Economic Analysis of Options for Food Aid Policy in Honduras

economics, food policy, Latin America, nutrition, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty,

Control Of Aquatic Nuisance Species Introductions Via Ballast Water In The United States: Is The Exemption Of Ballast Water Discharges From Clean Water Act Regulation A Valid Exercise Of Authority By The Environmental Protection Agency?

Aquatic invaders hitchhiking in ships\u27 ballast water tanks are far from a new environmental problem in the United States and throughout the world. Hundreds of thousands of invasions have wreaked havoc on ecosystems and native species worldwide. However, the last few years have brought renewed vigor in the United States to implement an effective national regulatory program to address the problem in the United States absent a firm regulatory framework to do so. Within this renewed uprising, there has been increased pressure to regulate ballast water discharges under existing national environmental laws. Perhaps the strongest push has been found in a petition by environmental groups in the United States addressed to the EPA to repeal the current regulatory exemption for ships discharging in the normal course of operations under the Clean Water Act, which would require ships to obtain a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit before discharging ballast water into waters subject to the Clean Water Act. The environmental groups claim that the EPA has, through the exemption, enacted a categorical exemption of a point source, which they claim is not within the EPA\u27s authority under the Clean Water Act. The EPA has not yet issued a formal response to the petition. A report addressing the problem of aquatic nuisance species ( ANS ) was due out in June 2000 for formal comments, however that deadline passed without result. In light of the assertions of the petition for the repeal of the exemption, questions arise as to whether regulation of ballast water discharges are a valid exercise of authority on behalf of the EPA. The validity of the exemption has been discussed in many forums; however, most discussions have arisen in a broad discussion of how the current environmental laws in the United States can address the ANS introductions through ballast water. While these discussions have led to conclusions that the exemption of ballast water discharges from the Clean Water Act requirements are invalid, these conclusions have been based upon a broad overview analysis with little insight regarding the additional concerns which will arise should regulation of ballast water discharges fall under the Clean Water Act, specifically within the NPDES program. This article will examine, in depth, the validity of the exemption of ballast water discharges from the NPDES program, and offer insight into the considerations that must be examined prior to any implementation of regulation of ballast water discharges under the NPDES program. The concern regarding ships discharging in their normal course of operations arises from the ecological and economic impacts of ANS on the waters of the United States. One of the most significant vectors by which aquatic nuisance species are introduced into a waterbody is through the discharge of ships\u27 ballast water containing ANS. Once introduced, ANS have major ecological and economic impact including destruction of natural habitat, species diversity, and the natural resources upon which many coastal states heavily depend. ANS is both a national and international concern. Nationally, the United States has initiated legislative action with the United States Coast Guard having authority to regulate ballast water discharges. The international community has addressed ANS through the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and voluntary guidelines issued by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Furtherresponse may come forth on the international level if the IMO incorporates the voluntary guidelines into the International Maritime Organization Convention on Marine Pollution( MARPOL) or a distinct treaty. This article concludes that the exemption of ballast water discharges from NPDES requirements is not a valid exercise of EPA authority under the Clean Water Act. Analysis of the exemption, in light of Congressional intent within the statute and legislative history, shows that the exemption is invalid. Congress directly addressed the authority granted the EPA, mandating that pollution discharges from point sources are only permitted under a permit issued by the EPA. Since vessels are a point source under the NPDES Program, the only means by which a vessel may legally discharge ANS, a pollutant under the Act, is under authority of a permit granted by the EPA. Regulation of ballast water discharges under the NPDES Program will need to be implemented carefully to avoid internal inconsistency, federal inconsistency, and possible federal preemption issues. A repeal of the current exemption of ships ballast water from regulation under the NPDES program could have significant policy effects on national shipping and trade, as well as raise serious policy questions for the United States with regard to international shipping and trade. This article will address the EPA\u27s authority to regulate ballast water discharges under the NPDES program and whether the current exemption for ships discharging ballast water incidental to their normal operations is valid. Part II will discuss why ANS is a problem and how ANS causes severe ecological and economic damages. Part ITmwi ll examine why ballast water is both a necessity for the safe and optimal operation of ships and a major vector, or means, by which ANS are transported around the globe. Part IV will address the national and international legal regimes already in place to control ANS introductions through ballast water. Part V will give an overview of the Clean Water Act, reviewing its history. Part VI will examine the exemption under the NPDES Program for discharges from ships incidental to their normal operation. Part VII will analyze the validity of the exemption under statutory construction and judicial interpretation of the EPA\u27s ability to exempt classes of point sources from NPDES requirements, concluding that the exemption is not a proper exercise of EPA\u27s authority under the Clean Water Act. Finally, Part VIII will put forth the considerations that are required and make recommendations for the implementation of regulation of ballast water discharges to control introductions of ANS under the NPDES Program

Response of convection electric fields in the magnetosphere to IMF orientation change

[1] The transient response of convection electric fields in the inner magnetosphere to southward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is investigated using in‐situ electric field observations by the CRRES and Akebono spacecraft. Electric fields earthward of the inner edge of the electron plasma sheet show quick responses simultaneously with change in ionospheric electric fields, which indicates the arrival of the first signal related to southward turning. A coordinated observation of the electric field by the CRRES and Akebono spacecraft separated by 5 RE reveals a simultaneous increase in the dawn‐dusk electric field in a wide region of the inner magnetosphere. A quick response associated with the southward turning of the IMF is also identified in in‐situ magnetic fields. It indicates that the southward turning of the IMF initiates simultaneous (less than 1 min) enhancements of ionospheric electric fields, convection electric fields in the inner magnetosphere, and the ring or tail current and region 2 FACs. In contrast, a quick response of convection electric fields is not identified in the electron plasma sheet. A statistical study using 161 events of IMF orientation change in 1991 confirms a prompt response within 5 min for 80% of events earthward of the electron plasma sheet, while a large time lag of more than 30 min is identified in electric fields in the electron plasma sheet. The remarkable difference in the response of electric fields indicates that electric fields in the electron plasma sheet are weakened by high conductance in the magnetically conjugated auroral ionosphere.https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2009JA014277https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2009JA014277Published versio

Radiation-induced insulator discharge pulses in the CRRES internal discharge monitor satellite experiment

The Internal Discharge Monitor (IDM) was designed to observe electrical pulses from common electrical insulators in space service. The sixteen insulator samples included twelve planar printed circuit boards and four cables. The samples were fully enclosed, mutually isolated, and space radiation penetrated 0.02 cm of aluminum before striking the samples. Pulsing began on the seventh orbit, the maximum pulse rate occurred on the seventeenth orbit when 13 pulses occurred, and the pulses slowly diminished to about one per 3 orbits six months later. After 8 months, the radiation belts abruptly increased and the pulse rates attained a new high. These pulse rates were in agreement with laboratory experience on shorter time scales. Several of the samples never pulsed. If the pulses were not confined within IDM, the physical processes could spread to become a full spacecraft anomaly. The IDM results indicate the rate at which small insulator pulses occur. Small pulses are the seeds of larger satellite electrical anomalies. The pulse rates are compared with space radiation intensities, L shell location, and spectral distributions from the radiation spectrometers on the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite

Importin-9 wraps around the H2A-H2B core to act as nuclear importer and histone chaperone.

We report the crystal structure of nuclear import receptor Importin-9 bound to its cargo, the histones H2A-H2B. Importin-9 wraps around the core, globular region of H2A-H2B to form an extensive interface. The nature of this interface coupled with quantitative analysis of deletion mutants of H2A-H2B suggests that the NLS-like sequences in the H2A-H2B tails play a minor role in import. Importin-9•H2A-H2B is reminiscent of interactions between histones and histone chaperones in that it precludes H2A-H2B interactions with DNA and H3-H4 as seen in the nucleosome. Like many histone chaperones, which prevent inappropriate non-nucleosomal interactions, Importin-9 also sequesters H2A-H2B from DNA. Importin-9 appears to act as a storage chaperone for H2A-H2B while escorting it to the nucleus. Surprisingly, RanGTP does not dissociate Importin-9•H2A-H2B but assembles into a RanGTP•Importin-9•H2A-H2B complex. The presence of Ran in the complex, however, modulates Imp9-H2A-H2B interactions to facilitate its dissociation by DNA and assembly into a nucleosome

Variation in the organization and subunit composition of the mammalian pyruvate dehydrogenase complex E2/E3BP core assembly

The final version of this article is available at the link below.Crucial to glucose homoeostasis in humans, the hPDC (human pyruvate dehydrogenase complex) is a massive molecular machine comprising multiple copies of three distinct enzymes (E1–E3) and an accessory subunit, E3BP (E3-binding protein). Its icosahedral E2/E3BP 60-meric ‘core’ provides the central structural and mechanistic framework ensuring favourable E1 and E3 positioning and enzyme co-operativity. Current core models indicate either a 48E2+12E3BP or a 40E2+20E3BP subunit composition. In the present study, we demonstrate clear differences in subunit content and organization between the recombinant hPDC core (rhPDC; 40E2+20E3BP), generated under defined conditions where E3BP is produced in excess, and its native bovine (48E2+12E3BP) counterpart. The results of the present study provide a rational basis for resolving apparent differences between previous models, both obtained using rhE2/E3BP core assemblies where no account was taken of relative E2 and E3BP expression levels. Mathematical modelling predicts that an ‘average’ 48E2+12E3BP core arrangement allows maximum flexibility in assembly, while providing the appropriate balance of bound E1 and E3 enzymes for optimal catalytic efficiency and regulatory fine-tuning. We also show that the rhE2/E3BP and bovine E2/E3BP cores bind E3s with a 2:1 stoichiometry, and propose that mammalian PDC comprises a heterogeneous population of assemblies incorporating a network of E3 (and possibly E1) cross-bridges above the core surface.This work was partly supported by EPSRC (under grants GR/R99393/01 and EP/C015452/1)

