Organic livestock production - trapped between aroused consumer expectations and limited resources

Literature reviews reveal that the implementation of organic standards have failed to clearly improve status of animal health and welfare on many farms in comparison to conventional production. The a huge variability with respect to this issue between organic farms indicate profound discrepancies between claim and reality of organic livestock farming. Thus, the hypothesis that the implementation of minimum standards will automatically provide benefits for the issue of animal health and welfare has been refuted by farm practice. As a consequence, organic farmers and retailers can no longer stick to the claim that organic products of animal origin are of higher value with respect to the issue of animal health and welfare. Reasons for the limited effects of the organic standards are multi-factorial and assumed to be farm specific in the fist place. On the other hand, limited availability of resources such as nutrients, labour time and investments within organic farm systems together with a high pressure on the production costs by retailers make any improvments very difficult. In order to preserve the credibility of organic agriculture and the confidence of the consumers in organic products there is a need for more transparency and for a change in the paradigm from a standard-oriented to an output-oriented approach. Credible information about the specific level of product and process qualities emerged by each farm has to be provided. Simultaneously, a high level of animal health and welfare has to be honoured by premium prices to cover the additional costs and efforts that are needed to improve the current situation

The University as a Pluralistic System: The Case of Minority Faculty Recruitment and Retention

Recently there has been considerable emphasis placed in higher education on the recruitment and retention of minority faculty. There is an expanding literature indicating the problems relating to the inadequate pool of such faculty and strategies and approaches related to effective recruitment and retention.[1] It is apparent that there is considerable interest in this area. Given the predicted demographic patterns and characteristics in the population during the remainder of this century, it is understandable that colleges and universities are pursuing a more diverse faculty. The recruitment and retention of minority faculty, however, is only one component -- though a critically important one -- of the total university environment. The extent of effectiveness in this area will depend upon the totality of the other components in which it is embedded and that characterize the university as a whole

Sense and sensibilities

There are many aspects relating to our profession that lead to varying degrees of inner and outer conflict. These have to be looked at objectively, rationalised and managed appropriately so that they inflict the least possible damage to us, to those around us and particularly to the individuals whose wellbeing is our avowed quest.peer-reviewe

Orbital variations and outbursts of the unusual variable star V1129 Centauri

The variable star V1129 Cen is classified in the GCVS as being of $\beta$ Lyr type. Unusual for such stars, it exhibits outbursts roughly once a year, lasting for $\sim$40 days. For this reason, a relationship to the dwarf novae has been suspected. Here, for the first time a detailed analysis of the light curve of the system is presented. Based on observations with high time resolution obtained at the Observat\'orio do Pico dos Dias and on the long term ASAS light curve the orbital variations of the system are studied. They are dominated by ellipsoidal variations and partial eclipses of a probably slightly evolved F2 star in a binary with an orbital period of $21^{\rm h}$ $26^{\rm m}$. Comparison with the characteristics of dwarf novae show that the observational properties of V1129 Cen can be explained if it is just another dwarf novae, albeit with an unusually bright and early type mass donor which outshines the accretion disk and the mass gainer to a degree that many normal photometric and spectroscopic hallmarks of cataclysmic variables remain undetected

Eleutherodactylus eunaster

Number of Pages: 1Integrative BiologyGeological Science

ON THE SMARANDACHE FUNCTION AND THE FIXED - POINT THEORY OF NUMBERS

This brief note points out several basic connections between the Smarandache function, fixed-point theory and prime-number theory. First recall that fixed-point theory in function spaces provides elegent, if not short, proofs of the existence of solutions to many kinds of differential equations, integral equations, optimization problems and game-theoretic problems

Combination notes: market segmentation and equity transfer

This paper empirically analyzes a particular type of notes observed in securitization transactions: combination notes. Combination notes are formed by combining parts of two or more tranches of securitization transactions, where one part usually consists of a share of the first loss piece. It is analyzed whether combination notes are purely demand driven, or whether combination notes also appear to be structured to enable equity transfer. Results indicate that combination notes serve both purposes: market segmentation severely determines the structuring of combination notes, but risk transfer needs seem to be catered by combination notes as well. Further, an analysis of launch spreads indicates, that the observed equity transfer via combination notes has an impact on the pricing of the ordinary tranches of each deal. This paper makes use of unique data on 126 deals containing 1385 tranches, thereof 398 combination notes