U.S. Citrus Import Demand: Seasonality and Substitution

Citrus fruits make up one-fifth of all fresh fruit consumed in the United States. Given the increasing importance of imported citrus in the diet of American consumers, it is perhaps surprising that no import demand analysis of U.S. citrus has been conducted. Using quarterly U.S. import data for six citrus commodities, we employed a demand systems model and evaluated aspects of seasonality. The results suggest wide variations in price responses to different types of imported citrus. The average amplitude and phase shift suggest that all citrus fruits exhibit some seasonality in their imports, likely a result of peak harvesting schedules of exporters.Fresh citrus, oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruit, mandarins, import demand, seasonality, Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade,

A 12 GHz satellite video receiver: Low noise, low cost prototype model for TV reception from broadcast satellites

A 12-channel synchronous phase lock video receiver consisting of an outdoor downconverter unit and an indoor demodulator unit was developed to provide both low noise performance and low cost in production quantities of 1000 units. The prototype receiver can be mass produced at a cost under $1540 without sacrificing system performance. The receiver also has the capability of selecting any of the twelve assigned satellite broadcast channels in the frequency range 11.7 to 12.2 GHz

Transfusion-Associated Babesiosis after Heart Transplant

We describe a 54-year-old spleen-intact man with transfusion-associated Babesia microti infection after a heart transplant. Adult respiratory distress syndrome developed in the patient, and he required mechanical ventilation. Our experiences with this patient suggest that babesiosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of transplant patients who have fever and hemolytic anemia

Revisions to the derivation of the Australian and New Zealand guidelines for toxicants in fresh and marine waters

The Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality are a key document in the Australian National Water Quality Management Strategy. These guidelines released in 2000 are currently being reviewed and updated. The revision is being co-ordinated by the Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, while technical matters are dealt with by a series of Working Groups. The revision will be evolutionary in nature reflecting the latest scientific developments and a range of stakeholder desires. Key changes will be: increasing the types and sources of data that can be used; working collaboratively with industry to permit the use of commercial-in-confidence data; increasing the minimum data requirements; including a measure of the uncertainty of the trigger value; improving the software used to calculate trigger values; increasing the rigour of site-specific trigger values; improving the method for assessing the reliability of the trigger values; and providing guidance of measures of toxicity and toxicological endpoints that may, in the near future, be appropriate for trigger value derivation. These changes will markedly improve the number and quality of the trigger values that can be derived and will increase end-users’ ability to understand and implement the guidelines in a scientifically rigorous manner

U.S. Citrus Import Demand: Seasonality and Substitution

Citrus fruits make up one-fifth of all fresh fruit consumed in the United States. Given the increasing importance of imported citrus in the diet of American consumers, it is perhaps surprising that no import demand analysis of U.S. citrus has been conducted. Using quarterly U.S. import data for six citrus commodities, we employed a demand systems model and evaluated aspects of seasonality. The results suggest wide variations in price responses to different types of imported citrus. The average amplitude and phase shift suggest that all citrus fruits exhibit some seasonality in their imports, likely a result of peak harvesting schedules of exporters

A stochastic approach to evaluating livestock marketing policy initiatives

The problems of pastoralist livestock marketing systems in East Africa are well-documented in the literature. They include poor transport infrastructure, inadequate market access and frequent rejection of animals at certain markets. Thus far, few studies have analyzed the effects of eliminating these problems. This study was based on household and market survey data from the community of Il Ngwesi in the Laikipia district of Kenya. Our decision analysis framework for pastoralist livestock producers uses a stochastic simulation model to evaluate how policies that mitigate these marketing problems affect pastoralist incomes and marketing patterns. We find that three of the five hypothetical policy simulations yield statistically significant improvements on the baseline marketing scenario

A Study in U.S. Export Beef Competitiveness: Do Cattle Inventories Matter?

This paper examines whether competition in major export markets for United States beef has changed between 1994 and 2015 and whether underlying cattle inventories impact that competition. The two models employed examine price markups and comparative advantage. Both models are estimated as systems of equations taking into account competitors in eight major beef export markets. Structural break tests of key functions of the two models are examined. The findings complement each other showing that inventories do have some impact on competition, but that the markets are mostly highly competitive, and that the level of competition the U.S. faced in 2015 is not significantly different than it was twenty years prior