THE FEDERAL AGRICULTURE IMPROVEMENT AND REFORM ACT OF 1996: COMMODITY AND CONSERVATION PROGRAMS

The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act contains major revisions in farm commodity programs. This paper summarizes the major provision of legislation. Because many program implementation rules must be developed, program participants are advised to consult their local office of the USDA Farm Service Agency for final program provisions.Agricultural and Food Policy,

A PREVIEW OF THE 1996 FARM PROGRAM PROVISIONS

The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have written farm bills that contain major revisions in farm commodity programs. Differences in these bills, House bill HR 2854 and Senate bill S 1541, must now be resolved by a Conference Committee, approved by a final vote of both houses of Congress, and signed by the President. Though differences in the bills do exist, the bills contain many similar provisions that appear likely to be included in the final version of the bill. This paper summarizes the major provisions of these bills and identifies areas where differences must be resolved by the Conference Committee.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Further notes on the capture of a Carcharhinus leucas, in a northeastern Atlantic oceanic insular shelf, the Azores archipelago, Portugal

Copyright © 2006 Société Française d’Ichtyologie.In March 1993, a specimen of Carcharhinus leucas was captured by fishermen on the south coast of Te rceira Island, the Azores Archipelago. Its head was recovered and its jaws were preserved. This is the first capture of this species on an oceanic insular shelf in the Atlantic. The distribution of C. leucas in this ocean is commented.RÉSUMÉ: Note complémentaire sur la capture de Carcharhinus leucas (Carcharhinidae) dans une île océanique de l’Atlantique nord-est, l’archipel des Açores, Portugal. En mars 1993, un spécimen de Carcharhinus leucas a été capturé par des pêcheurs sur la côte sud de l’île Terceira dans l’archipel desAçores. Sa tête a été récupérée et ses mâchoires préservées. Il s’agit de la première capture de cette espèce sur une plateforme océanique de l’Atlantique. La distribution de C. leucas dans cet océan est commentée

Topological interactions in systems of mutually interlinked polymer rings

The topological interaction arising in interlinked polymeric rings such as DNA catenanes is considered. More specifically, the free energy for a pair of linked random walk rings is derived where the distance $R$ between two segments each of which is part of a different ring is kept constant. The topology conservation is imposed by the Gauss invariant. A previous approach (M.Otto, T.A. Vilgis, Phys.Rev.Lett. {\bf 80}, 881 (1998)) to the problem is refined in several ways. It is confirmed, that asymptotically, i.e. for large $R\gg R_G$ where $R_G$ is average size of single random walk ring, the effective topological interaction (free energy) scales $\propto R^4$.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figur

Notes sur les habitudes alimentaires de Rioraja agassizi (Chondrichthyes, Rajidae) dans le sud du Brésil.

Copyright © 2011 Société Française d’Ichtyologie.Feeding habits of the skate Rioraja agassizi were analyzed in southeastern Brazil from samples obtained along São Paulo coast. A total of 258 specimens were examined, ranging between 96 and 532 mm total length. About 57.85% were females and 42.15% were males, resulting in a 1:1.37 sex-ratio to females. From 223 stomachs collected (94 males and 129 females) empty stomachs represented only 1.4%. Nine prey categories were identified: Polychaeta, Copepoda, Cumacea, Isopoda, Gammaridea, Dendrobranchiata, Brachyura, Teleostei, and one non-animal category (nonidentifiable items). Crustaceans were the most important item, indicating that the species has a carcinophagic preference. The presence of fish was just verified in juveniles and some adult individuals, with predominance in summer. Sex, maturity stage and seasonality did not influence the feeding habits of the species.RÉSUMÉ: Les habitudes alimentaires de Rioraja agassizi on été analysées dans le sud-ouest du Brésil, tout au long de la côte de l’État de São Paulo. Au total, 258 exemplaires ont été examinés, leurs tailles variant entre 96 et 532 mm de longueur totale. Les femelles ont représenté 57,85% de l’échantillon, conduisant à un sex-ratio secondaire de 1 : 1,37 en leur faveur. Sur 223 estomacs recueillis (94 mâles et 129 femelles) ceux qui étaient vides représentaient seulement 1,4%. Neuf catégories de proies ont été identifiées: Polychaeta, Copepoda, Cumacea, Isopoda, Gammaridea, Dendrobranchiata, Brachyura, Teleostei, et des restes inorganiques (items non identifiables). Les crustacés sont la proie la plus importante, indiquant une préférence carcinophage pour cette espèce. La présence de poissons a été vérifiée seulement dans les estomacs de juvéniles avec une prédominance durant les mois d’été. Aucune influence des variables “sexe”, “maturité” et “saison” sur les habitudes alimentaires n’a été détectée

The monoid of queue actions

We investigate the monoid of transformations that are induced by sequences of writing to and reading from a queue storage. We describe this monoid by means of a confluent and terminating semi-Thue system and study some of its basic algebraic properties, e.g., conjugacy. Moreover, we show that while several properties concerning its rational subsets are undecidable, their uniform membership problem is NL-complete. Furthermore, we present an algebraic characterization of this monoid's recognizable subsets. Finally, we prove that it is not Thurston-automatic

Diffeomorphic random sampling using optimal information transport

In this article we explore an algorithm for diffeomorphic random sampling of nonuniform probability distributions on Riemannian manifolds. The algorithm is based on optimal information transport (OIT)---an analogue of optimal mass transport (OMT). Our framework uses the deep geometric connections between the Fisher-Rao metric on the space of probability densities and the right-invariant information metric on the group of diffeomorphisms. The resulting sampling algorithm is a promising alternative to OMT, in particular as our formulation is semi-explicit, free of the nonlinear Monge--Ampere equation. Compared to Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods, we expect our algorithm to stand up well when a large number of samples from a low dimensional nonuniform distribution is needed.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure