Distributed Individual-Based Environmental Simulation

This paper describes the development and construction of a distributed model allowing the simulation of a large population. Particular attention will be paid to allowing the modelling of an individual's behaviour, communication and interaction with a shared environment. Individual based modelling is not a new concept, nor is the idea of distributed simulations, the system detailed here offers a means of combining these two paradigms into one large-scale modelling environment. A key concept in this system is that each individual being modelled is implemented as a separate process. This atomisation of the model allows the simulation a greater flexibility, individuals can be rapidly developed and the simulation can be spread over a wide number of machines of varying architectures. In an attempt to produce a flexible, extensible, individual based model of a large number of individual subjects the client-server paradigm has been employed. Combining the individual-based modelling techniques with a client-server network architecture has been found to be quite straightforward with the added bonus of having communication between individuals included for free. The idea of considering the problem as one of interaction between an individual and the environment means that the problems normally associated with distributed simulations, those of continuity of world-views for different clients and of communication between clients, are easily solved. Although this system has been developed originally to allow simulations of the Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla Gorilla Beringe) population, the modelling methods employed have meant that almost any entity can be simulated with very little change to the basic simulation processes

Evaluation of the Training the Trainers Programme. What Did Trainers Know? What Did They Learn?

From 1995 to 2003 over 700 educators from the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe participated in a programme that trained them to provide services similar to those offered by centres for economic education affiliated with universities and colleges in the United States. This paper summarises pretest and post-test data to evaluate the educators' knowledge of fundamental microeconomics and macroeconomics. These results are compared to data for over 2,700 US college students who participated in the norming of the same test items used to evaluate the training programme.

A Reinvestigation of Racial Discrimination and Baseball Cards

This article presents a reexamination and extension of Nardinelli and Simon's (NS) work on the racial discrimination in the market for the Topps 1970 series of baseball cards. This article compares the descriptive statistics and regression results NS reported using data as of the end of the 1988 season with results for the same variables and similar data sources. The greatest challenge raised by this study was obtaining card prices, especially for the earliest years. Until the 1970s there was no secondary market for baseball cards, other than an informal barter market. It is not obvious why evidence supporting customer racial discrimination is concentrated in the 1984-1991 period. The pool of card collectors in 2001 is not the same as in 1979 or 1984. Discrimination among younger collectors may be less common than among older card buyers, perhaps because baseball fans have become accustomed to watching players of all races. But even if this were true it is not clear why younger collectors would have a special interest in players long retired.

Biomarkers for Huntington's disease: an update

Huntington's disease (HD) is a devastating autosomal-dominant neurodegenerative condition caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the gene encoding huntingtin which is characterised by progressive motor impairment, cognitive decline and neuropsychiatric disturbances. There are currently no disease-modifying treatments available to patients, but a number of therapeutic strategies are currently being investigated, chief among them are nucleotide-based 'gene silencing' approaches, modulation of huntingtin post-translation modification and enhancing clearance of the mutant protein. In 2008, the authors' review highlighted the need to develop and validate biomarkers and provided a systematic head-to-head comparison of such measures. They searched the PubMed database for publications, which covered each of the subheadings mentioned below. They identified from these list studies which had relevance to biomarker development, as defined in their previous review. Building on a tradition of collaborative research in HD, great advances have been made in the field since that time and a range of outcome measures are now being recommended in order to assess efficacy in future therapeutic trials

