Introduction. Natural beveragesface strong competition from synthetic drinks in the open market.Creation of diversity in natural products is a key strategy to withstandthis competition. Pummelo (Citrus grandis Linn.)is one such potential fruit which could be exploited on a commercialscale if processed properly. The bitterness of pummelo juice isa serious handicap in its utilization. The present study aimed atpreparation of a cost-effective, palatable blended beverage of pummelo. Materials and methods. To overcome this problem, pummelowas blended with mango ginger and kokum juice in the ratio of [65:30:5]for the preparation of syrup. The product was stored for 120 daysin ambient conditions of storage and analyzed for changes in itsphysicochemical constituents. Results and discussion.Total soluble solids and total sugar increased during storage, whiletitratable acidity and ascorbic acid content decreased slightlyduring storage. Organoleptically, the best recipe was 25% juice,70 °Brix total soluble solids and 1.5% acidity with a score of 6.3out of 7.0 for overall acceptability. Mango ginger juice suppressedthe bitter aftertaste of pummelo juice and imparted its characteristictaste and flavor to the product. The product was shelf-stable andhad important medicinal constituents in it. The [total revenue / totalcost] ratio of the product was 2.90.

This paper reports on the results of analyses using administrative data from British Columbia for 10 years from fiscal 1987/1988 to 1996/1997, inclusive, to examine the comparative costs to government of long-term home care and residential care services. The analyses used administrative data for hospital care, physician care, drugs, and home care and residential long-term care. Direct comparisons for cost and utilization data were possible, as the same care-level classification system is used in BC for home care and residential care clients. Given significant changes in the type and/or level of care of clients over time, a full-time equivalent client strategy was used to maximize the accuracy of comparisons. The findings suggest that, in general, home care can be a lower-cost alternative to residential care for clients with similar care needs. The difference in costs between home care and residential care services narrows considerably for those who change their type and/or level of care, and home care was found to be more costly than long-term institutional care for home care clients who died. The findings from this study indicate that with the appropriate substitution for residential care services, in a planned and targeted manner, home care services can be a lower-cost alternative to residential long-term care in integrated systems of care delivery that include both sets of services.

Seasonal growth of juvenile oysters (Crassostrea gigas) kept in an intensive upwelling system was studied from 1984 to 1986 in 60 to 90-day growth experiments. Saline ground water was used to produce Skeletonema costatum which was injected as food into the water supplying the upwelling system. Oyster density, water flow, phytoplankton concentration, temperature and frequency of food addition were controlled. Oyster growth was analysed with multidimensional contingency tables and correspondence analysis. The factors, in order of decreasing influence on growth, were temperature, food concentration and oyster density. A rearing strategy was deduced from the growth analysis for summer and winter. In summer, the density of 120,000 oysters/m2, the flow rate of 1 liter/d/oyster and the food concentration of 0.5 × 109 phytoplankton cells/litre gave the most interesting results. The oysters grew from 0.014 g to 2.2 g after 60 days. In winter, the heat exchanger was necessary to increase the temperature from the 5 °C naturally observed to the 11 °C required for valuable growth. Oyster density and food concentration were the same as in summer. For a flow rate equal to 3 liter/day/oyster, oysters grew from 0.01 g to 0.5 g within 100 days. The cost and profit computations were derived from these strategies. It was concluded that this type of nursery would be profitable in spring, summer, and autumn but not in winter due to the high cost of heating the water.