Single molecule photon counting statistics for quantum mechanical chromophore dynamics

We extend the generating function technique for calculation of single molecule photon emission statistics [Y. Zheng and F. L. H. Brown, Phys. Rev. Lett., 90,238305 (2003)] to systems governed by multi-level quantum dynamics. This opens up the possibility to study phenomena that are outside the realm of purely stochastic and mixed quantum-stochastic models. In particular, the present methodology allows for calculation of photon statistics that are spectrally resolved and subject to quantum coherence. Several model calculations illustrate the generality of the technique and highlight quantitative and qualitative differences between quantum mechanical models and related stochastic approximations. Calculations suggest that studying photon statistics as a function of photon frequency has the potential to reveal more about system dynamics than the usual broadband detection schemes.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of Physical Chemistr

A DISTRIBUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE COSTS OF FOODBORNE ILLNESS: WHO ULTIMATELY PAYS?

This paper traces the economic impact of the costs of foodborne illness on the U.S. economy using a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) framework. Previous estimates of the costs of seven foodborne pathogens are disaggregated by type, and distributed across the population using data from the National Health Interview Survey. Initial income losses resulting from premature death cause a decrease in economic activity. Medical costs, in contrast, result in economic growth, though this growth does not outweigh the total costs of premature death. A SAM accounting of how the costs of illness are diffused through the economy provides useful information for policy makers.Cost of illness, Foodborne illness, Social Accounting Matrix, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

FOOD SAFETY INNOVATION IN THE UNITED STATES: EVIDENCE FROM THE MEAT INDUSTRY

Recent industry innovations improving the safety of the Nation's meat supply range from new pathogen tests, high-tech equipment, and supply chain management systems, to new surveillance networks. Despite these and other improvements, the market incentives that motivate private firms to invest in innovation seem to be fairly weak. Results from an ERS survey of U.S. meat and poultry slaughter and processing plants and two case studies of innovation in the U.S. beef industry reveal that the industry has developed a number of mechanisms to overcome that weakness and to stimulate investment in food safety innovation. Industry experience suggests that government policy can increase food safety innovation by reducing informational asymmetries and strengthening the ability of innovating firms to appropriate the benefits of their investments.Food safety, innovation, meat, asymmetric information, Beef Steam Pasteurization System, Bacterial Pathogen Sampling and Testing Program, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries,

Traceability for Food Safety and Quality Assurance: Mandatory Systems Miss the Mark

Traceability systems are record-keeping systems that are primarily used to help keep foods with different attributes separate from one another. When information about a particular attribute of a food product is systematically recorded from creation through marketing, traceability for that attribute is established. Recently, policy makers in many countries have begun weighing the usefulness of mandatory traceability for managing such diverse problems as the threat of bio-terrorism, country-of-origin labelling, mad cow disease, and identification of genetically engineered foods. The question before policymakers is, When is mandatory traceability a useful and appropriate policy choice?Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

TRACEABILITY IN THE U.S. FOOD SUPPLY: ECONOMIC THEORY AND INDUSTRY STUDIES

This investigation into the traceability baseline in the United States finds that private sector food firms have developed a substantial capacity to trace. Traceability systems are a tool to help firms manage the flow of inputs and products to improve efficiency, product differentiation, food safety, and product quality. Firms balance the private costs and benefits of traceability to determine the efficient level of traceability. In cases of market failure, where the private sector supply of traceability is not socially optimal, the private sector has developed a number of mechanisms to correct the problem, including contracting, third-party safety/quality audits, and industry-maintained standards. The best-targeted government policies for strengthening firms' incentives to invest in traceability are aimed at ensuring that unsafe of falsely advertised foods are quickly removed from the system, while allowing firms the flexibility to determine the manner. Possible policy tools include timed recall standards, increased penalties for distribution of unsafe foods, and increased foodborne-illness surveillance.traceability, tracking, traceback, tracing, recall, supply-side management, food safety, product differentiation, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Industrial Organization,

Non-Life Insurance Pricing: Multi Agents Model

We use the maximum entropy principle for pricing the non-life insurance and recover the B\"{u}hlmann results for the economic premium principle. The concept of economic equilibrium is revised in this respect.Comment: 6 pages, revtex

Fast Primal-Dual Gradient Method for Strongly Convex Minimization Problems with Linear Constraints

In this paper we consider a class of optimization problems with a strongly convex objective function and the feasible set given by an intersection of a simple convex set with a set given by a number of linear equality and inequality constraints. A number of optimization problems in applications can be stated in this form, examples being the entropy-linear programming, the ridge regression, the elastic net, the regularized optimal transport, etc. We extend the Fast Gradient Method applied to the dual problem in order to make it primal-dual so that it allows not only to solve the dual problem, but also to construct nearly optimal and nearly feasible solution of the primal problem. We also prove a theorem about the convergence rate for the proposed algorithm in terms of the objective function and the linear constraints infeasibility.Comment: Submitted for DOOR 201

Cyclic projectors and separation theorems in idempotent convex geometry

Semimodules over idempotent semirings like the max-plus or tropical semiring have much in common with convex cones. This analogy is particularly apparent in the case of subsemimodules of the n-fold cartesian product of the max-plus semiring it is known that one can separate a vector from a closed subsemimodule that does not contain it. We establish here a more general separation theorem, which applies to any finite collection of closed semimodules with a trivial intersection. In order to prove this theorem, we investigate the spectral properties of certain nonlinear operators called here idempotent cyclic projectors. These are idempotent analogues of the cyclic nearest-point projections known in convex analysis. The spectrum of idempotent cyclic projectors is characterized in terms of a suitable extension of Hilbert's projective metric. We deduce as a corollary of our main results the idempotent analogue of Helly's theorem.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figur

Final State Interactions Effects in Neutrino-Nucleus Interactions

Final State Interactions effects are discussed in the context of Monte Carlo simulations of neutrino-nucleus interactions. A role of Formation Time is explained and several models describing this effect are compared. Various observables which are sensitive to FSI effects are reviewed including pion-nucleus interaction and hadron yields in backward hemisphere. NuWro Monte Carlo neutrino event generator is described and its ability to understand neutral current $\pi^0$ production data in $\sim 1$ GeV neutrino flux experiments is demonstrated.Comment: 13 pages, 16 figure

USDA and EPA Food Waste Initiatives

Food waste, which is estimated at between 30-40 percent of the food supply in the United States has far reaching social, economic, and environmental ramifications. In this talk, Elise Golan will examine the federal government’s primary initiatives targeting food waste, including the U.S. Food Waste Challenge. The objective of the U.S. Food Waste Challenge, which was launched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency in 2013, is to build real momentum in the United States to reduce, recover, and recycle food waste. By joining the U.S. Food Waste Challenge, organizations and businesses demonstrate their commitment to reducing food waste, feeding the hungry in their communities, and reducing the environmental impact of wasted food. Challenge participants can work with EPA experts to get technical assistance to set and meet quantitative food waste reduction goals. The Challenge’s inventory of activities will help disseminate information about the best practices to reduce, recover, and recycle food waste and stimulate the development of more of these practices. The inventory of activities and participants will also provide a snapshot of the country’s commitment to—and successes in—reducing, recovering, and recycling food waste. By October 2013, the Challenge had over 1,000 participants. Other federal initiatives include tax benefits and limited liability protection to businesses donating food, investments in market infrastructures, and research on new technologies and systems for reducing food waste and its impacts