Fair trade in tropical crops is possible; international commodity agreements revisited

In spite of the growing rhetoric on international trade liberalisation that we hear today, developed countries continue to support their agriculture using methods that are harmful to farmers in developing countries. In WTO discussions, `non-trade distortionary` payments are used as a pretext for continuing to displace imports and for exporting products below their own cost of production. Meanwhile, world markets for tropical crops that were actually liberalised have seen a deeper and more protracted price fall than in the 1930s. This has led to poverty and land degradation, and is the major cause of the debt crisis that has many developing countries in a stranglehold. Voices are now being raised calling for new arrangements aimed at improving the prices of tropical export crops. Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda have placed the issue on the WTO agenda (WTO/CTD 2003). However, many western economists and policy-makers resist such new interventions, claiming that it will reduce welfare and encourage rent seeking. Moreover, in their view, the collapse of international commodity agreements in the 1980s proved that price-raising controls are doomed to failure. In this paper, we address three questions: - Are supportive arrangements for tropical export crops desirable? - Why did international commodity agreements collapse? - Are sustainable arrangements possible? We find that some system of managed trade is needed. We argue that the failure of past agreements were the result of political rather than economic causes. Moreover, we believe that regulations can be made self-financing and resistant to free rider problems, and we put forward a proposal to this effect. Finally, we also discuss how developing countries may overcome the resistance that is met from governments of developed countries

Teaching agricultural policy using games: the AGRIPOL-game

We developed the AGRIPOL game as a tool for teaching agricultural policy to economic and non-economic students. AGRIPOL consists of a world with 7 different countries, each one represented by a small group of students. The students have to maximize their country¿s social welfare by choosing an optimal set of policy instruments. By doing this students learn in an interesting and handson way to understand the workings of agricultural policy instruments, the interrelatedness between countries (policy impact spill-overs) and the role of political weights in the policy formation process. A WTO negotiation round is included to let students experience the difficulties and benefits of cooperation

Keuzes voor de lange termijn

Op vijf beleidsterreinen hebben het CPB en het SCP een toekomstverkenning voor het kabinet gemaakt. Dit artikel geeft de hoofdlijnen van de CPB-bijdrage

Fast-neutron induced pre-equilibrium reactions on 55Mn and 63,65Cu at energies up to 40 MeV

Excitation functions were measured for the $^{55}$Mn(n,2n)$^{54}$Mn, $^{55}$Mn(n,$\alpha$)$^{52}$V, $^{63}$Cu(n,$\alpha$)$^{60}$Co, $^{65}$Cu(n,2n)$^{64}$Cu, and $^{65}$Cu(n,p)$^{65}$Ni reactions from 13.47 to 14.83 MeV. The experimental cross sections are compared with the results of calculations including all activation channels for the stable isotopes of Mn and Cu, for neutron incident energies up to 50 MeV. Within the energy range up to 20 MeV the model calculations are most sensitive to the parameters related to nuclei in the early stages of the reaction, while the model assumptions are better established by analysis of the data in the energy range 20-40 MeV. While the present analysis has taken advantage of both a new set of accurate measured cross sections around 14 MeV and the larger data basis fortunately available between 20 and 40 MeV for the Mn and Cu isotopes, the need of additional measurements below as well as above 40 MeV is pointed out. Keywords: 55Mn, 63,65Cu, E$\leq$40 MeV, Neutron activation cross section measurements, Nuclear reactions, Model calculations, Manganese, CopperComment: 39 pages, 12 figure

Lead times and overdetection due to prostate-specific antigen screening: estimates from the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer

BACKGROUND: Screening for prostate cancer advances the time of diagnosis (lead time) and detects cancers that would not have been diagnosed in the absence of screening (overdetection). Both consequences have considerable impact on the net benefits of screening. METHODS: We developed simulation models based on results of the Rotterdam section of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC), which enrolled 42,376 men and in which 1498 cases of prostate cancer were identified, and on baseline prostate cancer incidence and stage distribution data. The models were used to predict mean lead times, overdetection rates, and ranges (corresponding to approximate 95% confidence intervals) associated with different screening programs. RESULTS: Mean lead times and rates of overdetection depended on a man's age at screening. For a single screening test at age 55, the estimated mean lead time was 12.3 years (range = 11.6-14.1 years) and the overdetection rate was 27% (range = 24%-37%); at age 75, the estimates were 6.0 years (range = 5.8-6.3 years) and 56% (range = 53%-61%), respectively. For a screening program with a 4-year screening interval from age 55 to 67, the estimated mean lead time was 11.2 years (range = 10.8-12.1 years), and the overdetection rate was 48% (range = 44%-55%). This screening program raised the lifetime risk of a prostate cancer diagnosis from 6.4% to 10.6%, a relative increase of 65% (range = 56%-87%). In annual screening from age 55 to 67, the estimated overdetection rate was 50% (range = 46%-57%) and the lifetime prostate cancer risk was increased by 80% (range = 69%-116%). Extending annual or quadrennial screening to the age of 75 would result in at least two cases of overdetection for every clinically relevant cancer detected. CONCLUSIONS: These model-based lead-time estimates support a prostate cancer screening interval of more than 1 year

