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THIS STUDY ANALYZES the differential effects of management (management effects) and other selected variables on commercial bank profitability and the operating relationships through which these effects are transmitted and relative profitability determined. Management effects are the results of differences in bank management objectives, policies, decisions, and actions reflected in differences in bank operating relationships, including profitability. The operating relationships reflect (1) overall profitability and gross revenue;(2) funds-use measures (asset-management measures, including "returns" on the uses); (3) funds-source measures (deposit and capital measures, including "costs" of the sources); and (4) expense measures. The other variables tested for significance include total deposit size (size effects), regional geographic location (district effects), and changes in -the general environment (time effects). Size effects are the results of differences in bank size, represented by total deposits. District effects are the results of differences in regional location, represented by Federal Reserve districts. Time effects are the results of differences in the general economic environment, represented by changes over time. Note what the purpose of this study is not. It is not to determine the actual determinants of a given level of profitability. Nor is its purpose to generalize how the overall level of bank profitability performance can be improved. The study tests whether management and other selected variables are significant influences on relative profitability and, if so, on the operating relationships through which these influences are transmitted. Statistically, the study tests hypotheses that there are significant differences in member bank profitability arising from differences in management and other specified variables. If the hypotheses are accepted, and they are, the next hypotheses state that these variables significantly affected operating relationships which help explain the profitability differences.

We present a framework for evaluating and communicating effects of human activity on water quality in managed forests. The framework is based on the following processes: atmospheric deposition, weathering, accumulation, recirculation and flux. Impairments to water quality are characterized in terms of their extent, longevity and frequency. Impacts are communicated using a "traffic lights" metaphor for characterizing severity of water quality impairments arising from forestry and other anthropogenic pressures. The most serious impairments to water quality in managed boreal forests include (i) forestry activities causing excessive sediment mobilization and extirpation of aquatic species and (ii) other anthropogenic pressures caused by long-range transport of mercury and acidifying pollutants. The framework and tool presented here can help evaluate, summarize and communicate the most important issues in circumstances where land management and other anthropogenic pressures combine to impair water quality and may also assist in implementing the "polluter pays" principle. Supplement: 2

To determine the clinical effects of internists' consultations to surgeons and other non-internists, we studied a random sample of 250 consultations provided by the Yale Medical Service to patients admitted on non-medical services during 1978–1979. We found that consultations changed or confirmed a diagnosis in 82% (205), and changed or confirmed a management plan in 69% (172). We also found that the diagnostic or management effects could be enhanced by several features of the way the consultation is performed: rapid response to the request for consultation; frequent follow-up notes by the consulting medical team; and detailed specifications of dosage and duration in recommendations for pharmacologic therapy.

Welfare problems arise when individuals fail to cope with their environment or when coping is difficult. Both short-term handling and long-term housing and management effects are of importance in farm animals. Studies of farm animal behaviour show that these animals must have the same sorts of psychological constructs in the brain as those thought to exist in man and laboratory animals. Complex expectancies are used in sophisticated analysis of the environment and hence the same problems concerning uncertainty and frustration exist. Brain-behaviour links are sparsely studied in farm animals but work on catecholamine agonists and opiate-peptide receptor-blockers suggest interactions of stereotyped behaviour with dopaminergic pathways and analgesic opiate peptides. Work on responsiveness of confined sows indicates that a neural gating process resulting in lack of responsiveness may be involved in coping with adversity associated with such confinement.

The status of an explanatory, process oriented model for the simulation of growth, development, and yield of winter wheat ie presented. The objectives of this model are discussed relative to empirical and explanatory modeling strategies. Future modeling and research needs are given.

This study was undertaken to determine management and seasonal effects on fertility in 1298 Finnish sow units over a 4-year period in 1992–1996. A multivariate analysis of the herd record data was undertaken to study the effect of various management factors on rebreeding rate. Factors found to have an effect were further subjected to time series plotting for seasonal effects. In addition, seasonal effects on the farrowing rate, age of gilts at first mating and littersize as well as the 3-week litterweight were studied. Year and month caused the most significant variation in the rebreeding rate. Moreover, geographical area, herd and way of breeding (mating vs. artificial insemination) were found to be significant determinants of rebreeding rate. Dry sows loosely housed were more likely to be rebred than sows housed in individual stalls. Sows receiving roughage feed (hay, straw) or bedding (straw) were less likely to require rebreeding. A significant seasonal fluctuation in farrowing rate was found with a nadir of 72.6% in August and a high of 80.9% in January. The average farrowing rate for the 4-year period was 77.7%. The age of gilts at first mating showed seasonal variation of 11 days (229.9±0.5 days in March and 241.4±0.5 days in November). In conclusion, this study indicates that group housing of dry sows increases the risk of rebreeding. In group housed sows, rebreeding more often occurs after an irregular oestrus-to-oestrus interval in summer–autumn whereas a not-in-pig seems to be a more common finding at late gestation in individually housed sows.

