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Corn is a strategic agricultural commodity that has a role as food material, raw material for the food and feed industry. The analysis of the corn commodity development in Keerom district aims to identify the district/sub-district as the base area for superior commodities, evaluate the area of land for corn development, and the feasibility analysis of corn farming in Keerom district was carried out in January - December 2018, with primary and secondary data approaches. Primary data through surveys and interviews with respondents using a questionnaire on characteristics, land tenure, production and productivity, costs and income. Secondary data through literature studies such as harvest area, production and productivity, was obtained from BPS Keerom and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries of Keerom Regency in 2014-2018. Determination of the District area as the basis for developing corn commodities as a superior commodity using Location Quotient (LQ) analysis with the criteria of LQ value> 1, so that corn commodity is the base commodity or as a superior commodity in the District. Farming feasibility analysis based on costs and benefits in the form; R / C ratio, business efficiency. The results of the analysis of corn commodity development bases in Keerom district are Web, Yaffi, Arso, Towe, Arso Barat, and Arso Timur Districts. The area of land suitable for maize development in Keerom district is 294,209 ha, very suitable land (S1) 78,077 ha (8.60%); Sufficiently suitable land (S2) covering an area of 164,036 ha (18.08%). Based on the results of the feasibility analysis of corn farming using PTT technology innovation, it is feasible to be developed (R/C> 1) with a business efficiency of 35.31%.

Plastic heterogeneously affects social systems – notably human health and local and global economies. Here we discuss illustrative examples of the benefits and burdens of each stage of the plastic lifecycle (e.g., macroplastic production, consumption, recycling). We find the benefits to communities and stakeholders are principally economic, whereas burdens fall largely on human health. Furthermore, the economic benefits of plastic are rarely applied to alleviate or mitigate the health burdens it creates, amplifying the disconnect between who benefits and who is burdened. In some instances, social enterprises in low-wealth areas collect and recycle waste, creating a market for upcycled goods. While such endeavors generate local socioeconomic benefits, they perpetuate a status quo in which the burden of responsibility for waste management falls on downstream communities, rather than on producers who have generated far greater economic benefits. While the traditional cost-benefit analyses that inform decision-making disproportionately weigh economic benefits over the indirect, and often unquantifiable, costs of health burdens, we stress the need to include the health burdens of plastic to all impacted stakeholders across all plastic life stages in policy design. We therefore urge the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to consider all available knowledge on the deleterious effects of plastic across the entire plastic lifecycle while drafting the upcoming international global plastic treaty.

Abstract Drosophila chorion represents a remarkable model system for the in vivo study of complex extracellular-matrix architectures. For its organization and structure, s38 protein is considered as a component of major importance, since it is synthesized and secreted during early choriogenesis. However, there is no evidence that proves its essential, or redundant, role in chorion biogenesis. Hence, we show that targeted downregulation of s38 protein, specifically in the ovarian follicle-cell compartment, via employment of an RNAi-mediated strategy, causes generation of diverse dysmorphic phenotypes, regarding eggshell’s regionally and radially specialized structures. Downregulation of s38 protein severely impairs fly’s fertility and is unable to be compensated by the s36 homologous family member, thus unveiling s38 protein’s essential contribution to chorion’s assembly and function. Altogether, s38 acts as a key skeletal protein being critically implicated in the patterning establishment of a highly structured tripartite endochorion. Furthermore, it seems that s38 loss may sensitize choriogenesis to stochastic variation in its coordination and timing.

Describes the Technology Collaborative for Simultaneous Renewal in Teacher Education project, based in John Goodlad's theory of simultaneous renewal, which is a systemic approach to using technology to help facilitate renewal in both teacher education and elementary and secondary schools. Evaluation results suggest changing attitudes and capabilities of preservice teachers. (Author/LRW)

This research aimed to inform institutional leaders by producing and disseminating a system wide view of what tertiary education might look like in Aotearoa New Zealand, five years into the future. The researchers were responding to a challenge in a speech at the DEANZ 2010 conference by a highly respected national leader (Dr Peter Coolbear). The outcome became known as the DEANZ2016 scenario set. Using JISC scenario planning methodologies, including interviews of 16 national and international education leaders, the scenario set was developed on an X axis depicting the tension between facing the academy vs facing New Zealand employers, professions and iwi, and a Y axis depicting the tension between standardized education vs customization to personalise learning. Each of the four quadrants aimed to expose and contrast potential future scenarios. These were entitled: Articulation, The 'Supermarket', Quality Branded Consortia, and Self Determination. Innovatively disseminated via the web, the DEANZ2016 website became the most popular section of the larger Ako Aotearoa website, which stimulated further research into uptake and impact of the project.

Open Access (OA) publishing, that is the immediate, online, free availability of research outputs without many of the restrictions imposed by traditional copyright agreements, is changing the landscape of scholarly publications. The Journal of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning is well positioned in the changing world of publishing with its focus on making high quality research in the Asia-Pacific region readily available to all. The recent inclusion of the Journal in the Directory of Open Access Journals highlights this commitment to accessibility. With that in mind, the three articles in this issue of the Journal explore the experiences of learners within three separate and distinct educational contexts in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Two of the articles are situated in the schooling sector where research on students learning at a distance is urgently needed to inform the development of more equitable practice worldwide. The third paper explores student engagement at the tertiary level, continuing the theme from the 2014 DEANZ conference relating to the ‘e’ in engagement. Using the article by Jeurissen as a focus, the editorial takes the time to highlight the role open, flexible and distance learning can play in the revitalisation of the New Zealand indigenous language, te reo Māori. The philosophy and methods of Open Access publishing are also discussed.