Performance of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission: memorandum for the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee

"This memorandum has been prepared for the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee to provide an update on the performance of the current statutory child maintenance schemes, following completion of a three year improvement plan. This memorandum also sets out the progress made by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission towards redesigning the child maintenance system in Great Britain, as set out in the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008" - clause 1.

IMPACT OF THE 2002 BIOTERRORISM ACT ON THE NEW JERSEY FOOD INDUSTRY

This paper provides an overview of the four key sections of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, with regard to Administrative Detention (Section 303), Facilities Registration (Section 305), Records and Maintenance (Section 306), and Prior Notice of Food Imports (Section 307). The potential impacts of the Bioterrorism Act on the food industry are examined through qualitative analysis of industry submissions to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) docket for each provision, and quantitatively through survey results, which were administered online by the Food Institute (FI) of Woodbridge, NJ and analyzed by Rutgers, Food Policy Institute (FPI). Of the four key sections from the Bioterrorism Act that most affect the food industry, stakeholders were surveyed on two sections, Prior notice of Food Imports and Facilities Registration. While survey responses reveal that many food firms are aware of pending Bioterrorism Act policies, few however, have taken action towards compliance. Facilities registration is touted as the least cumbersome in terms of compliance. Results indicate that 50 percent of food industry professionals surveyed were not aware that many food firms must register with the FDA by the 12 December 2003 deadline; and, 20 percent, while aware of the facilities registration deadline, have done nothing to prepare. Being unprepared for and subsequently complying with Bioterrorism Act rules is an overarching concern, which is apparent in both the survey results and docket summaries. Moreover, upon review of docket submissions to the FDA, it seems that food firms are generally sympathetic towards the need for increased food system security; however, the impact of the Bioterrorism Act can be both daunting and costly. Many perceive that significant changes to capitol costs will be required to meet FDA standards.Agribusiness,

ECONOMICS, HYSTERESIS AND AGROTERRORISM

Environmental Economics and Policy,

Returns to the Jersey Fresh Promotional Program: The Impacts of Promotional Expenditures on Farm Cash Receipts in New Jersey

In 1984, the Jersey Fresh program was implemented by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and was the first state-funded marketing campaign for agricultural products produced in New Jersey. In an effort to spur demand for New Jersey farm products, this program was designed to increase consumer awareness of the state’s agricultural products as well as to encourage food retailers to promote Jersey Fresh products. With funding from the USDA’s Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture commissioned this study to determine the impact of Jersey Fresh promotion on farmer cash receipts in New Jersey. The econometric analysis was focused on the fruit and vegetable sectors, the primary commodity areas expected to benefit most directly from Jersey Fresh promotion. Study results show that: • For every dollar spent on the Jersey Fresh Promotional Program through 2000, New Jersey’s agricultural fruit and vegetable sector revenues increased by $31.54 (2003 dollars). • The additional economic activity created in the agricultural industry also had impacts on other parts of the economy, namely agricultural suppliers and service providers. In fact, each dollar spent on Jersey Fresh promotion resulted in an additional$22.95 of sales in agricultural support industries and other related industries. • In total, each dollar spent on Jersey Fresh promotion resulted in $54.49 of increased economic output in the State. Adjusting all dollars to 2003 levels, this means that the$1.16 million spent on the Jersey Fresh program in 2000 increased fruit and vegetable cash receipts by $36.6 million and created an additional$26.6 million in economic activity within agricultural support industries. The total statewide economic impact of the Jersey Fresh program was therefore an estimated $63.2 million. The economic activity generated through Jersey Fresh promotion also impacts local, state, and federal taxes. An analysis of these tax impacts shows that New Jersey’s State and local tax revenues increased by$2.2 million in 2000 due to the increased economic activity attributable to Jersey Fresh promotion. Comparing this return to the 2000 program budget of $1.16 million, the Jersey Fresh program appears to be better than revenue-neutral.Agribusiness, Marketing,

New York Economic Handbook, 2006

E.B. 2005-1

Predicting which children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis will not attain early remission with conventional treatment: Results from the Reacch-out cohort

Objective. To estimate the probability of early remission with conventional treatment for each child with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Children with a low chance of remission may be candidates for initial treatment with biologics or triple disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD). Methods. We used data from 1074 subjects in the Research in Arthritis in Canadian Children emphasizing Outcomes (ReACCh-Out) cohort. The predicted outcome was clinically inactive disease for ≥ 6 months starting within 1 year of JIA diagnosis in patients who did not receive early biologic agents or triple DMARD. Models were developed in 200 random splits of 75% of the cohort and tested on the remaining 25% of subjects, calculating expected and observed frequencies of remission and c-index values. Results. Our best Cox logistic model combining 18 clinical variables a median of 2 days after diagnosis had a c-index of 0.69 (95% CI 0.67-0.71), better than using JIA category alone (0.59, 95% CI 0.56-0.63). Children in the lowest probability decile had a 20% chance of remission and 21% attained remission; children in the highest decile had a 69% chance of remission and 73% attained remission. Compared to 5% of subjects identified by JIA category alone, the model identified 14% of subjects as low chance of remission (probability \u3c 0.25), of whom 77% failed to attain remission. Conclusion. Although the model did not meet our a priori performance threshold (c-index \u3e 0.70), it identified 3 times more subjects with low chance of remission than did JIA category alone, and it may serve as a benchmark for assessing value added by future laboratory/imaging biomarkers

