bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Committee for the Publication of African Historical Sources
Authors: Robinson David
Published: February 2017

On December 7, 1983, a group convened at the Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association in Boston and constituted itself tentatively as the Committee for the Publication of African Historical Sources.

The initial convocation had been made by Harold Marcus and David Robinson of Michigan State University with a view towards constituting a US Committee for the Fontes Historiae Africanae, which is part of the International Academic Union and has been working on the publication of African historical sources for over twenty years. John Hunwick of Northwestern University, Director of the Fontes, explained his work over the last decade in supporting the publication of edited texts, translations, and commentaries through Fontes. Most of the publications have been in the Arabica series. Fontes has not had a national committee in the United States and the group was prepared to take the lead in constituting such a committee.
Introduction
Authors: Bazin Jean
Published: February 2017

This collection brings together six papers of the some seventy that were presented at the international symposium held at Université Laval in October, 1987 entitled “Mémoires, Histoires, Identités”. Organized jointly by the History Department of Université Laval, the Ecole des Hautes études en sciences sociales de Paris and the Laboratoire 363 “Tiers-Monde-Afrique” CNRS/Université Paris VII, the symposium aimed to stimulate reflection and research on the links between the construction of identities and the production of history as a discourse on the past, and thus on the links maintained by two modes of production of History-the academic and the popular. Achieving this objective required a broadening of the empirical field to avoid unduly singularizing African experiences.

The papers here concentrate on the process of the production of history by historical actors or by cultural intermediaries who, educated or not, are not of the university milieu which imposes the western conception of historical discourse. The relationships between academic and popular discourse and between the norms of the dominant culture and the practices of dominated cultures are at the center of the analyses.

Isaiah Berlin recently summarized the past century as follows:

The other, without doubt, consists in the great ideological storms that have altered the lives of virtually all mankind: the Russian Revolution and its aftermath – totalitarian tyrannies of both right and left and the explosions of nationalism, racism, and, in places, of religious bigotry, which, interestingly enough, not one among the most perceptive social thinkers of the nineteenth century had ever predicted.
Statistical Analysis of Natural Events in the United States
Authors: Charles Levi  , Partrat Christian
Published: February 2017

A statistical analysis is performed on natural events which can produce important damages to insurers. The analysis is based on hurricanes which have been observed in the United States between 1954 et 1986.

At first, independence between the number and the amount of the losses is examined. Different distributions (Poisson and negative binomial for frequency and exponential, Pareto and lognormal for severity) are tested. Along classical tests as chi-square, Kolmogorov-Smirnov and non parametric tests, a test with weights on the upper tail of the distribution is used: the Anderson – Darling test.

Confidence intervals for the probability of occurrence of a claim and expected frequency for different potential levels of claims are derived. The Poisson Log-normal model gives a very good fit to the data.
Persistent Discordant Twin Growth Following IVF-ET
Authors: Ahiron R. , Blickstein I.
Published: February 2017

We observed persistent first trimester growth disparity in a twin pregnancy following IVF-ET. The crown-rump length of the two fetuses was substantially different at 7 and 11 weeks and from the 20th week discordant growth was observed by intertwin differences in abdominal circumferences and estimated fetal weights. Birth weight discordance was 26.6% (1600/2180). This is apparently the first documentation of first trimester growth discordance persisting throughout pregnancy.
Using typing techniques in a specific outbreak: the ethical reflection of public health professionals
Authors: RUMP B. , CORNELIS C. , WOONINK F. , VAN STEENBERGEN J. , VERWEIJ M. , HULSCHER M.
Published: February 2017

Typing techniques are laboratory methods used in outbreak management to investigate the degree to which microbes found within an outbreak are related. Knowledge about relational patterns between microbes benefits outbreak management, but inevitably also tells us something about the relational patterns of the people hosting them. Since the technique is often used without explicit consent of all individuals involved, this may raise ethical questions. The aim of this study was to unravel the complex ethical deliberation of professionals over the use of such techniques. We organised group discussions (n = 3) with Dutch outbreak managers (n = 23). The topic list was based on previously identified ethical issues and discussions were analysed for recurrent themes. We found that outbreak managers first and foremost reflect on the balance of individual harm with public health benefit. This key question was approached by way of discussing four more specific ethical themes: (1) justification of governmental intervention, (2) responsibility to prevent infections, (3) scientific uncertainty and (4) legal consequences. The themes found in this study, rephrased into accessible questions, represent the shared ethical understanding of professionals and can help to articulate the ethical dimensions of using molecular science in response to infectious disease outbreaks.
Distribution and habitat description of Junín Rail Laterallus tuerosi, Andean Peru
Authors: DINESEN LARS , CHAMORRO ALAN , FJELDSÅ JON , AUCCA CONSTANTINO
Published: February 2017

Distribution and habitat description of the endangered Junín Rail Laterallus tuerosi were assessed during a field study between 6 and 20 February 2014 in the marshes surrounding Lake Junín in the high Andes of Peru, which is the only known locality for the species. By using point counts and playback, we found the species to be present in the marshland all around the lake, with preference for two clearly defined habitat types: one comprising extensively grazed tussocks of Festuca dolichophylla and the other of rather uniform stands of Juncus balticus with undergrowth, or smaller open spaces, with various low herbs. We estimate the suitable habitat of the species to be a minimum of 100 km2 and based upon our point count data we provide indicative population figures of 6,200 individuals, which is higher than previous estimates. No records were obtained without playback, although five minutes of silent listening prior to playback were used at each point. All records were in vegetation of at least 0.5 m tall and in the marshy edge on muddy ground with less than 20 cm of water depth. Grazing especially by sheep or cattle is a serious threat to the marsh vegetation structure essential for Junín Rail and the rail is also under pressure from fluctuations in water levels accentuated by regulation for hydroelectric power.
Effects of the Saemangeum Reclamation Project on migratory shorebird staging in the Saemangeum and Geum Estuaries, South Korea
Authors: LEE JONG KOO , CHUNG OK-SIK , PARK JIN-YOUNG , KIM HWA-JUNG , HUR WEE-HAENG , KIM SUNG-HYUN , KIM JIN-HAN
Published: February 2017

The Saemangeum tidal flat, an important staging site for migratory shorebirds that travel the East Asian-Australasian (EAA) Flyway, was isolated from the eastern Yellow Sea in 2006 as part of a large-scale reclamation project. To gain a better understanding of the impacts that this reclamation has had on the long-distance migratory shorebirds that use the EAA Flyway, we examined the number of shorebirds visiting Saemangeum and three adjacent sites in the Geum Estuary (Yubu Island, the Janghang coastline, and the Geum River Channel) during the spring and fall prior to, and after, completion of the reclamation (2004–2013). A total of 48 shorebird species, including one Critically Endangered, three Endangered, and nine Near Threatened species, were observed over this period. Peak numbers of shorebirds recorded at sites in Saemangeum and the Geum Estuary following completion of the project were 74% below those recorded in 2004 and 2005, the years prior to reclamation activity. In Saemangeum, shorebird abundance declined by approximately 95% and 97.3% during the northward and southward migrations, respectively, as a result of reclamation. Although shorebird populations in the Geum Estuary increased by 5% and 20% during the northwards and southward migrations, respectively, these increases failed to offset the reduction in shorebird abundance in Saemangeum; overall, shorebird abundance at Saemangeum and the three adjacent sites in the Geum Estuary markedly declined over the reclamation period. Given the more favourable conditions of adjacent areas, sites in Saemangeum and the Geum Estuary no longer provide the habitat conditions necessary for long-distance migratory shorebirds. In order to improve habitat for staging migratory birds, we suggest that measures such as the conversion of an abandoned salt farm for use as roosting sites, the construction of artificial barriers to prevent human disturbance, and re-opening of the river-banks to facilitate water flow be implemented.
Programs for high needs children and young people: Group homes are not enough
Authors: Ainsworth Frank , Hansen Patricia
Published: February 2017

Recently the Department of Community Services in New South Wales and the Department for Child Safety in Queensland have both released information about funding and the award of contracts for group homes and other residential services. In addition, in the 2008 discussion about out-of-home care at the Wood Commission of Inquiry into the Child Protection Services in New South Wales, group homes were discussed in terms of them being less demanding environments than foster care. The view presented was that group homes are appropriate for some young people who are either unsuitable for foster care or who want a less intimate setting than that provided by foster care. This article argues that group homes or residential programs, against the New South Wales and Queensland descriptions, fail to respond to the need for quality residential programs for children and youth. This is partly due to the low level of training for staff in group homes and high staff turnover.
Do children like walking? Children in the city of Dunedin, New Zealand
Authors: Quigg Robin , Freeman Claire
Published: February 2017

There is rising interest in children's activity levels and the relationship between health, physical activity and their environments – in particular, their ‘obesogenic’ environments. This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of 71 school children in Dunedin, New Zealand, the purpose of which was to discover whether they liked walking. The study found that, whilst many children do like walking, they are not permitted to walk much, nor to many places. Some walk to school, but their overall levels of walking are low due to a combination of factors relating to concerns for their safety and to the need for children to fit in with increasingly complex, car-dependent family lives.
Back to schools: Human services workers increasing opportunities for early intervention and social inclusion from the school base
Authors: Winkworth Gail , McArthur Morag
Published: February 2017

