FACTORS AFFECTING THE ADOPTION OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES

The extent to which individual factors influence the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices is estimated using a logit model and data from a 1990 survey of West Virginia producers. The results are, as expected, different than those for conventional agricultural technologies. For example, the effects of human capital characteristics are significant, while those for structural and institutional characteristics are not. However, the likelihood of adoption of sustainable agricultural practices is affected most by the environmental characteristic of whether or not the producer is aware that ground water contamination exists on his farm. This creates an important "awareness effect" upon which policies to promote sustainable agriculture adoption can be formulated. It also implies the existence of a derived demand for sustainable agriculture.Farm Management,

Removing Orbital Debris with Lasers

Orbital debris in low Earth orbit (LEO) are now sufficiently dense that the use of LEO space is threatened by runaway collisional cascading. A problem predicted more than thirty years ago, the threat from debris larger than about 1 cm demands serious attention. A promising proposed solution uses a high power pulsed laser system on the Earth to make plasma jets on the objects, slowing them slightly, and causing them to re-enter and burn up in the atmosphere. In this paper, we reassess this approach in light of recent advances in low-cost, light-weight modular design for large mirrors, calculations of laser-induced orbit changes and in design of repetitive, multi-kilojoule lasers, that build on inertial fusion research. These advances now suggest that laser orbital debris removal (LODR) is the most cost-effective way to mitigate the debris problem. No other solutions have been proposed that address the whole problem of large and small debris. A LODR system will have multiple uses beyond debris removal. International cooperation will be essential for building and operating such a system.Comment: 37 pages, 15 figures, in preparation for submission to Advances in Space Researc

The Development Of A Recruitment Program For Flight Faculty At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is a private institution offering graduate and undergraduate degree programs in aviation related fields. Members of the staff of Embry-Riddle\u27s Flight Technology Department were concerned about the department\u27s continued ability to attract sufficient quantities of qualified applicants for flight industry faculty positions given current trends in the industry. In response to those concerns a comprehensive plan for the recruitment of flight faculty was developed to meet both present and future departmental needs. The research question investigated as a part of this developmental project was what steps need to be taken to ensure that Embry-Riddle is able to attract sufficient numbers of qualified instructors to meet program needs over the next ten to fifteen years? The final plan addresses {1) The recruitment of flight specialists; (2) The recruitment of tenure-track faculty; (3) The career development of flight faculty; (4) The career development of flight specialists with potential for tenure-track faculty positions; (5) The establishment of an accelerated certification program; and (6) The establishment of a fellowship teaching opportunity for flight students. Included in the final product are specific strategies for implementation as well as criteria and procedures for continuing assessment of the various components of the recruitment plan. The plan itself addresses advertising, recruiting goals, personnel qualifications, evaluation, selection, training, initial performance monitoring, and career development opportunities. A review of programs and procedures established by other industries and institutions to resolve similar recruiting problems provided the basis for developing a plan which meets the specific needs of Embry-Riddle\u27s flight training program. Following a comprehensive review of available literature, structured telephone interviews were conducted with representatives of those institutions which have faced recruiting problems most closely resembling those experienced by Embry-Riddle. In addition, separate questionnaires were administered to all currently enrolled upper-level Embry-Riddle flight students, all currently employed flight specialists, and all current flight faculty members. The questionnaire results were used to determine attitudes toward instructing and to identify determine potential opportunities for enhancing the attractiveness of a career in flight training. A series of both non-directive and focused group interviews were conducted using volunteers selected from the three groups previously identified as well as key administrative personnel from both the Flight Technology and Human Resources departments. During the developmental phase, key decision-makers, including the department chair, the dean of the college, and the executive vice president for academics were involved in discussions regarding each aspect of the project. The final plan submitted to the president for approval assigns responsibility for implementation as well as for ongoing program assessment to specific action agencies. Success of the plan will be measured in terms of acceptance by the administration, subsequent implementation, and the successful accomplishment of predetermined recruiting goals. Success of specific advertising strategies will be measured in terms of quantity of total applicants and quantity of successful applicants. The final plan identifies those specific strategies for recruitment which were found to hold the greatest potential for success at Embry-Riddle. Included are the identification of recruiting sources, advertising strategies, and a plan for the dissemination of career information. In addition, the final plan details a comprehensive flight fellowship program, job enhancement strategies, faculty career development opportunities, and an accelerated certification program for industry professionals and educators. It was recommended that the recruitment program developed as a result of this Major Applied Research Project be implemented at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the final plan was submitted to the president for his review and approval. It was further recommended that the president commit appropriate resources to the implementation of the plan and that specific action agencies be assigned responsibility for implementation including ongoing program assessment and monitoring. Additional recommendations included the dissemination of the final plan to other university departments, flight training programs and to various internal provisions for feedback from schools implementing suggested strategies, and continued efforts at establishing cooperative agreements with industry which will enhance the recruitment and retention of flight faculty

The public health importance of scabies in community domiciliary care settings: an exploratory cross-sectional survey of health protection teams in England

Scabies is a contagious skin infection commonly occurring in institutions such as care homes. However, a large proportion of vulnerable people in England receive domiciliary care in the community and their experience of scabies has not been described. We undertook a pragmatic cross-sectional survey of Health Protection Teams (HPTs) in England to determine the burden of scabies related to domiciliary care. Fifteen cases or outbreaks were notified to HPTs between January 2013 and December 2017. Although a relatively uncommon event for individual HPTs, they were complex to manage and required the co-ordination of multiple stakeholders. Diagnosis was often delayed and required several clinical consultations. A lack of guidance led to difficulties establishing stakeholder roles and responsibilities and sources of funding for treatment. The stigmatisation of scabies sometimes affected the quality of care provided to patients, such as use of excessive personal protective equipment. Our study demonstrates that scabies is an issue of public health importance for domiciliary care service providers and users, and research is required to better understand the impacts of the disease and to develop evidence-based guidance. More generally, there is a need for simpler treatment regimens and methods of diagnosing scabies

Toward Personalized Medicine: The potential role of RNA interference in Plasma Cell Dyscrasia

A major contributor to mortality in patients with plasma cell dyscrasias (PCDs); i.e., multiple myeloma, light chain deposition disease and AL amyloidosis is the deposition as insoluble aggregates of monoclonal immunoglobulin light chain proteins (LC) in the kidneys and other organs. Currently anti-plasma cell chemotherapies are used to reduce LC synthesis, and slow deposition. While effective, these treatments are toxic, non-specific, expensive, and might not be appropriate in all cases, making the identification of an alternate means of reducing toxic LC species desirable. To this end, we have investigated whether RNA interference (RNAi) could achieve these goals. Human (RPMI 8226, Bur) and transfected mouse myeloma (SP2/O-lambda 6) cells which produce measureable quantities of human LC protein were used as model systems for testing the efficacy of both synthetic small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression vectors in reducing LC synthesis. Sequencing of LC genes provided the basis for design of siRNA duplexes targeting either the variable (V) or joining (J) regions of individual LCs, or the constant (C) region of either kappa or lambda LC isotypes. Myeloma lines were transfected with siRNAs using lipid-based transfection media. Cells receiving non-silencing siRNAs served as controls. Exposure of myeloma lines to siRNAs was well tolerated and no cytotoxicity was observed. LC mRNA expression was shown to be reduced ≥40% in 8226 and SP2/O- lambda 6 cell lines receiving siRNA treatment as compared with untreated controls. Exposure to siRNAs was also effective in significantly reducing both intracellular and secreted LC protein levels in cell lines tested as evidenced by flow cytometry or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). Effective siRNA nucleotide sequences were used to generate shRNA cassettes which were ligated into lentiviral expression vectors under the control of the RNA polymerase III promoter, U6. These expression systems were used to generate replication incompetent lentiviral particles. Exposure of 8226 to lentiviral particles resulted in significant knockdown of LC mRNA and protein both in vitro and in xenograft tumor bearing immune compromised mice. These results provide positive evidence for the ability of RNAi based approaches to reduce LC secretion in models of PCD