ESTIMATING THE VARIANCE OF FOOD PRICE INFLATION

Stochastic index theory views each commodity price change as an independent observation on the rate of inflation that can be estimated by averaging over all prices. Our methodology estimates both the overall rate of inflation and relative price changes along with standard errors.Food prices, Index numbers, Inflation, Demand and Price Analysis,

BOX-COX TRANSFORMATIONS AND ERROR TERM SPECIFICATION IN DEMAND MODELS

This paper analyzes the influence of error-term specification and functional form on a quarterly demand model for beef. The Box-Cox transformation is used to generalize the functional form while the equation error term is postulated to be both heteroskedastic and autoregressive. Results indicated that both functional form and error-term specification can play a major role in elasticity estimation, elasticity behavior, and hypothesis testing.Demand and Price Analysis,

ANALYSIS OF FOOD STAMP PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AND FOOD EXPENDITURES

A two equation model is developed to examine jointly the determinants of household food stamp program participation and program effects on food expenditures. The model is unique in that it postulates that the participation decision is based on a cost-benefit ratio, selected socioeconomic characteristics, and the potential for increasing both food and nonfood expenditures. Data from the 1977-78 USDA Nationwide Food Consumption Survey Supplemental Low Income Sample is used to estimate the model. Findings suggest that households, in making the participation decision place equal value on the potential for increasing their food and nonfood expenditures. However, at the margin, bonus stamp income is found to have more than twice the impact of money income on food expenditures. The model's potential for policy analysis is also examined.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO DEFINING AND ASSESSING POVERTY THRESHOLDS

This paper introduces a new method for defining poverty lines based on an individual' s self-evaluation of the household's present situation. The proposed method focuses on the minimum household income necessary to purchase food supplies evaluated by society to be barely adequate. The method is especially useful for evaluation and comparing poverty thresholds derived from different methods. It is also valuable for comparing the official U.S. poverty guidelines across households of different sizes. The approach can be extended to include estimation of thresholds differentiated by various household characteristics and comparison of thresholds across these characteristics.Food Security and Poverty,

Supernova Resonance-Scattering Profiles in the Presence of External Illumination

We discuss a simple model for the formation of a supernova spectral line by resonance scattering in the presence of external illumination of the line-forming region by light from circumstellar interaction (toplighting). The simple model provides a clear understanding of the most conspicuous toplighting effect: a rescaling or, as we prefer, a ``muting'' of the line profile relative to the continuum. This effect would be present in more realistic models, but would be harder to isolate. An analytic expression for a muting factor for a P-Cygni line is derived that depends on the ratio E of the toplighting specific intensity to the specific intensity from the supernova photosphere. If E<1, the line profile is reduced in scale or ``muted''. If E=1, the line profile vanishes altogether. If E>1, the line profile flips vertically: then having an absorption component near the observer-frame line center wavelength and a blueshifted emission component.Comment: accepted for publication in PAS

L'augment verbal romanç -ez-/-iz-: derivació vs. flexió

Ancient Greek could form denominal verbs by attaching a palatal semivowel to the noun stem and adding the verbal endings, thus creating verbs in -izo, -azo [això, clar, en caracters grecs], etc. Latin borrowed large enough numbers of those with vocalism in -i- so that an independently productive derivational pattern arose in Latin. As with the case of the native Latin -sk- affix, the -iz-/-ez- element developed a flexional role in some varieties of Romance. The derivational function, however, remained dominant and was even propagated to the Germanic languages

Quantum Statistics: Is there an effective fermion repulsion or boson attraction?

Physicists often claim that there is an effective repulsion between fermions, implied by the Pauli principle, and a corresponding effective attraction between bosons. We examine the origins of such exchange force ideas, the validity for them, and the areas where they are highly misleading. We propose that future explanations of quantum statistics should avoid the idea of a effective force completely and replace it with more appropriate physical insights, some of which are suggested here.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to American Journal of Physic

Lag and Impact in Visual Studies

A few weeks ago, I found myself sitting on my porch with a friend and my partner, trying to explain just what visual studies is. My friend, a historian, and my partner, who teaches in an English department, both listened patiently as I muddled through my usual preambles:It’s like art history, but with a more politicized vision… Some people approach visual studies as a means to think about perception and technologies that have literally changed vision… Others use it as a means to explain how what is made (or allowed to be) visible is a tool of consolidating and maintaining hegemonic power… Some people see it as a development of art history; others define it as a radical rupture.…I listed examples of potential objects of study. I began with the obvious: art, posters, film, advertisements, maps. I then listed more totalizing, which is to say less concrete, examples: systems of representation, discourse, the use of space, the commons. I inventoried the range of theoretical tools at my disposal: Marxism, feminism, critical race studies, indigeneity, postcolonialism, and queer theory… My historian friend nodded generously. “Yes,” she said, “people in my discipline work on these issues, as well.” My partner, more than a bit familiar with this intrigue of mine, acknowledged that his classroom and writing practice also welcome a variety of methodologies and source materials. So, what then, I proceeded to ask, is it that makes visual studies a discipline when its approach—that is to say, its methodology of interdisciplinarity—is being practiced (and seemingly welcomed) across the humanities

THE IMPACT OF EQUIVALENCE SCALES ON THE ANALYSIS OF INCOME AND FOOD SPENDING DISTRIBUTIONS

This article examines the effects of different income and food spending adult equivalence scales on estimated expenditure elasticities, on the demographic characteristics of the rich and poor, and on the percentage of household income spent on food by various income quintiles. Empirical results are found to be heavily influenced by the choice of equivalence scales. For example, elasticities varied by over 300%, and the demographic characteristics of the poor varied greatly.Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Introduction

The skin is a rather large organ comprising 16% of body weight. It contains several cell types and cell products. Three separate compartments are present and a disease may involve one or all. The topmost layer, the epidermis, is a very active metabolic area and disease involving this area is generally acute with oozing, weeping, and scaling. The dermis, which is quite large, gives support to the entire skin and body. Dermal diseases produce swelling, enlargement, and rigidity in the skin. A disease in the subcutaneous section of the skin, the third major portion, is usually nodular and edematous