Factors Affecting Community Rating System Participation in the National Flood Insurance Program: A Case Study of Texas

Since the 1960s, the frequency and cost of floods have, on average, increased in the United States. Concurrent with this increase in flood losses has been an increase in flood insurance claims paid out by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The existing literature shows that participation in the NFIP\u27s Community Rating System (CRS) program successfully lowered flood losses and NFIP insurance claims in the participating communities. In spite of these successes, community participation in the CRS is low and the NFIP is currently more than $20 billion in debt. By identifying factors predicting participation and related barriers to entry into the program, policy-makers could devise strategies to increase program participation, possibly resulting in lower flood losses and insurance claims. Only a few studies have examined factors that affect a community\u27s adoption and participation in the CRS program. This dissertation provides additional evidence on CRS participation by using data from Texas from 1980 to 2020 to examine factors that predict initial community adoption, which is defined as joining the program in its first three years (from 1991 to 1993), and participation in 2020. Other studies on CRS participation have not explored the influence that program implementation has on CRS participation, nor have they explored whether factors influencing participation change over time. Results showed that the number of flood insurance claims, claims paid per household, population size, educational attainment, share of renters, and poverty rate all have significant effects on an early adopting community\u27s participation in the CRS program in 1991, after the program was implemented. Results of a participation model using 2020 data showed that population density becomes a significant factor for early adopters in 2020. Conversely, population size and poverty rate, which were significant factors in 1991, become nonsignificant in 2020. Regarding subsequent joiner participation in 2020, recent claims paid per household and external influence significantly predict participation. In addition to analyzing predictors of CRS participation in the program’s initial years and in 2020, this research offers another perspective on CRS participation by analyzing if early adopter communities differ from subsequent joiners using data from the year that each joined. This research shows that early adopters differed from subsequent joiners on population size and share of renters. Collectively, these results suggest that policy-makers would be successful in encouraging communities with higher population densities located near recent flood events to join the CRS. At the same time, non-participant communities located away from clusters of CRS communities will likely require additional incentives to join. In addition, these results suggest that future studies of CRS participation should consider including time of joining in their research design and analysis

The Seeress of Kell-book five of the Mallorean

374 hal,ill,17,5c

Magician's Gambit: Book of The Belgariad

viii,308hal.;ill.;18c

Man Running; A Novel In Progress.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Washington, 1960Monday Evening His name was Stephen Cain and he had come fifteen miles down the river since that morning. He was tall and slender and wore a dark cloth jacket, he was running when he came out of the tangled willows onto the yellow river sand that lay along the water. The river curved there. The far shore, the outer side of the curve, was faced with rock cliffs, and the river ran deep with eddies and ripples on its surfaces. On the near shore a wide beach had formed, a crescent of sand two miles long, lying between the dark, tree-covered hillside and the curve of black, oily looking water

Enchanters' and Game- book five of the Belgariad

372 hal; 17,5 c

The effects of remittances on household food nutrition security in the context of multiple shocks in Malawi

AbstractThe increase in the incidence and intensity of multiple shocks emanating from various fronts has left households vulnerable to various upheavals, case in point, food shortage—a prerequisite of food insecurity and poor nutrition. In analysing the nexus between remittances and food security and nutrition in the context of shocks, the paper adopts and links the household utility framework to the insurance hypothesis from the new economic labour migration theory. Using the coping strategy index, food consumption score, and household dietary diversity, we assess the effects of remittances on food security and nutrition in the context of shocks. The novelty of this paper is the creation of a shock index that captures the intensity of correlated multiple shocks that affect households. We concomitantly capture overall remittances, and disaggregated the remittances based on form and location. By employing integrated household survey round 5 data, and various econometric techniques, the paper finds that remittances are only effective in improving household food and nutrition security for households facing more intense multiple shocks but have no effect on dietary diversity. The paper therefore reveals the importance of remittances as a strategy in combating food insecurity and poor nutrition in the context of household shocks

Final Report: No{sub x} Emissions from By Product Fuel Combustion in Steel Making, September 15, 1996 - October 15, 1999

Exhaust gases from the primary operations in the steel making process are almost exclusively utilized as supplemental fuels within the steel plant. These by-product fuels include blast furnace gas (BFG) and coke oven gas (COG) which contain mixtures of H{sub 2}, CO, CH{sub 4} and trace amounts of some heavier hydrocarbons and the impurities NH{sub 3} and HCN. These fuels are burned alone or in combination with natural gas to fire the coke ovens, blast furnace stoves utility boilers and metal working furnaces. The utilization of these by-product fuels reduces the waste gas emissions at the steel mill and reduces the requirements for outside fuel sources. However, as with primary fuel sources, the combustion of these by-product fuel blends does produce hazardous pollutants, in particular nitrogen oxides, and because these are atypical fuel blends of varying composition, the pollutant formation is not well understood. The objective of this research was to develop an understanding of the mechanisms controlling NO{sub x} formation from the combustion of by-product fuels from the steel industry and investigate control and design options to minimize emissions. The minimization strategies investigated were constrained by limits on CO and hydrocarbon emissions, both of which increased under fuel-rich combustion scenarios that resulted in reduced NO{sub x} emissions. Also, the minimization strategies were constrained by the need for reasonable heat generation rates in the furnaces that employ these by-product fuels, so that product steel quality is not adversely affected

