AN ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL PRICE AND EXCHANGE RATE ELASTICITY FOR US SOYBEANS: THE CASE OF JAPAN

Stepwise model selection criteria were tested against the restrictive forms to determine the appropriate model and to confirm the law of one price for the US soybeans. Analysis shows less than one international price transmission and exchange rate elasticities in the long run indicate an incomplete exchange rate pass through.International Relations/Trade,

ASSESSING THE EFFICIENCY OF EXCHANGE RATE-LINKED SUBSIDIES FOR NON-PRICE EXPORT PROMOTION: THE CASE OF COTTON

Notwithstanding substantial federal financial support for the export promotion of agricultural products, ways to improve the efficiency of federal funding have not been discussed in empirical research. In this study, an equilibrium displacement framework was developed to evaluate whether the efficiency of export promotion expenditures could be increased by linking them with changes in the exchange rate. In our analysis, the gross gain to domestic cotton producers from the exchange-rate linked subsidy scheme was positive. Findings support exchange-rate linked subsidies for export promotion of agricultural products.International Relations/Trade,

NON-PRICE PROMOTION IMPACTS ON COTTON AND SOYBEANS EXPORTS UNDER EXCHANGE RATE LINKED SUBSIDIES

Issue of exchange rate-linked subsidies for non-price export promotion has recently emerged as an area of interest among marketing researchers because of fluctuating strength of US dollars and position of US agricultural goods in export markets. One solution to mitigate these impacts was to link the federal export promotion subsidies with the changing value of US dollars. In the study, an equilibrium displacement framework was developed to analyze the effectiveness of exchange rate-linked subsidies for non-price promotion by comparatively analyzing its effectiveness on US soybeans and cotton. The study result shows that an increase in promotion expenditure with an increase in the strength of US dollars and vice versa promotes the export of US cotton and soybeans in export markets and increases the efficiency of federal export promotion programs. Even though transportation cost elasticity was one of major focuses of this study, it emerged as an insignificant factor.export promotion, exchange rate linked subsidies, gross gain, and producer welfare, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade,

Lunar surface engineering properties experiment definition Quarterly report, 1 Oct. - 31 Dec. 1968

Mechanical properties of simulated lunar soil

Sliding Mode Implementation of an Attitude Command Flight Control System for a Helicopter in Hover

This paper presents an investigation into the design of a flight control system, using a decoupled non-linear sliding mode control structure, designed using a linearised, 9th order representation of the dynamics of a PUMA helicopter in hover. The controllers are then tested upon a higher order, non-linear helicopter model, called RASCAL. This design approach is used for attitude command flight control implementation and the control performance is assessed in the terms of handling qualities through the Aeronautical Design Standards for Rotorcraft (ADS-33). In this context a linearised approximation of the helicopter system is used to design an SMC control scheme. These controllers have been found to yield a system that satisfies the Level 1 handling qualities set out by ADS-33.

Ferromagnetic resonance force microscopy on a thin permalloy film

Ferromagnetic Resonance Force Microscopy (FMRFM) offers a means of performing local ferromagnetic resonance. We have studied the evolution of the FMRFM force spectra in a continuous 50 nm thick permalloy film as a function of probe-film distance and performed numerical simulations of the intensity of the FMRFM probe-film interaction force, accounting for the presence of the localized strongly nonuniform magnetic field of the FMRFM probe magnet. Excellent agreement between the experimental data and the simulation results provides insight into the mechanism of FMR mode excitation in an FMRFM experiment.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure

EGRET Observations of the Diffuse Gamma-Ray Emission in Orion: Analysis Through Cycle 6

We present a study of the high-energy diffuse emission observed toward Orion by the Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory. The total exposure by EGRET in this region has increased by more than a factor of two since a previous study. A simple model for the diffuse emission adequately fits the data; no significant point sources are detected in the region studied ($l = 195^\circ$ to $220^\circ$ and $b = -25^\circ to -10^\circ$) in either the composite dataset or in two separate groups of EGRET viewing periods considered. The gamma-ray emissivity in Orion is found to be $(1.65 \pm 0.11) \times 10^{-26} {s sr}^{-1}$ for E > 100 MeV, and the differential emissivity is well-described as a combination of contributions from cosmic-ray electrons and protons with approximately the local density. The molecular mass calibrating ratio is $N(H_2)/W_{CO} = (1.35 \pm 0.15) \times 10^{20} cm^{-2} (K km/s)^{-1}$.Comment: 16 pages, including 5 figures. 3 Tables as three separate files. Latex document, needs AASTEX style files. Accepted for publication in Ap

