Backwardation Research Articles

The Determinants of Marginal Convenience Yield in Agricultural Commodity Markets

AbstractWe report a significant downward trend in the convenience yield for holding physical inventory in agricultural commodity futures markets, attributing this negative trend to speculative demand shocks, which in turn, leads in decreasing agricultural convenience yields. Moreover, agricultural convenience yields appear negative on average during the recent financialization (of commodities) period. We additionally show that the response of agricultural convenience yields to commodity price uncertainty and supply shocks is much less pronounced in magnitude and persistence compared to that of hedging demand shocks. Overall, our analysis verifies the Keynesian theory of normal backwardation by showing a long‐lasting positive response of agricultural convenience yields to a hedging demand shock, thereby leaving the hedging demand as the most significant factor explaining the less frequently observed backwardations in agricultural futures markets.

Functional Brain Adaptations During Speech Processing in 4-Month-Old Bilingual Infants.

Language learning is influenced by both neural development and environmental experiences. This work investigates the influence of early bilingual experience on the neural mechanisms underlying speech processing in 4-month-old infants. We study how an early environmental factor such as bilingualism interacts with neural development by comparing monolingual and bilingual infants' brain responses to speech. We used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure 4-month-old Spanish-Basque bilingual and Spanish monolingual infants' brain responses while they listened to forward (FW) and backward (BW) speech stimuli in Spanish. We reveal distinct neural signatures associated with bilingual adaptations, including increased engagement of bilateral inferior frontal and temporal regions during speech processing in bilingual infants, as opposed to left hemispheric functional specialization observed in monolingual infants. This study provides compelling evidence of bilingualism-induced brain adaptations during speech processing in infants as young as 4 months. These findings emphasize the role of early language experience in shaping neural plasticity during infancy suggesting that bilingual exposure at this young age profoundly influences the neural mechanisms underlying speech processing.

Structure of Silicon Wafers Planar Surface before and after Rapid Thermal Treatment

Presently it is important to remove mechanically disturbed layer on wafer surface during creation of up-to-date microelectronic products. Rapid thermal treatment with optical pulses of second duration is one of the applicable methods for removing disturbances in crystal lattice emerging after ion implantation. However the crystal structure of mechanically disturbed layer on wafer planar side is still unclear. Researches by transmission electronic method, analysis of diffraction reflection curve and electronic Auger spectroscopy has failed to provide reliable data about the state of crystal lattice in surface layer of at least 30 nm thickness. Hence it was impossible to suggest a model of solid phase recrystallization and to present its mathematical description. The goals of the work were as follows: – identify of silicon crystal lattice state in surface layer of 30 nm thickness before and after rapid thermal treatment by backward reflected electrons diffraction method using raw Si wafers surface; – analysis of contamination element composition on the surface of raw silicon before and after rapid thermal treatment; – model development for solid phase recrystallization of surface disturbed layer after rapid thermal treatment and its mathematical description. Images of back ward reflected electrons diffraction using surface layer of raw silicon wafers' of 30 nm thickness and also the results of the planar surface of raw silicon wafers' cleaning from impurities are provided. Processes reducing the activating energy of mechanically disturbed silicon layer recrystallization process were suggested and its mathematical description was provided. Parameters of rapid thermal treatment mitigating the thermal impact on silicon wafer for recrystallization of mechanically disturbed layer on its planar surface ware defined.

Trunk kinematics and limb movement of horses walking backwards and forwards in hand and lifting a single limb

Equine physiotherapy commonly includes basic exercises such as walking backward (BW) and voluntary lifting of single limbs (SLL), but trunk movements during these have not been studied. In order to compare the trunk kinematics during BW and SLL with forward walking (FW), nine horses were measured in FW, BW and during SLL triggered by tactile cue. Kinematics were obtained from skin markers captured by ten high-speed video cameras. Trunk angles were calculated in sagittal and horizontal planes from withers, dorsal to spinous processes of the 16th thoracic vertebra (T16), 2nd and 4th sacral vertebrae (S2, S4), WT16S2 and T16S2S4 respectively. From the hooves, maximum hoof height during swing phase and horizontal distance between hoof and median body plane during swing and stance phases were determined.Dorsoventral range of motion (ROM) and maximum flexion of WT16S2 was significantly larger in BW than in FW, while laterolateral ROM was significantly smaller during hindlimb swing phase in BW and SLL than in FW. In contrast, dorsoventral ROM of T16S2S4 was significantly smaller during stance and swing phases of hindlimbs in BW compared to FW, and throughout the movement. During forelimb swing phase, T16S2S4 ROM was significantly larger in BW than SLL. Hindhoof height in SLL was significantly higher than in FW. Distance between median body plane and hooves was significantly larger in BW than in FW, and significantly larger in BW than in SLL for hindlimb swing phase. In BW, increased lumbosacral stabilisation and the larger area of support created by fore- and hindlimbs may represent a strategy to enhance body stabilisation, as BW entails some insecurity.

