EXOGENIZING AGRICULTURE IN AN INPUT-OUTPUT MODEL TO ESTIMATE RELATIVE IMPACTS OF DIFFERENT FARM TYPES

In this study, aggregate, provincial level impact for various farm types are estimated for Saskatchewan based on an input-output table constructed for the province. The input-output table is rectangular with the agriculture sector including 12 farm subsectors, treated exogenously. Results indicate that in 1978 agriculture contributed 13.8 percent of the provincial gross domestic product directly, and another 18.2 percent indirectly. Among the farm types, the grain farms generated the highest output multipliers while cow-calf, dairy and irrigation generated the lowest. The income and value added pseudo-multipliers were almost a complete reversal of the output multipliers. Although irrigation generated low pseudo-multipliers, the dairy and cow calf sectors generated higher pseudo-multipliers.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Benefits of federal community pastures on the prairies

Non-Peer ReviewedIn the wake of widespread soil erosion, during the 1930s, the federal governments passed the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) act, establishing the agency, and through it a system of community pastures in the three prairie provinces. At present, PFRA operates 87 such pastures. The major motivation for this program was to reduce soil erosion through some careful land management practices, thereby enabling them to be a source of summer pasture for cattle grazing. This was seen as fostering greater economic security, stability and diversification in the region. Over time, many other uses of community pastures have emerged. Although grazing and breeding function has remained prominent, many other uses have become important enough so as not be totally ignored. Some of the notable uses include: wildlife and waterfowl habitats, recreational activity, preservation of biodiversity, preservation of fragile ecosystems, conservation of heritage sites, research activity, among others. In order to determine these uses, a survey of PFRA community pastures was undertaken during the summer of 2000. The results of this survey indicate that although grazing and breeding activities are still the major economic activities on these community pastures, the Canadian and the Prairie society benefits from these pastures in a significant manner. This study suggests that the PFRA community pastures are more than a place for farmers to leave their cattle for the summer period; they provide several benefits to local communities, and other members of the society through ecosystem functions, and other use and non-use related activities

Essential role of MED1 in the transcriptional regulation of ER-dependent oncogenic miRNAs in breast cancer

Mediator complex has been extensively shown to regulate the levels of several protein-coding genes; however, its role in the regulation of miRNAs in humans remains unstudied so far. Here we show that MED1, a Mediator subunit in the Middle module of Mediator complex, is overexpressed in breast cancer and is a negative prognostic factor. The levels of several miRNAs (miR-100-5p, -191-5p, -193b-3p, -205-5p, -326, -422a and -425-5p) were found to be regulated by MED1. MED1 induces miR-191/425 cluster in an estrogen receptor-alpha (ER-\u3b1) dependent manner. Occupancy of MED1 on estrogen response elements (EREs) upstream of miR-191/425 cluster is estrogen and ER-\u3b1-dependent and ER-\u3b1-induced expression of these miRNAs is MED1-dependent. MED1 mediates induction of cell proliferation and migration and the genes associated with it (JUN, FOS, EGFR, VEGF, MMP1, and ERBB4) in breast cancer, which is abrogated when used together with miR-191-inhibition. Additionally, we show that MED1 also regulates the levels of direct miR-191 target genes such as SATB1, CDK6 and BDNF. Overall, the results show that MED1/ER-\u3b1/miR-191 axis promotes breast cancer cell proliferation and migration and may serve as a novel target for therapy

Magnetic Behavior of Manganese-Doped ZnSe Quantum Dots

Magnetic properties of manganese-doped ZnSe quantum dots with the size of approximately 3.6 nm are investigated. The amount of Mn in the ZnSe quantum dots has been varied from 0.10% to 1.33%. The doping level in the quantum dots is much less than that used in the precursor. The co-ordination of Mn in the ZnSe lattice has been determined by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Two different hyperfine couplings 67.3×10−4 and 60.9×10−4 cm−1 observed in the EPR spectrum imply that Mn atoms occupy two distinct sites; one uncoordinated (near the surface) and other having a cubic symmetric environment (nanocrystal core), respectively. Photoluminescence measurements also confirm the incorporation of Mn in ZnSe quantum dots. From the Curie-Weiss behavior of the susceptibility, the effective Mn-Mn antiferromagnetic exchange constant (J1) has been evaluated. The spin-glass behavior is observed in 1.33% Mn-doped ZnSe quantum dots, at low temperature. Magnetic behavior at a low temperature is discussed

Chiral bosons and improper constraints

We argue that a consistent quantization of the Floreanini-Jackiw model, as a constrained system, should start by recognizing the improper nature of the constraints. Then each boundary conditon defines a problem which must be treated sparately. The model is settled on a compact domain which allows for a discrete formulation of the dynamics; thus, avoiding the mixing of local with collective coordinates. For periodic boundary conditions the model turns out to be a gauge theory whose gauge invariant sector contains only chiral excitations. For antiperiodoc boundary conditions, the mode is a second-class theory where the excitations are also chiral. In both cases, the equal-time algebra of the quantum energy-momentum densities is a Virasoro algebra. The Poincar\'e symmetry holds for the finite as well as for the infinite domain.Comment: 13 pages, Revtex file, IF.UFRGS Preprin