Publisher Summary The chapter identifies phosphorus transfer (PT) as a multidisciplinary issue and focuses areas where future research is required. Potentially mobile P (PMP) is a useful concept because it attempts to weight soil P status in terms of environmental significance rather than by means of conventional soil measurement. The chapter describes agronomic management strategies, but the approaches are orientated towards agronomic rather than environmental concerns. The most significant area for further developing understanding of P transfer is hydrology, with its complexities of spatial and temporal variability. The chapter also describes new model approach that allows improved integration, which is of particular relevance when assessments of management effects and options for mitigation strategies are required. The new model structure provides a simple means for classifying and rationalizing P transfer and a basis for a spatial land use model. Moreover, it provides a basis for discussion and a means for defining future research needs on diffuse P transfer and its effects.

The potential of grasslands to mitigate climate change by carbon (C) sequestration in soils depends on agricultural management and the response of the grassland C cycle to a warming and more variable climate. A 15-year time series of eddy covariance carbon dioxide (CO2) flux measurements on a medium-intensively managed grassland at 1000 m above sea level in Switzerland was analysed to assess how CO2 fluxes respond to environmental drivers as well as grazing and cutting events. Further, the effects of management, recent warming trends and anomalous weather conditions on the annual C sequestration potential were assessed. To this end, C budgets including atmospheric and management-related C fluxes (fertilization, cutting/grazing) were estimated. Generally, the main environmental drivers of CO2 fluxes were light and temperature. The removal of the aboveground canopy by management significantly reduced photosynthesis and induced a saturation in the photosynthetic response to light at lower intensities compared to periods without management. Ecosystem respiration remained largely unaffected by management. With a net ecosystem exchange of −357 (± 76) g C m−2 year−1 and a net biome production of −154 (± 80) g C m−2 year−1 (including management C fluxes), the grassland on average acted as a net C sink. Recent climate warming favors spring CO2 assimilation due to earlier starting vegetation periods. However, the warming also resulted in an increased ecosystem respiration. Further, anomalous and especially unfavorable weather conditions for photosynthesis and regrowth following harvest events induced several periods of an anomalously increased net CO2 release. In the year 2015, such release anomalies contributed to an annual net C loss. Under future climatic conditions, the C sequestration potential at the mountain site will depend on the extent to which spring photosynthesis is offset by such climate-management interactions and a warming-induced increase in ecosystem respiration., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 314, ISSN:0168-1923, ISSN:1873-2240

Models can be used to direct the management of population spread for the control of invasives or to encourage species of conservation value. Analytical models are attractive because of their theoretical basis and limited data requirements, but there is concern that their simplicity may limit their practical utility. We address the applied use of simple models in a study of a declining annual herb, Rhinanthus minor. We parameterized a population-spread model using field data on demography and dispersal for four management systems: grazed only (GR), hay-cut once (H1), hay-cut twice (H2), and hay-cut with autumn grazing (HG). Within a replicated experiment we measured spread rates of introduced R. minor populations over eight years. The modeled and measured spread rates were very similar in terms of both patterns of management effects and absolute values, so that in both cases HGH2, H1GR. The treatments affected both dispersal and demography (establishment and survival) and so we used decomposition approaches to analyze the major causes of differences in population spread. Increased dispersal under hay-cutting was more important than demographic changes and accounted for approximately 70% of the differences in spread rate between the hay-cut and grazed-only treatments. Furthermore, management effects on the tail of the dispersal curve were by far the most critical in governing spread. This study suggests that simple models can be used to inform practical conservation management, and we demonstrate straightforward uses of our model to predict the impacts of different management strategies. While simple models can give accurate projections, we emphasize that they must be parameterized with high-quality data gathered at the appropriate spatial scale.

‘Yuchi’ arrowleaf clover (Trifolium vesiculosum Savi) produced more tillers and remained productive longer when cut at 1−, 2−, or 3−week intervals than at 4−, 5−, or 6−week intervals. Total yields were higher from less frequent cutting. Digestible dry matter (DDM) was high from December to maturity in June under all cutting frequencies. Stems of arrowleaf clover were higher in DDM than crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.).