What Do We Know About the Economic Efficiency of Cooperatives: An Evaluative Survey

A debate has arisen concerning the economic efficiency of cooperatives relative to other organizational forms. This paper discusses the efficiency concepts and economic theory relevant to the debate and then proceeds to study the empirical evidence. No credible evidence exists to support the proposition that cooperatives are inefficient relative to investor-owned businesses.Agribusiness,

Factors Critical to the Success or Failure of Emerging Agricultural Cooperatives

Agribusiness,

An exploration of the outdoor play experiences of preschool children with autism spectrum disorder

Background: Outdoor play is seen as a crucial and valuable experience for all children. It is not an optional extra, but an essential component of a child’s everyday life and environment. Nonetheless, the literature consistently demonstrates that children with disabilities participate less in outdoor play in comparison to their typically developing peers. However, little research exists with regards to the play experiences of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in outdoor play. Thus, establishing the outdoor play experiences of children with ASD is of utmost importance. Aims: The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and understand the outdoor play experiences of preschool children with ASD, as a means to better understand what play meant to them, how they experienced play, and to identify the supports required to facilitate their participation in outdoor play in their preschool setting. Participants: Seventeen participants informed the findings of this study: six children in a special ASD class, five mothers, and six members of preschool staff. Materials and Methods: A qualitative methodology was used. The study employed a multi-method approach combining one focus group, semi-structured interviews, playground observations, and projective techniques. First-person perspectives of the children were sought, a rarity in research, that their voices might further illuminate their needs. Findings: Three core themes emerged: features of play (freedom to do my thing, being with others), opportunities for play (what is available, when it is available, why it is available), and power of play (how I feel about play, what play does to me). Conclusion: The findings of this study support the premise that outdoor play is important to children with ASD, and necessary and valuable for them. In this study, outdoor play was highly valued by all participants and strongly supported by teachers and parents. The children with ASD had varied outdoor play experiences relating to affordances at school and home, including social, sensory and physical dimensions. While the children experienced challenges to their play, particularly in social domains, the outdoor context provided unique opportunities for these to be addressed and explored

Genome analysis of the necrotrophic fungal pathogens Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea are closely related necrotrophic plant pathogenic fungi notable for their wide host ranges and environmental persistence. These attributes have made these species models for understanding the complexity of necrotrophic, broad host-range pathogenicity. Despite their similarities, the two species differ in mating behaviour and the ability to produce asexual spores. We have sequenced the genomes of one strain of S. sclerotiorum and two strains of B. cinerea. The comparative analysis of these genomes relative to one another and to other sequenced fungal genomes is provided here. Their 38–39 Mb genomes include 11,860–14,270 predicted genes, which share 83% amino acid identity on average between the two species. We have mapped the S. sclerotiorum assembly to 16 chromosomes and found large-scale co-linearity with the B. cinerea genomes. Seven percent of the S. sclerotiorum genome comprises transposable elements compared t

The Primary PE and School Sport Premium

Central to London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, was the Government’s commitment to improve competitive sport and the sporting habits of young people (Ofsted, 2014). On the 12th March 2013, the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced that Primary Schools in England would receive funding worth £150 million per year to create a sustainable infrastructure for long-lasting change and improve the provision of physical education (PE) and sport across all state maintained primary schools. Speaking at the time, he said: ‘We can create a culture in our schools that encourages all children to be active and enjoy sport.’ He added: ‘The Olympic and Paralympic Games marked an incredible year for this country and I will always be proud that we showed the world what Britain can do. I want to ensure the Games count for the future too and that means capitalising on the inspiration young people took from what they saw during those summer months.’: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/21808982 Six years on, and with a total investment now of over £1.2 billion, the Primary PE and Sport Premium (here onwards referred to as the PESS Premium) has been a defining feature of the London 2012 legacy. Invariably funding streams at this level do not last forever or in the same format, which raises significant questions about what impact the funding has had on young people since 2013. We believe that a significant investment from Government merits debate and accountability at the highest possible level and that it should acknowledge where the opportunities and shortcomings of such a policy have left us. During the years of austerity, mounting concerns have arisen over the present and long term state of children’s health and the need for the debate to be heard is now imperative. To date there has been little critical appraisal of the PESS Premium funding. This report aims to begin a necessary process and in doing so, brings together evidence from across the sector to consider the future of the PESS Premium post 2018. During the course of the report, we outline and underpin the holistic value and importance of PE for every child. We examine the historic status and funding of PE and Sport and the nature and increasing diversity of the workforce. How has the PESS Premium funding impacted the way in which the subject is regarded and the ability of those tasked with delivering it to discharge their responsibilities? We have uncovered an abiding uncertainty about the nature of the PESS Premium itself; the ways in which it may be spent and its effect on an increasing divide between PE specialists, generalists and externally contracted coaches. Will its legacy be to have established a secure foundation for lifelong physical activity, sport and education – or is it, in effect, another temporarily seductive mirage, leaving PE precisely where it has become accustomed to be; regularly sidelined, delivered largely by those who are not qualified teachers and perpetuating the status quo for the children who already belong to groups that are perceived to be at a disadvantage? The PESS Premium funding is a significant sum and these questions deserve answers. This report is therefore our contribution to an essential debate, containing practical suggestions that we hope will be of use to policy makers. We invite all who care about the physical and mental health and emotional wellbeing of children to join the discussion

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin