Small Outlets Research Articles

Do Environmental Regulations Cause Firms to Exit the Market? Evidence from Underground Storage Tank (UST) Regulations

This paper examines whether Underground Storage Tank (UST) regulations had uneven impacts on petroleum retail outlets, and explores the reasons why some outlets are more likely to exit the market than others under UST regulations. The analyses suggest that both the economies of scale and the liquidity constraints arguments can explain the uneven impact UST regulations had on different petroleum retail outlets. Economies of scale give large outlets a greater competitive advantage because it is more difficult for small outlets to pass on compliance costs to customers. Liquidity constraints make outlets owned by small firms more vulnerable to UST regulations because small firms do not have the financial capability to replace or upgrade equipment as required by UST technical standards. This suggests that small businesses have more difficulties competing with large businesses under environmental regulations.

Planar Microfluidic Chamber for Generation of Stable and Steep Chemoattractant Gradients

The extracellular availability of growth factors, hormones, chemokines, and neurotransmitters under gradient conditions is required for directional cellular responses such as migration, axonal pathfinding, and tissue patterning. These responses are, in turn, important in disease and developmental processes. This article addresses critical barriers toward devising a chemotaxis assay that is broadly applicable for different kinds of cancer cells through the design of a microfluidic chamber that produces a steep gradient of chemoattractant. Photolithography was used to create microchannels for chemoattractant delivery, flow diversion barriers/conduits, and small outlets in the form of apertures. The 1- μm apertures were made at the active surface by uncapping a thin (1.5 μm) layer of AZ1518. This process also created a vertical conduit that diverted the flow such that it occurred perpendicularly to the active, experimental surface where the gradients were measured. The other side of the vertical conduit opened to underlying 20- μm deep channels that carried microfluidic flows of tracer dyes/growth factors. Modeled data using computational fluid dynamics produced gradients that were steep along the horizontal, active surface. This simulation mirrors empirically derived gradients obtained from the flow analyses of fluorescent compounds. The open chamber contains a large buffer volume, which prevents chemoattractant saturation and permits easy cell and compound manipulation. The technique obviates the use of membranes or laminar flow that may hinder imaging, rinsing steps, cell seeding, and treatment. The utility of the chamber in the study of cell protrusion, an early step during chemotaxis, was demonstrated by growing cancer cells in the chamber, inducing a chemoattractant gradient using compressed air at 0.7 bar, and performing time-lapse microscopy. Breast cancer cells responded to the rapidly developed and stable gradient of epidermal growth factor by directing centroid positions toward the gradient and by forming a leading edge at a speed of 0.45 μm/min.

A Study on the Role of Demographic and Psychographic Dynamics in Food and Grocery Retailing

The Indian food and grocery retail sector is in the transformation mode for various reasons like strong macro-economic fundamentals and the changing socio-economic scene are driving what were once traditional and small scale retail outlets into organised retail formats aimed at catering to the evolving tastes and needs of the discerning consumers. But the very fast changing trends in food and eating habits of consumers have contributed immensely to the growth of ‘Western’ format typologies such as convenience stores, departmental stores, supermarkets, specialty stores and hypermarkets. This has happened for various conspicuous reasons namely demand and supply, socio-cultural, demographic, psychographic, economic and technology advancements like a large segment of young population, a rapidly expanding middle class, rising income levels, growing literacy, increasing number of working women and nuclear family structures which in turn have created an enormous demand for consumer goods and paved way for modern retail formats. The ever changing consumer's psychographic variables like activities, interests, opinions, values and lifestyles have also completely changed the formats namely convenience stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets etc. are the crystal clear reflections of tectonic shifts in demographic and psychographic changes of consumers. However, little is known about its actual influence and contribution to the organised retailing in food and grocery sector from an empirical analysis. Thus, understanding of demo-psychographic dynamics has become an imperative in designing modern food and grocery retail formats based on the purchase patterns. The study is purely based on primary data and necessary secondary data to reinforce the model. A total of 200 retail customers in Hyderabad actively participated in the survey. Findings, various managerial and marketing implications are extensively discussed.

On Using Multiple-Jet Nozzles to Suppress Industrial Jet Noise

This work investigates the efficacy of multiple-jet nozzles in reducing exposure to noise radiated from high-speed jet flows that are frequently used for cleaning and other purposes. A single-jet nozzle is replaced by one with multiple and smaller outlets with the same combined exit area. Noise generated by multiple-jet nozzles will shift to higher frequencies due to the smaller openings; thus, a portion of the sound energy is moved to the ultrasonic range and the audible noise levels will be reduced. In this study, nozzle outlet sizes of 2.2 mm, 2 mm, 1 mm, and 0.7 mm are tested at various flow rates. Results show that the noise-abating effect of using smaller outlets is significant. Although industrial jet flows, in general, have multiple noise-generating mechanisms, the multiple-jet approach is effective for flows ranging from the subsonic to the highly choked. Noise spectra show that the reduction of noise level in the audible range is related to frequency shifting. The comparison of overall sound pressure levels generated by 1-mm and 0.7-mm outlets shows that even a raise of frequency by 40% can have a notable effect. As for the concern that the multiple-jet nozzles may suffer a drop in thrust, as long as the total exit area is fixed, thrust loss generally is not serious. One potential hazard of the multiple-jet nozzle is that posed by noise at frequencies higher than 10 kHz or ultrasound. More investigations in this field are suggested.

Simulation of water flows in multiple columns with small outlets

High-pressure die casting such as thixocasting and rheocasting is an effective process in the manufacturing automotive parts. Following the recent trend in the automotive manufacturing technologies, the product design subject to the die casting becomes more and more complex. Simultaneously the injection speed is also designed to be very high to establish a short cycletime. Thus, the requirement of the die design becomes more demanding than ever before. In some cases the product’s shape can have multiple slender manifolds. In such cases, design of the inlet and outlet parts of the die is very important in the whole manufacturing process. The main issues required for the qualified products are to attain gentle and uniform flow of the molten liquid within the passages of the die. To satisfy such issues, the inlet cylinder (‘bed cylinder’ in this paper) must be as large as possible and simultaneously the outlet opening at the end of each passage must be as small as possible. However these in turn obviously bring additional manufacturing costs caused by re-melting of the bed cylinder and increased power due to the small outlet-openings. The purpose of this paper is to develop effective simulation methods of calculation for fluid flows in multiple columns, which mimic the actual complex design, and to get some useful information which can give some contributions to the die-casting industry. We have used a commercial code CFX in the numerical simulation. The primary parameter involved is the size of the bed cylinder. We will show how the very small opening of the outlet can be treated with the aid of the porous model provided in the code. To check the validity of the numerical results we have also conducted a simple experiment by using water.

Persistence of embryonic pattern of hepatocaval venous junction and patent ductus venosus in Budd‐Chiari syndrome

We report an autopsy study on a case of Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) in a 44-year-old woman. Dissection showed that the outlets of the right hepatic vein (HV) and of the common trunk of the middle and left HVs appeared as two small depressed areas with narrow ostia. Histological examination showed recent thrombosis of the tributaries of the HVs and centrilobular congestion with necrosis of the hepatic parenchyma. The juxtacaval portions of the major HVs showed a cuneiform shape, because of marked dilation, with thread-like ostia, and multiple small outlets of minor hepatic veins were also present. The coexistence of patent ductus venosus may have prevented the development of the hepatocaval venous junction, with persistence of the embryonic pattern, composed of multiple small channels draining into the right hepatocardiac channel. The unusual hepatocaval venous junction may have predisposed to thrombosis of the HVs, causing BCS.

Fluid flow simulation in a double L-bend pipe with small nozzle outlets

The results of fluid flow simulation in a double L-bend pipe with small nozzle outlets are presented in this paper. The pipe geometry represents a sparger for a mixing process in a tank. The flow simulation was performed with a commercially available computational fluid dynamics package, Star-CD. The effects of the L-bend and small nozzle outlets on the velocity and pressure distributions in the pipe are discussed. The discussion will lead to an improved design of the sparger with the objective of obtaining a uniform fluid discharge from the nozzle outlets.

A Theoretical Model of Vibrationally Induced Flow in Conical Hopper Systems

A model of arch stability in a conical hopper section has been derived, based upon the approaches of Walters, Walker and Li. A simple flow rule has resulted from this analysis. The model has been applied to vibrationally activated conical hoppers. Two limiting conditions were considered: the push mode, in which the vibrated wall section compresses the bulk material at plastic yield; and the pull mode, in which the wall releases stress upon the contained material and, with in the limit, exerts no hoop stress over the vibrated section of the hopper wall. The pull mode is assumed to induce a switch in stress orientation from a passive to an active stress state. Theoretically, this is very effective at causing flow within the contained materials. The model has been applied to a number of scenarios involving typical bulk materials, and the following conclusions have been deduced:. (1) Vibration can be very effective at inducing flow in hopper systems and can generate flows at shallower wall-slope angles and much smaller outlet diameters than conventional analysis will permit. (2) The flow regime from a vibrationally induced system will probably be stick-slip. (3) The most effective strategy is to induce vibration over the complete height of the hopper. This will permit flow through very small outlets (theoretically down to zero diameter).However, there are mechanical problems associated with this approach. (4) When vibration is applied to a section of the cone, the location of the vibration source is acritical design parameter. The proposed model may provide the beginnings of a rational basis for design in this respect. (5) The ’one-third cone height’ vibration mount rule is not generally applicable.

Democracy and the news

American democracy was founded on the belief that ultimate power rests in an informed citizenry. But that belief appears naive in an era when private corporations manipulate public policy and the individual citizen is dwarfed by agencies, special interest groups, and other organisations that have a firm grasp on real political and economic power. In Democracy and the News, one of America's most astute social critics explores the crucial link between a weakened news media and weakened democracy. Building on his 1979 classic media critique Deciding What's News, Herbert Gans shows how, with the advent of cable news networks, the internet, and a proliferation of other sources, the role of contemporary journalists has shrunk, as the audience for news moves away from major print and electronic media to smaller and smaller outlets. Gans argues that journalism also suffers from assembly-line modes of production, with the major product being publicity for the president and other top political officials, the very people citizens most distrust. In such an environment, investigative journalism-which could offer citizens the information they need to make intelligent critical choices on a range of difficult issues-cannot flourish. But Gans makes several incisive suggestions about what the news media can do to recapture its role in American society and what political and economic changes might move us closer to a true citizen's democracy. Touching on questions of critical national importance, Democracy and the News sheds new light on the vital importance of a healthy news media for a healthy democracy.

The delicatessen and speciality food market in the North West

This case study investigates attitudes towards delicatessen and speciality food for consumers in the North West region. The speciality food sector has experienced above average industry growth over recent years. The UK market for speciality food and drink was £3.3 billion in 2001, according to market analyst Datamonitor, which predicts sales will grow by 5.5 per cent over the next five years. The heart of the category, the traditional speciality counter, shows clear signs of being seriously under threat. Market forces have put speciality food into a paradoxical situation – growing in response to demand while simultaneously losing traditional small outlets. The traditional speciality counter needs to adapt in order to survive

Runoff production in blanket peat covered catchments

Blanket peat catchments exhibit flashy regimes, but little is known about the exact nature of runoff production processes within these catchments. Catchment, hillslope, and plot‐scale monitoring results are presented from the blanket peats of the northern Pennines, United Kingdom. Catchment efficiency for three study catchments with areas of 11.4 km2, 0.83 km2, and 0.44 km2 were 72%, 77%, and 82%, respectively. Mean rainfall peak to discharge peak lag times were 2.7 hours, 2.1 hours, and 3.2 hours, respectively. Runoff from hillslopes in the catchments was gauged using runoff troughs. Mean hillslope lag times ranged from 0.6 to 2.2 hours, and despite large differences in the scale of study, there was little difference in response time. This indicates that slopes and channels are strongly hydrologically coupled in these peat systems. Saturation excess overland flow dominates hillslope runoff, particularly on more gentle slopes, and on footslopes where overland flow occurs most frequently. Overall, 81.5% of the total overland flow and matrix through flow collected by runoff troughs occurred at the peat surface, with 17.7% between the surface and 5 cm depth, 0.7% between 5 and 10 cm depth, and less than 0.1% from below 10 cm depth, despite the thickness of the peat deposit. Most storm flow is produced as saturation excess overland flow, whereas most low flow is produced by through flow from 1 to 5 cm depth. Topography and preferential flow paths are important controls on the spatial pattern of runoff even on low‐gradient peat. On steeper midslope regions, more flow occurs within the upper 10 cm of peat rather than at the surface. Preferential flow paths are identified at both the hillslope and plot scale. Discharge deep within the peat is only produced from small macropore and pipe outlets that are well connected to the peat surface. Response to rainfall from these macropore networks is rapid, and they generate around 10% of streamflow.

