The Economic Impact of Boll Weevil Eradication in Texas

Substantial progress has been made in eradicating the boll weevil from the majority of the cotton producing regions in Texas. While the full economic benefits will not be realized until eradication is achieved statewide, economic benefits approaching $1 billion have already been realized

Have Farmers and Ranchers Lost Confidence in Futures Markets?

Agricultural producers have used futures markets to manage price risk, confident that 1) cash and futures prices move together over time, 2) cash and futures prices converge as the contract approaches expiration, and 3) funds held in margin accounts as a performance bond were secure in segregated accounts at the brokerage firm. However, recent price and basis volatility, coupled with the financial events surrounding MF Global and Peregrine may have shaken some growers’ perceptions of the risks of hedging with futures and options. In order to assess the degree to which these circumstances in the futures markets have impacted the risk management strategies of agricultural producers, we surveyed the 1,015 graduates of the Texas A&M AgriLife Master Marketer program. This group represents a sample of farmers and ranchers, merchandisers, and lenders with training and experience in using futures and options for hedging. Besides collecting information on their current risk management practices, we measured respondent views on the importance of key new sources of risk. On a 1 to 7 Likert scale with 1=disagree, 7=agree, and 4=neutral, respondents indicated some agreement (4.87) that futures price volatility and margins are a serious impediment to using futures and options. Respondents were neutral (4.06) on margin account security as a serious impediment to futures and options. The questions touched a nerve with some farmers, as noted in the comments

PERCEPÇÕES SOBRE O TOQUE ENFERMEIRA E PACIENTE VISÃO DOS ALUNOS DE GRADUAÇÃO DE ENFERMAGEM

The touch is considered by the author a important sign nonverbal in the nursew — patient relationship. The authors are teaching in the nursing undergraduate a systematic approach about nonverbal communication, including the touch. The perception of the students after this knowledge are discussed in this paper and also when the touch may be a positive or negative experience to patients. The results of the 32 questionnaries administered to nursing students shows that the nurses are using the functional touch mainly.Por considerar o toque um dos sinais não verbais mais importantes na relação enfermeira-paciente, as autoras passaram a ensinar durante o curso de graduação de enfermagem, um bloco teórico, com aplicação teórico-prática sobre comunicação não verbal, incluindo conceitos gerais do tocar. Este trabalho teve como objetivos verificar como os alunos, após terem passado pelo bloco teórico citado, estavam percebendo a maneira das enfermeiras tocarem os pacientes durante a assistência de enfermagem, como eles tomam a decisão de tocar os pacientes que estão sob seus cuidados e, quando, segundo a percepção dos alunos, o toque pode ser considerado uma experiência positiva ou uma experiência negativa para o paciente. Dentre os dados obtidos, após questionário aplicado a 32 alunos, verificou-se que a maioria das vezes a enfermeira toca o paciente, segundo os alunos, para a execução do exame físico, ou seja, é um toque instrumental