Fungicide resistance management in Australian grain crops

Fungicide resistance is a serious and increasing problem in cropping systems worldwide. Fungicides are an important component of integrated disease management strategies for the protection of crops from the impacts of fungal diseases. However, as their use has increased, the effectiveness of some fungicides has been reduced by the development of fungicide resistant pathogen populations. Without intervention, more fungicides are likely to become ineffective

Adam Smith and Competitive Equilibrium

A view has emerged which sees Adam Smith’s main contribution to economics in terms of his equilibrium theory. This paper argues that equilibrium economics was neither Smith’s main contribution nor his chief concern. It is true that Smith made a few observations which may be construed as equilibrium economics in some loose sense. For example, his observation that the market price of a commodity has a tendency to gravitate towards its natural price; or the rate of profit in different employments tends towards equality. But from this it cannot be concluded that Smith was chiefly an equilibrium theorist. In the first place, it needs to be emphasised that the ‘tendency’ towards equilibrium, which Smith talked about, is not the same thing as an equilibrium ‘outcome’. Equilibrium as an outcome is more likely to be reached in a stationary state than in an evolutionary system in the process of continuous dynamic motion. Smith’s evolutionary perspective, his analysis of the division of labour, capital accumulation, and the institutions most conducive to the generation of wealth, all point to the fact that Smith was more concerned with dynamic analysis than with static equilibrium. Finally, barring a few observations on the equilibrating tendency in the system, most of the Wealth of Nations is not devoted to this question

Impact of renal impairment on atrial fibrillation: ESC-EHRA EORP-AF Long-Term General Registry

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and renal impairment share a bidirectional relationship with important pathophysiological interactions. We evaluated the impact of renal impairment in a contemporary cohort of patients with AF. Methods: We utilised the ESC-EHRA EORP-AF Long-Term General Registry. Outcomes were analysed according to renal function by CKD-EPI equation. The primary endpoint was a composite of thromboembolism, major bleeding, acute coronary syndrome and all-cause death. Secondary endpoints were each of these separately including ischaemic stroke, haemorrhagic event, intracranial haemorrhage, cardiovascular death and hospital admission. Results: A total of 9306 patients were included. The distribution of patients with no, mild, moderate and severe renal impairment at baseline were 16.9%, 49.3%, 30% and 3.8%, respectively. AF patients with impaired renal function were older, more likely to be females, had worse cardiac imaging parameters and multiple comorbidities. Among patients with an indication for anticoagulation, prescription of these agents was reduced in those with severe renal impairment, p <.001. Over 24 months, impaired renal function was associated with significantly greater incidence of the primary composite outcome and all secondary outcomes. Multivariable Cox regression analysis demonstrated an inverse relationship between eGFR and the primary outcome (HR 1.07 [95% CI, 1.01–1.14] per 10 ml/min/1.73 m2 decrease), that was most notable in patients with eGFR <30 ml/min/1.73 m2 (HR 2.21 [95% CI, 1.23–3.99] compared to eGFR ≥90 ml/min/1.73 m2). Conclusion: A significant proportion of patients with AF suffer from concomitant renal impairment which impacts their overall management. Furthermore, renal impairment is an independent predictor of major adverse events including thromboembolism, major bleeding, acute coronary syndrome and all-cause death in patients with AF

Clinical complexity and impact of the ABC (Atrial fibrillation Better Care) pathway in patients with atrial fibrillation: a report from the ESC-EHRA EURObservational Research Programme in AF General Long-Term Registry

