PROFILES OF TARIFFS IN GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL MARKETS

High protection for agricultural commodities in the form of tariffs continues to be the major factor restricting world trade. The large differences in average tariffs across countries make it possible for farmers in one country to benefit from tariff protection while farmers in other countries lose income because of lower prices resulting from those tariffs. This report provides the first comprehensive analysis of agricultural tariffs and tariff-rate quotas (limits on imported goods) across a large number of countries and commodities and finds that high average tariffs create barriers to markets for U.S. and other farmers.market access, megatariffs, tariff profiles, over-quota tariffs, in-quota tariffs, tariff-rate quotas, World Trade Organization, International Relations/Trade,

Porous silica spheres as indoor air pollutant scavengers

Porous silica spheres were investigated for their effectiveness in removing typical indoor air pollutants, such as aromatic and carbonyl-containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and compared to the commercially available polymer styrene-divinylbenzene (XAD-4). The silica spheres and the XAD-4 resin were coated on denuder sampling devices and their adsorption efficiencies for volatile organic compounds evaluated using an indoor air simulation chamber. Real indoor sampling was also undertaken to evaluate the affinity of the silica adsorbents for a variety of indoor VOCs. The silica sphere adsorbents were found to have a high affinity for polar carbonyls and found to be more efficient than the XAD-4 resin at adsorbing carbonyls in an indoor environment

Using Numerical Simulation to Test the Validity of Neo-Darwinian Theory

Evolutionary genetic theory has a series of apparent “fatal flaws” which are well known to population geneticists, but which have not been effectively communicated to other scientists or the public. These fatal flaws have been recognized by leaders in the field for many decades—based upon logic and mathematical formulations. However population geneticists have generally been very reluctant to openly acknowledge these theoretical problems, and a cloud of confusion has come to surround each issue. Numerical simulation provides a definitive tool for empirically testing the reality of these fatal flaws and can resolve the confusion. The program Mendel’s Accountant (Mendel) was developed for this purpose, and it is the first biologically-realistic forward-time population genetics numerical simulation program. This new program is a powerful research and teaching tool. When any reasonable set of biological parameters are used, Mendel provides overwhelming empirical evidence that all of the “fatal flaws” inherent in evolutionary genetic theory are real. This leaves evolutionary genetic theory effectively falsified—with a degree of certainty which should satisfy any reasonable and open-minded person

Mendel\u27s Accountant: A New Population Genetics Simulation Tool for Studying Mutation and Natural Selection

Mendel’s Accountant (hereafter referred to as “Mendel”) is a state-of-the-art forward-time population genetics model that tracks millions of individual mutations with their unique effects on fitness and unique location within the genome through large numbers of generations. It treats the process of natural selection in a precise way. It allows a user to choose values for a large number of parameters such as those specifying the mutation effect distribution, reproduction rate, population size, and variations in environmental conditions. Mendel is thus a versatile and capable research tool that can be applied to problems in human genetics, plant and animal breeding, and management of endangered species. With its user-friendly graphical user interface and its ability to run on laptop computers it can also be fruitfully employed in teaching genetics and genetic principles, even at a high school level. Mendel is freely available to users and can be downloaded from the web. When biologically realistic parameters are selected, Mendel shows consistently that genetic deterioration is an inevitable outcome of the processes of mutation and natural selection. The primary reason is that most deleterious mutations are too subtle to be detected and eliminated by natural selection and therefore accumulate steadily generation after generation and inexorably degrade fitness

Minding the Gap: Computing Ethics and the Political Economy of Big Tech

In 1988 Michael Mahoney wrote that “[w]hat is truly revolutionary about the computer will become clear only when computing acquires a proper history, one that ties it to other technologies and thus uncovers the precedents that make its innovations significant” (Mahoney, 1988). Today, over thirty years after this quote was written, we are living right in the middle of the information age and computing technology is constantly transforming modern living in revolutionary ways and in such a high degree that is giving rise to many ethical considerations, dilemmas, and social disruption. To explore the myriad of issues associated with the ethical challenges of computers using the lens of political economy it is important to explore the history and development of computer technology

Wind Ensemble

Kennesaw State University School of Music presents Wind Ensemble.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1626/thumbnail.jp

Telecare at a crossroads? Finding researchable questions

Purpose This paper aims to report on a structured attempt to develop new directions for research into telecare. Current research evidence suggests that telecare in the UK is not optimally cost-effective and does not deliver better outcomes than more traditional forms of care and support. To address this problem, an analysis of expert opinion about future directions for research is provided. Design/methodology/approach Two electronic surveys of UK based academic experts were conducted. Participants were drawn from a range of professional disciplines, including medicine, social care, occupational therapy and social policy and identified were by their contribution in this, or allied fields. The first survey included nine questions intended to identify at least one new research question that could form the basis of a funding proposal to the Nuffield Foundation, which provided “seedcorn” funding to support this work. Ten themes were identified following thematic analysis. The second survey asked participants to prioritise three of these themes. Findings Key themes emerging as priority areas for future research were as follows: the role of assessment in ensuring technology deployment meets the needs of service users; ethical implications of technology and how these might be addressed in the future; and the use of end user co-production/co-creation approaches in the development of new assistive technologies and digital enabled care. Research limitations/implications The findings are based on academic expert opinion; perspectives of practitioners, service users and family members are unrepresented. Practical implications The findings of this study could contribute to development of new directions for telecare research, and future strategic funding decisions in this rapidly changing field. Originality/value Evidence for sub-optimal outcomes for telecare requires new thinking. The authors are not aware of any other study that offers an analysis of expert opinion of fruitful areas for new research into telecare

Technical Debt is an Ethical Issue

We introduce the problem of technical debt, with particular focus on critical infrastructure, and put forward our view that this is a digital ethics issue. We propose that the software engineering process must adapt its current notion of technical debt – focusing on technical costs – to include the potential cost to society if the technical debt is not addressed, and the cost of analysing, modelling and understanding this ethical debt. Finally, we provide an overview of the development of educational material – based on a collection of technical debt case studies - in order to teach about technical debt and its ethical implication