Potential Adoption of Genetically Modified Rapeseed in France, Effects on Revenues of Farmers and Upstream Companies: an ex ante evaluation

In this paper, we conduct an empirical investigation of potential adoption of herbicide-tolerant (HT) genetically modified (GM) rapeseed in France. Our aim is to study ex ante the potential impact of their adoption in France, in terms of adoption level, economic gains, and distribution of these gains between farmers and input suppliers. We use French survey data about current plant protection practices, in order to compute pesticide costs with conventional (i.e., non GM) crops for individual farms. Then, based on results of technical studies about GM variety trials in France, we compute a predicted pesticide cost with the GM variety. Next, we study adoption rates and gains or losses of farmers (adopters and non adopters) and upstream companies (sellers of conventional herbicides, of the total herbicide to which GM rapeseed is tolerant, of GM seed), depending on the GM seed license price, the margin rate on herbicide sales and the price of conventional herbicides.genetically modified organisms, innovation, diffusion, rapeseed, Consumer/Household Economics,

The Tariff-only Import Regime for Bananas in the European Union: Setting the Tariff at Right Level is Impossible Mission

On 29 November 2005, the European Union (EU) unilaterally introduced a tariff of 176 per tonne to apply from 1 January 2006 to bananas imported from countries enjoying the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status. The new EU trade policy includes a duty-free annual import quota of 775,000 tonnes for bananas originating from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. This regime replaces the very complex and highly contested tariff-rate quota policy in place in the EU between 1993 and 2005. However, the banana international trade war very likely has not come to an end. Several Latin American countries have announced their intention to challenge the new EU trade policy by initiating a new WTO complaint. In this paper, we first propose an analysis of the two WTO arbitration awards that ruled against the initial EU tariff proposals. We show that the arbitrators' awards are incomplete notably because they do not explain why CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) import unit values in the EU-15 from MFN suppliers are much higher than FOB (Free on Board) export unit values in corresponding MFN countries adjusted by all relevant costs that should theoretically be added to transform FOB into CIF prices. One plausible explanation to this apparent paradox is that reported CIF prices include at least part of quota rents generated by the tariff-rate quota policy. On this basis, we analyse the impacts of different MFN tariff levels on EU banana imports under contrasting hypotheses regarding, first whether the price gap between CIF and FOB unit values does include at least part of quota rents, second whether banana exports to the EU from Western African ACP countries were constrained under the previous regime where a specific import quota were reserved to ACP countries. We also analyse the consequences of an "augmented" tariff-only import regime including a MFN tariff and a duty-free import quota for ACP bananas.Tariff-rate quota, tariff, bananas, European Union, World Trade Organisation, Most Favoured Nation, African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade,

The role of cysteine 230 and lysine 238 of biotin carboxylase in the deprotonation of biotin and synthesis of bisubstrate analogy inhibitor of carboxyltransferase

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase catalyzes the first step in the synthesis of fatty acids. The Escherichia coli form of the enzyme consists of a biotin carboxylase protein, a biotin carboxyl carrier protein, and a carboxyltransferase protein. This enzyme uses the cofactor biotin as a carboxyl carrier. In order for the carboxylation of biotin to occur, biotin must be deprotonated at its N-1 position. It has been proposed that the active site residues cysteine 230 and lysine 238 act as an acid-base pair to deprotonate biotin. To test this hypothesis, site-directed mutagenesis was used to mutate cysteine 230 to alanine (C230A) and lysine 238 to glutamine (K238Q). Mutations at either residue resulted in a 50-fold increase in the Km for ATP. The C230A mutation had no effect on the formation of carboxybiotin, indicating that cysteine 230 does not play a role in the deprotonation of biotin. However, the K238Q mutation resulted in no formation of carboxybiotin, which showed that lysine 238 has a role in the carboxylation reaction. However, the pK value for lysine 238 was 9.4 or higher, suggesting lysine 238 is not a catalytic base. Thus, the results suggest that cysteine 230 and lysine 238 do not act as an acid-base pair in the deprotonation of biotin. A bisubstrate analog inhibitor of carboxyltransferase was synthesized by covalently linking biotin to Coenzyme A via an acyl bridge between the sulfur of Coenzyme A and the N-1 of biotin. The inhibitor was found to have an inhibition constant of 23 ± 2 ìM, which means it binds the enzyme 350-times tighter than biotin. The bisubstrate analog demonstrated competitive inhibition versus malonyl-CoA and noncompetitive inhibition versus biocytin. This is consistent with an ordered kinetic mechanism with malonyl-CoA binding first. A precursor to the inhibitor, chloroacylated biotin, was capable of inhibiting the differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment with chloroacylated biotin resulted in a decrease in acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity and inhibited lipid accumulation. Our results support recent studies that indicate acetyl-CoA carboxylase may be a suitable target as an anti-obesity therapeutic

