Equipment for Application of Granular Pesticides

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Using Low Pressure Sprayers

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Free-riding on liquidity

Do financial market participants free-ride on liquidity? To address this question, we construct a dynamic general equilibrium model where agents face idiosyncratic preference and technology shocks. A secondary financial market allows agents to adjust their portfolio of liquid and illiquid assets in response to these shocks. The opportunity to do so reduces the demand for the liquid asset and, hence, its value. The optimal policy response is to restrict (but not eliminate) access to the secondary financial market. The reason for this result is that the portfolio choice exhibits a pecuniary externality: An agent does not take into account that by holding more of the liquid asset, he not only acquires additional insurance but also marginally increases the value of the liquid asset which improves insurance to other market participants.Monetary policy, liquidity, financial markets

Arriving on a Different Planet: Navigating College and Employer Expectations while on the Autism Spectrum

This workshop explores the process of entering college and then the work force from the perspective of someone who is on the Autism Spectrum. From your child learning to be an independent individual on the college scene (joining clubs, making friends, and in other social situations) and succeeding in his or her college classrooms. We will also be exploring what it is like to enter the work force after leaving college and how someone who is on the Autism Spectrum looks for work and how she or he learns to work in a new environment. Topics include getting your outfit ready for work, getting along with their coworkers and boss, and giving good customer service in one’s own profession. We will also be exploring how parents of autistic children can learn to incrementally step back to allow their children to independently learn what the world has offer adults in college and in a work environment. Sam will also discuss how he personally overcame such challenges as a young adult on the Autism Spectrum, providing a fresh understanding of what it’s like to be a young adult on the Autism Spectrum, and inspire others to let autistic people grab hold of their own lives and thrive

Temperature dependent removal of sodium chloride (NaCl) from synthetic nitrified urine

Urine is the source of the major part of plant nutrients in municipal wastewater. Therefore, full nutrient recovery from source-separated urine is an attractive option for both treating wastewater and gaining a valuable fertilizer product. Full nutrient recovery can be achieved by first stabilizing collected urine by nitrification and then concentrating the urine by distillation. Since concentrations of all salts in urine increase with increasing removal of water also the sodium chloride (NaCl) content is high in the end. There are two problems related to NaCl, the first being the synergistic decomposition of ammonium nitrate by chloride and the second being soil salinity and sodicity related problems when applying the product as fertilizer. Solubility experiments using synthetic nitrified urine were carried out in the temperature range between 40 and 90°C. The synthetic urine solution contained seven inorganic ions at constant composition (NH4+ , Na+, K+ // NO3- , SO4-- , PO4--- , Cl- - H2O) and different water contents in order to determine the achievable extend of NaCl removal. The aim was to find the conditions, at which a maximal amount of sodium chloride can be removed with minimal loss of other nutrients, especially nitrogen. The underlying hypothesis was, that the solubility of ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) shows a much stronger temperature dependence compared to NaCl and therefore selective NaCl removal can be achieved at elevated temperatures. The analysis of the solids showed, that mainly Cl-, SO4-- , Na- and to a lower extend NH4+ were present. At higher temperatures, more Cl- relative to NH+4 was present in the solids. At 40°C, only NH4Cl was found while for all temperatures above 60°C no NH4+ was observed at similar water contents. The maximal removal of sodium chloride was achieved at a water content of 7.1 % and was around 50 %. Na+ removal was as high as 33 %. Nitrogen losses as NH4Cl precipitate were around 11 %, while basically no potassium or phosphate was lost. It was concluded, that selective removal of NaCl is possible at elevated temperatures. The maximal removal of Cl-, however, might not be sufficient to affect ammonium nitrate decomposition significantly. With regard to soil salinization, the achieved NaCl removal might well have a relevant impact. In order to rationalize results, two numerical models for electrolyte solutions, Pitzer and extended Uniquac, were applied. Both models could only give rough estimates for concentrations, at which crystallization started, as well as for the identities of solid phases. This result might be due to various reason, one being the very high ionic strengths in the nitrified urine system. Some preliminary results for full nitrification using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) were obtained, and this process alternative circumventing the problem of ammonium nitrate decomposition is discussed. Future investigations should focus on the following topics: the applicability of the results for synthetic urine on real urine; the effect of varying nitrogen contents in urine on NaCl removal; the mechanisms responsible for the loss of nitrogen during collection and storage of urine; full nitrification as an alternative process; further development of numerical models for electrolyte solutions at high ionic strengths

Centralized trading of corporate bonds

In the post-crisis period, increased regulation of financial intermediaries led to a significant decline in corporate bond market liquidity. In order to stabilize these markets, policy makers recently proposed that the trading of corporate bonds should be more centralized. In this paper, we show that a centralization of corporate bond markets always leads to an inferior outcome when compared with the initial over-the-counter structure. The regulator may achieve a superior allocation only if it is feasible for him to also affect market liquidity, by either increasing or decreasing it

Degreasing the wheels of finance

Can there be too much trading in financial markets? To address this question, we construct a dynamic general equilibrium model, where agents face idiosyncratic preference and technology shocks. A financial market allows agents to adjust their portfolio of liquid and illiquid assets in response to these shocks. The opportunity to do so reduces the demand for the liquid asset and, hence, its value. The optimal policy response is to restrict (but not eliminate) access to the financial market. The reason for this result is that the portfolio choice exhibits a pecuniary externality: An agent does not take into account that by holding more of the liquid asset, he not only acquires additional insurance but also marginally increases the value of the liquid asset which improves insurance for other market participants

The societal benefits of a financial transaction tax

We investigate the positive and normative implications of a tax on financial market transactions in a dynamic general equilibrium model, where agents face idiosyncratic liquidity shocks and financial trading is essential. Our main finding is that agents' portfolio choices display a pecuniary externality which results in too much trading. We calibrate the model to U.S. data and find an optimal tax rate of 2.5 percent. Imposing this tax reduces trading in financial markets by 30 percent

Limited commitment and the demand for money in the UK

In the United Kingdom, money demand deviates from the convex relationship suggested by monetary theory. Limited commitment of borrowers via banks can explain this observation. Our finding is based on a microfounded monetary model, where a money market provides insurance against idiosyncratic liquidity shocks by offering short-term loans and by paying interest on money market deposits. We calibrate the model to U.K. data and show that limited commitment significantly improves the fit between the theoretical money demand function and the data. Limited commitment can also explain the "liquidity trap"; i.e., why the ratio of credit to M1 is currently so low, despite the fact that nominal interest rates are at their lowest recorded levels