We present a cost-benefit analysis of an Australian Government sponsored 3-year supported employment program for autistic adults—the DXC Dandelion Program—in the information and communications ...technology sector. We explored the range of direct costs associated with running the program, benefits to participants, and avoided costs to the government. Estimates were based on data from 56 (86% men; Mage = 25.28, standard deviation SD = 8.36 years) autistic participants in the program. The program generated a high benefit ratio for government, mainly driven by increases in wage rates and hours worked and avoiding welfare and unemployment benefit payments. Participants received the largest benefit through wages and access to the labor market, with most participants transitioning into productive, open employment following program completion. The results from the model are robust; the benefit ratio remained above 1.0 even when higher discount rates were applied. In sum, our analysis identifies potential economic savings associated with supported employment programs that provide pathways for otherwise unemployed or under-employed autistic adults to enter the workforce.
Lay abstract
Relative to the size of the population, there are fewer autistic people than non-autistic people in the workforce. Employment programs that provide extra support to autistic people may help them to gain and keep jobs that are suited to their skills and expertise. In this study, we reviewed the DXC Dandelion Program. This is a supported autism employment program run in partnership with the Australian Government. The program provided jobs to autistic people who worked in information and communications technology roles, such as software testing and cyber security. In this study, we examined some of the benefits of the program for the autistic people who participated in it. We also examined the benefits of the program to the government. We found that there are many savings to government when autistic people are employed in jobs that are matched to their skills and abilities, compared to being unemployed or working in jobs that are below their level of education, training, or skills.
Crop productivity must increase at unprecedented rates to meet the needs of the growing worldwide population. Exploiting natural variation for the genetic improvement of crops plays a central role in ...increasing productivity. Although current genomic technologies can be used for high-throughput identification of genetic variation, methods for efficiently exploiting this genetic potential in a targeted, systematic manner are lacking. Here, we developed a haplotype-based approach to identify genetic diversity for crop improvement using genome assemblies from 15 bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivars. We used stringent criteria to identify identical-by-state haplotypes and distinguish these from near-identical sequences (~99.95% identity). We showed that each cultivar shares ~59 % of its genome with other sequenced cultivars and we detected the presence of extended haplotype blocks containing hundreds to thousands of genes across all wheat chromosomes. We found that genic sequence alone was insufficient to fully differentiate between haplotypes, as were commonly used array-based genotyping chips due to their gene centric design. We successfully used this approach for focused discovery of novel haplotypes from a landrace collection and documented their potential for trait improvement in modern bread wheat. This study provides a framework for defining and exploiting haplotypes to increase the efficiency and precision of wheat breeding towards optimising the agronomic performance of this crucial crop.
Review of Particle Physics Workman, R L; Klempt, E; Agashe, K ...
Progress of theoretical and experimental physics,
08/2022, Letnik:
2022, Številka:
8
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Abstract
The Review summarizes much of particle physics and cosmology. Using data from previous editions, plus 2,143 new measurements from 709 papers, we list, evaluate, and average measured ...properties of gauge bosons and the recently discovered Higgs boson, leptons, quarks, mesons, and baryons. We summarize searches for hypothetical particles such as supersymmetric particles, heavy bosons, axions, dark photons, etc. Particle properties and search limits are listed in Summary Tables. We give numerous tables, figures, formulae, and reviews of topics such as Higgs Boson Physics, Supersymmetry, Grand Unified Theories, Neutrino Mixing, Dark Energy, Dark Matter, Cosmology, Particle Detectors, Colliders, Probability and Statistics. Among the 120 reviews are many that are new or heavily revised, including a new review on Machine Learning, and one on Spectroscopy of Light Meson Resonances.
The Review is divided into two volumes. Volume 1 includes the Summary Tables and 97 review articles. Volume 2 consists of the Particle Listings and contains also 23 reviews that address specific aspects of the data presented in the Listings.
The complete Review (both volumes) is published online on the website of the Particle Data Group (pdg.lbl.gov) and in a journal. Volume 1 is available in print as the PDG Book. A Particle Physics Booklet with the Summary Tables and essential tables, figures, and equations from selected review articles is available in print, as a web version optimized for use on phones, and as an Android app.
Semidwarfing genes have greatly increased wheat yields globally, yet the widely used gibberellin (GA)-insensitive genes
and
have disadvantages for seedling emergence. Use of the GA-sensitive ...semidwarfing gene
avoids this pleiotropic effect. Here, we show that
encodes a
(
) gene. A point mutation in the semidwarf
allele autoactivates the
gene and causes a height reduction comparable with
and
in diverse genetic backgrounds. The autoactive
allele leads to transcriptional up-regulation of pathogenesis-related genes including class III peroxidases associated with cell wall remodeling.
represents a new class of reduced height (
) gene, unlike other
genes, which encode components of the GA signaling or metabolic pathways. This discovery opens avenues to use autoactive
genes as semidwarfing genes in a range of crop species, and to apply
in wheat breeding programs using a perfect genetic marker.
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