MEASURING THE EFFECTS OF GENERIC PRICE AND NON-PRICE PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES: THE CASE OF WASHINGTON APPLES

This paper develops a monthly domestic demand and supply equilibrium model for Washington apples that can be used to assess the effectiveness of price and non-price promotional activities. The econometric methodology employed takes into account market differences across the U.S. and is based on data pertaining to individual retail stores located throughout the U.S. The period of analysis is from September 1990 through August 2000 on a regional basis. A unique feature of the model is its explicit allowance for multiplier effects to exist between the level of print media (newspaper ad and flyers) expenditures provided by the Washington State Apple Commission (WAC) in support of apple demand and supplementary funds provided by retailers in support of apple promotion. In particular the model allows for the fact that Commission funds oftentimes represent only a relatively small fraction of the overall print media expenditures made in support of apple sales, and that Commission funds are often effectively only "pump priming" or serve as inducements for additional promotional activities by other entrepreneurs in the marketing chain. Also, the subset of promotional activities (print media and price reductions) provided by retailers is modeled in a dynamic fashion, whereby market conditions feedback affects the level of apple promotion provided by retailers. The overall model includes a set of retail demand equations, a set of retail-F.O.B. price linkage equations, a set of ad lines - WAC Ad buys linkage equations, and an aggregate industry supply function. Additional factors such as asymmetry in retail-F.O.B. price response, the effects of information technology in retail pricing, and the effects of the large crops and the Asian and the Mexican crises on domestic supply are all simultaneously considered. Results of this analysis indicate that, in the aggregate, price promotion is a significant factor positively impacting apple sales. Furthermore, price promotion elasticities were relatively high when compared to non-price promotional activities, leading to a conclusion that greater gains with respect to returns on promotional investment may occur when retail price reductions are pursued. Despite an increased domestic supply and the effects of the Mexican and the Asian crises, among the non-price promotional activities, results indicated that both non-trade (TV and Radio) and trade-related efforts (in store demonstrations, point of sale displays, promotional give-aways, and ad buys) have contributed to increased demand for Washington apples. Sensitivity analysis of trade and non-trade expenditures indicated that trade-related activities were more effective in increasing demand at current expenditure levels relative to non-trade activities. Promotional efforts in the form of billboards, food service expenditures, and other miscellaneous activities, which the industry also carried out during the historical period of analysis, did not have a measurable impact on demand in any of the regions. It was also found that WAC ad buy expenditures resulted in a multiplier effect on the total number of ad lines. While the direct effect of these Commission expenditures on demand would be relatively small without the supplementary efforts forthcoming from retailers, the fact that retailers multiplied the Commission's expenditures into a substantially larger promotional effort resulted in a significant positive effect on apple sales when viewing the promotion program as a whole. Key words: price and non price promotion, trade and non trade activitiesprice and non price promotion, trade and non trade activities, Marketing,

Weak antilocalization in high mobility Ga(x)In(1-x)As/InP two-dimensional electron gases with strong spin-orbit coupling

We have studied the spin-orbit interaction in a high mobility two-dimensional electron gas in a GaInAs/InP heterostructure as a function of an applied gate voltage as well as a function of temperature. Highly sensitive magnetotransport measurements of weak antilocalization as well as measurements of Shubnikov--de Haas oscillations were performed in a wide range of electron sheet concentrations. In our samples the electron transport takes place in the strong spin precession regime in the whole range of applied gate voltages, which is characterized by the spin precession length being shorter than the elastic mean free path. The magnitude of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling parameter was determined by fitting the experimental curves by a simulated quantum conductance correction according to a model proposed recently by Golub [Phys. Rev. B 71, 235310 (2005)]. A comparison of the Rashba coupling parameter extracted using this model with the values estimated from the analysis of the beating pattern in the Shubnikov--de Haas oscillations showed a good agreement.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.

On the relation between local and charge-transfer exciton binding energies in organic photovoltaic materials

In organic photovoltaic devices two types of excitons can be generated for which different binding energies can be defined: the binding energy of the local exciton generated immediately after light absorption on the polymer and the binding energy of the charge-transfer exciton generated through the electron transfer from polymer to PCBM. Lowering these two binding energies is expected to improve the efficiency of the devices. Using (time-dependent) density functional theory, we studied whether a relation exists between the two different binding energies. For a series of related co-monomers, we found that the local exciton binding energy on a monomer is not directly related to that of the charge-transfer exciton on a monomer-PCBM complex because the variation in exciton binding energy depends mainly on the variation in electron affinity, which does not affect in a direct way the charge-transfer exciton binding energy. Furthermore, for the studied co-monomers and their corresponding trimers, we provide detailed information on the amount of charge transfer upon excitation and on the charge transfer excitation length. This detailed study of the excitation process reveals that the thiophene unit that links the donor and acceptor fragments of the co-monomer actively participates in the charge transfer process

Direct fluorescent labelling of clones by DOP PCR

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Array Comparative Genomic Hybridisation (array CGH) is a powerful technique for the analysis of constitutional chromosomal anomalies. Chromosomal duplications or deletions detected by array CGH need subsequently to be validated by other methods. One method of validation is Fluorescence <it>in situ </it>Hybridisation (FISH). Traditionally, fluorophores or hapten labelling is performed by nick translation or random prime labelling of purified Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) products. However, since the array targets have been generated from Degenerate Oligonucleotide Primed (DOP) amplified BAC clones, we aimed to use these DOP amplified BAC clones as the basis of an automated FISH labelling protocol. Unfortunately, labelling of DOP amplified BAC clones by traditional labelling methods resulted in high levels of background.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We designed an improved labelling method, by means of degenerate oligonucleotides that resulted in optimal FISH probes with low background.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We generated an improved labelling method for FISH which enables the rapid generation of FISH probes without the need for isolating BAC DNA. We labelled about 900 clones with this method with a success rate of 97%.</p

The pathology of sponge orange band disease affecting the Caribbean barrel sponge Xestospongia muta

The aim of this study was to examine sponge orange band (SOB) disease affecting the prominent Caribbean sponge Xestospongia muta. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy revealed that SOB is accompanied by the massive destruction of the pinacoderm. Chlorophyll a content and the main secondary metabolites, tetrahydrofurans, characteristic of X. muta, were significantly lower in bleached than in healthy tissues. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis using cyanobacteria-specific 16S rRNA gene primers revealed a distinct shift from the Synechococcus/Prochlorococcus clade of sponge symbionts towards several clades of unspecific cyanobacteria, including lineages associated with coral disease (i.e. Leptolyngbya sp.). Underwater infection experiments were conducted by transplanting bleached cores into healthy individuals, but revealed no signs of SOB development. This study provided no evidence for the involvement of a specific microbial pathogen as an etiologic agent of disease; hence, the cause of SOB disease in X. muta remains unidentified

For the patients best interest?

Bachelor i sykepleie, 2012Problemstilling: Ut i fra valgt tema, tvang i sykepleien til pasienter med en demens sykdom, har vi kommet fram til denne problemstillingen: Hvordan brukes tvang ovenfor personer med en demens lidelse, og er det farer forbundet med tvang? Avgrensing av problemstilling: Vi har avgrenset oppgaven til å sette sykehjem som arena. Årsaken til dette er at vår praksiserfaring om tvang og demens er hentet fra sykehjem. Under vårt litteratursøk fant vi mye litteratur som omhandler tvang i sykehjem, og artiklene sier at det blir utført mer tvang i norske sykehjem enn ellers i helsetjenestene i Norge (Kirkevold & Engedal, 2004). Vi har avgrenset tvang i problemstillingen til kun å gjelde situasjoner som innebærer grunnleggende stellesituasjoner. Årsaken til dette er at vi har erfart mer tvang i stell enn i andre situasjoner og som ferdigutdannede sykepleiere vil stell være en del av vår yrkeshverdag. Videre har vi skrevet om stellet som en handlingsarena i teorien, og utelatt teori om hvordan stellet utføres i praksis. Årsaken til dette er at vi fokuserer på hvordan vi kan utføre stellesituasjonen minst mulig krenkende for pasienten. Vår valgte pasientgruppe er personer med fasen alvorlig demens. Vi har valgt å legge frem to ulike situasjoner i drøftingen for å kunne sette problemstillingen opp mot praksis. Ingen av våre pasienter i situasjonene du vil lese om i drøftingen er under 80 år, de kan begge uttrykke seg verbalt og pasientene blir ikke renget som å være samtykkekompetente i stellsituasjoner. Det utøves tvang mot samtlige av de fiktive pasientene daglig i ulike stellsituasjoner. Vi har avgrenset problemstillingen til å se på begrepene nødvendig- og unødvendig tvang. Vi vil derfor i drøftingen diskutere disse to begrepene for å gi klarhet i hva de innebærer, og deretter anvende begrepene i to ulike situasjoner vi har fremstilt. På bakgrunn av manglende litteratur om nødvendig og unødvendig tvang har vi selv valgt å definere disse begrepene. Begrepene er definert på grunnlag av den litteraturen vi har funnet, vårt skjønn og våre egne praksiserfaringer. I praksis har vi erfart at pleiere har utført tvang de betegner som nødvendig, selv om tvangen ikke var lovlig. Slike uttalelser har fått oss til å reflektere over begrepene nødvendig- og unødvendig tvang. Vi har valgt å kalle kapittel 2.4 for metodisk refleksjon i stedet for kildekritikk. Årsaken til dette er at vi selv føler at vi ikke har nok kompetanse til å kunne være kritiske til andres forskningsarbeid. Vi har valgt å skrive en kort innledning til vært hovedpunkt, dette for å opprettholde den røde tråden gjennom oppgaven. Teorien bruker begrepet pasient og bruker. Vi har valgt å skrive pasient, grunnen til dette er at vi er blitt opplært til å omtale beboere på sykehjem som pasienter

An RNA in situ hybridization protocol optimized for monocot tissue

RNA in situ hybridization can be time-consuming and difficult to troubleshoot. Here, we provide an optimized protocol for maize leaf tissue, though it can be applied to other plant tissues such as shoot apical meristems, embryos, and floral organs. We generate three >100 bp unique antisense probes for each gene of interest and hybridize them to tissue sections

Skjøtselsplan for Laukvika, Karlsøy kommune i Troms og Finnmark fylke – oppfølging av tradisjonell slåttemark som utvalgt naturtype

Naturtypen artsrik slåttemark er sterkt trua ifølge Norsk rødliste for naturtyper, og ble i 2011 utvalgt naturtype (UN) med en viss beskyttelse gjennom lov om Naturmangfold. På oppdrag for Statsforvalteren i Troms og Finnmark fikk NIBIO v/Ellen Elverland, i 2021 i oppdrag å utforme skjøtselsplanen for den ca. 12 daa store slåttemarka i Laukvika i Karlsøy kommune. Slåtteenga har verdi B. Utarbeiding av skjøtselsplanen har bestått i besøk på lokaliteten, samtaler med grunneier, befaring av området og naturkartlegging utført av Hilde Riksheim Tandstad i Sállir Natur AS. Skjøtselsplanen er utarbeid i samarbeid med Tone Kanestrøm og Per-Ludvig Kanestrøm.Skjøtselsplan for Laukvika, Karlsøy kommune i Troms og Finnmark fylke – oppfølging av tradisjonell slåttemark som utvalgt naturtypepublishedVersio

Structural relations among implicit theories, achievement goals, and performance in writing

inexistenteinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio