Do Supervisors Affect the Valuation of Public Goods?

Systematic supervision procedures have been proposed to improve contingent valuation surveying, particularly in developing countries. Surprisingly, the CV literature does not say much about the potential effects of supervision even though there is evidence of interviewer effects and social desirability issues that can bias results. This paper investigates the effects of interview supervision on the valuation of public services, using split-sample treatments to include a test of scope of a nested good and to assess the effect of interview supervision on reported WTP. Results suggest that supervisors can be used to improve quality with no effect on WTP estimates.contingent valuation, drinking water, Nicaragua, social desirability, supervision effects, willingness to pay, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Public Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

The Economic Implications for Sustainable Mining

This paper will discuss the concept of sustainability in terms of its economic implications, with specific emphasis on the ramifications for the mining sector in Brasil. It will examine this perspective through a review of conceptual approaches to exhaustible resource sustainability and describe its relationship to the more general definition of sustainable development. Additionally, it will offer suggestions of how to operationalize the concept of sustainable development so that the criterion of sustainability can become a real aspect of the decision process

THE ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE MINING WITHIN THE PARADIGM OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Este texto visa discutir o conceito de sustentabilidade em termos de suas implicações econômicas, com especial ênfase nas ramificações do setor mineiro no Brasil. Pretende-se examinar esta perspectiva através de uma revisão das abordagens conceituais à sustentabilidade dos recursos exauríveis e descrever sua relação com uma definição geral do desenvolvimento sustentável. Adicionalmente visa-se oferecer sugestões relativas à operacionalização do conceito de desenvolvimento sustentável de modo que o critério de sustentabilidade possa tornar-se um aspecto real do processo decisório.This paper will discuss the concept of sustainability in terms of its economic implications, with specific emphasis on the ramifications for the mining sector in Brasil. It will examine this perspective through a review of conceptual approaches to exhaustible resource sustainability and describe it's relationship to the more general definition of sustainable development. Additionally, it will offer suggestions of how to operationalize the concept of sustainable development so that the criterion of sustainability can become a real aspect of the decision process

Mine Closure in Iberoamerica (Module V, Economy and Finances)

Dina Franceschi is a contributing author, Improving Environmental Compliance in Mine Closure: The Case for a System of Performance Bonds , p. 207-218. Book description: This book brings to the interested public the discussions and propositions delivered during the First Iberoamerican Seminar on Mine Closure held in La Rabida, at the monastery where Colon lived upon his return to Spain, after reaching the American Continent.-- Foreword.https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/economics-books/1005/thumbnail.jp

Mitochondrial DNA involvement in human longevity

AbstractThe main message of this review can be summarized as follows: aging and longevity, as complex traits having a significant genetic component, likely depend on a number of nuclear gene variants interacting with mtDNA variability both inherited and somatic. We reviewed the data available in the literature with particular attention to human longevity, and argued that what we hypothesize for aging and longevity could have a more general relevance and be extended to other age-related complex traits such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. The genetics which emerges for complex traits, including aging and longevity, is thus even more complicated than previously thought, as epistatic interactions between nuclear gene polymorphisms and mtDNA variability (both somatic and inherited) as well as between mtDNA somatic mutations (tissue specific) and mtDNA inherited variants (haplogroups and sub-haplogroups) must be considered as additional players capable of explaining a part of the aging and longevity phenotype. To test this hypothesis is one of the main challenge in the genetics of aging and longevity in the next future

The mitochondrial DNA control region shows genetically correlated levels of heteroplasmy in leukocytes of centenarians and their offspring

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Studies on heteroplasmy occurring in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region (CR) in leukocytes of centenarians and younger subjects have shown that the C150T somatic transition is over-represented in centenarians. However, whether the occurrence/accumulation of heteroplasmy is a <it>phenotypic consequence </it>of extreme ageing or a <it>genetically controlled event </it>that may favor longevity is a question that deserves further attention. To clarify this point, we set up a Denaturing High Performance Liquid Chromatography (DHPLC) protocol to quantify mtDNA CR heteroplasmy. We then analyzed heteroplasmy in leukocytes of centenarians (100 subjects), their offspring and nieces/nephews (200 subjects, age-range 65–80 years, median age 70 years), and in leukocytes of 114 control subjects sex- and age-matched with the relatives of centenarians.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The centenarians and their descendants, despite the different ages, showed similar levels of heteroplasmy which were significantly higher than levels in controls. In addition we found that heteroplasmy levels were significantly correlated in parent-offspring pairs (r = 0.263; p = 0.009), but were independent of mtDNA inherited variability (haplogroup and sequence analyses).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings suggest that the high degree of heteroplasmy observed in centenarians is genetically controlled, and that such genetic control is independent of mtDNA variability and likely due to the nuclear genome.</p

Quality of life and intrinsic capacity in patients with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome is in relation to frailty and resilience phenotypes.

Background- The objective of this study was to characterize frailty and resilience in people evaluated for Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome (PACS), in relation to quality of life (QoL) and Intrinsic Capacity (IC). Methods- This cross-sectional, observational, study included consecutive people previously hospitalized for severe COVID-19 pneumonia attending Modena (Italy) PACS Clinic from July 2020 to April 2021. Four frailty-resilience phenotypes were built: “fit/resilient”, “fit/non-resilient”, “frail/resilient” and “frail/non-resilient”. Frailty and resilience were defined according to frailty phenotype and Connor Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC-25) respectively. Study outcomes were: QoL assessed by means of Symptoms Short form health survey (SF-36) and health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5L) and IC by means of a dedicated questionnaire. Their predictors including frailty-resilience phenotypes were explored in logistic regressions. Results- 232 patients were evaluated, median age was 58.0 years. PACS was diagnosed in 173 (74.6%) patients. Scarce resilience was documented in 114 (49.1%) and frailty in 72 (31.0%) individuals. Predictors for SF-36 score &lt;61.60 were the phenotypes “frail/non-resilient” (OR=4.69, CI:2.08-10.55), “fit/non-resilient” (OR=2.79, CI:1.00-7.73). Predictors for EQ-5D-5L &lt;89.7% were the phenotypes “frail/non-resilient” (OR=5.93, CI: 2.64-13.33) and “frail/resilient” (OR=5.66, CI:1.93-16.54). Predictors of impaired IC (below the mean score value) were “frail/non-resilient” (OR=7.39, CI:3.20-17.07), and “fit/non-resilient” (OR=4.34, CI:2.16-8.71) phenotypes. Conclusions- Resilience is complementary to frailty in the identification of clinical phenotypes with different impact on wellness and QoL. Frailty and resilience should be evaluated in hospitalized COVID-19 patients to identify vulnerable individuals to prioritize urgent health interventions in people with PACS

Do Supervisors Affect the Valuation of Public Goods?

Systematic supervision procedures have been proposed to improve contingent valuation surveying, particularly in developing countries. Surprisingly, the CV literature does not say much about the potential effects of supervision even though there is evidence of interviewer effects and social desirability issues that can bias results. This paper investigates the effects of interview supervision on the valuation of public services, using split-sample treatments to include a test of scope of a nested good and to assess the effect of interview supervision on reported WTP. Results suggest that supervisors can be used to improve quality with no effect on WTP estimates

The Potential Contribution of Economics to the Recovery of Northeastern Forests

The textbook definition of the science of economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources. Despite this rather broad definition, many non-economists regard economics as related only to cash flows. Consequently, they do not fully understand the role that the science of economics can play in the revitalization of the Northeastern forests. This paper discusses the potential contribution of the science of economics to the revitalization of forests, beginning with a discussion of the economic origins of the decline of the Northeastern forests. Next, the paper discusses the potential contribution of economics to the solution of the problem, through the development of policies to generate the revitalization and recovery of Northeastern forests