TO TELL THE TRUTH ON FARM SUBSIDIES

There has been a lot of public discussion about farm incomes in Canada and the role of agricultural subsidies. Lawrence Solomon of the Urban Enterprise Institute has been at the forefront of these discussions. His argument is that as a result of exorbitant subsidies, the government is sponsoring the industrialization of agriculture, which threatens the family farm at untold environmental costs. This is a surprising line of reasoning, given that the more common argument is that subsidies misallocate resources in such a way that smaller, less efficient farms can persist when they otherwise couldn't, and that subsidies cause farmers to more intensely farm an acre of land. In fact, it is primarily the small farm advocates that argue for more subsidies. In any case, the significant claim made by Mr. Solomon is that government subsidies exceed the value contributed by agriculture to the Canadian economy. This claim is patently false, and only serves to confuse the public's understanding of the current income situation of Canadian grain and oilseed farmers. This misconception must be corrected.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Local pre-processing for node classification in networks : application in protein-protein interaction

Network modelling provides an increasingly popular conceptualisation in a wide range of domains, including the analysis of protein structure. Typical approaches to analysis model parameter values at nodes within the network. The spherical locality around a node provides a microenvironment that can be used to characterise an area of a network rather than a particular point within it. Microenvironments that centre on the nodes in a protein chain can be used to quantify parameters that are related to protein functionality. They also permit particular patterns of such parameters in node-centred microenvironments to be used to locate sites of particular interest. This paper evaluates an approach to index generation that seeks to rapidly construct microenvironment data. The results show that index generation performs best when the radius of microenvironments matches the granularity of the index. Results are presented to show that such microenvironments improve the utility of protein chain parameters in classifying the structural characteristics of nodes using both support vector machines and neural networks

TQM and labour productivity in Jordanian industrial companies

Reports on research to determine the degree of application of total quality management (TQM) philosophy and practices in industrial corporations in Jordan. Uses primary and secondary empirical data to examine the link between TQM and labour productivity. Survey responses were classified into two groups: high-TQM implementation and low-TQM implementation. Found that mean labour productivity measurements for high-TQM companies were significantly higher than for low-TQM companies over the period 1993-1998. Also, mean growth rates of labour productivity measurements for companies with high-level TQM were higher than for those with low-level TQM during this period. Regression analysis demonstrated a statistically significant positive relationship between TQM and labour productivity

Sustainability Vision and Practice: The Apparent Gap Between Corporate Leaders’ Pronouncements and the Perceptions of Polish and U.S. MBA Students from Three Universities.

This study focuses on the CEO-asserted critical need for sustainability in corporate strategy and MBA student perceptions of the extent to which their respective programs prepare them to handle sustainability challenges successfully. Students in one Polish and two U.S. mid-tier MBA programs were surveyed regarding their perceptions of four issues: 1) the link between sustainability practices and corporate performance; 2) the barriers to embedding sustainability practices in their current job; 3) the effects of being a sustainability advocate on their careers; and 4) the efficacy of their MBA programs in fostering leadership perspectives and skills related to sustainability. While students generally agreed on the positive link between sustainability practices and performance, they differed on the other issues. The study discusses the implications of these findings for faculty members who want to close the gap between what CEOs say they need from graduates related to sustainability vis-à-vis the ability of current MBA programs to fulfill that need

Sustainability Vision and Practice: The Apparent Gap Between Corporate Leaders’ Pronouncements and the Perceptions of Polish and U.S. MBA Students from Three Universities.

This study focuses on the CEO-asserted critical need for sustainability in corporate strategy and MBA student perceptions of the extent to which their respective programs prepare them to handle sustainability challenges successfully. Students in one Polish and two U.S. mid-tier MBA programs were surveyed regarding their perceptions of four issues:1) the link between sustainability practices and corporate performance;2) the barriers to embedding sustainability practices in their current job;3) the effects of being a sustainability advocate on their careers; and 4) the efficacy of their MBA programs in fostering leadership perspectives and skills related to sustainability. While students generally agreed on the positive link between sustainability practices and performance, they differed on the other issues. The study discusses the implications of these findings for faculty members who want to close the gap between what CEOs say they need from graduates related to sustainability vis-à-vis the ability of current MBA programs to fulfill that need

A protocol for a systematic review of clinical guidelines and published systematic reviews on the early detection of oral cancer