Background: Clinical complexity is increasingly prevalent among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The ‘Atrial fibrillation Better Care’ (ABC) pathway approach has been proposed to streamline a more holistic and integrated approach to AF care; however, there are limited data on its usefulness among clinically complex patients. We aim to determine the impact of ABC pathway in a contemporary cohort of clinically complex AF patients. Methods: From the ESC-EHRA EORP-AF General Long-Term Registry, we analysed clinically complex AF patients, defined as the presence of frailty, multimorbidity and/or polypharmacy. A K-medoids cluster analysis was performed to identify different groups of clinical complexity. The impact of an ABC-adherent approach on major outcomes was analysed through Cox-regression analyses and delay of event (DoE) analyses. Results: Among 9966 AF patients included, 8289 (83.1%) were clinically complex. Adherence to the ABC pathway in the clinically complex group reduced the risk of all-cause death (adjusted HR [aHR]: 0.72, 95%CI 0.58–0.91), major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs; aHR: 0.68, 95%CI 0.52–0.87) and composite outcome (aHR: 0.70, 95%CI: 0.58–0.85). Adherence to the ABC pathway was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of death (aHR: 0.74, 95%CI 0.56–0.98) and composite outcome (aHR: 0.76, 95%CI 0.60–0.96) also in the high-complexity cluster; similar trends were observed for MACEs. In DoE analyses, an ABC-adherent approach resulted in significant gains in event-free survival for all the outcomes investigated in clinically complex patients. Based on absolute risk reduction at 1 year of follow-up, the number needed to treat for ABC pathway adherence was 24 for all-cause death, 31 for MACEs and 20 for the composite outcome. Conclusions: An ABC-adherent approach reduces the risk of major outcomes in clinically complex AF patients. Ensuring adherence to the ABC pathway is essential to improve clinical outcomes among clinically complex AF patients

Impact of clinical phenotypes on management and outcomes in European atrial fibrillation patients: a report from the ESC-EHRA EURObservational Research Programme in AF (EORP-AF) General Long-Term Registry

Background: Epidemiological studies in atrial fibrillation (AF) illustrate that clinical complexity increase the risk of major adverse outcomes. We aimed to describe European AF patients\u2019 clinical phenotypes and analyse the differential clinical course. Methods: We performed a hierarchical cluster analysis based on Ward\u2019s Method and Squared Euclidean Distance using 22 clinical binary variables, identifying the optimal number of clusters. We investigated differences in clinical management, use of healthcare resources and outcomes in a cohort of European AF patients from a Europe-wide observational registry. Results: A total of 9363 were available for this analysis. We identified three clusters: Cluster 1 (n = 3634; 38.8%) characterized by older patients and prevalent non-cardiac comorbidities; Cluster 2 (n = 2774; 29.6%) characterized by younger patients with low prevalence of comorbidities; Cluster 3 (n = 2955;31.6%) characterized by patients\u2019 prevalent cardiovascular risk factors/comorbidities. Over a mean follow-up of 22.5 months, Cluster 3 had the highest rate of cardiovascular events, all-cause death, and the composite outcome (combining the previous two) compared to Cluster 1 and Cluster 2 (all P <.001). An adjusted Cox regression showed that compared to Cluster 2, Cluster 3 (hazard ratio (HR) 2.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.27\u20133.62; HR 3.42, 95%CI 2.72\u20134.31; HR 2.79, 95%CI 2.32\u20133.35), and Cluster 1 (HR 1.88, 95%CI 1.48\u20132.38; HR 2.50, 95%CI 1.98\u20133.15; HR 2.09, 95%CI 1.74\u20132.51) reported a higher risk for the three outcomes respectively. Conclusions: In European AF patients, three main clusters were identified, differentiated by differential presence of comorbidities. Both non-cardiac and cardiac comorbidities clusters were found to be associated with an increased risk of major adverse outcomes

Foreign direct investment and economic integration

In this paper, we explore the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the competitiveness of emerging economies and economic integration. We structure the paper as follows. Following this Introduction (Section I), in Section II, we assess briefly and critically extant theories of FDI and the MNE. In Section III, we critically assess competitiveness and catching-up theory and policy and the role of FDI in this context. Section IV sets off from limitations of extant scholarship identified in the previous section to develop a novel framework for competitiveness and catching-up and discuss the role of FDI, clusters and government policy in its context. Section V discusses ways through which emerging economies can effect economic integration through enhanced competitiveness and accelerated catching-up, by leveraging strategies informed from recent developments on scholarship in International Business (IB) strategy. Section VI summarizes and concludes

Genetics of late maturity - a-amylase in a doubled haploid wheat population

Late maturity a-amylase (LMA) in wheat is a defect where high-isoelectric point (pI) a-amylase accumulates in the ripening grain. Wheat genotypes vary in expression from zero to high levels of a-amylase, the latter with detrimental consequences on their use for value-added end products. Expression in each genotype is characterised by varying numbers of grains affected and different levels in each grain. Analysis of a doubled haploid (DH) population (188 lines) from WW1842x Whistler has identified significant QTL on chromosomes 2DL, 3A, 3B, 3D, 4B, 4D, 5DS and 5BL. The 4B LMA allele (P \u3c 0.0001) from Whistler is closely linked to the QTL for the ‘tall’ allele (P \u3c 0.0001) of the Rht-B1 gene. The 4D LMA QTL (P \u3c 0.0001) in WW1842 co-locates with the QTL for the ‘tall’ allele (P \u3c 0.0001) of the Rht-D1 gene. This study has shown for the first time that a DH cross between two semi-dwarf cultivars with low or no LMA produces ~25% of progeny lines of the ‘tall’ genotypes with a high frequency of LMA. This is attributed to the large additive positive effects from the combination of one recessive ‘tall’ Rht-B1 gene and one recessive ‘tall’ Rht-D1 gene. Highyielding semi-dwarf genotypes with different combinations of Rht-B1 and Rht-D1 alleles which have very low or nonexistent LMA expression (e.g. WW1842 and Whistler) may meet industry criteria for registration as commercial wheat varieties. However, when they are used as breeding lines, the cross produces some progeny genotypes with severe levels of LMA. These LMA genotypes comprise the gibberellic acid-sensitive ‘tall’ progenies and a very small proportion of semidwarfs. Thus, it is of paramount importance to screen the defect in wheat breeding programs. The suite of QTL identified for LMA will enable the use of marker assisted selection in the pyramiding of the beneficial QTL to maximise yield and minimise (or eliminate) LMA in semi-dwarf genotypes

QTL mapping of multiple foliar disease and root-lesion nematode resistances in wheat

A genetic linkage map, based on a cross between the synthetic hexaploid CPI133872 and the bread wheat cultivar Janz, was established using 111 F 1-derived doubled haploid lines. The population was phenotyped in multiple years and/or locations for seven disease resistance traits, namely, Septoria tritici blotch (Mycosphaeralla graminicola), yellow leaf spot also known as tan spot (Pyrenophora tritici-repentis), stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici), leaf rust (Puccinia triticina), stem rust (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) and two species of root-lesion nematode (Pratylenchyus thornei and P. neglectus). The DH population was also scored for coleoptile colour and the presence of the seedling leaf rust resistance gene Lr24. Implementation of a multiple-QTL model identified a tightly linked cluster of foliar disease resistance QTL in chromosome 3DL. Major QTL each for resistance to Septoria tritici blotch and yellow leaf spot were contributed by the synthetic hexaploid parent CPI133872 and linked in repulsion with the coincident Lr24/Sr24 locus carried by parent Janz. This is the first report of linked QTL for Septoria tritici blotch and yellow leaf spot contributed by the same parent. Additional QTL for yellow leaf spot were detected in 5AS and 5BL. Consistent QTL for stripe rust resistance were identified in chromosomes 1BL, 4BL and 7DS, with the QTL in 7DS corresponding to the Yr18/Lr34 region. Three major QTL for P. thornei resistance (2BS, 6DS, 6DL) and two for P. neglectus resistance (2BS, 6DS) were detected. The recombinants combining resistance to Septoria tritici blotch, yellow leaf spot, rust diseases and root-lesion nematodes from parents CPI133872 and Janz constitute valuable germplasm for the transfer of multiple disease resistance into new wheat cultivars