bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Inflation–Should We Take Another Look?
Authors: Engel Gene
Published: May 2017

Society has received only modest help from economists on inflation. Besides other effects, inflation redistributes income and wealth in ways not understood or predicted; it increases uncertainties for households, firms, and governments; and it calls into question individuals' expectations of their rightful share of goods and services, i.e., their “entitlement.” Our audiences need less mechanical, more complete and sophisticated explanations of what inflation is and what causes it; information on income, wealth, and equity effects of inflation among and between farmers, agri-industry firms, consumers, investors, savers, local and state government; and information on the consequences of alternative policies to deal with it. Agricultural economists must read and think about both emerging microeconomic and macroeconomic literature.

The new inflation of the seventies is mainly chronic, compared to cyclic. Chronic recession has accompanied chronic inflation. That implies the need for novel remedies that include structural changes as well as new monetary measures. The priority needs are outside agriculture, but dominate the interaction of inflation, agriculture, and rural development. Accordingly, agricultural economists cannot accept inflation as a given situation best understood and resolved by others.

The recent shifting of the primary monetary emphasis from ‘one eye on interest and one on the money supply’ to “one eye on reserves and one on the money supply” will not be adequate to control inflation. Long-run warfare to reduce inflation requires a comprehensive approach integrating monetary and fiscal measures, structural considerations, sharing of costs, and other public policy changes. Assets and income inflation create a spurious sense of well-being which has severe redistribution effects. Planning and acting on these inflated values further fans inflation. Some structural problems reinforce inflation, for example, the COLA (cost-of-living adjustment). Partial indexing creates widespread inequities, for example, social security recipients obtained a 14.3 percent raise on July 1, 1980 but the average wage earner's deductions increased in 1980 while his wage rate increased a mere 8 percent! Public policy implications include a needed statute to indicate the nation's will, desire, and procedures for containing inflation; automatic price and wage controls when inflation exceeds certain rates; elimination of partial indexing; and the resolve of all public leadership to control inflation.

Inflation is chronic, world-wide, unresolved. Comprehensive solutions are needed. Agricultural economists cannot expect others ot “solve” it.
Factors Influencing the Location and Distribution of Physicians in the Northeastern U.S.
Authors: Cordes Sam M. , Blair Richard J.
Published: May 2017

Regression analysis was used to analyze the geographic distribution of physicians in the Northeastern U.S. The ratio of general practitioners (GP's) to population, and specialists to population was calculated for each of the 299 counties in the region. The independent variables were categorized into three types of factors: economic, professional, and quality-of-life.

Results indicated that both types of physicians responded similarly to economic and quality-of-life variables, but responded differently to professional considerations. This suggests that the urban concentration of specialists vis-a-vis GP's is due primarily to the relative importance of professional considerations to specialists. Policy implications and directions for further research are presented.
Has the Time Come to Practice What We Teach?-The Teaching-Research Trade-Off-
Authors: Thatch Daymon W.
Published: May 2017

University teaching at an undergraduate level has always involved opportunity costs, especially in the trade-off of the individual's time between teaching and research. However, recent external forces, as we move into the ‘80's could very well force major changes in the Agricultural Economic's teaching profession. This paper examines the conventional wisdom that teaching and research are mutually reinforcing. It further examines conflict of goals and several of the economic principles that we teach but seem to ignore in addressing our personal trade-off between teaching and research. A framework is presented for resolving this conflict.
Competitive Position of Northeast Agriculture
Authors: Swackhamer Gene L.
Published: May 2017

The eleven state area of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont comprises the Northeast agricultural area. According to the latest farm number estimates in 1980, there are over 159,000 farms in the Northeast with the largest number of farms concentrated in Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland, respectively. Given the large number of farms and the diverse topography of the region, farmers in the Northeast produce a wide variety of agricultural commodities. In 1980, farm cash receipts in the Northeast were estimated at $8.2 billion with livestock and products accounting for about two thirds of the total and crops (including specialty crops) accounting for the balance. In terms of cash receipts, Pennsylvania is the largest agricultural production state in the Northeast followed by New York and Maryland.
Impact of Increased Energy Costs on Greenhouse Tomato Production
Authors: Dhillon Pritam S.
Published: May 2017

According to the 1974 U.S. Census of Agriculture, $31.7 million worth of greenhouse vegetables were produced on a covered area of 37.2 million square feet. Though this represents less than 2 percent of total fresh market vegetable production in the country, traditionally greenhouse vegetables have provided high quality produce during months when field production is at a low level. This has been especially the case in the Northcentral and Northeast regions where a relatively large and affluent population of the metropolitan areas demands a year round supply of fresh vegetables. Much of the greenhouse production relates to the growing of salad items. Tomatoes are the single most important crop accounting for roughly two-thirds of the covered area and value of all greenhouse vegetables. In 1974, 63 percent of the U.S. covered area for tomatoes was located in the Northcentral region, 10 percent in the Northeast and the rest in the South and the West.
The Impact of Demographic Variables on Expenditures for Food Away from Home
Authors: Derrick Frederick W. , Dardis Rachel , Lehfeld Alane
Published: May 2017

