On Measuring Consumer Welfare Effects of Trade Reform

We develop a measure of consumer welfare by approximating Hicksian compensating variation as a function of all commodity prices and compensated price elasticities. The unique feature of this approach is that all direct- and cross-commodity effects of a demand system are incorporated into the welfare measurement. This approach is useful for developing an instrumental model to evaluate the consumer welfare effects of trade reform. For illustration, the proposed procedure is applied to Taiwan's meat industry, and various scenarios are considered to show the effects of eliminating meat tariff rates on the quantities of meat demanded and on the savings of meat expenditures.Consumer/Household Economics, International Relations/Trade,

Do Americans Change Toward Healthy Diets?

American’s nutritional and health status appear to be trending toward healthier diets, as measured by a reduction in cholesterol intake and an increase in calcium intake. The levels of food energy and total fats, however, increased substantially.Changes in American diet, nutrient economic responses, Health Economics and Policy, Poster 3601001,

How Increased Food and Energy Prices Affect Consumer Welfare

We analyze the consumer welfare effects of increased food and energy prices and find that the own-price elasticities of both food and energy are relatively inelastic, which explain well the dynamics of the recent soaring food and energy prices. The estimated demand elasticities are then used to analyze the consumer welfare effects of price changes in food and energy. The results indicate that an increase of food and energy prices would incur a substantial consumer welfare loss, which is a heavy burden for low income households.Demand elasticity, compensating variation, consumer welfare, Demand and Price Analysis,

Changes in the nutrient content of American diets

As obesity and being overweight continue to increase in the United States, public concern is growing about the quality of American diets. We compare the changes in nutrients contributed by major food groups in the periods 1953-1980 and 1981-2008 and find that there is reduced cholesterol intake and increased calcium intake, but the levels of food energy and total fats increase substantially. To understand how economic factors affect the overall nutritional quality of American diets, we estimate a complete food demand system and conduct a nutrient demand analysis. Among our findings, we conclude that some price manipulations such as subsidizing fruits and vegetables could be effective to increase produce consumption, but the effects of taxing fats to reduce the consumption of fats could be limited. Increasing income would improve intakes of nutrients such as calcium and various vitamins (likely now insufficient), but intakes of nutrients such as energy, saturated fats, and cholesterol (likely now excessive) would also rise with increased income

Is there a common latent cognitive construct for dementia estimation across two Chinese cohorts?

INTRODUCTION: It is valuable to identify common latent cognitive constructs for dementia prevalence estimation across Chinese aging cohorts. METHODS: Based on cognitive measures of 12015 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS; 13 items) and 6623 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS; 9 items) participants aged 65 to 99 in 2018, confirmatory factor analysis was applied to identify latent cognitive constructs, and to estimate dementia prevalence compared to Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and nationwide estimates of the literature. RESULTS: A common three-factor cognitive construct of orientation, memory, and executive function and language was found for both cohorts with adequate model fits. Crude dementia prevalence estimated by factor scores was similar to MMSE in CLHLS, and was more reliable in CHARLS. Age-standardized dementia estimates of CLHLS were lower than CHARLS among those aged 70+, which were close to the nationwide prevalence reported by the COAST study and Global Burden of Disease. DISCUSSION: We verified common three-factor cognitive constructs for both cohorts, providing an approach to estimate dementia prevalence at the national level. HIGHLIGHTS: Common three-factor cognitive constructs were identified in Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) and China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Crude dementia estimates using factor scores were reliable in both cohorts. Estimates of CHARLS were close to current evidence, but higher than that of CLHLS

A Controlled Fermentation Environment for Producing Quality Soya Sauce

Soy sauce fermentation under controlled temperature is a way to shorten the fermentation time. An energy-saving fermentation system was developed to power a heat pump for maintaining the temperature of sauce moromi at 37±1°C during fermentation. The chemical properties of the sauce moromi and the sensory properties of the soy sauce produced using the controlled fermentation system were evaluated and compared to those of the sauce moromi fermented outdoors without temperature control. The sauce moromi processed using the controlled fermentation system had significantly higher total nitrogen, formal nitrogen, amino nitrogen, reducing sugar and organic acid contents than the moromi fermented outdoor. However, no significant difference was found in overall liking score between two soy sauces. The soy sauce fermented under the control temperature showed higher Brix and salt concentration, but lower pH value than the sauce fermented outdoor. It was possible that the beneficial effects of reducing sugar and organic acid contents were rebuffed by the disadvantage of salt concentration. It was concluded that a controlled fermentation environment deserves the potential to produce a high quality soy sauce

A Controlled Fermentation Environment for Producing Quality Soya Sauce

Soy sauce fermentation under controlled temperature is a way to shorten the fermentation time. An energy-saving fermentation system was developed to power a heat pump for maintaining the temperature of sauce moromi at 37±1°C during fermentation. The chemical properties of the sauce moromi and the sensory properties of the soy sauce produced using the controlled fermentation system were evaluated and compared to those of the sauce moromi fermented outdoors without temperature control. The sauce moromi processed using the controlled fermentation system had significantly higher total nitrogen, formal nitrogen, amino nitrogen, reducing sugar and organic acid contents than the moromi fermented outdoor. However, no significant difference was found in overall liking score between two soy sauces. The soy sauce fermented under the control temperature showed higher Brix and salt concentration, but lower pH value than the sauce fermented outdoor. It was possible that the beneficial effects of reducing sugar and organic acid contents were rebuffed by the disadvantage of salt concentration. It was concluded that a controlled fermentation environment deserves the potential to produce a high quality soy sauce

The atomic gas of star-forming galaxies at z∼\sim0.05 as revealed by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope

We report new HI observations of four z$\sim$0.05 star-forming galaxies undertaken during the commissioning phase of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). FAST is the largest single-dish telescope with a 500 meter aperture and a 19-Beam receiver. Exploiting the unprecedented sensitivity provided by FAST, we aim to study the atomic gas, via the HI 21cm emission line, in low-$z$ star-forming galaxies taken from the Valpara\'iso ALMA/APEX Line Emission Survey (VALES) project. Together with previous ALMA CO($J=1-0$) observations, the HI data provides crucial information to measure the gas mass and dynamics. As a pilot HI survey, we targeted four local star-forming galaxies at $z\sim0.05$. In particular, one of them has already been detected in HI by the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey (ALFALFA), allowing a careful comparison. We use an ON-OFF observing approach that allowed us to reach an rms of 0.7mJy/beam at a 1.7km/s velocity resolution within only 20 minutes ON-target integration time. We demonstrate the great capabilities of the FAST 19-beam receiver for pushing the detectability of the HI emission line of extra-galactic sources. The HI emission line detected by FAST shows good consistency with the previous ALFALFA results. Our observations are put in context with previous multi-wavelength data to reveal the physical properties of these low-$z$ galaxies. We find that the CO($J=1-0$) and HI emission line profiles are similar. The dynamical mass estimated from the HI data is an order of magnitude higher than the baryon mass and the dynamical mass derived from the CO observations, implying that the mass probed by dynamics of HI is dominated by the dark matter halo. In one case, a target shows an excess of CO($J=1-0$) in the line centre, which can be explained by an enhanced CO($J=1-0$) emission induced by a nuclear starburst showing high velocity dispersion.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 2 appendix, A&A Letter accepte