Product Quality in the Canadian Dairy Industry

Supply management has been shown to increase the price of milk. Technological change has induced (and allowed) processors to substitute alternative inputs, many of which can be imported tariff-free, for the traditional ingredients to lower costs and maximize profit. Meanwhile, there has been a great deal of consolidation in the dairy processing industry. We analyse the effect of these trends on cheese quality by measuring the increase in casein imports. Results suggest that supply management is negatively affecting cheese quality, by increasing casein imports due to the higher milk price. Furthermore, we were able to calculate that approximately 9.8% of specialty cheese is produced used casein. A 22% ad valorem tariff is needed to drive casein imports down to zero.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Industrial Organization,

PRODUCT QUALITY IN THE CANADIAN DAIRY INDUSTRY

Supply management has been shown to increase the price of milk. Technological change has induced (and allowed) processors to substitute alternative inputs, many of which can be imported tariff-free, for the traditional ingredients to lower costs and maximize profit. Meanwhile, there has been a great deal of consolidation in the dairy processing industry. We analyse the effect of these trends on cheese quality by measuring the increase in casein imports. Results suggest that supply management is negatively affecting cheese quality, by increasing casein imports due to the higher milk price. Furthermore, we were able to calculate that approximately 9.8% of specialty cheese is produced used casein. A 22% ad valorem tariff is needed to drive casein imports down to zero.Industrial Organization,

Welfare Implications of Washington Wheat Breeding Programs

We calculate the welfare effects of the WSU wheat breeding programs for producers and consumers in Washington State, Oregon, Idaho, the United States and the rest of the world. We develop a partial equilibrium multi-region, multi-product, multi-variety trade model for wheat that provides consumer, producer and total surplus for each wheat class and region. Our results provide evidence suggesting that WSU wheat breeding programs have increased welfare in Washington State, in the United States and the rest of the world.welfare, wheat breeding programs, economic surplus, partial equilibrium, Agribusiness, F14, F17, Q11, Q16, Q18,

The Effects of Reducing Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Barriers to Trade on the Washington State Apple Industry

Health Economics and Policy,

The Economic Impact of New Technology Adoption: An Example of the Role of Genetically Modified Technology

Fire blight is a bacterial disease that can affect various parts of the apple tree during different growth stages, including the blossom, fruit, roots and shoots. Fire blight outbreaks cause serious damage to apple producers. In 2000, Michigan lost more than 600 acres of orchards and more than 220,000 trees aged two to five years to the disease, leading to a loss of more than $42 million to the region (Norelli, Jones, and Aldwinckle, 2003). Typically in the United States, fire blight losses exceed$100 million annually. In this study, we evaluate new production technologies aimed at controlling fire blight in the U.S. apple industry using a temporal and spatial partial equilibrium model. Many recently popular apple varieties are more susceptible to fire blight than the dominant traditional varieties, particularly ‘Red Delicious’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ (Briggs and Yoder, 2012). These highly susceptible varieties include favorites such as ‘Fuji’, ‘Gala’, ‘Granny Smith’, and ‘Cripps Pink’. Growers of these susceptible varieties have suffered significant production losses from fire blight, which can be as large as 5% annually (Gianessi, Silvers, and Carpenter, 2002). As consumers substitute the susceptible varieties for traditional varieties (‘Red Delicious’ production in 2008 was only 65% of its 2000 level, while ‘Cripps Pink’ production nearly tripled in that same period), there is increased concern about the sustainability of production in regions where fire blight is prevalent

AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF PRODUCT QUALITY WITHIN THE CANADIAN CHEESE INDUSTRY

Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Análise dos efeitos de fármacos no meio ambiente aquático: uso de biomarcadores

Projeto de Pós-Graduação/Dissertação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciências FarmacêuticasA ocorrência de fármacos no meio ambiente aquático é um assunto de atual e particular interesse para a comunidade científica. Diversos compostos de cariz farmacológico têm sido detetados em efluentes de estações de tratamento de águas residuais e consequentemente no compartimento aquático por todo o mundo. Alguns dos efeitos adversos causados por fármacos no compartimento aquático incluem toxicidade, desenvolvimento de resistência em bactérias patogénicas, genotoxicidade e desregulação endócrina. Num contexto de análise do risco ambiental, a utilização de diversos biomarcadores promete ser um indicador sensível que demonstra que o composto tóxico entrou no organismo, começou a ser distribuido nos tecidos/órgãos e está a começar a produzir efeitos tóxicos críticos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar as consequências ambientais, e eventualmente de saúde pública, que resultam da contaminação do compartimento aquático por via de compostos farmacológicos inapropriamente libertados para o meio aquático, ou lixiviados nos esgotos domésticos como metabólitos secundários humanos, bem como referenciar formas de detetar os efeitos causados nos seres vivos fruto da exposição a estes compostos antrópicos. Particular ênfase foi dada a utilização dos biomarcadores enquanto ferramenta de análise ecotoxicológica. The occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment is a subject of current and particular interest to the scientific community. Several pharmacological compounds have been detected in wastewater treatment stations for wastewater and consequently in the aquatic compartment worldwide. Some of the adverse effects caused by these chemicals in the aquatic compartment include toxicity, development of resistance in pathogenic bacteria, genotoxicity and endocrine disruption. In the context of environmental risk analysis, the use of various biomarkers promises could be a sensitive indicator which shows that the toxic compound after entering the organism, and being distributed in tissues/organs, is starting to produce critical toxic effects. The aim of this study was to identify the environmental problems and public health issues, that result from contamination of the aquatic compartment via the direct release of pharmacological compounds into the water, or through human secondary metabolites in usually found in wastewater. Particular emphasis was given to the use of biomarkers as ecotoxicological analysis tools

Agricultural Market Liberalization and Household Food Security in Rural China

Recent World Trade Organization (WTO) disputes have brought China’s agricultural trade policy back into the spotlight. In November 2008, China issued the nation’s first Outline of Medium and Long-term Plan for National Food Security (China Central People’s Government, 2008), in which they stipulate that the country will seek to stabilize the area sown to grain and achieve more than 95% grain self-sufficiency. Trade restrictions are argued to support implementing this plan because increased imports of grains and soybeans will lower prices, causing grain and soybean farmers to leave farming, thereby generating food insecurity (Wong and Huang, 2012). Others suggest that China may not have a comparative advantage in grain or soybean production, and switching to higher-value agriculture or working offfarm could increase the incomes of both rich and poor farmers (Zhu, Hare, and Zhong, 2010). In this article, we evaluate the effect of past agricultural market liberalization on rural Chinese household food security as a measure of household welfare. Because market liberalization is likely to differ in its effect across households, we explore the distributional effect of liberalization on rural household food security. We find that liberalization primarily improves household food security by increasing off-farm income, and the effects vary greatly by initial food security status and producer types

Cinema educativo e construção de identidades: um estudo de caso em educação moral e religiosa católica

A questão central deste estudo é pesquisar se a criação de pequenos filmes (audiovideografia), por adolescentes, sobre si próprios e sobre o seu mundo, contribui para a construção e afirmação da sua identidade e para o desenvolvimento do espírito crítico. Pretende também analisar a motivação, empenho e interesse de alunos na disciplina de Educação Moral e Religiosa Católica, mediante a utilização de dispositivos tecnológicos e aplicações informáticas. Para tentar dar resposta a estas questões constitui-se um estudo de caso, de natureza qualitativa, em ambiente de investigação-acção crítica, na área disciplinar de Educação Moral e Religiosa Católica no qual participaram 18 alunos do 9º ano. Os objectivos foram os seguintes: compreender a influência da realização de pequenos filmes, pelos alunos, na construção/afirmação da sua identidade e no desenvolvimento do espírito crítico; verificar se o uso de dispositivos tecnológicos e aplicações informáticas nas aulas de Educação Moral e Religiosa Católica pode favorecer a motivação, empenho e interesse dos alunos; promover aquisição/desenvolvimento de destrezas informáticas. Pudemos verificar que o processo contribuiu para uma reflexão destes jovens sobre a sua identidade e promoveu o seu espírito crítico, incrementando a motivação intrínseca e promovendo a aquisição de destrezas tecnológicas.CiE

New reports on secretory structures of vegetative and floral organs of Hypericum elodes (Hypericaceae)

Hypericum elodes L. (Hypericaceae), commonly known as marsh St. John’s wort, is one of the fourteen species found spontaneously in Portugal and it is endemic of Europe. It occurs in acidic waterlogged grounds in the Norwest of Portugal and in the Azores islands, Pico and São Miguel [1]. In the last decades intense phytochemical and pharmacological research have been performed in Hypericum species, namely in H. perforatum, the most studied species of the genus and traditionally used as a medicinal plant. Its bioactive secondary metabolites, naphtodianthrones (e.g. hypericin and pseudohypericin), phloroglucinols (e.g. hyperforin), bioflavonoids and xanthones have been widely studied for their anti-depressant, anti-microbial, anti-viral and anti-proliferative properties [2]. Despite the abundant phytochemical reports available in Hypericum species, the morpho-anatomical studies are scarce and fragmented [3-6]. The present study, included in an ongoing project on Hypericum glands, aims to provide new data on the morphology and anatomy of the secretory structures of H. elodes. Although these glands were previously studied in specimens grown in Italy [5], in the current study we describe in detail their morphology, distribution and histochemistry on the vegetative and floral organs. Small branches of H. elodes were collected from populations occurring in Portugal and samples of leaves and flowers, at different stages of development, were fixed with glutaraldehyde and prepared for scanning electron microscopy or embedding in Leica Historesin®, following standard methods. Additionally, the main classes of compounds present in the secretion were histochemically characterized