Whereas considerable effort has been expended in prior research in discussing the appropriateness of alternative measures of income in expenditure studies, this paper looks in depth at the impact of incorporating a broad range of demographic variables in the expenditure analysis. Food expenditures away from home are used to analyze the additional gains in explanatory power and the impact of demographic variables on income elasticities. Considerable divergence of results is found under the alternative measures of income.
Benefits from Urban Open Space and Recreational Parks: A Case Study
Authors: Hagerty John K. , Stevens T. H. , Allen P. G. , More T.
Published: May 2017

The hedonic pricing technique was used to measure that component of house price attributable to proximity to a city park, using data on sale prices and characteristics of houses in Worcester, MA. Aggregation of these residual values over all houses in the neighborhood of a park provided an estimate of the value of the park, to which was added an estimate of recreation benefits from extrazonal users. The policy question of park system development or contraction was addressed by comparing these benefits with operating costs to gain a net measure of parkland value.
Some Factors Affecting the Future of Beef Production in New England
Authors: Christensen Robert L.
Published: May 2017

In 1979 it was estimated that the total number of cattle and calves on farms in the six New England states was 717,000 head. To place this in perspective, this number corresponds to one-fourth the number of head on Illinois farms in that year. Put another way, the New England cattle inventory is 0.6 percent of the national herd. Beef cow numbers in New England totaled 42,000 head in 1979 or 0.1 percent of the national beef cow herd. As nearly everyone knows, the dairy industry is responsible for the bulk of the cattle industry in the region. The number of beef type heifers and steers over 500 pounds (a rough indicator of marketings) for the region was 24,000 head in 1979. Cattle slaughter in New England plants (including cull dairy animals) totaled 161,500 head in 1978 or 0.4 percent of the national slaughter figure (Agricultural Statistics, 1979).
Agriculture in the 1980's: Current and Emerging Policy Issues
Authors: Farrell Kenneth R.
Published: May 2017

Your program chairman asked that I direct my remarks to the subject of impacts of Reagan economics on agriculture. I do so with some trepidation since it is not clear which parts of current economic policies should be attributed to the Reagan administration, the Congress, the Federal Reserve Board, and preceding administrations. Further, I have some doubt as to what economic policy is, or is about to become, at any specific point in time. In reviewing current policies and programs, I also shall attempt to identify longer-run policy issues which might command our attention as agricultural economists.
A Budgeted Analysis of Fresh Vegetable Marketing Alternatives
Authors: Varner Michael C. , Dhillon Pritam S. , Tracy Marie H.
Published: May 2017

Marketing costs and contributions to production costs for fresh vegetables marketed through four direct marketing alternatives and through wholesale channels are compared. Budgets derived from empirical observations were the bases for the comparisons. The results favor an elaborate roadside market, which sells a large quantity of items purchased for resale. Farmers’ markets and pick-your-own operations were also found to be potentially more profitable than wholesale marketing.
Meeting World Food Needs: Lessons of the Green Revolution
Authors: MacKenzie D. R.
Published: May 2017

The GREEN REVOLUTION has been offered as an example of both what to do and what not to do as international agriculture development. An appraisal is made of the benefits and consequences of the GREEN REVOLUTION for both wheat and rice. The history of the GREEN REVOLUTION is traced to its origins in pre-war Japan for both its concept and as the source of genetic material. The successful “production technology” approach of the wheat research program in Mexico is compared to the “appropriate technology” of the less successful maize research program. Lessons are drawn from the experience of the GREEN REVOLUTION that may prove helpful when planning or evaluating international agricultural development projects.
Getting Started in Farming 1910, 1930, 1950 and 1978: Is It More Difficult?
Authors: Lowenberg-DeBoer James M. , Stanton B. F.
Published: May 2017

This study examined the null hypothesis that getting started in farming in the 1970's was not more difficult than it was in earlier periods in the twentieth century. Comparative budgets were constructed using farm survey and farm account data for three different regions at four different time periods. In terms of years of farm wages required to earn beginning equity and cash flow to meet debt payments and family living costs, the null hypothesis was accepted. In general 1978–80 was more like 1910–12 than the more difficult times of 1930–32 and 1950–52.
Price Risk Reduction in Marketing Corn from Using Hedging Strategies
Authors: Kane Michael A. , Beierlein James G. , Dunn James W.
Published: May 2017

The use of hedging with commodity futures markets to reduce the price risk in corn production is examined. Both intra-year and inter-year risk are evaluated with different hedging strategies. Strategies involve no hedge, hedge and hold, controlled hedge placement and hold, and in and out hedging. Both technical and forecasting criteria are used to place hedges in the more active strategies. Substantial risk reduction is possible, often without a reduction in price received. Considerable basis risk diminishes the risk reducing properties of a hedge and hold strategy.
Landowner Incentives to Participate in a Purchase of Development Rights Program with Application to Maryland
Authors: Phipps Tim
Published: May 2017

A theory-based participation model is developed using the assumptions of perfect capital markets and perfect information. Given this specification it is shown that participation in a PDR program is always equivalent in present value terms to selling the land, and is always at least as good as not participating and remaining in farming.

