Fed's bold plan still might not jolt slow economy

WASHINGTON (AP) ? No sooner did the Federal Reserve unveil a bold plan Thursday to juice the U.S. economy than it dangled the prospect of doing even more.

Investors celebrated by sending stock prices jumping.

Economists were less impressed. Many wondered how much the Fed's action would help.

Chairman Ben Bernanke himself urged everyone to keep expectations in check.

"I personally don't think that it's going to solve the problem," Bernanke said at a news conference. "But I do think it has enough force to help nudge the economy in the right direction."

The Fed's move to buy $40 billion a month in mortgage bonds ? the heart of its plan ? might do little to spur borrowing and spending because rates on mortgages and other loans are already just above record lows.

The bond purchases, and the Fed's signal that more help might be needed, pointed to just how weak the U.S. economy remains three years after the recession ended. The economy is still struggling to emerge from damage caused by the 2008 financial crisis ? the worst since the Great Depression.

The Fed's plan raises questions about the limits of its own power. Even with its intervention, the Fed foresees unemployment remaining as high as a recession-level 6.8 percent as late as 2015.

Still, the Dow Jones industrial average shot up more than 200 points Thursday, reaching its highest point since the start of the Great Recession nearly five years ago. The Dow is now within 625 points of its all-time high.

It ended the day at 13,540.

The dollar fell. Oil prices topped $98 a barrel for the first time in four months. And gold climbed 2 percent to the highest level since February ? $1,772 an ounce, a gain of $38.

In the face of persistently high unemployment and slow economic growth, the Fed said Thursday that it would:

? Buy $40 billion a month in mortgage bonds indefinitely to try to lower long-term interest rates, encourage home buying and get people to borrow and spend more. It's the Fed's third bond-buying program. If job growth doesn't improve much, the Fed will continue its bond purchases and take other steps.

? Likely keep its benchmark short-term rate at a record low near zero through at least mid-2015. That's six months longer than the Fed had previously planned.

? Probably hold interest rates low even well after the economic recovery has strengthened.

The mortgage bond purchases are unlikely to boost home sales much, even if they manage to lower mortgage rates further. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is already 3.55 percent, barely above the record low of 3.49 percent.

Home sales remain depressed in part because would-be buyers can't qualify for loans unless they have stellar credit or can produce hefty down payments.

"If you get a 2 percent mortgage but you've got to put 30 or 40 percent down, is that going to encourage people to buy a house?" says Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at Channel Capital Research.

Still, Bernanke maintained that the Fed can help further, even with rates already ultra-low. He's argued that the Fed's first two rounds of bond purchases, in which it bought more than $2 trillion in bonds, saved 2 million jobs and accelerated growth.

By comparison, President Barack Obama's $862 billion stimulus program created nearly 2.7 million jobs, according a study by former Fed Vice Chairman Alan Blinder and Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.

At the same time, Bernanke cautioned that the Fed alone can't invigorate the economy. It needs help from Congress.

"Monetary policy, as I've said many times, is not a panacea," he said, referring to the Fed's handling of interest rates. "We're looking for policymakers in other areas to do their part."

Political bickering in Washington is chilling economic growth. If Democrats and Republicans can't reach a budget deal by year's end, $600 billion in spending cuts and tax hikes will kick in ? a threat designed to force the two parties to compromise.

If they fail, the draconian measures would likely send the economy over a so-called fiscal cliff as the higher taxes and spending cuts took effect.

Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group, thinks the parties will reach a compromise after the election, avoid the fiscal cliff and give consumers and businesses confidence to spend more.

"Once you have greater clarity (about government policy), then I think people will take advantage of the lower interest-rate environment" engineered by the Fed, he says.

Baumohl predicts the economy will grow 3.2 percent next year, double what he expects for 2012. The Fed itself is less optimistic: It foresees growth of between 2.5 percent and 3 percent next year after growth of no more than 2 percent this year.

David Jones, chief economist at DMJ Advisors, says the Fed's action Thursday reflects its frustration over chronic high unemployment.

"The Fed is putting the pedal to the metal and pushing the accelerator down to the floor board," Jones says.

But he says the Fed is reaching a point of diminishing returns after nearly four years of aggressive efforts to help the economy. Its latest actions might trim a mere 0.1 percentage point from the unemployment rate over the next year and boost growth by a modest 0.2 percentage point, Jones says.