Challenges and priorities for river cetacean conservation

River cetaceans are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts due to their constrained ranges in freshwater systems of China, South Asia, and South America. We undertook an exhaustive review of 280 peer-reviewed papers and grey literature reports (1998-2020) to examine the current status of knowledge regarding these cetaceans and their conservation. We aimed to better understand the scale of threats they face, and to identify and propose priority future efforts to better conserve these species. We found that the species have been studied with varying frequency and that most of the research on threats has focused on habitat degradation and fragmentation (43%, mainly driven by dams and extractive activities such as sand mining and deforestation), and fishery interactions (39%, in the form of bycatch and direct take). These threats occur across all species, but more information is needed, primarily on quantifying the population impacts as a basis for designing mitigation measures. Other threats identified include pollution, vessel collisions, traditional use, and poorly managed tourism. Emerging methods such as environmental DNA and unmanned aerial vehicles are described for studying these species. Promising conservation interventions include cetacean-specific protected areas, natural ex situ protection, community-led conservation, and education programmes. However, transnational political will is required for a step change towards broad-scale protection in freshwater environments. In addition, we propose increasing capacity building, developing management plans, working closely with fishing communities, enhancing public awareness, expanding regional collaborations, and diversifying funding

Grasping the changes seen in older adults when reaching for objects of varied texture.

Old age is associated with reduced mobility of the hand. To investigate age related decline when reaching-to-lift an object we used sophisticated kinematic apparatus to record reaches carried out by healthy older and younger participants. Three objects of different widths were placed at three different distances, with objects having either a high or low friction surface (i.e. rough or slippery). Older participants showed quantitative differences to their younger counterparts - movements were slower and peak speed did not scale with object distance. There were also qualitative differences with older adults showing a greater propensity to stop the hand and adjust finger position before lifting objects. The older participants particularly struggled to lift wide slippery objects, apparently due to an inability to manipulate their grasp to provide the level of precision necessary to functionally enclose the object. These data shed light on the nature of age related changes in reaching-to-grasp movements and establish a powerful technique for exploring how different product designs will impact on prehensile behavior

The scene of the crime: inventing the serial killer

This article examines the meanings of the crime scene in serial killings, and the tensions between the real and the imagined in the circulation of those meanings. Starting with the Whitechapel Murders of 1888 it argues that they, as well as forming an origin for the construction of the identity of 'the serial killer', initiate certain ideas about the relationship of subjects to spaces and the existence of the self in the modern urban landscape. It suggests that these ideas come to play an integral part in the contemporary discourse of serial killing, both in the popular imagination and in professional analysis. Examining the Whitechapel Murders, more recent cases and modern profiling techniques, it argues that popular and professional representations of crime scenes reveal more of social anxieties about the nature of the public and the private than they do about serial killers. It suggests that 'the serial killer' is not a coherent type, but an invention produced from the confusions of persons and places. Copyright 2006 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution

To see or not to see: investigating detectability of Ganges River dolphins using a combined visual-acoustic survey

Detection of animals during visual surveys is rarely perfect or constant, and failure to account for imperfect detectability affects the accuracy of abundance estimates. Freshwater cetaceans are among the most threatened group of mammals, and visual surveys are a commonly employed method for estimating population size despite concerns over imperfect and unquantified detectability. We used a combined visual-acoustic survey to estimate detectability of Ganges River dolphins (Platanista gangetica gangetica) in four waterways of southern Bangladesh. The combined visual-acoustic survey resulted in consistently higher detectability than a single observer-team visual survey, thereby improving power to detect trends. Visual detectability was particularly low for dolphins close to meanders where these habitat features temporarily block the view of the preceding river surface. This systematic bias in detectability during visual-only surveys may lead researchers to underestimate the importance of heavily meandering river reaches. Although the benefits of acoustic surveys are increasingly recognised for marine cetaceans, they have not been widely used for monitoring abundance of freshwater cetaceans due to perceived costs and technical skill requirements. We show that acoustic surveys are in fact a relatively cost-effective approach for surveying freshwater cetaceans, once it is acknowledged that methods that do not account for imperfect detectability are of limited value for monitoring