Background: The predicted increase in incidence of oral cavity cancer (OCC) coupled with high mortality and poor prognosis – particularly when diagnosed at a late/advanced stage – highlights the need for prevention and early detection/screening to reverse these trends. Dental healthcare professionals in primary care settings have a pivotal role in this effort. Aim: The aim of this protocol is to detail the process for assessing the evidence for the best practice and methods of early detection/screening for OCC in primary care dental settings by undertaking a systematic review of global clinical guidelines and published systematic reviews. Method: Searches for clinical guidelines and systematic reviews will be conducted in the following databases: Cochrane library, Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (Ovid), Excerpta Medical dataBASE, PubMed, Turning Research into Practice, SCOPUS and Web of Science Core Collection. Our search will extend to include Google Scholar and international professional organizations/associations websites. In addition, we will handsearch the bibliographies and undertake citation searches of the selected papers. Quality appraisal will be undertaken using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation version II instrument for the clinical guidelines and both A MeaSurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews and Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews tools for the systematic reviews. A narrative synthesis approach will be used to assess the evidence of extracted data, primarily taking account of quality appraisal and recency of publication. Discussion: The synthesis of evidence will determine best practice for OCC early detection/screening by primary care dental healthcare professionals and will evaluate the relationship between clinical guidelines and the evidence base available from systematic reviews in this area

Phase Ib study of telisotuzumab vedotin in combination with erlotinib in patients with c-Met protein-expressing non-small-cell lung cancer

PURPOSE: Overexpression of c-Met protein and epidermal growth factor receptor ( PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study evaluated Teliso-V (2.7 mg/kg once every 21 days) plus erlotinib (150 mg once daily) in adult patients (age ≥ 18 years) with c-Met+ NSCLC. Later enrollment required presence of an RESULTS: As of January 2020, 42 patients were enrolled (N = 36 efficacy-evaluable). Neuropathies were the most common any-grade adverse events reported, with 24 of 42 patients (57%) experiencing at least one event. The pharmacokinetic profile of Teliso-V plus erlotinib was similar to Teliso-V monotherapy. Median PFS for all efficacy-evaluable patients was 5.9 months (95% CI, 2.8 to not reached). ORR for CONCLUSION: Teliso-V plus erlotinib showed encouraging antitumor activity and acceptable toxicity in EGFR TKI-pretreated patients wit

Lem2 is essential for cardiac development by maintaining nuclear integrity

AIMS: Nuclear envelope integrity is essential for the compartmentalization of the nucleus and cytoplasm. Importantly, mutations in genes encoding nuclear envelope (NE) and associated proteins are the second highest cause of familial dilated cardiomyopathy. One such NE protein that causes cardiomyopathy in humans and affects mouse heart development is Lem2. However, its role in the heart remains poorly understood. METHODS AND RESULTS: We generated mice in which Lem2 was specifically ablated either in embryonic cardiomyocytes (Lem2 cKO) or in adult cardiomyocytes (Lem2 iCKO) and carried out detailed physiological, tissue, and cellular analyses. High-resolution episcopic microscopy was used for three-dimensional reconstructions and detailed morphological analyses. RNA-sequencing and immunofluorescence identified altered pathways and cellular phenotypes, and cardiomyocytes were isolated to interrogate nuclear integrity in more detail. In addition, echocardiography provided a physiological assessment of Lem2 iCKO adult mice. We found that Lem2 was essential for cardiac development, and hearts from Lem2 cKO mice were morphologically and transcriptionally underdeveloped. Lem2 cKO hearts displayed high levels of DNA damage, nuclear rupture, and apoptosis. Crucially, we found that these defects were driven by muscle contraction as they were ameliorated by inhibiting myosin contraction and L-type calcium channels. Conversely, reducing Lem2 levels to ∼45% in adult cardiomyocytes did not lead to overt cardiac dysfunction up to 18 months of age. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that Lem2 is critical for integrity at the nascent NE in foetal hearts, and protects the nucleus from the mechanical forces of muscle contraction. In contrast, the adult heart is not detectably affected by partial Lem2 depletion, perhaps owing to a more established NE and increased adaptation to mechanical stress. Taken together, these data provide insights into mechanisms underlying cardiomyopathy in patients with mutations in Lem2 and cardio-laminopathies in general