Perceived economic pressures and farmer ethics

We hypothesize that an increase in the economic pressures a farmer feels could result in that farmer being more tolerant of unethical conduct than farmers not experiencing economic pressures. To test this hypothesis, we use data from a survey of 3,000 Missouri farmers with farm sales in excess of $10,000 in 2005 in which farmers were asked how acceptable they considered various unethical or questionable farming practices. The survey also contained questions designed to measure perceived economic pressures. We find evidence that economic pressures result in a greater willingness of farmers to tolerate unethical conduct, particularly in the case of actions that have the potential of causing harm or that are influenced by law or contract. We also find that the more frequently a farmer reports observing an unethical action, the more accepting he is of it. Copyright (c)2008 International Association of Agricultural Economists.

Adenoviral transgene ubiquitination enhances mouse immunization and class I presentation by human dendritic cells

International audienceTherapeutic vaccination aims at a strong stimulation of antigen-specific CD8(+) T-cells, so that they differentiate into effectors active in vivo against antigenic targets. Two adenovirus vectors ( Ad) encoding two HLA-A*0201-restricted HIV epitope sequences (pol 476 and pol 589) were constructed. The Ad differ by the presence or absence of a ubiquitin monomer sequence (AdUb(+) and AdUb(-)). The effect of transgene product ubiquitination was analyzed on (1) in vivo, the immunization of Ad vaccinated HLA-A* 0201 humanized HHD mice and ( 2) in vitro, the presentation of the transgene encoded peptides by transduced human dendritic cells ( DC). In vivo, we found that immunization of humanized HHD mice with AdUb(+) elicited a transgene product-specific ;interferon (INF)-gamma CD8(+) T-cell response detectable by enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT), whereas the AdUb(-) construction did not. Antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) were also generated in HHD mice immunized with AdUb(+) and not with AdUb(-). In vitro, using human AdUb(+)-transduced DC, a sizeable expansion of pol 476 and pol 589 tetramer positive CD8(+) T cells as well as CD8(+) CTL were obtained in healthy donors. Compared to AdUb(-)-transduced DC, AdUb(+)-transduced DC triggered a higher number of pol 476-specific IFN-gamma-secreting CD8(+) T cells. In agreement, AdUb(+) transduced DC, used as target in a Cr-51-release assay, were more efficiently lysed by peptide-specific CTL than AdUb(-)-transduced DC. In conclusion, the addition of an ubiquitin sequence to the adenoviral transgene, used as an antigen source, resulted in both in vivo enhanced CD8(+) T-cell immunogenicity in HHD mice and in vitro increased HLA class I-restricted presentation of encoded peptides by human DC

Randomized phase 2 study of ACE-083, a muscle-promoting agent, in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is a slowly progressive muscular dystrophy without approved therapies. In this study we evaluated whether locally acting ACE-083 could safely increase muscle volume and improve functional outcomes in adults with FSHD. Participants were at least 18 years old and had FSHD1/FSHD2. Part 1 was open label, ascending dose, assessing safety and tolerability (primary objective). Part 2 was randomized, double-blind for 6 months, evaluating ACE-083240 mg/muscle vs placebo injected bilaterally every 3 weeks in the biceps brachii (BB) or tibialis anterior (TA) muscles, followed by 6 months of open label. Magnetic resonance imaging measures included total muscle volume (TMV; primary objective), fat fraction (FF), and contractile muscle volume (CMV). Functional measures included 6-minute walk test, 10-meter walk/run, and 4-stair climb (TA group), and performance of upper limb midlevel/elbow score (BB group). Strength, patient-reported outcomes (PROs), and safety were also evaluated. Parts 1 and 2 enrolled 37 and 58 participants, respectively. Among 55 participants evaluable in Part 2, the least-squares mean (90% confidence interval, analysis of covariance) treatment difference for TMV was 16.4% (9.8%-23.0%) in the BB group (P <.0001) and 9.5% (3.2%-15.9%) in the TA group (P =.01). CMV increased significantly in the BB and TA groups and FF decreased in the TA group. There were no consistent improvements in functional or PRO measures in either group. The most common adverse events were mild or moderate injection-site reactions. Significant increases in TMV with ACE-083 vs placebo did not result in consistent functional or PRO improvements with up to 12 months of treatment

Social and organisational implications of CAD usage: a grounded theory in a fashion company

This paper focuses on the process of Computer Aided Design (CAD) diffusion into a group engaged in the development of innovative products. Adopting an ethnographic approach, we build a grounded theory for interpreting CAD usage in terms of the interplay between variables such as management orientation, training, actors' specialisation and deskilling, availability of shared archives, technological discontinuities between organisational areas