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This paper examines the competitiveness of international orange trade over the period 1993-2018 based on global data. The paper uses the methodology of comparative advantages to analyse fresh orange and orange juice data. Results suggest that most competitive countries are focusing on processed orange trade. Although Brazil is the world's largest orange-producing country, it is not among the top 10 countries in the global orange fruit market, representing that it mainly focuses on processing. Results also suggest that there is no high concentration in the export market for fresh oranges, however, Spain's share is growing steadily, as well as South Africa and Egypt can be mentioned as emerging nations. With further analysis of the international orange trade, Egypt's comparative advantage over fresh oranges increased the most and had the highest results in recent periods followed by South Africa, Greece and Spain. By examining global orange juice trade, it is not surprising that Brazil had the largest comparative advantage, although its value is constantly declining. With a dynamic analysis of comparative advantages, a large decrease can be observed in the chance of survival of the advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural techniques and orchard management play an important role in food production sustainability and there is an increasing number of research papers that focus on food cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment. In addition, there is also an emerging body of research on short food supply chains and on whether or not proximity can be a proxy for sustainability in the agri-food system. The objective of this analysis is to consider the most relevant social and environmental impacts of the Environmental Footprint and Social Life Cycle Assessment in the citrus fruit sector and identify crucial hotspots. We will explore the relevance of the length of citrus fruit supply chains on maps of social and environmental impacts in order to reach more wiser sustainability-based decisions. The results obtained show mixed conclusions regarding the relevance and implications of choosing short food supply chains to achieve more sustainable food systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss a perennial question in the field of music teacher education: is school music education better served with generalist or specialist teachers? To answer this question, we discuss the educational policy reforms implemented in two African countries, Uganda and South Africa, and in Spain as well. We also discuss how teacher education is implemented in these countries–in the case of Spain, in the lights of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA)–in what refers music teacher education and its professional development. From this policy analysis at curriculum and teacher education levels, we raise implications for teacher preparation and subsequent professional development of music generalist and specialist teachers. In our conclusion, we deduce that students may be well served with either generalist or specialist music teachers as long as they are prepared to move content forward, to meet contemporary global student needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2070 unique, homogeneous photometric and polarization observations of the microquasar in a binary system with a black hole V404 Cyg/GS2023+338 obtained in 2015 with the MASTER global network of robotic telescopes (16 robotic telescopes located at eight points on the Earth in Russia, Spain, South Africa, and Argentina) are presented. MASTER was the first telescope network to obtain optical observations of the microquasar after its gamma-ray outburst in 2015. Observations were carried out from 18:34:09 UT on June 15, 2015 until December 2015 in four polarizations and in the four standard BV RI filters. The paper presents the results of these observations and a comparative analysis of optical and X-ray data. The observations confirm the previously discovered super-long delays of the optical radiation relative to the X-ray outbursts. Possible mechanisms causing the delay in the optical variations relative to the X-ray variations are discussed. Variability of the optical polarization discovered earlier is confirmed another similar episode reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Experience of certain material deprivation pattern varies significantly across the world. • Children from Europe have almost no likelihood of belonging to the Extreme Deprivation class. • Children living in MENA are more likely to experience housing and mobile deprivation. • Children living in Africa are more likely to experience lack of access to digital resources in addition to deficit of basic necessities. • Children living in Eastern Europe are more likely to experience transportation deprivation. Current research suggests that poverty affects children at different rates across the world (OECD, 2018; Unicef Innocenti Research Center, 2007). Additionally, poverty affects children differently – from deprivation of basic needs (ex. lack of food, clothing) to lack of access to digital technology. Previous studies of child poverty and its impact on children have predominantly approached this topic using income-based measures of poverty. This paper employs a material deprivation approach to study child poverty in different cultural contexts. Therefore, this study answers the following questions: Does child material deprivation have different patterns across world regions? If so, what characteristics do these patterns of material deprivation have? Are these patterns of material deprivation more likely to affect certain world regions? This paper utilizes data from the International Survey of Child Well-Being. The data includes children at the age of 12 from Norway, Germany, England, Spain, Malta, Estonia, Romania, Algeria, Israel, Turkey, Ethiopia, and South Africa. The analyses were based on the items available in the Child Material Resource Index. Latent class analysis and multinomial logistic regression were utilized to explore patterns of material deprivation. Findings suggest five patterns of child material deprivation, ranging from extreme to no deprivation. The distribution of these patterns varies significantly across world regions. This study suggests that the distribution of resources to eliminate poverty should be based not only on income-based indicators but should also include an assessment based on perceived deprivation scales, especially in international contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]