International Differences in Consumer Preferences for Food Country-of-Origin: A Meta-Analysis

Over the last ten years, a large number of country-of-origin studies have been conducted as a result of new country-of-origin legislation in the United States and European Union. Many literature reviews in recent studies make observation and predictions based on this literature. This meta-analysis uses 13 country-of-origin studies with 27 consumer willingness-to-pay estimates to determine significant trends in the country-of-origin literature. Findings indicate consumers' value of country-of-origin depends on the number of other credence attributes included in product descriptions and the location of the consumer.Consumer/Household Economics,

YOUNG CONSUMERS’ DEMAND FOR NATURAL SWEETENERS

Health conscious consumers are increasingly concerned about the caloric content and glycemic index of sweeteners added to food. Currently, the average American consumes 22 teaspoons of added sugar in processed foods per day. Young people typically consume higher amounts of sweeteners via candy, sports drinks, and soda (Smed, Jensen et al. 2007). Recently, the American Heart Association issued a statement recommending no more than six teaspoons for women and nine teaspoons for men of added sugar in processed foods per day (Winslow and Wang 2009). Of particular concern is the glycemic index of sweeteners—or how quickly sweeteners raise one’s blood sugar level after consumption. While much of recent concern about added sugar focuses on high fructose corn syrup, other industries, including the honey and beet sugar industries, are likely to be affected by these new recommendations and consumer sentiment. The objective of this research is to measure young consumers’ values of natural sweeteners’ glycemic index and to relate this information to their personal risk-preferences and relationships. This research generates needed information for policy regarding refined sugars and natural sweeteners in processed foods. Our primary hypothesis is that the value of natural sweetener alternatives with different glycemic indexes varies with consumers’ health consciousness. Further, consumers’ valuations are influenced by their own underlying health-risk assessments and social and familial relationships. We hypothesize consumers’ economic risk preferences are correlated with their demand for natural sweetener alternatives. We also hypothesize social and family relationships effect the stability of individual preferences for natural sweeteners.Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy,

Profiling the Evolving Characteristics and Needs for Risk Management Education of Commercial Agricultural Producers in the Intermountain West

The rural West has experienced dramatic demographic and economic transformations during the past several decades. The makeup of farm operators has changed significantly, and enterprises are increasingly at greater production, financial, marketing, human, and institutional risks. Given the importance of university outreach education to the future of agriculture, a better understanding of farm operators, including what they perceive to be the greatest threats to their operations, is required to effectively design risk management education. This project has resulted in improved understanding of agricultural producer needs for risk management education, through the results of two surveys completed over the past three years. These surveys targeted both small (<$50,000 ag sales) and large (>$50,000 ag sales) operators across three western states (WY, CO, and AZ). Results are generally much more descriptive of the educational needs, as well as suggesting mechanisms for delivery for Extension workers and others than the results available from the general agricultural census. More information at: http://RuralFamilyVentures.org.agricultural producer profile, risk management education, rural enterprises, western agriculture, rural family ventures, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Climate change adaptation strategies for Australian birds

