The Role of the Food & Beverage Sector in Expanding Economic Opportunity

The food and beverage industry has a unique role in expanding economic opportunity because it is universal to human life and health. The industry operates at multiple levels of society where billions of people grow, transform, and sell food, particularly in developing countries where agriculture dominates all other economic sectors. Yet a vast share of these workers cannot both satisfy their immediate consumption needs and earn sufficient income from food markets to improve their lives. This report applies the results of primary and secondary research to a number of case studies to draw lessons on strategies for expanding economic opportunity in the food & beverage sector. Primary research consisted of telephone interviews and secondary research included a review of reports, studies, and articles from a range of sources for each case study. The result is a paper that provides insight into how pioneering large firms are breaking this dilemma and building economic opportunity around food beverage value chains

Improving market intelligence for organic dairy production in Wales

This report was commissioned by Farming Connect via the Organic Centre Wales and was written and produced by the Soil Association Producer Services Department in February 2003. It has been made possible with the kind co-operation of the Federation of Milk Groups. Objectives 1. To develop a system of monthly data collection for Wales which is compatible with nation-wide data collection 2. Collection of historic data on dairy production in Wales (1997 – 2002) 3. Projections for future production and processing levels (2003 – 2006) 4. Identification of potential areas of growt

The Evolution, Expansion and Evaluation of the Family Economic Security Program

In 2008, the Fund for Women & Girls of Fairfield County's Community Foundation created the Family Economic Security Program (FESP). The goal of the program is to assist low- and moderate-income working students – particularly women who are single parents – in securing postsecondary educational degrees that can lead to careers offering family-sustaining wages and benefits.This paper reviews the research that prompted the original design of FESP; examines the results of the initial pilot demonstration at one community college; and highlights current efforts to test an expanded, enhanced version of the FESP initiative at a second community college in Fairfield County. The paper also discusses the broader local and national context within which these efforts have been occurring

Conservation Contracting in Heterogeneous Landscapes: an application to watershed protection with threshold constraints

A key issue in the design of land use policy is how to integrate information about spatially variable biophysical and economic conditions into a cost-effective conservation plan. Using common biophysical scoring methods, in combination with economic data and simple optimization methods, we illustrate how one can identify a set of priority land parcels for conservation investment. We also demonstrate a way in which conservation agencies can incorporate concerns about biophysical thresholds in the identification of their priority land parcels. We apply these methods using Geographic Information System data from a New York conservation easement acquisition initiative for water quality protection. Working Paper # 2002-01

Potential Failure of an International Environmental Agreement under Asymmetric Information

The free-riding issue is generally considered to be the biggest obstacle in the success of an international environmental agreement. Even without free-riding incentives, however, asymmetric information can pose a potentially significant threat in establishing a cooperative relationship. In this note, we examine perfect Bayesian equilibria of a simple signaling game between a polluter country and a victim country over an agreement to mitigate unidirectional transboudary pollution. We show that the stalemate in addressing an international environmental issue can be explained partly by the incentive conflict due to asymmetric information on the environmental preference of a polluter. We also identify several conditions that allow such a stalemate to occur more easily.asymmetric information

Generalized environmental control and life support system computer program (G189A) configuration control, phase 2

The G189A simulation of the Shuttle Orbiter ECLSS was upgraded. All simulation library versions and simulation models were converted from the EXEC2 to the EXEC8 computer system and a new program, G189PL, was added to the combination master program library. The program permits the post-plotting of up to 100 frames of plot data over any time interval of a G189 simulation run. The overlay structure of the G189A simulations were restructured for the purpose of conserving computer core requirements and minimizing run time requirements

The Future of Nuclear Power in A Restructured Electricity Market

Restructuring is causing fundamental changes in the market for electricity across North America including changes in the framework for decisions about investment in generation capacity. In a restructured market the generator is no longer guaranteed a reasonable rate of return on assets; instead new investments will earn whatever the spot market or contract market will pay. The market price will be determined by the marginal cost of existing price setting units, the market structure, demand, and the cost of new capacity. Environmental regulations may have a significant impact on that price. This paper summarizes the principal features of restructured electricity markets and their implications for the future price of electricity and for the future of nuclear power, using the emerging rules for the Ontario electricity market as an example.electric utilities, electricity restructuring, nuclear power, nuclear generation, air pollution, emission trading, Ontario, spot market

Variability in Catheter-Associated Asymptomatic Bacteriuria Rates Among Individual Nurses in Intensive Care Units: An Observational Cross-Sectional Study

Catheter-associated asymptomatic bacteriuria (CAABU) is frequent in intensive care units (ICUs) and contributes to the routine use of antibiotics and to antibiotic-resistant infections. While nurses are responsible for the implementation of CAABU-prevention guidelines, variability in how individual nurses contribute to CAABU-free rates in ICUs has not been previously explored. This study’s objective was to examine the variability in CAABU-free outcomes of individual ICU nurses. This observational cross-sectional study used shift-level nurse-patient data from the electronic health records from two ICUs in a tertiary medical center in the US between July 2015 and June 2016. We included all adult (18+) catheterized patients with no prior CAABU during the hospital encounter and nurses who provided their care. The CAABU-free outcome was defined as a 0/1 indicator identifying shifts where a previously CAABU-free patient remained CAABU-free (absence of a confirmed urine sample) 24–48 hours following end of shift. The analytical approach used Value-Added Modeling and a split-sample design to estimate and validate nurse-level CAABU-free rates while adjusting for patient characteristics, shift, and ICU type. The sample included 94 nurses, 2,150 patients with 256 confirmed CAABU cases, and 21,729 patient shifts. Patients were 55% male, average age was 60 years. CAABU-free rates of individual nurses varied between 94 and 100 per 100 shifts (Wald test: 227.88, P\u3c0.001) and were robust in cross-validation analyses (correlation coefficient: 0.66, P\u3c0.001). Learning and disseminating effective CAABU-avoidance strategies from top-performers throughout the nursing teams could improve quality of care in ICUs

Context Trees: Augmenting Geospatial Trajectories with Context

Exposing latent knowledge in geospatial trajectories has the potential to provide a better understanding of the movements of individuals and groups. Motivated by such a desire, this work presents the context tree, a new hierarchical data structure that summarises the context behind user actions in a single model. We propose a method for context tree construction that augments geospatial trajectories with land usage data to identify such contexts. Through evaluation of the construction method and analysis of the properties of generated context trees, we demonstrate the foundation for understanding and modelling behaviour afforded. Summarising user contexts into a single data structure gives easy access to information that would otherwise remain latent, providing the basis for better understanding and predicting the actions and behaviours of individuals and groups. Finally, we also present a method for pruning context trees, for use in applications where it is desirable to reduce the size of the tree while retaining useful information

Rise in resident associational life in response to service delivery decline by urban councils in Zimbabwe

This article links the decline of service delivery in urban councils in post-independence Zimbabwe to a rise in levels of associational life. Poorer urban residents cannot easily escape poor public sector service delivery by resorting to the private market. In response to declining service delivery by councils, ratepayers form residents’ associations to do three main things. First, they confront councils and pressure them to restore delivery capability. Second, they produce those services that councils are unable or unwilling to provide. Third, they defend residents against the predatory actions of councils. However, the capacities of residents’ associations in these three areas have yet to be established. Notably, limited formal opportunities exist for engagement between councils and residents’ associations which restricts their effectiveness. This paper argues that, if supported, residents’ associations can deepen local democracy while simultaneously facilitating the repair of councils’ capabilities – thus meeting disparate community demands and organising members to contribute to council recovery