RETAIL DEMAND FOR WHOLE VS. LOW-FAT MILK: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON LOSS LEADER PRICING

This analysis employed retail scanner data to investigate the demand for fluid mild differentiated by fat content. All own-price elasticities were significant and negative. Demand for low-fat milk was elastic, while demand for whole milk was inelastic. This article addresses the use of milk as a loss leader.Demand and Price Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Palynology, vegetation and climate of the Waikato lowlands, North Island, New Zealand, since c. 18,000 years ago

The vegetational and climatic history of the Waikato lowlands during the last c. 18,000 years is inferred from the palynology of sediment cores from Lakes Rotomanuka, Rotokauri, and Okoroire. Intra- and inter-lake correlations were aided by multiple tephra layers interbedded with the lake sediments. The detailed chronological resolution given by these tephra sequences shows that late glacial-post glacial vegetational and climatic changes were nearly simultaneous throughout the Waikato lowlands

An Investigation of the Role of System Effectiveness in the Acquisition and Sustainment of U.S. Defense Systems: 1958 to 2021

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Acquisition Research SymposiumThis paper addresses the system effectiveness methodology and its intended role in acquiring and sustaining U.S. military weapon systems from 1958 to 2021. Given the prolonged period covered by this study and the many changes to the acquisition process, it would be reasonable to expect the methodology to change and adapt, and the study supports this assumption. The study uses the innovative approach of applying three qualitative methods: a structured review of the literature related to system effectiveness, a grounded theory analysis of the structured literature review, and a historiography of the initial grounded theory results. The research identifies five epochs, each marked by changes in the acquisition guidance. The conclusions are fourfold. First, the role of system effectiveness today is vastly diminished from its original purpose because the original material was not widely accessible to the community of interest during the formative years. The grounded theory result was that the concept was never allowed to mature because of changes that marked the second epoch's advent. Second, analysis of source documents provides insight into how to correct past misconceptions and incorporate system effectiveness into modern engineering. Third, the models developed in epoch one may have relevance for today's problems.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Spinor fields without Lorentz frames in curved spacetime using complexified quaternions

Using complexified quaternions, a formalism without Lorentz frames, and therefore also without vierbeins, for dealing with tensor and spinor fields in curved spacetime is presented. A local U(1) gauge symmetry, which, it is speculated, might be related to electromagnetism, emerges naturally.Comment: 14 pages; v2: minor corrections; v3: note added concerning unified treatment of local Lorentz transformations and local U(1) gauge transformations; v4: published in J. Math. Phys. 50 083507 (2009

Concerns with AED conversion: comparison of patient and physician perspectives.

When discussing AED conversion in the clinic, both the patient and physician perspectives on the goals and risks of this change are important to consider. To identify patient-reported and clinician-perceived concerns, a panel of epilepsy specialists was questioned about the topics discussed with patients and the clinician's perspective of patient concerns. Findings of a literature review of articles that report patient-expressed concerns regarding their epilepsy and treatment were also reviewed. Results showed that the specialist panel appropriately identified patient-reported concerns of driving ability, medication cost, seizure control, and medication side effects. Additionally, patient-reported concerns of independence, employment issues, social stigma, medication dependence, and undesirable cognitive effects are important to address when considering and initiating AED conversion

The String Coupling Accelerates the Expansion of the Universe

Generic cosmological models in non-critical string theory have a time-dependent dilaton background at a late epoch. The cosmological deceleration parameter Q_0 is given by the square of the string coupling, g_s^2, up to a negative sign. Hence the expansion of the Universe must accelerate eventually, and the observed value of Q_0 coresponds to g_s^2 ~ 0.6. In this scenario, the string coupling is asymptotically free at large times, but its present rate of change is imperceptibly small.Comment: 7 page

Contract as Swag

In the past, legal scholars have analogized the contract to a product, a social artifact, and a form of technology. In this Article, we suggest that contracts may also be usefully analogized to swag. The term “swag” refers to branded merchandise that is given away for free to people who attend or participate in an event. Companies and law firms increasingly give away contracts—and specific contract provisions—to contract users with the goal of enhancing their reputations. In so doing, they deploy their contracts in a manner that resembles a water bottle or tote bag emblazoned with the name of a law firm. There are a number of benefits that flow from conceptualizing contracts as a form of swag. First, the analogy helps to explain why lawyers would invest time and energy in developing contract innovations that are ineligible for formal intellectual property protections. Second, the analogy provides important insights into how and why some contractual innovations become widely known in the years after their creation while others languish in obscurity. Third, and finally, the analogy highlights the futility in attempting to develop an all-encompassing theory of contractual innovation

Naval Integration into Joint Data Strategies and Architectures in JADC2

NPS NRP Executive SummaryAs Joint capabilities mature and shape into the Joint All Domain C2 Concept, Services, COCOMs and Coalition Partners will need to invest into efforts that would seamlessly integrate into Joint capabilities. The objective for the Navy is to study the options for Navy, including Naval Special Warfare Command under SOCOM, on how to integrate Navy's data strategy and architecture under the unifying JADC2 umbrella. The other objectives are to explore alternatives considered by the SOCOM and the Air Force, which are responsible for JADC2 Information Advantage and Digital Mission Command & Control. A major purpose of Joint, Services/COCOMs, agencies and Coalition Partners capabilities is to provide shared core of integrated canonical services for data, information, and knowledge with representations for vertical interoperability across all command levels and JADC2, lateral interoperability between Naval Service/COCOMs, and any combination of JADC2 constituents, agencies, and coalition partners. Our research plan is to explore available data strategy options by leveraging previous NRP work (NPS-20-N313-A). We will participate in emerging data strategy by Navy JADC2 project Overmatch. By working with MITRE our team will explore Air Force JADC2 data strategy implemented in ABMS DataOne component. Our goal is to find a seamless integration between Naval Data Strategy and data strategies behind JADC2 Information Advantage and Digital Mission Command & Control capabilities. Our plan includes studying Service-to-Service and Service-to-COCOM interoperability options required for Joint operations with a goal to minimize OODA's loop latency across sensing, situation discovery & monitoring, and knowledge understanding-for-planning, deciding, and acting. Our team realizes JADC2 requires virtual model allowing interoperability between subordinate C2 for services, agencies, and partner. Without such flexible 'joint' intersection organizational principal hierarchical structure it would be impossible to define necessary temporal and spatial fidelities for each level of organizational command required for implanting JADC2. Research deliverables will document the results of the exploration of Joint, COCOM, Agency and Partner Data Strategies approaches as JADC2 interoperability options to the emerging JADC2. We strive for standard JADC2 interface. Keywords: JADC2, ABMS, DataOne, Information Advantage, Digital Mission Command, IntegrationN2/N6 - Information WarfareThis research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE 0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

The Contributions of Dr. William Heffernan and the Missouri School of Agrifood Studies

“The Missouri School” refers to a collection of faculty and students studying agrifood systems who have been connected to the Department of Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri–Columbia. Heavily influenced by the populist pragmatist William “Bill” Heffernan, Missouri School analysts focus their attention on structural arrangements, power relationships, and spaces in which struggle for change might result in alternatives to the prevailing system. This article is an introduction to the special issue of Southern Rural Sociology devoted to research and theorizing done by students and faculty of the Missouri School. It includes an overview of the development of the Missouri School as told by Heffernan himself, followed by a summary of the articles in this issue