Restricting water withdrawals of the thermal power sector: An input-output analysis for the northeast of the United States

As water scarcity and pollution of sources become increasingly severe and widespread, competition over this resource intensifies. Unlike much of the rest of the world, thermal power plants in the US are the biggest users of water due to heavy reliance on once-through cooling technology. This cooling technology withdraws large amounts of water and discharges it back almost in its entirety but at higher temperatures. These water withdrawals are increasingly subjected to legislation intended to reduce the effects of thermal pollution. We utilize an interregional input-output model for quantifying the money costs and the shifts in the distribution of power production by state and by technology when withdrawals and discharges of fresh water are restricted. This model allows for the choice among alternative power generation technologies with different cost structures within each state. We analyze a Baseline scenario for 2010 and alternative scenarios that impose constraints on water withdrawals and inter-state power transmission. Based on an annual analysis, we conclude that this region can satisfy its electric power requirements while fully complying with legislated water restrictions at moderate cost by compensating the curtailment of output from some plants by otherwise unutilized capacities of other plants in the region. When we revisit the analysis using a monthly time step, however, sharp seasonal variations exhibit a strong impact on economic costs. In the summer months, intra-state transmission does not suffice, and regional demand cannot be met in the absence of substantial inter-state transmission. © 2018This study is based on work supported by U. S. National Science Foundation Award No. 1049181 , “A Regional Earth System Model of the Northeast Corridor: Analyzing 21st Century Climate and Environment.

The global economic costs of substituting dietary protein from fish with meat, grains and legumes, and dairy

This paper estimates the costs to replace fish by protein from meat, from grains and legumes, or from dairy products. We apply the World Trade Model, an input output model of the interactions among major world regions based on comparative advantage, to analyze alternative scenarios about protein content and sources in global diets. We find that the substitution of fish by meat or dairy entails several trillion U.S. dollars of additional costs annually, corresponding to increased use of pastureland, cropland, water, and other factors of production. The price of animal products increases steeply as higher-cost producers need to come online, yielding rents to owners of scarce resources. By contrast, the global economy adjusts at significantly lower costs to the substitution of fish by grains and legumes, but this dietary shift involves substantial modification in the mix of agricultural output and its geographic distribution. There have been few analytic studies able to associate costs and prices directly with specific combinations of dietary options. We provide a flexible economic framework for analyzing alternative scenarios about the present and future production of food. The focus on the provision of protein for the human diet, allowing for substitutions between land-based and aquatic sources, lays the groundwork for subsequent closer examinations of the potential future contribution of aquaculture and, in a yet broader framework, the impact of the coming generation of large dams on fish habitat and freshwater ecosystems more generally. (c) 2019 by Yale UniversityThis work was supported by U.S. National Science Foundation CNH grant #1115025, Impacts of Global Change Scenarios on Ecosystem Services from the World's River

Length functions on currents and applications to dynamics and counting

The aim of this (mostly expository) article is twofold. We first explore a variety of length functions on the space of currents, and we survey recent work regarding applications of length functions to counting problems. Secondly, we use length functions to provide a proof of a folklore theorem which states that pseudo-Anosov homeomorphisms of closed hyperbolic surfaces act on the space of projective geodesic currents with uniform north-south dynamics.Comment: 35pp, 2 figures, comments welcome! Second version: minor corrections. To appear as a chapter in the forthcoming book "In the tradition of Thurston" edited by V. Alberge, K. Ohshika and A. Papadopoulo

Input-Output Modeling of Protected Landscapes: The Adirondack Park

Change in ownership of large land resources in the northeastern United States is reshaping the economic and cultural landscape. The Adirondack Park of New York State has taken aggressive steps toward land conservation through public land acquisition and private land planning. The State's decision to either acquire more land for protecting open space, to negotiate conservation easements, or to embrace unrestricted development will influence the region's economic structure for decades. These alternative scenarios are explored with an input-output model including land in physical units. Conservation easements are found to have the most potential to meet target objectives without compromising conservation goals

The Leverage of Demographic Dynamics on Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Does Age Structure Matter?

This article provides a methodological contribution to the study of the effect of changes in population age structure on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. First, I propose a generalization of the IPAT equation to a multisector economy with an age-structured population and discuss the insights that can be obtained in the context of stable population theory. Second, I suggest a statistical model of household consumption as a function of household size and age structure to quantitatively evaluate the extent of economies of scale in consumption of energy-intensive goods, and to estimate age-specific profiles of consumption of energy-intensive goods and of CO2 emissions. Third, I offer an illustration of the methodologies using data for the United States. The analysis shows that per-capita CO2 emissions increase with age until the individual is in his or her 60s, and then emissions tend to decrease. Holding everything else constant, the expected change in U.S. population age distribution during the next four decades is likely to have a small, but noticeable, positive impact on CO2 emissions

