The costs associated with milk packaging, delivery, and container disposal for four container types and the policy implications for the Knoxville, Tennessee, area

The overall objective of this study was to estimate the direct and Indirect costs associated with alternative fluid milk packaging systems In the Knoxville, Tennessee, Metropolitan area and the Implications to solid waste management. Also considered were the possible effects on economic efficiency by legislated policy that would elicit changes In milk packaging systems currently used. The general procedure Involved the application of an economic engineering or synthetic cost analysis. Economic-engineering models were built for a small and a large milk packaging operation In the Knoxville area. Models were synthesized for paper, glass, disposable plastic, and returnable plastic fluid milk packaging systems, a total of eight models. Economies of scale were suggested from the synthesized packaging models. The unit packaging cost for the four packaging systems ranged from 1.12 to 2.99 cents per quart equivalent for the glass and the disposable plastic-paper container line In a small plant. For the large plant unit packaging costs ranged from 0.96 to 2.49 cents per quart equivalent for the glass and the disposable plastic-paper container line. The wholesale and retail fluid milk delivery models used were essentially based upon existing research results. The estimated unit delivery costs were 3.84 and 5.87 cents per quart equivalent for disposable and returnable containers, respectively. The milk delivery task proved to be the most costly among the packaging, delivery, and container collection-disposal tasks studied. Economic-engineering models of the solid waste collection and disposal operations for six municipalities in the Knoxville Metropolitan area were synthesized. These models provided the cost data necessary to compute unit costs of the solid waste collected and disposed in the research area. A sample survey was designed and taken to augment existing solid waste data. The sampling unit was the compactor truck. Approximately 36 percent of the population was surveyed for a one week period at each of four landfill sites during October and November, 1970. The weight and volume solid waste data were standardized to a 600 pound per cubic yard density. The unit costs for solid waste collection and disposal ranged from $9.99 to$26.19 per ton and from $3.59 to$8.10 per cubic yard in the research area. Solid waste management economies of scale were suggested by the results. The weight and volume of milk containers used in the research area were computed from published sources, including census and Federal Order publications. The collection and disposal unit costs for milk containers ranged from 0.04 to 0.69 cents per quart equivalent for paper and glass, respectively. The fluid milk packaging delivery and container collection disposal costs for the four types of milk containers studied were summed. The results showed that given the current efforts by the paper, glass, and plastics industries to internalize all of their costs of production, disposable containers were least cost. Therefore, the results indicate that any effort to legislate controls of disposable milk containers could lead to economic Inefficiency. Further research Is needed to quantify the production costs currently shifted on to the environment by the paper, glass, and plastic milk container manufacturers

Economic Effects of Hazardous Chemical and Proposed Radioactive Waste Landfills on Surrounding Real Estate Values

The results of the study of residential housing prices of homes located in the proximity of a large toxic chemical waste landfill in the Toledo, Ohio, area for 1986-1990, strongly suggest a distinct negative impact on sale prices for homes located within 2.6 miles of the existing site, and a diminishing impact before a distance of 5.75 miles is reached. Within the 0-2.6 mile range of the Envirosafe Landfill, a $14,200 premium was found for each mile a house was located away from the Landfill. The premium is greater than found in other studies. A second proposed site in 1989, for low-level radioactive wastes, showed a clear, initial negative impact on housing sales prices upon announcement, but the negative effect on prices dissipated soon after extensive public resistance became evident and caused the proposal to be canceled.

The Effects of an Informational Disclosure Form on the Real Estate Agency Representational Model

A study of Ohio real estate brokers and home buyers finds that a mandatory disclosure requirement had limited success in altering both buyer's perceptions of the role of cooperating real estate salespersons and broker's perceptions of the role they play in the purchase and sales negotiation process between home buyers and sellers.

Corporate Ownership And Compact Costs

Using definitions borrowed from property law, this paper contend shareholders receive less than complete ownership because the contract written by the state is deficient.  This suggests that an additional residual property benefit exists in the firm separate and apart from both equity-holders and bondholder claims.  Thus, the value of the firm is V = E + D + r, where V, E, and D are the market values of the firm, equity, and debt, respectively, and r is a residual value.  The authors refer to this “compact costs” since it stems from the state’s faulty title document, and it explains investors paying a premium seeking corporate control

Identification of a DNA-binding site and transcriptional target for the EWS–WT1(+KTS) oncoprotein

Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is defined by a chimeric transcription factor, resulting from fusion of the N-terminal domain of the Ewing's sarcoma gene EWS to the three C-terminal zinc fingers of the Wilms' tumor suppressor WT1. Although DNA-binding sites have been defined for the uninterrupted WT1 zinc finger domains, the most prevalent isoforms of both WT1 and EWS–WT1 have an insertion of three amino acids [lysine, threonine, and serine (KTS)], which abrogates binding to known consensus sequences and transactivation of known target genes. Here, we used cDNA subtractive hybridization to identify an endogenous gene, LRRC15, which is specifically up-regulated after inducible expression of EWS–WT1(+KTS) in cancer cell lines, and is expressed within primary DSRCT cells. The chimeric protein binds in vitro and in vivo to a specific element upstream of LRRC15, leading to dramatic transcriptional activation. Mutagenesis studies define the optimal binding site of the (+KTS) isoform of EWS–WT1 as 5′-GGAGG(A/G)-3′. LRRC15 encodes a leucine-rich transmembrane protein, present at the leading edge of migrating cells, the expression of which in normal tissues is restricted to the invasive cytotrophoblast layer of the placenta; small interfering (siRNA)-mediated suppression of LRRC15 expression in breast cancer cells leads to abrogation of invasiveness in vitro. Together, these observations define the consequence of (KTS) insertion within WT1-derived zinc fingers, and identify a novel EWS–WT1 transcriptional target implicated in tumor invasiveness