An exploration of own and cross-price elasticity of demand for residential heating in the Fairbanks North Star Borough

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2019The purpose of this study is to utilize community level household energy consumption data to determine the short-run own- and cross-price elasticity of heating oil and wood using the proportionally calibrated almost idea demand system model. Elasticity values can identify how residents of the Fairbanks North Star Borough will potentially alter home heating practices in response to a change in home heating oil price. Results indicate that values for own-price elasticity for oil is -0.259, with a 95% confidence interval of [-0.272, -0.246]. Based on predicted values a 1% increase in the price of heating oil is estimated to result in a reduction of 0.259% in the quantity of residential heating oil consumed by the average household. Cross-price elasticity estimates of wood with respect to a change in the price of oil is 0.198 with a 95% confidence interval of [0.171, 0.234]. Based on predicted values, a 1% increase in the price of oil is predicted to increase wood consumption by 0.198%. In addition, this study utilized a Monte Carlo Simulation with estimated elasticity parameters to predict the change in household level energy consumption of wood and heating oil given an increase in heating oil prices. Approximately 71% of households are predicted to decrease overall energy consumption. 83.5% of households are predicted to decrease oil consumption, and 57.3% of houses are predicted to increase wood consumption. Through evaluating household's energy consumption decisions in the face of changing prices, these results can inform effective air quality policies

Communications and Transport: The mobility of information, people and commodities

In a context where the study of communications tends to focus only on the mobility of information, to the neglect of that of people and commodities, this article explores the potential for a closer integration between the fields of communications and transport studies. Against the presumption that the emergence of virtuality means that material geographies are no longer of consequence, the role of mediated ‘technologies of distance’ is considered here in the broader contexts of the construction (and regulation) of a variety of physical forms of mobility and the changing modes of articulation of the virtual and material worlds

Retinoic Acid is essential for Th1 cell lineage stability and prevents transition to a th17 cell program

SummaryCD4+ T cells differentiate into phenotypically distinct T helper cells upon antigenic stimulation. Regulation of plasticity between these CD4+ T-cell lineages is critical for immune homeostasis and prevention of autoimmune disease. However, the factors that regulate lineage stability are largely unknown. Here we investigate a role for retinoic acid (RA) in the regulation of lineage stability using T helper 1 (Th1) cells, traditionally considered the most phenotypically stable Th subset. We found that RA, through its receptor RARα, sustains stable expression of Th1 lineage specifying genes, as well as repressing genes that instruct Th17-cell fate. RA signaling is essential for limiting Th1-cell conversion into Th17 effectors and for preventing pathogenic Th17 responses in vivo. Our study identifies RA-RARα as a key component of the regulatory network governing maintenance and plasticity of Th1-cell fate and defines an additional pathway for the development of Th17 cells