Potential Consequences of Intra-Regional Trade in Short-Term Food Security Crises in Southeastern Africa

A report prepared by Michigan State University for the World Bank under contract No. 7144132, Strengthening Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa through Trade Liberalization and Regional IntegrationAfrica, trade, emergency, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, Q13,

Distribution and incidence of viruses in Irish seed potato crops

peer-reviewedVirus diseases are of key importance in potato production and in particular for the production of disease-free potato seed. However, there is little known about the frequency and distribution of potato virus diseases in Ireland. Despite a large number of samples being tested each year, the data has never been collated either within or across years. Information from all known potato virus testing carried out in the years 2006–2012 by the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine was collated to give an indication of the distribution and incidence of potato virus in Ireland. It was found that there was significant variation between regions, varieties, years and seed classes. A definition of daily weather data suitable for aphid flight was developed, which accounted for a significant proportion of the variation in virus incidence between years. This use of weather data to predict virus risk could be developed to form the basis of an integrated pest management approach for aphid control in Irish potato crops

ergm: A Package to Fit, Simulate and Diagnose Exponential-Family Models for Networks

We describe some of the capabilities of the ergm package and the statistical theory underlying it. This package contains tools for accomplishing three important, and inter-related, tasks involving exponential-family random graph models (ERGMs): estimation, simulation, and goodness of fit. More precisely, ergm has the capability of approximating a maximum likelihood estimator for an ERGM given a network data set; simulating new network data sets from a fitted ERGM using Markov chain Monte Carlo; and assessing how well a fitted ERGM does at capturing characteristics of a particular network data set.

A statnet Tutorial

The statnet suite of R packages contains a wide range of functionality for the statistical analysis of social networks, including the implementation of exponential-family random graph (ERG) models. In this paper we illustrate some of the functionality of statnet through a tutorial analysis of a friendship network of 1,461 adolescents.

Time Course of Changes in Peripheral Blood Gene Expression During Medication Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder.

Changes in gene expression (GE) during antidepressant treatment may increase understanding of the action of antidepressant medications and serve as biomarkers of efficacy. GE changes in peripheral blood are desirable because they can be assessed easily on multiple occasions during treatment. We report here on GE changes in 68 individuals who were treated for 8 weeks with either escitalopram alone, or escitalopram followed by bupropion. GE changes were assessed after 1, 2, and 8 weeks of treatment, with significant changes observed in 156, 121, and 585 peripheral blood gene transcripts, respectively. Thirty-one transcript changes were shared between the 1- and 8-week time points (seven upregulated, 24 downregulated). Differences were detected between the escitalopram- and bupropion-treated subjects, although there was no significant association between GE changes and clinical outcome. A subset of 18 genes overlapped with those previously identified as differentially expressed in subjects with MDD compared with healthy control subjects. There was statistically significant overlap between genes differentially expressed in the current and previous studies, with 10 genes overlapping in at least two previous studies. There was no enrichment for genes overexpressed in nervous system cell types, but there was a trend toward enrichment for genes in the WNT/β-catenin pathway in the anterior thalamus; three genes in this pathway showed differential expression in the present and in three previous studies. Our dataset and other similar studies will provide an important source of information about potential biomarkers of recovery and for potential dysregulation of GE in MDD

Mechanisms for the Increased Fatigability of the Lower Limb in People with Type 2 Diabetes

Fatiguing exercise is the basis of exercise training and a cornerstone of management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), however, little is known about the fatigability of limb muscles and the involved mechanisms in people with T2D. The purpose was to compare fatigability of knee extensor muscles between people with T2D and controls without diabetes and determine the neural and muscular mechanisms for a dynamic fatiguing task. Seventeen people with T2D (10 men, 7 women: 59.6{plus minus}9.0 years) and 21 age-, BMI- and physical activity-matched controls (11 men, 10 women: 59.5{plus minus}9.6 years) performed 120 high-velocity concentric contractions (1 contraction/3 s) with a load equivalent to 20% maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) torque with the knee extensors. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electrical stimulation of the quadriceps were used to assess voluntary activation and contractile properties. People with T2D had larger reductions than controls in power during the fatiguing task (39.9{plus minus}20.2% vs. 28.3{plus minus}16.7%, P2=0.364, P=0.002). Although neural mechanisms contributed to fatigability, contractile mechanisms were responsible for the greater knee extensor fatigability in men and women with T2D compared with healthy controls