Technical Efficiency of Australian Wool Production: Point and Confidence Interval Estimates

A balanced panel of data is used to estimate technical efficiency, employing a fixed-effects stochastic frontier specification for wool producers in Australia. Both point estimates and confidence intervals for technical efficiency are reported. The confidence intervals are constructed using the Multiple Comparisons with the Best (MCB) procedure of Horrace and Schmidt (2000). The confidence intervals make explicit the precision of the technical efficiency estimates and underscore the dangers of drawing inferences based solely on point estimates. Additionally, they allow identification of wool producers that are statistically efficient and those that are statistically inefficient. The data reveal at the 95% confidence level that twenty-one of the twenty-six wool farms analyzed may be efficient.Wool, Technical Efficiency, MCB, MCC

Washington Case Law - 1956; Administrative Law

Presented below is the fourth annual Survey of Washington Case Law. The value of such a survey is attested by the increasing number of publications which publish similar surveys dealing with the case law of their respective jurisdictions. The articles appearing herein have been prepared by second year student invitees to the Law Review as a part of their program for nomination to the Editorial Board. The second year students were guided in their work by third year student members of the Editorial Board and by various members of the faculty of the Law School. The Administrative Law section deals with cases on the scope of review (Fraser)

Intercellular Bridges in Vertebrate Gastrulation

The developing zebrafish embryo has been the subject of many studies of regional patterning, stereotypical cell movements and changes in cell shape. To better study the morphological features of cells during gastrulation, we generated mosaic embryos expressing membrane attached Dendra2 to highlight cellular boundaries. We find that intercellular bridges join a significant fraction of epiblast cells in the zebrafish embryo, reaching several cell diameters in length and spanning across different regions of the developing embryos. These intercellular bridges are distinct from the cellular protrusions previously reported as extending from hypoblast cells (1–2 cellular diameters in length) or epiblast cells (which were shorter). Most of the intercellular bridges were formed at pre-gastrula stages by the daughters of a dividing cell maintaining a membrane tether as they move apart after mitosis. These intercellular bridges persist during gastrulation and can mediate the transfer of proteins between distant cells. These findings reveal a surprising feature of the cellular landscape in zebrafish embryos and open new possibilities for cell-cell communication during gastrulation, with implications for modeling, cellular mechanics, and morphogenetic signaling

Norris tailwater creel survey : fishermen responses to quality regulations

Norris Tailwater is located in Anderson county in East Tennessee. It was created when Norris dam impounded the Clinch River in 1936 and hypolimnetic discharges for power generation changed the cool water river to a cold-water tailwater. The tailwater has been an important trout fishery since the 1950\u27s when regular stocking of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) began. On March 1, 1993 the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission implemented a new quality zone on 6.4 km of tailwater from Cane Creek to the bottom of Llewellyn Island. The new regulation stated only 2 fish over 14 in could be kept and only artificial lures could be used in the quality zone. Because of local controversy, the regulations were changed in 1994 to 3 fish, only one could be over 14 in and no bait restrictions applied to the quality zone. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of these new regulations. An access point creel survey of float anglers was conducted in 1993. The survey was administered at two boat ramps within the 16.4 km study area. The area was divided into three approximately equal zones; the upper zone, the quality zone, and the lower zone. In 1993, quality zone anglers\u27 catch rate (0.6 fish/hour), total effort (360 man hours), and total catch (200 trout) was significantly lower (P \u3c 0.05) than the lower zone anglers\u27 catch rate (1.4 fish/hour), total effort (1720 man hours), and total catch (2420 trout). Percent release was high in the quality zone (94%) but was not significantly different from the lower zone (62%). The most common gear used over the entire area was spincast gear (91%). The most common bait used over the entire area was artificial bait (43%). It was impossible to determine if fish caught within the quality zone were larger because of the small sample size (n = 5) measured in the quality zone. Most float fishermen (59.5%) came from nearby Knox county which was the most populated county in the region. The data gathered in 1993 led to changes in the design in 1994. In 1994, two wading access points were added, survey periods were lengthened to interview more types of anglers, and questions were added to obtain fishermen\u27s opinions of quality regulations. In 1994 float and wade anglers were interviewed. No bank anglers were included in this survey. Anglers within the quality zone had approximately the same catch rate (1.3 fish/hour) as anglers in the lower zone (1.2 fish/hour). Quality zone anglers\u27 total effort (3090 man hours) and total catch (4070 fish) were significantly lower (p \u3c 0.05) than lower zone anglers\u27 total effort (7190 man hours) and total catch (8590 fish). Anglers within the quality zone released significantly more fish (95%) than anglers in the lower zone (74%). The most prevalent gear over the entire area was flyfishing gear (46%) and artificial bait was the most prevalent bait (68%). Again, it was impossible to determine if fish within the quality zone were larger because of the small sample size from the quality zone (n = 4). As in 1993, most fishermen came from Knox county (56.1%) in 1994. More anglers were in favor of quality regulations (68%) than were against (18%). Sbdy-nine percent of anglers interviewed indicated the quality regulations did not change the way they fished the tailwater

The Privilege Against Self-Incrimination as Applied to Custodians of Organizational Records

One of the most critical areas of the courts\u27 inquisitorial power involves organizational documents—books and records of the business, social, and political combines so much a part of the modern American scene. The development of the organization man, and the diverse associations to which he belongs, has focused government attention—and regulation—upon the activities of large numbers of combinations, associations, and organizations. Perhaps it is pertinent to ask what areas of organization activity remain immune from the government subpoena. When may an officer or member rely upon the privileges he could assert with regard to his private affairs