What's driving gasoline prices?

If current market conditions prevail, gasoline prices are set to rise over the next few months and then fall over the next three years, according to this issue of the Economic Letter.

Crude awakening: behind the surge in oil prices

The first few months of 2008 saw crude oil prices breach one barrier after another. They topped $100 a barrel for the first time on Feb. 19, then rose past$103.76 about two weeks later, surpassing the previous inflation-adjusted peak, established in 1980. In April and early May, oil prices pushed past $110 and then$120 a barrel and beyond. ; These milestones reflect a new era in oil markets. After the tumult of the early 1980s, prices remained relatively tame for two decades - in both real and nominal terms. This long stretch of stability ended in 2004, when oil topped $40 a barrel for the first time, then embarked on a steep climb that continued into this year. ; Modern economies run on oil, so it's important to understand how recent years - with their surging prices - differ from the preceding two decades. A good starting point is strong demand, which has pushed world oil markets close to capacity. New supplies haven't kept up with this demand, fueling expectations that oil markets will remain tight for the foreseeable future. A weakening dollar has put upward pressure on the price of a commodity that trades in the U.S. currency. And because a large share of oil production takes place in politically unstable regions, fears of supply disruptions loom over markets. ; These factors have fed the steady, sometimes swift rise of oil prices in recent years. Their persistence suggests the days of relatively cheap oil are over and the global economy faces a future of high energy prices. How they play out will shape oil markets - and determine prices - for years to come.Petroleum products - Prices ; Petroleum industry and trade ; Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ; Dollar, American

An Exploratory Analysis of Information Content of Corporate Web Pages as Advertising Media

In the case of television advertising, the advertising enters the potential buyers’ environment in an uninitiated way. In the case of Web advertising, the potential buyer must initiate the access to the corporate Web pages. Hence, the Web as an advertising media demands a much stronger access motivation than television advertising. So the need for a more meaningful information content is perhaps greater in the case of Web advertising compared to other avenues

Internet-based Technologies: Value Creation for the Customer and the Value Chain Across Industries

The focus of this paper is to investigate issues related to Internet-based technologies and their enabling effects on the value chain of companies in various industries. Additionally, we are also in the process of investigating whether firms are using Internet-based technologies for differentiation or cost strategies (Porter, 1985) through coordination and bundling of service offerings across several industries. This is a research in progress

INFORMATION SYSTEMS OUTSOURCING: A MIXED INTEGER PROGRAMMING ANALYSIS

In the recent past, the trend toward outsourcing has become a major information systems phenomenon. Outsourcing is the subcontracting of various information systems subfunctions such as managing of data centers, operations, hardware support software maintenance, and even application software by user-firms to either incumbent vendors or outside vendors. Outsourcing is therefore emerging as a key approach for managing infonnation systems functions. In this research, we investigate the outsourcing bidding process pertinent to the selection of one subcontractor by a userfirm. We analyze bidding situations where the bidders have different levels of expertise and cost structures. The theoretical foundations for this research lie iii the theory of mechanism design (Myerson 1983), as well as the theory of imperfect information (Philips 1988) and incentive design (Ledyard 1989; McAfee 1986). We build a mixed integer programming model to represent what happens in an outsourcing bidding context involving a user-firm, an incumbent firm, and a challenger firm and explore the implications. The analysis is conducted over two different time horizons called the ex ante and the ex post periods. Two mixed-integer programming models are presented for two time horizons (in developing the model, we follow Kreps 1990). To reflect the different levels of expertise and cost structures of bidders, a discrete probability distribution is assigned to each bidder to approximate a bidder\u27 s true cost. A bidder\u27s true cost is private information, but its probability distribution is assumed to be common knowledge. An incumbent firm is assumed to have cost advantages over other bidders as a result of being familiar with the information needs of the user-firm. Therefore, the incumbent firm is assigned a cost probability distribution that is skewed toward low cost. The competing bidder\u27s cost structure is skewed toward high cost. The objective function of each model is formulated so as to minimize the expected cost subject to participation, and truthtelling constraints. Participation constraints indicate that each bidder participates only if a positive profit is given by the user-firm. Truth-telling constmints denote that each bidder prefers telling the truth to misrepresentation. The preliminary results of the models suggest that a policy of awarding incentives and levying penalties needs to be followed by the user firm. The results show that in order to induce the bidders to behave truthfully, some penalties would have to be levied and incentives would have to be provided. For example, if both the incumbent bidder and the challenger bid the same. the challenger is awarded the bid. If the incumbent firm is found to be inflating quotes, a penalty would have to be levied against the incumbent in the sense that the contract would be awarded to the challenger. Finally, in order to reward the bidder who quotes the true costs, subsides would have to be awarded. Thus, the models provide theoretical justification and guidelines for bidding behavior practices in the real world. Interestingly, both the ex-ante and ex-post models based on Krep\u27s assumptions show identical results. Implications of this finding need to be further explored in future research

Structural basis of mitochondrial receptor binding and constriction by DRP1.

Mitochondrial inheritance, genome maintenance and metabolic adaptation depend on organelle fission by dynamin-related protein 1 (DRP1) and its mitochondrial receptors. DRP1 receptors include the paralogues mitochondrial dynamics proteins of 49 and 51 kDa (MID49 and MID51) and mitochondrial fission factor (MFF); however, the mechanisms by which these proteins recruit and regulate DRP1 are unknown. Here we present a cryo-electron microscopy structure of full-length human DRP1 co-assembled with MID49 and an analysis of structure- and disease-based mutations. We report that GTP induces a marked elongation and rotation of the GTPase domain, bundle-signalling element and connecting hinge loops of DRP1. In this conformation, a network of multivalent interactions promotes the polymerization of a linear DRP1 filament with MID49 or MID51. After co-assembly, GTP hydrolysis and exchange lead to MID receptor dissociation, filament shortening and curling of DRP1 oligomers into constricted and closed rings. Together, these views of full-length, receptor- and nucleotide-bound conformations reveal how DRP1 performs mechanical work through nucleotide-driven allostery

A Workflow Approach To Information Systems Development

How businesses evolve and the technology available to them has changed in response to changing competitive environments. Organizations compete in global markets and must maintain international communication and operations. In the 1990\u27s, continued globalization and increasingly competitive markets will call for rapid responses and innovative thinking. In this turbulent environment, information technology will leverage time and human resources. (The Landmark MIT Study: Management in the 1990\u27s). While technology is available to link organizations around the world, the traditional development models and techniques for such systems are outmoded. Current systems analysis and design techniques needto be improved. According to a survey of senior information systems executives, improving the systems-development process is ranked sixth in the top issues facing North America and Europe. Improving information-services personnel is ranked ninth in North America and eighth in Europe (Sager, 1994). The purpose of this paper is to present a workflow approach of information systems development (WFSAD: Workflow Systems Analysis and Design) that incorporates an emphasis on analyzing business processes to improve processing time and focuses on developing integrated systems throughout and beyond organizational boundaries. A framework for analyzing the impact of the WFSAD approach on the management of information systems personnel is also presented

Effectiveness of Krishna Laddoo in treating malnutrition in anganwadi children

Background: This was a prospective pilot study to estimate the burden of malnutrition in the age groupof 2.5–5 years and to evaluate the usefulness of dietary changes in them. This research was conductedby the Department of Paediatrics Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Karad in selected Anganwadiat Rethare Bk., This study was undertaken to combat the issue of malnutrition of children’s in the agegroup of 2.5 to 5 years. According to WHO-Moderate Acute Malnutrition is defined by a weight-for-heightindicator between -3 and -2 z-scores (standard deviations) of the international standard or by a mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) between 11 cm and 12.5 cm. Severe Acute Malnutrition is defined by very low weight for height below -3z scores of the median WHO growth standards by visible severe wasting. The children identified with SAM & MAM were started on a high nutrition laddu called the Krishna laddu which was specially designed by the Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences Deemed To be University to cater to the deficiencies in malnourished children. The aim of the study was to determine the effectiveness of Krishna laddu in treating malnutrition in children aged between 2.5–5 years.Methods: This was a prospective study. Total of 43 children attending the 2 selected anganwadi adoptedby the Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Karad (aged between 2.5–5 years) were screened for malnutrition and graded according to Severe Acute Malnutrition and Moderate Acute Malnutrition and were given Krishna Laddu on a daily basis. Their anthropometry was serially recorded on a weekly basis over a period of 1.5 years to determine the effectiveness of the Krishna Laddu in improving the nutritional status in the malnourished children.Results: The prevalence rate of malnutrition was 23% (21% MAM and 2% SAM) in the children aged between 2.5–5 years the given population which was reduced to 8% MAM after their diet was added with Krishna Laddu.Conclusions: Krishna Laddu proved to be beneficial in the nutritional rehabilitation of malnourished children. The highlights of this research were: 1) early identification of malnutrition 2) prompt initiation of a nutritious diet to improve outcome 3) serial monitoring of these children to plot the outcome. 4) All the ingredients used for making the laddu are easily available in the kitchen. 5) The preparation is low cost, making it feasible for use in any setup