Abstract In the first continental analysis of the effects of climate change on a faunal group, we identified that the climate space of 101 Australian terrestrial and inland water bird taxa is likely to be entirely gone by 2085, 16 marine taxa have breeding sites that are predicted to be at least 10% less productive than today, and 55 terrestrial taxa are likely to be exposed to more frequent or intense fires.&nbsp; Birds confined to Cape York Peninsula, the Wet Tropics, the Top End of the Northern Territory (particularly the Tiwi Islands), the arid zone, King Island and southern South Australia (particularly Kangaroo Island) are most likely to lose climate space. There was some variation in the predictions of the 18 climate models deployed, but all predicted that the rainforest avifauna of Cape York Peninsula is likely to face the strongest challenge from climate change, particularly taxa currently confined to the Iron and McIlwraith Ranges. For marine birds, those nesting on Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, the Great Barrier Reef and the Houtman Abrolhos are likely to face the greatest declines in local marine productivity. Changes in local marine productivity may also affect the endemic terrestrial birds of these islands, for which no climate modelling was possible. A small group of beach-nesting and saltmarsh birds may be affected by sea level rise.&nbsp; Many taxa, and particularly seabirds, are potentially highly sensitive to climate change based on a set of ecological and morphological metrics. Small island taxa were most likely to be both exposed and sensitive to climate change, followed by marine and shoreline taxa. While threatened birds were more likely than non-threatened taxa to be exposed or sensitive to climate change, or both, a substantial proportion was neither. A key action that needs to be undertaken immediately is fine scale modelling of regions identified as having numerous highly exposed bird taxa, in order to identify climatic refugia within the landscape. Such refugia can then be secured and managed appropriately for the future. The most urgent ongoing action is monitoring, with support for the Atlas of Australian Birds seen as a particularly cost-effective investment. In the future, the most expensive actions will be management of refugia, and captive breeding should all other approaches to conservation in the wild fail. However, most of those for which captive breeding is recommended as a last resort are subspecies of species that are widespread, either in Australia or in New Guinea.&nbsp; For in situ management, the most important actions will be those that are already important – fire management, weed and feral animal control and, for marine taxa, controls on fishing. A small number of species-specific actions are suggested, and there appears to be no urgent requirement for corridors for the maintenance of taxa likely to be threatened with extinction – those few taxa not already living in areas where there are likely to be refugia will require assistance to colonise new climate space. The cost of management over the next 50 years for persistence in the face of climate change of the 396 bird taxa that are very highly exposed, sensitive or both is estimated at $18.8 million per year –$47,700 per year for each taxon. The biggest ongoing costs are monitoring and direct species management but refugia management and captive breeding may eventually be needed, and will be much more expensive. Please cite this report as: Garnett, S, Franklin, D, Ehmke, G, VanDerWal, J, Hodgson, L, Pavey, C, Reside, A, Welbergen, J, Butchart, S, Perkins, G, Williams, S 2013 Climate change adaptation strategies for Australian birds, &nbsp;National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Gold Coast. pp.109. In the first continental analysis of the effects of climate change on a faunal group, we identified that the climate space of 101 Australian terrestrial and inland water bird taxa is likely to be entirely gone by 2085, 16 marine taxa have breeding sites that are predicted to be at least 10% less productive than today, and 55 terrestrial taxa are likely to be exposed to more frequent or intense fires.&nbsp; Birds confined to Cape York Peninsula, the Wet Tropics, the Top End of the Northern Territory (particularly the Tiwi Islands), the arid zone, King Island and southern South Australia (particularly Kangaroo Island) are most likely to lose climate space. There was some variation in the predictions of the 18 climate models deployed, but all predicted that the rainforest avifauna of Cape York Peninsula is likely to face the strongest challenge from climate change, particularly taxa currently confined to the Iron and McIlwraith Ranges. For marine birds, those nesting on Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, the Great Barrier Reef and the Houtman Abrolhos are likely to face the greatest declines in local marine productivity. Changes in local marine productivity may also affect the endemic terrestrial birds of these islands, for which no climate modelling was possible. A small group of beach-nesting and saltmarsh birds may be affected by sea level rise.&nbsp; Many taxa, and particularly seabirds, are potentially highly sensitive to climate change based on a set of ecological and morphological metrics. Small island taxa were most likely to be both exposed and sensitive to climate change, followed by marine and shoreline taxa. While threatened birds were more likely than non-threatened taxa to be exposed or sensitive to climate change, or both, a substantial proportion was neither. A key action that needs to be undertaken immediately is fine scale modelling of regions identified as having numerous highly exposed bird taxa, in order to identify climatic refugia within the landscape. Such refugia can then be secured and managed appropriately for the future. The most urgent ongoing action is monitoring, with support for the Atlas of Australian Birds seen as a particularly cost-effective investment. In the future, the most expensive actions will be management of refugia, and captive breeding should all other approaches to conservation in the wild fail. However, most of those for which captive breeding is recommended as a last resort are subspecies of species that are widespread, either in Australia or in New Guinea.&nbsp; For in situ management, the most important actions will be those that are already important – fire management, weed and feral animal control and, for marine taxa, controls on fishing. A small number of species-specific actions are suggested, and there appears to be no urgent requirement for corridors for the maintenance of taxa likely to be threatened with extinction – those few taxa not already living in areas where there are likely to be refugia will require assistance to colonise new climate space. The cost of management over the next 50 years for persistence in the face of climate change of the 396 bird taxa that are very highly exposed, sensitive or both is estimated at $18.8 million per year –$47,700 per year for each taxon. The biggest ongoing costs are monitoring and direct species management but refugia management and captive breeding may eventually be needed, and will be much more expensive

Implementing a CAPS Simulation to Increase Nursing Education Practice Students’ Self-awareness of Attitudes and Beliefs about Poverty

