VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL COORDINATION IN THE AGRO-BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY: EVIDENCE AND IMPLICATIONS

Agro-biotechnology is evolving from a pre-commercial phase dominated by basic research science to a commercial phase oriented around marketing products. In pursuing innovation rents in the commercial phase, firms are reorienting their strategies around complementary marketing and distribution assets. This is impacting vertical and horizontal industry structure. Conversely, industry structure is also impacting firm strategies. Horizontal alliances and consolidation continue from the pre-commercial phase into the commercial phase, while vertical coordination and integration strategies are accelerating rapidly. Interplay between firm strategy and industry structure is too complex for firms to anticipate early in the pre-commercial phase for long-term strategy formulation.Acquisitions, Agricultural biotechnology, Firm strategy, Industry consolidation, Industry structure, Mergers, Industrial Organization, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Readdressing the Fertilizer Problem

The production literature has shown that inputs such as fertilizer can be defined as risk-increasing. However, farmers also consistently overapply nitrogen. A model of optimal input use under uncertainty is used to address this paradox. Using experimental data, a stochastic production relationship between yield and soil nitrate is estimated. Numerical results show that input uncertainty may cause farmers to overapply nitrogen. Survey data suggest that farmers are risk averse, but prefer small chances of high yields compared to small chances of crop failures when expected yields are equivalent. Furthermore, yield risk and yield variability are not equivalent.corn, nitrogen fertilizer, risk-increasing, yield risk, Crop Production/Industries,

Evaluating the reliability of four-dimensional computed tomography scans of the wrist

Introduction: Four-dimensional CT (or 4D CT) scans are a novel approach to diagnosing musculoskeletal pathology. Although still in its infancy, there has been a surge of interest in identifying clinical applications for musculoskeletal 4D CT. The scapholunate joint has received the most attention thus far due to the complex articulations and challenges faced with prompt diagnosis of scapholunate injuries. The objective of this thesis is to review current literature on musculoskeletal 4D CT and to evaluate the inter- and intra-rater reliability of the assessment of scapholunate stability in 4D CT wrist scans. Methodology: 4D CT scans of thirteen healthy volunteers and four patients were prepared. Seven orthopaedic and plastic surgeons were recruited to qualitatively assess the stability of the scapholunate joint in the 4D CT scans. Statistical analysis included percent agreement, Fleiss’ kappa, and Gwet’s AC1 coefficient. Results: The percent agreement amongst all raters was 0.80392 (95% CI: 0.675 - 0.932). Fleiss’ Kappa was 0.54895 (95% CI: 0.252 - 0.846) and Gwet’s AC₁ was 0.54895 (95% CI: 0.391 - 0.915). The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for intra-rater reliability was 0.71631 (95% CI: 0.5567 – 0.8423). Conclusion: Our pilot study suggests good inter- and intra-rater reliability for the qualitative assessment of scapholunate instability in 4D CT scans. Although further studies are required, this thesis highlights the vast potential of 4D CT as a non-invasive diagnostic technique of dynamic musculoskeletal injuries

Seasonal physiological and behavioural responses of a small bird in a hot, arid habitat

The role that climate plays in the ecology of organisms is perhaps the most pronounced where the earth’s environments are most extreme. In arid-zones, organisms have to deal with large seasonal shifts and/or extremes in temperature and/or moisture levels. As a result, arid-zone species are sensitive to climatic changes. I assessed the physiological and behavioural adjustments of an arid-zone endemic passerine, the rufous-eared warbler (Malcorus pectoralis), to seasonal changes in the Karoo semi-desert of South Africa. Respirometry measurements in the field showed that the warblers’ basal metabolic rate was lower and set point body temperature (Tb) was higher in summer compared to winter. At high air temperatures (Ta) evaporative water loss (EWL) rate was significantly lower in summer compared to winter, while Tb showed a clear pattern of heterothermy that was similar in both seasons. Compared to winter, the warblers in summer were able to remain calm, and tolerate higher Ta’s, before their Tb’s increased to potentially detrimental levels. Behavioural observations showed that free-living warblers exhibited significant temperature-dependence in their behaviour; they increased panting behaviour, and reduced activity levels, time spent preening, and foraging effort at high Ta’s in summer. The warblers also displayed a considerable decrease in foraging success, and a shift in microsite use, at high Ta’s in summer. I hypothesise that the flexible responses the rufous-eared warblers show are aimed at increasing their heat tolerance in summer, and help them balance their energy and water demands in an arid environment that exhibits wide seasonality in Ta, in addition to high summer Ta. My findings emphasise the importance of identifying, as well as understanding, the associated costs of physiological and behavioural responses to environmental variables. This information is valuable in terms of predicting biologically meaningful responses (and hence, vulnerability) of arid-zone avian communities to climactic shifts

Whither Coosa in Chattanooga?

As originally defined by Hudson et al. (1985), Coosa was a 16th-century chiefdom extending from southeastern Tennessee into eastern Alabama. An important component in the construction of Coosa as a paramount chiefdom is the identification of a Napochie village at the Audubon Acres Site (40HA84) in Chattanooga An overview of the results of research and looting at this and other local sites where 16th-century Spanish artifacts have been recovered is applied to the Coosa question.https://scholar.utc.edu/archaeology-reports/1080/thumbnail.jp

Evaluating Yield Models for Crop Insurance Rating

Generated crop insurance rates depend critically on the distributional assumptions of the underlying crop yield loss model. Using farm level corn yield data from 1972-2008, we revisit the problem of examining in-sample goodness-of-fit measures across a set of flexible parametric, semi-parametric, and non-parametric distributions. Simulations are also conducted to investigate the out-of-sample efficiency properties of several competing distributions. The results indicate that more parameterized distributional forms fit the data better in-sample due to the fact that they have more parameters, but are generally less efficient out-of-sample–and in some cases more biased–than more parsimonious forms which also fit the data adequately, such as the Weibull. The results highlight the relative advantages of alternative distributions in terms of the bias-efficiency tradeoff in both in- and out-of-sample frameworks.Yield distributions, Crop Insurance, Weibull Distribution, Beta Distribution, Mixture Distribution, Out-of-Sample Efficiency, Goodness-of-Fit, Insurance Rating Efficiency, Farm Management, Financial Economics, Land Economics/Use,

An archaeological survey of a proposed barge unloading facility, TRM 463.6R, Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee

The Jeffrey L. Brown Institute of Archaeology, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, conducted a Phase I archaeological survey on a 3.76 acre parcel on the right bank of the Tennessee River at or about log mile 463.6 in Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee. The project sponsor was JIT Terminals, Inc. Construction of a barge unloading terminal was in progress when the testing program was initiated, and only half of the total affected acreage could be tested. A total of seven backhoe search trenches were excavated: three 20m long trenches were excavated across the crest of the T1 river levee; four 5m long trenches were spaced on the backslope of the levee. The minimum depth of the tests was 1.6m and the maximum, 2.5m. No aboriginal lithics, pottery, clay daub or mollusk shell debris was noted in any of the seven profiles inspected and photographed. Artifacts recovered from archaeological search trenching included one limestone-tempered plain sherd and twelve pieces of flint debitage and utilized flakes. All other ceramics were recovered in unassociated contexts in construction trench spoil piles. Artifacts recovered from construction spoil piles included one shell-tempered plain, three limestone-tempered plain, and one limestone-tempered fabric marked sherd. Ten pieces of flint debitage and utilized flakes were retrieved from construction spoil. Degradation of the T1 river levee crest may have occurred in the recent past due to machine grading of the parcel to remove surface vegetation. This truncation of the A horizon soils appears to be minor, however. The backslope area of the Ti levee has been filled with redeposited B horizon soils to a depth of one meter, more or less. A horizon soils on the backslope were generally shallow, i.e. 0.3m to 0.5m. Light, scattered fire-cracked rock is common in the upper elevations of the B horizon soils and lower limits of the A soil zone on the levee crest. Fire-cracked rock is largely absent on the backslope of the levee. Fire-cracked rock appeared with the highest frequency at the west end of the project area. Limited research on historic period site utilization suggests no significant occupations on the parcel from 1863 to the present. Historic artifacts from search trenching included only modern container glass and other debris. Due to the absence of a developed midden and the overall low frequency of artifacts, the JIT Terminal tract does not appear to contain archaeological resources eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places and no further research is recommended.https://scholar.utc.edu/archaeology-reports/1064/thumbnail.jp

Limited excavation of a Dallas Period Mississippian housesite at the Heritage Place Site, 40HA210, Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee

The Jeffrey L. Brown Institute of Archaeology, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, conducted secondary testing and limited salvage excavations at the Heritage Place Site, 40HA210, Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee, in April 1985. Sponsored by the Stone Fon Land Company, the excavations were predicated by imminent construction impact on a parcel of land adjoining the right bank of the Tennessee River at mile 465. In seeking a permit to access the river, the developer was required by the Anny Corps of Engineers to conduct a survey of the property to determine if archaeological resources would be threatened by construction. The Institute was engaged by the Stone Fon Land Company to conduct a survey of the construction site. The area tested consisted of a strip of broad river terrace 400m (1300\u27) wide and 1100m (3600\u27) long. Surface collections from the site indicated the presence of a variety of historic and prehistoric occupations on the propeny identified as the Hampton and Marsh tracts. An archaeological survey of the Heritage Place Site in November 1984 demonstrated the presence of Woodland and Mississippian cultural debris on the site, and in the course of systematic subsurface testing a burial was partially exposed. Funded by a donation, the Institute returned to the site in April, 1985, and conducted a limited-scale secondary testing program on the site, concentrating on the excavation of portions of a wattle and daub house structore and the salvage of two burials. Excavation of the housesite revealed a series of charred wooden posts, one modelled-rim hearth, two shallow pits, three postholes, and two inhumations. The outline of the house was not fully exposed. Radiocarbon date detenninations on charcoal samples from the house structure indicated construction about 1350 A.D., associating the occupation of the house with the Dallas Period of the Mississippian Tradition. Structural evidence and the artifact assemblage conforms to the Dallas attribution.https://scholar.utc.edu/archaeology-reports/1019/thumbnail.jp