Food Safety Standards and Export Competitiveness in the Food and Processed Food Industries in Asia-Pacific Countries

Developing country producers face several constraints related to food safety standards imposed by developed countries. The purpose of this study is to identify factors affecting export flows with respect to food safety standards; and to measure the effects of food safety standards on exports. This study incorporates a food safety variable in a gravity model. The analysis uses aggregate data for bilateral exports of processed food products, and data for factors affecting bilateral export flows for 17 years on 16 OECD and Asia-Pacific countries. The results show that food product exports are negatively affected by aflatoxin standards. A one percent increase in food safety standards decrease exports by approximately one percent. This means that large changes in food standards (which are common these days) will have salutary, deleterious impacts on food exports by developing countries.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade,

International Competitiveness and Environmental Regulations

This study follows the standard factor endowment approach to explain the effects of environmental regulations on net exports in different product-based industries. It constructs an econometric model which includes factor endowments and environmental regulations to examine how strict environmental policy impact export competitiveness. Cross-sectional and time series (panel) data for 6 countries and 17 years were used in this model. In this study, capital services increase net exports in labor-intensive industries like textiles, textile products, leather and footwear industries. The effects of increased labor intensity in food, textiles and machinery is higher than for other capital intensive good industries. The environmental regulation imposed in textile, textiles products, leather and footwear industry, and manufacturing (n.e.c) industry negatively impact net exports.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Factors Affecting International Mergers and Acquisitions

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that explain outward and inward merger and acquisition (M/A) activity for a country. The variables used to explain M/A activity include the exchange rate, interest rate, and stock market prices. Regression analysis is used to isolate and clarify the effects of these three factors for aggregate M/A activity and M/A activity within the food, beverage, and tobacco industry. The analysis shows that three variables, the exchange rate, interest rate, and stock prices, are quite important in explaining variations in M/A activity by country. Exchange rate changes in particular have a very elastic impact on outward M/A activity, indicating that price effects are important in determining outward investment flows. The stock market index positively influenced inward and outward M/A activity. The interest rate had a negative impact on M/A in the inward and outward M/A models with M/A outflows decreasing by about the same percentage that interest rates increase.Industrial Organization,

The Impact of Competition Policy on Production and Export Competitiveness: A Perspective from Agri-food Processing

This study tests the hypothesis that competition policy positively impacts a country's production and export competitiveness. The results show that competition policy has a significantly positive impact on manufacturing production. The results also show that exports for both total manufacturing and food manufacturing are positively related to competition policy.Competition policy, production, export competitiveness, Agribusiness,

Does ECG and Arrhythmia Simulation Training in Adjunct to Didactics Improve Medical Students’ Clinical Skills Compared to Didactics Alone?

Medical Schools continue to face the challenge of bridging the gap between classroom education and its application in the clinical environment. Several studies have shown utility of incorporating simulation training into a variety of healthcare related topics. We hypothesize that incorporating ECG and arrhythmia simulation training in adjunction to ECG and arrhythmia didactics; it would improve Year-3 medical students’ preparedness for managing arrhythmias in the clinical setting

Description of Urban Emergency Department Patients with Elevated D-Dimer Levels

“Description of Urban Emergency Department Patients with Elevated D-Dimer Levels” Authors Anneliese Rademacher, Paige Hammis, Sarah Meram, Elizabeth Dubey MD, Brian Reed, James Paxton MD Introduction Venous thromboembolism (VTE) can cause conditions including deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). D-dimer is an assay used to detect VTE, with a level of 0.5 or higher being a positive result. However, many other factors can influence D-dimer levels. The purpose of our study is to describe the characteristics associated with an elevated D-dimer level among patients treated in two urban emergency departments (EDs). Methods This is a retrospective study utilizing review of the electronic medical records including D-dimer levels and other data for patients who presented to two Detroit EDs over the course of 2 years. Standard statistical analyses were performed. Exclusion criteria included patients with incomplete registration data or who left without completion of service. Results Of the patients who had a positive D-dimer test, 64.58% were female and 88.82% were African American. Patients with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), congestive heart failure (CHF), coronary artery disease (CAD), or cancer were more likely to have a positive D-dimer level (p \u3c 0.001). Only 5.71% of patients with a positive D-dimer had a diagnosis of VTE (p \u3c 0.001). Discussion/Conclusion Although a D-dimer assay can be useful in screening for VTE, our results showed that a positive D-dimer test is not specific for diagnosis of PE or DVT. Other characteristics are associated with an elevated result including a history of CHF, COPD, CAD/MI, and cancer. To avoid unnecessary testing, factors that influence D-dimer levels need to be further researched