A PARTIAL-ADJUSTMENT, MIXED LINEAR MODEL OF PRICE DISCOVERY IN AN EXPERIMENTAL MARKET FOR FED CATTLE

The Fed Cattle Market Simulator (FCMS) was developed by a team of researchers at Oklahoma State University to aid in understanding the forces that influence price discovery in the fed cattle market. Participants in the FCMS play the role of feedlot marketing managers and packing plant procurement agents, and trade paper pens of cattle in the experimental market. Previous research with the FCMS has not attempted to capture the dynamic nature of the price discovery process; this paper uses a partial-adjustment approach to accomplish that goal. A mixed linear model is used to accommodate both fixed and random effects in the data. Results show that the transaction price adjusts only sixteen percent on a week-by-week basis to its desired level. As such, the price discovery process in the experimental market is said to be characterized by slow adjustment, due in part to biological lags in the beef supply chain. This result will be useful in enhancing understanding of the real fed cattle market.Livestock Production/Industries,

Comparing Canadian and U.S. Cattle Feeding Pricing Practices and Perceptions of Pricing Issues

Competition among beef packing firms, use of so-called captive supply, and methods of price discovery have been prolonged, contentious issues in the U.S. beef industry for two decades or more. While of lesser apparent concern in Canada for many years, these same matters rose to the forefront of beef industry issues after the Canada–U.S. border closure that resulted from Canada’s first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in May 2003.Marketing,

Observations of the 51.8 micron (O III) emission line in Orion

The 51.8 micron fine structure transition P2:3P2 3P1 for doubly ionized oxygen was observed in the Orion nebula. The observed line strength is of 5 plus or minus 3 times 10 to the minus 15th power watt/sq cm is in good agreement with theoretical predictions. Observations are consistent with the newly predicted 51.8 micron line position. The line lies close to an atmospheric water vapor feature at 51.7 micron, but is sufficiently distant so that corrections for this feature are straightforward. Observations of the 51.8 (O III) line are particularly important since the previously discovered 88 micron line from the same ion also is strong. This pair of lines should, therefore, yield new data about densities in observed H II regions; or else, if density data already are available from radio or other observations, the lines can be used to determine the differential dust absorption between 52 and 88 micron in front of heavily obscured regions

SUCCESS FACTORS FOR VALUE ADDED NEW GENERATION COOPERATIVES

Two surveys of New Generation Cooperative (NGC) managers were carried out to ascertain the factors most important to their success. Factors in the Planning and Development as well as the Financing and Cost categories were most important, and NGCs with more employees and more members' equity are most successful.Agribusiness,

Success Factors for New Generation Cooperatives

The goal of this research was to determine success factors for New Generation Cooperatives (NGCs). A self-explicated approach was used to assess the importance of various factors grouped in broad categories using data collected from a mailout survey of NGC managers. Results suggest that factors in the "Planning and Development" and "Financing and Costs" categories are considered to be critically important by NGC managers, though differences in factor rankings exist between managers of enterprises involved in the processing of different commodities.New Generation Cooperative, self-explication, Agribusiness,

Remote sensing of changes in morphology and physiology of trees under stress

Measurements on foliage samples collected from several drought and salt treated plants revealed that leaf thickness decreased with increasing severity of the drought treatment and increased with increasing severity of treatment with NaCl, but remained essentially unaffected by treatment with CaCl2. Airborne data collected by multispectral scanner indicated that false color images provide selective enhancement of a diseased area. Comparison of simulated and actual aerial color and color IR photography revealed that the color renditions of the MSS simulations agreed closely with those of the actual photography

Remote sensing applications in forestry - Remote sensing of changes in morphology and physiology of trees under stress Annual progress report

Remote sensing of changes in morphology and physiology of trees under stres

Thermal Equilibration of 176-Lu via K-Mixing

In astrophysical environments, the long-lived (\T_1/2 = 37.6 Gy) ground state of 176-Lu can communicate with a short-lived (T_1/2 = 3.664 h) isomeric level through thermal excitations. Thus, the lifetime of 176-Lu in an astrophysical environment can be quite different than in the laboratory. We examine the possibility that the rate of equilibration can be enhanced via K-mixing of two levels near E_x = 725 keV and estimate the relevant gamma-decay rates. We use this result to illustrate the effect of K-mixing on the effective stellar half-life. We also present a network calculation that includes the equilibrating transitions allowed by K-mixing. Even a small amount of K-mixing will ensure that 176-Lu reaches at least a quasi-equilibrium during an s-process triggered by the 22-Ne neutron source.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure