Obesity Rates in OECD Countries: An International Perspective

Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

ANALYZING CROSS-COUNTRY DIFFERENCES IN OBESITY RATES: SOME POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Replaced with revised version of paper 07/30/04.Health Economics and Policy,

Obesity Rates in OECD Countries: An International Perspective

Obesity is a growing concern. New World Health Organization (WHO) figures indicate that obesity is spreading around the world as a "global epidemic." According to the WHO, there are more people suffering overweight related problems than malnutrition. Globally there are more than 1 billion adults who are overweight and at least 300 million of them are clinically obese, while 800 million suffer malnutrition (WHO 2004). The body mass index (BMI) is a common and accepted measure to report obesity rates (see WHO 1997). BMI is measured as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. Recommended BMI levels are generally between a numerical value of 20 and 25. An individual with a BMI between 25 and 30 is considered overweight, while an individual with a BMI above 30 is considered obese. Individuals with BMIs below 20 are considered thin.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

The fully kinetic Biermann battery and associated generation of pressure anisotropy

The dynamical evolution of a fully kinetic, collisionless system with imposed background density and temperature gradients is investigated analytically. The temperature gradient leads to the generation of temperature anisotropy, with the temperature along the gradient becoming larger than that in the direction perpendicular to it. This causes the system to become unstable to pressure anisotropy driven instabilities, dominantly to electron Weibel. When both density and temperature gradients are present and non-parallel to each other, we obtain a Biermann-like linear in time magnetic field growth. Accompanying particle in cell numerical simulations are shown to confirm our analytical results.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, + Supplementary materials (4 pages, 2 figures

Viriato: a Fourier-Hermite spectral code for strongly magnetised fluid-kinetic plasma dynamics

We report on the algorithms and numerical methods used in Viriato, a novel fluid-kinetic code that solves two distinct sets of equations: (i) the Kinetic Reduced Electron Heating Model (KREHM) equations [Zocco & Schekochihin, Phys. Plasmas 18, 102309 (2011)] (which reduce to the standard Reduced-MHD equations in the appropriate limit) and (ii) the kinetic reduced MHD (KRMHD) equations [Schekochihin et al., Astrophys. J. Suppl. 182:310 (2009)]. Two main applications of these equations are magnetised (Alfvenic) plasma turbulence and magnetic reconnection. Viriato uses operator splitting (Strang or Godunov) to separate the dynamics parallel and perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field (assumed strong). Along the magnetic field, Viriato allows for either a second-order accurate MacCormack method or, for higher accuracy, a spectral-like scheme composed of the combination of a total variation diminishing (TVD) third order Runge-Kutta method for the time derivative with a 7th order upwind scheme for the fluxes. Perpendicular to the field Viriato is pseudo-spectral, and the time integration is performed by means of an iterative predictor-corrector scheme. In addition, a distinctive feature of Viriato is its spectral representation of the parallel velocity-space dependence, achieved by means of a Hermite representation of the perturbed distribution function. A series of linear and nonlinear benchmarks and tests are presented, including a detailed analysis of 2D and 3D Orszag-Tang-type decaying turbulence, both in fluid and kinetic regimes.Comment: 42 pages, 15 figures, submitted to J. Comp. Phy

Gestão curricular intencional numa comunidade de professores e investigadores

A presente comunicação visa divulgar a gestão curricular intencional (GCI) realizada numa comunidade de prática (CoP) online de professores e investigadores, constituída no âmbito do projecto “Investigação e práticas lectivas em Educação em Ciência: Dinâmicas de interacção” (IPEC). Foi desenvolvido um módulo curricular de trabalho de campo na temática da Sustentabilidade, dirigido a alunos do ensino secundário. A CoP procurou fundamentar científica e didacticamente o módulo desenvolvido, tendo sentido dificuldades na definição dos objectivos educacionais. Foi privilegiado o trabalho de grupo, sendo as estratégias mais frequentes a exposição (pelo docente ou aluno), o debate e o trabalho prático. As docentes envolvidas apontaram impactos e constrangimentos associados ao seu envolvimento na CoP e manifestaram elevada satisfação com o mesmo

Effects of atmospherics on emotions and intention with respect to involvement under different shopping environments

The present study deals with the S–O–R framework. The past five decades of research have successful validate the S–O–R model in offline and online contexts. However, there is still room for improvements. In particular, hedonic aspects have been proposed as distinctive aspects to differentiate companies. Previous researchers have (i) been somewhat reluctant to investigate dominance and other emotional responses; and (ii) produced mixed results regarding the impact of atmospherics and emotional responses on behavior. Building on this tradition of research, this study investigates the S-O-R model by incorporating delight as an attitudinal emotional response and tests the moderating effects of consumers’ involvement and shopping environment (three-way interactional effects) in connection with the links among atmospherics, emotions and intentions. The current findings demonstrate that the model fit better for low involvement consumers than for high involvement consumers. This was true for both offline and online environments .The theoretical and practical implications are discussed in the conclusions.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

LOCAL COOPERATIVES' EVALUATION OF BUSINESS INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Agricultural cooperatives have been restructuring, by way of mergers, acquisitions, joint-ventures, and strategic alliances, to increase efficiencies to remain competitive in a changing business environment. The research evaluating the reorganization of cooperatives has revealed that less than one-half of the restructured businesses are financially successful. There is the potential to significantly influence the future health of the cooperative business sector if, first, insights can be gained concerning the factors being considered by cooperative managers when making restructuring decisions and, second, extension education programs can be adapted to meet the greatest need. In this study we examine: (a) what methods of valuation cooperatives are using when evaluating new business opportunities, and (b) what factors influence the methods of valuation preferred by cooperatives when evaluating new business opportunities.capital budgeting methods, cooperatives, finance, restructuring, Agribusiness,

The influence of the HAZ softening on the mechanical behaviour of welded joints containing cracks in the weld metal

The mechanical behaviour of welds containing cracks was analysed through the numerical simulation of the three-point bending tests of welded specimens. This paper presents the mechanical model and the methodology used for the numerical simulation of the tests. The variation in crack driving force of cracked welds is studied as a function of the strength mismatch in the heat affected zone and of the crack position relative to the weld metal/heat affected zone interface. This analysis was performed with recourse to the numerical calculation of the J integral.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V2R-4B0X38N-6/1/7027467d6e068a7f5c062427de733a1