Reconfiguring Food Systems Governance: The UNFSS and the Battle Over Authority and Legitimacy.

The UN Food Systems Summit was an ambitious and hotly contested event that brought competing approaches to global food governance into relief. In this article, we unpack the rival visions that circulate around how food systems should be governed, focusing on two issues that we feel are at the heart of these divergences: authority and legitimacy. We illustrate how both corporate-philanthropic and food sovereignty networks are struggling to establish epistemic authority of food systems as well as produce legitimacy through very different approaches to participation and accountability.

The Promise Initiative: Promoting a trauma-informed police response to sexual assault in a mid-size Southern community.

AIMS: A mixed-methods study details a multidisciplinary team's efforts to assess and transform police response to sexual assault in a mid-size community. METHOD: A police department-wide survey (n = 331) determined baseline levels of officer exposure to trauma-informed training, rape myth acceptance, and awareness of community and nationwide sexual assault movements to understand officer attitudes towards factors influencing sexual assault investigations. These data, in conjunction with SAMHSA's (2012) trauma-informed assumptions, were leveraged to develop and adopt trauma-informed policies that would enhance the police department's response to sexual assault. RESULTS: At baseline, few officers reported receiving trauma-informed interviewing training (21.8%) or having knowledge of local SAK, #MeToo, or #TimesUp movements (10.0%, 7.2%, 3.9%, respectively). Chi-square analyses suggested officer knowledge of community SAK movement, personal investment in learning about sexual assault, and understanding of trauma were higher in officers with versus without training; of concern, officers with more sexual assaults on their caseload were more likely to endorse rape myths. Training understanding was related to lower rape myth acceptance. CONCLUSIONS: Policy changes, including adding trauma-informed training to the Police Academy, were implemented by the MDT to promote a system-wide trauma-informed approach to sexual assault and ensure community safety.

Characterizing diversity of food systems in view of sustainability transitions. A review.

Dominant food systems are configured from the productivist paradigm, which focuses on producing large amounts of inexpensive and standardized foods. Although these food systems continue being supported worldwide, they are no longer considered fit-for-purpose as they have been proven unsustainable in environmental and social terms. A large body of scientific literature argues that a transition from the dominant food systems to alternative ones built around the wider principles of sustainable production and rural development is needed. Promoting such a sustainability transition would benefit from a diagnosis of food system types to identify those systems that may harbor promising characteristics for a transition to sustainable food systems. While research on food system transitions abounds, an operational approach to characterize the diversity of food systems taking a system perspective is still lacking. In this paper we review the literature on how transitions to sustainable food systems may play out and present a framework based on the Multi-Level Perspective on Socio-Technical Transitions, which builds upon conceptual developments from social and natural science disciplines. The objectives of the framework are to (i) characterize the diversity of existing food systems at a certain geographical scale based on a set of structural characteristics and (ii) classify the food systems in terms of their support by mainstream practices, i.e., dominant food systems connected to regimes; deviate radically from them, niche food systems such as those based on grassroots innovation; or share elements of dominant and niche food systems, i.e., hybrid food systems. An example is given of application of our framework to vegetable food systems with a focus on production, distribution, and consumption of low-or-no pesticide vegetables in Chile. Drawing on this illustrative example we reflect on usefulness, shortcomings, and further development and use of the diagnostic framework.

FISH Signal Pattern for an APL Variant Translocation with a PRKAR1A-RARA Fusion.

OBJECTIVES: Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a quick and reliable test to detect the reciprocal t(15;17)(q22;q21) translocation in acute promyeloid leukemia (APL). The typical signal pattern for positive t(15;17) is one red, one green, and two fusion when using a PML/RARA dual fusion translocation probe. However, for variant translocations leading to the fusion of a RARA gene with an alternate gene partner, a RARA break-apart probe should be used to verify the RARA rearrangement. The typical signal pattern for a positive RARA break-apart probe is one red, one green, and one fusion. In this study, we report a rare APL case with a PRKAR1A-RARA fusion gene with a signal pattern distinct from that of t(15;17) and its other variants.

Do we need a new science-policy interface for food systems?

Credibility, legitimacy, and diversity of knowledge are critical.

Politicizing food security governance through participation: opportunities and opposition.

Since the 2007/08 food price crisis there has been a proliferation of multi-stakeholder processes (MSPs) devoted to bringing diverse perspectives together to inform and improve food security policy. While much of the literature highlights the positive contributions to be gained from an opening-up of traditionally state-led processes, there is a strong critique emerging to show that, in many instances, MSPs have de-politicizing effects. In this paper, we scrutinize MSPs in relation to de-politicization. We argue that re-building sustainable and just food systems requires alternative visions that can best be made visible through politicized policy processes. Focusing on three key conditions of politicization, we examine the UN Committee on World Food Security as a MSP where we see a process of politicization playing out through the endorsement of the 'most-affected' principle, which is in turn being actively contested by traditionally powerful actors. We conclude that there is a need to implement and reinforce mechanisms that deliberately politicize participation in MSPs, notably by clearly distinguishing between states and other stakeholders, as well as between categories of non-state actors.

The effect of estradiol on in vivo tumorigenesis is modulated by the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt1 pathway.

To determine whether the epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (ErbB2) and Akt1 can alter the in vivo growth of MCF-7 cells, parental cells or cells stably transfected with constitutively active Akt1 (myr-Akt1) or dominant-negative Akt1 mutants (K179M-Akt1 and R25C-Akt1) were implanted into athymic nude mice. Tumor growth was monitored in the presence or absence of the antiestrogen tamoxifen and the selective ErbB2 inhibitor, AG825. MCF-7 [parental or empty vector transfected, cytomegalovirus (CMV)] and myr-Akt1 cells formed tumors upon estradiol supplementation after 20-30 d (59-, 29-, and 17-fold increase in tumor volume, respectively). Tamoxifen and AG825 blocked the estradiol effect by 93 and 96% in MCF-7 xenografts, 88 and 81% in CMV xenografts, and 91% in myr-Akt1 xenografts. Furthermore, AG825 suppressed the growth of established tumors in CMV and myr-Akt1 inoculated animals by 68 and 75%, respectively, as compared with continued estrogen supplementation, suggesting a role for ErbB2. When K179M-Akt1 or R25C-Akt1 cells were injected into ovariectomized animals, tumor growth was reduced upon estradiol treatment by 95% and 98%, respectively, supporting a role for Akt1. In contrast to ovariectomized animals, in intact animals, myr-Akt1 cells could establish tumors without estradiol priming after 40-50 d (20-fold increase in tumor volume). Loss of Akt1 phosphorylation was associated with tumor growth inhibition. Immunohistochemical assays showed that in tumors from parental and CMV xenografts, estradiol decreased estrogen receptor-alpha expression and induced progesterone receptor expression and Akt phosphorylation, effects that were inhibited by tamoxifen, AG825, and R25C-Akt1 by 89, 82, and 77% for progesterone receptor expression and 48, 66, and 73% for pAkt expression, respectively. Cumulatively, our results suggest that Akt1 and ErbB2 are involved in in vivo tumorigenesis and modulation of estrogen receptor-alpha expression and activity.

Interactional influence of fatigue and task difficulty on cardiovascular response: demonstrations involving an aerobic exercise challenge.

Experiments were executed to provide new evidence relevant to the recent suggestion that fatigue should augment or retard cardiovascular response depending on the difficulty of the challenge at hand. Participants walked on a treadmill while wearing a vest fitted with 5 or 25 pounds of weight. Later, they mounted a recumbent stationary bicycle and were asked to pedal with the chance to earn a modest incentive if they attained a low or high cycling standard (i.e., if they met an easy or difficult cycling challenge). Analysis of CV responses during the cycling period indicated expected interactions for systolic blood pressure and heart rate. Whereas responses were stronger for the Heavy-Vest (i.e., high-fatigue) group when the standard was low, they were weaker for this group when the standard was high. Experiments 2 and 3 evaluated a nonfatigue interpretation of the main results and yielded findings that supported the fatigue interpretation.

The implications of cultural orientation for substance use among American Indians.

American Indians were interviewed about their participation in traditional culture and their substance use behaviors. Analyses indicated that cultural orientation differed by age and employment status. Bicultural or less Indian oriented individuals were more likely to misuse alcohol than their more Indian oriented counterparts. The implications of cultural orientation for substance use behaviors are discussed. The need for more precise conceptualization and measurement of acculturation is recommended.