Consumer shopping behavior: how much do consumers save?

This paper documents the potential and actual savings that consumers realize from four particular types of purchasing behavior: purchasing on sale; buying in bulk (at a lower per unit price); buying generic brands; and choosing outlets. How much can and do households save through each of these behaviors? How do these patterns vary with consumer demographics? We use data collected by a marketing firm on all food purchases brought into the home for a large, nationally representative sample of U.K. households in 2006. We are interested in how consumer choice affects the measurement of price changes. In particular, a standard price index based on a fixed basket of goods will overstate the rise in the true cost of living because it does not properly consider sales and bulk purchasing. According to our measures, the extent of this bias might be of the same or even greater magnitude than the better-known substitution and outlet biases

Booms and busts: consumption, house prices and expectations

Over much of the past 25 years, the cycles of house price and consumption growth have been closely synchronised. Three main hypotheses for this co-movement have been proposed in the literature. First, that an increase in house prices raises households’ wealth, particularly for those in a position to trade down the housing ladder, which increases their desired level of expenditure. Second, that house price growth increases the collateral available to homeowners, reducing credit constraints and thereby facilitating higher consumption. And third, that house prices and consumption have tended to be influenced by common factors. This paper finds that the relationship between house prices and consumption is stronger for younger than older households, which appears to contradict the wealth channel. These findings therefore suggest that common causality has been the most important factor behind the link between house price and consumption

Application Of Linear Fracture Mechanics To Timber Engineering

This paper describes the application of linear elastic fracture mechanics to the design of structural timber members. These include non-zero angle notches, glued lap joints and the butt joints of laminated timber members. The results of this research were used in the development of design rules given in AS 1720, the Australian Timber Engineering Design Code

Effect of Cyclic Humidity Exposure On Moisture Diffusion In Wood

It is known that moisture content changes in wood strongly affect the mechano-sorptive effects, which in turn contribute significantly to the deformation and strength under long duration loads. Earlier studies have shown that the moisture changes due to the daily and annual variation in the surrounding air tend to be confined to the edges of practical size members. Therefore, prediction of the moisture content near the boundaries of a timber section becomes an important issue. This paper studies the mathematical solutions of the diffusion equation for the finite thickness element considering the effect of surface resistance. By introducing a surface attenuation factor, a simple approximate solution may be obtained. Procedures for evaluating the coefficients K and D are also discussed, together with some data on these values for radiata pine (Pinus radiata). The surface emission coefficient K is a function of air velocity V. A procedure for assessing this effect of the air velocity is also given.A numerical example shows that the proposed approximate solution accurately predicts the cyclic range of moisture content for an ambient cyclic boundary condition. The procedures described herein can be easily extended to include the analysis of two-dimensional and three-dimensional elements

In-orbit Vignetting Calibrations of XMM-Newton Telescopes

We describe measurements of the mirror vignetting in the XMM-Newton Observatory made in-orbit, using observations of SNR G21.5-09 and SNR 3C58 with the EPIC imaging cameras. The instrument features that complicate these measurements are briefly described. We show the spatial and energy dependences of measured vignetting, outlining assumptions made in deriving the eventual agreement between simulation and measurement. Alternate methods to confirm these are described, including an assessment of source elongation with off-axis angle, the surface brightness distribution of the diffuse X-ray background, and the consistency of Coma cluster emission at different position angles. A synthesis of these measurements leads to a change in the XMM calibration data base, for the optical axis of two of the three telescopes, by in excess of 1 arcminute. This has a small but measureable effect on the assumed spectral responses of the cameras for on-axis targets.Comment: Accepted by Experimental Astronomy. 26 pages, 18 figure

Test–Retest Reliability and Sensitivity of a Brief Clinical Monitoring Measure for Transgender and Gender Diverse Adults: The Trans Collaborations Clinical Check-In (TC\u3csup\u3e3\u3c/sup\u3e)

The current study aimed to examine the test–retest reliability and sensitivity of the Trans Collaborations Clinical Check-In (TC3) in a 3-month period with four assessment points at baseline, 1, 2, and 3 months to examine its utility as a clinical progress monitoring measure. This study builds on the initial validation study conducted by Holt et al. (2019). The sample of 32 transgender and gender diverse (TGD) participants were chosen who met screening for at least modest depression and anxiety, and did not have other significant risk factors (e.g., mania, self-harm). Participants completed a battery of measures that assessed mood, well-being, and gender-related constructs at each of the time points in addition to demographic questionnaires. Overall, the TC3 exhibited excellent test–retest reliability. While there was no systematic change in scores, there was some random variation of scores around the mean; and large, within-person correlations between time points. The TC3 also demonstrated convergence with many of the gender-related constructs, and to a lesser degree demonstrated criterion validity with mental health constructs. Further longitudinal study with larger samples in addition to study within intervention frameworks are necessary next steps to understand the utility of the TC3 for assessing systematic change over time. Overall, the current study highlights the initial utility of the TC3 to measure aspects of gender-related well-being across time, such as during health or behavioral health services. Public Significance Statement -- The overall findings of the study suggest that the Trans Collaborations Clinical Check-In (TC3) is a valid and reliable tool for use with transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people in clinical settings, which addresses the dearth of validated, brief TGD-specific assessments that are routine essentials for providing evidence-based care

Fire and fury in Iceland: tracking volcanic eruptions

Volcanic eruptions in Iceland have fascinated writers for centuries. In 1783 Benjamin Franklin correctly identified the cause of the terrible weather that summer in Europe as caused by an eruption in Iceland, which turned out to be the biggest ever historic eruption. In 1864 Jules Verne based his ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ on a presumed volcanic conduit beneath the Icelandic volcano Hekla. In 2014 we were fortunate to capture the largest eruption in Iceland since 1783, this time with modern instrumentation. We were able to track the molten rock as it travelled underground for 50 km at a depth of about 6 km before erupting in central Iceland, using the 50,000 tiny earthquakes it generated as it cracked its way forwards. This was one of the first times in the world that molten rock has been captured with such detail in the act of propagating underground