INFLUENCES OF HUMAN CAPITAL AND FARM CHARACTERISTICS ON FARMERS' RISK ATTITUDES

We have two objectives for this paper. The first is to develop an index reflective of farmers' attitudes towards risk. In addition, we show how the risk indices are distributed by size of farm and other farm and operator characteristics, providing information as to how risk management tools may be used, and farm policies targeted. This information will be useful to help explain agricultural sector structural change, such as complex business arrangements arising in agriculture, and household portfolio investment choices.Farm Management, Labor and Human Capital, Risk and Uncertainty,

Will I? won't I? Why do men who have sex with men present for post-exposure prophylaxis for sexual exposures?

Background: Failures of post-exposure prophylaxis following sexual exposure (PEPSE) to prevent seroconversion have been reported and are often associated with ongoing risk exposure. Understanding why men who have sex with men (MSM) access PEPSE on some occasions and not others may lead to more effective health promotion and disease prevention strategies Methods: A qualitative study design using semi-structured interviews of 15 MSM within 6 months of them initiating PEPSE treatment at an HIV outpatient service in Brighton, UK. Results: PEPSE seeking was motivated by a number of factors: an episode that related to a particular sexual partner and their behaviour; the characteristics of the venue where the risk occurred; the respondent’s state of mind and influences of alcohol and recreational drug use; and their perceived beliefs on the effectiveness of PEPSE. Help was sought in the light of a “one-off” or “unusual” event. Many respondents felt they were less likely to behave in a risky manner following PEPSE. Conclusion: If PEPSE is to be effective as a public health measure, at risk individuals need to be empowered to make improved risk calculations from an increased perception that they could be exposed to HIV if they continue their current behaviour patterns. The concern is that PEPSE was sought by a low number of MSM implying that a greater number are not using the service based on failure to make accurate risk calculations or recognise high-risk scenario

Some flow visualization experiments on the starting vortex

A simple dye in water method has been used to visualize the growth of a two-dimensional starting flow vortex formed at a wedge-like sharp edge. Several cases were tested corresponding to different wedge angles and to different values of the time exponent in the velocity–time power law describing the starting flow. Photographic sequences showing the time-wise primary vortex growth are presented from which various secondary-flow details are identified. For the larger wedge angles these include a strong secondary vortex and in some cases a small separation bubble-like flow region immediately adjacent to the wedge apex. For a thin-wedge model the formation of what might be interpreted as small rotation centres along the outer turns of the primary-vortex shear layer is observed but these are not seen as a manifestation of an instability phenomenon in the fluid. Measurements of the trajectories of the primary-vortex centre are compared with the predictions of an inviscid similarity theory of the vortex growth. Although the appropriate Reynolds number in the present experiments was relatively low, comparison between theory and experiments is regarded as reasonable with differences being attributed to viscous effects absent in the similarity theory, and also to apparatus wall effects

A reinsurance risk model with a threshold coverage policy : the Gerber-Shiu penalty function

We consider a Cramér-Lundberg insurance risk process with the added feature of reinsurance. If an arriving claim finds the reserve below a certain threshold ¿, or if it would bring the reserve below that level, then a reinsurer pays part of the claim. Using fluctuation theory and the theory of scale functions of spectrally negative Lévy processes, we derive expressions for the Laplace transform of the time to ruin and of the joint distribution of the deficit at ruin and the surplus before ruin. We specify these results in much more detail for the threshold set-up with proportional reinsurance

Block Diagonalization using SRG Flow Equations

By choosing appropriate generators for the Similarity Renormalization Group (SRG) flow equations, different patterns of decoupling in a Hamiltonian can be achieved. Sharp and smooth block-diagonal forms of phase-shift equivalent nucleon-nucleon potentials in momentum space are generated as examples and compared to analogous low-momentum interactions ("v_lowk").Comment: 4 pages, 9 figures (pdfLaTeX

A Business Educators Guide To Transitioning To A Digital Curriculum

The authors, representing three key digital media business disciplines, present a case for how business curriculum could be updated to include a strong digital element without recreating the entire business school enterprise or spending millions on new faculty and technology. The three key disciplines are technology, law, and marketing

Understanding student evaluations : a black faculty perspective.

Student evaluations of faculty teaching are critical components to the evaluation of faculty performance. These evaluations are used to determine teaching effectiveness and they influence tenure and promotion decisions. Although they are designed as objective assessments of teaching performance, extraneous factors, including the instructors’ race, can affect the composition and educational atmosphere at colleges and universities. In this reflection, we briefly review some literature on the use and utility of student evaluations and present narratives from social work faculty in which students’ evaluation contained perceived racial bias

The Frequency of Withdrawal from Acute Care Is Impacted by Severe Acute Renal Failure

Introduction: In the general intensive care setting, decisions to withdraw life support when patients deteriorate despite aggressive treatment are estimated to occur in 10% of all patients and in 40% of the patients who die. Acute renal failure (ARF) severe enough to necessitate renal replacement therapy (RRT) is associated with in-hospital mortality approximating 50%. Yet the impact of severe ARF on decisions to withdraw treatment has not been previously described. In chronic renal failure patients, voluntary withdrawal from maintenance dialysis occurs in 10%–20% of patients when increasing complications and poor quality of life ensue, and knowing these data facilitates discussions with patients and families. Having similar data for complicated ARF would facilitate decision making for families and caregivers when these difficult situations arise. Methods: All cases of ARF requiring RRT during 2000–2001 at University of Michigan Hospital (n = 383) were entered prospectively into an outcome study at the time RRT was initiated. Comprehensive data collection included demographic and clinical characteristics, outcome and complications, and severity of illness. Additional information for patients who died included cause of death, life-support withdrawal decisions, and the presence of prior advance directives. Results: Overall mortality in severe ARF (i.e., severe enough to require RRT) was 53%. Lifesupport withdrawal occurred in 72% of deaths (compared to 40%–50% reported among general intensive care cases) and was associated with intensive care stay well beyond 2 weeks. Severity of illness, as indicated by modified APACHE III scores, was higher in patients who died than in survivors, but severity of illness was not higher for withdrawal from treatment than death without withdrawal decisions. Life-support withdrawal was not associated with other demographic or clinical characteristics (hospital service, primary admitting diagnosis, ventilator or pressor dependence, sepsis, or initial type of RRT chosen). Prior advance directives were available in 29% of patients overall, but having advance directives did not predict withdrawal from acute treatment. Death occurred within 2 days of withdrawal in more than 90% of cases, emphasizing the severity of underlying illness. Conclusions: Severe ARF reflects the severity of underlying illness, impacts overall survival, and is associated with more frequent withdrawal from aggressive treatment. High severity of illness and prolonged intensive care without improvement beyond 2 weeks presage decisions to withdraw treatment and signal patients and caregivers that death is imminent and that further aggressive care should be reconsidered or limited.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63219/1/jpm.2004.7.676.pd

A Note on the Fine Structure of Myoskeletal Junctions in Acartia tonsa Dana (Copepoda, Calanoida)

The endoskeleton of the calanoid copepod, Calanus finmarchicus, and its muscle attachments were described by Lowe (1935). She reported that the endoskeleton in C. finmarchicus consists of two tendinous endosternites and chitinous exoskeletal ingrowths to which muscles are attached. Howse (1960) noted attachments of the main muscles of the thorax to the exoskeleton in Acartia tonsa. Bouligand (1962) described the ultrastructure of muscle attachments to cuticle in three species of freshwater copepods of the genus Cyclops. Raymont et al. (1974) described the fine structure of muscle attachments to cuticle in C. finmarchicus. Information of the internal anatomy of marine copepods remains sparse. Therefore, we thought it worthwhile to focus our observations on the attachments of muscle to exoskeletal ingrowths in A. tonsa