MODELLING THE EFFECTS OF EU SUGAR MARKET LIBERALIZATION ON AREA ALLOCATION, PRODUCTION AND TRADE

This paper presents a partial equilibrium simulation analysis of EU sugar market reforms with a version of the European Simulation Model (ESIM) addressing three issues: preferential EU imports are a function of the price differential between world market and EU price, EU supply functions are estimated based on FADN data, and the production of bioethanol in the EU and the rest of the world is taken into account as an important component in sugar beet and sugar cane demand. It is found that the current sugar market reform including the restructuring process until the end of 2007 is sufficient to allow the EU to comply with its WTO commitments only very narrowly. EU sugar supply is simulated to decrease from roughly 19 million tons in the base period to 15.5 million tons by 2015 and the EU price remains at a level of about 450 €/t and thus significantly above the reference price. In case of full liberalization production in the EU is projected to decrease to 7.5 million tonnes by 2015.Sugar, Common Agricultural Policy, Sugar Market Reform, Partial Equilibrium Modelling, Everything But Arms, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade,

The Development and Future of EU Agricultural Trade Preferences for North-African and Near-East Countries

The EU recently completed negotiating a series of Association Agreements with Mediterranean countries. Trade preferences for agricultural goods granted under these Agreements, as well as under former arrangements, are analyzed by calculating the value of preference margins at several stages in the evolution of preferences. The total value of preference margins for all countries covered was about 130 million under the agreements of the mid-1970s and increased by 48 per cent until 1995; by 2000 this value declined by about 14 per cent due to reduced EU MFN tariffs. The extended preferences under the new Agreements more than compensate for this decline and will result in a total value of preference margins of 226 million once all Agreements have entered into force.preferential trade, preference margin, Mediterranean countries, Euro-Mediterranean Agreements, preference erosion, International Relations/Trade,

Entwicklung und Identifizierung geeigneter Zusatzstoffe und Hilfsmittel im Verarbeitungsprozess ökologischer Lebensmittel, insbesondere zur Verwendung im Herstellungsprozess kalter und heißer Öko-Convenience-Produkte

Das Projektvorhaben gliederte sich in drei Themenschwerpunkte, welche in der Summe die qualitative Optimierung der mikrobiologischen, physikalischen und sensorischen Stabilität von Öko-Convenience Produkten zum Ziel hatte. In Versuchen wurden daher, nach EU-Öko-Basisverordnung 834/2007 zugelassene, Bindemittel und Zutaten identifiziert, welche zur Stabilisierung von heißen und kalten Convenience Produkten Verwendung finden. Hierfür wurden in Lagertests in einem Untersuchungsintervall von 10, 14 und 21 Tagen Proben verschiedener Grundsaucen und Dessertzubereitungen hinsichtlich Sensorik und Viskosität untersucht und Vor- und Nachteile des Einsatzes in der großküchentechnischen Lebensmittelproduktion herausgestellt. Im Fokus der Analysen standen hierbei die Substanzen Johannisbrotkernmehl, Guarkernmehl, Xanthan und Agar Agar, welche in produktspezifischen Konzentrationen ausreichende bindungsstabilisierende Wirkung zeigen, ohne das sensorische Profil der Probe negativ zu beeinflussen. In Rahmen des zweiten Themenbereiches, der Identifizierung von Antioxidantien für den Einsatz bei der Verpackung frischer geschnittener Salate und Gemüse wurden Proben beim Reinigungsprozess mittels Ascorbinsäure, Zitronensäure, Rosmarinextrakt, Ingwer- und Zitronendirektsaft behandelt und zu den Untersuchungspunkten nach 5, 7 und 9 Tagen bezüglich der sensorischen und mikrobiologischen Eigenschaften analysiert. Die Ergebnisse in Bezug auf Ascorbinsäure, Zitronensäure und Zitronensaft zeigen eine nachweisliche Verbesserung der Stabilität der Produkte gegenüber oxidativ induzierten Bräunungsreaktionen. Im dritten Schwerpunktthema, der Bestimmung optimaler Gas- und Verpackungskombinationen, erfolgten Versuchsreihen mit Materialien auf Basis von Polyamid-Polyethylenverbundstoffen, Polypropylen und dem biologischen Kunststoff Polylactid Acid. In Lagertests wurde der Einfluss von unterschiedlichen, modifizierten Verpackungsatmosphären auf die Sensorik und die Mikrobiologie von geschnittenen Salat und Gemüse untersucht. Gasgemische mit unterschiedlichen Anteilen von Kohlendioxid, Sauerstoff, Stickstoff oder auch mit Anteilen von Argon zeigten deutliche abweichende Auswirkung auf die wahrgenommene Frische des Produktes. Die PA-PE Materialien in Verbindung mit Schutzbegasung mit einem Restsauerstoffanteil von 5 % zeigten die sensorisch und mikrobiologisch positivsten Einflüsse auf die Haltbarkeit der Produkte

