Omaha Trade Area Study No. 02: An Analysis of Telephone Calls, Newspaper Circulation, and Correspondent Banks

There are many limitations and statistical uncertainties in making a full interpretation of the Omaha Trade Area, but we plan to go as far as we can to bring together the commonly used indicators that show the sphere of influence of a major trade center. A number of indicators, such as retail sales, newspaper circulation, correspondent banks, grain shipments, etc., will be mapped individually. Then, for the final analysis, a composite map will be constructed to show the area of overall dominance by Omaha

Geographic Background Report No. 01: Omaha\u27s Agricultural Core Region

One of the critical problems in the delineation of the Omaha Trade Area to be solved by the geographer is the selection of the agricultural hinterland of Omaha. A series of maps, based on the 1959 and 1964 Census of Agriculture reports were developed. These basic maps were correlated with known data concerning agricultural shipments to the Omaha market. The result was the definition of an agricultural core region centered on Omaha

Omaha Trade Area Study No. 01: License Plate Survey of Two Major Shopping Points

This study is a preliminary attempt at the delimitation of Omaha\u27s retail trade area. The method used is that of recording license plate numbers at the two major shopping points in Omaha, the Central Business District and Crossroads, plus two other smaller shopping points--Southroads and The Center. Emphasis is placed upon the two major points for they give the best regional cross-section of Omaha\u27s retail attraction

Is ARR 2015 a watershed moment for how we manage hydrologic data?

© 2015, Engineers Australia. All rights reserved. As network speeds have increased, online delivery of data has the potential to revolutionise the hydrologic industry not only in Australia but worldwide, for example the recent ARR Revision Projects on regional flood frequency estimation and the interaction of coastal and riverine flooding. There are a number of distinct advantages to centralising data stores, namely: quality control that can ensure practitioners are all using the same consistent data set as well as revision control in case changes are required in the future. These, and other, ARR projects, although small scale, have proved that the limitations are not technical but rather cultural, namely they fear of confidentiality when accessing services from remote third party servers as well as the institutionalised culture of downloading and archiving copies of data and software. Centralised data management confronts the established dogma of software licensing in that the concept of paying a single license fee for a particular version or data snapshot is, essentially, eliminated. We believe that this will be replaced with an alternate hybrid organisational structure similar to an open source software project combined with a not-for-profit business that would be run by the industry for the industry. This paper presents a brief overview of the already eliminated technical issues and, more importantly, challenges the hydrologic community to critically evaluate their view of data and software ownership, hydrologic engineering workflows and the direction of collaboration in a data centric workplace

Omaha Trade Area Study No. 05: Omaha Spheres of Influence

In nearly all cases, a city represents the focal point of a large area which it dominates. As distance away from the city increases the influence of the city decreases until a point is reached where another city of similar size exerts more influence. The purpose of this study is to establish and discuss the major area of dominance for Omaha

Assessment of disk MHD generators for a base load powerplant

Results from a study of the disk MHD generator are presented. Both open and closed cycle disk systems were investigated. Costing of the open cycle disk components (nozzle, channel, diffuser, radiant boiler, magnet and power management) was done. However, no detailed costing was done for the closed cycle systems. Preliminary plant design for the open cycle systems was also completed. Based on the system study results, an economic assessment of the open cycle systems is presented. Costs of the open cycle disk conponents are less than comparable linear generator components. Also, costs of electricity for the open cycle disk systems are competitive with comparable linear systems. Advantages of the disk design simplicity are considered. Improvements in the channel availability or a reduction in the channel lifetime requirement are possible as a result of the disk design

Fundamental issues

James Ball, Mark Babister, Monique Retallick, Fiona Ling, Mark Thye

Genetic Variance and Covariance Components for Feed Intake, Average Daily Gain, and Postweaning Gain in Growing Beef Cattle

Feed is the greatest cost for a beef cattle production enterprise. Data collection to determine feed efficiency of animals is also costly, because both gain and intake records are needed to calculate feed efficiency. Electronic intake monitoring systems such as GrowSafe or Insentec to collect feed intake data are expensive and thus limit the number of animals that can be tested. Scientists have worked to pinpoint optimal test durations for collecting both weight gain and feed intake records to lessen costs. A 70-day performance test is currently recommended for accurate calculation of efficiency, with growth data as the limiting factor. Research has suggested that a 35-day test is adequate to measure feed intake, but a test period of at least 70 days is suggested to measure gain with sufficient accuracy. The objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for growth and intake traits with particular attention to the relationship between on-test average daily gain (ADG) and national cattle evaluation postweaning gain (PWG). If the correlation between these two traits is strong, it could allow for the use of PWG as a proxy for ADG in the genetic evaluation of feed efficiency. This substitution would allow producers to reduce the length of the test required to measure feed intake accurately