Problem. The purpose of this project is to determine if college students who are currently in nursing school, will benefit from the addition of a poverty simulation to positively influence their self-awareness and individual-level beliefs and attitudes towards poverty, therefore being able to serve those in poverty fully and guide them to appropriate resources. Methods. Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and Doctoral Nursing Practice (DNP) students participated in a three-hour Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS). A twenty-one item Attitude Toward Poverty Scale short form (ATPS) survey was completed pre and post-simulation participation. Results. Significant improvements resulted in three of the twenty-one ATPS short form items with the Bachelor of Science in Nursing group, and six with the Doctoral Practice Nursing students respectively. Positive improvements occurred in eighteen of the twenty-one items within all three domains with the BSN/DNP cohorts combined. Significant BSN changes occurred in the stigma domain, and DNP changes happened in the stigma and personal deficiency domain. The structural perspective domain did not have any significant positive improvements. Combined results included 58% becoming more aware of the beliefs and attitudes, 67% increased sensitivity to poverty, and 66% improvement in their ability to make more appropriate referrals to community resources. Implications for Practice. The CAPS experience positively and significantly impacted the attitudes of the BSN and DNP students through self-reflection towards poverty. The current undergraduate and graduate curriculum should implement CAPS to positively influence the beliefs and attitudes of nursing students towards poverty, therefore being able to adequately serve those in need and guide them to appropriate resources for this social determinant of health

Tratamento endoscópico da coledocolitíase.

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Curso de Medicina, Florianópolis, 199

Direct Marketing via US Postal Service’s Every Door Direct Mail Program

In this paper I describe the US Postal Service’s Every Door Direct Mail program which delivers postcards inexpensively to residents within a ZIP code. Extension educators interested in making the most of their advertising dollars can use the EDDM program advantageously. Best practices for advertising campaigns employing this direct mail option are provided

Master Money Manager Coach: A Financial Literacy Train-the-Trainer Program

Master Money Manager Coach (M3C) is a 2-day in-person train-the-trainer program targeted to staff and volunteers at community-based organizations. The dual purposes of the program are to teach trainees how to teach money management using the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation\u27s Money Smart curriculum and to give trainees coaching tools they can use to reinforce positive behavior change in their clients through assistance with goal setting and one-on-one support. The program has been effective in helping engage an audience that ultimately can reach more individual clients than one project team can working separately and directly with end-user clientele

BioDynamic Imaging System: A novel, noninvasive method for assessing embryo viability.

In vitro embryo production is the foundation of most assisted reproductive technologies, yet efficiency of these technologies is relatively low due to the lack of a reliable method for measuring embryo viability. Current methods to evaluate the viability of in vitro derived embryos are invasive or expensive to perform. In order to create a reliable system to assess the developmental potential of the embryo, a novel optical approach known as BioDynamic Imaging (BDI) has been proposed for application. BDI is able to measure dynamic processes inside an embryo encompassing a broad range of motions that relate directly to functional developmental events and has been validated for use in the drug treatment of tumor spheroids. Due to the morphological differences between tumors and embryos, use of the BDI to interpret the intracellular motion of embryos requires the identification of new parameters that relate to viability. The embryos were exposed to several stressors (low pH, high pH, ethanol) and evaluated using BDI to evaluate the intracellular motion induced by the specific stressors. This led to the identification of slope and nyquist floor as parameters which can distinguish viable embryos. Additionally, potentially fertilized oocytes were evaluated using BDI for twenty-four hours, allowing for the capture of the cellular dynamics of fertilization. Parameter analysis shows that the BDI has the capability to record intracellular motion associated with fertilization of the oocyte, resumption of meiosis and syngamy in a 1-cell embryo. Noninvasive techniques were utilized to identify molecular secretions in spent culture medium that are indicative of embryo quality. While proteomic analysis was not able to detect the protein leptin, metabolomic assays had some success finding amino acids leucine and glycine, yet detection levels were inadequate to consistently identify these and other amino acids. In addition, the morphology of each blastocyst was assessed and a morphological score was assigned to each embryo. They were then examined using BDI and a number of optical parameters were collected from the embryos during a 1-hour long measurement. A correlation matrix of the parameters identified a negative correlation between normalized standard deviation (NSD) and morphological score (corr= -0.58) and percent of apoptosis (corr= -0.21). Finally, an energetics assay was employed to compare the ATP concentration of healthy embryos with those that had oxidative catabolism inhibited and their ATP stores depleted. Preliminary results show that normalized standard deviation (NSD) and slope differ between the energetic groups. Successful completion of this project validates subcellular motion as a biomarker and several BDI parameters (NSD, slope, and nyquist floor) that can be utilized to predict developmental competence of embryos; this would guarantee the use of only the highest-quality embryos for transfer and lead to a significant improvement in the efficiency of assisted reproductive technologies