ADJUSTABLE -TERM FINANCING OF FARM LOANS

Firm-level simulation is used to analyze farm financial performance with adjustable-rate, adjustable-term, and fixed-rate financing. Adjustable-term financing is accomplished by changing the term of the loan, instead of payment size, when interest rates change. Simulation results indicate that the adjustable-term loan is an innovation which reduces the cash flow destabilizing effects of volatile interest rates.Agricultural Finance,

A faster learning neural network classifier using selective backpropagation

The problem of saturation in neural network classification problems is discussed. The listprop algorithm is presented which reduces saturation and dramatically increases the rate of convergence. The technique uses selective application of the backpropagation algorithm, such that training is only carried out for patterns which have not yet been learnt to a desired output activation tolerance. Furthermore, in the output layer, training is only carried out for weights connected to those output neurons in the output vector which are still in error, which further reduces neuron saturation and learning time. Results are presented for a 196-100-46 Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) neural network used for text-to-speech conversion, which show that convergence is achieved for up to 99.7% of the training set compared to at best 94.8% for standard backpropagation. Convergence is achieved in 38% of the time taken by the standard algorithm

The MATCH project: collaboration between academia and industry

The university sector offers innovative research initiatives which industry should be tapping. Michael Craven, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham, reports on a unique collaboration between academia and industry that is helping companies assess the value of medical technology

Deploying a spreadsheet tool for early economic value assessment of medical device innovations with healthcare decision makers

Early stage evaluation of medical device innovations is important for healthcare decision-makers as much as for manufacturers, meaning that a wider application of a basic cost-effectiveness analysis is becoming necessary outside the usual expert base of health technology assessment specialists. Resulting from an academic-industry-healthcare professional collaboration, a spreadsheet tool is described that was designed to be accessible both to professionals in healthcare delivery organisations and to innovators in the healthcare technology industry who are non-experts in the field of health economics. The tool enables a basic cost-effectiveness analysis to be carried out, using a simplified decision-tree model to compare costs and patient benefit for a new device-related procedure with that of standard care employing an incumbent device or other alternative. Such a tool is useful to healthcare professionals because it enables them to rapidly elucidate the cost-effectiveness of heterogeneous innovations by means of the standard quality adjusted life year (QALY) measure of clinical outcome, which is intended to be broadly comparable across treatments. For the innovator or manufacturer it helps them focus on what is required for future stages of development, in order to fill gaps in the input data and so further strengthen their case from a health economics perspective. Results are presented of first experiences from deploying the tool on three medical device exemplars, in face-to-face meetings of the NHS National Innovation Centre (NIC) along with the innovator or clinical champion. The results show that mapping of device-related innovations to the tool is achievable in a short meeting between the NIC and the innovator using expected costs, outcomes data from the literature and estimates of ranges for unknown input data. Whilst the result of a simplified analysis is not expected to be definitive, the process of reasoning is found to be illuminating for the parties involved, enabling innovators to articulate the benefits of their innovations and for all parties to highlight gaps in data and evidence that will be required to take the innovation forward. The partnership model of the authors’ organisation supports the kind of cooperative design approach that is necessary to produce the kind of tool described.---------------------------7dd39101208fa Content-Disposition: form-data; name="c14_creators_1_name_family" Crave

Games to engage: increasing mental health awareness

In recent years there has been rapid growth in the development and use of digital tools in healthcare. One area of research interest is the use of games as tools to improve health and education. Gamification of health is a broad area that includes games aimed at encouraging healthy behaviours through motivation, 'exergaming, ' which explicitly aims to improve health through physical activity, 'serious games' that are intended to support therapies and rehabilitation, and games that support training, for example through simulation. Another area is public health awareness and education which is an area of current research in MindTech. [...] If done with care and sensitivity, bringing game elements into the toolkit of user-centred design methodologies for engaging people with research and mental health awareness has good potential and is worthy of continued attention

Games to engage: increasing mental health awareness

In recent years there has been rapid growth in the development and use of digital tools in healthcare. One area of research interest is the use of games as tools to improve health and education. Gamification of health is a broad area that includes games aimed at encouraging healthy behaviours through motivation, 'exergaming, ' which explicitly aims to improve health through physical activity, 'serious games' that are intended to support therapies and rehabilitation, and games that support training, for example through simulation. Another area is public health awareness and education which is an area of current research in MindTech. [...] If done with care and sensitivity, bringing game elements into the toolkit of user-centred design methodologies for engaging people with research and mental health awareness has good potential and is worthy of continued attention