EVALUATION OF OPTIMUM REGRET DECISIONS IN CROP SELLING

Minimum regret solutions from alternative monthly sales for corn, wheat, and soybeans were determined. The data set involved eleven years of monthly prices for corn and soybeans and twelve years for wheat. The regret, risk (MOTAD), and expected value of the optimum regret solutions were compared to solutions using other optimizing techniques.Marketing,

Perspectives économiques 2012

Les hésitations de la reprise économique mondiale, l’aggravation de la crise de la dette souveraine en Europe, les risques d’une nouvelle crise financière et les difficultés budgétaires de nombreux pays avancés ont fortement entamé la confiance des agents économiques de par le monde durant la seconde moitié de 2011. Du fait de ce climat d’incertitudes et d’inquiétudes, les perspectives économiques pour 2012 se sont fortement assombries. De surcroît, la croissance économique en 2012 sera affaiblie par les programmes d’austérité budgétaire mis en place simultanément dans de nombreux pays avancés, notamment en Europe. L’économie belge n’échappe pas à ces différents problèmes et faiblesses et elle devrait être en légère récession en 2012. Face à l’étendue de la crise de confiance et l’ampleur de l’ajustement budgétaire prévu dans l’accord de gouvernement, nous avons en effet fortement revu à la baisse notre prévision de croissance du PIB belge pour 2012, qui s’établit à présent à - 0,3 % contre 1,5 % dans notre étude publiée en octobre.

The Contribution of System Xc-to Prefrontal Cortical Mediated Behaviors Associated with Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a debilitating disorder involving impaired cognition, disorganized thinking, and auditory hallucinations that has a tremendous unmet medical need, potentially because current antipsychotics insufficiently target the pathophysiology of the disease. The neural basis of schizophrenia appears to involve abnormal activity within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) in which efferent neurons exhibit disorganized firing patterns. Synchronization of cortical activity is regulated by complex inter-neuronal connections, which is compromised in schizophrenia. Schizophrenic’s exhibit reduced PFC volume that may reflect reduced arborization leading to diminished inter-neuronal connectivity. An unexplored explanation is that reduced volume reflects changes in astrocytes, cells positioned to control synchronized firing at up to 100K synapses. Glutamate release, including from system xc - which exchanges one intracellular glutamate for an extracellular cystine, is emerging as a component of astrocytic neuronal regulation and is altered in the PFC of schizophrenics. To determine the importance of system xc - dysregulation, we examined the impact of increased or decreased activity to glutamate levels in the PFC and PFC mediated behaviors that are used to model schizophrenia. Decreased system xc - activity, achieved using the inhibitor sulfasalazine (SSZ), produced a phenotype that mirrored aspects of schizophrenia and reduced extracellular glutamate levels in the PFC. Specifically, SSZ produced deficits in sensorimotor gating, cognition, and anxiety – all of which involve the PFC and are altered in schizophrenia. Similar to schizophrenia, system xc - dysregulation was detected, and appears to be central to the cognitive deficits in the methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia. Increased system xc - activity, achieved using the cysteine prodrug Nacetylcysteine, reversed multiple behavioral deficits present in preclinical models of schizophrenia. Namely, N-acetylcysteine reversed sensorimotor gating deficits produced by phencyclidine, an acute model of schizophrenia, and reversal learning deficits in the MAM model. Notably, chronic N-acetylcysteine attenuated behavioral deficits and normalized aspects of system xc - activity in MAM-treated rats. Collectively, these data position system xc - as a key regulator of behavioral output from the prefrontal cortex and indicate that system xc - dysregulation in schizophrenia may be an important component of the pathology of the disease. In addition, increased system xc - may represent an effective therapeutic endpoint

Perspectives économiques 2011 - 2012

L’économie belge a progressé à un rythme particulièrement soutenu au 1er trimestre. En dépit d’une incertitude élevée, suscitée notamment par la remontée des prix pétroliers et la crise de la dette souveraine dans la zone euro, les perspectives économiques pour le reste de l’année en cours et pour 2012 demeurent positives. La croissance du volume du PIB sur l’ensemble de l’année 2011 devrait atteindre 2,6 %. En 2012, la croissance du PIB resterait supérieure au rythme potentiel, en affichant 2,4 %.

CC363 Revised 1996 1996 Agriculture Outlook and Policy Issues

Campaign Circular363: 1996 Agricultural Outlook and Policy Issues. Factors Affecting the Livestock Industry. Agricultural Inputs. Commodity Marketing. Land and Taxes Issues. Government Program and Implications

G86-771 Evaluating Options vs. Futures Contracts

This is number four in a series of six NebGuides on agricultural options. It explains how to evaluate options vs futures contracts. Options and futures contracts are similar. Both represent actions that occur in the future. Futures markets are contracts to either accept or deliver the actual physical commodity, while an option contract is a contract on the underlying futures contract. Options contracts give the farmer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying commodity. This underlying commodity is a futures contract. Due to these similarities and the fact that options are based on a futures contract, producers may question the value of using an options contract. To make a decision between using a futures contract or an options contract, producers need to evaluate both alternatives

EC93-898 Wheat Basis Patterns From Selected Sites in Western Nebraska

The following publication contains monthly average wheat basis patterns for several towns in western Nebraska. The ongoing price information was collected through surveys, newspaper, electronic media, etc. The listing includes towns that are representative of different geographic locations in western Nebraska. The amount of data varies among locations. This publication will be updated each year by adding a year\u27s data to each location which will allow the user to observe the changes in the basis patterns over time

EC93-893 Corn Basis Patterns From Selected Sites in Western Nebraska

The following publication contains monthly average corn basis patterns for several towns in western Nebraska. The basic price information was collected through surveys, newspaper, electronic media, etc. The listing includes towns that are representative of different of geographic locations in western Nebraska. The amount of data varies among locations. This publication will be updated each year by adding a year\u27s data to each location which will allow the user to observe changes in the basis patterns over time

EC93-898 Wheat Basis Patterns From Selected Sites in Western Nebraska

The following publication contains monthly average wheat basis patterns for several towns in western Nebraska. The ongoing price information was collected through surveys, newspaper, electronic media, etc. The listing includes towns that are representative of different geographic locations in western Nebraska. The amount of data varies among locations. This publication will be updated each year by adding a year\u27s data to each location which will allow the user to observe the changes in the basis patterns over time

G86-772 Using Options to Follow a Rising Market

This is number five in a series of six NebGuides on Agricultural Options. It discusses how to use the options market effectively to protect us from our own emotions. An interesting aspect of marketing is psychological. Many people make a mental decision to market grain when a specific price is reached. However, when the market begins to trend upward and hits that imaginary price level, the farmer previously facing low prices is 1) optimistic for even higher prices, and 2) wants to obtain the highest possible price to offset losses incurred during low prices. What generally happens is 1) no action is taken when our mental price is reached, 2) producers ride the market up and 3) when the market breaks, producers are reluctant to sell in a downtrending market because of belief the market will rebound. One key to successful marketing is to combine psychological make-up (beliefs and feelings) with the reality that a producer will never sell all the grain at the highest price because we all know it\u27s going higher. However, during a rising market we can or should sell most of our crop during the highest part of the market