Kebijakan Harga Output Dan Input Untuk Meningkatkan Produksi Jagung

Permintaan jagung terus meningkat untuk memenuhi berbagai kebutuhan, yaitu bahan baku industri pakan ternak, industri makanan dan konsumsi langsung. Seiring meningkatnya kebutuhan dan pentingnya peranan jagung, maka dukungan kebijakan terkait output dan input memiliki urgensi penting dalam rangka peningkatan produksi jagung nasional. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh Perubahan harga output dan input terhadap penawaran output dan permintaan input jagung. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa (1) selama kurun waktu 1985-2009, harga jagung di Jawa Timur dan Jawa Barat cenderung meningkat, dan seiring dengan hal itu harga input USAhatani jagung : benih, pupuk dan tenaga kerja juga meningkat, (2) penawaran jagung di Provinsi Jawa Timur dan Jawa Barat elastis terhadap Perubahan harga sendiri, sedangkan terhadap Perubahan harga benih, harga urea, harga TSP dan upah tenaga kerja adalah inelastis, (3) peningkatan harga pupuk tidak berpengaruh terhadap penawaran jagung, sedangkan peningkatan harga benih berpengaruh negatif terhadap penawaran jagung, dan (4) jika terjadi kombinasi kebijakan peningkatan harga jagung, harga pupuk dan harga benih maka penawaran jagung meningkat di kedua provinsi. Implikasi kebijakan dari penelitian ini adalah bahwa upaya untuk meningkatkan penawaran jagung dapat dilakukan dengan meningkatkan harga jagung

Researching the use of force: The background to the international project

This article provides the background to an international project on use of force by the police that was carried out in eight countries. Force is often considered to be the defining characteristic of policing and much research has been conducted on the determinants, prevalence and control of the use of force, particularly in the United States. However, little work has looked at police officers’ own views on the use of force, in particular the way in which they justify it. Using a hypothetical encounter developed for this project, researchers in each country conducted focus groups with police officers in which they were encouraged to talk about the use of force. The results show interesting similarities and differences across countries and demonstrate the value of using this kind of research focus and methodology

Rapamycin Blocks Production of KSHV/HHV8: Insights into the Anti-Tumor Activity of an Immunosuppressant Drug

Infection with Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV/HHV8) often results in the development of fatal tumors in immunocompromised patients. Studies of renal transplant recipients show that use of the immunosuppressant drug rapamycin, an mTOR inhibitor, both prevents and can induce the regression of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), an opportunistic tumor that arises within a subset of this infected population. In light of rapamycin's marked anti-KS activity, we tested whether the drug might directly inhibit the KSHV life cycle. We focused on the molecular switch that triggers this predominantly latent virus to enter the lytic (productive) replication phase, since earlier work links this transition to viral persistence and tumorigenesis.In latently infected human B cell lines, we found that rapamycin inhibited entry of the virus into the lytic replication cycle, marked by a loss of expression of the lytic switch protein, replication and transcription activator (RTA). To test for viral-specific effects of rapamycin, we focused our studies on a B cell line with resistance to rapamycin-mediated growth inhibition. Using this line, we found that the drug had minimal effect on cell cycle profiles, cellular proliferation, or the expression of other cellular or latent viral proteins, indicating that the RTA suppression was not a result of global cellular dysregulation. Finally, treatment with rapamycin blocked the production of progeny virions.These results indicate that mTOR plays a role in the regulation of RTA expression and, therefore, KSHV production, providing a potential molecular explanation for the marked clinical success of rapamycin in the treatment and prevention of post-transplant Kaposi's sarcoma. The striking inhibition of rapamycin on KSHV lytic replication, thus, helps explain the apparent paradox of an immunosuppressant drug suppressing the pathogenesis of an opportunistic viral infection

Genetic and phenotypic spectrum associated with IFIH1 gain-of-function

IFIH1 gain‐of‐function has been reported as a cause of a type I interferonopathy encompassing a spectrum of autoinflammatory phenotypes including Aicardi–Goutières syndrome and Singleton Merten syndrome. Ascertaining patients through a European and North American collaboration, we set out to describe the molecular, clinical and interferon status of a cohort of individuals with pathogenic heterozygous mutations in IFIH1. We identified 74 individuals from 51 families segregating a total of 27 likely pathogenic mutations in IFIH1. Ten adult individuals, 13.5% of all mutation carriers, were clinically asymptomatic (with seven of these aged over 50 years). All mutations were associated with enhanced type I interferon signaling, including six variants (22%) which were predicted as benign according to multiple in silico pathogenicity programs. The identified mutations cluster close to the ATP binding region of the protein. These data confirm variable expression and nonpenetrance as important characteristics of the IFIH1 genotype, a consistent association with enhanced type I interferon signaling, and a common mutational mechanism involving increased RNA binding affinity or decreased efficiency of ATP hydrolysis and filament disassembly rate

Endothelial Cells Support Persistent Gammaherpesvirus 68 Infection

A variety of human diseases are associated with gammaherpesviruses, including neoplasms of lymphocytes (e.g. Burkitt's lymphoma) and endothelial cells (e.g. Kaposi's sarcoma). Gammaherpesvirus infections usually result in either a productive lytic infection, characterized by expression of all viral genes and rapid cell lysis, or latent infection, characterized by limited viral gene expression and no cell lysis. Here, we report characterization of endothelial cell infection with murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (γHV68), a virus phylogenetically related and biologically similar to the human gammaherpesviruses. Endothelial cells supported γHV68 replication in vitro, but were unique in that a significant proportion of the cells escaped lysis, proliferated, and remained viable in culture for an extended time. Upon infection, endothelial cells became non-adherent and altered in size, complexity, and cell-surface protein expression. These cells were uniformly infected and expressed the lytic transcription program based on detection of abundant viral gene transcripts, GFP fluorescence from the viral genome, and viral surface protein expression. Additionally, endothelial cells continued to produce new infectious virions as late as 30 days post-infection. The outcome of this long-term infection was promoted by the γHV68 v-cyclin, because in the absence of the v-cyclin, viability was significantly reduced following infection. Importantly, infected primary endothelial cells also demonstrated increased viability relative to infected primary fibroblasts, and this increased viability was dependent on the v-cyclin. Finally, we provide evidence for infection of endothelial cells in vivo in immune-deficient mice. The extended viability and virus production of infected endothelial cells indicated that endothelial cells provided a source of prolonged virus production and identify a cell-type specific adaptation of gammaherpesvirus replication. While infected endothelial cells would likely be cleared in a healthy individual, persistently infected endothelial cells could provide a source of continued virus replication in immune-compromised individuals, a context in which gammaherpesvirus-associated pathology frequently occurs

Singing the same tune? International continuities and discontinuities in how police talk about using force

This article focuses on a research project conducted in six jurisdictions: England, The Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Venezuela, and Brazil. These societies are very different ethnically, socially, politically, economically, historically and have wildly different levels of crime. Their policing arrangements also differ significantly: how they are organised; how their officers are equipped and trained; what routine operating procedures they employ; whether they are armed; and much else besides. Most relevant for this research, they represent policing systems with wildly different levels of police shootings, Police in the two Latin American countries represented here have a justified reputation for the frequency with which they shoot people, whereas at the other extreme the police in England do not routinely carry firearms and rarely shoot anyone. To probe whether these differences are reflected in the way that officers talk about the use of force, police officers in these different jurisdictions were invited to discuss in focus groups a scenario in which police are thwarted in their attempt to arrest two youths (one of whom is a known local criminal) by the youths driving off with the police in pursuit, and concludes with the youths crashing their car and escaping in apparent possession of a gun, It might be expected that focus groups would prove starkly different, and indeed they were, but not in the way that might be expected. There was little difference in affirmation of normative and legal standards regarding the use of force. It was in how officers in different jurisdictions envisaged the circumstances in which the scenario took place that led Latin American officers to anticipate that they would shoot the suspects, whereas officers in the other jurisdictions had little expectation that they would open fire in the conditions as they imagined them to be

The Structure and Delivery of Police Use of Force Training: A German Case Study

The current study aims to investigate the current structure and delivery of police recruit training. Using a case study approach, we systematically observed a semester of police training that consisted of 30 h with a specific focus on police use of force training. Field notes and time-on-task data was analysed using an inductive approach. The results revealed, first, a lack of constructive alignment of the training modules and learning tasks within the training settings. Second, an adherence to traditional linear approaches to training resulting in high amounts of augmented instruction and feedback and a one-size-fits all approach to technical and tactical behaviour. Third, a non-efficient use of available training time with low amounts of engagement in representatively designed tasks that stimulated problem-solving processes. Based on these results we suggest that there is a need: (a) for police trainers and curriculum designers to align the objectives, practice structure and delivery of police training with the needs of police officers in the field (e.g. conflict resolution); (b) for police trainers to employ more learner-centred pedagogical approaches that account for individual action capabilities and resources, and allow for high amounts of training time with representatively designed training tasks; and (c) for senior managers of overall police training decision-makers to provide the necessary trainer education, in order to furnish trainers with the knowledge and tools to appropriately plan, deliver and reflect upon their practice in keeping with concept of constructive alignment