A Pragmatic Assessment of Government Support for Organic Agriculture in Ireland

Drawing on a pragmatic approach, this paper provides an analysis of governmental support for organic farming in Ireland. There are varying levels of encouragement and programmes provided to farmers in their conversion from conventional to organic production, and in their maintenance of organic production. Support policies vary across regions and are linked to European Union legislation, thus it is challenging to document the many types of support in place. This research investigates relevant technical, financial, and policy support available to organic farmers in Ireland. This exploratory study develops an assessment of Ireland within eight key categories of organic agricultural support: leadership, policy, research, technical support, financial support, marketing and promotion, education and information, and future developments. Information and data from the Irish Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAFF), the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority (Teagasc), and other governmental and semi-governmental agencies were utilized to assess the level of support in each category. Following the pragmatic approach, this assessment provides key findings which allow policymakers, organizations and citizens to better understand the current situation and set a path for the future development of organic farming in Ireland

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although the MYC oncogene has been implicated in cancer, a systematic assessment of alterations of MYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatory proteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN), across human cancers is lacking. Using computational approaches, we define genomic and proteomic features associated with MYC and the PMN across the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas. Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one of the MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYC antagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequently mutated or deleted members, proposing a role as tumor suppressors. MYC alterations were mutually exclusive with PIK3CA, PTEN, APC, or BRAF alterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct oncogenic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such as immune response and growth factor signaling; chromatin, translation, and DNA replication/repair were conserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insights into MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkers and therapeutics for cancers with alterations of MYC or the PMN. We present a computational study determining the frequency and extent of alterations of the MYC network across the 33 human cancers of TCGA. These data, together with MYC, positively correlated pathways as well as mutually exclusive cancer genes, will be a resource for understanding MYC-driven cancers and designing of therapeutics

Thermostatic valve control using a non-azeotropic refrigerant, isobutane/propane mixture. Régulation d'un détendeur thermostatique utilisant un mélange d'isobutane et de propane comme frigorigène non azéotropique

This article describes the evaluation and comparison of a conventional R12 cross-charged thermostatic valve and an electronic expansion valve using a non-azeotropic refrigerant mixture (NARM); isobutane/propane mixture (CARE30). The superheat temperature setting on an expansion valve needs to compensate for the temperature glide associated with a non-azeotropic refrigerant as these can be of similar magnitude. It is also advisable to increase the superheat setting to make allowance for change in refrigerant composition as a result of preferential refrigerant/oil solubility. The majority of refrigeration systems operate at fixed evaporating temperatures, hence, once superheat setting is trimmed during commissioning, then there should be no further problems associated with evaporation of a non-azeotropic refrigerant provided the system is leak-tight. An R12 expansion valve with a factory superheat setting of 5°C tested over a wide range of evaporating temperatures proved satisfactory in operation with CARE30 after increasing the superheat temperature screw setting equivalent to 5°C. Dans cet article, on évalue et on compare un détendeur thermostatique classique à chargement en R12 et un détendeur électronique qui utilise un mélange non azéotropique constitué d'isobutane et de propane (CARE30). La valeur de la surchauffe de température fixée sur le détendeur doit compenser le glissement de température lié à un frigorigène non azéotropique, puisqu'ils peuvent être du même ordre. Il est également recommandé d'augmenter la valeur de réglage de la surchauffe afin de permettre des changements dans la composition du frigorigène, compte tenu de la solubilité de l'huile par rapport au frigorigène préférentiel. La majorité des systèmes frigorifiques fonctionnent à des températures d'évaporation fixes; aussi, une fois que la valeur de réglage de la surchauffe aura été établie au cours de la mise en état de fonctionnement, n'y aura-t-il plus aucun problème lié à l'évaporation d'un mélange non azéotropique puisque le système est étanche. Un détendeur au R12 avec une valeur de réglage de la surchauffe de 5°C, testé pour une large plage de températures d'évaporation, a fonctionné de façon satisfaisante avec du CARE30, après que l'on a eu augmenté la surchauffe de 5°C