That's Where the Money Was: Foreign Bias and English Investment Abroad, 1866-1907

Why did Victorian Britain invest so much capital abroad? We collect over 500,000 monthly returns of British and foreign securities trading in London and the United States between 1866 and 1907. These heretofore-unknown data allow us to better quantify the historical benefits of international diversification and revisit the question of whether British Victorian investor bias starved new domestic industries of capital. We find no evidence of bias. A British investor who increased his investment in new British industry at the expense of foreign diversification would have been worse off. The addition of foreign assets significantly expanded the mean-variance frontier and resulted in utility gains equivalent to a meaningful increase in lifetime consumption.Capital markets, Home bias, History, Victorian overseas investment

Rhythms of Locomotion Expressed by Limulus polyphemus, the American Horseshoe Crab: I. Synchronization by Artificial Tides

Limulus polyphemus, the American horseshoe crab, has an endogenous clock that drives circatidal rhythms of locomotor activity. In this study, we examined the ability of artificial tides to entrain the locomotor rhythms of Limulus in the laboratory. In experiments one and two, the activity of 16 individuals of L. polyphemus was monitored with activity boxes and “running wheels.” When the crabs were exposed to artificial tides created by changes in water depth, circatidal rhythms were observed in animals exposed to 12.4-h “tidal” cycles of either water depth changes (8 of 8 animals) or inundation (7 of 8 animals). In experiment three, an additional 8 animals were exposed to water depth changes under cyclic conditions of light and dark and then monitored for 10 days with no imposed artificial tides. Most animals (5) clearly synchronized their activity to the imposed artificial tidal cycles, and 3 of these animals showed clear evidence of entrainment after the artificial tides were terminated. Overall, these results demonstrate that the endogenous tidal clock that influences locomotion in Limulus can be entrained by imposed artificial tides. In the laboratory, these tidal cues override the influence of light/dark cycles. In their natural habitat, where both tidal and photoperiod inputs are typically always present, their activity rhythms are likely to be much more complex

Study of Civil Markets for Heavy-Lift Airships

The civil markets for heavy lift airships (HLAs) were defined by first identifying areas of most likely application. The operational suitability of HLAs for the applications identified were then assessed. The operating economics of HLAs were established and the market size for HLA services estimated by comparing HLA operating and economic characteristics with those of competing modes. The sensitivities of the market size to HLA characteristics were evaluated and the number and sizes of the vehicles required to service the more promising markets were defined. Important characteristics for future HLAs are discussed that were derived from the study of each application, including operational requirements, features enhancing profitability, military compatibility, improved design requirements, approach to entry into service, and institutional implications for design and operation

Evaluation of different fungicides applied as seed tuber treatments for the control of potato silver scurf

La tache argentée de la pomme de terre (Solanum tuberosum), causée par le champignon Helminthosporium solani, est une maladie affectant la qualité du tubercule. L’objectif de cette étude était d’évaluer l’efficacité de différents fongicides, appliqués sur les tubercules de semence, à contrer le développement de la tache argentée. Pour ce faire, des tubercules de semence infectés par H. solani ont été traités avec l’un des fongicides suivants : talc, fludioxonil, mancozeb, iprodione, thiabendazole, imazalil et azoxystrobin. Ils ont, par la suite, été plantés au champ. Les essais ont été réalisés au Québec sur trois sites en 1998 et deux sites en 1999. Les résultats obtenus montrent que, sous nos conditions expérimentales, ces fongicides, appliqués en traitement de semence, n’ont pas affecté significativement les rendements totaux et vendables ainsi que la sévérité de la tache argentée sur les tubercules-fils au moment de la récolte et après différentes périodes d’entreposage. D’autre part, cette étude a permis de mettre en évidence l’influence des sites expérimentaux sur le développement de la tache argentée et suggère que l’inoculum du sol joue un rôle dans l’épidémiologie de cette maladie.Silver scurf of potatoes (Solanum tuberosum), caused by the fungus Helminthosporium solani, is an important surface-blemishing disease of potato tubers. The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of different fungicides applied to potato seed tubers for control of silver scurf. Field trials were conducted in Québec province in 1998 and 1999. Potato seed tubers infected with H. solani were treated with either talc, fludioxonil, mancozeb, iprodione, thiabendazole, imazalil or azoxystrobin, and planted at three locations in 1998 and two locations in 1999. The results showed that, under our experimental conditions, the fungicides tested, applied as seed treatments, did not significantly influence total and marketable yields as well as silver scurf severity on daughter tubers at harvest and after different storage periods. In addition, this study showed the influence of the experimental locations on silver scurf development and suggests that soil inoculum plays a role in the epidemiology of the disease

Dehydrated pork manure by-product: effect of a chitosan amendment on bacterial community and common scab incidence

Chitosan amendment modified the composition of a microbial community associated with dehydrated pork manure by-product. The amended product (biosolid PC) contained a lower number of anaerobic bacteria than the non-amended product (biosolid P). Chitosan also significantly reduced the fungal population. A 16S rRNA gene bank constructed from DNA extracted from the bacterial community associated with both P and PC biosolids revealed that bacterial orders Xanthomonodales, Pseudomonadales, Enterobacteriales, Burkholderiales, Actinomycetales, Bacillales, Clostridiales and Lactobacillales were found in both biosolids. Bacteria from the Stenotrophomonas genus were abundant in both biosolids. However, the addition of chitosan appeared to induce changes in the population of some bacterial genera. For example, clones carrying a 16S rRNA gene corresponding to the Bacillus genus were doubled in biosolid PC. In field trials carried out to test their effect on common scab incidence, biosolids P and PC were applied as potato seed treatment. Biosolid P increased disease incidence by a factor of 1.33 and 2.85 in two independent experiments. However, when chitosan was added to the seed treatment, the stimulating effect of biosolid P on common scab was cancelled out.Un amendement en chitosane a modifié la composition de la communauté microbienne associée à un sous-produit déshydraté de fumier de porc. Le produit amendé (biosolide PC) contenait un nombre de bactéries anaérobies inférieur à celui du produit non amendé (biosolide P). Le chitosane a aussi réduit de façon significative la population fongique. Une banque de gènes de l’ARNr 16S construite à partir de l’ADN extrait de la communauté bactérienne associée aux biosolides P et PC a révélé que les ordres bactériens Xanthomonodales, Pseudomonadales, Enterobacteriales, Burkholderiales, Actinomycetales, Bacillales, Clostridiales et Lactobacillales se trouvaient dans les deux types de biosolides. Les bactéries du genre Stenotrophomonas étaient les plus abondantes dans les deux types de biosolides. L’addition de chitosane a toutefois induit des changements dans la population de quelques genres de bactéries. Par exemple, les clones transportant un gène d’ARNr 16S correspondant au genre Bacillus doublaient dans le biosolide PC. Dans des essais en champs entrepris dans le but de tester leur effet sur l’incidence de la gale commune, les biosolides P et PC ont été appliqués comme traitement des semences de pomme de terre. Le biosolide P a augmenté l’incidence de la maladie par un facteur de 1,33 et de 2,85 dans deux expériences indépendantes. Toutefois, quand le chitosane était ajouté au traitement de semences, l’effet stimulant du biosolide P sur la gale commune était aboli