515 research outputs found

    Broiler Farms' Organization, Management, and Performance

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    This study provides a comprehensive view of the organization, management, and financial performance of U.S. broiler farms. Using data from USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Study (ARMS, formerly known as the Farm Costs and Returns Survey), we examine farm size, financial structure, household income, management practices, and spousal participation in decision-making. We compare broiler operations with other farming enterprises and their earnings with that of the average U.S. household. Because most of the 7 billion broilers produced in the United States in 1995 were raised under contract, we also explore the use of contracts and the effects of contracting on the broiler sector.contracting, broilers, poultry, farm characteristics, farm income, farm operator characteristics, risk management strategies, Livestock Production/Industries,

    Fad Diets: Professional Development Needs Among Nutrition Agents in Select Southern States

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    Because FCS agents teach communities about dietary guidelines, it is important that they are aware of the latest nutrition research. This study assessed FCS agents’ knowledge of popular fad diets (low-carbohydrate, intermittent fasting, detoxes and cleanses) and their potential adverse effects, and its relationship among location, certifications, years of experience, professional association memberships, and education. Agents in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi were emailed a survey. RDN, DTR, and CHES certifications had significant associations (p = 0.03) with knowledge of adverse effects of fad diets. Agents who hold these credentials may have more knowledge about adverse effects of fad diets

    Structural and Financial Characteristics of U.S. Farms: 2001 Family Farm Report

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    Family farms vary widely in size and other characteristics, ranging from very small retirement and residential farms to establishments with sales in the millions of dollars. The farm typology developed by the Economic Research Service (ERS) categorizes farms into groups based primarily on occupation of the operator and sales class of the farm. The typology groups reflect operators' expectations from farming, position in the life cycle, and dependence on agriculture. The groups differ in their importance to the farm sector, product specialization, program participation, and dependence on farm income. These (and other) differences are discussed in this report.Agricultural Resource Management Study (ARMS), family farms, farm businesses, farm financial situation, farm operator household income, farm operators, farm structure, farm typology, female farm operators, government payments, spouses of farm operators, taxes, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management,

    Ground-based estimates of outer radiation belt energetic electron precipitation fluxes into the atmosphere

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    AARDDVARK data from a radio wave receiver in Sodankyla, Finland have been used to monitor transmissions across the auroral oval and just into the polar cap from the very low frequency communications transmitter, call sign NAA (24.0 kHz, 44 degrees N, 67 degrees W, L = 2.9), in Maine, USA, since 2004. The transmissions are influenced by outer radiation belt (L = 3-7) energetic electron precipitation. In this study, we have been able to show that the observed transmission amplitude variations can be used to determine routinely the flux of energetic electrons entering the upper atmosphere along the total path and between 30 and 90 km. Our analysis of the NAA observations shows that electron precipitation fluxes can vary by 3 orders of magnitude during geomagnetic storms. Typically when averaging over L = 3-7 we find that the >100 keV POES "trapped" fluxes peak at about 10(6) el. cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1) during geomagnetic storms, with the DEMETER >100 keV drift loss cone showing peak fluxes of 105 el. cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1), and both the POES >100 keV "loss" fluxes and the NAA ground-based >100 keV precipitation fluxes showing peaks of similar to 10(4) el. cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1). During a geomagnetic storm in July 2005, there were systematic MLT variations in the fluxes observed: electron precipitation flux in the midnight sector (22-06 MLT) exceeded the fluxes from the morning side (0330-1130 MLT) and also from the afternoon sector (1130-1930 MLT). The analysis of NAA amplitude variability has the potential of providing a detailed, near real-time, picture of energetic electron precipitation fluxes from the outer radiation belts

    Reviews

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    Charles Williams: The Third Inkling. Grevel Lindop. Reviewed by Scott McLaren. The Chapel of the Thorn: A Dramatic Poem. Charles Williams. Edited and Introduced by Sþrina Higgins. Reviewed by Scott McLaren. Women and C.S. Lewis: What His Life and Literature Reveal For Today’s Culture. Carolyn Curtis and Mary Pomroy Key, eds. Reviewed by Rebekah Choat. Tolkien Among the Moderns. Edited by Ralph C. Wood. Reviewed by Andrew C. Stout. Tolkien. Raymond Edwards. Reviewed by Cait Coker. Children into Swans: Fairy Tales and the Pagan Imagination. Jan Beveridge. Reviewed by Brian Roberts. Trilby/The Crumb Fairy. Charles Nodier. Translated and adapted by Ruth Berman. Reviewed by Kelly Orazi. The Prince of the Aquamarines. Louise Cavalier Levesque. Trans. and with an afterword by Ruth Berman. Reviewed by Kelly Orazi. The Lessons of Nature in Mythology. Rachel S. McCoppin. Reviewed by Kristine Larsen. Hither Shore: Jahrbuch der Deutschen Tolkien Gesellschaft. Special issue: Nature and Landscape in Tolkien. Ed. Thomas Fornet-Ponse et al. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. Seven: An Anglo-American Literary Review. Ed. Marjorie Lamp Mead. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review. Ed. Michael D.C. Drout, Verlyn Flieger, and David Bratman. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. The Skill of a Seeker: Rowling, Religion and Gen 9/11. Marilyn R. Pukkila. Reviewed by Emily Moniz Mirova. Light: C.S. Lewis\u27s First and Final Short Story. Charlie W. Starr. Reviewed by Melody Green. The Story of Kullervo. J.R.R. Tolkien. Edited and introduced by Verlyn Flieger. Reviewed by Mike Foster. The Victorian Approach to Modernism in the Fiction of Dorothy L. Sayers. Aoife Leahy. Reviewed by Joe R. Christopher. Reading Joss Whedon. Rhonda V. Wilcox, Tanya R. Cochran, Cynthea Masson, and David Lavery, eds. Reviewed by by Janet Brennan Croft

    Use of POES SEM-2 observations to examine radiation belt dynamics and energetic electron precipitation into the atmosphere

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    The coupling of the Van Allen radiation belts to the Earth's atmosphere through precipitating particles is an area of intense scientific interest. Currently, there are significant uncertainties surrounding the precipitating characteristics of medium energy electrons (> 20 keV), and even more uncertainties for relativistic electrons. In this paper we examine roughly 10 years of measurements of trapped and precipitating electrons available from the Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES)/Space Environment Monitor (SEM-2), which has provided long-term global data in this energy range. We show that the POES SEM-2 detectors suffer from some contamination issues that complicate the understanding of the measurements, but that the observations provide insight into the precipitation of energetic electrons from the radiation belts, and may be developed into a useful climatology for medium energy electrons. Electron contamination also allows POES/SEM-2 to provide unintended observations of > 700 keV relativistic electrons. Finally, there is an energy-dependent time delay observed in the POES/SEM-2 observations, with the relativistic electron enhancement (electrons > 800 keV) delayed by approximately one week relative to the > 30 keV electron enhancement, probably due to the timescales of the acceleration processes. Observations of trapped relativistic electron fluxes near the geomagnetic equator by GOES show similar delays, indicating a "coherency" to the radiation belts at high and low orbits, and also a strong link between trapped and precipitating particle fluxes. Such large delays should have consequences for the timing of the atmospheric impact of geomagnetic storms

    Developing a digital intervention for cancer survivors: an evidence-, theory- and person-based approach

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    This paper illustrates a rigorous approach to developing digital interventions using an evidence-, theory- and person-based approach. Intervention planning included a rapid scoping review which identified cancer survivors’ needs, including barriers and facilitators to intervention success. Review evidence (N=49 papers) informed the intervention’s Guiding Principles, theory-based behavioural analysis and logic model. The intervention was optimised based on feedback on a prototype intervention through interviews (N=96) with cancer survivors and focus groups with NHS staff and cancer charity workers (N=31). Interviews with cancer survivors highlighted barriers to engagement, such as concerns about physical activity worsening fatigue. Focus groups highlighted concerns about support appointment length and how to support distressed participants. Feedback informed intervention modifications, to maximise acceptability, feasibility and likelihood of behaviour change. Our systematic method for understanding user views enabled us to anticipate and address important barriers to engagement. This methodology may be useful to others developing digital interventions
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