TARGET MARKETS FOR RETAIL OUTLETS OF LANDSCAPE PLANTS

Merchandisers of landscape plants can increase the effectiveness of their marketing strategies by identifying target markets. Using a full information maximum likelihood tobit procedure on a system of three equations, target markets for different types of retail outlets in Georgia were identified. The results lend support and empirical evidence to the premise that different retail outlet types have different target markets and thus should develop different market strategies. The estimated target markets are identified and possible marketing strategies suitable for each type of retail outlet are suggested.Crop Production/Industries,

Agricultural research: a growing global divide?

"Sustained, well-targeted, and effectively used investments in R&D have reaped handsome rewards from improved agricultural productivity and cheaper, higher quality foods and fibers. As we begin a new millennium, the global patterns of investments in agricultural R&D are changing in ways that may have profound consequences for the structure of agriculture worldwide and the ability of poor people in poor counties to feed themselves. This report documents and discusses these changing investment patterns, highlighting developments in the public and private sectors. It revises and carries forward to 2000 data that were previously reported in the 2001 IFPRI Food Policy Report Slow Magic: Agricultural R&D a Century After Mendel. Some past trends are continuing or have come into sharper focus, while others are moving in new directions not apparent in the previous series. In addition, this report illustrates the use of spatial data to analyze spillover prospects among countries or agroecologies and the targeting of R&D to address specific production problems like drought-induced production risks." Authors' PrefaceResearch and development, Agricultural productivity, Investments, Agricultural research, Poverty, Public investment, Private sector, Spatial analysis (Statistics),

Spectrophotomatic Assay for the Enzyme Catalyzed Reaction of 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide with Glutathione

4-Nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4NQO(is a toxic and carcinogenic compound that has been reported to be subject to conjugation with glutathione (GSH). This reaction may proceed non-enzymatically or be catalyzed by GSH transferases. The non-enzymatic rate for this reaction has been reported to be very high. The purposes of this investigation were to develop a spectrophotometric assay for the reaction of4NQO with GSH and to determine whether the rate for the enzyme catalyzed reaction was significant relative to the non-enzymatic reaction. The absorbance spectrum of 4NQO in phosphate buffer exhibited a maximum at 365 nm. Reaction of 4NQO with GSH was accompanied by a shift to 353 nm and an absorbance increase which was maximal at 350 nm. The formation of product could be quantitated from the increase in absorbance at 350 nm, where the change in the millimolar extinction coefficient was 7.20 mM^-1 cm^-1. Although the non-enzymatic reaction of 4NQO and GSH proceeded rapidly at or above pH 8, at physiological pH this reaction was largely enzyme dependent. In an assay system containing 0.1 mM 4NQO, 1 mM GSH, and 0.1 M potassium phosphate, at 25°C, the conjugation of 4NQO with GSH by mouse livercytosol was optimal at pH 6.5 - 7.5. At pH 6.5 and 1 mM GSH, a GSH transferase purified from mouse liver catalyzed the reaction of 4NQO with GSH with a maximum velocity of 156 μmoles/min per mg of protein. The Km for 4NQO was 35 μM. The high activity of liver cytosol in promoting the reaction of 4NQO with GSH and the high affinity of the purified GSH transferase for 4NQO suggest that enzymatic catalysis of this reaction may be of considerable significance in vivo

Air Insufflation of the Stomach Following Laparoscopic Pyloromyotomy May Not Detect Perforation

Air insufflation of the stomach during laparoscopic pyloromyotomy does not reliably rule-out perforation

Evidence for the importance of resonance scattering in X-ray emission line profiles of the O star ζ\zeta Puppis

We fit the Doppler profiles of the He-like triplet complexes of \ion{O}{7} and \ion{N}{6} in the X-ray spectrum of the O star $\zeta$ Puppis, using XMM-Newton RGS data collected over $\sim 400$ ks of exposure. We find that they cannot be well fit if the resonance and intercombination lines are constrained to have the same profile shape. However, a significantly better fit is achieved with a model incorporating the effects of resonance scattering, which causes the resonance line to become more symmetric than the intercombination line for a given characteristic continuum optical depth $\tau_*$. We discuss the plausibility of this hypothesis, as well as its significance for our understanding of Doppler profiles of X-ray emission lines in O stars.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures, revised version accepted by Ap

Landing and catalytic characterization of individual nanoparticles on electrode surfaces

We demonstrate a novel and versatile pipet-based approach to study the landing of individual nanoparticles (NPs) on various electrode materials without any need for encapsulation or fabrication of complex substrate electrode structures, providing great flexibility with respect to electrode materials. Because of the small electrode area defined by the pipet dimensions, the background current is low, allowing for the detection of minute current signals with good time resolution. This approach was used to characterize the potential-dependent activity of Au NPs and to measure the catalytic activity of a single NP on a TEM grid, combining electrochemical and physical characterization at the single NP level for the first time. Such measurements open up the possibility of studying the relation between the size, structure and activity of catalyst particles unambiguously

Prevention effects on trajectories of African American adolescents\u27 exposure to interparental conflict and depressive symptoms.

