Information System Adoption and Use in Local Cooperatives

Advances in information technology can help local cooperatives remain competitive in a changing agricultural sector. This study examines the adoption and use of information systems by local farm supply and grain cooperatives and the relationships between information system characteristics and cooperative performance. Cooperative characteristics were found to have a significant effect on information selection, overall cost structure, and the allocation of information system expenses. Information system selection was also related to operating performance. In all size categories, farm supply cooperatives that owned computers had better operating performance than those that did not. In contrast, operating performance was not related to computer ownership in grain cooperatives.Agribusiness,

Kangaroo Island Propolis: Improved Characterisation and Assessment of Chemistry and Botanical Origins through Metabolomics

Introduction: Propolis, a sticky substance produced by bees from plant resins, has a long history of safe use medicinally. Kangaroo Island, SA (KI) lacks many introduced European plants bees preferentially collect resin from; consequentially, propolis from KI is produced from resinous native plants. Several identifiably reproducible pure-source KI propolis types exist. Research into medical use of compounds from KI native plants is limited. Metabolomics is a growing field of interest in natural products chemistry, including beehive products. Metabolomic and similarity-scoring assessment of KI propolis, through statistical evaluation of 1D 1H-NMR fingerprints, provides an entry point for research into medical use of KI native plant compounds. Many avenues to product discovery in pharmaceutical chemistry are suffering diminishing returns: metabolomics-guided natural products assessment has the potential for further identification of novel therapeutic compounds from resinous plants. Aim: To assess and identify, via metabolomic investigation of NMR fingerprints, major propolis types on KI, and to produce, from this, similarity-scoring tools for assessment of propolis samples. Method: KI propolis samples, identified as pure-source by TLC, and resinous KI plants were analysed by 1H-NMR and HPLC. Data points of interest were normalised and binned to form individual sample ‘fingerprints’. Data from these fingerprints were analysed by hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis (PCA) to confirm provisionally-identified pure-source propolis types and identify subtypes within propolis and resinous plant species. From this, calculator tools were created to score similarity (out of 1000) of 1H-NMR fingerprints to the average spectrum of pure-source propolis types, as well as to calculated mixtures of these average spectra. Assessment of the chemistry of two major KI propolis types identified (CP- and F-type) was made by fractionation and NMR, with one compound, 6,8-diprenyleriodictyol, isolated from CP-type propolis in quantity, submitted for epigenetic and other biological assays. Results: Source resinous plants were demonstrated, through hierarchical clustering and PCA, to cluster with propolis types arising from these sources, with closely related plants and sub-chemotypes clustering separately, confirming specificity. A number of previously-identified pure-source propolis types and known botanical sources were shown to have very high similarity (> 800/1000) to the expected propolis type. Calculator tools were observed to accurately predict the content of mixed propolis samples to within ± 10%. A number of methylflavanones, and two novel terminally-hydroxylated prenyldihydrochalcones were isolated from F-type propolis. 6,8-diprenyleriodictyol demonstrated a range of promising activity in biological assays. Conclusion: Metabolomic evaluation of 1H-NMR fingerprints can reliably identify and assess pure-source KI propolis and identify botanical origin of source resins. Similarity scoring calculators can accurately identify mixed-source propolis samples. KI propolis types are a rich source of pharmaceutically-interesting flavanones and related compounds, many of which are prenylated. 6,8-diprenyleriodictyol displays strong anti-inflammatory and anticancer activity, especially against Burkitt’s lymphoma. A number of possible epigenetic pathways for this activity were observed

Remote working: survey of attitudes to eHealth of doctors and nurses in rural general practices in the United Kingdom.

BACKGROUND: Health professionals in rural primary care could gain more from eHealth initiatives than their urban counterparts, yet little is known about eHealth in geographically isolated areas of the UK. OBJECTIVE: To elicit current use of, and attitudes towards eHealth of professionals in primary care in remote areas of Scotland. METHODS: In 2002, a questionnaire was sent to all general practitioners (n=154) in Scotland's 82 inducement practices, and to 67 nurses. Outcome measures included reported experience of computer use; access to, and experience of eHealth and quality of that experience; views of the potential usefulness of eHealth and perceived barriers to the uptake of eHealth. RESULTS: Response rate was 87%. Ninety-five percent of respondents had used either the Internet or email. The proportions of respondents who reported access to ISDN line, scanner, digital camera, and videoconferencing unit were 71%, 48%, 40% and 36%, respectively. Use of eHealth was lower among nurses than GPs. Aspects of experience that were rated positively were 'clinical usefulness', 'functioning of equipment' and 'ease of use of equipment' (76%, 74%, and 74%, respectively). The most important barriers were 'lack of suitable training' (55%), 'high cost of buying telemedicine equipment' (54%), and 'increase in GP/nurse workload' (43%). Professionals were concerned about the impact of tele-consulting on patient privacy and on the consultation itself. CONCLUSIONS: Although primary healthcare professionals recognize the general benefits of eHealth, uptake is low. By acknowledging barriers to the uptake of eHealth in geographically isolated settings, broader policies on its implementation in primary care may be informed

How to Choose? A Bioeconomic Model for Optimizing River Barrier Mitigation Actions

River infrastructure can cause adverse impacts on fish populations, which, in turn, compromises the ability of river ecosystems to provide a range of ecosystem services. In this paper, we present a methodological approach to assess the potential economics costs and benefits of river connectivity enhancement achieved through removal and mitigation of fish dispersal barriers. Our approach combines the results of a stated preference study for nonuse values of rivers and statistical models of fish population responses to barrier mitigation actions within an integrated bioeconomic optimization framework. We demonstrate the utility of our methodology using a case study of the River Wey catchment in southeast England, which contains over 650 artificial barriers. Our results reveal the presence of benefit-cost trade-offs which can form the basis for river barrier mitigation policy development. In particular, we find that benefits exceed costs in the River Wey for all levels of investment in barrier mitigation considered (£2.5 to 53.4M). Furthermore, from an economic efficiency standpoint, a total budget of approximately £22.5M allocated to barrier mitigation would maximize net societal benefits derived from anticipated increases fish species richness and abundance

Elevated ACKR2 expression is a common feature of inflammatory arthropathies

Objectives. Chemokines are essential contributors to leucocyte accumulation at sites of inflammatory pathology. Interfering with chemokine or chemokine receptor function therefore represents a plausible therapeutic option. However, our currently limited understanding of chemokine orchestration of inflammatory responses means that such therapies have not yet been fully developed. We have a particular interest in the family of atypical chemokine receptors that fine-tune, or resolve, chemokine-driven responses. In particular we are interested in atypical chemokine receptor 2 (ACKR2), which is a scavenging receptor for inflammatory CC-chemokines and that therefore helps to resolve in vivo inflammatory responses. The objective of the current study was to examine ACKR2 expression in common arthropathies. Methods. ACKR2 expression was measured by a combination of qPCR and immuno-histochemistry. In addition, circulating cytokine and chemokine levels in patient plasma were assessed using multiplexing approaches. Results. Expression of ACKR2 was elevated on peripheral blood cells as well as on leucocytes and stromal cells in synovial tissue. Expression on peripheral blood leucocytes correlated with, and could be regulated by, circulating cytokines with particularly strong associations being seen with IL-6 and hepatocyte growth factor. In addition, expression within the synovium was coincident with aggregates of lymphocytes, potentially atopic follicles and sites of high inflammatory chemokine expression. Similarly increased levels of ACKR2 have been reported in psoriasis and SSc. Conclusion. Our data clearly show increased ACKR2 in a variety of arthropathies and taking into account our, and others’, previous data we now propose that elevated ACKR2 expression is a common feature of inflammatory pathologies

Intercomparison of surface velocimetry techniques for drone-based marine current characterization

Mapping tidal currents is important for a variety of coastal and marine applications. Deriving current maps from in-situ measurements is difficult due to spatio-temporal separation of measurement points. Therefore, low-cost remote sensing tools such as drone-based surface velocimetry are attractive. Previous application of particle image velocimetry to tidal current measurements demonstrated that accuracy depends on site and environmental conditions. This study compares surface velocimetry techniques across a range of these conditions. Various open-source tools and image pre-processing methods were applied to six sets of videos and validation data that cover a variety of site and weather conditions. When wind-driven ripples are present in imagery, it was found a short-wave celerity inversion performed best, with mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 5–6% compared to surface drifters. During lower wind speeds, current-advected surface features are visible and techniques which track these work best, of which the most appropriate technique depends on specifics of the collected imagery; MAPEs of 9–21% were obtained. This work has quantified accuracy and demonstrated that surface current maps can be obtained from drones under both high and low wind speeds and at a variety of sites. By following these suggested approaches, practitioners can use drones as a current mapping tool at coastal and offshore sites with confidence in the outputs

Bee Threat Elicits Alarm Call in African Elephants

Unlike the smaller and more vulnerable mammals, African elephants have relatively few predators that threaten their survival. The sound of disturbed African honeybees Apis meliffera scutellata causes African elephants Loxodonta africana to retreat and produce warning vocalizations that lead other elephants to join the flight. In our first experiment, audio playbacks of bee sounds induced elephants to retreat and elicited more head-shaking and dusting, reactive behaviors that may prevent bee stings, compared to white noise control playbacks. Most importantly, elephants produced distinctive “rumble” vocalizations in response to bee sounds. These rumbles exhibited an upward shift in the second formant location, which implies active vocal tract modulation, compared to rumbles made in response to white noise playbacks. In a second experiment, audio playbacks of these rumbles produced in response to bees elicited increased headshaking, and further and faster retreat behavior in other elephants, compared to control rumble playbacks with lower second formant frequencies. These responses to the bee rumble stimuli occurred in the absence of any bees or bee sounds. This suggests that these elephant rumbles may function as referential signals, in which a formant frequency shift alerts nearby elephants about an external threat, in this case, the threat of bees

The evolution of Bordetella pertussis has selected for mutations of acr that lead to sensitivity to hydrophobic molecules and fatty acids

Whooping cough, or pertussis, is resurgent in numerous countries worldwide. This has renewed interest in Bordetella pertussis biology and vaccinology. The in vitro growth of B. pertussis has been a source of difficulty, both for the study of the organism and the production of pertussis vaccines. It is inhibited by fatty acids and other hydrophobic molecules. The AcrAB efflux system is present in many different bacteria and in combination with an outer membrane factor exports acriflavine and other small hydrophobic molecules from the cell. Here, we identify that the speciation of B. pertussis has selected for an Acr system that is naturally mutated and displays reduced activity compared to B. bronchiseptica, in which the system appears intact. Replacement of the B. pertussis locus with that of B. bronchiseptica conferred higher levels of resistance to growth inhibition by acriflavine and fatty acids. In addition, we identified that the transcription of the locus is repressed by a LysR-type transcriptional regulator. Palmitate de-represses the expression of the acr locus, dependent on the LysR regulator, strongly suggesting that it is a transcriptional repressor that is regulated by palmitate. It is intriguing that the speciation of B. pertussis has selected for a reduction in activity of the Acr efflux system that typically is regarded as protective to bacteria