Charging NOx Emitters for Health Damages: An Exploratory Analysis

We present a proof-of-concept analysis of the measurement of the health damage of ozone (O3) produced from nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO NO2) emitted by individual large point sources in the eastern United States. We use a regional atmospheric model of the eastern United States, the Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions (CAMx), to quantify the variable impact that a fixed quantity of NOx emitted from individual sources can have on the downwind concentration of surface O3, depending on temperature and local biogenic hydrocarbon emissions. We also examine the dependence of resulting ozone-related health damages on the size of the exposed population. The investigation is relevant to the increasingly widely used "cap and trade" approach to NOx regulation, which presumes that shifts of emissions over time and space, holding the total fixed over the course of the summer O3 season, will have minimal effect on the environmental outcome. By contrast, we show that a shift of a unit of NOx emissions from one place or time to another could result in large changes in the health effects due to ozone formation and exposure. We indicate how the type of modeling carried out here might be used to attach externality-correcting prices to emissions. Charging emitters fees that are commensurate with the damage caused by their NOx emissions would create an incentive for emitters to reduce emissions at times and in locations where they cause the largest damage.

The 2004 UTfit Collaboration Report on the Status of the Unitarity Triangle in the Standard Model

Using the latest determinations of several theoretical and experimental parameters, we update the Unitarity Triangle analysis in the Standard Model. The basic experimental constraints come from the measurements of |V_ub/V_cb|, Delta M_d, the lower limit on Delta M_s, epsilon_k, and the measurement of the phase of the B_d - anti B_d mixing amplitude through the time-dependent CP asymmetry in B^0 to J/psi K^0 decays. In addition, we consider the direct determination of alpha, gamma, 2 beta + gamma and cos(2 beta) from the measurements of new CP-violating quantities, recently performed at the B factories. We also discuss the opportunities offered by improving the precision of the various physical quantities entering in the determination of the Unitarity Triangle parameters. The results and the plots presented in this paper can also be found at http://www.utfit.org, where they are continuously updated with the newest experimental and theoretical results.Comment: 32 pages, 17 figures. High resolution figures and updates can be found at http://www.utfit.org v2: misprints correcte

Charging NOx Emitters for Health Damages: An Exploratory Analysis

We present a proof-of-concept analysis of the measurement of the health damage of ozone (O3) produced from nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) emitted by individual large point sources in the eastern United States. We use a regional atmospheric model of the eastern United States, the Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions (CAMx), to quantify the variable impact that a fixed quantity of NOx emitted from individual sources can have on the downwind concentration of surface O3, depending on temperature and local biogenic hydrocarbon emissions. We also examine the dependence of resulting ozone-related health damages on the size of the exposed population. The investigation is relevant to the increasingly widely used “cap and trade” approach to NOx regulation, which presumes that shifts of emissions over time and space, holding the total fixed over the course of the summer O3 season, will have minimal effect on the environmental outcome. By contrast, we show that a shift of a unit of NOx emissions from one place or time to another could result in large changes in the health effects due to ozone formation and exposure. We indicate how the type of modeling carried out here might be used to attach externality-correcting prices to emissions. Charging emitters fees that are commensurate with the damage caused by their NOx emissions would create an incentive for emitters to reduce emissions at times and in locations where they cause the largest damage.surface ozone, NOx emissions, point sources, health impacts, mortality, morbidity, cap-and-trade

Home Bound Working Women and Organizational Efficiency of Developing Economy

This research aims to understand the preferences of educated unemployed womenof Pakistan and India on the imposition of the law of “Flex time/rules for homebound educated women”. For this purpose, 158 respondents were asked to f illa survey out of which 79 respondents were educated employed women and 79respondents were unemployed women (79). Chi-square was applied to the data.Findings suggest that 94% of the women from both the groups are of the viewthat an introduction of women quota would result in an increase in women par-ticipation in the workforce. To understand management’s perspective, 6 inter-views with HR heads of selective industries were conducted. Narrative Analysiswas applied which revealed only 10 to 20% women participated in the totalworkforce. The study also highlights reasons for low women participation. Theseinclude cultural norms, maternal issues, maternity problems, after marriage re-strictions and childbirth. The study concludes that introducing an introductionof women quota in both public and private sectors would help increase womenparticipation and contribution to the country’s economy

Contracting of primary health care services in Pakistan: is up-scaling a pragmatic thinking

Quite often, public health care systems in developing countries are struggling because of incompetence and a lack of provider responsiveness to the needs of consumers. On the contrary, the private sector dominates the system of health provision. In recent years, contracting has been experimented as an approach to ensure delivery of comprehensive public health services in an efficient, effective, superior and fair manner and has generally thrived well. The state\u27s healthcare system in Pakistan has suffered a lot, owing to structural fragmentation, resource scarcity, inefficiency and lack of functional specificity, gender insensitivity and inaccessibility. However, partnering with the private sector has shown some exceptional accomplishments. Though challenging but structural reforms, involving private health sector have become indispensable. The overall experience shows that up-scaling of such initiatives in the country would require lot of cautions to be taken by the government

Forward-backward and isospin asymmetry for B -> K* l+ l- decay in the standard model and in supersymmetry

We discuss two dedicated observables in exclusive B -> K* l+ l- decay that can be used to study effects of physics beyond the standard model, namely the forward-backward asymmetry in the lepton spectrum and the isospin-asymmetry between decays of charged and neutral B mesons. We consider the region of large recoil-energy (i.e. small invariant mass of the lepton pair), and employ the QCD factorization approach to exclusive B meson decays. Sub-leading effects in the heavy quark mass expansion have been taken into account for the calculation of the isospin-asymmetry. We give predictions for decay asymmetries in the standard model, and its supersymmetric extension with minimal flavor violation, using parameter values allowed by current experimental constraints on B->X_s gamma decay.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX with 6 figures, added reference