INFLUENCES OF HUMAN CAPITAL AND FARM CHARACTERISTICS ON FARMERS' RISK ATTITUDES

We have two objectives for this paper. The first is to develop an index reflective of farmers' attitudes towards risk. In addition, we show how the risk indices are distributed by size of farm and other farm and operator characteristics, providing information as to how risk management tools may be used, and farm policies targeted. This information will be useful to help explain agricultural sector structural change, such as complex business arrangements arising in agriculture, and household portfolio investment choices.Farm Management, Labor and Human Capital, Risk and Uncertainty,

CSM docked DAP/orbital assembly bending interaction-axial case

A digital autopilot which can provide attitude control for the entire Skylab orbital assembly using the service module reaction control jets is described. An important consideration is the potential interaction of the control system with the bending modes of the orbital assembly. Two aspects of this potential interaction were considered. The first was the possibility that bending induced rotations feeding back through the attitude sensor into the control system could produce an instability or self-sustained oscillation. The second was whether the jet activity commanded by the control system could produce excessive loads at any of the critical load points of the orbital assembly. Both aspects were studied by using analytic techniques and by running simulations on the all-digital simulator

Toward optimal implementation of cancer prevention and control programs in public health: A study protocol on mis-implementation

Abstract Background Much of the cancer burden in the USA is preventable, through application of existing knowledge. State-level funders and public health practitioners are in ideal positions to affect programs and policies related to cancer control. Mis-implementation refers to ending effective programs and policies prematurely or continuing ineffective ones. Greater attention to mis-implementation should lead to use of effective interventions and more efficient expenditure of resources, which in the long term, will lead to more positive cancer outcomes. Methods This is a three-phase study that takes a comprehensive approach, leading to the elucidation of tactics for addressing mis-implementation. Phase 1: We assess the extent to which mis-implementation is occurring among state cancer control programs in public health. This initial phase will involve a survey of 800 practitioners representing all states. The programs represented will span the full continuum of cancer control, from primary prevention to survivorship. Phase 2: Using data from phase 1 to identify organizations in which mis-implementation is particularly high or low, the team will conduct eight comparative case studies to get a richer understanding of mis-implementation and to understand contextual differences. These case studies will highlight lessons learned about mis-implementation and identify hypothesized drivers. Phase 3: Agent-based modeling will be used to identify dynamic interactions between individual capacity, organizational capacity, use of evidence, funding, and external factors driving mis-implementation. The team will then translate and disseminate findings from phases 1 to 3 to practitioners and practice-related stakeholders to support the reduction of mis-implementation. Discussion This study is innovative and significant because it will (1) be the first to refine and further develop reliable and valid measures of mis-implementation of public health programs; (2) bring together a strong, transdisciplinary team with significant expertise in practice-based research; (3) use agent-based modeling to address cancer control implementation; and (4) use a participatory, evidence-based, stakeholder-driven approach that will identify key leverage points for addressing mis-implementation among state public health programs. This research is expected to provide replicable computational simulation models that can identify leverage points and public health system dynamics to reduce mis-implementation in cancer control and may be of interest to other health areas

Failure detection and isolation investigation for strapdown skew redundant tetrad laser gyro inertial sensor arrays

The degree to which flight-critical failures in a strapdown laser gyro tetrad sensor assembly can be isolated in short-haul aircraft after a failure occurrence has been detected by the skewed sensor failure-detection voting logic is investigated along with the degree to which a failure in the tetrad computer can be detected and isolated at the computer level, assuming a dual-redundant computer configuration. The tetrad system was mechanized with two two-axis inertial navigation channels (INCs), each containing two gyro/accelerometer axes, computer, control circuitry, and input/output circuitry. Gyro/accelerometer data is crossfed between the two INCs to enable each computer to independently perform the navigation task. Computer calculations are synchronized between the computers so that calculated quantities are identical and may be compared. Fail-safe performance (identification of the first failure) is accomplished with a probability approaching 100 percent of the time, while fail-operational performance (identification and isolation of the first failure) is achieved 93 to 96 percent of the time

A Design Theory for Certification Presentations

Prior information system research remains inconsistent of the effects of system certifications. In their current use, certifications are often reduced to graphical seals. This approach fails to incorporate detailed assurance information emanating from the certification process. To address this gap, we adopt a design science approach and deploy a four-phase research design to clarify how to design impactful IS certification presentations. First, we identify sources of users’ limited understanding of seals and formulate a design proposal for a certification presentation by drawing upon the elaboration likelihood model. In the second phase, we formulate and validate a set of design meta- requirements and guidelines to improve certification presentation, using cognitive load theory and Toulmin’s model of argumentation as kernel theories. In the third phase, new certification presentations that comply with the proposed guidelines are developed and evaluated for their effectiveness. We show that presentations that augment seal-based certification presentations with richer assurance information improve certification effectiveness. This increases users’ assurance and trust perceptions when the presentations align with the users’ cognitive information processing needs in ways that reduce their cognitive load and enhance argument quality of assurance information

LIMO-Velo: A real-time, robust, centimeter-accurate estimator for vehicle localization and mapping under racing velocities

Treballs recents sobre localització de vehicles i mapeig dels seus entorns es desenvolupen per a dispositius portàtils o robots terrestres que assumeixen moviments lents i suaus. Contràriament als entorns de curses d’alta velocitat. Aquesta tesi proposa un nou model d’SLAM, anomenat LIMO-Velo, capaç de corregir el seu estat amb una latència extremadament baixa tractant els punts LiDAR com un flux de dades. Els experiments mostren un salt en robustesa i en la qualitat del mapa mantenint el requisit de correr en temps real. El model aconsegueix una millora relativa del 20% en el KITTI dataset d’odometria respecte al millor rendiment existent; no deriva en un sol esce- nari. La qualitat del mapa a nivell de centı́metre es manté amb velocitats que poden arribar a 20 m/s i 500 graus/s. Utilitzant les biblioteques obertes IKFoM i ikd-Tree, el model funciona x10 més ràpid que la majoria de models d’última generació. Mostrem que LIMO-Velo es pot generalitzar per exe- cutar l’eliminació dinàmica d’objectes, com ara altres agents a la carretera, vianants i altres.Trabajos recientes sobre la localización de vehı́culos y el mapeo de sus en- tornos se desarrollan para dispositivos portátiles o robots terrestres que asumen movimientos lentos y suaves. Al contrario de los entornos de carreras de alta velocidad. Esta tesis propone un nuevo modelo SLAM, LIMO-Velo, capaz de corregir su estado en latencia extremadamente baja al tratar los puntos LiDAR como un flujo de datos. Los experimentos muestran un salto en la solidez y la calidad del mapa mientras se mantiene el requisito de tiempo real. El modelo logra una mejora relativa del 20% en el conjunto de datos de KITTI Odometry sobre el mejor desempeño existente; no deriva en un solo escenario. La calidad del mapa de nivel centimétrico todavı́a se logra a velocidades de carrera que pueden llegar hasta 20 m/s y 500 grados/s. Us- ando las bibliotecas abiertas IKFoM e ikd-Tree, el modelo funciona x10 más rápido que la mayorı́a de los modelos de última generación. Mostramos que LIMO-Velo se puede generalizar para trabajar bajo la eliminación dinámica de objetos, como otros agentes en la carretera, peatones y más.Recent works on localizing vehicles and mapping their environments are de- veloped for handheld devices or terrestrial robots which assume slow and smooth movements. Contrary to high-velocity racing environments. This thesis proposes a new SLAM model, LIMO-Velo, capable of correcting its state at extreme low-latency by treating LiDAR points as a data stream. Experiments show a jump in robustness and map quality while maintaining the real-time requirement. The model achieves a 20% relative improvement on the KITTI Odometry dataset over the existing best performer; it does not drift in a single scenario. Centimeter-level map quality is still achieved under racing velocities that can go up to 20m/s and 500deg/s. Using the IKFoM and ikd-Tree open libraries, the model performs x10 faster than most state-of-the-art models. We show that LIMO-Velo can be generalized to work under dynamic object removal such as other agents in the road, pedestrians, and more.Outgoin

The role of attitudinal factors in mathematical on-line assessments: a study of undergraduate STEM students

This study explores student attitudes to the use of substantive on-line assessments that require mathematical answers. Our goal is to learn what are the important aspects in a design of more effective e-assessments that support learning of mathematical subjects in a higher education setting. To that end we analyse the effects of a variety of attitudinal factors towards such assessments amongst a cross-section of 1st year students in an English University. These students were all previously exposed to on-line assessments containing substantial mathematical work, including testing of and feedback on the algebraic structure of their answers. They were provided with detailed online feedback, and we therefore specifically examine the effect of formative feedback on the usage of educational technology. Our results suggest that students find on-line feedback more enjoyable and useful than traditional feedback. 'Attitude' and 'Enjoyment' are the two most important factors influencing their usage intention. Our results also show that, even for this digital generation, confidence in using computers and the availability of support for using information technology are important factors in making effective use of on-line assessments

Context-Enabled Visualization Strategies for Automation Enabled Human-in-the-loop Inspection Systems to Enhance the Situation Awareness of Windstorm Risk Engineers

Insurance loss prevention survey, specifically windstorm risk inspection survey is the process of investigating potential damages associated with a building or structure in the event of an extreme weather condition such as a hurricane or tornado. Traditionally, the risk inspection process is highly subjective and depends on the skills of the engineer performing it. This dissertation investigates the sensemaking process of risk engineers while performing risk inspection with special focus on various factors influencing it. This research then investigates how context-based visualizations strategies enhance the situation awareness and performance of windstorm risk engineers. An initial study investigated the sensemaking process and situation awareness requirements of the windstorm risk engineers. The data frame theory of sensemaking was used as the framework to carry out this study. Ten windstorm risk engineers were interviewed, and the data collected were analyzed following an inductive thematic approach. The themes emerged from the data explained the sensemaking process of risk engineers, the process of making sense of contradicting information, importance of their experience level, internal and external biases influencing the inspection process, difficulty developing mental models, and potential technology interventions. More recently human in the loop systems such as drones have been used to improve the efficiency of windstorm risk inspection. This study provides recommendations to guide the design of such systems to support the sensemaking process and situation awareness of windstorm visual risk inspection. The second study investigated the effect of context-based visualization strategies to enhance the situation awareness of the windstorm risk engineers. More specifically, the study investigated how different types of information contribute towards the three levels of situation awareness. Following a between subjects study design 65 civil/construction engineering students completed this study. A checklist based and predictive display based decision aids were tested and found to be effective in supporting the situation awareness requirements as well as performance of windstorm risk engineers. However, the predictive display only helped with certain tasks like understanding the interaction among different components on the rooftop. For remaining tasks, checklist alone was sufficient. Moreover, the decision aids did not place any additional cognitive demand on the participants. This study helped us understand the advantages and disadvantages of the decision aids tested. The final study evaluated the transfer of training effect of the checklist and predictive display based decision aids. After one week of the previous study, participants completed a follow-up study without any decision aids. The performance and situation awareness of participants in the checklist and predictive display group did not change significantly from first trial to second trial. However, the performance and situation awareness of participants in the control condition improved significantly in the second trial. They attributed this to their exposure to SAGAT questionnaire in the first study. They knew what issues to look for and what tasks need to be completed in the simulation. The confounding effect of SAGAT questionnaires needs to be studied in future research efforts