Economic evaluation of an agricultural sector investment program: A case study for Peru

An evaluation of a sector-wide investment program differs in important respects from an evaluation of an individual project. First, the program as a whole is likely to have more than a marginal effect on production and trade levels and other variables, and so the returns to any one project depend on which other projects are included in the program. Therefore the evaluation of all projects in the program must be carried out jointly. Second in many cases Policy makers may judge alternative program designs according to a multiplicity of criteria, explicitly or implicity. Hence the project identification stage of work is more useful if it takes into account the multiple criteria. This paper reports an experience in constructing and applying a model for the design and evaluation of a sector-wide agricultural investment program. Emphasis is placed on the ways in which such a model may be used. In the course of the applications discussed here, policy makers' preference weights among alternative goals were elicited, but even without such information a model-based exercise can be helpful in the design of a sector investment program.     

Harmonized Italian version of the aging males' symptoms scale

Introduction.?The interest in clinical investigations in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of aging men has increased over recent years, particularly in the context of partial androgen deficiency. The aim of this paper is to inform the scientific community about a harmonized Italian Aging Males' Symptoms (AMS) scale.

Methods.?There were two slightly different Italian AMS scales, which both underwent an up-to-date linguistic & cultural translation process, i.e., were both valid to be applied in clinical research. However, there are potential long-term problems associated with having two Italian language versions of the scale in the same country. Therefore, an ad hoc committee of key persons related to both versions met with the scale's developer, to create a harmonized single Italian AMS.

Results.?The harmonization meeting came up with a consensus item-by-item and the new Italian reference scale was agreed upon. It was decided that this scale should be published to avoid any confusion among future users.

Conclusion.?The Italian AMS scale published in this paper should be used for future clinical and other research.     

The use of different data sources in the analysis of co-authorship networks and scientific performance

Scientific collaboration is usually derived from archival co-authorship data. Several data sources may be examined, but they all have advantages and disadvantages, especially when a specific discipline or community is of interest. The aim of this paper is to explore the effect of the use of three data sources – Web of Science, Current Index to Statistics and nationally funded research projects – on the analysis of co-authorship networks among Italian academic statisticians. Results provide evidence of our hypotheses on distinct collaboration patterns among statisticians, as well as distinct effects of scientist network positions on scientific performance, by both Statistics subfield and data source.     

Inference and rare event simulation for stopped Markov processes via reverse-time sequential Monte Carlo

We present a sequential Monte Carlo algorithm for Markov chain trajectories with proposals constructed in reverse time, which is advantageous when paths are conditioned to end in a rare set. The reverse time proposal distribution is constructed by approximating the ratio of Green’s functions in Nagasawa’s formula. Conditioning arguments can be used to interpret these ratios as low-dimensional conditional sampling distributions of some coordinates of the process given the others. Hence, the difficulty in designing SMC proposals in high dimension is greatly reduced. Empirically, our method outperforms an adaptive multilevel splitting algorithm in three examples: estimating an overflow probability in a queueing model, the probability that a diffusion follows a narrowing corridor, and the initial location of an infection in an epidemic model on a network.     

A neural network clustering model for miscellaneous components production planning

The growing importance of providing service to customers, e.g. post-sale assistance, supplying of spare parts, upgrading and integration of new elements in installed systems, enhances the importance of planning and management of upgrading parts in most manufacturing industries. These parts are generally characterized by high technical heterogeneity and have a highly variable and difficult to forecast demand. In some areas (especially the most dynamic, e.g. high-tech products), these kinds of components are quite common, and represent a very strong relation between the manufacturing firm and the market. These parts are generally too many to be efectively supported on a planning database system with individual records and too heterogeneous ( and sometimes with a too high value) to be supported all together in a single record. In this paper, we want to study the application of adaptive techniques for the clustering of these components in classes based on the similarities in their market behaviour in order to build an optimal database for planning production and supplying of these components.     

Globalizing R & D around centres of excellence

Traditionally, foreign R & D has been confined to a limited role within the technological innovation process of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Recent surveys have shown that global R & D, i.e. the location of research and development labs in different countries, is growing. This paper analyses R & D globalization strategies and the decisions to locate R & D abroad. A framework for locating R & D facilities is presented, which is based on an investigation of the practices used in twelve multinational corporations.

Global R & D strategies depend on whether the firm is research-oriented or development-oriented; in other words, whether the firm's strength lies in research or development. The concept of an R & D centre of gravity is introduced. Locational decisions are affected by many factors, some relate to R & D and others relate to the firm and its environment.     

Some further results on nonbinary social choice

The theory of nonbinary social choice deals with cases where choice over two-element sets may not be possible. In this paper we extend the two main approaches to this problem, initiated respectively by Fishburn (1974) and by Grether and Plott (1982). The difference between the two approaches lies essentially in the structure of the family of feasible sets of alternatives. Nonbinary versions of Arrow's General Possibility Theorem and of Gibbard's oligarchy result are established using weak feasibility conditions. The method of proof relies on deeper (fixed agenda) impossibility theorems.     

Who Am I? And What Makes Me Hot and Bothered? Notes on Identity,Sexuality, Enigma,and Desire

ABSTRACT

This article explores the links among identity, sexuality, enigma, and desire in my work with 22-year-old Andrew as he explores his homosexuality. Sexuality is discussed as a developmental and relational construction simultaneously biological and social, inventive and defensive. Elaborating these vertices of sexuality in the treatment opened space to discuss Andrew’s sexual experience and fantasy. In this vein, the article questions the tendency to put aside frank discussion of sex in analytic practice and proposes case vignettes useful for clinically elaborating intimate fantasies rooted in the shared narration of patient and analyst as between psychoanalyst/writer and reader. In doing so, we turn from concrete definitions and explanations of sexuality that risk getting bogged down in details and use narrative to facilitate the uncanny experience of “finding” sexuality in clinical work.