This paper argues that Australia is lagging behind in recognising the important role social workers and other human services workers can play in schools to improve social and educational outcomes for students. It reports on a small, school-based, human services program, the Schools as Communities program, located in the Australian Capital Territory, and outlines key themes that emerged in interviews with principals and other school staff about the program's effectiveness. The program's outreach workers, who were mostly social workers, had a dual role working with individual families and facilitating community development initiatives of benefit to the school community. Case studies demonstrate how their presence contributed to earlier involvement and support of vulnerable families. They also illustrate that the school setting enabled social workers to work more effectively to build social inclusion in local communities. The paper argues the case for using a wider range of human services professionals from the school base and calls upon education and human services systems to create more effective governance arrangements to make this possible. An expansion of the traditional disciplinary base of education to incorporate social workers and other human services professionals who are skilled at working across multiple domains is essential if schools are to maximise the impact of early intervention and prevention in working towards a more socially inclusive society.
Building a therapeutic care team: Foster care intervention when a mother is imprisoned – a case study
Authors: Flynn Catherine , Lawlor Jenny
Published: February 2017

This paper presents the case study of a family which was supported by a Victorian foster care agency over a two-year period whilst both parents were imprisoned. The article aims to raise awareness amongst practitioners across a range of fie Ids of practice about the issues faced by the children of prisoners, and to document effective and collaborative practices which enable the impact of parental incarceration to be managed and minimised for the children involved. The paper is based on data gathered for a study examining the impact of maternal incarceration on young people conducted by one of the authors. Through focusing on one family, the paper discusses the increasing phenomenon of mothers in prison and the challenges this presents both to their families and to practitioners. The paper concludes by reflecting on the process and suggests that collaborative work with the families of prisoners requires not just good intentions but resources, commitment from all parties, and mutually respectful relationships.
Young people, prostitution and state out-of-home care: The views of a group of child welfare professionals in Victoria
Authors: Bruce Rhiannon , Mendes Philip
Published: February 2017

Previous research suggests a link between experiences of state out-of-home care – particularly residential care – and involvement in prostitution. This study explored the nature of this relationship via semi-structured interviews with nine Victorian health and welfare professionals who had worked with young people living in residential care. The findings suggest a complex interaction between precare and in-care factors. Environmental and systemic factors within residential care that may contribute to prostitution involvement include peer influence, older males, drug use, staffing factors, poor provision of sex and relationship education, placement decisions, and social isolation. Some significant implications for policy and service delivery are identified.
Using prevention science to reduce the risk of child neglect
Authors: DePanfilis Diane
Published: February 2017

Child neglect is the most prevalent and least understood form of child maltreatment both in Australia (AIHW 2007) and the United States (USDHHS 2008). There is a general consensus that because child neglect is multidimensional, no one method will be effective in preventing it. Use of prevention science principles (Cole et al. 1993), which focus on enhancing protective factors and decreasing risk factors, should be used to target families and communities, but be applied in such a way as to individualise and recognise their differences. This paper uses the stages of prevention science to illustrate the development, implementation, and evaluation of a community based prevention program called Family Connections (DePanfilis & Dubowitz 2005; DePanfilis, Dubowitz & Kunz 2008). Implications of this process are considered in the context of recommendations of the World Health Organization for preventing child maltreatment (Butchart, Harvey, Mian & Furniss 2006).
Proactive responses to oppositional behaviours in out-of-home care
Authors: Larmar Stephen , Clark Julie
Published: February 2017

Children and young people placed in out-of-home care are often extremely vulnerable and can require intensive support. Their carers are often faced with significant challenges in effectively responding to their individual needs. This paper is the first in a series of four aimed at supporting carers to make effective responses to challenging behaviours displayed by children and young people in out-of-home care. This paper considers factors that influence an individual child or young person's behaviour as a means of encouraging proactive responses by carers that will address individual need. The series of papers is informed by Edelbrock's (1985) work identifying four clusters of challenging behaviours, with each paper examining one of these clusters. This first paper has a focus on oppositional behaviours. Ensuing papers will examine offensive behaviours, aggressive behaviours and delinquent behaviours respectively.
Delivery and evaluation of the ‘Ride.Life’ mountainboarding program for rural adolescent males
Authors: Kemp Evan , Boyd Candice P. , Aisbett Damon , Harvie Lisa , Caldwell Kirra
Published: February 2017

The present study provided rural adolescent males who might otherwise not seek professional psychological help with an innovative program, based on physical activity, which would link them into a wider sporting community. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in bringing about improvements in various areas of participants' mental health.

Participants were ten males ranging in age from 15 to 18 years residing in and around the Ballarat area. They were recruited in consultation with the coordinator of the YouthTracks @ TAFE program at the University of Ballarat and were identified as being at-risk of developing mental health problems. Results suggested that participation in the program contributed to statistically significant improvements in some aspects of the participants' mental health. Furthermore, participants reported an enjoyment of mountainboarding and described the difference the program has made to their lives. Findings of this study provide preliminary support for the mental health and social gains potentially obtained when rural youth are engaged in an innovative and enjoyable physical activity program.
Proactive responses to aggressive behaviours in out-of-home care
Authors: Larmar Stephen , Clark Julie
Published: February 2017

Children and young people placed in out-of-home care often present with a range of complex and challenging behaviours that place significant stress on carers and other individuals involved in the placement process. The need for practical support, including the facilitation of knowledge sharing opportunities to better support carers and other health care professionals in assisting children and young people in out-of-home care, is of particular importance within the Australian context. This paper is the third in a series of four papers exploring a range of challenging behaviours that may be evidenced in children and young people placed in out-of-home care. The paper focuses on aggressive behaviours in children and adolescents and outlines a working framework to assist carers in responding appropriately to aggressive responses within the out-of-home care context.
Adoption, fostering, permanent care and beyond Re-thinking policy and practice on out-of-home care for children in Australia
Authors: Cuthbert Denise , Quartly Marian
Published: February 2017

The papers published in this special issue of Children Australia were originally presented at a two day symposium held in Melbourne on 26 and 27 November 2009. The symposium, Adoption, fostering, permanent care and beyond: Re-thinking policy and practice on out-of-home care for children in Australia, was jointly convened by the Department of Human Services (DHS), Victoria and the School of Political and Social Inquiry at Monash University in conjunction with the History of Adoption in Australia project (Monash University 2009).

The event was a partnership between professionals working in this area and university researchers. Each group brought different perspectives and imperatives to the table. For DHS and the sector, the immediate frame of the symposium was the major policy statement Directions for out-of-home care, announced in May 2009 by the Victorian Minister for Community Services after consultation with community service organisations and young people living in care (DHS 2009a). It announces a framework for change which incorporates action on seven fronts or ‘reform directions’. These are to support children to remain at home with their families; to provide a better choice of care placement; to promote wellbeing; to prepare young people who are leaving care to make the transition into adult life; to improve the education of children in care; to develop effective and culturally appropriate responses to the high numbers of Aboriginal children in our care; and to create a child-focused system and processes (DHS 2009a). The driving principle informing the reforms is to ensure that policy and service provision are centred on the needs and interests of children and young people, and to ensure that young people are consulted as to what their needs are (rather than assumptions being made by adults as to their needs).
Stability – The dilemmas of providing a secure base for children who are on very shaky ground
Authors: Jackson Annette
Published: February 2017

Child protection systems have always sought to respond to the interests of vulnerable children. Protective paradigms have changed over time as the ‘best interests’ of vulnerable children are defined in different ways. Within protective systems we are currently debating how best to provide children at risk with security and stability: should we seek to reunify them with their birth families or seek alternative options for their permanent care? The debate is unlikely to lead to an either/or option, but rather one where we need to consider many complex factors in both the decision-making process and how to implement these decisions. These factors include: the rationale and process for decision-making; the importance of timing (child's, parent's, carer's, service system and legal system); how to meet the child's heightened developmental needs before, during and following this process; the importance of the child's identity; and the level and type of real-life support needed (by either the birth family or permanent care providers) on the ground. It is also about the relationships needed to provide children with the foundation of a secure base and a safe haven so they can learn that adults can provide comfort, safety and a base upon which they can learn to explore the world.
Ifhaving child-centred policy is the answer, what's the question?
Authors: Liddell Max
Published: February 2017

This paper argues that having child-centred policy is not the straightforward matter it might seem. After presenting some historical snap-shots to demonstrate that children have frequently been the victims of policies aimed at addressing needs or perceived problems which are not child-centred, the author argues that contemporary policies frequently leave out significant variables, and the impact of culture is one of these. Focusing on the Australian-Asian region, the author notes the dominance of family and community over individual rights in many countries in our region. The likelihood is that family and children's services in Asian countries will conceptualise services to families and children in non-western ways, in spite of the fact that the principles underlying child protection which they espouse are frequently western in orientation (that is, they have a child's rights focus). Using these insights as a lens through which to look back at Australia, it is possible to see Australia as having ‘cultural’ traditions which also value family and community over the rights of children. It is argued in conclusion that future policy needs to take such realities more firmly into account, and given the increasing presence of and influence of cultures with a family-centred focus in Australia, greater attention also is needed to our international context.
Confidentiality in child protection cases Who benefits?
Authors: Ainsworth Frank , Hansen Patricia
Published: February 2017

