176 research outputs found
DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN EQUILIBRIUM AND INTEGRATION IN MARKETS ANALYSIS
This paper introduces a new market analysis methodology based on maximum likelihood estimation of a mixture distribution model incorporating price, transfer cost, and trade flow data. Not only does this method obviate statistical problems associated with conventional price analysis methods, it also permits differentiation between market integration and competitive market equilibrium. The model generates estimates of the frequency of alternative regimes, combinations of which provide useful, intuitive measures of intermarket tradability, competitive market equilibrium, perfect integration, segmented equilibrium, and segmented disequilibrium. An application to trade in soybean meal among Pacific Rim economies demonstrates the usefulness of the method.international trade, law of one price, market integration, spatial equilibrium, International Relations/Trade,
FACTOR AND PRODUCT MARKET TRADABILITY AND EQUILIBRIUM IN PACIFIC RIM PORK INDUSTRIES
This study uses a new market analysis methodology to examine price and trade relationships in eight Pacific Rim factor and product markets central to the Canadian and U.S. pork industries. The new method enables direct estimation of the frequencies with which a variety of market conditions occur, including competitive equilibrium, tradability, and segmented equilibrium. While extraordinary profit opportunities emerge episodically in a few niche markets, the vast majority of the markets studies are highly competitive- exhibiting zero estimated marginal profits to spatial arbitrage at monthly frequency- and internationally contestable. With a few notable exceptions due primarily to nontariff barriers, and despite significant remaining tariffs in some niches, the Pacific Rim is effectively a single market for pork producers and processors today.Demand and Price Analysis,
Estimation of aboveground biomass of a production forest reserve in Malaysian Borneo using K-nearest neighbor method
This study examined the use of the
k-nearest neighbour (k-NN) method to estimate aboveground biomass of a logged-over tropical forest in Sabah,
Malaysia. To estimate aboveground biomass, field data as well as digital number and normalised difference
vegetation index (NDVI) values from Landsat TM-5 data were used to determine the optimum horizontal
reference area and the number of reference sample plots (k). An accuracy assessment showed that enhancing the
digital number value was superior to enhancing the NDVI value. Root mean square errors of no filtering and 3 Ă— 3
filtering were minimum when k = 4 and k = 5 respectively, when a horizontal reference area of 17 km was applied.
The bias was underestimated by 2.01 and 1.62 tonnes ha-1 for k = 4 and k = 5 respectively. Total aboveground
biomass of the forest management unit estimated by enhancing the digital number value was 6,873,299 tonnes
and average biomass density was 248.8 tonnes ha-1. The results suggest that the k-NN method is an alternative way
to estimate and map aboveground biomass of a forest management unit
A Case of IgE Myeloma: Methodology and Review of the Literature
A 56-year-old man presented with a one-year history of progressive weakness predominantly affecting his extremities and persistent low back pain. Ouchterlony immunodiffusion of the concentrated urine detected a marked increase in lambda light chains. A sternal bone marrow documented a diagnosis of multiple myeloma. Screening high resolution agarose gel electrophoresis revealed diffuse hypogammaglobulinemia and, retrospectively, an equivocal, faint band which migrated in the fast gamma region. By using a combination of Immunoelectrophoresis and immunofixation electrophoresis, this questionable band was determined to represent an IgE lambda monoclonal protein. Radioimmunoassay for IgE documented a serum concentration of 50.6 mg/dl. No intact IgE was found in the urine. Following chemotherapy, the patient\u27s serum IgE level decreased significantly, and he is presently asymptomatic. Features of special interest in this case include the low serum IgE level on presentation, which was difficult to detect on the screening electrophoretogram, and the use of immunofixation electrophoresis in the detection and characterization of these difficult gammopathies
Elastic constants of nematic liquid crystals of uniaxial symmetry
We study in detail the influence of molecular interactions on the Frank
elastic constants of uniaxial nematic liquid crystals composed of molecules of
cylindrical symmetry. A brief summary of the status of theoretical development
for the elastic constants of nematics is presented. Considering a pair
potential having both repulsive and attractive parts numerical calculations are
reported for three systems MBBA, PAA and 8OCB. For these systems the
length-to-width ratio is estimated from the experimentally proposed
structure of the molecules. The repulsive interaction is represented by a
repulsion between hard ellipsoids of revolution (HER) and the attractive
potential is represented by the quadrupole and dispersion interactions. From
the numerical results we observe that in the density range of nematics the
contribution of the quadrupole and dispersion interactions are small as
compared to the repulsive HER interaction. The inclusion of attractive
interaction reduces the values of elastic constants ratios. The temperature
variation of elastic constants ratios are reported and compared with the
experimental values. A reasonably good agreement between theory and experiment
is observed
The Deacetylase HDAC6 Mediates Endogenous Neuritic Tau Pathology
The initiating events that promote tau mislocalization and pathology in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are not well defined, partly because of the lack of endogenous models that recapitulate tau dysfunction. We exposed wild-type neurons to a neuroinflammatory trigger and examined the effect on endogenous tau. We found that tau re-localized and accumulated within pathological neuritic foci, or beads, comprised of mostly hypo-phosphorylated, acetylated, and oligomeric tau. These structures were detected in aged wild-type mice and were enhanced in response to neuroinflammation in vivo, highlighting a previously undescribed endogenous age-related tau pathology. Strikingly, deletion or inhibition of the cytoplasmic shuttling factor HDAC6 suppressed neuritic tau bead formation in neurons and mice. Using mass spectrometry-based profiling, we identified a single neuroinflammatory factor, the metalloproteinase MMP-9, as a mediator of neuritic tau beading. Thus, our study uncovers a link between neuroinflammation and neuritic tau beading as a potential early-stage pathogenic mechanism in AD
Temporal Dynamics of Preferential Flow to a Field Tile
We conducted a sequential tracer leaching study on a field plot to investigate the temporal behavior of preferential flow to a field tile during an irrigation and subsequent rainfall events over a 14-d period. Two herbicides, along with the conservative tracer Br, were applied to a strip adjacent to a tile drain immediately before a 4.2-mm hr-1 irrigation. Three additional conservative fluoridated benzoates (PF, TF, and PF) were applied to the strip at 2-hr intervals during the irrigation. Breakthrough of the conservative tracer Br and the two herbicides occurred within the first 2-hr of irrigation, indicating that a small fraction of the solute moved through preferential flow paths. The last tracer (PF), applied 6 hr after the start of irrigation, took only 15 min and 1 mm of irrigation water to travel the 1.2-m distance between the soil surface and the tile. Thus, flow along preferential flow paths was faster during later stages of the irrigation. This study demonstrates that solute transport rates in preferential flow pathways is not a constant during a leaching event
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