Spatial Price Integration in U.S. and Mexican Rice Markets

Agricultural trade between the U.S. and Mexico has become progressively liberalized over the past 20 years, with significant increases in bilateral trade in many sectors. The rice sector in both nations, however, continues to be highly protected, with producers and millers on both sides of the border continuing to protest the other nation's protectionist policies. This paper examines market efficiency and spatial price integration in ten U.S. and Mexican rice markets over the 1998-2002 period, during which a retaliatory antidumping duty was imposed by Mexico. The paper uses a multiple step analytical process, including analysis of market price differentials, stationarity tests, bivariate and multivariate cointegration tests, and impulse response analysis. Based on the cointegration results, long-run equilibrating relationships are shown to bind most Mexican markets to U.S. markets, and the U.S. markets are shown to be integrated with continuity. Smaller and more remote Mexican markets located far from transport hubs and milling centers tend not to be integrated with other regions, suffer from information asymmetries, and are characterized by relatively high price levels. In large markets where tariffs tend to be binding, trade policy plays a key role in determining equilibrium market relationships. For example, the tariff structure largely determines whether rice consumed in Mexico will primarily be milled domestically or in the U.S. in the long run. Overall, the results suggest that while consumers in major urban centers have benefited from freer trade, those in remote rural markets have yet to realize significant gains from liberalized rice markets.Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis,

The Use of Multi-beam Sonars to Image Bubbly Ship Wakes

During the past five years, researchers at Penn State University (PSU) have used upward-looking multi-beam (MB) sonar to image the bubbly wakes of surface ships. In 2000, a 19-beam, 5° beam width, 120° sector, 250 kHz MB sonar integrated into an autonomous vehicle was used to obtain a first-of-a-kind look at the three-dimensional variability of bubbles in a large ship wake. In 2001 we acquired a Reson 8101 MB sonar, which operates at 240 kHz and features 101-1.5º beams spanning a 150º sector. In July 2002, the Reson sonar was deployed looking upward from a 1.4 m diameter buoy moored at 29.5 m depth in 550 m of water using three anchor lines. A fiber optic cable connected the sonar to a support ship 500 m away. Images of the wake of a small research vessel provided new information about the persistence of bubble clouds in the ocean. An important goal is to use the MB sonar to estimate wake bubble distributions, as has been done with single beam sonar. Here we show that multipath interference and strong, specular reflections from the sea surface adversely affect the use of MB sonars to unambiguously estimate wake bubble distributio

A New Slant on Weedy Beans

The direct cash loss from weeds is in lowered crop yields. Weeds rob the crop of moisture, nutrients and sometimes light. And they usually mean more trouble and indirect losses- in combining, later weed infestations, etc

Second-Hand Stress: Neurobiological Evidence for a Human Alarm Pheromone

Alarm pheromones are airborne chemical signals, released by an individual into the environment, which transmit warning of danger to conspecifics via olfaction. Using fMRI, we provide the first neurobiological evidence for a human alarm pheromone. Individuals showed activation of the amygdala in response to sweat produced by others during emotional stress, with exercise sweat as a control; behavioral data suggest facilitated evaluation of ambiguous threat

First Operation of a Resistive Shell Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber -- A new Approach to Electric-Field Shaping

We present a new technology for the shaping of the electric field in Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) using a carbon-loaded polyimide foil. This technology allows for the minimisation of passive material near the active volume of the TPC and thus is capable to reduce background events originating from radioactive decays or scattering on the material itself. Furthermore, the high and continuous electric resistivity of the foil limits the power dissipation per unit area and minimizes the risks of damages in the case of an electric field breakdown. Replacing the conventional field cage with a resistive plastic film structure called 'shell' decreases the number of components within the TPC and therefore reduces the potential points of failure when operating the detector. A prototype liquid argon (LAr) TPC with such a resistive shell and with a cathode made of the same material was successfully tested for long term operation with electric field values up to about 1.5 kV/cm. The experiment shows that it is feasible to successfully produce and shape the electric field in liquefied noble-gas detectors with this new technology.Comment: 13 page

Truck Route Access Evaluation: United Parcel Service, Standiford Field Louisville Airport, and Ford Motor Company, Louisville, Site #6

This is a study undertaken on behalf of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC). There are two main objectives of the Freight Movement and Intermodal Access in Kentucky Study (SPR 98-189): 1) evaluation of the access for trucks between intermodal or other truck generating sites and the National Highway System (NHS); and 2) furthering the understanding of freight commodity flows throughout the state. This report summarizes the access evaluation for the areas around the Standiford Field Louisville Airport. This includes two large generators off of Fern Valley Road: Ford Motor Company and the United Parcel Service. These sites are located in Jefferson County in the KlPDA Area Development District (ADD) and KYTC Highway District #5. The location of the site and routes is shown in Figure 1. Smaller industries to the west of the airport field along Crittendon Avenue include Akzo Nobel Trucking, General Electric Supply, KT Shannon Lumber Company, Airside Commerce Center, United Catalyst Incorporated, and Rapid Runner Warehousing. Work on other specific sites throughout Kentucky as well as the freight commodity flow task is ongoing and documented elsewhere. The sites to be evaluated in this study were selected from two existing databases (a truck facility survey from 1994 and the intermodal facility inventory) based on ADD and KYTC Highway District planner recommendations, geographic location, distance to the NHS, and the number of trucks accessing the site. Consideration was also made for the freight type handled and transportation modes used. The site was visited for video recording on November 21, 1998, data collection on September 29, 1998 and intersection traffic counts on December 15, 1998. The facilities are located south of I-264 and west of I-65 in Louisville either on or adjacent to the airport facility. The surrounding area is generally urban and fairly commercial / industrial. A phone survey was conducted with a UPS facility manager early in the study process. The survey found that approximately 150 trucks per day normally access the site with as many as 400 in the peak of the year. The most common truck is a 28-foot drop van but trucks as large as 53-foot semi-trailers also access the site. No traffic congestion problems were raised. Attempts to contact other large truck generators in the area were unsuccessful. The phone survey is in Appendix A

Legitimacy in conflict: concepts, practices, challenges

The study of legitimacy in situations of conflict and peacebuilding has increased in recent years. However, current work on the topic adopts many assumptions, definitions, and understandings from classical legitimacy theory, which centers on the relationship between the nation-state and its citizens. In this introduction, we provide a detailed critical overview of current theories of legitimacy and legitimation and demonstrate why they have only limited applicability in conflict and post-conflict contexts, focusing on the three main areas that the articles included in this special issue examine: audiences for legitimacy, sources of legitimacy, and legitimation. In particular, we show how conflict and post-conflict contexts are marked by the fragmentation and personalization of power; the proliferation and fragmentation of legitimacy audiences; and ambiguity surrounding legitimation strategies