Is Imported Beef a Complement or a Substitute for Domestic Beef?

United States beef imports have been a controversial issue since 1958, which marked the beginning of major U.S. imports of beef from Australia. From the onset, U.S. beef producers have always been concerned with unrestricted beef imports fearing they would depress prices in the domestic market. In response to these fears, the U.S. Congress enacted the 1964 Meat Import law (P.L. 88-482) limiting red meat imports to approximately 7% of the then current domestic red meat production. This system was replaced by a beef Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ). Historically, TRQ countries rarely fill their quotas. The table on the next page provides the most recent year-to-date data on beef exports to the U.S. by country and a brief explanation of how TRQs work

THE IMPACT OF BIOFUELS POLICY AND DROUGHT ON THE U.S. GRAIN AND LIVESTOCK MARKETS

This article examines the impact of the 2012 drought and the biofuels mandate on the U.S. grain and livestock markets and estimates the mandate waiver required to offset the impact on the corn price. The framework used is a stochastic equilibrium displacement model that integrates the beef, pork, and poultry markets with the corn, distillers’ grain, soybean, soymeal, and ethanol markets. The corn and beef markets are found to be the most vulnerable. A mandate waiver of approximately 23% is required to fully negate the impact of the drought on corn prices. The waiver is equivalent to a 13.7% reduction in ethanol consumption

Mistrust and negative self‐esteem:Two paths from attachment styles to paranoia

OBJECTIVES: Paranoia is known to be associated with insecure attachment, with negative self‐esteem as a mediator, but this pathway is insufficient to explain the paranoid individual’s beliefs about malevolent others. Mistrust is a likely additional factor as it is a core feature of paranoid thinking also associated with insecure attachment styles. In this study, we tested whether mistrust – operationalized as judgements about the trustworthiness of unfamiliar faces – constitutes a second pathway from insecure attachment to paranoia. DESIGN: The design of the study was cross‐sectional. METHODS: A nationally representative British sample of 1,508 participants aged 18–86, 50.8% female, recruited through the survey company Qualtrics, completed measurements of attachment style, negative self‐esteem, and paranoid beliefs. Usable data were obtained from 1,121 participants. Participants were asked to make trustworthiness judgements about computer‐generated faces, and their outcomes were analysed by conducting signal detection analysis, which provided measures of bias (the tendency to assume untrustworthiness in conditions of uncertainty) and sensitivity (accuracy in distinguish between trustworthy and untrustworthy faces). RESULTS: Results using structural equation modelling revealed a good model fit (RMSEA = .071, 95% CI: 0.067–0.075, SRMR = .045, CFI = .93, TLI = .92). We observed indirect effects through bias towards mistrust both for the relationship between attachment anxiety and avoidance (β = .003, 95% CI: 0.001–0.005,p < .001) and attachment anxiety and paranoia (β = .003, 95% CI 0.002–0.006, p < .001). We observed an indirect effect through negative self‐esteem only for the relationship between attachment anxiety and paranoia (β = .064, 95% CI: 0.053–0.077, p < .001). Trust judgements and negative self‐esteem were not associated with each other. CONCLUSIONS: We find that a bias towards mistrust is associated with greater paranoia. We also find indirect effects through bias towards mistrust between attachment styles and paranoia. Finally, we reaffirm the strong indirect effect through negative self‐esteem between attachment anxiety and paranoia. Limitations of the study are discussed. PRACTITIONER POINTS: When working with individuals suffering from paranoia, clinicians should consider not only explicit, deliberative cognitive processes of the kind addressed in cognitive behaviour therapy (e.g. cognitive restructuring) but also the way in which their patients make perceptual judgements (e.g., their immediate reactions on encountering new people) and consider interventions targeted at these judgements, for example, bias modification training. Assessment and clinical interventions for people should consider the role of trust judgements and the way in which they combine with low self‐esteem to provoke paranoid beliefs. Psychological interventions targeting paranoid beliefs should focus on both attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance

Line tension and structure of smectic liquid crystal multilayers at the air-water interface

At the air/water interface, 4,-8-alkyl[1,1,-biphenyl]-4-carbonitrile (8CB) domains with different thicknesses coexist in the same Langmuir film, as multiple bilayers on a monolayer. The edge dislocation at the domain boundary leads to line tension, which determines the domain shape and dynamics. By observing the domain relaxation process starting from small distortions, we find that the line tension is linearly dependent on the thickness difference between the coexisting phases in the film. Comparisons with theoretical treatments in the literature suggest that the edge dislocation at the boundary locates near the center of the film, which means that the 8CB multilayers are almost symmetric with respect to the air/water interface.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figure

Why conspiracy theorists are not always paranoid: Conspiracy theories and paranoia form separate factors with distinct psychological predictors

Paranoia and belief in conspiracy theories both involve suspiciousness about the intentions of others but have rarely been studied together. In three studies, one with a mainly student sample (N = 496) and two with more representative UK population samples (N = 1,519, N = 638) we compared single and two-factor models of paranoia and conspiracy theories as well as associations between both belief systems and other psychological constructs. A model with two correlated factors was the best fit in all studies. Both belief systems were associated with poor locus of control (belief in powerful others and chance) and loneliness. Paranoid beliefs were specifically associated with negative self-esteem and, in two studies, insecure attachment; conspiracy theories were associated with positive self-esteem in the two larger studies and narcissistic personality traits in the final study. Conspiracist thinking but not paranoia was associated with poor performance on the Cognitive Reflection Task (poor analytical thinking). The findings suggest that paranoia and belief in conspiracy theories are distinct but correlated belief systems with both common and specific psychological components

Spectroscopic distinction between the normal state pseudogap and the superconducting gap of cuprate high T_{c} superconductors

We report on broad-band infrared ellipsometry measurements of the c-axis conductivity of underdoped RBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7-d} (R=Y, Nd, and La) single crystals. Our data provide a detailed account of the spectral weight (SW) redistributions due to the normal state pseudogap (PG) and the superconducting (SC) gap. They show that these phenomena involve different energy scales, exhibit distinct doping dependencies and thus are likely of different origin. In particular, the SW redistribution in the PG state closely resembles the one of a conventional charge- or spin density wave (CDW or SDW) system.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Antireflection of an absorbing substrate by an absorbing thin film at normal incidence

An absorbing substrate of complex refractive index n2 - jk2 at wavelength λ can be coated by an absorbing thin film of complex refractive index n1 - jk1 and thickness d to achieve zero reflection at normal incidence. For given n2,k2 multiple solutions (n1,k1,d/λ) are found that correspond to infinitely many distinct antireflection layers. This is demonstrated for a Si substrate at two wavelengths (6328 and 4420 Å). The response of these absorbing antireflection layers to changes of the angle of incidence from 0 to 45° and to changes of thickness of ±10% is also determined and compared to the limting case of a nonabsorbing antireflection layer

Antireflection of an absorbing substrate by an absorbing thin film at normal incidence

An absorbing substrate of complex refractive index n2 - jk2 at wavelength λ can be coated by an absorbing thin film of complex refractive index n1 - jk1 and thickness d to achieve zero reflection at normal incidence. For given n2,k2 multiple solutions (n1,k1,d/λ) are found that correspond to infinitely many distinct antireflection layers. This is demonstrated for a Si substrate at two wavelengths (6328 and 4420 Å). The response of these absorbing antireflection layers to changes of the angle of incidence from 0 to 45° and to changes of thickness of ±10% is also determined and compared to the limting case of a nonabsorbing antireflection layer

Relativistic Operator Description of Photon Polarization

We present an operator approach to the description of photon polarization, based on Wigner's concept of elementary relativistic systems. The theory of unitary representations of the Poincare group, and of parity, are exploited to construct spinlike operators acting on the polarization states of a photon at each fixed energy momentum. The nontrivial topological features of these representations relevant for massless particles, and the departures from the treatment of massive finite spin representations, are highlighted and addressed.Comment: Revtex 9 page