Selected Results of the IFCN Dairy Network Milk Prices and Costs of Milk Production in 2003

Within the IFCN Dairy Network milk prices and costs of milk production have been analysed from 31 countries for the year 2003. A wide diversity of milk prices between the countries could be observed with > 35 US-$/100 kg milk in Switzerland, Norway and Canada and < 15 US-$ in Argentina and Pakistan. Costs of milk production differ significantly between the countries, and within the countries as well. The highest costs of milk production (50 - 60 US- $/100 kg milk) are found in Switzerland and on average sized farms in the EU, the lowest costs in Argentina (10 15 US-$). For the future, a "world market price for milk," which was around 15 - 20 US-$/100 kg milk in 2003, is expected to be higher and might end at around 28 US-$.Milk production, international competitiveness, International Farm Comparison Network, Livestock Production/Industries,

"Wie die Farbe des Himmels nach dem Regen" : die poetischen Bildwelten der Ulrike Ottinger

Ulrike Ottinger gilt als eine der eigenwilligsten deutschen Filmemacherinnen von internationalem Rang. Vom Surreal-Theatralischen, vom Stilisiert-Artifiziellen bis zum Ethnologisch-Abbildenden, vom Fiktionalen bis zum Dokumentarischen reicht ihr Œuvre. Ihre Motive findet sie in Europa, Asien und Nordamerika. Im Zentrum der Ausstellung stehen ihre großformatigen Fotografien, die häufig parallel zu den Filmarbeiten entstanden sind, jedoch ganz eigene visuelle Akzente setzen. Regionale Schwerpunkte bilden dabei China und die Mongolei, die Ottinger wiederholt bereist hat. Das Abwegige, Abseitige und Groteske rückt sie in den Mittelpunkt ihrer Bilder. Die Ausstellung ist in enger Zusammenarbeit mit der Künstlerin entstanden. Überbordende Dreh- und Arbeitsbücher, vielschichtige Collagen ihrer Recherchen, verdeutlichen den filmischen Arbeitsprozess. Die phantasievollen Kostüme aus Filmen wie DORIAN GRAY IM SPIEGEL DER BOULEVARDPRESSE (1984) oder JOHANNA D´ARC OF MONGOLIA (1989) arrangiert Ottinger zu theatralen Installationen

A New Miranda For Foreign Nationals?

This Note will explore the conflict between federalism expressed in the U.S. Constitution and the demands that international treaties, entered into by the federal government, make on local governments. Part I will explain the current state of the issues addressed in the Note, including the Vienna Convention, and the relevant provisions relating to the arrests of foreign nationals. The Note will then examine whether, given that international treaties have been interpreted as providing rights and provisions that are only enforceable by countries, a private party, such as a foreign national, has the power to invoke the provisions in his defense when faced with a criminal action or a habeas corpus motion. Part I will explore the structure in the U.S. Constitution that divides powers between the federal and state governments, granting certain powers to state governments and imposing limits on the power of the federal government. It is this allocation of power that may pose an obstacle to a federal attempt to mandate state compliance with affirmative obligations under an international treaty such as the Vienna Convention. The remainder of the Note will analyze the issues involved in determining whether a foreign national can rely on a federal court to apply the Vienna Convention against state governments to suppress evidence. Part III will analyze whether the federal government can impose duties on local governments through international treaties, such as the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (Vienna Convention). Assuming that federal governments can impose these duties on local governments, Part IV will examine whether suppression of evidence would be a justifiable remedy for the violation of these duties

Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der Milchproduktion in Deutschland

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Ventralight ST and Sorbafix versus Physiomesh and Securestrap in a porcine model

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to compare mesh contracture, adhesion characteristics, tissue ingrowth, and histologic response of Ventralight ST/SorbaFix (C.R. Bard/Davol, Warwick, RI, USA) with Physiomesh/Securestrap (Ethicon, Somerville, NJ, USA) in a porcine model of laparoscopic ventral hernia repair. METHODS: Standard laparoscopic technique was used to bilaterally implant meshes in 10 female Yorkshire swine. Each animal received either two Ventralight ST meshes (oval shaped, 10.2 × 15.2 cm) or two Physiomesh meshes (oval shaped 10 × 15 cm), one on either side of the midline. The meshes were fixated to the intact peritoneum with either SorbaFix (for animals receiving Ventralight ST) or Securestrap (for animals receiving Physiomesh). There were 5 animals in each group, yielding 10 of each mesh-fixation combination. Mesh contracture, adhesion characteristics, tissue ingrowth, and histologic response were evaluated after 14 days by image analysis, mechanical testing, and histologic staining (hematoxylin-eosin, Masson trichrome, picrosirius red, and von Willebrand factor). RESULTS: Ventralight ST/SorbaFix and Physiomesh/Securestrap exhibited a similar percentage of mesh contracture, percentage of adhesion coverage, adhesion tenacity, collagen deposition, and levels of necrosis (P > .05 in all cases). However, Ventralight ST/SorbaFix exhibited significantly less inflammation (P = .0001), fibrosis (P = .0017), hemorrhage (P = .0001), and angiogenesis (P = .0032) and significantly greater strength of tissue ingrowth (P = .0003) than Physiomesh/Securestrap after the 14-day implantation period. CONCLUSIONS: Ventralight ST/SorbaFix exhibited more favorable strength of tissue ingrowth and histologic response and similar mesh contracture and adhesion characteristics compared with Physiomesh/Securestrap over a short-term 14-day implantation period in a preclinical porcine model

Knowledge spillovers: On the impact of genetic distance and data revisions

This paper assesses the robustness of the empirical results in Ertur and Koch (2007), who develop a model, which accounts for technological interdependence among countries through spatial externalities. The original version models interdependence via an interaction matrix based on geographic distance. In contrast, in this paper, data on genetic distance, defined as the time since two populations have shared a common ancestor, from Spolaore and Wacziarg (2009) is used to construct the interaction matrix. It is found that, whereas in the original model indirect spillovers from capital investment were insignificant, using genetic distance, these spillovers now have a significant effect on steady-state income per worker. However, the version of the model with an interaction matrix based on genetic distance implies an implausibly large capital share of income. In addition, the model is subjected to a further series of robustness checks. The original version relies on data from Penn World Table (PWT) Version 6.1. More recent versions are currently available, and the data has been extensively revised (Johnson et al., 2013). It is shown that results are in general not robust across different versions of the PWT. Furthermore, the estimation results are highly sensitive both to the measure used to model interaction between countries (genetic or geographic distance) and to the specific functional form on which the weights in the interaction matrix are based

Many Mountains, Much News: Digitizing Appalachia’s Historic Newspapers

This panel session will discuss various aspects of the digitization process and highlight actual newspaper stories now available on the Chronicling America site. Abstract: For centuries, newspapers in Appalachia were a vitally important source for reporting local and state news. Their pages circulated through the many mountains of Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky, carrying reports to the people on the day’s news from Civil War battles to the Hatfield & McCoy Feud, to the violence of “Bloody Breathitt” County, to the massacre at Matewan, from the roots of mountain music to the final vote cast in the debate over the 19th amendment to the US Constitution. Today, Appalachians can now read the pages and papers coveted by their great-great-great-grandparents, discover stories from the past, and explore more than a century’s worth of rich genealogical data from birth, marriage and death notices through the website for the Library of Congress and their newspaper portal: Chronicling America. Recipients of a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, three universities, West Virginia University, the University of Tennessee and the University of Kentucky, along with the Library of Virginia, are digitizing Appalachia’s historic newspapers from the nineteen century through the early years of the twentieth century for the Library of Congress National Digital Newspaper Project