Conservation Decision Making and Agricultural Land Leasing - An Experimental Investigation of the Role of Gender

This research investigated the impact of landowner gender and of the different types of contract leases offered by them to a male tenant, on the conservation (or non-conservation) choice made by the tenant. Specifically, we investigate if a) female and male landowners offer different rental contracts and b) whether tenants choose different actions based on the landowner’s gender. For this purpose, we implemented a controlled, gender-context-loaded economic experiment with university students, in which we tested contract and land use choice under different treatments for three types of rental contracts – fixed rent, fixed rent with penalty, and fixed rent with discount. The study has two treatment arms: one varies the salience of gender and the other examines the impact of communication between the landowner and tenant

Isolation and Culture of Larval Cells from C. elegans

Cell culture is an essential tool to study cell function. In C. elegans the ability to isolate and culture cells has been limited to embryonically derived cells. However, cells or blastomeres isolated from mixed stage embryos terminally differentiate within 24 hours of culture, thus precluding post-embryonic stage cell culture. We have developed an efficient and technically simple method for large-scale isolation and primary culture of larval-stage cells. We have optimized the treatment to maximize cell number and minimize cell death for each of the four larval stages. We obtained up to 7.8×104 cells per microliter of packed larvae, and up to 97% of adherent cells isolated by this method were viable for at least 16 hours. Cultured larval cells showed stage-specific increases in both cell size and multinuclearity and expressed lineage- and cell type-specific reporters. The majority (81%) of larval cells isolated by our method were muscle cells that exhibited stage-specific phenotypes. L1 muscle cells developed 1 to 2 wide cytoplasmic processes, while L4 muscle cells developed 4 to 14 processes of various thicknesses. L4 muscle cells developed bands of myosin heavy chain A thick filaments at the cell center and spontaneously contracted ex vivo. Neurons constituted less than 10% of the isolated cells and the majority of neurons developed one or more long, microtubule-rich protrusions that terminated in actin-rich growth cones. In addition to cells such as muscle and neuron that are high abundance in vivo, we were also able to isolate M-lineage cells that constitute less than 0.2% of cells in vivo. Our novel method of cell isolation extends C. elegans cell culture to larval developmental stages, and allows use of the wealth of cell culture tools, such as cell sorting, electrophysiology, co-culture, and high-resolution imaging of subcellular dynamics, in investigation of post-embryonic development and physiology

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Efficient Diffusion of Sustainable Environmental Practices through Green Networks

A movement towards sustainable use and management of ecosystem services requires collective action by individuals or groups of individuals (Ostrom, 1990). Additionally, ecosystem services have public goods features whose provision depends upon multiple social and psychological factors (Shang and Croson, 2009) which may align with individuals’ intrinsic motivation or “warm glow” (Frey 1994, Benabou and Tirole 2003). Banerjee and Shogren (2012) have also shown that problems of collective action vis-àvis ecosystem services provision are more likely to be resolved if there is a “social norm” component such as peer pressure, reputation, and altruism which ties back to the findings of Shang and Croson (2009). Given these results, in a land conservation context, Banerjee and Shogren (2012) recommend widespread publicity of land retirement decisions as a means to create a stewardship social norm within agricultural communities that can have an effective impact on species protection in particular and adoption of pro -environmental behaviors in general

Functional Dissection of Arabidopsis Thaliana Resistance Gene RPS2

128 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2000.In summary, this study identifies loci that interact with RPS2 and RPM1 and domains within RPS2 that modify expression and strength of the resistance response. Further characterization and cloning of the RPS2- and RPM1-interacting loci, conjoined with functional analysis of RPS2 protein domains such as the LRRs and the NBS, should provide valuable insights into the structure, molecular interactions and function of resistance genes involved in gene-for-gene resistance.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD

Correlation of reinforcement efficiency factors with fibre concentration in short glass-fibre reinforced PBT/ ABS/SMA composities

262-263<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">A blend of polybutylene-terephthalate (PBT) and acrylonirile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) terpolymer, with styrene-maleic-anhydride (SMA) as compatibilizer was reinforced with short glass-fibers. The PBT: ABS ratio was 70:30 by weight and the weight percentage of SMA was fixed at 5. Fiber concentration was varied from 10 to 50% by weight. The effects of variation of fiber volume fraction (Vf) on reinforcement efficiency factor for stiffness (βE) and for strength (βo) were studied. Both βE and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">βo<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">values decreased with increasing Vf.</span