Independent Component Analysis is one of the most widely used methods for blind source separation. In this paper we use this technique to estimate the most important compounds which play a role in the ripening of tomatoes. Spectral images of tomatoes were analyzed. Two main independent components were found. These components resemble the actual absorption spectra of lycopene and chlorophyll. Co...

The rotten kid theorem states that, if a household head is sufficiently rich and benevolent towards other household members, then it is in the self-interest of other household members to take those actions that maximize the total income of the household, even at a cost to their own private income. This theorem holds under certain restrictive assumptions, but the assumptions needed for it to be ...

Queen Gertrude advised her son to “cast thy knighted colour off / and let thine eye shine like a friend on Denmark.” We do not have Hamlet’s problems, find little that is rotten in the state of Denmark, and certainly regard ourselves as friends of the country. This is scarcely surprising: we have now spent large chunks of our lives in Copenhagen and have accordingly been drawn ever more into un...

Gary Becker's \Rotten Kid Theorem" asserts that if all family members receive gifts of money income from a benevolent household member, then even if the household head does not precommit to an incentive plan for family members, it will be in the interest of sel sh family members to maximize total family income. We show by examples that the Rotten Kid theorem is not true without assuming transfe...

Chemometrics was employed to develop models that utilize infrared spectral measurements to estimate the concentrations of key analytes in tomatoes that determine quality. Models constructed using the handheld Agilent 4200 FlexScan FTIR spectrometer gave results comparable to those obtained using a benchtop spectrometer. The 4200 FlexScan spectrometer thus provides the ability to accurately asse...

Background In the early 20 century, processing tomatoes were mainly produced in the eastern U.S. with the leading states being New Jersey, Maryland and Indiana. At that time, the shipping costs from these states to the major markets in the East and Midwest were considerably lower than those for tomatoes produced in California . Despite this disadvantage, production was considerably expanded in ...

This study uses the 2004 ACNielsen Homescan panel data to estimate the price premiums and discounts associated with fresh tomatoes among regional markets, focusing on the organic attribute. The results suggest that consumers paid $0.25/lb more for organic fresh tomatoes in the New York–Philadelphia market. The organic premiums are estimated to be $0.14/lb in the Chicago–Baltimore/Washington and...

enzyme-based assay work in combination, and even reproduce precise results at an average 19.4% relative percent difference (RPD). Second, because OP/C causes harmful health effects at high doses, we investigated pesticide concentration of farmers’ market tomatoes compared to supermarket tomatoes. Our results suggested OP/C in three samples: 2 out of 10 farmers’ market tomato samples and 1 out o...