SOBRE O VALOR ECONÔMICO DO SISTEMA DE IDENTIFICAÇÃO ANIMAL DOS EUA (NAIS): NOTÍCIAS A RESPEITO DO MAU DA VACA LOUCA AFETAM O CONSUMO DE CARNES?

Esse artigo investiga os efeitos de notícias a respeito do mau da vaca louca ou BSE sobre o consumo das carnes bovina, suína e de aves nos EUA. Presume-se que o sistema nacional de identificação animal (NAIS) poderia em tese atenuar a percepção de risco dos consumidores sobre contrair o mau da vaca louca ao consumir carnes. Sistemas de equações de demanda são estimados incorporando-se, como proxy da percepção de risco do consumidor, três séries de índices de segurança do alimento separadamente construídos para as carnes bovina, suína e de aves considerando-se notícias veiculadas sobre BSE ou mau da vaca louca na imprensa escrita. Essas séries de índices são construídos somando-se o número de referências nos principais jornais norte americanos à problemas de food safety relacionados com cada uma das carnes. Utiliza-se o melhor modelo estimado, escolhido com base em testes de especificação, para se construir três cenários simulando-se respectivamente os casos em que o NAIS não está implementado, está implementado apenas para bovinos, e está implementado para suínos e bovinos. Utilizando-se as diferenças entre as receitas estimadas para cada cenário e para cada tipo de carne como uma medida do potencial ganho advindo da implementação do NAIS, conclui-se que o impacto do mau da vaca louca sobre o consumo de carnes nos EUA seria suficiente para cobrir os custos com a implementação do NAIS. Naturalmente, esse resultado fica condicionado a quanto dos ganhos com o NAIS seriam transmitidos aos pecuaristas que são aqueles que, em última instância, arcarão com os custos de implementação e manutenção do NAIS.----------------------------------------------This article investigates the willingness to pay for the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) in the US. We assume that with the NAIS in place, consumers’ concerns about Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease will be reduced and by inference consumers will be willing to pay for the NAIS. To estimate this level of willingness to pay a generalized almost ideal demand system including beef, pork and poultry is estimated, including indexes of perception of BSE based on news coverage of BSE in the U.S. We found that while news indexes of BSE were not individually significant, that they were jointly significant in test of preferred models. Using the preferred model, we constructed three scenarios on the basis of hypothesized impacts of the NAIS on consumers' food safety concerns about meat. Our conclusion is that the impact of BSE on consumer demand for meat was in itself sufficient to cover previously estimated costs of implementing the NAIS. However, it does so at the expense of pork and poultry which lose consumption relative to beef if the NAIS reduces consumers concerns as assumed. Other disease and pathogen potential would be expected to further enhance its value.Sistema nacional de identificação animal, segurança do alimento, sistema de equações de demanda, setor de carnes, EUA, Animal Identification System, Food Safety, System of Demand Equations, Meat Industry, USA, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries,

Economic Evidence of Willingness to Pay for the National Animal Identification System in the US

This article investigates the willingness to pay for the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) in the US. It is assumed that with the NAIS in place, consumers' risk perception about zoonosis, BSE or mad cow and residues in meat may be mitigated. Therefore, food safety indices for beef, pork and poultry summing the number of references to meat safety found in the top fifty English language news articles in circulation in the US have been constructed. These indices were incorporated in generalized almost ideal demand systems to estimate the effect of those food safety scares on the demand for meat in the US. It has been found that food safety impacts upon the final demand for meat in the US are small and do not show lagged effects. Using the preferred model, three scenarios have been constructed on the basis of hypothesized impacts of the NAIS on consumers' food safety concerns about meat. Finally, the differences in the predicted total revenue for beef, pork and poultry between scenarios are used as gross measures of the NAIS' economic value to the meat sector. The main conclusion is that if the defense of the NAIS is based on its effect on the demand side of the market for meats it is expected that the US Federal government will need to pay for a great part of the costs with the NAIS; otherwise the NAIS is likely to be economically unfeasible in the US.Animal Identification System, Food Safety, System of Demand Equations, Meat Industry, USA, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries, C22, Q11, Q13, Q18,

