Competitive Relationships Among Potato Production Areas in Northeastern America

Agribusiness,

A Bivariate Markov Regime Switching GARCH Approach to Estimate Time Varying Minimum Variance Hedge Ratios

This paper develops a new bivariate Markov regime switching BEKK-GARCH (RS-BEKK-GARCH) model. The model is a state-dependent bivariate BEKK- GARCH model, and an extension of Gray’s univariate generalized regime- switching (GRS) model to the bivariate case. To solve the path- dependency problem inherent in the bivariate regime switching BEKK-GARCH model, we propose a recombining method for the covariance term in the conditional variance-covariance matrix. The model is applied to estimate time-varying minimum variance hedge ratios for corn and nickel spot and futures prices. Out-of-sample point estimates of hedging portfolio variance show that compared to the state-independent BEKK-GARCH model, the RS-BEKK-GARCH model improves out-of-sample hedging effectiveness for both corn and nickel data. We perform White’s (2000) data-snooping reality check to test for predictive superiority of RS-BEKK-GARCH over the benchmark model, and find that the difference in variance reduction between BEKK-GARCH and RS-BEKK-GARCH is not statistically significant for either data set at conventional confidence levels.bivariate GARCH, require switching, hedging

DIFFERENCE IN RETAIL AND FOODSERVICE SEAFOOD BUYERS IMPRESSION OF AQUACULTURAL PRODUCT

Consumer/Household Economics,

Forms, Transitions, and Design Approaches: Women as Creators of Built Landscapes

Gender issues in the landscape, for a long time, have belonged to the fields of social and political science, which remain relatively unfamiliar to both practitioners and students in the discipline of landscape architecture. Previous scholars have put effort into examining questions of gender, culture and landscape in order to clarify the issues that researchers may encounter in today’s field of study. Among these gender classifications, questions in feminist inquiry have provided a historical setting to this study: what are the forms, transitions and design approaches that women employ as creators of the built landscapes? Through reviewing the past literature and surveying today’s practitioners, an understanding emerges of how female landscape designers think about their gender identity as a variable in the design process. In addition, several issues are further identified, including the female awareness of their gender identity in the workplace, types of female work, transitions in design approach since the 1899 American Society of Landscape Architects was founded to the present day, cultural discourse in female landscape forms, and so on. The major goal of this study is not to build a description of history that asks how women may design differently than men, but to reexamine the idea that has made such stereotypes invalid; gender may influence design approaches but not outcome. Furthermore, this study also attempts to identify the potential gender issues in today’s profession, and to provide a viewpoint to landscape designers of any gender: How does our innate gender identity potentially influence design thinking? Finally, as a designer who is drawn to the cultural dimension of landscape architecture, I hope this study will be helpful to landscape professionals in developing a more complex approach and critical eye for looking at designed landscape forms as cultural vehicles for gender construction

Effects of X-ray irradiation on the noise behavior of low-temperature polycrystalline silicon TFTs

X-ray active pixel sensor (APS) has attracted great attention because of higher signal to noise ratio (SNR) by amplifying the signal in pixels. Each APS circuit contains the X-ray detector and a-Si thin film transistors (TFTs). Due to the high mobility, low-temperature polycrystalline- silicon (LTPS) TFTs have been proposed as a suitable candidate to replace the a-Si TFT. Previous research revealed that the significant transfer curve change under X-ray irradiation can be observed. However, the effects and reliability of X-ray irradiation on the low frequency noise (LFN) are rarely discussed. In order to find out the noise behavior of LTPS TFTs under X-ray, we investigate the noise spectrum density of the LTPS TFTs under irradiation conditions in this paper. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

DEMAND FOR WILD BLUEBERRIES AT FARM AND PROCESSOR LEVELS

The wild blueberry crop harvested in Maine and eastern Canada has increased considerably in recent years. The purpose of this study is to understand the recent trends in demand for wild blueberries with particular attention to the effects of production and the marketing of wild and cultivated blueberries. A price response model was developed to analyze farm-gate price and the processor price, using annual data from 1978 through 1997. Key explanatory variables in the model include quantity of wild blueberries, real per capita disposable income, the quantity of processed cultivated blueberries, and carry-over stocks of frozen blueberries.Demand and Price Analysis,

A PROFILE OF THE SPECIALTY FOOD RETAILING INDUSTRY IN THE EASTERN U.S.

This study investigated product introductions, marketing and distribution patterns among specialty food retailers in the eastern U. S. Based on 547 responses to a mailed survey, the results portray specialty food retailers as an extremely diverse group ranging from those who carry small specialty food sections within standard grocery or department stores to those who exclusively sell specialty foods. Respondents reported that new introductions account for about 22% of their total specialty food sales and that on average, they introduce about 23 products in a typical year. When evaluating new products, their most important considerations are quality followed by uniqueness.Agribusiness,

APPLE PREFERENCES, FORMULATION AND TESTING: RED DELICIOUS, MCINTOSH AND EMPIRE

Consumer/Household Economics,