Policy Implications of Crop Yield and Revenue Variability at Differing Levels of Disaggregation

Revenue variability at different levels of aggregation has been the focus of several proposals to reform U.S. commodity programs with the 2007 farm bill. In this paper, we estimate revenue variabilityyear-to-year deviations from expected revenuefor corn, soybeans, and cotton at four levels of aggregation: national, state, county and farm. We examine the factors that cause revenue variability and how differences across crops and regions would affect producers risks. We find that national-level revenue variability is nearly double national-level yield variability. Spatial disaggregation increases price and yield variability, but yield variability increases more rapidly than price and revenue variability. A hypothetical national-level revenue program would reduce risk at the average farm-level by slightly more than 8 percent for corn, about 7 percent for soybeans and about 21 percent for cotton. If one integrates farm-level revenue coverage with the national-level program the percent risk reduction more than doubles for both corn and soybeans. Although the increase in risk reduction between the simple national and the integrated program is proportionately less for cotton, the total risk reduction for cotton is the greatest among the three crops.Agricultural and Food Policy,

The Effect of Changing Government Subsidy Programs: An Analysis of Revenue at the Farm level

Producer revenue is simultaneously simulated for several hundred county-specific representative farms. The effects of current and alternative commodity programs are analyzed. In particular, two variations of revenue-triggered programs similar to plans proposed by the National Corn Growers Association are evaluated.Risk, commodity policy, simulation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, Q180,

ElderFriends: Relieving Loneliness Among Elders

Educational Objectives 1. To discuss social isolation among older adults. 2. To promote awareness of the ElderFriends program, an intervention newly established in greater Richmond 3. To seek friendly visitors for the ElderFriends program

STEAM on the Quad

STEAM on the Quad is a family-oriented educational program, initiated in 2016, involving K-12 youth. Participants are able to do hands-on activities that improve their knowledge and interest in the science, technology, engineering, arts and math fields. The event is a collaborative project between Ohio State – Lima and OSU Extension. The 4-H programs of Putnam, Hardin and Allen counties hosted activities that featured Bluetooth sports, circuitry, Lego zip lines, virtual reality, graphics tablets, solar panels, sculpture building, hovercrafts and sewing. Community partners included the Allen County Soil and Water Conservation District, ArtSpace/Lima, YWCA Child Care, the Neil Armstrong Museum, and the Lima YMCA Bean City Bots Robotics Team. Ohio State – Lima faculty from biology, education, engineering, geology, and theater engaged K-12 students and their families in a variety of hands-on projects, as did Ohio State law enforcement. Ohio State staff and students aided in these endeavors and in logistical support. Outcomes and Impacts: 1) Connect local families, faculty, educators, and businesses to promote STEAM education through innovation, learning, and creativity in collaboration with Ohio State. 2) Take Ohio State's current resources and equipment and create programming that reaches new audiences, while bringing local 4-H members to an Ohio State campus. 3) Create a program model that can be reproduced by Extension in Ohio and other states. Outcomes and impacts will consist of recording the attendance and partnerships created through the STEAM programming, categorized by age group, program area, and type of use. Each student will complete a retrospective pre- and post-survey to see if our key STEM metrics are met. Finally, program evaluations will illustrate usage by parents and will collect open-ended feedback about how the STEAM programming has benefited their child. Quarterly progress reports will be provided to the university.AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Kelly Coble, Educator, 4-H Youth Development, The Ohio State University Extension, Allen County, [email protected] (Corresponding Author); Jason Hedrick, Educator, 4-H Youth Development, The Ohio State University Extension, Putnam County; Mark Light, Educator, 4-H Youth Development, The Ohio State University Extension, Hardin County; Amanda Raines, Program Assistant, 4-H Youth Development, The Ohio State University Extension, Hardin County; Sarah Jackson, Program Assistant, 4-H Youth Development, The Ohio State University Extension, Allen County.STEAM on the Quad is a family-oriented educational program, initiated in 2016, involving K-12 youth. Participants did hands-on activities that improved their knowledge and interest in the science, technology, engineering, arts and math fields. The event is a collaborative project between Ohio State – Lima and OSU Extension. The 4-H programs of Putnam, Hardin and Allen counties hosted activities that featured Bluetooth sports, Lego zip lines, virtual reality, graphics tablets, solar panels, sculpture building, hovercrafts and sewing. Community partners included the Allen County Soil and Water Conservation District, ArtSpace/Lima, YWCA Child Care, the Neil Armstrong Museum, and the Lima YMCA Bean City Bots robotics team. Ohio State – Lima faculty from biology, education, engineering, and theater engaged K-12 students and their families in a variety of hands-on projects, as did Ohio State law enforcement. Ohio State staff and students aided in these actvities and logistical support

dh+lib: behind the scenes

Poster presented at the Digital Library Federation Forum in Austin, TX.dh+lib relies on a permanent, tripartite editorial group, a dedicated dh+lib review editorial cluster, and a rotation of volunteers contributing week-long shifts. This collaborative (and complex!) staffing model -- and the range of content and regular publication schedule supported through the site -- has necessitated the iterative development of workflows and the selection of tools to support and enable those workflows. In this behind-the-scenes tour, we will take you through the tools and workflows that we’ve experimented with, both those retained and those discarded along the way