The present study investigates the trajectory of children\u27s exposure to interparental conflict during adolescence, its effects on adolescents\u27 psychological adjustment, as well as the ability of a family-centered prevention program to alter this trajectory. A total of 331 African American couples with an adolescent or preadolescent child participated in a randomized control trial of the Promoting Strong African American Families program, a newly developed program targeting couple and cocaregiving processes. Using a multi-informant, latent growth curve approach, child exposure to interparental conflict during adolescence was found to be stable over a period of 2 years among families in the control group, but significantly declined among families in the treatment condition. Rates of change were significantly different between intervention and control groups based on parents\u27 report of youth exposure to interparental conflict, but not for child\u27s report. Structural equation models found trajectory parameters of interparental conflict predicted changes in adolescent depressive symptoms, with increasing rates of changes in conflict associated with increases in adolescent internalizing symptoms over the 2-year duration of the study. Finally, a significant indirect effect was identified linking treatment, changes in parents\u27 reports of child exposure to interparental conflict, and adolescent depressive symptoms. The implications for research and intervention are discussed

New insight into the role of the β3 subunit of the GABAA-R in development, behavior, body weight regulation, and anesthesia revealed by conditional gene knockout

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The β3 subunit of the γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptor (GABA_A-R) has been reported to be important for palate formation, anesthetic action, and normal nervous system function. This subunit has also been implicated in the pathogenesis of Angelman syndrome and autism spectrum disorder. To further investigate involvement of this subunit, we previously produced mice with a global knockout of β3. However, developmental abnormalities, compensation, reduced viability, and numerous behavioral abnormalities limited the usefulness of that murine model. To overcome many of these limitations, a mouse line with a conditionally inactivated β3 gene was engineered.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Gene targeting and embryonic stem cell technologies were used to create mice in which exon 3 of the β3 subunit was flanked by loxP sites (i.e., floxed). Crossing the floxed β3 mice to a cre general deleter mouse line reproduced the phenotype of the previously described global knockout. Pan-neuronal knockout of β3 was achieved by crossing floxed β3 mice to Synapsin I-cre transgenic mice. Palate development was normal in pan-neuronal β3 knockouts but ~61% died as neonates. Survivors were overtly normal, fertile, and were less sensitive to etomidate. Forebrain selective knockout of β3 was achieved using α CamKII-cre transgenic mice. Palate development was normal in forebrain selective β3 knockout mice. These knockouts survived the neonatal period, but ~30% died between 15–25 days of age. Survivors had reduced reproductive fitness, reduced sensitivity to etomidate, were hyperactive, and some became obese.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Conditional inactivation of the β3 gene revealed novel insight into the function of this GABA_A-R subunit. The floxed β3 knockout mice described here will be very useful for conditional knockout studies to further investigate the role of the β3 subunit in development, ethanol and anesthetic action, normal physiology, and pathophysiologic processes.</p

Relationship Between Neck Circumference and Cardiometabolic Parameters in HIV-Infected and non–HIV-Infected Adults

OBJECTIVE: Upper body fat is associated with increased cardiometabolic risk. More recently, neck circumference (NC) and/or neck fat have been associated with hyperlipidemia, impaired glucose homeostasis, and hypertension. The objective of this study was to determine whether this relationship is evident in HIV-infected individuals, who often exhibit changes in relative fat distribution, and to determine whether NC is independently associated with carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in HIV and non–HIV-infected patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Body composition, including anthropometrics, visceral adipose tissue assessment by CT, and metabolic parameters, including lipids, cIMT, and oral glucose tolerance test, were measured in 174 men and women with HIV infection and 154 non–HIV-infected subjects. NC was measured in triplicate inferior to the laryngeal prominence. RESULTS: In univariate analysis, NC was significantly and positively related to blood pressure, hemoglobin A1c, glucose, and insulin and significantly and negatively related to HDL cholesterol in HIV-infected individuals and HIV-negative control subjects. NC was significantly associated with cIMT in univariate regression analysis among HIV-infected (r = 0.21, P = 0.006) and non–HIV-infected (r = 0.31, P = 0.0001) patients. This relationship remained significant among non–HIV-infected patients (R2 = 0.45, P < 0.001) but not HIV-infected patients in multivariate modeling controlling for age, sex, race, smoking hypertension, glucose, and lipids. CONCLUSIONS: Among both HIV and non–HIV-infected patients, increased NC is strongly associated with decreased HDL and impaired glucose homeostasis. Among non–HIV-infected subjects, NC also predicts increased cIMT when controlling for traditional risk factors

Effects of Past Low Lake Levels and Future Climate-Related Low Lake Levels on Lake Michigan, Chicago, and the Illinois Shoreline

This study concerned 1) effects and adjustments resulting from the record-low levels of Lake Michigan during 1964-1965, and 2) the potential effects of future low water levels resulting from expected climate changes. The low lake levels of the 1960s did not cause many major impacts at the time they occurred. The two major imparts discerned, damage to shoreline structures and encroachment of structures onto areas closer to the lake, resulted because of a sequence in which the low water levels were followed by high levels. Climate scenarios based on three global climate model estimates showing a doubling of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, and scenarios based on extreme annual precipitation values from a 133-year period on the Great Lakes basin, were used to determine potential future low lake levels. Possible economic impacts were then determined. If the lake level is reduced from current averages by 0.86 to 1.0 meter during the next 50 years, economic impacts should not be very severe and could probably be handled largely by normal maintenance and replacement costs. Illinois shoreline impacts would cost about $100 million. If the lake level is reduced from current averages by 1.25 or 2.52 meters, more sizable economic imparts will occur, costing up to an estimated$291 million and $545 million, respectively. Parts of these costs could be handled by normal replacement costs, particularly if a master plan for changing affected facilities is implemented. The degree of climate change and ensuing lake level will greatly affect the seriousness of the economic outcome, but the environmental and water resource effects are extremely serious under all the climate scenarios.publishedpeer reviewedOpe