Integration of Canadian and U.S. Cattle Markets

The face of international trade is altering quickly, especially with globalisation as one of the key catalysts for change. It can be argued that freer trade leads to better allocation of resources and increased competitive forces, which reduce production costs and ultimately consumer prices. The opportunity for growth and prosperity are magnified for smaller economies like Canada. This was evidenced in the Canadian cattle industry with the onset of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CUSTA) in 1989 and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1992. CUSTA eliminated tariffs on both live cattle and beef within a few years of its implementation. NAFTA refined the policies outlined in CUSTA and extended them to Mexico. In Canada and the U.S., the cattle and beef industries have a significant impact on the economy and play a major role in the agriculture of both countries. Cash receipts from the sale of cattle and calves in Canada were $6.2 billion in 1999, or 18.5$54.2 billion or 17.0% of all farm receipts (in current Canadian dollars). Alberta has the largest share of cattle production of all the provinces at 50% of cash receipts. In the U.S., The Great Plains account for about half of cash receipts. The importance of cattle production in the farm economy in the U.S. has remained fairly stable over time, whereas in Canada the importance has increased. As integration of the global economies deepens, nations face major opportunities and challenges. To realize the potential benefits of economic integration, businesses need to manage the challenges of intense international competition and the pressures for structural and technological adjustment. In Canada, feeder cattle production expanded in Alberta where feed grain is abundant and relatively inexpensive. The elimination of government subsidies, such as the Crow's Nest Rate in 1995, means that western producers now use more grain to feed cattle and market them to the U.S. In the U.S. there has also been a general shift to the west in cattle production. Trade with the US in live cattle has increased the importance of the Canadian cattle sector as an export industry. Although domestic per capita consumption of beef has remained stable, the cattle and beef industry in Canada has expanded due to population increases and export markets in the U.S. Canada exported $1.2 billion in cattle to the U.S. in 1999, and this value is much higher than$690 million in 1990 (in 1992 dollars). Canada's share of Canadian-U.S. cattle production went from 8.7% in 1990 to 9.8% in 1999. Canada's share of beef production went from 8.0% in 1990 to 9.1% in 1999. In contrast to the Mexican industry, which has a significantly different composition, the structure of the U.S. and Canadian cattle sectors is very similar. The structural similarity, the lack of trade barriers, and relative unimportance of government intervention in the industry have contributed to the integration of the two markets. Trade data (from Statistics Canada and U.S.D.A) for slaughter cattle, feeder cattle and beef is analysed to further assess the impact of integration of Canadian and U.S. cattle markets.Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries,

A biomechanical assessment of superior shoulder translation after reconstruction of anterior glenoid bone defects: The Latarjet procedure versus allograft reconstruction

BACKGROUND: The coracoacromial ligament (CAL) is an important restraint to superior shoulder translation. The effect of CAL release on superior stability following the Latarjet is unknown; therefore, our purpose was to compare the effect of two Latarjet techniques and allograft reconstruction on superior instability. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eight cadaveric specimens were tested on a simulator. Superior translation was monitored following an axial force in various glenohumeral rotations (neutral, internal, and external) with and without muscle loading. Three intact CAL states were tested (intact specimen, 30% glenoid bone defect, and allograft reconstruction) and two CAL deficient states (classic Latarjet (classicLAT) and congruent-arc Latarjet (congruentLAT)). RESULTS: In neutral without muscle loading, a significant increase in superior translation occurred with the classicLAT as compared to 30% defect (P = 0.046) and allograft conditions (P = 0.041). With muscle loading, the classicLAT (P = 0.005, 0.002) and the congruentLAT (P = 0.018, 0.021) had significantly greater superior translation compared to intact and allograft, respectively. In internal rotation, only loaded tests produced significant results; specifically, classicLAT increased translation compared to all intact CAL states (P < 0.05). In external rotation, only unloaded tests produced significant results with classicLAT and congruentLAT allowing greater translations than intact (P ≤ 0.028). For all simulations, the allograft was not significantly different than intact (P > 0.05) and no differences (P = 1.0) were found between classicLAT and congruentLAT. DISCUSSION: In most simulations, CAL release with the Latarjet lead to increased superior humeral translation. CONCLUSION: The choice of technique for glenoid bone loss reconstruction has implications on the magnitude of superior humeral translation. This previously unknown effect requires further study to determine its clinical and kinematic outcomes

Carbon and nitrogen assimilating enzymes of maize hybrids representing seven eras of breeding.

Suplemento. Edição dos resumos do 43º Congresso Nacional de Genética

A flawed construct? Understanding and unpicking the concept of resilience in the context of economic hardship

Increasingly, the construct of resilience has been used by social scientists and (social) policy makers in relation to individual resilience to economic hardship. There are a number of issues within the literature on the subject that are unresolved including: whether it is an attribute or a process; the extent to which resilience is a positive phenomenon; the extent to which individuals living in economic hardship have agency; and, whether it is finite. The article unpacks these issues, drawing on qualitative data from a longitudinal study in Northern Ireland. It found resilience to be a negative experience for study participants, although they did exhibit a number of attributes that may be described as being positive. They were often unable to exercise 'positive', transformative agency, because the choices available were limited and pernicious in nature. The paper concludes that as an analytical tool for exploring the experiences of people living in economic hardship the construct of resilience is not helpful

Britain: racial violence and the politics of hate

Drawing on empirical research into racist attacks in three cities in England, this article reveals a changing geography of racial violence (in terms of new areas and targets), and sets this in the context of the socially destructive impact of neoliberalism as well as government policies to manage the UK’s changing demographic make-up. With racial violence officially defined as a form of ‘hate crime’, it is divorced from any wider political context or racialised climate and reduced to a matter of individual pathology. The changing parameters of racism and the state’s responses present a challenge which the Left and anti-racists have been slow to meet

Welfare, Austerity and Social Citizenship in the UK

Viewed within their historical context, recent cuts to public social spending and increasingly governmental welfare reforms reflect and beget a shift in the praxis of social citizenship in the UK. This review article demonstrates how greater conceptual attention to the constitutive features of social citizenship can help clarify some of the claims made about its relation to austerity and welfare reform within the existing literature. Through schematic consideration of the emerging evidence, this article suggests that welfare austerity is undermining the ‘effectiveness’, ‘inalienability’ and ‘universality’ of social citizenship in the UK