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In the backyard systems in urban and semi-urban areas of the central highlands of Mexico, agriculture and livestock activities are practiced. In order to know the behavior of the economic variables in these farms, a non-probabilistic sampling by quotas was carried out, using the snowball technique, which consisted of applying surveys to a total of 92 producers, which was designed to collect information on the general characteristics of the backyard, social, and economic system, as well as the products generated from agriculture and livestock. With the information collected, an inventory of the plant and animal species that are produced in the backyard system was made, in addition to estimating economic income, variable costs, fixed costs, total costs, profits and the benefit-cost ratio for carrying out livestock activities agriculture or both in backyard systems. It was found that farmers have an average space in the backyard of 360.5 m2 to carry out activities of agriculture, livestock or both. Farmers who carry out agriculture and livestock activities generate higher income and economic profits, compared to those who only carry out one activity, obtaining a benefit of 27.44 cents for each dollar invested, compared to 16.64 and 18.00 cents for developing the activity agriculture and livestock respectively. The agricultural and livestock activity in the backyard systems of the highlands of Mexico, represent an option to generate economic income for families, and generate food products for self-consumption and reduce expenses for food purchases in the family nucleus.

Farm-to-hospital (FTH) programs have emerged over the last decade as an approach for hospitals to leverage their buying power and growing influence in the food system to support healthier eating hab­its, as well as stimulate local economic develop­ment and community wealth building, often within a broader set of policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) interventions. While FTH programs have increased in prominence over the last decade, sev­eral challenges prevent widespread adoption. These include distributor contracts that limit outside pur­chases, logistical challenges receiving products from local vendors, and a lack of buy-in from key decision-makers. These challenges frequently reflect foodservice operations organized to maxim­ize revenue, which lends itself to an approach that sources cheap and unhealthy food products. In this paper, we present findings from a case study of two hospitals part of the University of Wisconsin Health system in their efforts to develop a farm-to-hospital program from 2008 to 2017. Specifically, we study the organizational strategies used by the We Are Health Committee (WAHC) and its infor­mal predecessors to create the conditions to facili­tate and encourage local food procurement. We find that stakeholders reorganized their foodservice operations around the value of supporting public health, leveraging their clinics’ mission as a public health institution. This resulted in the creation of new organizational structures and roles, including merging their nutritional and foodservice depart­ments, creating the infrastructure for institution-wide change. Local food procurement was per­ceived as a means to develop nutritional interven­tions targeting the availability of healthier food items without creating the perception of paternal­ism among visitors. Finally, as stakeholders observed the local economic impact of their pur­chasing decisions, the values of their foodservice evolved to explicitly include supporting local eco­nomic development, resulting in an evolution of their relationship with their broadline distributor to facilitate increased local food purchases.

Despite growing interest in local food, modeling the economic contribution of this endogenous system is inherently problematic. We present a combined hypothetical extraction and import-substitution social accounting matrix model that overcomes these problems in a theoretically consistent and computationally feasible manner. The method can be applied broadly to many different definitions of a "local food system" and uses the same underlying method as traditional economic-base contribution models. We apply this model to the state of Idaho and compare the economic contribution of the local food system against the economic contribution of the export food system.

Although sales at farmers markets have been on the rise for a few decades, a regular challenge faced by market managers is how to ensure that their vendors are best positioned to maximize what they can capture in market sales. Farmers markets have varying degrees of data collection and data analysis. This study aims to demonstrate the value of under­standing data, so that market managers can take informed, effective steps to increase sales for their vendors. This is accomplished using 13 years of weekly sales data from the Williamsburg Farmers Market (WFM). The dataset categorized sales by produce, specialty crops, animal products, value-added products, non-edible crafts, and plant sales. This allowed us to explore the relationship between vendor variety and sales. In this paper we ask: To what extent does vendor and product variety affect sales at farmers markets? We use dynamic panel econometric models, including a vendor variety index and other salient market factors, to explore how market characteristics may affect overall mar­ket sales. We find that greater vendor variety in terms of the products they offer increases sales both on the aggregate and across vendor types. Based on these findings we argue that one signifi­cant thing that market managers can do to boost sales for their vendors is to increase the variety of offerings through the recruitment of vendors who can bring differing product types to the market.

Medical imaging techniques play a central role in clinical oncology, helping to obtain important information about the extent of disease, and plan treatment. Advanced imaging modalities such as Positron Emission Tomography–Computed Tomography (PET/CT), may help in the whole-body staging in a single procedure, although the lesions should be carefully interpreted. PET/CT is becoming commonly used in canine cancer patients, but there is still limited information available on specific tumors such as mammary cancer. We evaluated the utility of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG)-PET/CT to detect malignant lesions in eight female dogs with naturally occurring mammary tumors. A whole-body scan was performed prior to surgery, and mammary and non-mammary lesions detected either on PET/CT or during pre-surgical physical exam were resected when possible and submitted for histopathological examination. Multiple mammary lesions involving different mammary glands were detected in 5/8 dogs, for a total of 23 lesions; there were 11 non-mammary-located lesions in 6/8 dogs, three of these were lung or lymph node metastasis. A total of 34 lesions were analyzed: 22 malignant (19 mammary tumors and three metastatic lesions), and 12 benign (four mammary lesions and eight of non-mammary tissues). Glucose uptake by maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) was analyzed and correlated with tumor size, and benign vs. malignant pathology. We found that the minimum tumor size needed to distinguish malignant lesions according to the SUVmax was 1.5 cm; benign and malignant lesions 2 was 100% sensitive for malignancy. Combining these data, lesions >1.5 cm with a SUVmax >2 had a positive predictive value of 100%. Finally, we did not find an association between SUVmax and histologic subtype or grade, which may be present in a larger sample. Thus, 18F-FDG PET/CT is useful for distinguishing malignant from benign lesion but further imaging of dogs with diverse tumors, should establish characteristic SUV value cutoffs for detecting primary and metastatic disease, and distinguishing them from benign lesions.

El objetivo de este estudio fue describir y evaluar la relación ent re las prácticas tecnológicas de manejo de hatos de bovinos de doble propósito y su productividad. Además de su asociación con las diferentes épocas del año. Para esto se analizaron los registros mensuales de las prácticas tecnológicas y variables producti vas de treinta unidades de producción de los estados de Tabasco, Chiapas y Sinaloa durante un año. Mediante la técnica de Correlaciones Canónicas se estimó la relación entre las prácticas tecnológicas: suplementación, sanidad, prevención y control de enfer medades y manejo de praderas (X) con variables productivas: producción de leche, porcentaje de vacas en ordeño y número de crías (Y). El análisis de correspondencia midió la asociación del uso de las prácticas tecnológicas y la época del año. Los resultado s mostraron tres correlaciones canónicas, la primera fue de 3.33 y significativa, con una variabilidad observada del 89% y las prácticas tecnológicas que mejor explican las variables productivas son la suplementación, sanidad, prevención y control de enfer medades. El análisis de correspondencia mostró que los productores de Tabasco y Chiapas varían las prácticas tecnológicas de manejo del hato de acuerdo a la época de año (lluvia, seca y transición) mientras los productores de Sinaloa las realizan durante t odo el año. El uso de las prácticas tecnológicas en las unidades de producción influye en las variables productivas, principalmente en la producción de leche.

Farmers markets are generally considered one of the healthiest places to purchase food. However, less than 1% of food assistance dollars are redeemed at farmers markets. Because farmers markets have operated historically as cash operations, they are still experimenting and struggling to find ways to redeem electronic food share benefits. Much work on electronic benefit transfer (EBT) has focused on barriers from users' perspectives. Farmers markets have often been overlooked during the transition from food stamps to EBT. This paper takes an in-depth look at barriers and facilitators to successful implementation of EBT at farmers markets from the market manager's perspective. The researchers interviewed a semi¬random geographic sample of farmers market managers across Wisconsin (N=13) to determine if and how the electronic Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are redeemed at their market and identify factors that impede or aid EBT redemption. Data were analyzed using grounded theory analysis. Several positive and negative themes emerged from the interviews as factors associated with successful EBT programs, including community support, perceived match of EBT with market mission, stable financing, perceived benefit to vendors, and vendor acceptance of EBT. Farmers markets have the potential to reduce food insecurity through EBT redemption. Understanding the main barriers as well as effective strategies for successful implementation of EBT in farmers markets is imperative to realize the full potential of this program. Understanding difficulties from market managers' perspectives is important to inform future policy initiatives to streamline reimbursement at farmers markets.

Despite the relative absence of wholesale distribution in much of the planning profession's academic and grey literature, emerging models promise to remake the relationship between producers and their regional markets. In this article, key lessons from the value(s) chain literature are illustrated with examples from comparative case studies con¬ducted by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural System to acquaint professional planners and allied professionals with strategies for imbuing mid- to high-volume local food distribution with normative values such as transparency and fairness. The research presented here is not a comprehensive analysis of regional wholesale food distribution. Rather, we have focused on organizational, logistical, and marketing characteristics of local and regional food value(s) chains. We utilize an exploratory comparative case study method to identify innovations in food distribution focusing on midtier food value(s) chains. We then describe larger system interventions that planners could employ to better accommodate midtier food distribution needs in the regional planning and food regulatory environment. These interventions include documentation of existing wholesale food system infrastructure; incorporation of agricultural industry clusters into regional economic development planning; cultivation of regional culinary identities to enhance marketing and branding efforts; and collaboration with policy makers and food safety regulators to foster zoning and regulation that protect public safety and welfare and build the capacity and market access of local food entrepreneurs.

Objetivos: Conocer el impacto económico de la peste en tres provincias de Cajamarca en los años 1994 y 1999. Materiales y métodos: en este estudio observacional, transversal y descriptivo se estimaron los costos directos e indirectos (institucionales, de las familias y comunidades) de la peste en las provincias de San Miguel, San Pablo y Contumazá del departamento de Cajamarca en los años de 1994 y 1999. La información necesaria para el cálculo de los costos se obtuvo de diversas fuentes: recopilación de datos documentados, entrevistas a personal de salud y/o directores o jefes de instituciones o establecimientos, encuestas a hogares, etc. Resultados: en 1994, el costo total estimado de la peste ascendió a 2 333 169 dólares: insumos- MINSA (65 034 dólares), atención directa-MINSA (81 388 dólares), otras instituciones (106 428 dólares), de las familias (663 449 dólares) y por mortalidad (1 416 870 dólares). En tanto que en 1999, el costo total ascendió a 741 431 dólares: insumos-MINSA (322 371 dólares), atención directa-MINSA (34 063 dólares), otras instituciones (15 477 dólares), de las familias (369 550 dólares) y ningún costo por mortalidad. Conclusiones: La peste tiene un alto costo en la economía peruana a nivel regional, existiendo variaciones en el tiempo, de acuerdo al comportamiento de la enfermedad y a las políticas adoptadas para su control y prevención.

Since 1938, when Jakobson advanced the proposition that speech sounds are composite entities constituted by complexes of binary features, there has been a flurry of proposals about the nature of distinctive features. Those proposals try to explain how features are grouped and related to one another; they deal with the internal structure of the segment. Jakobson, Fant & Halle (1952) built up the first articulated theory of phonological features relaying basically on the acoustic properties of sounds. Chomsky & Halle (1968) changed this acoustic orientation towards an articulatory definition of sounds. This conception of the features has been assumed by most of the recent proposals. In this article we present a review of some of the most important innovations in recent years. Some of the models we consider deal with the hierarchy of features; others discuss the binary or unary nature of features; differences between vowel and consonantal features; the representation of vocalic height etc. In our review we start presenting arguments that justify the need for an internal hierarchy in the segment. Then we introduce some of the most important proposals in the framework of Feature Geometry: Clements (1985, 1987, 1989, 1991), Sagey (1986, 1987), Halle (1986), McCarthy (1988, 1989), Steriade (1987), Archangeli & Pulleyblank (1986). The next section is devoted to the consideration of a group of proposals that have in common the conception of the feature as an unary entity. We talk about Dependency Phonology (Anderson & Ewen 1987), Particle Phonology (Schane 1984), Charm Theory (Kaye, Lowenstamm & Vergnaud 1985) and the Geometry of Vocalic Features (van der Hulst 1988). In a third major section we consider other theories based on a phonetic perspective such as Articulatory Phonology (Browman & Goldstein 1989) and proposals that introduce multivalued features. Finally, we close the review with a comparative analysis of the different proposals.

RESUMEN El artículo presenta en forma de reflexión personal la relación que se establece entre el cambio acelerado en la sociedad actual y la incidencia de éste sobre las concepciones tradicionales de la Administración.

Electricity is crucial for daily life due to the number of activities that depend on it. To forecast future electric load, which changes over time and depends on various factors, grid operators (GOs) must create forecasting models for various time horizons with a high degree of accuracy because the results have a huge impact on their decision-making regarding, for example, the scheduling of power units to supply user consumption in the short or long term or the installation of new power plants. This has led to the exploration of multiple techniques like statistical models and Artificial Intelligence (AI), with Machine-Learning and Deep-Learning algorithms being the most popular in this latter field. This paper proposes a neural network-based model to forecast short-term load for a Colombian grid operator, considering a seven-day time horizon and using an LSTM recurrent neural network with historical load values from a region in Colombia and calendar features such as holidays and the current month corresponding to the target week. Unlike other LSTM implementations found in the literature, in this work, the LSTM cells read multiple load measurements at once, and the additional information (holidays and current month) is concatenated to the output of the LSTM. The result is used to feed a fully connected neural network to obtain the desired forecast. Due to social problems in the country, the load data presents a strange behavior, which, in principle, affects the prediction capacity of the model. Still, it is eventually able to adjust its forecasts accordingly. The regression metric MAPE measures the model performance, with the best predicted week having an error of 1.65% and the worst week having an error of 26.22%. Additionally, prediction intervals are estimated using bootstrapping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]