The effect of rental rates on the extension of Conservation Reserve Program contracts

Given that the majority of conservation reserve program (CRP) contracts on approximately 36 million acres of enrolled land expire concurrently, re-enrollment decisions by farmers and the federal government have high budgetary implications. Using a survey of over 8,000 CRP contract holders, we apply an ordered response discrete choice model to explicitly model the range in rental rates over which the representative farmer may be ambivalent to renewing the CRP contract. Given the empirical results from the ordered response model, we estimate acreage re-enrollment as a function of the rental rate and compare them to results of a binomial choice model.CRP contracts; ordered probit; re-enrollment; respondent indifference

Automated Game Design Learning

While general game playing is an active field of research, the learning of game design has tended to be either a secondary goal of such research or it has been solely the domain of humans. We propose a field of research, Automated Game Design Learning (AGDL), with the direct purpose of learning game designs directly through interaction with games in the mode that most people experience games: via play. We detail existing work that touches the edges of this field, describe current successful projects in AGDL and the theoretical foundations that enable them, point to promising applications enabled by AGDL, and discuss next steps for this exciting area of study. The key moves of AGDL are to use game programs as the ultimate source of truth about their own design, and to make these design properties available to other systems and avenues of inquiry.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for CIG 201

The effect of rental rates on the extension of Conservation Reserve Program contracts

Given that the majority of conservation reserve program (CRP) contracts on approximately 36 million acres of enrolled land expire concurrently, re-enrollment decisions by farmers and the federal government have high budgetary implications. Using a survey of over 8,000 CRP contract holders, we apply an ordered response discrete choice model to explicitly model the range in rental rates over which the representative farmer may be ambivalent to renewing the CRP contract. Given the empirical results from the ordered response model, we estimate acreage re-enrollment as a function of the rental rate and compare them to results of a binomial choice model

Antipsychotic Polypharmacy and Adverse Drug Reactions Among Adults in a London Mental Health Service, 2008-2018

Background: Antipsychotic polypharmacy (APP) occurs commonly but it is unclear whether it is associated with an increased risk of adverse drug reactions. Electronic health records (EHRs) offer an opportunity to examine APP using real-world data. In this study, we use EHR data to identify periods when patients were prescribed 2+ antipsychotics and compare these with periods of antipsychotic monotherapy. To determine the relationship between APP and subsequent instances of adverse drug reactions: QT interval prolongation, hyperprolactinaemia, and increased body weight (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 25). / Methods: We extracted anonymised EHR data. Patients aged 16+ receiving antipsychotic medication at Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2018 were included. Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression models were used to elucidate the relationship between APP and the subsequent presence of QT interval prolongation, hyperprolactinaemia, and/or increased BMI following a period of APP within 7, 30, or 180 days respectively. / Results: We identified 35,409 observations of antipsychotic prescribing among 13,391 patients. APP was associated with a subsequent increased risk of hyperprolactinaemia (adjusted odds ratio 2.46; 95% C.I. 1.87-3.24) and of having a BMI > 25 (adjusted odds ratio 1.75; 95% C.I. 1.33-2.31) in the period following the APP prescribing. / Conclusions: Our observations suggest that APP should be carefully managed with attention to hyperprolactinaemia and obesity

Antipsychotic polypharmacy and adverse drug reactions among adults in a London mental health service, 2008-2018

BACKGROUND: Antipsychotic polypharmacy (APP) occurs commonly but it is unclear whether it is associated with an increased risk of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Electronic health records (EHRs) offer an opportunity to examine APP using real-world data. In this study, we use EHR data to identify periods when patients were prescribed 2 + antipsychotics and compare these with periods of antipsychotic monotherapy. To determine the relationship between APP and subsequent instances of ADRs: QT interval prolongation, hyperprolactinaemia, and increased body weight [body mass index (BMI) ⩾ 25]. METHODS: We extracted anonymised EHR data. Patients aged 16 + receiving antipsychotic medication at Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2018 were included. Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression models were used to elucidate the relationship between APP and the subsequent presence of QT interval prolongation, hyperprolactinaemia, and/or increased BMI following a period of APP within 7, 30, or 180 days respectively. RESULTS: We identified 35 409 observations of antipsychotic prescribing among 13 391 patients. Compared with antipsychotic monotherapy, APP was associated with a subsequent increased risk of hyperprolactinaemia (adjusted odds ratio 2.46; 95% CI 1.87-3.24) and of registering a BMI > 25 (adjusted odds ratio 1.75; 95% CI 1.33-2.31) in the period following the APP prescribing. CONCLUSIONS: Our observations suggest that APP should be carefully managed with attention to hyperprolactinaemia and obesity

Lattice study of ChPT beyond QCD

We describe initial results by the Lattice Strong Dynamics (LSD) collaboration of a study into the variation of chiral properties of chiral properties of SU(3) Yang-Mills gauge theory as the number of massless flavors changes from $N_f = 2$ to $N_f = 6$, with a focus on the use of chiral perturbation theory.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Presented at the 6th International Workshop on Chiral Dynamics, University of Bern, Switzerland, July 6-10 200

Toward TeV Conformality

We study the chiral condensate $$ for an SU(3) gauge theory with $N_f$ massless Dirac fermions in the fundamental representation when $N_f$ is increased from 2 to 6. For $N_f=2$, our lattice simulations of $<\bar{\psi} \psi >/F^3$, where $F$ is the Nambu-Goldstone-boson decay constant, agree with the measured QCD value. For $N_f = 6$, this ratio shows significant enhancement, presaging an even larger enhancement anticipated as $N_f$ increases further, toward the critical value for transition from confinement to infrared conformality.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. v2: revised version for PR

WW Scattering Parameters via Pseudoscalar Phase Shifts

Using domain-wall lattice simulations, we study pseudoscalar-pseudoscalar scattering in the maximal isospin channel for an SU(3) gauge theory with two and six fermion flavors in the fundamental representation. This calculation of the S-wave scattering length is related to the next-to-leading order corrections to WW scattering through the low-energy coefficients of the chiral Lagrangian. While two and six flavor scattering lengths are similar for a fixed ratio of the pseudoscalar mass to its decay constant, six-flavor scattering shows a somewhat less repulsive next-to-leading order interaction than its two-flavor counterpart. Estimates are made for the WW scattering parameters and the plausibility of detection is discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Credible biodiversity offsetting needs public national registers to confirm no net loss

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The AuthorsIn the face of the ongoing biodiversity crisis, questions are arising regarding the success, or lack thereof, of biodiversity offset schemes, where biodiversity losses from human development are compensated by producing equitable gains elsewhere. The overarching goal of offsetting is to deliver no net loss (NNL) of biodiversity. Assessing whether offsetting does indeed deliver NNL is, however, challenging because of a lack of clear and reliable information about offset schemes. Here we consider barriers in tracking NNL outcomes, outline criteria of public offset registers to enable accessible and credible reporting of NNL, and show how existing registers fail to satisfy those criteria. The lack of accessibility and transparency in existing registers represents a fundamental gap between NNL targets and a valid tracking system, which challenges the impetus to enact the transformative changes needed to reverse biodiversity decline.Peer reviewe