Water markets as a vehicle for water reform: the case of New South Wales

Water reform in NSW is being undertaken using an adaptive approach in recognition of the uncertainty and imperfect knowledge embodied in the riverine environment. However, the reform process also relies, in part, on the ability of markets for tradable water entitlements to develop and thereby assist in allocating scarce water resources to their highest value use. This article explores impediments to the formation of efficient markets in permanent tradable water entitlements in NSW. The article concludes that more attention should be paid to market failures and related problems which manifest themselves in thin markets for permanent water entitlements.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Automatic facial analysis for objective assessment of facial paralysis

Facial Paralysis is a condition causing decreased movement on one side of the face. A quantitative, objective and reliable assessment system would be an invaluable tool for clinicians treating patients with this condition. This paper presents an approach based on the automatic analysis of patient video data. Facial feature localization and facial movement detection methods are discussed. An algorithm is presented to process the optical flow data to obtain the motion features in the relevant facial regions. Three classification methods are applied to provide quantitative evaluations of regional facial nerve function and the overall facial nerve function based on the House-Brackmann Scale. Experiments show the Radial Basis Function (RBF) Neural Network to have superior performance

Velocity and Attenuation Characterization of the LIGO Site near Livingston, Louisiana

In April of 2009 a seismic survey utilizing explosive charges took place in Livingston parish, Louisiana. The area of the survey encompassed the location of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Livingston interferometer. In this paper, we present an analysis of seismic data recorded with three of the LIGO seismometers and a geophone array that was deployed during the time of the survey. In particular, the geophone-array data are used to study the propagation of surface waves, whereas first-arrival measurements with the LIGO seismometers provide estimates of the speed of compressional seismic waves as a function of depth. We find that fundamental Rayleigh waves have a speed close to 205 m/s consistent with results from previous borehole tests and that speed of compressional waves is 1650 m/s at 25 m depth, increasing to 2300 m/s at 1 km depth. Blast spectra are further investigated to determine the Q value of the ground medium experienced by Rayleigh waves (f > 1 Hz) and body waves deeper underground. The estimated Q value is approximately 50 for the surface waves and exceeds a value of 190 for body waves propagating at depths below 100 m

Lower inflation: Benefits and costs

The federal government and the Bank of Canada have been committed for some time to achieving and maintaining price stability as a way to foster a rising standard of living for all Canadians. To support this objective, the inflation-control target range of 1to 3per cent was recently extended through to the end of 2001. By then, the government and the Bank plan to announce a long-run target for monetary policy. In this article, the authors provide an overview of the most recent empirical evidence on the benefits of lower inflation. They draw on an extensive earlier survey and on work presented at two recent conferences on price stability hosted by the Bank of Canada. They find that, when inflation and tax interactions are taken into account, there are large benefits to lowering inflation. When these benefits are compared with the transitional costs associated with lowering inflation, significant positive benefits remain. However, the authors note that the extension of the inflation-control targets to the end of 2001 allows further research to ensure an operational definition of price stability that will help Canadians achieve a high standard of living.

Biomedical image sequence analysis with application to automatic quantitative assessment of facial paralysis

Facial paralysis is a condition causing decreased movement on one side of the face. A quantitative, objective, and reliable assessment system would be an invaluable tool for clinicians treating patients with this condition. This paper presents an approach based on the automatic analysis of patient video data. Facial feature localization and facial movement detection methods are discussed. An algorithm is presented to process the optical flow data to obtain the motion features in the relevant facial regions. Three classification methods are applied to provide quantitative evaluations of regional facial nerve function and the overall facial nerve function based on the House-Brackmann scale. Experiments show the radial basis function (RBF) neural network to have superior performance

Biomedical image sequence analysis with application to automatic quantitative assessment of facial paralysis

Facial paralysis is a condition causing decreased movement on one side of the face. A quantitative, objective, and reliable assessment system would be an invaluable tool for clinicians treating patients with this condition. This paper presents an approach based on the automatic analysis of patient video data. Facial feature localization and facial movement detection methods are discussed. An algorithm is presented to process the optical flow data to obtain the motion features in the relevant facial regions. Three classification methods are applied to provide quantitative evaluations of regional facial nerve function and the overall facial nerve function based on the House-Brackmann scale. Experiments show the radial basis function (RBF) neural network to have superior performance

CV10_28 Irish Sea cruise report

Cruise CV10_28 mobilized and demobilized from Howth, Co. Dublin, on the 2nd and 7th June 2010 respectively, and totalled over 112 operational hours. The objectives of this cruise were primarily to investigate and sample previously identified methane-related seepage structures in the Irish Designated Seabed Zone (IDSZ) of the Irish Sea, to carry out sampling grids of Dublin Bay and of the region of the IDSZ from Dublin Bay to Dundalk Bay for multidisciplinary geochemical and microbiological studies, and also to sample the water column for dissolved organic matter studies. A total of 113 sampling stations were successfully sampled: 46 grabs; 55 boxcores (0.25m2); 5 gravity cores (1m); and 7 vibrocores (3m). Gas-related seepage features successfully investigated were methane-derived authigenic carbonates (MDAC) in the Codling Fault Zone (CFZ), the Lambay Deep mud diapir, and also a shallow pockmark in the northen mudbelt region. Four videolines with over six hours of video footage were acquired in the MDAC target sites. Video footage and image stills of clusters of MDAC slabs, nodules and outcroppings, as well as indications enhanced anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) were successfully obtained. These features were subsequently successfully ground-truthed, sampled and preliminary geochemical analysis was carried out, thereby proving MDAC mounds in the CFZ are distinct features caused by active sub-surface seepage of methane. The Lambay Deep mud diapir was investigated by videoline deployment, whereby no distinct differences in seabed structure or biodiversity were observed. Fine sandy muds with relatively high macrofaunal biodiversity characterized seabed both inside and outside of Lambay Deep. The feature and surrounding seabed was ground-truthed by vibrocore and boxcore, and results supported the videoline findings. Sub-surface sediment (0-3m) was characterized by homogenous well-sorted fine sandy mud, with low infauna and shell presence, and little or no evidence of sub-surface anoxia. The mudbelt pockmark was investigated by videoline deployment and also subsequently ground-truthed by gravity core and boxcore. Videoline and sampling evidence suggests that the pockmark and reference samples from the surrounding seabed is uniform, and characterized by very fine mud with little sub-surface zonation. Previous sub-bottom profiling of the feature suggests no evidence of gas seepage or accumulations in the vicinity of the pockmark. The weather and sampling conditions were overall favourable throughout the cruise but the lack of dynamic positioning aboard the Celtic Voyager and also the restriction on the vibrocore to slack water and day-time use resulted in some sampling limitations and incomplete secondary objectives. Overall CV10_28 achieved the vast majority of its objectives, and a comprehensive foundation for numerous studies and peer-reviewed publications has been established

Effect of induced seismicity on advanced gravitational wave interferometers

Advanced LIGO and the next generation of ground-based detectors aim to capture many more binary coalescences through improving sensitivity and duty cycle. Earthquakes have always been a limiting factor at low frequency where neither the pendulum suspension nor the active controls provide sufficient isolation to the test mass mirrors. Several control strategies have been proposed to reduce the impact of teleseismic events by switching to a robust configuration with less aggressive feedback. The continental United States has witnessed a huge increase in the number of induced earthquake events primarily associated with hydraulic fracking-related waste water re-injection. Effects from these differ from teleseismic earthquakes primarily because of their depth which is in turn linked to their triggering mechanism. In this paper, we discuss the impact caused due to these low magnitude regional earthquakes and explore ways to minimize the impact of induced seismicity on the detector.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures; matches published versio

The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress 2001: The Longest Decade: Canada in the 1990s

In this chapter, Paul Jenkins and Brian O'Reilly survey the monetary policy developments in the 1990s, focusing on links between monetary policy and the economic well-being of Canadians. The Bank of Canada economists do admit that tight monetary policy in the early 1990s hurt growth in the short-term, but they argue that such action was necessary to ratchet down entrenched inflationary expectations. Moreover, they argue that stagnation in the early part of the decade was not simply the result of monetary policy, but also reflected a weak US economy and structural problems in the Canadian economy.Monetary Policy, Inflation, Inflation Reduction, Inflation Policy, Growth, Recession, Well-being, Wellbeing, Well Being, Canada

Effects of mode degeneracy in the LIGO Livingston Observatory recycling cavity

We analyze the electromagnetic fields in a Pound-Drever-Hall locked, marginally unstable, Fabry-Perot cavity as a function of small changes in the cavity length during resonance. More specifically, we compare the results of a detailed numerical model with the behavior of the recycling cavity of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detector that is located in Livingston, Louisiana. In the interferometer's normal mode of operation, the recycling cavity is stabilized by inducing a thermal lens in the cavity mirrors with an external CO2 laser. During the study described here, this thermal compensation system was not operating, causing the cavity to be marginally optically unstable and cavity modes to become degenerate. In contrast to stable optical cavities, the modal content of the resonating beam in the uncompensated recycling cavity is significantly altered by very small cavity length changes. This modifies the error signals used to control the cavity length in such a way that the zero crossing point is no longer the point of maximum power in the cavity nor is it the point where the input beam mode in the cavity is maximized.Comment: Eight pages in two-column format. Six color figures. To be published JOSA