Spin Ordering in LaOFeAs and Its Suppression in Superconductor LaO0.89F0.11FeAs Probed by M\"ossbauer Spectroscopy

The 57Fe M\"ossbauer spectroscopy was applied to an iron-based layered superconductor LaO0.89F0.11FeAs with a transition temperature of 26 K and its parent material LaOFeAs. Throughout the temperature range from 4.2 to 298 K, a singlet spectrum with no magnetic splitting was observed as a main component of each M\"ossbauer spectrum of the F-doped superconductor. No additional internal magnetic field was observed for the spectrum measured at 4.2 K under a magnetic field of 7 T. On the other hand, the parent LaOFeAs shows a magnetic transition at around 140 K, and this temperature is slightly lower than that of a structural phase transition from tetragonal to orthorhombic phase, which accompanies the resistivity anomaly at around 150 K. The magnetic moment is estimated to be ~0.35 $\mu$B/Fe at 4.2 K in the orthorhombic phase, and the spin disorder remains in the magnetic ordered state even at 4.2 K. The fact that no magnetic transition in LaO0.89F0.11FeAs was observed even at 4.2 K under 7 T implies a strong spin fluctuation above Tc or small magnetic moment in this system. Therefore, the present results show that the F-doping effectively suppresses the magnetic and structural transitions in the parent material and the suppression leads to emergence of superconductivity in this system.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

New remarks on the linear constraint self-dual boson and Wess-Zumino terms

In this work we prove in a precise way that the soldering formalism can be applied to the Srivastava chiral boson (SCB), in contradiction with some results appearing in the literature. We have promoted a canonical transformation that shows directly that the SCB is composed of two Floreanini-Jackiw's particles with the same chirality which spectrum is a vacuum-like one. As another conflictive result we have proved that a Wess-Zumino term used in the literature consists of the scalar field, once again denying the assertion that the WZ term adds a new degree of freedom to the SCB theory in order to modify the physics of the system.Comment: 6 pages, Revtex. Final version to appear in Physical Review

Deciphering Transcriptional Programming during Pod and Seed Development Using RNA-Seq in Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan)

Seed development is an important event in plant life cycle that has interested humankind since ages, especially in crops of economic importance. Pigeonpea is an important grain legume of the semi-arid tropics, used mainly for its protein rich seeds. In order to understand the transcriptional programming during the pod and seed development, RNA-seq data was generated from embryo sac from the day of anthesis (0 DAA), seed and pod wall (5, 10, 20 and 30 DAA) of pigeonpea variety “Asha” (ICPL 87119) using Illumina HiSeq 2500. About 684 million sequencing reads have been generated from nine samples, which resulted in the identification of 27,441 expressed genes after sequence analysis. These genes have been studied for their differentially expression, co-expression, temporal and spatial gene expression. We have also used the RNA-seq data to identify important seed-specific transcription factors, biological processes and associated pathways during seed development process in pigeonpea. The comprehensive gene expression study from flowering to mature pod development in pigeonpea would be crucial in identifying candidate genes involved in seed traits directly or indirectly related to yield and quality. The dataset will serve as an important resource for gene discovery and deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying various seed related traits

Features and frequency of use of electronic health records in primary care across 20 countries:a cross-sectional study

Objectives: Variation exists in the capabilities of electronic healthcare records (EHRs) systems and the frequency of their use by primary care physicians (PCPs) from different settings. We aimed to examine the factors associated with everyday EHRs use by PCPs, characterise the EHRs features available to PCPs, and to identify the impact of practice settings on feature availability. Study design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: PCPs from 20 countries completed cross-sectional online survey between June and September 2020. Responses which reported frequency of EHRs use were retained. Associations between everyday EHRs use and PCP and practice factors (country, urbanicity, and digital maturity) were explored using multivariable logistic regression analyses. The effect of practice factors on the variation in availability of ten EHRs features was estimated using Cramer's V. Results: Responses from 1520 out of 1605 PCPs surveyed (94·7%) were retained. Everyday EHRs use was reported by 91·2% of PCPs. Everyday EHRs use was associated with PCPs working &gt;28 h per week, having more years of experience using EHRs, country of employment, and higher digital maturity. EHRs features concerning entering, and retrieving data were available to most PCPs. Few PCPs reported having access to tools for ‘interactive patient education’ (37·3%) or ‘home monitoring and self-testing of chronic conditions’ (34·3%). Country of practice was associated with availability of all EHRs features (Cramer's V range: 0·2–0·6), particularly with availability of tools enabling patient EHRs access (Cramer's V: 0·6, P &lt; 0.0001). Greater feature availability of EHRs features was observed with greater digital maturity. Conclusions: EHRs features intended for patient use were uncommon across countries and levels of digital maturity. Systems-level research is necessary to identify the country-specific barriers impeding the implementation of EHRs features in primary care, particularly of EHRs features enabling patient interaction with EHRs, to develop strategies to improve systems-wide EHRs use.</p