FOOD SAFETY INNOVATION IN THE UNITED STATES: EVIDENCE FROM THE MEAT INDUSTRY

Recent industry innovations improving the safety of the Nation's meat supply range from new pathogen tests, high-tech equipment, and supply chain management systems, to new surveillance networks. Despite these and other improvements, the market incentives that motivate private firms to invest in innovation seem to be fairly weak. Results from an ERS survey of U.S. meat and poultry slaughter and processing plants and two case studies of innovation in the U.S. beef industry reveal that the industry has developed a number of mechanisms to overcome that weakness and to stimulate investment in food safety innovation. Industry experience suggests that government policy can increase food safety innovation by reducing informational asymmetries and strengthening the ability of innovating firms to appropriate the benefits of their investments.Food safety, innovation, meat, asymmetric information, Beef Steam Pasteurization System, Bacterial Pathogen Sampling and Testing Program, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries,

The Cow That Stole Christmas: Framing the First U.S. Mad Cow Crisis

The discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States made an impact on the beef industry. Determining how the BSE outbreak was framed by the news media is significant because research indicates that media shape public perceptions. This study examined how several key newspapers framed the 2003 outbreak of BSE in the United States. Determining how the media framed this issue can help communicators ensure bias-free media coverage of similar issues in the future. The study followed established framing analysis categories identified from the literature. There were 149 articles identified in The Washington Post, The Seattle Times, and USA Today for investigation in this study. Findings showed that the BSE issue was framed as an industry crisis and that the tone of the articles and headlines portrayed the beef industry negatively. When compared to the other two newspapers, USA Today framed the issue differently, with economic calamity being the dominant frame. The most heavily cited sources in the articles were government officials. This study recommends that media professionals avoid framing an issue for the public, focusing instead on reporting news in an objective and unbiased manner. Further research is recommended to examine the impact of tone and frame on specific audiences

Extension Education Drives Economic Stimulus Through Trade Adjustment Assistance for Farmers

Trade Adjustment Assistance for Farmers (TAAF) is a national multifaceted USDA program that provided technical and financial assistance to farmers and fishermen adversely affected by import competition. This article describes how Extension was successfully mobilized to deliver the TAAF program to 10,983 producers across the nation using innovative education technologies to achieve program objectives and improve the economic well-being of participating farmers and fisherman. The innovative technologies included online curricula and business planning, the use of personal business planning consultants, and linking Extension education outcomes to financial assistance payments that producers used primarily to invest in their business

¿Etnografía o Historia para el Presente? Cómo estudiar las comunidades Hispano-mexicanas en nuevo México

Resumo: este artigo discute os desafios metodológicos que envolvem a análise de comunidades marginalizadas no interior dos contextos multiétnicos tipicamente derivados de processos de colonização e conquista. Propõe uma aproximação transdisciplinar que combina a história, a etnografia e a sociologia, complementadas com o estudo dos sistemas jurídicos em que tais comunidades têm estado imersas. Para isso, utiliza como exemplo o caso das comunidades hispano-mexicanas do Novo México, cuja origem está no passado colonial do México e que foram integradas aos Estados Unidos da América no fim da guerra entre os dois países, entre 1846 e 1848 quando, em virtude do Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo, México cedeu a metade setentrional de seu território a seu vitorioso vizinho. Palavras-chave: Hispano-Mexicano. Marginalização. Propriedade. Transdisciplinaridade. Estados Unidos da América

PSAPP mice exhibit regionally selective reductions in gliosis and plaque deposition in response to S100B ablation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Numerous studies have reported that increased expression of S100B, an intracellular Ca²⁺receptor protein and secreted neuropeptide, exacerbates Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. However, the ability of S100B inhibitors to prevent/reverse AD histopathology remains controversial. This study examines the effect of S100B ablation on <it>in vivo </it>plaque load, gliosis and dystrophic neurons.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Because S100B-specific inhibitors are not available, genetic ablation was used to inhibit S100B function in the PSAPP AD mouse model. The PSAPP/S100B^-/-line was generated by crossing PSAPP double transgenic males with S100B^-/-females and maintained as PSAPP/S100B^+/-crosses. Congo red staining was used to quantify plaque load, plaque number and plaque size in 6 month old PSAPP and PSAPP/S100B^-/-littermates. The microglial marker Iba1 and astrocytic marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were used to quantify gliosis. Dystrophic neurons were detected with the phospho-tau antibody AT8. S100B immunohistochemistry was used to assess the spatial distribution of S100B in the PSAPP line.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>PSAPP/S100B^-/-mice exhibited a regionally selective decrease in cortical but not hippocampal plaque load when compared to PSAPP littermates. This regionally selective reduction in plaque load was accompanied by decreases in plaque number, GFAP-positive astrocytes, Iba1-positive microglia and phospho-tau positive dystrophic neurons. These effects were not attributable to regional variability in the distribution of S100B. Hippocampal and cortical S100B immunoreactivity in PSAPP mice was associated with plaques and co-localized with astrocytes and microglia.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Collectively, these data support S100B inhibition as a novel strategy for reducing cortical plaque load, gliosis and neuronal dysfunction in AD and suggest that both extracellular as well as intracellular S100B contribute to AD histopathology.</p