The health situation in the cities of Southern Kurdistan in the nineteenth century

The content of this research talks about the health situation in the cities of southern Kurdistan in the nineteenth century, which its population was suffering from poverty, back wardness illiteracy, destruction, high taxes rates and bad political conditions, due to the bad economic, social and political circumstances, beside these, a variety of dangerous diseases like (plague, cholera, malaria, fever, diarrhea and vomiting.) had spread in (Sulaimani, Kirkuk, Hawler, Ramanduz, Amedi) durnng the years (1820, 1821, 1830, 1831,1832, 1845, 1865, 1871, 1889, 1900 …), which caused great economic, social, political losses and health disasters. sometimes they caused the death of nearly half of these cities population. Low health awareness and lack of health service forced the inhabitants of these areas to resort to alternative medicine, magic and sorcery and the shrine of the righteous. The indifference and neglecting of the health sector by Ottoman Empire caused frequent health disasters, despite the fact that the Ottoman state had opened several hospitals and quarantine centers in both cities Sulaimani and Kirkukein the seventieth of the nineteenth century , but they were not provided enough budget as compared to the military sectors , the laste money was allocated for the helth sector, no hospitals or governmental health centers were found in cities like Hawler , Koya , Rawandz and the Amedi tell the beginning of the twenentieth century.

The extent to which healthy older adults rely on anticipatory control following simulated slip exposure

As the recovery from gait perturbations is coordinatively complex and error-prone, people often adopt anticipatory strategies when the perturbation is expected. These anticipatory strategies act as a first line of defence against potential balance loss. Since age-related changes in the sensory and neuromotor systems could make the recovery from external perturbations more difficult, it is important to understand how older adults implement anticipatory strategies. Therefore, we exposed healthy young (N = 10, 22 ± 1.05 yrs.) and older adults (N = 10, 64.2 ± 6.07 yrs.) to simulated slips on a treadmill with consistent properties and assessed if the reliance on anticipatory control differed between groups. Results showed that for the unperturbed steps in between perturbations, step length decreased and the backward (BW) margin of stability (MOS) increased (i.e., enhanced dynamic stability against backward loss of balance) in the leg that triggered the slip, while step lengths increased and BW MOS decreased in the contralateral leg. This induced step length and BW MOS asymmetry was significantly larger for older adults. When exposed to a series of predictable slips, healthy older adults thus rely more heavily on anticipatory control to proactively accommodate the expected backward loss of balance.

Back geometry and mobility function changes in cerebral palsy children after backward walking training: arandomized controlled trial

ABSTRACT Aim To compare the effects of backward (BW) and forward (FW) walking training on back geometry and mobility function in children with hemiparetic cerebral palsy (CP). Methods Fifty-five children with hemiparetic CP participated in this study. They were randomly assigned into two groups. For 12 weeks, both groups got a conventional physical therapy program three days/week. Groups A and B got a specifically developed FW walking training (25 minutes/session) and a specially designed BW walking training (25 minutes/session), respectively. Results The trunk imbalance, lateral deviation, pelvic tilting, pelvic torsion, surface motion, and dynamic gait index of group B improved significantly more than group A (p < .05). Both groups showed significant improvements in all measured variables (p < .05). Conclusion BW walking training might be considered as an effective therapy modality for improving back geometry and mobility function in hemiparetic CP children compared with FW walking training combined with a typical program.

Rapamycin attenuates reconsolidation of a backwards-conditioned aversive stimuli in female mice.

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase is known to mediate consolidation and reconsolidation of aversive memories. Most studies in this area use a forward conditioning paradigm in which the conditioned stimulus (CS) precedes the unconditioned stimulus (US). Little is known, however, about the neurobiological underpinnings of backwards (BW) conditioning paradigms, particularly in female mice. In BW conditioning, the CS does not become directly associated with the US; it instead evokes conditioned fear by reactivating a memory of the conditioning context and indirectly retrieving a memory of the aversive US. We sought to examine BW conditioned fear memory processes in female mice. First, we examined whether freezing to a BW CS is mediated by fear to the conditioning context. Second, we tested whether blocking consolidation of a BW CS attenuated memory of the CS and conditioning context. Finally, we tested whether blocking reconsolidation of a BW CS attenuated memory of the conditioning context. We show that conditioned freezing to a BW CS is mediated by fear to the conditioning context. Furthermore, rapamycin-an mTOR inhibitor, when given immediately following BW conditioning, impairsconsolidation of both cued and contextual fear memory. Similarly, rapamycin given following retrieval of a BW CS blocks context recall. Rapamycin is acting on reconsolidation as CS retrieval is necessary to see the effects of rapamycin on context memory recall. Our study provides novel evidence that indirect retrieval cues are sensitive to rapamycin in female mice. The capacity to indirectly reactivate memories and render them susceptible to disruption is critical in the translation of reconsolidation-based approaches to the clinic.