Advanced Combustor Design Concept to Control NOx and Air Toxics: Final Technical Report

Direct coal combustion needs to be a primary energy source for the electric utility industry and for heavy manufacturing during the next several decades because of the availability and economic advantage of coal relative to other fuels and because of the time required to produce major market penetration in the energy field. However, the major obstacle to coal utilization is a set of ever-tightening environmental regulations at both the federal and local level. It is, therefore, critical that fundamental research be conducted to support the development of low-emission, high-efficiency pulverized coal power systems. The objective of this program was to develop fundamental understanding regarding the impact of fuel and combustion changes on NOx formation, carbon burnout and air toxic emissions from pulverized coal (pc) combustion. During pc combustion, nitrogen in the coal can be oxidized to form nitrogen oxides (NO{sub x}). The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments established much stricter NO{sub x} emissions limits for new and existing coal-fired plants, so there has been renewed interest in the processes by which NO{sub x} forms in pc flames. One of the least understood aspects of NO{sub x} formation from pc combustion is the process by which char-N (nitrogen remaining in the char after devolatilization) forms either NO{sub x} or N{sub 2}, and the development of a fundamental understanding of this process was a major focus of this research. The overall objective of this program was to improve the ability of combustion system designers and boiler manufacturers to build high efficiency, low emission pulverized coal systems by improving the design tools available to the industry. The specific program goals were to: Use laboratory experiments and modeling to develop fundamental understanding for a new submodel for char nitrogen oxidation (a critical piece usually neglected in most NOx models.); Use existing bench scale facilities to investigate alternative schemes to stabilize slowly mixed flames which have the potential of producing ultra-low NOx levels with high carbon burnout. Also characterize the air toxic emissions from these flames; and Develop new char nitrogen model for use with a comprehensive combustion model that can be applied to the design and analysis of new and existing boilers

''Spot and hop": Internal referencing for surface plasmon resonance imaging using a three-dimensional microfluidic flow cell array

a b s t r a c t We have developed a novel referencing technique for surface plasmon resonance imaging systems referred to as ''spot and hop." The technique enables internal referencing for individual flow cells in a parallel processing microfluidic network. Internal referencing provides the ability to correct for nonspecific binding and instrument drift, significantly improving data quality at each region of interest. The performance of a 48-flow-cell device was demonstrated through a series of studies, including ''rise and fall" time, ligand preconcentration, ligand immobilization, analyte binding, and regeneration tests. Interfacing parallel processing fluidics with imaging systems will significantly expand the throughput and applications of array-based optical biosensors while retaining high data quality. Ó 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Whereas standard surface plasmon resonance (SPR) 1 biosensors have become widely adapted for molecular interaction analysis, imaging systems such as those available from Biacore (Flexchip), Genoptics, GWC, IBIS, and Maven have had less of an impact to date. Imaging systems typically involve patterning spots of ligands within a large flow cell and then testing the binding of a single analyte at a time, the so-called ''one on many" approach [1]. Two issues limit the widespread application of imaging systems. The first challenge is how to pattern protein ligands onto the sensor surface. The majority of imaging instruments rely on pin spotting, inkjet printing, and stamping methods that do not work well for many real-world applications To address this first problem, we have developed a threedimensional microfluidic flow cell array (MFCA) [6-8] (see The second issue limiting the widespread adoption of imaging systems is the limited number of applications for the one on many assay approach. Most users, in fact, want to run the reverse assay; they have many analytes to test against one ligand or a few ligands. Drug discovery is a good example. In these cases, the problem is not with the imaging technology but rather with sample delivery. In this article, we demonstrate how our MFCA devices can be used to create independent yet parallel processing flow cells when interfaced with imaging systems. We also introduce the concept of ''spot and hop" as a simple yet novel method of creating both a reaction and a reference surface within each flow cell. The current device incorporates 48 isolated flow cells that can be used to deliver different analytes to the sensor surface. Using protein A/immunoglobulin G (IgG) as a model system, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the MFCA system as well as the benefits of internal referencing. Interfacing parallel processing microfluidics with imaging technology will expand the use of array biosensor technology in drug discovery, diagnostics, and biomarker detection. 0003-2697/$ -see front matter