Will Changing Demographics Affect U.S. Cheese Demand?

U.S. cheese consumption has grown considerably over the last three decades. Using a censored demand model and Nielsen Homescan retail data, this study identifies price and non-price factors affecting the demand for differentiated cheese products. Own-price and expenditure elasticities for all of the cheese products are statistically significant and elastic. Results also reveal that a strong substitution relationship exists among all cheese products. Although demographic influences are generally smaller than those related to prices and expenditures, empirical findings show that household size, college educated female heads of household who are age 40 and older, residing in the South, Central, and Western regions of the United States, as well as Black heads of household, have positive statistically significant effects on consumers’ cheese purchases.cheese form, cheese purchase, demand elasticities, demographic and economic factors, Nielsen Homescan data, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, C25, D12, Q11,

Local Residential Sorting and Public Goods Provision: A Classroom Demonstration

This classroom exercise illustrates the Tiebout (1956) hypothesis that residential sorting across multiple jurisdictions leads to a more efficient allocation of local public goods. The exercise places students with heterogeneous preferences over a public good into a single classroom community. A simple voting mechanism determines the level of public good provision in the community. Next, the classroom is divided in two, and students may choose to move between the two smaller communities, sorting themselves according to their preferences for public goods. The exercise places cost on movement at first, then allows for costless sorting. Students have the opportunity to observe how social welfare rises through successive rounds of the exercise, as sorting becomes more complete. They may also observe how immobile individuals can become worse off because of incomplete sorting when the Tiebout assumptions do not hold perfectly

Measurement of the Free-Floating Planet Mass Function with Simultaneous Euclid and WFIRST Microlensing Parallax Observations

Free-floating planets are the remnants of violent dynamical rearrangements of planetary systems. It is possible that even our own solar system ejected a large planet early in its evolution. WFIRST will have the ability to detect free-floating planets over a wide range of masses, but it will not be able to directly measure their masses. Microlensing parallax observations can be used to measure the masses of isolated objects, including free-floating planets, by observing their microlensing events from two locations. The intra-L2 separation between WFIRST and Euclid is large enough to enable microlensing parallax measurements, especially given the exquisite photometric precision that both spacecraft are capable of over wide fields. In this white paper we describe how a modest investment of observing time could yield hundreds of parallax measurements for WFIRST's bound and free-floating planets. We also describe how a short observing campaign of precursor observations by Euclid can improve WFIRST's bound planet and host star mass measurements.Comment: Astro2020 White Pape

Production of nanoparticles-in-microparticles by a double emulsion method : a comprehensive study

AbstractA method based on a double emulsion system (solid-in-water-in-oil-in-water) has been developed for the production of nanoparticles-in-microparticles (NIMs). The distribution of nanoparticles within the NIMs was explored using light and electron microscopy and through assessment of drug loading and release profiles. The extent of nanoparticle entrapment within the NIMs was found to be dependent on the state (wet vs. dry) in which the nanoparticles were introduced to the formulation. The technique was readily adaptable to produce NIMs of different morphologies. It is proposed that NIMs and this method to produce them have broad application in drug delivery research

Quantitative comparison of immunohistochemical staining measured by digital image analysis versus pathologist visual scoring

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Immunohistochemical (IHC) assays performed on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue sections traditionally have been semi-quantified by pathologist visual scoring of staining. IHC is useful for validating biomarkers discovered through genomics methods as large clinical repositories of FFPE specimens support the construction of tissue microarrays (TMAs) for high throughput studies. Due to the ubiquitous availability of IHC techniques in clinical laboratories, validated IHC biomarkers may be translated readily into clinical use. However, the method of pathologist semi-quantification is costly, inherently subjective, and produces ordinal rather than continuous variable data. Computer-aided analysis of digitized whole slide images may overcome these limitations. Using TMAs representing 215 ovarian serous carcinoma specimens stained for S100A1, we assessed the degree to which data obtained using computer-aided methods correlated with data obtained by pathologist visual scoring. To evaluate computer-aided image classification, IHC staining within pathologist annotated and software-classified areas of carcinoma were compared for each case. Two metrics for IHC staining were used: the percentage of carcinoma with S100A1 staining (%Pos), and the product of the staining intensity (optical density [OD] of staining) multiplied by the percentage of carcinoma with S100A1 staining (OD*%Pos). A comparison of the IHC staining data obtained from manual annotations and software-derived annotations showed strong agreement, indicating that software efficiently classifies carcinomatous areas within IHC slide images. Comparisons of IHC intensity data derived using pixel analysis software versus pathologist visual scoring demonstrated high Spearman correlations of 0.88 for %Pos (p < 0.0001) and 0.90 for OD*%Pos (p < 0.0001). This study demonstrated that computer-aided methods to classify image areas of interest (e.g., carcinomatous areas of tissue specimens) and quantify IHC staining intensity within those areas can produce highly similar data to visual evaluation by a pathologist.</p> <p>Virtual slides</p> <p>The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: <url>http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1649068103671302</url></p

Who are the missing men? Characterising men who never tested for HIV from population-based surveys in six sub-Saharan African countries.