Indigenous Knowledge on Health and Use of Herbal Plants as Domestic: A Case Study of Illiterate an Indigenous Caste ‘Bankariya’

This study has aim to explore the indigenous knowledge of Bankariyas on health and herbal use practice as domestic cure along with socio-cultural characteristics. Nepal, however, is known economically poor but richer in natural resources like herbal plants. Before emerging of advanced technology of medical science in Nepal, almost Nepalese people were under treatment with medicinal plants. Such domestic treatment is continued since an immense time and still in rural areas but in recent days, practice of herbal use and treatment are going to be displaced, and medicinal plants are in high risk of vanishing due to increasing urbanization, human residence, over harvesting, deforestation etc. Bankariyas are found socially, economically, and academically very poor and back ward as people of Stone Age and still believed in shamanism, god and ghost. If someone becomes sick, they do not take patient to hospital without consultation their traditional healer or shaman’s incantation. Shamans are consulate to find the sickness that what happened with sick. Because, healer keeps knowledge that what happened with sick, what kind of treatment is necessary and what herbs work for what disease and incident. According to situation shaman starts treatment either incanting with esoteric words praying deity/god or herbal treatment. Therefore, they found having sound knowledge of traditional healing. At present, such amazing treatment practice has been going to be vanishing. Hence, to keep it alive this study was conducted based on census survey to obtain socioeconomic data as quantitative and healers were consulted as homeopathic doctor as qualitative research design.

Getting The Focus Right: Achieving the Targeted Compensation of Employees' Composition in Post-Mid-Term Review of the Twelfth Malaysia Plan

The successful implementation of eleven Malaysia Plans in charting and navigating economic growth has seen the transformation of Malaysia from an agricultural economy to an industrialised one and subsequently into a services-based economy. However, despite the developmental progress, Malaysia's growth quality was highly debatable due to the lower implications of growth on the compensation of employees (COE) generation. In line with the mid-term review of the Twelfth Malaysia Plan (12MP), this study was structured to reassess the sectoral capacity towards supporting the achievement of 40% targeted COE composition. Applying the reassessment models developed based on the input-output modelling technique yields positive outcomes, with 19 sectors central to COE target achievement identified. The sectors were grounded based on three areas of potential that are capable of guiding policy decisions to improve the COE composition: (i) sectors that have achieved the 40% targeted COE composition with strong backward (BW) and forward (FW) linkages; (ii) sectors that have achieved the 40% targeted COE composition with strong BW or FW linkage; and (iii) sectors over 30% achieved COE composition with strong BW or FW linkage, or both.

Attempted symmetry affects dynamic gait stability in individuals with lower-limb amputation

BackgroundGait in people with lower limb amputation (LLA) is typically asymmetrical. Reducing this asymmetry is often attempted to minimise the impact of secondary health issues. However, temporal-spatial asymmetry in gait of people with LLA has also been shown to underpin dynamic stability. Research questionThe current study aimed to identify the effects of acute attempts to achieve temporal-spatial symmetry on the dynamic stability of people with unilateral transtibial amputation (UTA). The secondary aim of this study was to identify the corresponding biomechanical adaptations during attempted symmetrical gait. MethodsEleven people with UTA walked along a 15 m walkway in four different conditions: normal (NORM), attempted symmetrical step length and step frequency (SYMSL+SF) attempted symmetrical step length (SYMSL) and attempted symmetrical step frequency (SYMSF). Dynamic stability was measured using the backward (BW) and medio-lateral (ML) margins of stability (MoS). ResultsResults indicate that attempting SYMSF had a positive effect on gait stability in BW and ML directions, while attempting SYMSL had a potentially negative effect, although these results did not appear to be significant. The absence of clustering in principal component analysis, supported the lack of significant results, indicating no features differentiating between conditions of attempted symmetry. Conversely, there was clustering by limbs which were associated with differences in knee and ankle joint angles between the prosthetic and non-prosthetic limbs, and clustering by individuals highlighting the importance of patient-specific analysis. ConclusionThe data suggests that attempted symmetrical gait reduces asymmetry but also affects dynamic stability.

