Combining Supply and Demand Estimates for Ecosystem Services from Cropland

Payment-for-Ecosystem-Services (PES) programs are gaining appeal as flexible approaches to inducing the voluntary provision of ecosystem services (ES). Farmers, who manage agricultural ecosystems, provide important nonmarket ecosystem services to the public by their choice of production inputs and management practices. Although there exist various PES programs in the United States and Europe, we are aware of none that was designed based on a comprehensive understanding of the underlying supply and demand of ecosystem services. Taking advantage of unique, coupled datasets of stated preferences, this paper combines a supply-side cost function of farmers’ willingness to adopt practices that provide increased ES with a demand-side social benefit function of residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for these ES. The result is an empirically based, welfare-maximizing price and quantity of ES that can inform the design of future PES programs.Payment-for-Ecosystem-Services (PES), Contingent valuation, Aggregate supply and demand, Cropland, Eutrophication, Greenhouse gas, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q11, Q51, Q57, Q58,

Public's Willingness to Pay for Ecosystem Service Improvements From Agriculture

Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis,

Incentives to Supply Enhanced Ecosystem Services from Cropland

This paper examines the willingness of farmers to participate in hypothetical programs that would pay them to adopt cropping practices that enhance provision of ecosystem services from agriculture. A survey of 3,000 Michigan corn and soybean farmers elicited willingness to adopt four sets of cropping practices that reflected increasing levels of environmental stewardship. Acreage enrollments in the programs were modeled using hurdle models. The acreage that farmers would be willing to enroll depends chiefly on farm size and the perception of environmental improvements from the practices. For farms over 500 acres, the payment offered was also a significant inducement to acreage enrollment in all systems examined. This paper advances the literature on adoption of agro-environmental practices by developing a supply function for crop acreage managed for environmental stewardship. Like prior studies of environmental technology adoption in agriculture, we find that environmental attitudes and affiliations, age, education and current farming practices are influential. But we find that the low cost suppliers of environmental services are the largest farms. Agricultural policies based on payment for environmental services that aim for cost-effective environmental impact will likely achieve most of their impact from larger farms.Willingness to participate, willingness to accept, stated preference, supply response, ecosystem services, payment for environmental services, agricultural policy, agro-environmental policy, environmental policy, corn, soybean, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q18, Q51, Q57,

Why Farmers Opt Not to Enroll in Payment-for-Environmental-Services Programs

Payment-for-environmental-services (PES) programs are the focus of increasing attention globally. While existing PES programs can observe who participates and who does not, the reasons for nonparticipation can be opaque. Taking advantage of a unique stated preference data set that includes a follow-up question on conditions for participation, this study differentiates two types of non-participants, those deterred by insufficient payments, and those deterred by fundamental incompatibility with the farm operation. Survey weighted and spatially weighted probit models are applied to examine the determinants of farmers’ willingness to enroll in PES programs and their willingness to consider enrollment at the same or a high payment. Results suggest the decision to enroll relies more on farm benefit-cost factors, such as program payment, total land area and current farming practice, while the decision to consider enrolling depends more on farm and operator characteristics, such as environmental attitudes, soil traits, current government program enrollment or commitment to organic farming. Both decisions also show evidence of spatial dependence that suggest spill-over effects due to natural resources, interpersonal communication, or other socio-economic factors. These findings elucidate reasons for non-participation in PES programs and provide insights for future program design and targeting.Payment-for-environmental-services, agricultural policy, non-participation, working land, stated preference, spatial probit, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Q18, Q51, Q57,

The philosopher of ambiguity: exploring stories of spirituality of people with aphasia through the lens of Merleau-Ponty

Spirituality as a concept has only recently begun to be considered in speech and language therapy research and practice, and phenomenology as a research methodology is also not widely used in SLT research. Yet, concepts propounded by the phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty arguably offer a useful theoretical framework from which to view certain aspects of SLT including the concept of spirituality and how this is expressed by people with a communication difficulty. In this project, eight people with aphasia were interviewed about their spirituality. The interviews were transcribed, themes identified and stories created. These stories were viewed using one of the concepts propounded by Merleau-Ponty, namely ambiguity

An ocean-colour time series for use in climate studies: the experience of the ocean-colour climate change initiate (OC-CCI)

