Weather-Based Crop Insurance Contracts for African Countries

Weather constitutes the major source for production risk in agriculture. Weather index can be used construct crop insurance that demand less information and can avoid moral hazard and adverse selection problems. Based on mean-variance model, theoretical results on the optimal insurance coverage and its impact from risk preference, basis risk, and premium loading are derived, which are quite consistent to the empirical results from the expected utility model. Using South Africa corn data, we investigate growers' demand and efficiency of alternative hypothetical weather index crop insurance programs. In contrast to previous work that suggests that a single-variable weather index suffices to develop an insurance contract, this study shows that the insured grower achieves a higher utility from multivariate weather indices. The most important single weather index we found in the study area was GDD, and the combination of rainfall and either temperature or GDD outperformed the single variable indices by a large margin. Depending on the growers risk preference, s/he may choose to buy o r offer such insurance for sale if the price is not actuarially fair. The risk protection value of weather-indexed-insurance follows the predictive power of the index on yield in general, though not exactly.Risk and Uncertainty, C51, C61, G22, Q14,

Empirical Evidence Of Sector Rotation: A Case Study Of Old Economy Industry And New Economy Industry

This research examines whether variations in returns exist between Old economy industry and New economy industry when the U.S. economy changed from expansion to contraction. The two-year period, 1999-2000 is used for examining sector rotation. Further, this study tends to investigate whether the lack of consistent time-series performance presents within an industry. Our sample industries include Oil Exploration and Production industry, Oil Well Service and Equipment industry, and Integrated Oil industry to be the representative Old economy industries. Business-to-Business software industry is an example of New economy industry. In general, our results support our hypothesis that industry factor is an important basis for substantial returns variations between New economy industry and Old economy industry. Business-to-Business software industry reports statistically significant positive Jensen Alpha of 199.66% and 483% in third quarter of 1999 and fourth quarter of 1999, respectively. However, Business-to-Business software industry shows deteriorated Jensen Alpha approaching the end of 2000. This study also documents considerable changes of quarterly Jensen Alpha for three Oil industries from time to time. Empirical evidence indicates the apparent lack of consistency in returns within an industry over time. Moreover, consistent with the oil gas futures prices patterns, three Oil industries have underperformed the market in 1998 and significantly outperformed the market in 2000

A sub-critical barrier thickness normally-off AlGaN/GaN MOS-HEMT

A new high-performance normally-off gallium nitride (GaN)-based metal-oxide-semiconductor high electron mobility transistor that employs an ultrathin subcritical 3 nm thick aluminium gallium nitride (Al0.25Ga0.75N) barrier layer and relies on an induced two-dimensional electron gas for operation is presented. Single finger devices were fabricated using 10 and 20 nm plasma-enhanced chemical vapor-deposited silicon dioxide (SiO2) as the gate dielectric. They demonstrated threshold voltages (Vth) of 3 and 2 V, and very high maximum drain currents (IDSmax) of over 450 and 650 mA/mm, at a gate voltage (VGS) of 6 V, respectively. The proposed device is seen as a building block for future power electronic devices, specifically as the driven device in the cascode configuration that employs GaN-based enhancement-mode and depletion-mode devices

SEXUAL ABUSE OF DOCTORS BY DOCTORS PROFESSIONALISM COMPLEXITY AND THE POTENTIAL FOR HEALING

Contemporary attitudes to sexual abuse are changing. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the response of the Australian Defence Force to allegations of sexual abuse in the military and the work of the Australian Human Rights Commission around sexual harassment in the workplace all indicate a shift in community values. They also represent a shift in our understanding of the nature and scope of professionalism. As each respected institution has its professional failures exposed, it becomes obvious that no group is immune. Existing codes of professional conduct have not protected colleagues or clients from toxic behaviour

Plant phenology supports the multi-emergence hypothesis for ebola spillover events

Ebola virus disease outbreaks in animals (including humans and great apes) start with sporadic host switches from unknown reservoir species. The factors leading to such spillover events are little explored. Filoviridae viruses have a wide range of natural hosts and are unstable once outside hosts. Spillover events, which involve the physical transfer of viral particles across species, could therefore be directly promoted by conditions of host ecology and environment. In this report we outline a proof of concept that temporal fluctuations of a set of ecological and environmental variables describing the dynamics of the host ecosystem are able to predict such events of Ebola virus spillover to humans and animals. We compiled a dataset of climate and plant phenology variables and Ebola virus disease spillovers in humans and animals. We identified critical biotic and abiotic conditions for spillovers via multiple regression and neural networks based time series regression. Phenology variables proved to be overall better predictors than climate variables. African phenology variables are not yet available as a comprehensive online resource. Given the likely importance of phenology for forecasting the likelihood of future Ebola spillover events, our results highlight the need for cost-effective transect surveys to supply phenology data for predictive modelling efforts