Issues in the Issuance of Enhanced Annuities

Two forces are about to create a growing market for Individual Annuities in the U. S. and Canada. First, the Post War Baby Boom (born 1946 to 1964) is inexorably moving into retirement. Second, there is a strong move away from Employer-sponsored Defined Benefit pension plans to Defined Contribution pension plans. This trend could even extend (in the U.S.) into the provision of Social Security benefits. Under these arrangements, participants must find a way to mitigate their “longevity” risk (and the investment risk, although this is not the topic of this paper). The most obvious answer is to buy a life annuity. However, at this time in the U. S. and Canada, persons who voluntarily apply to buy a life annuity are generally assumed to be in extremely good health and annuity rates are determined using very low mortality assumptions (high life expectancy assumptions). While there is a growing market in “Enhanced/Impaired Annuities”, especially in the U.K., the present pricing structure for annuities in the U. S. and Canada means that a large proportion of the population cannot get a “fair value” annuity given their less-than-preferred health profile. This paper looks at reasons for this market reality in the U. S. and Canada. It also reviews the underwriting and marketing of life annuities in the United Kingdom where “enhanced” life annuities are available for a broader cross-section of the marketplace.Individual Annuities, Defined Benefit Pension Plan, Defined Contribution Pension Plan, Retirement Income Security, Life Expectancy, Impaired Mortality

A comparison of Voxel compression mapping & longitudinal Voxel-Based morphometry

Clinical motivation: Serial brain imaging can reveal patterns of change over time with important clinical implications for neurodegenerative disease [1]. We investigate the performance of four analysis methods, in terms of a comparison of 20 patients with probable AD to 20 age- and sex-matched controls, characterising differences in change from baseline to later scans

The efficacy of a standoff pad wintering system to capture urine and mitigate nitrate leaching whilst maintaining acceptable levels of animal performance

Wintering of dairy cows on high yielding forage crops is a key contributor towards total farm nitrate leaching loses. High stocking density’s, and subsequent excretion of nitrogen- loaded urine, onto bare, saturated soils results in high nitrate leaching rates. Incorporation of standoff facilities into traditional in situ wintering systems has been suggested as a viable approach to mitigating nitrate leaching., but limited quantitative data exists for percentage of urine captured, and the performance of non-lactating dairy cows wintered under such systems. Two winter systems were compared between June and July 2017 at the Ashley Dene Research and Development Station (ADRDS). Both systems fed fodderbeet (7 KgDM/cow/day fodderbeet, 4 Kg DM/cow/day silage) but in the control system, cows spent 23 hours/day grazing fodderbeet in situ, with a one hour supplement allocation period on a concrete feedpad while the comparison was a standoff pad system, were cows were restricted to a 6 hour fodderbeet allocation period (plus one hour on the feedpad), and spent 17 hours/day on a variety of stand of pad surfaces (stones, sand, woodchip and carpet). To quantify variation in urine deposition between the two systems, PEETER urine sensors were attached to cows and used to measure urination frequency and volume. Urination behavior from eight cows were successfully measured for a period of 24 hours. To compare the suitability of the farms systems from a production perspective, fodderbeet and supplement utilization, cow liveweight, and body condition score were also measured throughout the trial. Results show there was no difference in dry matter utilization (94.2 + ±3.4%), and liveweight gain (580±6.7 gCow/day) between systems. Apparent energy consumption (123 MJME/cow/day) suggested that body condition score gain targets of 0.5 units would be achievable over a 60 day wintering period. Urination behavior was unaffected by wintering system, with average urination event volumes, urination event frequency’s, and total daily urine volumes of (1.8±1.03l/event), (8.37± 4.34 events/day) and (15.12±5.5l/cow/day) were recorded. The percentage of total urine captured under the standoff pad system (82±8.66%) suggest that the expected quantity captured is reflective of the duration of a stand off period. When compared to a 24 hour in situ system, the capture of 82% of urine reduced estimated urine coverage from 54.6% to 9.6% of total paddock area. Based on established leaching values under fodderbeet in stony, Canterbury soil types, this reduction in paddock urine coverage resulted in an estimated reduction in winter nitrate leaching of 31.4 Kg N/ha or 61.6%. It was therefore concluded that stand off pad systems can be effectively used to mitigate winter nitrate leaching whilst maintaining acceptable levels of cow performance

Studies on the B-Lactamase of a Rhodopseudomonad

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:D38327/81 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo