Farm business survey 2008/09: poultry production in England

The report provides a commentary on the UK poultry industry focusing on its structure, development and contribution to the UK agricultural economy. It also includes data on the economic performance of poultry businesses in England during 2008/09

Farm business survey 2009/10: poultry production in England

A commentary on the UK poultry industry focusing on its structure, trends and development. Analysis includes the economic performance of poultry businesses in England during 2009/10

The Integration of the Volga Germans into American Lutheranism

This paper traces the incorporation of Lutheran Volga Germans arriving in this country between 1870 and 1910 into American Christianity and identifies factors in their affiliation with American church bodies. It analyzes whether Lutheran bodies identified the Volga Germans as a distinct ethnic group among German immigrants in America and recognized the specific challenges and adaptations necessary to work among them. Where Volga German congregations were established, the factors which decided joining one denomination over another are explored. Specific theological, ecclesiastical, and cultural issues that determined whether a group of Volga Germans aligned with one church body versus another are delineated

Promissio Spei God\u27s Eschatological Action in the Church

Davenport, Richard A. Promissio Spei: God\u27s Eschatological Action in the Church. “Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2012. 213 pp. This dissertation, a work in systematic theology, examines the nature of Christian hope in the context of current scholarship in systematic theology. Its goal is to assess the way in which Christian hope is rooted in God\u27s word of promise and the extent to which that promise affects Christian life. The eschatological outlook presented in Scripture shows that God\u27s promises, and the hope that they offer, are presented to all of creation. This dissertation investigates the process by which the communication of hope from God\u27s word to creation takes place, as well as the implications of that hope for all who come in contact with it. The dissertation conducts an investigation of the places where God\u27s word enters into creation to see how hope is created by it. In a hope-filled eschatology, God\u27s word is found not only in the direct, proclaimed word, but also in the sacraments that form the foundation for Christian life. This promise of God directs Christians toward the future that he is creating and calls them to be a part of that future. The sacraments form a connecting point between the present world and the future that God is creating. This enables Christians to interact with that future and experience it. This further allows their hope in God\u27s promises to take shape as they see for themselves what God is creating. The liturgy of the worship service that surrounds the sacraments helps Christians to understand what it is they are experiencing by connecting Christian eschatology to their everyday life. It also turns their attention to the world outside the church that is in need of the hope given by God. The liturgy sets them on the path to carry that hope out into the world through their lives. The eschatological Christian hope is not intended only for humanity, but all of creation. One way that creation experiences this hope is in the work Christians do in the world. The act of caring for creation and for the world brings a piece of the future back into the present and gives concrete form to God\u27s promises

Rethinking the Penalty for the Failure to File Gift Tax Returns

In this article, the authors argue that Congress must reform the penalty structure associated with the failure to file gift tax returns if it wants to maintain the integrity of the transfer tax system

The Pros and Cons of Compressive Sensing for Wideband Signal Acquisition: Noise Folding vs. Dynamic Range

Compressive sensing (CS) exploits the sparsity present in many signals to reduce the number of measurements needed for digital acquisition. With this reduction would come, in theory, commensurate reductions in the size, weight, power consumption, and/or monetary cost of both signal sensors and any associated communication links. This paper examines the use of CS in the design of a wideband radio receiver in a noisy environment. We formulate the problem statement for such a receiver and establish a reasonable set of requirements that a receiver should meet to be practically useful. We then evaluate the performance of a CS-based receiver in two ways: via a theoretical analysis of its expected performance, with a particular emphasis on noise and dynamic range, and via simulations that compare the CS receiver against the performance expected from a conventional implementation. On the one hand, we show that CS-based systems that aim to reduce the number of acquired measurements are somewhat sensitive to signal noise, exhibiting a 3dB SNR loss per octave of subsampling, which parallels the classic noise-folding phenomenon. On the other hand, we demonstrate that since they sample at a lower rate, CS-based systems can potentially attain a significantly larger dynamic range. Hence, we conclude that while a CS-based system has inherent limitations that do impose some restrictions on its potential applications, it also has attributes that make it highly desirable in a number of important practical settings