Determinants of Beef and Pork Brand Equity

A set of consumer-level characteristic demand models were estimated to determine the level of brand equity for pork and beef meat cuts. Results indicate that brand premiums and discounts vary by private, national, and store brands; and brand equity varies across meat cuts carrying the same brand name. Other results are that product size discounts are linear, meat items on sale are significantly discounted to non-sale items, specialty stores typically do not garner higher prices than supermarket/grocery store, and warehouse/super center stores typically premium price to supermarket/ grocery store.Demand and Price Analysis,

Determinants of Beef and Pork Brand Equity

Brand Equity, Pork, Beef, Hedonic Modeling, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing,

Centrarchid assemblages in oxbow lakes of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley with perspectives for fisheries management

Surrounding land-use and in-lake data were collected to determine environmental variables influential in structuring centrarchid assemblages in oxbow lakes of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) and to suggest environmental manipulation strategies that may improve the fisheries of these systems. I sampled 53 oxbow lakes using boat electrofishing and land-use data were summarized using ArcView GIS. Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling separated centrarchids according to water quality tolerance. Centrarchid composition was related to land-use, water clarity, maximum depth, connectivity, primary productivity, and physicochemistry as determined by Canonical Analysis of Principal Coordinates. Canonical Correspondence Analysis rejected the null hypothesis of no relationship between land-use and centrarchid proportional composition. Environmental variables were related significantly to centrarchid composition. Based on these data, a general fisheries management plan for oxbow lakes of the MAV was proposed

Centrarchid assemblages in oxbow lakes of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley with perspectives for fisheries management

Surrounding land-use and in-lake data were collected to determine environmental variables influential in structuring centrarchid assemblages in oxbow lakes of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) and to suggest environmental manipulation strategies that may improve the fisheries of these systems. I sampled 53 oxbow lakes using boat electrofishing and land-use data were summarized using ArcView GIS. Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling separated centrarchids according to water quality tolerance. Centrarchid composition was related to land-use, water clarity, maximum depth, connectivity, primary productivity, and physicochemistry as determined by Canonical Analysis of Principal Coordinates. Canonical Correspondence Analysis rejected the null hypothesis of no relationship between land-use and centrarchid proportional composition. Environmental variables were related significantly to centrarchid composition. Based on these data, a general fisheries management plan for oxbow lakes of the MAV was proposed

Structure and Function Studies of De Novo Peptides Containing Novel Amino Acids.

A series of amphipathic peptides rich in alpha,alpha-disubstituted amino acids (alphaalphaAA\u27s) was synthesized and studied for antimicrobial activity and helix preferences in various solvent systems. In addition, a constrained lactam dipeptide amino acid was synthesized and incorporated into a peptide to examine beta-sheet dimer formation. Several short, amphipathic, 310- and alpha-helical peptides containing 80% alphaalphaAA\u27s were synthesized using various combinations of 1-aminocyclohexane-1-carboxylic acid, alpha-aminoisobutyric acid, and 4-aminopiperidine-4-carboxylic acid. The peptides showed direct antimicrobial activity against E. coli and S. aureus. In addition, several of the peptides showed in vivo and in vitro activity against Brucella abortus and Mycobacterium chelonei. Studies were done with a strain of B. abortus expressing a green fluorescent protein to show the peptides selectively destroyed infected macrophages. The series of amphipathic 310- and alpha-helical peptides were also studied, using circular dichroism spectroscopy, for their helix preference in organic and aqueous-organic solvent systems. The alpha-helical peptides showed the expected spectra in all solvents used. One designed 3 10-helical peptide exhibited a transition from a 310-helix to an alpha-helix as the water content was increased. The other designed 310-helical peptide exhibited a spectrum indicative of an alpha-helix in all solvents tested, presumably due to steric interactions of the amino acid side-chains. A constrained lactam dipeptide amino acid, 3-(R)-N \u27-[(9H-fluoren-9-ylmethoxy)carbonyl]-amino-1-[1-(S)-methylethyledianoic acid]-2-piperidinone, was synthesized from D-glutamic acid and incorporated into a peptide. The starting material was esterified with allyl alcohol and the alpha-nitrogen was doubly protected with Boc protecting groups. Selective DIBAL reduction of the side-chain ester yielded the semi-aldehyde. Reductive amination with valine followed by removal of the remaining allyl ester and intramolecular amide bond formation yielded the fully protected constrained lactam dipeptide amino acid. Treatment with TFA and introduction of the Fmoc protecting group resulted in the amino acid ready for peptide coupling. A peptide using the constrained amino acid was synthesized and studied for beta-sheet dimer formation

The Effect of USDA Cattle on Feed Reports on Feeder Cattle Futures Prices

Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing,

ACCURACY OF GRID PRICING: AN EVALUATION USING WHOLESALE VALUES OF FED CATTLE

Grid pricing is one of the beef industry's answers to improving value coordination in fed cattle transactions. This paper constructs individual carcass-level grid and wholesale beef values. These values are used to evaluate the level of value communication that occurs between wholesale and grid values of beef. Furthermore, the values are used to estimate grid premiums/discounts that improve value communication. Results indicate that value coordination could be improved by modifying grid premiums/discounts.Marketing,