The Simple Economics of Hog Marketing Reforms in Quebec

Hogs, marketing, vertical coordination, auctions, Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing,

Ultrafiltration in the Ontario Dairy Industry

The economics of introducing ultrafiltration (UF) into the Ontario dairy industry is analyzed. First, a partial budget is developed to determine feasibility of UF on the farm. The budget indicates that the great majority of Ontario dairy farms are not large enough to capture the economies of size inherent in the new technology. Second, a location-allocation model is used to determine the feasibility, number and location of UF collection centers in Ontario. The model indicates that the UF centers would capture the economies of size and the centers would benefit the dairy industry as a whole. However, processors of soft products and consumers of hard products could be worse off because of market changes caused by the UF center

Radon, From the Ground into Our Schools: Parent/Guardian Awareness of Radon Levels in Vermont Schools

Introduction. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. Ex- posure to radon in schools may be harmful to schoolchildren, faculty, and staff, but there is currently no legislation mandating testing or mitigation of radon levels in Vermont schools. Objectives. The goal of our study was to assess Vermont parents’ awareness of radon’s harmful effects, as well as awareness of and support for testing and mitigation of radon levels in their children’s schools. Methods. We distributed paper and online surveys to Vermont parents of children grades K-12. 126 surveys were received and quantitatively analyzed. We held a focus group of two Vermont parents to gather qualitative data. Results. Most surveyed parents demonstrated general knowledge of radon, but only 51% believed that radon affects the lungs. 8% were confident that their children’s schools had informed them about radon levels. 91.2% believe their children’s schools should take action to address elevated radon levels and 87% would support mandated mitigation. There is some concern and lack of knowledge about the financial implications of radon mitigation. Conclusions. Most Vermont parents of children grades K-12 are unaware that radon is a lung carcinogen and do not know their children’s school’s radon levels or mitigation status. However, most are in favor of legislation that would require testing and dis- closure of schools’ high radon levels. Educating parents about school radon levels and their association with lung cancer could be a foundation for community support of legislation that mandates testing and mitigation of radon in Vermont schools.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1252/thumbnail.jp

Effects of Price Insurance Programs on Supply Response: A Case Study of Corn Farmers in Quebec

Aims: This study examines the supply response of corn in the province of Quebec. Study Design: A time series design is implemented. Place and Duration of Study: Our analysis covers the period from 1985 to 2013 and uses the data of corn production in the province of Quebec. Methodology: A generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) process is used to model output price expectations and its volatility. Results: We found that application of the Farm Income Stabilisation Insurance in Quebec neutralises the adverse effects of price volatilities on corn production and generates a market power for corn producers. The change in the producers' attitude towards risk is other implication of the insurance program. Conclusion: These results imply that implementation of the insurance program in the province of Quebec leads to an increase of corn production and consequently this increase in production can impose more compensation cost (paid by the insurance program) to governments

Effects of Price Insurance Programs on Supply Response: A Case Study of Corn Farmers in Quebec

Aims: This study examines the supply response of corn in the province of Quebec. Study Design: A time series design is implemented. Place and Duration of Study: Our analysis covers the period from 1985 to 2013 and uses the data of corn production in the province of Quebec. Methodology: A generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) process is used to model output price expectations and its volatility. Results: We found that application of the Farm Income Stabilisation Insurance in Quebec neutralises the adverse effects of price volatilities on corn production and generates a market power for corn producers. The change in the producers' attitude towards risk is other implication of the insurance program. Conclusion: These results imply that implementation of the insurance program in the province of Quebec leads to an increase of corn production and consequently this increase in production can impose more compensation cost (paid by the insurance program) to governments

Implications of the state assistance program in the province of Quebec: the case of lamb production

This study investigated the impact of the Farm Income Stabilization Insurance (ASRA) on the adoption of price risk management strategies by lamb producers in the province of Quebec. This study employed a Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) process to model price risks. The results indicated that the application of the Farm Income Stabilization Insurance in Quebec generates crowding-out effects on price risk management strategies, which decreases the efficiency of this program. On the other hand, the product-specific nature of ASRA leads to some challenges such as a modification in the revenue distribution across the farm, increased production, increased indebtedness of farmers and the increased financial burden on governments’ shoulders. Finally, the results imply asymmetric impacts of negative and positive shocks generated by ASRA which result in an increasing risk-aversion of producers over the periods of decreased prices and a decreasing risk aversion over the periods of increased prices

Collaboration in the cloud at Google

Through a detailed analysis of logs of activity for all Google employees1, this paper shows how the Google Docs suite (documents, spreadsheets and slides) enables and increases collaboration within Google. In particular, visualization and analysis of the evolution of Google’s collaboration net-work show that new employees2, have started collaborating more quickly and with more people as usage of Docs has grown. Over the last two years, the percentage of new employees who col-laborate on Docs per month has risen from 70% to 90 % and the percentage who collaborate with more than two people has doubled from 35 % to 70%. Moreover, the culture of collaboration has become more open, with public sharing within Google overtaking private sharing.