In the short term anyway, the economy might actually receive a bigger boost from Apple's new iPhone 5.

Michael Feroli, chief US economist at JPMorgan, calculated that the iPhone might add 0.25 to 0.5 percentage point to the annual growth rate in the last three months of 2012.

"I wouldn't be surprised" if the iPhone does more for the economy, Feroli said in an e-mail. "At the end of the day, economic growth is about producing more and better goods and services."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/feds-bold-plan-still-might-not-jolt-slow-070206444--finance.html

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Great Recession's pain still felt by many in US

By John W. Schoen, NBC News

The poor stayed poor and the rich got richer, but the middle?slipped a few more rungs down the economic ladder.

More than five years after the Great Recession began, the lingering impact of the worst downturn in a half-century continues to deplete the standard of living of middle-class American households.

Median household income, after adjusting for inflation, fell 1.5 percent last year to $50,054,?according to the Census Bureau's annual report?on income and poverty issued released Wednesday. The poverty rate, at 15 percent, remained stuck at the highest level since 1993.

For Ray Bober, 45, of Pittsburgh, whose unemployment benefits ran out this year after a family printing business failed several years ago, the dismal economy takes a toll every time he sends out another resume that goes nowhere.

?You have to learn to roll with the punches and laugh a little; it?s very depressing,? he said. ?It takes a toll, especially this long. You want to reach out and shake your fist in the air and blame someone, but you can?t. The way it is, is the way it is. There?s nothing you can do about it but stay in the fight."

For millions of middle-class American households, the fight began well before the Great Recession destroyed more than 8 million jobs, or even before the financial collapse in 2008 that gave birth to the downturn. Median household income, adjusted for inflation, has been dropping for 13 years.

The?drop?in income has been magnified by the persistent high unemployment, currently above 8?percent, which peaked at a monthly pace of?more than 800,000 jobs shed in November 2008. On top of job growth that's been weaker than any recovery in a half-century, wages haven't budged since the recession ended.

Last year, median family household income fell 1.7 percent, to $62,273, according to the Census Bureau. ?The decline has left income for those in the median 8.1 percent lower than in 2007, the year before the recession began, and 8.9 percent lower than the median peak in 1999.

?The lasting impact (of the Great Recession) has been at levels above the poverty level,? said Tim Smeedling, director of the Institute for Research on Poverty University of Wisconsin?Madison. ?It?s been in the middle."

To cope with falling wages, many households have ?doubled up? to share expenses. There were about 22.3 million such "shared" households as of last spring, up from 19.7 million when the recession began, according to the Census data.

For many, moving back home is the only way to avoid falling into poverty.

?Family is the oldest welfare program in the world,? said Smeedling. ?But if they move back in with their parents, given that most parents' income is somewhat higher than poverty, they won?t be counted as being poor. This doubling up conceals some of the impact of poverty.?

Bober is one of those for whom family offers the last threads of a social safety net. He lives with his mother and sister in the inner city house he grew up in.

?Between the bunch of us we pull together well,? he said. ?But we?re backsliding.?

Not everyone is falling behind. While the median income slipped last year, those at the top of the income ladder continued to move ahead. The top 5 percent of incomes rose by 5.3 percent last year, according to government data.

Those at the very bottom of the ladder continue to struggle, but their numbers stopped growing last year. The government said 46.2 million Americans were living in poverty last year, statistically the same as in 2010. The determination of poverty is based on a number of factors but typically a family of four was considered to be in poverty last year if its total household income was less than $23,021.

The government?s official poverty threshold is calculated using a half-century-old formula based on the average household?s food budget. To determine whether a household falls below that threshold, the Census adds up cash income including earnings, Social Security benefits, unemployment insurance and other government assistance paid in cash, plus interest and dividends on savings and investments. The Census doesn?t count non-cash assistance like food stamps or the earned income tax credit, which pays workers who make poverty-level wages.

Those assistance programs have helped blunt the impact on the very poor in ways that the government?s official numbers don?t fully capture. If the value of food stamps were included in the income calculation, for example, some 3.9 million fewer people would have fallen below the threshold last year, according to the latest data. If the earned income tax credit were included, another 3 million fewer children would be included.