In order to investigate participation rates in the Maryland PDR program a less restrictive model is developed which relaxes the perfect capital markets assumption. It is found that a PDR program is most likely to be successful in regions characterized by relatively low levels of development pressure, and least likely to be successful in areas experiencing high rates of growth or areas that are not undergoing development pressure.
Distortions Imposed by Inflation on Historical-Cost Depreciation
Authors: Bravo-Ureta Boris E.
Published: May 2017

The use of historical-cost depreciation in periods of persistent inflation decreases the present value of depreciation deductions, thus understating the true economic cost of capital and increasing the real after-tax rate of return required by potential investors. Efforts to correct these problems by adopting depreciation methods that allow for artificially short recovery periods or accelerated rates do not provide an adequate solution. Distortions imposed by inflation on historical-cost depreciation can be adequately corrected by indexing the historical-cost basis.
Interregional Transfer of Agricultural Research Results: The Case of the Northeast
Authors: Havlicek Joseph , White Fred C.
Published: May 2017

The contribution of research to agricultural production is measured by estimating a production function which includes variables to reflect conventional inputs as well as agricultural research. Conventional inputs considered are hired labor, feed and livestock, seed and fertilizer, and capital and depreciation. Investment in agricultural research and extension within the region and investment in agricultural research in other production regions of the U.S. are included in the production function. Marginal products and internal rates of return axe derived for the own region and outside-the-region investments in agricultural research.

The empirical results indicate that sane agricultural production regions have a greater capacity for exporting agricultural research results while some have a greater capacity for importing agricultural research results from other production regions. Of the ten agricultural production regions of the U.S., the Northeast had the lowest marginal product per dollar invested in agricultural research during the 1977–81 period and the lowest internal rate of return to investment in agricultural research. For the same time period the average annual spillovers from the Northeast were approximately 3.3 times as large as the average annual regional benefit and the spillovers from the Northeast were about 2.3 times as large as the spill-ins into the Northeast region. The ratio of federal to state expenditures on agricultural research in the Northeast was 1.03 and compared to a ratio of spillover's to regional benefits of 3.3 suggests that the Northeast does not fare well in terms of federal support of agricultural research benefiting other regions of the U.S.
Measurement of Women's Economic Activity: A Study of Iloilo Province in the Philippines
Authors: Herther Karen , Sachs Carolyn
Published: May 2017

Women are an important element in determining a country's productive potential and the success of development efforts. However, women have been largely neglected in the rural development programs of many developing countries (Boulding, 1978; Newland, 1979).
Coal Mining Employment Impacts from Acid Rain Controls
Authors: Findeis Jill L. , Shortle James S.
Published: May 2017

The U.S. Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works is considering legislative proposals to reduce emissions of long-range transport air pollutants which may be a major factor in acid depostion. Preliminary results indicate that these proposals will have substantial impacts on coal production and employment in northern Appalachia, a region with long-standing structural unemployment problems.
Apple Pest Management: A Cost Analysis of Alternative Practices
Authors: Rossi Daniel , Dhillon Pritam S. , Hoffman Laura
Published: May 2017

Pest control efforts for tree fruits, as well as other agricultural crops, have intensified in the U.S. during the past few decades. This increase is the result of the increase in pest population, the Food and Drug Administration's reduction in tolerance levels of insect parts permitted in foods, and the raising of cosmetic standards by food wholesalers and retailers (Hough and Gallahan).
Regional Equivalence Scales for Convenience Foods
Authors: Tedford John R. , Capps Oral , Havlicek Joseph
Published: May 2017

Estimates of regional adult equivalence scales for convenience foods were obtained using the model developed by Buse and Salathe and using data from the 1977–78 Nationwide Food Consumption Survey. Wide disparities exist in scale values among regions, controlling for other factors, suggesting that age-sex composition of households have differential impacts on convenience food expenditures.
Characteristics of Fluid Milk Expenditure Patterns in the Northeast Region
Authors: Raunikar Robert , Huang Chung-Liang
Published: May 2017

Expenditure patterns for whole milk and lowfat milk in the Northeast region were examined by applying the Tobit maximum likelihood procedure to the 1977–78 USDA NFCS data.

Results suggest that differing expenditure patterns exist between whole milk and lowfat milk. Household income estimates indicate significant positive effects on expenditure for lowfat milk but negative on expenditure for whole milk. Whole milk expenditure was estimated to be strongly related to the family life cycle stages through the child-raising years.
Innovative Methods of Milk Transport: Double-Bottoms and TOFC
Authors: Karpoff Edward , Webster Fred C.
Published: May 2017

Costs involved in double-bottoms (tandem trailers) and TOFC (trailer-on-flatcar; piggyback) were modeled and compared with conventional over-the-road transport of bulk milk from northern Vermont in single trailers. Both modes were found to be both cost-effective and fuel-sparing alternatives to conventional transport.

