The extent that certain dairy farmer attitudes and behaviors are associated with farm business profitability

The way in which farm managers' attitudes, personality, behavior, values, and sociodemographic characteristics influence farm business performance is, at best, only partially understood. The study reported here expands on this understanding by analyzing the attitudes and personal attributes of 80 dairy farmers in Great Britain in relation to the profitability over 3 yr of their farm businesses. Business goals, temperament, purchasing behavior, and having a growth mindset toward the business were found to be associated with profitability. A linear regression model consisting of 5 variables related to the above was presented that predicts 34% of the observed variation in profitability. Each of these variables were questions related to the participants' personal attitudes or beliefs. Other assessed variables, such as specific husbandry behaviors or practices, or management practices and sociodemographic characteristics, did not warrant inclusion in the final model. These results uniquely contribute to understanding how the attitudes, personality, behaviors, and attributes of dairy farmers are associated with, and thus likely to influence, the profitability of their farm businesses

Targeting Tax Relief at Youth Employment

Canada's Youth Hires program was a targeted employment subsidy that rebated employment insurance premiums to employers with net increases in insurable earnings for youth aged 18-24. Using a difference-in-differences approach, in each of two datasets statistically and economically significant employment impacts are observed. Most of the evidence suggests that the 2-2.4 weeks of increased employment resulted from an aggregate reduction in those not in the labour force, with at most a modest change in the unemployment rate. Many estimated effects are larger for males than females. Notably, strong evidence of displacement (substitution away from slightly older non-subsidized workers) is not observed. However, there may be a small reduction in full-time schooling for the targeted group

"Migrants, States, and EU Citizenship's Unfulfilled Promise"

A constant aim of EU citizenship, and indeed the entire project of European integration, has always been to lower barriers and create a common space. If the complete elimination of national borders remains elusive, their importance has been diminished in striking ways by the development of EU citizenship and the ban against nationality based discrimination. Yet the barriers to free movement have been lowered in differential ways. Most citizens of EU member states now enjoy residence, employment and other rights throughout Europe. The extension of some rights to some categories of citizens of some new member states is admittedly sometimes subject to transition periods, but these expire. By contrast, third country nationals -- individuals who do not hold citizenship of one of the member states, even though they may have resided for many years, or even been born in Europe -- remain largely excluded from the benefits of EU citizenship. Various initiatives over the years have opened up limited rights for third country nationals. But the difficulty of enacting these rights, and current moves to more restrictive immigration and naturalization policies, highlight the continuing exclusivity of EU citizenship: immigrants migrate to national polities, and they become European only by virtue of incorporation into national states. This means that EU citizenship's transformative potential remains unrealized.Glendon College (York University

Geomorphic evidence of major sea-level fluctuations during marine isotope substage-5e, Cape Cuvier, Western Australia

A detailed geomorphologic and morphostratigraphic investigation of raised marine terraces at Cape Cuvier, Western Australia, reveals two morphologically distinct units. A lower, well-developed accretional reef terrace between 3 and 5.5 m above MLWS (mean low-water springs; hereafter denoted as "+") represents an extended interval of stable sea level. An upper erosional terrace and incipient coralgal rim between + 8.5 to 10.5 m represents a brief sea-level stillstand at this higher elevation. These features suggest the lower and upper terraces developed during discrete sea-level events. In an attempt to better define the timing of emplacement of each marine unit, 20 coral samples collected along vertical and lateral reef growth axis from both terraces were analysed with U-series dating. Unfortunately, all coral samples exhibited elevated δ234Uinitial values, suggesting that pervasive uptake of 234U-enriched uranium and 230Th thorium had occurred. Despite the shortcomings of absolute dating, a succession of events can be resolved though morphostratigraphic relationships. Comparison of the facies relationships, coral growth, and morphostratigraphic features between the lower and upper terraces indicates that an early to mid MIS 5e stillstand at + 3 to 5 m was followed by a late rise to + 8.5 to 10.5 m. This agrees with an emerging global view of MIS 5e sea-level history derived from stable carbonate platforms, rejecting the hypothesis that these higher sea-level benchmarks are an artefact of localized tectonic processes

Seasonal isolation of microalgae from municipal wastewater for remediation and biofuel applications

The objective of the study was to isolate the microalgae strains from treated municipal wastewater in both summer and winter seasons in order to identify strains better suited for nutrient remediation and biofuel production under either cooler or warmer temperatures. Methods and Results Fifty-six strains in total were isolated and identified by DNA sequencing from effluent samples collected from a local wastewater treatment plant during the summer and winter of 2011. Screening of 41 isolates based on the fatty acid productivity at either 22 or 10\ub0C resulted in the selection of 12 strains organized into two groups of 6\u2014the M (mild) and C (cool) groups, respectively. Four of the C-group strains were isolated from the winter sample, while four of the M-group isolates were isolated from the summer sample. Fatty acid pools in M-group strains were heavily regulated in response to growth temperature while C-group strains were more insensitive. In three of the six C-group strains, the rates of biomass and fatty acid productivity at 10\ub0C exceeded the corresponding rates at 22\ub0C. Conversely, M group were always more productive at 22 compared to 10\ub0C. Mixotrophic strategies to enhance productivity were generally unsuccessful in M-group strains at 22\ub0C but proved to be more effective in C-group cultures at 10\ub0C. Conclusions In general, C-group strains appeared better suited for growth in municipal wastewater at 10\ub0C, while M-group strains were better suited at 22\ub0C. On balance, C-group isolates were more likely to come from winter wastewater samples while M-group strains were more likely to come from the summer sample. Significance and Impact of the Study Our results demonstrate that the effects of temperature on microalgal growth for wastewater remediation can be mitigated somewhat by isolation and careful selection of strains adapted to seasonal wastewater conditions.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Methane production from the microalga Scenedesmus sp. AMDD in a continuous anaerobic reactor

Methane production from the microalga Scenedesmus sp. AMDD digested in a continuously operated anaerobic reactor was studied under a range of conditions. Preliminary anaerobic toxicity assays revealed that methane yields and glucose consumption were inhibited by algae/sludge ratios in excess of 0.1 (g/g). Continuous digestions of microalgae at two hydraulic retention times (16 and 58days) and two influent concentrations of algal feed (11 and 20gTVSL-1) were evaluated. Based on the amount of degraded algal biomass, a methane yield of 0.4LCH4gTVS -1 was estimated. However, at a hydraulic retention time of 16days only 52-53% of the algal biomass was degraded, primarily due to the limited hydrolysis of the algal cellular material. An increase of retention time to 58days did not improve the degradation efficiency. Anaerobic decomposition of microalgae biomass appeared to affect composition of the microbial consortium in the digester, promoting the growth of sulfate-reducing bacteria leading to high levels of H2S in the biogas. \ua9 2013.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Fighting like cats and dogs? Dingoes do not constrain spatial and temporal movements of feral cats

The mesopredator release hypothesis proposes that when top-down suppression by a larger predator (e.g. dingoes, Canis familiaris) is removed, smaller mesopredators (e.g. feral cats, Felis catus) increase in abundance. Lethal control of dingoes could therefore potentially exacerbate predation pressure by feral cats on smaller prey species. We monitored the activity of dingoes and feral cats (in the absence of red foxes) in two dingo-baited areas over 16 months using 182 camera traps. First, we estimated population densities across each property and found that dingo and feral cat density were unrelated. Second, we compared daily capture rate of dingo and feral cats and found that both predators' capture rates were weakly related to environmental factors and the baiting program. Third, we analysed temporal overlap in activity of these two predators. Although both predators were nocturnal and showed 78.7% overlap in temporal activity patterns, there was a significant difference in activity peaks. Finally, while both predators were distributed across the whole study site, there was strong temporal separation within 1, 12 and 24 h periods at each individual camera. In conclusion, there was no indication of suppression of feral cat population by dingoes. The large and growing body of similar evidence suggests that calls to restrict dingo control on grounds that it will cause mesopredator releases are unsupported and highly unlikely to yield the biodiversity benefits often hoped for by proponents