The Organization of Agricultural Research in Western Developed Countries

This paper reviews agricultural research structural and organization changes in western developed countries, examines new financing prospects for agricultural research, and provides some tentative conclusions about which organizations are best positioned to provide services for the 21st century. Giventhat these countries faces many similar economic, political, scientific, andagroclimatic factors and fiscal issues, we canexpect a similar set of similar new developments thathave potentially important and widespread long-run implications. After three common developments are outlined, principles ofimpure public good financing are applied leading to the following agricultural science policy recommendations (i) new political jurisdictions should be formed to finance research, e.g., new alliances across countries and subregions within large countries, (ii) intellecmal property rights should be strengthened to increase the total amount and share oftotal (public and private) agricultural research that is privately financed and conducted, i.e., the private sector should find it profitable to undertake a large share ofapplied research but not be expected to finance public sector agriculmral research, (iii) the public sector should redirect its research efforts increasingly to areas that are socially worthwhile but not privately undertaken, e.g.,in the basic and pretechnology areas, on envkonmental, resources, food safety and human nutrition, and policy. Finally, large countries that have developed asystem ofshared public and private financmg and performance and decentralized public support ofagricultural research seem best position for meeting the needs ofthe 21st centur

Early experience of COVID-19 vaccination in adults with systemic rheumatic diseases : Results from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Vaccine Survey

Funding Information: Competing interests SES has received funding from the Vasculitis Foundation and the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium unrelated to this work. JL has received research grant funding from Pfizer unrelated to this work. ES is a Board Member of the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance, a patient run, volunteer-based organisation whose activities are primarily supported by independent grants from pharmaceutical companies. MP was supported by a Rheumatology Research Foundation Scientist Development grant. DA-R is a Scientific Advisor for GlaxoSmithKilne unrelated to this work. FB reports personal fees from Boehringer, Bone Therapeutics, Expanscience, Galapagos, Gilead, GSK, Merck Sereno, MSD, Nordic, Novartis, Pfizer, Regulaxis, Roche, Sandoz, Sanofi, Servier, UCB, Peptinov, TRB Chemedica and 4P Pharma outside of the submitted work. No funding relevant to this manuscript. RC: speakers bureau for Janssen, Roche, Sanofi, AbbVie. KD reports no COI-unpaid volunteer president of the Autoinflammatory Alliance. Any grants or funding from pharma is received by the non-profit organisation only. CLH received funding under a sponsored research agreement unrelated to the data in the paper from Vifor Pharmaceuticals. LeK has received a research grant from Lilly unrelated to this work. AHJK participated in consulting, advisory board or speaker's bureau for Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, Annexon Biosciences, Exagen Diagnostics and GlaxoSmithKilne and received funding under a sponsored research agreement unrelated to the data in the paper from GlaxoSmithKline. JSingh has received consultant fees from Crealta/ Horizon, Medisys, Fidia, PK Med, Two Labs, Adept Field Solutions, Clinical Care Options, Clearview Healthcare Partners, Putnam Associates, Focus Forward, Navigant Consulting, Spherix, MedIQ, Jupiter Life Science, UBM, Trio Health, Medscape, WebMD and Practice Point Communications; and the National Institutes of Health and the American College of Rheumatology. JSingh owns stock options in TPT Global Tech, Vaxart Pharmaceuticals and Charlotte’s Web Holdings. JSingh previously owned stock options in Amarin, Viking and Moderna Pharmaceuticals. JSingh is on the speaker’s bureau of Simply Speaking. JSingh is a member of the executive of Outcomes Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT), an organisation that develops outcome measures in rheumatology and receives arms-length funding from eight companies. JSingh serves on the FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee. JSingh is the chair of the Veterans Affairs Rheumatology Field Advisory Committee. JSingh is the editor and the Director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group Satellite Center on Network Meta-analysis. NSingh is supported by funding from the Rheumatology Research Foundation Investigator Award and the American Heart Association. MFU-G has received research support from Pfizer and Janssen, unrelated to this work. SB reports personal fees from Novartis, AbbVie, Pfizer and Horizon Pharma, outside the submitted work. RG reports personal fees from AbbVie New Zealand, Cornerstones, Janssen New Zealand and personal fees and non-financial support Pfizer New Zealand (all <US$10 000) outside the submitted work. PMM reports personal fees from AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer and UCB, grants and personal fees from Orphazyme, outside the submitted work. PCR reports personal fees from AbbVie, Gilead, Lilly and Roche, grants and personal fees from Novartis, UCB Pharma, Janssen and Pfizer and non-financial support from BMS, outside the submitted work. PS reports honoraria from Social media editor for @ACR_Journals, outside the submitted work. ZSW reports grants from NIH, BMS and Principia/ Sanofi and personal fees from Viela Bio and MedPace, outside the submitted work. JY reports personal fees from Pfizer and Eli Lilly, and grants and personal fees from AstraZeneca, outside the submitted work. MJL reports grants from American College of Rheumatology, during the conduct of the study and consulting fees from AbbVie, Amgen, Actelion, Boehringer Ingelheim, BMS, Celgene, Gilead, J&J, Mallinckrodt, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sandoz, Sanofi, Sobi and UCB, outside the submitted work. LGR was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS; ZIAES101074) of the National Institutes of Health. JH reports grants from Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) and Rheumatology Research Alliance, and personal fees from Novartis, Pfizer and Biogen, outside the submitted work. JSimard received research grant funding from the National Institutes of Health unrelated to this work (NIAMS: R01 AR077103 and NIAID R01 AI154533). JSparks has performed consultancy for AbbVie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead, Inova Diagnostics, Optum and Pfizer unrelated to this work. Funding Information: Funding This study was supported by the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology and American College of Rheumatology Research and Education Foundation. Dr. Lisa Rider's involvement was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Publisher Copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.Background. We describe the early experiences of adults with systemic rheumatic disease who received the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods From 2 April to 30 April 2021, we conducted an online, international survey of adults with systemic rheumatic disease who received COVID-19 vaccination. We collected patient-reported data on clinician communication, beliefs and intent about discontinuing disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) around the time of vaccination, and patient-reported adverse events after vaccination. Results We analysed 2860 adults with systemic rheumatic diseases who received COVID-19 vaccination (mean age 55.3 years, 86.7% female, 86.3% white). Types of COVID-19 vaccines were Pfizer-BioNTech (53.2%), Oxford/AstraZeneca (22.6%), Moderna (21.3%), Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (1.7%) and others (1.2%). The most common rheumatic disease was rheumatoid arthritis (42.3%), and 81.2% of respondents were on a DMARD. The majority (81.9%) reported communicating with clinicians about vaccination. Most (66.9%) were willing to temporarily discontinue DMARDs to improve vaccine efficacy, although many (44.3%) were concerned about rheumatic disease flares. After vaccination, the most reported patient-reported adverse events were fatigue/somnolence (33.4%), headache (27.7%), muscle/joint pains (22.8%) and fever/chills (19.9%). Rheumatic disease flares that required medication changes occurred in 4.6%. Conclusion. Among adults with systemic rheumatic disease who received COVID-19 vaccination, patient-reported adverse events were typical of those reported in the general population. Most patients were willing to temporarily discontinue DMARDs to improve vaccine efficacy. The relatively low frequency of rheumatic disease flare requiring medications was reassuring.publishersversionPeer reviewe

