High Price Research Articles

Momentum on historical high

This paper decomposes the long side of momentum portfolio holdings by comparing the location of recent prices to historically high prices. Stocks with prices near historical highs represent 45 percent of holdings in momentum and 70 percent of returns. Momentum portfolios formed in the stock universe with stocks closed to historical highs provide 6.2% alpha in comparison with 1.3% for momentum formed from stocks out of historical highs. The historical high momentum portfolio performance is sustainable to control for the lagged momentum of Novy-Marx (2012) and the 52-week high ratio of George and Hwang (2004).

The high costs of anticancer therapies in the USA: challenges, opportunities and progress.

The USA spent $99 billion on orally administered and clinician-administered anticancer therapies (excluding supportive care) in 2023 and spending is projected to increase to $180 billion by 2028. This increased spending on anticancer therapies largely reflects the high launch prices of novel therapeutics and increases in the prices of existing products, even in the absence of new evidence of clinical benefit or changes in use. Consequently, high prices have impeded Americans' access to and affordability of necessary anticancer therapies and thus increased their risk of cost-related non-adherence, cancer recurrence and mortality. To address the rising prices and concerns regarding Americans' spending on anticancer therapies, state and federal governments have, over the past decade, enacted legislation that caps out-of-pocket spending, expands subsidies and requires drug price negotiations. In this Perspective, we summarize US policies aimed to lower the costs of anticancer therapies, discuss the implications of such reforms and propose additional solutions needed to reduce costs and increase value.

Poultry Preslaughter Operations in Hot Environments: The Present Knowledge and the Next Steps Forward.

Poultry production faces significant challenges, including high feed prices, diseases, and thermal stress, which impact broiler welfare and productivity. Despite advances in cooling technologies and ventilation, preslaughter operations still lead to considerable losses. This review highlights the need for the improved management of thermal environments and animal logistics. Preslaughter operations typically involve fasting broilers for 8-12 h to reduce gastrointestinal contents and contamination. Following fasting, broilers are caught, crated, and transported. Stress levels vary based on distance and conditions, with manual catching often causing stress and injuries. Catching should occur during cooler periods to minimise these issues, and transport conditions must be carefully managed. Lairage, the waiting period after transport, should be kept short (1-2 h) in climate-controlled environments to avoid stress and deterioration. Proper handling and efficient unloading are essential to prevent injuries and reduce economic losses. Stunning methods, such as electronarcosis and a controlled atmosphere, aim to minimise suffering before slaughter, though practices vary culturally and religiously. Logistics and real-time monitoring technology are crucial for enhancing animal welfare during transportation. Effective planning and the optimisation of transport processes is vital for reducing stress and losses, especially with regard to rising global temperatures and production demands.

Strategies for identifying adulterated Acanthopanax senticosus using portable mass spectrometry and chemometrics

Acanthopanax senticosus is widely cultivated in China, Japan, South Korea, and Russia, and is extensively researched worldwide. Illegal activities, particularly adulteration have been fostered due to its large market demand and high price. This study successfully identifies authentic and adulterated Acanthopanax senticosus samples using a portable mass spectrometer combined with chemometrics. Different data processing and feature selection methods were evaluated for authenticity and adulteration models, with SNV-VIP being selected as the optimal method for both models. Excellent classification performance was achieved using Orthogonal Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA), K-nearest Neighbors (KNN), Random Forest (RF), and Convolutional Neural Networks-Long Short-Term Memory-Attention (CNN-LSTM-Attention) models, with prediction accuracies for the authenticity model validation set being 1.00, 1.00, 1.00, and 1.00, respectively. The prediction accuracies for the adulteration model validation set were 0.86, 0.73, 0.89, and 0.92, respectively. Additionally, the models identified the most important ions based on variable importance. The combination of portable mass spectra (PMS) and chemometrics provides a simple, rapid, and reliable method for identifying adulteration in Acanthopanax senticosus samples. This study provides a new basis into the application of PMS for adulteration detection in the food field.

FROM CALENDAR TIME TO BUSINESS TIME: THE CASE OF COMMODITY MARKETS

We address the problem of modeling commodity forward curves, while preserving empirical features observed in commodity markets. By letting a commodity market to “ live” in the tempo of a business rather than calendar clock, we create a model with a rich but realistic set of features, such as stochastic volatility, stochastic rate of mean reversion and various shapes of forward curves such as backwardation and contango. The model, when applied to extensive historical datasets of crude oil and natural gas forward curves, shows a remarkably good fit to the observed futures prices, also in periods of high volatility and negative prices. The model is developed in such a way that it can be used for a wide variety of applications, ranging from exotic derivatives pricing to risk management of commodity portfolios.

Quantifying the impact of an abrupt reduction in mineral nitrogen fertilization on crop yield in the European Union

Contemporary crop production in Europe relies on nitrogen (N) fertilization. Fertilizer prices soared in 2021–2022, and remained at historical high levels in 2023. These high prices invoked an immediate concern on the possible consequences for Europe's food production.In this study, we use a biogeochemical model framework to estimate the impact of reducing mineral N fertilization on crop yields in the European Union (EU). First, crop yields simulated with the biogeochemical DayCent model are evaluated against subnational yield data averaged for 2015–2018 reported by Eurostat and National Statistical Institutes in the EU for soft wheat, barley, grain maize and rapeseed. Then, we simulate three different scenarios where mineral N fertilization across the EU is abruptly reduced by respectively 5, 15 and 25 %, and compare yields to the projected baseline for contemporary conditions (2019–2022).The model evaluation gives r2 values ranging from 0.28 (rapeseed) to 0.61 (soft wheat) and root mean square errors (RMSE) ranging from 0.6 (rapeseed) to 1.95 t ha−1 (maize). The model shows a reduction in yield per crop at the EU level up to 2.1, 6.4 and 11.2 % with the 5, 15 and 25 % reduction scenario, respectively. Different crops show different percentage reduction in yield following a reduction in mineral N fertilization, showing a legacy effect over the years and depending on the availability of organic fertilizer. The strongest relative yield reduction occurs for soft wheat for all three scenarios. Even with 25 % drop in mineral N fertilization, maize yield in the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark is not significantly reduced, because of the high N surplus and large share of organic fertilization in these countries.This process-based modelling study provides spatially explicit, high resolution information on the response of crop yields to N fertilizer input reductions, helping policy-makers in decision-making on food security and environmentally-friendly food systems.

Patternable and flexible thermoelectric generators based on Bi2Te3/silk fibroin composites for temperature sensing and wearable applications

Thermoelectric (TE) materials are functional materials that can directly convert heat energy into electrical energy, and have a positive effect on alleviating the energy crisis. Inorganic semiconductor materials have attracted extensive attention due to their excellent TE properties, among which Bi2Te3 is the best and most widely used inorganic TE material at room temperature. However, inorganic TE materials are still restricted by unfavorable factors such as scarcity of raw material resources, heavy metal pollution, high price, high rigidity, and complex processing technology, which greatly limit their development process. Therefore, it is urgent to develop flexible TE materials with high performance, non-polluting, non-toxic and low price. The combination of silk fibroin and inorganic TE materials not only retains the properties of TE materials, but also improves their flexibility. Here, the Bi2Te3/SF TE films are successfully fabricated by the evaporation-assisted self-assembly method with Seebeck coefficient of 199 μV⋅K−1 (p-type) and −240 μV⋅K−1 (n-type). In order to verify the feasibility of collecting and utilizing ambient heat energy in real life, the Bi2Te3/SF TE films are cut into various patterns (such as, flower, rabbit, tree, etc) to collect wasted ambient heat. Further, the Bi2Te3/SF thermoelectric generator (TEG) reaches a maximum power of 21 nW at a temperature difference of 43.5 K. A series of self-power temperature sensing demonstrations from single TE film, TEG, to TEG array are proposed to demonstrate their potential applications in the field of self-power sensors. Finally, by inserting Bi2Te3/SF TEG array into a bracelet, a self-powered smart bracelet can be successfully constructed, demonstrating the feasibility of the Bi2Te3/SF TE film in the development of self-powered wearable electronics.

Does rising land price promote the circulation industry development? An analysis of internet-based moderating effects

With the rapid development of the Internet, digital technology is increasingly integrating into the modern circulation system. The influence mechanisms of land prices on the development of the circulation industry are gradually transforming. Using data from 104 major cities in China from 2003 to 2021, this study uses the panel two-way fixed effects model, moderating effects model and threshold regression method to examine the mechanisms by which land prices affect the circulation industry development and the moderating role of Internet development. The results show that elevated land prices significantly stimulate the growth of the circulation industry, leading to an expansion in the circulation industry scale, optimization of its structure, and enhancement of its facilities. The findings remain robust even after addressing endogeneity concerns and conducting various robustness tests. Moreover, the impact of high land prices on the circulation industry is more pronounced in small and medium-sized cities group as well as central region cities group. Real estate investment and industrial structure upgrading are the key channels through which high land prices promote the development of the circulation industry. Additionally, Internet development has a positive moderating effect on the promotion that high land prices stimulate the development of the circulation industry. Notably, only when Internet development surpasses a certain threshold that the promotional effect of land prices on the circulation industry development be fully realized. Based on the above conclusions, the government should continue to deepen the market-oriented reform of land elements, implement precise industrial policy support for the circulation industry and promote circulation digital transformation.

