VALUE-ADDED WHEAT PRODUCT TRADE

This study evaluated international trade of value-added wheat products. Analyzed were market size and growth rate by country for each product group. Shift share analysis was used to examine changes in market shares for each value-added wheat product group. Major international exporters were identified for each product group, and market shares held by the major exporters for specific importing markets were analyzed.Bakery, international trade, market size, market growth, shift-share analysis, market share, exports, value-added., International Relations/Trade,

Synthesis of biologically active heterocyclic compounds

More than 11 million people worldwide are diagnosed with cancer every year. New cancer drugs are required that are more effective and selective. Nitrogen mustard alkylating agents crosslink DNA inhibiting transcription and replication. Use of the mustard pharmacophore as part of a macrocycle allows metal complexation and produces a prodrug. Hypoxic tumour cells have increased concentrations of reductase enzymes which could lead to reduction of the complex in situ and release of a cytotoxic drug. Human African Trypanosomiasis is commonly known as Sleeping Sickness and affects over 36 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. It is transmitted to humans by the tsetse fly which carries the parasitic subspecies Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. Any compounds synthesised would also be tested to assess their potential as anti-parasitic agents. Parker synthesised a range of polyazamacrocycles. Testing of compound A in vitro gave highly efficient DNA crosslinking activity. Copper complexes were formed of the macrocycles and B was found to be 24 times more toxic against hypoxic cells than oxic cells thus exploiting tumour hypoxia and creating a selective drug. Jones synthesised a range of oxaazamacrocycles such as C which when tested in vitro exhibited comparable cross-linking activity to the azamacrocycles although it proved impossible to synthesise the corresponding copper complexes. It was decided to vary the leaving group on the alkylating arms to see if the DNA crosslinking results could be improved. Eight carbamates and the corresponding copper complexes were synthesised. The R-groups were alkyl and aromatic. Anti-cancer DNA crosslinking and hypoxia selectivity results were disappointing however, a number of compounds displayed significant activity when tested against T. brucei. A range of thiaazamacrocycles would complete the set of heteroatom-containing macrocycles (N, O, S) and might produce good DNA crosslinking results. It might also be possible to synthesise the corresponding copper complexes producing prodrugs. Six thiaazamacrocycles were synthesised and 2-hydroxyethyl arms were attached. However it proved impossible to isolate the desired alkylating agents with the 2-chloroethyl arms. In the body, the p53 protein activates the transcription of specific genes. In healthy cells, the levels of p53 have to be kept to a minimum to allow the normal running of the cell, e.g. growth and replication. This function is carried out by the HDM2 protein, which forms an auto-regulatory feedback loop with p53. In some tumours, the p53 function is disrupted due to genetic mutations of p53. However other tumours possess ‘wild type’ p53 – this type of p53 has lost the ability to respond to oncogenic stress due to over-expression of HDM2. Drugs that inhibit HDM2 should cause stabilisation of p53 and induce apoptosis in cancer cells. A small library of 5-deazaflavins were synthesised and biologically tested producing some interesting biological results

The Practitioner\u27s Corner: An exploration of municipal active living charter development and advocacy

Background: Numerous municipal active living-­‐related charters have been adopted to promote physical activity in Canada throughout the past decade. Despite this trend, there are few published critical examinations of the process through which charters are developed and used. Purpose: Thus, the purpose of this study was to establish greater understanding of active living charter development and advocacy. Methods: Semi-­‐structured interviews were conducted with eight primary contributors to different active living-­‐related charters across Ontario, Canada. Interview questions explored participants’ experiences developing and advocating for an active living charter. Interviews were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding. Results and Conclusions: Participants consistently described a process whereby an impetus triggered the development of a charter, which was subsequently adopted by regional or municipal council. Continued advocacy to develop awareness of the charter and to promote desired outcomes in the community was valued and the capacity of the working group as well as the local political context played pivotal roles in determining how the charter was implemented. Outcomes were, however, only objectively evaluated in one case that was described – evaluation being a process that many participants thought was omitted in regard to their own charter. This work provides practical guidance for health professionals developing regional active living charters as a component of broader advocacy efforts

Proportional Consistency of Apportionment Methods

We analyze a little-known property of apportionment methods that captures how allocations scale with the size of the house: specifically, if, for a fixed population distribution, the house size and allocation can be scaled down within the set of integers, then the apportionment should be correspondingly scaled down. Balinski and Young (2001) include this property among the minimal requirements for a "reasonable" apportionment method. We argue that this property is better understood as a consistency requirement since quota-based apportionments that are "less proportional" meet this requirement while others that are "more proportional" do not. We also show that the family of quotatone methods based on stationary divisors (including the quota method) do not satisfy this property

Photoluminescent DNA binding and cytotoxic activity of a platinum(ii) complex bearing a tetradentate β-diketiminate ligand

A platinum(II) complex of a monoanionic, tetradentate β-diketiminate (BDI) ligand with pendant quinoline arms, BDIQQH, is reported. The complex, [Pt(BDI[superscript QQ])]Cl, is emissive in DMSO, but non-emissive in aqueous buffer. Upon binding DNA in buffer, however, a 150-fold turn-on in emission intensity occurs. Dynamic light scattering and [superscript 1]H NMR spectroscopy indicate that [Pt(BDI[superscript QQ])]Cl forms non-emissive aggregates in aqueous solution; DNA-binding disperses the aggregates leading to the large emission turn-on response. The cytotoxic activity of the complex, measured in two cancer cell lines, is comparable to or better than that of the established anticancer drug cisplatin.National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (Grant CA034992)David H. Koch Graduate FellowshipNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant 1S10RR13886

The Impact of Social Support and the Number of Searchers on Perceptions of Consent Searches

Consent searches require voluntariness of consent for validity under the 4th Amendment. Social situational factors may affect perceptions of voluntariness, but their importance is minimized in court decisions about searches. Participants (N = 328) rated perceptions of a consent request in a consent search situation in which social power dynamics (i.e., number of searchers and the amount of social support) were manipulated. Social support affected perceptions of pressure to say yes to the search. Significant differences in perceptions between the third-person and first-person perspective were observed, indicating that judges may overestimate consent voluntariness. There was also a significant three-way interaction between gender of the participant, number of searchers, amount of social support and how they influence first-person perceptions of coerciveness of a search request

Human hypocretin and melanin-concentrating hormone levels are linked to emotion and social interaction.

The neurochemical changes underlying human emotions and social behaviour are largely unknown. Here we report on the changes in the levels of two hypothalamic neuropeptides, hypocretin-1 and melanin-concentrating hormone, measured in the human amygdala. We show that hypocretin-1 levels are maximal during positive emotion, social interaction and anger, behaviours that induce cataplexy in human narcoleptics. In contrast, melanin-concentrating hormone levels are minimal during social interaction, but are increased after eating. Both peptides are at minimal levels during periods of postoperative pain despite high levels of arousal. Melanin-concentrating hormone levels increase at sleep onset, consistent with a role in sleep induction, whereas hypocretin-1 levels increase at wake onset, consistent with a role in wake induction. Levels of these two peptides in humans are not simply linked to arousal, but rather to specific emotions and state transitions. Other arousal systems may be similarly emotionally specialized