Current Challenges in Financing Agricultural Cooperatives

Agricultural, Cooperatives, Finance, Agribusiness, L10, L23, L16, Q13,

Children's biobehavioral reactivity to challenge predicts DNA methylation in adolescence and emerging adulthood.

A growing body of research has documented associations between adverse childhood environments and DNA methylation, highlighting epigenetic processes as potential mechanisms through which early external contexts influence health across the life course. The present study tested a complementary hypothesis: indicators of children's early internal, biological, and behavioral responses to stressful challenges may also be linked to stable patterns of DNA methylation later in life. Children's autonomic nervous system reactivity, temperament, and mental health symptoms were prospectively assessed from infancy through early childhood, and principal components analysis (PCA) was applied to derive composites of biological and behavioral reactivity. Buccal epithelial cells were collected from participants at 15 and 18 years of age. Findings revealed an association between early life biobehavioral inhibition/disinhibition and DNA methylation across many genes. Notably, reactive, inhibited children were found to have decreased DNA methylation of the DLX5 and IGF2 genes at both time points, as compared to non-reactive, disinhibited children. Results of the present study are provisional but suggest that the gene's profile of DNA methylation may constitute a biomarker of normative or potentially pathological differences in reactivity. Overall, findings provide a foundation for future research to explore relations among epigenetic processes and differences in both individual-level biobehavioral risk and qualities of the early, external childhood environment

The association between celiac disease and eosinophilic esophagitis in children and adults

BACKGROUND: An association between eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and celiac disease (CD) has been suggested in the literature. Our aim was to confirm and quantify the association between these two diseases. METHODS: All patients in a large Canadian city diagnosed with EoE or CD over a five-year period were identified. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. RESULTS: Over the five-year study EoE was diagnosed in 421 patients and CD was diagnosed in 763 patients. The incidence of EoE ranged from 2.1 to 10.7 cases per 100,000 population. The incidence of CD ranged from 10.4 to 15.7 cases per 100,000 population. Among the EoE cohort, 83 (20%) cases of EoE and 245 (32%) cases of CD were diagnosed in pediatric patients. The incidence of EoE in the pediatric subpopulation ranged from 3.7 to 6.9 cases per 100,000 population. The incidence of CD in the pediatric subpopulation ranged from 9.5 to 22.7 cases per 100,000 population. The concomitant diagnosis of both EoE and CD was made in three patients, all of whom were pediatric males. The SIR for EoE in the CD cohort was 48.4 (95% CI = 9.73, 141.41) with a SIR for CD within the paediatric EoE cohort of 75.05 (95% CI = 15.08, 219.28). CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the association between EoE and CD. However, this association may be limited to pediatrics where the risk of each condition is increased 50 to 75-fold in patients diagnosed with the alternative condition. The concomitant diagnosis of these conditions should be considered in pediatric patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms

Teori Akunting Buku 1 -5/E.

Teori Akunting Buku 1 -5/E. Edisi kelima ini, seperti edisi edisi sebelumnya , dirancang untuk memberikan suatu kerangka acuan untuk mata kuliah akuntansi keuangan dan teori akuntansi keuangan; seminar seminar mengenai standar dan masalah akuntansi keuangan; serta seminar seminar tentang teori penghasilan dan penilaian aktiva. Mereka yang ingin memahami denga baik standart standart akuntansi keuangan atau ingin mengetahui secara umum teori akuntansi keuangan serta mereka yang ingin belajar untuk menguasai bagian teori dalam UNIFORM CPA Examination juga akan mendapat manfaat dari buku ini. Kami anggap bahwa pembaca buku ini memiliki pengetahuan mengenai struktur dasar akuntansi. Akan tetapi , pengalaman menunjukkan bahwa siswa siswa yang sudah matang, yang belum pernah mempelajari akuntansi dapat memahami pokok permasalahannya asalkan mereka juga mempelajari struktur dasar tersebut baik secara formal atau pun belajar sendiri . Latar Belakang dalam bidang keuangan atau ekonomi dapat juga mengarah pada buku in

Teori Akunting Buku 2 -5/E.

