Cost-allocation principles for pipeline capacity and usage

This paper applies principles f rom game theory to the problem o f allocating the cost o f a shared facility, such as a pipeline. The theory o f cooperative games s t r ongl y suggest s t hat no method e x i s t s for allocating costs that wi l l achieve all major policy goals. We apply results from the theory o f cooperative games a n d principles o f cost allocation to assess some c o mmo n l y adopted rules for allocating costs and def i ni ng u n i t charges. Mos t notably, the postage-stamp toll is f o u n d to fail a mi ni mal set o f commonly applied principles.cost allocation; pipeline

Cost-allocation principles for pipeline capacity and usage

This paper applies principles f rom game theory to the problem o f allocating the cost o f a shared facility, such as a pipeline. The theory o f cooperative games s t r ongl y suggest s t hat no method e x i s t s for allocating costs that wi l l achieve all major policy goals. We apply results from the theory o f cooperative games a n d principles o f cost allocation to assess some c o mmo n l y adopted rules for allocating costs and def i ni ng u n i t charges. Mos t notably, the postage-stamp toll is f o u n d to fail a mi ni mal set o f commonly applied principles

Cost-allocation principles for pipeline capacity and usage

This paper applies principles f rom game theory to the problem o f allocating the cost o f a shared facility, such as a pipeline. The theory o f cooperative games s t r ongl y suggest s t hat no method e x i s t s for allocating costs that wi l l achieve all major policy goals. We apply results from the theory o f cooperative games a n d principles o f cost allocation to assess some c o mmo n l y adopted rules for allocating costs and def i ni ng u n i t charges. Mos t notably, the postage-stamp toll is f o u n d to fail a mi ni mal set o f commonly applied principles

Reply to the discussion and comments of Azerêdo et al. (2023) and Schneider et al. (2023) on the paper by Magalhães et al. ‘Middle Jurassic multi-scale transgressive–regressive cycles: An example from the Lusitanian Basin’, The Depositional Record, 9, 174–202

cently published paper. The exchange of ideas, data and interpretation improves our knowledge and is the right way to discuss science\u27s advances. This reply considers the points raised by Azerêdo et al. (2023) and Schneider et al. (2023). In both manuscripts, these authors raised many issues about sedimentological and stratigraphic aspects that can be separated into two groups: (a) those related to the age of the studied succession; and (b) those assigning the studied succession to the Candeeiros Formation

Search for Baryons in the Radiative Penguin Decay b--> s gamma

We have searched for the baryon-containing radiative penguin decays B^- -> \Lambda p-bar \gamma and B^- -> \Sigma^0 p-bar \gamma, using a sample of 9.7 million BBbar events collected at the \Upsilon(4S) with the CLEO detector. We find no evidence for either, and set 90% confidence level upper limits for photons with B rest frame energy greater than 2.0 GeV of [Br(B^- -> \Lambda p-bar \gamma) + 0.3 Br(B^- -> \Sigma^0 p-bar \gamma)] \Sigma^0 p-bar \gamma) + 0.4 Br(B^- -> \Lambda p-bar \gamma)] < 6.4 x 10^-6. From the latter, we estimate (for photons with B rest frame energy greater than 2.0 GeV) Br(B -> X_s \gamma, X_s containing baryons) < 3.8 x 10^-5. This limit implies upper limits on corrections to CLEO's recent measurement of branching fraction, mean photon energy, and variance in photon energy from b -> s \gamma that are less than half the combined statistical and systematic errors quoted on these quantities.Comment: 8 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to PRD Rapid Communicatio

Comprehensive Cancer-Predisposition Gene Testing in an Adult Multiple Primary Tumor Series Shows a Broad Range of Deleterious Variants and Atypical Tumor Phenotypes.

Multiple primary tumors (MPTs) affect a substantial proportion of cancer survivors and can result from various causes, including inherited predisposition. Currently, germline genetic testing of MPT-affected individuals for variants in cancer-predisposition genes (CPGs) is mostly targeted by tumor type. We ascertained pre-assessed MPT individuals (with at least two primary tumors by age 60 years or at least three by 70 years) from genetics centers and performed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) on 460 individuals from 440 families. Despite previous negative genetic assessment and molecular investigations, pathogenic variants in moderate- and high-risk CPGs were detected in 67/440 (15.2%) probands. WGS detected variants that would not be (or were not) detected by targeted resequencing strategies, including low-frequency structural variants (6/440 [1.4%] probands). In most individuals with a germline variant assessed as pathogenic or likely pathogenic (P/LP), at least one of their tumor types was characteristic of variants in the relevant CPG. However, in 29 probands (42.2% of those with a P/LP variant), the tumor phenotype appeared discordant. The frequency of individuals with truncating or splice-site CPG variants and at least one discordant tumor type was significantly higher than in a control population (χ2 = 43.642; p ≤ 0.0001). 2/67 (3%) probands with P/LP variants had evidence of multiple inherited neoplasia allele syndrome (MINAS) with deleterious variants in two CPGs. Together with variant detection rates from a previous series of similarly ascertained MPT-affected individuals, the present results suggest that first-line comprehensive CPG analysis in an MPT cohort referred to clinical genetics services would detect a deleterious variant in about a third of individuals.JW is supported by a Cancer Research UK Cambridge Cancer Centre Clinical Research Training Fellowship. Funding for the NIHR BioResource – Rare diseases project was provided by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR, grant number RG65966). ERM acknowledges support from the European Research Council (Advanced Researcher Award), NIHR (Senior Investigator Award and Cambridge NIHR Biomedical Research Centre), Cancer Research UK Cambridge Cancer Centre and Medical Research Council Infrastructure Award. The University of Cambridge has received salary support in respect of EM from the NHS in the East of England through the Clinical Academic Reserve. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS or Department of Health. DGE is an NIHR Senior Investigator and is supported by the all Manchester NIHR Biomedical Research Centre

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020

We show the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three available genomic nomenclature systems for SARS-CoV-2 to all sequence data from the WHO European Region available during the COVID-19 pandemic until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation. We provide a comparison of the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.Peer reviewe