7,111 research outputs found
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN GROCERY MANUFACTURER AND DISTRIBUTOR MARKETING PROGRAMS: A SURVEY OF U.S. WHOLESALERS AND RETAILERS
The retail food industry has taken initiatives to improve cost and to return the focus of management to the consumer. Among these initiatives are Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) and category management. A mail questionnaire elicited perceptions on these issues from 95 executives among U.S. food wholesalers and retailers. This study found that ECR category management are being used to streamline costs and to remove logistical inefficiencies. Although it is widely recognized that category management provides a consumer focus, distributors seemingly brush aside tactics that target individual customers in favor of efforts that target logistical efficiency.Agribusiness, Marketing,
A modified Newton-Raphson analysis of flight measurements of the trailing vortices of a heavy jet transport
A modified Newton-Raphson method has been used to determine the parameters in equations describing the vortex flow to obtain a best match with flight measurements of the flow behind the C-5A airplane. The flight measurements were made using a specially instrumented T-33 airplane which passed as closely as possible to the centers of the trailing vortices at several distances behind the C-5A airplane. The flight measurements were transformed to flow velocity relative to an inertial frame of reference. The assumed form of the flow consisted of the superposition of two counterrotating, finite core vortices. The positions of the vortex centers, their total circulation, the effective eddy viscosity and measurement bias were the parameters adjusted. The assumed form of vortex flow fit well the measured velocities for the numerous sets of data, both flaps up and down for the C-5A airplane. The resulting values of total circulation, however, were about two-thirds that expected of a wing with an elliptical loading. A partial explanation of the less than expected circulation is a dip in the spanwise lift distribution at the airplane's center line. The distance between the trailing vortices at the smallest times encountered is somewhat less than that expected for an elliptical wing loading
K-shell x-ray spectroscopy of atomic nitrogen
Absolute {\it K}-shell photoionization cross sections for atomic nitrogen
have been obtained from both experiment and state-of-the-art theoretical
techniques. Due to the difficulty of creating a target of neutral atomic
nitrogen, no high-resolution {\it K}-edge spectroscopy measurements have been
reported for this important atom. Interplay between theory and experiment
enabled identification and characterization of the strong
resonance features throughout the threshold region. An experimental value
of 409.64 0.02 eV was determined for the {\it K}-shell binding energy.Comment: 4 pages, 2 graphs, 1 tabl
Structural parameters for globular clusters in M31 and generalizations for the fundamental plane
The structures of globular clusters (GCs) reflect their dynamical states and
past histories. High-resolution imaging allows the exploration of morphologies
of clusters in other galaxies. Surface brightness profiles from new Hubble
Space Telescope observations of 34 globular clusters in M31 are presented,
together with fits of several different structural models to each cluster. M31
clusters appear to be adequately fit by standard King models, and do not
obviously require alternate descriptions with relatively stronger halos, such
as are needed to fit many GCs in other nearby galaxies. The derived structural
parameters are combined with corrected versions of those measured in an earlier
survey to construct a comprehensive catalog of structural and dynamical
parameters for M31 GCs with a sample size similar to that for the Milky Way.
Clusters in M31, the Milky Way, Magellanic Clouds, Fornax dwarf spheroidal and
NGC 5128 define a very tight fundamental plane with identical slopes. The
combined evidence for these widely different galaxies strongly reinforces the
view that old globular clusters have near-universal structural properties
regardless of host environment.Comment: AJ in press; 59 pages including 16 figure
Natural resources of Lake Earl and Smith River Delta
The Lake Earl/Smith River Delta area is a key coastal wetland situated in northern California. The Lake and Delta have retained much of their value to wildlife and serve as an important link in a chain of such wetlands that extend southward along the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to South America. Millions of water-associated birds of the Pacific Flyway utilize these areas as feeding and resting stops along their migration paths. In California, these wetlands also serve as a significant portion of the available wintering grounds for a major share of the birds within the flyway.
The Smith River is also one of the State's most productive salmon and steelhead streams. Anadromous fish produced here provide thousands of angler use days to sport fishermen and contribute substantially to the commercial fishing catch off the northern coast.
Because of the importance of coastal wetlands to the fish and wildlife of California, the Department of Fish and Game has initiated a high priority statewide inventory and assessment of these wetlands. This publication is an integral part of that program.
This report identifies specific resources and uses; directs attention to problems; and recommends courses of action needed to insure resource protection. It is intended as a guide for citizens, planners, administrators and other
interested in the use and development of California's
coastal land and waters. (132pp.
Neutron capture rates and r-process nucleosynthesis
Simulations of r-process nucleosynthesis require nuclear physics information
for thousands of neutron-rich nuclear species from the line of stability to the
neutron drip line. While arguably the most important pieces of nuclear data for
the r-process are the masses and beta decay rates, individual neutron capture
rates can also be of key importance in setting the final r-process abundance
pattern. Here we consider the influence of neutron capture rates in forming the
A~80 and rare earth peaks.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, appears in the Proceedings of the 14th
International Symposium on Capture Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy and Related Topic
Systematic and Stochastic Variations in Pulsar Dispersion Measures
We analyze deterministic and random temporal variations in dispersion measure
(DM) from the full three-dimensional velocities of pulsars with respect to the
solar system, combined with electron-density variations on a wide range of
length scales. Previous treatments have largely ignored the pulsar's changing
distance while favoring interpretations involving the change in sky position
from transverse motion. Linear trends in pulsar DMs seen over 5-10~year
timescales may signify sizable DM gradients in the interstellar medium (ISM)
sampled by the changing direction of the line of sight to the pulsar. We show
that motions parallel to the line of sight can also account for linear trends,
for the apparent excess of DM variance over that extrapolated from
scintillation measurements, and for the apparent non-Kolmogorov scalings of DM
structure functions inferred in some cases. Pulsar motions through atomic gas
may produce bow-shock ionized gas that also contributes to DM variations. We
discuss possible causes of periodic or quasi-periodic changes in DM, including
seasonal changes in the ionosphere, annual variation of the solar elongation
angle, structure in the heliosphere-ISM boundary, and substructure in the ISM.
We assess the solar cycle's role on the amplitude of ionospheric and solar-wind
variations. Interstellar refraction can produce cyclic timing variations from
the error in transforming arrival times to the solar system barycenter. We
apply our methods to DM time series and DM gradient measurements in the
literature and assess consistency with a Kolmogorov medium. Finally, we discuss
the implications of DM modeling in precision pulsar timing experiments.Comment: 24 pages, 17 figures, published in Ap
The Gamma Ray Pulsar Population
We apply a likelihood analysis to pulsar detections, pulsar upper limits, and
diffuse background measurements from the OSSE and EGRET instruments on the
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory to constrain the luminosity law for gamma-ray
pulsars and some properties of the gamma-ray pulsar population. We find that
the dependence of luminosity on spin period and dipole magnetic field is much
steeper at OSSE than at EGRET energies (50-200 keV and >100 MeV, respectively),
suggesting that different emission mechanisms are responsible for low- and
high-energy gamma-ray emission. Incorporating a spin-down model and assuming a
pulsar spatial distribution, we estimate the fraction of the Galactic gamma-ray
background due to unidentified pulsars and find that pulsars may be an
important component of the OSSE diffuse flux, but are most likely not important
at EGRET energies. Using measurements of the diffuse background flux from these
instruments, we are able to place constraints on the braking index, initial
spin period, and magnetic field of the Galactic pulsar population. We are also
able to constrain the pulsar birthrate to be between 1/(25 yr) and 1/(500 yr).
Our results are based on a large gamma-ray beam, but they do not scale in a
simple way with beam size. With our assumed beam size, the implied gamma-ray
efficiency for the EGRET detections is no more than 20%. We estimate that about
20 of the 169 unidentified EGRET sources are probably gamma-ray pulsars. We use
our model to predict the pulsar population that will be seen by future
gamma-ray instruments and estimate that GLAST will detect roughly 750 gamma-ray
pulsars as steady sources, only 120 of which are currently known radio pulsars.Comment: 32 pages, including figures. submitted to Ap
Abortion provision in Northern Ireland: the views of health professionals working in obstetrics and gynaecology units
Introduction: Abortion became decriminalised in Northern Ireland in October 2019. Until that point there existed no evidence concerning the views of health professionals on decriminalisation or on their willingness to be involved in abortion care. The purpose of this study was to address this lack of evidence, including all categories of health professionals working in obstetrics and gynaecology units in Northern Ireland.
Methods: The online survey was targeted at medical, nursing and midwifery staff working in the obstetrics and gynaecology units in each Health and Social Care (HSC) Trust in Northern Ireland. The survey was issued via clinical directors in each Trust using the REDCap platform.
Results: The findings showed widespread support for decriminalisation of abortion up until 24 weeks’ gestation (n=169, 54%). The majority of clinicians stated they were willing to provide abortions in certain circumstances (which were undefined) (n=188, 60% medical abortions; n=157, 50% surgical abortions). Despite regional variation, the results show that there are sufficient numbers of clinicians to provide a service within each HSC Trust. The results indicate that many clinicians who report a religious affiliation are also supportive of decriminalisation (n=46, 51% Catholic; n=53, 45% Protestant) and are willing to provide care, countering the assumption that those of faith would all raise conscientious objections to service provision.
Conclusions: The findings of this study are very encouraging for the development, implementation and delivery of local abortion care within HSC Trusts in Northern Ireland and should be of value in informing commissioners and providers about the design of a service model and its underpinning training programmes
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