Dairy Food Consumption, Production, and Policy in Japan, August 2005

We explore and investigate Japanese dairy markets. We first provide an overview of consumer demand and how it evolved after World War II. Using historical data and econometric estimates of Japanese dairy demand, we identify economic, cultural, and demographic forces that have been shaping consumption patterns. Then we summarize the characteristics of Japanese milk production and dairy processing and policies affecting them. We next describe the import regime and trade flows in dairy products. The analysis of the regulatory system of the dairy sector shows how its incentive structure affects the long-term prospects of various segments of the industry. The paper concludes with policy recommendations of how to reform the Japanese dairy sector.

Smoking and adolescence: Exploring tobacco consumption and related attitudes in three different age groups in Switzerland

The present study constitutes an investigation of tobacco consumption, related attitudes and individual differences in smoking or non-smoking behaviors in a sample of adolescents of different ages in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. We investigated three school-age groups (7th-grade, 9th-grade, and the second-year of high school) for differences in attitude and social and cognitive dimensions. We present both descriptive and inferential statistics. On an inferential level, we present a binary logistic regression-based model predicting risk of smoking. The resulting model most importantly suggests a strong relationship between smoking and alcohol consumption (both regular and sporadic). We interpret this result in terms of both the impact of the actual campaigns and the cognitive processes associated with adolescence.

Voluntary alcohol consumption is controlled via the neuropeptide Y Y1 receptor.

We have shown previously that voluntary ethanol consumption and resistance to ethanol-induced sedation are inversely related to neuropeptide Y (NPY) levels in NPY-knock-out (NPY(-/-)) and NPY-overexpressing mice. In the present report, we studied knock-out mice completely lacking the NPY Y1 receptor (Y1(-/-)) to further characterize the role of the NPY system in ethanol consumption and neurobiological responses to this drug. Here we report that male Y1(-/-) mice showed increased consumption of solutions containing 3, 6, and 10% (v/v) ethanol when compared with wild-type (Y1(+/+)) control mice. Female Y1(-/-) mice showed increased consumption of a 10% ethanol solution. In contrast, Y1(-/-) mice showed normal consumption of solutions containing either sucrose or quinine. Relative to Y1(+/+) mice, male Y1(-/-) mice were found to be less sensitive to the sedative effects of 3.5 and 4.0 gm/kg ethanol as measured by more rapid recovery from ethanol-induced sleep, although plasma ethanol levels did not differ significantly between the genotypes. Finally, male Y1(-/-) mice showed normal ethanol-induced ataxia on the rotarod test after administration of a 2.5 gm/kg dose. These data suggest that the NPY Y1 receptor regulates voluntary ethanol consumption and some of the intoxicating effects caused by administration of ethanol.

Utilització d'algorismes genètics per a la composició musical

Aquest memòria presenta un estudi sobre l’aplicació dels algorismes genètics per a lacomposició musical. Es descriu un sistema generador d’un conjunt de melodies i les evoluciona, a través de la iteració de l’algorisme, per a obtenir la millor composició possible, segons unconjunt de normes harmòniques i rítmiques definides arbitràriament.Les regles emprades combinen la modelització de diferents aspectes que la teoria i anàlisimusical occidental contemporani defineix com a essencials per a composar melodies agradables a l’oïda humana. Els trets més importants són melodies amb una certa linealitat, harmonia en lespolifonies i un caràcter rítmic en aquestes composicions.S’ha utilitzat el model d’ Implicació – Realització per a afavorir la linealitat i agradabilitat melòdica, un estudi estadístic de ritme i melodia en peces musicals en format MIDI i la definició per part de l’usuari d’una seqüència d’acords o patró amb el qual les melodies generades hi harmonitzaran.L’algoritme sembla generar satisfactòriament melodies que compleixen amb els aspectesavaluats, i amb la possibilitat de definir diferents seqüències d’acords, el sistema esdevé una eina d’ajuda per a realitzar petites composicions o fragments harmònics d’una manera més automatitzada.

