Healthy Kids Program and the Safety Net: Perceptions of Community Clinic Administrators

Based on interviews with clinic CEOs, assesses the impact of the program to provide comprehensive health insurance to children not eligible for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families, including enrollment, services extended, and clinic operations and finances

HOW DOES COTTONSEED MEAL COMPARE AS AN ALTERNATIVE PROTEIN SOURCE TO SOYBEAN MEAL IN POULTRY PRODUCTION?

Profitability of substituting cottonseed meal (CSM) for soybean meal (SBM) in broiler feed is evaluated using a model that optimizes broiler production under changing market conditions. While CSM-fed broilers may earn higher profits for whole carcass, SBM-fed broilers are generally more profitable. Optimal protein levels exceed currently recommended levels.Livestock Production/Industries,

Electric and magnetic fields effects on the excitonic properties of elliptic core-multishell quantum wires

The effect of eccentricity distortions of core-multishell quantum wires on their electron, hole and exciton states is theoretically investigated. Within the effective mass approximation, the Schrodinger equation is numerically solved for electrons and holes in systems with single and double radial heterostructures, and the exciton binding energy is calculated by means of a variational approach. We show that the energy spectrum of a core-multishell heterostructure with eccentricity distortions, as well as its magnetic field dependence, are very sensitive to the direction of an externally applied electric field, an effect that can be used to identify the eccentricity of the system. For a double heterostructure, the eccentricities of the inner and outer shells play an important role on the excitonic binding energy, specially in the presence of external magnetic fields, and lead to drastic modifications in the oscillator strength.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure

PRODUCTION AND PROFITABILITY RESPONSES TO ALTERNATIVE PROTEIN SOURCES AND LEVELS IN BROILER RATIONS

Profitability of using alternative protein sources in broiler feed is investigated through the development of a two-stage mathematical program that optimizes broiler production. A case study of peanut meal vs. soybean meal is examined. Value of marginal product concepts incorporated in this method permit analysis of demand adjustments before decisions on the production process occur. Given reported input and output prices, results indicate that soybean meal is generally more profitable than peanut meal. Peanut meal can be more profitable at higher dietary protein levels fed to broilers processed into whole carcass or at relatively higher prices for soybean meal.maximum profit, peanut meal, soybean meal, value of marginal product, Livestock Production/Industries, Q17,

PARTS OR WHOLE? EFFICIENT BROILER PRODUCTION RESPONSES TO CONSUMER-DRIVEN MARKETS

Adoption of consumer-market-oriented production on broiler profit-maximizing modeling generates results that differ from those traditionally used in profit maximization for broiler production. This model shows that the adoption of step-pricing and marketing options (examples of consumer-market-oriented decisions) modify the optimal levels and types of broiler production to generate maximum profitability. Thus optimal protein levels in the feed formulated exceed currently recommended levels and alternative protein sources are also allocated. The adoption of step-pricing to respond to consumer-market-oriented decisions shows that higher profits can be obtained for targeted weights only if premium prices for output are allocated.Agribusiness, Consumer/Household Economics,

Introduction of a Quantum of Time (chronon), and its Consequences for Quantum Mechanics

We discuss the consequences of the introduction of a quantum of time $\tau_0$ in the formalism of non-relativistic quantum mechanics, by referring ourselves in particular to the theory of the chronon as proposed by P.Caldirola. Such an interesting "finite difference" theory, forwards ---at the classical level--- a solution for the motion of a particle endowed with a non-negligible charge in an external electromagnetic field, overcoming all the known difficulties met by Abraham-Lorentz's and Dirac's approaches (and even allowing a clear answer to the question whether a free falling charged particle does or does not emit radiation), and ---at the quantum level--- yields a remarkable mass spectrum for leptons. After having briefly reviewed Caldirola's approach, our first aim is to work out, discuss, and compare one another the new representations of Quantum Mechanics (QM) resulting from it, in the Schrödinger, Heisenberg and density-operator (Liouville-von Neumann) pictures, respectively. Moreover, for each representation, three ( retarded, symmetric and advanced) formulations are possible, which refer either to times $t$ and $t-\tau_0$, or to times $t-\tau_0/2$ and $t+\tau_0/2$, or to times $t$ and $t+\tau_0$, respectively. It is interesting to notice that, when the chronon tends to zero, the ordinary QM is obtained as the limiting case of the "symmetric" formulation only; while the "retarded" one does naturally appear to describe QM with friction, i.e., to describe dissipative quantum systems (like a particle moving in an absorbing medium). In this sense, discretized QM is much richer than the ordinary one. We also obtain the (advanced) finite-difference Schrödinger equation within the Feynman path integral approach, and study some of its relevant solutions. W