FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT IN AGRICULTURE

The 1996 Farm Bill marks a new direction for the government in agriculture. By decoupling payments from price levels for crops, it undermines long-run political support for programs. Dairy price supports will end in 2000, and nutrition programs will be on a separate reauthorization schedule from farm programs. Together, these actions should weaken the farm bill coalition, making the remaining programs much more difficult to reauthorize than in earlier years. The 1996 Farm Bill may be the last farm bill of its kind and the beginning of the end to active government involvement in agricultural markets.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution Control in Theory and Practice

The theory of efficient policy instruments for agricultural pollution control has been evolving. Some new developments suggest that policies using financial incentives to encourage desirable farming practices are superior to those focusing on runoff directly or restrictions on farming practices. However, the theoretical models used to derive such results make assumptions about conditions that may not hold. As a result, implementation of the findings of such models is not necessarily routine. This article attempts to summarize these studies and interpret their implications for agricultural nonpoint source pollution control for the Chesapeake Bay.Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

CHANGES IN TRANSPORTATION COSTS AND INTERREGIONAL COMPETITION IN THE U.S. APPLE INDUSTRY

An interregional competition model of the U.S. apple industry is constructed. This model includes the consumer products of fresh apples, applesauce and apple juice. The validation of the model showed that it did a good job of estimating consumer's quantity demanded and prices and a reasonable job of estimating utilization. This model was used to study the effects of transportation cost changes on the industry in the short- and intermediate run. The total production and consumption levels changed by moderate amounts with changing transport costs while the utilization of a region's crop was quite sensitive to such changes.Crop Production/Industries,

CANONICAL CORRELATION ANALYSIS OF SELECTED DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH PERSONNEL VARIABLES

Labor and Human Capital,

CAPACITY DECISIONS FOR AN EMERGENCY SERVICE

Public Economics,

An Economic Analysis of the Impacts of Weather Modification on Crop and Livestock Production in Southeastern South Dakota

The procedure used for the study was the application of linear programming to an aggregate farm. The characteristics of this aggregate farm were determined from data compiled by the South Dakota Crop and Livestock Reporting Service, with assistance from Dr. Wallace Aanderud and Dr. Richard Rudel, both with the Economics Department at South Dakota State University. The method of an aggregate farm approach was used because the desired estimates are of an aggregate nature. The activities were limited to their actual historical limits, in order to obtain results as representative of the actual effects of weather modification as possible. This means that the optimizing allowed was usually restrictive. Linear programming is a method for determining that combination of activities which will optimize a particular objective, e. g. obtain maximum profits within the restrictive framework of certain constraints. The use of the aggregate farm method introduces two implicit assumptions. The first assumption is that each producer has the same technical requirements for each activity, e.g. each farmer in the area uses the same amount of fertilizer per acre of corn. The second assumption states each producer has proportional resource restrictions. Obviously, these assumptions do not mirror reality. Variability does exist between producers, both in budgets and in resource restrictions. The goal is that the budgets and resource restrictions used are representative enough to minimize the effect of these variations, therefore yielding reasonable results

Policy Reform Impact on Food Manufacturing

The impact of agricultural policies and their reform is of major concern when addressing issues of growth, innovation and consolidation in the food manufacturing sector. Growth is one of the forces fueling the globalization of food manufacturing activities. Market- and policy-driven forces present a myriad of opportunities to influence growth and reorientation of patterns at the nexus where food manufacturing links the food system. The productivity and international competitiveness of the food manufacturing sector must be evaluated in the context of governmental incentives, international standards and the emerging supply- and value-chains.total factor productivity growth, intercountry impacts, dairy products, meat products, sugar, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy,

MARKETING CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH SEAFOOD COUNTERS IN GROCERY STORES

This study provides a benchmark analysis of seafood counter characteristics corresponding to the peaking of per capita seafood demand in the U.S. Logistic regression results show separate seafood counters are less likely in small stores, in rural stores, and in stores in low or medium income areas. Chain stores and stores with a significant number of non-white customers were more likely to have a seafood counter. Stores in the East South Central region were less likely, and stores in New England more likely, to have a seafood counter. The likelihood that stores will develop seafood counters was related to differences in sales volume, floor space, urban/rural location, income level of clients and regional location. Continuing innovations in marketing technology of seafood counters are likely to provide expanded marketing opportunities in the future.Marketing,

Mechano-transduction: from molecules to tissues.

External forces play complex roles in cell organization, fate, and homeostasis. Changes in these forces, or how cells respond to them, can result in abnormal embryonic development and diseases in adults. How cells sense and respond to these mechanical stimuli requires an understanding of the biophysical principles that underlie changes in protein conformation and result in alterations in the organization and function of cells and tissues. Here, we discuss mechano-transduction as it applies to protein conformation, cellular organization, and multi-cell (tissue) function

Stretching the Flexible Myosin II Subfragment Using the Novel Gravitational Force Spectroscope, and the Uncoiling of S2

Familial Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) causes ventricle walls to thicken and often leads to sudden death especially in adults. Mutations in the subfragment 2 (S2) of β-cardiac myosin are implicated in the genetic disorder. This S2 region is a coiled-coil rod region resulting from the dimeric form of myosin II. It has been proposed that an elastic quality allows normal S2 to absorb force during the powerstroke according to the sliding filament model. To test the flexibility of single molecules of S2 against levels of physiological force, the Gravitational Force Spectrometer (GFS) is being developed. This novel system employs a standard microscope on an equatorial mount that allows the spectrometer to be rotated freely in space. Stationary glass beads are attached to a microscope slide where the molecule is tethered between the stationary bead and a smaller mobile bead. The GFS is oriented so that the force of gravity can act on the mobile bead and so impart a small force to the tethered subfragment. Additionally, a video system in conjunction with ImageJ software makes a distance measurement of the molecule possible with a resolution of around 11 nm. The S2 can be stretched parallel or perpendicular to the coiled coil to elucidate different structural properties of the rod. This study is the first to show structural evidence that S2 in vertebrate skeletal myosin uncoils proportionally to physiological force loads. Because of this, the usefulness and promise of the novel GFS is highlighted, and the biological role of S2's flexibility can be directly commented on. If the dimer undergoes uncoiling at physiological force loads as shown, then it is reasonable to think that this might occur in nature in response to the stress of the powerstroke on a single molecule. This unwinding could be to absorb force as a mechanism to protect the muscle fiber