Meat Standards Australia as an Innovation in the Australian Beef Production and Marketing System

Variable eating quality was identified as a major contributor to declining Australian beef consumption in the early 1990s. The primary issue was the inability to predict the eating quality of cooked beef before consumption. A R&D program funded by industry and Meat and Livestock Australia investigated the relationships between critical control points along the supply chain, cooking methods and beef palatability. These relationships were underpinned by extensive consumer taste panels. Out of this R&D grew the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) voluntary meat grading system which aimed at predicting consumer palatability scores of cooked beef. Quality was defined on the basis of one of four grades. The grading model predicts consumer scores for 135 ‘cut by cooking method’ combinations for each graded carcass. The MSA system commenced in 1999/2000 and at present some 850,000 cattle are graded annually, about 25% of the total domestic kill.This paper first describes the evolution of the MSA grading scheme and its adoption by industry. Next, evidence is presented relating to consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for guaranteed eating quality, the premiums that Australian consumers have actually paid for MSA graded cuts, and the extent to which premiums paid by consumers are transmitted back along the value chain to cattle producers. WTP data collected during exit surveys from taste panels in Australia, the United States, Japan and Ireland showed that consumers were willing to pay more for premium quality. However, whilst MSA has the capacity for four quality grades, it is mostly used to simply discriminate between ungraded and graded product (ie 3 star or better). A survey of Australian beef retailers and wholesalers suggested that from 2004/05 to 2007/08, beef consumers were prepared to pay around $0.32/kg extra for MSA branded beef on a carcass weight equivalent basis. Retailers kept about$0.06/kg and wholesalers kept about $0.12/kg. The remaining$0.14/kg was passed back to cattle producers. Despite accelerated use of MSA in the wholesale trade, visibility at retail is generally low. It is being used predominantly to support private brand initiatives or to underpin existing channel partner offers. The paper concludes by discussing two case studies of business models that small niche beef retailers have developed to further capture the benefits from the MSA scheme through introduction of private brands. In summary, the MSA innovation has resulted in a higher degree of accuracy in the ability to predict beef eating quality for consumers. This has improved consumer choice, opportunities for value adding, and sufficient transmission of the premiums paid by consumers for graded cuts to provide real incentives for beef producers to supply MSAcompliant cattle

Association of polygenic scores with chronic kidney disease phenotypes in a longitudinal study of older adults

Risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is influenced by environmental and genetic factors and increases sharply in individuals 70 years and older. Polygenic scores (PGS) for kidney disease-related traits have shown promise but require validation in well-characterized cohorts. Here, we assessed the performance of recently developed PGSs for CKD-related traits in a longitudinal cohort of healthy older individuals enrolled in the Australian ASPREE randomized controlled trial of daily low-dose aspirin with CKD risk at baseline and longitudinally. Among 11,813 genotyped participants aged 70 years or more with baseline eGFR measures, we tested associations between PGSs and measured eGFR at baseline, clinical phenotype of CKD, and longitudinal rate of eGFR decline spanning up to six years of follow-up per participant. A PGS for eGFR was associated with baseline eGFR, with a significant decrease of 3.9 mL/min/1.73m2 (95% confidence interval -4.17 to -3.68) per standard deviation (SD) increase of the PGS. This PGS, as well as a PGS for CKD stage 3 were both associated with higher risk of baseline CKD stage 3 in cross-sectional analysis (Odds Ratio 1.75 per SD, 95% confidence interval 1.66-1.85, and Odds Ratio 1.51 per SD, 95% confidence interval 1.43-1.59, respectively). Longitudinally, two separate PGSs for eGFR slope were associated with significant kidney function decline during follow-up. Thus, our study demonstrates that kidney function has a considerable genetic component in older adults, and that new PGSs for kidney disease-related phenotypes may have potential utility for CKD risk prediction in advanced age

Offenders' Crime Narratives across Different Types of Crimes

The current study explores the roles offenders see themselves playing during an offence and their relationship to different crime types. One hundred and twenty incarcerated offenders indicated the narrative roles they acted out whilst committing a specific crime they remembered well. The data were subjected to Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) and four themes were identified: Hero, Professional, Revenger and Victim in line with the recent theoretical framework posited for Narrative Offence Roles (Youngs & Canter, 2012). Further analysis showed that different subsets of crimes were more like to be associated with different narrative offence roles. Hero and Professional were found to be associated with property offences (theft, burglary and shoplifting), drug offences and robbery and Revenger and Victim were found to be associated with violence, sexual offences and murder. The theoretical implications for understanding crime on the basis of offenders' narrative roles as well as practical implications are discussed

Commercialising the production of Cobia in Australia

This project is a collaboration between the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) and the Cobia aquaculture sector, predominantly Pacific Reef Fisheries (PRF). It was undertaken to consolidate the aquaculture in Australia of Cobia, a species offering considerable potential as a diversification option for pond-based culture activities in Queensland. The project addressed key elements of the production cycle in order to move industry towards a more commercial footing and advance both the scientific knowledge and human capabilities of the sector. The project involved DAF staff at the Department’s Bribie Island Research Centre (BIRC) and staff from the PRF farm in Ayr, North Queensland. From 2014-2017, research examined: health issues affecting Cobia in culture both in the hatchery and on-farm; the emerging issue of intersex in Cobia and potential for this to further impact production; capability development of PRF staff in preparation of the establishment of a commercial Cobia hatchery; and, the involvement of some new entrants to Cobia aquaculture utilising tank-based production systems

Quantum Color Transparency and Nuclear Filtering

Color transparency is the proposal that under certain circumstances the strong interactions can be reduced in magnitude. We give a comprehensive review of the physics, which hinges on the interface of perturbative QCD with non--perturbative strong interactions. Color transparency is complementary to {\it nuclear filtering}, which is the conversion of quark wave functions in hadrons to small transverse space dimensions by interaction with a nuclear medium. We review current approaches, including pictures based on modeling the time evolution of hadronic wave--packets as well as the use of light cone matrix elements. Spin plays an intrinsic role in testing and understanding the physics and is discussed at length. We emphasize the use of data analysis procedures which have minimal model dependence. We also review existing experimental data and the experimental program planned at various facilities. The subject has strong scientific complementarity and potential to make progress in exploring hadron physics at current and future facilities.Comment: 131 pages, review article in LaTeX to appear in Physics Reports, no postscipt figures, approximately 30 figures available from Ralston on reques

Virology Experts in the Boundary Zone Between Science, Policy and the Public: A Biographical Analysis

This article aims to open up the biographical black box of three experts working in the boundary zone between science, policy and public debate. A biographical-narrative approach is used to analyse the roles played by the virologists Albert Osterhaus, Roel Coutinho and Jaap Goudsmit in policy and public debate. These figures were among the few leading virologists visibly active in the Netherlands during the revival of infectious diseases in the 1980s. Osterhaus and Coutinho in particular are still the key figures today, as demonstrated during the outbreak of novel influenza A (H1N1). This article studies the various political and communicative challenges and dilemmas encountered by these three virologists, and discusses the way in which, strategically or not, they handled those challenges and dilemmas during the various stages of the field’s recent history. Important in this respect is their pursuit of a public role that is both effective and credible. We will conclude with a reflection on the H1N1 pandemic, and the historical and biographical ties between emerging governance arrangements and the experts involved in the development of such arrangements

Treatment and Intervention for Opiate Dependence in the United Kingdom:Lessons from Triumph and Failure

The history of opiate treatment in the United Kingdom (UK) since the early 1980s is a rich source of learning about the benefits and pitfalls of drug treatment policy. We present five possible lessons to be learnt about how factors outside the clinic, including government, charities and researchers can influence treatment and outcomes. First, do not let a crisis go to waste. The philosophical shift from abstinence to harm reduction in the 1980s, in response to an HIV outbreak in injecting users, facilitated expansion in addiction services and made a harm reduction approach more acceptable. Second, studies of drug-related deaths can lead to advances in care. By elucidating the pattern of mortality, and designing interventions to address the causes, researchers have improved patient safety in certain contexts, though significant investment in Scotland has not arrested rising mortality. Third, collection of longitudinal data and its use to inform clinical guidelines, as pursued from the mid-1990s, can form an enduring evidence base and shape policy, sometimes in unintended ways. Fourth, beware of the presentation of harm reduction and recovery as in conflict. At the least, this reduces patient choice, and at worst, it has caused some services to be redesigned in a manner that jeopardises patient safety. Fifth, the relationship between the third and state sectors must be carefully nurtured. In the UK, early collaboration has been replaced by competition, driven by changes in funding, to the detriment of service provision

Development of Risk Prediction Equations for Incident Chronic Kidney Disease

IMPORTANCE ‐ Early identification of individuals at elevated risk of developing chronic kidney disease  could improve clinical care through enhanced surveillance and better management of underlying health  conditions.  OBJECTIVE – To develop assessment tools to identify individuals at increased risk of chronic kidney  disease, defined by reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).  DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS – Individual level data analysis of 34 multinational cohorts from  the CKD Prognosis Consortium including 5,222,711 individuals from 28 countries. Data were collected  from April, 1970 through January, 2017. A two‐stage analysis was performed, with each study first  analyzed individually and summarized overall using a weighted average. Since clinical variables were  often differentially available by diabetes status, models were developed separately within participants  with diabetes and without diabetes. Discrimination and calibration were also tested in 9 external  cohorts (N=2,253,540). EXPOSURE Demographic and clinical factors.  MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES – Incident eGFR <60 ml/min/1.73 m2.  RESULTS – In 4,441,084 participants without diabetes (mean age, 54 years, 38% female), there were  660,856 incident cases of reduced eGFR during a mean follow‐up of 4.2 years. In 781,627 participants  with diabetes (mean age, 62 years, 13% female), there were 313,646 incident cases during a mean follow‐up of 3.9 years. Equations for the 5‐year risk of reduced eGFR included age, sex, ethnicity, eGFR, history of cardiovascular disease, ever smoker, hypertension, BMI, and albuminuria. For participants  with diabetes, the models also included diabetes medications, hemoglobin A1c, and the interaction  between the two. The risk equations had a median C statistic for the 5‐year predicted probability of  0.845 (25th – 75th percentile, 0.789‐0.890) in the cohorts without diabetes and 0.801 (25th – 75th percentile, 0.750‐0.819) in the cohorts with diabetes. Calibration analysis showed that 9 out of 13 (69%) study populations had a slope of observed to predicted risk between 0.80 and 1.25. Discrimination was  similar in 18 study populations in 9 external validation cohorts; calibration showed that 16 out of 18 (89%) had a slope of observed to predicted risk between 0.80 and 1.25. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE – Equations for predicting risk of incident chronic kidney disease developed in over 5 million people from 34 multinational cohorts demonstrated high discrimination and  variable calibration in diverse populations