The comparisons also illustrate the impact of the broadest safety net programs. If unemployment insurance were excluded from the income calculations, for example, another 16 million people aged 18 to 64 would have fallen below the poverty line last year. If Social Security benefits weren?t counted, another 14.5 million people would have fallen below the line.

But many long-term unemployed end up without those financial lifelines.

?People used to fall out of work all the time and onto a safety net,? said Arloc Sherman, a senior researcher at the?Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "Now the kind of safety net we have is very work-based. So if you lose work, you fall to nothing. ?

The number of families at the very bottom of the ladder has remained relatively stable. But they?re not necessarily the same families, said Sherman.

?A lot of people who are at the bottom in one year weren?t there one or two or three years ago,? he said. ?It?s not?so much that there?s a growth of a new underclass that stays constantly at the bottom quite.

The latest Census data bear that out, as the number of people working full-time, year-round rose by more than two million, many of them shifting from part-time jobs to full time jobs, but at the lower end of the income spectrum. ?

?We think that shift from part-time to full-time could have kept the poverty rate from rising,? said David Johnson, head of the?Census Bureau's Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division.

Pulling income lower
The growth of full-time employment on the low end of the wage scale also helped pull the median income lower, however, he said.

Confronted with a dismal job market, many of those out of work have tried going back to school, contributing to?the recent drop in the official count of the U.S. labor force to the lowest in three years.

Government statistics offer hope that the investment in time and money will pay off. The?unemployment rate for workers with a college degree stood at 4.9 percent last year compared with 9.4 percent for those with a high school diploma and 14.1 percent for those without one. The median weekly earnings for college graduates was $1,263 compared to $638 for Americans with just a high school diploma.

?Certainly, there?s been a lasting impact on people who don?t have college educations,? said Smeeding. ?They?re having a real hard time.? ?

So are many jobless workers who lack?the savings to pay for college. Bober tried that tack, enrolling in a local community college, but fell short of money for tuition and books when his unemployment benefits ran out.

Competition for low-skilled, low-wage jobs remains fierce, as he recently found out when he applied for a job as a night stock manager at a local retail outlet.

?I have management experience. When I was younger I used to call on supermarkets,? he said. ?So I figured, ?Hey I can move boxes just like the next guy. They emailed me back after a couple of days and said, ?Sorry you didn?t meet our qualifications.'"

The experience, he said, was a sobering reminder of the dismal employment outlook.

?It scared me because I always felt you can get a lesser job in life. Just suck it up; you can always find work,? he said. ?That isn?t true. And that?s a scary, scary thing."

Bober says he gets by these days doing odd jobs. He helps out a friend who owns a local funeral home. He?s landed work as an extra on film and television shows shot in Pittsburgh.

He doesn?t blame anyone in particular for his seemingly relentless search. But, as a former small businessman, he thinks something?s badly wrong with the American way of earning a living.

?When I was a kid, if a guy wanted to go an print up some Steelers T-shirts in his garage and show up at the football game and make up a couple of bucks, that was an enterprising guy.? He said. ?It was a hard-working upstanding citizen. Now, the government and the lawyers come and you?re a bootlegger.?

The latest Census report found 15 percent of Americans living below poverty line, a leveling off in the poverty rate from 2010 to 2011. But the number of people on food stamps is going up, many of them considered middle class. NBC's Chris Jansing reports.

Related:

Economy's long slump pushing many down the ladder

After climbing economic ladder, one family fears falling backward

Mobile food pantry serves families in need

Source: http://economywatch.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/12/13830939-great-recession-still-slamming-the-middle-class?lite

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DreamWorks acquires young adult fantasy "Shadow and Bone"

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Video: Maria's Market Insight: Traders in Wait-and-See Mode

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/49010808/

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Wildlife Service Announces New Hunting Opportunities On Refuges in

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Washington, DC --(Ammoland.com)- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced the opening of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge in Michigan to migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting for the first time, while expanding hunting activities at 16 national wildlife refuges in 14 states.

Notice of the 2012-2013 Refuge-Specific Hunting and Sport Fishing Regulations will publish in the Federal Register on September 11, 2012. The rule will provide additional public hunting opportunities in fulfillment of the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997.

Notice of the proposed rule change was published in the Federal Register on July 11, 2012; public comments were accepted through August 10, 2012.

?By expanding hunting in our National Wildlife Refuge System, we are supporting a heritage that has been handed down from generations and helping to achieve the goal of President Obama?s America?s Great Outdoors initiative to connect Americans to the natural world through outdoor recreation,? said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. ?Hunters have been a mainstay of conservation in America for more than 100 years, and expanding hunting opportunities helps ensure that we will have the resources to care for our wildlife and its habitat in the future.?

?The National Wildlife Refuge System, one of America?s greatest conservation success stories, is committed to offering quality hunting and fishing programs ? for all Americans ? wherever they are compatible with refuge purposes,? said Service Director Dan Ashe.

The rule will close Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, HI, to big game hunting. With this change, the refuge will be closed to all hunting activity. The refuge is also closed to sport fishing. The new rule will also close Santee National Wildlife Refuge, SC, to migratory bird hunting. The refuge is open to sport fishing.

All but two of the refuges affected by the rule change will remain open to sport fishing.

Other changes include:

• Big Muddy National Fish & Wildlife Refuge, MO, expands area for migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting. The refuge is also open to sport fishing.
• Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge, IN, expands big game hunting area. The refuge is also open to upland game hunting and sport fishing.
• Block Island National Wildlife Refuge, RI, adds deer to the refuge?s big game hunting program. The refuge is also open to sport fishing.
• Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, GA, adds migratory bird hunting and upland game hunting; expands area for big game hunting and addition of wild turkey to big game hunting program. The refuge is also open to sport fishing.
• Chickasaw National Wildlife Refuge, TN, expands area for migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting. The refuge is also open to sport fishing.
• Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge, ID, expands area for big game hunting. The refuge is also open to migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and sport fishing.
• Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, TX, adds turkey to species for big game hunting. The refuge is also open to migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and sport fishing.
• Saddle Mountain (Hanford Reach) National Wildlife Refuge, WA, expands area for migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting. Adds chukar (a member of the pheasant family) to upland game hunting program. The refuge is also open to sport fishing.
• Julia Butler Hanson Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer, OR, expands area for migratory bird hunting. The refuge is also open to sport fishing.
• Lower Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge, TN, expands area for migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting. The refuge is also open to sport fishing.
• Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, MN, expands area for migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting. The refuge is also open to sport fishing.
• Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge, RI, adds deer to species for big game hunting program. The refuge is also open to sport fishing.
• Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, MT, expands area for migratory bird hunting and big game hunting. The refuge is also open to sport fishing.
• Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge, LA, expands area for migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting. The refuge is open to sport fishing. Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge, SC, expands area for big game hunting. Adds woodcock to species for migratory bird hunting. The refuge is also open to upland game hunting and sport fishing. William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge, OR, expands area for big game hunting. The refuge is also open to sport fishing.

While definitions of hunting categories vary by refuge and state, migratory bird hunting generally includes ducks and geese. Upland game hunting may cover such animals as game birds, rabbit, squirrel, opossum and coyote. Big game hunting may include such animals as wild turkey, deer and feral hogs.

Under the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, the Service can permit hunting and fishing along with four other types of wildlife-dependent recreational uses where they are compatible with refuge purpose and mission. Hunting, within specified limits, is permitted on more than 300 national wildlife refuges. Fishing is permitted on more than 270 national wildlife refuges. Other wildlife-dependent recreation on national wildlife refuges includes wildlife observation, photography, interpretation and education.

To find hunting programs offered in the National Wildlife Refuge System, please visit: www.fws.gov/refuges/hunting/. To find the final regulations in the Federal Register please visit: www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-09-11/pdf/2012-22099.pdf

The National Wildlife Refuge System, managed by the Service, is the nation?s premier system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America?s fish, wildlife and plants.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals, and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov. Connect with our Facebook page, follow our tweets, watch our YouTube Channel, and download photos from our Flickr page.

