Pig breeding.

Author(s):  
Geoff Simm ◽  
Geoff Pollott ◽  
Raphael Mrode ◽  
Ross Houston ◽  
Karen Marshall

Abstract This chapter presents a brief background on the global pig sector and pig-meat value chains. Topics focused on the breeding objectives, pig breeds and lines, genetic improvement strategies for pigs (for both large-scale and smallholder systems) and use of pig reproductive technologies. The final section of this chapter gives some practical guidelines for selection.

Ceiba ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-81
Author(s):  
Alison L. Van Eenennaam

Biotechnologies have been an integral part of improvements in animal genetics, nutrition and health over the past century. Many biotechnologies have become fundamental components of efficient livestock production systems. The genetic improvements that have been enabled by biotechnologies have dramatically decreased the environmental footprint of animal protein production in many parts of the world, and continued innovation is required to address the projected increase in demand for animal products in the future. Breeding programs increasingly utilize a combination of advanced reproductive technologies and genomic tools to accelerate the rate of genetic gain by manipulating components of the breeder’s equation. The use of these biotechnologies and breeding methods has met with little public opposition. In contrast, the use of modern biotechnologies, defined as those that employ the use of in vitro nucleic acid techniques, have been highly controversial, especially those involving the use of genetic engineering. This modern biotechnology distinction is somewhat arbitrary as there are a number of biotechnologies that involve the use of in vitro processes, and many result in genetic modifications that are indistinguishable from the naturally-occurring variation that is the driver of both traditional breeding programs and evolution. A number of useful traits including disease resistance and animal welfare traits have been successfully introduced into various livestock species using both genetic engineering and gene editing techniques. Ultimately these techniques complement the genetic improvement that can be accomplished using traditional selection techniques and, if judged acceptable, offer an opportunity to synergistically accelerate genetic improvement in food animal species.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan K. Sell

AbstractThe structural perspective outlined here sheds light on some of the fundamental challenges involved in achieving Universal Health Care (UHC) in this twenty-first-century era of trade and financialized capitalism. This commentary explores connections between the structure of twenty-first-century capitalism and challenges to achieving UHC, discussing three features of today’s capitalism: financialized capitalism; trade, intangibles and global value chains; and inequality (as exacerbated by the first two features). The final section discusses the various opportunities for reform to facilitate UHC—from tinkering with the status quo, to deeper regulatory reform and fundamental structural change.


1974 ◽  
Vol 9 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 57-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Traavik

In discussing the legal and political problems connected with exploitation of the inorganic resources of the continental shelf and deep seabed, the author examines the types and amount of resources available. Placing special emphasis on the interests of the developing countries, he goes on to suggest some of the probable consequences of large-scale extraction of offshore fuels and metals. Against this backdrop, the article concludes that, in the short run, the Third World countries are not likely to benefit greatly from the creation of a UN Sea-Bed Regime. In the final section of the article, some significant lines of division in UN Sea-Bed Committee are discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (12) ◽  
pp. 2795-2819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Jin ◽  
Karin Weber

Purpose The purpose of this study was to provide a holistic view of exhibition destination attractiveness by examining perceptions of two of the three key stakeholders (exhibition organizers and visitors) and contrasting them with those of exhibitors. Design/methodology/approach This research used a mixed method approach, collecting 535 responses from visitors attending nine business-to-business exhibitions in four major cities in China via structured surveys. In addition, eight in-depth interviews with CEOs/owners of leading global and Chinese exhibition companies were conducted. Findings The findings revealed that exhibitors may go almost anywhere where there is potential for successful business. In contrast, visitors prefer exhibition destinations with good accessibility to minimize travel time and an attractive leisure environment that offers a degree of enjoyment in addition to taking care of business. A destination’s “economic environment” and “cluster effects” were comparatively less important to them. Organizers were cognizant of these differences, contributing to their reluctance in taking large-scale, branded exhibitions to second-tier destinations, despite considerable efforts by these cities to improve their infrastructure. Practical implications This study offers practical guidelines for destination administrators and exhibition organizers with regard to evaluating destination resources for long-term exhibition development. Originality/value In contrast to prior studies, this research identifies significant differences in perceptions of exhibition destination attractiveness among all three key industry stakeholders. It also presents a persuasive case for the need to clearly differentiate between the attractiveness of a destination for attracting/hosting exhibitions versus conventions, rather than approaching the subject from a more generic meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) segment/business events perspective.


Food Policy ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 97-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goedele Van den Broeck ◽  
Johan Swinnen ◽  
Miet Maertens

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia Tsing Ng ◽  
Carien Dekker ◽  
Paul Reardon ◽  
Frank von Delft

Although protein crystallization is generally considered more art than science and remains significantly trial-and-error, large-scale data sets hold the promise of providing general learning. Observations are presented here from retrospective analyses of the strategies actively deployed for the extensive crystallization experiments at the Oxford site of the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), where comprehensive annotations by SGC scientists were recorded on a customized database infrastructure. The results point to the importance of using redundancy in crystallizing conditions, specifically by varying the mixing ratios of protein sample and precipitant, as well as incubation temperatures. No meaningful difference in performance could be identified between the four most widely used sparse-matrix screens, judged by the yield of crystals leading to deposited structures; this suggests that in general any comparison of screens will be meaningless without extensive cross-testing. Where protein sample is limiting, exploring more conditions has a higher likelihood of being informative by yielding hits than does redundancy of either mixing ratio or temperature. Finally, on the logistical question of how long experiments should be stored, 98% of all crystals that led to deposited structures appeared within 30 days. Overall, these analyses serve as practical guidelines for the design of initial screening experiments for new crystallization targets.


2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUAN CARMONA

Historians of sharecropping in France have usually emphasized its negative effects on growth and on the workers' welfare. However, from about 1840 the regions of central and western France, regions where sharecroppers were especially numerous, were also areas that saw great improvements and the specialization in commercial livestock. As the author shows, landowners from these areas used sharecropping contracts in order both to seize the opportunities given by the potential scale economies in livestock rearing and to take advantage of family labour at a time of increasing wages. After presenting some basic data regarding sharecropping contracts, the second section is intended to describe the improvements in livestock farming in the area under sharecropping after 1840 and the contribution of landowners. Section III offers an explanation of why landowners preferred sharecropping to fixed-rent contracts. Three causes in particular are identified: (i) a lack of physical and human capital sufficient to allow potential farmers to engage in large scale farming; (ii) the contribution of landlord managerial expertise; and (iii) the fact that the complexity of mixed farming required a quality of work that would have been too expensive with wage labour. In a final section the ways in which the success of sharecropping minimized transaction costs are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomaso FERRANDO

AbstractThis article utilizes the struggles for land rights associated to two sugar cane investments in Cambodia to reflect on the interactions between the multi-territoriality of supply chain capitalism and the multiplication of local spaces of legal intervention. With a combination of legal institutionalism, critical geography and value chains analysis, the article engages with value chains as the new space and form of the global system of production and looks at the theoretical and practical implications that derive from delocalization, outsourcing and the establishment of transnational networks that cut across boundaries and jurisdictions. After discussing the human rights impact of large-scale sugar production in the Koh-Kong region, the article introduces a critical legal chain approach to unpack and make visible the material and legal threads that connect Cambodia with multiple geographies around the world. In its last part, it utilizes the multi-territorial character of production to map its complexity and introduce the notion of ‘legal chokeholds’. These are legal structures and spaces of intervention that can be leveraged by human rights scholars, activists and other actors interested in re-defining the way in which rights, bargaining power and value are distributed through the chain of production. The violations and possible defence of the land rights that occurred in Cambodia are thus presented as output of non-linear interactions between legal and non-legal elements that operate at a distance, often unaware of each other.


1973 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 817-845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin C. Turner ◽  
Roger G. Walker

In the Archean greenstone belt at Sioux Lookout, N.W. Ontario, a lowermost belt of volcanic rocks is unconformably overlain by sediments of the Abram Group. Our mapping has subdivided the Abram Group into three formations. The lowest (Ament Bay Formation) consists of interbedded conglomerates and sandstones. The sandstones contain large-scale cross-stratification, and the conglomerates and sandstones both lack graded bedding. The depositional environment was a subaerial alluvial fan—this is the first description of such a feature based upon modern sedimentological work in Archean rocks. The Daredevil Formation conformably overlies the Ament Bay Formation, and is composed of felsic and basic tuffs, and some interbedded turbidites. The uppermost (Little Vermilion) Formation is composed entirely of turbidites.The petrography of the sand, and large clasts, in the Ament Bay Formation indicates derivation from a dominantly granodioritic terrain. Some granodiorite boulders contain greenstone xenoliths, implying intrusion of the granodiorite after formation of the lowermost belt of volcanic rocks.In a final section of the paper, we define two Archean facies associations—a Resedimented association containing turbidites, pebbly mudstones, resedimented conglomerates, and basinal black argillites; and a Continental association, containing alluvial fan deposits, and possible coastal deposits from South Africa and Australia. The facies sequence in the Sioux Lookout belt is Continental followed by Resedimented facies, the reverse of the normal geosynclinal flysch (resedimented) → molasse (continental) sequence.


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