Smoking policies in UK pubs: a business opportunity?

The article considers the changes in the structure of the UK pub sector and the falling pattern of trade which occurred at the same time. This meant that the competition within the industry is intense. The major pub‐owning companies enjoy many economies of scale over their independent rivals. These have been considered briefly. Many of the smaller outlets have responded by adapting their pubs to meet the varying requirements of their customers. The demand for pubs with smoke‐free air and the evidence that this will increase trade have been investigated. The threat of legislation has led the industry to establish a voluntary scheme. Reports on its effectiveness have been studied, and a small local study undertaken. It appears that the big companies are swifter than their smaller rivals at taking advantage of this market demand.

Legislation and retail structure: the Japanese example

The structure of the retail sector in Japan has been the subject of considerable research interest. For such a developed country, Japan has a large number of independently owned, physically small retail outlets, a situation that has been promoted historically by legislation designed to protect small-scale business. The legislative environment changed in the late 1980s in a way that should have promoted both a growth in the number of larger stores and an increase in retail concentration. The purpose of this paper is to test the impact of the legislative changes. Using a model of legislative effect and data on retail concentration, the change in legislation can be seen to be associated with a change in the Japanese retail structure. However, the change is small when compared with what could have been expected from trends in a comparable market. Further change will be needed to promote any rapid shift towards the retail structures existing in other developed markets. An analysis is made of the patterns of new store development by leading retailers to explain in part why the change in retail structure has been slower than might have been expected.

Legislation and retail structure: the Japanese example

The structure of the retail sector in Japan has been the subject of considerable research interest. For such a developed country, Japan has a large number of independently owned, physically small retail outlets, a situation that has been promoted historically by legislation designed to protect small-scale business. The legislative environment changed in the late 1980s in a way that should have promoted both a growth in the number of larger stores and an increase in retail concentration. The purpose of this paper is to test the impact of the legislative changes. Using a model of legislative effect and data on retail concentration, the change in legislation can be seen to be associated with a change in the Japanese retail structure. However, the change is small when compared with what could have been expected from trends in a comparable market. Further change will be needed to promote any rapid shift towards the retail structures existing in other developed markets. An analysis is made of the patterns of new store development by leading retailers to explain in part why the change in retail structure has been slower than might have been expected.

Retail trade incentives: how tobacco industry practices compare with those of other industries.

This study compared the incentive payments for premium shelf space and discounts on volume purchases paid to retailers by 5 types of companies. Merchants were interviewed at 108 randomly selected small retail outlets that sell tobacco in Santa Clara County, California. Significantly more retailers reported receiving slotting/display allowances for tobacco (62.4%) than for any other product type. An average store participating in a retailer incentive program received approximately $3157 annually from all sampled product types, of which approximately $2462 (78%) came from tobacco companies. Future research should assess the impact of tobacco industry incentive programs on the in-store marketing and sales practices of retailers.

Refining the MAOI Diet

Continuous refinement of the monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) diet has resulted in much reduced and simplified recommendations that attempt to balance safety and practicality. In the spirit of evidence-based practice, dietary restrictions should be based on carefully documented case reports and valid tyramine analyses. Residual concerns have focused on combination foods such as pizza and a variety of soy products. We determined the tyramine content of pizzas and a variety of soy products in order to refine dietary recommendations for use with MAOIs. High-pressure liquid chromatography analysis of tyramine content was performed on a variety of pizzas, soy sauces, and other soybean products. A tyramine level of 6 mg or less was considered safe. No significant tyramine levels were found in any of the pizzas, including those with double pepperoni and double cheese. Marked variability was found in soy products, including clinically significant tyramine levels in tofu when stored for a week and high tyramine content in one of the soy sauces. Pizzas from large chain commercial outlets are safe for consumption with MAOIs. However, caution must be exercised if ordering pizzas from smaller outlets or gourmet pizzas known to contain aged cheeses. All soybean products should be avoided, especially soy sauce and tofu. Individualized counseling and continuous surveillance of compliance are still essential.