Source: http://www.ammoland.com/2012/09/11/wildlife-service-announces-new-hunting-opportunities-on-refuges-in-fourteen-states/

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Screening technique uncovers 5 new plant activator compounds

Public release date: 11-Sep-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: RIKEN Global Relations Office
pr@riken.jp
RIKEN

Immune-priming compounds identified using new screening technique protect crops without affecting plant growth, crop yield

A new high-throughput screening technique developed by researchers at the RIKEN Plant Science Center (PSC) has been used to uncover five novel immune-priming compounds in Arabidopsis plants. Discovery of the compounds, which enhance disease resistance without impacting plant growth or crop yield, establishes the new technique as a powerful asset in the battle to protect crops from damaging pathogens.

Plant activators, compounds that activate a plant's immune system in response to invasion by pathogens, play a crucial role in crop survival by triggering a range of immune responses. Unlike pesticides, plant activators are not pathogen specific and also not affected by drug resistance, making them ideal for use in agriculture. Wet-rice farmers across East Asia use plant activators as a sustainable means to enhance crop durability without the environmental consequences of microbial pesticides.

One of the key problems of plant activators, however, is that the activation of plant responses they trigger is often associated with arrested growth and reductions in crop yield. Determining why this is so is difficult because despite their widespread use, the molecular mechanisms governing how plant activators work are largely unknown.

The new screening technique developed by the PSC team overcomes this challenge by distinguishing between compounds that induce immune responses on their own from those that do so exclusively in the presence of a pathogen. The former class of compounds, which includes known plant activators, can be toxic to cells and was thus eliminated in the screening. The resulting five compounds, identified from a total of 10,000 compounds screened, enhance resistance against pathogenic Pseudomonas bacteria by priming immune response without directly activating defense genes.

Further investigation revealed that the five compounds inhibit two enzymes that inactivate the defense hormone salicylic acid (SA glucosyltransferases or SAGTs), and gene knockout experiments confirmed that plants without these enzymes exhibit enhanced disease resistance. Together, the results establish the effectiveness of the new technique for finding useful plant activators and the power of SA metabolism as a strategy for crop protection.

###

Reference:

Yoshiteru Noutoshi, Masateru Okazaki, Tatsuya Kida, Yuta Nishina, Yoshihiko Morishita, Takumi Ogawa, Hideyuki Suzuki, Daisuke Shibata, Yusuke Jikumaru, Atsushi Hanada, Yuji Kamiya, and Ken Shirasu. Novel Plant Immune-Priming Compounds Identified via High-Throughput Chemical Screening Target Salicylic Acid Glucosyltransferases in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell, 2012. DOI: doi/10.1105/tpc.112.098343

About RIKEN

RIKEN is Japan's flagship research institute devoted to basic and applied research. Over 2500 papers by RIKEN researchers are published every year in reputable scientific and technical journals, covering topics ranging across a broad spectrum of disciplines including physics, chemistry, biology, medical science and engineering. RIKEN's advanced research environment and strong emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration has earned itself an unparalleled reputation for scientific excellence in Japan and around the world.

About the RIKEN Plant Science Center

With rapid industrialization and a world population set to top 9 billion within the next 30 years, the need to increase our food production capacity is more urgent today than it ever has been before. Avoiding a global crisis demands rapid advances in plant science research to boost crop yields and ensure a reliable supply of food, energy and plant-based materials.

The RIKEN Plant Science Center (PSC), located at the RIKEN Yokohama Research Institute in Yokohama City, Japan, is at the forefront of research efforts to uncover mechanisms underlying plant metabolism, morphology and development, and apply these findings to improving plant production. With laboratories ranging in subject area from metabolomics, to functional genomics, to plant regulation and productivity, to plant evolution and adaptation, the PSC's broad scope grants it a unique position in the network of modern plant science research. In cooperation with universities, research institutes and industry, the PSC is working to ensure a stable supply of food, materials, and energy to support a growing world population and its pressing health and environmental needs.

Reach us on Twitter: @rikenresearch

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 11-Sep-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: RIKEN Global Relations Office
pr@riken.jp
RIKEN

Immune-priming compounds identified using new screening technique protect crops without affecting plant growth, crop yield

A new high-throughput screening technique developed by researchers at the RIKEN Plant Science Center (PSC) has been used to uncover five novel immune-priming compounds in Arabidopsis plants. Discovery of the compounds, which enhance disease resistance without impacting plant growth or crop yield, establishes the new technique as a powerful asset in the battle to protect crops from damaging pathogens.

