Economic Analysis of Supplemental Deductible Coverage as Recommended in the USDA's 2007 Farm Bill Proposal

A primary change to crop insurance contained in the USDA's Farm Bill Proposal is Supplemental Deductible Coverage (SDC). SDC would allow farmers who purchase individual crop insurance coverage to purchase GRP in the amount of the individual policy deductible. GRP indemnities would be accelerated compared with the current GRP policy. Analysis indicates that SDC provides substantial benefits in terms of certainty equivalent gains. The largest benefits are realized by low risk farmers, compared to others in the county, and farmers whose yields are highly correlated with the county yield. Optimal individual policy coverage levels generally decrease when SDC is taken.

Chemistry in Bioinformatics

A preprint of an invited submission to BioMedCentral Bioinformatics. This short manuscript is an overview or the current problems and opportunities in publishing chemical information. Full details of technology are given in the sibling manuscript http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/34579 The manuscript is the authors' preprint although it has been automatically transformed into this archived PDF by the submission system. The authors are not responsible for the formattingChemical information is now seen as critical for most areas of life sciences. But unlike Bioinformatics, where data is Openly available and freely re−usable, most chemical information is closed and cannot be re−distributed without permission. This has led to a failure to adopt modern informatics and software techniques and therefore paucity of chemistry in bioinformatics. New technology, however, offers the hope of making chemical data (compounds and properties) Free during the authoring process. We argue that the technology is already available; we require a collective agreement to enhance publication protocols

Weighted feature selection criteria for visual servoing of a telerobot

Because of the continually changing environment of a space station, visual feedback is a vital element of a telerobotic system. A real time visual servoing system would allow a telerobot to track and manipulate randomly moving objects. Methodologies for the automatic selection of image features to be used to visually control the relative position between an eye-in-hand telerobot and a known object are devised. A weighted criteria function with both image recognition and control components is used to select the combination of image features which provides the best control. Simulation and experimental results of a PUMA robot arm visually tracking a randomly moving carburetor gasket with a visual update time of 70 milliseconds are discussed

Economic Analysis of Supplemental Deductible Coverage as Recommended in the USDA's 2007 Farm Bill Proposal

A primary change to crop insurance contained in the USDA’s Farm Bill proposal is supplemental deductible coverage (SDC). SDC would allow farmers who purchase individual crop insurance coverage to purchase area-wide coverage in the amount of the individual policy deductible. This supplemental area-wide coverage would be similar to the existing Group Risk Plan policy, but with an accelerated indemnity schedule. Analysis indicates that SDC increases farmer certainty equivalents. The largest benefits are realized by farmers with high yield potential in counties with greater systemic risk. In general, optimal individual policy coverage levels modestly decrease when SDC is taken.crop insurance, area-wide coverage, actual production history (APH), group risk plan (GRP), yield distribution, Risk and Uncertainty,

Researching creatively with pupils in Assessment for Learning (AfL) classrooms on experiences of participation and consultation

This paper reports on an ESRC TLRP project, Consulting Pupils on the Assessment of their Learning (CPAL). The CPAL project provides an additional theoretical perspective to the ‘educational benefits’ perspective of engaging pupil voice in learning and teaching (Rudduck et al., 2003) through its exploration of pupil rights specifically in relation to assessment issues presently on the policy agenda in the Northern Ireland context – notably Assessment for Learning (AfL). An emergent framework for assessing pupil rights, based on Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Lundy, 2007), is being used to explore the ways in which AfL classroom practice creates the conditions for increased pupil participation and consultation. Pupil views on their AfL classroom experiences and participation are explored by means of a variety of pupil-centred, creative research methods that engage and stimulate pupils to observe, communicate and analyse their learning and assessment experiences and give meaning to them. This presentation highlights preliminary data based on a sample of 11-14 years pupils' experiences of participation and consultation in classrooms adopting AfL pedagogical principles, and identifies characteristics that support or inhibit pupil participation in their learning and the expression of their views about such matters

Analyzing Farmer Participation Intentions and Enrollment Rates for the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) Program

The 2008 Farm Bill created the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program as a new commodity support program. Using a multinomial logit model to analyze a mail survey administered before the ACRE sign-up deadline, we identify factors driving farmer intentions regarding ACRE participation. Using a two-limit Tobit model to analyze actual county-level ACRE enrollment rates, we assess the effect of similar factors on actual farmer decisions. Results suggest that primary crops, risk perceptions, risk aversion, and program complexity were important factors. Farmer beliefs and attitudes also played key roles and were evolving during the months before the ACRE deadline.

Product and Packaging Innovation: Attitudes, Behaviours, and Strategies for Sustainable Packaging

The report presents findings of a large consumer survey on packaging, environmental issues and the media, conducted by Dr Martina Topic, Ben Mitchell and Olga Munroe. The survey was conducted on a representative sample of 1000 respondents, and forms a backbone of the future research and research outputs currently being prepared. This report has been distributed to the clients of the Retail Institute and will be presented at the Annual Retail Institute conference in September 2018

Management system requirements for wireless systems beyond 3G

This paper presents a comprehensive description of various management system requirements for systems beyond 3G, which have been identified as a result of the Software Based Systems activities within the Mobile VCE Core 2 program. Specific requirements for systems beyond 3G are discussed and potential technologies to address them proposed. The analysis has been carried out from network, service and security viewpoints

Development of moored oceanographic spectroradiometer

Biospherical Instruments has successfully completed a NASA sponsored SBIR (Small Business Innovational Research Program) project to develop spectroradiometers capable of being deployed in the ocean for long periods of time. The completion of this project adds a valuable tool for the calibration of future spaceborne ocean color sensors and enables oceanographers to extend remote sensing optical techniques beyond the intermittent coverage of spaceborne sensors. Highlights of the project include two moorings totalling 8 months generating extensive sets of optical, biological, and physical data sets in the ocean off La Jolla, California, and a 70 day operational deployment of the resulting commercial product by the ONR and NASA sponsored BIOWATT program. Based on experience gained in these moorings, Biospherical Instruments has developed a new line of spectroradiometers designed to support the oceanographic remote sensing missions of NASA, the Navy, and various oceanographers

Place-based knowledge networks : the case of water management in South-West Victoria, Australia

This article aims to investigate the need for effective exchanges between knowledge generators and knowledge users in water management. Firstly, we explore the use of adaptive management for water governance and then outline the communication issues of water-management knowledge at a regional scale. Central to this approach is the need to harness \u27local\u27 knowledge that can be used to develop community participation in local water governance. Accordingly, we propose a three-network communication model to illustrate the process and identify the issues of concern for developing place-based strategies. Since research plays a central role in knowledge generation, one of the first ways to proceed is to recognise local research and incorporate it into an inclusive decision-making process. One way to achieve this is through the development of regional networks that are openly available to all, and we explore this by focusing on the place of \u27network thinking\u27 at local scale using a newly developed regional network for local knowledge dissemination in south-west Victoria, Australia. We conclude that so far this new network is too heavily reliant upon one web-based tool and outline a broader range of strategies that can be used to achieve its aims.<br /