Cooperative Performance - Is There a Dilemma?

Cooperative businesses have a wider range of objectives than investor-owned firms from which to legitimately choose, some of which include difficult-to-quantify member-centered goals. This paper reviews a technique adopted in the measurement of stakeholders' aspirations and perceived performance for ten agricultural cooperatives and farmer controlled businesses. Findings indicate that cooperative stakeholders embrace a range of member- and corporate-centered aspirations, although the various stakeholding groups may prioritize these alternative goals differently. Importantly, an examination of the relationship between member- and corporate-centered performance levels indicates that the achievement of one is not necessarily at the expense of the other.Agribusiness,

Space and place: writing encounters self

In addition to contributing this editorial article, Susan Orr and Claire Hind guest edited this issue

The use of algorithms to predict surface seawater dimethyl sulphide concentrations in the SE Pacific, a region of steep gradients in primary productivity, biomass and mixed layer depth

Dimethyl sulphide (DMS) is an important precursor of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), particularly in the remote marine atmosphere. The SE Pacific is consistently covered with a persistent stratocumulus layer that increases the albedo over this large area. It is not certain whether the source of CCN to these clouds is natural and oceanic or anthropogenic and terrestrial. This unknown currently limits our ability to reliably model either the cloud behaviour or the oceanic heat budget of the region. In order to better constrain the marine source of CCN, it is necessary to have an improved understanding of the sea-air flux of DMS. Of the factors that govern the magnitude of this flux, the greatest unknown is the surface seawater DMS concentration. In the study area, there is a paucity of such data, although previous measurements suggest that the concentration can be substantially variable. In order to overcome such data scarcity, a number of climatologies and algorithms have been devised in the last decade to predict seawater DMS. Here we test some of these in the SE Pacific by comparing predictions with measurements of surface seawater made during the Vamos Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Study Regional Experiment (VOCALS-REx) in October and November of 2008. We conclude that none of the existing algorithms reproduce local variability in seawater DMS in this region very well. From these findings, we recommend the best algorithm choice for the SE Pacific and suggest lines of investigation for future work

In vivo precision of the GE Lunar iDXA for the measurement of visceral adipose tissue in adults: the influence of body mass index.

CoreScan is a new software for the GE Lunar iDXA, which provides a quantification of visceral adipose tissue (VAT). The objective of this study was to determine the in vivo precision of CoreScan for the measurement of VAT mass in a heterogeneous group of adults. Forty-five adults (aged 34.6 (8.6) years), ranging widely in body mass index (BMI 26.0 (5.2)  kg/m(2); 16.7-42.4 kg/m(2)), received two consecutive total body scans with repositioning. The sample was divided into two subgroups based on BMI, normal-weight and overweight/obese, for precision analyses. Subgroup analyses revealed that precision errors (RMSSD:%CV; root mean square standard deviation:% coefficient of variation) for VAT mass were 20.9 g:17.0% in the normal-weight group and 43.7 g:5.4% in overweight/obese groups. Our findings indicate that precision for DXA-VAT mass measurements increases with BMI, but caution should be used with %CV-derived precision error in normal BMI subjects.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition advance online publication, 15 October 2014; doi:10.1038/ejcn.2014.213

DO PATIENTS WITH VARYING DEMOGRAPHIC AND REGIONAL CHARACTERISTICS EQUALLY MISS APPOINTMENTS ACROSS DENTAL SPECIALTIES?

Objectives: Since dental practice is unique and procedure-based, understanding the problem of missed dental appointment among patients in Health care facilities is crucial. The main purpose of this study was to understand whether patients with varying demographic, regional, and appointment characteristics equally missed dental appointments across dental specialties at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center (KFSH&RC), Riyadh. Method: After institutional approval, we retrospectively analyzed patients’ missed dental appointments. We selected a sample of 3185 patients with “No show” or missed dental appointments for 2012. We employed chi-square goodness of fit test to establish whether there were statistically significant relationships between the type of dental specialty a patient missed and various patient characteristics. Additionally, we employed Cramer’s V to measure the strength of the relationship. Both techniques were useful in making statistical inferences from the data about the larger population based on the sample. Results: The findings showed that there are statistically significant relationships between the type of dental specialty a patient missed and various patient characteristics. Demographic, regional, registration characteristics of patients, appointment seasons and sessions, and chance of missed appointment in the various dental specialties are associated. However, with exception of age, all the other factors appear to have small effect on chance of missed appointments across dental specialties. Conclusion: With current problem of ‘no show’, the findings of this study is expected to inform KFSH&RC and other institutions to establish policies and guidelines to improve both the rate of "honored" appointments and minimize the many unused visit hours

DO PATIENTS WITH VARYING DEMOGRAPHIC AND REGIONAL CHARACTERISTICS EQUALLY MISS APPOINTMENTS ACROSS DENTAL SPECIALTIES?

Objectives: Since dental practice is unique and procedure-based, understanding the problem of missed dental appointment among patients in Health care facilities is crucial. The main purpose of this study was to understand whether patients with varying demographic, regional, and appointment characteristics equally missed dental appointments across dental specialties at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center (KFSH&RC), Riyadh. Method: After institutional approval, we retrospectively analyzed patients’ missed dental appointments. We selected a sample of 3185 patients with “No show” or missed dental appointments for 2012. We employed chi-square goodness of fit test to establish whether there were statistically significant relationships between the type of dental specialty a patient missed and various patient characteristics. Additionally, we employed Cramer’s V to measure the strength of the relationship. Both techniques were useful in making statistical inferences from the data about the larger population based on the sample. Results: The findings showed that there are statistically significant relationships between the type of dental specialty a patient missed and various patient characteristics. Demographic, regional, registration characteristics of patients, appointment seasons and sessions, and chance of missed appointment in the various dental specialties are associated. However, with exception of age, all the other factors appear to have small effect on chance of missed appointments across dental specialties. Conclusion: With current problem of ‘no show’, the findings of this study is expected to inform KFSH&RC and other institutions to establish policies and guidelines to improve both the rate of "honored" appointments and minimize the many unused visit hours

GIS Modeling of the Effects of Climatic Changes on the Groundwater Recharge in the Central Western Parts of Jordan

Groundwater recharge in arid and semi-arid areas used to be calculated as a percentage of the amount of precipitation. This approach does not seem to be suitable for these areas, because soils serve as reservoirs for evaporation water that results from precipitation water and is being retained in the soil. Taking the water retained in the soil during and immediately after the rainy season into consideration and considering that it is the only water available for evaporation is a more logical approach. Accordingly, groundwater recharge in the central western parts of Jordan was calculated, and scenarios of eventual climatic changes of increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation on the groundwater recharge were evaluated. It was found that climatic changes resulting in temperature rises by 1ºC and 2ºC will result in decreases in groundwater recharge of 11.3% and 23.2%, respectively. A decrease in precipitation by 10% and 20% will cause a reduction in groundwater recharge of 24.06% and 48.34% compared to the prevailing average conditions