U.S. Citrus Import Demand: Seasonality and Substitution

Citrus fruits make up one-fifth of all fresh fruit consumed in the United States. Given the increasing importance of imported citrus in the diet of American consumers, it is perhaps surprising that no import demand analysis of U.S. citrus has been conducted. Using quarterly U.S. import data for six citrus commodities, we employed a demand systems model and evaluated aspects of seasonality. The results suggest wide variations in price responses to different types of imported citrus. The average amplitude and phase shift suggest that all citrus fruits exhibit some seasonality in their imports, likely a result of peak harvesting schedules of exporters.Fresh citrus, oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruit, mandarins, import demand, seasonality, Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade,

Assessing the Time of Completion and Patients’ Perception of Their Mobility to Accurately Score Fall Risk Assessments

This study aimed to examine the time to complete fall risk assessment tools, Hendrich II Fall Risk Assessment Model (Hendrich II) and Patient Mobility Assessment Tool (PMAT) in a San Francisco Bay Area hospital. In addition, this study examined the efficacy of patients’ perceptions of their own mobility, when asked as part of the fall risk assessment process. Data was collected and analyzed on seventy-four patients across four nursing units, Medical, Surgical, Telemetry, Medical-Surgical/Oncology. The data indicated that, on average, Hendrich II took 00:01:49 minutes and PMAT took 00:04:12 minutes when completed separately. When asked about their own mobility level, 66 out of 74 patients, or 89.12 percent, could accurately predict their mobility and assistance level. In conclusion, fall risk assessment tools do not require much time to complete, especially when combined with nursing assessments already in place. Moreover, patients are reliable sources of their mobility and assistance level and, when time is limited, patients’ perceptions can be substituted for the actual performance test of the assessment tools. Ideally, patient and nurse communication and collaboration is used to complete the fall risk assessment to maintain patient and provider safety