Exploratory case study research was initiated to study the evolution of management information systems and their use in operational and strategic decisions. The unit of analysis was the management team on farms with innovative or successful information systems. Human factors, such as an analytical nature and commitment to lifelong learning, were perceived to be the most important common elements. Production variables often were critical success factors. Managers annually developed financial statements; enterprise and "what if" analyses were conducted regularly. Learning about questions that innovative producers have difficulty addressing was time-consuming but instructive with respect to research and educational needs.For decades, educators have encouraged record keeping by developing hand record systems and software as well as facilitating the formation of farm business management associations. Still, farm record keeping is often a neglected chore. Advances in computer hardware, software, and telecommunications technology have greatly increased the potential for effective computer-based support of farm management decisions. A few producers have developed systems that capture information in a timely, efficient manner.

The study estimates a logit model to identify factors influencing adoption of agritourism by small farmers in North Carolina using a survey. All variables included in the model were dummies and of these having at least a college education has the greatest impact on participating in agritourism, followed by race, public access to the farm for recreation, farms with more than 50 acres of land deemed unsuitable for crop production, and the total amount of land owned. Other factors such as farms near cities, willingness to pay for farm management advice, and before-tax household income also significantly influenced the adoption of this enterprise.

Case study research was undertaken as an initial step towards studying the critical factors that influenced the adoption of agritourism as an additional enterprise by small farmers in North Carolina. The unit of analysis in this study was the principal operator of the farm that provided agritourism services. Human factors such as age, gender, household income before taxes, and ethnicity and educational background of principal operator were perceived to be the most common elements. Production variables such as total acreage deemed unsuitable for crop production, the farm organization, economic situation of the farm and the geographic location of the farm and access to internet were also deemed to be common features. The need to generate additional income was often cited among the goals of operators in adding agritourism to their farm operations. Most operators charged activity-based fees and cited weather and liability issues as the principal challenges to their agritourism enterprises. They had a more positive outlook for their individual agritourism business than they had for the industry as a whole in the state.

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The anaesthetic management of the pregnant woman with myasthenia gravis (MG) is very challenging to the anaesthesiologist. This situation becomes exaggerated in emergency settings in a low resource area, especially when attending anesthesiologists for the first time took care of her. Here, we present a case that illustrates this situation. A G3 P2 pregnant woman presented for an emergency caesarean section (CS) due to premature rupture of the membranes. The patient had been misinformed by her neurophysician not to undergo general anaesthesia at CS. She had no motor weakness and no bulbar symtoms. The only abnormal finding was a stiff neck and a Mallampati #2 score, which predicted a difficult airway. Spinal anaesthesia was not successful after several attempts. General anaesthesia was considered but again intubation was not successful. We performed anesthesia with a second generation laryngeal mask airway with successful CS. Pregnant women with MG require personalised care from a multidisciplinary team. While regional anaesthesia is reported to be the better choice in CS for women with MG, regional anesthesia is not always possible. Anesthesia should be chosen in a patient-by-patient manner. The present case illustrates such conditions, of which description may be useful for anesthesiologists and obstetricians.