National and international agricultural research and rural poverty: the case of rice research in India and China

The study attempts to measure the total benefits from rice varietal improvement research in China and India using variety adoption and performance data over the last two decades. It then uses genetic or pedigree information to partition the total benefits between these two countries and IRRI. Finally, the study uses reported elasticity of poverty reduction with respect to agricultural output growth to assess the effects of national and international research on poverty reduction in rural India and China. The results indicate that rice varietal improvement research has contributed tremendously to increase in rice production, accounting for 14-23 percent of total production value over the last two decades in both countries. Rice research has also helped reduce large numbers of rural poor. IRRI played a crucial role in these successes. In 1999, for every $1 million invested at IRRI, more than 800 and 15,000 rural poor were lifted above the poverty line in China and India, respectively. These poverty-reduction effects were even larger in the earlier years." Authors' AbstractRice Asia., Rice Research., Rice Varieties., Rice Yields., Poverty alleviation., genetically modified organisms,

Re-thinking the incrementalist thesis in China: a reflection on the development of the minimum standard of living scheme in urban and rural areas

Many commentators contend that the Chinese government adopted an incremental approach to welfare policy reform because its leaders lacked an overall blueprint for it, allowing initiatives to be implemented only after lengthy experimentation. While this perspective has provided an essential account of the implementation and changes of some welfare programmes, it has inadequately addressed the slow progress in rural areas' welfare programmes and the different welfare entitlements for rural and urban residents. Further investigation is therefore required to resolve these anomalies. Using the minimum standard of living scheme (MSLS) as a case example, this article illustrates how the Chinese government's legitimacy needs, during different stages of its economic reforms, have been the principal motivation for the implementation of such schemes. The introduction of an urban MSLS in 1997 aimed to reduce laid-off workers' dissatisfaction following the government's reforms of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The implementation of a rural MSLS in 2007 was intended principally to minimise conflicts between land-losing farmers and local officials after widespread rural riots. These MSLSs are also minimal and stigmatising public-assistance schemes that fulfil the dual objective of securing a stable political environment for economic reform and maintaining poor people's work ethic for China's mixed economy

Quantitative assessment of the cervical spinal cord damage in neuromyelitis optica using diffusion tensor imaging at 3T

postprintThe Joint Annual Meeting of ISMRM-ESMRMB 2010, Stockholm, Sweden, 1-7 May 2010

Genetic and transformation studies reveal negative regulation of ERS1 ethylene receptor signaling in Arabidopsis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ethylene receptor single mutants of Arabidopsis do not display a visibly prominent phenotype, but mutants defective in multiple ethylene receptors exhibit a constitutive ethylene response phenotype. It is inferred that ethylene responses in Arabidopsis are negatively regulated by five functionally redundant ethylene receptors. However, genetic redundancy limits further study of individual receptors and possible receptor interactions. Here, we examined the ethylene response phenotype in two quadruple receptor knockout mutants, (<it>ETR1</it>) <it>ers1 etr2 ein4 ers2 </it>and (<it>ERS1</it>) <it>etr1 etr2 ein4 ers2</it>, to unravel the functions of ETR1 and ERS1. Their functions were also reciprocally inferred from phenotypes of mutants lacking <it>ETR1 </it>or <it>ERS1</it>. Receptor protein levels are correlated with receptor gene expression. Expression levels of the remaining wild-type receptor genes were examined to estimate the receptor amount in each receptor mutant, and to evaluate if effects of <it>ers1 </it>mutations on the ethylene response phenotype were due to receptor functional compensation. As <it>ers1 </it>and <it>ers2 </it>are in the Wassilewskija (Ws) ecotype and <it>etr1</it>, <it>etr2</it>, and <it>ein4 </it>are in the Columbia (Col-0) ecotype, possible effects of ecotype mixture on ethylene responses were also investigated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ethylene responses were scored based on seedling hypocotyl measurement, seedling and rosette growth, and relative <it>Chitinase B </it>(<it>CHIB</it>) expression. Addition of <it>ers1 </it>loss-of-function mutations to any <it>ETR1</it>-containing receptor mutants alleviated ethylene growth inhibition. Growth recovery by <it>ers1 </it>mutation was reversed when the <it>ers1 </it>mutation was complemented by <it>ERS1p:ERS1</it>. The addition of the <it>ers2-3 </it>mutation to receptor mutants did not reverse the growth inhibition. Overexpressing ERS1 receptor protein in (<it>ETR1 ERS1</it>)<it>etr2 ein4 ers2 </it>substantially elevated growth inhibition and <it>CHIB </it>expression. Receptor gene expression analyses did not favor receptor functional compensation upon the loss of <it>ERS1</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggest that ERS1 has dual functions in the regulation of ethylene responses. In addition to repressing ethylene responses, ERS1 also promotes ethylene responses in an ETR1-dependent manner. Several lines of evidence support the argument that ecotype mixture does not reverse ethylene responses. Loss of <it>ERS1 </it>did not lead to an increase in total receptor gene expression, and functional compensation was not observed. The inhibitory effects of ERS1 on the ethylene signaling pathway imply negative receptor collaboration.</p

The Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics and Volume-Preserving Conservative Dynamics with Equilibrium Stochastic Damping

We propose a mathematical formulation of the zeroth law of thermodynamics and develop a stochastic dynamical theory, with a consistent irreversible thermodynamics, for systems possessing sustained conservative stationary current in phase space while in equilibrium with a heat bath. The theory generalizes underdamped mechanical equilibrium: $dx=gdt+\{-D\nabla\phi dt+\sqrt{2D}dB(t)\}$, with $\nabla\cdot g=0$ and $\{\cdots\}$ respectively representing phase-volume preserving dynamics and stochastic damping. The zeroth law implies stationary distribution $u^{ss}(x)=e^{-\phi(x)}$. We find an orthogonality $\nabla\phi\cdot g=0$ as a hallmark of the system. Stochastic thermodynamics based on time reversal $\big(t,\phi,g\big)\rightarrow\big(-t,\phi,-g\big)$ is formulated: entropy production $e_p^{\#}(t)=-dF(t)/dt$; generalized "heat" $h_d^{\#}(t)=-dU(t)/dt$, $U(t)=\int_{\mathbb{R}^n} \phi(x)u(x,t)dx$ being "internal energy", and "free energy" $F(t)=U(t)+\int_{\mathbb{R}^n} u(x,t)\ln u(x,t)dx$ never increases. Entropy follows $\frac{dS}{dt}=e_p^{\#}-h_d^{\#}$. Our formulation is shown to be consistent with an earlier theory of P. Ao. Its contradistinctions to other theories, potential-flux decomposition, stochastic Hamiltonian system with even and odd variables, Klein-Kramers equation, Freidlin-Wentzell's theory, and GENERIC, are discussed.Comment: 25 page

The Emergence of Scaling in Sequence-based Physical Models of Protein Evolution

It has recently been discovered that many biological systems, when represented as graphs, exhibit a scale-free topology. One such system is the set of structural relationships among protein domains. The scale-free nature of this and other systems has previously been explained using network growth models that, while motivated by biological processes, do not explicitly consider the underlying physics or biology. In the present work we explore a sequence-based model for the evolution protein structures and demonstrate that this model is able to recapitulate the scale-free nature observed in graphs of real protein structures. We find that this model also reproduces other statistical feature of the protein domain graph. This represents, to our knowledge, the first such microscopic, physics-based evolutionary model for a scale-free network of biological importance and as such has strong implications for our understanding of the evolution of protein structures and of other biological networks.Comment: 20 pages (including figures), 4 figures, to be submitted to PNA

THE ROLES OF INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION AND PERCEIVED COMPETENCE IN ENHANCING SYSTEM USE AND PERFORMANCE

This study builds on the extant literature on motivation and information systems by examining the mediating role of intrinsic motivation in the relationship between system type and system use, the moderating role of perceived usefulness in the effect of intrinsic motivation on system use, and the moderating role of perceived competence in the impact of system use on performance. This study manipulates three system types; that is, PATH (Principles Aren’t That Hard), Blackboard, and the traditional paper medium, and measures the participant’s intrinsic motivation, perceived usefulness, perceived competence, system use, and performance. PATH incorporates interest-enhancing features, Blackboard has limited interest-enhancing features, and the traditional paper medium does not have these attributes. A total of 173 undergraduate students enrolled in the introductory financial accounting course participated in this study. The structural equation model results provide support for the hypotheses in the research model. An important contribution of this study is development of an educational computer game, PATH, and inclusion of Blackboard and the traditional paper medium to facilitate comparison of the level of intrinsic motivation associated with each system type. Another contribution is administration of the treatment variable (i.e., system type), measurements of the key constructs, and direct assessment of the participants’ performance in the same experimental setting

Trust as a mediator in the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and IL-6 level in adulthood

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has been shown to predict the coupling of depression and inflammation in adulthood. Trust within intimate relationships, a core element in marital relations, has been shown to predict positive physical and mental health outcomes, but the mediating role of trust in partners in the association between CSA and inflammation in adulthood requires further study. The present study aimed to examine the impact of CSA on inflammatory biomarkers (IL-6 and IL-1β) in adults with depression and the mediating role of trust. A cross-sectional survey data set of adults presenting with mood and sleep disturbance was used in the analysis. CSA demonstrated a significant negative correlation with IL-6 level (r = -0.28, p&lt;0. 01) in adults with clinically significant depression, while trust showed a significant positive correlation with IL-6 level (r = 0.36, p &lt; .01). Sobel test and bootstrapping revealed a significant mediating role for trust between CSA and IL-6 level. CSA and trust in partners were revealed to have significant associations with IL-6 level in adulthood. Counterintuitively, the directions of association were not those expected. Trust played a mediating role between CSA and adulthood levels of IL-6. Plausible explanations for these counterintuitive findings are discussed