Since the study's completion, although not as a direct result of it, two shippers have adopted these innovations. One of them (using double-bottoms) has budgeted savings even larger than those claimed in our study.
A Framework for Rural Development
Authors: Castle Emery N.
Published: May 2017

Rural development is an idea whose time has apparently come on a world-wide basis. Highly diverse economies such as, for example, both the United States and India, have generated problems on the rural scene that cannot be solved by technological change in agriculture alone.
A Resource Base Approach to Community Development Education
Authors: Seay Edmond E.
Published: May 2017

Rural community development finally has come of age. After the not very productive rural development program of the 1950's with its emphasis on the small farm, and the equally tepid rural areas development effort of the 1960's, Congress and the Executive finally seem committed to improving the lot of rural America.
Transfer of Development Rights – Its Problems and Potential as a Land-Use Control Technique
Authors: Derr Donn A. , Norman Thomas , Schneider Lee D.
Published: May 2017

In the Northeast, major problems relating to natural resource use, particularly agriculture, can be attributable in large part to outgrowths of the rural-urban interface. As communities (cities, towns, boroughs, townships, and counties) strive to fulfill their basic needs for health, education, police protection, recreation, housing, highways, and productive open space, new and more sophisticated methods of implementing land-use controls are needed. Experience indicates that in rapidly urbanizing areas traditional land-use mechanisms for directing growth do not guarantee the degree of permanence that is required to preserve productive open space. An alternative land-use control mechanism to ensure open space preservation explored in this paper is the transfer of development rights and the purchase of development easements.
Air Pollution Control: Equity Considerations for Rural and Urban America
Authors: Morris Douglas E.
Published: May 2017

This paper deals with one of the many aspects of controlling air pollution–equity. The equity issue discussed concerns the fact that areas with high and low levels of air pollution are subjected to many of the same controls under current legislation. The equity issue is, of course, only one of several imperative questions that should be addressed and fully researched before society embarks on an abatement program of great magnitude. In fact, comparisons between expected cost outlays by firms and individuals to control air pollution, and the cost of allowing the pollution to continue, indicate that it may be less costly for firms and individuals to do nothing.
Valuation of Visual-Cultural Benefits from Freshwater Wetlands in Massachusetts
Authors: Gupta Tirath R. , Foster John H.
Published: May 2017

A commonly visualized benefit from natural resources is outdoor recreation including activities such as fishing, hunting, hiking, and nature study. Due to the extra-market nature of these activities, monetary measures of the benefits emanating from them require use of some kind of simulated prices. The procedure most widely used for this purpose has been that of estimating a demand function, using differential travel costs associated with the locational dispersion of the recreationists, as a proxy price variable. These methodologies may be labeled as “willingness to pay” approaches and have been used by a number of economists.
Institutional Restructuring in Response to the Changing Mission of Land Grant Colleges Cook College, Rutgers University – The State University of New Jersey
Authors: Thatch Daymon W. , Park William L.
Published: May 2017

Rutgers University was chartered as Queen's College on November 10, 1766. It was the eighth institution of higher education founded in Colonial America prior to the Revolutionary War. From its modest beginning in the New Brunswick area the University has grown to eight separately organized undergraduate colleges in three areas of the State, with a wide range of offerings in liberal and applied arts and sciences.
The Economics of Outdoor Recreation Congestion: A Case study of Camping
Authors: Allen P. Geoffrey , Stevens Thomas H.
Published: May 2017

Bias in estimating recreational values may result if congestion is ignored in the demand model specification. Theoretical and empirical considerations pertaining to recreation congestion are summarized. Empirical results for camping in Western Massachusetts are presented which demonstrate the potential degree of bias from demand model misspecification. The results indicate that recreational values may be strongly influenced by congestion effects and that camping areas with relatively low densities may have a higher economic value than high density areas with similar facilities.
Household Demand for Firewood in Rhode Island
Authors: Stoddard Wayne R. , Weaver Thomas F. , Tyrrell Timothy J.
Published: May 2017

Data from a sample of Rhode Island households indicate that firewood use along with wood stove use is increasing in response to increases in conventional heating fuel costs. More than half the sample of households reported the intention to reduce their heating fuel costs as their primary reason for burning wood. For nearly 20 percent of the households, the 1977–78 study season was the first heating season that these households had burned firewood. Among wood stove users, 50 percent began using a wood stove for the first season, the 1977–78 study season. Regression results indicate that the variables price, income and primary reason firewood is burned are important in the household's decision on the quantity of firewood burned.
Evaluation of Selected Cropping Systems on Pennsylvania Dairy Farms
Authors: Lazarus W. F. , Hoffman L. D. , Partenheimer E. J.
Published: May 2017

Farmers in the Northeast have traditionally rotated crops in a particular field. This system has several advantages. Rotation of crops reduces the buildup of weeds, insects, and diseases specific to one crop. Legumes such as alfalfa fix nitrogen for use by the following grain crops. Including close growing crops in the rotation reduces soil loss. Growing several crops distributes labor requirements and reduces risk.
Impact on Livestock Producers of U.S. Policies Affecting Feed Supplies
Authors: Prindle Allen M.
Published: May 2017

