Policy recommendations from the 13th ICABR conference on the emerging bioeconomy

The International Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology Research held its 13th annual conference in Ravello, Italy in June 2009. The theme of the conference was the bioeconomy,and this topic was addressed through research presentations from academia, government, and industry. Numerous presentations from developing countries highlighted the benefits of agricultural biotechnology in these nations. The broad range of presentations provided a wealth of insights, resulting in three policy recommendations regarding future funding, international regulation, and technology transfer.global food crisis, biofuels, food safety, innovation

The binary near-Earth asteroid (175706) 1996 FG3 - An observational constraint on its orbital evolution

Using our photometric observations taken between 1996 and 2013 and other published data, we derived properties of the binary near-Earth asteroid (175706) 1996 FG3 including new measurements constraining evolution of the mutual orbit with potential consequences for the entire binary asteroid population. We also refined previously determined values of parameters of both components, making 1996 FG3 one of the most well understood binary asteroid systems. We determined the orbital vector with a substantially greater accuracy than before and we also placed constraints on a stability of the orbit. Specifically, the ecliptic longitude and latitude of the orbital pole are 266{\deg} and -83{\deg}, respectively, with the mean radius of the uncertainty area of 4{\deg}, and the orbital period is 16.1508 +/- 0.0002 h (all quoted uncertainties correspond to 3sigma). We looked for a quadratic drift of the mean anomaly of the satellite and obtained a value of 0.04 +/- 0.20 deg/yr^2, i.e., consistent with zero. The drift is substantially lower than predicted by the pure binary YORP (BYORP) theory of McMahon and Scheeres (McMahon, J., Scheeres, D. [2010]. Icarus 209, 494-509) and it is consistent with the theory of an equilibrium between BYORP and tidal torques for synchronous binary asteroids as proposed by Jacobson and Scheeres (Jacobson, S.A., Scheeres, D. [2011]. ApJ Letters, 736, L19). Based on the assumption of equilibrium, we derived a ratio of the quality factor and tidal Love number of Q/k = 2.4 x 10^5 uncertain by a factor of five. We also derived a product of the rigidity and quality factor of mu Q = 1.3 x 10^7 Pa using the theory that assumes an elastic response of the asteroid material to the tidal forces. This very low value indicates that the primary of 1996 FG3 is a 'rubble pile', and it also calls for a re-thinking of the tidal energy dissipation in close asteroid binary systems.Comment: Many changes based on referees comment

Household Disposal of Pharmaceuticals as a Pathway for Aquatic Contamination in the United Kingdom

Pharmaceuticals are produced and used in increasingly large volumes every year. With this growth comes concern about the fate and effects of these compounds in the environment. The discovery of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment has stimulated research in the last decade. A wide range of pharmaceuticals has been found in fresh and marine waters, and it has recently been shown that even in small quantities, some of these compounds have the potential to cause harm to aquatic life. The primary pathway into the environment is the use and disposal of medicines; although much of the research in the area currently focuses on the removal of pharmaceuticals during sewage treatment processes, disposal via household waste might be a significant pathway requiring further research. To investigate the household disposal of unused and expired pharmaceuticals as a source of pharmaceutical compounds in the environment, we carried out a survey and interviewed members of 400 households, predominantly from southeastern England. We used the information on when and how they disposed of unfinished pharmaceuticals to construct a conceptual model to assess the pathways of human pharmaceuticals into the environment. The model demonstrated that disposal of unused pharmaceuticals, either by household waste or via the sink or toilet, may be a prominent route that requires greater attention

Private research and public benefit: The private seed industry for sorghum and pearl millet in India

In contrast to conventional wisdom, private firms are spending substantial amounts of money on research to develop new cultivars for small-farmer, subsistence agriculture. Indian firms spend almost as much as the government on breeding pearl millet and sorghum. The hybrids developed by firms are becoming popular with farmers: about 900,000 ha were planted with private pearl millet and sorghum hybrids in 1987. The higher yields of private hybrids increased grain output by at least 200,000 t. Although prices for seed of private hybrids are higher than seed of cultivars developed by government research, most of the benefits from private breeding research accrue to farmers and consumers. ☆The research for this paper was primarily financed by USAID/New Delhi. We also received support from ICRISAT. We would like to thank the scientists of the AICSIP, A1CPMIP, IARI, officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, NSC, SSCs, and executives of private seed companies, for their cooperation. We also appreciate the comments of John Witcombe, Tom Walker, and Wayne Freeman on earlier drafts of this paper. The opinions expressed in the paper are those of the authors and do not represent the opinions of USAID or ICRISAT

The use of Pd catalysts on carbon-based structured materials for the catalytic hydrogenation of bromates in different types of water

[EN] The aim of this work is to study the activity of new Pd catalysts, supported on two different nano structured carbon materials, for bromate catalytic hydrogenation. The influence of the support has been studied, obtaining the best results with a palladium catalyst supported on carbon nanofibers (CNF) grown in sintered metal fibers (SMF). The results have shown the importance of the catalyst support in order to minimize the mass-transfer limitations ensuring an efficient catalyst use. In this way the most active catalysts are those with a mesoporous structure containing high dispersed Pd nanoparticles. The activity of this catalyst for bromate reduction has been tested in different types of water, namely, distilled water, natural water and industrial wastewater. It has been shown that the catalyst activity depends on the water matrix and bromate reduction rate depends on the hydrogen partial pressure. The potential use of the catalyst has been studied in a continuous reactor. It has been observed that the catalyst is active without any important deactivation at least during 100 h of reaction, but is necessary to avoid salt precipitation and plugging problems.The authors thank the European Union (European Community's Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement no. 226347 Project) for financial support. A.E. Palomares also acknowledges the support from the Spanish Government through the project MAT2012-38567-C02-01.Palomares Gimeno, AE.; Franch Martí, C.; Yuranova, T.; Kiwi-Minsker, L.; Garcia Bordeje, JE.; Derrouiche, S. (2014). The use of Pd catalysts on carbon-based structured materials for the catalytic hydrogenation of bromates in different types of water. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental. 146:186-191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2013.02.056S18619114

GMOs: Non-Health Issues

The controversy over genetically modified [GM] organisms is often framed in terms of possible hazards for human health. Articles in a previous volume of this *Encyclopedia* give a general overview of GM crops [@Mulvaney2014] and specifically examine human health [@Nordgard2014] and labeling [@Bruton2014] issues surrounding GM organisms. This article explores several other aspects of the controversy: environmental concerns, political and legal disputes, and the aim of "feeding the world" and promoting food security. Rather than discussing abstract, hypothetical GM organisms, this article explores the consequences of the GM organisms that have actually been deployed in the particular contexts that they have been deployed, on the belief that there is little point in discussing GM organisms in an idealized or context-independent way

Formation of asteroid pairs by rotational fission

Asteroid pairs sharing similar heliocentric orbits were found recently. Backward integrations of their orbits indicated that they separated gently with low relative velocities, but did not provide additional insight into their formation mechanism. A previously hypothesized rotational fission process4 may explain their formation - critical predictions are that the mass ratios are less than about 0.2 and, as the mass ratio approaches this upper limit, the spin period of the larger body becomes long. Here we report photometric observations of a sample of asteroid pairs revealing that primaries of pairs with mass ratios much less than 0.2 rotate rapidly, near their critical fission frequency. As the mass ratio approaches 0.2, the primary period grows long. This occurs as the total energy of the system approaches zero requiring the asteroid pair to extract an increasing fraction of energy from the primary's spin in order to escape. We do not find asteroid pairs with mass ratios larger than 0.2. Rotationally fissioned systems beyond this limit have insufficient energy to disrupt. We conclude that asteroid pairs are formed by the rotational fission of a parent asteroid into a proto-binary system which subsequently disrupts under its own internal system dynamics soon after formation.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, 1 table + Supplementary Informatio

Roles for H2A.Z and Its Acetylation in GAL1 Transcription and Gene Induction, but Not GAL1-Transcriptional Memory

H2A.Z does not appear to have a role in GAL1 transcriptional memory, but it does have both acetylation-dependent and acetylation-independent roles in GAL1 induction and expression

The three main monotheistic religions and gm food technology: an overview of perspectives

Abstract Background Public acceptance of genetically modified crops is partly rooted in religious views. However, the views of different religions and their potential influence on consumers' decisions have not been systematically examined and summarized in a brief overview. We review the positions of the Judaism, Islam and Christianity – the three major monotheistic religions to which more than 55% of humanity adheres to – on the controversies aroused by GM technology. Discussion The article establishes that there is no overarching consensus within the three religions. Overall, however, it appears that mainstream theology in all three religions increasingly tends towards acceptance of GM technology per se, on performing GM research, and on consumption of GM foods. These more liberal approaches, however, are predicated on there being rigorous scientific, ethical and regulatory scrutiny of research and development of such products, and that these products are properly labeled. Summary We conclude that there are several other interests competing with the influence exerted on consumers by religion. These include the media, environmental activists, scientists and the food industry, all of which function as sources of information and shapers of perception for consumers