The Impact of Coordination of Production and Marketing Strategies on Price Behavior: Evidence from the Idaho Potato Industry

High potato price volatility, decreasing demand for fresh potatoes and prices below the cost of production led to a decision of a number of Idaho potato growers to organize the United Fresh Potato Growers of Idaho, a marketing cooperative. The programs and strategies of the cooperative target both the production and marketing of fresh potatoes in Idaho. To evaluate the effectiveness of the programs implemented by the cooperative, we examine the level and volatility of fresh potato prices during two periods: before the cooperative was organized and when the cooperative is in the market. We find empirical evidence suggesting that fresh potato prices were higher and less volatile during the period when the cooperative was in the market.agricultural markets, cooperative, price volatility, potato industry, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Marketing, Q10, Q11, Q13,

Estuarine oceanography of the Vembanad lake Part II : the region between Cochin and Azhikode

Some aspects of the estuarine oceanography of the Vembanad lake between Cochin and Azhikode are discussed. Since this part of the lake is in confluence with the Arabian sea at its southern and northern ends, at Cochin and Azhikode, its circulation pattern and other characteristics are different from what they are between Cochin and Vaikom. Because of the position of these two mouths, which are exposed to the same tidal cycles, the high tides and low tides each producing two opposite flows respectively converge and diverge leaving a null zone, almost free of the tidal effect, around Kadakara, situated midway between Cochin and Azhikode. Another significant feature of this pairt of the estuary is an extreme low-salinity i«gion between Karthedam and Cherai during monsoon and early postmonsoon, brought about by the deflected waiters of the Periyar, opening at the northern end of the estuary

Hotspot analysis: a first prototype Python plugin enabling exploratory spatial data analysis into QGIS

The growing popularity of Free and Open Source (FOSS) GIS software is without doubts due to the possibility to build and customize geospatial applications to meet specific requirements for any users. From this point of view, QGIS is one of the most flexible as well as fashionable GIS software environment which enables users to develop powerful geospatial applications using Python. Exploiting this feature, we present here a first prototype plugin for QGIS dedicated to Hotspot analysis, one of the techniques included in the Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA). These statistics aim to perform analysis of geospatial data when spatial autocorrelation is not neglectable and they are available inside different Python libraries, but still not integrated within the QGIS core functionalities. The main plugin features, including installation requirements and computational procedures, are described together with an example of the possible applications of the Hotspot analysis

Bioactivity in Echinoderms

Man in his pursuit for knowledge of newer and better drugs for eradicating diseases to which he is prone to has turned to the sea, which is a more potential treasure house of drugs due to its vast and diverse range of marine life. Many marine organisms exhibit toxicity as well as bioactivity. Some are toxic and lethal to terrestrial animals as well as to the man. The Phylum Echinodermata consists of sea cucumbers (holothurians), star lishes and sea urchins. These are known for their toxicity. This report deals with the results of the screening of 10 species of echinoderms collected from Gulf of Mannar area for biotoxicity to fishes and mice and also for hemolytic activity. The results showed that all the parts of Holothuria atra H. spinifera and Behadschia marmorata exhibited a high degree of toxicity to fish fingerlings and mice and also destructive action on erythrocyte cells

Geostatistical upscaling of rain gauge data to support uncertainty analysis of lumped urban hydrological models

In this study we develop a method to estimate the spatially averaged rainfall intensity together with associated level of uncertainty using geostatistical upscaling. Rainfall data collected from a cluster of eight paired rain gauges in a 400 × 200m urban catchment are used in combination with spatial stochastic simulation to obtain optimal predictions of the spatially averaged rainfall intensity at any point in time within the urban catchment. The uncertainty in the prediction of catchment average rainfall intensity is obtained for multiple combinations of intensity ranges and temporal averaging intervals. The two main challenges addressed in this study are scarcity of rainfall measurement locations and non-normality of rainfall data, both of which need to be considered when adopting a geostatistical approach. Scarcity of measurement points is dealt with by pooling sample variograms of repeated rainfall measurements with similar characteristics. Normality of rainfall data is achieved through the use of normal score transformation. Geostatistical models in the form of variograms are derived for transformed rainfall intensity. Next spatial stochastic simulation which is robust to nonlinear data transformation is applied to produce realisations of rainfall fields. These realisations in transformed space are first back-transformed and next spatially aggregated to derive a random sample of the spatially averaged rainfall intensity. Results show that the prediction uncertainty comes mainly from two sources: spatial variability of rainfall and measurement error. At smaller temporal averaging intervals both these effects are high, resulting in a relatively high uncertainty in prediction. With longer temporal averaging intervals the uncertainty becomes lower due to stronger spatial correlation of rainfall data and relatively smaller measurement error. Results also show that the measurement error increases with decreasing rainfall intensity resulting in a higher uncertainty at lower intensities. Results from this study can be used for uncertainty analyses of hydrologic and hydrodynamic modelling of similar-sized urban catchments as it provides information on uncertainty associated with rainfall estimation, which is arguably the most important input in these models. This will help to better interpret model results and avoid false calibration and force-fitting of model parameters