Wearable Positive End-Expiratory Pressure Valve Improves Exercise Performance

Positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) provides benefits to pulmonary patients, yet effects in healthy, exercising adults are unknown. PURPOSE: We designed two experiments (EXP) to test a novel PEEP (4.2 cmH2O PEEP) mouthpiece (PMP) on maximal cycling performance of physically active volunteers. METHODS: EXP-1 PMP vs. control (CON) mouthpiece (N=9, Age=30±2 yr, Weight=72.2±3.7 kg, BMI=24.4±1.2, 5♂); and EXP-2 PMP vs. no mouthpiece (NMP) (N=10, Age=27±1 yr, Weight=76.7±3.6 kg, BMI=23.9±0.8, ♂). Exercise test procedures for both experiments were identical. On Day 1, under the first mouthpiece condition assigned at random subjects performed graded exercise cycling testing (GXT) (Corival®) for VO2peak (ml*kg*min-1), oxygen pulse (mlO2*bt) (O2pulse), GXT endurance time (s) (GXT-T), and VO2(ml*kg*min-1)-at-ventilatory-threshold (VO2 @VT). Subjects returned 72 h later (Day 2), to complete an endurance ride timed (s)to exhaustion (VTER) at an intensity equivalent to their VO2 @VT power (W). One week later, subjects repeated exercise testing protocols (Days 3 & 4, time-of-day controlled) under the alternate mouthpiece condition. RESULTS: Selected outcomes were as follows (paired T-test, *PMP vs. CON, respectively: VO2peak=45.2±2.4* vs. 42.4±2.3; VO2@VT=33.7±2.0 vs. 32.3±1.6; GXT-T=521.7±73.4* vs. 495.3±72.8; VTER=846.2±166.0 vs. 743.1±124.7; O2pulse=24.5±1.4* vs. 23.1±1.3. PMP vs. NMP, respectively: VO2peak=43.3±1.6* vs. 41.7±1.6; VO2@AT=31.1±1.2* vs. 29.1±1.3; GXT-T=511.7*±49.6 vs. 486.4±49.6; VTER 872.4±134.0 vs. 792.9 ± 122.4; O2pulse=24.1±0.9* vs. 23.4±0.9. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that the novel PEEP mouthpiece we tested confers a significant performance benefit to cyclists completing high intensity exercise. By extension, it is likely to be an advantage in any physical activity having an aerobic component

Cultivar diversity of grape skin polyphenol composition and changes in response to drought investigated by LC-MS based metabolomics

Phenolic compounds represent a large family of plant secondary metabolites, essential for the quality of grape and wine and playing a major role in plant defense against biotic and abiotic stresses. Phenolic composition is genetically driven and greatly affected by environmental factors, including water stress. Amajor challenge for breeding of grapevine cultivars adapted to climate change and with high potential for wine-making is to dissect the complex plant metabolic response involved in adaptation mechanisms. A targeted metabolomics approach based on ultra high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QqQ-MS) analysis in the Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) mode has been developed for high throughput profiling of the phenolic composition of grape skins. Thismethod enables rapid, selective, and sensitive quantification of 96 phenolic compounds (anthocyanins, phenolic acids, stilbenoids, flavonols, dihydroflavonols, flavan-3-ol monomers, and oligomers¿), and of the constitutive units of proanthocyanidins (i.e., condensed tannins), giving access to detailed polyphenol composition. It was applied on the skins of mature grape berries from a core-collection of 279 Vitis vinifera cultivars grown with or without watering to assess the genetic variation for polyphenol composition and its modulation by irrigation, in two successive vintages (2014-2015). Distribution of berry weights and δ13C values showed that non irrigated vines were subjected to a marked water stress in 2014 and to a very limited one in 2015. Metabolomics analysis of the polyphenol composition and chemometrics analysis of this data demonstrated an influence of water stress on the biosynthesis of different polyphenol classes and cultivar differences in metabolic response to water deficit. Correlation networks gave insight on the relationships between the different polyphenol metabolites and related biosynthetic pathways. They also established patterns of polyphenol response to drought, with different molecular families affected either positively or negatively in the different cultivars, with potential impact on grape and wine quality