The supporting-cell antigen: a receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatase expressed in the sensory epithelia of the inner ear

After noise- or drug-induced hair-cell loss, the sensory epithelia of the avian inner ear can regenerate new hair cells. Few molecular markers are available for the supporting-cell precursors of the hair cells that regenerate, and little is known about the signaling mechanisms underlying this regenerative response. Hybridoma methodology was used to obtain a monoclonal antibody (mAb) that stains the apical surface of supporting cells in the sensory epithelia of the inner ear. The mAb recognizes the supporting-cell antigen (SCA), a protein that is also found on the apical surfaces of retinal Müller cells, renal tubule cells, and intestinal brush border cells. Expression screening and molecular cloning reveal that the SCA is a novel receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatase (RPTP), sharing similarity with human density-enhanced phosphatase, an RPTP thought to have a role in the density-dependent arrest of cell growth. In response to hair-cell damage induced by noise in vivo or hair-cell loss caused by ototoxic drug treatment in vitro, some supporting cells show a dramatic decrease in SCA expression levels on their apical surface. This decrease occurs before supporting cells are known to first enter S-phase after trauma, indicating that it may be a primary rather than a secondary response to injury. These results indicate that the SCA is a signaling molecule that may influence the potential of nonsensory supporting cells to either proliferate or differentiate into hair cell

Indicadores de rentabilidade: um comparativo entre as empresas do Novo Mercado e Mercado Tradicional

This study aimed to analyze the profitability indexes of New Market segment listed in B3 (Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão) compared to Traditional Market. As an environment in which operations and services offered by financial institutions proceed, the financial market allows flow of monetary resources between economic agents. Profitability indicators assess the results of companies, showing the degree of remuneration. The sample consisted of 229 companies from 2018, with 99 (44.1%) participating in Traditional Market and 130 (53.9%) in New Market. Descriptive statistics and differences between groups were performed. When using EBITDA Margin as a performance indicator, it was found that there is a statistically significant difference in the level of indebtedness of companies, denoting that companies in New Market generate more resources on their operations. The descriptive analysis was positive in all indicators for the New Market, with exception of Return on Equity (ROE), which performed better than Traditional Market, which can be justified by the permanence of companies with Negative Equity. The fore, conclude that companies that participate in New Market have better profitability indexes.O presente estudo teve por objetivo analisar os índices de rentabilidade das empresas que compõem o segmento do Novo Mercado listados na B3 (Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão) comparativamente ao Mercado Tradicional. Como ambiente em que procedem operações e serviços ofertados pelas instituições financeiras, o mercado de capitais possibilita o fluxo de recursos monetários entre agentes econômicos. Os indicadores de rentabilidade avaliam os resultados das empresas, demonstrando o grau de remuneração. A amostra foi composta por 229 empresas de 2018, sendo que 99 (44,1%) participam do Mercado Tradicional e 130 (53,9%) do Novo Mercado. Realizaram-se estatísticas descritivas e teste de diferenças entre grupos. Ao utilizar a Margem EBITDA como indicador de desempenho, verificou-se que existe uma diferença estatisticamente significativa no nível de endividamento das empresas, denotando que as empresas do Novo Mercado geram mais recursos sobre suas operações. A análise descritiva mostrou melhor resultado em todos os indicadores estudados para o Novo Mercado, com exceção do Retorno sobre o Patrimônio Líquido (ROE), que apresentou melhor desempenho para o Mercado Tradicional, podendo ser justificado pela permanência das empresas com Patrimônio Líquido Negativo. Portanto, conclui-se que as empresas que participam do Novo Mercado apresentam melhores índices de rentabilidade

Synthesis and crystal structure of di­chlorido­(1,10-phenanthroline-κ2N,N′)gold(III) hexa­fluorido­phosphate

FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOA gold(III) salt of composition [AuCl2(C12H8N2)]PF6 was prepared and characterized by elemental and mass spectrometric analysis (ESI(+)–QTOF–MS), 1H nuclear magnetic resonance measurements and by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The square-planar coordin73710481051FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO2015/25114-42015/20882-3140466/2014-2The authors are grateful to Dr Déborah de Alencar Simoni, technician of the Institutional Single Crystal XRD facility – UNICAMP, Brazil, for the data collection and preliminary data refinement