Ocean colour is recognised as an Essential Climate Variable (ECV) by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS); and spectrally-resolved water-leaving radiances (or remote-sensing reflectances) in the visible domain, and chlorophyll-a concentration are identified as required ECV products. Time series of the products at the global scale and at high spatial resolution, derived from ocean-colour data, are key to studying the dynamics of phytoplankton at seasonal and inter-annual scales; their role in marine biogeochemistry; the global carbon cycle; the modulation of how phytoplankton distribute solar-induced heat in the upper layers of the ocean; and the response of the marine ecosystem to climate variability and change. However, generating a long time series of these products from ocean colour data is not a trivial task: algorithms that are best suited for climate studies have to be selected from a number that are available for atmospheric correction of the satellite signal and for retrieval of chlorophyll-a concentration; since satellites have a finite life span, data from multiple sensors have to be merged to create a single time series, and any uncorrected inter-sensor biases could introduce artefacts in the series, e.g., different sensors monitor radiances at different wavebands such that producing a consistent time series of reflectances is not straightforward. Another requirement is that the products have to be validated against in situ observations. Furthermore, the uncertainties in the products have to be quantified, ideally on a pixel-by-pixel basis, to facilitate applications and interpretations that are consistent with the quality of the data. This paper outlines an approach that was adopted for generating an ocean-colour time series for climate studies, using data from the MERIS (MEdium spectral Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) sensor of the European Space Agency; the SeaWiFS (Sea viewingWide-Field-of-view Sensor) and MODIS-Aqua (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer-Aqua) sensors from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (USA); and VIIRS (Visible and Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USA). The time series now covers the period from late 1997 to end of 2018. To ensure that the products meet, as well as possible, the requirements of the user community, marine-ecosystem modellers, and remote-sensing scientists were consulted at the outset on their immediate and longer-term requirements as well as on their expectations of ocean-colour data for use in climate research. Taking the user requirements into account, a series of objective criteria were established, against which available algorithms for processing ocean-colour data were evaluated and ranked. The algorithms that performed best with respect to the climate user requirements were selected to process data from the satellite sensors. Remote-sensing reflectance data from MODIS-Aqua, MERIS, and VIIRS were band-shifted to match the wavebands of SeaWiFS. Overlapping data were used to correct for mean biases between sensors at every pixel. The remote-sensing reflectance data derived from the sensors were merged, and the selected in-water algorithm was applied to the merged data to generate maps of chlorophyll concentration, inherent optical properties at SeaWiFS wavelengths, and the diffuse attenuation coefficient at 490 nm. The merged products were validated against in situ observations. The uncertainties established on the basis of comparisons with in situ data were combined with an optical classification of the remote-sensing reflectance data using a fuzzy-logic approach, and were used to generate uncertainties (root mean square difference and bias) for each product at each pixel

Seasonality and the dynamics of infectious diseases

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73860/1/j.1461-0248.2005.00879.x.pd

Mental health service users' experiences of mental health care: an integrative literature review.

The aim of this integrative literature review was to identify mental health service users' experiences of services. The rationale for this review was based on the growing emphasis and requirements for health services to deliver care and support, which recognizes the preferences of individuals. Contemporary models of mental health care strive to promote inclusion and empowerment. This review seeks to add to our current understanding of how service users experience care and support in order to determine to what extent the principles of contemporary models of mental health care are embedded in practice. A robust search of Web of Science, the Cochrane Database, Science Direct, EBSCO host (Academic Search Complete, MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus Full-Text), PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Social Sciences Full Text and the United Kingdom and Ireland Reference Centre for data published between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2012 was completed. The initial search retrieved 272609 papers. The authors used a staged approach and the application of predetermined inclusion/exclusion criteria, thus the numbers of papers for inclusion were reduced to 34. Data extraction, quality assessment and thematic analysis were completed for the included studies. Satisfaction with the mental health service was moderately good. However, accessing services could be difficult because of a lack of knowledge and the stigma surrounding mental health. Large surveys document moderate satisfaction ratings; however, feelings of fear regarding how services function and the lack of treatment choice remain. The main finding from this review is while people may express satisfaction with mental health services, there are still issues around three main themes: acknowledging a mental health problem and seeking help; building relationship through participation and care; and working towards continuity of care. Elements of the recovery model appear to be lacking in relation to user involvement, empowerment and decision making. There is a need for a fundamental shift in the context of the provider-service user relationship to fully facilitate service users' engagement in their care

Factors Associated with Revision Surgery after Internal Fixation of Hip Fractures

Background: Femoral neck fractures are associated with high rates of revision surgery after management with internal fixation. Using data from the Fixation using Alternative Implants for the Treatment of Hip fractures (FAITH) trial evaluating methods of internal fixation in patients with femoral neck fractures, we investigated associations between baseline and surgical factors and the need for revision surgery to promote healing, relieve pain, treat infection or improve function over 24 months postsurgery. Additionally, we investigated factors associated with (1) hardware removal and (2) implant exchange from cancellous screws (CS) or sliding hip screw (SHS) to total hip arthroplasty, hemiarthroplasty, or another internal fixation device. Methods: We identified 15 potential factors a priori that may be associated with revision surgery, 7 with hardware removal, and 14 with implant exchange. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards analyses in our investigation. Results: Factors associated with increased risk of revision surgery included: female sex, [hazard ratio (HR) 1.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-2.50; P = 0.001], higher body mass index (fo