The Impacts of North American BSE Discoveries on U.S. and Canadian Cattle Prices

Demand and Price Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Financing agricultural research and development in rich countries: what's happening and why

Governments around the globe are trimming their support for agricultural R&D, giving greater scrutiny to the support that they do provide, and reforming the public agencies that fund, oversee, and carry out the research. These contemporary developments represent a break from previous patterns, which, since WWII, had seen a significant and steady expansion in the public funds provided for agricultural R&D. The growth rate of private-sector spending on agricultural research has slowed along with the growth of public spending in recent years, but the balance continues to shift toward the private sector. This paper presents a quantitative review of these funding trends and the considerable institutional changes that have accompanied them. We present and discuss new data for 22 OECD countries, provide additional data and institutional details for five of these countries, namely Australia, Netherlands, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States, and conclude the paper with an assessment of these policy developments.Agricultural research., Government spending policy., OECD countries., Australia., Netherlands., New Zealand., United Kingdom., United States., Assessment,

Financing agricultural R&D in rich countries: what's happening and why

Governments everywhere are trimming their support for agricultural R&D, giving greater scrutiny to the support that they do provide, and reforming the public agencies that fund, oversee, and carry out the research. This represents a break from previous patterns, which had consisted of expansion in the public funds for agricultural R&D. Private‐sector spending on agricultural research has slowed along with the growth of public spending in recent years, but the balance continues to shift towards the private sector. This article presents a quantitative review of these funding trends and the considerable institutional changes that have accompanied them. We discuss new data for 22 OECD countries, providing institutional details for five of these countries, and conclude with an assessment of policy developments.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Single Maximal versus Combination Punch Kinematics

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of punch type (Jab, Cross, Lead Hook and Reverse Hook) and punch modality (Single maximal, ‘In-synch’ and ‘Out of synch’ combination) on punch speed and delivery time. Ten competition-standard volunteers performed punches with markers placed on their anatomical landmarks for 3D motion capture with an eight-camera optoelectronic system. Speed and duration between key moments were computed. There were significant differences in contact speed between punch types (F 2,18,84.87 = 105.76, p = 0.001) with Lead and Reverse Hooks developing greater speed than Jab and Cross. There were significant differences in contact speed between punch modalities (F 2,64,102.87 = 23.52, p = 0.001) with the Single maximal (M ± SD: 9.26 ± 2.09 m/s) higher than ‘Out of synch’ (7.49 ± 2.32 m/s), ‘In-synch’ left (8.01 ± 2.35 m/s) or right lead (7.97 ± 2.53 m/s). Delivery times were significantly lower for Jab and Cross than Hook. Times were significantly lower ‘In-synch’ than a Single maximal or ‘Out of synch’ combination mode. It is concluded that a defender may have more evasion-time than previously reported. This research could be of use to performers and coaches when considering training preparations

A review of types of risks in agriculture: What we know and what we need to know

This study examines the scope and depth of research on the five major types of risks in agriculture, and the extent to which those studies have addressed the impacts of, and policies to mitigate individual types of risk as opposed to more holistic analyses of the multiple sources of risk with which farmers have to cope with. Risk is at the center of new paradigms and approaches that inform risk management initiatives and shape investments in many countries. Although the literature includes several substantive reviews of the methods available for risk analysis and their empirical applications have been extensively scrutinized, limited information exists about which types of risks have received sufficient attention, and which have not. This limited information is perplexing because farmers manage multiple risks at the same time and unanticipated events continue to have substantial impacts on farmers. We identify 3283 peer-reviewed studies that address one or more of the five major types of risk in agriculture (production risk, market risk, institutional risk, personal risk, and financial risk) published between 1974 and 2019. We conduct a literature search and then apply an eligibility criteria to retain eligible studies from the search. We then classify those eligible studies based on risk type and geographic focus. We placed no limit on the temporal scale, geographic focus, or study method for inclusion in our search. Results show that 66% of the 3283 studies focused solely on production risk, with only 15% considering more than one type of risk. Only 18 studies considered all five types of risk and those either asked how farmers perceived the importance of each risk or were focused on conceptual issues, rather than assessing how exposure to all the risks quantitatively affects farm indicators such as yields or incomes. Without more detailed analyses of the multiple types of risks faced by farmers, farmers and policymakers will lack the information needed to devise relevant risk management strategies and policies. A shift in research focus towards the analysis of multiple contemporaneous types of risk may provide a basis that gives farmers greater options for coping with and managing risk. We discuss some of the challenges for studying multiple risks simultaneously, including data requirements and the need for probability distributions and the role of simulation approaches

Numerical simulations of string networks in the Abelian-Higgs model

We present the results of a field theory simulation of networks of strings in the Abelian Higgs model. Starting from a random initial configuration we show that the resulting vortex tangle approaches a self-similar regime in which the length density of lines of zeros of $\phi$ reduces as $t^{-2}$. We demonstrate that the network loses energy directly into scalar and gauge radiation. These results support a recent claim that particle production, and not gravitational radiation, is the dominant energy loss mechanism for cosmic strings. This means that cosmic strings in Grand Unified Theories are severely constrained by high energy cosmic ray fluxes: either they are ruled out, or an implausibly small fraction of their energy ends up in quarks and leptons.Comment: 4pp RevTeX, 3 eps figures, clarifications and new results included, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let

Sustained Production from Common Bermudagrass Pastures Using Clover-Potassium or Ryegrass-Nitrogen

Last updated: 6/9/200

Use of Clover-Potassium vs Ryegrass-Nitrogen for Sustained Production from Coastal Bermudagrass Pastures

Last updated: 6/9/200

The role of formative outdoor and family experiences on environmental belief formation in children and this role's implications for environmental education

The purpose of this research was to determine the role of formative experiences in the home and family pertaining to environment on children's overall environmental beliefs. Students attending environmentally related and non-environmentally related summer camps at a children's science museum served as test subjects in this study. A written instrument was constructed for determining both environmental belief and level of prior experience with environment in the home. Students filled out the written instrument at the beginning of the first day of a five day camp, at the end of the last day of camp, and six weeks after camp. In addition, select students were invited to participate in personal interviews. All formative experiences chosen for investigation such as talking about the environment with family and spending time outdoors with family were found highly correlated with environmental beliefs and useful in an equation to model environmental beliefs. Students participating to a greater degree in the formative experiences under investigation were shown to have more pro-environmental beliefs in all iterations of the written instrument. However, these formative factors were found only moderately correlated and responsible for change in environmental belief over the period of an environmental education (EE) camp. Students participating in an environmental education camp were found to differ meaningfully in their environmental beliefs from non-participating students after a summer camp program and again six weeks later. However, the changes in environmental belief for environmental education students were not found to statistically increase over the five day period. It is proposed that the EE experience served to stabilize environmental beliefs while the beliefs of non-EE students unexpectedly decreased over the five days. In both the post-test and delayed post-test a measurement of family involvement was found more correlated with environmental belief than any demographic or other factor including whether the student participated in an environmental education camp. Findings are used to inform existing models for understanding the formation of environmental beliefs as well as used to suggest changes in the current state of environmental education. Specific recommendations are given for ways to utilize the family and home as both a target for EE and as a source of EE

The value of computed tomographic (CT) scan surveillance in the detection and management of brain metastases in patients with small cell lung cancer.

One hundred and twenty-seven consecutive patients presenting with small cell lung cancer were entered into a whole-brain CT scan surveillance study, starting at presentation and repeating at 3-monthly intervals for 2 years as an alternative to prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI). The aim of the study was to detect CNS metastases at an early asymptomatic stage in the hope that prompt CNS radiotherapy could achieve long-term control; at the same time unnecessary PCI with its potential long-term morbidity could be avoided. CNS metastases were found in 56 patients (44%) including 16 (13%) at diagnosis and 40 at a median of 4 months (range 1-27 months) after completing chemotherapy. No patient developed CNS disease while on chemotherapy. Thirty-six patients were asymptomatic at diagnosis (group A) but 20 developed clinical CNS relapse between scans (group B) (interval relapse). Despite prompt radiotherapy 56% of patients in group A and 60% of patients in group B died with active CNS disease. Likewise, there was no survival difference between patients in group A, group B or those who never developed CNS disease. Regular 3-month CT scan surveillance is therefore not an effective substitute for PCI