Synaptojanin2 mutation causes progressive high-frequency hearing loss in mice

Progressive hearing loss is very common in the human population but we know little about the underlying molecular mechanisms. Synaptojanin2 (Synj2) has been reported to be involved, as a mouse mutation led to a progressive increase in auditory thresholds with age. Synaptojanin2 is a phosphatidylinositol (PI) phosphatase that removes the five-position phosphates from phosphoinositides, such as PIP2 and PIP3, and is a key enzyme in clathrin-mediated endocytosis. To investigate the mechanisms underlying progressive hearing loss, we have studied a different mutation of mouse Synj2 to look for any evidence of involvement of vesicle trafficking particularly affecting the synapses of sensory hair cells. Auditory brainstem responses (ABR) developed normally at first but started to decline between 3 and 4 weeks of age in Synj2tm1b mutants. At 6 weeks old, some evidence of outer hair cell (OHC) stereocilia fusion and degeneration was observed, but this was only seen in the extreme basal turn so cannot explain the raised ABR thresholds that correspond to more apical regions of the cochlear duct. We found no evidence of any defect in inner hair cell (IHC) exocytosis or endocytosis using single hair cell recordings, nor any sign of hair cell synaptic abnormalities. Endocochlear potentials (EP) were normal. The mechanism underlying progressive hearing loss in these mutants remains elusive, but our findings of raised distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) thresholds and signs of OHC degeneration both suggest an OHC origin for the hearing loss. Synaptojanin2 is not required for normal development of hearing but it is important for its maintenance

The 157 nm Photodissociation of OCS

The photodissociation of OCS at 157 nm has been investigated by using tunable vacuum ultraviolet radiation to probe the CO and S photoproducts. Sulfur is produced almost entirely in the 1S state, while CO is produced in its ground electronic state and in vibrational levels from v=0-3 in the appropriate ratio (v=0):(v=1):(v=2):(v=3) = (1.0):(1.0):(0.5):(0.3). The rotational distribution for each vibrational level is found to be near Boltzmann, with temperatures that decrease from 1350 K for v=0 to 780 K for v=3. Measurements of the CO Doppler profiles demonstrate that the dissociation takes place from a transition of predominantly parallel character (β=1.8±0.2) and that the CO velocity and angular momentum vectors are perpendicular to one another

Connexin-Mediated Signaling in Nonsensory Cells Is Crucial for the Development of Sensory Inner Hair Cells in the Mouse Cochlea

Mutations in the genes encoding for gap junction proteins connexin 26 (Cx26) and connexin 30 (Cx30) have been linked to syndromic and nonsyndromic hearing loss in mice and humans. The release of ATP from connexin hemichannels in cochlear nonsensory cells has been proposed to be the main trigger for action potential activity in immature sensory inner hair cells (IHCs), which is crucial for the refinement of the developing auditory circuitry. Using connexin knock-out mice, we show that IHCs fire spontaneous action potentials even in the absence of ATP-dependent intercellular Ca(2+) signaling in the nonsensory cells. However, this signaling from nonsensory cells was able to increase the intrinsic IHC firing frequency. We also found that connexin expression is key to IHC functional maturation. In Cx26 conditional knock-out mice (Cx26(Sox10-Cre)), the maturation of IHCs, which normally occurs at approximately postnatal day 12, was partially prevented. Although Cx30 has been shown not to be required for hearing in young adult mice, IHCs from Cx30 knock-out mice exhibited a comprehensive brake in their development, such that their basolateral membrane currents and synaptic machinery retain a prehearing phenotype. We propose that IHC functional differentiation into mature sensory receptors is initiated in the prehearing cochlea provided that the expression of either connexin reaches a threshold level. As such, connexins regulate one of the most crucial functional refinements in the mammalian cochlea, the disruption of which contributes to the deafness phenotype observed in mice and DFNB1 patients. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: The correct development and function of the mammalian cochlea relies not only on the sensory hair cells, but also on the surrounding nonsensory cells. Although the nonsensory cells have been largely implicated in the general homeostasis in the mature cochlea, their involvement in the initial functional differentiation of the sensory inner hair cells is less clear. Using mutant mouse models for the most common form of congenital deafness in humans, which are knock-outs for the gap-junction channels connexin 26 and connexin 30 genes, we show that defects in nonsensory cells prevented the functional maturation of inner hair cells. In connexin knock-outs, inner hair cells remained stuck at a prehearing stage of development and, as such, are unable to process sound information