Teori Akunting Buku 2 -5/E. Edisi kelima ini, seperti edisi-edisi sebelumnya, dirancang untuk memberikan suatu kerangka acuan untuk mata kuliah akuntansi keuangan dan teori akuntansi keuangan; seminar-seminar mengenai standard an masalah akuntansi keuangan; serta seminar-seminar tentang teori penghasilan dan penilaian aktiva. Mereka yang ingin memahami dengan baik standar-satandar akuntansi keuangan atau ingin mengetahui secara umum teori akuntansi keuangan serta mereka yang ingin belajar untuk menguasai bagian teori dalam Uniform CPA Examination juga akan mendapat manfaat dari buku ini. Kami anggap bahwa pembaca buku ini memiliki pengetahuan mengenai struktur dasar akuntansi. Akan tetapi, pengalaman menunjukkan bahwa siswa-siswa yang sudah matang, yang belum pernah mempelajari akuntansi dapat memahami pokok permasalahannya asalkan mereka juga mempelajari struktur dasar tersebutbaik secara formal ataupun belajar sendiri. Latar belakang dalam bidang keuangan atau ekonomi dapat juga mengarah pada buku ini. Delapan bab pertama dalam edisi ini mengembangkan dasar-dasar teori akuntansi. Bab-bab tersebut mencakup bab pendahuluan, termasuk satu bagian mengenai metodologi, dua bab mengenai perkembangan akuntansi, satu bab tentang bagaimana prinsip-prinsip akuntansi yang berlaku umum berevolusi., satu bab yang menguraikan unsure-unsur pelaporan keuangan, satu bab tentang teori pasar modal, satu bab lain mengenai teori keputusan, dan satu bab mengenai regulasi akuntansi. Tiga bab selanjutnya menelaah laporan rugi laba. Bab-bab ini mencakup dua bab mengenai pengukuran penghasilan dan satu bab mengenai pendapatan dan beban. Satu bab mengenai pelaporan perubahan harga menekankan dampak perubahan harga pada penentuan penghasilan, tetapi juga membahas masalah-masalah pengukuran aktiva dalam keadaan harga yang berubah, termasuk penggunaan biaya kini. Bab ini diikuti oleh delapan bab mengenai laporan posisi keuangan, dengan setiap bab membahas lebih spesifik daripada bab sebelumnya. Pertama-tama akan dibahas mengenai aktiva, lalu kewajiban, dan terakhir ekuitas. Bab penutup membahas pengungkapan informasi yang relevan kepada para investor, kreditor, serta pembaca laporan keuangan yang berkepentingan lainnya

Integrated Genome Analysis Suggests that Most Conserved Non-Coding Sequences are Regulatory Factor Binding Sites

More than 98% of a typical vertebrate genome does not code for proteins. Although non-coding regions are sprinkled with short (<200 bp) islands of evolutionarily conserved sequences, the function of most of these unannotated conserved islands remains unknown. One possibility is that unannotated conserved islands could encode non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs); alternatively, unannotated conserved islands could serve as promoter-distal regulatory factor binding sites (RFBSs) like enhancers. Here we assess these possibilities by comparing unannotated conserved islands in the human and mouse genomes to transcribed regions and to RFBSs, relying on a detailed case study of one human and one mouse cell type. We define transcribed regions by applying a novel transcript-calling algorithm to RNA-Seq data obtained from total cellular RNA, and we define RFBSs using ChIP-Seq and DNAse-hypersensitivity assays. We find that unannotated conserved islands are four times more likely to coincide with RFBSs than with unannotated ncRNAs. Thousands of conserved RFBSs can be categorized as insulators based on the presence of CTCF or as enhancers based on the presence of p300/CBP and H3K4me1. While many unannotated conserved RFBSs are transcriptionally active to some extent, the transcripts produced tend to be unspliced, non-polyadenylated and expressed at levels 10 to 100-fold lower than annotated coding or ncRNAs. Extending these findings across multiple cell types and tissues, we propose that most conserved non-coding genomic DNA in vertebrate genomes corresponds to promoter-distal regulatory elements

The Drosophila Forkhead Transcription Factor FOXO Mediates the Reduction in Cell Number Associated with Reduced Insulin Signaling