results from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Vaccine Survey

Funding Information: MP, KK, and ES contributed equally and are co-first authors. JHS, JASp, and JFS contributed equally and are co-senior authors. The authors thank Berk Degirmenci, Christele Feliix, Shangyi Jin, Candace A Palmerlee, Andrea Peirce, Lisa G Rider, Esra Sari, Robert Tseng, and Leslie Wang for their invaluable contributions to the GRA Vax Survey. MP, KK, ES, SES, and JWL contributed to data collection, data quality control, and data analysis and interpretation. AAA, DA-R, SA, RPB, FB, IB, YPEC, RC, AD-G, ED, KLD, TAG, CLH, RH, BFH, EH, LK, AK, AHJK, DFLL, CL, EFM, BM, SM, MN, ADS, JASi, NS, MFU-G, JW, KJY, and EAZ-T, critically revised the manuscript and provided intellectual content. TTM, CH, MJL, ML, GF, and LT contributed to planning and data collection, reviewed the manuscript, and provided important intellectual content. SB, WC, RG, PMM, PCR, PS, ZSW, and JY contributed to the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of the data. JASp, JFS, and JSH directed the work, designed the data collection methods, and contributed to the analysis and interpretation of the data. MP, KK, ES, SES, JWL, SB, WC, RG, PMM, PCR, PS, ZSW, JY, JASp, JFS, and JSH drafted and revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content and gave final approval of the version to be published. SES, JWL, KK, JFS, and JASp had full access to the data and verify the credibility of the underlying data. All authors have read, revised, and approved this manuscript and take final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication. MP reports clinical trials participation with AbbVie and grants from Rheumatology Research Foundation, outside the submitted work. ES is a board member of the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance, a patient run, volunteer-based organisation whose activities are primarily supported by independent grants from pharmaceutical companies. JWL has received research grant funding from Pfizer unrelated to this work. SES reports research funding related to clinical trials from AstraZeneca (MANDARA), outside of the submitted work and is supported by the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium and Vasculitis Foundation outside of the submitted work. DA-R is a scientific advisor for GlaxoSmithKilne unrelated to this work. RC reports speaker fees from Janssen, Roche, Sanofi, and AbbVie, outside of the submitted work. AD-G reports grants from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Rheumatology Research Foundation, and Mayo Clinic, outside the submitted work. KLD is an unpaid volunteer president of the Autoinflammatory Alliance and reports grants from Novartis, Sobi, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Horizon Bio, all received by the non-profit organisation outside of the submitted work. CLH received funding under a sponsored research agreement unrelated to the data in the paper from Vifor Pharmaceuticals. RH reports grants from AbbVie, Amgen, Boehringer Ingleheim, Johnson and Johnson, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, and Union Chimique Belge, all paid to Spondylitis Association of America, consultant fees from GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, outside the submitted work. RH also owns stocks (<20 shares and representing <4% of personal investments) in AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Teva, and Union Chimique Belge. AHJK reports personal fees from Exagen Diagnostics, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, grants from National Institutes of Health, Rheumatology Research Foundation, and Helmsley Charitable Trust, grants and personal fees from GlaxoSmithKline, outside the submitted work. EFM reports personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, and that Liga Portuguesa Contra as Doenças Reumaticas has received grants from AbbVie, Novartis, Lilly Portugal, Amgen Biofarmacêutica, Grünenthal, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Medac and from A Menarini Portugal–Farmacêutica; grants and non-financial support from Pfizer and Grünenthal, outside the submitted work. JASi has received consultant fees from Crealta/Horizon, Medisys, Fidia, PK Med, Two labs, Adept Field Solutions, Clinical Care options, Clearview healthcare partners, Putnam associates, Focus forward, Navigant consulting, Spherix, MedIQ, Jupiter Life Science, United BioMed, Trio Health, Medscape, WebMD, and Practice Point communications; and the National Institutes of Health, and the American College of Rheumatology. JASi owns stock options in TPT Global Tech, Vaxart pharmaceuticals, and Charlotte's Web Holdings and previously owned stock options in Amarin, Viking and Moderna pharmaceuticals. JASi is on the speaker's bureau of Simply Speaking and is a member of the executive of Outcomes Measures in Rheumatology, an organisation that develops outcome measures in rheumatology and receives funding from eight companies . JASi also serves on the FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee and is the chair of the Veterans Affairs Rheumatology Field Advisory Committee. JASi is also the editor and the Director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group Satellite Center on Network Meta-analysis. MFU-G has received research support from Pfizer and Janssen, unrelated to this work. SB reports non-branded consulting fees from Novartis, AbbVie, Pfizer, and Horizon Pharma, outside the submitted work, and is a Pfizer employee as of September, 2021. RG reports personal fees from AbbVie New Zealand, Cornerstones, Janssen New Zealand, and Novartis, and personal fees and non-financial support Pfizer Australia (all <AU$10,000) outside the submitted work. PMM reports personal fees from AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, and Union Chimique Belge; and grants and personal fees from Orphazyme, outside the submitted work. PCR reports personal fees from AbbVie, Gilead, Lilly, and Roche; grants and personal fees from Novartis, Union Chimique Belge, Janssen, and Pfizer; and non-financial support from Bristol Myers Squibb, outside the submitted work. PS reports honoraria from bring the social media editor for the American College of Rheumatology journals, outside the submitted work. ZSW reports grants from NIH, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Principia/Sanofi; and personal fees from Viela Bio and MedPace, outside the submitted work. JY reports personal fees from Pfizer and Eli Lilly, and grants and personal fees from AstraZeneca, outside the submitted work. CH reports personal fees from AstraZeneca and Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, outside the submitted work. MJL reports grants from American College of Rheumatology, during the conduct of the study and consulting fees from AbbVie, Amgen, Actelion, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Gilead, Johnson and Johnson, Mallinckrodt, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sandoz, Sanofi, Sobi, and Union Chimique Belge, outside the submitted work. JSH reports grants from Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance and Rheumatology Research Alliance, and personal fees from Novartis, Pfizer, and Biogen, outside the submitted work. JASp reports grants from National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, Rheumatology Research Foundation, and R Bruce and Joan M Mickey Research Scholar Fund; and consulting fees for AbbVie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead, Inova Diagnostics, Optum, and Pfizer, unrelated to this work. JFS received research grant funding from the National Institutes of Health unrelated to this work (NIAMS R01 AR077103, and NIAID R01 AI154533). All other authors report no competing interests. This study was funded by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). The ACR was not involved in any aspect of study design, collection, analysis, or interpretation of data, writing of the report, or the decision to submit the paper for publication. The views expressed here are those of the authors and participating members of the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance and do not necessarily represent the views of the ACR, the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology, the UK National Health Service, the National Institute for Health Research, or the UK Department of Health, or any other organisation. Researchers interested in performing additional analyses from survey data are invited to submit proposals through the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance at rheumcovid.org . For approved projects, we will provide summary tables and data analyses as requested. We do not currently have institutional review board approval to make the raw data available to other researchers.publishersversionpublishe

NEOTROPICAL XENARTHRANS: a data set of occurrence of xenarthran species in the Neotropics

Xenarthrans – anteaters, sloths, and armadillos – have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with 24 domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, ten anteaters, and six sloths. Our dataset includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data-paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the south of the USA, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to its austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n=5,941), and Cyclopes sp. has the fewest (n=240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n=11,588), and the least recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n=33). With regards to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n=962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n=12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other datasets of Neotropical Series which will become available very soon (i.e. Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans dataset