A SEGMENTATION ANALYSIS OF U.S. GROCERY STORE SHOPPERS

Cluster analysis was used to conduct a segmentation analysis of U.S. supermarket shoppers. This study is based on the responses of a sample of 1,000 shoppers concerning the importance of 21 store characteristics in selecting their primary grocery store for the Food Marketing Institute's 2000 consumer trends survey. Stores must satisfy the attributes important to all consumers in order to be successful. In order of importance, the four top characteristics are a clean/neat store, high quality produce, high quality meats and courteous, friendly employees. The three key supermarket shopper segments identified are time-pressed convenience seekers, sophisticates, and middle Americans. In order to cater to a particular consumer niche, a store must better fulfill the store preferences of that segment. Time-pressed convenience seekers, 36.70 percent of the sample, put a premium on features such as childcare, gas pumps and online shopping. They are likely to be younger, urban with lower or moderate incomes and have the greatest number of children six years old or younger. Quality and services are important to the sophisticates, 28.40 percent of the sample. This group is middle-aged, better educated with higher incomes than average. Middle Americans, 34.90 percent, are attracted by pricing/value factors such as frequent shopper programs, sales and private label brands. They want stores that are active in the community. Demographically they are in the middle with the highest proportion of high school graduates.Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing,

THE FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY: TRENDS AND CHANGING STRUCTURE IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM

By 2010, foodservice establishments are projected to capture 53 percent of consumers' food expenditures, whereas in 1980, foodservice captured less than 40 percent. The foodservice industry accounts for approximately 4 percent of the Gross Domestic Product and about 11 million jobs. It has been rapidly changing due to economic factors, technological advances, and labor matters.1 This overview covers many of the issues and trends affecting the different segments of the foodservice supply chain including the foodservice operators, distributors and food manufacturers. Changing customer demographics are a driving force in the evolution of the foodservice industry. As the baby boomers reach middle age, they do not seem to have time to cook and their children and grandchildren do not seem to have the interest, or talent. The U.S. population in 2000 had over double ($6,500) the per capita discretionary income that it had in 1975 ($3,109) 2 and, with a high value for recreation and pleasure they are pulled out of the kitchen and into the restaurants. An ever-shrinking world also brings variety to menus as cultures and cuisines converge, introducing new flavors and textures. A tight labor market has affected the foodservice industry from top to bottom leading to a derived demand for convenience products from manufacturers. At all links in the chain, companies are experiencing mergers and acquisitions. Operators, manufacturers, and distributors are all fighting for a share of the profits as competition continues to intensify. This review of the foodservice industry incorporates interviews with industry professionals, current information from leading foodservice associations, and predictions from the top industry research firms and consultants.Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

On random Fourier-Hermite transform

Motivated by the work of Z. Liu and S. Liu, we have introduced random Fourier-Hermite transform $\sum_{n=0}^{\infty} c_{n}A_n(\omega)\lambda_{n}\phi_{n}(t)$, where $c_n$ are Fourier-Hermite coefficient of a function $f$ in $L^{p}(-\infty, \infty)$, $A_n(\omega)$ are specific type of random variables associated with symmetric stable process $X(s,\omega)$ of index $\gamma$, $\frac{4}{3} < \gamma \leq 2$, $\lambda_{n}$ are the eigen values of the conventional Fourier transform and $\phi_{n}(t)$ are $n^{th}$ order normalized Hermite-Gaussian function. It is shown that this series converges to a stochastic integral, whose existence is also proved . Random fractional Fourier transform $\sum_{n=0}^{\infty} c_{n}A_n(\omega)\lambda_{n}^{\alpha}\phi_{n}(t)$ of rational order $\alpha$ is also introduced.Comment: 11 Page

DSTATCOM deploying CGBP based icosϕ neural network technique for power conditioning

AbstractPresent investigation focuses design & simulation study of a three phase three wire DSTATCOM deploying a conjugate gradient back propagation (CGBP) based icosϕ neural network technique. It is used for various tasks such as source current harmonic reduction, load balancing and power factor correction under various loading which further reduces the DC link voltage of the inverter. The proposed technique is implemented by mathematical analysis with suitable learning rate and updating weight using MATLAB/Simulink. It predicts the computation of fundamental weighting factor of active and reactive component of the load current for the generation of reference source current smoothly. It’s design capability is reflected under to prove the effectiveness of the DSTATCOM. The simulation waveforms are presented and verified using both MATLAB & real-time digital simulator (RTDS). It shows the better performance and maintains the power quality norm as per IEEE-519 by keeping THD of source current well below 5%

Decadal growth in emission load of major air pollutants in Delhi

The Indian capital megacity of Delhi is reeling under deteriorating air quality, and control measures are not yielding any significant changes, mainly due to a poor understanding of sources of emissions; hence, priority option in mitigation planning is lacking. In this paper, we have made an attempt to develop a spatially resolved technological high-resolution gridded (∼0.4km×0.4km) emission inventory for eight major pollutants of the Delhi region where high-resolution activity data of all possible major and unattended minor sources are generated by organizing a mega-campaign involving hundreds of volunteers. It is for the first time that we are able to estimate the decadal growth in emissions of various pollutants by comparing newly developed 2020 emissions with SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research) emissions of 2010 using the identical methodology and quantum of activity data. The estimated annual emissions for PM2.5, PM10, CO, NOx, VOC, SO2, BC, and OC over the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) are estimated to be 123.8, 243.6, 799.0, 488.9, 730.0, 425.8, 33.6, and 20.3 Gg yr−1, respectively, for the year 2020. The decadal growth (2010–2020) in PM2.5 and PM10 is found to be marginal at 31 % and 3 %, respectively. The maximum growth is found to be in the transport sector followed by the industrial and other sectors. Maximum decadal growth found for the pollutants BC, OC, and NOx is 57 %, 34 %, and 91 %, respectively. The decadal shift of sectorial emissions with changing policies is examined. The complete dataset is available on Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7715595 (Sahu et al., 2023).</p

Performance evaluation of two popular antennas designed using a Bacteria Foraging Algorithm

AbstractTwo popular antennas such as the Yagi-Uda Array (YUA) and the Log Periodic Dipole Array (LPDA) with the same number of dipole elements are optimally designed using Bacteria Foraging Algorithm (BFA). BFA being one of the successful optimization algorithms, used to optimize many design parameters of these two antennas to get a number of desired performance parameters. A YUA is designed here, mainly to realize high directivity, input-impedance (Zin) close to 50Ω, high Front To Back Ratio (FTBR), high Front-to-maximum-Side-Lobe-Level (FSLL), low Half Power Beam Width (HPBW), and appreciable bandwidth, whereas a LPDA is designed here, mainly to achieve high bandwidth, average Zin close to 50Ω, high average FTBR, high average FSLL, low average HPBW, and appreciable average directivity. The successful design approaches, application and comparative study of these two antennas presented here can also be extended to other antennas

Inductively coupled distributed static compensator for power quality analysis of distribution networks

In this research paper, an inductively coupled distributed static compensator (IC-DSTATCOM) for three phase three wire (3P3W) electric power distribution system (EPDS) is proposed. The contraction of power quality (PQ) was marked as a perilous droop mode bump into direct coupled distributed static compensator (DC-DSTATCOM). To regain the PQ, inductive coupling transformer is assisted in conjunction with DC-DSTATCOM. The system equivalent circuit of IC-DSTATCOM is accomplished by take into account of impedance of both transformer and DC-DSTATCOM to reveal the filtering technique. The filtering icos∅ mechanism is performed by following the generalized mathematical approach using MATLAB/Simulink. A case education is reviewed in detail to illustrate the performance of both DC-DSTATCOM and IC-DSTATCOM. The IC-DSTATCOM is amplified healthier as compared to other in terms of harmonics shortening, good power factor, load balancing, and potential regulation. To examine the effectiveness, simulation outputs of the IC-DSTATCOM with different PQ parameter indices are presented by following the benchmark measure of IEEE-2030-7-2017 and IEC-61000-1 system code

