FARMERS' PREFERENCES FOR CROP CONTRACTS

An empirical approach combining elements of principal-agent theory and transaction cost economics is used to determine farmers'Â’ preferences for contract terms in crop production. The approach is tested by asking grain farmers to rank contract choices and specify price premiums in simulated case situations. The statistical results indicate that farmers'Â’ preferences for rates of cost sharing, price premiums, and financing arrangements are significantly influenced by asset specialization and uncertainty associated with the case situations, and by selected business and personal characteristics.Farm Management,

UNDERSTANDING TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION THROUGH SYSTEM DYNAMICS MODELING: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT

This work demonstrates the utility of sophisticated simulation tools in aiding agribusiness managers' decision making. The system dynamics model developed here provides insight into the use of such models to evaluate potential adoption rates and diffusion patterns of yield mapping and monitoring technologies. The model allows for comparative analyses of the possible effects of different profit assumptions on adoption and diffusion.Agribusiness, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

An explorative study of interface support for image searching

In this paper we study interfaces for image retrieval systems. Current image retrieval interfaces are limited to providing query facilities and result presentation. The user can inspect the results and possibly provide feedback on their relevance for the current query. Our approach, in contrast, encourages the user to group and organise their search results and thus provide more fine-grained feedback for the system. It combines the search and management process, which - according to our hypothesis - helps the user to onceptualise their search tasks and to overcome the query formulation problem. An evaluation, involving young design-professionals and di®erent types of information seeking scenarios, shows that the proposed approach succeeds in encouraging the user to conceptualise their tasks and that it leads to increased user satisfaction. However, it could not be shown to increase performance. We identify the problems in the current setup, which when eliminated should lead to more effective searching overall

Characterization and Improvement of the Thermal Stability of TES Bolometers

We study the mechanism of instability in transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers used for ground based observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at 270GHz. The instability limits the range of useful operating resistances of the TES down to ≈50% of R_n, and due to variations in detector properties and optical loading within a column of multiplexed detectors, limits the effective on sky yield. Using measurements of the electrical impedance of the detectors, we show the instability is due to the increased bolometer leg G for higher-frequency detection inducing decoupling of the palladium-gold heat capacity from the thermistor. We demonstrate experimentally that the limiting thermal resistance is due to the small cross sectional area of the silicon nitride bolometer island, and so is easily fixed by layering palladium-gold over an oxide protected TES. The resulting detectors can be biased down to a resistance ≈10% of R_n

Lumen Border Detection of Intravascular Ultrasound via Denoising of Directional Wavelet Representations

In this paper, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) grayscale images, acquired with a single-element mechanically rotating transducer, are processed with wavelet denoising and region-based segmentation to extract various layers of lumen contours and plaques. First, IVUS volumetric data is expanded on complex exponential wavelet-like basis functions, also known as Brushlets, which are well localized in time and frequency domains. Brushlets denoising have demonstrated in the past a great aptitude for denoising ultrasound data and removal of blood speckles. A region-based segmentation framework is then applied for detection of lumen border layers, which remains one of the most challenging problems in IVUS image analysis for images acquired with a single element, mechanically rotating 45 MHz transducer. We evaluated hard thresholding for Brushlet denoising, and compared segmentation results to manually traced lumen borders. We observed good agreement and suggest that the proposed algorithm has a great potential to be used as a reliable pre-processing step for accurate lumen border detection

Using Open Source Libraries in the Development of Control Systems Based on Machine Vision

The possibility of the boundaries detection in the images of crushed ore particles using a convolutional neural network is analyzed. The structure of the neural network is given. The construction of training and test datasets of ore particle images is described. Various modifications of the underlying neural network have been investigated. Experimental results are presented. © 2020, IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises in Science and Technology, FASIEFunding. The work was performed under state contract 3170ΓC1/48564, grant from the FASIE

