Style and Performance of Agricultural Market Advisory Services

This paper describes the degree of marketing activeness of market advisory programs for corn and soybeans, and analyzes the relationship between activeness degree and pricing performance. The data set employed consists of advisory programs tracked by the AgMAS Project at the University of Illinois between 1995 and 2001. Cluster analysis was conducted to group the programs according to their degree of activeness. Panel data regression models were estimated to evaluate the relationship between activeness degree and pricing performance. In the corn market, point estimates indicate a positive effect of the degree of activeness on pricing performance, but this effect is of small magnitude and statistically insignificant. For soybeans,there is a stronger positive relationship between activeness degree and performance, with an estimated effect of activeness on performance larger in magnitude and statistically significant. This positive relationship suggests that active marketing programs are based on superior information and/or analytical skills.Agribusiness, Marketing,

Advisory Service Marketing Profiles for Corn in 2001

Agricultural Finance,

Photon recycling in Fabry-Perot micro-cavities based on Si3_3N4_4 waveguides

We present a numerical analysis and preliminary experimental results on one-dimensional Fabry-Perot micro-cavities in Si$_3$N$_4$ waveguides. The Fabry-Perot micro-cavities are formed by two distributed Bragg reflectors separated by a straight portion of waveguide. The Bragg reflectors are composed by a few air slits produced within the Si$_3$N$_4$ waveguides. In order to increase the quality factor of the micro-cavities, we have minimized, with a multiparametric optimization tool, the insertion loss of the reflectors by varying the length of their first periods (those facing the cavity). To explain the simulation results the coupling of the fundamental waveguide mode with radiative modes in the Fabry-Perot micro-cavities is needed. This effect is described as a recycling of radiative modes in the waveguide. To support the modelling, preliminary experimental results of micro-cavities in Si$_3$N$_4$ waveguides realized with Focused Ion Beam technique are reported.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

ADVISORY SERVICE MARKETING PROFILES FOR CORN OVER 1995-2000

This report presents marketing profiles and loan deficiency payment/marketing loan gain profiles for the advisory services followed by the AgMAS Project for the 1995 through 2000 corn crops. Marketing profiles are constructed by plotting the cumulative net amount priced under each program's set of recommendations throughout a crop year. Loan deficiency payment/marketing loan gain (LDP/MLG) profiles are constructed by plotting the cumulative percentage of the crop on which the LDP/MLG was claimed during the crop year. Marketing profiles provide information to evaluate the style of advisory services in several ways. The percentage of crop priced is a measure of within-crop year price risk. The higher the proportion of a crop priced, the lower the sensitivity of the farmer's position value to crop price changes. For example, when 100% of the crop is priced there is no price sensitivity, which means that changes in price do not affect the value of the farmer's position. On the other hand, when the amount priced is 0%, the value of the farmer's position will vary in the same proportion as the change in price. Marketing profiles, therefore, allow investigating the evolution of price sensitivity under each service's set of recommendations along the marketing window. Marketing profiles also provide other useful information. The number of steps in the profile lines and the location of these steps in the marketing window provide information about timing, frequency and size of recommended transactions. It is also possible to determine from the marketing profile figures how intensely a program uses options markets, since when options positions are open the profile line is irregular. In the same way, LDP/MLG profiles provide information about the size and timing of LDP/MLG claims.Marketing,

ADVISORY SERVICE MARKETING PROFILES FOR SOYBEANS OVER 1995-2000

This report presents marketing profiles and loan deficiency payment/marketing loan gain profiles for the advisory services followed by the AgMAS Project for the 1995 through 2000 soybean crops. Marketing profiles are constructed by plotting the cumulative net amount priced under each program's set of recommendations throughout a crop year. Loan deficiency payment/marketing loan gain (LDP/MLG) profiles are constructed by plotting the cumulative percentage of the crop on which the LDP/MLG was claimed during the crop year. Marketing profiles provide information to evaluate the style of advisory services in several ways. The percentage of crop priced is a measure of within-crop year price risk. The higher the proportion of a crop priced, the lower the sensitivity of the farmer's position value to crop price changes. For example, when 100% of the crop is priced there is no price sensitivity, which means that changes in price do not affect the value of the farmer's position. On the other hand, when the amount priced is 0%, the value of the farmer's position will vary in the same proportion as the change in price. Marketing profiles, therefore, allow investigating the evolution of price sensitivity under each service's set of recommendations along the marketing window. Marketing profiles also provide other useful information. The number of steps in the profile lines and the location of these steps in the marketing window provide information about timing, frequency and size of recommended transactions. It is also possible to determine from the marketing profile figures how intensely a program uses options markets, since when options positions are open the profile line is irregular. In the same way, LDP/MLG profiles provide information about the size and timing of LDP/MLG claims.Marketing,

PORTFOLIOS OF AGRICULTURAL MARKET ADVISORY SERVICES: HOW MUCH DIVERSIFICATION IS ENOUGH?

Agricultural market advisory services offer specific advice to farmers on how to market their commodities. Farmers can subscribe to one or more of these services and follow their advice as a way of managing price risk. According to portfolio theory, a combination of these services may have risk/return benefits compared to individual services. This report analyzes the potential risk reduction gains from naïve diversification among market advisory services for corn and soybeans. Results show that increasing the number of (equal-weighting) services reduces portfolio expected risk, but the marginal decrease in risk from adding a new service decreases rapidly with portfolio size. The risk reduction benefits of naïve diversification among advisory services is relatively small compared to the results obtained in previous studies for stock portfolios, and this is mainly because advisory prices, on average, are highly correlated. A one service portfolio has only a 20%, 16% and 32% higher expected standard deviation than the minimum risk naïve portfolio for corn, soybeans and 50/50 revenue, respectively. Most risk reduction benefits are achieved with small portfolios. For instance, a four service portfolio has only 5%, 4% and 9% higher expected standard deviation than the minimum risk naïve portfolio for corn, soybeans and 50/50 revenue, respectively. Based on these results, there does not appear to be strong justification for farmers adopting portfolios with a large number of advisory services. Farmers may well choose portfolios with as few as two or three programs, since the relatively high total subscription costs associated with larger portfolios can be avoided while obtaining most of the benefits from diversification.Marketing,

Ethical issues associated with in-hospital emergency from the medical emergency team's perspective: a national survey

Medical Emergency Teams (METs) are frequently involved in ethical issues associated to in-hospital emergencies, like decisions about end-of-life care and intensive care unit (ICU) admission. MET involvement offers both advantages and disadvantages, especially when an immediate decision must be made. We performed a survey among Italian intensivists/anesthesiologists evaluating MET's perspective on the most relevant ethical aspects faced in daily practice

Nanotecnología: ¿Revolución científico-tecnológica de pequeños riesgos?

La nanotecnología es un campo de las ciencias aplicadas dedicado al control y manipulación de la materia a nivel de átomos y moléculas, en un rango comprendido entre uno y cien nanómetros. Permite la creación de materiales, dispositivos y sistemas mediante el control de la materia a esa escala. En el campo de la Odontología se han desarrollado bio-sensores altamente especializados, que permitirían la identificación de enfermedades en la saliva. En un futuro cercano será clave su uso en el diagnóstico de enfermedades de alto impacto como el cáncer de mama, ovario y páncreas, enfermedad de Alzheimer, SIDA, diabetes y osteoporosis.Fil: Olmedo, Daniel Gustavo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Odontología. Cátedra de Anatomía Patologica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Tasat, Deborah R.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Odontología; ArgentinaFil: Cabrini, Rómulo L.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Odontología. Cátedra de Anatomía Patologica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Audebert, Fernando Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica; ArgentinaFil: Guglielmotti, Maria Beatriz. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Odontología. Cátedra de Anatomía Patologica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

The Effect of Statins on Mortality in Septic Patients: a Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

OBJECTIVE: Statins are among the most prescribed drugs worldwide and their recently discovered anti-inflammatory effect seems to have an important role in inhibiting proinflammatory cytokine production, chemokines expression and counteracting the harmful effects of sepsis on the coagulation system. We decided to perform a meta-analysis of all randomized controlled trials ever published on statin therapy in septic patients to evaluate their effect on survival and length of hospital stay. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION: Articles were assessed by four trained investigators, with divergences resolved by consensus. BioMedCentral, PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Central Register of clinical trials were searched for pertinent studies. Inclusion criteria were random allocation to treatment and comparison of statins versus any comparator in septic patients. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Data from 650 patients in 5 randomized controlled studies were analyzed. No difference in mortality between patients receiving statins versus control (44/322 [14%] in the statins group vs 50/328 [15%] in the control arm, RR = 0.90 [95% CI 0.65 to 1.26], p = 0.6) was observed. No differences in hospital stay (p = 0.7) were found. CONCLUSIONS: Published data show that statin therapy has no effect on mortality in the overall population of adult septic patients. Scientific evidence on statins role in septic patients is still limited and larger randomized trials should be performed on this topic

Advisory Service Marketing Profiles for Soybeans over 2002-2004

This report presents marketing profiles and loan deficiency payment/marketing loan gain profiles for the advisory services followed by the AgMAS Project for the 2002, 2003 and 2004 soybean crops. Marketing profiles are constructed by plotting the cumulative net amount priced under each program’s set of recommendations throughout the crop year. Loan deficiency payment/marketing loan gain (LDP/MLG) profiles are constructed by plotting the cumulative percentage of the crop on which the LDP/MLG was claimed during the crop year. Marketing profiles provide information to evaluate the style of advisory services in several ways. The percentage of crop priced is a measure of within-crop year price risk. The higher the proportion of a crop priced, the lower the sensitivity of the farmer’s position value to crop price changes. For example, when 100% of the crop is priced there is no price sensitivity, which means that changes in price do not affect the value of the farmer’s position. On the other hand, when the amount priced is 0%, the value of the farmer’s position will vary in the same proportion as the change in price. Marketing profiles, therefore, allow investigating the evolution of price sensitivity under each service’s set of recommendations along the marketing window. Marketing profiles also provide other useful information. The number of steps in the profile lines and the location of these steps in the marketing window provide information about timing, frequency and size of recommended transactions. It is also possible to determine from the marketing profile figures how intensely a program uses options markets, since when options positions are open the profile line is irregular. In the same way, LDP/MLG profiles provide information about the size and timing of LDP/MLG claims.Agricultural Finance,