The political economy of farmers’ suicides in India: indebted cash-crop farmers with marginal landholdings explain state-level variation in suicide rates

Background A recent Lancet article reported the first reliable estimates of suicide rates in India. National-level suicide rates are among the highest in the world, but suicide rates vary sharply between states and the causes of these differences are disputed. We test whether differences in the structure of agricultural production explain inter-state variation in suicides rates. This hypothesis is supported by a large number of qualitative studies, which argue that the liberalization of the agricultural sector in the early-1990s led to an agrarian crisis and that consequently farmers with certain socioeconomic characteristics–cash crops cultivators, with marginal landholdings, and debts–are at particular risk of committing suicide. The recent Lancet study, however, contends that there is no evidence to support this hypothesis. Methods We report scatter diagrams and linear regression models that combine the new state-level suicide rate estimates and the proportion of marginal farmers, cash crop cultivation, and indebted farmers. Results When we include all variables in the regression equation there is a significant positive relationship between the percentage of marginal farmers, cash crop production, and indebted farmers, and suicide rates. This model accounts for almost 75% of inter-state variation in suicide rates. If the proportion of marginal farmers, cash crops, or indebted farmers were reduced by 1%, the suicide rate–suicides per 100,000 per year–would fall by 0 · 437, 0 · 518 or 0 · 549 respectively, when all other variables are held constant. Conclusions Even if the Indian state is unable to enact land reforms due to the power of local elites, interventions to stabilize the price of cash crops and relieve indebted farmers may be effective at reducing suicide rates

Development of freeze-thaw processing technique for disaggregation of indurated mudrocks and enhanced recovery of calcareous microfossils

Microfossil extraction from indurated mudrocks is widely acknowledged as challenging, especially for foraminifera. Here we report development of the freeze–thaw extraction method through the addition of rapid heating, detergent and ultrasound stages. We use indurated mudrock samples from the Toarcian (Early Jurassic) of Yorkshire, UK to assess the effectiveness and develop the freeze–thaw method. We compare our results from freeze–thaw with those from standard foraminifera processing techniques, including the use of hydrogen peroxide. Processing by freeze–thaw increased the degree of mudrock disaggregation and resulted in no damage or dissolution of foraminifera. Following the freeze–thaw method with treatment in white spirit and sodium hexametaphosphate aided the separation of foraminifera from the disaggregated clays and was twice as efficient as pressure washing. Samples processed with hydrogen peroxide contained damaged microfossils and an under representation of delicate calcareous foraminifera. Many other studies of indurated mudrocks have used hydrogen peroxide to extract foraminifera, and this might have resulted in apparently barren intervals. The freeze–thaw method outlined here provides a low-cost, low-risk and successful method of disaggregating and extracting calcareous microfossils from indurated mudrocks. We anticipate our method may be relevant for other fossil groups and merits further development

Cohabitation and children's living arrangements

This paper uses the 1995 and 2002 waves of the National Survey of Family Growth to examine recent trends in cohabitation in the United States. We find increases in both the prevalence and duration of unmarried cohabitation. Cohabitation continues to transform children’s family lives, as children are increasingly likely to be born to a cohabiting mother (18% during 1997-2001) or to experience their mother’s entry into a cohabiting union. Consequently, we estimate that two-fifths of all children spend some time in a cohabiting family by age 12. Because of substantial missing data in the 2002 NSFG, we are unable to produce new estimates of divorce and children’s time in single-parent families. Nonetheless, our results point to the steady growth of cohabitation and to the evolving role of cohabitation in U.S. family life.children, cohabitation, family dynamics, family structure

Arkansas Cotton Variety Test 2013

The primary goal of the Arkansas Cotton Variety Test is to provide unbiased data regarding the agronomic performance of cotton varieties and advanced breeding lines in the major cotton-growing areas of Arkansas. This information helps seed companies establish marketing strategies and assists producers in choosing varieties to plant. These annual evaluations will then facilitate the inclusion of new, improved genetic material in Arkansas cotton production

Activation of type II calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase by Ca^(2+)/calmodulin is inhibited by autophosphorylation of threonine within the calmodulin-binding domain

It is now well established that autophosphorylation of a threonine residue located next to each calmodulin-binding domain in the subunits of type II Ca^(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase causes the kinase to remain active, although at a reduced rate, after Ca^(2+) is removed from the reaction. This autophosphorylated form of the kinase is still sensitive to Ca2+/calmodulin, which is required for a maximum catalytic rate. After removal of Ca^(2+), new sites are autophosphorylated by the partially active kinase. Autophosphorylation of these sites abolishes sensitivity of the kinase to Ca^(2+)/calmodulin (Hashimoto, Y., Schworer, C. M., Colbran, R. J., and Soderling, T. R. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 8051-8055). We have identified two pairs of homologous residues, Thr^(305) and Ser^(314) in the alpha subunit and Thr^(306) and Ser^(315) in the beta subunit, that are autophosphorylated only after removal of Ca^(2+) from an autophosphorylation reaction. The sites were identified by direct sequencing of labeled tryptic phosphopeptides isolated by reverse-phase high pressure liquid chromatography. Thr^(305-306) is rapidly dephosphorylated by purified protein phosphatases 1 and 2A, whereas Ser^(314-315) is resistant to dephosphorylation. We have shown by selective dephosphorylation that the presence of phosphate on Thr^(305-306) blocks sensitivity of the kinase to Ca^(2+)/calmodulin. In contrast, the presence of phosphate on Ser^(314-315) is associated with an increase in the Kact for Ca^(2+)/calmodulin of only about 2-fold, producing a relatively small decrease in sensitivity to Ca^(2+)/calmodulin

Development of the health and economic consequences of smoking interactive model

Objective-To describe the health and economic consequences of smoking model, a user friendly, web based tool, designed to estimate the health and economic outcomes associated with smoking and the benefits of smoking cessation. Results-An overview of the development of the model equations and user interface is given, and data from the UK are presented as an example of the model outputs. These results show that a typical smoking cessation strategy costs approximately pound 1200 per life year saved and pound 22 000 per death averted. Conclusions-The model successfully captures the complexity required to model smoking behaviour and associated mortality, morbidity, and health care costs. Furthermore, the interface provides the results in a simple and flexible way so as to be useful to a variety of audiences and to simulate a variety of smoking cessation methods