Prediction of sunflower grain oil concentration as a function ofvariety, crop management and environment using statistical models

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) raises as a competitive oilseed crop in the current environmentallyfriendly context. To help targeting adequate management strategies, we explored statistical models astools to understand and predict sunflower oil concentration. A trials database was built upon experi-ments carried out on a total of 61 varieties over the 2000–2011 period, grown in different locations inFrance under contrasting management conditions (nitrogen fertilization, water regime, plant density).25 literature-based predictors of seed oil concentration were used to build 3 statistical models (multiplelinear regression, generalized additive model (GAM), regression tree (RT)) and compared to the refer-ence simple one of Pereyra-Irujo and Aguirrezábal (2007) based on 3 variables. Performance of modelswas assessed by means of statistical indicators, including root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEP)and model efficiency (EF). GAM-based model performed best (RMSEP = 1.95%; EF = 0.71) while the simplemodel led to poor results in our database (RMSEP = 3.33%; EF = 0.09). We computed hierarchical contribu-tion of predictors in each model by means of R2and concluded to the leading determination of potentialoil concentration (OC), followed by post-flowering canopy functioning indicators (LAD2 and MRUE2),plant nitrogen and water status and high temperatures effect. Diagnosis of error in the 4 statistical mod-els and their domains of applicability are discussed. An improved statistical model (GAM-based) wasproposed for sunflower oil prediction on a large panel of genotypes grown in contrasting environments

European Information System for Organic Markets (EISFOM QLK5-2002-02400): WP 2: “Data collection and processing systems (DCPS) for the conventional markets” and WP 3: “Data collection and processing systems for organic markets” = Deliverable D2

European markets for organic products are developing fast. In Europe, as other parts of the world, more and more farm land is being converted to organic production. In order to adjust production and consumption levels, detailed market information is needed, especially where decisions with a long-term impact need to be taken, for example on converting specific land or livestock enterprises requiring high levels of investment in glasshouses, housing, processing facilities etc. Since public subsidies (regional / national / European) are heavily involved in these investments, valid, accurate and up-to-date information is essential not only for farmers and growers, but also for policy-makers, consultants, processing industry etc. EU-research projects such as OFCAP (FAIR3-CT96-1794) and OMIaRD (QLK5-2000-01124) have shown that regional or national data gathering takes place in many countries, but often only very basic data are reported, such as certified organic holdings, land areas and livestock numbers. Important market data, e.g. the amount of production, consumption, international trade or producer and consumer prices, do not exist in most European countries. In some European countries there are only rough estimates of the levels of production and consumption. There is no standardization and data are seldom comparable. Furthermore, detailed information on specific commodities is missing. Hence, investment decisions are taken under conditions of great uncertainty. Likewise, if politicians want to support organic agriculture, they do not know whether it would be better to support production or consumption or to address problems in the marketing channel. The EU concerted action EISfOM (QLK5-2002-02400) (European Information System for Organic Markets) is attempting to take the first steps in solving these problems. The aim of this concerted action is to build up a framework for reporting valid and reliable data for relevant production and market sectors of the European organic sector in order to meet the needs of policy-makers, farmers, processors, wholesalers and other actors involved in organic markets. In order to reach this aim, this action was split into several workpackages. This report describes the approach and results of workpackages 2 and 3. In this first chapter the objective and general approach of these work packages are described. Chapters 2 and 3 provide an overview of international statistics and data collection systems within the food supply chain at the public and the private level. Chapter 4 describes national statistics and data collection systems within the food supply chain. In Chapter 5, an analysis and appraisal is made of the results with regard to organic data collection and processing systems (DCPSs) and their integration into existing common DCPSs. Chapter 6 draws several general conclusions. Two substantial annexes complete the report, one with the country reports on the situation of data collection and processing in all investigated countries and the other with the first and the second stage questionnaires covering the different data collection levels

MAPPI-DAT : data management and analysis for protein-protein interaction data from the high-throughput MAPPIT cell microarray platform

