Competition law and policy and the food value chain

This On-Topic revisits the complex issues rising in the food sector and its value chain. Both the European Union and the US competition authorities have scrutinized relationships between food chain actors. The increasing market concentration raises new challenges for competition enforcement authorities dealing with the creation of new powerful actors at the distribution but also at the factor of production (input) levels. The concept of superior bargaining power has played a key role, sometimes criticised, in order to assess these relationships. The papers also discuss the critical intersection of competition law with public policy, with the aim to preserve sustainability, food safety and the stability of agricultural markets

A multivariate hierarchical Bayesian approach to measuring agreement in repeated measurement method comparison studies

Background. Assessing agreement in method comparison studies depends on two fundamentally important components; validity (the between method agreement) and reproducibility (the within method agreement). The Bland-Altman limits of agreement technique is one of the favoured approaches in medical literature for assessing between method validity. However, few researchers have adopted this approach for the assessment of both validity and reproducibility. This may be partly due to a lack of a flexible, easily implemented and readily available statistical machinery to analyse repeated measurement method comparison data. Methods. Adopting the Bland-Altman framework, but using Bayesian methods, we present this statistical machinery. Two multivariate hierarchical Bayesian models are advocated, one which assumes that the underlying values for subjects remain static (exchangeable replicates) and one which assumes that the underlying values can change between repeated measurements (non-exchangeable replicates). Results. We illustrate the salient advantages of these models using two separate datasets that have been previously analysed and presented; (i) assuming static underlying values analysed using both multivariate hierarchical Bayesian models, and (ii) assuming each subject's underlying value is continually changing quantity and analysed using the non-exchangeable replicate multivariate hierarchical Bayesian model. Conclusion. These easily implemented models allow for full parameter uncertainty, simultaneous method comparison, handle unbalanced or missing data, and provide estimates and credible regions for all the parameters of interest. Computer code for the analyses in also presented, provided in the freely available and currently cost free software package WinBUGS

Sexuality and Affection among Elderly German Men and Women in Long-Term Relationships: Results of a Prospective Population-Based Study

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The study was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Families, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (AZ 314-1722-102/16; AZ 301-1720-295/2), the Ministry for Science, Research and Art Baden-Württemberg, and the University of Rostock (FORUN 989020; 889048)

Evaluation of the relationship between capillary and venous plasma glucose concentrations obtained by the HemoCue Glucose 201+ system during an oral glucose tolerance test

Abstract In 55 women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus, simultaneous capillary and venous plasma glucose concentrations were measured at 0, 30 and 120 min during a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The aims of the study were to examine the relationship between capillary and venous glucose measurements, and to establish equations for the conversion of capillary and venous glucose concentrations using the HemoCue Glucose 201+ system. Additionally, the correlation between the capillary and venous glucose concentrations with the diagnostic cut-off limits proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1999 was evaluated. Capillary glucose concentrations were consistently higher than venous glucose concentrations at all time points of the OGTT (p < 0.001), and the correlations between the measurements were statistically highly significant (p < 0.001). The differences between the samples were greatest in the non-fasting state as revealed by the 95% prediction intervals (mmol/L) in Bland-Altman plots; ? 0.54 at 0 min, ? 2.01 at 30 min, and ? 1.35 at 120 min. Equivalence values for capillary plasma glucose concentrations derived from this study tended to be higher than those proposed by the WHO as diagnostic cut-off limits. Stratifying subjects by glucose tolerance status according to the WHO criteria revealed disagreements related to glucose values close to the diagnostic cut-off points. The study findings highlight the uncertainty associated with derived equivalence values. However, capillary plasma glucose measurements could be suitable for diagnostic purposes in epidemiological studies and when translating results on a group basis

Childhood loneliness as a predictor of adolescent depressive symptoms: an 8-year longitudinal study

