From prices to incomes: agricultural subsidization without protection?

Drawing on experience with direct income-support programs recently introduced in the European Union, Mexico, and the United States, the authors highlight problems that may arise when a developing economy's agricultural sector moves from price-based subsidies to income support programs. They conclude that income-support programs, despite their theoretical appeal, have many shortcomings and that developing countries may lack the support mechanisms needed to make them effective. The consequences of delinking support from current production decisions, even though fully expected, may be perceived as negative. Producers will undoubtedly face greater variation in prices, and as the ratio of output to input prices will be lower, a negative supply response for the crops affected may in turn reduce demand for agricultural labor. Finally, as with many types of support, the lion's share of support may go not to the target group most in need of support but to large producers. It is important to remember what a direct income-support mechanism does and does not do. Although it increases the income of subsistence landholders, it is not supposed to be a poverty reduction program. Nor is it supposed to be an investment program (as there is no provision for where and how the money will be spent). And because of its association with lower producer prices, it is not expected to induce sectoral growth. Instead, it is a transitional income-redistribution mechanism that could eventually transform agriculture into a fully liberalized sector that helps allocate resources more efficiently. And because it is linked to an asset -land- the lion's share of the payments will inevitably go to large farmers, subject to an upper limit (if such is in place).Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Labor Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Agricultural Research,Agribusiness&Markets,Environmental Economics&Policies

Simulation of mixed bond graphs and block diagrams on personal computers using TUTSIM

The TUTSIM simulation program for continuous dynamic systems accepts (nonlinear) block diagrams, bond graphs or a free mix of both. The simulation is “hands on” interactive, providing a direct contact with the model. The implementation of the program on existing personal computers (Apple II, IBM PC) requires small memory size and has a high computational speed, due to its assembler source code. A slower FORTRAN CP/M version is available. It is shown how bond graphs can be used as an input language. An example using bond graphs as a modelling tool is presented

De Vossenburght

Het project omvat het renoveren van een boerderij naar een zorgboerderij voor huisvesting en dagbesteding voor jongeren uit de jeugdreclassering en verstandelijk beperkte mensen. Bij de boerderij staan drie schuren die gerenoveerd moeten worden tot paardenstallen met ruimte voor andere dagbesteding. De doelstelling die wij bij dit project hebben is: met welke eisen een optimale inrichting gerealiseerd kanworden voor het gebruik als woon-/zorgboerderij voor jongeren uit de reclassering? De andere disciplines (Verpleegkunde, Facility Management en Human Technology) waren aan het onderzoeken naar onder andere het verkrijgen van AWBZ, kleurgebruik binnenruimtes en indeling gebouw. In samenwerking met hun bevindingen hebben wij de nieuwe indeling van het gebouw verwezenlijkt. Na een introductie-periode in het Atelier Mens & Omgeving konden wij aan de slag met ons project. Wij zijn eerst begonnen met een Plan van Aanpak voor het project. Daarna hebben wij het gebouw ingemeten en hebben wij dit digitaal uitgewerkt. Toen de bestaande situatie digitaal was uitgewerkt, zijn wij begonnen met het schetsontwerp en het Programma van Eisen. Nadat het Programma van Eisen en het schetsontwerp goedgekeurd was door onze opdrachtgever zijn wij verder gegaan met het Voorlopig Ontwerp. Van hieruit hebben wij het Definitieve Ontwerp, begroting en toetsing bouwbesluit gemaakt. Studentonderzoek in het kader van het thema Werklandschappe

Carriage of chloroquine-resistant parasites and delay of effective treatment increase the risk of severe malaria in Gambian children.

