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AbstractWe develop a risk‐sensitive strategic facility sizing model that makes use of readily obtainable data and addresses both capacity and responsiveness considerations. We focus on facilities whose original size cannot be adjusted over time and limits the total production equipment they can hold, which is added sequentially during a finite planning horizon. The model is parsimonious by design for compatibility with the nature of available data during early planning stages. We model demand via a univariate random variable with arbitrary forecast profiles for equipment expansion, and assume the supporting equipment additions are continuous and decided ex‐post. Under constant absolute risk aversion, operating profits are the closed‐form solution to a nontrivial linear program, thus characterizing the sizing decision via a single first‐order condition. This solution has several desired features, including the optimal facility size being eventually decreasing in forecast uncertainty and decreasing in risk aversion, as well as being generally robust to demand forecast uncertainty and cost errors. We provide structural results and show that ignoring risk considerations can lead to poor facility sizing decisions that deteriorate with increased forecast uncertainty. Existing models ignore risk considerations and assume the facility size can be adjusted over time, effectively shortening the planning horizon. Our main contribution is in addressing the problem that arises when that assumption is relaxed and, as a result, risk sensitivity and the challenges introduced by longer planning horizons and higher uncertainty must be considered. Finally, we derive accurate spreadsheet‐implementable approximations to the optimal solution, which make this model a practical capacity planning tool.© 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008

This article discusses the practice evaluation model in the context of quality assurance reviews in managed care. Managed care demands the three essential elements of practice evaluation; namely, specified client problems and treatment goals, suitable measurements, and analysis of change. The article delineates and demonstrates two case-recording procedures that facilitate quality assurance reviews of clinical social work practice.

The threat to human health associated with the use of antibiotic and chemical feed additives has prompted legislation in the EU to ban antimicrobial growth promoters (AGP), and has accelerated investigations into plants and their extracts as feed additives. The broad potential of plants and their extracts to replace AGP is illustrated by the progress of an EC Framework 5 project, 'Rumen-up' and its Framework 6 successor, 'Replace'. The Rumen-up project began with a targetted collection of 500 European plants and their extracts, and partners tested their effects on ruminal proteolysis, protozoa, methanogenesis and lactate production. A success rate of about 5% in terms of positive hits illustrated that phytochemicals have great potential as "natural" manipulators of rumen fermentation, to the potential benefit of the farmer and the environment. Some of the positive samples exerted their effect via their essential oils or saponins content. The mode of action of these phytochemicals is at least partially understood. Dietary inclusion of a commercial blend of essential oil compounds significantly decreased NH3 production from amino acids in ruminal fluid taken from sheep and cattle. This effect was mediated partly by effects on ammonia-producting bacteria. Saponins-containing plants and their extracts suppress the bacteriolytic activity of rumen ciliate protozoa, thereby enhancing total microbial protein flow from the rumen. The Rumen-up project also highlighted potentially useful plants which had a benefit that could not be explained by our present knowledge of the effects of phytochemicals on ruminal microorganisms.

On 1 September 1951, representatives of Australia , New Zealand , and the United States met in San Fran cisco to sign a treaty of alliance commonly known as the Anzus pact.1 The signing ceremony had been preceded by two years of sporadic negotiations during which the Australians had pressed hard for joint military planning and discu ssion of global strategy. The Americans, however, had been determined to limit formal security arrangements to the minimum necessary to win the consent of their negotiating partners to the relatively mild peace treaty the United States intended to sign with Japan.2 The American view prevailed, and Anzus thus came into being with a council charged with considering matters related to the implementation of the treaty but with no standing military organization and no integrated military force.

Objective: We review all available controlled outcome studies of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) to evaluate evidence of its effectiveness. Method: Forty-three studies were located and key data abstracted on problem, setting, SFBT intervention, design characteristics, and outcomes. Results: Thirty-two (74%) of the studies reported significant positive benefit from SFBT; 10 (23%) reported positive trends. The strongest evidence of effectiveness came in the treatment of depression in adults where four separate studies found SFBT to be comparable to well-established alternative treatments. Three studies examined length of treatment and all found SFBT used fewer sessions than alternative therapies. Conclusion: The studies reviewed provide strong evidence that SFBT is an effective treatment for a wide variety of behavioral and psychological outcomes and, in addition, it may be briefer and therefore less costly than alternative approaches.

Much has been written about the potential success of unified family courts. Unified family court proponents share great optimism and enthusiasm for what they see as a solution to several of the problems facing court systems today. This enthusiasm should be applauded. As with any reform, however, unified family court advocates must stop to consider the possible drawbacks to the system that they propose; otherwise, they might end up with a system that is the same or worse than the one that they were attempting to fix. This article highlights several of the potential problems with unified family courts. It is not a condemnation of unified family courts per se; it is simply a suggestion that reformers proceed with their eyes open, taking time to consider the potential drawbacks of the unified family court system before using valuable resources for its implementation.