Economic Impacts of Farm Program Payment Limits

The high levels of government payments to farmers resulting from the 1985 farm bill have once again led the Congress to examine the payment limit issue. Payment limits were initially established in 1970 and have since been revised several times. In this report, policy and farm management economists analyze the consequences of alternative payment limits on economic efficiency, economic viability of family-size farms, international competitiveness, and consumer food costs. Effective payment limits encourage reduced farm size and in the presence of economies of size, tend to increase production costs for program crops. The Agricultural and Food Policy Center is charged with evaluating economic impacts of policy alternatives -- not recommending, advocating, or opposing particular policies. The Center's orientation is toward Texas agriculture -- evaluating policy impacts on its producers and consumers. Farm prices and income, however, are determined in world markets that are influenced by national economic policy and farm programs. Texas impacts, therefore, must be evaluated in a much broader national and international market and policy context.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Vesivirus 2117 capsids more closely resemble sapovirus and lagovirus particles than other known vesivirus structures

Vesivirus 2117 is an adventitious agent that in 2009, was identified as a contaminant of CHO cells propagated in bioreactors at a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant belonging to Genzyme. The consequent interruption in supply of Fabrazyme and Cerezyme (drugs used to treat Fabry and Gaucher disease respectively), caused significant economic losses. Vesivirus 2117 is a member of the Caliciviridae; a family of small icosahedral viruses encoding a positive sense RNA genome. We have used cryo-electron microscopy and three dimensional image reconstruction to calculate a structure of vesivirus 2117 virus like particles as well as feline calicivirus and a chimeric sapovirus. We present a structural comparison of several members of the Caliciviridae, showing that the distal P domain of vesivirus 2117 is morphologically distinct from that seen in other known vesivirus structures. Furthermore, at intermediate resolutions we found a high level of structural similarity between vesivirus 2117 and Caliciviridae from other genera, such as sapovirus and rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus. Phylogenetic analysis confirms vesivirus 2117 as a vesivirus closely related to canine vesiviruses. We postulate that morphological differences in virion structure seen between vesivirus clades may reflect differences in receptor usage

Development of NASH in Obese Mice is Confounded by Adipose Tissue Increase in Inflammatory NOV and Oxidative Stress

Aim. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the consequence of insulin resistance, fatty acid accumulation, oxidative stress, and lipotoxicity.We hypothesize that an increase in the inflammatory adipokine NOV decreases antioxidant Heme Oxygenase 1 (HO- 1) levels in adipose and hepatic tissue, resulting in the development of NASH in obese mice. Methods. Mice were fed a high fat diet (HFD) and obese animals were administered an HO-1 inducer with or without an inhibitor of HO activity to examine levels of adipose-derived NOV and possible links between increased synthesis of inflammatory adipokines and hepatic pathology. Results. NASH mice displayed decreased HO-1 levels and HO activity, increased levels of hepatic heme, NOV, MMP2, hepcidin, and increased NAS scores and hepatic fibrosis. IncreasedHO-1 levels are associated with a decrease in NOV, improved hepatic NAS score, ameliorated fibrosis, and increases in mitochondrial integrity and insulin receptor phosphorylation. Adipose tissue function is disrupted in obesity as evidenced by an increase in proinflammatory molecules such as NOV and a decrease in adiponectin. Importantly, increased HO-1 levels are associated with a decrease of NOV, increased adiponectin levels, and increased levels of thermogenic and mitochondrial signaling associated genes in adipose tissue. Conclusions.These results suggest that the metabolic abnormalities in NASH are driven by decreased levels of hepatic HO-1 that is associated with an increase in the adipose-derived proinflammatory adipokine NOV in our obese mouse model of NASH. Concurrently, induction of HO-1 provides protection against insulin resistance as seen by increased insulin receptor phosphorylation. Pharmacological increases in HO-1 associated with decreases in NOV may offer a potential therapeutic approach in preventing fibrosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, and the development of NASH