INTRODUCTION: We sought to characterize men who had never tested for HIV, understand factors associated with not testing, and measure survey HIV test uptake among never testers. We analysed nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys of six African countries from 2013 to 2016: Ethiopia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Lesotho and Zambia. METHODS: Eligible men were household residents or overnight visitors aged 15 to 59 years. We analysed questionnaire responses on HIV testing, known behavioural risk factors, and corresponding HIV laboratory results. We used survey-weighted logistic regression to identify factors associated with never testing for HIV. RESULTS: Approximately double the proportion of men had never tested for HIV compared to women (Malawi: 30% vs. 17%, p < 0.0001; Zimbabwe: 35% vs. 19%, p < 0.0001; Lesotho: 34% vs. 15%, p < 0.0001; Zambia: 36% vs. 20%, p < 0.0001); although, less of a differential existed in Ethiopia (54% vs. 56%, p = 0.12) and Rwanda (19% vs. 14%, p < 0.0001). When offered a test during the survey, 85% to 99% of sexually active men who reported never previously testing, accepted testing. HIV positivity ranged from <0.05% to 14% for never tested men. After adjusting for age, factors associated with never having tested for HIV were never being married (aOR range: 1.46 to 10.39), not having children (aOR: 1.36 to 3.59) and lower education (less than primary education aOR: 2.77 to 5.59). CONCLUSIONS: Although higher proportions of men than women had never tested for HIV, 85% to 99% of men did accept a test when offered. Finding opportunities to offer HIV testing to single men without children, older men who have never tested, and those disadvantaged with less schooling and employment, alongside other facility and community-based services, will be important in identifying those living with undiagnosed HIV and improving men's health

Implementing a Mobile Health System to Integrate the Treatment of Addiction Into Primary Care: A Hybrid Implementation-Effectiveness Study

Background: Despite the near ubiquity of mobile phones, little research has been conducted on the implementation of mobile health (mHealth) apps to treat patients in primary care. Although primary care clinicians routinely treat chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes, they rarely treat addiction, a common chronic condition. Instead, addiction is most often treated in the US health care system, if it is treated at all, in a separate behavioral health system. mHealth could help integrate addiction treatment in primary care. Objective: The objective of this paper was to report the effects of implementing an mHealth system for addiction in primary care on both patients and clinicians. Methods: In this implementation research trial, an evidence-based mHealth system named Seva was introduced sequentially over 36 months to a maximum of 100 patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) in each of three federally qualified health centers (FQHCs; primary care clinics that serve patients regardless of their ability to pay). This paper reports on patient and clinician outcomes organized according to the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. Results: The outcomes according to the RE-AIM framework are as follows: Reach—Seva reached 8.31% (268/3226) of appropriate patients. Reach was limited by our ability to pay for phones and data plans for a maximum of 100 patients per clinic. Effectiveness—Patients who were given Seva had significant improvements in their risky drinking days (44% reduction, (0.7-1.25)/1.25, P=.04), illicit drug-use days (34% reduction, (2.14-3.22)/3.22, P=.01), quality of life, human immunodeficiency virus screening rates, and number of hospitalizations. Through Seva, patients also provided peer support to one another in ways that are novel in primary care settings. Adoption—Patients sustained high levels of Seva use—between 53% and 60% of the patients at the 3 sites accessed Seva during the last week of the 12-month implementation period. Among clinicians, use of the technology was less robust than use by patients, with only a handful of clinicians using Seva in each clinic and behavioral health providers making most referrals to Seva in 2 of the 3 clinics. Implementation—At 2 sites, implementation plans were realized successfully; they were delayed in the third. Maintenance—Use of Seva dropped when grant funding stopped paying for the mobile phones and data plans. Two of the 3 clinics wanted to maintain the use of Seva, but they struggled to find funding to support this. Conclusions: Implementing an mHealth system can improve care among primary care patients with SUDs, and patients using the system can support one another in their recovery. Among clinicians, however, implementation requires figuring out how information from the mHealth system will be used and making mHealth data available in the electronic health (eHealth) record. In addition, paying for an mHealth system remains a challenge

Observations of APAN during TexAQS 2000

Measurements of peroxycarboxylic nitric anhydrides (PANs) made in Houston, Texas during TexAQS (Texas Air Quality Study) 2000 showed a relatively abundant PAN compound that had not been identified in previous studies in North America [cf. Williams et al., 2000]. This compound was hypothesized to be peroxyacrylic nitric anhydride { CH2=CHC(O)OONO2, APAN} based on the work of Tanimoto and Akimoto, [2001]. APAN was synthesized and characterized on one of the two GC systems used to make those measurements, subsequent to the TexAQS 2000 field study, confirming that APAN was observed during TexAQS 2000, both on the ground and in airborne measurements. Mixing ratios of APAN were estimated from the response of the system to PAN and PPN and ranged up to 502 pptv, which was 30% of PAN. High APAN values were associated with the precursor species 1,3-butadiene and acrolein, which had local petrochemical sources. The presence of APAN at these unprecedented levels demonstrates the impact of these reactive VOC species, and may have associated health effects