Gaming,States, and Tax Revenues—the Tortoise or the Hare: A CGE Comparative Assessment of Casino Resorts and Games‐Only Casinos

Theoretically speaking, heavy tax rates on gambling should dampen growth of the casino revenues. Indeed, a cursory glance at data across U.S. states suggests that more jobs and income are generated directly by the gaming industry when lower tax rates are applied. Using a detailed computable general equilibrium model, we evaluate the effects of a proposed machine‐based casino on New Jersey's economy as well as on the state's existing set of casino resorts in Atlantic City. We find few winners other than the state's tax coffers.     

Partial characterization of digestive proteases in tropical gar Atractosteus tropicus juveniles

Tropical gar (Atractosteus tropicus) is an economically and socially important freshwater species from Southeastern Mexico, with a high aquaculture potential. With this in mind, the purpose of this study was to characterize the digestive proteases of tropical gar juveniles through biochemical and electrophoretic analyses. Twenty specimens with an average weight of 73.6 ± 12.7 g were used to obtain stomach and intestinal tissue from which multienzymatic extracts were prepared. The general activities of the acid and alkaline proteases were evaluated, as well as the specific activities of trypsin, chymotrypsin, leucine aminopeptidase and carboxypeptidase A. The effect of the pH and temperature on the proteases was also analyzed, together with the composition of the multienzymatic extracts using protease inhibitors and electrophoretic tests. Results showed that A. tropicus have a functional stomach in which protein hydrolysis starts with pepsin and which contains endo- and exopeptidases (trypsin, chymotrypsin, leucine aminopeptidase and carboxypeptidase A) and proteases that are resistant to high temperatures (45 and 55 °C for alkaline and acid proteases, respectively) and pH values. Using zymogram technique, we found two acid protease isoforms (0.35 and 0.71 rf) and five alkaline protease isoforms (83.7, 43.7, 27.5, 24.0 and 19.4 kDa), which decrease or disappear with the different inhibitors. Thus, this species is considered to be a carnivore capable of adapting to its environment by consuming different types of proteins from preys and also could adapt rapidly to consume a compound diet with different animal protein sources.     

Influence of digestible protein levels on growth and feed utilization of juvenile meagre Argyrosomus regius

This study investigates the effect of digestible protein levels in experimental diets for meagre (Argyrosomus regius). A group of 253 fish, 52 g of mean weight, was distributed in 12 tanks, three replicates per treatment. Four isolipidic diets (170 g kg^?1 crude lipid) with different digestible protein levels (350 g kg^?1, 430 g kg^?1, 490 g kg^?1 and 530 g kg^?1) were formulated using commercial ingredients. The trial lasted 62 days. Meagre fed diets 430, 490 and 530 g kg^?1 obtained higher TGC (2.47, 2.57, 2.69 × 10^?3, respectively) than fish fed diet 350 g kg^?1 (2.14 × 10^?3). Group of fish fed diet with 350 g kg^?1 DP showed the lowest ammonia excretion level. According to the in vitro digestibility trial diets with 350 and 430 g kg^?1 DP released less amino acids in comparison with diet with 49% DP, although in vivo digestibility test did not show significant differences among diets 430, 490 and 530 g kg^?1 DP. Using the quadratic regression, optimal digestible protein intake according to the ECR for rearing juvenile meagre was recorded in 0.8 g DP/100 g fish and day.     

Can barber goby Elacatinus figaro control Neobedenia melleni infections on dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus?

The interaction between cultured barber goby Elacatinus figaro (cleaner fish) and the dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus, and the efficiency of the cleaner fish in removing ectoparasites were evaluated. When the interaction between these two species was observed, cleaner fish showed a preference for the largest groupers. In a second trial, treatments: TWC (Control) – two groupers without a cleaner fish, T1C – two groupers with one cleaner fish, T3C – two groupers with three cleaner fish and T6C – two groupers with six cleaner fish were tested in four replicates. After 8 days, monogeneans were removed and identified as Neobenedenia melleni. The highest mean abundance of parasites was found on the groupers in the TWC group (37 parasites per host) and the lowest on those in the T6C group (4.1 parasites per host). By increasing the number of cleaner fish, a higher cleaning efficiency was obtained, as observed in T6C, where almost 90% of the parasites were removed. Possibly, this removal would have been complete if the number of cleaners had not been reduced in the treatments due to the mortalities observed. This study demonstrates the possibility of using gobies to remove monogeneans and in improving grouper health.     

Oviposition preference assessment of Diabrotica speciosa (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) for different soybean genotypes

This study assessed current research methods and applied them to tests of oviposition preference by Diabrotica speciosa (Germar) for different soybean genotypes; the correlation between the number of eggs per plant and leaf intake was evaluated. The experiments were divided into four parts: (i) assessing the preferred oviposition substrate; (ii) standardizing the number of D. speciosa pairs, (iii) evaluating the preferred soybean plant age, and (iv) testing the preference for oviposition on different soybean genotypes, and evaluating its correlation with leaf intake under laboratory conditions. Females of D. speciosa preferred to lay eggs in the soil, with the highest number of eggs laid in the presence of a growing soybean plant. The genotypes PI 227687, DM 339, and PI 274454 were the least preferred varieties for oviposition, while BRSGO 8360 was the most preferred genotype. Egg counts were not correlated with leaf intake, except for the variety IGRA RA 626 RR, which showed positive correlation. Our discoveries may be helpful for second-crop use of resistant genotypes in areas where different crops are cultivated, by reducing the pest density off-season.     

Effects of ethylene and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on gene expression and activity profile of alpha-1,4-glucan-phosphorylase during banana ripening

Starch phosphorylases are enzymes that can use starch as substrate, and they are supposed to act in both in starch synthesis and degradation. This paper reports the effects of ethylene and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on the degradation of starch and phosphorylase activity and gene expression. The results indicate that phosphorylase activity is induced during ripening and that it is associated with the onset of starch degradation. The regulation of banana phosphorylase activity is mainly dependent on gene expression, and the absence of ethylene perception by 1-MCP had a positive effect. However, this effect can be precluded by increased levels of ethylene, both autocatalytic and exogenous.     

Aging effect on the pigment composition and color of Vitis vinifera L. Cv. Tannat wines. Contribution of the main pigment families to wine color

Red wines made from Vitis vinifera L. cv. Tannat grapes are known to possess high contents of tannins and intense color, features that are responsible for the originality of these wines. This work aimed to study the evolution of the pigment composition and CIELAB color parameters as Tannat wines become older, as well as to establish the contribution to wine color of the main pigment families. Tannat wines produced in Uruguay from grapes of the same vineyard in six consecutive vintages (1998-2003) and Tannat grapes of the 2003 harvest were analyzed by means of HPLC-DAD-MS and UV-vis spectrometric techniques. The correlations between the different pigment families and the CIELAB parameters revealed the importance of the variations of the percentage, found in anthocyanins and flavanol-anthocyanin acetaldehyde-mediated condensation products (decrease) and pyranoanthocyanins and direct condensation products (increase), in the modification of the color from purple-red hues to more orange-red ones. The color suffered qualitative rather than quantitative changes, that is, the hue (h*ab) increased, whereas the chroma (C*ab) and lightness (L) did not show a defined trend with time.