Organic Premiums of U.S. Fresh Produce

The study uses the 2005 Nielsen Homescan panel data to estimate price premiums and discounts associated with product attributes, market factors, and consumer characteristics, focusing on the organic attribute for 5 major fresh fruits and 5 major fresh vegetables in the United States. The results suggest that the organic attribute commands a significant price premium, which varies greatly from 13 cents per pound for bananas to 86 cents per pound for strawberries among fresh fruits and from 13 cents per pound for onions to 50 cents per pound for peppers among fresh vegetables. In terms of percentages, the estimated organic price premiums vary from 20% above prices paid for conventional grapes to 42% for strawberries among fresh fruits and from 15% above prices paid for conventional carrots and tomatoes to 60% for potatoes. Furthermore, prices paid for fresh produce are found to vary by other product attributes, market factors, and household characteristics.fresh fruits and vegetables, hedonic price, organic produce, organic premium, product attributes, Nielsen Homescan, Agricultural Finance,

How Much are Consumers Paying for Organic Baby Food?

Using retail purchase data, price premiums and discounts associated with household demographics, market factors, and product attributes (focusing on the organic attribute for strained baby food) are estimated using a hedonic pricing model. Results suggest that the organic premium ranges from about 12 to 49 percent in 2004 and from 30 to 52 percent in 2006. Tests for significant changes relative to product attributes show that while the price of conventional baby food has stayed relatively the same, the premium for organic baby food has increased.organic baby food, hedonic price, market factors, product attributes, Nielsen Homescan, organic premium, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis,

Does Price or Income Affect Organic Choice? Analysis of U.S. Fresh Produce Users

This study analyzes consumer purchasing behavior of organic fresh fruits and vegetables using the 2006 Nielsen Homescan panel. An ordered logit model was estimated to quantify the impacts of economic and socio-demographic factors on the probability of a household belonging to a specific organic user group—devoted, casual, or nonuser. Results suggest that price and income, to some extent, affect consumer purchases of organic produce. Additionally, the profile of an organic produce user is most likely to consist of an Hispanic household residing in the Western United States with children under 6 years old and a household head older than 54 years with at least a college degree.Nielsen Homescan data, ordered logit, organic fruits and vegetables, user groups, Agribusiness, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, C25, D12, M31, Q11,

Zero Entropy Interval Maps And MMLS-MMA Property

We prove that the flow generated by any interval map with zero topological entropy is minimally mean-attractable (MMA) and minimally mean-L-stable (MMLS). One of the consequences is that any oscillating sequence is linearly disjoint with all flows generated by interval maps with zero topological entropy. In particular, the M\"obius function is orthogonal to all flows generated by interval maps with zero topological entropy (Sarnak's conjecture for interval maps). Another consequence is a non-trivial example of a flow having the discrete spectrum.Comment: 12 page

Phase-Dependent Properties of Extrasolar Planet Atmospheres

Recently the Spitzer Space Telescope observed the transiting extrasolar planets, TrES-1 and HD209458b. These observations have provided the first estimates of the day side thermal flux from two extrasolar planets orbiting Sun-like stars. In this paper, synthetic spectra from atmospheric models are compared to these observations. The day-night temperature difference is explored and phase-dependent flux densities are predicted for both planets. For HD209458b and TrES-1, models with significant day-to-night energy redistribution are required to reproduce the observations. However, the observational error bars are large and a range of models remains viable.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Rheo-PIV Investigation of Fracture and Self-Healing in a Triblock Copolymer Gel

Physically associating polymer gels have shown the ability to heal after failure, making them promising candidates for various medical applications or consumer products. However, the processes by which these materials self-heal is not well-understood. This study seeks to explain the self-healing behavior of the triblock copolymer poly(methyl methacrylate)-poly(n-butyl acrylate)-poly(methyl methacrylate), or PMMA-PnBA-PMMA, by probing the material’s post-fracture behavior with rheometry and particle image velocimetry (PIV). The self-healing behavior was studied by deforming each gel in shear until failure multiple times with “recovery” periods in-between. PIV was used to verify the occurrence of each fracture in both time and space. Stress relaxation experiments were also performed on the gels to give greater context to the results of the investigation into fracture recovery. Using these data, it was possible to determine the activation energy required for the network chain dissociation and re-association that transpires during the deformation and self-healing of the gel. Stress relaxation experiments yielded an activation energy of 359 kJ/mole for chain dissociation, while fracture-recovery experiments produced an activation energy of 439 kJ/mole for chain re-association. Building upon these insights could lead to a better understanding of the microscopic mechanisms that govern the behavior of intrinsic self-healing materials so that they can be used to their full potential