Power Sharing: Developing Inter-Provincial Electricity Trade

Canada needs a “Made-in-Canada” approach to electricity transmission that better exploits the benefits of east-west power trading. In this study, the author explains how to overcome the impediments to electricity trading that currently exist at provincial borders. To ensure continued access to US markets, most Canadian provinces have complied with US electricity trading rules. But when transplanted in Canada these rules limit provinces with competitive electricity markets, where electricity customers may choose among suppliers (Alberta and Ontario), in sharing the benefits of trade with their neighbouring monopoly utilities (such as in British Columbia, Manitoba, or Quebec). Some provinces rely mostly on hydroelectric generation, while others rely more on fossil or nuclear-fuelled generation. Carr says Canada would benefit from more electricity trading on an east-west axis because the sharing of different forms of electricity generation – and time-zone diversity – would allow better use of each province’s generation capacity. Carr makes several specific recommendations for provincial action. He also recommends the federal government support provincial initiatives in the event of NAFTA challenges.Economic Growth and Innovation, Canada, electricity, inter-provincial trade, NAFTA

Zapped: The High Cost of Ontario's Renewable Electricity Subsidies

Ontario’s Green Energy and Green Economy Act subsidizes producers of renewable electricity by paying them far more for their output than the prevailing market price of electricity. Wind power receives a fixed electricity price of 13.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, and solar receives even larger amounts. This subsidy will result in additional costs to the average Ontario household of $310 per year; ostensibly designed to reduce emissions and create jobs, Ontario’s renewable electricity subsidy is an expensive way of meeting these goals. The drag of unnecessarily high electricity costs on the Ontario economy could be reduced if the province did not award any further subsidized contracts to renewable electricity generators.Economic Growth and Innovation, renewable energy, Province of Ontario, Canada, Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) program, energy subsidies

Learning Over Time: A Literature Review and Case Study

This is the publisher's version, also found at http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=311dd0cd-6ea1-4d5c-8de0-704b9260d750%40sessionmgr10&vid=1&hid=17&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=s3h&AN=2663392

Use of expertise by beginning experts solving wicked problems

Unpublished paperIn this paper we study how groups of beginning experts solve a type of problem that has been referred to as ‘wicked’ or ‘social science problem’. An example of such a problem is that of school drop-out, which can be defined as a school and curriculum problem, a socio-economic problem, a cultural problem, a behavioral problem, et cetera. Mono-disciplinary teams of beginning experts in different fields addressed the problem of advising the State Board of Governors on measures to reduce school drop-out. One group demonstrated expert-like behavior in solving the problem. The other groups concentrated on particular aspects of the problem and its proposed solution whilst neglecting other aspects. Their approach contained a mixture of (beginning) expert and novice behavior, demonstrating that the expert-novice continuum is not clear-cut for these types of problem. The use of external representations that signal which aspects of the problem solving process need additional effort is discussed as a promising support, in particular to inter-disciplinary teams

Robust pricing and hedging of double no-touch options

Double no-touch options, contracts which pay out a fixed amount provided an underlying asset remains within a given interval, are commonly traded, particularly in FX markets. In this work, we establish model-free bounds on the price of these options based on the prices of more liquidly traded options (call and digital call options). Key steps are the construction of super- and sub-hedging strategies to establish the bounds, and the use of Skorokhod embedding techniques to show the bounds are the best possible. In addition to establishing rigorous bounds, we consider carefully what is meant by arbitrage in settings where there is no {\it a priori} known probability measure. We discuss two natural extensions of the notion of arbitrage, weak arbitrage and weak free lunch with vanishing risk, which are needed to establish equivalence between the lack of arbitrage and the existence of a market model.Comment: 32 pages, 5 figure

Educational series in congenital heart disease:Congenital left-sided heart obstruction

Congenital obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract remains a significant problem and multilevel obstruction can often coexist. Obstruction can take several morphological forms and may involve the subvalvar, valvar or supravalvar portion of the aortic valve complex. Congenital valvar stenosis presenting in the neonatal period represents a spectrum of disorders ranging from the hypoplastic left heart syndrome to almost normal hearts. Treatment options vary dependent on the severity of the left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) and the variable degree of left ventricular hypoplasia as well as the associated lesions such as arch hypoplasia and coarctation

DIP-2 suppresses ectopic neurite sprouting and axonal regeneration in mature neurons.

