AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY: RECENT UNITED STATES AND AUSTRALIAN DEVELOPMENTS

Agricultural development in both the United States and Australia has led to suboptimal levels of environmental degradation. While both countries face similar forms of agricultural environmental degradation, the different resource endowment and population distributions have resulted in a different incidence of the costs of these problems. Increasing demand for environmental services and better information on off-site damages have led to increasing demand for reform of agricultural, rural development, and environmental programs to eliminate biases against practices viewed as more environmentally compatible.Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy,

DIFFERENTIATION AND IMPLICIT PRICES OF U.S. WHEAT EXPORTS

This investigation looks at whether the grade determining and official criteria factors identified by the Federal Grain Inspection Service influence the price of wheat for export and, in turn, the competitiveness of United States wheat in the world market. Using data on the transactions price for hard red winter wheat, hard red spring wheat, and soft white wheat and the associated quality characteristics covering the period January 1990 through December 1991 and exported to 63 countries, the results suggest that the test weight, the percentage of shrunken and broken kernels, the protein content, the presence of aflatoxin, the presence of insects, and the falling number are characteristics consistently valued by the market.Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade,

A Guide to Understanding the Fundamental Principles of Environmental Management

In this human-dominated “Anthropocene Epoch,” how does one protect and manage scarce environmental resources? This book uses plain language to introduce the non-expert to the fundamentals of environmental management, without requiring them to have a solid grounding in the basic sciences. The authors build upon the reader's natural understanding of scientific principles to learn how to follow the consequences of change through natural systems and to ask better questions about one's environment. Case studies are provided, drawn from temperate ecosystems and human-altered landscapes. Two sets of stories are crafted to explain scientific concepts and introduce analytical approaches, identifying where and how to obtain relevant information. The first covers water and where it goes and what factors affect its fate, and the second how key building blocks of life (carbon and the nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus) change chemical forms and cycles through the environment. The role of soils in the nexus of environmental media is explained. Finally, the authors describe, and also lead the reader to identify, how humans have altered core processes and to judge the significance of these changes. The reader will learn how to fix environmental dysfunction in both private and public lives

A VARIABLE PRICE SUPPORT FARM PROGRAM: A TRANSITION TOOL TO A FREE MARKET

This paper analyzes a variable price support program (VPS) as an alternative to the current farm income support program. The VPS program can control U.S. agricultural production while protecting income of small farmers. The VPS is designed to alter farm level production decisions by reducing commodity support prices for each additional unit of production produced. This will serve to discourage excess aggregate production. The VPS program can be a mechanism to stabilize income of efficient small farms during the transition from the current farm programs to a free market environment. An illustrative study is used to target government program benefits to various farm-size groups.Agricultural Finance,

Metals in medicine - a cure for malaria?

