ELITE GERMPLASM FOR GMO'S IN BRAZIL: MODELING GOVERNMENT-AGRIBUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS

Advances in agricultural biotechnology have led to interest by agribusiness to license elite germplasm from national programs in developing countries, now in need of funds. Uncertainties about the value of the material have delayed negotiations. This article proposes a method of setting upper (monopoly; no seed saving) and lower (competitive) negotiating bounds on values. The model accounts for (1) annual productivity enhancements, (2) effects on world prices, and (3) obsolescence effects of greater R&D. A demonstration application for soybeans in Brazil, which has completed the preconditions (IPR, biosafety, internal policy), suggests limited private value for public germplasm. The optimal solution is cooperation (licensing).Agribusiness, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Three Mathematical Lyrics

The author shares three mathematical lyrics, debuted at opening banquets of MathFest, the summer national meetings of the Mathematical Association of America

Inequality Proof

The format of two-column proof from high school geometry class is playfully used to present statements and reasons about wealth inequality

The Potential Impact of Ice-Minus Bacteria As A Frost Protectant in New York Tree Fruit Production

A.E. Res. 88-1

Report of the ultraviolet and visible sensors panel

In order to meet the science objectives of the Astrotech 21 mission set the Ultraviolet (UV) and Visible Sensors Panel made a number of recommendations. In the UV wavelength range of 0.01 to 0.3 micro-m the focus is on the need for large format high quantum efficiency, radiation hard 'solar-blind' detectors. Options recommended for support include Si and non-Si charge coupled devices (CCDs) as well as photocathodes with improved microchannel plate readouts. For the 0.3 to 0.9 micro-m range, it was felt that Si CCDs offer the best option for high quantum efficiencies at these wavelengths. In the 0.9 to 2.5 micro-m the panel recommended support for the investigation of monolithic arrays. Finally, the panel noted that the implementation of very large arrays will require new data transmission, data recording, and data handling technologies

Photoacclimatization by the coral Montastraea cavernosa in the mesophotic zone: light, food, and genetics

Most studies on coral reefs have focused on shallow reef (<30 m) systems due to the technical limitations of conducting scientific diving deeper than 30 m. Compared to their shallow-water counterparts, these mesophotic coral reefs (30–150 m) are understudied, which has slowed our broader understanding of the biodiversity, ecology, and connectivity of shallow and deep coral reef communities. We know that the light environment is an important component of the productivity, physiology, and ecology of corals, and it restricts the distribution of most species of coral to depths of 60 m or less. In the Bahamas, the coral Montastraea cavernosa has a wide depth distribution, and it is one of the most numerous corals at mesophotic depths. Using a range of optical, physiological, and biochemical approaches, the relative dependence on autotrophy vs. heterotrophy was assessed for this coral from 3 to 91 m. These measurements show that the quantum yield of PSII fluorescence increases significantly with depth for M. cavernosa while gross primary productivity decreases with depth. Both morphological and physiological photoacclimatization occurs to a depth of 91 m, and stable isotope data of the host tissues, symbionts, and skeleton reveal a marked decrease in productivity and a sharp transition to heterotrophy between 45 and 61 m. Below these depths, significant changes in the genetic composition of the zooxanthellae community, including genotypes not previously observed, occur and suggest that there is strong selection for zooxanthellae that are suited for survival in the light-limited environment where mesophotic M. cavernosa are occurring

Playing with numbers: Using Top Trumps as an ice-breaker and introduction to quantitative methods

Statistics anxiety has been widely documented among both postgraduate and undergraduate social science students and shown to be an obstacle in engaging students in quantitative methods. This article builds on previous studies that have highlighted the utility of fun and games in productive learning and overcoming anxiety. A personalised version of the game Top Trumps was developed for use with a class of postgraduate sociology students in the UK. This game provides an ideal way for students to inductively learn about basic statistical concepts, such as range and dispersion. The game also creates opportunities to engage students in critical discussion of measurement and social categorisation. The article suggests that the employment of such hands-on learning exercises, especially when used in the first week of a quantitative methods module, can stimulate student interest, ameliorate statistics anxiety and encourage critical discussion, thereby positively impacting learning goals in the rest of the module. The article ends by briefly outlining how to adapt the game for use within an undergraduate module

An extended view of the Pisces Overdensity from the SCUSS survey

SCUSS is a u-band photometric survey covering about 4000 square degree of the South Galactic Cap, reaching depths of up to 23 mag. By extending around 1.5 mag deeper than SDSS single-epoch u data, SCUSS is able to probe much a larger volume of the outer halo, i.e. with SCUSS data blue horizontal branch (BHB) stars can trace the outer halo of the Milky Way as far as 100-150 kpc. Utilizing this advantage we combine SCUSS u band with SDSS DR9 gri photometric bands to identify BHB stars and explore halo substructures. We confirm the existence of the Pisces overdensity, which is a structure in the outer halo (at around 80 kpc) that was discovered using RR Lyrae stars. For the first time we are able to determine its spatial extent, finding that it appears to be part of a stream with a clear distance gradient. The stream, which is ~5 degrees wide and stretches along ~25 degrees, consists of 20-30 BHBs with a total significance of around 6sigma over the background. Assuming we have detected the entire stream and that the progenitor has fully disrupted, then the number of BHBs suggests the original system was similar to smaller classical or a larger ultra-faint dwarf galaxy. On the other hand, if the progenitor still exists, it can be hunted for by reconstructing its orbit from the distance gradient of the stream. This new picture of the Pisces overdensity sheds new light on the origin of this intriguing system.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Ap

Applying Multiple Imputation with Geostatistical Models to Account for Item Nonresponse in Environmental Data

Methods proposed to solve the missing data problem in estimation procedures should consider the type of missing data, the missing data mechanism, the sampling design and the availability of auxiliary variables correlated with the process of interest. This article explores the use of geostatistical models with multiple imputation to deal with missing data in environmental surveys. The method is applied to the analysis of data generated from a probability survey to estimate Coho salmon abundance in streams located in western Oregon watersheds