Risk Management for Cattlemen

Livestock insurance was first sold in 2002 and initially ran into problems as that pilot got underway. As the program evolved bugs were worked through and we ended up with two products that provide price protection for livestock producers at a reasonable cost. In this presentation I will review the two types of livestock insurance available and go through examples of when and where they are appropriate to utilize in your marketing scheme

The Twilight Zone—A New Theory of Compensation for Maritime Workers

Petitioner\u27s husband, a structural steel worker, was drowned in the Snohomish river while employed by an engineering company engaged in dismantling a drawbridge which spanned the river. The company was a contributor to the Workmen\u27s Compensation Fund of the State of Washington. A part of the task was to cut steel from the bridge and move it about 250 feet away for storage. The steel when cut from the bridge was lowered to a barge by derrick, and when loaded, the barge was to be towed by a tug, hauled by cable, or, if the current made it necessary, both towed and hauled to the storage point. Deceased had helped to cut some steel from the bridge and, at the time the accident, was working on a barge which was fastened to the bridge and which had not yet been completely loaded for its first carriage of steel to the place of storage. His duty appears to have been to examine the steel after it was lowered to the barge and, when necessary, to cut the pieces to proper lengths. From this barge he fell or was knocked into the stream in which his body was found. Can the Washington State Compensation Fund be applied to this type of work

Rights of Beneficiaries of Government Savings Bonds

In 1939 the Washington Court in Decker v. Fowler virtually eliminated the effect of the beneficiary provision in government savings bonds by holding that beneficiaries named in the bonds have no right to the proceeds on the death of the purchaser unless there has been a valid inter vivos gift of the bond between the purchaser and the beneficiary. The majority of the court apparently failed to recognize that there was a donee beneficiary contract entered into between the purchaser and the government. In two subsequent Washington cases, where the court has found a contract relation in somewhat analogous situations, Decker v. Fowler has been specifically distinguished as not involving a contract problem. Thus the court has adhered to its position in the Decker case with the inevitable result of confusion as to the rights of beneficiaries of government savings bonds

Comparison of Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Methods for Fixed-Wing Aircraft Using SLAMBench2

Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (VSLAM) algorithms have evolved rapidly in the last few years, however there has been little research evaluating current algorithm\u27s effectiveness and limitations when applied to tracking the position of a fixed-wing aerial vehicle. This research looks to evaluate current monocular VSLAM algorithms\u27 performance on aerial vehicle datasets using the SLAMBench2 benchmarking suite. The algorithms tested are MonoSLAM, PTAM, OKVIS, LSDSLAM, ORB-SLAM2, and SVO, all of which are built into the SLAMBench2 software. The algorithms\u27 performance is evaluated using simulated datasets generated in the AftrBurner Engine. The datasets were designed to test the quality of each algorithm\u27s tracking solution, as well as finding any dependence on camera field of view (FOV), aircraft altitude, bank angle, and bank rate. Through these tests, it was found that LSDSLAM, ORB-SLAM2, and SVO are good candidates for further research, with MonoSLAM, PTAM, and OKVIS failing to track any datasets. All algorithms were found to fail when the capturing camera had a horizontal FOV of less than 60 degrees, with peak performance occurring at a FOV of 75 degrees or above. LSDSLAM was found to fail when the aircraft bank angle exceeded half of the camera\u27s FOV, and SVO was found to fail below 450 meters altitude. The simulations were also tested against a comparable real world dataset, with agreeable results, although the FOV of the real world dataset was too small to be a particularly useful test. Further research is required to determine the applicability of these results to the real world, as well as fuse VSLAM algorithms with other sensors and solutions to form a more robust navigation solution

Mortgages of Personal Property to Be Subsequently Acquired

Since a man cannot transfer what is not his, a sale of property to be subsequently acquired by the vendor is ordinarily given effect only as a contract to sell such goods after they have been acquired. Such a bargain, under the law of sales, is not self-operating to pass the property in future goods to the purchaser on their mere acquisition by the seller, but requires a subsequent act of performance by the seller assented to by the buyer to carry out the obligation, usually termed a subsequent act of appropriation. The most important exception to this rule is the doctrine of equitable mortgages first discussed in the important English case of Holroyd v. Marshall decided by the House of Lords in, 1861. The doctrine, briefly stated, lays down the rule that, although a mortgage of property to be subsequently acquired by the mortgagor is void at law, it is given effect in equity as an implied contract to pledge such property as security when the mortgagor acquires it, so that an equitable mortgage attaches to such property when so acquired in accordance with the doctrine of equitable mortgages. The rule is usually said to rest upon the broader equitable basis of specific performance so that when the property is later acquired by the debtor the creditor\u27s equitable lien at once attaches