Risks perceptions and risk management instruments in the European Union: Do farmers have a clear idea of what they need?

This paper explores and analyzes farmers’ risk perceptions, risk management instruments’ demand and usage in five Member States (Hungary, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland). A survey completed by 1047 representative farmers of these EU Member Status collected information that allowed us to set apart two focus areas: the first looks at the declared importance of several sources of farms’ risk and income instability, and at the actual means that farmers pursue to manage and face them. The second area focuses on the demand for risk management instruments. The paper’s objective is to determine the factors that explain farmers’ responses in the first area, and based on those factors, analyse the demands for two instruments (insurance, and future & option markets). After carrying out basic descriptive statistic analyses, we perform factor analysis in order to establish the linkages between the perceptions and ranking of risks with the declared strategies to manage them. Logit models were fit to determine potential demand of insurance, and futures & options based on the three factors, and other variables like activity types and other controls, like nationality. Results from the factor analysis show that the perception of risk and actual use of risk management are very diverse. Logit models show that insurance is clearly an alternative instrument to diversification, but its demand is poorly explained by the other factors. Furthermore the demand for the use of futures and options is explained by the three factors, with the volatility factor, positively linked; market access /contractual risks; and diversification, negatively linked. In conclusion, policy makers should proceed with caution selecting the most adequate risk management instruments for farmers. It appears that the expected demand of risk management tools does not fit perfectly with the stated perception of risks

Discovery and analysis of p-mode and g-mode oscillations in the A-type primary of the eccentric binary HD 209295

We have discovered both intermediate-order gravity mode and low-order pressure mode pulsation in the same star, HD 209295. It is therefore both a Gamma Doradus and a Delta Scuti star, which makes it the first pulsating star to be a member of two classes. The star is a single-lined spectroscopic binary with an orbital period of 3.10575 d and an eccentricity of 0.352. Weak pulsational signals are found in both the radial velocity and line-profile variations, allowing us to show that the two highest-amplitude Gamma Doradus pulsation modes are consistent with l=1 and |m|=1. In our 280 h of BVI multi-site photometry we detected ten frequencies in the light variations, one in the Delta Scuti regime and nine in the Gamma Doradus domain. Five of the Gamma Doradus frequencies are exact integer multiples of the orbital frequency. This observation leads us to suspect they are tidally excited. Results of theoretical modeling (stability analysis, tidal excitation) were consistent with the observations. We could not detect the secondary component of the system in infrared photometry, suggesting that it may not be a main-sequence star. Archival data of HD 209295 show a strong ultraviolet excess, the origin of which is not known. The orbit of the primary is consistent with a secondary mass of M > 1.04 Msun indicative of a neutron star or a white dwarf companion.Comment: 18 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS, shortened abstrac

Nurses' perceptions of aids and obstacles to the provision of optimal end of life care in ICU

Contains fulltext : 172380.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Deficiency of NOX1 or NOX4 Prevents Liver Inflammation and Fibrosis in Mice through Inhibition of Hepatic Stellate Cell Activation

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (NOX) play a key role in liver injury and fibrosis. Previous studies demonstrated that GKT137831, a dual NOX1/4 inhibitor, attenuated liver fibrosis in mice as well as pro-fibrotic genes in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) as well as hepatocyte apoptosis. The effect of NOX1 and NOX4 deficiency in liver fibrosis is unclear, and has never been directly compared. HSCs are the primary myofibroblasts in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. Therefore, we aimed to determine the role of NOX1 and NOX4 in liver fibrosis, and investigated whether NOX1 and NOX4 signaling mediates liver fibrosis by regulating HSC activation. Mice were treated with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) to induce liver fibrosis. Deficiency of either NOX1 or NOX4 attenuates liver injury, inflammation, and fibrosis after CCl4 compared to wild-type mice. NOX1 or NOX4 deficiency reduced lipid peroxidation and ROS production in mice with liver fibrosis. NOX1 and NOX4 deficiency are approximately equally effective in preventing liver injury in the mice. The NOX1/4 dual inhibitor GKT137831 suppressed ROS production as well as inflammatory and proliferative genes induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), or sonic hedgehog (Shh) in primary mouse HSCs. Furthermore, the mRNAs of proliferative and pro-fibrotic genes were downregulated in NOX1 and NOX4 knock-out activated HSCs (cultured on plastic for 5 days). Finally, NOX1 and NOX4 protein levels were increased in human livers with cirrhosis compared with normal controls. Thus, NOX1 and NOX4 signaling mediates the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis, including the direct activation of HSC