Neuronal morphology and circuitry established during early development must often be maintained over the entirety of animal lifespans. Compared with neuronal development, the mechanisms that maintain mature neuronal structures and architecture are little understood. The conserved disco-interacting protein 2 (DIP2) consists of a DMAP1-binding domain and two adenylate-forming domains (AFDs). We show that the Caenorhabditis elegans DIP-2 maintains morphology of mature neurons. dip-2 loss-of-function mutants display a progressive increase in ectopic neurite sprouting and branching during late larval and adult life. In adults, dip-2 also inhibits initial stages of axon regeneration cell autonomously and acts in parallel to DLK-1 MAP kinase and EFA-6 pathways. The function of DIP-2 in maintenance of neuron morphology and in axon regrowth requires its AFD domains and is independent of its DMAP1-binding domain. Our findings reveal a new conserved regulator of neuronal morphology maintenance and axon regrowth after injury

Patterns of Exposure to Cumulative Risk Through Age 2 and Associations with Problem Behaviors at Age 4.5: Evidence from Growing Up in New Zealand.

Exposure to cumulative risk (CR) has important implications for child development, yet little is known about how frequency, persistence, and timing of CR exposure during early childhood predict behavioral problems already before school start. We examine prospective longitudinal associations between patterns of CR exposure from third trimester through 2 years and subsequent behavior problems at 4.5 years. In 6156 diverse children in the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal study, the presence of 12 risk factors, spanning maternal health, social status, and home and neighborhood environment, defined CR and were assessed at last trimester and 9 months and 2 years of age. At child age 4.5 years, mothers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, where a score ≥ 16 indicated an abnormal level of problem behaviors (ALPB). Children exposed to a CR ≥ 1 at least once in early development, compared to those with consistent CR = 0, showed a significantly higher likelihood of ALPB at 4.5 years. Consistent high exposure to CR ≥ 4 across all three assessments had the highest prevalence (44%) of ALPB at age 4.5. Children with high CR exposure on two of three, compared to on all three, time points in early development did not evidence a significantly reduced prevalence (32%-41%) of ALPB. The common co-occurrence of risk factors and their significant developmental impact when accumulated early in life underscore the need for systematic multisector intervention and policy implementation during pregnancy and shortly after birth to improve outcomes for vulnerable children

The Otterbein Miscellany - May 1969

https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/miscellany/1009/thumbnail.jp

Manual for implementation or modification of child vision and hearing screening programmes:EUSCREEN

The euscreen study aimed to compare vision and hearing screening programmes for children in all EU states by using a cost-effectiveness model. The cost-effectiveness model predicts the most cost-effective and affordable way to screen children in each country, given the local circumstances. Representatives of countries in Europe were asked to provide detailed data on the following domains: demography, the general background of screening systems, existing screening systems, coverage/attendance, tests used, follow-up/diagnosis, treatment, benefits and adverse effects. Paediatric ophthalmologists, paediatric otolaryngologists, audiologists and professionals who organise and perform screening in each country were invited to participate in the study and report on the state of screening in their country. An extensive, detailed questionnaire was developed for that purpose. Screening programmes have been tested in the county of Cluj in Romania for vision, and in three counties in Albania for hearing screening. This manual for implementation or modification of child vision and hearing screening programmes was developed by detailed tracking, and from identified requisites, facilitators and barriers. The cost-effectiveness model and this manual for implementation will assist healthcare providers and policy makers worldwide in their decisions to introduce or modify vision and hearing screening programmes, and increase effectiveness, efficiency and equity of child healthcar