OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE KNOWLEDGE: IMPACTS ON CONSUMER DEMAND FOR GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

In the growing body of literature on consumer acceptance of genetically modified (GM) foods, there are significant differences on the impact of knowledge on acceptance of GM foods. One potential explanation is the manner in which knowledge is measured. The goal of this study is to differentiate and examine the impact of both subjective and objective knowledge related to acceptance of genetically modified foods. Data from surveys collected in the United States, England, and France is used.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Ambrosia Beetle (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) Species, Flight, and Attack on Living Eastern Cottonwood Trees.

ABSTRACT In spring 2002, ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) infested an intensively managed 22-ha tree plantation on the upper coastal plain of South Carolina. Nearly 3,500 scolytids representing 28 species were captured in ethanol-baited traps from 18 June 2002 to 18 April 2004. More than 88% of total captures were exotic species. Five species [Dryoxylon onoharaensum (Murayama), Euwallacea validus (Eichhoff), Pseudopityophthorus minutissimus (Zimmermann), Xyleborus atratus Eichhoff, and Xyleborus impressus Eichhoff]) were collected in South Carolina for the ÃÂÃÂrst time. Of four tree species in the plantation, eastern cottonwood, Populus deltoides Bartram, was the only one attacked, with nearly 40% of the trees sustaining ambrosia beetle damage. Clone ST66 sustained more damage than clone S7C15. ST66 trees receiving fertilization were attacked more frequently than trees receiving irrigation, irrigation_fertilization, or controls, although the number of S7C15 trees attacked did not differ among treatments. The study location is near major shipping ports; our results demonstrate the necessity for intensive monitoring programs to determine the arrival, spread, ecology, and impact of exotic scolytids

Preanalytical, Analytical, and Computational Factors Affect Homeostasis Model Assessment Estimates

OBJECTIVE—We investigated how β-cell function and insulin sensitivity or resistance are affected by the type of blood sample collected or choice of insulin assay and homeostatis model assessment (HOMA) calculator (http://www.dtu.ox.ac.uk)

An evolutionarily-unique heterodimeric voltage-gated cation channel found in aphids

We describe the identification in aphids of a unique heterodimeric voltage-gated sodium channel which has an atypical ion selectivity filter and, unusually for insect channels, is highly insensitive to tetrodotoxin. We demonstrate that this channel has most likely arisen by adaptation (gene fission or duplication) of an invertebrate ancestral mono(hetero)meric channel. This is the only identifiable voltage-gated sodium channel homologue in the aphid genome(s), and the channel’s novel selectivity filter motif (DENS instead of the usual DEKA found in other eukaryotes) may result in a loss of sodium selectivity, as indicated experimentally in mutagenised Drosophila channels

Exile Vol. XVI No. 1

DRAMA God\u27s Pocket by Robert R. Bowie, Jr. 5-12 FICTION The Wagon by John Anderson 18-19 An Infinity of Mirrors by Keith McWalter 23-25 Commitment by John Whitt 28-29 It began not long ago... by Linda Notzelman 32-33 Jaundiced Evening by John Benes 35-39 POETRY Paralysis Outline by Lauren Shakely 13 A Woman Reads Camus by Lauren Shakely 14 don\u27t sell my rings by Lauren Shakely 14 Drift by John Whitt 17 Haiku by M. S. Wallace 19 To Begin W. K. Mayo 19 Dark is Right by Louise Tate 20 I am waiting by Louise Tate 21 My mother died as I shall die by Tim Cope 20 I never blamed you by Tim Cope 26 For Miss Didawick by Tim Cope 34 Separidian by Bill Whitmore 27 He walks on into by Whitney Carman 31 As Drowned Men Rise by Paul Bennett 34 The Tolling of the Bell by Keith McWalter 39 ARTWORK by Wandi Solez 4, 13, 16, 22, 36 by W. A. Hoffman 21, 30 by Stephen Sneeringer 27 by Christine Michael 19 Cover & Title Page Design: Keith McWalter Layouts: Keith McWalter Publicity- Special thanks to Gail Moore and Karen Baker Photographs courtesy the Sierra Club- From NOT MAN APART, Copyright 196

Towards a population of HMXB/NS microquasars as counterparts of low-latitude unidentified EGRET sources

The discovery of the microquasar LS 5039 well within the 95% conficence contour of the Unidentified EGRET Source (UES) 3EG J1824-1514 was a major step towards the possible association between microquasars (MQs) and UESs. The recent discovery of precessing relativistic radio jets in LS I +61 303, a source associated for long time with 2CG 135+01 and with the UES 3EG J0241+6103, has given further support to this idea. Finally, the very recently proposed association between the microquasar candidate AX J1639.0-4642 and the UES 3EG J1639-4702 points towards a population of High Mass X-ray Binary (HMXB)/Neutron Star (NS) microquasars as counterparts of low-latitude unidentified EGRET sources.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. Proceedings of the Conference "The Multiwavelength Approach to Unidentified Gamma-ray Sources", to appear in the journal Astrophysics and Space Scienc

COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa: impacts on vulnerable populations and sustaining home-grown solutions

© 2020, The Canadian Public Health Association. This commentary draws on sub-Saharan African health researchers’ accounts of their countries’ responses to control the spread of COVID-19, including social and health impacts, home-grown solutions, and gaps in knowledge. Limited human and material resources for infection control and lack of understanding or appreciation by the government of the realities of vulnerable populations have contributed to failed interventions to curb transmission, and further deepened inequalities. Some governments have adapted or limited lockdowns due to the negative impacts on livelihoods and taken specific measures to minimize the impact on the most vulnerable citizens. However, these measures may not reach the majority of the poor. Yet, African countries’ responses to COVID-19 have also included a range of innovations, including diversification of local businesses to produce personal protective equipment, disinfectants, test kits, etc., which may expand domestic manufacturing capabilities and deepen self-reliance. African and high-income governments, donors, non-governmental organizations, and businesses should work to strengthen existing health system capacity and back African-led business. Social scientific understandings of public perceptions, their interactions with COVID-19 control measures, and studies on promising clinical interventions are needed. However, a decolonizing response to COVID-19 must include explicit and meaningful commitments to sharing the power—the authority and resources—to study and endorse solutions

Improvements in the determination of ISS Ca II K parameters

Measurements of the ionized Ca II K line are one of the major resources for long-term studies of solar and stellar activity. They also play a critical role in many studies related to solar irradiance variability, particularly as a ground-based proxy to model the solar ultraviolet flux variation that may influence the Earth's climate. Full disk images of the Sun in Ca II K have been available from various observatories for more than 100 years and latter synoptic Sun-as-a-star observations in Ca II K began in the early 1970s. One of these instruments, the Integrated Sunlight Spectrometer (ISS) has been in operation at Kitt Peak (Arizona) since late 2006. The ISS takes daily observations of solar spectra in nine spectra bands, including the Ca II K and H line s. We describe recent improvements in data reduction of Ca II K observations, and present time variations of nine parameters derived from the profile of this spectral line