on protein self-assembly and aggregation. This consensus information aims to cover the major and subtle determinants of experimental reproducibility while avoiding excessive technical details that are of limited practical interest for non-specialized users. The MIRRAGGE table (template available in Supplementary Information) is useful as a guide for the design of new studies and as a checklist during submission of experimental reports for publication. Full disclosure of relevant information also enables other researchers to reproduce results correctly and facilitates systematic data deposition into curated databases

Entrepreneurial intention of agriculture undergraduates in Russia

Purpose. This paper aimed to investigate factors that influence the intention of educated youth in remote areas of Siberia to start-up business under the specific conditions with post-communist legacy. Special attention is paid to the willingness of graduates to run a business in agriculture. Methodology / approach. We surveyed 470 university students and applied logistic regression to analyze the probability of becoming self-employed. Results. Study results reveal that being male, an existing family entrepreneurial tradition, and effort of respondents to increase their quality of life, such as a desire for a higher income and career efforts, improve the intention to be self-employed. Preference to live in rural areas decreases the entrepreneurial intention. We identified an important path dependency problem that arises from the low entrepreneurial literacy and tradition of the families because setting up a private business is a novelty in Russia. Originality / scientific novelty. The Global Entrepreneurial Monitor Review ranks Russia among countries with the lowest entrepreneurial intention. This fact may threaten the development of the country as self-employment represents an important trigger for the economic development of a region, especially for its rural and remote part. Entrepreneurs in agriculture might help in re-cultivation of the abandoned land in Russian Siberia if the entrepreneurial education and incentives were set properly. Practical value / implications. A promotion of entrepreneurship education at the universities, removing administrative barriers to business development, and launching programs to support young entrepreneurs, especially in rural areas, might be crucial in increasing the entrepreneurial activity of youth. This study has important implications for policymakers and education system as youth entrepreneurship provides an opportunity to decrease unemployment, ensure the income of the rural population, and promote sustainable growth of rural areas

Agribusiness social responsibility in emerging economies: Effects of legal structure, economic performance and managers’ motivations

While corporate social responsibility (CSR) in emerging and developing countries has attracted increased attention, most research still focuses on firms that conduct CSR under pressure from the West (e.g., through the dominance of Western firms or of certification in global value chains). This article studied how CSR takes shape domestically in an emerging economy (Russia), in remote rural areas, outside the reach of international mechanisms enforcing CSR. Specifically, it investigated corporate support for social and technical infrastructure for rural communities, based on a survey of 110 farms and qualitative interviews with farm managers in the Altai region, Siberia. It showed that many farms continue Soviet-era support for infrastructure, but unevenly. Farms with the legal form of a production cooperative and those with good economic performance were most likely to conduct CSR. Most farm managers expressed care for the local community but instrumental motivations, such as keeping good relations with local authorities to ensure access to land also featured

Effect of 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium Tetrafluoroborate and Acetate Ionic Liquids on Stability and Amyloid Aggregation of Lysozyme

Amyloid fibrils draw attention as potential novel biomaterials due to their high stability, strength, elasticity or resistance against degradation. Therefore, the controlled and fast fibrillization process is of great interest, which raises the demand for effective tools capable of regulating amyloid fibrillization. Ionic liquids (ILs) were identified as effective modulators of amyloid aggregation. The present work is focused on the study of the effect of 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium-based ILs with kosmotropic anion acetate (EMIM-ac) and chaotropic cation tetrafluoroborate (EMIM-BF4) on the kinetics of lysozyme amyloid aggregation and morphology of formed fibrils using fluorescence and CD spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, AFM with statistical image analysis and docking calculations. We have found that both ILs decrease the thermal stability of lysozyme and significantly accelerate amyloid fibrillization in a dose-dependent manner at concentrations of 0.5%, 1% and 5% (v/v) in conditions and time-frames when no fibrils are formed in ILs-free solvent. The effect of EMIM-BF4 is more prominent than EMIM-ac due to the different specific interactions of the anionic part with the protein surface. Although both ILs induced formation of amyloid fibrils with typical needle-like morphology, a higher variability of fibril morphology consisting of a different number of intertwining protofilaments was identified for EMIM-BF4

Insulin amyloid structures and their influence on neural cells

Peptide aggregation into oligomers and fibrillar architectures is a hallmark of severe neurodegenerative pathologies, diabetes mellitus or systemic amyloidoses. The polymorphism of amyloid forms and their distribution are both effectors that potentially modulate the disease, thus it is important to understand the molecular basis of protein amyloid disorders through the interaction of the different amyloid forms with neural cells and tissues. Here we explore the effect of amyloid fibrils on the human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cell line in vitro. We control the kinetic of fibrillization of insulin at low pH and higher temperature. We use a multiscale characterization via fluorescence microscopy and multimodal scanning probe microscopy to correlate the number of cells and their morphology, with the finer details of the insulin deposits. Our results show that insulin aggregates deposited on neuroblastoma cell cultures lead to a progressive modification and decreased number of cells that correlates with the degree of fibrillization. SPM unravels that the aggregates strongly interact with the cell membrane, forming a stiff encase that possibly leads to an increased cell membrane stiffness and deficit in the metabolic exchanges between the cells and their environment. The presence of fibrils does not affect the number of cells at 24 h whereas drop down to 60% is observed after 48 h of incubation

Destroying activity of magnetoferritin on lysozyme amyloid fibrils

Presence of protein amyloid aggregates (oligomers, protofilaments, fibrils) is associated with many diseases as diabetes mellitus or Alzheimer's disease. The interaction between lysozyme amyloid fibrils and magnetoferritin loaded with different amount of iron atoms (168 or 532 atoms) has been investigated by small-angle X-rays scattering and thioflavin T fluorescence measurements. Results suggest that magnetoferritin caused an iron atom-concentration dependent reduction of lysozyme fibril siz