Contingent infrastructure and the dilution of ‘Chineseness’: Reframing roads and rail in Kampala and Addis Ababa

Amid growing interest in China’s role in financing and building infrastructure in Africa, there is still little research on how Chinese-financed infrastructures are negotiated and realised at the city and metropolitan scale. We compare the Light Rail Transit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with the expressway linking Kampala to Entebbe airport in Uganda, examining the processes of bargaining behind these transport infrastructures and their emergent effects on urban land use and city-dwellers’ mobility. We find that both projects were designed and implemented through opaque negotiations between African national elites and Chinese agencies, with little or no engagement from city authorities, leading to haphazard outcomes that are poorly integrated with broader planning. Yet we also suggest that despite being enabled and mediated by Chinese agencies, such projects do not embody a Chinese global vision. They instead reflect the entrepreneurial activities of Chinese contractors and the varying ways in which these connect with African national governments’ shifting priorities. Moreover, as they are subsumed into the urban context, these transposed infrastructures have been rapidly repurposed and their ‘Chineseness’ diluted, with one morphing into an infrastructure for the poor and the other into a site of private value extraction. We thus argue that, far from representing a domineering or neo-colonial influence, Chinese-financed infrastructures that land in institutionally complex African city-regions can be rapidly swallowed up into the political-economic landscape, producing contingent benefits and disbenefits that are far removed from the visions of any planners – Chinese or African, past or present

Identification of a bacteriocin and its cognate immunity factor expressed by Moraxella catarrhalis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bacteriocins are antimicrobial proteins and peptides ribosomally synthesized by some bacteria which can effect both intraspecies and interspecies killing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>Moraxella catarrhalis </it>strain E22 containing plasmid pLQ510 was shown to inhibit the growth of <it>M. catarrhalis </it>strain O35E. Two genes (<it>mcbA </it>and <it>mcbB</it>) in pLQ510 encoded proteins predicted to be involved in the secretion of a bacteriocin. Immediately downstream from these two genes, a very short ORF (<it>mcbC</it>) encoded a protein which had some homology to double-glycine bacteriocins produced by other bacteria. A second very short ORF (<it>mcbI</it>) immediately downstream from <it>mcbC </it>encoded a protein which had no significant similarity to other proteins in the databases. Cloning and expression of the <it>mcbI </it>gene in <it>M. catarrhalis </it>O35E indicated that this gene encoded the cognate immunity factor. Reverse transcriptase-PCR was used to show that the <it>mcbA</it>, <it>mcbB</it>, <it>mcbC</it>, and <it>mcbI </it>ORFs were transcriptionally linked. This four-gene cluster was subsequently shown to be present in the chromosome of several <it>M. catarrhalis </it>strains including O12E. Inactivation of the <it>mcbA</it>, <it>mcbB</it>, or <it>mcbC </it>ORFs in <it>M. catarrhalis </it>O12E eliminated the ability of this strain to inhibit the growth of <it>M. catarrhalis </it>O35E. In co-culture experiments involving a <it>M. catarrhalis </it>strain containing the <it>mcbABCI </it>locus and one which lacked this locus, the former strain became the predominant member of the culture after overnight growth in broth.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is the first description of a bacteriocin and its cognate immunity factor produced by <it>M. catarrhalis</it>. The killing activity of the McbC protein raises the possibility that it might serve to lyse other <it>M. catarrhalis </it>strains that lack the <it>mcbABCI </it>locus, thereby making their DNA available for lateral gene transfer.</p

Chorus acceleration of radiation belt relativistic electrons during March 2013 geomagnetic storm

Abstract The recent launching of Van Allen probes provides an unprecedent opportunity to investigate variations of the radiation belt relativistic electrons. During the 17-19 March 2013 storm, the Van Allen probes simultaneously detected strong chorus waves and substantial increases in fluxes of relativistic (2 - 4.5 MeV) electrons around L = 4.5. Chorus waves occurred within the lower band 0.1-0.5fce (theelectron equatorial gyrofrequency), with a peak spectral density ∼10-4 nT 2/Hz. Correspondingly, relativistic electron fluxes increased by a factor of 102-103 during the recovery phase compared to the main phase levels. By means of a Gaussian fit to the observed chorus spectra, the drift and bounce-averaged diffusion coefficients are calculated and then used to solve a 2-D Fokker-Planck diffusion equation. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the lower-band chorus waves indeed produce such huge enhancements in relativistic electron fluxes within 15 h, fitting well with the observation. Key Points Initial RBSP correlated data of chorus waves and relativistic electron fluxes A realistic simulation to examine effect of chorus on relativistic electron flux Chorus yields huge increases inelectron flux rapidly, consistent with data