Local Food Marketing as a Development Opportunity for Small UK Agri-Food Businesses

Local Food Marketing as a Development Opportunity for Small UK Agri-Food Businesseslocal food, marketing, small-business development, UK, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Production Economics, Risk and Uncertainty,

Hypermedia support for argumentation-based rationale: 15 years on from gIBIS and QOC

Having developed, used and evaluated some of the early IBIS-based approaches to design rationale (DR) such as gIBIS and QOC in the late 1980s/mid-1990s, we describe the subsequent evolution of the argumentation-based paradigm through software support, and perspectives drawn from modeling and meeting facilitation. Particular attention is given to the challenge of negotiating the overheads of capturing this form of rationale. Our approach has maintained a strong emphasis on keeping the representational scheme as simple as possible to enable real time meeting mediation and capture, attending explicitly to the skills required to use the approach well, particularly for the sort of participatory, multi-stakeholder requirements analysis demanded by many design problems. However, we can then specialize the notation and the way in which the tool is used in the service of specific methodologies, supported by a customizable hypermedia environment, and interoperable with other software tools. After presenting this approach, called Compendium, we present examples to illustrate the capabilities for support security argumentation in requirements engineering, template driven modeling for document generation, and IBIS-based indexing of and navigation around video records of meetings

An empirical determination of the dust mass absorption coefficient, κd, using the Herschel Reference Survey

We use the published photometry and spectroscopy of 22 galaxies in the Herschel Reference Survey to determine that the value of the dust mass absorption coefficient κ d at a wavelength of 500 μm is κ500 = (0.051 +0.070 −0.026) m^2 kg^-1. We do so by taking advantage of the fact that the dust-to-metals ratio in the interstellar medium of galaxies appears to be constant. We argue that our value for κd supersedes that of James et al. (2002) – who pioneered this approach for determining κd – because we take advantage of superior data, and account for a number of significant systematic effects that they did not consider. We comprehensively incorporate all methodological and observational contributions to establish the uncertainty on our value, which represents a marked improvement on the oft-quoted ‘order-of-magnitude’ uncertainty on κd . We find no evidence that the value of κd differs significantly between galaxies, or that it correlates with any other measured or derived galaxy properties. We note, however, that the availability of data limits our sample to relatively massive (10^9.7 < Mstar < 10&11.0 Msol ), high metallicity (8.61 < [12 + log 10 O/H] < 8.86) galaxies; future work will allow us to investigate a wider range of systems

A simple and rapid method for calculating identity-by-descent matrices using multiple markers

A fast, partly recursive deterministic method for calculating Identity-by-Descent (IBD) probabilities was developed with the objective of using IBD in Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) mapping. The method combined a recursive method for a single marker locus with a method to estimate IBD between sibs using multiple markers. Simulated data was used to compare the deterministic method developed in the present paper with a stochastic method (LOKI) for precision in estimating IBD probabilities and performance in the task of QTL detection with the variance component approach. This comparison was made in a variety of situations by varying family size and degree of polymorphism among marker loci. The following were observed for the deterministic method relative to MCMC: (i) it was an order of magnitude faster; (ii) its estimates of IBD probabilities were found to agree closely, even though it does not extract information when haplotypes are not known with certainty; (iii) the shape of the profile for the QTL test statistic as a function of location was similar, although the magnitude of the test statistic was slightly smaller; and (iv) the estimates of QTL variance was similar. It was concluded that the method proposed provided a rapid means of calculating the IBD matrix with only a small loss in precision, making it an attractive alternative to the use of stochastic MCMC methods. Furthermore, developments in marker technology providing denser maps would enhance the relative advantage of this method

Translating Research into Action: A Framework for Research That Supports Advances In Population Health

The research community faces a growing need to deliver useful data and actionable evidence to support health systems and policymakers on ways to optimize the health of populations. Translating science into policy has not been the traditional strong suit of investigators, who typically view a journal publication as the endpoint of their work. They are less accustomed to seeing their data as an input to the work of communities and policymakers to improve population health. This article offers four suggestions as potential solutions: (1) shaping a research portfolio around user needs, (2) understanding the decision-making environment, (3) engaging stakeholders, and (4) strategic communication

Muscarinic Inhibition of Calcium Current and M Current in Gα_q-Deficient Mice

Activation of M₁ muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (M₁ mAChR) inhibits M-type potassium currents (I_(K(M))) and N-type calcium currents (I_(Ca)) in mammalian sympathetic ganglia. Previous antisense experiments suggested that, in rat superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons, both effects were partly mediated by the G-protein Gα_q (Delmas et al., 1998a; Haley et al., 1998a), but did not eliminate a contribution by other pertussis toxin (PTX)-insensitive G-proteins. We have tested this further using mice deficient in the Gα_q gene. PTX-insensitive M₁ mAChR inhibition of I_(Ca) was strongly reduced in Gα_q −/− mouse SCG neurons and was fully restored by acute overexpression of Gα_q. In contrast, M₁mAChR inhibition of I_(K(M)) persisted in Gα_q−/− mouse SCG cells. However, unlike rat SCG neurons, muscarinic inhibition of I_(K(M)) was partly PTX-sensitive. Residual (PTX-insensitive)I_(K(M)) inhibition was slightly reduced in Gα_q −/− neurons, and the remaining response was then suppressed by anti-Gα_(q/11) antibodies. Bradykinin (BK) also inhibits IK(M) in rat SCG neurons via a PTX-insensitive G-protein (G_q and/or G₁₁; Jones et al., 1995). In mouse SCG neurons, I_(K(M)) inhibition by BK was fully PTX-resistant. It was unchanged in Gα_q −/− mice but was abolished by anti-Gα_(q/11) antibody. We conclude that, in mouse SCG neurons (1) M₁ mAChR inhibition of I_(Ca) is mediated principally by G_q, (2) M₁ mAChR inhibition of I_(K(M)) is mediated partly by G_q, more substantially by G₁₁, and partly by a PTX-sensitive G-protein(s), and (3) BK-induced inhibition of I_(K(M)) is mediated wholly by G₁₁

Russian wheat aphids (Diuraphis noxia) in China: Native range expansion or recent introduction?

In this study, we explore the population genetics of the Russian wheat aphid (RWA) (Diuraphis noxia), one of the world’s most invasive agricultural pests, in north-western China. We have analysed the data of 10 microsatellite loci and mitochondrial sequences from 27 populations sampled over 2 years in China. The results confirm that the RWAs are holocyclic in China with high genetic diversity indicating widespread sexual reproduction. Distinct differences in microsatellite genetic diversity and distribution revealed clear geographic isolation between RWA populations in northern and southern Xinjiang, China, with gene flow interrupted across extensive desert regions. Despite frequent grain transportation from north to south in this region, little evidence for RWA translocation as a result of human agricultural activities was found. Consequently, frequent gene flow among northern populations most likely resulted from natural dispersal, potentially facilitated by wind currents. We also found evidence for the longterm existence and expansion of RWAs in China, despite local opinion that it is an exotic species only present in China since 1975. Our estimated date of RWA expansion throughout China coincides with the debut of wheat domestication and cultivation practices in western Asia in the Holocene. We conclude that western China represents the limit of the far eastern native range of this species. This study is the most comprehensive molecular genetic investigation of the RWA in its native range undertaken to date and provides valuable insights into the history of the association of this aphid with domesticated cereals and wild grasses

Pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics of tazobactam in combination with cefepime in an in vitro infection model

We previously demonstrated that for tazobactam administered in combination with ceftolozane, the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) index that best described tazobactam efficacy was the percentage of the dosing interval that tazobactam concentrations were above a threshold (%T>threshold). Using data from studies of Enterobacteriaceae-producing ESBL, a relationship between tazobactam %T>threshold and reduction in log10 CFU from baseline, for which tazobactam threshold concentration was the product of the isolate's ceftolozane-tazobactam MIC value and 0.5, was identified. However, since the kinetics of cephalosporin hydrolysis vary among ESBLs and compounds, it is likely that the translational relationship to derive the tazobactam threshold concentration varies among enzymes and compounds. Using a one-compartment in vitro infection model, the PK-PD of tazobactam administered in combination with cefepime was characterized and a translational relationship across ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae was developed. Four clinical isolates, two Escherichia coli and two Klebsiella pneumoniae, known to produce CTX-M-15 β-lactamase enzymes and displaying cefepime MIC values of 2 to 4 mg/L in the presence of 4 mg/L tazobactam, were evaluated. Tazobactam threshold concentrations from 0.0625-1 times the tazobactam-potentiated cefepime MIC value were considered. The threshold that best described the relationship between tazobactam %T>threshold and change in log10 CFU from baseline was the product of 0.125 and the cefepime-tazobactam MIC (R2=0.813). The magnitude of %T>threshold associated with net bacterial stasis and a 1-log10 CFU/mL reduction from baseline at 24 hours was 21.9 and 52.8%, respectively. These data will be useful to support the identification of tazobactam dosing regimens in combination with cefepime for evaluation in future clinical studies