PRODUCER RETURNS FROM COTTON STRENGTH AND UNIFORMITY: AN HEDONIC PRICE APPROACH

Implicit (hedonic) producer prices for fiber strength uniformity were estimated for the southwest U.S. cotton market using seemingly unrelated regression and market sales data from 1983/84 and 1984/85, Fiber strength and length uniformity had significant effects on the price of cotton, but price was less responsive to both attributes than anticipated. Producer prices were most responsive to fiber length and micronaire and least responsive to color and strength. The market at the producer level appears to be making effective price adjustments with respect to factors such as fiber color, trash content, micronaire, fiber length, and location, but strength and length uniformity premiums and discounts are smaller than those paid by end users.Demand and Price Analysis,

Increased physical fitness is associated with higher executive functioning in people with dementia

Physical fitness (PF) has been associated with improved cognition in older age, but less is known about its effects on different cognitive domains in individuals diagnosed with dementia. We explored the associations between PF and cognitive performance in 40 healthy elderly and 30 individuals with dementia. Participants completed a battery of standardized cognitive tests (Mini-Mental State Exam, Verbal Fluency, Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire, Clock Drawing, and California Verbal Learning Test) and were classified into high versus low levels of PF based on their score on the Physical Fitness Questionnaire. Analyses took into account age, gender, education, occupation, head injury, Internet use, brain training, and past levels of exercise and revealed overall benefits of PF, in particular for the people with dementia. Discriminant analysis showed high accuracy of reclassification, with most errors being due to the misclassification of dementia cases as healthy when they had high PF. The first discriminant function accounted for 83% of the variance. Using individual estimates of this function, which reflected global cognitive performance, confirmed the beneficial role of PF in dementia, even when taking into account age, past level of exercise, and the number of years since the dementia diagnosis. Finally, univariate analyses confirmed the differential sensitivity of the cognitive tests, with MMSE and clock drawing showing reliable interaction effects. This work shows that PF is associated with a reduced level of cognitive deterioration expected with dementia, especially in executive functioning and provides empirical support for the cognitive benefits of interventions promoting PF for individuals with dementia

Impacts of research efforts on new and existing buildings

This paper reviews some of the resources for natural heating and cooling of buildings and outlines the potential benefits of specific examples of advanced research. The needs and possibilities for superior glazings, switchable glazings, thermal diodes, thermal transport systems, phase-change material in wallboard, and low-emissivity wall coatings are examined

The multiligand receptor RAGE as a progression factor amplifying immune and inflammatory responses

This is the published version. Copyright 2001 American Society for Clinical Investigation.The multiligand receptors that form the focus of this Perspective series have expectedly diverse functions, often conforming to potential gaps in the host response to invading pathogens that are not effectively manned by adaptive immunity. For example, the macrophage scavenger receptor (type A) interacts with bacterial cell walls and enhances clearance of Gram-negative bacteria from the circulation (1). Similarly, the macrophage mannose receptor binds mannose-rich carbohydrates typical of many microorganisms, thereby promoting their cellular uptake and disposal (2). The present contribution to the series concerns a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily that differs from the above molecules in that all known ligands in its broad repertoire can be generated endogenously (3). This cell surface protein, called RAGE because it serves as a receptor for nonenzymatically glycated adducts termed “advanced glycation endproducts” (AGEs), also binds β-sheet fibrils characteristic of amyloid; proinflammatory cytokine–like mediators of the S100/calgranulin family; and amphoterin, a nuclear protein sometimes found in the ECM (Table 1). Binding of these ligands to RAGE does not accelerate clearance or degradation but rather begins a sustained period of cellular activation mediated by receptor-dependent signaling. This is the first of several distinctive themes that have emerged from studies of RAGE. Other unusual features of the receptor include its ability to engage classes of molecules, rather than individual ligands, and its enhanced surface expression in environments rich in RAGE ligands. This last point is crucial, since it explains how upregulation of this receptor can contribute to an ascending spiral of RAGE-dependent cellular perturbation. Taken together, these features of RAGE allow the receptor to propagate cellular dysfunction in a number of pathophysiologically relevant situations, most often dictated by the formation and persistence of ligands in the tissues. As described below, these diverse situations range from the complications of diabetes and cellular perturbation in amyloidoses to immune and inflammatory responses and tumor cell behavior

Passive space heating with a self-pumping vapor system

In this system, which should be useful for space or water heating, a refrigerant is evaporated in a solar collector and condensed within thermal storage located in the building below the collector. The vapor pressure generated in the collector periodically forces the condensed liquid upward to the location of the collector. This paper reports results of an operational test, in which this system provided passive space heating for an outdoor test cell during a winter season. The daily average energy yield and the elevation of collector temperature caused by self-pumping are reported, as well as observations on failure modes, system reliability, and suggestions for a practical configuration

Clearance kinetics and matrix binding partners of the receptor for advanced glycation end products

Elucidating the sites and mechanisms of sRAGE action in the healthy state is vital to better understand the biological importance of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE). Previous studies in animal models of disease have demonstrated that exogenous sRAGE has an anti-inflammatory effect, which has been reasoned to arise from sequestration of pro-inflammatory ligands away from membrane-bound RAGE isoforms. We show here that sRAGE exhibits in vitro binding with high affinity and reversibly to extracellular matrix components collagen I, collagen IV, and laminin. Soluble RAGE administered intratracheally, intravenously, or intraperitoneally, does not distribute in a specific fashion to any healthy mouse tissue, suggesting against the existence of accessible sRAGE sinks and receptors in the healthy mouse. Intratracheal administration is the only effective means of delivering exogenous sRAGE to the lung, the organ in which RAGE is most highly expressed; clearance of sRAGE from lung does not differ appreciably from that of albumin. Copyright: © 2014 Milutinovic et al

Passive vapor transport solar heating systems

In the systems under consideration, refrigerant is evaporated in a solar collector and condensed in thermal storage for space or water heating located within the building at a level below that of the collector. Condensed liquid is lifted to an accumulator above the collector by the vapor pressure generated in the collector. Tests of two systems are described, and it is concluded that one of these systems offers distinct advantages

Self-pumping vapor system for hybrid space heating

This paper reports investigations of a passive system that transports heat from a solar collector downward. Refrigerant is evaporated in a collector and the vapor transports heat to one or more condensers located at an arbitrary elevation below the collector. The vapor pressure lifts the condensed liquid to an accumulator located near the top of the collector. The results of annual performance calculations are presented for a space heating application in which one or more condensers are located within passive thermal storage units that release heat directly to one or more zones of the building. Simple sizing rules for optimal energy yield are given

High-flavonoid intake induces cognitive improvement linked to changes in serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor: two randomised,controlled trials

BACKGROUND: Recent clinical studies have indicated the beneficial impact of dietary flavonoid intake on human cognitive performance. Although the mechanisms that mediate such improvements are currently unclear, animal and human trial data suggest that changes in neurotrophin expression, and related signalling apparatus, may be involved. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the link between changes in serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and changes in human cognitive performance following flavonoid intake. METHODS: The relationship between serum levels of BDNF and age, gender, BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure and cognition at baseline, and following flavonoid intake, was investigated in two distinct randomised, controlled clinical trials. Trial 1 was conducted in men and women (aged 26–70 y; consuming an average of 3 portions of fruit and vegetables per day) and delivered high-flavonoid (>15 mg/100 g) or low-flavonoid (<5 mg/100 g) fruit and vegetables and increased intake by 2 portions every 6 weeks. The control arm was habitual diet over the same time frame. Trial 2 was conducted in an older males and female cohort (aged 62–75 y) intervening with a high-flavanol cocoa drink (494 mg total flavanols) and a low-flavanol cocoa drink (23 mg total flavanols) for 12 weeks. RESULTS: Serum BDNF levels increased linearly to the age of 65, after which BDNF levels were found to decrease markedly. All other physiological and anthropometric measurements proved to not be significantly associated with serum BDNF levels (p > 0.05), although higher levels in males compared to females almost achieved significance (p = 0.056). At baseline, higher serum BDNF levels were associated with significantly better global cognition scores, relative to individuals with lower serum levels. In addition, following intervention for 18 weeks, high-flavonoid, but not low-flavonoid, fruit and vegetable intake induced significant improvements in cognitive performance and increases in serum BDNF levels (p = <0.001). Flavanol intervention for 12 weeks also resulted in significant increases in serum BDNF (p = <0.001), and such increases were correlated with improvements in global cognitive performance. CONCLUSION: Increases in global cognition induced by high flavonoid fruit and vegetables, and cocoa flavanols were paralleled by concurrent changes in serum BDNF levels, suggesting a role for BDNF in flavonoid-induced cognitive improvements. Furthermore, we provide further data suggesting that serum BDNF levels may represent a biomarker of cognitive function