Measuring the Impact of a BSE Announcement on U.S. Retail Beef Sales: A Time-Series Analysis

On December 23, 2003, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced that the United States Department of Agriculture had diagnosed the first U.S. case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as “mad cow disease.†This study uses supermarket sales data to analyze the effect of the BSE announcement on U.S. retail beef sales, finding a statistically significant disruption of sales. In addition, we develop a forecast of retail beef sales revenues in the hypothetical absence of BSE. The forecast implies that the BSE announcement may have reduced domestic retail beef revenues in excess of $11 billion in the post-BSE period.ARIMA models, BSE, mad cow disease, U.S. retail beef sales, Health Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries,

Sarcoidosis-associated hepatocellular carcinoma

Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous inflammation of unknown etiology, and seems to involve the liver parenchyma in most cases. However, sarcoidosis-associated hepatocellular carcinoma is rare. We report here a case in which a hepatocellular carcinoma occurred within the liver, which was probably involved as a result of systemic sarcoidosis. A 57-year-old Japanese man had been followed up for 2 years because of diabetic nephropathy and sarcoidosis. On admission for pneumonia, imaging studies revealed an unexpected hepatic tumor. Histology revealed a hepatocellular carcinoma accompanied by T-lymphocytic infiltration and marked granulomatous inflammation, which was surrounding some tumor nodules. The background liver parenchyma exhibited a moderate degree of fibrosis with granulomatous inflammation. The patient had no other apparent liver disease such as viral hepatitis, steatohepatitis, or primary biliary cirrhosis. Therefore, in the present case, sarcoidosis may be considered the probable background etiology for hepatocarcinogenesis

An analysis on the connections of factors in a public transport system by AHP-ISM

In order to gain an overall view on all relevant connections of the elements in a public transportation system, a systematic approach is advisable to follow, which applies well-proven methodology. In case a structure contains both hierarchical and non-hierarchical connections, the formerly recommended methodologies are: ISM-AHP, ISM-ANP, ANP. This paper however proposes a different approach: AHP-ISM, which aims to keep the AHP hierarchy, but simul- taneously to amend that with the non-hierarchical types of linkages within the structure. By that, those connections that were verified in the AHP procedure can be considered dominant, but also weaker linkages might provide impor- tant additional information about the whole structure. The additional ISM procedure is suitable for two purposes: the most influential elements of the AHP structure can be selected, moreover also direct and indirect impacts of element improvement might be followed in the structure by considering both types of connections within the system, using the directed graph of ISM. The introduced AHP-ISM model is applicable for analyzing public transportation systems – as shown in the paper – but also generally applicable for any AHP applications, which are not strictly but dominantly hierarchically structured

Rhabdomyolysis Associated with Fenofibrate Monotherapy in a Patient with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Rhabdomyolysis associated with fenofibrate monotherapy is extremely rare. Here, we report a rare case of rhabdomyolysis of the psoas muscle in an 82-year-old man with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). He was prescribed fenofibrate because of a hypertriglyceridemia. The patient reported generalized muscle pain and right abdominal pain while receiving fenofibrate monotherapy. An abdominal computed tomography scan and an abdominal ultrasound showed a large and low attenuation and high echogenicity, respectively, in the right middle abdominal area. Laboratory values included a serum creatine concentration of 4.1 mg/dl and a creatinine phosphokinase concentration of 5,882 IU/l. During laparotomy, a large hematoma and necrotic mass was identified in the right psoas muscle. Histological examination revealed that the resected specimens were of the psoas muscle with irregular fiber sizes, degenerating fibers surrounding the inflammatory reaction, and fiber necrosis that is typical for polymyositis. Based on these findings and the clinical history, a diagnosis of fenofibrate-induced rhabdomyolysis was made. To the best of our knowledge, no patient has ever been diagnosed with fulminant psoas rhabdomyolysis due to a fenofibrate monotherapy. This report details the rare case of rhabdomyolysis in a patient with CML associated with fenofibrate monotherapy and offers a review of the literature

Measuring the Impact of a BSE Announcement on U.S. Retail Beef Sales: A Time-Series Analysis

On December 23, 2003, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced that the United States Department of Agriculture had diagnosed the first U.S. case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as “mad cow disease.” This study uses supermarket sales data to analyze the effect of the BSE announcement on U.S. retail beef sales, finding a statistically significant disruption of sales. In addition, we develop a forecast of retail beef sales revenues in the hypothetical absence of BSE. The forecast implies that the BSE announcement may have reduced domestic retail beef revenues in excess of $11 billion in the post-BSE period

A dynamic analysis on public bus transport's supply quality by using AHP

Nowadays, it is a really important issue to improve the supply quality of city public bus transportation in many cases. Meanwhile, the different participants of transport systems have different ideas on the ways of improvement, for this reason the taken measures can be inefficient and expensive. The operational costs are steadily increasing (e.g. price of fuel, wages, etc.) therefore the decision makers do not really have the opportunity to lower the price of tickets. For solving the above mentioned problems, before creating a plan of improving a certain public system, a clear image should have been gained on the preferences of passengers, company managers and governmental decision makers. In the current paper a general three-level-hierarchical model has been set up to analyze dynamically the public bus transport system of a city. The price is excluded, only the elements of supply quality are assessed in the hierarchy. Based on the model, questionnaires were created and for the analysis, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to determine preference weights of evaluators from different evaluator groups. Passengers, company managers and governmental officers evaluated exactly the same type of questionnaires so the results are comparable. Avoiding the difficulties of other AHP applications, we used a simplified Saaty-scale for scoring so that the missing data of the matrices could be calculated by an algorithm as well. This study revealed a priority ranking of the elements of supply quality within each level, and this ranking is comparable among the participants of public bus system. This may help the policy makers to synthesize various aspects of public transportation. First Published Online: 19 Sep 201