Child protection legislation in every Australian state and territory prohibits the disclosure of the identity of a person who acts as a mandatory reporter. There is also provision in most child protection legislation that prevents the naming of children and families in protection cases. It is argued that disclosure is not in the interests of the child, the family or the general public. Children's Court proceedings in most states and territories in Australia are closed to the public so that, unlike in most other jurisdictions, interested parties are not able to observe the proceedings. Child protection authorities also have considerable power to collect information about children and families from many sources. This power to obtain information is compounded by legislation which removes confidentiality provisions from professional codes of ethics. Furthermore, the rules of evidence do not ordinarily apply in the Children's Court. This article uses New South Wales as the exemplar state and raises questions about all of these issues.
Educational status of children and young people in care
Authors: Tilbury Clare
Published: February 2017

This paper reports on research investigating the educational status and needs of school-aged children in foster care placements. Using clinical data mining, data were collected about school experiences, attendance, educational achievements and needs, health needs and supports provided. The study found children faced enormous barriers to satisfactory participation and attainment at school. Improving educational outcomes depends upon successful linkages between the child protection, education and health care systems.
Young people transitioning from out-of-home care and problematic substance use The views of young people and workers in Victoria
Authors: Baidawi Susan , Mendes Philip
Published: February 2017

Existing research findings indicate that young people from state care backgrounds experience higher rates of substance use and misuse than the general population. This study explored the nature of this relationship via semi-structured, qualitative interviews with four young people who had recently transitioned from state care and three workers in the out-of-home care field, plus a focus group with seven out-of-home care and leaving care workers. The findings suggest that a range of individual, interpersonal and systematic factors contribute to problematic substance use. They include the use of self-medication to address past and present trauma, a lack of meaningful and stable relationships, and state care policies and practices that lead to young people experiencing premature and unplanned exits from state care. Some significant implications for policy and practice are identified.
ACTIVITY AND PASSIVITY: CLASS AND GENDER IN THE CASE OF THE ARTIFICIAL HAND
Authors: Stainthorp Clare
Published: February 2017

This article analyzes the tensionbetween the active, present body and the absent, passive body in this medical case study, presented by doctor and prosthetist Henry Robert Heather Bigg in his 1885 bookArtificial Limbs and the Amputations which Afford the Most Appropriate Stumps in Civil and Military Surgery. I reproduce Bigg's account in its entirety because, to date,Artificial Limbshas not been digitised, although it is held at around a dozen academic libraries in the UK and USA respectively. Bringing attention to and providing a close reading of a source not previously discussed academically sheds new light on the way the disabled body was read by medical professionals in the second half of the nineteenth century. In addition, I consider Bigg's narrative rendering of this unique case study alongside several contemporary sources, including memoirs, novels, short stories, and journal articles. In doing so, I identify how assumptions made by Bigg about the (disabled, female, privileged) hand mirror and echo those in the wider cultural sphere. The sensing hand is an instrument of will, and the creation of such a prosthesis troubles the dynamics of active and passive, touching and touched that Pamela K. Gilbert has identified as crucial to nineteenth-century discourses surrounding the hand. By designing and making this prosthesis, Bigg exerts his professional and masculine agency to make the woman's body assume the position of something beheld rather than embodied.
SANITATION AND TELEPATHY: GEORGE ELIOT'STHE LIFTED VEIL
Authors: Woods Derek
Published: February 2017

The Great Stink of Londontook place one year before the publication of George Eliot'sThe Lifted Veil(1859). As a peak sanitary crisis, the Great Stink helps us to understand the particular telepathy of Eliot's narrator, sinceThe Lifted Veilcombines the rhetoric of telepathy with that of a more threatening form of transmission among bodies: foul odor and contagious air. Throughout the figurative structure of Eliot's story, tropes that convey the narrator's ostensibly supernatural experience contain traces – sometimes cryptic, sometimes explicit – of the earthly matter of sanitary crisis. The first section of this essay explores the sanitary dimension ofThe Lifted Veil, linking the story to sanitary crisis and to Victorian materialist psychology – particularly the work of George Henry Lewes – which conceived mind in physical terms. With the role of sanitation established, the second section shows the importance of the sense of smell to Latimer's first-person narration of telepathy. This section outlines the transition, contemporaneous with sanitary reform, from the use of animal to the use of vegetable perfumes. Throughout the story, vegetable scents act as prophylaxes against the narrator's too-physical telepathy. From these readings, it becomes clear that Eliot writes “extrasensory” perception with recourse to sensory figures. Telepathy and sanitation overlap in this exceptional gothic science fiction in such a way as to demand a new concept ofolfactory telepathy.
“A SERIOUSNESS THAT FAILS”: RECONSIDERING SYMBOLISM IN OSCAR WILDE'SSALOMÉ
Authors: Im Yeeyon
Published: February 2017

