Australian farmers\u27 and food processors\u27 values

Purpose &ndash; The aim of this exploratory study was to examine and compare a range of business values held by farmers and food processors. Design/methodology/approach &ndash; Questionnaires with a section on business values were posted to 200 farmers and 200 food processing businesses in Victoria, Australia, with response rates of 44 per cent (n=69) and 31 per cent (n=48), respectively, achieved. Findings &ndash; The most important of the 28 value items for farmers were high quality produce, honesty, and caring for employees. For processors, the most important values were quality products, customer value, and caring for employees. Between group differences reached statistical significance for one-third of the items. In particular, processor businesses valued innovation and convenience products more highly and had a stronger process orientation than did farming businesses. Environmental sustainability, caring for the community, and providing healthy products were more integral to farming than processing businesses. Research limitations/implications &ndash; The main limitation was the small sample sizes, although it is likely that response bias was not high. Future research could survey a larger sample of food industry representatives and examine the values held by other food industry sectors. Practical implications &ndash; This information could increase the effectiveness of communications with industry groups on a range of issues and in the formulation of appropriate health and environmental policies. Originality/value &ndash; To the authors\u27 knowledge, this is the first study to compare the values of farmers and food processors. This information is particularly important for those in the food industry and health and environmental policy makers.<br /

Random fields of multivariate test statistics, with applications to shape analysis

Our data are random fields of multivariate Gaussian observations, and we fit a multivariate linear model with common design matrix at each point. We are interested in detecting those points where some of the coefficients are nonzero using classical multivariate statistics evaluated at each point. The problem is to find the $P$-value of the maximum of such a random field of test statistics. We approximate this by the expected Euler characteristic of the excursion set. Our main result is a very simple method for calculating this, which not only gives us the previous result of Cao and Worsley [Ann. Statist. 27 (1999) 925--942] for Hotelling's $T^2$, but also random fields of Roy's maximum root, maximum canonical correlations [Ann. Appl. Probab. 9 (1999) 1021--1057], multilinear forms [Ann. Statist. 29 (2001) 328--371], $\bar{\chi}^2$ [Statist. Probab. Lett 32 (1997) 367--376, Ann. Statist. 25 (1997) 2368--2387] and $\chi^2$ scale space [Adv. in Appl. Probab. 33 (2001) 773--793]. The trick involves approaching the problem from the point of view of Roy's union-intersection principle. The results are applied to a problem in shape analysis where we look for brain damage due to nonmissile trauma.Comment: Published in the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

An advanced modification of dynamic gravitation

The equations for the specification of the curvature of space-time are inherent in the general theory of relativity (GTR). However, despite its enormous success, there are a number of difficulties with GTR. Standard GTR is mathematically very complex, and it predicts the formation of black hole singularities. Here we reformulate the equations for gravitation by mathematically defining the equations for the curvature of space-time. We then translate this curvature back into equations for the force of gravity. By using the original equations for calculating the curvature of space-time used in GTR, we can translate the equations for gravitation, back into equations for a modified force of Newtonian gravity. Using worked examples, we show that such an adaptation of gravity, gives results which technically give the same results as GTR, in the mass range of the solar system. At the same time, an analysis of the data shows that with binary pulsars, the new equations can give improved results to GTR. In the case of high mass gravitational objects such as black holes, by using this advanced modified dynamic gravitation, AMDG, these equations also specifically resolve the difficulties of the formation of singularities

Floodplain environmental change during the younger dryas and holocene: Evidence from the lower kennet valley, south central England

Many lowland rivers across northwest Europe exhibit broadly similar behavioural responses to glacial-interglacial transitions and landscape development. Difficulties exist in assessing these, largely because the evidence from many rivers remains limited and fragmentary. Here we address this issue in the context of the river Kennet, a tributary of the Thames, since c. 13,000 cal. BP). Some similarities with other rivers are present, suggesting that regional climatic shifts are important controls. The Kennet differs from the regional pattern in a number of ways. The rate of response to sudden climatic change, particularly at the start of the Holocene and also mid-Holocene forest clearance, appears very high. This may reflect abrupt shifts between two catchment scale hydrological states arising from contemporary climates, land use change and geology. Stadial hydrology is dominated by nival regimes, with limited winter infiltration and high spring and summer runoff. Under an interglacial climate, infiltration is more significant. The probable absence of permafrost in the catchment means that a lag between the two states due to its gradual decay is unlikely. Palaeoecology, supported by radiocarbon dates, suggests that, at the very start of the Holocene, a dramatic episode of fine sediment deposition across most of the valley floor occurred, lasting 500-1000 years. A phase of peat accumulation followed as mineral sediment supply declined. A further shift led to tufa deposition, initially in small pools, then across the whole floodplain area, with the river flowing through channels cut in tufa and experiencing repeated avulsion. Major floods, leaving large gravel bars that still form positive relief features on the floodplain, followed mid-Holocene floodplain stability. Prehistoric deforestation is likely to be the cause of this flooding, inducing a major environmental shift with significantly increased surface runoff. Since the Bronze Age, predominantly fine sediments were deposited along the valley with apparently stable channels and vertical floodplain accretion associated with soil erosion and less catastrophic flooding. The Kennet demonstrates that, while a general pattern of river behaviour over time, within a region, may be identifiable, individual rivers are likely to diverge from this. Consequently, it is essential to understand catchment controls, particularly the relative significance of surface and subsurface hydrology

Experiencing the Word of God: Reading as Wrestling

Analytic philosophers are generally advised to steer clear of the substantive use of literary tropes whose ‘semantic content outstrips their propositional content’ (Rea, 2009: 6). But this poses a problem for analytic theologians whose primary texts are beset by such literary devices. Can such material be usefully marshalled, or should it be left to one side, to remain unemployed by analytic theologians? In The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture Yoram Hazony offers what I take to be the most convincing argument to date that the entire biblical narrative (literary tropes and all) ought both to be read as philosophy and that the philosophical content contained in the biblical narrative can be marshalled into non-narrative propositional arguments. In this paper I will address three areas of concern for his project, and by extension, what I take to be concerns for other analytic theologians who might follow his lead