A Note on the Economy of Qualities: Attributing Production Practices to Agricultural Practices

Agricultural products are valued for many attributes including those that describe production practices. These production attributes are established through public and private efforts to promulgate standards and labels that differentiate products based on labor treatment, environmental impact, animal welfare, and other practices that occur during production. Organizations, like third-party certifiers, coordinate information and give credence to products in a way that enables consumers to differentiate products by production practices. Libertarian and utilitarian arguments may be used in the normative debate surrounding the appropriate role of government in sponsoring standards and labels that inform consumers about the modes of production

Genetic Polymorphisms of the Glucocorticoid Receptor and Interleulin-8 Receptor Genes and their Relationship to Production Traits and Hair Coat Scores in Crossbred Cattle

Little is understood about how the diversity of genes, specifically the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and interleukin-8 receptor (CXCR2), are related to reproductive health and how this affects physical traits in cattle. Glucocorticoid receptors have been positively associated with higher milk yields, lactose content, feed intake, and feed conversion rates. Interleukin-8 genes are part of the innate immune response and help with many aspects of female reproductive health, such as protecting the embryo from the maternal immune system during pregnancy. The objective of this research was to identify polymorphisms in the GR and CXCR2 genes and to associate genotypes between the abovementioned polymorphisms and production traits in crossbred cattle. The hypothesis was that polymorphisms will exist for GR and CXCR2 genes and will be linked to production traits. Blood samples were collected from 94 crossbred cattle over a period of 3 years (2012, 2013, 2014) and the DNA was extracted, amplified, and sent to GeneSeek in Lincoln, Nebraska, to be analyzed and genotyped for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). Phenotypic data, including cow pre-breeding body condition score (BCS) and weight, Julian calving date, calf birth weight, cow weaning BCS and weight, calf weaning weight, calf adjusted 205-day weight, cow efficiency, and hair coat scores (HCS) were collected from the 94 crossbred cattle and analyzed alongside the genotypic results. Significant relationships were determined using t-tests. Single nucleotide polymorphisms were found for the GR and CXCR2 genes and the polymorphisms were significantly related to production traits in cattle. Scientists and breeders could manipulate these genes to produce cattle that are more efficient and possess more desirable production traits

Globalization and inequality

© The Author(s) 2017. This review essay discusses works of a leading sociologist and a leading economist on the subject of inequality and globalization. The books raise fresh ideas of inequality in the context of globalization by raising questions on the relationship between globalization and inequality throughout history. Although Therborn raises some fundamental questions about inequality, problematizes the concept, and broadens the discussion by adding multiple dimensions to it, Bourguignon’s study deepens our understanding of the problem of inequality by presenting the paradox of its linkage with globalization, which in the last century reduced international inequality while it widened intranational inequality, and the two processes are interrelated. Bourguignon suggests that the growing intranational inequality that threatens economic, political, and social stability can be overcome by concerted efforts of the states. Therborn pins his hope in the rising middle class across the world and their solidarity, which could create a more egalitarian society

E-Type Delayed Fluorescence of a Phosphine-Supported Cu_2(μ-NAr_2)_2 Diamond Core: Harvesting Singlet and Triplet Excitons in OLEDs

A highly emissive bis(phosphine)diarylamido dinuclear copper(I) complex (quantum yield = 57%) was shown to exhibit E-type delayed fluorescence by variable temperature emission spectroscopy and photoluminescence decay measurement of doped vapor-deposited films. The lowest energy singlet and triplet excited states were assigned as charge transfer states on the basis of theoretical calculations and the small observed S_1−T_1 energy gap. Vapor-deposited OLEDs doped with the complex in the emissive layer gave a maximum external quantum efficiency of 16.1%, demonstrating that triplet excitons can be harvested very efficiently through the delayed fluorescence channel. The function of the emissive dopant in OLEDs was further probed by several physical methods, including electrically detected EPR, cyclic voltammetry, and photoluminescence in the presence of applied current

The demand for sports and exercise: Results from an illustrative survey

Funding from the Department of Health policy research programme was used in this study.There is a paucity of empirical evidence on the extent to which price and perceived benefits affect the level of participation in sports and exercise. Using an illustrative sample of 60 adults at Brunel University, West London, we investigate the determinants of demand for sports and exercise. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews that covered indicators of sports and exercise behaviour; money/time price and perceived benefits of participation; and socio- economic/demographic details. Count, linear and probit regression models were fitted as appropriate. Seventy eight per cent of the sample participated in sports and exercise and spent an average of £27 per month and an average of 20 min travelling per occasion of sports and exercise. The demand for sport and exercise was negatively associated with time (travel or access time) and ‘variable’ price and positively correlated with ‘fixed’ price. Demand was price inelastic, except in the case of meeting the UK government’s recommended level of participation, which is time price elastic (elasticity = −2.2). The implications of data from a larger nationally representative sample as well as the role of economic incentives in influencing uptake of sports and exercise are discussed.This article is available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund

Analytic Inversion of Emission Lines of Arbitrary Optical Depth for the Structure of Supernova Ejecta

We derive a method for inverting emission line profiles formed in supernova ejecta. The derivation assumes spherical symmetry and homologous expansion (i.e., $v(r) \propto r$), is analytic, and even takes account of occultation by a pseudo-photosphere. Previous inversion methods have been developed which are restricted to optically thin lines, but the particular case of homologous expansion permits an analytic result for lines of {\it arbitrary} optical depth. In fact, we show that the quantity that is generically retrieved is the run of line intensity $I_\lambda$ with radius in the ejecta. This result is quite general, and so could be applied to resonance lines, recombination lines, etc. As a specific example, we show how to derive the run of (Sobolev) optical depth $\tau_\lambda$ with radius in the case of a pure resonance scattering emission line.Comment: 6 pages, no figures, to appear in Astrophysical Journal Letters, requires aaspp4.sty to late

Fruit and vegetable intake: change with age across childhood and adolescence

Abstract Eating fruit and vegetables (FV) offers important health benefits for children and adolescents, but their average intake is low. To explore if negative trends with age exist as children grow, this study modelled differences in fruit and vegetable consumption from childhood to young adulthood. A pseudo-panel was constructed using Years 1-4 (combined) of the Rolling Programme of the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2008/09 – 2011/12). Intake of fruits and vegetables in the NDNS was recorded using 4- day unweighted food diaries. Data consisted of 2131 observations of individuals aged 2 to 23 years. Age-year-cohort decomposition regression analyses were used to separate age effects from year and cohort effects in the data. Total energy intake was included to account for age differences in overall energy consumption. Fruit intake started to decrease from the age of 7 for boys and girls and reached its lowest level during adolescence. By 17 years boys were consuming 0.93 (p = 0.037) less fruit portions compared to the age of two. By 15 years, girls were consuming 0.8 fruit portions less (p = 0.053). Vegetable intake changed little during childhood and adolescence (p = 0.0834 and p = 0.843 for change between 7 and 12 years, boys and girls respectively). There was unclear evidence of recovery of FV intakes in early adulthood. Efforts to improve FV intake should consider these trends, and focus attention on the factors influencing intake across childhood and adolescence in order to improve the nutritional quality of diets during these periods