The Competitive Performance of Life Insurance Firms in the Retirement Asset Market

This paper summarizes the findings of the joint Wharton Financial Institutions Center and KPMG study of the retirement assets market and the role of life insurance companies within it. The study began with the following goals: Investigate how people save for retirement and whether this is adequate. Determine the primary products and institutions of the retirement asset market and observe how these have changed through time. Key findings: For most, asset accumulation is less than adequate for a comfortable retirement. The average worker exhibits little of the needed financial understanding to adequately plan for retirement. Upon retirement, households do not spend down their assets optimally. The retirement asset market is rapidly expanding. Products in retirement portfolios have shifted with time. The market share of mutual funds has exploded, mostly at the expense of depository institutions. Life insurance companies maintain a large, but slipping share.

Economics and science of hog manure handling and storage technologies

Non-Peer ReviewedHog production has been growing rapidly in Canada and this growth has created concerns over manure handling and the risk of soil and water contamination. There is limited information available to swine producers as to which technologies and manure management systems would best serve them both economically and environmentally. The objective of this study is to assess hog manure handling and storage systems and outline their environmental advantages and disadvantages. Five main technologies are reviewed which include (1) manure handling, (2) solid/liquid separation, (3) composting, (4) land application, and (5) manure storage. The average cost of hauling liquid manure within 2-3 mile distance is about $0.0125. If the total cost of hauling liquid manure is charged against its nutrients value, the producer cannot afford to haul much more than 2 to 3 miles; therefore, there is a restriction on the distance that manure can economically be moved and the availability of suitable land for manure application becomes a concern. Because of this restriction, manure treatment and the technologies for manure management such as solid/liquid separation or composting become attractive technologies to consider both economically and environmentally. Liquid/solid separation is a step in a complete manure treatment system and it has been utilized to reduce odour and manage phosphorus. There are different technologies available for solid/liquid separation which cost anywhere from$1.22 to $5.38 per pig marketed. Composting could also be utilized in swine manure management but because of high moisture contents, a high carbon source or bulking agent is required. Composting itself could costs anywhere from$4.85 to $13.49 per tonne of raw manure composted depending on type of composting technologies used. Manure storage is also part of integrated manure management system which comes in three main forms: earthen, concrete, and steel. Earthen manure storage systems are the most prominent manure storage systems in Western Canada. The capital cost for earthen manure range from$0.0039 to $0.0953 per gallon depending on availability of equipment and materials and additional costs may also required for adding a liner of clay. Other types of storage system generally cost higher but they might be more environmentally friendly. Operation and maintenance costs of manure storage is mainly limited with seasonal labor for agitation the waste, removal of sludge, and performing pump outs

Parental Abuse, Risky Behavior and Psychopathic Traits in Adolescents and Early Adults

This study examines the associations between parental abuse, risky behavior, and affective psychopathic traits. Ninety-one (49% males) rural adolescents and young adults (between the ages of fourteen and twenty-five) participated in an investigation of gene and environment interactions. The sample consisted of high school and undergraduate college students. These participants provided self-reports of parental abuse, risky behaviors, and psychopathic affective traits. Results suggested that psychopathic traits, especially a lack of remorse and parental abuse, independently account for some risky behavior.https://digitalcommons.mtech.edu/urp_aug_2013/1001/thumbnail.jp

Microwave Electronics

Contains reports on four research projects.United States Department of the ArmyUnited States Department of the NavyUnited States Department of the Air Force (Contract AF19(122)-458)Lincoln Laboratory (Purchase Order DDL-B222

A comprehensive categorical and bibliometric analysis of published research articles on pediatric pain from 1975-2010

The field of pediatric pain research began in the mid-1970's and has undergone significant growth and development in recent years as evidenced by the variety of books, conferences, and journals on the topic as well as the number of disciplines engaged in work in this area. Using categorical and bibliometric meta-trend analysis, the current study offers a synthesis of research on pediatric pain published between 1975 and 2010 in peer-reviewed journals. Abstracts from 4256 articles, retrieved from Web of Science, were coded across four categories: article type, article topic, type and age of participants, and pain stimulus. The affiliation of the first author and number of citations were also gathered. The results suggest a significant increase in the number of publications over the time period investigated, with 96% of the included articles published since 1990 and most research being multi-authored publications in pain- focused journals. First authors were most often from the United States, and affiliated with a medical department. The majority of studies were original research articles; the most frequent topics were pain characterization (39.86%), pain intervention (37.49%), and pain assessment (25.00%). Clinical samples were most frequent, with participants most often characterized as children (6-12 years) or adolescents (13-18 years) experiencing chronic or acute pain. The findings provide a comprehensive overview of contributions in the field of pediatric pain research over 35 years and offers recommendations for future research in the area. (C) 2015 International Association for the Study of Pai

Plasma Dynamics

Contains reports on three research projects.United States Atomic Energy Commission (Contract AT(30-1)-1842)United States Air Force, Air Force Cambridge Research Center (Contract AF19(604)-5992)United States Air Force, Air Force Cambridge Research Center (Contract AF19(604)-4551)National Science Foundation (Grant G-9930)Office of Naval Research through Project SQUID, Phase III, under contract with Massachusetts Institute of Technolog

Life After Sport: Athletic Career Transition and Transferable Skills

Permission to include this article granted by Journal of ExcellenceAthletes transitioning out of sport are faced with many obstacles. Well-trained counselors have the appropriate skills to assist athletes through athletic career transition. An examination of the literature focused on career retirement and transferable skills lead to the development of intervention recommendations for athletes transitioning out of sport. Treatment recommendations include psycho-educational and cognitive behavioural interventions that focus on the emotions associated with transitioning from sport as well as an emphasis on transferable skills.Ye

SIRT3 controls brown fat thermogenesis by deacetylation regulation of pathways upstream of UCP1.

Objective Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is important for thermoregulation in many mammals. Uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) is the critical regulator of thermogenesis in BAT. Here we aimed to investigate the deacetylation control of BAT and to investigate a possible functional connection between UCP1 and sirtuin 3 (SIRT3), the master mitochondrial lysine deacetylase.Methods We carried out physiological, molecular, and proteomic analyses of BAT from wild-type and Sirt3KO mice when BAT is activated. Mice were either cold exposed for 2 days or were injected with the β3-adrenergic agonist, CL316,243 (1 mg/kg; i.p.). Mutagenesis studies were conducted in a cellular model to assess the impact of acetylation lysine sites on UCP1 function. Cardiac punctures were collected for proteomic analysis of blood acylcarnitines. Isolated mitochondria were used for functional analysis of OXPHOS proteins.Results Our findings showed that SIRT3 absence in mice resulted in impaired BAT lipid use, whole body thermoregulation, and respiration in BAT mitochondria, without affecting UCP1 expression. Acetylome profiling of BAT mitochondria revealed that SIRT3 regulates acetylation status of many BAT mitochondrial proteins including UCP1 and crucial upstream proteins. Mutagenesis work in cells suggested that UCP1 activity was independent of direct SIRT3-regulated lysine acetylation. However, SIRT3 impacted BAT mitochondrial proteins activities of acylcarnitine metabolism and specific electron transport chain complexes, CI and CII.Conclusions Our data highlight that SIRT3 likely controls BAT thermogenesis indirectly by targeting pathways upstream of UCP1