Childhood loneliness is characterised by children’s perceived dissatisfaction with aspects of their social relationships. This 8-year prospective study investigates whether loneliness in childhood predicts depressive symptoms in adolescence, controlling for early childhood indicators of emotional problems and a sociometric measure of peer social preference. 296 children were tested in the infant years of primary school (T1 5 years of age), in the upper primary school (T2 9 years of age) and in secondary school (T3 13 years of age). At T1, children completed the loneliness assessment and sociometric interview. Their teachers completed externalisation and internalisation rating scales for each child. At T2, children completed a loneliness assessment, a measure of depressive symptoms, and the sociometric interview. At T3, children completed the depressive symptom assessment. An SEM analysis showed that depressive symptoms in early adolescence (age 13) were predicted by reports of depressive symptoms at age 8, which were themselves predicted by internalisation in the infant school (5 years). The interactive effect of loneliness at 5 and 9, indicative of prolonged loneliness in childhood, also predicted depressive symptoms at age 13. Parent and peer-related loneliness at age 5 and 9, peer acceptance variables, and duration of parent loneliness did not predict depression. Our results suggest that enduring peer-related loneliness during childhood constitutes an interpersonal stressor that predisposes children to adolescent depressive symptoms. Possible mediators are discussed

Long-Term Health Outcomes in Children Born to Mothers with Diabetes: A Population-Based Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: To examine whether prenatal exposure to parental type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, or gestational diabetes is associated with an increased risk of malignant neoplasm or diseases of the circulatory system in the offspring. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted a population-based cohort study of 1,781,576 singletons born in Denmark from 1977 to 2008. Children were followed for up to 30 years from the day of birth until the onset of the outcomes under study, death, emigration, or December 31, 2009, whichever came first. We used Cox proportional hazards model to estimate hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for the outcomes under study while adjusting for potential confounders. An increased risk of malignant neoplasm was found in children prenatally exposed to maternal type 2 diabetes (HR = 2.2, 95%CI: 1.5-3.2). An increased risk of diseases of the circulatory system was found in children exposed to maternal type 1 diabetes (HR = 2.2, 95%CI: 1.6-3.0), type 2 diabetes (HR = 1.4, 95%CI: 1.1-1.7), and gestational diabetes (HR = 1.3, 95%CI: 1.1-1.6), but results were attenuated after excluding children with congenital malformations. An increased risk of diseases of the circulatory system was also found in children exposed to paternal type 2 diabetes (HR = 1.5, 95%CI: 1.1-2.2) and the elevated risk remained after excluding children with congenital malformations. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that susceptibility to malignant neoplasm is modified partly by fetal programming. Diseases of the circulatory system may be modified by genetic factors, other time-stable family factors, or fetal programming

Cancer incidence in type 2 diabetes patients - first results from a feasibility study of the D2C cohort

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A large prospective study in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), the German D2C cohort, is presently being enumerated to investigate risk factors of incident cancer in diabetic patients.</p> <p>Study setting</p> <p>A disease management program was offered, on a voluntary basis, to all T2D patients who were members of a statutory health insurance fund in Germany. This first feasibility report uses data from 26.742 T2D patients, who were 40 to 79 years old, resided in the Muenster District, and who were enrolled between June 2003 and July 2008. Cancer cases were identified through the regional Cancer Registry.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Invasive cancer cases were identified using probabilistic record linkage procedures and pseudonymised personal identifiers. Censoring date was December 31, 2008. We included only first cancers, leaving 12.650 male and 14.092 female T2D with a total of 88.778 person-years (py). We computed standardised incidence ratios (SIR) for external comparisons and we employed Cox regression models and hazard ratios (HR) within the cohort.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified 759 first cancers among male T2D patients (18.7 per 1,000 py) and 605 among females (12.7 per 1,000 py). The risk of any incident cancer in T2D was raised (SIR = 1.14; 95% confidence interval [1.10 - 1.21]), in particular for cancer of the liver (SIR = 1.94 [1.15 - 2.94]) and pancreas (SIR = 1.45 [1.07-1.92]). SIRs decreased markedly with time after T2D diagnosis. In Cox models, adjusting for diabetes duration, body mass index and sex, insulin therapy was related to higher cancer risk (HR = 1.25 [1.17 - 1.33]). No effect was seen for metformin.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Our study demonstrates feasibility of record linkage between DMP and cancer registries. These first cohort results confirm previous reports. It is envisaged to enhance this cohort by inclusion of further regions of the state, expansion of the follow-up times, and collection of a more detailed medication history.</p