DigitalJukebox: desarrollo de una aplicación musical interactiva

DigitalJukebox es un sistema interactivo de visualización de elementos musicales, diseñado para ser instalado en un contexto semipúblico, como por ejemplo un bar. El funcionamiento de este sistema está inspirado en las antiguas máquinas de discos, de modo que permite a losusuarios elegir la música que quieren escuchar durante su estancia en el local. A su vez, DigitalJukebox ofrece un valor añadido con respecto a la tradicional máquina de discos: además de la música, muestra el videoclip de la canción y una serie de imágenes del artista seleccionado.Así pues, este proyecto abarca las diferentes fases de creación del sistema: la definición del problema, el estudio del trabajo existente en este ámbito, el análisis de los requerimientos de losusuarios, el diseño del sistema, su implementación y la evaluación final con usuarios.

Réduction de la consommation de sel: opportunité, impact et stratégies. [Population reduction of salt consumption: opportunities, impact and strategies].

A national survey showed that Swiss people eat high quantity of salt (9.1 g per day on average). The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has launched a strategy to reduce salt intake in the population in order to decrease cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, mainly via blood pressure reduction. The most effective public health measures are to reduce the salt content of processed food rich in salt because they do not need to change consumers' eating behaviours. The FOPH has chosen to collaborate with the food industry on a voluntary basis. Regular population-based surveys will be needed to monitor the impact of current measures on salt consumption, hypertension prevalence as well as cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the years to come.

Predictable Life-Cycle Shocks, Income Risk and Consumption Inequality

Was the increase in income inequality in the US due to permanent shocks or merely to an increase in the variance of transitory shocks? The implications for consumption and welfare depend crucially on the answer to this question. We use CEX repeated cross-section data on consumption and income to decompose idiosyncratic changes in income into predictable life-cycle changes, transitory and permanent shocks and estimate the contribution of each to total inequality. Our model fits the joint evolution of consumption and income inequality well and delivers two main results. First, we find that permanent changes in income explain all of the increase in inequality in the 1980s and 90s. Second, we reconcile this finding with the fact that consumption inequality did not increase much over this period. Our results support the view that many permanent changes in income are predictable for consumers, even if they look unpredictable to the econometrician, consistent with models of heterogeneous income profiles.

Does Health Information Matter for Modifying Consumption?, October 2006

A field experiment was conducted in France to evaluate the impact of health information on fish consumption. A warning given to the treatment group revealed the risks of methylmercury contamination in fish and also gave consumption recommendations. Using difference-indifferences estimation, we show that this warning led to a significant but relatively weak decrease in fish consumption. However, consumption of the most contaminated fish did not decrease despite advice to avoid consumption of these types of fish. Accompanying questionnaires show that consumers imperfectly memorize the fish species quoted in the warning. The results point to the relatively poor efficacy of a complex health message, despite its use by health agencies around the world.

Alcohol consumption and incidence of type 2 diabetes. Results from the CoLaus study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Moderate alcohol consumption has been shown to decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2DM), but whether this association is also valid for impaired fasting glucose (IFG) is less well known. We aimed at assessing the impact of alcohol consumption and of type of alcoholic beverage on the incidence of T2DM and T2DM + IFG. METHODS AND RESULTS: As many as 4765 participants (2613 women, mean age 51.7 ± 10.5 years) without T2DM at baseline and followed for an average of 5.5 years. The association between alcohol consumption, type of alcoholic beverage and outcomes was assessed after adjustment for a validated T2DM risk score. During follow-up 284 participants developed T2DM and 643 developed IFG. On bivariate analysis, alcohol consumption was positively associated with the risk of developing T2DM or T2DM + IFG. Moderate (14-27 units/week) alcohol consumption tended to be associated with a lower risk of T2DM, but no protective effect was found for T2DM + IFG. Multivariable-adjusted odds ratio (OR) and (95% confidence interval) for T2DM: 0.89 (0.65-1.22), 0.66 (0.42-1.03) and 1.63 (0.93-2.84) for 1-13, 14-27 and 28 + units/week, respectively (p for quadratic trend < 0.005). For T2DM + IFG, the corresponding ORs were 1.09 (0.90-1.32), 1.33 (1.02-1.74) and 1.54 (0.99-2.39), respectively, p for trend = 0.03. No specific effect of alcoholic beverage (wine, beer or spirits) was found for T2DM or for T2DM + IFG. CONCLUSION: Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a reduced risk of developing T2DM, but not of developing T2DM + IFG. No specific effect of type of alcoholic beverage was found.