U.S. agricultural policy has been implemented by various means including price supports, production or acreage controls, trade agreements, commodity reserves, food aid, and other programs (Brandow, 1976). These have been advanced to respond to various public policy objectives. Most of these policies have been directed toward food and feed grains, resulting in varying impacts on producers and consumers of these grains.
National Soil and Water Conservation Policy: An Economic Perspective
Authors: Libby Lawrence W. , Okay John L.
Published: May 2017

Soil and water conservation programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are under increasing scrutiny. Congress, interest groups, and departmental budget people are requesting systematic documentation of the impacts of these programs. Their basic concern is economic performance – the “payoff” for public dollars invested in conservation. This paper examines two aspects of the increasing application of economics to soil and water conservation policy. Both are discussed in the context of current efforts within USDA to implement the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977. This new law provides a policy setting within which questions of economic performance are addressed. Examined first is use of formal analytical models in identifying economic consequences of alternative conservation strategies. Second, issues concerning economics of public choice are addressed. The first implies search for greater efficiency of resource use; the latter concerns the distribution of policy impacts in the political economy. Both are important. The paper concludes by identifying research needs. This is a policy paper, not a report of research results.
Public Perceptions of Issues and Problems in the Lake Champlain Basin Area: A Summary
Authors: Capener Harold R.
Published: May 2017

In the summer and fall of 1977 a survey team carried out a study of environmental issues and problems as perceived by high-school-ago youth, selected adult key informants, and relevant organizational leaders. The study was completed in the spring of 1978 as part of a larger series of Level B studies sponsored by the New England River Basins Commission.
Minutes of the Annual Business Meeting
Authors: Templeton Mary E.
Published: May 2017

The annual business meeting of the Northeastern Agricultural Economics Council was called to order at 8:30 A.M. on June 20, 1979 at the University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, by President Johannes Delphandahl.
Bamboo Steamers and Red Flags: Building Discipline and Collegiality among China's Traditional Rural Midwives in the 1950s
Authors: Fang Xiaoping
Published: May 2017

This paper explores how the new Communist government developed a political consciousness of discipline and collegiality among traditional rural midwives in Chinese villages during the 1950s. It argues that selected traditional rural midwives were taught to observe discipline by attending meetings and studying, and to develop collegiality with peers through criticism and self-criticism of their birth attendance techniques and personal characters in short training courses from 1951 onwards. A legitimized midwife identity gradually formed in rural communities, but with it came conflicts and rivalry. By keeping these midwives under institutional surveillance and creating a dynamic and constant moulding process, the new government intended to foster professional and political discipline and collegiality within the group based on a normativized notion of selflessness performed within a changing series of indoctrination schemes that demonstrated continuity and complementarity and which I have described as common, preliminary, institutionalized, and dynamic schemes. This article examines how the state attempted to retrain marginalized and derided midwives with appropriate class backgrounds in order to incorporate them into the modern medical world, then still dominated by doctors and nurses with suspect class backgrounds. Ironically, in creating “socialist new people” to intervene in traditional rural birthing practices and introducing fee-for-service professionalism, the CCP accidentally created a degree of petit-capitalist thinking among women whose traditional mode of work may have been more selfless, thus complicating the process of indoctrinating selfless dedication.
Challenges of AGB modelling with dust
Authors: Ventura Paolo , Dell’Agli Flavia , Di Criscienzo Marcella , García–Hernández D. A. , Stanghellini Letizia , Schneider Raffaella
Published: May 2017

We report on the most recent progresses on the modelling of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase. We show that dust formation in the wind of AGBs is sensitive to the mass of the precursor, low–mass AGB with mass below ~ 3 M⊙ producing mainly carbonaceous dust, whereas their counterparts of higher mass produce silicates and alumina dust. We discuss the uncertainty of the results, due to the poor knowledge of physical mechanisms highly important for AGB evolution, primarily convection and mass loss. We show how the chemical composition of planetary nebulae can be used to draw information on the main features of AGB evolution.
Dust and molecules in extra-galactic planetary nebulae
Authors: García-Hernández D. A.
Published: May 2017

Extra-galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) permit the study of dust and molecules in metallicity environments other than the Galaxy. Their known distances lower the number of free parameters in the observations vs. models comparison, providing strong constraints on the gas-phase and solid-state astrochemistry models. Observations of PNe in the Galaxy and other Local Group galaxies such as the Magellanic Clouds (MC) provide evidence that metallicity affects the production of dust as well as the formation of complex organic molecules and inorganic solid-state compounds in their circumstellar envelopes. In particular, the lower metallicity MC environments seem to be less favorable to dust production and the frequency of carbonaceous dust features and complex fullerene molecules is generally higher with decreasing metallicity. Here, I present an observational review of the dust and molecular content in extra-galactic PNe as compared to their higher metallicity Galactic counterparts. A special attention is given to the level of dust processing and the formation of complex organic molecules (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, fullerenes, and graphene precursors) depending on metallicity.
The Large Magellanic Cloud PN population
Authors: Reid Warren A.
Published: May 2017

