THE FDA'S FOOD SAFETY MODERNIZATION ACT AND ITS ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS

The 111th Congress, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q18,

Economic Analysis of High Fertilizer Input, Over-seeded Clover and Native Pasture Production Systems in the Texas Coastal Bend

This paper examined the cost and risk of three grazing systems to provide information on economically sustainable systems for cattle producers in the Texas Coastal Bend. Results indicate the medium input (over-seeded clover) grazing system displays first degree stochastic dominance relative to the high input and no input grazing systems.grazing system economics, forage production economics, Crop Production/Industries, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics,

ECONOMETRIC MODEL OF THE U.S. SHEEP INDUSTRY FOR POLICY ANALYSIS

The U.S. sheep inventory has been declining for many years. To further investigate this trend, an econometric sector model using single demand equations was developed to analyze the impacts of two alternative levels of wool marketing loan rates.Marketing,

Food Safety Standards for the U. S. Fresh Produce Industry

Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q18,

Potential Impacts of Food Borne Ill Incidence on Market Movements and Prices of Fresh Produce in the US

For many decades, fresh fruits and vegetables enjoyed a reputation as the healthiest products full of essential vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial substances for a balanced diet. However, numerous recent food outbreaks associated with fresh produce have raised concerns on the mind of the consumer. Following an outbreak, consumers reduce their immediate consumption of the affected products. Even tough fresh fruits and vegetables have unique characteristics and flavors, consumers tend to substitute affected outbreak products with other fruits and vegetables. The potential impact of food borne illness on consumption has also a longer term impact, reducing consumption of the products over a period of several months after the outbreak. This paper used historical decomposition analysis to study both, the contemporaneous and lagged effects of food borne illness in the fresh produce industry using three case studies, spinach, cantaloupes, and tomatoes.Food safety, fresh produce, historical decomposition, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Economics of Variety Selection for Cotton Cultivars in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas

The study reported here compared the net income of cotton cultivars grown in the Lower Rio Grande Valley using simulation techniques to incorporate yield and price risk. The data comes from field plots north of Weslaco, Texas from 2003 to 2005. Four cotton cultivars were used, two Delta and Pine (DP 444 BG/RR, and DP 555 BG/RR) and two Fibermax (FM 832, and FM 989 RR). DP 555 BG/RR had the highest average net income, $386 per acre, followed by DP 444 BG/RR, FM 832, and FM 989 RR, with$334.95, $284.31, and$278.21 per acre, respectively

Bayesian methods for fitting Baryon Acoustic Oscillations in the Lyman-α forest

We study and compare fitting methods for the Lyman-α (Lyα) forest 3D correlation function. We use the nested sampler PolyChord and the community code picca to perform a Bayesian analysis which we compare with previous frequentist analyses. By studying synthetic correlation functions, we find that the frequentist profile likelihood produces results in good agreement with a full Bayesian analysis. On the other hand, Maximum Likelihood Estimation with the Gaussian approximation for the uncertainties is inadequate for current data sets. We compute for the first time the full posterior distribution from the Lyα forest correlation functions measured by the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS). We highlight the benefits of sampling the full posterior distribution by expanding the baseline analysis to better understand the contamination by Damped Lyα systems (DLAs). We make our improvements and results publicly available as part of the picca package

Molecular components underlying nongenomic thyroid hormone signaling in embryonic zebrafish neurons

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neurodevelopment requires thyroid hormone, yet the mechanisms and targets of thyroid hormone action during embryonic stages remain ill-defined. We previously showed that the thyroid hormone thyroxine (T4) rapidly increases voltage-gated sodium current in zebrafish Rohon-Beard cells (RBs), a primary sensory neuron subtype present during embryonic development. Here, we determined essential components of the rapid T4 signaling pathway by identifying the involved intracellular messengers, the targeted sodium channel isotype, and the spatial and temporal expression pattern of the nongenomic αVβ3 integrin T4 receptor.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We first tested which signaling pathways mediate T4's rapid modulation of sodium current (I_Na) by perturbing specific pathways associated with nongenomic thyroid hormone signaling. We found that pharmacological blockade of protein phosphatase 1 and the mitogen-activated protein kinase p38 isoform decreased and increased tonic sodium current amplitudes, respectively, and blockade of either occluded rapid responses to acute T4 application. We next tested for the ion channel target of rapid T4 signaling via morpholino knock-down of specific sodium channel isotypes. We found that selective knock-down of the sodium channel α-subunit Na_v1.6a, but not Na_v1.1la, occluded T4's acute effects. We also determined the spatial and temporal distribution of a nongenomic T4 receptor, integrin αVβ3. At 24 hours post fertilization (hpf), immunofluorescent assays showed no specific integrin αVβ3 immunoreactivity in wild-type zebrafish embryos. However, by 48 hpf, embryos expressed integrin αVβ3 in RBs and primary motoneurons. Consistent with this temporal expression, T4 modulated RB I_Naat 48 but not 24 hpf. We next tested whether T4 rapidly modulated I_Naof caudal primary motoneurons, which express the receptor (αVβ3) and target (Na_v1.6a) of rapid T4 signaling. In response to T4, caudal primary motoneurons rapidly increased sodium current peak amplitude 1.3-fold.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>T4's nongenomic regulation of sodium current occurs in different neuronal subtypes, requires the activity of specific phosphorylation pathways, and requires both integrin αVβ3 and Na_v1.6a. Our <it>in vivo </it>analyses identify molecules required for T4's rapid regulation of voltage-gated sodium current.</p