Effects of Generic Advertisement on Demand: The Case of the Washington State Apple Commission

The Washington Apple Commission (WAC) generically promoted apples for the Washington state industry from 1937 until 2003. This paper provides an analysis of the effects on demand attributable to these activities. Demand movement associated with promotion tends to be positive, though the results are mixed. Overall, WAC promotion increased growers’ total revenue by approximately $53.4 million for 2002. The estimated average return to advertising topped$8.7 per dollar of advertising. Continuing selected promotional activities could increase revenue for growers if these activities could be carried out by voluntary, coordinated efforts.Demand and Price Analysis,

Market Research: Tenancy Fitout Material Procurement Attitudes and Practices

The Better Buildings partnership (BBP) has previously investigated the tenancy processes that generate waste successive cycles of fitout, de-fit, make good and re-fit. This research project has been commissioned to explore why waste occurs in commercial building fitouts and what can be done about it, with a particular focus on the materials that dominate the fitout waste stream. The characteristics of each material and aspects of its usage are explored to determine how to improve reuse and recycling rates. The Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) conducted in-depth interviews with 15 industry participants for this study, ranging from architects and property managers through to contractors and manufacturers. We also reviewed literature to provide context, however we found the available literature somewhat limited in terms of its currency, depth and local relevance. It is the interview conversations that provide a rich picture of the myriad issues and day-to-day problems that make it hard to institute a less wasteful, circular economy. The study attempts to place the problems in the context of the whole system to highlight possible solutions

HVAC&R Research Summit Brief Report

“How can industry establish and maintain a strong culture of research and development and higher education training in HVAC&R?” There is a significant need for leadership, a strategic agenda and good communications between industry and researchers. These are the core findings of a “HVAC&R R&D” summit hosted jointly by the Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) and the Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS (ISF) to discuss the level and direction of HVAC&R research and development work being undertaken in Australia

Smart Work Centres: An Analysis of Demand in Western Sydney

This study sets out to explore the potential for smart work centres in the local government areas of Liverpool, Blacktown and Penrith in Western Sydney. Smart work centres are differentiated from other work environments like main workplace, serviced offices, coworking spaces, third spaces and home offices by location, operations and atmosphere. Targeted to serve teleworkers, they are located close to where people live, provide a fully serviced formal workplace but operate with a community atmosphere that engenders creativity and innovation. This report investigates the circumstances that support teleworking, examines the commuting patterns and demographics of the 3 LGAs, and then analyses census data to predict a demand for a centre in any one of the 3 locations. The report goes on to propose a scenario for a successful centre based on the findings from the research

Strategies for Imputation of High-Resolution Environmental Data in Clinical Randomized Controlled Trials.

Time series data collected in clinical trials can have varying degrees of missingness, adding challenges during statistical analyses. An additional layer of complexity is introduced for missing data in randomized controlled trials (RCT), where researchers must remain blinded between intervention and control groups. Such restriction severely limits the applicability of conventional imputation methods that would utilize other participants' data for improved performance. This paper explores and compares various methods to impute high-resolution temperature logger data in RCT settings. In addition to the conventional non-parametric approaches, we propose a spline regression (SR) approach that captures the dynamics of indoor temperature by time of day that is unique to each participant. We investigate how the inclusion of external temperature and energy use can improve the model performance. Results show that SR imputation results in 16% smaller root mean squared error (RMSE) compared to conventional imputation methods, with the gap widening to 22% when more than half of data is missing. The SR method is particularly useful in cases where missingness occurs simultaneously for multiple participants, such as concurrent battery failures. We demonstrate how proper modelling of periodic dynamics can lead to significantly improved imputation performance, even with limited data

Opportunities and Challenges in Applying Light-weight National-scale Spatial Network Models

This paper explores the use of light-weight national-scale spatial network models in order to develop methods of understanding urban environments in developing contexts with limited data, budgets and time availability. The validity of national-scale analysis has been established in research focussed on the United Kingdom and United States of America, but not in other socioeconomic and spatial landscapes. In order to evalute the extent to which this methodology still holds, Uruguay and The Maldives are taken as case studies. Open-source road-centre line data is used to construct spatial network models, which are analysed using space syntax analysis. First, each spatial network model is correlated with open-source population data to explore potential relationships between spatial network density (node count) and population. The study finds a notable relationship between national-scale population distribution and citywide node count, where the citywide radii of analysis is taken as the average global radii of the cities in each country under evaluation. Second, a comparative analysis of cities within each country is undertaken, finding that capital cities are consistently above the linear trendline. Potential uses of this approach in future applications are highlighted, for instance, in practical evidence-based decision making, and in research across larger samples of countries and variables. It is argued that, despite data, time and budget constraints, it is possible to construct light-weight national-scale spatial network models that are insightful in-and-of themselves, and in conjuction with other globally-available open-source data. This presents significant opportunities to equalise access to evidence-based urban design and policy

Multicenter, randomized study to optimize bowel for colon capsule endoscopy

AIM To assess the cleansing efficacy and safety of a new Colon capsule endoscopy (CCE) bowel preparation regimen. METHODS This was a multicenter, prospective, randomized, controlled study comparing two CCE regimens. Subjects were asymptomatic and average risk for colorectal cancer. The second generation CCE system (PillCam® COLON 2; Medtronic, Yoqneam, Israel) was utilized. Preparation regimens differed in the 1st and 2nd boosts with the Study regimen using oral sulfate solution (89 mL) with diatrizoate meglumine and diatrizoate sodium solution (“diatrizoate solution”) (boost 1 = 60 mL, boost 2 = 30 mL) and the Control regimen oral sulfate solution (89 mL) alone. The primary outcome was overall and segmental colon cleansing. Secondary outcomes included safety, polyp detection, colonic transit, CCE completion and capsule excretion = 12 h. RESULTS Both regimens had similar cleansing efficacy for the whole colon (Adequate: Study = 75.9%, Control = 77.3%; P = 0.88) and individual segments. In the Study group, CCE completion was superior (Study = 90.9%, Control = 76.9%; P = 0.048) and colonic transit was more often \u3c 40 min (Study = 21.8%, Control = 4%; P = 0.0073). More Study regimen subjects experienced adverse events (Study = 19.4%, Control = 3.4%; P = 0.0061), and this difference did not appear related to diatrizoate solution. Adverse events were primarily gastrointestinal in nature and no serious adverse events related either to the bowel preparation regimen or the capsule were observed. There was a trend toward higher polyp detection with the Study regimen, but this did not achieve statistical significance for any size category. Mean transit time through the entire gastrointestinal tract, from ingestion to excretion, was shorter with the Study regimen while mean colonic transit times were similar for both study groups. CONCLUSION A CCE bowel preparation regimen using oral sulfate solution and diatrizoate solution as a boost agent is effective, safe, and achieved superior CCE completion. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved

Firefly Flashing is Controlled by Gating Oxygen to Light-Emitting Cells

Although many aspects of firefly bioluminescence are understood, the mechanism by which adult fireflies produce light as discrete rapid flashes is not. Here we examine the most postulated theory, that flashing is controlled by gating oxygen access to the light-emitting cells (photocytes). According to this theory, the dark state represents repression of bioluminescence by limiting oxygen, which is required for bioluminescence; relief from this repression by transiently allowing oxygen access to the photocytes allows the flash. We show that normobaric hyperoxia releases the repression of light emission in the dark state of both spontaneously flashing and non-flashing fireflies, causing continual glowing, and we measure the kinetics of this process. Secondly, we determine the length of the barriers to oxygen diffusion to the photocytes in the aqueous and gas phases. Thirdly, we provide constraints upon the distance between any gas-phase gating structure(s) and the photocytes. We conclude from these data that the flash of the adult firefly is controlled by gating of oxygen to the photocytes, and demonstrate that this control mechanism is likely to act by modulating the levels of fluid in the tracheoles supplying photocytes, providing a variable barrier to oxygen diffusion

Changes in a Prairie Bird Population From 1940 to 1989

We repeated a bird census of a prairie/field community that was done by Kendeigh (1941) in 1940. Changes in the bird populations were compared with changes in vegetation, agricultural land use for the county, and trends in urbanization. Grassland birds did decline in abundance due to causes similar to those cited in other studies. The increase in forest and edge nesting species was more unusual to this study, and probably correlated with the woody succession that had occurred