Study on Informational Transaction and Its Effect on China's Stock Index Futures Market

Information is one of the important factors that influence the behavior of investors and then have an effect on the price of the risky assets in the market. Firstly, the new procedure developed by Easley et al. (2011) is used to estimate the Volume-Synchronized Probability of Informed Trading (VPIN) of the Chinese stock index futures market. Then VPIN for special scenarios is depicted. As a result, we find that the future contracts generally have a larger number of information transactions. We also find that, for particular scenarios, the probability of informed trading in the market has obvious exceptions. The larger proportion of informed trader is, the higher the volatility of the price is

Characterizing the Decision Process in Setting Corn and Soybean Seeding Rates

Selecting optimal corn and soybean seeding rates are difficult decisions to make. A survey of Ohio and Michigan farm operators finds that, although generally keen to learn from others, they tend to emphasize their own experience over outside information sources. Soybean growers declare university and extension recommendations as more important than do corn growers. In response to direct queries and in free comments, growers place more emphasis on understanding the agronomic and technological problems at hand than on adjusting to the market environment. Given the decision environment, we argue that these responses are reasonable

A Piezoelectric Immunosensor Using Hybrid Self-Assembled Monolayers for Detection of Schistosoma japonicum

BACKGROUND: The parasite Schistosoma japonicum causes schistosomiasis disease, which threatens human life and hampers economic and social development in some Asian countries. An important lesson learned from efforts to reduce the occurrence of schistosomiasis is that the diagnostic approach must be altered as further progress is made towards the control and ultimate elimination of the disease. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using mixed self-assembled monolayer membrane (mixed SAM) technology, a mixture of mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and mercaptoethanol (ME) was self-assembled on the surface of quartz crystals by gold-sulphur-bonds. Soluble egg antigens (SEA) of S. japonicum were then cross-linked to the quartz crystal using a special coupling agent. As compared with the traditional single self-assembled monolayer immobilization method, S. japonicum antigen (SjAg) immobilization using mixed self-assembled monolayers exhibits much greater immunoreactivity. Under optimal experimental conditions, the detection range is 1:1500 to 1:60 (infected rabbit serum dilution ratios). We measured several infected rabbit serum samples with varying S. japonicum antibody (SjAb) concentrations using both immunosensor and ELISA techniques and then produced a correlation analysis. The correlation coefficients reached 0.973. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We have developed a new, simple, sensitive, and reusable piezoelectric immunosensor that directly detects SjAb in the serum. This method may represent an alternative to the current diagnostic methods for S. japonicum infection in the clinical laboratory or for analysis outside the laboratory

Canagliflozin and renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes and nephropathy

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide, but few effective long-term treatments are available. In cardiovascular trials of inhibitors of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), exploratory results have suggested that such drugs may improve renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS In this double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuric chronic kidney disease to receive canagliflozin, an oral SGLT2 inhibitor, at a dose of 100 mg daily or placebo. All the patients had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 30 to <90 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area and albuminuria (ratio of albumin [mg] to creatinine [g], >300 to 5000) and were treated with renin–angiotensin system blockade. The primary outcome was a composite of end-stage kidney disease (dialysis, transplantation, or a sustained estimated GFR of <15 ml per minute per 1.73 m2), a doubling of the serum creatinine level, or death from renal or cardiovascular causes. Prespecified secondary outcomes were tested hierarchically. RESULTS The trial was stopped early after a planned interim analysis on the recommendation of the data and safety monitoring committee. At that time, 4401 patients had undergone randomization, with a median follow-up of 2.62 years. The relative risk of the primary outcome was 30% lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group, with event rates of 43.2 and 61.2 per 1000 patient-years, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 to 0.82; P=0.00001). The relative risk of the renal-specific composite of end-stage kidney disease, a doubling of the creatinine level, or death from renal causes was lower by 34% (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P<0.001), and the relative risk of end-stage kidney disease was lower by 32% (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.86; P=0.002). The canagliflozin group also had a lower risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.95; P=0.01) and hospitalization for heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.80; P<0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of amputation or fracture. CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular events was lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group at a median follow-up of 2.62 years

Will Adoption Occur if a Practice is Win-Win for Profit and the Environment? An Application to a Rancher’s Grazing Practice Choices

Rotational grazing has the potential to provide both economic and environmental benefits; however, the set of ranchers that adopts is much smaller than the set that regards rotational grazing as a win-win practice. To investigate this adoption gap and learn about adoption decisions and motivations, we survey 874 ranchers on the U.S. Great Plains. We find that a large proportion of surveyed ranchers who view rotational grazing as win-win for both profit and the environment do not adopt the practice. We also find that win-win non-adopters are a constrained group for most potential challenges to rotational grazing adoption, especially for high initial costs, water resource limitations, and ranch conditions. Some of these impediments could be relieved by capital to which, however, win-win non-adopters have limited access. Win-win non- adopters are more likely to adopt rotational grazing than others when a one-time subsidy is offered, suggesting that win-win non-adopters hold promise as a target group for subsidies to reduce the cost of adoption. Our analysis shows the importance of understanding the specifics of an adoption gap when making and implementing policies

Plant Architecture and Seeding Rate Responses to Markets, Resources, and Technologies

Corn and soybean seeding rates in the United States have moved in opposite directions over recent decades, with the former trending upward and the latter trending downward. Both seed markets have experienced similar market, technological and environmental shocks over that time. This paper aims to better understand how farmers make seeding rate choices and why corn and soybean seeding rates have trended in opposite directions. We develop a model of seeding rate choices by incorporating a resource budget trade-off between more seeds and fewer resources allocated to each seed. With a unique detailed U.S. farm-level market data, consisting of more than 600,000 plot-level choices over 1995-2016 for corn and 1996-2016 for soybean, we assess how farmers’ seeding rate choices respond to markets, resources, and technologies. We find that the soybean seeding rate choice to be more price elastic than that for corn, i.e., seed companies are likely to have less power in the soybean seed market. Furthermore, most inputs that are endowed with the land, and so are shared across all seeds, increase both corn and soybean seeding rates; while inputs that come with the seed increase corn rates but decrease soybean rates. Representative farmers reveal some different ideas and they rely most heavily on their own experience when deciding on seeding rate choices. When joined with an earlier paper on ecological effects, our findings further suggest that targeted tax or price policies on seed or crop will mitigate neonicotinoid-related ecological impacts

Will Adoption Occur if a Practice is Win-Win for Profit and the Environment? An Application to a Rancher’s Grazing Practice Choices

Rotational grazing has the potential to provide both economic and environmental benefits; however, the set of ranchers that adopts is much smaller than the set that regards rotational grazing as a win-win practice. To investigate this adoption gap and learn about adoption decisions and motivations, we survey 874 ranchers on the U.S. Great Plains. We find that a large proportion of surveyed ranchers who view rotational grazing as win-win for both profit and the environment do not adopt the practice. We also find that win-win non-adopters are a constrained group for most potential challenges to rotational grazing adoption, especially for high initial costs, water resource limitations, and ranch conditions. Some of these impediments could be relieved by capital to which, however, win-win non-adopters have limited access. Win-win nonadopters are more likely to adopt rotational grazing than others when a one-time subsidy is offered, suggesting that win-win non-adopters hold promise as a target group for subsidies to reduce the cost of adoption. Our analysis shows the importance of understanding the specifics of an adoption gap when making and implementing policies.JEL Codes: D91, Q16, Q18, Q5

Plant Architecture and Seeding Rate Responses to Markets, Resources, and Technologies

Corn and soybean seeding rates in the United States have moved in opposite directions over recent decades, with the former trending upward and the latter trending downward. Both seed markets have experienced similar market, technological and environmental shocks over that time. This paper aims to better understand how farmers make seeding rate choices and why corn and soybean seeding rates have trended in opposite directions. We develop a model of seeding rate choices by incorporating a resource budget trade-off between more seeds and fewer resources allocated to each seed. With a unique detailed U.S. farm-level market data, consisting of more than 600,000 plot-level choices over 1995-2016 for corn and 1996-2016 for soybean, we assess how farmers’ seeding rate choices respond to markets, resources, and technologies. We find that the soybean seeding rate choice to be more price elastic than that for corn, i.e., seed companies are likely to have less power in the soybean seed market. Furthermore, most inputs that are endowed with the land, and so are shared across all seeds, increase both corn and soybean seeding rates; while inputs that come with the seed increase corn rates but decrease soybean rates. Representative farmers reveal some different ideas and they rely most heavily on their own experience when deciding on seeding rate choices. When joined with an earlier paper on ecological effects, our findings further suggest that targeted tax or price policies on seed or crop will mitigate neonicotinoid-related ecological impacts