PRICE TRANSMISSION, THRESHOLD BEHAVIOR, AND ASYMMETRIC ADJUSTMENT IN THE U.S. PORK SECTOR

The US pork sector has experienced many significant structural changes in recent years. Such changes may have influenced price dynamics and transmission of shocks through marketing channels. We investigate linkages among farm, wholesale, and retail markets using weekly price data for the period covering 1987 through 1998. Our analysis uses a threshold cointegration model that permits asymmetric adjustment to positive and negative price shocks. Our results reveal important asymmetries. Our results are consistent with existing literature which has determined that price adjustment patterns are unidirectional and that information tends to flow from farm, to wholesale, to retail markets.asymmetric price transmission, vertical price transmission, error correction, thresholds, pork markets, Demand and Price Analysis, Livestock Production/Industries,

MODELING CATASTROPHIC WEATHER EVENTS AND THE RISKS OF ANIMAL WASTE SPILLS IN THE COASTAL PLAIN OF NORTH CAROLINA

This paper considers probabilistic models of hurricane-induced animal waste lagoon failures in North Carolina. A substantial number of waste lagoons exist in areas prone to hurricane damages. We evaluate expected losses which represent actuarially-fair insurance premium rates for a plan that would indemnify producers against damages from lagoon failures. Our results imply annual premiums ranging from under $100 per year to over$2,062 per year. An interesting result is that those areas with the highest levels of expected loss are also those areas with the greatest concentration of waste lagoons.Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries,

THE CHANGING STRUCTURE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

Production Economics,

Applying the water safety plan to water reuse: towards a conceptual risk management framework

The Water Safety Plan (WSP) is receiving increasing attention as a recommended risk management approach for water reuse through a range of research programmes, guidelines and standards. Numerous conceptual modifications of the approach – including the Sanitation Safety Plan, the Water Cycle Safety Plan, and even a dedicated Water Reuse Safety Plan – have been put forward for this purpose. However, these approaches have yet to encapsulate the full spectrum of possible water reuse applications, and evidence of their application to reuse remains limited. Through reviewing the existing evidence base, this paper investigates the potential for adapting the WSP into an approach for water reuse. The findings highlight a need for the management of risk to reflect on, and facilitate the inclusion of, broader contexts and objectives for water reuse schemes. We conclude that this could be addressed through a more integrated approach to risk management, encapsulated within an overarching risk management framework (adapted from the WHO's Framework for safe drinking water) and operationalised through the Water Reuse Safety Plan (WRSP). We also propose that the WRSP should be based on modifications to the existing WSP approach, including an increased emphasis on supporting communication and engagement, and improvements in decision support mechanisms to better account for uncertainty, risk interactions and risk prioritisation

A Subject-Specific Multiscale Model of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a neuromodulation technique used to treat a variety of neurological disorders. While many types of neuromodulation therapy are invasive, TMS is an attractive alternative because it is noninvasive and has a very strong safety record. However, clinical use of TMS has preceded a thorough scientific understanding: its mechanisms of action remain elusive, and the spatial extent of modulation is not well understood. We created a subject-specific, multiscale computational model to gain insights into the physiological response during motor cortex TMS. Specifically, we developed an approach that integrates three main components: 1) a high-resolution anatomical MR image of the whole head with diffusion weighted MRI data; 2) a subject-specific, electromagnetic, non-homogeneous, anisotropic, finite element model of the whole head with a novel time-dependent solver; 3) a population of multicompartmental pyramidal cell neuron models. We validated the model predictions by comparing them to motor evoked potentials (MEPs) immediately following single-pulse TMS of the human motor cortex. This modeling approach contains several novel components, which in turn allowed us to gain greater insights into the interactions of TMS with the brain. Using this approach we found that electric field magnitudes within gray matter and white matter vary substantially with coil orientation. Our results suggest that 1) without a time-dependent, subject-specific, non-homogeneous, anisotropic model, loci of stimulation cannot be accurately predicted; 2) loci of stimulation depend upon biophysical properties and morphologies of pyramidal cells in both gray and white matter relative to the induced electric field. These results indicate that the extent of neuromodulation is more widespread than originally thought. Through medical imaging and computational modeling, we provide insights into the effects of TMS at a multiscale level, which would be unachievable by either method alone. Finally, our approach is amenable to clinical implementation. As a result, it could provide the means by which TMS parameters can be prescribed for treatment and a foundation for improving coil design

