Public, Producer, Private Partnerships and EPR systems in Australian Wheat Breeding

Australia has a crop research system with higher research intensity than exists internationally. Motivated to improve R&D policy in Canada, this dissertation focuses on the Australian End Point Royalty (EPR) system for wheat and addresses four principal questions: (1) How was the Australian system created and how does it work? (2) How do public, producer and private ownership of breeding programs affect the pricing of varieties? (3) How do EPR rates affect wheat variety adoption? (4) Finally, how would uniform EPR rates, similar to those used in France, affect variety selection, total production and revenue if used in the Australian market? In addressing the first question I use existing literature and interviews with prominent personnel in the Australian wheat breeding system, including management of InterGrain, AGT, DAFWA, GRDC and others. Interviews were conducted during field study in Australia in 2011. In addressing the second question I employ a horizontal location model to analyze three game theoretic scenarios of a two firm oligopoly market with private, public and producer owned-breeding companies. The results show public and producer ownership of one of the wheat breeding programs reduces price level relative to private only ownership. I derive a novel result showing that when competing with private firms who must price above marginal cost, the public firm should also price above marginal cost in order to maximize total industry surplus. In addressing the third question I develop and estimate an econometric wheat variety adoption model for Western Australia. I find EPR rates have a negative inelastic, statistically significant impact on the adoption of varieties. Finally, in addressing the last question, I use the econometric model to simulate the adoption of Australian wheat varieties, given a counterfactual of revenue neutral uniform EPR rates. The uniform EPR rates speed up both the adoption and dis-adoption of varieties, thereby increasing weighted average yield and total production. The value of the increase in value of production exceeds the revenue for breeders under varying EPR rates, suggesting uniform EPR system may be an attractive alternative to varying EPR rates

The sexuality and the quality of life of women examined to 18 months and 5 years after the surgery on the mastectomy – comparative analysis

Publikacja recenzowana / Peer-reviewed publicationAim. The aim of the study was to analyze the impact of the disease (breast cancer) and treatment on sexuality patients after mastectomy as part of the project „Sexuality women after mastectomy,” N N404 165640. Materials and methods. Examined were 120 women, fi rstly 18 months and then again 5 years after radical mastectomy. To investigate their sexual satisfaction and quality of life, self-prepared surveys and standardized questionnaires such as HADS, SQoL-F, QLQBR23 and QLQ-C30 were used. Results. On the basis of these studies it has been shown that breast cancer aff ects the sexuality and the quality of life of women both 18 months and fi ve years after radical mastectomy. The sexuality of women 18 months after the surgery has been defi ned as less severe than that in the case of women fi ve years after the surgery. Both groups of women agreed that the most important aspect to them is the emotional contact. A similar level of perceived anxiety and depression have been found among the respondents

Educational trails of the Racławka Valley Nature Reserve and their potential for geoeducation

The Racławka Valley is located west of Krakow, in the Krakow-Częstochowa Upland. This is a place of high bio- and geodiversity, where various rocks of different ages outcrop in vast excavation pits, narrow gorges or form characteristic monadnocks. The richness of various morphological forms and special habitats led to the constitution of a nature reserve, covering most of the Racławka Valley and adjacent, southern parts of the Szklarka Valley. Three educational trails lead through the reserve, connecting a number of geosites. The Geotourism Students’ Scientific Club (GSSC) from AGH University of Science and Technology examined the usability of these trails for geoeducation. After completing geotourism valorisation, adequate teaching materials were prepared, and different age groups were guided around the trails. Their comprehension has been verified by quizzes and opinions gathered through questionnaires. On the bases of these, the three educational trails were widely described and assessed in respect for their terrain difficulty, accessibility, and infrastructure. Each trail has a leitmotif and a specific theme, however geosites from different trails can be combined together to get a route of a chosen theme. The GSSC also released three new geotourism guidebooks, one for each trail, as a result of AGH rector's grant projects in the years 2018–2020.Dolina Racławki położona jest na zachód od Krakowa, na Wyżynie Krakowsko-Częstochowskiej. Stanowi ona obszar o dużejbio- i georóżnorodności, gdzie rozmaite skały o różnym wieku odsłaniają się w rozległych wyrobiskach, na ścianach wąwozów lub w postaci ostańców. Ze względu na bogactwo form morfologicznych i wykształcone na nich siedliska, większość doliny Racławkii przyległą, południową część doliny Szklarki objęto rezerwatem przyrody. Przez obszar rezerwatu prowadzą trzy ścieżki dydaktyczne łączące szereg geostanowisk. Koło Naukowe Geoturystyka (KNGt) z Akademii Górniczo-Hutniczej zbadało ich przydatność dla geoedukacji. Po dokonaniu waloryzacji geoturystycznej opracowano materiały dydaktyczne, a następnie po ścieżkach oprowadzono różne grupy wiekowe. Za pomocą quizów sprawdzono zrozumienie przez uczestników omawianych tematów, a opinie zebrano w formie ankiet. Działania te umożliwiły dokładne opisanie ścieżek oraz ich ocenę pod kątem trudności terenu, dostępnościi infrastruktury. Każda ze ścieżek ma motyw przewodni, można je jednak z powodzeniem łączyć, by zaplanować trasę o określonej tematyce. KNGt przygotowało też trzy przewodniki geoturystyczne po dolinie Racławki, po jednym dla każdej ze ścieżek, w ramach Grantu Rektora AGH w latach 2018–2020

New method for quantitative analysis of GD2 ganglioside in plasma of neuroblastoma patients

Neuroblastoma, the most common extracranial solid tumour of childhood, is a malignancy of unknown origin and non-specific symptoms. One of the markers of the disease is GD2 ganglioside (disialoganglioside), which is abundantly expressed on the surface of neuroblastoma cells. Gangliosides are known to be shed by tumour cells and this phenomenon can be significant in cancer progression as they inhibit a number of immune responses both in vitro and in vivo. In search for novel markers useful in monitoring and prognosis of neuroblastoma, we developed and validated a new quantitative method of GD2 ganglioside analysis in human blood plasma. We evaluated the level of gangliosides in blood serum of 34 neuroblastoma patients using high-performance liquid chromatography. The technique was used to detect fluorescently labelled oligosaccharides derived from serum glycosphingolipids by enzymatic digestion with ceramide glycanase. The developed method allowed determination of GD2 concentrations at the picomole level and required only 40 µl of plasma, which should be particularly useful when the quantity of clinical material is limiting. Moreover, this method can be applied to study concentration of other gangliosides, as shown for GD3 ganglioside. Analysis of plasma samples from the 34 neuroblastoma patients did not reveal any correlations between the concentration of GD2 ganglioside and clinical parameters, including the results of therapy; it showed, however, that the concentration of GD2 ganglioside in the plasma of neuroblastoma patients decreased substantially in the course of treatment

Działania opiekuńcze w profilaktyce i terapii

Praca recenzowana / Peer-reviewed paperOpieka jest potrzebna wszystkim, zarówno dzieciom, jak i dorosłym, a w sposób szczególny osobom starszym, w tym terminalnie chorym. Prezentowane w niniejszej monografi i teksty uwzględniają właśnie tę wieloczynnikową aktywność opiekuńczą. Autorami poszczególnych rozdziałów są pracownicy naukowi zaangażowani w proces edukacyjny w zakresie nauk o zdrowiu, pracujący w Krakowskiej Akademii im. Andrzeja Frycza Modrzewskiego, ale także studenci PWSZ w Tarnowie. W różnorodnym zakresie przedstawili i omówili oni główne tezy monografii

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass