OF FARMERS AND BUTCHERS - COMPARING THE DETERMINANTS OF EXIT IN SHRINKING SECTORS

Farmers and butchers in Switzerland both operate in shrinking sectors. The number of businesses and the sectoral turnover has decreased by about 40 per cent over the last twenty years for both sectors. It is, however, an interesting question whether the determinants of exit are the same for the primary sector and the secondary and tertiary sector. A regression analysis reveals that, for farmers, a larger part of exits can be traced back to economic factors if compared to butchers. For butchers, the profit of the business is the key determinant of structural change, whereas for farms, the level of prices is an important signal factor. Interest rates influence structural change for both sectors. The study points to the importance of sector-specific research.Agribusiness, Farm Management,

OCCUPATIONAL CHOICE AND STRUCTURAL CHANGE

The connection between average sectoral income, occupational choice and structural change has so far only been described vaguely for sectors dominated by small enterprises. Taking agriculture as an example, we first develop a theoretical model in which we explain the decision to take over a farm with the average agricultural household income in the past years and the number of farms with the patterns of occupational choice. We then estimate a regression in which we explain occupational choices by the sectoral income situation and rate of farm decline by earlier occupational choices. The results demonstrate that a good income situation increases the number of occupational choices in favour for farming, and that occupational choices for farming in turn slow down the decline in farm numbers.Occupational choices, Structural change, Agricultural income, Research paper, Labor and Human Capital,

The English CPR's gate-keeping rules, foreign claimants and access to justice.

Foreign victims of wrongful acts ostensibly committed by companies domiciled in the United Kingdom and or their subsidiaries are increasingly turning to UK courts for redress. Many of these actions encounter jurisdictional challenges right at the start of proceedings. The challenges, in their various iterations, invariably throw up two fundamental questions namely, whether the English courts have jurisdiction to hear the claims, and if so, whether England is the most appropriate or suitable forum. Ensuing proceedings have often been elaborate, extensive, time consuming and resource-intensive, leading to questions about whether the current rules on jurisdiction facilitate or stifle access to justice. This piece attempts a review of the relevant civil procedure rules on jurisdiction of English courts over cases involving foreign claimants - mainly victims of mass wrongs resulting from the activities of English domiciled companies and their foreign subsidiaries post Brexit. It highlights problems with the current approach to resolving jurisdictional challenges around service of claims outside England. To stem the tide of the use of masses of documents, long witness statements, detailed analysis of the issues, and long arguments, a rule change is proposed. It is further proposed that the substantive justice criterion currently considered as part of the requirements for deciding whether England is the proper place to try a case should become an overarching consideration even where jurisdiction is not established

Dispute resolution under the FIDIC and NEC Conditions: paradox of philosophies and procedures?

A careful reader of the philosophical underpinnings and the dispute resolution frameworks of the FIDIC and NEC Conditions of Contract will likely be baffled by the paradoxical relationship between the underpinning ethos of these forms and the approaches to dispute handling: the more traditional of the two sets of Conditions - the FIDIC forms - has more collaborative approaches to dispute resolution than the NEC Conditions which have collaboration as a central theme. This piece discusses this paradox. It sets out the theoretical contexts of these Conditions and examines how they shape dispute resolution expectations under the forms

Foreign parties and the tort jurisdiction gateway under the English CPR.

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom took an expansive view of the word ‘damage’ under paragraph 3.1(9)(a) of the CPR Part 6, PD 6B on the tort jurisdictional gateway in the recent case of FS Cairo (Nile Plaza) LLC v Lady Brownlie. To the court, there was no good reason to limit the meaning of the word ‘damage’ to what was necessary to complete a cause of action in tort. It extended the meaning of the word to cover physical and financial damage caused by the wrongdoing and thereby allowed victims of torts committed outside the UK to maintain action for damages in an English court. The decision by the highest court in the UK raises the question whether the related paragraph 3.1(9)(b) of PD 6B of the CPR should also benefit from expansive interpretation. This piece critically examines the implications of a liberal interpretation of paragraph 3.1(9)(b) of PD 6B of the CPR for actions by foreign claimants in the English courts alleging duty of care by parent companies and their subsidiaries, especially those not domiciled in the UK. It explores the extent to which damage resulting from wrongful acts complained of – injuries to claimant’s and damage to their properties occurring outside the UK – could be linked to the decisions or activities of parent companies made in the United Kingdom, and implications for the application of the tort gateway

IoT Data Processing for Smart City and Semantic Web Applications

The world has been experiencing rapid urbanization over the last few decades, putting a strain on existing city infrastructure such as waste management, water supply management, public transport and electricity consumption. We are also seeing increasing pollution levels in cities threatening the environment, natural resources and health conditions. However, we must realize that the real growth lies in urbanization as it provides many opportunities to individuals for better employment, healthcare and better education. However, it is imperative to limit the ill effects of rapid urbanization through integrated action plans to enable the development of growing cities. This gave rise to the concept of a smart city in which all available information associated with a city will be utilized systematically for better city management. The proposed system architecture is divided in subsystems and is discussed in individual chapters. The first chapter introduces and gives overview to the reader of the complete system architecture. The second chapter discusses the data monitoring system and data lake system based on the oneM2M standards. DMS employs oneM2M as a middleware layer to achieve interoperability, and DLS uses a multi-tenant architecture with multiple logical databases, enabling efficient and reliable data management. The third chapter discusses energy monitoring and electric vehicle charging systems developed to illustrate the applicability of the oneM2M standards. The fourth chapter discusses the Data Exchange System based on the Indian Urban Data Exchange framework. DES uses IUDX standard data schema and open APIs to avoid data silos and enable secure data sharing. The fifth chapter discusses the 5D-IoT framework that provides uniform data quality assessment of sensor data with meaningful data descriptions

Understanding legal research in the built environment.

Legal research is often misunderstood by many a researcher in the built environment, especially beginners. Its role as a suitable research approach employing both primary and secondary sources of data to arrive at logically sound outcomes is often undervalued or even mischaracterised as a tool for preliminary enquiry. These misconceptions stem from lack of understanding of the province of legal research in the built environment and the procedures involved. This chapter seeks to dispel this misunderstanding by explaining the scope and the procedures involved in legal research. Doctrinal legal research is a dominant aspect of legal research. In its basic form, it is about locating, describing, interpreting and systematising legal principles and concepts, with the legal system as a conceptual framework. The resources for this exercise are primary data (legislations) and secondary data (e.g. law reports, legal commentaries and other law literature) and the outcomes are supported and based on sound reasoning

Lenalidomide reduces microglial activation and behavioral deficits in a transgenic model of Parkinson's disease.

BackgroundParkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common causes of dementia and motor deficits in the elderly. PD is characterized by the abnormal accumulation of the synaptic protein alpha-synuclein (α-syn) and degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra, which leads to neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation. Currently, there are no disease modifying alternatives for PD; however, targeting neuroinflammation might be a viable option for reducing motor deficits and neurodegeneration. Lenalidomide is a thalidomide derivative designed for reduced toxicity and increased immunomodulatory properties. Lenalidomide has shown protective effects in an animal model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and its mechanism of action involves modulation of cytokine production and inhibition of NF-κB signaling.MethodsIn order to assess the effect of lenalidomide in an animal model of PD, mThy1-α-syn transgenic mice were treated with lenalidomide or the parent molecule thalidomide at 100 mg/kg for 4 weeks.ResultsLenalidomide reduced motor behavioral deficits and ameliorated dopaminergic fiber loss in the striatum. This protective action was accompanied by a reduction in microgliosis both in striatum and hippocampus. Central expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines was diminished in lenalidomide-treated transgenic animals, together with reduction in NF-κB activation.ConclusionThese results support the therapeutic potential of lenalidomide for reducing maladaptive neuroinflammation in PD and related neuropathologies

Marine engineering education in Ghana

From the 23rd to the 26th of February, 1777, the third Ministerial Conference of West and Central African States on Maritime Transport CMINCONMAR), was held in Accra, Ghana. At the end of this meeting, a convention institutionalizing the conference was adopted. Based on the charter of Abidjan which was established on the sixth of May, 1975, the members agreed among other objectives: - To harmonise and coordinate their policies on matters concerning maritime transport and, — To promote the development of appropriate machinery and bodies for the improvement of maritime transport. Under the second objective was a proposal for setting up regional centres for maritime training. This gave birth to the Regional Maritime Academ

Arbitrability in the context of Ghana's new arbitration law.

Examines the approach of Ghana's Alternative Dispute Resolution Act 2010 to the question of arbitrability. Reflects on the concept of arbitrability under international law, the relevant trends emerging from case law, and the approach adopted by the Ghanaian High Court in Attorney General v Balkan Energy LLC. Reviews the Act's arbitrability exemptions, their implications for international arbitration in Ghana, the potential jurisdictional challenges under the legislation and how its provisions could be amended to increase its conformity with international trends on arbitrability