Transformation of the Rice Marketing System and Myanmar's Transition to a Market Economy

Creating a rice marketing system has been one of the central policy issues in Myanmar's move to a market economy since the end of the 1980s. Two liberalizations of rice marketing were implemented in 1987 and 2003. This paper examines the essential aspects of the liberalizations and the subsequent transformation of Myanmar's rice marketing sector. It attempts to bring into clearer focus the rationale of the government's rice marketing reforms which is to maintain a stable supply of rice at a low price to consumers. Under this rationale, however, the state rice marketing sector continued to lose efficiency while the private sector was allowed to develop on condition that it did not jeopardize the rationale of stable supply at low price. The paper concludes that the prospect for the future development of the private rice marketing sector is dim since a change in the rice market's rationale is unlikely. Private rice exporting is unlikely to be permitted, while the domestic market is approaching the saturation point. Thus, there is little momentum for the private rice sector to undertake any substantial expansion of investment.

Effects of increasing levels of pea hulls in the diet on productive performance, development of the gastrointestinal tract, and nutrient retention of broilers from one to eighteeen days of age

The effects of inclusion of pea hulls (PH) in the diet on growth performance, development of the gastrointestinal tract and nutrient retention were studied in broilers from 1 to 18d of age. There were a control diet based on low fibre ingredients (69.3 total dietary fibre (16.1g crude fibre/kg)) and three additional diets that resulted from the dilution of the basal diet with 25, 50 and 75g PH/kg (81.2, 93.2, and 105.1g total dietary fibre/kg diet, respectively). Each treatment was replicated six times and the experimental unit was a cage with 12 chicks. Growth performance, development of the gastrointestinal tract and the coefficients of total tract apparent retention (CTTAR) of nutrients were recorded at 6, 12 and 18d of age. In addition, jejunal morphology was measured at 12 and 18d and the coefficients of apparent ileal digestibility (CAID) of nutrients at 18d of age. Pea hulls inclusion affected all the parameters studied. The inclusion of 25 and 50g PH/kg diet improved growth performance as compared to the control diet. The relative weight (g/kg body weight) of proventriculus (P≤0.01), gizzard (P≤0.001) and ceca (P≤0.05) increased linearly as the level of PH in the diet increased. The inclusion of PH affected quadratically (P≤0.01) villus height:crypt depth ratio with the highest value shown at 25g PH/kg. In general, the CTTAR and CAID of nutrients increased linearly and quadratically (P≤0.05) with increasing levels of PH, showing maximum values with PH level between 25 and 50g/kg diet. We conclude that the size of the digestive organs increases with increasing levels of PH in the diet. In general, the best performance and nutrient digestibility values were observed with levels of PH within the range of 25 and 50g/kg. Therefore, young broilers have a requirement for a minimum amount of dietary fibre. When pea hulls are used as a source of fibre, the level of total dietary fibre required for optimal performance is within the range of 81.2–93.2g/kg diet (25.6–35.0g crude fibre/kg diet). An excess of total dietary fibre (above 93.2g/kg diet) might reduce nutrient digestibility and growth performance to values similar to those observed with the control diet.

Analytical solution to the one-dimensional non-uniform absorption of solar radiation in uncoated and coated single glass panes

The analytical solution to the one-dimensional absorption–conduction heat transfer problem inside a single glass pane is presented, which correctly takes into account all the relevant physical phenomena: the appearance of multiple reflections, the spectral distribution of solar radiation, the spectral dependence of optical properties, the presence of possible coatings, the non-uniform nature of radiation absorption, and the diffusion of heat by conduction across the glass pane. Additionally to the well established and known direct absorptance αe, the derived solution introduces a new spectral quantity called direct absorptance moment βe, that indicates where in the glass pane is the absorption of radiation actually taking place. The theoretical and numerical comparison of the derived solution with existing approximate thermal models for the absorption–conduction problem reveals that the latter ones work best for low-absorbing uncoated single glass panes, something not necessarily fulfilled by modern glazings.