Center of Pressure Behavior in Response to Unexpected Base of Support Shifting: A New Objective Tool for Dynamic Balance Assessment.

The translation of the base of support represents a promising approach for the objective assessment of dynamic balance control. Therefore, this study aimed to present a servo-controlled, electrically driven movable plate and a new set of parameters based on the center-of-pressure (CoP) trajectory. Twenty subjects were assessed on a force platform screwed over a movable plate that could combine the following settings: direction (forward (FW) and backward (BW)), displacement (25 mm, 50 mm, and 100 mm), and ramp rate (100 mm/s and 200 mm/s). The subjects underwent two sets of 12 trials randomly combining the plate settings. From the CoP trajectory of the 2.5 s time window after the perturbation, the 95% confidence-interval ellipse (Area95) and the CoP mean velocity (Unit Path) were calculated. Within the same time window, the first peak (FP), the maximal oscillations (ΔCoPMax), and the standard deviation (PPV) of the CoP anterior-posterior trajectory were calculated. The plate direction (p < 0.01), ramp rate (p < 0.001), and displacement (p < 0.01) affected the Area95, FP, and ΔCoPMax, while the Unit Path and PPV were influenced only by the ramp rate (p < 0.001) and displacement (p < 0.001). The servo-controlled, electrically driven movable plate and the CoP-related parameters presented in this study represent a new promising objective tool for dynamic balance assessment.

Financialization and speculators risk premia in commodity futures markets

J.M. Keynes coined the term normal backwardation, a situation where a futures price for a particular expiry month is less than the expected spot price for that month. He argued hedgers pay speculators a risk premium, giving rise to normal backwardation. We study the behavior of commodity futures before and since financialization of the markets, which started about 20 years ago. We find the poor returns to managed futures in recent years are likely due to the impact of financialization and the associated outside money suppressing the futures risk premium.

Finite and Infinite Generalized Back Ward q-Derivative Operator on its Application

Finite and Infinite Generalized Back Ward q-Derivative Operator on its Application

New Tests of the Theory of Storage and the Theory of Normal Backwardation: Time and Frequency Dimensions

New Tests of the Theory of Storage and the Theory of Normal Backwardation: Time and Frequency Dimensions

Characteristics of landings, rotations, and impacts of real-world falls captured by wearable sensors in older persons

Falls are a significant health problem. Approximately 30% of adults 65 and older fall each year. Understanding the characteristics of fall patterns, including landing, impact, and related injuries, is of paramount importance to understand why and when injuries happen and implement adequate interventions to reduce the risk of adverse consequences . We analyzed real-world falls of older persons living in different settings to characterize the landing positions, related impacts, and injuries. We analyzed real-world falls from the Farseeing dataset [1], recorded by a wearable sensor worn on the lower back. We selected only those falls with a clear upright pre-fall position. We processed Accelerations and angular velocities to estimate landing positions and the amount of rotation during the descent phase. We computed the prevalence of different types of landings and associated these quantitative characteristics with the reported injuries. Finally, we estimated the impact force using the body mass of the subject and the maximum value of the acceleration norm. We analyzed 92 falls in total. The landing positions were divided into backwards (BW), forwards (FW), and sideways (SW). The majority of falls were BW (67%), followed by SW (25%) and FW (8%), in accordance with [2]. BW falls were the ones with fewer injuries in percentage, also in accordance with [2]. Only two serious injuries happened, one in FW and one in SW. The highest rotation was found around the vertical direction V (see Fig. 1.a)). Estimated impact forces were between 1000 and 5000 Newton, with a slightly higher impact force for falls with backward landing. Through automatic analysis of wearable sensor data, it was possible to identify different patterns of real-world falls of older people, getting novel insights about the prevalence of different landing positions, associated injuries, movements during descent (i.e., rotations), and fall impact forces. The backward landing was the most frequent landing position, with the lowest relative number of associated injuries (both minor and serious injuries).

Integrating supercapacitor with sodium hyaluronate based hydrogel as a novel All-In-One wound Dressing: Self-Powered electronic stimulation

Constructing the electron transport pathway in a conductive gel membrane wound dressing could promote wound healing, but it always needs an external power supply that bright much inconvenience in clinical practice. In this paper, we design a novel all-in-one self-powered electronic stimulated wound dressing that integrating supercapacitor with sodium hyaluronate based hydrogel. The supercapacitor layer provides the required continuously electrical energy for the wound-dressing layer, where sodium hyaluronate is used as substrate material in both layers for forming the advanced all-in-one structure. During the course of clinical treatment, the electrical stimulation self-powered by supercapacitor would enable patients to perform electrical stimulation wound treatment anytime and anywhere no need on the back ward of a hospital. At the same time, introducing sodium hyaluronate as the active substance and polyelectrolyte would promote cell proliferation and accelerate wound healing, and improve electrochemical performance of supercapacitors. The all-in-one wound dressing has good mechanical properties, high water absorption capacity, and excellent biocompatibility to meet the practical requirements of clinical wound dressings. The supercapacitor layer in the all-in-one wound dressing has good electrochemical performance for charging and discharging before and after usage for wound treatment, and the wound dressing layer enhances the proliferative activity of NIH3T3 cells and accelerate the wound healing process in mice under the action of electrical stimulation provided by the supercapacitor. This study demonstrates that the all-in-one wound dressing would be an attractive candidate for portable wound healing, and broaden the scope of flexible electronics for biomedical applications.

Long-Periodic Analysis of Boresight Misalignment of Ziyuan3-01 Three-Line Camera

The Ziyuan3-01 (ZY3-01) satellite is China’s first civilian stereo surveying and mapping satellite to meet the 1:50,000 scale mapping requirements, and has been operated in orbit for 10 years. The boresight misalignment of the three-line camera (TLC) is an essential factor affecting the geolocation accuracy, which is a principal concern for stereo mapping satellites. However, the relative relationships of TLC are often regarded as fixed for the same ground scene in most traditional geometric calibrations, without considering the on-orbit long-periodic changes. In this paper, we propose a long-periodic method to analyze and estimate the boresight misalignments between three cameras, with the attitude estimation of a nadir (NAD) camera as the benchmark. Offsets and drifts of the three cameras were calculated and calibrated with different compensation models using scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) points as the ground control. Ten simultaneous NAD–Forward (FWD)–Backward (BWD) imagery of the ZY3-01 satellite acquired from 2012 to 2020 were selected to verify the long-periodic changes in TLC boresight misalignments. The results indicate that the boresight alignment angles of ZY3-01 TLC are dynamic during the long-periodic flight, but the structure of TLC is stable for the misalignments of both FWD and BWD within only 7 arc seconds, which can provide a positive reference for subsequent satellite design and long-periodic on-orbit geometric calibration.

Tailoring the terahertz far-field radiation pattern based on asymmetric transmission of linearly polarized waves in metasurface tiles

Asymmetric transmission (AT) of linearly polarized electromagnetic (e-m) waves is a well-known phenomenon in metamaterial (MTM) structures, where transverse electric (TE) to transverse magnetic (TM) polarization conversion (and vice versa) is not the same for forward (FW)/backward (BW) excitations. In this work, we explore the linear AT phenomenon of a metasurface (MS) for controlling terahertz (THz) far-field radiation patterns. An MS formed by a bi-layered metal design exhibits strong linear AT with the magnitude of 0.5 in the frequency range of 4.4 THz to 5.1 THz, and a maximum AT of 0.67 is observed at 4.953 THz. Through full-wave e-m simulations and surface current analysis, the mechanism for the observed linear AT is validated for the proposed MS structure. Based on the linear AT, three different MS tiles are constructed for controlling THz far-field radiation patterns. It is found that the proposed tiles significantly alter the electric field pattern, 3 dB angular bandwidth, and sidelobe levels of THz far-fields for FW/BW excitations. We indicate that simultaneous controlling of the amplitude and polarization of far-field radiation patterns is essential for THz imaging, communication, and spectroscopic applications.

高精度キネマティックGNSS計を用いた陸上競技400 m走の走速，ストライド長，サイクルタイムの計測

Running speed, stride length, and step frequency of a 400 m track and field run were measured using a high-precision kinematic global navigation satellite system (GNSS, 100 Hz). One subject (men, 22 years old, 400 m runner) was participated. GNSS antenna was attached to the top of the head using head gear and the subject was tried to run maximally for 400 m. The stride length and cycle time were determined from the change in the height of the head position. Lowest head position was seen at the timing of the foot landing during running. The distance and time were analyzed between every of foot landing during 400 m. Video was recorded from the back ward position of the runner Video recording and two-dimensional analysis were conducted in the last part of 10 m section to evaluate the validity of the time, stride length and step frequency measured by GNSS. The time, stride length, and step frequency between steps at last 10 m part measured by both GNSS and video were perfectly consistent (Speed: 2.54 vs 2.52 sec; Average per step: 0.32 vs 0.32 sec; step frequency: 3.15 vs 3.18 Hz). The analysis of running speed was measured with high accuracy. The stride length and step frequency were perfectly matched between the GNSS and video data based on the head change pattern.