Fuzzy Logic Based Simulation for Modeling of Sustainable Marketing Policy for Modern Rice Mills in Odisha

Rice is consumed by 50 per-cent of the world population. It has a strong market demand as the starch and fibers of rice has been reported to be superior to that of wheat. Orissa produces small, medium and long grain rice traditionally which has commercial importance. The strategy for modernization of the traditional technology based rice mills has to be planned. Up-gradation of rice mills must be done by high tech modern technology so that the rice thus produced can be marketed globally at a premium price. Artificial intelligence based fuzzy logic has been used in this model to determine the numbers of rice mill required to be programmed under proposed symbiotic development program over time. The parameters like rice production, variation in production, paddy grain type, production technology and capacity of the rice mill and geographic boundary have been considered to simulate this strategy. Implementation of this strategy can bring a sea change in the economic status of farmers of Odisha, India engaged in production of paddy which has international acceptance. The suitable climatic factor can be used for growing different paddy varieties and commercially manage it for more profit through value addition and positioning the product in global market

Improved Photocatalytic Properties of Bismuth Molybdate Prepared by using High Energy Ball Milling Technique for Degradation of Rhodamine B

Bismuth molybdate (Bi2MoO6) was prepared through the solid-state route in the stoichiometric ratio followed by ball milling. The high-energy ball milling reduced the crystalline size from 96 to 35nm and increased the surface area from 0.351616 to10.7256 m²/g in 5h. No structural change was observed. The comparative study of the photo catalytic activity for the decolorization of Rhodamine B (RhB) in the presence of UV light has been done by employing 5h milled Bi2MoO6 and unmilled Bi2MoO6 as a catalyst has been done. The dye degradation was observed by a decrease in the absorption spectrum and decolorization in the presence of UV irradiation. The 5h milled Bi2MoO6 proved to be the efficient photocatalyst over unmilled Bi2MoO6. The degradation efficiency of the unmilled and 5h ball milled (Bi2MoO6) catalyst, observed in RhB was found to be 30 and 80% respectively. The degradation efficiency was found to be dependent on the size of the catalyst added in the dye solution may be due to increased surface area provided the increased number of active sites for the reaction. Therefore, 5h ball-milled Bi2MoO6 can act as a catalyst for the treatment of noxious and imperishable organic pollutants in water

Decadal growth in emission load of major air pollutants in Delhi

The Indian capital megacity of Delhi is reeling under deteriorating air quality, and control measures are not yielding any significant changes, mainly due to a poor understanding of sources of emissions; hence, priority option in mitigation planning is lacking. In this paper, we have made an attempt to develop a spatially resolved technological high-resolution gridded () emission inventory for eight major pollutants of the Delhi region where high-resolution activity data of all possible major and unattended minor sources are generated by organizing a mega-campaign involving hundreds of volunteers. It is for the first time that we are able to estimate the decadal growth in emissions of various pollutants by comparing newly developed 2020 emissions with SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research) emissions of 2010 using the identical methodology and quantum of activity data. The estimated annual emissions for PM2.5, PM10, CO, NOx, VOC, SO2, BC, and OC over the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) are estimated to be 123.8, 243.6, 799.0, 488.9, 730.0, 425.8, 33.6, and 20.3 Gg yr−1, respectively, for the year 2020. The decadal growth (2010–2020) in PM2.5 and PM10 is found to be marginal at 31 % and 3 %, respectively. The maximum growth is found to be in the transport sector followed by the industrial and other sectors. Maximum decadal growth found for the pollutants BC, OC, and NOx is 57 %, 34 %, and 91 %, respectively. The decadal shift of sectorial emissions with changing policies is examined. The complete dataset is available on Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7715595 (Sahu et al., 2023)