CONSUMER PREFERENCES FOR NON-CONVENTIONALLY GROWN PRODUCE

This study examines the potential for marketing fresh fruits and vegetables with labels indicating enhanced food and/or environmental safety attributes as compared to conventional produce. Four labels were investigated: Organic, Certified Organic, Certified Pesticide Residue-Free, and Grown with IPM. Results confirm findings of other surveys relating to concerns about pesticide residues. Seventy-one percent (71%) of respondents stated they believed that pesticide residues in food present a serious or moderate health hazard to consumers. In addition, 74% believed that pesticides pose a serious or moderate hazard to the environment, and 64% felt there was a serious or moderate hazard to farm workers. Results indicate there is a positive information effect for likelihood of purchasing for all of the labels, and this effect is statistically significant for all of the labels except for Certified Pesticide Residue-Free. The magnitude of the information effect for the Grown with IPM label was considerably higher than for the other labels, suggesting that there might be substantial payoffs for informing consumers about this label.Consumer/Household Economics,

Effects of roads on wildlife in an intensively modified landscape

This paper examines the ecological impacts arising from road networks and the potential ameliorating effects of roadside habitat in a highly modified landscape. A U.K. focus has been adopted to illustrate the effects of roads in a landscape with a long history of land use and intensive land management where the impacts and the potential for improvement are considerable. The impacts of roads in the ecological landscape include habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation. These interrupt and modify natural processes altering community structures and in the longer term, population dynamics. The large number of fauna fatalities each year from road traffic accidents is also of concern. Road verges can however also provide habitat opportunities and restore connectivity in an otherwise fragmented landscape offering potential to offset some of the adverse impacts of the existing road network. This review demonstrates that roads can present both ecological costs and ecological benefits although currently there is insufficient evidence to confirm some of the key theories which relate to the impact of the barrier effects (at population level) or the value of road verges as ecological corridors. In the absence of complete information the full extent of the problems and opportunities cannot be gauged and every effort should be made therefore to enhance the habitat adjacent to existing roads and to constrain further fragmentation caused by the development of the existing road network. Where further construction is unavoidable conditions should be enforced to prevent roads from reducing further the remaining habitats of conservation value and the connectivity between such habitats

Roads and wildlife: a study of the effects of roads on mammals in roadside habitats

There is increasing concern about the adverse effects of the road network on wildlife. The impacts of roads in the ecological landscape include habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and habitat degradation. These interrupt and modify natural processes, altering community structures and population dynamics. The large number of animal fatalities from road traffic accidents is also of concern. Only limited work has been carried out to investigate the intensity of these effects in the UK landscape. This study investigates the effects of roads on both small and large mammals and reviews mitigation measures that have been installed to ameliorate some of these effects. Roads of all sizes present a significant barrier to animal movement and they affect it in specific ways. Movement of small mammals is inhibited by lack of cover and the hostile road surface, whilst fragmentation of the road-verge by highway-related structures, impedes dispersal and compromises the benefits of connectivity often ascribed to such areas. Large animals, which use roads to travel through their territory, are more likely to be struck by traffic and are therefore, more directly affected by traffic-intensity. There is room for further mitigation to reduce the worst of the road-related impacts

Substrate stiffness and VE-cadherin mechano-transduction coordinate to regulate endothelial monolayer integrity.

The vascular endothelium is subject to diverse mechanical cues that regulate vascular endothelial barrier function. In addition to rigidity sensing through integrin adhesions, mechanical perturbations such as changes in fluid shear stress can also activate force transduction signals at intercellular junctions. This study investigated how extracellular matrix rigidity and intercellular force transduction, activated by vascular endothelial cadherin, coordinate to regulate the integrity of endothelial monolayers. Studies used complementary mechanical measurements of endothelial monolayers grown on patterned substrates of variable stiffness. Specifically perturbing VE-cadherin receptors activated intercellular force transduction signals that increased integrin-dependent cell contractility and disrupted cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesions. Further investigations of the impact of substrate rigidity on force transduction signaling demonstrated how cells integrate extracellular mechanics cues and intercellular force transduction signals, to regulate endothelial integrity and global tissue mechanics. VE-cadherin specific signaling increased focal adhesion remodeling and cell contractility, while sustaining the overall mechanical equilibrium at the mesoscale. Conversely, increased substrate rigidity exacerbates the disruptive effects of intercellular force transduction signals, by increasing heterogeneity in monolayer stress distributions. The results provide new insights into how substrate stiffness and intercellular force transduction coordinate to regulate endothelial monolayer integrity

Which oral antibiotics are best for acne?

Doxycycline is effective (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, randomized controlled trial) and the antibiotic of choice (SOR: C, expert opinion) for moderate to severe inflammatory acne requiring oral treatment. Limiting side effects include photosensitivity and gastrointestinal (GI) disturbance. Other members of the tetracycline family are considered second-line agents because of their side-effect profile and are contraindicated in pregnancy and for children younger than 12 years (SOR: A, meta-analysis, and C, expert opinion). For these patients, erythromycin is effective and better studied than azithromycin (SOR: C, expert opinion). Otherwise, emerging resistance and GI disturbances make erythromycin a third-line treatment. The use of oral antibiotics should be limited to moderate to severe inflammatory acne unresponsive to topical therapies, including retinoids and antibiotics (SOR: C, expert opinion). Oral antibiotics should be used for at least 6 to 8 weeks and discontinued after 12 to 18 weeks of therapy (SOR: C, expert opinion)

Automated CNC Micromachining for Integrated THz Waveguide Circuits

Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machining of splitblock waveguide circuits has become the primary method of constructing terahertz waveguide circuits. The majority of these circuits have been made on traditional CNC machining centers or on custom-made laboratory machining systems. At both the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, we have developed techniques for machining splitblock waveguide circuits using purpose-built ultra high precision CNC machining centers designed for micromachining. These systems combine the automation of a traditional CNC machining center, including a high capacity toolchanger, workpiece and tool metrology systems and a large work volume, with the precision of custom laboratory systems. The systems at UofA and ASU are built by Kern Micro and deliver typical measured dimensional accuracies of 2-3 microns. Waveguide surface finish has been measured with a Veeco white light interferometric microscope to be Ra~75 nm. Tools of sizes between 25 microns and 10mm are available, with toolchanger capacities of 24-32 tools