The Benefits and Beneficiaries of "Public" Investment in Herbicide Use Research and Development

The allocation of benefits from research and development of new herbicide uses is dependent on patent status. The agricultural chemical industry will preferentially invest in herbicide R&D that increases the use of on-patent herbicides from which a company can capture a price premium. The distribution of benefits from increased use of on-patent herbicide will alter over time, with grain growers benefiting at the expense of agrichemical companies once the patent expires. Public sector investment in herbicide R&D may also benefit the agrichemical industry. The size and allocation of the benefits from R&D into on-patent herbicides is analyzed using economic surplus techniques. Two case studies are examined. One involves research into the choice and application of herbicide for new wheat varieties. The second case study involves returns from R&D investment in research into an alternative for the commonly used off-patent herbicide trifluralin. The results from the case studies show that herbicide patent status may not have important implications for "public" R&D investment decisions.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q16, Q18, Q28,

Healthy eating and physical activity environments for out of school hours care settings

Background: Out of school hours care (OSHC) is the second largest childcare setting in Australia. In OSHC, the types of foods and beverages offered, physical activity levels, and policy environments are relatively unknown. This thesis aimed to a) describe the current healthy eating and physical activity environments, b) examine the environmental factors associated with meeting dietary guidelines, c) investigate environmental factors associated with children achieving at least 30 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA), and d) examine how healthy eating and physical activity (HEPA) policies were associated with staff practices and child physical activity. Methods: A cross-sectional, observation study was conducted to explore the HEPA environments within a sample of 89 OSHC services across two local health districts within New South Wales (NSW). Direct observation was used to document the food and beverages offered, kitchen facilities and weekly food menus. HEPA promotion and program practices were systematically captured using the System for Observing Staff Promotion of Physical Activity and Nutrition (SOSPAN). HEPA policy environments were explored using the Healthy Afterschool Activity and Nutrition Document (HAAND) tool. Physical activity and sedentary behaviours were assessed within 3,614 children using Actigraph accelerometers. Chi square/Fisher’s exact tests were used to test the associations between setting-level factors and providing foods aligning with the Australian Dietary Guidelines and the relationship between healthy eating policy elements and staff promotion practices. ANCOVA with Bonferroni adjustments tested the associations between physical activity policy scores and child activity levels. A mixed effects logistic regression evaluated the association between program practices and children’s achieving 30 minutes of MVPA. Results: Fruit and water were the most frequently offered food and beverages observed of the two observation days. Discretionary foods (1.5±0.68/days) were offered more frequently than vegetables (0.82±0.80/days) (p Discussion: Findings from this doctoral thesis demonstrate that there is a need for additional resources and guidelines to support OSHC services in NSW to create healthier food and physical activity environments. Most OSHC services are not meeting dietary recommendations for vegetables, dairy, wholegrains, lean meats and discretionary foods after school. Future research is needed to explore the efficacy of sector-specific menu planning resources, which are cost effective and easily administered, to aid the provision of foods aligning with the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Furthermore, there are limited physical activity promotion resources, guidelines and opportunities for staff development within the OSHC sector. Evidence from this thesis indicate that relatively small changes to practice, e.g. scheduling prolonged opportunities for child-led free play, ensuring organised activities engage the largest number of children and avoiding games that eliminate children from active play, could positively impact the levels of MVPA accumulated by children. Future interventions are needed to develop cost effective physical activity promotion training, specific to OSHC sector, to assist OSHC staff facilitate environments supportive to physical activity outcomes

Monitoring of compliance in Australian conservation contracts

Government and non-government conservation agencies have long-term goals and objectives to provide environmental services, such as conserving the biodiversity of Australian native vegetation. In addition to national parks and reserves, private lands are often included in conservation programs to achieve these objectives. Formal contracts are entered into between the private landholder and the conservation agency to provide environmental services, or more commonly to provide inputs that are likely to lead to environmental services. The paper examines the costs and benefits of monitoring these conservation contracts when biodiversity change is stochastic.conservation, compliance, monitoring, enforcement, environmental regulation, Environmental Economics and Policy,

New role for nuclear hormone receptors and coactivators in regulation of BRCA1-mediated DNA repair in breast cancer cell lines

INTRODUCTION: The breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1 is involved in the repair of double-strand breaks induced by ionizing radiation and chemotherapy drugs. BRCA1 interacts with coactivators such as p300 and CREB-binding protein (CBP) to activate target gene transcription. Estrogen and retinoic acid receptors (ER and RAR) also require coactivator proteins for their ligand-dependent functions. Few studies have suggested a role for nuclear hormone receptors in DNA repair. METHODS: DNA damage and repair activity were quantified with the use of single-cell gel electrophoresis and plasmid end-joining assays. Cell cycle progression and apoptosis were determined by bromodeoxyuridine and TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labelling assays. Stable transfection was accomplished with the lipofection procedure. Protein interaction and expression were determined by immunoprecipitation and western blotting. RESULTS: 17β-Estradiol (E2) and all-trans retinoic acid (RA) had opposing effects on DNA damage and breast cancer cell survival after double-strand break damage. Treatment with E2, but not with RA, resulted in complex formation between ERα, CBP, and BRCA1 in ER-positive cell lines. Mutant BRCA1 reduced the expression and activity of DNA damage repair proteins but did not block nuclear hormone-dependent effects. Mutant BRCA1 failed to form complexes with ERα and CBP, which correlated with its ability to exert E2-independent effects on DNA repair. Mutant BRCA1 inhibited cell cycle progression and produced increased survival in cells with double-strand breaks. Ectopic ERα expression reproduced the E2-mediated effects on DNA damage, repair, and survival. CONCLUSION: The present study proposes a new mechanism by which ER and RAR regulate BRCA1-mediated DNA repair by means of CBP

Babcock Testing - Principles and Uses

The manufacturing of dairy products on a commercial scale began about the middle of the nineteenth century and was greatly stimulated by the development of the centrifugal cream separator in the late eighties. The invention of the Babcock test in the early nineties overcame some of the difficulties that had developed in paying for milk upon its butterfat content, since it was early recognized that milk varied widely in that respect

Nutrition for Older Adults.

12 p

Occupational Performance Goals of Mothers of Adolescents with and Mothers of Adolescents without Disabilities

Background/Purpose: Mothering is a life-long role that requires significant time and energy (Donovan, VanLeit, Crowe, & Keefe, 2005). The amount and nature of time spent caring for adolescents with and without disabilities may vary (Crowe & Michael, 2010). This qualitative study describes the differences between the occupational performance goals of mothers of adolescents with disabilities and mothers of adolescents without disabilities. Methods: A sample of 20 mothers of adolescents with disabilities and 20 mothers of adolescents without disabilities was recruited. Adolescents had to be between 13 and 19 years of age and identified by the mother as having a disability or no disability. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (Law et al., 2005) was used to gather narrative information from the mothers in a semi-structured interview format. The data was then qualitatively analyzed and compared. Results: Using grounded theory and thematic coding, the data was organized into six themes describing the mothers occupational performance goals. Five of the six themes were shared between both groups, with minor differences in the nature of the identified occupations. However, only mothers of adolescents with disabilities identified goals concerning supporting their adolescents. Conclusions: The findings highlight the difference in the nature of occupational performance goals between mothers of adolescents with disabilities and mothers of adolescents without disabilities. While similarities exist between the two groups, it is important to understand the different demands of mothering adolescents with disabilities to better support them in their daily occupations.\u2