OPEN REGIONALISM IN APEC: IMPACTS ON U.S. AGRICULTURE AND TRADE

APEC's "open regionalism" calls for free-trade in APEC but with benefits also accruing to non-APEC members. This study shows that "open regionalism" provides strong incentives for non-APEC economies to also liberalize their policies to maintain competitiveness. Inclusion of agriculture is critical to total U.S. welfare gains because of current high protection rates in East Asia.Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade,

Supply Chains and Rural Development in the Asia Pacific Region

Rapid income growth and urbanization are having profound impacts on the food system, food producers and rural areas in the developing Asia Pacific economies. Meeting the challenge of rural development will depend on better integrating rural areas with fast-growing urban areas where the composition of food demand is changing and the logistics of supply are growing more complex. Possible government options include investment in transportation infrastructure—roads, railroads and waterway—and providing rural communities and small-scale producers the tools they need to better adapt to the rapid spread of modern supermarkets and their supply chains.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Farmland consolidation and fragmentation in Upper East Tennessee

Forty percent of farm operators in the 12-county Upper East Tennessee region have expanded their farmland base at one time or another. Consolidation of small farm units into larger ones has been an important adjustment strategy that the nation\u27s farmers have used to maintain or improve their farm income. The gains from this strategy are not clear in Upper East Tennessee. In the region, those farmers who have expanded their land base own an average of 93 acres, more than twice the holdings of farmers who have not expanded. Nevertheless, 93 acres is substantially below the state average of more than 120 acres for all farms. Although net and gross farm incomes generated on expanded farms were significantly higher than on the non expansion farms, the difference does not appear to be very important. In 1974, average gross farm income for the expansion group was $7,354 while that for the non-expansion group was$3,342. Neither income is representative of a very large operation. In 1975, 25 percent of farm operators in the region expanded their land resources by renting in part of the land that they used. Another 4 percent were tenants who rented in all of the land that they farmed. This represents a continuing trend toward more rental and less ownership of farmland. Still, the majority of the region\u27s farmers own all the land which they farm. In most farm areas in the United States, the process of farmland consolidation has led to increases in the average farm size which is characteristic of an area. The average farm size in Upper East Tennessee is presently about 60 acres and has not changed appreciably in the last 25 years. Increases in the number of small part-time and hobby farms have been off-set by decreases in the number of small full-time farms. Likewise the consolidation of medium sized farms into larger ones has been off-set by the processes of farm fragmentation. Evidence from this study indicate that farmers in Upper East Tennessee have been unable to pursue successfully a strategy of farmland consolidation because land has been relatively scarce in both a physical and economic sense. The region is traversed by four mountain ranges and has proportionately less Class I-III land than the state as a whole. Furthermore, non farm growth in the region has been substantial. Popu-lation density and growth in land area devoted to urban and built-up uses are both above the state average. The price of farmland in the region has increased by a factor of five since the 1940\u27s to a current average of $718 per acre. Industrial and urban growth since the 1950 s are responsible for this surge. Industry has not only affected farmland price by competing for it directly, but it has provided jobs for many of the farmers. Forty-nine percent of the region\u27s farmers were employed full-time off the farm in 1975. Secure off-farm income has made the operator less dependent on farm income and more likely to view land as a speculative as well as a productive asset

The Asian Financial Crisis: Effects on U.S. Agriculture

Abstract This paper analyzes the likely effects of the recent Asian financial crisis on the U.S. economy and agriculture. It uses a multi-country, multi-sector dynamic intertemporal general equilibrium model, with endogenously modeled financial markets (G-cubed agriculture). Two simulations are done: one in which the crisis is confined to Korea and Southeast Asia, where the problem was most acute as of the fall of 1998, and another in which the crisis is assumed to deepen in Japan, China, and Taiwan to the same extent as it already has in Korea and Southeast Asia. The results show that the Asian financial crisis has a number of offsetting effects on U.S. agriculture. U.S. exports of agricultural and food products fall in response to declining demand in the affected countries in Asia and the appreciation of the U.S. dollar. U.S. agricultural and food exports are estimated to decline three times as much when Japan, China, and Taiwan become embroiled in the crisis than when it is confined to Korea and Southeast Asia. On the other hand, adjustments in global capital and energy markets in both scenarios reduce capital costs and input prices faced by U.S. farmers and, more broadly, stimulate domestic U.S. economic activity in the short run, particularly in interest-sensitive and energy-intensive sectors. Thus the shortrun effects of the Asian crisis on U.S. agriculture are ambiguous. Sectors relying more on domestic demand, such as livestock products and processed food, expand output, while export-oriented sectors such as food grains are negatively affected

Limbic-Predominant Age-Related TDP-43 Encephalopathy (LATE): Consensus Working Group Report

We describe a recently recognized disease entity, limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE). LATE neuropathological change (LATE-NC) is defined by a stereotypical TDP-43 proteinopathy in older adults, with or without coexisting hippocampal sclerosis pathology. LATE-NC is a common TDP-43 proteinopathy, associated with an amnestic dementia syndrome that mimicked Alzheimer’s-type dementia in retrospective autopsy studies. LATE is distinguished from frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 pathology based on its epidemiology (LATE generally affects older subjects), and relatively restricted neuroanatomical distribution of TDP-43 proteinopathy. In community-based autopsy cohorts, ∼25% of brains had sufficient burden of LATE-NC to be associated with discernible cognitive impairment. Many subjects with LATE-NC have comorbid brain pathologies, often including amyloid-β plaques and tauopathy. Given that the ‘oldest-old’ are at greatest risk for LATE-NC, and subjects of advanced age constitute a rapidly growing demographic group in many countries, LATE has an expanding but under-recognized impact on public health. For these reasons, a working group was convened to develop diagnostic criteria for LATE, aiming both to stimulate research and to promote awareness of this pathway to dementia. We report consensus-based recommendations including guidelines for diagnosis and staging of LATE-NC. For routine autopsy workup of LATE-NC, an anatomically-based preliminary staging scheme is proposed with TDP-43 immunohistochemistry on tissue from three brain areas, reflecting a hierarchical pattern of brain involvement: amygdala, hippocampus, and middle frontal gyrus. LATE-NC appears to affect the medial temporal lobe structures preferentially, but other areas also are impacted. Neuroimaging studies demonstrated that subjects with LATE-NC also had atrophy in the medial temporal lobes, frontal cortex, and other brain regions. Genetic studies have thus far indicated five genes with risk alleles for LATE-NC: GRN, TMEM106B, ABCC9, KCNMB2, and APOE. The discovery of these genetic risk variants indicate that LATE shares pathogenetic mechanisms with both frontotemporal lobar degeneration and Alzheimer’s disease, but also suggests disease-specific underlying mechanisms. Large gaps remain in our understanding of LATE. For advances in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, there is an urgent need for research focused on LATE, including in vitro and animal models. An obstacle to clinical progress is lack of diagnostic tools, such as biofluid or neuroimaging biomarkers, for ante-mortem detection of LATE. Development of a disease biomarker would augment observational studies seeking to further define the risk factors, natural history, and clinical features of LATE, as well as eventual subject recruitment for targeted therapies in clinical trials

Search for CP Violation in the Decay Z -> b (b bar) g

About three million hadronic decays of the Z collected by ALEPH in the years 1991-1994 are used to search for anomalous CP violation beyond the Standard Model in the decay Z -> b \bar{b} g. The study is performed by analyzing angular correlations between the two quarks and the gluon in three-jet events and by measuring the differential two-jet rate. No signal of CP violation is found. For the combinations of anomalous CP violating couplings, ${\hat{h}}_b = {\hat{h}}_{Ab}g_{Vb}-{\hat{h}}_{Vb}g_{Ab}$ and $h^{\ast}_b = \sqrt{\hat{h}_{Vb}^{2}+\hat{h}_{Ab}^{2}}$, limits of \hat{h}_b < 0.59$and$h^{\ast}_{b} < 3.02$ are given at 95\% CL.Comment: 8 pages, 1 postscript figure, uses here.sty, epsfig.st

Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE): consensus working group report.

We describe a recently recognized disease entity, limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE). LATE neuropathological change (LATE-NC) is defined by a stereotypical TDP-43 proteinopathy in older adults, with or without coexisting hippocampal sclerosis pathology. LATE-NC is a common TDP-43 proteinopathy, associated with an amnestic dementia syndrome that mimicked Alzheimer's-type dementia in retrospective autopsy studies. LATE is distinguished from frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 pathology based on its epidemiology (LATE generally affects older subjects), and relatively restricted neuroanatomical distribution of TDP-43 proteinopathy. In community-based autopsy cohorts, ∼25% of brains had sufficient burden of LATE-NC to be associated with discernible cognitive impairment. Many subjects with LATE-NC have comorbid brain pathologies, often including amyloid-β plaques and tauopathy. Given that the 'oldest-old' are at greatest risk for LATE-NC, and subjects of advanced age constitute a rapidly growing demographic group in many countries, LATE has an expanding but under-recognized impact on public health. For these reasons, a working group was convened to develop diagnostic criteria for LATE, aiming both to stimulate research and to promote awareness of this pathway to dementia. We report consensus-based recommendations including guidelines for diagnosis and staging of LATE-NC. For routine autopsy workup of LATE-NC, an anatomically-based preliminary staging scheme is proposed with TDP-43 immunohistochemistry on tissue from three brain areas, reflecting a hierarchical pattern of brain involvement: amygdala, hippocampus, and middle frontal gyrus. LATE-NC appears to affect the medial temporal lobe structures preferentially, but other areas also are impacted. Neuroimaging studies demonstrated that subjects with LATE-NC also had atrophy in the medial temporal lobes, frontal cortex, and other brain regions. Genetic studies have thus far indicated five genes with risk alleles for LATE-NC: GRN, TMEM106B, ABCC9, KCNMB2, and APOE. The discovery of these genetic risk variants indicate that LATE shares pathogenetic mechanisms with both frontotemporal lobar degeneration and Alzheimer's disease, but also suggests disease-specific underlying mechanisms. Large gaps remain in our understanding of LATE. For advances in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, there is an urgent need for research focused on LATE, including in vitro and animal models. An obstacle to clinical progress is lack of diagnostic tools, such as biofluid or neuroimaging biomarkers, for ante-mortem detection of LATE. Development of a disease biomarker would augment observational studies seeking to further define the risk factors, natural history, and clinical features of LATE, as well as eventual subject recruitment for targeted therapies in clinical trials.Sally Hunter and Carol Brayne are supported by funding from the National Institute for Health Research, Senior Investigator Award, awarded to Carol Brayne. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. Sally Hunter is supported by the Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and Alzheimer’s Research, UK. Suvi Hokkanen was supported by Alzheimer’s Research, UK

The first myriapod genome sequence reveals conservative arthropod gene content and genome organisation in the centipede Strigamia maritima.

Myriapods (e.g., centipedes and millipedes) display a simple homonomous body plan relative to other arthropods. All members of the class are terrestrial, but they attained terrestriality independently of insects. Myriapoda is the only arthropod class not represented by a sequenced genome. We present an analysis of the genome of the centipede Strigamia maritima. It retains a compact genome that has undergone less gene loss and shuffling than previously sequenced arthropods, and many orthologues of genes conserved from the bilaterian ancestor that have been lost in insects. Our analysis locates many genes in conserved macro-synteny contexts, and many small-scale examples of gene clustering. We describe several examples where S. maritima shows different solutions from insects to similar problems. The insect olfactory receptor gene family is absent from S. maritima, and olfaction in air is likely effected by expansion of other receptor gene families. For some genes S. maritima has evolved paralogues to generate coding sequence diversity, where insects use alternate splicing. This is most striking for the Dscam gene, which in Drosophila generates more than 100,000 alternate splice forms, but in S. maritima is encoded by over 100 paralogues. We see an intriguing linkage between the absence of any known photosensory proteins in a blind organism and the additional absence of canonical circadian clock genes. The phylogenetic position of myriapods allows us to identify where in arthropod phylogeny several particular molecular mechanisms and traits emerged. For example, we conclude that juvenile hormone signalling evolved with the emergence of the exoskeleton in the arthropods and that RR-1 containing cuticle proteins evolved in the lineage leading to Mandibulata. We also identify when various gene expansions and losses occurred. The genome of S. maritima offers us a unique glimpse into the ancestral arthropod genome, while also displaying many adaptations to its specific life history.This work was supported by the following grants: NHGRIU54HG003273 to R.A.G; EU Marie Curie ITN #215781 “Evonet” to M.A.; a Wellcome Trust Value in People (VIP) award to C.B. and Wellcome Trust graduate studentship WT089615MA to J.E.G; Marine rhythms of Life” of the University of Vienna, an FWF (http://www.fwf.ac.at/) START award (#AY0041321) and HFSP (http://www.hfsp.org/) research grant (#RGY0082/2010) to KT-­‐R; MFPL Vienna International PostDoctoral Program for Molecular Life Sciences (funded by Austrian Ministry of Science and Research and City of Vienna, Cultural Department -­‐Science and Research to T.K; Direct Grant (4053034) of the Chinese University of Hong Kong to J.H.L.H.; NHGRI HG004164 to G.M.; Danish Research Agency (FNU), Carlsberg Foundation, and Lundbeck Foundation to C.J.P.G.; U.S. National Institutes of Health R01AI55624 to J.H.W.; Royal Society University Research fellowship to F.M.J.; P.D.E. was supported by the BBSRC via the Babraham Institute;This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from PLOS via http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.100200