WESTERNIZATION IN CHINA: A CASE STUDY IN PROCESSED POTATOES

Keywords: China, potatoes, westernization, food demand, convenience foods Abstract: The demand for convenience foods is growing around the world, especially in China. However, the contributing factors of this change in food preferences are still largely unknown. To measure this westernization trend, data from a survey of Chinese consumers in Beijing is evaluated using a multinomial ordered logit model to determine which consumer attributes influence the probability of consuming western foods such as French fries, mashed potatoes, and potato chips. Results show that higher income levels and positive opinions concerning western food taste have a significant influence on increased consumption of all three processed potato products. Additionally, younger ages and female gender were highly significant indicators of increased French fry and potato chip consumption.Crop Production/Industries,

Sensitization of renal carcinoma cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis by rocaglamide and analogs

Rocaglamide has been reported to sensitize several cell types to TRAIL-induced apoptosis. In recent years, advances in synthetic techniques have led to generation of novel rocaglamide analogs. However, these have not been extensively analyzed as TRAIL sensitizers, particularly in TRAIL-resistant renal cell carcinoma cells. Evaluation of rocaglamide and analogs identified 29 compounds that are able to sensitize TRAIL-resistant ACHN cells to TRAIL-induced, caspase-dependent apoptosis with sub-µM potency which correlated with their potency as protein synthesis inhibitors and with loss of cFLIP protein in the same cells. Rocaglamide alone induced cell cycle arrest, but not apoptosis. Rocaglates averaged 4–5-fold higher potency as TRAIL sensitizers than as protein synthesis inhibitors suggesting a potential window for maximizing TRAIL sensitization while minimizing effects of general protein synthesis inhibition. A wide range of other rocaglate effects (e.g. on JNK or RAF-MEK-ERK signaling, death receptor levels, ROS, ER stress, eIF4E phosphorylation) were assessed, but did not contribute to TRAIL sensitization. Other than a rapid loss of MCL-1, rocaglates had minimal effects on mitochondrial apoptotic pathway proteins. The identification of structurally diverse/mechanistically similar TRAIL sensitizing rocaglates provides insights into both rocaglate structure and function and potential further development for use in RCC-directed combination therapy.This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, under Contract No. HHSN261200800001E. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. This research was supported [in part] by the Intramural Research Program of NIH, Frederick. National Lab, Center for Cancer Research. Research performed at Boston University was supported in part by NIH R35 GM118173. Work at the BU-CMD is supported by R24 GM111625. (HHSN261200800001E - National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health; Intramural Research Program of NIH, Frederick. National Lab, Center for Cancer Research; R35 GM118173 - NIH; R24 GM111625)Published versio

Effectiveness of anonymised information sharing and use in health service, police, and local government partnership for preventing violence related injury: experimental study and time series analysis

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of anonymised information sharing to prevent injury related to violence. Design: Experimental study and time series analysis of a prototype community partnership between the health service, police, and local government partners designed to prevent violence. Setting: Cardiff, Wales, and 14 comparison cities designated "most similar" by the Home Office in England and Wales. Intervention After a 33 month development period, anonymised data relevant to violence prevention (precise violence location, time, days, and weapons) from patients attending emergency departments in Cardiff and reporting injury from violence were shared over 51 months with police and local authority partners and used to target resources for violence prevention. Main outcome measures: Health service records of hospital admissions related to violence and police records of woundings and less serious assaults in Cardiff and other cities after adjustment for potential confounders. Results: Information sharing and use were associated with a substantial and significant reduction in hospital admissions related to violence. In the intervention city (Cardiff) rates fell from seven to five a month per 100 000 population compared with an increase from five to eight in comparison cities (adjusted incidence rate ratio 0.58, 95% confidence interval 0.49 to 0.69). Average rate of woundings recorded by the police changed from 54 to 82 a month per 100 000 population in Cardiff compared with an increase from 54 to 114 in comparison cities (adjusted incidence rate ratio 0.68, 0.61 to 0.75). There was a significant increase in less serious assaults recorded by the police, from 15 to 20 a month per 100 000 population in Cardiff compared with a decrease from 42 to 33 in comparison cities (adjusted incidence rate ratio 1.38, 1.13 to 1.70). Conclusion: An information sharing partnership between health services, police, and local government in Cardiff, Wales, altered policing and other strategies to prevent violence based on information collected from patients treated in emergency departments after injury sustained in violence. This intervention led to a significant reduction in violent injury and was associated with an increase in police recording of minor assaults in Cardiff compared with similar cities in England and Wales where this intervention was not implemented

Economies of Size for Conventional Tillage and No-till Wheat Production

Production costs and economies of size for both conventional tillage and no-till wheat production were determined. The reduction in the price of glyphosate after the patent expired improved the relative economics of no-till for continuous monoculture winter wheat. Production costs differ across farm size and by production system.Crop Production/Industries,

Observed and calculated properties of mid-level, mixed-phase clouds

Includes bibliographical references.The University of Wyoming King Air research aircraft was flown into five mid-level clouds that formed over the western Great Plains during the Ninth Complex Layered Cloud Experiment (CLEX-9). Four of the clouds were mixed-phase. This study presents the direct observations made of these clouds as well as the cloud properties that were derived from these observations. In particular, profiles of temperature, water vapor mixing ratio, liquid water content (LWC) and ice water content (IWC) are shown. These profiles were used to calculate profiles of latent heating rate, and long- and shortwave radiative heating rate. In-cloud temperatures were observed between +2 °C and -25 °C. Maximum horizontally averaged LWC and IWC values were between 0.04 - 0.28 g m-3 and 0 - 0.16 g m-3 respectively. Cloud depths ranged from 248 m to 3106 m, with cloud bases between 2.9 and 5.6 km above mean sea level. Direct observations of ice particles made through the use of 2D-C and 2D-P optical imaging probes were analyzed using the methods of Heymsfield et al. (2002) to account for departures from sphericity, which reduces the observed ice water content by as much as 95%. These methods were also used to fit the observed ice particle size distribution into a modified gamma distribution equation, from which the ice particle effective radii were determined. Knowledge of the ice particle effective radii, plus observations of the liquid droplet effective radii made by a Forward Scattering Spectrometer Probe, were used with the profiles of LWC and IWC to calculate liquid and ice water paths and optical depths of these clouds. Ice particle size distributions and profiles of IWC show evidence of growth by the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen mechanism and aggregation. This data was input into a simple model to calculate the relative importance of subsidence, radiation, entrainment and precipitation in affecting cloud lifetimes. Results of this model show that subsidence and precipitation are the most important processes. It is also shown that the passage of potential vorticity anomalies may be intricately linked to the lifetimes of isolated, non-frontal and non-orographic mid-level clouds. A selection of previous studies was examined in light of these results to develop a consistent picture of the lives of midlevel clouds. The results of this study are shown to be similar to the results of previous studies of mid-level clouds, particularly those that took place over the continental United States.This work was supported by the NASA CloudSat Data Processing Center grant number NAS5-99237. Partial support was also provided by the DoD Center for Geosciences/Atmospheric Research under Cooperative Agreement from the Army Research Laboratory (DAAD01-98-2-0078, DAAD19-01-2-0018 and DAAD19-02-2-0005)

Low Earth orbital atomic oxygen environmental simulation facility for space materials evaluation

Simulation of low Earth orbit atomic oxygen for accelerated exposure in ground-based facilities is necessary for the durability evaluation of space power system component materials for Space Station Freedom (SSF) and future missions. A facility developed at the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations's (NASA) Lewis Research Center provides accelerated rates of exposure to a directed or scattered oxygen beam, vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation, and offers in-situ optical characterization. The facility utilizes an electron-cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma source to generate a low energy oxygen beam. Total hemispherical spectral reflectance of samples can be measured in situ over the wavelength range of 250 to 2500 nm. Deuterium lamps provide VUV radiation intensity levels in the 115 to 200 nm range of three to five equivalent suns. Retarding potential analyses show distributed ion energies below 30 electron volts (eV) for the operating conditions most suited for high flux, low energy testing. Peak ion energies are below the sputter threshold energy (approximately 30 eV) of the protective coatings on polymers that are evaluated in the facility, thus allowing long duration exposure without sputter erosion. Neutral species are expected to be at thermal energies of approximately .04 eV to .1 eV. The maximum effective flux level based on polyimide Kapton mass loss is 4.4 x 10 exp 6 atoms/((sq. cm)*s), thus providing a highly accelerated testing capability