Practices in primary health care oriented toward the harmful consumption of drugs

Objective To analyze the practices of primary care focused on the harmful consumption of drugs. Method This is a qualitative study, developed with a dialectical-critical approach. Data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews with 10 employees of a basic health unit (UBS). Results The demands are not accepted, and if they go beyond the barriers shaped by the historical absence of health care practices for drug users and moralistic and preconceived ideologies, they are not reinterpreted as health needs; practices that meet these demands and go beyond the barriers are poor; the functionalist approach, which explains drug use as a disease and considers drug users as deviants, supports the few existing practices. Conclusion primary health care is mistakenly focused on addiction; it lacks structural elements of the production process in health and internal dynamics of the working processes that would foster the development of collective practices.

Campo Musical Cabo-verdiano da Area Metropolitana de Lisboa Protoganistas, Identidades e Musica Imigrante

Portugal é um país que acolhe, desde a década de 60 do século pretérito, uma das mais expressivas comunidades africanas – a cabo-verdiana –, cuja característica saliente é marcada, designadamente, pela presença de uma significativa e dinâmica cultura transnacional. A música, através dos seus mais variados géneros e formas, representa seguramente a dimensão mais importante desta diversificada população imigrante, juntamente com a língua cabo-verdiana. Daí o interesse no conhecimento, tanto quanto possível aprofundado, da realidade musical cabo-verdiana em contexto imigratório, a partir de um olhar atento sobre o chamado campo musical, ancorado particularmente na Área Metropolitana de Lisboa (AML). Interessada em caracterizar, nos seus aspectos essenciais, o campo da música migrante cabo-verdiana na Área Metropolitana de Lisboa, esta investigação propõe-se descrever e analisar o funcionamento do campo da música migrante cabo-verdiana, observando a sua configuração, tanto no plano estrutural das relações sociais no seu interior e com o seu exterior, das trajectórias, práticas e perfis sociográficos dos músicos, como no plano simbólico/cultural das representações, identidades, representações e culturas profissionais, com base numa amostra de 102 casos, à qual foi aplicado um inquérito por questionário, para além de métodos qualitativos, designadamente a entrevista em profundidade e o focus group, de forma combinada e de acordo com o princípio da triangulação metodológica.

A Expressão da Cabo-verdianidade na Obra musical de Beto Dias

Para a realização deste trabalho monográfico, propôs-se um tema na área da Cultura Caboverdiana, sob o título, A Expressão da Cabo-verdianidade na Obra Musical de Beto Dias. O que se almeja trabalhar neste estudo monográfico é a mensagem transmitida nas composições musicais de Beto Dias e a sua relevância para a compreensão da cabo-verdianidade e não a querela à volta dos contornos da música nacional, em toda a sua abrangência e pertinência, ou seja, não se discute no presente os ritmos, as melodias, as influências e os géneros musicais subjacentes à questão. Com efeito, o compositor e intérprete, Beto Dias produziu uma vasta obra musical através de inúmeras composições, por si próprio interpretadas em vários discos, onde trata temas do quotidiano cabo-verdiano. Entretanto, ninguém se debruçou ainda sobre a referida obra com o fim de identificar na mesma a expressão da alma crioula e da cabo verdianidade, elementos psicossociais importantes para a compreensão do sócio-cultural cabo-verdiano.