Yield of binary- and multi-species swards relative to single-species swards in intensive silage systems

peer reviewedBinary- and multi-species sown mixtures may increase herbage yield and/or reduce inorganicnitrogen (N) requirement compared to perennial ryegrass (PRG) (Lolium perenne L.)swards. A split-plot design was used to compare yields of binary- and multi-speciesmixtures to single-species swards of three grasses and red clover managed for intensivesilage production under varying N application rates. Perennial and Italian (Loliummultiflorum Lam.) ryegrasses had greater annual yields when grown as single speciesreceiving 360 kg N/ha per year than in binary mixtures with red clover (Trifoliumpratense L.) receiving 0 kg N/ha per year, whereas timothy (Phleum pratense L.) producedequally high yields in both situations. When no inorganic N was applied, the annualdry matter yield of Mix 1 (10,738 kg/ha; PRG, timothy, red clover and white clover(Trifolium repens L.) and Mix 2 (11,679 kg/ha; PRG, timothy, red clover, ribwort plantain(Plantago lanceolata L.) and chicory (Cichorium intybus L.)) was greater than thatof a PRG sward (PRG/0N; 5,885 kg/ha) and derived more from the contribution of legumesthan herbs. This yield advantage of mixtures declined as inorganic N input increased,as did the legume and herb proportions in the multi-species swards. When averagedacross rates of inorganic N input, Mix 2 had a greater annual yield than Mix 1 (12,464vs. 11,893 kg/ha). Mix 2 receiving no inorganic fertiliser N and both Mix 1 and Mix2 receiving 120 kg N/ha per year matched the annual yield achieved by PRG receiving360 kg N/ha per year. Our results indicate that the yield performance of binary- andmulti-species grassland swards should be measured in situ rather than predicted fromsingle-species swards of constituent species

Misuse of “Power” and other mechanical terms in sport and exercise science research

In spite of the Système International d’Unitès (SI) that was published in 1960, there continues to be widespread misuse of the terms and nomenclature of mechanics in descriptions of exercise performance. Misuse applies principally to failure to distinguish between mass and weight, velocity and speed, and especially the terms "work" and "power." These terms are incorrectly applied across the spectrum from high-intensity short-duration to long-duration endurance exercise. This review identifies these misapplications and proposes solutions. Solutions include adoption of the term "intensity" in descriptions and categorisations of challenge imposed on an individual as they perform exercise, followed by correct use of SI terms and units appropriate to the specific kind of exercise performed. Such adoption must occur by authors and reviewers of sport and exercise research reports to satisfy the principles and practices of science and for the field to advance

Diverse high-torque bacterial flagellar motors assemble wider stator rings using a conserved protein scaffold

Although it is known that diverse bacterial flagellar motors produce different torques, the mechanism underlying torque variation is unknown. To understand this difference better, we combined genetic analyses with electron cryo-tomography subtomogram averaging to determine in situ structures of flagellar motors that produce different torques, from Campylobacter and Vibrio species. For the first time, to our knowledge, our results unambiguously locate the torque-generating stator complexes and show that diverse high-torque motors use variants of an ancestrally related family of structures to scaffold incorporation of additional stator complexes at wider radii from the axial driveshaft than in the model enteric motor. We identify the protein components of these additional scaffold structures and elucidate their sequential assembly, demonstrating that they are required for stator-complex incorporation. These proteins are widespread, suggesting that different bacteria have tailored torques to specific environments by scaffolding alternative stator placement and number. Our results quantitatively account for different motor torques, complete the assignment of the locations of the major flagellar components, and provide crucial constraints for understanding mechanisms of torque generation and the evolution of multiprotein complexes

Advanced engineering environment collaboration project.

The Advanced Engineering Environment (AEE) is a model for an engineering design and communications system that will enhance project collaboration throughout the nuclear weapons complex (NWC). Sandia National Laboratories and Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) worked together on a prototype project to evaluate the suitability of a portion of PTC's Windchill 9.0 suite of data management, design and collaboration tools as the basis for an AEE. The AEE project team implemented Windchill 9.0 development servers in both classified and unclassified domains and used them to test and evaluate the Windchill tool suite relative to the needs of the NWC using weapons project use cases. A primary deliverable was the development of a new real time collaborative desktop design and engineering process using PDMLink (data management tool), Pro/Engineer (mechanical computer aided design tool) and ProductView Lite (visualization tool). Additional project activities included evaluations of PTC's electrical computer aided design, visualization, and engineering calculations applications. This report documents the AEE project work to share information and lessons learned with other NWC sites. It also provides PTC with recommendations for improving their products for NWC applications