Economic Analysis of Sequestering Carbon in Green Ash Forests in the Lower Mississippi River Valley

Since the U.S. is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2), it has become crucial to develop options that are both cost effective and supportive of sustainable development to reduce atmospheric CO2. Electric utility companies have the options of reducing their use of fossil fuels, switching to alternative energy sources, increasing efficiency, or offsetting carbon emissions. This study determined the cost and profitability of sequestering carbon in green ash plantations, and the number of tons of carbon that can be sequestered. The profitability of green ash is $2,342 and$3,645 per acre on site indices (measurement of soil quality) 65 and 105 land, respectively, calculated with a 2.5% alternative rate of return (ARR). These figures shift to –$248 and –$240 calculated with a 15.0% ARR. If landowners who have an ARR of 2.5% can sell carbon credits for $10 per ton of carbon, profits will increase by$107 per acre on poor sites and $242 on good sites. Over one rotation (cutting cycle), 38.56 net tons of carbon can be sequestered on an acre of poor quality land and 51.35 tons on good quality land. The cost of sequestering carbon, without including revenues from timber production and carbon credits, ranges from a high of$15.20 per ton on poor sites to $14.41 on good sites, calculated with a 2.5$8.51 per ton on poor sites to $7.63 on good sites, calculated with a 15.0% ARR. The cost of storing carbon can be reduced significantly if the trees can be sold for wood products

Development of RNA interference in parasitic nematodes

Exploitation of RNA interference (RNAi) has revolutionised work on Caenorhabditis elegans, and considerable success has been recently reported with plant-parasitic nematodes. It has proven difficult to transfer this technology to animal parasitic species, and previous attempts in this laboratory by feeding Nippostrongylus brasiliensis larvae with Escherichia coli expressing double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) gave no consistent reductions in levels of target transcripts. The aim of this study was to develop methods for RNAi in N. brasiliensis, a rodent strongylid nematode which is closely related to gastrointestinal nematodes of humans and livestock, in order to explore the biological functions of parasite secreted proteins. In order to promote uptake of exogenous macromolecules such as dsRNA and small interfering RNA (siRNA) by infective larvae, the process of activation, whereby larvae are induced to resume feeding and development, was studied in vitro. Activation could be induced solely by exposure of larvae to elevated temperature (37oC), whereas host serum or glutathione had no effect. Neither a membrane permeant analogue of cyclic GMP nor muscarinic receptor agonists promoted activation, suggesting that a cholinergic neural pathway is not involved in the process. Activation at 37oC could be blocked by inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, Akt protein kinase & cytochrome P450. These data indicate that the early signalling events for larval activation in N. brasiliensis differ substantially from the hookworm Ancylostoma caninum, most probably acting through thermosensory rather than chemosensory neurons, but that they may converge downstream of a step dependent on phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. Stimulation of protein secretion paralleled resumption of feeding, suggesting that these processes were tightly linked and regulated by similar pathways during activation. Temperature-activated larvae were exposed to dsRNA and siRNA via electroporation or soaking in the presence of a variety of transfection reagents, but RNAi was unsuccessful. Serotonin was demonstrated to increase the rate of uptake of macromolecules, yet larvae exposed to exogenous dsRNA in the presence of serotonin still failed to show RNAi-mediated gene silencing. In addition, RNAi was also observed to be irreproducible in adult N. brasiliensis using the same methods of delivery. The use of mRNA encoding firefly luciferase identified uptake into larvae or adult worms as a major impediment in the process. Venom Allergen Homologue/ASP-Like (VAL) molecules have been identified as major components of secreted proteins from many species of parasitic nematodes. In this study, eight N. brasiliensis VALs were identified and sequenced, and all were shown to be present in products secreted by adult parasites. NbVAL-7 and NbVAL-8 were also detected in secreted products of infective larvae. Structural similarities to other members of the Pathogenesis- Related protein superfamily are discussed, as are possible functions for these proteins in N. brasiliensis

