Impact of the New Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA) on Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) Gain and Loss Probabilities

We utilize an agricultural model that uses crop/weather relationships at the county resolution and fits robust distributions that take into account the impact that weather has on crop production. Once the crop insurance policy conditions and prices are applied to the modeled county yield distributions, the portfolio gain and losses can be calculated by aggregating the gain and losses at the county level, state level, regional level and nationwide level. Portfolio losses are computed under the old and new SRA rules and regulations for comparison purposes.SRA, MPCI, crop insurance, stochastic model, weather peril, probabilities, Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Risk and Uncertainty, C, Q,

How Bulk Sensitive is Hard X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy: Accounting for the Cathode-Electrolyte Interface when Addressing Oxygen Redox.

Sensitivity to the "bulk" oxygen core orbital makes hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) an appealing technique for studying oxygen redox candidates. Various studies have reported an additional O 1s peak (530-531 eV) at high voltages, which has been considered a direct signature of the bulk oxygen redox process. Here, we find the emergence of a 530.4 eV O 1s HAXPES peak for three model cathodes-Li2MnO3, Li-rich NMC, and NMC 442-that shows no clear link to oxygen redox. Instead, the 530.4 eV peak for these three systems is attributed to transition metal reduction and electrolyte decomposition in the near-surface region. Claims of oxygen redox relying on photoelectron spectroscopy must explicitly account for the surface sensitivity of this technique and the extent of the cathode degradation layer

Direct observation of delithiation as the origin of analog memristance in LixNbO2

The discovery of analog LixNbO2 memristors revealed a promising new memristive mechanism wherein the diffusion of Li+ rather than O2- ions enables precise control of the resistive states. However, directly correlating lithium concentration with changes to the electronic structure in active layers remains a challenge and is required to truly understand the underlying physics. Chemically delithiated single crystals of LiNbO2 present a model system for correlating lithium variation with spectroscopic signatures from operando soft x-ray spectroscopy studies of device active layers. Using electronic structure modeling of the x-ray spectroscopy of LixNbO2 single crystals, we demonstrate that the intrinsic memristive behavior in LixNbO2 active layers results from field-induced degenerate p-type doping. We show that electrical operation of LixNbO2-based memristors is viable even at marginal Li deficiency and that the analog memristive switching occurs well before the system is fully metallic. This study serves as a benchmark for material synthesis and characterization of future LixNbO2-based memristor devices and suggests that valence change switching is a scalable alternative that circumvents the electroforming typically required for filamentary-based memristors

The role of dairy cooperatives in reducing waste of dairy products in the Lubelskie voivodeship

The purpose of this paper was to determine the role of dairy cooperatives which are a crucial factor in reducing losses of dairy products at the distribution stage of the dairy production chain in the Lubelskie voivodeship. The research was conducted on local data provided by one of the largest Polish supermarket chains. In the Lubelskie voivodeship, dairy products are manufactured in 18 plants, including 14 dairy cooperative members. Basic dairy products are mainly supplied by local dairies, especially by dairy cooperatives. Operators based outside the Lubelskie voivodeship supply the majority of processed milk products. The greatest product losses are related to products supplied by dairies based outside the voivodeship. The main cause of dairy product loss in the supply chain was product expiry. On average, the largest share of expired products (excluding desserts) was noted for goods supplied by dairies based outside the voivodeship. As regards most products supplied from outside the voivodeship, their share in losses exceeds their share in sales (by a few or up to several dozen percent). The retail chain covered by this study mainly relies on a wide range of basic local dairy products offered by Lublin dairies, especially including dairy cooperatives. These suppliers continue to be an important link in the regional dairy chain

Potential Energy Calculations for Water Adsorption on Poly (methyl methacrylate)

Mateusz J. Zuba, P. Howard, B. Familo, T. Kane, R. Netusil, and C. C. Ilie The generosity of the NOYCE Research Grant enabled me to focus on the study of various polymers. The main goal was to study the molecular orbitals of poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and calculate the energy band gap. We obtained the activation energy from thermal desorption spectra of water on poly (methyl methacrylate) by employing Arrhenius analysis. Thermal desorption of PMMA is coverage independent with peaks at the same temperature. Activation energy of desorption may increase with increasing water coverage, i.e. the amount of water exposed to the system. We also performed the potential energy calculations for our system: two polymer chains and water molecules. The method by which potential energy calculations were performed involved HyperChem Professional 8.0; a very sophisticated molecular modeling software known for its quality, flexibility, and ease of use. As seen using HyperChem water molecules take a favorable position above the PMMA chains. Double bonded oxygen atoms of PMMA favor the Hydrogen atoms of the water molecule. CH3 ligands tend to turn the oxygen of water down towards the polymer backbone. Potential energy plots (in eV) for the water molecule as a function of distance from PMMA chains along the lateral to the backbone chain were obtained. These calculations were used in scientific papers

