A study of types of farming in the U.S. by the farm management survey method

Approved: R.M. GreenTypescriptM.A. University of Missouri 1919The following study was made to get an insight into the conditions and farm practices of six different types of farming in the United States from the standpoint of farm management. Previous work along this line indicates that an investigation of the farm organization and administration now practiced on the best types of farms in the United States may not only be very interesting and instructive to the individual, but may contribute some knowledge of real and practical value to this branch of Agricultural science. This study was made from the 1910 Census. The object sought in this investigation in farm management is to secure the elementary facts which must be utilized in organizing and conducting the business of the farm in such a way as to give the maximum of products, profits, and enjoyment to the owner and to the farm family; to supply farm products in the best way to all who need them, and gradually to increase the productivity of the soil.Includes bibliographical references

An Examination of Informed Traders and the Market Microstructure of Real Estate Investment Trusts

A significant body of research exists documenting that REITs perform differently from other types of equity securities, although the reasons for these differences are unclear. This study examines the intraday trading behavior of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Specifically, intraday REIT returns, volume, trading activity, and bid/ask spread are examined in an attempt to better understand the patterns of intraday information flow for a sample of REITs trading on the NYSE. After controlling for differences in market capitalization, share price, and institutional holdings, this paper analyzes differences between REITs and non-REITs, and between REITs that are widely held by institutions and those that are not. The results suggest that, as a group, REITs exhibit lower average volumes and number of trades than do similar non-REITs. In addition, the findings suggest that mortgage REITs trade at spreads that are wider. Surprisingly, the analysis of institutional ownership suggests that equity REITs that are widely held by institutions exhibit the largest divergence from non-REITs in terms of both intraday trading activity and volume, but at the same time trade closer to non-REITs in terms of bid/ask spread. Overall, the results of this study confirm that REITs are treated differently by investors than similar non-REITs, and the institutional ownership findings suggest that trading activity is less important as a determinant of REIT performance than is the level of institutional ownership.

REIT Pricing Efficiency; Should Investors Still Be Concerned?

This study examines the impact of the REIT boom on the market microstructure of REIT common stocks. We analyze NYSE-traded REITs during the pre-boom period (1992) and the post-boom period (1994), and find significant reductions in bid/ask spreads over the period. We also find that the bid/ask spread differential between REITs and non-REITs has been roughly halved between 1991 and 1994. These reductions provide a direct benefit to REIT investors in terms of reduction in transaction costs and improved liquidity, and suggest that the level of uncertainty on the part of the REIT specialist has been reduced.

The Extraordinary Design of the Bombardier Beetle: A Classic Example of Biomimetics

The innocuous looking bombardier beetle is one of the most remarkable creatures in the insect world. This tiny insect (1-1.5 cms long) is able to fight off any spider, frog, ant or bird that comes too close, by blasting the attacker with a powerful jet of hot, toxic fluid. Furthermore, the beetle can aim its weapon in any direction (even over its head) with pinpoint accuracy, and can reach distances of up to 20 cm with its spray. The bombardier beetle is rare in Europe but common in Africa, Asia and the warmer parts of the Americas, and in order to resist predators, forms a noxious spray by reacting small amounts of hydroquinone with hydrogen peroxide in a pair of combustion chambers in its abdomen, and in the presence of the catalysts catalase and peroxidase. The beetle demonstrates irreducible complexity in the following systems: 1) the sensory mechanism which gives awareness of the approach of a predator, 2) the valve system that involves both inlet and exhaust valves working synchronously, 3) the chemical production of reactants hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone, 4) the use of catalytic chemistry to eject a controlled explosive mixture, and 5) the moveable, flexible exhaust turret to enable ejection in any direction. These and others are systems which only work when each of the component parts are operating in harmony with others in a coordinated mechanism. For chemical systems the same point applies in principle. The overall chemical system will only operate correctly if each component chemical is in place in a prepared pathway. This paper reviews the research of a number of authors (including Professor McIntosh) into the workings of the bombardier beetle spray system. Not only is this is a classic example of biomimetics (the study of design in nature and copying these designs and using them in engineering), but also tacitly underlines the necessity of design in the original beetle itself. The discovery that the McIntosh team made of sophisticated mechanisms in the beetle’s structure and chemistry demonstrates the irreducible complexity in the design of the beetle

Identifying Risk-Adjusted Indifference Rents for Alternative Operating Leases

For some time real estate operating leases have been available to lessees and lessors which have alternative schemes for allocating the purchasing power risk embedded in the rent and operating expense streams. This paper presents a market-oriented model that will allow lessees and/or lessors to efficiently evaluate and compare alternative leases. Using the model it is possible to identify a set of risk-adjusted rents for alternative leases between which the evaluator is indifferent. Knowledge of this set of indifference rents places the model user in a superior position during the lease negotiation process.

Shrinkage and Deformation in Components Manufactured by Fused Deposition of Ceramics

Fused Deposition of Ceramics (FDC) presents a new processing technique that may contribute to anisotropic shrinkage and deformation, which are critical issues in the manufacture of ceramic components. The aim ofthis study is to identify and quantify key FDC parameters and their influence on shrinkage and deformation. The study was divided into two focus areas. The first was the effect ofthe FDC build parameters on the shrinkage of ceramic parts. The second focused on the interaction of the FDC build process with the geometrical features of a part. A series of experimental design techniques have been implemented in order to gain a thorough understanding of said parameters, as well as any possible interactions between parameters Studies have been conducted across each processing step, from the green manufacture of the part, through binder removal, and sintering. The data and knowledge gained from these experiments will allow us to redesign the original CAD component files to compensate for the shrinkage and deformation encountered when using the FDC techniqueMechanical Engineerin

The NASA Cubesat Missions Flying on Artemis-1

In 2021, the Space Launch Services (SLS) Artemis-1 mission will carry thirteen 6U CubeSats into deep space. Three of those payloads are NASA missions performing a variety of unique deep-space science experiments. The three NASA CubeSat missions are BioSentinel, Lunar Flashlight and NEAScout. The BioSentinel mission will measure deep-space radiation effects on DNA using yeast organisms. It is a six-month mission in a heliocentric orbit. BioSentinel was designed, built, tested and operated out of NASA Ames Research Center. Lunar Flashlight’s mission is to look for surface water ice in the permanently shadowed regions near the south pole of the Moon and test out new small spacecraft technologies. The spacecraft was developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a technology demonstration mission with support from the Marshall Space Flight Center, the Goddard Space Flight Center and Georgia Institute of Technology. NEA Scout’s mission is twofold: to demonstrate solar sail deployment and spacecraft navigation using the sail to detect, track, fly by, and characterize a near earth asteroid. NEA Scout was developed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in partnership with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and support from the Goddard Space Flight Center, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, and Langley Research Center

Preliminary Evaluation of an Aviation Safety Thesaurus' Utility for Enhancing Automated Processing of Incident Reports

This document presents a preliminary evaluation the utility of the FAA Safety Analytics Thesaurus (SAT) utility in enhancing automated document processing applications under development at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC). Current development efforts at ARC are described, including overviews of the statistical machine learning techniques that have been investigated. An analysis of opportunities for applying thesaurus knowledge to improving algorithm performance is then presented