Teaching Contingent Valuation and Promoting Civic Mindedness in the Process

Economics majors are often assumed to lack civic mindedness. The purpose of this paper then is to demonstrate how by engaging students in the proper understanding of contingent valuation (CV) methodology and by evaluating a social service, we can improve student outcomes in two areas: increasing their competence in research design as well as in the process teaching them to consider the more unfortunate. Since students are really learning by doing in this prescribed process, the attractiveness of the teaching methodology is that the instructor substitutes direct learning and instruction on research design for one where students learn much of the subject matter through experimentation. This paper articulates the experiences of conducting a CV exercise with 49 second- and third-year economics students from the National University of Singapore (in the Environmental Economics course) during the month of October 2001.

Gay and Lesbian Rights in Confucian Asia: The Cases of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan

From being a love that dared not speak its name to one that is legally recognized by many countries today, same-sex acts and relations have indeed undergone a remarkable transformation in terms of how they are perceived and, consequently, regulated. Yet, globally speaking, this transformation is taking place unevenly as many countries continue to criminalize homosexuality and the commission of same-sex acts. In Asia, a region that has traditionally if misguidedly been seen as more sexually conservative than the so-called \u27Wild West,\u27 the debate over the acceptability of homosexuality rages on. As three of Asia’s most economically developed, cosmopolitan, and Confucian Chinese-majority societies, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan nevertheless treat homosexuality very differently; sex between males continue to be a crime in Singapore while Taiwan appears poised to be Asia’s first country to legalize same-sex marriage. This paper seeks to examine the domestic and external factors that combine to produce in each country a unique set of dynamics and logics governing public policy and discourse about homosexuality. It is argued that one-party hegemony in Singapore, transfer of Hong Kong’s sovereignty to China, and Taiwan’s insecure international status vis-à-vis China represent the primary factors mediating state regulation of homosexuality. This paper also includes a survey of traditional Chinese, Confucian, and Japanese attitudes regarding homosexuality, as well as the implications of Singapore being the only de jure independent sovereign state among the three case studies

Advanced infrared laser modulator development

A parametric study was conducted to develop an electrooptic waveguide modulator for generating continuous tunable sideband power from an infrared CO2 laser. Parameters included were the waveguide configurations, microstrip dimensions device impedance, and effective dielectric constants. An optimum infrared laser modulator was established and was fabricated. This modulator represents the state-of-the-art integrated optical device, which has a three-dimensional topology to accommodate three lambda/4 step transformers for microwave impedance matching at both the input and output terminals. A flat frequency response of the device over 20 HGz or = 3 dB) was achieved. Maximum single sideband to carrier power greater than 1.2% for 20 W microwave input power at optical carrier wavelength of 10.6 microns was obtained

Improving Far-UV CD Prediction With The Dipole Interaction Model

Among the physical methods available for studying protein structures, CD stands out as a property that is easy to measure yet remarkably difficult to predict theoretically. The basic principle underlying the CD of polypeptides and proteins is reasonably understood: the mixing of electronic transitions of monomer groups in the context of a chiral environment of helices gives rise to transitions that are both electronically and magnetically allowed. Despite knowledge on the fundamentals of CD, accurate theoretical prediction is still a major challenge. A better theoretical understanding of protein CD would facilitate a fuller interpretation of protein CD experiments. Extensive theoretical studies have been conducted with some success to predict the CD spectra of polypeptides and proteins. One of such theoretical studies has been with the dipole interaction model, pioneered by J. Applequist. In this model, atoms and chromophores are considered to be point dipole oscillators that interact through mutually induced dipole moments in the presences of an electric field. The dipole interaction model has been assembled into a package (DInaMo) and used to successfully predict the far-UV CD of peptides and proteins. The major limitation of the method has been the neglect of the n-π* transition, and having to deal with a number of parameters, since no single parameter at the moment succeeds with all the different classes of proteins. Herein, in an attempt to improve the far-UV protein CD prediction capability of DInaMo, a number of issues are addressed: (1) Will the predicted CD be improved if mean polarizability values are used? (2) Since excluding methyl hydrogens on the amino acid residues have been successful, what happens if methylene and methylidyne hydrogens are also excluded? (3) How will the predicted spectrum differ upon addition of the n-π* amide transition? To answer these questions, a cyclic peptide (cyclo-(Gly-Pro-Gyl-D-Ala-Pro)) rebuilt with idealized bond angles and lengths, and a set of α-helical proteins obtained from the Protein Data Bank are energy minimized to adjust bond lengths and bond angles. The energy-minimized structures are then used to generate CD spectra with DInaMo. Mean polarizability parameters for methyl, methylene and methylidyne groups are developed and implemented on the cyclic peptide and protein. In addition, the effects of excluding methyl, methylene, and methylidyne hydrogens are investigated. Lastly, the n-π* transition is included in the predictions of α-helical proteins and peptides CD. Calculations using new mean polarizability parameters remove the need for different π-π* transition parameters and improve the CD results in lower RMSDs and better spectra morphology. Excluding more hydrogens improve results with larger protein. In addition, the n-π* transition parameters yield normal modes in the correct region and sign for this transition

Frequency selective reflection and transmission at a layer composed of a periodic dielectric

The feasibility of using a periodic dielectric layer, composed of alternating bars having dielectric constants epsilon sub 1 and epsilon sub 2, as a frequency selective subreflector in order to permit feed separation in large aperture reflecting antenna systems was examined. For oblique incidence, it is found that total transmission and total reflection can be obtained at different frequencies for proper choices of epsilon sub 1, epsilon 2, and the geometric parameters. The frequencies of total reflection and transmission can be estimated from wave phenomena occurring in a layer of uniform dielectric constant equal to the average for the periodic layers. About some of the frequencies of total transmission, the bandwidth for 90% transmission is found to be 40%. However, the bandwidth for 90% reflection is always found to be much narrower; the greatest value found being 2.5%

Comparison of line crosses with inbreds and line cross hybrids with single cross hybrids in sweet corn

Typescript (photocopy) Thesis (M.S.)--Iowa State College, 1955. Includes bibliography

An Empirical Study of Corporate Turnaround Strategies in Australia

This research examines a sample of financially distressed ASX listed firms to discover the effectiveness, intensity and timeliness of corporate turnaround strategies. It fills a theoretical gap by adopting an integrated holistic approach, linking research findings to relevant extant theory by coupling its findings w1h the resource based view of the firm and the stage perspective of performance turnaround. Reasons for the relative effectiveness of turnaround strategies are discussed together with implications for management and researchers

Broadband infrared electro-optic modulator having a buried microstrip network

A microwave infrared modulator having a novel three dimensional structure is presented. The modulator includes a waveguide and metal base with a dielectric wafer buried therebetween. The buried wafer allows for conventional microstrip structures to be employed with larger microstrip electrode dimensions than would otherwise be possible

Nóng quá, không quang hợp được, thì rừng phải chết

Dữ liệu từ International Space Station cho biết, ở một số khu rừng nhiệt đới một tỷ lệ nhỏ lá cây rừng đang gánh chịu nhiệt độ vượt quá đỉnh cho phép [1]. Các nhà khoa học lo ngại cảnh báo tình trạng này có thể sẽ tiếp tục gia tăng [2]. Đây là hậu quả của quá trình nóng lên của khí hậu Trái Đất, khiến cho rừng nhiệt đới đang trở nên nóng, có thể vượt ngưỡng nhiệt độ, dẫn tới cản trở và dừng quang hợp của lá cây. Kết cục xa hơn hoàn toàn có thể là sự sụp đổ của hệ thực vật [2]

Thermoconsolidation and thermal dispersion in deformable porous media

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1994.Includes bibliographical references (p. 226-232).by Cheo K. Lee.Ph.D