Assessing the use of Geographical Indications for the New England wine region in NSW

Geographical Indications (GIs) have increasingly been used as a marketing tool to create an image of quality and uniqueness, and so capture premium prices. Hedonic pricing studies have shown that indication of geographical origin of production (e.g. country, region, wineries, and location), can affect prices. However, Geographical Indications only work when they are backed up by quality products. The objectives of this study are to assess the potential of a proposed Geographical Indication for the emerging "New England" wine region in promoting local wines and to make recommendations on how that potential, if it exists, can be realised. The assessment is based on an overview of existing systems of Geographical Indications and conditions, both economic and regulatory, which are required for successful geographical indication applications.geographical indication, TRIPS Agreement, wine marketing, hedonic, Agribusiness,

Comparative genetic architectures of schizophrenia in East Asian and European populations

Schizophrenia is a debilitating psychiatric disorder with approximately 1% lifetime risk globally. Large-scale schizophrenia genetic studies have reported primarily on European ancestry samples, potentially missing important biological insights. Here, we report the largest study to date of East Asian participants (22,778 schizophrenia cases and 35,362 controls), identifying 21 genome-wide-significant associations in 19 genetic loci. Common genetic variants that confer risk for schizophrenia have highly similar effects between East Asian and European ancestries (genetic correlation = 0.98 ± 0.03), indicating that the genetic basis of schizophrenia and its biology are broadly shared across populations. A fixed-effect meta-analysis including individuals from East Asian and European ancestries identified 208 significant associations in 176 genetic loci (53 novel). Trans-ancestry fine-mapping reduced the sets of candidate causal variants in 44 loci. Polygenic risk scores had reduced performance when transferred across ancestries, highlighting the importance of including sufficient samples of major ancestral groups to ensure their generalizability across populations

Genome-wide association meta-analysis in 269,867 individuals identifies new genetic and functional links to intelligence

Intelligence is highly heritable(1) and a major determinant of human health and well-being(2). Recent genome-wide meta-analyses have identified 24 genomic loci linked to variation in intelligence3-7, but much about its genetic underpinnings remains to be discovered. Here, we present a large-scale genetic association study of intelligence (n = 269,867), identifying 205 associated genomic loci (190 new) and 1,016 genes (939 new) via positional mapping, expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) mapping, chromatin interaction mapping, and gene-based association analysis. We find enrichment of genetic effects in conserved and coding regions and associations with 146 nonsynonymous exonic variants. Associated genes are strongly expressed in the brain, specifically in striatal medium spiny neurons and hippocampal pyramidal neurons. Gene set analyses implicate pathways related to nervous system development and synaptic structure. We confirm previous strong genetic correlations with multiple health-related outcomes, and Mendelian randomization analysis results suggest protective effects of intelligence for Alzheimer's disease and ADHD and bidirectional causation with pleiotropic effects for schizophrenia. These results are a major step forward in understanding the neurobiology of cognitive function as well as genetically related neurological and psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe

State Government Assistance to the Local Wine Industry: New England Australia 2000 to 2010

The New England-North West region of NSW boasts a cluster of features which point to the opportunity of the development of a successful premium wine industry in the region. This has been recognised by State Government, which has assisted the facilitation of industry value-adding and expansion in the region throughout the past decade. The industry has developed to a point where it is now pursuing a regional-branding and marketing strategy for that portion of the region, “New England Australia”, which recently gained Geographical Indicator (GI) status in 2008. The State Government will continue to provide catalytic and supportive industry development assistance to the industry. It welcomes the examination by the University of New England and associated research organisations into ways in which they can interact with the industry through research, with the goal of providing further impetus to regional wine industry development activity

The Causality Between U.S.A. and Australian Wheat Prices

It has been generally agreed that Australia is a price follower on the world wheat market. However, to date, this has not been tested empirically. In this paper a transfer function model between prices of U.S.A. wheat and Australian wheat is set up to examine the existence, if any, of a leader-follower relationship. By employing the causality criteria as described by Granger, this analysis is implemented to draw inferences about causality among these wheat prices. Results indicated that a significant leader-follower relationship exists, with the U.S.A. taking the leader role. The results reported are particularly useful for wheat price forecasting work and provide a basis for further modelling work

The Causality Between U.S.A. and Australian Wheat Prices

It has been generally agreed that Australia is a price follower on the world wheat market. However, to date, this has not been tested empirically. In this paper a transfer function model between prices of U.S.A. wheat and Australian wheat is set up to examine the existence, if any, of a leader-follower relationship. By employing the causality criteria as described by Granger, this analysis is implemented to draw inferences about causality among these wheat prices. Results indicated that a significant leader-follower relationship exists, with the U.S.A. taking the leader role. The results reported are particularly useful for wheat price forecasting work and provide a basis for further modelling work.Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis,

Geographical Indication for New England Wines in NSW

Geographical Indications (GIs) have increasingly been used as a marketing tool to create an image of quality and uniqueness, and so capture premium prices. Hedonic pricing studies have shown that indication of geographical origin of production (e.g. country, region, wineries, and location), can affect prices. However, Geographical Indications only work when they are backed up by quality products. The objectives of this study are to assess the potential of a proposed Geographical Indication for the emerging “New England” wine region in promoting local wines and to make recommendations on how that potential, if it exists, can be realised. The assessment is based on an overview of existing systems of Geographical Indications and conditions, both economic and regulatory, which are required for successful geographical indication applications

Assessing the use of Geographical Indications for the New England wine region in NSW

Geographical Indications (GIs) have increasingly been used as a marketing tool to create an image of quality and uniqueness, and so capture premium prices. Hedonic pricing studies have shown that indication of geographical origin of production (e.g. country, region, wineries, and location), can affect prices. However, Geographical Indications only work when they are backed up by quality products. The objectives of this study are to assess the potential of a proposed Geographical Indication for the emerging "New England" wine region in promoting local wines and to make recommendations on how that potential, if it exists, can be realised. The assessment is based on an overview of existing systems of Geographical Indications and conditions, both economic and regulatory, which are required for successful geographical indication applications

Geographical Indication for New England Wines in NSW

Geographical Indications (GIs) have increasingly been used as a marketing tool to create an image of quality and uniqueness, and so capture premium prices. Hedonic pricing studies have shown that indication of geographical origin of production (e.g. country, region, wineries, and location), can affect prices. However, Geographical Indications only work when they are backed up by quality products. The objectives of this study are to assess the potential of a proposed Geographical Indication for the emerging “New England” wine region in promoting local wines and to make recommendations on how that potential, if it exists, can be realised. The assessment is based on an overview of existing systems of Geographical Indications and conditions, both economic and regulatory, which are required for successful geographical indication applications