The research reports最新文献

{"title":"Rail Tariff Rates for Grain by Shipment Size and Distance Shipped","authors":"M. Prater, D. O'Neil","doi":"10.9752/ts152.06-2014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.9752/ts152.06-2014","url":null,"abstract":"For most commodities examined in this paper, (grain and oilseeds, fertilizer, food products, grain mill products, and soymeal), inflation-adjusted rail rates (in 2011 dollars) increased from 2004 through 2011, although to different extents, depending on shipment characteristics. Shipments of some commodities had consistently higher rail rates, measured in cents per ton-mile, throughout the period. While rail rates for the various shipment sizes fluctuated differently over the period, rates for many of the shipment distances began rising between 2002 and 2004. In general, smaller shipments have noticeably higher rates than large shipments. Likewise, shipments moving longer distances normally have lower rates per ton-mile than shipments moving over shorter distances. However, agricultural commodity movements vary by shipment size and distance traveled. For instance, most grain mill products move in smaller shipments (less than 50 cars), with occasional large shipments. Grain and oilseeds, on the other hand, consistently move in shipments of all sizes and travel a large variety of distances.","PeriodicalId":338433,"journal":{"name":"The research reports","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125211239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Food Value Chains: Creating Shared Value To Enhance Marketing Success","authors":"A. Diamond, D. Tropp, J. Barham, M. Frain, S. Kiraly, Pat Cantrell","doi":"10.22004/AG.ECON.176263","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22004/AG.ECON.176263","url":null,"abstract":"A new model of organization is beginning to pop up in the agribusiness sector that seeks to merge social mission objectives with core business operating principles. Known as food value chains, these business arrangements are distinguished by their commitment to transparency, collaborative business planning and exchange of market intelligence and business knowhow among chain partners, and their interest in developing business strategies and solutions that yield tangible benefits to each participant in the system. External factors that have contributed to the rise of food value chain enterprises in recent years include the growing segmentation of the consumer market, escalating demand for specialized, highly differentiated food products—even at higher price points—and the increasing appeal of food items that are produced in accordance with desired social or environmental welfare standards. The advent of low-cost communications technology has made possible new collaborative approaches to business management and oversight that operate according to a set of shared operational and ethical principles, founded on the idea of maintaining steady and open communication among all chain partners. As suppliers of highly differentiated—and highly sought after—food products, producers in food value chains typically have the opportunity to exert significant influence in price negotiations with buyers and retain a greater share of retail food spending than their counterparts in conventional supply chains. They also benefit from ongoing exposure to information about consumer purchasing habits and preferences from their downstream supply-chain partners. Meanwhile, aggregators and receivers in food value chains benefit from the provision of specialized products that can command higher prices in the marketplace and reduce their risk exposure through advance planning and price negotiations. The collaborative partnerships also provide natural opportunities to build on previous business successes by exploring and successfully executing innovative product launches and marketing strategies and evaluating opportunities for waste reduction and improvements in efficiency. This document is designed to provide guidance on how food value chains are initiated and structured, how they function, and the benefits they provide to participants, with the intent of encouraging their adoption where the opportunities for successful collaboration exist among organizations with compatible principles and complementary areas of expertise. It addresses which characteristics are desirable—and not—when seeking appropriate value-chain partners, and provides examples of how participation in a food value chain can be advantageous to all members. Special attention is devoted to exploring how values-based operating principles are defined and maintained in a food value chain and how these values are successfully communicated to buyers and to the public. The document also addresses the issue of shared ","PeriodicalId":338433,"journal":{"name":"The research reports","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116360445","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The potential of coffee to uplift people out of poverty in Northern Uganda","authors":"Mbowa Swaibu, O. Tonny, M. Ezra","doi":"10.22004/AG.ECON.206171","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22004/AG.ECON.206171","url":null,"abstract":"Response to a Problem Coffee was introduced in Acholi and Lango sub-regions in mid-Northern Uganda, by 1997, at first through pressure from political leaders, as an alternative perennial crop to the traditional cotton crop. This was an effort to fight poverty levels - aggravated by effects of a prolonged civil war in this sub-region. Cotton and other annual traditional food crops had little effect on poverty and introducing coffee, as alternative perennial crop was deemed very important to the region. Systematic coffee planting by the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) first as a pilot (around 2001), and subsequently, has had a positive impact in the mid-North sub-region. To date, 16000 farmers in mid-Northern Uganda have planted 5,441 hectares. The current output in the sub-region is 154 metric tons; with a potential output estimated at 16,323 metric tons at peak and stable production level by 2017. The study identified districts with high potential for coffee production in the sub-region such as; Apac, Lira, Nwoya, and Oyam. Enablers UCDA through the elite clonal robusta coffee seedling distribution programme has been the lead agent of change in the transfer of coffee technology in the sub-region. This has been through working partnerships with about 132 low-cost-low- input private nursery operators. The nursery operators are key actors in the transfer of proven high performing elite clonal robusta seedlings to farmers in a cost effective way across 14 districts in the sub-region. This programme has had varied success across the sub-region with pronounced responses in only 5 districts (Lira, Nwoya, Oyam, Kole, and Apac) out of the 14 districts in the sub-region. Coffee Poverty Reduction Evidence The 2009/10 UNPS data reveal a significant household poverty reduction effect from coffee production; through incremental household consumption expenditure. Results further confirm that coffee producing households are associated with lesser poverty incidence compared to non-coffee producers. The interesting evidence we find from the study suggests that coffee production is a pro-poor intervention due to its strong positive impact on per capita consumption expenditure among the poorest households. Self-reported qualitative assessment reveals that coffee farmers feel that their welfare has improved to satisfactory levels from incomes earned from coffee. A farmer (as an individual) needs 1.4 metric tons of kiboko (unprocessed) coffee in a year to earn 1.2 million shillings-UGX (the threshold annual income) to move out of poverty. Challenges to Coffee Production in the Sub-region The UCDA national coffee expansion program anchoring in mid-Northern Uganda is still in its infancy; and faced with the following bottlenecks that need to be addressed to consolidate the proven poverty reduction potential in this sub-region.","PeriodicalId":338433,"journal":{"name":"The research reports","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116715206","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In vitro study of anticancer activity of polymer-based DOX-ZnO compositions: the case of vinyl alcohol (co)polymers","authors":"E. R. Arakelova","doi":"10.9777/NGNM.V2I1.50","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.9777/NGNM.V2I1.50","url":null,"abstract":"To reduce toxicity and side effects of antitumor preparations as well as to promote their target delivery and action prolongation, nanosize carriers are used. Recently we have shown in vivo that zinc oxide compositions of chelates of salicylidene amino acids in the form of coatings and as a part of composite films with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) revealed much higher (by a factor of 2.3-2.5) antitumor activity in comparison with the initial chelates of salicylidene amino acids and their composite films with PVA. The paper presents in vitro study of physicochemical properties and antitumor activity of doxorubicin (DOX) zinc oxide composites with various types of PVA for human cell system (normal MRC5 cells and HeLa cancer cells). A possibility of vectored (directed) regulation of DOX by variation of the polymer composition in doxorubicin zinc oxide compositions is demonstrated.  It is determined that both PVA and ZnO do not reveal toxic properties in cell cultures. At the same time, DOX toxicity in zinc oxide compositions is reduced for both normal and cancer cells depending on PVA type in comparison with the initial PVA+DOX combined films. Almost all investigated composites have a beneficial selective toxic effect on cancer cells at minimum impact on normal tissues, and zinc oxide compositions in the form of modified PVA (МPVA+ DOX + ZnO) reveal higher efficiency of selective harmful (destructive) action than DOX.","PeriodicalId":338433,"journal":{"name":"The research reports","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128728577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gender inequalities in the school-to-work transition in Europe","authors":"M. Mills, P. Präg","doi":"10.7249/rr363","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7249/rr363","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":338433,"journal":{"name":"The research reports","volume":"24 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127042420","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Traslado de productos alimentarios a través de la cadena de valor: distribución regional de alimentos","authors":"Adam Diamond, J. Barham","doi":"10.9752/ms198.03-2014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.9752/ms198.03-2014","url":null,"abstract":"La agricultura en los Estados Unidos esta en una encrucijada. Esta ha hecho grandes progresos en lo que respecta a mejorar la productividad del trabajo mediante la mecanizacion y la productividad de las tierras gracias a los avances en la genetica vegetal y animal, la aplicacion de fertilizantes y un sinnumero de tecnologias de control de plagas (Cochrane, 1993). Con estas tecnologias, el numero total de granjas en los Estados Unidos ha caido notablemente, de mas de 6 millones en 1935 a aproximadamente 2 millones en 2007, incluso aunque la poblacion haya crecido un 140 % durante este periodo, de 127 millones a 308 millones. Para agravar esta dramatica reduccion en el total de granjas, hemos observado una fuerte concentracion de la propiedad de las granjas, a tal punto que 55,509 granjas, el 2.5 % de todas las granjas, representaban el 59 % del total de ingresos agricolas en 2007 (USDA, 2009). Nunca se dio una situacion en la que tan pocos alimentaran a tantos. Si bien este drastico aumento de la productividad agricola ha sido un triunfo de la tecnologia y ha permitido que millones de personas se liberaran de un trabajo agotador, tambien ha transformado el panorama agricola. El constante aumento en el tamano promedio de las granjas ha dificultado cada vez mas que los pequenos y medianos operadores compitan con exito en el mercado, especialmente en los mercados de materias primas a granel. En respuesta a estas imperantes tendencias, muchos de los agricultores mas pequenos y medianos han aprovechado el creciente interes de los consumidores en la procedencia de los alimentos para vender a traves de mercados de productos alimentarios directos al consumidor, como mercados de agricultores, agricultura apoyada por la comunidad (community support agriculture, CSA) y puestos de venta de productos agricolas. Segun el National Agricultural Statistics Service del USDA, la comercializacion directa de cualquier tipo fue de $1.2 mil millones en 2007, con un incremento del 105 % de 1997 a 2007, en comparacion con el aumento del 48 % en las ventas agricolas totales durante el mismo periodo (Diamond y Soto, 2009). Los puntos de venta directos pueden