2,757 research outputs found
Cryptocurrency: History, Advantages, Disadvantages, and the Future
Cryptocurrency is a digital asset that has seen a large amount of attention within the past five years. Its origin is intriguing to some based upon its newness, yet it has invoked mysticism and skepticism in others. Bitcoin is the most recognizable currency, receiving heavy media attention. There are several other cryptocurrencies as well, less in the spotlight. Most appealing to cryptocurrency could include lack of government oversight, and increased privacy available to the consumer(s) (Bunjaku, Gjorgieva-Trajkovska, and Miteva-Kacarski, 2017, p. 37). Additional advantages include the simplicity in the start-up process, the ease of transferability, and the opportunity to have a seamless process in investing and/or exchanging monies. Cryptocurrency creates the ability to invest for some people groups that could never invest before and diversify investment portfolios (Theron and van Vuure, 2018, p. 2). While the newness of cryptocurrency certainly has been appealing for some, it also has been perceived oppositional by others. There has been concerns identified with regard to the level of trust required, an obvious and significant drawback if valid. Another identified disadvantage to cryptocurrency is its low amount of oversight and liquidity hurt for investing future. The ability for cryptocurrency to be used for illegal and/or evil activity is an ethical drawback (Nian and Chuen, 2015, p. 15). Lastly, the uncertainty of the future is a significant drawback. The future of cryptocurrency requires much economic forecasting. The new changes that cryptocurrency will bring to traditional economic institutes is an area which cryptocurrency needs to explored more. Lastly, is cryptocurrency a fad or an economic bubble
WHAT IS THE VALUE OF BT CORN?
A common perception is that the value of Bt corn arises from two components-Bt corn increases expected profit and reduces profit variability. This perception encourages farmers and the policy makers to add a risk benefit to estimates of the value of Bt corn to account for the variability reduction. However, a conceptual model generates a useful decomposition of the value of Bt corn and a condition determining the impact of Bt corn on profit variability. An empirical model finds that Bt corn increases profit variability and thus decreases the value of Bt corn by 10-25% depending on risk preferences.Crop Production/Industries,
The use of air induction nozzles for herbicide application to sugar beet.
End of Project ReportTrials were carried out over a three-year period in Oak Park to compare airinduction
with conventional nozzles for weed control in sugar beet. Two makes of
low-drift nozzle (Bubble Jet and DriftBETA) were compared with conventional
fans. All nozzles were used at a pressure of 3 bar. Two sizes (015 and 03) of
each type of nozzle were used, to allow volumes of 110 and 220 litres per
hectare to be applied. These nozzles were used to apply two-spray programmes
to sugar-beet crops. In four of the weed control trials, tank mixes of products with
some residual action (Progress, Goltix, Venzar and Debut) were used. In the
other two trials, a contact-only spray (Betanal E) was used. The aim was to see
how the nozzles behaved with contact-only sprays as well as those with more
complex modes of action. Spray drift was also measured with the size 03
nozzles.
Spray drift reductions from 37% to 64% were measured when the air-induction
nozzles were compared with conventional fans. In general, the tank mix
programme gave better weed control than the contact-only treatments. Within
programmes, differences between the application methods were significant in
two trials. In both of these, the conventional nozzles gave the best results.
Looking at the mean results of the tank-mix trials, two trends were suggested:
higher water volumes gave slightly better weed control, and the effect of the
coarser sprays was slight. With the contact-only sprays, the decline in
performance with the coarser sprays was more emphatic, and the lower volumes
appeared to give slightly better control.
It is concluded that in calm conditions conventional fan or cone nozzles should
continue to be used, but that air-induction nozzles are a valuable fall-back when
it is necessary to spray in a moderate breeze. In these situations, and with the
normal tank-mix programmes, small nozzle sizes applying very low volumes
should be avoided. Makes of air-induction nozzle which give very coarse spray
should also be avoided
Navigation and meteorological error equations for some aerodynamic parameters
Mathematical equations for the analysis of the errors that are expected in a set of postflight aerodynamic parameters are presented. The errors are due to inaccuracies in the Shuttle best estimate trajectory and in the meteorological data obtained in support of the flights. The error analysis shows that the parameter vector, Z, and its associated error covariance matrix, C sub Z, is calculated from a given state vector, X, and its associated covariance matrix, C sub X
Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Positive Predictor of Type 2 Diabetes?
The aim of this paper is to consider the relative benefits of screening for type two diabetes mellitus in women with a previous pregnancy complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus. Recent studies suggest that women who experience GDM are at a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes within 10–20 years of their index pregnancy. If considered as a stand-alone indicator of the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, GDM is a poor diagnostic test. Most women do not develop GDM during pregnancy and of those that do most do not develop type 2 diabetes. There is, however, a clear need for better early detection of predisposition to disease and/or disease onset to significantly impact on this global pandemic. The putative benefits of multivariate approaches and first trimester and preconception screening to increase the sensitivity of risk assignment modalities for type 2 diabetes are proposed
Epigenetic Regulation of Cytokine Production in Human Amnion and Villous Placenta
The mechanisms of human preterm labour appear inextricably linked to cytokine biosynthesis by gestational tissues. In turn, cytokine production by gestational tissues has been shown to be regulated by epigenetic mechanisms. In this paper, we demonstrate that cytokine production in gestational tissues is regulated epigenetically in a tissue-specific manner. Furthermore, we show that treatment with a histone deacetylation inhibitor can partially abrogate LPS-stimulated TNFα production in villous placenta but not amnion. LPS treatment significantly (P < 0.05) increased the production of IL-1β (∼10–34-fold), TNFα (∼23–>100-fold) and IL10 (∼6–10-fold) after 24 h of treatment in villous explants, as expected. There were no significant LPS effects on IL1Ra production. AZA treatment did not have any significant effect on any cytokines' production tested either alone or in combination with LPS. Interestingly, however, the stimulatory effects of LPS on TNFα production were partially mitigated (P < 0.05) by TSA treatment in villous explants. We suggest caution in the consideration of histone deacetylation inhibitors in pregnancy due to the different responses in gestational tissues
Self-gravitating fragmentation of eccentric accretion disks
We consider the effects of eccentricity on the fragmentation of
gravitationally unstable accretion disks, using numerical hydrodynamics. We
find that eccentricity does not affect the overall stability of the disk
against fragmentation, but significantly alters the manner in which such
fragments accrete gas. Variable tidal forces around an eccentric orbit slow the
accretion process, and suppress the formation of weakly-bound clumps. The
"stellar" mass function resulting from the fragmentation of an eccentric disk
is found to have a significantly higher characteristic mass than that from a
corresponding circular disk. We discuss our results in terms of the disk(s) of
massive stars at ~0.1pc from the Galactic Center, and find that the
fragmentation of an eccentric accretion disk, due to gravitational instability,
is a viable mechanism for the formation of these systems.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
- …