Capstone electronic portfolios of master's students: An online ethnography

My exploratory ethnographic study examined the development of reflection among master’s students as they completed a capstone electronic portfolio, or eportfolio, project in an online post-secondary institution in western Canada. These eportfolios were developed by the students both individually, and also in collaboration with their peers, while they engaged in feedback-giving and feedback-receiving interactions at various stages of the eportfolio development process. My study considers, through the lens of an Internet subculture, aspects of eportfolios related to pedagogy, technology, interaction, and reflection within a community of learners. The methodology for this study was an ethnography, in which the eportfolio interactions, and student presentations were observed. Triangulation of data collection was established through surveying six students in a written questionnaire with closed- and open-ended questions, and interviewing the same six students in semi-structured interviews of open-ended questions. Data were also collected from twenty-one archived student eportfolio presentations. The eportfolio pages became the focal point for the community of learners to gather, which resulted in increased student engagement, further interaction (with peers, instructor, and course resources), and gradually led to the development of reflection. As a form of both affirmation and reassurance, students sought the opinions of one another on the pages of their eportfolios. Since each course provided access to examples of eportfolios from previous cohorts, there was an evolution in the responses of the students who participated in the courses. The rich data rendered findings that elucidate the experiences of master’s level students in the three iterations of this course.2019 07 1

TGF-β1 enhances cardiomyogenic differentiation of skeletal muscle-derived adult primitive cells

The optimal medium for cardiac differentiation of adult primitive cells remains to be established. We quantitatively compared the efficacy of IGF-1, dynorphin B, insulin, oxytocin, bFGF, and TGF-beta1 in inducing cardiomyogenic differentiation. Adult mouse skeletal muscle-derived Sca1+/CD45-/c-kit-/Thy-1+ (SM+) and Sca1-/CD45-/c-kit-/Thy-1+ (SM-) cells were cultured in basic medium (BM; DMEM, FBS, IGF-1, dynorphin B) alone and BM supplemented with insulin, oxytocin, bFGF, or TGF-beta1. Cardiac differentiation was evaluated by the expression of cardiac-specific markers at the mRNA (qRT-PCR) and protein (immunocytochemistry) levels. BM+TGF-beta1 upregulated mRNA expression of Nkx2.5 and GATA-4 after 4 days and Myl2 after 9 days. After 30 days, BM+TGF-beta1 induced the greatest extent of cardiac differentiation (by morphology and expression of cardiac markers) in SM- cells. We conclude that TGF-beta1 enhances cardiomyogenic differentiation in skeletal muscle-derived adult primitive cells. This strategy may be utilized to induce cardiac differentiation as well as to examine the cardiomyogenic potential of adult tissue-derived stem/progenitor cells

Two faces of Polish populism: the causes of the success and fall of Self Defence and the League of Polish Families

"Zwei populistische Parteien - Samoobrona Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej (Selbstverteidigung der Republik Polen, SRP) und Liga Polskich Rodzin (Liga der Polnischen Familien, LPR) errangen bei den polnischen Parlamentswahlen von 2001 einen spektakulären Erfolg, der es ihnen nicht nur erlaubte, in den Sejm, sondern auch in eine Koalitionsregierung einzuziehen. Doch erlitten beide Formationen 2007 eine schwere Wahlniederlage und verschwanden nach den Europawahlen von 2009 faktisch von der politischen Bühne. Dieser Beitrag analysiert und erklärt - unter Rückgriff auf das Modell des 'Spiegelbildes' - die Gründe für Erfolg und Scheitern der beiden Parteien. Es wird die Auffassung vertreten, dass das sozial-ökonomische und politische Klima, die Struktur des polnischen Parteiensystems, die Muster innerparteilichen Wettbewerbs wie auch die Verortung der populistischen Parteien auf der Regierung-Opposition-Achse die wichtigsten Erklärungsfaktoren für Erfolg wie Scheitern liefern. Darüber hinaus erwies sich die populistische Identität als in hohem Maße bedeutsam. Ihre Besonderheit wird mit den 'zwei Gesichtern' des polnischen Populismus und der Kombination von vertikaler und horizontaler Exklusion zu erfassen versucht." (Autorenreferat