ECPA & ECCA Crop Protection European Regulatory Conference 2019

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 227-229
Author(s):  
Robin Blake
Keyword(s):  
Crop Protection ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Director General ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
European Regulatory ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Many ◽  
Sustainable Use Directive

The European Crop Protection Association (ECPA) Regulatory Conference 2019 was held in Ghent on 22nd and 23rd May within the framework of the IUPAC Congress, and with the support and participation of the European Crop Care Association (ECCA) and focussed on the many current and future challenges in the implementation and application of Regulation (EC) 1107/2009. The conference was opened with a welcome address by the Director General of the ECPA, Jean-Philippe Azoulay who spoke of his happiness that the annual ECPA regulatory conference was being held alongside the IUPAC conference. He briefly discussed some of the regulatory challenges facing the crop protection industry before highlighting recent progress with respect to transparency and trying to understand public concerns better. The conference was closed by Jean-Philippe Azoulay, who thanked the speakers and organisers, before presenting 11 points by way of conclusion: (1) Our food is safe; (2) The topic of crop protection is complex: difficult to explain in simple words, but easy to simplify and caricature, and requires a differentiated narrative depending on the audience - policy maker vs. general public; (3) The conversation is changing: there is a growing understanding that pesticides are a means to an end and the question is about the production – and consumption – models; (4) Current policy makers only look at the regulation, not at the model or the agronomic or economic impact of their decisions; (5) There are large opportunities for the crop protection industry to contribute to a more sustainable model; (6) Innovative solutions should be encouraged and accelerated, not slowed down; (7) The Sustainable Use Directive is an opportunity for industry to help drive the changes and demonstrate our willingness; (8) No Regulation can address the trust issue – we have to address it ourselves through our actions; (9) Let us acknowledge the end of evidence-based decision making; (10) We need successful farmers now, in the future and for a long time; and (11) The dialogue with retailers and/or consumers is difficult but welcome.

Review about structure and evaluation of reactivators of Acetylcholinesterase inhibited with neurotoxic organophosphorus compounds

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Daniel Figueroa-Villar ◽  
Elaine C. Petronilho ◽  
Kamil Kuca ◽  
Tanos C. C. Franca
Keyword(s):  
Organophosphorus Compounds ◽  
Chemical Warfare Agents ◽  
Nerve Impulse ◽  
Limited Capacity ◽  
New Agents ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Warfare Agents ◽  
Comprehensive Search ◽  
Pharmacology And Toxicology ◽  
The Many

Background: Neurotoxic chemical warfare agents can be classified as some of the most dangerous chemicals for humanity. The most effective of those agents are the organophosphates (OPs) capable of restricting the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE), which in turn controls the nerve impulse transmission. When AChE is inhibited by OPs, its reactivation can be usually performed through cationic oximes. However, until today it has not been developed one universal defense agent, with complete effective reactivation activity for AChE inhibited by any of the many types of existing neurotoxic OPs. For this reason, before treating people intoxicated by an OP, it is necessary to determine the neurotoxic compound that was used for contamination, in order to select the most effective oxime. Unfortunately, this task usually requires a relative long time, raising the possibility of death. Cationic oximes also display a limited capacity of permeating the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This fact compromises their capacity of reactivating AChE inside the nervous system. Methods: We performed a comprehensive search on the data about OPs available on the scientific literature today in order to cover all the main drawbacks still faced in the research for the development of effective antidotes against those compounds. Results: Therefore, this review about neurotoxic OPs and the reactivation of AChE, provides insights for the new agents’ development. The most expected defense agent is a molecule without toxicity and effective to reactivate AChE inhibited by all neurotoxic OPs. Conclusion: To develop these new agents it is necessary the application of diverse scientific areas of research, especially theoretical procedures as computational science (computer simulation, docking and dynamics); organic synthesis; spectroscopic methodologies; biology, biochemical and biophysical information; medicinal chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology.

The Many Faces of Socioeconomic Change

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Toye
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
First Century ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Face ◽  
Scientific Expertise ◽  
The Many ◽  
Century Development

This book provides a survey of different ways in which economic sociocultural and political aspects of human progress have been studied since the time of Adam Smith. Inevitably, over such a long time span, it has been necessary to concentrate on highlighting the most significant contributions, rather than attempting an exhaustive treatment. The aim has been to bring into focus an outline of the main long-term changes in the way that socioeconomic development has been envisaged. The argument presented is that the idea of socioeconomic development emerged with the creation of grand evolutionary sequences of social progress that were the products of Enlightenment and mid-Victorian thinkers. By the middle of the twentieth century, when interest in the accelerating development gave the topic a new impetus, its scope narrowed to a set of economically based strategies. After 1960, however, faith in such strategies began to wane, in the face of indifferent results and general faltering of confidence in economists’ boasts of scientific expertise. In the twenty-first century, development research is being pursued using a research method that generates disconnected results. As a result, it seems unlikely that any grand narrative will be created in the future and that neo-liberalism will be the last of this particular kind of socioeconomic theory.

At Nature's Edge

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Impacts ◽  
Military Bases ◽  
East African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The Road ◽  
European Experience ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
The Many

In an epoch when environmental issues make the headlines, this is a work that goes beyond the everyday. Ecologies as diverse as the Himalayas and the Indian Ocean coast, the Negev desert and the former military bases of Vietnam, or the Namib desert and the east African savannah all have in common a long-time human presence and the many ways people have modified nature. With research in six Asian and African countries, the authors come together to ask how and why human impacts on nature have grown in scale and pace from a long pre-history. The chapters in this volume illumine specific patterns and responses across time, going beyond an overt centring of the European experience. The tapestry of life and the human reshaping of environments evoke both concern and hope, making it vital to understand when, why, and how we came to this particular turn in the road. Eschewing easy labels and questioning eurocentrism in today’s climate vocabulary, this is a volume that will stimulate rethinking among scholars and citizens alike.

scholarly journals Using chemical biology to assess and modulate mitochondria: progress and challenges

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 20160151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Logan ◽  
Michael P. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Function ◽  
Chemical Biology ◽  
Biomedical Sciences ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
The Many ◽  
Opening Up

Our understanding of the role of mitochondria in biomedical sciences has expanded considerably over the past decade. In addition to their well-known metabolic roles, mitochondrial are also central to signalling for various processes through the generation of signals such as ROS and metabolites that affect cellular homeostasis, as well as other processes such as cell death and inflammation. Thus, mitochondrial function and dysfunction are central to the health and fate of the cell. Consequently, there is considerable interest in better understanding and assessing the many roles of mitochondria. Furthermore, there is also a growing realization that mitochondrial are a promising drug target in a wide range of pathologies. The application of interdisciplinary approaches at the interface between chemistry and biology are opening up new opportunities to understand mitochondrial function and in assessing the role of the organelle in biology. This work and the experience thus gained are leading to the development of new classes of therapies. Here, we overview the progress that has been made to date on exploring the chemical biology of the organelle and then focus on future challenges and opportunities that face this rapidly developing field.

scholarly journals Lung Interstitial Macrophages: Past, Present, and Future

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joey Schyns ◽  
Fabrice Bureau ◽  
Thomas Marichal
Keyword(s):  
Dendritic Cells ◽  
Alveolar Macrophages ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Allergic Airway Inflammation ◽  
Immune Functions ◽  
Immune Mediated ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Review Current

For a long time, investigations about the lung myeloid compartment have been mainly limited to the macrophages located within the airways, that is, the well-known alveolar macrophages specialized in recycling of surfactant molecules and removal of debris. However, a growing number of reports have highlighted the complexity of the lung myeloid compartment, which also encompass different subsets of dendritic cells, tissue monocytes, and nonalveolar macrophages, called interstitial macrophages (IM). Recent evidence supports that, in mice, IM perform important immune functions, including the maintenance of lung homeostasis and prevention of immune-mediated allergic airway inflammation. In this article, we describe lung IM from a historical perspective and we review current knowledge on their characteristics, ontogeny, and functions, mostly in rodents. Finally, we emphasize some important future challenges for the field.

scholarly journals Administrative Background and the Process of Migrant Integration in Hungary

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-446
Author(s):  
István Temesi
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Mass Migration ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Political Decisions ◽  
The Eu

Some EU member states have been migrant destinations for a long time, while others have lost a considerable part of their population since their accession to the EU. Hungary belongs to the latter. Large numbers of immigrants have not been arriving here since the end of the war in former Yugoslavia. However, in 2015 Hungary was suddenly strongly affected by mass migration, mainly because of the country’s geographical location. Mass migration has strongly influenced politics as the decision-maker and public administration as the executor of political decisions. Both the decisions and the policy-makers have been strongly criticised for taking a different approach to the situation compared with many other European countries. The Hungarian government’s priority was to reduce or stop mass migration and it used political, legal, and physical instruments selected for this purpose. This study does not aim to judge whether they are right or wrong. Hungarian public administration has had to adapt to the situation and it has done so by way of implementing new and modified legal rules. However, due to the political decisions described above, it has developed and changed at the same time.

scholarly journals Applying the SDGs to Cities: Business as Usual or a New Dawn?

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Zinkernagel ◽  
James Evans ◽  
Lena Neij
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Sustainable Urban Development ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Urban Contexts ◽  
The Many ◽  
Business As Usual ◽  
The City ◽  
Indicator Sets

With growing urbanisation the sustainability of cities has become increasingly important. Although cities have been using indicators for a long time it is only in the last decades that attempts have been made to collate indicators into sets that reflect the many different aspects required to assess the sustainability of a city. The aim of this paper is to review the evolution of indicators for monitoring sustainable urban development in order to understand how ‘new’ the indicators suggested by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are for cities and the challenges they may face in using them. The review reveals that previous indicator sets emphasised environmental sustainability, health and economic growth. It is also shown that indicator sets that pre-date the SDGs lacked dimensions such as gender equality and reduced inequalities. In all, the SDG indicators provide the possibility of a more balanced and integrated approach to urban sustainability monitoring. At the same time, further research is needed to understand how to adapt the SDGs, targets and indicators to specific urban contexts. Challenges of local application include their large number, their generic characteristics and the need to complement them with specific indicators that are more relevant at the city level.

scholarly journals ADDRESSING SOIL HEALTH MANAGEMENT ISSUES IN INDIA

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. 110-123
Author(s):  
Amrit Patel
Keyword(s):  
Health Management ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Director General ◽  
Strategic Action ◽  
The Road ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Global Soil ◽  
International Year Of Soils

World has been observing 5th December since 2012 as the World Soil Day to ensure maintenance of soil health, This was complimented by the United Nations’ General Assembly declaring 2015, as the International Year of Soils to create awareness among all stakeholders and promote more sustainable use of soil being the critical resource. On this occasion, UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon had said that without healthy soils life on Earth would be unsustainable. Indeed, soils are the foundation of agriculture. He had urged all Governments to pledge to do more to protect this important yet forgotten resource. A healthy life is not possible without healthy soils. According to the Director General of the FAO, Jose Graziano da Silva, today, world has more than 805 million people facing hunger and malnutrition. Soils are under increased pressure because population growth will require an approximately increase of 60 per cent in food output and competing land uses.Unfortunately, 33 per cent of our global soil resources are under degradation and human pressures on soils are reaching critical limits, reducing and sometimes eliminating essential soil functions. He had emphasised the role of all stakeholders in promoting the cause of soils as it is important for paving the road towards a real sustainable development for all and by all. Against this background, this article briefly highlights the significance and aspects of soil health management in India and suggests aspects of strategic action plan to conserve this precious resource for the benefit of mankind.

scholarly journals DETERMINANTS OF ASSETS GROWTH OF FOREIGN OWNED BANKS IN INDONESIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-50
Author(s):  
Aswin Rivai ◽  
Rina Indiastuti
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Interest Rate ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Bilateral Trade ◽  
Operating Experience ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
Long Time

The aim of this research is to assess the dominant factors enabling foreign owned banks to increase their assets in Indonesia and to confirm whether the “follow the customers hypothesis” is also applicable in motivating foreign owned banks to do business in Indonesia to support investment and trade activities of the companies originated from foreign countries. Using the panel data of 28 foreign owned commercial banks in Indonesia between 2006-2015 obtained from Indonesian Banking Directory, Indonesian Banking Statistics databases, foreign country central bank websites, a least square dummy variable (LSDV) regression model was applied to examine the effect of Bilateral Trade, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Interest Rate Differences, Domestic Deposits, Parent banks Return on Assets (ROA) and Length of Time presence of the foreign owned banks in Indonesia on Assets or Size of Foreign Owned Banks. The main findings is that the decisions by foreign owned banks to operate and to expand its business in Indonesia is predominantly affected by the increase in realization of projects funded by Foreign Direct Investment from counterpart countries, third parties fund or domestic deposit denominated in foreign currencies, profitability of the parent banks in home country and long time presence in Indonesia to enable parent bank and their branches or subsidiaries gain better operating experience, better general managerial expertise and better knowledge of local environment. Bilateral Trade and Interest Rate Differences between home and host country has no impacts at all on Assets of Foreign Owned Banks. “Follow the customer hypothesis” is applicable in Indonesia only in terms of FDIs but not applicable in terms of bilateral trade. The findings will help management of the banks in designing more reliable business plan and also used as input or tools for policy makers prior issuing the license for the newly open foreign owned banks offices or increase of its branch offices. It is suggested foreign owned banks to consider empowering its trade financing scheme which will increase the banks size or assets.

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