The Integration of Rural Households into Ruminant Livestock Industries in China

A major determinant of rural development in China is the way by which rural households integrate with rural industries. Three forms of integration market integration, vertical integration and integration through local groups are investigated. Policy measures that may facilitate household integration, household specialisation and market segmentation are identified. Findings for the ruminant livestock sector are widely applicable to other agricultural industries in China.China, rural development, livestock, markets, vertical integration, Livestock Production/Industries, Q13, Q18, L1,

Improving the Economic Decision-Making Capability and Viability of Chinese Wool Textile Mills

The successful restructuring of Chinese industries is of immense importance not only for the continued development of China but also to the stability of the world economy. The transformation of the Chinese wool textile industry illustrates well the many problems and pressures currently facing most Chinese industries. The Chinese wool textile industry has undergone major upheaval and restructuring in its drive to modernize and take advantage of developments in world textile markets. Macro level ownership and administrative reforms are well advanced as is the uptake of new technology and equipment. However, the changing market and institutional environment also demands an increasing level of sophistication in mill management decisions including product selection, input procurement, product pricing, investment appraisal, cost analysis and proactive identification of new market and growth opportunities. This paper outlines a series of analyses that have been integrated into a decision-making model designed to assist mill managers with these decisions. Features of the model include a whole-of-mill approach, a design based on existing mill structures and information systems, and the capacity for the model to be tailored to individual mills. All of these features facilitate the adoption of the model by time and resource constrained managers seeking to maintain the viability of their enterprises in the face of extremely dynamic market conditions.China, wool textile mills, industry transition, decision-making models, Agribusiness, Livestock Production/Industries,

Building economic decision-making capabilities of Chinese wool textile mills

Agribusiness,

Adaptation to Changing Institutional, Market and Bio-Physical Environments: The Case of China’s Grasslands

In the modern world, small pastoral herder households living on grasslands in countries such as China face major challenges in adapting to changes in their institutional, market and bio-physical environments. In China, these changes have been profound over the last 30 years. Herders, their communities and others dependent on the grasslands have responded to these developments but not always as might be expected. In this paper, the sources of the macro-forces in China that have created the pressure for change at the grass roots are outlined and the micro-adjustments made by herders and others in response to these pressures are analysed. A longitudinal multidisciplinary perspective is employed to distil insights from studying the dynamics of these adjustments over the last three decades. The major finding is that macro reforms can create enormous pressure for micro adaptive initiatives by herders and others dependent on the grasslands. Most importantly, the responses of these actors are not always as predicted and may pose major threats to the future sustainability of pastoralism based on the grasslands

Estimation of Health State Utility Values in Fabry Disease Using Vignette Development and Valuation

Background: Health state utilities are measures of health-related quality of life that reflect the value placed on improvements in patients' health status and are necessary for estimation of quality-adjusted life-years. Health state utility data on Fabry disease (FD) are limited. In this study we used vignette (scenario) construction and valuation to develop health state utilities. Objectives: The aim of this study was to use vignette construction and valuation to estimate health state utility values suitable for inclusion in economic models of FD treatments. Methods: Health state vignettes were developed from semistructured qualitative telephone interviews with patients with FD and informed by published literature and input from an expert. Each vignette was valued in an online survey by members of the United Kingdom (UK) general population using the composite time trade-off (TTO) method, which aims to determine the time the respondent would trade to live in full health compared with each impaired health state. Results: Eight adults (50% women) with FD from the UK were interviewed. They were recruited via various approaches, including patient organizations and social media. The interviewees' responses, evidence from published literature, and input from a clinical expert informed the development of 6 health state vignettes (pain, moderate clinically evident FD [CEFD], severe CEFD, end-stage renal disease [ESRD], stroke, and cardiovascular disease [CVD]) and 3 combined health states (severe CEFD + ESRD, severe CEFD + CVD, and severe CEFD + stroke). A vignette valuation survey was administered to 1222 participants from the UK general population who were members of an external surveying organization and agreed to participate in this study; 1175 surveys were successfully completed and included in the analysis. Responses to TTO questions were converted into utility values for each health state. Pain was the highest valued health state (0.465), and severe CEFD + ESRD was the lowest (0.033). Discussion: Overall, mean utility values declined as the severity of the vignettes increased, indicating that respondents were more willing to trade life-years to avoid a severe health state. Conclusions: Health state vignettes reflect the effects of FD on all major health-related quality-of-life domains and may help to support economic modeling for treatment of FD

Composition and Diversity of Woody Plants in Tree Plantations Versus Secondary Forests in Costa Rican Lowlands

Efforts to sequester carbon through tree plantations and natural regeneration in the tropics may also provide an opportunity to restore native forest ecosystems. However, the degree to which species composition of native species differs between tree plantations and secondary forests is unknown. In this study, we conducted surveys of woody plants (≥2 cm dbh) in 20 secondary forest and tree plantation plots (30 × 30 m) in a tropical lowland forest landscape. Sites were 8 to 21 years old and were either abandoned cattle pastures (secondary forests) or monoculture tree plantations (Hieronyma alchorneoides and Vochysia guatemalensis) planted for carbon sequestration. We compared species composition, ecological traits, and diversity of woody plants in secondary forests and tree plantations, while accounting for distance from primary forest. Species composition, but not species richness, of the natural regeneration was significantly different in tree plantations and secondary forests. The abundances of understory species, short-lived pioneers, and bat-dispersed species were all higher in secondary forests than in tree plantations. Abundances of canopy species, long-lived pioneers, shade-tolerant species, and dispersal categories besides bats were not associated with forest type. We conclude that tree plantations can alter species composition of regeneration compared with secondary forests perhaps by altering composition of seed disperser assemblages or inhibiting early successional species. © The Author(s) 2018

Preferred reporting items for studies mapping onto preference-based outcome measures: The MAPS statement

'Mapping' onto generic preference-based outcome measures is increasingly being used as a means of generating health utilities for use within health economic evaluations. Despite publication of technical guides for the conduct of mapping research, guidance for the reporting of mapping studies is currently lacking. The MAPS (MApping onto Preference-based measures reporting Standards) statement is a new checklist, which aims to promote complete and transparent reporting of mapping studies. The primary audiences for the MAPS statement are researchers reporting mapping studies, the funders of the research, and peer reviewers and editors involved in assessing mapping studies for publication. A de novo list of 29 candidate reporting items and accompanying explanations was created by a working group comprised of six health economists and one Delphi methodologist. Following a two-round, modified Delphi survey with representatives from academia, consultancy, health technology assessment agencies and the biomedical journal editorial community, a final set of 23 items deemed essential for transparent reporting, and accompanying explanations, was developed. The items are contained in a user friendly 23 item checklist. They are presented numerically and categorised within six sections, namely: (i) title and abstract; (ii) introduction; (iii) methods; (iv) results; (v) discussion; and (vi) other. The MAPS statement is best applied in conjunction with the accompanying MAPS explanation and elaboration document. It is anticipated that the MAPS statement will improve the clarity, transparency and completeness of reporting of mapping studies. To facilitate dissemination and uptake, the MAPS statement is being co-published by eight health economics and quality of life journals, and broader endorsement is encouraged. The MAPS working group plans to assess the need for an update of the reporting checklist in five years' time. This statement was published jointly in Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, Journal of Medical Economics, Medical Decision Making, PharmacoEconomics, and Quality of Life Research

Contextual factors among indiscriminate or larger attacks on food or water supplies, 1946-2015

This research updates previous inventories of malicious attacks on food and water to include data from 1946 through mid-2015. A systematic search of news reports, databases and previous inventories of poisoning events was undertaken. Incidents that threatened or were intended to achieve direct harm to humans, and that were either relatively large (number of victims > 4 or indiscriminate in intent or realisation were included. Agents could be chemical, biological or radio-nuclear. Reports of candidate incidents were subjected to systematic inclusion and exclusion criteria as well as validity analysis (not always clearly undertaken in previous inventories of such attacks). We summarise contextual aspects of the attacks that may be important for scenario prioritisation, modelling and defensive preparedness. Opportunity is key to most realised attacks, particularly access to dangerous agents. The most common motives and relative success rate in causing harm were very different between food and water attacks. The likelihood that people were made ill or died also varied by food/water mode, and according to motive and opportunity for delivery of the hazardous agent. Deaths and illness associated with attacks during food manufacture and prior to sale have been fewer than those in some other contexts. Valuable opportunities for food defence improvements are identified in other contexts, especially food prepared in private or community settings

An assessment of validity and responsiveness of generic measures of health-related quality of life in hearing impairment

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.Purpose: This review examines psychometric performance of three widely used generic preference-based measures, that is, EuroQol 5 dimensions (EQ-5D), Health Utility Index 3 (HUI3) and Short-form 6 dimensions (SF-6D) in patients with hearing impairments. Methods: A systematic search was undertaken to identify studies of patients with hearing impairments where health state utility values were measured and reported. Data were extracted and analysed to assess the reliability, validity (known group differences and convergent validity) and responsiveness of the measures across hearing impairments. Results: Fourteen studies (18 papers) were included in the review. HUI3 was the most commonly used utility measures in hearing impairment. In all six studies, the HUI3 detected difference between groups defined by the severity of impairment, and four out of five studies detected statistically significant changes as a result of intervention. The only study available suggested that EQ-5D only had weak ability to discriminate difference between severity groups, and in four out of five studies, EQ-5D failed to detected changes. Only one study involved the SF-6D; thus, the information is too limited to conclude on its performance. Also evidence for the reliability of these measures was not found. Conclusion: Overall, the validity and responsiveness of the HUI3 in hearing impairment was good. The responsiveness of EQ-5D was relatively poor and weak validity was suggested by limited evidence. The evidence on SF-6D was too limited to make any judgment. More head-to-head comparisons of these and other preference measures of health are required.Medical Research Counci