ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY CONSIDERATIONS IN THE GRAIN-LIVESTOCK SUBSECTORS IN CANADA, MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES

Environmental Economics and Policy,

TRANSGENIC CROPS AND THE ENVIRONMENT: MISSING MARKETS AND PUBLIC ROLE

The rapidity of change has left scant opportunity for investigation of the consequences of biotechnology adoption on long-term ecosystem or economic system functioning. Economic theory suggests that, if the "Biotechnology Revolution" is left to market forces alone,there will be neglected public goods. Theory and limited empirical evidence suggests that there are significant incentives for private firms to discount and neglect certain environmental impacts and to develop products that meet only the needs of those able and willing to pay. Negative distributional impacts on rural societies and economies will not normally enter the private calculus nor will the long-term problems of insect and plant resistance. Thus, there is a strong case for enhanced public roles with respect to the use of transgenic crops. The adoption of the precautionary approach in public policies addressing transgenic crops is one alternative to better reflect public concerns.Environmental Economics and Policy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Conservation Reserve: A Preliminary Assessment of Short-Term Impacts

With passage of the Food Security Act of 1985 (FSA85), Congress and the Administration set in motion the largest set of conservation measures since the inception of federal soil conservation programs. Although the FSA85 also has sodbuster, swampbuster, cross compliance and conservation easement components, the Conservation Reserve (CR) is the centerpiece. During Congressional deliberations, some participants claimed the CR as a foundation of all future agricultural conservation policy (U.S. Senate)

Conservation tillage : costs and returns (1993)

This publication briefly describes tillage systems and estimates costs and returns on a typical farm.Reviewed October 1, 1993

Conservation tillage : costs and returns

"This guide sheet briefly describes tillage systems and estimates costs and returns on a typical farm."--First page.David E. Ervin, Coy G. McNabb, and Myron D. Bennett (Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Agriculture); Dallas D. Schafer (U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation Service, Columbia, Missouri)New 7/83/10

Atypical chemokine receptor 4 shapes activated B cell fate

Activated B cells can initially differentiate into three functionally distinct fates-early plasmablasts (PBs), germinal center (GC) B cells, or early memory B cells-by mechanisms that remain poorly understood. Here, we identify atypical chemokine receptor 4 (ACKR4), a decoy receptor that binds and degrades CCR7 ligands CCL19/CCL21, as a regulator of early activated B cell differentiation. By restricting initial access to splenic interfollicular zones (IFZs), ACKR4 limits the early proliferation of activated B cells, reducing the numbers available for subsequent differentiation. Consequently, ACKR4 deficiency enhanced early PB and GC B cell responses in a CCL19/CCL21-dependent and B cell-intrinsic manner. Conversely, aberrant localization of ACKR4-deficient activated B cells to the IFZ was associated with their preferential commitment to the early PB linage. Our results reveal a regulatory mechanism of B cell trafficking via an atypical chemokine receptor that shapes activated B cell fate

Mini viral RNAs act as innate immune agonists during influenza virus infection

We thank the High-Throughput Genomics Group at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics (funded by Wellcome Trust grant 090532/Z/09/Z) for the generation of adapter-ligated mvRNA sequencing data. This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust grant 098721/Z/12/Z, the joint Wellcome Trust and Royal Society grant 206579/Z/17/Z and a Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) grant 825.11.029 to A.J.W.t.V.; EPA Cephalosporin Junior Research Fellowship to D.L.V.B.; support by the Intramural Research Program of NIAID, NIH, to E.d.W.; Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, project no. T11-705/14N and a Croucher Senior Research Fellowship to L.L.M.P.; and Medical Research Council (MRC) programme grants MR/K000241/1 and MR/R009945/1 to E.F. and studentship to J.C.L.The molecular processes that determine the outcome of influenza virus infection in humans are multifactorial and involve a complex interplay between host, viral and bacterial factors1. However, it is generally accepted that a strong innate immune dysregulation known as ‘cytokine storm’ contributes to the pathology of infections with the 1918 H1N1 pandemic or the highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses of the H5N1 subtype2,3,4. The RNA sensor retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) plays an important role in sensing viral infection and initiating a signalling cascade that leads to interferon expression5. Here, we show that short aberrant RNAs (mini viral RNAs (mvRNAs)), produced by the viral RNA polymerase during the replication of the viral RNA genome, bind to and activate RIG-I and lead to the expression of interferon-β. We find that erroneous polymerase activity, dysregulation of viral RNA replication or the presence of avian-specific amino acids underlie mvRNA generation and cytokine expression in mammalian cells. By deep sequencing RNA samples from the lungs of ferrets infected with influenza viruses, we show that mvRNAs are generated during infection in vivo. We propose that mvRNAs act as the main agonists of RIG-I during influenza virus infection.PostprintPeer reviewe

Managing Wicked Herbicide-Resistance: Lessons from the Field

Herbicide resistance is ‘wicked’ in nature; therefore, results of the many educational efforts to encourage diversification of weed control practices in the United States have been mixed. It is clear that we do not sufficiently understand the totality of the grassroots obstacles, concerns, challenges, and specific solutions needed for varied crop production systems. Weed management issues and solutions vary with such variables as management styles, regions, cropping systems, and available or affordable technologies. Therefore, to help the weed science community better understand the needs and ideas of those directly dealing with herbicide resistance, seven half-day regional listening sessions were held across the United States between December 2016 and April 2017 with groups of diverse stakeholders on the issues and potential solutions for herbicide resistance management. The major goals of the sessions were to gain an understanding of stakeholders and their goals and concerns related to herbicide resistance management, to become familiar with regional differences, and to identify decision maker needs to address herbicide resistance. The messages shared by listening-session participants could be summarized by six themes: we need new herbicides; there is no need for more regulation; there is a need for more education, especially for others who were not present; diversity is hard; the agricultural economy makes it difficult to make changes; and we are aware of herbicide resistance but are managing it. The authors concluded that more work is needed to bring a community-wide, interdisciplinary approach to understanding the complexity of managing weeds within the context of the whole farm operation and for communicating the need to address herbicide resistance