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) allow us to study late stellar evolution in environments that are respectively about a half and a quarter the metallicity of the Milky Way. With a known distance and low reddening, the LMC is an excellent environment to study PNe and conduct multiple studies. Over the past twelve months we have used the UKST Hα survey to complete our search for faint PNe in the outer most LMC beyond the 64 deg2area previously covered. Follow-up spectroscopy using AAOmega on the AAT and the 2.3-m telescope at Siding Spring Observatory have yielded a further 22 new LMC PNe while confirming the 8 previously known in the outer LMC. Medium- and high-resolution spectra have been used to measure fluxes and derive densities, mass and central star temperatures. A strong correlation is found between PNe and stellar density. This is visually displayed and given an empirical value of α = 1 PN / 2.5 × 106L⊙. The current [Oiii]-based PNLF, apart from providing an excellent standard candle, contains information about the parent population. The new PNLF, which extends down nine magnitudes, permits investigation of the faint end, the overall effects of internal extinction and provides clues to explain the insensitivity of the PNLF cutoff. When compared to the ionised density and mass of LMC PNe, the PNLF reveals it’s bimodal characteristics. Two separate evolutionary paths are evident for young, evolving PNe.
Untangling the History of M31 with Planetary Nebulae
Authors: Balick Bruce
Published: May 2017

Recent studies of planetary nebulae and deep color-magnitude diagrams in M 31 have unveiled some unusual star-formation events beyond its spiral arms into its outer regions extending to 100 kpc in projected distance. In this paper I summarize these observations. I shall also highlight some special interpretive surprises suggested by observations of PNe related to their O/H abundances, ages, and the luminosities on PNe well beyond the inner disk.
Extended halos and intracluster light using Planetary Nebulae as tracers in nearby clusters
Authors: Arnaboldi Magda
Published: May 2017

Since the first detection of intracluster planetary nebulae in 1996, imaging and spectroscopic surveys identified such stars to trace the radial extent and the kinematics of diffuse light in clusters. This topic of research is tightly linked with the studies of galaxy formation and evolution in dense environment, as the spatial distribution and kinematics of planetary nebulae in the outermost regions of galaxies and in the cluster cores is relevant for setting constraints on cosmological simulations. In this sense, extragalactic planetary nebulae play a very important role in the near-field cosmology, in order to measure the integrated mass as function of radius and the orbital distribution of stars in structures placed in the densest regions of the nearby universe.
Integrating Writing in the Classics Classroom
Authors: Traweek Alison C.
Published: May 2017

In a 2015 interview with theChronicle for Higher Education, prolific scholar Anthony Grafton showed a reluctance to call himself a writer that surprised many readers: “I've never felt I could claim to be a writer in that full sense” he confessed (Toor, 2015). I have heard similar admissions from many of my friends and colleagues in classics; we see ourselves as teachers and researchers, not as writers. When we stop to consider our work, though, it is obvious that writing makes up an enormous part of our workload: we write not just articles, abstracts, books, and book reviews, but also course descriptions, syllabi, letters of recommendation, grant proposals, and those ‘statements of research interest’ that haunt job candidates annually. Whether or not we feel comfortable claiming the label ‘writer’, writing is, undeniably, a central part of our professional lives.
Penetrating the Penguin Wall of Black: Testing theories from PGCE research on how to approach the teaching of KS5 Classical Civilisation
Authors: Jones Rebecca
Published: May 2017

This article is the second instalment of an exploration into teaching strategies in KS5 Classical Civilisation that started as a research project during the PGCE in 2015. I was particularly interested in determining what might be the most successful ways to approach the teaching of classical literature units. Many of the teachers and students I had spoken to expressed real concern about the volume of text to be covered and the amount of information for students to recall. Following the research I identified a number of ‘theories’ about how these challenges might be tackled and teaching strategies to address them, which I subsequently tested out in my first year of teaching. Below I recap the theories, explain the teaching strategies and activities that were trialled, and share my impressions of how and whether these worked in practice. Although many teachers will be familiar with these approaches, I hope that sharing the experience of trialling these in combination and the subsequent results may provoke consideration or re-consideration. The theories and approaches were explored across two different classes of A Level students (approximately equal numbers of male and female) studying Iliad (AS- 6 students) and Greek Tragedy (A2- 5 students) at an independent school for boarders and day pupils aged 13–18.
Greek Inscriptions: insights and resources in the classroom and beyond
Authors: Liddel Peter
Published: May 2017