The Present and Potential Use of Climate Information by the United States Private Agricultural Sector

published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewedOpe

The GALFA-HI Compact Cloud Catalog

We present a catalog of 1964 isolated, compact neutral hydrogen clouds from the Galactic Arecibo L-Band Feed Array Survey Data Release One (GALFA-HI DR1). The clouds were identified by a custom machine-vision algorithm utilizing Difference of Gaussian kernels to search for clouds smaller than 20'. The clouds have velocities typically between |VLSR| = 20-400 km/s, linewidths of 2.5-35 km/s, and column densities ranging from 1 - 35 x 10^18 cm^-2. The distances to the clouds in this catalog may cover several orders of magnitude, so the masses may range from less than a Solar mass for clouds within the Galactic disc, to greater than 10^4 Solar Masses for HVCs at the tip of the Magellanic Stream. To search for trends, we separate the catalog into five populations based on position, velocity, and linewidth: high velocity clouds (HVCs); galaxy candidates; cold low velocity clouds (LVCs); warm, low positive-velocity clouds in the third Galactic Quadrant; and the remaining warm LVCs. The observed HVCs are found to be associated with previously-identified HVC complexes. We do not observe a large population of isolated clouds at high velocities as some models predict. We see evidence for distinct histories at low velocities in detecting populations of clouds corotating with the Galactic disc and a set of clouds that is not corotating.Comment: 34 Pages, 9 Figures, published in ApJ (2012, ApJ, 758, 44), this version has the corrected fluxes and corresponding flux histogram and masse

Changes in Cataplexy Frequency in a Clinical Trial of Lower-Sodium Oxybate with Taper and Discontinuation of Other Anticataplectic Medications

Correction:Background Lower-sodium oxybate (LXB) is an oxybate medication with the same active moiety as sodium oxybate (SXB) and a unique composition of cations, resulting in 92% less sodium. LXB was shown to improve cataplexy and excessive daytime sleepiness in people with narcolepsy in a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized withdrawal study (NCT03030599). Additional analyses of data from this study were conducted to explore the effects of LXB on cataplexy, including the clinical course and feasibility of transition from other anticataplectics to LXB monotherapy. Objective The aim of these analyses was to evaluate cataplexy frequency during initiation/optimization of LXB and taper/discontinuation of prior antidepressant/anticataplectic medications. Methods Eligible participants (adults aged 18-70 years with narcolepsy with cataplexy) entered the study taking SXB only (group A), SXB + other anticataplectics (group B), or anticataplectic medication other than SXB (group C), or were cataplexy-treatment naive (group D). LXB was initiated/optimized during a 12-week, open-label, optimized treatment and titration period (OLOTTP). Other anticataplectics were tapered/discontinued during weeks 3-10 of OLOTTP. A 2-week stable-dose period (SDP; during which participants took a stable dose of open-label LXB) and 2-week double-blind randomized withdrawal period (during which participants were randomized to continue LXB treatment or switch to placebo) followed OLOTTP. Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were recorded throughout the duration of the study. Results At the beginning of OLOTTP, median weekly cataplexy attacks were lower in participants taking SXB at study entry (SXB only [2.00]; SXB + other anticataplectics [0.58]) versus participants who were taking other anticataplectics (3.50) or were anticataplectic naive (5.83). Median weekly cataplexy attacks decreased during weeks 1-2 of OLOTTP in all groups. Increased cataplexy frequency was observed in participants tapering/discontinuing other anticataplectics during weeks 3-10 and was more prominent in participants taking other anticataplectics alone compared with those taking SXB plus other anticataplectics. Cataplexy frequency decreased throughout initiation/optimization in anticataplectic-naive participants. Median number of cataplexy-free days/week at the end of SDP (study week 14) was similar in all groups (6.0, 6.1, 6.0, and 6.2 in groups A, B, C, and D, respectively). During OLOTTP and SDP, TEAEs of worsening cataplexy were reported in 0%, 47.8%, 16.7%, and 2.2% of participants in groups A, B, C, and D, respectively; most TEAEs of worsening cataplexy were reported during tapering/discontinuation of other anticataplectics. Conclusions LXB monotherapy was effective in reducing cataplexy and increasing cataplexy-free days. These results illustrate the feasibility of switching from SXB to LXB while tapering/discontinuing other anticataplectics.Peer reviewe