Wer kauft wo? Zur Einkaufsstättenwahl japanischer Konsumenten

The Japanese consumer of today has a wide variety of retail outlets to choose from. These include not only the traditional mom-and-pop stores or the department stores but also speciality stores and all types of supermarkets, such as general merchandising stores, food supermarkets, discount stores, convenience stores and home centers. The main purpose of this article is to give an account of how the Japanese consumer chooses between these alternatives. This is done in three steps using data from various surveys. First, the choice among the alternative retail store types is shown in relation to the type of goods purchased. Second, results relating to the general image of the various retail stores among Japanese consumers are presented. Finally, the special demands Japanese consumers associate with certain retail store types are listed. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the role of small traditional retail outlets – supported for a long time by state intervention in the distribution sector – is increasingly being taken over by modern retail-store types such as the convenience store or the food supermarket. There is a gap between the marketing policy of Japanese department stores and general merchandising stores and the demands the Japanese consumer directs toward these types. Whereas stores of both types have been moving up into a high pricing position, Japanese consumers, especially after the bursting of the bubble economy, have become more price conscious.

The status of the intertidal zoobenthic brackish-water species in estuaries of the German bight

The intertidal macrobenthic fauna of 12 estuaries and small outlets which discharge into the German Bight incorporates a total of 16 brackish-water species; at least nine other species which occur on other Northwest and Middle European coasts have not been recorded here. The species strictly limited to brackish waters are presumably very sensitive to civilization impacts, and the degree of environmental deterioration is reflected by the presence or absence of such species. The species richness found in the individual estuaries depends predominantly on habitat diversity in the meso- and oligohaline reaches in relation to the size of a brackish-water body. Consequently, species richness is relatively high in the estuaries of the larger rivers, in spite of pollution, engineering, shipping and dredging effects. In the outlets of small rivers, canals and draining ditches, however, habitat diversity is reduced to a degree far below natural conditions because most of these waters are cut off from the sea by technical constructions, and their discharge occurs by means of sluices or pumping. These artificial outlets are inhabited by a very limited number of brackish species, which in most cases belong to the less stenohaline types.

Increasing the Advertising Effectiveness of Small Retail Businesses

Advertising and other promotional decisions are influenced by the nature of the target market, as well as which media vehicles are within the financial reach of the small-business owner and how effective they are in reaching the target market. Though considerable research has been conducted about the value of advertisements in general, little is known about the relative effectiveness of suburban and urban papers and radio stations in reaching the specific target markets of small business retailers. Because of financial exigencies and the need to produce results within a reasonable period of time, the appropriate use of media vehicles is of paramount importance for small retail outlets. To assess the effects of various media vehicles on different market segments, a study was accomplished in selected urban and suburban communities. Findings from this study indicate that, although the aggregate measure of readership of major dailies is high across urban and suburban dwellers, the relative influence and effectiveness of urban dallies, suburban weeklies and radio stations tend to differ among communities.

Assessment of the Outcome of Eight Decades of Trout Stocking in the Mountain National Parks, Canada

The majority of the 1,464 lakes in the Canadian mountain national parks (22,376 km 2) were devoid of fish prior to the 20th century, and those lakes that supported fish populations were usually dominated by either mountain whitefish Prosopium williamsoni or longnose suckers Catostomus catostomus. From the early 1900s to 1980, about 305 lakes were stocked with either cutthroat trout Salmo clarki, rainbow trout Salmo gairdneri, brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis, or a combination of these. Results from fisheries surveys conducted primarily in the 1970s and 1980s indicated that, for lakes originally barren of fish, the probability of either rainbow or cutthroat trout (referred to as Salmo) species or brook trout becoming established was directly related to the size of the lake outlet. When Salmo and brook trout were stocked into lakes that were suitable habitats for both, brook trout displaced Salmo from lakes with small outlets but not from lakes with large outlets. When mountain whitefish, longnose suckers, and lake trout Salvelinus namaycush were present in mountain lakes, they prevented colonization by or restricted the population size of Salmo. Mountain whitefish and lake trout had a similar effect on brook trout, but Salmo and longnose suckers had no obvious effect on populations of brook trout.