Parental health literacy and health knowledge, behaviours and outcomes in children: a cross-sectional survey

Background: Health literacy (HL) is closely associated with leading health indicators such as engaging in healthy behaviours and experiencing a healthy social environment. Parents represent a critical subgroup among the adult population since they are not only responsible for their own health but also for the health of their children. Previous research suggests that parents with low HL are less likely to meet the preventive and health care needs of their children but there are gaps in the available information and there is not any data available yet for the German context. Methods: In preparation of an implementation study, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in 28 elementary and secondary schools in Germany. The parent questionnaire was completed by 4217 parents and included the short form of the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q16). The child questionnaire examined children's health knowledge, behaviours and outcomes. For children between 6 and 10 years, a parent reported on behalf of their children (N = 1518). Students 11 years and older completed a self-administered questionnaire (N = 2776). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were carried out. Spearman's Rho correlations assess the relationships between household characteristics, parental HL and the health behaviour and outcomes in children. Results: Among the participating parents, 45.8% showed problematic or inadequate HL. The major determinants of high parental HL were high socio-economic status (SES) (r = .088***, 95% CI [.052, .124]), living in West Germany (r = .064***, 95% CI [.032, .096]) and older parental age (r = .057**, 95% CI [.024, .090]). In the multivariate model, only SES remained significant. High parental HL was associated with positive health behaviours in children including healthier nutrition, regular tooth brushing and more physical activity. The relationships between parental HL and smoking, alcohol, sexual activity among children and children's weight were not significant. Conclusions: The results confirm a relationship between low parental HL, SES and some child health behaviours likely to negatively impact their health and wellbeing including less healthy nutrition and less exercise. Strengthening the health knowledge and competencies of parents may contribute to improved child outcomes particularly in the areas of nutrition, exercise and dental health

Potentials of School Nursing for Strengthening the Health Literacy of Children, Parents and Teachers

Health literacy (HL) plays a key role in explaining health disparities. School nurses (SN) provide health related expertise within the school setting. A positive effect on the HL of children but also their teachers and parents has been suggested by some research, but gaps persist in the available information. As a pilot project, SN, which are not common in German schools, were placed in 28 public elementary and secondary schools in two German states. Children (11+ years, n = 2773), parents (n = 3978) and teachers (n = 420) participated in a 2017 baseline (T0) survey. Data collection was repeated in 2018 (T1). HL was measured using the Health Literacy for School-Aged Children scale (HLSAC) (children) and the European Health Literacy Short Scale (HLS-EU-Q16) (adults). Descriptive and multivariate data analyses were carried out. The HL of all groups increased between T0 and T1. Low child HL decreased from 17.9% to 14.9%. Problematic and inadequate HL dropped from 43.8% to 38.8% among parents and from 49.9% to 45.8% among teachers. Improvements were significant for children and parents but not for the teachers. Despite the relatively short intervention period and a relatively non-specific spectrum of interventions, there is some evidence that SN may contribute to strengthening HL within the school setting. The longer-term effects of SN on health literacy and child health should be further examined. For this, a clearer conceptualization of the scope of work of the SN in Germany including their educational interventions is imperative

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in German swine herds

The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma (T) gondii is prevalent worldwide and 1s found in a wide range of warm-blooded hosts mcluding humans. Raw and undercooked pork con taming tissue cysts is an important cause of the T. gondii- infection in humans. The aim of our study was to investigate the occurence of T. gondii-antibodies in German swine herds

Model tests on the control behaviour of a test air supply system in open or closed-loop operation

The Leibniz Universität Hannover is currently establishing a new mechanical engineering campus which includes a new research building "Dynamics of Energy Conversion" (DEW). This building provides a large compressor station for either steady or dynamic (transient) operation of turbomachinery and power plant test rigs (e.g. air turbine, axial compressor, combustion chamber, planar cascade, acoustic wind tunnel). The test air supply system is designed to enable investigations under high load gradients over wide operating ranges with Reynolds and Mach numbers controlled independently in order to fulfil aerodynamic similarity conditions between reality and model experiments. This is achieved by closed loop operation of the test air supply system which allows independent adjustment of pressure, temperature and volume flow rate as well as independence from environmental influences such as temperature or humidity. The compressor station utilizes as first stage two parallel Roots-type PD compressors and as second stage two parallel screw compressors. The test rigs operate at expansion ratios between 1 and 6. Test rig inlet pressures range from 1 bar(abs) to 8 bar(abs) with a maximum mass flow rate of 25 kg/s. At all conditions temperatures can be regulated between 60°C and 200°C. The test air supply system has a maximum electric power input of approximately 6 MW. As stringent demands on stability and reproducibility have to be met and automatic operation was requested, a scaled and simplified but fully functional model of the test air supply system was built, mainly to enable testing of control methods and devices prior to their final implementation on site. The functional model uses DN150 piping and consists of one Roots-type PD compressor as first stage and one screw compressors as second stage. Both compressors are driven by electric motors regulated by frequency converters. A turbine test rig is represented in the model by an adjustable throttle valve. Precise control of the mass flow rate is provided by a cascaded adjustable bypass around the test rig. The paper describes the test air supply system and the scaled model and presents experimental results on the achievable stability of pressure, temperature and mass flow rate at the test rig inlet in steady operation at several operating conditions of the model

Untersuchungen zur Eignung von TiO2 zur photokatalytischen Reinigung von Kraftfahrzeugabgasen

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A temperature shock can lead to trans-generational immune priming in the Red Flour Beetle, Tribolium castaneum

Trans-generational immune priming (TGIP) describes the transfer of immune stimulation to the next generation. As stress and immunity are closely connected, we here address the question whether trans-generational effects on immunity and resistance can also be elicited by a nonpathogen stress treatment of parents. General stressors have been shown to induce immunity to pathogens within individuals. However, to our knowledge, it is as of yet unknown whether stress can also induce trans-generational effects on immunity and resistance. We exposed a parental generation (mothers, fathers, or both parents) of the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, a species where TGIP has been previously been demonstrated, to either a brief heat or cold shock and examined offspring survival after bacterial infection with the entomopathogen Bacillus thuringiensis. We also studied phenoloxidase activity, a key enzyme of the insect innate immune system that has previously been demonstrated to be up-regulated upon TGIP. We quantified parental fecundity and offspring developmental time to evaluate whether trans-generational priming might have costs. Offspring resistance was found to be significantly increased when both parents received a cold shock. Offspring phenoloxidase activity was also higher when mothers or both parents were cold-shocked. By contrast, parental heat shock reduced offspring phenoloxidase activity. Moreover, parental cold or heat shock delayed offspring development. In sum, we conclude that trans-generational priming for resistance could not only be elicited by pathogens or pathogen-derived components, but also by more general cues that are indicative of a stressful environment. The interaction between stress responses and the immune system might play an important role also for trans-generational effects

Investigation of the pathophysiology of bacterial mastitis using precision-cut bovine udder slices

Mastitis in cattle is a major health problem as well as incurring high costs for the dairy industry. To assess the suitability of precision-cut bovine udder slices (PCBUS) for bovine mastitis studies, we infected PCBUS with 2 different Staphylococcus aureus strains. Accordingly, we investigated both the tissue response to infection based on immune mediators at the mRNA and protein levels and the invasion of bacteria within the tissue. The studied proteins represent immune mediators of early inflammation [IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2)] and showed a time-dependent increase in concentration. Infection of PCBUS with S. aureus resulted in increased expression of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines such as TNF-α, C-C motif chemokine ligand 20 (CCL20), IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-10, but not C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 8 (CXCL8), lingual antimicrobial peptide (LAP), or S100 calcium binding protein A9 (S100A9) at the mRNA level. To compare the data acquired with this model, we carried out investigations on primary bovine mammary epithelial cells. Our results showed that the immune responses of both models - PCBUS and primary bovine mammary epithelial cells - were similar. In addition, investigations using PCBUS enabled us to demonstrate adherence of bacteria in the physiological cell network. These findings support the use of PCBUS in studies designed to further understand the complex pathophysiological processes of infection and inflammation in bovine mastitis and to investigate alternative therapies for mastitis