Dry sand as a specialized layer to improve the acoustic insulation between rooms one above another = La arena como capa intermedia especializada para la mejora del aislamiento acústico entre recintos superpuestos

Se comprueba la mejora en el aislamiento acústico entre recintos de la colocación de una capa de arean entre el solado y el forjado

Development of One Meter Long Double-Sided CeO2 Buffered Ni-5at.W Templates by Reel-to-Reel Chemical Solution Deposition Route

High performance long-length coated conductors fabricated using various techniques have attracted a lot of interest recently. In this work, a reel-to-reel design for depositing double-sided coatings on long-length flexible metallic tapes via a chemical solution method is proposed and realized. The major achievement of the design is to combine the dip coating and drying processes in order to overcome the technical difficulties of dealing with the wet films on both sides of the tape. We report the successful application of the design to fabricate a one-meter-long double side coated CeO2/Ni-5at%W template. The CeO2 films on both sides exhibit a dense, crack-free morphology, and a high fraction of cube texture on the surface. Homogeneity studies on global texture over the length also reveal that the average full width at half maximum values of the in-plane and out-of-plane orientation on the CeO2 layer are 7.2 ° and 5.8° with standard deviation of 0.26° and 0.34°, respectively, being indicative of the high quality epitaxial growth of the films prepared in the continuous manner. An all chemical solution derived YBCOLow-TFA/Ce0.9La0.1O2 /Gd2Zr2O7/CeO2 structure is obtained on a short sample, demonstrating the possibility of producing long-length texture templates for coated conductors by this low cost deposition route.

Recombinant human granzyme A binds to two putative HLA-associated proteins and cleaves one of them

The release of cytotoxic granule contents by cytotoxic T lymphocytes triggers apoptotic target cell death. Cytotoxic granules contain a pore-forming protein, perforin, and a group of serine proteases called granzymes. We expressed human granzyme A in bacteria as a proenzyme capable of in vitro activation by enterokinase. The recombinant activated enzyme has catalytic activity against substrates with Arg, preferably, or Lys at the P1 position, comparable to trypsin. An enzymatically inactive recombinant granzyme A, with the active site Ser mutated to Ala, was produced and used with affinity chromatography to identify potential substrates. Two granzyme A-binding cytoplasmic proteins of molecular mass 33 and 44 kDa were isolated and identified by tryptic fragment sequencing as PHAP I and II, ubiquitous putative HLA-associated proteins, previously coisolated by binding to an HLA class II peptide. PHAP II forms an SDS-stable complex with recombinant mutant granzyme A and coprecipitates with it from cytoplasmic extracts. PHAP II, either purified or in cell lysates, is cleaved by the recombinant enzyme at nanomolar concentrations to a 25-kDa fragment. PHAP II begins to be degraded within minutes of initiation of cytotoxic T lymphocyte attack. PHAP I and II are candidate participants in the granzyme A pathway of cell-mediated cytotoxicity.

In utero exposure to cigarette chemicals induces sex-specific disruption of one-carbon metabolism and DNA methylation in the human fetal liver

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Acknowledgements: We thank Ms Margaret Fraser, Ms Samantha Flannigan, and Dr Wing Yee Kwong for their expert assistance. The staff at Grampian NHS Pregnancy Counselling Service were essential for collecting fetuses. We thank Professor Geoffrey Hammond and Dr Marc Simard, University of British Colombia for helpful comments on the manuscript. Supported by grants as follows: Scottish Senior Clinical Fellowship (AJD); Chief Scientist Office (Scottish Executive, CZG/1/109 to PAF, & CZG/4/742 (PAF & PJOS); NHS Grampian Endowments 08/02 (PAF, SB & PJOS); the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no 212885 (PAF & SMR); the Medical Research Council grants MR/L010011/1 (PAF & PJOS) and MR/K018310/1 (AJD). None of the funding bodies played any role in the design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, nor in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication

From snapshot to movie: φ analysis of protein folding transition states taken one step further

Kinetic anomalies in protein folding can result from changes of the kinetic ground states (D, I, and N), changes of the protein folding transition state, or both. The 102-residue protein U1A has a symmetrically curved chevron plot which seems to result mainly from changes of the transition state. At low concentrations of denaturant the transition state occurs early in the folding reaction, whereas at high denaturant concentration it moves close to the native structure. In this study we use this movement to follow continuously the formation and growth of U1A's folding nucleus by φ analysis. Although U1A's transition state structure is generally delocalized and displays a typical nucleation–condensation pattern, we can still resolve a sequence of folding events. However, these events are sufficiently coupled to start almost simultaneously throughout the transition state structure.

Whole genome amplification using a degenerate oligonucleotide primer allows hundreds of genotypes to be performed on less than one nanogram of genomic DNA

Genetic analysis of limiting quantities of genomic DNA play an important role in DNA forensics, paleoarcheology, genetic disease diagnosis, genetic linkage analysis, and genetic diversity studies. We have tested the ability of degenerate oligonucleotide primed polymerase chain reaction (DOP-PCR) to amplify picogram quantities of human genomic DNA for the purpose of increasing the amount of template for genotyping with microsatellite repeat markers. DNA was uniformly amplified at a large number of typable loci throughout the human genome with starting template DNAs from as little as 15 pg to as much as 400 ng. A much greater-fold enrichment was seen for the smaller genomic DOP-PCRs. All markers tested were amplified from starting genomic DNAs in the range of 0.6–40 ng with amplifications of 200- to 600-fold. The DOP-PCR-amplified genomic DNA was an excellent and reliable template for genotyping with microsatellites, which give distinct bands with no increase in stutter artifact on di-, tri-, and tetranucleotide repeats. There appears to be equal amplification of genomic DNA from 55 of 55 tested discrete microsatellites implying near complete coverage of the human genome. Thus, DOP-PCR appears to allow unbiased, hundreds-fold whole genome amplification of human genomic DNA for genotypic analysis.

Conversion of a radioresistant phenotype to a more sensitive one by disabling erbB receptor signaling in human cancer cells

Inhibition of cell growth and transformation can be achieved in transformed glial cells by disabling erbB receptor signaling. However, recent evidence indicates that the induction of apoptosis may underlie successful therapy of human cancers. In these studies, we examined whether disabling oncoproteins of the erbB receptor family would sensitize transformed human glial cells to the induction of genomic damage by γ-irradiation. Radioresistant human glioblastoma cells in which erbB receptor signaling was inhibited exhibited increased growth arrest and apoptosis in response to DNA damage. Apoptosis was observed after radiation in human glioma cells containing either a wild-type or mutated p53 gene product and suggested that both p53-dependent and -independent mechanisms may be responsible for the more radiosensitive phenotype. Because cells exhibiting increased radiation-induced apoptosis were also capable of growth arrest in serum-deprived conditions and in response to DNA damage, apoptotic cell death was not induced simply as a result of impaired growth arrest pathways. Notably, inhibition of erbB signaling was a more potent stimulus for the induction of apoptosis than prolonged serum deprivation. Proximal receptor interactions between erbB receptor members thus influence cell cycle checkpoint pathways activated in response to DNA damage. Disabling erbB receptors may improve the response to γ-irradiation and other cytotoxic therapies, and this approach suggests that present anticancer strategies could be optimized.

ACTIVITY: a database on DNA/RNA sites activity adapted to apply sequence-activity relationships from one system to another

ACTIVITY is a database on DNA/RNA site sequences with known activity magnitudes, measurement systems, sequence-activity relationships under fixed experimental conditions and procedures to adapt these relationships from one measurement system to another. This database deposits information on DNA/RNA affinities to proteins and cell nuclear extracts, cutting efficiencies, gene transcription activity, mRNA translation efficiencies, mutability and other biological activities of natural sites occurring within promoters, mRNA leaders, and other regulatory regions in pro- and eukaryotic genomes, their mutant forms and synthetic analogues. Since activity magnitudes are heavily system-dependent, the current version of ACTIVITY is supplemented by three novel sub-databases: (i) SYSTEM, measurement systems; (ii) KNOWLEDGE, sequence-activity relationships under fixed experimental conditions; and (iii) CROSS_TEST, procedures adapting a relationship from one measurement system to another. These databases are useful in molecular biology, pharmacogenetics, metabolic engineering, drug design and biotechnology. The databases can be queried using SRS and are available through the Web, http://wwwmgs.bionet.nsc.ru/systems/Activity/.