The Effect of Estimation Methods on Weather-Index

Weather-index insurance functions like a weather derivative; it pays out when a weather variable such as rainfall is observed below a predetermined threshold level during a specific time period. Implementing weather-index insurance in developing countries can bring about significant positive welfare effects on individual farmers, their communities, local businesses, and governments. While the low demand for these insurance products has led many papers to discuss possible reasons that farmers do not purchase weather-index insurance despite expected welfare gains, estimation related to contract design has not yet been examined as a cause for low demand. This paper analyzes the effects of different estimation methods for the density functions of relevant weather variables on weather-index insurance contracts. The results show that the choice of estimation technique may have a significant effect on the paramenters of a weather-index insurance contract

Patient preferences of genomic testing in precision cancer medicine

Aims: The aim of this thesis was to identify and rate themed patient preference attributes of genomic testing in precision cancer medicine (PCM). The effect of clinical treatment intent and time since completing treatment was examined as a novel hypothesis that these factors influence identified preference attribute themes and/or ratings. This thesis then benchmarked the identified preference attributes against the ATLANTIS clinical trial design, in order to assess how a current clinical trial incorporates patient preferences. Methods: A narrative review of current cancer treatment paradigms was undertaken alongside systematic review of the literature assessing patient preferences of genomic testing in PCM. In addition, mixed methods research, using Nominal Group Technique (NGT), identified and rated preference attribute themes of genomic testing amongst cancer patients. These preference attributes were then benchmarked against genomic testing undertaken within the ATLANTIS clinical trial, to determine how a novel PCM study design incorporated the attributes. Results: Patient preferences of genomic testing in PCM are influenced by clinical treatment intent and time since completing treatment. Patients undergoing cancer treatment with radical intent demonstrated higher preference ratings for test sensitivity (true positive) and specificity (true negative). Invasiveness of testing and test turnaround time were higher rated preference attributes amongst patients undergoing treatment with palliative intent. Ten preference attribute themes of genomic testing were identified: regulatory/NHS approval, test turnaround time, invasiveness of testing, physician approval, test sensitivity (true positive), test specificity (true negative), prevalence of variant, distance to travel, implications for family and family endorsement for testing. The novel adaptive design of the ATLANTIS trial incorporated many of the preference attribute themes of genomic testing demonstrated in this thesis. Conclusions: Patient preferences of genomic testing in PCM are influenced by clinical treatment intent. This thesis identified and rated preference attribute themes of genomic testing for patients, as well as benchmarking these against a current UK PCM clinical trial. The adaptive design of the ATLANTIS trial incorporated many of the preference attributes, but does not allow for assessment of interaction between multiple inter-related attributes. The results of this thesis augment novel clinical trial design for studies incorporating genomic testing in order they retain patient-centred values at their core

On the maturation of the pelagic ovum of teleosteans, and its relation to certain phenomena in the life-history of the species

The methods adopted in my investigations were as follows, (1) the examination of the immature and ripe ovaries in the living fish or in the fresh condition, without preparation, (2) the microscopical examination of parts of the fresh ovaries and of the intra-ovarian eggs at various stages, without preparation, in various media, (3) the study of stained and mounted sections of the ovaries and eggs prepared in the the usual way, (4) the determination in certain cases of the general nature and quantity of the intra-ovarian fluid present in ripening ovaries, (5) experimental observations on the physical properties of the opaque and the transparent mature eggs, and on some other points.The species whose ovaries and eggs have been investigated comprise the following :A. With Dispersed Pelagic Eggs : Grey Gurnard (Trigla gurnardus) | Red Gurnard (Trigla cuculus) | Lesser Weever (Trachinus vipera) | Mackerel (Scomber scomber) | Dragonet (Callionymus lyra) | Cod (Gadus morrhua) | Haddock (Gadus aeglefinus) | Bib (Gadus luscus) | Whiting (Gadus merlangus) | Saithe (Gadus virens) | Ling (Molva vulgaris) | Fourbearded Rockling (Motella cimbria) | Tusk (Brosmius brosme) | Halibut (Hippoglossus vulgaris) | Long Rough Dab (Hippoglossoides limandoides) | Turbot (Rhombus maximus) | Brill (Rhombus laevis) | Sail-fluke (Arnoglossus megastoma) | Plaice (PIeuronectes plati'ssa) | Lemon Dab (Pleuronectes microcephalus) | Witch (PIeuronectes cynoglossus) | Common Dab (Pleuronectes limanda) | Flounder (Pleuronectes flesus) | Sole (Solea vulgaris) | Solenette (Solea lutea) | Norwegian Topknot (Zeugopterwis norVegicus)| Sprat (Clupea sprattus)B. With Floating Eggs imbedded in Mucus : Angler, or Monk Fish (Lophius piscatorius)C. With Demersal Eggs: Short-spined Cottus (Cottus scorpius) Long-spined Cottus (Cottus bubalis) Pogge (Agonus cataphractus) Lumpsucker (Cyclopterus lumpus) Diminutive Sucker (Liparis montagui) Catfish (Anarrhichas lupus) Lesser Sand Eel (Ammodytes tobianus) Sparling (Osmerus eperlanus) Herring (Clupea harengus)The immature ovaries of the John Dory (Zeus father) and the common eel (Anguilla vulgaris) were also examined. The eggs of the Angler are pelagic in the sense that they float at the surface of the sea, but they are not separate and dispersed like ordinary pelagic eggs, being imbedded in a large quantity of mucus forming a long band which floats them; the eggs themselves are of the demersal type. „ The eggs of the John Dory have not hitherto been described; from a study of the features of the immature eggs they appear to be demersal. The ova of the eel and conger, according to the recent researches of Grassi,(29) are pelagic, as was previously surmised by Raffaele (64). Stained and mounted sections of the ovaries and intra-ovarian eggs of the following species were prepared and examined : - Haddock, Whiting, Bib, Grey Gurnard, Plaice, Lemon Sole, Flounder, Common Dab, Witch, Sole, Solenette, Norwegian Topknot, Long Rough Dab, John Dory, Viviparous blenny, Monk fish, arc. Common Eel. The eggs and portions of the ovaries of the following species were examined microscopically in the living or fresh condition in the ovarian succus, and in various media : - Cod, Haddock, Whiting, Ling, Saithe, Bib, Fourbearded Rockling, Gurnard, Red Gurnard, Turbot, Brill, Halibut, Plaice, Lemon Sole, Witch, Common Dab, Flounder, Sole, Solenette, Norwegian Topknot, John Dory, Lumpsucker, Catfish, Herring.The quantity and general character of the ovarian fluid was determined in the cod, ling, haddock, flounder, and plaice; by the courtesy of Professor Rutherford a special determination was made in the Physiological Department by Dr Milroy, with respect to the composition of the ovarian fluid of the plaice. Dr Milroy was also kind enough to investigate many other points of interest bearing upon my work, which are referred to later

The Effectiveness of Facilitated Business-to-Business Word-of Mouth Marketing Strategies on Target Participants’ Information Sharing Behavior

This study examines the impact of facilitated business-to-business (B2B) word-of-mouth (WOM) on participants' information transmission decisions. We also examine characteristics of WOM participants and determine the types of participants who spread information. Understanding WOM participants' information sharing decisions is extremely important to agribusinesses using WOM in their marketing mix. For an expendable crop input, the most important factor in determining whether producers share WOM initiative information with peers is how often they are asked for advice by their peers. In contrast, for an expendable companion animal product the most important factor in determining whether veterinarians share WOM initiative information with peers is whether they had a satisfactory experience in the WOM initiative.facilitated B2B WOM, effectiveness of facilitated B2B WOM, indirect impact of facilitated B2B WOM, agribusiness firms’ information sharing decisions, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization, Marketing, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, Q10, Q13,

The quest for the Cabibbo Kobayashi Maskawa Matrix

A piece of the Standard Model presently undergoing intense experimental scrutiny is the Cabibbo Kobayashi Maskawa matrix. Several different measurements are planned to enrich the spectrum of experimental constraints and thus provide one of the most stringent tests of Standard Model validity. The success of this program is closely related to theoretical progress in evaluating QCD matrix elements in a non-perturbative regime, as we need to extract fundamental quark properties from observations on decays involving hadrons. This interplay between experimental and theoretical progress will be illustrated in the context of the present knowledge of the magnitudes of the quark mixing parameters $| V_{cb}|$ and $| V_{ub}|$.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, contributed paper to BEAUTY 200

Rhode Island’s Health Equity Zones: Addressing Local Problems with Local Solutions

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) describes the strategies and infrastructure it has developed to fund its placed-based initiatives to address the social determinants of health to eliminate health disparities. Using a data driven and community-led approach, RIDOH funded 10 local collaboratives, each with its own, geographically-defined “Health Equity Zone,” or “HEZ,” and, to support the collaboratives, created a new “Health Equity Institute,” a “HEZ Team” of 9 seasoned project managers, and direct lines of communications between these assets and the Office of the Director of Health

Semisimplicity of the quantum cohomology for smooth Fano toric varieties associated with facet symmetric polytopes

The degree zero part of the quantum cohomology algebra of a smooth Fano toric symplectic manifold is determined by the superpotential function, W, of its moment polytope. In particular, this algebra is semisimple, i.e. splits as a product of fields, if and only if all the critical points of W are non-degenerate. In this paper we prove that this non-degeneracy holds for all smooth Fano toric varieties with facet-symmetric duals to moment polytopes.Comment: 16 pages; corrected version, published in Electron. Res. Announc. Math. Sc

Governing Singularities of Schubert Varieties

We present a combinatorial and computational commutative algebra methodology for studying singularities of Schubert varieties of flag manifolds. We define the combinatorial notion of *interval pattern avoidance*. For "reasonable" invariants P of singularities, we geometrically prove that this governs (1) the P-locus of a Schubert variety, and (2) which Schubert varieties are globally not P. The prototypical case is P="singular"; classical pattern avoidance applies admirably for this choice [Lakshmibai-Sandhya'90], but is insufficient in general. Our approach is analyzed for some common invariants, including Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials, multiplicity, factoriality, and Gorensteinness, extending [Woo-Yong'05]; the description of the singular locus (which was independently proved by [Billey-Warrington '03], [Cortez '03], [Kassel-Lascoux-Reutenauer'03], [Manivel'01]) is also thus reinterpreted. Our methods are amenable to computer experimentation, based on computing with *Kazhdan-Lusztig ideals* (a class of generalized determinantal ideals) using Macaulay 2. This feature is supplemented by a collection of open problems and conjectures.Comment: 23 pages. Software available at the authors' webpages. Version 2 is the submitted version. It has a nomenclature change: "Bruhat-restricted pattern avoidance" is renamed "interval pattern avoidance"; the introduction has been reorganize

The Spectrum of Yang Mills on a Sphere

In this note, we determine the representation content of the free, large N, SU(N) Yang Mills theory on a sphere by decomposing its thermal partition function into characters of the irreducible representations of the conformal group SO(4,2). We also discuss the generalization of this procedure to finding the representation content of N=4 Super Yang Mills.Comment: 18 pages v2. references added. typos fixe