The learning of ancient history at every level – school, FE and HE – offers its students the opportunity of close engagement with ancient evidence first hand. We want our students to develop the ability to approach texts and artefacts with confidence, to place them in context, and to cultivate their own perspectives on ancient history through engaging with them. We need to teach them that this process – the antithesis (or even the antidote?) to the quick-fix of Wikipedia or the Google search – is crucial to the methodology of the historian and is at the same time an exciting way of thinking about the past. Close engagement with inscriptions is a way of getting to the core matters of ancient history. In this article I set out the insights and opportunities that the study of inscriptions offers to those getting familiar with Greek antiquity at the pre-university stage; I consider the obstacles that teachers and students face when trying to access them and also the opportunities that modern publications (digital and traditional) offer to overcoming them.
Non-junctional Cx32 mediates anti-apoptotic and pro-tumor effects via epidermal growth factor receptor in human cervical cancer cells
Authors: Zhao Yifan , Lai Yongchang , Ge Hui , Guo Yunquan , Feng Xue , Song Jia , Wang Qin , Fan Lixia , Peng Yuexia , Cao Minghui , Harris Andrew L , Wang Xiyan , Tao Liang
Published: May 2017

The role of connexin proteins (Cx), which form gap junctions (GJ), in progression and chemotherapeutic sensitivity of cervical cancer (CaCx), is unclear. Using cervix specimens (313 CaCx, 78 controls) and CaCx cell lines, we explored relationships among Cx expression, prognostic variables and mechanisms that may link them. In CaCx specimens, Cx32 was upregulated and cytoplasmically localized, and three other Cx downregulated, relative to controls. Cx32 expression correlated with advanced FIGO staging, differentiation and increased tumor size. In CaCx cell lines, Cx32 expression suppressed streptonigrin/cisplatin-induced apoptosis in the absence of functional GJ. In CaCx specimens and cell lines, expression of Cx32 upregulated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression. Inhibition of EGFR signaling abrogated the anti-apoptotic effect of Cx32 expression. In conclusion, upregulated Cx32 in CaCx cells produces anti-apoptotic, pro-tumorigenic effects in vivo and vitro. Abnormal Cx32 expression/localization in CaCx appears to be both a mechanism and biomarker of chemotherapeutic resistance.
MK2206 enhances the cytocidal effects of bufalin in multiple myeloma by inhibiting the AKT/mTOR pathway
Authors: Xiang Ru-Fang , Wang Yan , Zhang Nan , Xu Wen-Bin , Cao Yang , Tong Jia , Li Jun-min , Wu Ying-Li , Yan Hua
Published: May 2017

Despite the development of promising cancer therapeutic drugs, multiple myeloma (MM) remains an incurable disease. Bufalin is a bufanolide steroid compound of the traditional Chinese medicine Chan Su that was previously shown to exert growth suppression effects on myeloma cell lines. Previous studies conducted by our group demonstrated that bufalin activated the AKT/mTOR pathway in myeloma cells, which is considered an essential pathway to disease progression and is related to drug resistance in MM. In view of the significant role of AKT in MM, the allosteric AKT inhibitor MK2206 was selected in order to enhance the antitumor effects of bufalin in different MM cell lines (NCI-H929, U266, LP-1 and RPMI8226). The data indicated that MK2206 enhanced the cytotoxicity of bufalin in MM cells, via the suppression of cellular proliferation and the induction of apoptosis, as demonstrated by cleavage of apoptosis-related proteins. This effect was further noted in the presence of exogenous interleukin-6 and/or following the co-culture of MM cells with bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC). This process was associated with the inhibition of the AKT/mTOR pathway. The combination of bufalin with MK2206 reduced the secretion of IL-6 in U266 cells. The combined treatment exhibited similar anti-MM effects in bortezomib-resistant cell lines (NCI-H929R, U266R). In addition to thein vitrocell line models, the synergistic effect was noted in primary MM cells and in MM xenografts of BALB-c and NOD-SCID mice. In conclusion, the data suggested that MK2206 significantly enhanced the cytocidal effects of bufalin in MM cells, regardless of the sensitivity to bortezomib, via the inhibition of the AKT/mTOR pathway. The study provided the basis of a promising treatment approach for MM.
Tuning the effective spin-orbit coupling in molecular semiconductors
Authors: Schott Sam , McNellis Erik R. , Nielsen Christian B. , Chen Hung-Yang , Watanabe Shun , Tanaka Hisaaki , McCulloch Iain , Takimiya Kazuo , Sinova Jairo , Sirringhaus Henning
Published: May 2017

The control of spins and spin to charge conversion in organics requires understanding the molecular spin-orbit coupling (SOC), and a means to tune its strength. However, quantifying SOC strengths indirectly through spin relaxation effects has proven difficult due to competing relaxation mechanisms. Here we present a systematic study of the g-tensor shift in molecular semiconductors and link it directly to the SOC strength in a series of high-mobility molecular semiconductors with strong potential for future devices. The results demonstrate a rich variability of the molecular g-shifts with the effective SOC, depending on subtle aspects of molecular composition and structure. We correlate the above g-shifts to spin-lattice relaxation times over four orders of magnitude, from 200 to 0.15 μs, for isolated molecules in solution and relate our findings for isolated molecules in solution to the spin relaxation mechanisms that are likely to be relevant in solid state systems.
Targeting the deubiquitinase STAMBP inhibits NALP7 inflammasome activity
Authors: Bednash Joseph S. , Weathington Nathaniel , Londino James , Rojas Mauricio , Gulick Dexter L. , Fort Robert , Han SeungHye , McKelvey Alison C. , Chen Bill B. , Mallampalli Rama K.
Published: May 2017