Readability of Colorectal Cancer Online Information: A Brief Report

Purpose: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. A decline in deaths caused by CRC has been largely attributable to screening and prompt treatment. Motivation, shown to influence cancer-related screening and treatment decisions, can be shaped by information from the Internet. The extent to which this information is easily readable on cancer-related websites is not known. The purpose of this study was to assess the readability levels of CRC information on 100 websites. Methods: Using methods from a prior study, the keyword, “colorectal cancer,” was searched on a cleared Internet browser. Scores for each website (n = 100) were generated using five commonly recommended readability tests. Results: All five tests demonstrated difficult readability for the majority of the websites. Conclusions: Online information related to CRC is difficult to read and highlights the need for developing cancer-related online material that is understandable to a wider audience

Development and testing of business survey questionnaires: use of qualitative methods in national statistical institutes

Qualitative research methods are regarded as an important tool to develop and test survey questionnaires, as they provide useful information for identifying and understanding errors in the response process. However, little is known about how these methods are implemented in practice, especially in the context of establishment surveys. This paper aims to give more insight into whether and how statistical agencies use qualitative methods for the development of establishment survey questionnaires. The paper presents the results of an international survey of national statistical institutes. The survey addressed several aspects of the use of qualitative methods for developing establishment survey questionnaires, including sampling and recruitment procedures, methods for the collection and analysis of the data, and documentation of the results

El derecho a la intimidad y el libre desarrollo de la personalidad en el entorno laboral colombiano

La Constitución Política de Colombia de 1991 en sus artículos 15 y 16 señala como derechos fundamentales la intimidad y el libre desarrollo de la personalidad. Si bien algunos derechos fundamentales se pueden limitar, su restricción nunca puede ser arbitraria o absoluta. Ahora bien, el entorno laboral se ha convertido en un limitante para el disfrute pleno de los fundamentales aquí tratados, donde se ha configurado una intromisión por parte del extremo empleador, quien restringe el actuar de los trabajadores de una manera subjetiva censurable, so pena de dar por terminado el contrato de trabajo, evento que desde el punto de vista constitucional resulta reprochable. Con base en lo anterior, este escrito examinará el desarrollo legal y jurisprudencial que ampara los derechos fundamentales a la intimidad y el libre desarrollo de la personalidad dentro del ámbito laboral, para establecer a través de qué acciones judiciales o administrativas puede el trabajador garantizar su ejercicio en el marco de las relaciones laborales, máxime cuando el disfrute de estos derechos no afecta el desempeño en el cumplimiento del contrato.Universidad Libre - Facultad de Derecho - Especialización en derecho laboral y seguridad socialThe 1991 Colombian Political Constitution on its 15th and 16th articles, labels as fundamental rights both the intimacy and the personality free development. Although some fundamental rights can be limited, their restrictions can ever be either arbitrary or absolute. Now, work environment has become in a limitating factor to the full enjoyment of the fundamental rights dealt with in here, where an interference by part of the employer has been set up, who subjectively restricts the workers' way of acting, under penalty of ending the job contract, which is an event that is constitutionally reprehensible. Based on the previous background, this paper will examine the legal and jurisprudential development that protects the fundamental rights to intimacy and personality free development inside the work environment, in order to establish through which judicial or administrative actions can the worker guarantee their exercise into the work relationships framework, especially when the enjoyment of these rights does not affect neither the performance nor the fulfilment of the contract

Hunter Harvest of Pen-Reared Northern Bobwhites Released From the Surrogator

There has been increased interest in releasing pen-reared northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) to meet quail hunting and shooting objectives as populations have declined. The Surrogatort is a commercially available product for rearing and releasing gamebirds into the wild and is promoted as a method to enhance bobwhite survival, improve hunting, and increase recruitment from natural reproduction. We used return-to-hunter bag data from 3 properties in Alabama, Georgia, and Kentucky to evaluate the Surrogatort as a pre-hunting season release technique for pen-reared bobwhites. Across all sites, 3,859 5-week old banded bobwhite chicks were released at varying times during June through October, 2005–2010. Ninety-three quail hunts were conducted during November through January 2005–2011 comprising 431 hunt party hours which resulted in 19 banded bobwhites being harvested. The return-to-hunter bag for all sites combined was 0.005 (range 1⁄4 0.000 to 0.008). This was considered unsatisfactory at each site and across all sites combined for a quality hunting/shooting experience. The mean cost per chick released was $3.41 (range 1⁄4$2.74 to $3.88) including the costs of quail chicks, Surrogatort units, propane, and feed across all sites. The mean cost per bird returned-to-hunter bag (Alabama and Georgia) was$655.80 (range 1⁄4 $489.91 to$821.68). These costs did not include economic depreciation of Surrogatort units