Coherent Interaction of Light and Single Molecules in a Dielectric Nanoguide

We present a new scheme for performing optical spectroscopy on single molecules. A glass capillary with a diameter of 600 nm filled with an organic crystal tightly guides the excitation light and provides a maximum spontaneous emission coupling factor ($\beta$) of 18% for the dye molecules doped in the organic crystal. Combination of extinction, fluorescence excitation and resonance fluorescence spectroscopy with microscopy provides high-resolution spatio-spectral access to a very large number of single molecules in a linear geometry. We discuss strategies for exploring a range of quantum optical phenomena, including coherent cooperative interactions in a mesoscopic ensemble of molecules mediated by a single mode of propagating photons.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Der Markt f�r Zucker

Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade,

Long-term graft function of cryostored alginate encapsulated rat islets

Microencapsulation of pancreatic islets before transplantation is a promising approach to enable graft function in an immunocompetent recipient without immunosuppression. However, the insufficient availability of allogenic islet tissue is a major problem. One concept to overcome these shortcomings is the cryopreservation of encapsulated allogenic islets. Recently, we reported a gentle cryopreservation protocol for rat islets encapsulated in an alginate-based microcapsule system. Here, we report for the first time long-term transplantation data of these cryopreserved microencapsulated islets. We detected a stable graft function for more than 12 month (experiments still continuing) after transplantation of 2500 cryopreserved microencapsulated CD rat islets in streptozotocin-diabetic Wistar rats. Moreover, the glucose clearance rate during an IPGTT was well preserved up to 56 weeks after transplantation. In addition, hyperglycemic blood glucose levels after removal of rat islet grafts 12 and 56 weeks after transplantation confirmed the efficacy of the encapsulated islets. Finally, the retrieved encapsulated rat islets responded well with a 7-fold increase of insulin secretion to a glucose stimulus (12 and 56 weeks). In conclusion, our study demonstrates for the first time that cryopreservation of encapsulated rat islets is possible without substantial losses on graft function for a very long time

Modelling the effects of EU sugar market liberalization on area allocation, production and trade

This paper presents a partial equilibrium simulation analysis of EU sugar market reforms with a version of the European Simulation Model (ESIM) addressing three issues: preferential EU imports are a function of the price differential between world market and EU price, EU supply functions are estimated based on FADN data, and the production of bioethanol in the EU and the rest of the world is taken into account as an important component in sugar beet and sugar cane demand. It is found that the current sugar market reform including the restructuring process until the end of 2007 is sufficient to allow the EU to comply with its WTO commitments only very narrowly. EU sugar supply is simulated to decrease from roughly 19 million tons in the base period to 15.5 million tons by 2015 and the EU price remains at a level of about 450 €/t and thus significantly above the reference price. In case of full liberalization production in the EU is projected to decrease to 7.5 million tonnes by 2015

The role of lymphatics in renal inflammation

Progressive renal diseases are characterized by tubulointerstitial inflammatory cell recruitment, tubular atrophy and fibrosis. Various aspects of the recruitment of leukocytes have been extensively studied, but the exit routes (i.e. the lymphatic vessels and their biology) have only recently found attention. Similar to the recruitment of inflammatory cells, the exit is coordinated by an orchestrated interaction of chemotactic cytokines and adhesion molecules. During inflammatory injury, new routes are created by the de novo formation of lymphatic vessels, i.e. neolymphangiogenesis. These newly formed lymphatic vessels help to cope with the increase in interstitial fluid related to inflammation. Here, we review some aspects of lymphatic biology and the current knowledge about lymphatic vessels in renal inflammatio