Genetic Differences in Chicken Splenic Immune Gene Expression in Response to Dietary Immune Modulation

Chickens from broiler, Leghorn, and Fayoumi lines were fed diets with ingredients to affect immune function: β-glucans, ascorbic acid, or corticosterone. Spleens were tested for expression of genes involved in immune response: interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-6, IL-18, and macrophage inflammatory protein-1β (MIP-1β). Birds from the broiler line did not show any change in splenic gene expression associated with the dietary immunomodulators, perhaps due to the stringent selection of these birds for growth. The corticosterone diet was associated with increased expression of IL-4, indicative of an immune response relying primarily on humoral defenses. The Leghorn and Fayoumi lines showed opposing changes in expression of IL-4, IL-6, and IL-18 in response to the ascorbic acid and β-glucans enhanced diets, suggesting that processing of these immunomodulators and/or immune signaling in these lines are different. Our findings emphasize the need to further evaluate the effects of dietary immunomodulators before applying them in commercial settings

«Ахеменидская Авеста» через призму античных источников

The epidemiologic evidence for the carcinogenicity of lead is inconsistent and requires improved exposure assessment to estimate risk. We evaluated historical occupational lead exposure for a population-based cohort of women (n=74,942) by calibrating a job-exposure matrix (JEM) with lead fume (n=20,084) and lead dust (n=5383) measurements collected over four decades in Shanghai, China. Using mixed-effect models, we calibrated intensity JEM ratings to the measurements using fixed-effects terms for year and JEM rating. We developed job/industry-specific estimates from the random-effects terms for job and industry. The model estimates were applied to subjects' jobs when the JEM probability rating was high for either job or industry; remaining jobs were considered unexposed. The models predicted that exposure increased monotonically with JEM intensity rating and decreased 20-50-fold over time. The cumulative calibrated JEM estimates and job/industry-specific estimates were highly correlated (Pearson correlation=0.79-0.84). Overall, 5% of the person-years and 8% of the women were exposed to lead fume; 2% of the person-years and 4% of the women were exposed to lead dust. The most common lead-exposed jobs were manufacturing electronic equipment. These historical lead estimates should enhance our ability to detect associations between lead exposure and cancer risk in the future epidemiologic analyses

Spectral Energy Distribution of Radio Sources in Nearby Clusters of Galaxies: Implications for Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Surveys

To explore the high frequency radio spectra of galaxies in clusters, we used NRAO's Very Large Array at four frequencies, 4.9-43 GHz, to observe 139 galaxies in low redshift (z<0.25), X-ray detected, clusters. The clusters were selected from the survey conducted by Ledlow & Owen, who provided redshifts and 1.4 GHz flux densities for all the radio sources. We find that more than half of the observed sources have steep microwave spectra as generally expected (alpha<-0.5, in the convention S \propto nu^alpha). However, 60-70% of the unresolved or barely resolved sources have flat or inverted spectra. Most of these show an upward turn in flux at nu>22 GHz, implying a higher flux than would be expected from an extrapolation of the lower frequency flux measurements. Our results quantify the need for careful source subtraction in increasingly sensitive measurements of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect in clusters of galaxies (as currently being conducted by, for instance, the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and South Pole Telescope groups).Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, 5 tables; version published in ApJ; forecast for SZE surveys changed with respect to previous versio

Metamorphism of the Sierra de Maz and implications for the tectonic evolution of the MARA terrane

The Mesoproterozoic MARA terrane of western South America is a composite igneous-metamorphic complex that is important for Paleozoic paleogeographic reconstructions and the relative positions of Laurentia and Gondwana. The magmatic and detrital records of the MARA terrane are consistent with a Laurentian origin; however, the metamorphic and deformation records lack sufficient detail to constrain the correlation of units within the MARA terrane and the timing and mechanisms of accretion to the Gondwana margin. Combined regional mapping, metamorphic petrology, and garnet and monazite geochronology from the Sierra de Maz of northwest Argentina suggest that the region preserves four distinct litho-tectonic units of varying age and metamorphic conditions that are separated by middle- to lower-crustal ductile shear zones. The Zaino and Maz Complexes preserve Barrovian metamorphism and ages that are distinct from other units within the region. The Zaino and Maz Complexes both record metamorphism ca. 430–410 Ma and show no evidence of the regional Famatinian orogeny (ca. 490–455 Ma). In addition, the Maz Complex records an earlier granulite facies event at ca. 1.2 Ga. The Taco and Ramaditas Complexes, in contrast, experienced medium- and low-pressure upper amphibolite to granulite facies metamorphism, respectively, between ca. 470–460 Ma and were later deformed at ca. 440–420 Ma. The Maz shear zone that bounds the Zaino and Maz Complexes records sinistral oblique to sinistral deformation between ca. 430–410 Ma. The data suggest that at least some units in the MARA terrane were accreted by translation, and the Gondwana margin of northwest Argentina transitioned from a dominantly convergent margin to a highly oblique margin in the Silurian