Victor Melgar's Coffee Farm

This case study focuses on a coffee farmer in Guatemala who, given current low coffee prices, is worried about his ability to maintain the family tradition of coffee production. He wonders whether the current low prices are just another of the periodic downturns in the volatile coffee market or whether the market is experiencing structural changes that will have long-term implications. In this case, the farmer is presented with three alternatives, including continuing to produce and market commodity coffee. The other alternatives involve changes in production and/or marketing practices intended to increase profit margins.Crop Production/Industries,

Attitudes toward immigrants: a cross-country perspective

This paper examines the foundations of attitudes towards immigrants by focusing on individual characteristics and country-specific effects. We use a micro-level data set from 31 countries. In particular, we utilize the module on National Identity of the 2003 International Social Survey Program (ISSP). Results indicate that gender, education, age, labor-market status, and political and religious affiliation are important indicators of the attitude toward immigrants. The largest effect appears to be that of education, with more education being positively correlated with a positive view of immigrants. Additionally, we find that country of residence matters.immigration, microeconomic behavior, comparative research.

Directed evolution of a fungal β-glucosidase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Additional file 1. Table S1. Primers used in this study

Nitrogen management.

bitstream/item/210621/1/Nitrogen-Management.pd

Shortcuts in a Nonlinear Dynamical Braneworld in Six Dimensions

We consider a dynamical brane world in a six-dimensional spacetime containing a singularity. Using the Israel conditions we study the motion of a 4-brane embedded in this setup. We analyse the brane behaviour when its position is perturbed about a fixed point and solve the full nonlinear dynamics in the several possible scenarios. We also investigate the possible gravitational shortcuts and calculate the delay between graviton and photon signals and the ratio of the corresponding subtended horizons.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures. References and discussion added. Title changed to match the version accepted in Class. and Quant. Gra

Mesopause Airglow Disturbances Driven by Nonlinear Infrasonic Acoustic Waves Generated by Large Earthquakes

Near-epicentral mesopause airglow perturbations, driven by infrasonic acoustic waves (AWs) during a nighttime analog of the 2011 M9.1 Tohoku-Oki earthquake, are simulated through the direct numerical computation of the 3D nonlinear Navier-Stokes equations. Surface dynamics from a forward seismic wave propagation simulation, initialized with a kinematic slip model and performed with the SPECFEM3D_GLOBE model, are used to excite AWs into the atmosphere from ground level. Simulated mesopause airglow perturbations include steep oscillations and persistent nonlinear depletions up to 50% and 70% from the background state, respectively, for the hydroxyl OH(3,1) and oxygen O(1S) 557.7-nm emissions. Results suggest that AWs excited near a large earthquake\u27s epicenter may be strong enough to drive fluctuations in mesopause airglow, some which may persist after the AWs have passed, that could be readily detectable with ground- and/or satellite-based imagers. Synthetic data demonstrate that future airglow observations may be used for the characterization of earthquake mechanisms and surface seismic waves propagation, potentially complementing tsunami early-warning systems based on total electron content (TEC) observations