aumentar los ingresos de los agricultores al permitirles obtener fuentes de ingreso adicionales a partir de actividades del sistema alimentario que tradicionalmente no se consideran agricolas, como centralizacion, procesamiento y comercializacion (Martinez et al., 2010). Sin embargo, los canales de comercializacion directa por si solos no estan equipados para albergar a la mayor parte de los productores agricolas medianos, es decir, a aquellos que perciben ingresos agricolas brutos de entre $50,000 y $250,000 (Stevenson et al., 2008). Mas de 270,000 agricultores, con ingresos agricolas brutos de $33 millones en 2007, pertenecen a la categoria denominada “agricultura de mediana escala” (USDA, 2009). En terminos generales, estos agricultores son demasiado grandes como para depender principalmente de los canales de comerci","PeriodicalId":338433,"journal":{"name":"The research reports","volume":"290 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123384508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"PLGA Nanoparticles for the Sustained Release of Rifampicin","authors":"Alyssa B. Terry, Amanee D. Salaam, Elijah Nyairo, V. Thomas, D. Dean","doi":"10.9777/NGNM.V0I0.49","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.9777/NGNM.V0I0.49","url":null,"abstract":"Although tuberculosis is often regarded as a disease of the past, it is still one of the leading killers of adults and children worldwide. Tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, a bacterium that mostly infects the lungs but can also infect the spleen, brain, kidneys, and other organs throughout the body.  While effective drug therapy is available for the treatment of tuberculosis, many patients discontinue treatment due to its harsh side-effects. One goal of treatment is to create a biocompatible, biodegradable drug delivery system that employs the use of multiple drugs while simultaneously relieving the patient of the burden of self-medicating. Poly(lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanospheres possess unique characteristics that allow tunable degradation times and biocompatibility.  For this study, a procedure for making PLGA nanospheres and loading them with Rifampicin was optimized using various solvents and stabilizers.  These nanospheres were further investigated using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to determine whether there was a change in material properties after processing.","PeriodicalId":338433,"journal":{"name":"The research reports","volume":"38 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126555137","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Railroad Concentration, Market Shares, and Rates","authors":"M. Prater, A. Sparger, D. O'Neil","doi":"10.22004/AG.ECON.164478","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22004/AG.ECON.164478","url":null,"abstract":"Since the passage of the Staggers Act in 1980, many railroads have merged. The market share of Class I railroads has increased since then, while the number of Class I railroads has fallen to only seven. Through railroad mergers, rail-to-rail competition has been reduced, railroad market power has increased, and rail costs have fallen by over half in real terms. Over much of this period, most of these reduced costs were passed on to shippers as savings through lower rates. Since 2004, however, average rail rates per ton-mile for all commodities have climbed 36 percent, negating some of the savings over the period. Although some of these real rail rate increases have contributed to record rail profitability and capital investment, most of the rate increases are the result of increased railroad costs; real rail costs, adjusted for productivity, increased 29 percent during the same period. Although deregulation of railroads in 1980 produced more than 550 regional and local railroads throughout America, the 7 Class I railroads originated well over half the grain and oilseed shipments in 2011.","PeriodicalId":338433,"journal":{"name":"The research reports","volume":"91 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125857481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Understanding Social Entrepreneurship and Features of It","authors":"Fatih Ozturk","doi":"10.7172/1733-9758.2013.16.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7172/1733-9758.2013.16.3","url":null,"abstract":"Social entrepreneurship has become a significant field of academic literature for about twenty years. A growing attention to social entrepreneurship has appeared since then. Scholarly interest for it stems from its mission in society that brings affective solutions to the existing social issues, presents distinctive perspectives to the individuals and creates a social value. The purpose of this paper is to provide a view of social entrepreneurship as a process that contributes to social wealth, explores the opportunities for social change and leads to social ventures. Social entrepreneurs have addressed essential human needs that have been ignored and forgotten by the current institutions and businesses. Therefore, this review also assesses the characterizations in social entrepreneurial and conventional entrepreneurial dimensions. It highlights major differences and similarities between these two forms of entrepreneurship with their backgrounds. The content of social entrepreneurship and examples of current successful social ventures conclude this work.","PeriodicalId":338433,"journal":{"name":"The research reports","volume":"114 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133291275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Profiles of the Top U.S. Agricultural Ports","authors":"April Taylor","doi":"10.9752/ts092.09-2013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.9752/ts092.09-2013","url":null,"abstract":"The agricultural community uses the ocean transportation network extensively to serve its global customers. In calendar year 2011, 80 percent of U.S. agricultural exports 146.5 million metric tons), and 78 percent of imports (40.7 million metric tons) were waterborne. The Agricultural Port Profiles rovide a view of the top 20 U.S. ocean ports moving agricultural export and import traffic. The Profiles provide detailed information on commodities moved, shipping lines used, and destination and origin countries.","PeriodicalId":338433,"journal":{"name":"The research reports","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134501358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}