A Mixed Effects Model of Crop Yields for Purposes of Premium Determination

Farm income is highly variable due to annual price and yield uncertainties. The federally subsidized crop insurance program is an important tool for managing this risk, and has grown from a relatively modest program to one that encompasses the majority of productive cropland in the country. The success of this program depends on identification of actuarially fair insurance premium rates, which in turn depends on accurate estimation of farm-level yield distributions. We use the confidential U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency (RMA) panel dataset to estimate farm-specific distributions of yields and actually fair crop insurance premiums. Our ongoing work includes using the difference between our estimated actually fair premiums and RMA's to predict which insurance contracts farmers select. Ultimately, we will predict potential efficiency gains from using our empirical model for premium determination.Yield, Crop Insurance, Policy, Mixed Model, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Phosphorus retention capacity in red ferralitic soil

In this study the main physical-chemical characteristics of red ferralitic soil to use as substrate in subsurface wetlands was determined. The P-removal was evaluated in a short-term isotherm batch experiment and in a column percolation experiment. The acid characteristic and high content of iron minerals in the red ferralitic soil facilitated the phosphorus removal. Also the sorption isotherms at two different temperatures were obtained. The results showed that the sorption capacity increases with an increase in solution temperature from 25 to 35 degrees C. The experimental data were fitted to Langmuir and Freundlich models, having a better fit to the Freundlich isotherms. The maximum P-sorption capacities estimated using the Langmuir isotherm were 0.96 and 1.13 g/kg at 25 and 35 degrees C respectively. Moreover a column experiment was carried out at two different flows. Sequential extractions of the phosphorus-saturated soil indicated that phosphorus is mainly bound with iron or aluminum minerals. The results have demonstrated a good potential for red ferralitic soil for phosphorus removal from urban wastewater

Macroeconometric equivalence, microeconomic dissonance, and the design of monetary policy

Many recent studies in macroeconomics have focused on the estimation of DSGE models using a system of loglinear approximations to the models' nonlinear equilibrium conditions. The term macroeconometric equivalence encapsulates the idea that estimates using aggregate data based on first-order approximations to the equilibrium conditions of a DSGE model will not be able to distinguish between alternative underlying preferences and technologies. The concept of microeconomic dissonance refers to the fact that the underlying microeconomic differences become important when optimal monetary policy is analyzed in a nonlinear setting. The relevance of these concepts is established by analysis of optimal steady-state inflation and optimal policy in the stochastic economy using a small-scale New Keynesian model. Microeconomic and financial datasets are promising tools with which to overcome the equivalence problem.Monetary policy ; Macroeconomics ; Microeconomics

Ecological and evolutionary implications of spatial heterogeneity during the off-season for a wild plant pathogen

•While recent studies have elucidated many of the factors driving parasite dynamics during the growing season, the ecological and evolutionary dynamics during the off-season (i.e. the period between growing seasons) remain largely unexplored. •We combine large-scale surveys and detailed experiments to investigate the overwintering success of the specialist plant pathogen Podosphaera plantaginis on its patchily distributed host plant Plantago lanceolata on the Åland Islands. •Twelve years of epidemiological data establish the off-season as a crucial stage in pathogen metapopulation dynamics, with approximately forty percent of the populations going extinct during the off-season. At the end of the growing season, we observed environmentally-mediated variation in the production of resting structures, with major consequences for spring infection at spatial scales ranging from single individuals to populations within a metapopulation. Reciprocal transplant experiments further demonstrated that pathogen population of origin and overwintering site jointly shaped infection intensity in spring, with a weak signal of parasite adaptation to the local off-season environment. •We conclude that environmentally-mediated changes in the distribution and evolution of parasites during the off-season are crucial for our understanding of host-parasite dynamics, with applied implications for combating parasites and diseases in agriculture, wildlife and human disease systems.Peer reviewe

A STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EYE MOVEMENT AND GRIP FORCE DURING GOLF PUTTING

Golf is becoming a very popular sports game. In golf games, there are four kinds of strokes: driving, Iron, chip shots and putting stroke. Among the strokes, putting stroke accounts between 42% and 45% in a golf rounding(Pelz, 2000) and most golfers have difficulties on doing it. There are various parameters affecting the results of a putting stroke but effects of a few parameters were studied(Delay, 1997). However, there is a lack of studies for the simultaneous measurement and analysis of eye movement, grip force, and kinematic parameters with putting results. A purpose of this study was to quantify the parameters and identify the relationship between eye movement, grip force, and putting results

The impact of spatial scale and habitat configuration on patterns of trait variation and local adaptation in a wild plant parasite

Peer reviewe

DIFFERENCES IN GAIT DYNAMICS AMONG VARIOUS TYPES OF SHOE

INTRODUCTION: The foot provides an important source of feedback for locomotion (Nurse et al., 2005). The healthy locomotor system integrates input from the neuronal system as well as feedback from visual, vestibular and proprioceptive sensors (Hausdorff, 2007). Shoe constructions can support altering gait mechanics and/or stability training (Nigg et al., 2006). Particularly, feedback from the feet may be influenced by changing the types of shoe. According to recent studies, gait variability, such as stride-to-stride fluctuation, may be a biomechanical marker for changes of gait mechanics (Hausdorff, 2007; Peng et al., 1995). The study of gait variability offers a complementary way of quantifying locomotion and its changes with aging and disease as well as a means of monitoring the effects of therapeutic interventions and rehabilitation (Hausdorff, 2007). Then, usually temporal (stride interval time, swing interval time, stance interval time, step interval time, double support time) and spatial (stride length, step length, step width) variables were used for variability analysis. Thus, analyses for gait variability were so-called “gait dynamics“. And types of shoe may cause changes of gait performance during walking. In present study we would like to identify differences of gait dynamics (from variability point of views) between shoe types during treadmill walking

A STUDY ON GAIT PATTERN BETWEEN OLD AND YOUNG ADULTS TO EVALUATE ELDERLY SHOE: PRELIMINARY STUDY

INTRODUCTION: There are differences between gait performance of old and that of young adults (Paroczai, 2006). It is believed that these differences might have effects on the developmental procedure of shoes for the elderly. However the standard of elderly shoe for development and evaluation is not enough. Traditional gait analysis methods (kinematics and kinetics) and gait variability were used. Gait variability can offer a complementary way of quantifying locomotion and its changes with aging and disease as well as a means of monitoring the effects of therapeutic interventions and rehabilitation (Hausdorff, 2007). Especially, according to recent studies, variability was closely related to gait stability (Hausdorff, 2007). The goal of this study was to find elderly gait pattern for evaluating elderly shoe based on stability point of view