Ag Bankers -- Today and Tomorrow

A survey of 401 Iowa bank executives was conducted in October 2008. We received 106 valid responses. The survey requested information on expected loan growth and staffing levels for agricultural credit professionals over the next decade. In addition respondents reported the desired training and experience and expected compensation of new hires. Bank executives expect agricultural loans to grow over the next decade but at a slower rate than total loans. A gain in agricultural loan officer employment is expected net of retirements. Bank executives reported that soft skills such as problem solving ability and communication were more important for new agricultural loan officers than formal training in agriculture or business. Expected compensation levels and growth for new hires tend to lag those in competing industries.agricultural loan officer; employment; compensation; training; survey

Comparison of the ozonolysis products of the methylnaphthalenes and dimethylnaphthalenes in hexane, methanol, and water

The ozonolyses of 1- and 2-methylnaphthalene and 1,2-, 1,3-, 1,4-, and 2,3-dimethylnaphthalene were performed in dilute aqueous solution, and the products which resulted were compared to products from similar reactions performed in n-hexane and methanol. Gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were used as the primary instrumental methods of analysis because of the low concentrations of products formed in the aqueous reactions. Gas chromatography-Fourier transform infrared spectrometry was used to supplement the mass spectrometric data on the products formed in the organic solvents. All products characterized in the three solvents resulted from the normal ozonolysis of either one or two double bonds in the naphthalene ring system. The products resulting from the ozonolysis of two double bonds were typical of what had been reported previously in the literature. The products which resulted from the ozonolysis of only one double bond were not expected based on previous ozonolysis studies. These compounds were previously unreported in the literature. The reactions in water yielded large amounts of these mono-ozonolysis products compared with the reactions in n-hexane and methanol. A second major difference in the aqueous ozonolyses was that these reactions yielded aldehydes and ketones exclusively as products. The reactions in the organic solvents contrasted sharply with the;reactions in water by yielding large amounts of carboxylic acids as well as aldehydes and ketones; (\u271)DOE Report IS-T-1106. This work was performed under Contract No. W-7405-eng-82 with the U.S. Department of Energy

Ag bankers -- today and tomorrow

A survey of 401 Iowa bank executives was conducted in October 2008. We received 106 valid responses. The survey requested information on expected loan growth and staffing levels for agricultural credit professionals over the next decade. In addition respondents reported the desired training and experience and expected compensation of new hires. Bank executives expect agricultural loans to grow over the next decade but at a slower rate than total loans. A gain in agricultural loan officer employment is expected net of retirements. Bank executives reported that soft skills such as problem solving ability and communication were more important for new agricultural loan officers than formal training in agriculture or business. Expected compensation levels and growth for new hires tend to lag those in competing industries

Solving the Dynamic Dial-a-Ride Problem Using a Rolling-Horizon Event-Based Graph

In many ridepooling applications transportation requests arrive throughout the day and have to be answered and integrated into the existing (and operated) vehicle routing. To solve this dynamic dial-a-ride problem we present a rolling-horizon algorithm that dynamically updates the current solution by solving an MILP formulation. The MILP model is based on an event-based graph with nodes representing pick-up and drop-off events associated with feasible user allocations in the vehicles. The proposed solution approach is validated on a set of real-word instances with more than 500 requests. In 99.5% of all iterations the rolling-horizon algorithm returned optimal insertion positions w.r.t. the current schedule in a time-limit of 30 seconds. On average, incoming requests are answered within 2.8 seconds

Ridepooling and public bus services: A comparative case-study

This case-study aims at a comparison of the service quality of time-tabled buses as compared to on-demand ridepooling cabs in the late evening hours in the city of Wuppertal, Germany. To evaluate the service quality of ridepooling as compared to bus services, and to simulate bus rides during the evening hours, transport requests are generated using a predictive simulation. To this end, a framework in the programming language R is created, which automatically combines generalized linear models for count regression to model the demand at each bus stop. Furthermore, we use classification models for the prediction of trip destinations. To solve the resulting dynamic dial-a-ride problem, a rolling-horizon algorithm based on the iterative solution of Mixed-Integer Linear Programming Models (MILP) is used. A feasible-path heuristic is used to enhance the performance of the algorithm in presence of high request densities. This allows an estimation of the number of cabs needed depending on the weekday to realize the same or a better general service quality as the bus system

A Tight Formulation for the Dial-a-Ride Problem

Ridepooling services play an increasingly important role in modern transportation systems. With soaring demand and growing fleet sizes, the underlying route planning problems become increasingly challenging. In this context, we consider the dial-a-ride problem (DARP): Given a set of transportation requests with pick-up and delivery locations, passenger numbers, time windows, and maximum ride times, an optimal routing for a fleet of vehicles, including an optimized passenger assignment, needs to be determined. We present tight mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) formulations for the DARP by combining two state-of-the-art models into novel location-augmented-event-based formulations. Strong valid inequalities and lower and upper bounding techniques are derived to further improve the formulations. We then demonstrate the theoretical and computational superiority of the new model: First, the formulation is tight in the sense that, if time windows shrink to a single point in time, the linear programming relaxation yields integer (and hence optimal) solutions. Second, extensive numerical experiments on benchmark instances show that computational times are on average reduced by 49.7% compared to state-of-the-art event-based approaches

Experiential Learning Opportunities for Career Preparation of Animal Science Students

Most students enroll in a baccalaureate degree program to obtain a formal education that will increase the likelihood of their obtaining employment that is challenging, rewarding, and satisfying. A student’s formal education becomes more meaningful when coupled with hands-on, industry-relevant training such as an internship or part-time job. We describe herein a multi-pronged strategy that we have employed to encourage undergraduate students to participate in an experiential learning opportunity as a part of their formal education. Based on student feedback and the high placement rate of our students, we conclude this approach has been highly effective

Improved Diagnostics by Assessing the Micromorphology of Breast Calcifications via X-Ray Dark-Field Radiography

Breast microcalcifications play an essential role in the detection and evaluation of early breast cancer in clinical diagnostics. However, in digital mammography, microcalcifications are merely graded with respect to their global appearance within the mammogram, while their interior microstructure remains spatially unresolved and therefore not considered in cancer risk stratification. In this article, we exploit the sub-pixel resolution sensitivity of X-ray dark-field contrast for clinical microcalcification assessment. We demonstrate that the micromorphology, rather than chemical composition of microcalcification clusters (as hypothesised by recent literature), determines their absorption and small-angle scattering characteristics. We show that a quantitative classification of the inherent microstructure as ultra-fine, fine, pleomorphic and coarse textured is possible. Insights underlying the micromorphological nature of breast calcifications are verified by comprehensive high-resolution micro-CT measurements. We test the determined microtexture of microcalcifications as an indicator for malignancy and demonstrate its potential to improve breast cancer diagnosis, by providing a non-invasive tool for sub-resolution microcalcification assessment. Our results indicate that dark-field imaging of microcalcifications may enhance the diagnostic validity of current microcalcification analysis and reduce the number of invasive procedures