Weather Vulnerability, Climate Change, and Food Security in Mt. Kilimanjaro

This study estimates the impact of rainfall variation on livelihood in Mt. Kilimanjaro using the Ricardian approach to capture farmers’ adaptation strategies to cope with climate change risks. The data for the analysis were gathered from a random sample of over 200 households in 15 villages and precipitation from rainfall observation posts placed in each of the surveyed villages. The precipitation data provide information on the effect of moisture at critical months in the growing season. Due to prevalence of intercropping among local farmers, the present study develops a multivariate model that assumes endogeneity between crop yields. Doing so allows the study to capture adaptation strategies that smallholders use by diversifying farm portfolio. The results indicate that Mt. Kilimanjaro agriculture is vulnerable to precipitation variation. However, farm vulnerability is heterogeneous across space, crops and, months. Location varying inputs are responsible for substantial percentage of crop yield. The study found ambiguous evidence about the ability of irrigation usage to reduce crop vulnerability to precipitation variation, but suggests that proper cost benefit analysis ought to be done in order to measure the welfare value of irrigation. In terms of future food security, climate simulations reveal that by 2029, it will no longer be ideal to produce coffee in Mt. Kilimanjaro if precipitation annually decreases by a minimum rate of 2%. While maize production will also suffer severe production reduction, banana production will decrease but not in an alarming rate by 2029.Climate Change, Precipitation Variability, Food Security, Irrigation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Q1, Q5,

Risk Belief, Producer Demand, and Valuation of Improved Irrigations: Results from Field Experiments in Mt. Kilimanjaro

This paper systematically estimates the potential benefit of introducing improved irrigation schemes in Mt. Kilimanjaro to help rain dependent farmers cope with the risks of climate change. The study uses Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to elicit farmers’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) for eliminating the risks of crop loss by accessing improved irrigation schemes. Data for the analysis were gathered using a double bounded survey from over 200 randomly-sampled farmers in 15 villages. The study makes a contribution to the applied welfare literature and should also be useful for policymakers in Africa. The policy contribution consists of valuation of improved irrigation in the presence of climate change risks. The applied welfare contribution consists of empirical evidence about the impact of farmer’s risk aversion on welfare valuation. Pratt and Zeckhauser (1996) argue on conceptual grounds that in the absence of complete contingent claims market, individual WTP per unit of risk reduction will depend significantly on the level of risk and the magnitude of reduction that is offered. The present study captures individual farmer’s risk exposure by constructing an index for farmers’ expected rainfall. Since mean WTP is nonlinear in its parameters, mean WTP is computed based on the Krinsky and Robb (1986) method, which simulates the confidence interval and the achieved significance levels (ASL) for testing the null hypothesis that WTP≤0. The results show that farmers with lower expectations about future rainfall are willing to pay more for accessing the improved irrigation scheme. In addition, Mt. Kilimanjaro farmers are willing to pay up to 10% of their income to have access to improved irrigation canals. Assuming a 5% discount rate, the study found that farmers will reimburse the cost of building the irrigation scheme after 7 to 9 years.Willingness to Pay, Climate Change, Irrigation, Risk Belief, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Q12, Q18, Q25, Q51, Q56,

The GAPs, GEFs, and GDIs of heterotrimeric G-protein alpha subunits

The heterotrimeric G-protein alpha subunit has long been considered a bimodal, GTP-hydrolyzing switch controlling the duration of signal transduction by seven-transmembrane domain (7TM) cell-surface receptors. In 1996, we and others identified a superfamily of “regulator of G-protein signaling” (RGS) proteins that accelerate the rate of GTP hydrolysis by Gα subunits (dubbed GTPase-accelerating protein or “GAP” activity). This discovery resolved the paradox between the rapid physiological timing seen for 7TM receptor signal transduction in vivo and the slow rates of GTP hydrolysis exhibited by purified Gα subunits in vitro. Here, we review more recent discoveries that have highlighted newly-appreciated roles for RGS proteins beyond mere negative regulators of 7TM signaling. These new roles include the RGS-box-containing, RhoA-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factors (RGS-RhoGEFs) that serve as Gα effectors to couple 7TM and semaphorin receptor signaling to RhoA activation, the potential for RGS12 to serve as a nexus for signaling from tyrosine kinases and G-proteins of both the Gα and Ras-superfamilies, the potential for R7-subfamily RGS proteins to couple Gα subunits to 7TM receptors in the absence of conventional Gβγ dimers, and the potential for the conjoint 7TM/RGS-box Arabidopsis protein AtRGS1 to serve as a ligand-operated GAP for the plant Gα AtGPA1. Moreover, we review the discovery of novel biochemical activities that also impinge on the guanine nucleotide binding and hydrolysis cycle of Gα subunits: namely, the guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor (GDI) activity of the GoLoco motif-containing proteins and the 7TM receptor-independent guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) activity of Ric‑8/synembryn. Discovery of these novel GAP, GDI, and GEF activities have helped to illuminate a new role for Gα subunit GDP/GTP cycling required for microtubule force generation and mitotic spindle function in chromosomal segregation

Recent progress toward understanding the molecular biology of von Recklinghausen neurofibromatosis

The gene for von Recklinghausen neurofibromatosis (NF1) was recently identified by positional cloning and found to code for a large, ubiquitously expressed protein. This protein has both structural and functional similarity to a family of proteins with guanosine triphosphatase–activating properties, involved in the regulation of the protooncogene ras . One of the postulated functions of the NF1 gene product may relate to its ability to regulate ras -mediated cell proliferation. Selective pharmacotherapy directed at downregulating ras may be of benefit to patients with NF1.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/50350/1/410310515_ftp.pd

Using Dimmable Lighting for Regulation Capacity and Non-Spinning Reserves in the Ancillary Services Market. A Feasibility Study.