INTRA-INDUSTRY TRADE BETWEEN TAIWAN AND ASEAN-5 IN THE AGRO-FOOD SECTOR: PATTERNS AND DETERMINANTS

This paper attempts to identify the patterns and determinants of the levels of IIT between Taiwan and ASEAN-5 during the past three decades. Our empirical results confirm the belief that IIT between Taiwan and ASEAN-5 in the agro-food sector has been growing over time. Although industry-specific factors like market size and product differentiation have desirable impacts on IIT, taste overlaps do not. No deterministic conclusion can be drawn from the effect of trade liberalization as implied by removing trade barriers when shaping the future development of IIT. However, the indirect effect arising from income and consumer preferences' convergence may be the main determinant in promoting intra-industry agro-food trade among the Asian countries.International Relations/Trade,

Biological and Preclinical Evaluations of Designed Optically Guided Medical Devices with Light Scattering Modules for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment and Surgical Procedure

A novel technique and product applied to carpal tunnel microscopic surgical procedures through the designed medical devices were prepared and studied. The novel design of the medical device could be developed and applied for new carpal tunnel microscopic surgical procedures instead of the traditional carpal tunnel surgical procedures. Also, a new medical device with optical LLLT module was designed for wound healing in carpal tunnel syndrome treatments. Furthermore, assistive surgical healing dressings for carpal tunnel syndrome treatments via minimally invasive surgery (MIS) such as air-foam soft cleaning sponges and hydrogel surgical dressings with polymeric films were designed for more comfortable treatments. Biological and clinical evaluations of carpal tunnel surgical procedure using the new designed medical devices are studied. For commercialized reasons, guidance such as ISO 10993-1:2009(E) for biological evaluation of medical devices must be considered. Furthermore, the clinical evaluation of modified medical devices would be carried out

A Dynamic Model of Decision-making in the IS/IT Outsourcing Process: A Case Study from a Government-supported

The IS/IT outsourcing process is complex and the outcome is unpredictable, especially in the varied participants, complicated social and political environments. Prior research on IS/IT outsourcing decisions simply assumed the rational, comprehensive, independent decisionmaking activity is not descriptively accurate and perhaps thus cannot be prescriptively useful in this complex environment. To get deeper understandings of the decision-making in the IS/IT outsourcing process, this research creates a dynamic model to illustrate the complex phenomenon. In-depth case study methodology and process-oriented analysis strategy were used to interpret a government-supported, outsourced IS project. This study indicates that decision makers should regard the IS/IT outsourcing process as a continuous, integral process in context and consider the structural influence, antecedent conditions, and future impact in every decision episode. This paper provides an initial insight by studying IS/IT outsourcing decision-making through dynamic and process perspective

COLLABORATIVE AND EMBEDDED：KNOWLEDGE BOUNDARIES OF AN ICT CONSULTING FIRM

Knowledge is not embedded in organizations’ boundaries but their collaborative networks cross organizations. The paper indicates knowledge boundaries are formed by their respective social contexts, relationships and practices of networks through participative observing two practice teams of an ICT consulting firm.To emphasis, the teams’ perspectives, knowledge structures, knowledge values, identities, teamwork styles are affected by their knowledge boundaries.The implication of knowledge boundaries on key topics in teams’ knowledge governance, professional service firms’ market entering strategies, and national knowledge innovation issues are discussed.This research provides a new direction to take industry seriously in the knowledge management of IS research

MeInfoText: associated gene methylation and cancer information from text mining

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification of the genome. Abnormal DNA methylation may result in silencing of tumor suppressor genes and is common in a variety of human cancer cells. As more epigenetics research is published electronically, it is desirable to extract relevant information from biological literature. To facilitate epigenetics research, we have developed a database called MeInfoText to provide gene methylation information from text mining.</p> <p>Description</p> <p>MeInfoText presents comprehensive association information about gene methylation and cancer, the profile of gene methylation among human cancer types and the gene methylation profile of a specific cancer type, based on association mining from large amounts of literature. In addition, MeInfoText offers integrated protein-protein interaction and biological pathway information collected from the Internet. MeInfoText also provides pathway cluster information regarding to a set of genes which may contribute the development of cancer due to aberrant methylation. The extracted evidence with highlighted keywords and the gene names identified from each methylation-related abstract is also retrieved. The database is now available at <url>http://mit.lifescience.ntu.edu.tw/</url>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>MeInfoText is a unique database that provides comprehensive gene methylation and cancer association information. It will complement existing DNA methylation information and will be useful in epigenetics research and the prevention of cancer.</p