Writing as recently as 2011, Michael Bennett asks ifSaloméis an anomaly in the oeuvre of Oscar Wilde (viii). Read against his witty societal comedies of manners, it certainly appears to be one.Saloméhas been regarded as a fine example of symbolist drama in the history of British theatre, and few critics would dispute its “seriousness” as such. Its growing significance in recent discourses of gender and sexuality also adds seriousness to the play. Although Feminist and gender critics show little qualms about dubbing the play as symbolist, the final tableau of a young girl kissing the mouth of the severed head seems to me at odds with symbolism, whether Salomé is seen as an archetypal femme fatale, a queer man in disguise, or a New Woman as critics argue. Symbolism in Wilde'sSaloméis widely different from other specimens of the genre such as Yeats'sThe Countess Cathleen, for instance, which directly deals with a spiritual issue of the salvation of soul.Saloméalso lacks the fatalistic sense of doom that dominates Maeterlinck'sPrincess Maleine, with which it is often compared. Wilde's wayward heroine is not a victim of the invisible forces in the same way Maeterlinck's characters are. Wilde's Salomé is “monstrous,” as Herod says: she seems to commit “a crime against some unknown God” (Complete Works604). How can we reconcile her cruel passion of carnal desire with the supposed spirituality of the symbolist tradition? Also problematic in a symbolist reading of the play is the presence of the comic and the parodic, as pointed out by many critics. Is Wilde'sSaloméan authentic symbolist drama?
Evaluation of Selected Fresh Vegetable Terminal Markets: A Stochastic Dominance Approach
Authors: Hinson Roger , Huh Mooyul , Lee John G.
Published: February 2017

Vegetable production can offer a high-valued cash crop alternative. While returns may be high, vegetables are perceived to have more risk than conventional row crops. This study used stochastic dominance analysis to evaluate terminal market price risk for four vegetable crops across five market locations. Results from the analysis identify differences in efficient market selection depending on the form which price risk follows. While vegetables as a whole are considered risky, substantial differences in the type of terminal market price variability existed between the commodities.
An Analysis of the Competitiveness of Southeastern Fresh Vegetable Crops Using Quadratic Programming
Authors: Chien M. C. , Epperson J. E.
Published: February 2017

This study determined the competitive potential of the temperate southeastern U.S. region to produce selected fresh vegetables for the national market. Results indicated that the region may be competitive in the production and marketing of snap beans, cucumbers, bell peppers, and spring tomatoes. The region would also be competitive in the production and marketing of broccoli, summer and fall tomatoes, and spinach, given cost reductions of 10 to 15 percent. Major cost reductions were required for the region to be competitive in the production and interregional marketing of sweet onions in the absence of effective product differentiation.
Economic Surplus and the Distributional Consequences of Deregulating Tobacco Production
Authors: Sureshwaran S. , Thompson C.S. , Henry M.S. , Loyd M.I.
Published: February 2017

Reservations on technical and theoretical grounds in the use of the consumer surplus approach to measure benefits of government programs have often appeared in the literature. Therefore, this paper uses an alternative approach in a case study to estimate the annual economic surplus created in South Carolina from deregulating tobacco production. Impacts of deregulation on cropping patterns and income on representative tobacco farms, and distribution of benefits in the economy are examined. Results of this study indicate that deregulation stimulates the economy and would increase the net value added by $5.8 million in the long run.
Structure of South Central Agricultural Production
Authors: Poison Rudolph A. , Shumway C. Richard
Published: February 2017

Using a dual economic specification of a multiproduct technology, the structure of agricultural production was tested for five South Central states (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana). A comprehensive set of output supplies and input demands comprised the estimation equations in each state. Evidence of nonjoint production in a subset of commodities was detected in four of the five states. Several commodities also satisfied sufficient conditions for consistent aggregation. However, the specific outputs satisfying each structural property varied by state. Sufficient conditions for consistent geographic aggregation across the states were not satisfied. These results provide empirical guidance and important cautions for legitimately simplifying state-level model specifications of southern agricultural production.
Quantifying Gains To Risk Diversification Using Certainty Equivalence In A Mean-Variance Model: An Application To Florida Citrus
Authors: Featherstone Allen M. , Moss Charles B.
Published: February 2017

The marginal benefit and cost of diversification for Florida orange producers is analyzed using certainty equivalents. Results indicate that for moderate and high levels of risk aversion, diversification into strawberry, grapefruit, or additional orange production is not optimal. However, moderately risk averse Florida orange producers can gain by diversifying into grapefruit production if the annual amortized fixed costs can be reduced by as little as 10 percent.
Hedging Risk For Feeder Cattle With A Traditional Hedge Compared To A Ratio Hedge
Authors: Elam Emmett , Davis James
Published: February 2017

