Towards Sustainable Food Security

Text of the Sir John Crawford Memorial Lecture delivered during CGIAR International Centers Week, October 1993 by James Gustave Speth, UN Development Program Administrator. Speth emphasized the importance of involving the rural poor directly in poverty reduction and agricultural development programs, and the centrality of sustainability and food security to these issues. He identified a central role in these problems for the CGIAR

Relationship Between Intraseasonal Oscillation and Subtropical Wind Maxima Over the South Pacific Ocean

The significance of tropical heat sources on higher latitude jet streams has been examined by numerous investigators. Hurrell and Vincent (1990) provide a summary of many of these investigations in their observational case study of the relationship between tropical heating and subtropical wind maxima in the Southern Hemisphere during SOP-1, FGGE. They showed that the divergent outflow from tropical heating associated with the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ), acted on by the coriolis force, was an important factor in maintaining the subtropical jet on the poleward side of the SPCZ during the period, 6-20 January 1979. They found a similar, but weaker relationship, over the southern Indian Ocean from 3-17 February 1979, a period when the SPCZ heating was greatly reduced and the jet was essentially non-existent. Since their findings were based on a case study and involved the use of the highly-specialized FGGE data set, the natural questions which arose were: (1) Is this relationship a regular feature of the circulation over the South Pacific? and, (2) If so, can it be detected with a routine data set? Another question posed by Hurrell and Vincent in their papers was:(3) How important was the intraseasonal oscillation in causing the enhanced heating and divergent outflow in the Pacific Ocean in January and southern Indian Ocean in February? The purpose of the present paper is to address the answer to these three questions. To accomplish this, some circulation features for an entire warm season in the Southern Hemisphere were examined. The year selected was 1984-85, and the warm season consisted of the 6-month period, 1 November 1984 - 30 April 1985. This period was chosen because there were numerous cases of the westerly wind maxima over the South Pacific and the intraseasonal oscillation was well documented

Correction: Identification of specific calcitonin-like receptor residues important for calcitonin gene-related peptide high affinity binding

This is a correction article. After publication of this work [1], we became aware of the fact that Robert C. Speth was not included as an author. Dr. Speth put a considerable amount of time and effort into developing and preparing the radiopeptide used to carry out the radioligand binding studies reported in this manuscript and therefore should have originally been included as an author. We apologize to Dr. Speth for any inconvenience that this oversight might have caused and thank him for his invaluable contribution to this project

The natural resources of Morro Bay

The primary purpose of this report, then, is to document the natural resources of Morro Bay and their values; point out significant problems regarding their use and to make recommendations for preservation of these resources to planners, administrators and interested citizens. A secondary purpose of this report is to pull together into one source, all data and references on the biological resources of Morro Bay. Up to now these data have been widely distributed amongst letters, reports, papers, etc., to which few have access. At the request of Senate Resolution No. 176, 1966 First Extraordinary Session, the Department completed in December, 1966 a report entitled, "Report of the Natural Resources of Morro Bay and Proposal for Comprehensive Area Plan." Based largely upon the recommendations of that report, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors appointed a task force to prepare a comprehensive area plan for the Morro Bay area and its watershed. Hence, the information herein is presented in order that the natural resources of Morro Bay will be given adequate consideration, based on the best data available, in the proposed comprehensive area plan and in other plans such as one being prepared by the Coastal Zone Conservation Commission. (148ppp.

Activities and Achievements: Progress Report 2011-2013

We joined the University of Massachusetts Boston in the fall of 2010 to develop a new doctoral program in global governance and human security, the first of its kind in the United States. In the spring of 2011, we launched the Center for Governance and Sustainability in an effort to bring academic rigor to real-world policy challenges in environment, development, and sustainability governance. The Center is housed at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, which takes pride in offering a world-class interdisciplinary education and engaging in values-driven research, demonstrating a deep commitment to making a difference in our local and global communities. Over the past two years, we have engaged in analytical and political debates ranging from the future of the architecture for global environmental governance and the development agenda beyond 2015 to the role of private actors and emerging powers in global governance writ large. Our work spans three dimensions: (1) global governance for the environment and development, (2) assessment of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) implementation, and (3) innovative governance instruments. Three think-pieces frame this report. Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the climate change convention; Gus Speth, former UNDP Administrator and Dean of Yale’s Environment School; and Alice Odingo, professor at the University of Nairobi, offer perspectives on core aspects of the Center’s mission. At the end, an at-a-glance map of people, places, and projects illustrates that within two short years, we find ourselves represented across the globe through the people we work with and the projects we advance. We look forward to engaging with you in an effort to bring about more-informed decision making and inspired scholarship across scales and geographies

Four problems with global carbon markets: a critical review

This article offers a critique of global carbon markets and trading, with a special focus on the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. It explores problems with the use of tradable permits to address climate change revolving around four areas: homogeneity, justice, gaming, and information. Homogeneity problems arise from the non-linear nature of climate change and sensitivity of emissions, which complicate attempts to calculate carbon offsets. Justice problems involve issues of dependency and the concentration of wealth among the rich, meaning carbon trading often counteracts attempts to reduce poverty. Gaming problems include pressures to promote high-volume, least-cost projects and the consequences of emissions leakage. Information problems encompass transaction costs related to carbon trading and market participation and the comparatively weak institutional capacity of project evaluators

Resident alveolar macrophageâ derived vesicular SOCS3 dampens allergic airway inflammation

Resident alveolar macrophages (AMs) suppress allergic inflammation in murine asthma models. Previously we reported that resident AMs can blunt inflammatory signaling in alveolar epithelial cells (ECs) by transcellular delivery of suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) within extracellular vesicles (EVs). Here we examined the role of vesicular SOCS3 secretion as a mechanism by which AMs restrain allergic inflammatory responses in airway ECs. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) levels of SOCS3 were reduced in asthmatics and in allergenâ challenged mice. Ex vivo SOCS3 secretion was reduced in AMs from challenged mice and this defect was mimicked by exposing normal AMs to cytokines associated with allergic inflammation. Both AMâ derived EVs and synthetic SOCS3 liposomes inhibited the activation of STAT3 and STAT6 as well as cytokine gene expression in ECs challenged with ILâ 4/ILâ 13 and house dust mite (HDM) extract. This suppressive effect of EVs was lost when they were obtained from AMs exposed to allergic inflammationâ associated cytokines. Finally, inflammatory cell recruitment and cytokine generation in the lungs of OVAâ challenged mice were attenuated by intrapulmonary pretreatment with SOCS3 liposomes. Overall, AM secretion of SOCS3 within EVs serves as a brake on airway EC responses during allergic inflammation, but is impaired in asthma. Synthetic liposomes encapsulating SOCS3 can rescue this defect and may serve as a framework for novel therapeutic approaches targeting airway inflammation.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154378/1/fsb220322-sup-0001-FigS1.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154378/2/fsb220322.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154378/3/fsb220322_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154378/4/fsb220322-sup-0005-TableS1.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154378/5/fsb220322-sup-0003-FigS3.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154378/6/fsb220322-sup-0004-FigS4.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154378/7/fsb220322-sup-0002-FigS2.pd

Decreased mental time travel to the past correlates with default-mode network disintegration under lysergic acid diethylamide

This paper reports on the effects of LSD on mental time travel during spontaneous mentation. Twenty healthy volunteers participated in a placebo-controlled crossover study, incorporating intravenous administration of LSD (75 μg) and placebo (saline) prior to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Six independent, blind judges analysed mentation reports acquired during structured interviews performed shortly after the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans (approximately 2.5 h post-administration). Within each report, specific linguistic references to mental spaces for the past, present and future were identified. Results revealed significantly fewer mental spaces for the past under LSD and this effect correlated with the general intensity of the drug’s subjective effects. No differences in the number of mental spaces for the present or future were observed. Consistent with the previously proposed role of the default-mode network (DMN) in autobiographical memory recollection and ruminative thought, decreased resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) within the DMN correlated with decreased mental time travel to the past. These results are discussed in relation to potential therapeutic applications of LSD and related psychedelics, e.g. in the treatment of depression, for which excessive reflection on one’s past, likely mediated by DMN functioning, is symptomatic