Impact analysis of the four-party evolutionary game in renewable portfolio standard under dynamic parameters

Renewable portfolio standard has become the primary policy tool to improve the integration of renewable energy. The motivation of the parties involved and the formulation of the policy parameters are crucial for the rapid development of renewable energy industry. However, the role of large consumers has often been neglected as the main party for renewable energy consumption, and the policy parameters have been dominated by static parameters. This paper innovatively introduces large consumers into the evolutionary game, constructs a four-party revenue matrix and the replicated dynamic equations, analyzes the equilibrium conditions of the evolutionary game, and constructs the functions of the key dynamic parameters over time, then simulates the behavioral strategies of the game players under the dynamic parameters with a system dynamics model. The optimal strategy is regulators waive regulation, while power plants, large consumers and power sales companies fulfill their quotas. Dynamic fines, dynamic quotas, and dynamic consumption prices have a large impact on each player, while dynamic TGC prices have a limited impact on them. Reasonably high fines in the initial stage are effective in facilitating each player to its stable state more quickly than static fines. Even if the fine is reduced in the later stages, it will not affect their strategies. High quotas and low consumption prices will significantly accelerate the exit of regulators from regulation, while power sales companies and large consumers will quickly fulfill their quota tasks. Only power generators prefer low quotas and high consumption prices. These results provide some recommendations for the setting of policy parameters.

Research Progress on Immunomodulatory Effects of Poly (Lactic-co- Glycolic Acid) Nanoparticles Loaded with Traditional Chinese Medicine Monomers.

Immunomodulatory mechanisms are indispensable and key factors in maintaining the balance of the environment in humans. When the immune function of the immune system is impaired, autoimmune diseases occur. Excessive body fatigue, natural aging of the human body, malnutrition, genetic factors and other reasons cause low immune function, due to which the body is prone to being infected by bacteria or cancer. Clinically, the existing therapeutic drugs still have problems such as high toxicity, long treatment cycle, drug resistance and high price, so we still need to explore and develop a high efficiency and low toxicity drug. Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) refers to a nontoxic polymer compound that exhibits excellent biocompatibility. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) monomers come from natural plants, and have the characteristics of high efficiency and low toxicity. Applying PLGA to TCM monomers can make up for the defects of traditional dosage forms, improve bioavailability, reduce the frequency and dosage of drug use, and reduce toxicity and side effects, thus having the characteristics of sustained release and targeting. Accordingly, PLGA nanoparticles loaded with TCM monomers have been the focus of development. The previous research on drug loading advantages, preparation methods, and immune regulation of TCM PLGA nanoparticles is summarized in the following sections.

One hundred years of piñon nuts, a largely forgotten wild food crop from the American Southwest (1850-1950)

Piñon nuts are the edible seeds of the piñon pine (Pinus edulis). Commercial piñon nut harvesting began in the United States in the mid-19th century and primarily involved Native and Mexican Americans. Despite the economic benefits, it could be dangerous work, with reports of deaths from exposure, accidents, and violence. Piñon nut production varied yearly due to the trees’ masting behavior, with 3 to 11-years between large crops, likely influenced by climate and local conditions. Although there was considerable interest in cultivation during the early 20th century, slow growth and delayed nut-bearing limited cultivation efforts. Piñon nuts were popular throughout the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, gaining great popularity in New York among immigrant communities. Piñon nuts, due to their small size, posed choking hazards to children. Fannie Spitz's piñon nut-shelling machine, patented in 1918, revolutionized nut processing by efficiently removing kernels, impacting the industry significantly. In the early to mid-20th century, piñon nuts were used in candy production. Farmers experimented with feeding hogs and chickens piñon nuts, however, this practice did not become widespread due to cheaper corn availability. Piñon wood was valued for firewood and mine props, with limited use as lumber or railroad ties, while small trees gained popularity as Christmas trees. Piñon resin was chewed and also used medicinally, in salves. By the mid-20th century, piñon nuts lost popularity to peanuts, which benefited from aggressive marketing and high production. The piñon industry struggled with crop variability, low supply, and high prices.

