Effects of the private-label invasion in food industries

Using supermarket scanner data, we test a variety of hypotheses from trade journals about the invasion of private-label food products. According to conventional industry wisdom, name-brand firms defended their brands against new private-label products by lowering their prices, engaging in additional promotional activities, and increasingly differentiating their products. Our empirical evidence is inconsistent with these beliefs.private label; entry; price; promotional activity; differentiation; supermarket

The JUPITER study: statins for the primary prevention of cardiovascular events in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases?

Patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, raising questions of whether primary prevention strategies that are more aggressive than cardiac risk factor modification alone should be implemented. Recent trials demonstrating the efficacy of statins in reducing rates of cardiovascular events in healthy persons with elevated levels of C-reactive protein broaden the potential protective mechanisms of statins, but do not directly translate to primary cardiovascular disease prevention in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases

Survival of Juvenile Ferruginous Hawks in Utah

We examined the reproduction of Ferruginous Hawks (Buteo regalis) in Utah\u27s West Desert from 1997–99. We found 100 occupied territories during the study; 80 of them contained an active nest (i.e., evidence of eggs laid). Most active nests (91%) were successful in producing at least one hatchling, and 67% of nests with hatchlings produced at least one fledgling. We followed the fate of 202 Ferruginous Hawk hatchlings; 58% survived to fledging. We radio-tagged 46 of these fledglings; 72% survived the fledgling period and dispersed from their natal territories. Most juveniles that died were killed during the late nestling (58%) and fledgling (24%) period; mortality was lowest early in the nestling period (18%). Across all years, 42% of hatchlings did not survive long enough to disperse from their natal territory. Lagomorph abundance increased each year of our study and during 1999 was over 100 times higher than during 1997. Concomitantly, there was a significant difference among years in the proportion of nests that produced a hatchling and in the survival rate of hatchlings and fledglings. For all of these dependent variables, reproduction was lowest during 1997 when lagomorph densities were low and highest during 1999 when lagomorph densities were high. Yet, most juvenile mortalities were from depredation and not starvation. Most depredated juveniles were apparently killed by avian predators. We also found no relationship between the probability of juvenile depredation and either an index of parental nest attendance or an index of intensity of nest defense

Association of measured physical performance and demographic and health characteristics with self-reported physical function: implications for the interpretation of self-reported limitations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Self-reported limitations in physical function often have only weak associations with measured performance on physical tests, suggesting that factors other than performance commonly influence self-reports. We tested if personal or health characteristics influenced self-reported limitations in three tasks, controlling for measured performance on these tasks.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used cross-sectional data on adults aged ≥ 60 years (<it>N </it>= 5396) from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine the association between the repeated chair rise test and self-reported difficulty rising from a chair. We then tested if personal characteristics, health indicators, body composition, and performance on unrelated tasks were associated with self-reported limitations in this task. We used the same approach to examine associations between personal and health characteristics and self-reported difficulty walking between rooms, controlling for timed 8-foot walk, and self-reported difficulty getting out of bed, controlling for repeated chair rise test results.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In multivariate analyses, participants who performed worse on the repeated chair rise test were more likely to report difficulty with chair rise. However, older age, lower education level, lower serum albumin, comorbidities, knee pain, and being underweight were also significantly associated with self-reported limitations with chair rise. Results were similar for difficulty walking between rooms and getting out of bed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Self-reports of limitations in physical function are influenced by personal and health characteristics that reflect frailty, and should not be interpreted solely as measured difficulty performing the task.</p

The Impact of New, Renewal and Termination Sponsorship Announcements on Share Price Returns

What impact do sport sponsorship announcements have on the share price returns of the sponsoring firms? The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of new, renewal and termination sponsorship announcements on share price returns. The research employed the widely acceptable event study methodology to analyse 118 announcements made by 19 firms over a period of more than 11 years. The mixed findings across all three announcement types point to the lack of consideration given to the sponsorship investment by investors. The findings suggest that, although some firms may position their sponsorships as a contributor towards competitive advantage, the announcements of sport sponsorships are not always taken into account by the market. The discussion of findings also highlights two alternate explanations for our findings, including that investors evaluated sponsorship contracts as achieving market clearing prices, and that the size or importance of sponsorship contracts relative to other investments made by the sponsoring firms was not significant enough to result in investors buying or selling shares. The study concludes with recommendations for managers, as well as suggestions for further research

Multiple Imputation Using Gaussian Copulas

Missing observations are pervasive throughout empirical research, especially in the social sciences. Despite multiple approaches to dealing adequately with missing data, many scholars still fail to address this vital issue. In this paper, we present a simple-to-use method for generating multiple imputations using a Gaussian copula. The Gaussian copula for multiple imputation (Hoff, 2007) allows scholars to attain estimation results that have good coverage and small bias. The use of copulas to model the dependence among variables will enable researchers to construct valid joint distributions of the data, even without knowledge of the actual underlying marginal distributions. Multiple imputations are then generated by drawing observations from the resulting posterior joint distribution and replacing the missing values. Using simulated and observational data from published social science research, we compare imputation via Gaussian copulas with two other widely used imputation methods: MICE and Amelia II. Our results suggest that the Gaussian copula approach has a slightly smaller bias, higher coverage rates, and narrower confidence intervals compared to the other methods. This is especially true when the variables with missing data are not normally distributed. These results, combined with theoretical guarantees and ease-of-use suggest that the approach examined provides an attractive alternative for applied researchers undertaking multiple imputations

Monitoring anthelmintic resistance in Queensland sheep flocks

Development of anthelmintic resistance in Australian sheep flocks over the past 20 years has caused concern for sustainable sheep and wool production.1 Resistance was first reported in 1968, and by the mid-1980s resistance of the important sheep nematode species (Haemonchus, Ostertagia and Trichostrongylus) to a range of anthelmintics had been described. In a survey conducted during 1991/92, the prevalence of resistance to benzimidazole and levamisole anthelmintics was estimated to be 86 and 65%, respectively. Resistance to macrocyclic lactone anthelmintics was not detected, however resistance to ivermectin was subsequently reported. Factors associated with the emergence of resistance include excessive use of anthelmintics, underdosing and use of faulty equipment. Regional control programs, based on monitoring flock faecal egg counts (FECs), have been developed and promoted to control anthelmintic resistance. To better advise producers on the most effective anthelmintics to use, it is essential to have information on the regional anthelmintic resistance status of flocks. We describe a 2-year monitoring program for anthelmintic resistance in southern Queensland flocks that was initiated to provide this information

Time-to-Contact and Collision-Detection Estimations as Measures of Driving Safety in Old and Dementia Drivers

The paper discusses the importance of Time-to-Contact (TTC) and collision occurrence (CD) estimations for safe driving. It describes a computerised testing tool that requires TTC and CD estimations while dividing attention and discusses the association between performance on this task and several measures of driving safety. We report four studies showing that the task is sensitive to age effects and dementia effects, that the accuracy of Time-to-Contact estimations differentiates between old and dementia drivers recently involved in accidents and those not involved. We also found an association between performance on this task and that on navigation and car following tasks in a driving simulator