The relationship between import and retail prices: a case study of fresh grapefruit in Japan

The study examined the relationship between import price and retail price of grapefruit in Japan. Estimated retail-import price relationship indicate asymmetry responses distributed over time. Import price changes are not fully transmitted to the retail level, with import price increases being passed on more fully than import price decreases.fresh grapefruit, Japan, import and retail price transmission, Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade,

Market Structure and Energy Efficiency: The Case of New Commercial Buildings

This is a report on why commercial office buildings aren’t more energy efficient. Several decades of energy efficiency programs have resulted in some gains, but overall increases in the energy efficiency of buildings have fallen far short of the 30 to 50 percent improvement that many efficiency advocates believe is possible. The purpose of this study is to consider the “why” question by empirically examining the dynamics of new commercial building markets. To do so, the authors used multiple research techniques, including qualitative field observation and interview methods that allow for a more in-depth understanding of complicated market processes. Their research focused primarily on new office buildings and centered in four regional markets: Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland. The authors identify key dynamics of commercial office building markets, describe how change and innovation occurs in commercial development, discuss the implications for energy efficiency, and suggest next steps

The Existence of God: A Debate

https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/crs_books/1573/thumbnail.jp

SIMULATED IN-TRANSIT VIBRATION DAMAGE TO FRESH MARKET RASPBERRIES

Agribusiness,

Time dependence in perpendicular media with a soft underlayer

In this paper we describe measurements of magnetic viscosity or time dependence in magnetic thin films suitable for use as perpendicular recording media. Generally, such effects cannot be measured using conventional magnetometry techniques due to the presence of a thin (0.1 mum) soft underlayer (SUL) in the media necessary to focus the head field. To achieve our results we have developed an ultrastable MOKE magnetometer, the construction of which is described. This has enabled us to measure nominally identical films with and without the presence of the SUL. We find that the presence of the SUL narrows the energy barrier distribution in the perpendicular film increasing the nucleation field (H-n), reducing the coercivity (H-c) and results in an increase in the squareness of the loop. This in turn results in an increase in the magnitude of the viscosity in the region of the H-c but that the range of fields over which the viscosity occurs is reduced

T- and L-type Ca 2+ currents in freshly dispersed smooth muscle cells from the human proximal urethra

The purpose of the present study was to characterise Ca 2+ currents in smooth muscle cells solated from biopsy samples taken from the proximal urethra of patients undergoing surgery for bladder or prostate cancer. Cells were studied at 37°C using the amphotericin B perforated-patch onfiguration of the patch-clamp technique. Currents were recorded using Cs + -rich pipette solutions to block K + currents. Two components of current, with electrophysiological and pharmacological properties typical of T- and L-type Ca 2+ currents, were present in these cells. When steady-state inactivation curves for the L current were fitted with a Boltzmann equation, this yielded a VÎ of _45 ± 5 mV. In contrast, the T current inactivated with a VÎ of _80 ± 3 mV. The L currents were reduced in a concentration-dependent manner by nifedipine (ED50 = 159 ± 54 nM) and Ni 2+ (ED50 = 65 ± 16 mM) but were enhanced when external Ca 2+ was substituted with Ba 2+ . The T current was little affected by TTX, reduction in external Na + , application of nifedipine at concentrations below 300 nM or substitution of external Ca 2+ with Ba 2+ , but was reduced by Ni 2+ with an ED50 of 6 ± 1 mM. When cells were stepped from _100 to _30 mV in Ca 2+ -free conditions, small inward currents could be detected. These were enhanced 40-fold in divalent-cation-free solution and blocked in a concentration-dependent manner by Mg 2+ with an ED50 of 32 ± 16 mM. These data support the idea that human urethral myocytes possess currents with electrophysiological and pharmacological properties typical of T- and L-type Ca 2+ currents