The Origins and Development of Wilfred Currier Keirstead’s Social and Religious Thought

W.C. Keirstead was a leading Maritime social scientist, philosopher, and professor at the University of New Brunswick from 1908 to 1944. This article examines the formation of his social thought in an attempt to address the current debate among historians about whether or not social scientists in early-20th-century English Canada embraced modern thought at the expense of their Christian worldview, thereby helping to accelerate secularization. His writings reveal that he was not an agent of secularization, for although Keirstead embraced many aspects of modernity he continued to draw upon the Baptist religion of his youth and maintained a Christian outlook throughout his career. Résumé W.C. Keirstead était un éminent spécialiste des sciences sociales, philosophe et professeur à l’Université du Nouveau-Brunswick de 1908 à 1944. Cet article examine la formation de sa pensée sociale en vue d’éclairer le débat actuel parmi les historiens à savoir si oui ou non les spécialistes des sciences sociales du Canada anglais du début du 20e siècle ont adhéré à la pensée moderne aux dépens de leur vision chrétienne du monde, contribuant ainsi à accélérer la sécularisation. Ses écrits révèlent qu’il n’était pas un agent de la sécularisation, car bien que Keirstead ait souscrit à de nombreux aspects de la modernité, il continua à puiser dans la religion baptiste de sa jeunesse et conserva une perspective chrétienne tout au long de sa carrière

MICROECONOMETRIC MODELING OF HOUSEHOLD FOOD DEMAND: THE CASE OF TRANSITION BULGARIA

Considerable optimism has been expressed about the outlook for increased exports of food products to Central and Eastern Europe. A clear understanding of the potential for increased exports to this region requires comprehension of consumers' demands for food products. This analysis resents detailed elasticity estimate for food commodities in transition Bulgaria. The analysis is conducted in two segments. The first considers demand for five aggregate food commodities---cereals, fruits and vegetables, meats, dairy products, other foods (including food consumed away from home and prepared foods), and all other goods. The estimates suggest relatively price inelastic demands. We find that cereals and dairy products tend to be income-inelastic while meats and other foods are income-elastic. We also consider a Kuhn-Tucker model of demand for individual meats. These results indicate that the demands for individual meat products are very price and income elastic.Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis,

From risk to safety management: stakeholder engagement to inform the governance and design if water reuse schemes.

Water reuse is a feasible technological approach to addressing urban water management challenges. Whilst stakeholder acceptance is acknowledged as important for scheme success, less is known about how to interpret and influence stakeholder attitudes to water reuse, how preferences for risk mitigation influence scheme design, and what forms of engagement with risk work in what contexts. This thesis aims to understand the nature of stakeholder perceptions and expectations in the context of water reuse schemes, and to critically evaluate how stakeholder engagement with risk management can be used to enhance the governance and design of water reuse schemes. Through an embedded case study design and mixed-methods research, perceptions of water reuse as a feasible water management intervention in London are explored. This study offers a number of contributions to the immediate field of research. Firstly, the findings highlight perceived benefits to engaging stakeholders through more collaborative learning-by-doing risk management. Secondly, the findings help to improve knowledge of methods for interpreting, informing and influencing stakeholders’ perceptions through mediums such as online news and video animations. Thirdly, findings contribute to the understanding of the effectiveness of communication through showing an impact on public perceptions predicated on the focal characteristics of risk management messages. Fourthly, findings indicate that preferences for different recycled water uses and perceptions of certain scheme configurations could influence design decisions. Finally, findings support benefits of including stakeholders in multi-criteria evaluations of risk-based decisions. A further contribution of this research is the identification of a number of thematic conditions necessary for enhancing scheme governance and design. These thematic conditions can assist in developing knowledge that focuses on overcoming the challenges of translating contemporary management and design theory into practice. In particular, this research highlights implication for advancing state-of-the-art risk management frameworks, specifically, through adopting more adaptive rationales informed through stakeholder engagement. This study contributes to the development of local and regional capabilities for water reuse risk management with implications for developing more strategic water reuse guidance and policy.STREAM EngD programm