Knowledge, Behavior, and Influencing Factors of Coarse Grain Consumption among Chinese Adults: A Focus Group Study in Xi’an

BackgroundCoarse grains are rich in fiber, minerals, and other beneficial nutrients but are consumed at low levels in modern populations. The factors that influence coarse grain consumption in current living and dietary environments are not fully understood. ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the knowledge and behavior related to coarse grain consumption and identify the influencing factors among Chinese citizens. MethodSix focus group discussions were conducted with 39 participants aged 18–65 years from diverse social backgrounds in Xi'an, China. All discussions were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. ResultsThe majority of participants demonstrated insufficient knowledge about coarse grains, including their definitions, health benefits, and recommended intake. A small number of the participants reported regular consumption. The barriers to coarse grain consumption were poor sensory properties, insufficient cooking skills and time, limited availability of ready-to-eat foods, established dietary habits, and high price. Additionally, the new barriers included psychological burden, concerns about food safety, the impact of processing methods on health benefits, and special health conditions. Health benefits and family influence emerged as the two primary factors motivating coarse grain consumption. Most participants expressed a positive attitude toward partially replacing staple foods with coarse grains. Enhancing health education, innovating food processing methods, improving labeling systems, and strengthening safety supervision have been recommended for increasing coarse grain consumption. ConclusionA gap exists between health awareness and healthy behaviors regarding in coarse grain consumption, thus, collaborative efforts among government agencies, educational institutions, nutrition societies, the food industry, policymakers, and health professionals are essential to overcome these challenges.

Economic evaluation of camrelizumab plus rivoceranib versus sorafenib as first-line therapy for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma in the United States and China.

Camrelizumab combined with rivoceranib has been proven effective for treating unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC). However, their higher prices than sorafenib could impose a substantial economic burden on patients. This study aimed to evaluate the relative cost-effectiveness of the combination of camrelizumab and rivoceranib versus sorafenib as first-line therapy for patients with uHCC from the perspective of the US and Chinese payers. Using data from the CARES-310 trial, a partitioned survival model (PSM) was developed, considering the perspectives of the US and Chinese payers. The model employed a 15-year time horizon and a biweekly cycle. Direct medical costs and utility data were collected from previous studies and open-access databases. Primary outcomes included quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Price simulations, sensitivity analyses, and subgroup analyses were conducted. The ICER for the US and China was $122,388.62/QALY and $30,410.56/QALY, respectively, falling below the willingness-to-pay (WTP) thresholds of $150,000/QALY for the US and $35,898.87/QALY for China. Price simulations indicated the cost-effectiveness of camrelizumab plus rivoceranib when the price of camrelizumab (200mg) remained below $6275.19 in the US and $558.09 in China. The primary determinant of cost-effectiveness in both regions was the cost of camrelizumab. The combination of camrelizumab and rivoceranib is a cost-effective first-line therapy for uHCC in both the US and China. Lowering their prices could significantly influence their cost-effectiveness and accessibility to patients. These findings will guide clinicians in treating uHCC and help decision-makers formulate value-based drug pricing strategies.

Growth, Instability in Production and Price Forecasting of Onion in Bangladesh

Onion is an essential and popular spice crop which is widely cultivated and consumed in Bangladesh. Every year the country needed to import onion for fulfilling the domestic demand. Onion price has been largely influenced by import price and frequent fluctuation. The objectives of the research were to analyze the onion production behavior, instability, and forecasting of price using secondary data. The study used deterministic growth models and coefficient of variation for analyzing the growth rate and instability. Among different growth models, cubic model was identified as the best-fitted model. The average growth rate was 7.85%, and in instability analysis the coefficient of variation was 71.10%, which implies that onion production was unstable during the period of 1970-2022. Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) model was used to forecast onion price. The finding reveals that SARIMA (1, 0, 2) (1, 1, 1)12 model identified as the best model to forecast the onion price in Bangladesh. The results show that onion price followed seasonal trend, and the highest price was in October and November. These findings will support to develop appropriate policies regarding the increase of domestic supply through increased production and storage facilities, reducing post-harvest losses, and price stabilization. J Bangladesh Agril Univ 22(3): 377-385, 2024

Exploring knowledge and uses of Moringa oleifera and understanding its cultivation constraints and proposed solutions: a case from Bangladesh

Multipurpose trees, like the moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.), have become extremely popular in an attempt to reduce food, nutritional, and economic instability. The significant benefits of moringa’s leaves, pods, seeds, roots, and flowers are used in a wide range of commercial fields, including medicine, cosmetics, food, animal feed, water purification, and more. We applied a questionnaire-based survey to reveal the uses, problems and solutions related to the knowledge, uses and constraints of moringa in the region of Chapainawabganj and Kushtia districts in Bangladesh. Including the easiest propagation process and the lowest cultivation costs, year-round flowering, and production provide moringa with a wide window of opportunity. Besides using regular pruning of moringa branches, respondents make trees bushy to increase fruit and leaf production. Respondents from both regions opined that moringa has a good market value, increases family income, increases opportunity for fallow land utilization, enhances employment opportunities, and is known as a nutritive and multipurpose tree. We were pleased to find that moringa output regularly exceeded previous production records in Bangladesh from 2014–16 to 2020–21. Furthermore, our survey shows that a 5-year-old moringa tree provides a satisfactory yield per season with its high market price and demand. Despite the extensive use of moringa fruits and leaves by respondents, its commercial potential remains largely undeveloped and unknown to them. Constraints like limited scientific knowledge and technological infrastructure are the reasons why the elusive potential of moringa in Bangladesh persists. There is ample opportunity to enhance moringa production via effective management techniques, which will satisfy community demand and create market opportunities both locally and internationally. As a result, smallholder farmers’ livelihoods and food and nutritional security can be improved.

A Stackelberg game framework for promoting battery-powered construction machinery through government subsidies

Diesel-powered construction machinery is a major source of harmful pollutants and carbon emissions. Technological advancements have made battery-powered construction machines (BPCMs) increasingly viable in operations. However, the high purchase prices of BPCMs represent a huge obstacle for contractors to embrace these low-emission alternatives. To facilitate the sustainable development of the construction industry, it is imperative for the government to implement effective subsidy allocation policies to promote the electrification of construction machinery. This paper proposes a Stackelberg game framework for optimal subsidy allocation. In the proposed framework, the government decides the subsidy amount offered to each type of BPCMs to minimize both pollutant emissions and carbon emissions. The contractors can then observe the government’s decision and make their optimal decisions regarding the purchase, operation, and replacement of construction machines accordingly to minimize their total costs. Contractors’ decisions in turn influence the government’s decision. Such an intricate framework has many appealing properties, which are analyzed in depth to provide useful managerial insights. Additionally, the design of effective subsidy policies by the government depends on a precise prediction of the contractors’ demand for construction machinery. To this end, a random forest machine learning model is developed. Real data were collected for model construction and testing. Statistical results and industrial comments show the high quality of our predictions.

Assessment of Energy Security in West Africa: A Case Study of Three Countries

The study draws key energy policy lessons by assessing and comparing the energy security performance of Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Ghana. The Energy Security Index with application to West Africa is created from eight dimensions and 24 indicators using a simple additive method and non-statistical induced weights. Study results show that the main energy security challenges in West Africa are low public investment in energy infrastructure (including renewable energy), high energy prices, low electricity access, high energy system inefficiencies, armed attacks on energy infrastructure and deteriorating energy sector governance. The study recommends prioritising investment in electricity sector infrastructure in West Africa.

Evaluating the impact of price caps - Evidence from the European roam-like-at-home regulation

The roam-like-at-home regulation (RLAH) eliminated all mobile roaming surcharges to European consumers traveling within Europe. We measure the causal impact of the regulation on European roaming traffic, using the Rest of the World as a control group. We find large and heterogeneous effects on retail and wholesale traffic volumes and revenues. To evaluate the welfare effects of the regulation, we develop a framework that includes consumer surplus, retail and wholesale profits. The gains in consumer surplus are large, and mainly stem from data services. The consumer gains are proportionately larger in small, open economies and in countries with previously high roaming prices. Finally, total welfare increases considerably, because the consumer surplus gains outweigh profit losses. As such, the removal of market power more than compensates for a distortion from a possible overconsumption at zero surcharges.

Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der Industrie und Energiepreise

Abstract The rise in energy prices in 2021/22 put the competitiveness of Austrian manufacturing industry to the test. Model-based simulations and an enterprise survey were carried out to analyze the medium-term effects of high energy prices. The results show that the cost disadvantages in international competition induced by energy price increases will lead to a decline in industrial production and employment in the medium term and increase the risk of relocation of energy-intensive production.

Techno-economic feasibility study of macroalgae for anaerobic digestion

The techno-economic feasibility of brown macroalgae biomass species Saccharina latissima (S. Latissima) for anaerobic digestion (AD) in North West Europe was investigated in this research. The feasibility of the biomass as a single feedstock and for co-digestion was tested. In the techno economic analysis, AD of S. Latissima as a single digestion feedstock was found to be economically not viable due to the relatively high price of the macroalgae biomass. However, co-digestion with sugar beet — vegetable mix combined with a gate fee of 29 Euros per tonne was found to be economically viable with the macroalgae biomass priced at 50 Euros per tonne.