Plant activators, compounds that activate a plant's immune system in response to invasion by pathogens, play a crucial role in crop survival by triggering a range of immune responses. Unlike pesticides, plant activators are not pathogen specific and also not affected by drug resistance, making them ideal for use in agriculture. Wet-rice farmers across East Asia use plant activators as a sustainable means to enhance crop durability without the environmental consequences of microbial pesticides.

One of the key problems of plant activators, however, is that the activation of plant responses they trigger is often associated with arrested growth and reductions in crop yield. Determining why this is so is difficult because despite their widespread use, the molecular mechanisms governing how plant activators work are largely unknown.

The new screening technique developed by the PSC team overcomes this challenge by distinguishing between compounds that induce immune responses on their own from those that do so exclusively in the presence of a pathogen. The former class of compounds, which includes known plant activators, can be toxic to cells and was thus eliminated in the screening. The resulting five compounds, identified from a total of 10,000 compounds screened, enhance resistance against pathogenic Pseudomonas bacteria by priming immune response without directly activating defense genes.

Further investigation revealed that the five compounds inhibit two enzymes that inactivate the defense hormone salicylic acid (SA glucosyltransferases or SAGTs), and gene knockout experiments confirmed that plants without these enzymes exhibit enhanced disease resistance. Together, the results establish the effectiveness of the new technique for finding useful plant activators and the power of SA metabolism as a strategy for crop protection.

###

Reference:

Yoshiteru Noutoshi, Masateru Okazaki, Tatsuya Kida, Yuta Nishina, Yoshihiko Morishita, Takumi Ogawa, Hideyuki Suzuki, Daisuke Shibata, Yusuke Jikumaru, Atsushi Hanada, Yuji Kamiya, and Ken Shirasu. Novel Plant Immune-Priming Compounds Identified via High-Throughput Chemical Screening Target Salicylic Acid Glucosyltransferases in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell, 2012. DOI: doi/10.1105/tpc.112.098343

About RIKEN

RIKEN is Japan's flagship research institute devoted to basic and applied research. Over 2500 papers by RIKEN researchers are published every year in reputable scientific and technical journals, covering topics ranging across a broad spectrum of disciplines including physics, chemistry, biology, medical science and engineering. RIKEN's advanced research environment and strong emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration has earned itself an unparalleled reputation for scientific excellence in Japan and around the world.

About the RIKEN Plant Science Center

With rapid industrialization and a world population set to top 9 billion within the next 30 years, the need to increase our food production capacity is more urgent today than it ever has been before. Avoiding a global crisis demands rapid advances in plant science research to boost crop yields and ensure a reliable supply of food, energy and plant-based materials.

The RIKEN Plant Science Center (PSC), located at the RIKEN Yokohama Research Institute in Yokohama City, Japan, is at the forefront of research efforts to uncover mechanisms underlying plant metabolism, morphology and development, and apply these findings to improving plant production. With laboratories ranging in subject area from metabolomics, to functional genomics, to plant regulation and productivity, to plant evolution and adaptation, the PSC's broad scope grants it a unique position in the network of modern plant science research. In cooperation with universities, research institutes and industry, the PSC is working to ensure a stable supply of food, materials, and energy to support a growing world population and its pressing health and environmental needs.

Reach us on Twitter: @rikenresearch

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-09/r-stu090912.php

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bathroom raiser: apathy revelry: Social Media Marketing: Things to ...

Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Social-Media Articles from EzineArticles.com

Social Media Marketing: Things to Be Taken Care Of

With growing exposure in the Social Media space, the differentiation between constructive & destructive activities online is getting thinner & weaker. It so happens that you give your full effort towards structuring valuable content for your audience and suddenly discover that the same idea is already available across different platforms. Attracting audiences towards your material is another challenge ahead.

Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Spam-Blocker Articles from EzineArticles.com

Hints on SPAM Removal ? Top Reasons It Is a Necessity for Internet Marketing!

SPAM removal is a necessity for all websites. Your Internet marketing initiatives can be hindered considerably by SPAM. This is a particular problem for websites with blogs and forums.

Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Blogging Articles from EzineArticles.com

Blog Post Writing Tips for Beginners

When you write a blog post, there are some things you must consider for the best search engine optimization. In this article, you will learn how to properly optimize a blog post to ensure that you receive the most visitors possible.

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