Two hundred thirty-four Gambian children with severe falciparum malaria who were admitted to the pediatric ward of a rural district hospital each were matched for age with a same-sex control subject presenting as an outpatient with uncomplicated falciparum malaria. Severe malarial anemia (SMA) was the most common presentation (152 cases), followed by cerebral malaria (38 cases) and hyperparasitemia (26 cases). Children presenting with SMA were significantly younger and more likely to carry gametocytes than were children with other severe presentations. Alleles of the genes pfcrt and pfmdr1 associated with chloroquine-resistant parasites occurred together among cases presenting with SMA alone more often than among their matched controls (odds ratio, 2.08 [95% confidence interval, 1.04-4.38]; P=.039). Costs of travel to the hospital of more than US $0.20, use of mosquito repellents, and carriage of resistant parasites were identified as independent risk factors for severe malaria in the case-control analysis. We conclude that, in this setting, poor access to the hospital and a high prevalence of chloroquine-resistant parasites lead to a delay of adequate treatment for young children with malaria, who may then develop SMA

Динаміка поширення православних монастирів на Полтавщині (ХVІІ – ХІХ ст.)

This study compared the economic and environmental impacts of torrefaction on bioenergy supply chains against conventional pellets for scenarios where biomass is produced in Mozambique, and undergoes pre-processing before shipment to Rotterdam for conversion to power and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) fuels. We also compared the impacts of using different land quality (productive and marginal) for feedstock production, feedstocks (eucalyptus and switchgrass), final conversion technologies (XtY and CXtY) and markets (the Netherlands and Mozambique). At current conditions, the torrefied pellets (TOPs) are delivered in Rotterdam at higher cost (7.3-7.5 $/GJ) than pellets (5.1-5.3$/GJ). In the long term, TOPs costs could decline (4.7-5.8 $/GJ) and converge with pellets. TOPs supply chains also incur 20$/GJFT) than from pellets (12.9-18.7 $/GJFT). Co-firing scenarios (CXtY) result in lower cost fuel (but a higher environmental penalty) than 100% biomass fired scenarios (XtY). In most cases, switchgrass and the productive region of Nampula provide the lowest fuel production cost compared to eucalyptus and the marginally productive Gaza region. Both FT and ion in Mozambique are more costly than in Rotterdam. For the Netherlands, both FT and power production are competitive against average energy costs in Western Europe. The analysis shows that large-scale bioenergy production can become competitive against fossil fuels. While the benefits of TOPs are apparent in logistics and conversion, the current higher torrefaction costs contribute to higher biofuel costs. Improvements in torrefaction technology can result in significant performance improvements over the future chain

Patients with Cluster A Personality Disorders in Psychotherapy: An Effectiveness Study

Abstract BACKGROUND: While psychopharmacological studies are common in patients with cluster A personality disorders, the effects of psychotherapy have received little attention. The aim of this study is to explore whether psychotherapeutic treatment yields health gains for these patients. METHODS: The study was conducted between March 2003 and June 2008 in 6 mental health care centres in the Netherlands, with a sample of 57 patients with a DSM-IV-TR axis II cluster A diagnosis. Patients were assigned to 3 settings of psychotherapeutic treatment (outpatient, day hospital, inpatient), and effectiveness was assessed at 18 months after baseline. An intention-to-treat analysis was conducted for psychiatric symptoms (Brief Symptom Inventory), psychosocial functioning (Outcome Questionnaire-45) and quality of life (EQ-5D), using multilevel statistical modelling. As the study was non-randomised, the propensity score method was used to control for initial differences. RESULTS: Patients in the day hospital and inpatient group improved substantially in terms of psychiatric symptoms, social and interpersonal functioning, and quality of life. Patients in the outpatient group showed less improvement. Direct comparison of the improvement of psychiatric symptoms showed significant results in favour of day hospital (p = 0.046) and inpatient (p = 0.01) treatment, as compared to outpatient treatment. However, due to substantial baseline differences, this direct comparison should be judged carefully. CONCLUSIONS: Cluster A psychopathology is not a contraindication to benefit from psychotherapy. This is especially true for more intensive forms like inpatient and day hospital treatment. Future research should focus more on psychotherapeutic treatment to gain further insight into effective treatment options for this patient grou

Josef se Gebeente.

Daar trek die slawevolk,verlos deur wonderdade,die wye ruimtes in,met skatte ryk belade