Futures Basis for Cotton: Impact of Globalization and Structural Change

A model of commodity futures contract basis was developed based on Working’s theory of the price of storage. An error-correction model was estimated for the basis for the InterContinental Exchange (ICE) #2 cotton contract maturing in December during 2000-08. The model was also extended to incorporate the impact of changes in market activity that evolved as financial markets and commodity price behavior underwent significant changes after 2005. The model captured the inversion of basis following the collapse of China’s crop in 2003, but the shock realized during 2008 may have been in part driven by one-time events not included in the model. Estimates from the error-correction model suggest an extended period for the return of basis to equilibrium, spanning from about 1 ½ to 2 months.Basis, futures markets, cotton, error-correction model, Agribusiness, Demand and Price Analysis, Marketing,

PERSPECTIVES ON COTTON GLOBAL TRADE REFORMS

World cotton prices fell to nearly unprecedented levels during the 2001/02 marketing year, causing distress to cotton producers and exporters worldwide. In a number of developing countries highly dependent on cotton for export earnings or where cotton is the primary cash crop, this distress was particularly acute. Global trade barriers to cotton are widespread, leading to some concern about the relationship between these trade barriers and global welfare. In particular, with the Doha Development Agenda's negotiations underway, discussion about the impact of trade barriers on the cotton sectors of developing countries has become more intense. A static computable general equilibrium (CGE) model finds that removing cotton tariffs and other trade barriers to cotton by all countries increases global welfare but only slightly. Global welfare improves with liberalization, and the welfare of developing countries in aggregate also improves. However, while some developing countries demonstrably benefit, not all developing countries see welfare gains. In addition to welfare, removing all global cotton trade barriers increases world trade in cotton.International Relations/Trade,

USDA PERSPECTIVE ON THE OUTLOOK FOR COTTON

Crop Production/Industries,

USDA PERSPECTIVE ON THE OUTLOOK FOR COTTON

Crop Production/Industries,

The United States and World Cotton Outlook

Crop Production/Industries,

The United States and World Cotton Outlook

Crop Production/Industries,

Vision-related symptoms as a clinical feature of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis? Evidence from the DePaul Symptom Questionnaire

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) is a debilitating disorder, affecting at least 250,000 people in the UK. Marked by debilitating fatigue, its aetiology is poorly understood and diagnosis controversial. A number of symptoms overlap with other illnesses with the result that CFS/ME is commonly misdiagnosed. It is important therefore that significant clinical features are investigated. People diagnosed with CFS/ME consistently report that they experience vision-related symptoms associated with their illness1-3 with some of these reports being verified experimentally. Although vision-related symptoms may represent a significant clinical feature of CFS/ME that could be useful in its diagnosis, they have yet to be included in clinical guidelines

Ethanol Regulation of Synaptic GABAA 4 Receptors Is Prevented by Protein Kinase A Activation

Ethanol alters GABAA receptor trafficking and function through activation of protein kinases, and these changes may underlie ethanol dependence and withdrawal. In this study, we used subsynaptic fraction techniques and patch-clamp electrophysiology to investigate the biochemical and functional effects of protein kinase A (PKA) and protein kinase C (PKC) activation by ethanol on synaptic GABAAα4 receptors, a key target of ethanol-induced changes. Rat cerebral cortical neurons were grown for 18 days in vitro and exposed to ethanol and/or kinase modulators for 4 hours, a paradigm that recapitulates GABAergic changes found after chronic ethanol exposure in vivo. PKA activation by forskolin or rolipram during ethanol exposure prevented increases in P2 fraction α4 subunit abundance, whereas inhibiting PKA had no effect. Similarly, in the synaptic fraction, activation of PKA by rolipram in the presence of ethanol prevented the increase in synaptic α4 subunit abundance, whereas inhibiting PKA in the presence of ethanol was ineffective. Conversely, PKC inhibition in the presence of ethanol prevented the ethanol-induced increases in synaptic α4 subunit abundance. Finally, we found that either activating PKA or inhibiting PKC in the presence of ethanol prevented the ethanol-induced decrease in GABA miniature inhibitory postsynaptic current decay τ1, whereas inhibiting PKA had no effect. We conclude that PKA and PKC have opposing effects in the regulation of synaptic α4 receptors, with PKA activation negatively modulating, and PKC activation positively modulating, synaptic α4 subunit abundance and function. These results suggest potential targets for restoring normal GABAergic functioning in the treatment of alcohol use disorders

Differential regulation of synaptic and extrasynaptic α4 GABA(A) receptor populations by protein kinase A and protein kinase C in cultured cortical neurons

The GABAA α4 subunit exists in two distinct populations of GABAA receptors. Synaptic GABAA α4 receptors are localized at the synapse and mediate phasic inhibitory neurotransmission, while extrasynaptic GABAA receptors are located outside of the synapse and mediate tonic inhibitory transmission. These receptors have distinct pharmacological and biophysical properties that contribute to interest in how these different subtypes are regulated under physiological and pathological states. We utilized subcellular fractionation procedures to separate these populations of receptors in order to investigate their regulation by protein kinases in cortical cultured neurons. Protein kinase A (PKA) activation decreases synaptic α4 expression while protein kinase C (PKC) activation increases α4 subunit expression, and these effects are associated with increased β3 S408/409 or γ2 S327 phosphorylation respectively. In contrast, PKA activation increases extrasynaptic α4 and δ subunit expression, while PKC activation has no effect. Our findings suggest synaptic and extrasynaptic GABAA α4 subunit expression can be modulated by PKA to inform the development of more specific therapeutics for neurological diseases that involve deficits in GABAergic transmission

A randomized library approach to identifying functional lox site domains for the Cre recombinase

The bacteriophage P1 Cre/loxP site-specific recombination system is a useful tool in a number of genetic engineering processes. The Cre recombinase has been shown to act on DNA sequences that vary considerably from that of its bacteriophage recognition sequence, loxP. However, little is known about the sequence requirements for functional lox-like sequences. In this study, we have implemented a randomized library approach to identify the sequence characteristics of functional lox site domains. We created a randomized spacer library and a randomized arm library, and then tested them for recombination in vivo and in vitro. Results from the spacer library show that, while there is great plasticity, identity between spacer pairs is the most important factor influencing function, especially in in vitro reactions. The presence of one completely randomized arm in a functional loxP recombination reaction revealed that only three wild-type loxP arms are necessary for successful recombination in Cre-expressing bacteria, and that there are nucleotide preferences at the first three and last three positions of the randomized arm for the most efficiently recombined sequences. Finally, we found that in vitro Cre recombination reactions are much more stringent for evaluating which sequences can support efficient recombination compared to the 294-CRE system