Searching for Productivity and Competitive Advantage on New Zealand Dairy Farms

The New Zealand dairy industry is susceptible to volatile international prices, and depends on cost leadership at the farm level to maintain its international competitive advantage. The industry has accepted a target of 4% productivity improvement per annum. However, cost-based benchmarks of productivity are not used widely by farmers. It is argued that at the farm level, overall gains in resource efficiency need to be assessed in terms of cost per unit of output, and that these benchmarks need to be calculated in both cash and economic terms. These output-based cost benchmarks are tools both for assessing alternative technologies and for monitoring progress. However, they need to be used with discretion, and with recognition that strategic goals of increasing wealth through capital gain may on occasions take farmers in other directions.Livestock Production/Industries,

BILIN: a Bilinear Transformation Computer Program and its Applications

Given a transfer function for a differential equation model, an approach for obtaining a solution is by way of bilinear transformation. The bilinear transform approach is a numerical integration scheme which gives a discrete approximation to the differential equation solution. BILIN applies a series of polynomial transformations to the transfer function H(s). As a result, H(s) is mapped into the complex z plane obtaining the discrete transfer function H(z). From H(z), the difference equation is obtained whose solution y(nT) approximates the actual differential solution y(t). Hence, BILIN provides a means for obtaining discrete transfer functions for the design of digital filters and/or solving linear time-invariant differential equations

Technology Proficiency Among K-12 Award-Nominated Teachers in Tennessee: A Survey of Teachers

The integration of technology in K-12 classrooms is a prevalent topic among school faculty and administrations across the United States. There are many teachers that use technology in distinctive ways, whereas others are more reluctant to adopt technology into their teaching methods. The purpose of this study was to examine two groups of teachers in the state of Tennessee and explore how and why they use technology. The first group of teachers has been nominated for a Tennessee Teacher of the Year award over the past two years. The second group of teachers has never been nominated for the award. There were a total of 48 participants in this study. The questionnaire attempted to assess the usage of technology resources in the classroom by K-12 teachers, as well as the perceived potential of technology as a teaching and learning supplement. The questionnaire gathered demographic information as well as technology use, including: 1) frequency of its use, 2) student use, 3) teacher use, both during instruction and for productivity, 4) how usage has changed over the past three years and 5) beliefs about its potential. Major conclusions to the study were the following: 1) the award-nominated teachers use technology resources more frequently with their classes than their peers who have never been nominated; 2) both groups of participants have the same objectives for student technology use; 3) both groups of participants use technology resources for teaching as well as productivity; 4) both groups of participants have used technology resources similarly over the past three years, although the award-nominated teachers have more recently become comfortable with using technology resources; 5) both groups of participants believe that technology offers a great deal of potential for instruction and learning

If the Shoe Fits: Reconciling the International Shoe Minimum Contacts Test with the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act

The desire to assume a false identity is one that transcends cultures and time periods. Even the most socially confident and successful person has, at some point, contemplated the possibility of changing or masking his or her identity-if only temporarily-with the hope of gaining some sort of competitive advantage. History and popular culture are replete with instances of such conduct, with varying degrees of success. One of the most famous historical examples, originating in Greek mythology, is the legend of the Trojan horse: the Greeks\u27 surprise invasion of Troy using a hollow, wooden horse. This same desire to gain a competitive edge by pretending to be someone else likely contributed, at least indirectly, to the advent of cybersquatting. Cybersquatting is the act of reserving a domain name, and then seeking to profit by selling or licensing the name to a company that has an interest in being identified with it. Cybersquatters depend upon initial interest confusion, meaning that they hope their use of domain names that are similar or identical to well-known trademarks will be so confusing to the trademark holders\u27 customers that the trademark holders will be forced to purchase the domain names from the cybersquatters. Cybersquatting and the problems associated with it highlight some of the most metaphysical questions surrounding legal problems in the Internet world. For example, what does it mean to have an identity in cyberspace? Which Brad Paisley is the real one: The short, insecure, overweight man who (in reality) drives a Hyundai, lives with his parents, and works in fast food, or the tall, debonair ladies\u27 man who drives an Italian sports car? Also, what are the rules associated with property on the Internet? Where is a website located ? Is it located on a server somewhere, or is its location tied to the place of its creation or impact? All or none of the above? These sorts of questions demonstrate the confusion and perceived lawlessness upon which cybersquatters have been able to capitalize

Patterns of the negative epic quest and three modern novels by Andre Gide, Louis-Ferdinand Celine, and Malcolm Lowry

Many critics have approached the subject of modern epic, but like E. M. W. Tillyard, they dismiss eccentric literature from consideration on the claim that the execution of epic requires balance and objectivity. It seems unfortunate to dismiss works that--while remaining essentially negativistic and subjective in their impact-uniquely capture the spirit of their milieu and refract in a singular way a choric effect (to borrow Tillyard\u27s term); that is, the unconscious metaphysic of a group. To accommodate the inverted comparison between epic and certain individuated works by modern authors, I here attempt to define a form I call the negative epic. The term negative epic, as I use it, implies a narrative form that opposes traditional epic both in conventions and in assertions about the society with which it deals. The comparison re- lies on analysis of plot patterns& essentially,the quest in epic and the negative quest in negative epic. In outlining an evolution for the negative epic, I begin with the contrast between the ancient epics and the Bible; then I deal with Jonathan Swift and George Gordon,Lord Byron to prepare for an analysis of three modern novels by Andre Gide, Louis-Ferdinand Celine, and Malcolm Lowry. At the center of the comparisons lies a recurrent narrative pattern

Highly Qualified for Successful Teaching: Characteristics Every Teacher Should Possess

This article examines the reflections of university students regarding the characteristics of their favorite teachers from whom they were able to learn. Data collected from the students indicates that there are twelve common characteristics that emerged as central to what students conceptualize as good teaching. Those twelve characteristics connect to the theme of caring for students, both academically and personally and strengthen recent indicators for “highly qualified” teachers. In reviewing effective teacher research, there is a strong link between what students characterize as good teaching and what the research reports as the traits of effective teachers. Awareness of these traits can help preservice teachers and inservice teachers develop qualities that are associated with effective teachers

Microbial Induction of Immunity, Inflammation, and Cancer

The human microbiota presents a highly active metabolic that influences the state of health of our gastrointestinal tracts as well as our susceptibility to disease. Although much of our initial microbiota is adopted from our mothers, its final composition and diversity is determined by environmental factors. Westernization has significantly altered our microbial function. Extensive experimental and clinical evidence indicates that the westernized diet, rich in animal products and low in complex carbohydrates, plus the overuse of antibiotics and underuse of breastfeeding, leads to a heightened inflammatory potential of the microbiota. Chronic inflammation leads to the expression of certain diseases in genetically predisposed individuals. Antibiotics and a “clean” environment, termed the “hygiene hypothesis,” has been linked to the rise in allergy and inflammatory bowel disease, due to impaired beneficial bacterial exposure and education of the gut immune system, which comprises the largest immune organ within the body. The elevated risk of colon cancer is associated with the suppression of microbial fermentation and butyrate production, as butyrate provides fuel for the mucosa and is anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative. This article will summarize the work to date highlighting the complicated and dynamic relationship between the gut microbiota and immunity, inflammation and carcinogenesis