Attrition from School-Based Behavioral Parent Training Programs A Meta-Analytic Review

Currently, very little is understood regarding the effectiveness of school-based Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) programs or associated attrition rates. The goal of the current study is to examine the effectiveness of school-based BPT programs, associated attrition rates, and possible moderator variables related to attrition. Searches within the databases EBSCOhost were conducted to find BPT programs located at schools as well as the associated attrition rates for each individual study. Mean associated attrition rates were calculated using the software Comprehensive Meta-Analysis. The mean weighted attrition rate across all trials of school-based studies was 42.2%. Significant moderators were also found to increase the risk of attrition in this study. For instance, interventions that were preventative or delivered at a Tier I level, were individually delivered, involved participants from non-disadvantaged backgrounds and targeted behaviors classified as mixed/comorbid. Additionally, the number of sessions and the average age of child/parent moderated the weighted associated attrition rate. Insignificant results were found for program provider and caregiver attending. Comparisons between results from this study and the clinic-based literature are discussed as well as directions for future research

How the EU Single Farm Payment should be modelled: lump-sum transfers, area payments or… what else?

The 2003 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform radically changes the way the European Union (EU) supports its agricultural sector by decoupling direct payments. Production is no longer required to get the payment attached to Single Farm Payment (SFP) entitlements. However, the new scheme maintains a specific link between payments and hectares; in addition, SFP entitlements can be exchanged among farmers. These features question the way SFP entitlements should be regarded, hence modelled, i.e., as lump-sum transfers, area payments or… something else. We develop a microeconomic analytical framework which shows that the answer crucially depends on the total number of entitlements which are initially made available relative to the number of hectares, more specifically the number of cultivated hectares in a zero support regime, the number of cultivated hectares in a policy support regime trough per-hectare direct aids, and the number of cultivated or idled hectares in a policy regime where support is granted through direct aids per hectare and production is not required.European Union, Common Agricultural Policy, Single Farm Payment, modelling, area payments, lump-sum transfers

L’acting-in sexuel entre thérapeutes et clientes ou l’échappée de la parole : ce qu’il en est des mots perdus et des corps éperdus

La question des relations sexuelles entre thérapeutes et clientes est grandement frappée d'interdit au sein du milieu dans lequel elle se pose. Cet article aborde l'acting-in sexuel d'un point de vue psychanalytique, à partir d'hypothèses cliniques basées, à la fois sur des rencontres avec des femmes ayant vécu un tel acting et sur une réflexion théorique. Ce qui apparaît chez ces femmes derrière une parure oedipienne, c'est la question fondamentale du rapport au manque et par là, la difficulté à symboliser : le rapport au thérapeute en devient un de corps à corps sans que puisse s'ouvrir un espace de parole, objectif premier de la demande de thérapie. Bien que laissant ouvert le champ de la problématique du désir du thérapeute, cet article traite de l'évitement de l'élaboration du transfert de part et d'autre qui reste au centre de l'acting-in sexuel.The topic of sexual relationships between patients and therapists is taboo between the persons involved. This article deals with the sexual acting-in from a psycho-analytical point of view based on clinical hypotheses gathered from meetings with women involved in such acting in and from a theoretical reflexion. What seems evident for those women, is, behind an oedipal coloration, the basic question of the connexion with the need and therefore a difficulty with the symbolisation process: the relationship with the therapist becomes a hand to hand fighting without the possibility of an opening for the expression of the word which is one of the therapy's main objective. This article, while leaving open the question of the therapist's desire, deals with the avoidance, on both sides, of the transfer's elaboration which remains at the core of the sexual acting-in