Inflammasomes regulate innate immune responses by facilitating maturation of inflammatory cytokines, interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18. NACHT, LRR and PYD domains-containing protein 7 (NALP7) is one inflammasome constituent, but little is known about its cellular handling. Here we show a mechanism for NALP7 protein stabilization and activation of the inflammasome by Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonism with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and the synthetic acylated lipopeptide Pam3CSK4. NALP7 is constitutively ubiquitinated and recruited to the endolysosome for degradation. With TLR ligation, the deubiquitinase enzyme, STAM-binding protein (STAMBP) impedes NALP7 trafficking to lysosomes to increase NALP7 abundance. STAMBP deubiquitinates NALP7 and STAMBP knockdown abrogates LPS or Pam3CSK4-induced increases in NALP7 protein. A small-molecule inhibitor of STAMBP deubiquitinase activity, BC-1471, decreases NALP7 protein levels and suppresses IL-1β release after TLR agonism. These findings describe a unique pathway of inflammasome regulation with the identification of STAMBP as a potential therapeutic target to reduce pro-inflammatory stress.
Kondo blockade due to quantum interference in single-molecule junctions
Authors: Mitchell Andrew K. , Pedersen Kim G. L. , Hedegård Per , Paaske Jens
Published: May 2017

Molecular electronics offers unique scientific and technological possibilities, resulting from both the nanometre scale of the devices and their reproducible chemical complexity. Two fundamental yet different effects, with no classical analogue, have been demonstrated experimentally in single-molecule junctions: quantum interference due to competing electron transport pathways, and the Kondo effect due to entanglement from strong electronic interactions. Here we unify these phenomena, showing that transport through a spin-degenerate molecule can be either enhanced or blocked by Kondo correlations, depending on molecular structure, contacting geometry and applied gate voltages. An exact framework is developed, in terms of which the quantum interference properties of interacting molecular junctions can be systematically studied and understood. We prove that an exact Kondo-mediated conductance node results from destructive interference in exchange-cotunneling. Nonstandard temperature dependences and gate-tunable conductance peaks/nodes are demonstrated for prototypical molecular junctions, illustrating the intricate interplay of quantum effects beyond the single-orbital paradigm.
PPKs mediate direct signal transfer from phytochrome photoreceptors to transcription factor PIF3
Authors: Ni Weimin , Xu Shou-Ling , González-Grandío Eduardo , Chalkley Robert J. , Huhmer Andreas F. R. , Burlingame Alma L. , Wang Zhi-Yong , Quail Peter H.
Published: May 2017

Upon light-induced nuclear translocation, phytochrome (phy) sensory photoreceptors interact with, and induce rapid phosphorylation and consequent ubiquitin-mediated degradation of, transcription factors, called PIFs, thereby regulating target gene expression and plant development. Nevertheless, the biochemical mechanism of phy-induced PIF phosphorylation has remained ill-defined. Here we identify a family of nuclear protein kinases, designated Photoregulatory Protein Kinases (PPK1–4; formerly called MUT9-Like Kinases (MLKs)), that interact with PIF3 and phyB in a light-induced manner in vivo. Genetic analyses demonstrate that the PPKs are collectively necessary for the normal light-induced phosphorylation and degradation of PIF3. PPK1 directly phosphorylates PIF3 in vitro, with a phosphosite pattern that strongly mimics the light-induced pattern in vivo. These data establish that the PPKs are directly involved in catalysing the photoactivated-phy-induced phosphorylation of PIF3 in vivo, and thereby are critical components of a transcriptionally centred signalling hub that pleiotropically regulates plant growth and development in response to multiple signalling pathways.
Accumulation of heme biosynthetic intermediates contributes to the antibacterial action of the metalloid tellurite
Authors: Morales Eduardo H. , Pinto Camilo A. , Luraschi Roberto , Muñoz-Villagrán Claudia M. , Cornejo Fabián A. , Simpkins Scott W. , Nelson Justin , Arenas Felipe A. , Piotrowski Jeff S. , Myers Chad L. , Mori Hirotada , Vásquez Claudio C.
Published: May 2017

The metalloid tellurite is highly toxic to microorganisms. Several mechanisms of action have been proposed, including thiol depletion and generation of hydrogen peroxide and superoxide, but none of them can fully explain its toxicity. Here we use a combination of directed evolution and chemical and biochemical approaches to demonstrate that tellurite inhibits heme biosynthesis, leading to the accumulation of intermediates of this pathway and hydroxyl radical. Unexpectedly, the development of tellurite resistance is accompanied by increased susceptibility to hydrogen peroxide. Furthermore, we show that the heme precursor 5-aminolevulinic acid, which is used as an antimicrobial agent in photodynamic therapy, potentiates tellurite toxicity. Our results define a mechanism of tellurite toxicity and warrant further research on the potential use of the combination of tellurite and 5-aminolevulinic acid in antimicrobial therapy.