The Economic Incidence of R&D and Promotion Investments in the Australian Beef Industry

The issue of the relative returns to farmers from R&D and promotion is examined using a multi-sectoral equilibrium displacement model of the Australian beef industry. Total economic surplus changes and their distributions among various industry groups resulting from 1% cost reductions in various farm and off-farm sectors, and from 1% price premiums from domestic and export market promotion, are estimated. The results are consistent with previous studies in showing that in general, the share of total benefits to farmers is larger from on-farm research than from most off-farm research, and is larger from most types of research than from domestic promotion. The share of total benefits to farmers is larger from export promotion than from off-farm research, and from domestic promotion. The net returns from the different cost-reduction or demand-enhancing scenarios depend on the costs of achieving them.Economics of R&D, promotion, beef industry, equilibrium displacement modelling.

‘[N]ow I can be a poetic writer’: using action research as a way of reclaiming and implementing professional values in the primary school

This paper explores the impact of an action research intervention to support primary aged children’s confidence as writers. Set in a school where few children (the majority of whom had English as an additional language) were performing at or beyond national expectations in terms of writing, the intervention looked at how to engage children more effectively, by promoting enjoyment of writing and providing quality mentor texts to inspire the children. The school had received a number of critical inspection reports and had consequently adopted a series of measures to improve academic outcomes, which acted as a constraint on my teaching. There was a real sense that as a teacher I was struggling to put my educational values into practice. In addition, my lack of confidence in my abilities as a writer acted as a further constraint. Adopting an action research approach enabled me to develop my personal confidence as a teacher of writing, explore more effective ways to teach writing, resulting in the development of confident and reflective writers in the classroom

History of clinical transplantation

How transplantation came to be a clinical discipline can be pieced together by perusing two volumes of reminiscences collected by Paul I. Terasaki in 1991-1992 from many of the persons who were directly involved. One volume was devoted to the discovery of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), with particular reference to the human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) that are widely used today for tissue matching.1 The other focused on milestones in the development of clinical transplantation.2 All the contributions described in both volumes can be traced back in one way or other to the demonstration in the mid-1940s by Peter Brian Medawar that the rejection of allografts is an immunological phenomenon.3,4 © 2008 Springer New York

Depth Of Maximum Of Air-shower Profiles At The Pierre Auger Observatory. I. Measurements At Energies Above 1017.8ev

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Search for patterns by combining cosmic-ray energy and arrival directions at the Pierre Auger Observatory

Energy-dependent patterns in the arrival directions of cosmic rays are searched for using data of the Pierre Auger Observatory. We investigate local regions around the highest-energy cosmic rays with E > = 6×1019 eV by analyzing cosmic rays with energies above E > = 5×1018 eV arriving within an angular separation of approximately 15°. We characterize the energy distributions inside these regions by two independent methods, one searching for angular dependence of energy-energy correlations and one searching for collimation of energy along the local system of principal axes of the energy distribution. No significant patterns are found with this analysis. The comparison of these measurements with astrophysical scenarios can therefore be used to obtain constraints on related model parameters such as strength of cosmic-ray deflection and density of point sources

Assessing the Impacts of Wool Promotion An Equilibrium Displacement Modelling Approach

The main goal of the International Wool Secretariat (IWS) is to increase the world demand for wool through promotion activities. Australia is a leading wool producer and the world's largest apparel wool exporter. Each year Australian wool producers contribute millions of dollars to the IWS for wool promotion. The principal aims of this paper are to demonstrate the potential for equilibrium displacement modelling to assess the impact of incremental wool promotion on wool producer incomes and profits, and, using 'best~bet' estimates of the key parameters, to indicate cross-commodity impacts of promotion of various fibres on wool producer profits

Structural Dynamics Analysis and Model Validation of Wind Turbine Structures

The focus of this paper is the development of validated structural models of wind turbine structures and their substructures. A typical modern wind turbine is a large structure composed of a single tower, a nacelle located atop the tower which houses the drive train mechanical components, and three rotor blades. In very broad terms, a wind turbine design team must consider the dynamic response of the full system in the design process along with detailed design for each individual substructure. Blades are a critical substructure of a wind turbine as they carry large loads in capturing the energy from the wind, and must be designed to maximize performance and reliability while minimizing their cost. The work summarized in this paper has two major parts. First, we discuss the structural dynamics analyses that are performed to design a modern wind turbine structure. Secondly, a methodology for validating blade structural models is presented. A number of blades incorporating innovations for large blade technologies have been designed and tested at Sandia National Laboratories in recent years. Results from recent tests and validation of models for these blades will be presented. I

The Incidence of Gains and Taxes Associated With R & D and Promotion in the Australian Beef Industry

The issue of the relative returns to farmers from R&D and promotion is examined using a multi-sectoral equilibrium displacement model of the Australian beef industry. Total economic surplus changes and their distributions among various industry groups resulting from 1% cost reductions in various farm and off-farm sectors, and from 1% price premiums from domestic and export market promotion, are estimated. The results are consistent with previous studies in showing that in general, the share of total benefits to farmers is larger from on-farm research than from most off-farm research, and is larger from most types of research than from domestic promotion. The share of total benefits to farmers is larger from export promotion than from off-farm research, and from domestic promotion. The net returns from the different cost-reduction or demand-enhancing scenarios depend on the costs of achieving them