Barriers to Influenza Immunization: The Role of Physician Training on Influenza Vaccine Utilization in Six to Twenty-Three Month Old Infants

Digital Preservation

Clipping Management and Nitrogen Fertilization of Turfgrass: Growth, Nitrogen Utilization, and Quality

The effect of returning grass clippings on turfgrass growth and quality has not been thoroughly examined. The objective of this research was to determine the effects of returning grass clippings in combination with varying N rates on growth, N utilization, and quality of turfgrass managed as a residential lawn. Two field experiments using a cool-season turfgrass mixture were arranged as a 2 x 4 factorial in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Treatments included two clipping management practices (returned or removed) and four N rates (equivalent to 0, 98, 196, and 392 kg N ha(-1)). Soils at the two sites were a Paxton fine sandy loam (coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Dystrudepts) and a variant of a Hinckley gravelly sandy loam (sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Typic Udorthents). Returning clippings was found to increase clipping dry matter yields (DMYs) from 30 to 72%, total N uptake (NUP) from 48 to 60%, N recovery by 62%, and N use efficiency (NUE) from 52 to 71%. Returning grass clippings did not decrease turfgrass quality, and improved it in some plots. We found that N fertilization rates could be reduced 50% or more without decreasing turfgrass quality when clippings were returned. Overall, returning grass clippings was found to improve growth and quality of turfgrass while reducing N fertilization needs.

Direct and Indirect Measures of Capacity Utilization: A Nonparametric Analysis of U.S. Manufacturing

We measure the capacity output of a firm as the maximum amount producible by a firm given a specific quantity of the quasi-fixed input and an overall expenditure constraint for its choice of variable inputs. We compute this indirect capacity utilization measure for the total manufacturing sector in the US as well as for a number of disaggregated industries, for the period 1970-2001. We find considerable variation in capacity utilization rates both across industries and over years within industries. Our results suggest that the expenditure constraint was binding, especially in periods of high interest rates.

The Dental School Applicant Pool and the Oral Healthcare Workforce

One of the major challenges faced by the dental profession today is the recruitment of the most qualified dental school applicants who are capable of serving the nation’s future oral healthcare needs. The Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) also recognizes this challenge, describing one of the three core functions of public health as “assuring that all populations have access to appropriate and cost effective care, including health promotion and disease prevention services.” To achieve this core function, the ASPH cites “a competent public health and personal healthcare workforce” as one of the ten essential public health services. Unfortunately, the goals of both quality and equality in terms of the dental workforce and access to oral healthcare have yet to be realized. When considering access to oral health services on a national or state level, a thoughtful and thorough consideration of the dental school applicant pool is essential. According to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, the annual number of retiring dentists will exceed the number of newly licensed dental practitioners in 2009, a trend which is projected to continue throughout the next decade. The approximately 4,400 dentists produced each year from the nation’s 57 accredited dental education programs are charged with the responsibility of meeting the oral healthcare needs of the population at large.

Nonparametric Measures of Capacity Utilization: A Dual Approach

This paper develops a nonparametric method of obtaining the minimum of the long run average cost curve of a firm to define its capacity output. This provides a benchmark for measuring of capacity utilization at the observed output level of the firm. In the case of long run constant returns to scale, the minimum of the short run average cost curve is determined to measure short run capacity utilization. An empirical application measures yearly rates of capacity utilization in U.S. manufacturing over the period 1968-1998. Nonparametric determination of the short run average cost curve under variable returns to scale using an iterative search procedure is described in an appendix to this paper.