Supporting people with traumatic brain injury in their use of public spaces: Identifying facilitating factors and obstacles

AbstractAimDuring the course of the Citizen Accompaniment for Community Integration (APIC) project, people with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) visited several different public places. This study aims to identify and record the facilitating factors and obstacles encountered when engaging in activities in public places.MethodologyThe research design is qualitative. The study is a retrospective analysis of part of the data from the original research, drawn from semi-structured interviews recorded and transcribed verbatim, and from weekly entries in journals kept by the citizen-accompaniers. The sample is made up of 13 individuals with mild, moderate or severe TBI, between the ages of 29 and 69, and nine accompaniers.ResultsParticipants’ comments regarding their use of public places, as well as the accompaniers’ thoughts on which factors promote or impede participation in activities in public places were collected according to the sequence of actions framework: the planning, the trip, and the use of the public place.Discussion and conclusionThe results show that the design of public spaces must take into account the needs for comfort and safety of people with a disability and promote their autonomy and efficiency within the space

Influence de la structure moléculaire sur les propriétés mésogèniques et les transitions de phases de mélanges de cristaux liquides smectogènes

Les travaux présentés dans ce mémoire sont motivés principalement par le désir de comprendre l'influence de différents paramètres de la structure moléculaire de mésogènes au niveau de la détermination du polymorphisme liquide cristallin, plus particulièrement ceux qui favorisent l'émergence de la phase SmC. La phase SmC est une phase liquide cristalline particulièrement intéressante. Les chercheurs s'y intéressent pour son possible potentiel à générer un matériau avec des propriétés en optique non-linéaire. Les mésogènes qui y sont étudiés comportent un sulfinate d'ester et un éther en périphérie d'un corps rigide possédant trois cycles aromatiques. Deux de ces cycles sont pontés d'un ester qui possèdera un carbonyle soit parallèle ou antiparallèle au sulfinyle du sulfinate d'ester. En 2006 au laboratoire, la stabilisation de la phase SmC a été observée pour une orientation antiparallèle de cet ester au sein de mésogènes comportant un ester en périphérie du corps rigide. La simulation atomistique a permis de comprendre cet effet en termes d'une étude des potentiels électrostatiques à longue portée. Dans cette étude, il a été démontré qu'un fort potentiel électrostatique obtenu par simulation était corrélé avec la présence expérimentale de la phase SmC au sein d'une série de diagrammes de phases. Au moment de confronter ce modèle de simulation atomistique au polymorphisme liquide cristallin d'une série de mésogènes comportant un sulfinate d'ester, les résultats ne se sont pas avérés concluant. La simulation prévoyait une phase SmC pour l'orientation de l'ester central antiparallèle au sulfinate d'ester tandis qu'expérimentalement le contraire était obtenu. Dans le cadre de ce mémoire, cette famille de mésogène a été étudiée par l'entremise de diagrammes de phases binaire et comparés systématiquement la simulation ainsi qu'aux résultats expérimentaux obtenus pour la série comportant un ester périphérique. À toute fin pratique, ces travaux ont permis de réaliser que l'influence de la variation des paramètres structuraux sur la stabilisation thermique de la phase SmC est indépendante de la nature du groupement terminal ester ou sulfinate d'ester à quelques différences près. La corrélation entre la simulation atomistique et l'effet de l'orientation de l'ester central sur l'émergence de la phase SmC a pu être faite levant ainsi l'ambiguïté qui perdurait depuis 2006