Association Patterns in Saproxylic Insect Networks in Three Iberian Mediterranean Woodlands and Their Resistance to Microhabitat Loss

The assessment of the relationship between species diversity, species interactions and environmental characteristics is indispensable for understanding network architecture and ecological distribution in complex networks. Saproxylic insect communities inhabiting tree hollow microhabitats within Mediterranean woodlands are highly dependent on woodland configuration and on microhabitat supply they harbor, so can be studied under the network analysis perspective. We assessed the differences in interacting patterns according to woodland site, and analysed the importance of functional species in modelling network architecture. We then evaluated their implications for saproxylic assemblages’ persistence, through simulations of three possible scenarios of loss of tree hollow microhabitat. Tree hollow-saproxylic insect networks per woodland site presented a significant nested pattern. Those woodlands with higher complexity of tree individuals and tree hollow microhabitats also housed higher species/interactions diversity and complexity of saproxylic networks, and exhibited a higher degree of nestedness, suggesting that a higher woodland complexity positively influences saproxylic diversity and interaction complexity, thus determining higher degree of nestedness. Moreover, the number of insects acting as key interconnectors (nodes falling into the core region, using core/periphery tests) was similar among woodland sites, but the species identity varied on each. Such differences in insect core composition among woodland sites suggest the functional role they depict at woodland scale. Tree hollows acting as core corresponded with large tree hollows near the ground and simultaneously housing various breeding microsites, whereas core insects were species mediating relevant ecological interactions within saproxylic communities, e.g. predation, competitive or facilitation interactions. Differences in network patterns and tree hollow characteristics among woodland sites clearly defined different sensitivity to microhabitat loss, and higher saproxylic diversity and woodland complexity showed positive relation with robustness. These results highlight that woodland complexity goes hand in hand with biotic and ecological complexity of saproxylic networks, and together exhibited positive effects on network robustness.The research Projects I+D CGL2011-23658 y CGL2012-31669 of the Spanish Minister of Science provided economic support

Human Perception of Fear in Dogs Varies According to Experience with Dogs

To investigate the role of experience in humans’ perception of emotion using canine visual signals, we asked adults with various levels of dog experience to interpret the emotions of dogs displayed in videos. The video stimuli had been pre-categorized by an expert panel of dog behavior professionals as showing examples of happy or fearful dog behavior. In a sample of 2,163 participants, the level of dog experience strongly predicted identification of fearful, but not of happy, emotional examples. The probability of selecting the “fearful” category to describe fearful examples increased with experience and ranged from.30 among those who had never lived with a dog to greater than.70 among dog professionals. In contrast, the probability of selecting the “happy” category to describe happy emotional examples varied little by experience, ranging from.90 to.93. In addition, the number of physical features of the dog that participants reported using for emotional interpretations increased with experience, and in particular, more-experienced respondents were more likely to attend to the ears. Lastly, more-experienced respondents provided lower difficulty and higher accuracy self-ratings than less-experienced respondents when interpreting both happy and fearful emotional examples. The human perception of emotion in other humans has previously been shown to be sensitive to individual differences in social experience, and the results of the current study extend the notion of experience-dependent processes from the intraspecific to the interspecific domain

Increasing incidence of childhood tumours of the central nervous system in Denmark, 1980–1996

The registered incidence rate of childhood central nervous system (CNS) tumours has increased in several countries. It is uncertain whether these increases are biologically real or owing to improved diagnostic methods. We explored the medical records of 626 CNS tumours diagnosed in Danish children between 1980 and 1996. Population-based registers were used to extract data on mortality and background population. Temporal patterns were analysed by regression techniques. Most tumours were verified by computed tomography (78%) or magnetic resonance imaging (14%). Overall, the incidence rate increased by 2.9% per year (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.3;4.5) and the mortality rate increased by 1.4% per year (95% CI: −0.4;3.3). Among children aged 0–4 years, the survival rate after diagnosis remained almost unchanged, whereas among children aged 5–14 years, the 10-year survival rate improved from 59 to 74%. These data suggest that the incidence rate of CNS tumours among Danish children has truly increased, although alternative explanations cannot be excluded