This paper compares hedging risk for various weights of feeder cattle hedged with a traditional cross hedge and a ratio cross hedge. A traditional hedge calls for the purchase/sale of one pound of futures for each pound of cash feeder cattle. By contrast, a ratio hedge requires estimation of a hedge ratio to determine the number of pounds of futures needed to hedge one pound of cash feeder cattle. Hedge ratios were found to be larger than 1.0 for light-weight feeder cattle. By using the estimated hedge ratios, it was shown that hedging risk could be reduced 20-50 percent compared to that achieved by using a hedge ratio of 1.0.
Wilderness and Primitive Area Recreation Participation and Consumption: An Examination of Demographic and Spatial Factors
Authors: Bowker J.M. , Murphy D. , Cordell H.K. , English D.B.K. , Bergstrom J.C. , Starbuck C.M. , Betz C.J. , Green G.T.
Published: February 2017

This paper explores the influence of demographic and spatial variables on individual participation and consumption of wildland area recreation. Data from the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment are combined with geographical information system-based distance measures to develop nonlinear regression models used to predict both participation and the number of days of participation in wilderness and primitive area recreation. The estimated models corroborate previous findings indicating that race (black), ethnicity (Hispanic), immigrant status, age, and urban dwelling are negatively correlated with wildland visitation, while income, gender (male), and education positively affect wild-land recreation participation and use. The presence of a distance or proximity factor mitigates some of the influence of race and ethnicity. The results of the cross-sectional models are combined with U.S. Census projections of total population, changes in population characteristics, and estimates of current National Forest Wilderness visitation estimates to give some insight into pressure that might be expected on the nation's designated wilderness during the next half century. Results generally indicate that per-capita participation and visitation rates will decline over time as society changes. Total wilderness participation and visitation will, however, increase, but at a rate less than population growth.
Economic Competitiveness of Bioenergy Production and Effects on Agriculture of the Southern Region
Authors: English Burton C. , Ugarte Daniel G. De La Torre , Walsh Marie E. , Hellwinkel Chad , Menard Jamey
Published: February 2017

The economic competitiveness of biobased industries is discussed by comparing the South relative to other regions of the United States and biomass as a feedstock source relative to fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum. An estimate of the biomass resource base is provided. Estimated changes in the agricultural sector over time resulting from the development of a large-scale biobased industry are reported, and a study on the potential to produce electricity from biomass compared with coal in the southern United States is reviewed. A biobased industry can increase net farm income and enhance economic development and job creation.
Collective Entrepreneurship: An Emerging Phenomenon in Producer-Owned Organizations
Authors: Cook Michael L. , Plunkett Brad
Published: February 2017

This paper introduces and defines the concept of collective entrepreneurship. A review of the defensive single-level rent-seeking objective of traditional agricultural cooperatives is introduced followed by an analysis of recent studies documenting a shift in the objective functions of producers jointly integrating toward more multiple-level rent-seeking entities. This process of shifting from market failure-ameliorating collective action mechanisms toward rent-seeking group action organizations is labeled collective entrepreneurship. The justification for introducing this concept is based on the Olsonian premise that rational, self-interested individuals will not act to achieve their common or group interests without coercion or selective incentives.
A Randomized, Double-Blind, Multicenter, Parallel-Group, Placebo-Controlled, Dose-Optimization Study of the Methylphenidate Transdermal System for the Treatment of ADHD in Adolescents
Authors: Findling Robert L. , Turnbow John , Burnside John , Melmed Raun , Civil Rich , Li Yunfeng
Published: February 2017

Introduction: The current report evaluates the efficacy and safety of methylphenidate transdermal system (MTS) compared with placebo transdermal system (PTS) in adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Methods: A total of 217 subjects participated in a 7-week, randomized, double-blind, multicenter, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, dose-optimization study of MTS (10-, 15-, 20- or 30-mg/9 hours). Subjects were randomized into a 2:1 MTS to PTS ratio and titrated to an optimal dose during an initial 5-week period. Subjects maintained their optimal dose through a subsequent 2-week period. The primary outcome measure was the ADHD Rating Scale-IV (ADHD-RS-IV). Safety of MTS was assessed throughout the study by analyzing adverse events, results of physical examinations, laboratory evaluations, vital sign data, electrocardiograms, and dermal evaluations.

Results: Treatment with MTS demonstrated greater reductions from baseline in ADHD-RS-IV total score compared to PTS at endpoint (P <.0001). The majority of the adverse events (98.5%) were mild or moderate in intensity, the most common of which were decreased appetite, headache, irritability, and upper respiratory tract infection. Three subjects in the MTS group discontinued because of an application site reaction.