Detection of alpha-toxin and other virulence factors in biofilms of staphylococcus aureus on polystyrene and a human epidermalmodel

Background & Aim: The ability of Staphylococcus aureus to successfully colonize (a)biotic surfaces may be explained by biofilm formation and the actions of virulence factors. The aim of the present study was to establish the presence of 52 proteins, including virulence factors such as alpha-toxin, during biofilm formation of five different (methicillin resistant) S. aureus strains on Leiden human epidermal models (LEMs) and polystyrene surfaces (PS) using a competitive Luminex-based assay. Results: All five S. aureus strains formed biofilms on PS, whereas only three out of five strains formed biofilms on LEMs. Out of the 52 tested proteins, six functionally diverse proteins (ClfB, glucosaminidase, IsdA, IsaA, SACOL0688 and nuclease) were detected in biofilms of all strains on both PS and LEMs. At the same time, four toxins (alpha-toxin, gamma-hemolysin B and leukocidins D and E), two immune modulators (formyl peptide receptor-like inhibitory protein and Staphylococcal superantigen-like protein 1), and two other proteins (lipase and LytM) were detectable in biofilms by all five S. aureus strains on LEMs, but not on PS. In contrast, fibronectinbinding protein B (FnbpB) was detectable in biofilms by all S. aureus biofilms on PS, but not on LEMs. These data were largely confirmed by the results from proteomic and transcriptomic analyses and in case of alpha-toxin additionally by GFP-reporter technology. Conclusion: Functionally diverse virulence factors of (methicillin-resistant) S. aureus are present during biofilm formation on LEMs and PS. These results could aid in identifying novel targets for future treatment strategies against biofilm-associated infections

Abrogation of Immunogenic Properties of Gliadin Peptides through Transamidation by Microbial Transglutaminase Is Acyl-Acceptor Dependent

Transplantation and autoimmunit

Susceptibility to chronic mucus hypersecretion, a genome wide association study

Background: Chronic mucus hypersecretion (CMH) is associated with an increased frequency of respiratory infections, excess lung function decline, and increased hospitalisation and mortality rates in the general population. It is associated with smoking, but it is unknown why only a minority of smokers develops CMH. A plausible explanation for this phenomenon is a predisposing genetic constitution. Therefore, we performed a genome wide association (GWA) study of CMH in Caucasian populations. Methods: GWA analysis was performed in the NELSON-study using the Illumina 610 array, followed by replication and meta-analysis in 11 additional cohorts. In total 2,704 subjects with, and 7,624 subjects without CMH were included, all current or former heavy smokers (≥20 pack-years). Additional studies were performed to test the functional relevance of the most significant single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). Results: A strong association with CMH, consistent across all cohorts, was observed with rs6577641 (p = 4.25x10-6, OR = 1.17), located in intron 9 of the special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 locus (SATB1) on chromosome 3. The risk allele (G) was associated with higher mRNA expression of SATB1 (4.3x10 -9) in lung tissue. Presence of CMH was associated with increased SATB1 mRNA expression in bronchial biopsies from COPD patients. SATB1 expression was induced during differentiation of primary human bronchial epithelial cells in culture. Conclusions: Our findings, that SNP rs6577641 is associated with CMH in multiple cohorts and is a cis-eQTL for SATB1, together with our additional observation that SATB1 expression increases during epithelial differentiation provide suggestive evidence that SATB1 is a gene that affects CMH

Toward a kinship perspective on entrepreneurship

This paper develops a theoretical framework for analyzing the role of kinship in entrepreneurship. Kinship, we argue, is a key-ingredient of the social and cultural environment of entrepreneurs, and therefore essential in understanding how and why entrepreneurship happens. Building on qualitative research conducted among Cambodian Chinese entrepreneurs in Phnom Penh, we define kinship as interpersonal ties grounded in relatedness. We distinguish different categories of kinship ties that involve different levels of relatedness and are used for different aspects of entrepreneurship, and we identify different types of reciprocity and trust as the sociocultural dynamics that buttress kinship involvement in entrepreneurship