Tobacco Farmer Interest and Success in Income Diversification

As farm income from tobacco production has declined in recent years, there has been increasing interest in identifying alternative sources of income for tobacco farmers in the southern United States The recent termination of the tobacco quota program has accelerated the exit of tobacco farmers and has heightened concern regarding the availability of substitutes for tobacco production. In this study, we examine factors influencing tobacco farmers’ attempts to identify profitable alternatives to tobacco, their off-farm employment behavior, and changes in acres of tobacco cultivated using survey data collected from a panel of North Carolina tobacco farmers combined with market datadiversification, farm programs, farmer survey, quota buyout, tobacco, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Financial Economics, C33, Q12, Q18,

Tobacco Farmer Interest and Success in Diversification

As U.S. farm income from tobacco production has declined in recent years, there has been increased interest in developing alternative sources of farm revenue to replace lost tobacco income, particularly in tobacco-dependent communities of the southeastern United States. The recent end of the tobacco quota program is expected to accelerate the exit of tobacco farmers and has heightened concern regarding the availability of profitable substitutes for tobacco. In this study, we examine the impact of farm, household, and market characteristics on tobacco farmer interest and success in on-farm and off-farm income diversification. Using survey data collected from a panel of North Carolina tobacco farmers in 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2004 combined with market data collected from secondary sources, we evaluate the influence of farmer preferences, resource endowments, market incentives, risk, and biophysical factors on tobacco farmers' attitudes regarding diversification into non-tobacco products, the extent to which they reallocated resources towards non-tobacco products, and their success in identifying profitable alternatives to tobacco production. Our research contributes empirical findings to the public dialogue concerning the ability of tobacco farmers and tobacco-dependent communities to adjust to structural changes taking place in the tobacco market.Tobacco, farm diversification, household model, quota buyout., Farm Management,

Why Trade Associations Matter: Exploring Function, Meaning, and Influence

We explore the organizational characteristics of trade associations (TAs) and suggest theoretical approaches for undertaking research into or involving TAs in management and organization studies. Through emphasizing the role of TAs within and between industries and at the interface of business and society, we consider how TAs generate meaning and influence

Barrier Lowering and Field Penetration at Metal-Dielectric Interfaces

We report here photoemission measurements on Si-SiO_2-Al structures in which the metal-SiO_2 barrier energy has been determined as a function of the electric field strength E in the dielectric. The expected barrier lowering is the sum of two terms: a) the Schottky term, proportional to E^(1/2) and b) a term due to the penetration of the electric field into the metal electrode, proportional to E. The experimental results are in good agreement with the model, where the Schottky effect involves the optical value of the dielectric constant of the oxide and the Thomas-Fermi screening distance in the metal is 1 Å. To our knowledge this represents the first unambiguous quantitative determination of either effect in a polar dielectric, although the Schottky effect alone has been observed in silicon

Adaptive latitudinal variation in Common Blackbird Turdus merula nest characteristics

Nest construction is taxonomically widespread, yet our understanding of adaptive intraspecific variation in nest design remains poor. Nest characteristics are expected to vary adaptively in response to predictable variation in spring temperatures over large spatial scales, yet such variation in nest design remains largely overlooked, particularly amongst open-cup-nesting birds. Here, we systematically examined the effects of latitudinal variation in spring temperatures and precipitation on the morphology, volume, composition, and insulatory properties of open-cup-nesting Common Blackbirds’ Turdus merula nests to test the hypothesis that birds living in cooler environments at more northerly latitudes would build better insulated nests than conspecifics living in warmer environments at more southerly latitudes. As spring temperatures increased with decreasing latitude, the external diameter of nests decreased. However, as nest wall thickness also decreased, there was no variation in the diameter of the internal nest cups. Only the mass of dry grasses within nests decreased with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes. The insulatory properties of nests declined with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes and nests containing greater amounts of dry grasses had higher insulatory properties. The insulatory properties of nests decreased with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes, via changes in morphology (wall thickness) and composition (dry grasses). Meanwhile, spring precipitation did not vary with latitude, and none of the nest characteristics varied with spring precipitation. This suggests that Common Blackbirds nesting at higher latitudes were building nests with thicker walls in order to counteract the cooler temperatures. We have provided evidence that the nest construction behavior of open-cup-nesting birds systematically varies in response to large-scale spatial variation in spring temperatures

Precision neutron interferometric measurement of the nd coherent neutron scattering length and consequences for models of three-nucleon forces

We have performed the first high precision measurement of the coherent neutron scattering length of deuterium in a pure sample using neutron interferometry. We find b_nd = (6.665 +/- 0.004) fm in agreement with the world average of previous measurements using different techniques, b_nd = (6.6730 +/- 0.0045) fm. We compare the new world average for the nd coherent scattering length b_nd = (6.669 +/- 0.003) fm to calculations of the doublet and quartet scattering lengths from several modern nucleon-nucleon potential models with three-nucleon force (3NF) additions and show that almost all theories are in serious disagreement with experiment. This comparison is a more stringent test of the models than past comparisons with the less precisely-determined nuclear doublet scattering length of a_nd = (0.65 +/- 0.04) fm.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Astrochemistry and Astrophotonics for an Antarctic Observatory

Due to its location and climate, Antarctica offers unique conditions for long-period observations across a broad wavelength regime, where important diagnostic lines for molecules and ions can be found, that are essential to understand the chemical properties of the interstellar medium. In addition to the natural benefits of the site, new technologies, resulting from astrophotonics, may allow miniaturised instruments, that are easier to winterise and advanced filters to further reduce the background in the infrared.Comment: 4 pages, to be published in EAS Publications Series, Vol. 40, Proc. of 3rd ARENA conferenc

Evolution of magnetic polarons and spin-carrier interactions through the metal-insulator transition in Eu1−x_{1-x}Gdx_{x}O

Raman scattering studies as functions of temperature, magnetic field, and Gd-substitution are used to investigate the evolution of magnetic polarons and spin-carrier interactions through the metal-insulator transition in Eu$_{1-x}$Gd$_{x}$O. These studies reveal a greater richness of phase behavior than have been previously observed using transport measurements: a spin-fluctuation-dominated paramagnetic (PM) phase regime for T $>$ T$^{*}$ $>$ T$_{C}$, a two-phase regime for T $<$ T$^{*}$ in which magnetic polarons develop and coexist with a remnant of the PM phase, and an inhomogeneous ferromagnetic phase regime for T $<$ T$_{C}$

Evolution and chemical consequences of lightning-produced NOx observed in the North Atlantic upper troposphere

Airborne observations of NO during the Subsonics Assessment Ozone and Nitrogen Oxides Experiment (SONEX) reveal episodes of high NOx in the upper troposphere believed to be associated with lightning. Linkage to specific periods of lightning activity is possible through back trajectories and data from the National Lightning Detection Network. Lagrangian model calculations are used to explore the evolution of these high NOx plumes over the 1-2 days between their introduction and subsequent sampling by NASA's DC-8 aircraft. Simulations include expected changes in HNO3, H2O2, CH3OOH, HO2, and OH. Depending on the time of injection and dilution rate, initial NOx concentrations are estimated to range from 1 to 7 ppbv. Similar to many previous studies, simulated HNO3 concentrations tend to be greater than observations. Several possible explanations for this difference are explored. H2O2 observations are shown to be consistent with removal in convective activity. While it is possible that upper tropospheric CH3OOH is enhanced by convection, simulations show such increases in CH3OOH can be short-lived (e.g., &lt; 12 hours) with no perceptible trace remaining at the time of sampling. High NO levels further prevent elevated levels of CH3OOH from propagating into increases in H2O2. HO2 is suppressed through reaction with NO in all cases. Simulated increases in OH exceeded a factor of 2 for some cases, but for the highest NOx levels, loss of OH via OH+NO2 offset production from HO2+NO. Additional increases in OH of 30-60% could result from convection of CH3OOH. A final point of discussion concerns how the chemistry within these plumes, their long-range transport, and their potential importance in sustaining background NOx far from source regions present a challenge to global and regional model simulations. Copyright 2000 by the American Geophysical Union