PRICE AND NON-PRICE INFLUENCES ON WATER CONSERVATION: AN ECONOMETRIC MODEL OF AGGREGATE DEMAND UNDER NONLINEAR BUDGET CONSTRAINT

We study the influence of prices and non-price conservation programs on water consumption and conservation behavior during a drought in the San Francisco Bay Area. The empirical results show that pricing can be effective in reducing water consumption. Use restrictions and landscaping audits are also effective in inducing conservation from consumers.Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy,

L’économie des ressources naturelles

A survey of the literature on the economics of natural resources. Extractive resources are classified as renewable or non-renewable, depending on whether they exhibit economically significant rates of regeneration. A unified model of optimal extraction over time is developed, drawing on a number of contributions to the literature. Special features are developed for the renewable and non-renewable cases, and extensions and applications are noted, as well as needs for further research. Policy issues are treated, chief among these being the extent to which the market can be trusted to generate the right rate of extraction. Finally the empirical evidence is reviewed on whether we are running out of extractive resources

L’économie des ressources naturelles

A survey of the literature on the economics of natural resources. Extractive resources are classified as renewable or non-renewable, depending on whether they exhibit economically significant rates of regeneration. A unified model of optimal extraction over time is developed, drawing on a number of contributions to the literature. Special features are developed for the renewable and non-renewable cases, and extensions and applications are noted, as well as needs for further research. Policy issues are treated, chief among these being the extent to which the market can be trusted to generate the right rate of extraction. Finally the empirical evidence is reviewed on whether we are running out of extractive resources.

Cluster analysis of multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification data in choroidal melanoma.

PurposeTo determine underlying correlations in multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) data and their significance regarding survival following treatment of choroidal melanoma (CM).MethodsMLPA data were available for 31 loci across four chromosomes (1p, 3, 6, and 8) in tumor material obtained from 602 patients with CM treated at the Liverpool Ocular Oncology Center (LOOC) between 1993 and 2012. Data representing chromosomes 3 and 8q were analyzed in depth since their association with CM patient survival is well-known. Unsupervised k-means cluster analysis was performed to detect latent structure in the data set. Principal component analysis (PCA) was also performed to determine the intrinsic dimensionality of the data. Survival analyses of the identified clusters were performed using Kaplan-Meier (KM) and log-rank statistical tests. Correlation with largest basal tumor diameter (LTD) was investigated.ResultsChromosome 3: A two-cluster (bimodal) solution was found in chromosome 3, characterized by centroids at unilaterally normal probe values and unilateral deletion. There was a large, significant difference in the survival characteristics of the two clusters (log-rank, p<0.001; 5-year survival: 80% versus 40%). Both clusters had a broad distribution in LTD, although larger tumors were characteristically in the poorer outcome group (Mann-Whitney, p<0.001). Threshold values of 0.85 for deletion and 1.15 for gain optimized the classification of the clusters. PCA showed that the first principal component (PC1) contained more than 80% of the data set variance and all of the bimodality, with uniform coefficients (0.28±0.03). Chromosome 8q: No clusters were found in chromosome 8q. Using a conventional threshold-based definition of 8q gain, and in conjunction with the chromosome 3 clusters, three prognostic groups were identified: chromosomes 3 and 8q both normal, either chromosome 3 or 8q abnormal, and both chromosomes 3 and 8q abnormal. KM analysis showed 5-year survival figures of approximately 97%, 80%, and 30% for these prognostic groups, respectively (log-rank, p<0.001). All MLPA probes within both chromosomes were significantly correlated with each other (Spearman, p<0.001).ConclusionsWithin chromosome 3, the strong correlation between the MLPA variables and the uniform coefficients from the PCA indicates a lack of evidence for a signature gene that might account for the bimodality we observed. We hypothesize that the two clusters we found correspond to binary underlying states of complete monosomy or disomy 3 and that these states are sampled by the complete ensemble of probes. Consequently, we would expect a similar pattern to emerge in higher-resolution MLPA data sets. LTD may be a significant confounding factor. Considering chromosome 8q, we found that chromosome 3 cluster membership and 8q gain as traditionally defined have an indistinguishable impact on patient outcome

Computation of Earth Science Products on Spaceborne Platforms

Spaceborne sensors like NASA's Hyperion hyperspectral imager generate huge data volumes, and several near-term trends indicate that data volumes will only increase. Next-generation hyperspectral missions, such as NASA's Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI), will operate at higher duty cycles and higher data rates, and their users will expect products to be generated from the data in near real time [1]. Barring a sudden advance in satellite downlink capacity, these trends point to a need to process data and generate products onboard the spacecraft. Rather than downlink an entire hyperspectral image cube, onboard processing enables satellites to downlink partial or completed scientific data products, which are often one to two orders of magnitude smaller than the original image. In addition, a satellite with onboard data processing resources and direct broadcast transmission equipment could send data products directly to first responders, research scientists or other users on the ground. Next-generation space-capable data processors will have a combination of reconfigurable gate arrays, digital signal processors and general-purpose CPUs. Correctly programmed and configured, these resources are sufficient to run sophisticated data analysis programs, including hyperspectral image processing algorithms that commonly run on desktop computers [2]. This paper describes how we implemented one such program, the HSEG hierarchical image segmentation algorithm, software commonly used on desktop and parallel processors, on a hardware platform designed to mimic a next-generation space-capable data processor [3]. We also describe our approach to porting the algorithm to and optimizing it for the new platform, and determine the expected performance gains enabled by our design. This extended abstract will describe the HSEG algorithm and hardware platform in greater detail, provide an analysis of the key function within the algorithm that required hardware acceleration, and describe our implementation of that function in hardware

Exploring Large-scale Structure with Billions of Galaxies

We consider cosmological applications of galaxy number density correlations to be inferred from future deep and wide multi-band optical surveys. We mostly focus on very large scales as a probe of possible features in the primordial power spectrum. We find the proposed survey of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope may be competitive with future all-sky CMB experiments over a broad range of scales. On very large scales the inferred power spectrum is robust to photometric redshift errors, and, given a sufficient number density of galaxies, to angular variations in dust extinction and photometric calibration errors. We also consider other applications, such as constraining dark energy with the two CMB-calibrated standard rulers in the matter power spectrum, and controlling the effect of photometric redshift errors to facilitate the interpretation of cosmic shear data. We find that deep photometric surveys over wide area can provide constraints that are competitive with spectroscopic surveys in small volumes.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, ApJ accepted, references added, expanded discussion in Sec. 3.

Using a BDI Agent to Represent a Human on the Factory Floor of the ARIAC 2023 Industrial Automation Competition

Postprin

MARDy : Mycology Antifungal Resistance Database

J.R. was supported by an Antimicrobial Research Collaborative (ARC) early career research fellowship, Imperial College London (RSRO_54990). T.S. and J.M.G.S. were supported by a Natural Environment Research Council grant awarded to MCF (NE/P001165/1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD