An Overview of the U.S. Agricultural Economy and the 2008 Farm Bill

The 2008 farm bill involved 16 months of debate. The end product is similar to the 2002 farm bill in the crops arena, continuing counter-cyclical payments, direct payments, and marketing assistance loans. In addition, however, the 2008 bill adds a new, optional counter-cyclical revenue program (Average Crop Revenue Election, or ACRE), authorizes a new permanent disaster program, and contains various other changes. The new ACRE program provides an entirely new set of dimensions for producers to consider in deciding whether to opt into the program, including the multi-year trade-off between the loss of potential “traditional†payments and the revenue protection provided by ACRE, as well as the producer’s own expectations about yield and price trends and variability. The payment calculation associated with the new permanent disaster program appears at first glance to be relatively simple, although the whole-farm nature of the program and the number of variables makes it quite complex.farm bill, farm programs, ACRE, permanent disaster assistance, regulatory process, Agricultural and Food Policy,

How do clients experience the alliance when working with the Mental Health Recovery Star in rehabilitation settings?

The Mental Health Recovery Star (MHRS) is a therapeutic tool and outcome measure, used widely in the UK and internationally for clients and keyworkers in mental health services to jointly assess and work towards client-centred recovery goals. As such it has been recognised as potentially offering a means of building a positive working alliance between clients and workers. The alliance is increasingly being highlighted as a key common factor across therapeutic models that may underpin positive clinical outcomes. This study employed Grounded Theory Methods to explore the alliance within the context of using the MHRS in rehabilitation mental health services. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with ten clients and four workers across three services. The findings are presented in a theoretical model that explains the core category that emerged from this study – “being engaged in working together towards improved wellbeing”. Working with the MHRS was seen to inform three particular alliance processes: collaborative working; negotiating new or shared perspectives; and motivation towards improved wellbeing. The findings also highlighted challenges that can hinder these processes when using the MHRS, calling for improvements in practices of negotiation and better support for workers. Further clinical implications alongside avenues for future research are discussed

Sling Complications

https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/wrin_briefs/1003/thumbnail.jp

BCAUS Project description and consideration of separation of data and control

The commonly stated truths that data may be segregated from program control in generic expert system shells and that such tools support straightforward knowledge representation were examined. The ideal of separation of data from program control in expert systems is difficult to realize for a variety of reasons. One approach to achieving this goal is to integrate hybrid collections of specialized shells and tools instead of producing custom systems built with a single all purpose expert system tool. Aspects of these issues are examined in the context of a specific diagnostic expert system application, the Backup Control Mode Analysis and Utility System (BCAUS), being developed for the Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO) spacecraft. The project and the knowledge gained in working on the project are described

Surgeon Volume

https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/wrin_briefs/1002/thumbnail.jp

Characteristics and Risk Management Needs of Limited-Resource and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers

Small U.S. farms and those run by socially disadvantaged minority operators tend not to purchase insurance or to participate in insurance-type programs operated by USDA. This report traces the lack of use of such risk management measures to several characteristics of such farmers, who include females, blacks, American Indians, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and operators of Spanish origin. These farmers tend, more than the typical U.S. farm, to raise livestock rather than crops, and there are no government-sponsored insurance-type programs for livestock.risk management, crop insurance, limited-resource farmers, limited-opportunity farmers, small farms, socially disadvantaged farmers, Farm Management, Risk and Uncertainty,

BIOTECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURE: IMPLICATIONS FOR FARM-LEVEL RISK MANAGEMENT

This study examines the risks associated with adoption of biotech crops and discusses their implications for risk management at the farm level. We develop an analytical risk evaluation matrix framework to illustrate changes in production and marketing risks of biotech and non-biotech crops. Price uncertainty generated by consumer concerns is the major risk facing biotech farmers, while cross-pollination with biotech crops and preservation of non-biotech status are major concerns for non-biotech farmers. Improved market infrastructure to handle biotech products and modification of the current risk management tools to accommodate new risks are essential in reducing the farm-level risks.biotechnology, genetically modified organisms, marketing risks, production risks, risk evaluation matrix, risk management, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Risk and Uncertainty,

Phase transitions and bubble nucleations for a phi^6 model in curved spacetime

Condsidering a massive self-interacting phi ^6 scalar field coupled arbitrarily to a (2+1) dimensional Bianchi type-I spacetime, we evaluate the one-loop effective potential. It is found that phi ^6 potential can be regularized in (2+1) dimensional curved spacetime. A finite expression for the energy-momentum tensor is obtained for this model. Evaluating the finite temperature effective potential, the temperature dependence of phase transitions is studied. The crucial dependence of the phase transitions on the spacetime curvature and on the coupling to gravity are also verified. We also discuss the nucleation of bubbles in a phi ^6 model. It is found that there exists an exact solution for the damped motion of the bubble in the thin wall regime.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure