SAFE - a Tool for Assessing the Sustainability of Agricultural Systems: an Illustration

SAFE (Framework for Assessing Sustainability levels) is a tool for evaluating the sustainability of agricultural systems and uses a hierarchical framework populated with indicators objectively selected by multicriteria evaluation. Indicators are measured at field, farm and landscape scales and progressively integrated into a global sustainability index (SI). SAFE is illustrated below with results on a field scale from a farm site

SAFE: A Framework for Assessing Sustainability Levels in Agricultural Systems

Evaluating the sustainability of agricultural systems is a major challenge for scientists, policy makers and farmers. Numerous sets of indicators have recently been designed, both at national and international levels. However, most of these initiatives focus only on environmental aspects of sustainability, indicators are often selected arbitrarily and usually do not fit in a consistent, comprehensive and universally applicable framework. This paper presents an original framework for integrating the information contained by indicators into a single quantitative measure of agricultural sustainability in order to facilitate comparison and diagnosis

Maturation-Dependent Licensing of Naive T Cells for Rapid TNF Production

The peripheral naïve T cell pool is comprised of a heterogeneous population of cells at various stages of development, which is a process that begins in the thymus and is completed after a post-thymic maturation phase in the periphery. One hallmark of naïve T cells in secondary lymphoid organs is their unique ability to produce TNF rapidly after activation and prior to acquiring other effector functions. To determine how maturation influences the licensing of naïve T cells to produce TNF, we compared cytokine profiles of CD4+ and CD8+ single positive (SP) thymocytes, recent thymic emigrants (RTEs) and mature-naïve (MN) T cells during TCR activation. SP thymocytes exhibited a poor ability to produce TNF when compared to splenic T cells despite expressing similar TCR levels and possessing comparable activation kinetics (upregulation of CD25 and CD69). Provision of optimal antigen presenting cells from the spleen did not fully enable SP thymocytes to produce TNF, suggesting an intrinsic defect in their ability to produce TNF efficiently. Using a thymocyte adoptive transfer model, we demonstrate that the ability of T cells to produce TNF increases progressively with time in the periphery as a function of their maturation state. RTEs that were identified in NG-BAC transgenic mice by the expression of GFP showed a significantly enhanced ability to express TNF relative to SP thymocytes but not to the extent of fully MN T cells. Together, these findings suggest that TNF expression by naïve T cells is regulated via a gradual licensing process that requires functional maturation in peripheral lymphoid organs

Price Dividend Models Revisited, and their Role as Indicators for Monetary Policy

This paper investigates the role of inflation risk in a model of the price dividend ratio, combining a dynamic Gordon model specification with the inflation-augmented capital asset pricing model (CAPM). The model is estimated for the Euro Area and U.S. and tested against traditional models. For the Euro Area, results are in line with the data and with earlier models, while for the U.S., there are discrepancies, suggesting the model may be useful to explain the bubble in the U.S. stock market. In a next stage, aggregate demand and supply equations are estimated and the additional value of price dividend metrics is investigated using robust regression techniques. The evidence suggests that model metrics are useful signals of the output gap and inflation. Finally, for the U.S., the overvaluation of the price dividend ratio, derived from the proposed model, seems to have had an impact on the Fed(TM)s interest rate policy.dividend price ratio; inflation risk; dynamic Gordon model; robust regression analysis; indicator variables; monetary policy rules

Is Financial Market Volatility Informative to Predict Recessions?

It is commonly agreed that the term spread and stock returns are useful in predicting recessions. We investigate whether interest rate