Factors influencing net investment decision making for a group of lower North Island sheep and beef farmers : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Economics at Massey University

This study investigated the process of net investment decision-making on a group of New Zealand sheep and beef farmers. A review of previous theoretical and empirical research led to the study's objectives, namely to test that investment decision making on New Zealand farms could be incorporated in two dimensions: the determination of a desired level of capital stock and a description of the rate of adjustment of actual capital stock to the desired level. A study of net investment decision-making was chosen because net investment was seen by policy-makers in the 1970's to be an ingredient in planned growth in output. Information on net investment at the individual farmer level was not, however, available to policy-makers at the time. The study was at the individual farmer level to complement previous reserarch at the macro-level on investment in the New Zealand pastoral sector. An investment model was tested using ordinary least squares combining time-series and cross-section data. The initial specification included individual farm dummy variables to account for cross-sectional differences in net investment decision-making. Later, candidate variables hypothesised as explaining cross-section differences were included in the model. The regression results led support to the study's objective. Demand for desired capital stock was viewed as determined by Government policy measures, farm size, farmer age and the initial development state of the farm. Adjustment of actual capital stock to the desired level was viewed as determined by the level of cash at the beginning of each period and windfall gains or losses in net income in the current period. The results provide some basis for the better targeting of future policy measures to the farm sector. The study was limited by lack of a priori knowledge of inter-farm differences in the desire for capital, by the lack of a precise measurement of actual capital stock and the failure to account for interdependencies in the consumption-investment decisions that take place on farms. These limitations could provide avenues for future research

The development of a handbook for Nashua Junior High School students

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Dust in and around galaxies: dust in cluster environments and its impact on gas cooling

Simulating the dust content of galaxies and their surrounding gas is challenging due to the wide range of physical processes affecting the dust evolution. Here we present cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of a cluster of galaxies, $M_\text{200,crit}=6 \times 10^{14}\,{\rm M_\odot}$, including a novel dust model for the moving mesh code {\sc Arepo}. This model includes dust production, growth, supernova-shock-driven destruction, ion-collision-driven thermal sputtering, and high temperature dust cooling through far infrared re-radiation of collisionally deposited electron energies. Adopting a rather low thermal sputtering rate, we find, consistent with observations, a present-day overall dust-to-gas ratio of $\sim 2\times 10^{-5}$, a total dust mass of $\sim 2\times 10^9\,{\rm M_\odot}$, and a dust mass fraction of $\sim 3\times 10^{-6}$. The typical thermal sputtering timescales within $\sim 100\,{\rm kpc}$ are around $\sim 10\,{\rm Myr}$, and increase towards the outer parts of the cluster to $\sim 10^3\,{\rm Myr}$ at a cluster-centric distance of $1\,{\rm Mpc}$. The condensation of gas phase metals into dust grains reduces high temperature metal-line cooling, but also leads to additional dust infrared cooling. The additional infrared cooling changes the overall cooling rate in the outer parts of the cluster, beyond $\sim 1\,{\rm Mpc}$, by factors of a few. This results in noticeable changes of the entropy, temperature, and density profiles of cluster gas once dust formation is included. The emitted dust infrared emission due to dust cooling is consistent with observational constraints.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures. MNRAS accepte

Esquemas entonativos de modalidad declarativa en el habla de Jaén

Este trabajo analiza la entonación en el habla de Jaén, comparando la relación entre pico tonal y acento con la relación entre pico tonal y frontera de palabra y de sintagma. También se comparan los resultados con los obtenidos con idéntico corpus y criterios para el habla de Granada (Pamies & Amorós 2005), y para el habla de Almería (Pamies, Amorós & O'Neil 2006). Se confirman las tendencias generales detectadas en trabajos anteriores acerca de la función demarcativa del pico tonal en español, al menos en el habla no espontánea.This paper analyzes Spanish intonation of the Jaén dialect, especially the relation between tonal peaks and stressed syllables, compared to the relation between tonal peaks and the word or syntagm boundaries. The results are also compared to those obtained by with identical corpus and criteria for the dialect of Granada by Pamies & Amorós (2005), and for the dialect of Almería by Pamies, Amorós & O'Neil (2006). The general tendencies detected in previous works are confirmed as for the demarcative function of tonal peaks in Spanish, at least in non-spontaneous speec

Vacuum-assisted closure therapy with omental transposition for salvage of infected prosthetic femoral–distal bypass involving the femoral anastomosis

Vascular graft infections are associated with the potential for devastating sequelae, including hemorrhage, septicemia, amputation, and death. Graft excision and debridement of the infected bed with revascularization via an extra-anatomic site or orthotopic vein bypass has been the traditional treatment of choice. Because the morbidity of these operations is substantial, less radical graft preservation techniques are desirable, such as myoplasty, omental flap transposition, and vacuum-assisted closure therapy. We report a patient with infection involving a prosthetic graft that was treated with vacuum-assisted closure and transposition of an omental tongue to enable coverage of the exposed graft

The influence of self-selected music on affect-regulated exercise intensity and remembered pleasure during treadmill running.

This study explored the influence of self-selected music on affect-regulated exercise intensity and Remembered Pleasure. Seventeen active male and female participants (28.1 ±9.9 years; BMI 23.8±3.2 kg/m2; VO2 peak 48.73±8.73 ml.min−1.kg−1) completed a maximal exercise test and each individual’s ventilatory threshold (VT) was identified. Following this, two treadmill exercise trials were performed at an intensity that was perceived to correspond to a Feeling Scale value of +3 (i.e. ‘good’). Sessions with either self-selected music or no music were completed 48 hr apart and in a randomized counterbalanced order. Affective responses (Feeling Scale) and heart rate were measured during exercise and Remembered Pleasure was measured 5-min post exercise. Results indicated that participants selected an exercise intensity that exceeded their VT during the two affect-regulated exercise sessions (p = .002, d = .99). Participants exercised with greater intensity during affect-regulated exercise with music than without (p = .045; d = 1.12) while maintaining a ‘good’ feeling. Furthermore, participants recalled the music session as more pleasurable than the no-music session (p = .001; d = .72). These results illustrate a positive ergogenic and psychological influence of music during affect-regulated exercise. Encouraging individuals to exercise at an intensity that feels ‘good’ elicits an exercise intensity sufficient to garner cardiorespiratory benefits and may lead to improved adherence. Moreover, the use of self-selected music appears to augment this effect. (226 words) Keywords: Affect, exercise, heuristics, remembered utility, physical activit

Family Caregiving Challenges in Advanced Colorectal Cancer: Patient and Caregiver Perspectives

Purpose Family caregivers of advanced colorectal cancer patients may be at increased risk for psychological distress. Yet their key challenges in coping with the patient’s illness are not well understood. Soliciting both patient and caregiver perspectives on these challenges would broaden our understanding of the caregiving experience. Thus, the purpose of this research was to identify caregivers’ key challenges in coping with their family member’s advanced colorectal cancer from the perspective of patients and caregivers. Methods Individual, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 23 advanced colorectal cancer patients and 23 primary family caregivers. Interview data were analyzed via thematic analysis. Results In nearly all cases, patient and caregiver reports of the caregiver’s key challenge were discrepant. Across patient and caregiver reports, caregivers’ key challenges included processing emotions surrounding the patient’s initial diagnosis or recurrence and addressing the patient’s practical and emotional needs. Other challenges included coping with continual uncertainty regarding the patient’s potential functional decline and prognosis and observing the patient suffer from various physical symptoms. Conclusions Findings suggest that eliciting the perspectives of both patients and caregivers regarding caregivers’ challenges provides a more comprehensive understanding of their experience. Results also point to the need to assist caregivers with the emotional and practical aspects of caregiving

Positive changes among patients with advanced colorectal cancer and their family caregivers: a qualitative analysis

OBJECTIVE: This study assessed positive changes in patients with advanced colorectal cancer and their family caregivers following diagnosis. We compared self-reported positive changes within patient-caregiver dyads as well as self-reports and patient reports of positive changes in caregivers. DESIGN: Individual, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 23 patients with advanced colorectal cancer and 23 caregivers. A theoretical thematic analysis of interview transcripts was framed by posttraumatic growth theory. RESULTS: Patients and caregivers described five positive changes: closer relationships with others, greater appreciation of life, clarifying life priorities, increased faith, and more empathy for others. Additionally, only caregivers reported better health habits following the cancer diagnosis, and a minority of patients and caregivers reported no positive changes. In about half of cases, patients reported at least one positive change that was identical to that of their caregiver. However, in most cases, patient and caregiver reports of the caregiver's positive change were discrepant. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that positive changes are a shared experience for many patient-caregiver dyads and obtaining both patient and caregiver reports of caregiver positive changes provides a more comprehensive understanding of their experience. Interventions may capitalise on positive changes to promote meaningful living in the context of advanced cancer