ECONOMETRIC INVESTIGATION OF THE DYNAMIC EFFECTS OF THE 1983 PAYMENT-IN-KIND PROGRAM ON THE WHEAT ECONOMY

A stochastic, dynamic, and control-system econometric model of the wheat sector is developed to assess the effects of the Payment-in Kind program. Empirical results the complex dynamics of the responses. Reduced storage costs and deficiency payments for the U.S. government and increased income for wheat farmers are benefits from the PIK program in the short-run. Increased direct government transfers from the public to support the program were required. The long-run economic implications are not clearly desirable. This is due primarily to the highly sensitive international wheat market.Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries,

Analyzing the Binding of Co(II)-specific Inhibitors to the Methionyl Aminopeptidases from \u3cem\u3eEscherichia coli\u3c/em\u3e and \u3cem\u3ePyrococcus furiosus\u3c/em\u3e

Methionine aminopeptidases (MetAPs) represent a unique class of protease that is capable of the hydrolytic removal of an N-terminal methionine residue from nascent polypeptide chains. MetAPs are physiologically important enzymes; hence, there is considerable interest in developing inhibitors that can be used as antiangiogenic and antimicrobial agents. A detailed kinetic and spectroscopic study has been performed to probe the binding of a triazole-based inhibitor and a bestatin-based inhibitor to both Mn(II)- and Co(II)-loaded type-I (Escherichia coli) and type-II (Pyrococcus furiosus) MetAPs. Both inhibitors were found to be moderate competitive inhibitors. The triazole-type inhibitor was found to interact with both active-site metal ions, while the bestatin-type inhibitor was capable of switching its mode of binding depending on the metal in the active site and the type of MetAP enzyme

Alternate cyclin D1 mRNA splicing modulates P27\u3csup\u3eKlP1\u3c/sup\u3e binding and cell migration

Cyclin D1 is an important cell cycle regulator but in cancer its overexpression also increases cellular migration mediated by p27KlP1 stabilization and RhoA inhibition. Recently, a common polymorphism at the exon 4-intron 4 boundary of the human cyclin D1 gene within a splice donor region was associated with an altered risk of developing cancer. Altered RNA splicing caused by this polymorphism gives rise to a variant cyclin D1 isoform termed cyclin D1b, which has the same N-terminus as the canonical cyclin D1a isoform but a distinct C-terminus. In this study we show that these different isoforms have unique properties with regard to the cellular migration function of cyclin D1. Whereas they displayed little difference in transcriptional co-repression assays on idealized reporter genes, microarray cDNA expression analysis revealed differential regulation of genes including those that influence cellular migration. Additionally, while cyclin D1a stabilized p27KIP1 and inhibited RhoA-induced ROCK kinase activity, promoting cellular migration, cyclin D1b failed to stabilize p27KIP1 or inhibit ROCK kinase activity and had no effect on migration. Our findings argue that alternate splicing is an important determinant of the function of cyclin D1 in cellular migration

Tracing the Origins and Evolution of Small Planets using Their Orbital Obliquities

We recommend an intensive effort to survey and understand the obliquity distribution of small close-in extrasolar planets over the coming decade. The orbital obliquities of exoplanets--i.e., the relative orientation between the planetary orbit and the stellar rotation--is a key tracer of how planets form and migrate. While the orbital obliquities of smaller planets are poorly explored today, a new generation of facilities coming online over the next decade will make such observations possible en masse. Transit spectroscopic observations with the extremely large telescopes will enable us to measure the orbital obliquities of planets as small as $\sim2R_{\oplus}$ around a wide variety of stars, opening a window into the orbital properties of the most common types of planets. This effort will directly contribute to understanding the formation and evolution of planetary systems, a key objective of the National Academy of Sciences' Exoplanet Science Strategies report.Comment: Submitted to the Astro2020 call for science white papers. 7 pages, 2 figure

Vibrational relaxation times in some hydrocarbons in the range 300–900°K

Vibrational relaxation times were determined in methane, ethylene, acetylene, and cyclopropane in the temperature range 300–900°K. The experiments were performed by measuring the absorption and dispersion of ultrasonic waves passing through the vapor. For all four vapors, the vibrational relaxation time τν (sec) was found to vary with temperature T(°K) according to the relationship log10(τν P) = aT−1∕3 − b, where P is the pressure (atm) and a and b are constants. The results of the present measurements were also found to be in good agreement with existing data.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71108/2/JCPSA6-59-12-6556-1.pd

Rapidly variable Fe Kα\alpha line in NGC 4051

We present a detailed analysis on the variability of the Fe K emission line in NGC 4051 using ASCA data. Through simple Gaussian line fits, we find not only obvious Fe K line variability with no significant difference in the X-ray continuum flux between two ASCA observations which were separated by $\sim$ 440 days, but also rapid variability of Fe K line on time scales $\sim 10^4$ s within the second observation. During the second observation, the line is strong (EW = 733$^{+206}_{-219}$ eV) and broad ($\sigma = 0.96^{+0.49}_{-0.35}$ keV) when the source is brightest, and become weaker (EW = 165$^{+87}_{-86}$ eV) and narrower ($\sigma<0.09$ keV) whilst the source is weakest. The equivalent width of Fe K line correlates positively with the continuum flux, which shows an opposite trend with another Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG --6-30-15.Comment: 12 pages with 5 figures, to appear in ApJ Vol. 516, L6

Experimental demonstration of an analytic method for image reconstruction in optical tomography with large data sets

We report the first experimental test of an analytic image reconstruction algorithm for optical tomography with large data sets. Using a continuous-wave optical tomography system with 10^8 source-detector pairs, we demonstrate the reconstruction of an absorption image of a phantom consisting of a highly-scattering medium with absorbing inhomogeneities.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure