K-orbit closures on G/B as universal degeneracy loci for flagged vector bundles with symmetric or skew-symmetric bilinear form

We use equivariant localization and divided difference operators to determine formulas for the torus-equivariant fundamental cohomology classes of $K$-orbit closures on the flag variety $G/B$, where G = GL(n,\C), and where $K$ is one of the symmetric subgroups O(n,\C) or Sp(n,\C). We realize these orbit closures as universal degeneracy loci for a vector bundle over a variety equipped with a single flag of subbundles and a nondegenerate symmetric or skew-symmetric bilinear form taking values in the trivial bundle. We describe how our equivariant formulas can be interpreted as giving formulas for the classes of such loci in terms of the Chern classes of the various bundles.Comment: Minor revisions and corrections suggested by referees. Final version, to appear in Transformation Group

The Economic Impacts Associated with Locally Owned Agricultural Cooperatives: A Comparison of the Great Plains and the Eastern Cornbelt

Agribusiness,

The Effectiveness of Facilitated Business-to-Business Word-of Mouth Marketing Strategies on Target Participants’ Information Sharing Behavior

This study examines the impact of facilitated business-to-business (B2B) word-of-mouth (WOM) on participants' information transmission decisions. We also examine characteristics of WOM participants and determine the types of participants who spread information. Understanding WOM participants' information sharing decisions is extremely important to agribusinesses using WOM in their marketing mix. For an expendable crop input, the most important factor in determining whether producers share WOM initiative information with peers is how often they are asked for advice by their peers. In contrast, for an expendable companion animal product the most important factor in determining whether veterinarians share WOM initiative information with peers is whether they had a satisfactory experience in the WOM initiative.facilitated B2B WOM, effectiveness of facilitated B2B WOM, indirect impact of facilitated B2B WOM, agribusiness firms’ information sharing decisions, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization, Marketing, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, Q10, Q13,

Integral Grothendieck-Riemann-Roch theorem

We show that, in characteristic zero, the obvious integral version of the Grothendieck-Riemann-Roch formula obtained by clearing the denominators of the Todd and Chern characters is true (without having to divide the Chow groups by their torsion subgroups). The proof introduces an alternative to Grothendieck's strategy: we use resolution of singularities and the weak factorization theorem for birational maps.Comment: 24 page

A Local Cooperative's Financial and Strategic Analysis of the Evaluation of Potential Merger Partners

This is a two-part teaching case developed through in-person interviews which were conducted with the managers of locally owned farm supply/grain marketing cooperatives in Indiana and Colorado in the spring of 2000. The case has been written so that each part can be used individually or together and can also be used in either the undergraduate classroom or in extension programming with cooperative managers and directors. Part I focuses on how to use financial analysis in business reorganization decisions and Part II focuses on how to analyze alternative business reorganization possibilities from a strategic management perspective.Cooperatives, Mergers, Evaluation of alternative business strategies, Agribusiness,

Driving Forces and Success Factors for Mergers, Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, and Strategic Alliances among Local Cooperatives

Agribusiness,

Schur Q-functions and degeneracy locus formulas for morphisms with symmetries

We give closed-form formulas for the fundamental classes of degeneracy loci associated with vector bundle maps given locally by (not necessary square) matrices which are symmetric (resp. skew-symmetric) w.r.t. the main diagonal. Our description uses essentially Schur Q-polynomials of a bundle, and is based on a certain push-forward formula for these polynomials in a Grassmann bundle.Comment: 22 pages, AMSTEX, misprints corrected, exposition improved. to appear in the Proceedings of Intersection Theory Conference in Bologna, "Progress in Mathematics", Birkhause

Calibration of <i>Herschel</i> SPIRE FTS observations at different spectral resolutions

The SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer on-board the Herschel Space Observatory had two standard spectral resolution modes for science observations: high resolution (HR) and low resolution (LR), which could also be performed in sequence (H+LR). A comparison of the HR and LR resolution spectra taken in this sequential mode revealed a systematic discrepancy in the continuum level. Analysing the data at different stages during standard pipeline processing demonstrates that the telescope and instrument emission affect HR and H+LR observations in a systematically different way. The origin of this difference is found to lie in the variation of both the telescope and instrument response functions, while it is triggered by fast variation of the instrument temperatures. As it is not possible to trace the evolution of the response functions using housekeeping data from the instrument subsystems, the calibration cannot be corrected analytically. Therefore, an empirical correction for LR spectra has been developed, which removes the systematic noise introduced by the variation of the response functions

Standard model plethystics

We study the vacuum geometry prescribed by the gauge invariant operators of the minimal supersymmetric standard model via the plethystic program. This is achieved by using several tricks to perform the highly computationally challenging Molien-Weyl integral, from which we extract the Hilbert series, encoding the invariants of the geometry at all degrees. The fully refined Hilbert series is presented as the explicit sum of 1422 rational functions. We found a good choice of weights to unrefine the Hilbert series into a rational function of a single variable, from which we can read off the dimension and the degree of the vacuum moduli space of the minimal supersymmetric standard model gauge invariants. All data in Mathematica format are also presented