Utjecaj različitih površinski aktivnih tvari i njihovih koncentracija na kontrolirano oslobađanje kaptoprila iz polimernih matriksa

Various methods are available to formulate water soluble drugs into sustained release dosage forms by retarding the dissolution rate. One of the methods used to control drug release and thereby prolong therapeutic activity is to use hydrophilic and lipophilic polymers. In this study, the effects of various polymers such as hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), ethylcellulose (EC) and sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and surfactants (sodium lauryl sulphate, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and Arlacel 60) on the release rate of captopril were investigated. The results showed that an increase in the amount of HPMC K15M resulted in reduction of the release rate of captopril from these matrices. When HPMC was partly replaced by NaCMC (the ratio of HPMC/NaCMC was 5:1), the release rate of the drug significantly decreased. However, there was no significant difference in release rate of captopril from matrices produced with ratios of 5:1 and 2:1 of HPMC/NaCMC. The presence of lactose in matrices containing HPMC and NaCMC increased the release rate of captopril. It was interesting to note that although partial replacement of HPMC by EC reduced the release rate of the drug (ratio of HPMC/EC 2:1), the release rate was increased when the ratio of HPMC/EC was reduced to 1:1. The effects of various surfactants on the release rate of captopril from HPMC/EC 1:1 matrices were also investigated. The results showed that the surfactants did not significantly change the release rate of the drug. Release data were examined kinetically and the ideal kinetic models were estimated for the drug release. The kinetic analysis of drug release data from various formulations showed that incorporation of surfactants in HPMC/EC matrices did not produce a zero-order release pattern.Postoje različite metode formuliranja vodotopljivih lijekova u dozirane ljekovite oblike s polaganim oslobađanjem. Jedan od načina postizanja kontroliranog otpuštanja, a prema tome i produljenog učinka je upotreba hidrofilnih i lipofilnih polimera. U ovom radu proučavan je utjecaj različitih polimera poput hidroksipropil metilceluloze (HPMC), etilceluloze (EC) i natrijeve soli karboksimetilceluloze (NaCMC) i površinski aktivnih tvari (natrijevog lauril-sulfata, cetiltrimetilamonijevog bromida i Arlacela 60) na oslobađanje kaptoprila. Rezultati pokazuju da povećanje količine HPMC K15M ima za posljedicu smanjenje oslobađanja kaptoprila iz matriksa. Ako se HPMC djelomično zamijeni s NaCMC (omjer HPMC/NaCMC 5:1), oslobađanje ljekovite tvari značajno se smanjuje. Međutim, nema značajne razlike u oslobađanju kaptoprila iz matriksa s omjerom HPMC/NaCMC 5:1 i 2:1. Prisutnost laktoze u matriksu koji sadrži HPMC i NaCMC povećalo je oslobađanje kaptoprila. Iako djelomična zamjena HPMC s EC smanjuje oslobađanje ljekovite tvari (omjer HPMC/EC 2:1), oslobađanje se povećava uz omjer HPMC/EC 1:1. Nadalje, ispitivan je utjecaj površinski aktivnih tvari na oslobađanje kaptoprila iz matriksa u kojima je omjer HPMC/EC (1:1). Može se zaključiti da površinski aktivne tvari ne utječu značajno na oslobađanje ljekovite tvari. U sklopu istraživanja određen je i kinetički model oslobađanja kaptoprila. Analiza kinetičkih podataka ukazuje da dodatak površinski aktivnih tvari u HPMC/EC matrikse ne slijedi kinetiku nultog reda

Hantavirus and Arenavirus Antibodies in Persons with Occupational Rodent Exposure, North America

Risk for infection was low among those who handled neotomine or sigmodontine rodents on the job

Modeling complex ecological economic systems: toward an evolutionary, dynamic understanding of people and nature

Recent understanding about system dynamics and predictability that has emerged from the study of complex systems is creating new tools for modeling interactions between anthropogenic and natural systems. A range of techniques has become available through advances in computer speed and accessibility and by implementing a broad, interdisciplinary systems view

Person-to-Person Transmission of Severe Fever With Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Bunyavirus Through Blood Contact

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome bunyavirus is a newly discovered bunyavirus with high pathogenicity to human. The transmission model has been largely uncharacterized. Investigation on a cluster of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome cases provided evidence of person-to-person transmission through blood contact to the index patient with high serum virus load

Applying Benford’s law to detect accounting data manipulation in the banking industry

We utilise Benford’s Law to test if balance sheet and income statement data broadly used to assess bank soundness were manipulated prior to and also during the global financial crisis. We find that all banks resort to loan loss provisions to manipulate earnings and income upwards. Distressed institutions that have stronger incentives to conceal their financial difficulties resort additionally to manipulating loan loss allowances and non-performing loans downwards. Moreover, manipulation is magnified during the crisis and expands to encompass regulatory capital