The objective of this Feasibility Study was to identify the potential of dimmable lighting for providing regulation capacity and contingency reserves if massively-deployed throughout the State. We found that one half of the total electric lighting load in the California commercial sector is bottled up in larger buildings that are greater an 50,000 square feet. Retrofitting large California buildings with dimmable lighting to enable fast DR lighting would require an investment of about $1.8 billion and a"fleet" of about 56 million dimming ballasts. By upgrading the existing installed base of lighting and controls (primarily in large commercial facilities) a substantial amount of ancillary services could be provided. Though not widely deployed, today's state-of-the art lighting systems, control systems and communication networks could be used for this application. The same lighting control equipment that is appropriate for fast DR is also appropriate for achieving energy efficiency with lighting on a daily basis. Thus fast DR can leverage the capabilities that are provided by a conventional dimming lighting control system. If dimmable lighting were massively deployed throughout large California buildings (because mandated by law, for example) dimmable lighting could realistically supply 380 MW of non-spinning reserve, 47percent of the total non-spinning reserves needed in 2007

Growth or decline in the Church of England during the decade of Evangelism: did the Churchmanship of the Bishop matter?

The Decade of Evangelism occupied the attention of the Church of England throughout the 1990s. The present study employs the statistics routinely published by the Church of England in order to assess two matters: the extent to which these statistics suggest that the 43 individual dioceses finished the decade in a stronger or weaker position than they had entered it and the extent to which, according to these statistics, the performance of dioceses led by bishops shaped in the Evangelical tradition differed from the performance of dioceses led by bishops shaped in the Catholic tradition. The data demonstrated that the majority of dioceses were performing less effectively at the end of the decade than at the beginning, in terms of a range of membership statistics, and that the rate of decline varied considerably from one diocese to another. The only exception to the trend was provided by the diocese of London, which experienced some growth. The data also demonstrated that little depended on the churchmanship of the diocesan bishop in shaping diocesan outcomes on the performance indicators employed in the study

A review of volatiles in the Martian interior

Multiple observations from missions to Mars have revealed compelling evidence for a volatile-rich Martian crust. A leading theory contends that eruption of basaltic magmas was the ultimate mechanism of transfer of volatiles from the mantle toward the surface after an initial outgassing related to the crystallization of a magma ocean. However, the concentrations of volatile species in ascending magmas and in their mantle source regions are highly uncertain. This work and this special issue of Meteoritics & Planetary Science summarize the key findings of the workshop on Volatiles in the Martian Interior (Nov. 3–4, 2014), the primary open questions related to volatiles in Martian magmas and their source regions, and the suggestions of the community at the workshop to address these open questions

Fish oil in aquaculture : in retrospect

The use of fish oils by aquaculture is the key impediment on the future growth and sustainability of the industry. Fish oil, the key provider of health-beneficial omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, fluctuates drastically in supply and cost, and is extracted unsustainably from world oceans. Resultantly, its persistent use has fueled a heated global debate and sparked a generation of research focus into possible means of reducing the aquaculture industry\u27s dependence on this resource. This chapter introduces the subject of fish oil usage in aquaculture on a global basis, and briefly traces the history of related issues. Accordingly, the major fish species utilized for fish meal and fish oil production are traced and the chemical and nutritional characteristics of fish oils of different origins are provided. The future expected availability of fish oil for aquaculture and the sustainability of the reduction industry are subsequently discussed.<br /

Circulatory Assist Devices 2000: An Update

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71424/1/j.1527-5299.2000.80165.x.pd

Detection of skewed X-chromosome inactivation in Fragile X syndrome and X chromosome aneuploidy using quantitative melt analysis.

Methylation of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) exon 1/intron 1 boundary positioned fragile X related epigenetic element 2 (FREE2), reveals skewed X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) in fragile X syndrome full mutation (FM: CGG &gt; 200) females. XCI skewing has been also linked to abnormal X-linked gene expression with the broader clinical impact for sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs). In this study, 10 FREE2 CpG sites were targeted using methylation specific quantitative melt analysis (MS-QMA), including 3 sites that could not be analysed with previously used EpiTYPER system. The method was applied for detection of skewed XCI in FM females and in different types of SCA. We tested venous blood and saliva DNA collected from 107 controls (CGG &lt; 40), and 148 FM and 90 SCA individuals. MS-QMA identified: (i) most SCAs if combined with a Y chromosome test; (ii) locus-specific XCI skewing towards the hypomethylated state in FM females; and (iii) skewed XCI towards the hypermethylated state in SCA with 3 or more X chromosomes, and in 5% of the 47,XXY individuals. MS-QMA output also showed significant correlation with the EpiTYPER reference method in FM males and females (P &lt; 0.0001) and SCAs (P &lt; 0.05). In conclusion, we demonstrate use of MS-QMA to quantify skewed XCI in two applications with diagnostic utility