Forecasting the demand for hospital supply items

M.S.Joseph J. Mode

TIME VARYING PARAMETERS IN THE DEMAND FOR HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP

Rapid adoption of high fructose corn syrup and the changing demand for HFCS is measured in a time-varying framework. Demand changes are separated into structural and price competitiveness. Tests for parameter stability are made and simulations based on the estimates are used to show the industry dynamics.Demand and Price Analysis,

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Stability of Bose-Einstein condensates in a Kronig-Penney potential

We study the stability of Bose-Einstein condensates with superfluid currents in a one-dimensional periodic potential. By using the Kronig-Penney model, the condensate and Bogoliubov bands are analytically calculated and the stability of condensates in a periodic potential is discussed. The Landau and dynamical instabilities occur in a Kronig-Penney potential when the quasimomentum of the condensate exceeds certain critical values as in a sinusoidal potential. It is found that the onsets of the Landau and dynamical instabilities coincide with the point where the perfect transmission of low energy excitations through each potential barrier is forbidden. The Landau instability is caused by the excitations with small $q$ and the dynamical instability is caused by the excitations with $q=\pi/a$ at their onsets, where $q$ is the quasimomentum of excitation and $a$ is the lattice constant. A swallow-tail energy loop appears at the edge of the first condensate band when the mean-field energy is sufficiently larger than the strength of the periodic potential. We find that the upper portion of the swallow-tail is always dynamically unstable, but the second Bogoliubov band has a phonon spectrum reflecting the positive effective mass.Comment: 32 pages, 21 figure

The Relationship between Mold Exposure and Allergic Response in Post-Katrina New Orleans

Objectives. The study's objective was to examine the relation between mold/dampness exposure and mold sensitization among residents of Greater New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Methods. Patients were recruited from the Allergy Clinic of a major medical facility. Any patient receiving a skin prick test for one of 24 molds between December 1, 2005 and December 31, 2008 was eligible for the study. Exposure was assessed using standardized questionnaires. Positive mold reactivity was defined as a wheal diameter >3 mm to any mold genera. Results. Approximately 57% of participants tested positive to any indoor allergen, 10% to any mold. Over half of respondents had significant home damage, 34% reported dampness/mold in their home, half engaged in renovation, and one-third lived in a home undergoing renovation. Despite extensive exposure, and multiple measures of exposure, we found no relationship between mold/dampness exposure and sensitivity to mold allergens. Conclusions. These results along with results of earlier research indicate no excess risk of adverse respiratory effects for residents living in New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina

Femtolensing and Picolensing by Axion Miniclusters

Non-linear effects in the evolution of the axion field in the early Universe may lead to the formation of gravitationally bound clumps of axions, known as ``miniclusters.'' Minicluster masses and radii should be in the range $M_{\rm mc}\sim10^{-12} M_\odot$ and $R_{\rm mc} \sim 10^{10}$cm, and in plausible early-Universe scenarios a significant fraction of the mass density of the Universe may be in the form of axion miniclusters. If such axion miniclusters exist, they would have the physical properties required to be detected by ``femtolensing.''Comment: 7 pages plus 2 figures (Fig.1 avalible upon request), LaTe

The Collision of Two Black Holes

We study the head-on collision of two equal mass, nonrotating black holes. We consider a range of cases from holes surrounded by a common horizon to holes initially separated by about $20M$, where $M$ is the mass of each hole. We determine the waveforms and energies radiated for both the $\ell = 2$ and $\ell=4$ waves resulting from the collision. In all cases studied the normal modes of the final black hole dominate the spectrum. We also estimate analytically the total gravitational radiation emitted, taking into account the tidal heating of horizons using the membrane paradigm, and other effects. For the first time we are able to compare analytic calculations, black hole perturbation theory, and strong field, nonlinear numerical calculations for this problem, and we find excellent agreement.Comment: 14 pages, 93-

Be-10 age constraints on latest Pleistocene and Holocene cirque glaciation across the western United States

Paleoclimate: A rocky reworking of Holocene glaciology New dating of glacially-deposited rocks substantially revises our understanding of the waxing and waning of ice since the last glacial maximum. Glaciologists have long thought that moraines throughout the western United States represent ‘neoglacial’ advances about 6,000 years ago. Now, a multi-institution team led by Shaun Marcott at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has found — using cosmogenic isotopes — that these terminal deposits left by advancing glaciers are instead 9,000 to 15,000 years old. The research advances prior work by using absolute, not relative ages, and documents that glaciers retreated after the last glacial maximum ~ 21,000 years ago, fluctuated locally throughout much of the Holocene, and re-advanced during the Little Ice Age of a few hundred years ago. Glacial advances that might have occurred during the neoglacial were wiped away by the more extensive glaciations of the Little Ice Age