This bachelor project was about investigating new synthetic routes for metal complexes that are potential anti-malarial agents. The testing for anti malarial activity is to be carried out after the end of this project. The focus will thus be on presenting the laboratory work that was achieved; some synthetic strategies that can be used and further developed and some that should be avoided when synthesizing these kinds of metal complexes. It is believed that four different metal complexes with potential anti-malaria activity were successfully synthesized, of which two were pure and two needs further purification. This report describes the synthesis and structures of for the ligands L’ L1, HL2 and HL3 that were used in the attempted syntheses to form the different complexes. The routes for making the complexes (1) – (5) are thought to have been successful (complex (3) was an intermediate) and the desired complexes (6) – (10) could not be synthesized.Det här kandidatarbetet gick ut på att syntetisera ett antal olika ämnen som i efterhand ska testas för att se om de kan användas i en malariamedicin. Arbetet fokuserade således på att beskriva sjukdomen malaria, olika ämnen som skulle kunna fungera som medicin och slutligen hur dessa ämnen kan tillverkas. Det innehåller dessutom beskrivningar av några tillvägagångssätt som inte fungerar vid tillverkning av de här ämnena. Malaria är en sjukdom som orsakas av en parasit (en encelligt eukaryot) som via myggstick kommer in i människan. I kroppen bryter den ner röda blodkroppar, vilket leder till symptom såsom feber och smärta, och i värsta fall kan en malariainfektion leda till döden. När malariaparasiten bryter ner hemoglobin ifrån de röda blodkroparna frisätts haem, ett järninehållande ämne som är en del av hemoglobin och som är giftigt för parasiten. Detta sker i en så kallad födovakuol, en speciell blåsa i parasiten som fungerar som dess mage. I födovakuolen klumpas haemet ihop till en ogiftig, fast form. Klorokin är en gammal malariamedicin verkar genom att tränga in i födovakuolen och hindra att järnet klumpar ihop sig, vilket leder till att parasiten dör av haemförgiftning. Tyvärr har många parasiter på senare år utvecklat en födovakuol med en cellvägg som gör att klorokinet transporteras ut så fort det kommer in, vilket gör parasiterna klorokinresistenta. Det finns idag även en annan typ av medicin, artemesinin, men parasiterna börjar utveckla resistans mot den också. Enligt Världshälsoorganisationen är ett av de största problemen med malaria att parasiterna utvecklar resistens, och det är därför viktigt att utveckla nya mediciner. Ämnena som tillverkades under kandidatarbetet påminner om klorokin men innehöll också en metall, vilket förhoppningsvis ska göra att de fungerar på parasiter med en utvecklad födovakuol. Det finns idag ett nyutvecklat ämne som heter ferrokin, vilket påminner om en klorokinmolekyl som är kopplad till en järnatom. Ferrokin kan döda malariaparasiter även om de har en utvecklat klorokinresistans, men ämnet är så pass ny att det ännu inte används som medicin eftersom det fortfarande forskas på det. Detta visar dock att en gammal icke-fungerande medicin kan fungera igen om den görs om så att den innehåller en metall. Att en medicin innehåller metall är en ganska ny idé, det finns idag endast ett fåtal mediciner som gör det. Eftersom det förmodligen finns så mycket nytt att upptäcka är det därför ett spännande område att utforska inom kemin. Under arbetet testades att sammanfoga metallerna rutenium, rodium och renium men några organiska molekyler som påminner om klorokin. Resultatet blev att totalt fyra olika molekyler som inte tidigare har gjorts tillverkades: Två som innehöll rodium och två som innehöll renium. Dessa kommer förhoppningsvis att kunna testas för att se om de biter på malariaparasiter med klorokinresistans. Inga fungerande sätt att tillverka specifika molekyler som innehöll rutenium hittades. En anledning till detta är att rutenium kunde bilda många olika föreningar på en gång då det reagerades med en organisk molekyl. Dessutom katalyserade rutenium nedbrytandet av vissa molekyler som metallen var tänkt att bilda föreningar med

A Guide to Understanding the Fundamental Principles of Environmental Management

In this human-dominated “Anthropocene Epoch,” how does one protect and manage scarce environmental resources? This book uses plain language to introduce the non-expert to the fundamentals of environmental management, without requiring them to have a solid grounding in the basic sciences. The authors build upon the reader's natural understanding of scientific principles to learn how to follow the consequences of change through natural systems and to ask better questions about one's environment. Case studies are provided, drawn from temperate ecosystems and human-altered landscapes. Two sets of stories are crafted to explain scientific concepts and introduce analytical approaches, identifying where and how to obtain relevant information. The first covers water and where it goes and what factors affect its fate, and the second how key building blocks of life (carbon and the nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus) change chemical forms and cycles through the environment. The role of soils in the nexus of environmental media is explained. Finally, the authors describe, and also lead the reader to identify, how humans have altered core processes and to judge the significance of these changes. The reader will learn how to fix environmental dysfunction in both private and public lives

Ineffektiv humanitet eller inhuman effektivitet? En idéanalys av värden i debatten kring asylprocessen

Ineffektiv humanitet eller inhuman effektivitet? handlar om idéströmningarna i den offentliga diskussionen om organisering av asylprocessen. Som teoretisk utgångspunkt har använts vad författarna kallat ett asyletos. Detta har rekonstruerats utifrån lagtext och övrigt material som Migrationsverket och Utlänningsnämnden använder i sitt beslutsfattande. Med hjälp av en för uppgiften anpassad version av Göran Bergström och Kristina Boréus metod för idé- och diskursanalys utföres den empiriska analysen ? en kartläggning över vilken avvägning de respektive aktörerna på arenan gör mellan de tre dimensionerna rättssäkerhet, effektivitet och humanitet. Undersökningen visar att hjälporganisationens och journalistens perspektiv i hög grad är inriktat på humanitet, emedan forskarperspektivet och ett senare statligt utredningsperspektiv fokuserar mer på rättssäkerhet. Den statliga revisionens översyn av den politiska måluppfyllelsen hos Migrationsverket fokuserar helt på effektivitetsperspektivet, såsom även den tidiga statliga utredningen. Intressant att notera är framförallt den idéutveckling som skett över tid i de statliga utredningarna i riktning emot rättssäkerhet