Background: Forkhead transcription factors belonging to the FOXO subfamily are negatively regulated by protein kinase B (PKB) in response to signaling by insulin and insulin-like growth factor in Caenorhabditis elegans and mammals. In Drosophila, the insulin-signaling pathway regulates the size of cells, organs, and the entire body in response to nutrient availability, by controlling both cell size and cell number. In this study, we present a genetic characterization of dFOXO, the only Drosophila FOXO ortholog. Results: Ectopic expression of dFOXO and human FOXO3a induced organ-size reduction and cell death in a manner dependent on phosphoinositide (PI) 3-kinase and nutrient levels. Surprisingly, flies homozygous for dFOXO null alleles are viable and of normal size. They are, however, more sensitive to oxidative stress. Furthermore, dFOXO function is required for growth inhibition associated with reduced insulin signaling. Loss of dFOXO suppresses the reduction in cell number but not the cell-size reduction elicited by mutations in the insulin-signaling pathway. By microarray analysis and subsequent genetic validation, we have identified d4E-BP, which encodes a translation inhibitor, as a relevant dFOXO target gene. Conclusion: Our results show that dFOXO is a crucial mediator of insulin signaling in Drosophila, mediating the reduction in cell number in insulin-signaling mutants. We propose that in response to cellular stresses, such as nutrient deprivation or increased levels of reactive oxygen species, dFOXO is activated and inhibits growth through the action of target genes such as d4E-BP

Differential Gene Expression at Coral Settlement and Metamorphosis - A Subtractive Hybridization Study

A successful metamorphosis from a planktonic larva to a settled polyp, which under favorable conditions will establish a future colony, is critical for the survival of corals. However, in contrast to the situation in other animals, e.g., frogs and insects, little is known about the molecular basis of coral metamorphosis. We have begun to redress this situation with previous microarray studies, but there is still a great deal to learn. In the present paper we have utilized a different technology, subtractive hybridization, to characterize genes differentially expressed across this developmental transition and to compare the success of this method to microarray.\ud \ud Methodology/Principal Findings\ud \ud Suppressive subtractive hybridization (SSH) was used to identify two pools of transcripts from the coral, Acropora millepora. One is enriched for transcripts expressed at higher levels at the pre-settlement stage, and the other for transcripts expressed at higher levels at the post-settlement stage. Virtual northern blots were used to demonstrate the efficacy of the subtractive hybridization technique. Both pools contain transcripts coding for proteins in various functional classes but transcriptional regulatory proteins were represented more frequently in the post-settlement pool. Approximately 18% of the transcripts showed no significant similarity to any other sequence on the public databases. Transcripts of particular interest were further characterized by in situ hybridization, which showed that many are regulated spatially as well as temporally. Notably, many transcripts exhibit axially restricted expression patterns that correlate with the pool from which they were isolated. Several transcripts are expressed in patterns consistent with a role in calcification.\ud \ud Conclusions\ud \ud We have characterized over 200 transcripts that are differentially expressed between the planula larva and post-settlement polyp of the coral, Acropora millepora. Sequence, putative function, and in some cases temporal and spatial expression are reported

NKTR-102 Efficacy versus irinotecan in a mouse model of brain metastases of breast cancer

Background: Brain metastases are an increasing problem in women with invasive breast cancer. Strategies designed to treat brain metastases of breast cancer, particularly chemotherapeutics such as irinotecan, demonstrate limited efficacy. Conventional irinotecan distributes poorly to brain metastases; therefore, NKTR-102, a PEGylated irinotecan conjugate should enhance irinotecan and its active metabolite SN38 exposure in brain metastases leading to brain tumor cytotoxicity. Methods: Female nude mice were intracranially or intracardially implanted with human brain seeking breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231Br) and dosed with irinotecan or NKTR-102 to determine plasma and tumor pharmacokinetics of irinotecan and SN38. Tumor burden and survival were evaluated in mice treated with vehicle, irinotecan (50 mg/kg), or NKTR-102 low and high doses (10 mg/kg, 50 mg/kg respectively). Results: NKTR-102 penetrates the blood-tumor barrier and distributes to brain metastases. NKTR-102 increased and prolonged SN38 exposure (\u3e20 ng/g for 168 h) versus conventional irinotecan (\u3e1 ng/g for 4 h). Treatment with NKTR-102 extended survival time (from 35 days to 74 days) and increased overall survival for NKTR-102 low dose (30 % mice) and NKTR-102 high dose (50 % mice). Tumor burden decreased (37 % with 10 mg/kg NKTR-102 and 96 % with 50 mg/kg) and lesion sizes decreased (33 % with 10 mg/kg NKTR-102 and 83 % with 50 mg/kg NKTR-102) compared to conventional irinotecan treated animals. Conclusions: Elevated and prolonged tumor SN38 exposure after NKTR-102 administration appears responsible for increased survival in this model of breast cancer brain metastasis. Further, SN38 concentrations observed in this study are clinically achieved with 145 mg/m2 NKTR-102, such as those used in the BEACON trial, underlining translational relevance of these results