Conclusions: MTS therapy was generally well-tolerated and resulted in significantly greater improvements in ADHD symptoms in adolescents when compared to PTS.
Duloxetine for the Treatment of Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder: A Preliminary Randomized Trial of Increased Dose to Optimize Response
Authors: Simon Naomi M. , Worthington John J. , Moshier Samantha J. , Marks Elizabeth H. , Hoge Elizabeth A. , Brandes Mina , Delong Hannah , Pollack Mark H.
Published: February 2017

Objective: This is the first trial examining duloxetine for generalized social anxiety disorder (GSAD) and the effect of increased dose for those without early remission.

Methods: Individuals (n=39) with GSAD received 6 weeks of open-label duloxetine 60 mg/day; those with a Liebowitz Social Anxiety Disorder Scale (LSAS) score >30 at week 6 were randomized in double-blind fashion to an additional 18 weeks of continued duloxetine 60 mg/day or to duloxetine 120 mg/day.

Results: Duloxetine was associated with a significant LSAS reduction at week 6 (91.3 [17.7] to 69.8 [28.5], paired t [df]=5.2 [38], P<.0001), and randomized participants overall continued to improve at week 24 (74.6 [23.9] to 60.3 [29.7]; paired t [df]=3.3 [27], P=.0026). Though the increased dose strategy was associated with a moderate effect size (Cohen's d=.57), there was no significant difference at week 24 endpoint in LSAS reduction (20.5 [26.0] versus 7.3 [17.2], t [df]=1.6 [26], P=.13) nor remission (33% versus 8%) for duloxetine with dose increased to 120 mg/day compared to duloxetine continued at 60 mg/day. Overall, 44% (17/39) discontinued prior to week 24.

Conclusions: Though with limited power, these data provide preliminary support for the efficacy of duloxetine for GSAD, and suggest continued improvement but limited remission overall at 24 weeks for individuals remaining symptomatic at week 6. These observations warrant further controlled study.
A Comparison of the QIDS-C16, QIDS-SR16, and the MADRS in an Adult Outpatient Clinical Sample
Authors: Bernstein Ira H. , Rush A. John , Stegman Diane , Macleod Laurie , Witte Bradley , Trivedi Madhukar H.
Published: February 2017

Background: This study compared the 16-item Clinician and Self-Report versions of the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS-C16 and QIDS-SR16) and the 10-item Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) in adult outpatients. The comparison was based on psychometric features and their performance in identifying those in a major depressive episode as defined by the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition.

Methods: Of 278 consecutive outpatients, 181 were depressed. Classical test theory, factor analysis, and item response theory were used to evaluate the psychometric features and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses.

Results: All three measures were unidimensional. All had acceptable reliability (coefficient α=.87 for MADRS10, .82 for QIDS-C16, and .80 for QIDS-SR16). Test information function was higher for the MADRS (ie, it was most sensitive to individual differences in levels of depression). The MADRS and QIDS-C16 slightly but consistently outperformed the QIDS-SR16 in differentiating between depressed versus non-depressed patients.

Conclusion: All three measures have satisfactory psychometric properties and are valid screening tools for a major depressive episode.
Unique Contributions of Brain Stimulation to the Study of Consciousness: Where Neuroscience Meets Philosophy
Authors: Pallanti Stefano
Published: February 2017

True progress in understanding how experience arises from the brain has been relatively slow when viewed from a historical perspective. Recently, several technologies to study and stimulate the brain have been applied to this field of inquiry. Such progress was made only 2,500 years after the ancient Greek philosopher Parmenides first adopted a technical procedure involving the application of formal logic instruments to explore the perception of experiences.

At the phenomenological level, consciousness has been referred to as “what vanishes every night when we fall into dreamless sleep and reappears when we wake up or when we dream. It is also all we are and all we have: lose consciousness and, as far as you are concerned, your own self, and the entire world dissolves into nothingness”. According to the integrated information theory, consciousness is integrated information.

The term “consciousness” therefore has two key senses: wakefulness and awareness. Wakefulness is a state of consciousness distinguished from coma or sleep. Having one's eyes open is generally an indication of wakefulness and we usually assume that anyone who is awake will also be aware. Awareness implies not merely being conscious but also being conscious of something. The broad definition of consciousness includes a large range of processes that we normally regard as unconscious (eg, blindsight or priming by neglected or masked stimuli).

Both sleep and anesthesia are reversible states of eyes-closed unresponsiveness to environmental stimuli in which the individual lacks both wakefulness and awareness. In contrast to sleep, where sufficient stimulation will return the individual to wakefulness, even the most vigorous exogenous stimulation cannot produce awakening in a patient under an adequate level of general anesthesia.