Assessing the potential economic benefits to farmers from various GM crops becoming available in the European Union by 2025: results from an expert survey

This paper reports on a study that identified a range of crop-trait combinations that are: agronomically suited to the EU; provide advantages to arable farmers and consumers; and are either already available in international markets, or advancing along the development pipeline and likely to become available by 2025. An expert stakeholder panel was recruited and asked for their views, using the Delphi approach, on the impact of these crop-traits on enterprise competitiveness, through changes to yields, production costs and product prices. In terms of input traits, there was consensus that traits such as herbicide tolerant/insect resistant (HT/IR) maize, HT sugar beet and HT soya bean would provide positive benefits for farmers. Output-side traits such as winter-sown rape with reduced saturated fats, were seen as offering benefits to consumers, but were either likely to be restricted to niche markets, or offer relatively modest price premia to farmers growing them. Our analysis of the financial impact of the adoption of GM crops more widely in the EU, showed that the competitiveness of the agricultural sector could well be improved by this. However, such improvements would be relatively small-scale in that large-scale national natural advantages from either economic or environmental conditions is unlikely to be overturned

Identifying GM crops for future cultivation in the EU through a Delphi forecasting exercise

This paper reports on a Delphi forecasting exercise carried out to identify crop traits that could feasibly be introduced to the advantage of arable farmers, and for the general benefit of the public, in EU member states. An expert stakeholder panel was recruited and asked for opinions on scenarios concerning the availability of GM events, and also scenarios that envisage novel crops developed using advanced technology not classified as GM. In a second round of consultation, panel members commented anonymously on opinions elicited in the first phase. Results indicate that crops with input traits most likely to become available in the EU before 2025 are HTIR maize, HT sugarbeet and HT soybean; these are already widely adopted outside Europe. The crops with output traits most likely to become available and offering benefits to consumers are winter-sown varieties of rape with reduced saturated fats, spring varieties of which are already available outside EU (notably Canadian Canola)

A review of the financial impact of production diseases in poultry production systems

Whilst the academic literature widely asserts that production diseases have a significant financial impact on poultry production, these claims are rarely supported by empirical 17 evidence. There is a risk, therefore, that the information needs of poultry producers regarding the costs associated with particular diseases are not being adequately met. A systematic literature review of poultry production diseases was undertaken, first to scope the availability of studies that estimate the financial impacts of production diseases on poultry systems and second, based on these studies, estimates were generated of the magnitude of these impacts. Nine production diseases, selected by a panel of stakeholders as being economically important in the EU, were examined. The review found that the poultry disease literature has primarily an epidemiological focus, with very few publications providing estimates of the financial impacts of diseases. However, some publications quantified the physical impacts of production diseases and control interventions, e.g. using measures such as output volumes, mortality rates, bacteria counts, etc. Using these data in standard financial models, partial financial analyses were possible for some poultry production diseases. Coccidiosis and clostridiosis were found to be the most common production diseases in broiler flocks, with salpingoperitonitis the most common in layers. While the financial impact of untreated diseases varied, most uncontrolled diseases were estimated to make flocks loss-making. However, in all cases, interventions were available that signficantly reduced these losses. The review reinforces the concern that the available literature is not providing sufficient information for poultry producers to decide on financially-optimal disease prevention and treatment measures

Factors affecting dairy farmers' attitudes towards antimicrobial medicine usage in cattle in England and Wales

There has been growing concern about bacterial resistance to antimicrobials in the farmed livestock sector. Attention has turned to sub-optimal use of antimicrobials as a driver of resistance. Recent reviews have identified a lack of data on the pattern of antimicrobial use as an impediment to the design of measures to tackle this growing problem. This paper reports on a study that explored use of antibiotics by dairy farmers and factors influencing their decision-making around this usage. We found that respondents had either recently reduced their use of antibiotics, or planned to do so. Advice from their veterinarian was instrumental in this. Over 70% thought reducing antibiotic usage would be a good thing to do. The most influential source of information used was their own veterinarian. Some 50% were unaware of the available guidelines on use in cattle production. However, 97% thought it important to keep treatment records. The Theory of Planned Behaviour was used to identify dairy farmers’ drivers and barriers to reduce use of antibiotics. Intention to reduce usage was weakly correlated with current and past practice of antibiotic use, whilst the strongest driver was respondents’ belief that their social and advisory network would approve of them doing this. The higher the proportion of income from milk production and the greater the chance of remaining in milk production, the significantly higher the likelihood of farmers exhibiting positive intention to reduce antibiotic usage. Such farmers may be more commercially minded than others and thus more cost-conscious or, perhaps, more aware of possible future restrictions. Strong correlation was found between farmers’ perception of their social referents’ beliefs and farmers’ intent to reduce antibiotic use. Policy makers should target these social referents, especially veterinarians, with information on the benefits from, and the means to, achieving reductions in antibiotic usage. Information on sub-optimal use of antibiotics as a driver of resistance in dairy herds and in humans along with advice on best farm practice to minimise risk of disease and ensure animal welfare, complemented with data on potential cost savings from reduced antibiotic use would help improve poor practice

Tracking the Lifecycle of a 21700 Cell: A 4D Tomography and Digital Disassembly Study

Extending the lifetime of commercial Li-ion cells is among the most important challenges to facilitate the continued electrification of transport as demonstrated by the substantial volume of literature dedicated to identifying degradation mechanisms in batteries. Here, we conduct a long-term study on a cylindrical Li-ion cell, tracking the evolution of the structure of the cell using X-ray computed tomography. By evaluating the internal geometry of the cell over several hundreds of cycles we show a causal relationship between changes in the electrode structure and the capacity fade associated with cell aging. The rapid aging which occurs as cells reach their end-of-life condition is mirrored in a significant acceleration in internal architecture changes. This work also shows the importance of consistent and accurate manufacturing processes with small defects in the jelly-roll being shown to act as nucleation sites for the structural degradation and by extension capacity fade

Activation of HuR downstream of p38 MAPK promotes cardiomyocyte hypertrophy

The RNA binding protein Human antigen R (HuR) interacts with specific AU-rich domains in target mRNAs and is highly expressed in many cell types, including cardiomyocytes. However, the role of HuR in cardiac physiology is largely unknown. Our results show that HuR undergoes cytoplasmic translocation, indicative of its activation, in hypertrophic cardiac myocytes. Specifically, HuR cytoplasmic translocation is significantly increased in NRVMs (neonatal rat ventricular myocytes) following treatment with phenylephrine or angiotensin II, agonists of two independent Gαq-coupled GPCRs known to induce hypertrophy. This Gq-mediated HuR activation is dependent on p38 MAP kinase, but not canonical Gq-PKC signaling. Furthermore, we show that HuR activation is necessary for Gq-mediated hypertrophic growth of NRVMs as siRNA-mediated knockdown of HuR inhibits hypertrophy as measured by cell size and expression of ANF (atrial natriuretic factor). Additionally, HuR overexpression is sufficient to induce hypertrophic cell growth. To decipher the downstream mechanisms by which HuR translocation promotes cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, we assessed the role of HuR in the transcriptional activity of NFAT (nuclear factor of activated T cells), the activation of which is a hallmark of cardiac hypertrophy. Using an NFAT-luciferase reporter assay, we show an acute inhibition of NFAT transcriptional activity following pharmacological inhibition of HuR. In conclusion, our results identify HuR as a novel mediator of cardiac hypertrophy downstream of the Gq-p38 MAPK pathway, and suggest modulation of NFAT activity as a potential mechanism

What do stakeholders want in relation to the control of production diseases?

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Correction: Folate Augmentation of Treatment – Evaluation for Depression (FolATED): protocol of a randomised controlled trial

This correction reports changes in our protocol since its publication. These include changes to authorship and acknowledgements, together with improvements to study design and procedures, and correction of an internal inconsistency. The improvements relate to the exclusion criteria, assessments carried out at screening, and mode of data collection

The SmartTarget BIOPSY trial: A prospective, within-person randomised, blinded trial comparing the accuracy of visual-registration and MRI/ultrasound image-fusion targeted biopsies for prostate cancer risk stratification

Background: Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI)-targeted prostate biopsies can improve detection of clinically significant prostate cancer and decrease the overdetection of insignificant cancers. Whether visual-registration targeting is sufficient or if augmentation with image-fusion software is needed is unknown. Objective: To assess concordance between the two methods. Design, Setting, and Participants: We conducted a blinded, within-person randomised, paired validating clinical trial. From 2014 to 2016, 141 men who had undergone a prior (positive or negative) transrectal ultrasound biopsy and had a discrete lesion on mpMRI (score 3 to 5) requiring targeted transperineal biopsy were enrolled at a UK academic hospital; 129 underwent both biopsy strategies and completed the study. Intervention: The order of performing biopsies using visual-registration and a computer-assisted MRI/ultrasound image-fusion system (SmartTarget) on each patient was randomised. The equipment was reset between biopsy strategies to mitigate incorporation bias. Outcome Measurements and Statistical Analysis: The proportion of clinically significant prostate cancer (primary outcome: Gleason pattern ≥3+4=7, maximum cancer core length ≥4 mm; secondary outcome: Gleason pattern ≥4+3=7, maximum cancer core length ≥6 mm) detected by each method was compared using McNemar's test of paired proportions. Results and Limitations: The two strategies combined detected 93 clinically significant prostate cancers (72% of the cohort). Each strategy individually detected 80/93 (86%) of these cancers; each strategy detected 13 cases missed by the other. Three patients experienced adverse events related to biopsy (urinary retention, urinary tract infection, nausea and vomiting). No difference in urinary symptoms, erectile function, or quality of life between baseline and follow-up (median 10.5 weeks) was observed. The key limitation was lack of parallel-group randomisation and limit on number of targeted cores. Conclusions: Visual-registration and image-fusion targeting strategies combined had the highest detection rate for clinically significant cancers. Targeted prostate biopsy should be performed using both strategies together. Patient Summary: We compared two prostate cancer biopsy strategies: visual-registration and image-fusion. The combination of the two strategies found the most clinically important cancers and should be used together whenever targeted biopsy is being performed