Baseline Update for US Agricultural Markets

This document serves as a mid-year update to the 2007 FAPRI baseline prepared in January 2007. It reflects market developments and incorporates estimate information available in early August 2007.This report examines the impacts of the commodity provisions of the legislation introduced by U.S. Representative Ron Kind entitled the “Food and Agriculture Risk Management for the 21st Century Act of 2007.”Agricultural and Food Policy,

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008: Preliminary Analysis of Selected Provisions

This report provides preliminary analysis of impacts of selected Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA) provisions.Agricultural and Food Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Impacts of the Commodity Provisions of the Food and Agriculture Risk Management for the 21st Century Act of 2007 (FARM 21)

This report examines the impacts of the commodity provisions of the legislation introduced by U.S. Representative Ron Kind entitled the “Food and Agriculture Risk Management for the 21st Century Act of 2007.”Agricultural and Food Policy,

Emotion words and categories: evidence from lexical decision

We examined the categorical nature of emotion word recognition. Positive, negative, and neutral words were presented in lexical decision tasks. Word frequency was additionally manipulated. In Experiment 1, "positive" and "negative" categories of words were implicitly indicated by the blocked design employed. A significant emotion–frequency interaction was obtained, replicating past research. While positive words consistently elicited faster responses than neutral words, only low frequency negative words demonstrated a similar advantage. In Experiments 2a and 2b, explicit categories ("positive," "negative," and "household" items) were specified to participants. Positive words again elicited faster responses than did neutral words. Responses to negative words, however, were no different than those to neutral words, regardless of their frequency. The overall pattern of effects indicates that positive words are always facilitated, frequency plays a greater role in the recognition of negative words, and a "negative" category represents a somewhat disparate set of emotions. These results support the notion that emotion word processing may be moderated by distinct systems

An instinct for detection: psychological perspectives on CCTV surveillance

The aim of this article is to inform and stimulate a proactive, multidisciplinary approach to research and development in surveillance-based detective work. In this article we review some of the key psychological issues and phenomena that practitioners should be aware of. We look at how human performance can be explained with reference to our biological and evolutionary legacy. We show how critical viewing conditions can be in determining whether observers detect or overlook criminal activity in video material. We examine situations where performance can be surprisingly poor, and cover situations where, even once confronted with evidence of these detection deficits, observers still underestimate their susceptibility to them. Finally we explain why the emergence of these relatively recent research themes presents an opportunity for police and law enforcement agencies to set a new, multidisciplinary research agenda focused on relevant and pressing issues of national and international importance

Detect the unexpected: a science for surveillance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to outline a strategy for research development focused on addressing the neglected role of visual perception in real life tasks such as policing surveillance and command and control settings. Approach – The scale of surveillance task in modern control room is expanding as technology increases input capacity at an accelerating rate. The authors review recent literature highlighting the difficulties that apply to modern surveillance and give examples of how poor detection of the unexpected can be, and how surprising this deficit can be. Perceptual phenomena such as change blindness are linked to the perceptual processes undertaken by law-enforcement personnel. Findings – A scientific programme is outlined for how detection deficits can best be addressed in the context of a multidisciplinary collaborative agenda between researchers and practitioners. The development of a cognitive research field specifically examining the occurrence of perceptual “failures” provides an opportunity for policing agencies to relate laboratory findings in psychology to their own fields of day-to-day enquiry. Originality/value – The paper shows, with examples, where interdisciplinary research may best be focussed on evaluating practical solutions and on generating useable guidelines on procedure and practice. It also argues that these processes should be investigated in real and simulated context-specific studies to confirm the validity of the findings in these new applied scenarios

Strategy, Core Competence and HR Involvement as Determinants of HR Effectiveness and Refinery Performance

This study examined the impact strategy, core competence, and involvement of HR executives in strategic decision making on the refinery managers\u27 evaluation of the effectiveness of HR and refinery performance among 86 U.S. petro-chemical refineries. Survey results indicated that higher involvement of HR in organizational strategy was strongly related to perceptions of HR effectiveness, and that the relationship was strongest to the extent that refineries pursued a product innovation strategy and viewed skilled employees as their core competence. HR involvement was unrelated to refinery performance, but was actually negatively related to the extent that refineries emphasized efficient production as their core competence

The Role of Human Resource Practices in Petro-Chemical Refinery Performance

This study examined the impact of Human Resource (HR) practices (selection, training, compensation, and appraisal) and participation on the financial performance of U.S. petrochemical refineries. Survey results from HR and Operations respondents indicated that appraisal and training were significantly related to workforce skills and that training and compensation were marginally related to workforce motivation. In addition, only training was significantly related to refinery performance, although the relationship was negative. However, selection, compensation, and appraisal interacted with participation in determining refinery financial performance such that each of these practices were strongly positively related to financial performance only under highly participative systems. Implications are discussed

FAPRI 2005 Outlook for Missouri Agriculture

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Comparing Line and HR Executives’ Perceptions of HR Effectiveness: Services, Roles, and Contributions

This study compared HR and line executives’ evaluations of the effectiveness of the HR function in terms of its service delivery, roles, and contributions to the firm. Survey responses from 44 HR and 59 line executives from 14 companies indicated that (a) HR executives consistently rated the functions effectiveness higher than did line executives, and (b) the greatest differences were observed on the more important and/or strategic aspects of HR. Implications are discussed