From Russia with Love: The Impact of Relocated Firms on Incumbent Survival

We identify the impact of local firm concentration on incumbent performance with a quasi natural experiment. When Germany was divided after World War II, many firms in the machine tool industry fled the Soviet occupied zone to prevent expropriation. We show that the regional location decisions of these firms upon moving to western Germany were driven by non-economic factors and heuristics rather than existing industrial conditions. Relocating firms increased the likelihood of incumbent failure in destination regions, a pattern that differs sharply from new entrants. We further provide evidence that these effects are due to increased competition for local resources.Agglomeration, competition, firm dynamics, labor, Germany

Consumer attitudes towards sustainability attributes on food labels

With current concerns about climate change and the general status of the environment, there is an increasing expectation that products have sustainability credentials, and that these can be verified. Labelling is a common method of communicating certain product attributes to consumers that may influence their choices. There are different types of labels with several functions. The aim of this study is to investigate consumers‟ purchase decisions towards certain sustainability claims on food products, particularly by displaying the reduction of carbon emissions. Choice outcomes will be evaluated using Discrete Choice Modelling (DCM). Data for the study is obtained by a web-based consumer survey undertaken in the United Kingdom (UK). Results provide information on different attributes effects on consumers‟ purchase decisions, particularly their willingness to pay. This study provides information on consumers‟ attitudes that will assist industries and firms to benefit from market opportunities, in particular assessing the methods by which carbon footprinting measures can be incorporated alongside information on other sustainability criteria in product marketing.food labeling, carbon footprint, discrete choice modeling, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy,

Autonomous Planetary Rover Team Final Project Report

This design team was tasked to develop autonomous movement, sensing, and navigation capabilities on a rover platform developed by a summer research team working under Dr. Kevin Nickels. The rover is comprised of four subsystems that strive to meet the requirements by establishing movement capabilities through power delivery and control, odometry feedback of the wheels, obstacle detection, and navigation. This report evaluated each design against the requirement they were intended to meet. The following report describes the final design of each of these subsystems, explains the testing performed on each subsystem, and evaluates the results of these tests against the design requirements. The design constraints of rover size and budget are maintained by our final design by delivering a final design that fits through a standard CSI doorframe, and not exceeding the total budget of $2400. The final deliverable satisfies the requirements of battery specifications, incline traversal, display of map and estimated position, and obstacle detection. The final design failed to demonstrate an ability to traverse over an obstacle of 2 inches. The team was unable to demonstrate completion of the remaining requirements because of significant failures of the motors described later in the report. In the process of delivering the project requirements, extensive modifications and redesigns to the provided platform were necessary. The frame received from the project sponsor was in a nonfunctional state. The team performed significant modifications to the rover frame to allow for proper movement of the rover. Also, the provided motor drivers failed in preliminary testing, requiring the team to experimentally evaluate the operational requirements of the motors and select and integrate new motor drivers into the final design. Overall, the team delivered a functioning prototype that met many of the project requirements, and all the design constraints. The rover was able to move, detect obstacles, and plan navigation through an environment. Unfortunately, the motors suffered a thermally induced failure during testing, precluding the completion of the remaining tests

Consumer Attitudes towards Sustainability Attributes on Food Labels

Concerns about climate change and the general status of the environment have increased expectation that food products have sustainability credentials, and that these can be verified. There are significant and increasing pressures in key export markets for information on Greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of products throughout its life-cycle. How this information is conveyed to consumers is a key issue. Labelling is a common method of communicating certain product attributes to consumers that may influence their choices. In a choice experiment concerning fruit purchase decisions, this study estimates willingness to pay for sustainability attributes by consumers in Japan and the UK. The role of label presentation format is investigated: text only, text and graphical, and graphical only. Results indicate that sustainability attributes influence consumers’ fruit purchase decisions. Reduction of carbon in fruit production is shown to be the least valued out of sustainability attributes considered. Differences are evident between presentation formats and between countries, with increased nutrient content being the most sensitive to format and country while carbon reduction is the most insensitive and almost always valued the least.Willingness to pay, Choice experiment, Food labelling, Sustainability, Cross-country comparison, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q18, Q51, Q56,

Silver Lake Limnological Survey, 2004

During the spring, summer and fall of 2004, a limnological survey of Silver Lake was conducted. The purpose of the survey was to update the status of Silver Lake. Some of the questions being asked were as follows. Was the lake highly productive? Were the bottom layers of the lake devoid of oxygen? Was phosphorus being released from the sediments into the water column? Were there algal blooms? What might be the cause of them? Were there blue-green algae present? Were algal toxins present? When? Monitoring was designed to take samples only during the summer period with depth to minimize cost. We decided to sample an extra week in the fall because of the blue-green algae bloom that was observed during September of 2004

From Russia with Love: The Impact of Relocated Firms on Incumbent Survival

We identify the impact of local firm concentration on incumbent performance with a quasi natural experiment. When Germany was divided after World War II, many firms in the machine tool industry fled the Soviet occupied zone to prevent expropriation. We show that the regional location decisions of these firms upon moving to western Germany were driven by non-economic factors and heuristics rather than existing industrial conditions. Relocating firms increased the likelihood of incumbent failure in destination regions, a pattern that differs sharply from new entrants. We further provide evidence that these effects are due to increased competition for local resources.

