Ten physical and environmental variables collected from an on-the-go soil sensor at two field sites (MF3E and MF11S) in Mississippi, USA, were analyzed to assess soil variability and the interrelationships among the m...Ten physical and environmental variables collected from an on-the-go soil sensor at two field sites (MF3E and MF11S) in Mississippi, USA, were analyzed to assess soil variability and the interrelationships among the measurements. At MF3E, moderate variability was observed in apparent electrical conductivity shallow (ECas), slope, and ECa ratio measurements, with coefficients of variation ranging from 20% to 27%. In contrast, MF11S exhibited higher variability, particularly in ECas and ECad (deep) measurements, which exceeded 30% in their coefficient of variation values, indicating significant differences in soil composition and moisture content. Correlation analysis revealed strong positive relationships between the near-infrared-to-red ratio and red reflectance (r = 0.897***) soil values at MF3E. MF11S demonstrated a strong negative correlation between ECas and ECad readings with the x-coordinate (r ***). Scatter plots and fitted models illustrated the complexity of relationships, with many showing nonlinear trends. These findings emphasize the need for continuous monitoring and advanced modeling to understand the dynamic nature of soil properties and their implications for agricultural practices. Future research should explore the underlying mechanisms driving variability in the soil characteristics to enhance soil management strategies at the study sites.展开更多
Quanto options allow the buyer to exchange the foreign currency payoff into the domestic currency at a fixed exchange rate. We investigate quanto options with multiple underlying assets valued in different foreign cur...Quanto options allow the buyer to exchange the foreign currency payoff into the domestic currency at a fixed exchange rate. We investigate quanto options with multiple underlying assets valued in different foreign currencies each with a different strike price in the payoff function. We carry out a comparative performance analysis of different stochastic volatility (SV), stochastic correlation (SC), and stochastic exchange rate (SER) models to determine the best combination of these models for Monte Carlo (MC) simulation pricing. In addition, we test the performance of all model variants with constant correlation as a benchmark. We find that a combination of GARCH-Jump SV, Weibull SC, and Ornstein Uhlenbeck (OU) SER performs best. In addition, we analyze different discretization schemes and their results. In our simulations, the Milstein scheme yields the best balance between execution times and lower standard deviations of price estimates. Furthermore, we find that incorporating mean reversion into stochastic correlation and stochastic FX rate modeling is beneficial for MC simulation pricing. We improve the accuracy of our simulations by implementing antithetic variates variance reduction. Finally, we derive the correlation risk parameters Cora and Gora in our framework so that correlation hedging of quanto options can be performed.展开更多
Food based approach can prove effective in improving access and availability of nutrients from foods required for daily life where most of the people depend on agriculture for their livelihood. A study on feasibility ...Food based approach can prove effective in improving access and availability of nutrients from foods required for daily life where most of the people depend on agriculture for their livelihood. A study on feasibility of Farming Systems for Nutrition (FSN) approach was undertaken from 2013 to 2018 in a few villages of Koraput district, Odisha state and Wardha district, Maharashtra state in India. Interventions were done to increase crop diversity, intercropping of pulses and cereals, promotion of seasonal vegetables and fruits along </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">with </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">nutrition awareness. The endline survey showed increase in production diversity leading to improved household dietary diversity. This paper demonstrates the impact of FSN interventions on household nutrient intake. The results show that the intake of nutrients like protein, vitamin C, iron and calcium increased significantly in Koraput and all the nutrients including energy and vitamin A increased significantly in Wardha. The evidence shows that Farming System for Nutrition approach improves individual nutrient intake which in the long run can address the problem of undernutrition.展开更多
A protocol for processing geographic data is proposed to guarantee authoritative and unbiased responses to geographic queries, without the need to rely on trusted third parties. The integrity of the proposed authorita...A protocol for processing geographic data is proposed to guarantee authoritative and unbiased responses to geographic queries, without the need to rely on trusted third parties. The integrity of the proposed authoritative and unbiased geographic services (AUGS) protocol is guaranteed by employing novel hash tree based authenticated data structures (ADS) in conjunction with a blockchain ledger. Hash tree based ADSes are used to incrementally compute a succinct dynamic commitments to AUGS data. A blockchain ledger is used to record 1) transactions that trigger updates to AUGS data, and 2) the updated cryptographic commitments to AUGS data. Untrusted service providers are required to provide verification objects (VOs) as proof-of-correctness of their responses to AUGS queries. Anyone with access to commitments in ledger entries can verify the proof.展开更多
