The Value of Deregulating Over-The-Counter Options

Hedgers located far from organized commodity exchanges suffer the mismatch between their local prices and exchange prices. Futures and options traded on the exchange may still be valuable to distant hedgers but only to the extent that basis risk is small. Forward contracting allows hedgers to manage risk using a local delivery price, but the CFTC has long banned the sale off-exchange options, limiting the opportunities available to hedgers. Recently, Agricultural Trade Options (ATOs) have been introduced as over-the-counter option products designed specifically for hedgers. To date, ATOs have found little interest from potential sellers, but the potential demand for these options may be substantial. This paper describes and quantifies the demand for corn ATOs by dairy farms in Southeastern Pennsylvania and estimates the value these farms might place on options contracts offered locally.Marketing,

Estimating Production Risk and Inefficiency Simultaneously: An Application to Cotton Cropping Systems

By using a stochastic frontier framework, the mutual effect of input use on production risk and inefficiency is investigated. Disentangling this mutual effect proves important for empirical reasons, at least when applied to west Tennessee cotton systems grown after various cover crops. The most striking result is that the stochastic frontier model, when compared with a typical Just-Pope model, reorders the relative riskiness of cover-crop regimes associated with the cotton systems.cotton, inefficiency, Just-Pope, production risk, stochastic production frontier, Production Economics,

Nanodielectics (A "Universal" Panacea for Solving All Electrical Insualation Problems?)

This text summarizes the keynote presentation that is based on the full-length paper of the same title. Dr. Fréchette's oral presentation should not be seen as a summary of the “Brainstorm paper” but a glance at some major accomplishments, hinrances and still remaining questions relative to nanodielectrics. Are nanodielectrics a “universal” panacea? The answer to that question is no - but they've got a lot of potential

1972 Ruby Yearbook

A digitized copy of the 1972 Ruby, the Ursinus College yearbook.https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/ruby/1075/thumbnail.jp

A comparison of two methods of quantifying masticatory pressures developed under dentures with variable occlusal widths

Pressures developed during mastication with removable dental prostheses have beer quantified by two methods. This pilot study (1) compares the peak pressure method of pressure quantification with the integrated curve method of quantification and (2) continues the exploration of the effect of the width of the occlusal table on pressures developed under dentures. A set of specially designed experimental dentures was constructed for one individual. The mandibular experimental denture contained a series of pressure transducers by which masticatory pressures were recorded. These pressures were monitored between the denture base and the residual ridge tissues. Several interchangeable posterior occlusal segments, varying only in the width of the occlusal table, were fabricated for the opposing maxillary denture. Masticatory pressure and total ridge pressure were quantified by the integrated curve method and the peak pressure method. Both methods indicated a direct relationship between masticatory pressures produced and the width of the occlusal table. A similar direct relationship between total ridge pressure and occlusal width was suggested statistically by the integrated curve method, and graphically by both methods.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73368/1/j.1365-2842.1979.tb00407.x.pd

Internal charge behaviour of nanocomposites

The incorporation of 23 nm titanium dioxide nanoparticles into an epoxy matrix to form a nanocomposite structure is described. It is shown that the use of nanometric particles results in a substantial change in the behaviour of the composite, which can be traced to the mitigation of internal charge when a comparison is made with conventional TiO2 fillers. A variety of diagnostic techniques (including dielectric spectroscopy, electroluminescence, thermally stimulated current, photoluminescence) have been used to augment pulsed electro-acoustic space charge measurement to provide a basis for understanding the underlying physics of the phenomenon. It would appear that, when the size of the inclusions becomes small enough, they act co-operatively with the host structure and cease to exhibit interfacial properties leading to Maxwell-Wagner polarization. It is postulated that the particles are surrounded by high charge concentrations in the Gouy-Chapman-Stern layer. Since nanoparticles have very high specific areas, these regions allow limited charge percolation through nano-filled dielectrics. The practical consequences of this have also been explored in terms of the electric strength exhibited. It would appear that there was a window in which real advantages accrue from the nano-formulated material. An optimum loading of about 10% (by weight) is indicated

Partition-Induced Vector Chromatography in Microfluidic Devices

The transport of Brownian particles in a slit geometry in the presence of an arbitrary two-dimensional periodic energy landscape and driven by an external force or convected by a flow field is investigated by means of macrotransport theory. Analytical expressions for the probability distribution and the average migration angle of the particles are obtained under the Fick-Jackobs approximation. The migration angle is shown to differ from the orientation angle of the driving field and to strongly depend on the physical properties of the suspended species, thus providing the basis for vector chormatography, in which different species move in different directions and can be continuously fractionated. The potential of microfluidic devices as a platform for partition-induced vector chromatography is demonstrated by considering the particular case of a piece-wise constant, periodic potential that, in equilibrium, induces the spontaneous partition of different species into high and low concentration stripes, and which can be easily fabricated by patterning physically or chemically one of the surfaces of a channel. The feasibility to separate different particles of the same and different size is shown for systems in which partition is induced via 1g-gravity and Van der Waals interactions in physically and chemically patterned channels, respectively

Autonomy of Nations and Indigenous Peoples and the Environmental Release of Genetically Engineered Animals with Gene Drives

This article contends that the environmental release of genetically engineered (GE) animals with heritable traits that are patented will present a challenge to the efforts of nations and indigenous peoples to engage in self‐determination. The environmental release of such animals has been proposed on the grounds that they could function as public health tools or as solutions to the problem of agricultural insect pests. This article brings into focus two political‐economic‐legal problems that would arise with the environmental release of such organisms. To address those challenges, it is proposed that nations considering the environmental release of GE animals must take into account the underlying circumstances and policy failures that motivate arguments for the use of the modified animals. Moreover, countries must recognize that the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights place on them an obligation to ensure that GE animals with patented heritable traits are not released without the substantive consent of the nations or indigenous peoples that could be affected