Bioactivity in marine algae

Marine algae have been reponed to possess a wide range of bio active properties (Hashimoto 1979, Baslow 1969, Hoppe, et al. 1979, Hoppe et al. 1984, Blunden et al. 1981, Cocamese et al. 1981, Ramamurthy et al. 1967, Mc Lachan 1964, Byrkholder and Sharma 1969. Conover and Sieburth 1964, Garber et al. 1958). Quite recently, Naqvi et al. (1980) studied the bioactivities of 25 species of marine algae and sea grasses collected mainly from the North Eastern coast of India and a few from the coast of Tamil Nadu

Isolation and characterization of a biosurfactant-producing heavy metal resistant Rahnella sp. RM isolated from chromium-contaminated soil

Objective of the study was to isolate heavy metal resistant bacteria from chromium-contaminated subsurface soil and investigate biosurfactant production and heavy metal bioremediation. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence and phylogenetic analysis, the isolate was identified as Rahnella sp. RM. The biosurfactant production by heavy metal resistant Rahnella sp. RM was optimized using Box- Behnken design (BBD). The maximum emulsification activity was obtained 66% at 6% soybean meal in pH 7.0 and 33.5°C. The biosurfactant was characterized using Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF). The highest metal removal rates using the biosurfactant were found 74.3, 72.5, and 70.1%, respectively, at the 100 mg/L amended flasks at 48 h. This study indicated the biosurfactant from heavy metal resistant Rahnella sp. RM could be used as a potential tool to remediate the metals in contaminated environments

Salinity changes in the estuary and the coastal sea adjacent to the portmouth at Cochin

The article deals with the details of salinity changes in the Cochin estuary and its influence and interrelations with the Vembanad lake

Recurrence of intestinal metaplasia and early neoplasia after endoscopic eradication therapy for Barrett’s esophagus: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background Conflicting data exist with regard to recurrence rates of intestinal metaplasia (IM) and dysplasia after achieving complete eradication of intestinal metaplasia (CE-IM) in Barrett’s esophagus (BE) patients. Aim (i) To determine the incidence of recurrent IM and dysplasia achieving CE-IM and (ii) to compare recurrence rates between treatment modalities [radiofrequency ablation (RFA) with or without endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) vs stepwise complete EMR (SRER)]. Methods A systematic search was performed for studies reporting on outcomes and estimates of recurrence rates after achieving CE-IM. Pooled incidence [per 100-patient-years (PY)] and risk ratios with 95 %CI were obtained. Heterogeneity was measured using the I 2 statistic. Subgroup analyses, decided a priori, were performed to explore heterogeneity in results. Results A total of 39 studies were identified (25-RFA, 13-SRER, and 2 combined). The pooled incidence of any recurrence was 7.5 (95 %CI 6.1 – 9.0)/100 PY with a pooled incidence of IM recurrence rate of 4.8 (95 %CI 3.8 – 5.9)/100 PY, and dysplasia recurrence rate of 2.0 (95 %CI 1.5 – 2.5)/100 PY. Compared to the SRER group, the RFA group had significantly higher overall [8.6 (6.7 – 10.5)/100 PY vs. 5.1 (3.1 – 7)/100 PY, P = 0.01] and IM recurrence rates [5.8 (4.3 – 7.3)/100 PY vs. 3.1 (1.7 – 4)/100 PY, P &lt; 0.01] with no difference in recurrence rates of dysplasia. Significant heterogeneity between studies was identified. The majority of recurrences were amenable to repeat endoscopic eradication therapy (EET). Conclusion The results of this study demonstrate that the incidence rates of overall, IM, and dysplasia recurrence rates post-EET are not inconsiderable and reinforce the importance of close surveillance after achieving CE-IM.</jats:p