文摘Ten physical and environmental variables collected from an on-the-go soil sensor at two field sites (MF3E and MF11S) in Mississippi, USA, were analyzed to assess soil variability and the interrelationships among the measurements. At MF3E, moderate variability was observed in apparent electrical conductivity shallow (ECas), slope, and ECa ratio measurements, with coefficients of variation ranging from 20% to 27%. In contrast, MF11S exhibited higher variability, particularly in ECas and ECad (deep) measurements, which exceeded 30% in their coefficient of variation values, indicating significant differences in soil composition and moisture content. Correlation analysis revealed strong positive relationships between the near-infrared-to-red ratio and red reflectance (r = 0.897***) soil values at MF3E. MF11S demonstrated a strong negative correlation between ECas and ECad readings with the x-coordinate (r ***). Scatter plots and fitted models illustrated the complexity of relationships, with many showing nonlinear trends. These findings emphasize the need for continuous monitoring and advanced modeling to understand the dynamic nature of soil properties and their implications for agricultural practices. Future research should explore the underlying mechanisms driving variability in the soil characteristics to enhance soil management strategies at the study sites.
文摘Quanto options allow the buyer to exchange the foreign currency payoff into the domestic currency at a fixed exchange rate. We investigate quanto options with multiple underlying assets valued in different foreign currencies each with a different strike price in the payoff function. We carry out a comparative performance analysis of different stochastic volatility (SV), stochastic correlation (SC), and stochastic exchange rate (SER) models to determine the best combination of these models for Monte Carlo (MC) simulation pricing. In addition, we test the performance of all model variants with constant correlation as a benchmark. We find that a combination of GARCH-Jump SV, Weibull SC, and Ornstein Uhlenbeck (OU) SER performs best. In addition, we analyze different discretization schemes and their results. In our simulations, the Milstein scheme yields the best balance between execution times and lower standard deviations of price estimates. Furthermore, we find that incorporating mean reversion into stochastic correlation and stochastic FX rate modeling is beneficial for MC simulation pricing. We improve the accuracy of our simulations by implementing antithetic variates variance reduction. Finally, we derive the correlation risk parameters Cora and Gora in our framework so that correlation hedging of quanto options can be performed.
文摘Food based approach can prove effective in improving access and availability of nutrients from foods required for daily life where most of the people depend on agriculture for their livelihood. A study on feasibility of Farming Systems for Nutrition (FSN) approach was undertaken from 2013 to 2018 in a few villages of Koraput district, Odisha state and Wardha district, Maharashtra state in India. Interventions were done to increase crop diversity, intercropping of pulses and cereals, promotion of seasonal vegetables and fruits along </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">with </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">nutrition awareness. The endline survey showed increase in production diversity leading to improved household dietary diversity. This paper demonstrates the impact of FSN interventions on household nutrient intake. The results show that the intake of nutrients like protein, vitamin C, iron and calcium increased significantly in Koraput and all the nutrients including energy and vitamin A increased significantly in Wardha. The evidence shows that Farming System for Nutrition approach improves individual nutrient intake which in the long run can address the problem of undernutrition.
文摘A protocol for processing geographic data is proposed to guarantee authoritative and unbiased responses to geographic queries, without the need to rely on trusted third parties. The integrity of the proposed authoritative and unbiased geographic services (AUGS) protocol is guaranteed by employing novel hash tree based authenticated data structures (ADS) in conjunction with a blockchain ledger. Hash tree based ADSes are used to incrementally compute a succinct dynamic commitments to AUGS data. A blockchain ledger is used to record 1) transactions that trigger updates to AUGS data, and 2) the updated cryptographic commitments to AUGS data. Untrusted service providers are required to provide verification objects (VOs) as proof-of-correctness of their responses to AUGS queries. Anyone with access to commitments in ledger entries can verify the proof.
