Phyllodactylus xanti

Number of Pages: 2Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Coleonyx variegatus

Number of Pages: 4Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Liophis ceii

Number of Pages: 2Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Arizona, A. elegans

Number of Pages: 4Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Liophis jaegeri

Number of Pages: 4Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Regional macroeconomic outcomes under alternative arrangements for the financing of urban infrastructure

Many studies, both of Australia and of comparable developed economies, have found that the economic benefits from investment in urban infrastructure are substantial. However the nature of this infrastructure is often such that it is under-provided by the private sector. In Australia, much of the responsibility for the provision of urban infrastructure rests with state and local government. However throughout the 1990’s many of Australia’s state governments embarked on a period of fiscal restraint, seeking to improve financial positions weakened by exposure to failed state government enterprises in the early 1990’s. Perhaps because of the deferred consequences of reducing spending on infrastructure, a large proportion of this fiscal adjustment appears to have been borne by spending on public infrastructure. Today, policy attention at the state government level is again focussing on public infrastructure. However in spite of the now robust fiscal positions of Australia’s state governments, there remains a reluctance on their part to finance public infrastructure through debt, and raising taxes is perceived as politically unpopular. Instead, governments are exploring alternative financing instruments, such as developer charges and public-private partnerships. This paper uses a dynamic multi-regional CGE model (MMRF) to evaluate the regional macro economic consequences of four alternative methods of financing an expansion in state government spending on public infrastructure. The four methods are developer charges, payroll tax, government debt, and residential rates. The paper confirms that the services provided by public infrastructure can have significant impacts on the regional macro economy. More importantly however, the paper demonstrates that the total gains from urban infrastructure are quite sensitive to the means chosen by government to finance infrastructure investment. In contrast to up-front financing methods (such as developer charges, payroll tax, and residential rates), the paper finds that the gains from urban infrastructure are greatest when the chosen financing method provides a closer match between the timing of the burden of financing the infrastructure and the timing of the benefits provided by the infrastructure. This can be achieved by instruments such as debt, public-private partnerships, and user charges. On this basis the paper finds that a greater reliance by regional government son debt financing might be warranted, and that the gains from infrastructure expenditure are least when that expenditure is financed by developer charges.

Loads and Aeroelasticity Division research and technology accomplishments for FY 1986 and plans for FY 1987

The Loads and Aeroelasticity Division's research accomplishments for FY 86 and research plans for FY 87 are presented. The work under each Branch (technical area) is described in terms of highlights of accomplishments during the past year and highlights of plans for the current year as they relate to five year plans for each technical area. This information will be useful in program coordination with other government organizations and industry in areas of mutual interest

Economic analysis of the implementation of autologous transfusion technologies throughout England

Objectives: This study aims to provide the first estimates of the costs and effects of the large scale introduction of autologous transfusion technologies into the United Kingdom National Health Service. Methods: A model was constructed to allow disparate data sources to be combined to produce estimates of the scale, costs, and effects of introducing four interventions. The interventions considered were preparing patients for surgery (PPS) clinics, preoperative autologous donation (PAD), intraoperative cell salvage (ICS), and postoperative cell salvage (PoCS). Results: The key determinants of cost per operation are the anticipated level of reductions in blood use, the mean level of blood use, mean length of stay, and the cost of the technology. The results show the potential for considerable reductions in blood use. The greatest reductions are anticipated to be through the use of PPS and ICS. Vascular surgery, transplant surgery, and cardiothoracic surgery appear to be the specialties that will benefit most from the technologies. Conclusions: Several simplifications were used in the production of these estimates; consequently, caution should be used in their interpretation and use. Despite the drawbacks in the methods used in the study, the model shows the scale of the issue, the importance of gathering better data, and the form that data must take. Such preliminary modeling exercises are essential for rational policy development and to direct future research and discussion among stakeholders

Keeping the Car Clean : on the Electrification of Private Transport : Summary Report

The electrification of private road vehicles – and the provision of a low carbon generation mix that supplies the energy for their motion – is likely to be a key contributor to meeting net zero targets and limiting the disastrous effects of anthropogenic climate change. This summary booklet contains an overview of the findings from a PhD (titled as above) carried out at the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Power Networks and Smart Grids at the University of Strathclyde from 2016 to 2019. The full thesis, including all the supporting analysis and assumptions behind the results presented in this booklet, is available on the author’s PURE webpage