The impact of distance to nearest education institution on the post-compulsory education participation decision

This paper uses data sources with the unique capacity to measure distances between home addresses and education institutions, to investigate, for the first time, the effect that such distance has on an individual´s post–compulsory education participation decision. The results show that there is no overall net effect. However, when attention is focussed on young people who are on the margin of participating in post–compulsory education (according to their prior attainment and family background) and when post–compulsory education is distinguished by whether it leads to academic or vocational qualifications, then greater distance to nearest education institution is seen to have a significant impact on the decision to continue in full–time post–compulsory education. This finding has relevance for education participation in rural areas relative to urban areas

Origin and evolution of recent Leonid meteor showers

The four most prominent returns of the Leonid shower in the past decade fall into two broad classes. The 1966 and 1969 showers were of short duration, had a high proportion of small particles, and occured with the longest apparent delay after the perihelion passage of the parent comet Temple-Tuttle. By contrast, the 1961 and 1965 returns were of long duration, and had more large particles. The 1961 return preceded the comet. There are three major influences on particle orbits: ejection velocity, radiation pressure, and close encounters with planets. The observations are explainable in a qualitative way on the basis of the first two. But some speculation concerning the results of planetary perturbations are invoked

Duality Theory And the Consistent Estimation Of Technological Parameters: Why Cost Function Estimation Can Be Wrong

In this article we show that technological parameter estimates obtained by estimating a cost function that is derivable as the dual of a production function can be biased and inconsistent if the stochastic structure of the model arises from certain types of behavioural assumptions made about rational agents. We consider a specific example in which firms are uncertain about prices. We show that when actual prices differ from expected prices and firms have to make decisions on the basis of their expectations, the inherited stochastic specification of the dual system is highly non-linear in the disturbance terms making consistent parameter estimation impossible by conventional methods. This is demonstrated by a Monte Carlo simulation study of two text-book examples using synthetic data. It is also shown that this type of result can arise when the researcher derives the error structure from the assumption that agents make optimization errors.cost functions; duality; estimation

FORECASTING AGRICULTURAL PRICES USING A BAYESIAN COMPOSITE APPROACH

Forecast users and market analysts need quality forecast information to improve their decision-making abilities. When more than one forecast is available, the analyst can improve forecast accuracy by using a composite forecast. One of several approaches to forming composite forecasts is a Bayesian approach using matrix beta priors. This paper explains the matrix beta approach and applies it to three individual forecasts of U.S. hog prices. The Bayesian composite forecast is evaluated relative to composites made from simple averages, restricted least squares, and an adaptive weighting technique.Demand and Price Analysis,

Performance of AAV8 vectors expressing human factor IX from a hepatic-selective promoter following intravenous injection into rats

Background: Vectors based on adeno-associated virus-8 (AAV8) have shown efficiency and efficacy for liver-directed gene therapy protocols following intravascular injection, particularly in relation to haemophilia gene therapy. AAV8 has also been proposed for gene therapy targeted at skeletal and cardiac muscle, again via intravascular injection. It is important to assess vector targeting at the level of virion accumulation and transgene expression in multiple species to ascertain potential issues relating to species variation in infectivity profiles. Methods: We used AAV8 vectors expressing human factor IX (FIX) from the liver-specific LP-1 promoter and administered this virus via the intravascular route of injection into 12 week old Wistar Kyoto rats. We assessed FIX levels in serum by ELISA and transgene expression at sacrifice by immunohistochemistry using anti-FIX antibodies. Vector DNA levels in organs we determined by real time PCR. Results: Administration of 1 × 1011 or 5 × 1011 scAAV8-LP1-hFIX vector particles/rat resulted in efficient production of physiological hFIX levels, respectively in blood assessed 4 weeks post-injection. This was maintained for the 4 month duration of the study. At 4 months we observed liver persistence of vector with minimal non-hepatic distribution. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that AAV8 is a robust vector for delivering therapeutic genes into rat liver following intravascular injection