Protein-protein interaction (PPI) studies have dramatically expanded our knowledge about cellular behaviour and development in different conditions. A multitude of high-throughput PPI techniques have been developed to achieve proteome-scale coverage for PPI studies, including the microarray based Mammalian Protein-Protein Interaction Trap (MAPPIT) system. Because such high-throughput techniques typically report thousands of interactions, managing and analysing the large amounts of acquired data is a challenge. We have therefore built the MAPPIT cell microArray Protein Protein Interaction-Data management & Analysis Tool (MAPPI-DAT) as an automated data management and analysis tool for MAPPIT cell microarray experiments. MAPPI-DAT stores the experimental data and metadata in a systematic and structured way, automates data analysis and interpretation, and enables the meta-analysis of MAPPIT cell microarray data across all stored experiments

Synthesis and final recommendations on the development of a European Information System for Organic Markets. = Deliverable D6 of the European Project EISfOM QLK5-2002-02400

Executive summary European markets for organic products are growing rapidly, but the market information available in most European countries is woefully inadequate. Often only very basic data such as certified organic holdings and land area are reported, and sometimes not even individual crop areas or livestock numbers. Important market data, such as the amount of production, consumption, international trade or producer and consumer prices, do not exist in most European countries. In some European countries there are only rough estimates of the levels of production and consumption. There is no standardisation and data are seldom comparable. Furthermore, detailed information on specific commodities is missing. Hence, investment decisions are taken under conditions of great uncertainty. Policy evaluation, including periodic monitoring of the European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming and RDP 2007-2013, will require many other data in addition to those regarding production structures and financial data that are already available, but obtaining this information would require a new EU-wide data collection and processing system (DCPS) to be put in place. The European Information System for Organic Markets (EISfOM) project is an EUfunded Concerted Action which has analysed and documented the current situation and proposed ways in which organic data collection and processing systems (DCPS) can be improved by means of: • improvement in the current situation of data collecting and processing systems for the organic sector • innovation in data collection and processing systems for the organic sector • integration of conventional and organic data collection and processing systems This report summarises the most relevant findings of the EISfOM project, which are analysed in the main project reports: Wolfert, S., Kramer, K. J., Richter, T., Hempfling, G., Lux. S. and Recke, G. (eds.) (2004). Review of data collection and processing systems for organic and conventional markets. EISfOM (QLK5-2002-02400) project deliverable submitted to European Commission. www.eisfom.org/publications. Recke, G., Hamm, U., Lampkin, N., Zanoli, R., Vitulano, S. and Olmos, S. (eds.) (2004a) Report on proposals for the development, harmonisation and quality assurance of organic data collection and processing systems (DCPS). EISfOM (QLK5-2002-02400) project deliverable submitted to European Commission. www.eisfom.org/publications. Recke, G., Willer, H., Lampkin, N. and Vaughan, A. (eds.) (2004b). Development of a European Information System for Organic Markets – Improving the Scope and Quality of Statistical Data. Proceedings of the 1st EISfOM European Seminar, Berlin, Germany, 26-27 April, 2004. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland. www.eisfom.org/publications. Gleirscher, N., Schermer, M., Wroblewska, M. and Zakowska-Biemans, S. (2005) Report on the evaluation of the pilot case studies. EISfOM (QLK5-2002-02400) project deliverable submitted to European Commission. www.eisfom.org/publications. QLK5-2002-02400 European Information System for Organic Markets (EISfOM) D6 final report Rippin, M. and Lampkin, N. (eds.) (2005) Framework for a European Information System for Organic Markets. Unpublished report of the project European Information System for Organic Markets (EISfOM) (QLK5-2002-02400). Rippin, M., Willer, H., Lampkin, N., and Vaughan A. (2006). Towards a European Framework for Organic Market information, Proceedings of the 2nd EISfOM European Seminar, Brussels, November 10 and 11, 2005. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland. www.eisfom.org/publications

Upheaval in the Boardroom: Outside Director Public Resignations, Motivations, and Consequences

We investigate the motives and circumstances surrounding outside directors\u27 decisions to publicly announce their board resignations. Directors who leave quietly are in their mid-sixties and professional directors, i.e., retirees, who are retiring entirely from professional life. Directors who announce their resignation are in their mid-fifties and active professionals. Half the time they say they are leaving because they are busy. These directors leave from firms with some weakness in their performance, but with no overt manifestations of cronyism such as excessive compensation of either the CEO or directors. The other half of the time directors leave while publicly criticizing the firm. These directors are finance professionals who were members of the audit and compensation committees. They resign from firms with weak boards and financial performance with evidence that managers have manipulated earnings upwards. Public criticism appears to pressure these boards to make management changes associated with improved stock price performance. We conclude that while such public resignations are motivated by the reputational concerns of directors, they can act as a disciplining device for poor board performance

MANAGING VARIANT DISCREPANCY IN HEREDITARY CANCER: CLINICAL PRACTICE, BARRIERS, AND DESIRED RESOURCES

Variants are changes in the DNA whose phenotypic effects may or may not be definitively understood. Because variant interpretation is a complex process, sources sometimes disagree on the classification of a variant, which is called a variant discrepancy. This study aimed to determine the practice of genetic counselors regarding variant discrepancies and to identify the barriers to counseling a variant discrepancy in hereditary cancer genetic testing. This investigation was unique because it was the first to address variant discrepancies from a clinical point of view. An electronic survey was sent to genetic counselors in the NSGC Cancer Special Interest Group. The vast majority of counselors (93%) had seen a variant discrepancy in practice. The most commonly selected barriers to counseling a variant discrepancy were lack of data sharing (90%) and lack of a central database (76%). Most counselors responded that the ideal database would be owned by a non-profit (59%) and obtain information directly from laboratories (91%). When asked how they approached counseling sessions involving variant discrepancies, the free responses emphasized that counselors consider family history and psychosocial concerns, showing that genetic counselors tailored the session to each individual. Variant discrepancies are an ongoing concern for clinical cancer genetic counselors, as demonstrated by the fact that counselors desired further resources to aid in addressing variant discrepancies, including a centralized database (89%), guidelines from a major organization (88%), continuing education about the issue (74%) and functional studies (58%)

Effects of Ownership and Financial Status on Corporate Environmental Performance

This paper analyzes the effects of ownership structure on corporate environmental performance and examines the link from financial performance to environmental performance in a transition economy. In particular, it analyzes these ownership effects and this performance link using an unbalanced panel of Czech firms for the years 1993 to 1998. It considers state ownership and various types of private ownership, while contrasting concentrated and diffuse forms of private ownership. Additionally, it examines whether or not successful financial performance begets or undermines good environmental performance.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39877/3/wp492.pd

Corporate social responsibility and stock price crash risk

This study investigates whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) mitigates or contributes to stock price crash risk. Crash risk, defined as the conditional skewness of return distribution, captures asymmetry in risk and is important for investment decisions and risk management. If socially responsible firms commit to a high standard of transparency and engage in less bad news hoarding, they would have lower crash risk. However, if managers engage in CSR to cover up bad news and divert shareholder scrutiny, CSR would be associated with higher crash risk. Our findings support the mitigating effect of CSR on crash risk. We find that firms\u27 CSR performance is negatively associated with future crash risk after controlling for other predictors of crash risk. The result holds after we account for potential endogeneity. Moreover, the mitigating effect of CSR on crash risk is more pronounced when firms have less effective corporate governance or a lower level of institutional ownership. The results are consistent with the notion that firms that actively engage in CSR also refrain from bad news hoarding behavior and thus reducing crash risk. This role of CSR is particularly important when governance mechanisms, such as monitoring by boards or institutional investors, are weak. JEL classification: G14; G30; M14; M4