L-Arginine promotes gut hormone release and reduces food intake in rodents

Aims: To investigate the anorectic effect of L‐arginine (L‐Arg) in rodents. Methods: We investigated the effects of L‐Arg on food intake, and the role of the anorectic gut hormones glucagon‐like peptide‐1 (GLP‐1) and peptide YY (PYY), the G‐protein‐coupled receptor family C group 6 member A (GPRC6A) and the vagus nerve in mediating these effects in rodents. Results: Oral gavage of L‐Arg reduced food intake in rodents, and chronically reduced cumulative food intake in diet‐induced obese mice. Lack of the GPRC6A in mice and subdiaphragmatic vagal deafferentation in rats did not influence these anorectic effects. L‐Arg stimulated GLP‐1 and PYY release in vitro and in vivo. Pharmacological blockade of GLP‐1 and PYY receptors did not influence the anorectic effect of L‐Arg. L‐Arg‐mediated PYY release modulated net ion transport across the gut mucosa. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) and intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of L‐Arg suppressed food intake in rats. Conclusions: L‐Arg reduced food intake and stimulated gut hormone release in rodents. The anorectic effect of L‐Arg is unlikely to be mediated by GLP‐1 and PYY, does not require GPRC6A signalling and is not mediated via the vagus. I.c.v. and i.p. administration of L‐Arg suppressed food intake in rats, suggesting that L‐Arg may act on the brain to influence food intake. Further work is required to determine the mechanisms by which L‐Arg suppresses food intake and its utility in the treatment of obesity

Past role and future outlook of the Conservation Reserve Program for supporting honey bees in the Great Plains

Human dependence on insect pollinators continues to grow even as pollinators face global declines. The Northern Great Plains (NGP), a region often referred to as America’s last honey bee (Apis mellifera) refuge, has undergone rapid land-cover change due to cropland expansion and weakened land conservation programs. We conducted a trend analysis and estimated conversion rates of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) enrollments around bee apiaries from 2006 to 2016 and developed models to identify areas of habitat loss. Our analysis revealed that NGP apiaries lost over 53% of lands enrolled in the CRP, and the rate of loss was highest in areas of high apiary density. We estimated over 163,000 ha of CRP lands in 2006 within 1.6 km of apiaries was converted to row crops by 2012. We also evaluated how alternative scenarios of future CRP acreage caps may affect habitat suitability for supporting honey bee colonies. Our scenario revealed that a further reduction in CRP lands to 7.7 million ha nationally would reduce the number of apiaries in the NGP that meet defined forage criteria by 28% on average. Alternatively, increasing the national cap to 15 million ha would increase the number of NGP apiaries that meet defined forage criteria by 155%. Our scenarios also show that strategic placement of CRP lands near existing apiaries increased the number of apiaries that meet forage criteria by 182%. Our research will be useful for informing the potential consequences of future US farm bill policy and land management in the epicenter of the US beekeeping industry

The effects of dual PPARα/γ agonism compared with ACE inhibition in the BTBRob/ob mouse model of diabetes and diabetic nephropathy

The leptin-deficient BTBRob/ob mouse develops progressive albuminuria and morphological lesions similar to human diabetic nephropathy (DN), although whether glomerular hyperfiltration, a recognized feature of early DN that may contribute to renal injury, also occurs in this model is not known. Leptin replacement has been shown to reverse the signs of renal injury in this model, but in contrast, the expected renoprotection by angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition in BTBRob/ob mice seems to be limited. Therefore, to investigate the potential renal benefits of improved metabolic control in this model, we studied the effect of treatment with the dual peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) α/γ agonist AZD6610 and compared it with the ACE inhibitor enalapril. AZD6610 lowered plasma glucose and triglyceride concentrations and increased liver size, but had no significant effect in reducing albuminuria, whereas enalapril did have an effect. Nephrin and WT1 mRNA expression decreased in the kidneys of BTBRob/ob mice, consistent with podocyte injury and loss, but was unaffected by either drug treatment: at the protein level, both nephrin and WT1-positive cells per glomerulus were decreased. Mesangial matrix expansion was reduced in AZD6610-treated mice. GFR, measured by creatinine clearance, was increased in BTBRob/ob mice, but unaffected by either treatment. Unexpectedly, enalapril-treated mice showed intrarenal arteriolar vascular remodeling with concentric thickening of vessel walls. In summary, we found that the BTBRob/ob mouse model shows some similarities to the early changes seen in human DN, but that ACE inhibition or PPARα/γ agonism afforded limited or no kidney protection