Pace It: Final Design Report

The most efficient way to run a distance event is to maintain a consistent pace over the entire race, but this is difficult for runners to accomplish unaided. The Trinity University cross country team is seeking a visual training aid that can simultaneously help multiple runners running at the same pace build muscle memory in order to maintain a constant, specified pace over a specified distance, while also allowing a bystander (coach) to see how closely the runners are maintaining that pace. The objectives of the project are to design, build, and test a pacing system for the Trinity University Cross Country and Track teams that can maintain a constant pace between 7.5 and 12 mph for at least 1600m within the $1200 budget. This report covers the overall design and success of the final prototype. The overall design is a pacing robot that navigates the track by following one of the lane lines. The design was split into several main subsystems: motor/chassis, line-following, user interface, main controller, and power systems. The chassis is a prefabricated RC car chassis that includes a motor and gearbox that is used in our design. Motor control uses a tachometer built from a Hall effect sensor and magnet to determine motor speed in RPM. For line-following, an array of six IR sensors is used to detect the line. The user interface is a smartphone application that communicates wirelessly with the robot to allow the user to input a desired pace and distance, as well as start and stop the robot. All of this is controlled and communicated with by an FPGA. The majority of subsystems performed as dictated in the determined criteria, however there were complications with the implementation of line following at high speeds. The robot is able to identify the line at any pace up to 12 mph, however it was successful in following the line for paces only up to 5 mph. This was because the servo motor on the remote control car that we purchased behaved in a non-linear manner, which made it difficult to control through a standard PD loop, even after we had managed to eliminate the noise from external light and rapid changes in distance from the ground. As a possible solution to this issue, we suggest the implementation of steering control motor, whether that be a higher quality metal geared servo or stepper motor. Additionally this would likely require a large front end chassis redesign in order to incorporate it into the system. Although the system does not meet the requirements for pace, we consider this a working prototype as it can follow the line at slower speeds

SeaWiFS calibration and validation plan, volume 3

The Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) will be the first ocean-color satellite since the Nimbus-7 Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS), which ceased operation in 1986. Unlike the CZCS, which was designed as a proof-of-concept experiment, SeaWiFS will provide routine global coverage every 2 days and is designed to provide estimates of photosynthetic concentrations of sufficient accuracy for use in quantitative studies of the ocean's primary productivity and biogeochemistry. A review of the CZCS mission is included that describes that data set's limitations and provides justification for a comprehensive SeaWiFS calibration and validation program. To accomplish the SeaWiFS scientific objectives, the sensor's calibration must be constantly monitored, and robust atmospheric corrections and bio-optical algorithms must be developed. The plan incorporates a multi-faceted approach to sensor calibration using a combination of vicarious (based on in situ observations) and onboard calibration techniques. Because of budget constraints and the limited availability of ship resources, the development of the operational algorithms (atmospheric and bio-optical) will rely heavily on collaborations with the Earth Observing System (EOS), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) oceans team, and projects sponsored by other agencies, e.g., the U.S. Navy and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Other elements of the plan include the routine quality control of input ancillary data (e.g., surface wind, surface pressure, ozone concentration, etc.) used in the processing and verification of the level-0 (raw) data to level-1 (calibrated radiances), level-2 (derived products), and level-3 (gridded and averaged derived data) products

MODIS Radiometric Calibration Program, Methods and Results

As a key instrument for NASA s Earth Observing System (EOS), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) has made significant contributions to the remote sensing community with its unprecedented amount of data products continuously generated from its observations and freely distributed to users worldwide. MODIS observations, covering spectral regions from visible (VIS) to long-wave infrared (LWIR), have enabled a broad range of research activities and applications for studies of the earth s interactive system of land, oceans, and atmosphere. In addition to extensive pre-launch measurements, developed to characterize sensor performance, MODIS carries a set of on-board calibrators (OBC) that can be used to track on-orbit changes of various sensor characteristics. Most importantly, dedicated and continuous calibration efforts have been made to maintain sensor data quality. This paper provides an overview of the MODIS calibration program, on-orbit calibration activities, methods, and performance. Key calibration results and lessons learned from the MODIS calibration effort are also presented in this paper