A Study of Feasibility of State Water User Fees for Financing Water Development

Water user fees imposed by a state on major water uses is a possible new alternative source of state water development funds. A fee, similar to an excise tax, might be charged for the use of the water resource per se, which in a number of states is declared to be the property of the public of the state. States generally have not employed such fees as a source of operating funds for water agencies or of development capital. Only in the area of water based recreation-fishing, coating, camping, etc.—have states extensively employed user fees. The revenues from these fees, however, are used only to defray management and operating expenses associated with these activities. The implementation of user-fee financing would result in some shifts of financing burden connected with water programs from the general taxpayers of the state to specific water users. Although this approach has not been utilized by states to a significant extent, the “user pay” principle is well established in economic theory. The theory indicated that user fees would be an economically more efficient and equitable source for financing water development than general tax revenues. In the design of fee structures for major water uses, several characteristics of fees are appropriate to consider. Five which were identified in this study are as follows: equity, economic efficiency, allocational effectiveness, administrative simplicity, and revenue generating potential. These were used to evaluate different structures for extracting fees from the user. These rate design considerations may relate only indirectly to a state system of user fees since the state fees envisioned in this study in many cases may be only an add-on or surcharge to a basic charge imposed by a local entity, such as a municipality or an irrigation district. Revenue generating potential, the last of the five characteristics listed, was of primary interest in this study. Estimates of revenue potential for four major water uses—irrigation, municipal, industrial, and recreations—were made with a formula developed in this study for this purpose. Gross estimates of potential from public supply and irrigation uses were made for several selected states, and somewhat more detailed estimates were made for the four major uses in Utah. The calculations indicated that substantial amounts of funds could be generated with only modest increases in current charges. A preliminary assessment of legal and administrative implications of implementing water user fees in the State of Utah was made in this study. The results indicated that some fee alternatives probably could be implemented by administrative action; others would require legislative approval. Constitutional issues related to some alternatives would have to be resolved by the state supreme court. New uses associated with developing Utah’s vast energy resources appear to offer a particularly promising prospect for instituting a user fee program with minimal legal complications

Impact of a charged neighboring particle on Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is an important physical phenomenon which demands precise control over the FRET rate for its wide range of applications. Hence, enhancing the FRET rate using different techniques has been extensively studied in the literature. Research indicates that introducing additional particles to a system consisting of a donor-acceptor pair can change the behaviour of FRET in the system. One such technique is to utilize the collective oscillations of the surface electrons of a neighboring electrically-neutral metal nanoparticle (MNP). However, the perceived changes on the FRET rate between the donor and the acceptor, when the MNP carries excess electrical charges are yet unknown. In this paper, we study these changes by introducing a charged MNP, in the proximity of an excited donor and a ground state acceptor. We deploy the classical Green's tensor to express the FRET rate in the system. We consider an effective dielectric response for the MNP, which accounts for the extraneous surface charge effects. We analyze the electrical potential at the acceptor position due to the changed dipole moment of the donor molecule as a result of the electric field induced at the donor position, and obtain the FRET rate of the system. This model considers arbitrary locations and orientations of the two molecular dipole moments with regard to the position of the spherical MNP. We present the enhancement of the FRET rate, predominantly caused by both the surface plasmon excitations and the extraneous surface electrical charges carried by the neighboring MNP. We obtain the results by varying the separation distance between the molecules and the MNP, the transition frequency of the donor-acceptor pair and the size of the metallic sphere. Specifically, we demonstrate that a donor-acceptor pair placed in the vicinity of an electrically-charged Silver MNP exhibits a remarkable improvement in the FRET rate. Furthermore, the aggregate FRET enhancement is determined by other characteristics such as the location of the donor, transition frequency, separation distances and the radius of the MNP. In essence, these findings reveal an approach to realize the enhanced FRET rate in a larger span in a more controlled manner that is desirable in many FRET-based applications including spectroscopic measurements

The Virgin River Basin Study: A Regional Approach to Multiobjective Planning for Water and Related Resources

A joint research effort by the Utah Water Research Laboratory and the Nevado Center for Water Resources Research applied two multiobjective planning models to the Virgin River Basin in order to test the efficiency and practicality of applying such tools in water resrouces planning. The surrogate Worth Trade-off (SWT) method couples mathematical optimization to quantify trade offs among noncommensurable objectives with interviews to compare public preferences with respect to these trade offs. PROPDEMM uses information on interest group objectives, balues, willingness to pay, influence, lebel of information, etc. to compare the political feasibility of alternative courses of action. Both models were applied to assess the difficulties in doing so and the usefulness of the results. The trade offs identified by the SWT method showed agricultural water use to be so dominant in the basin that slight adjustments in irrigation efficiency could supply all foreseeable needs for additional water for other uses, such trade offs to be too inconsequential to identify and compare public preferences, and other trade offs to be impossible because of the position taken by ecologists that any environmental change would destroy a rare species of minnow. Prior to analyzing a situation by the SWT method, the planner should make sure that the trade offs will be of a magnitude meaningful to the public and that the model selected will be sufficiently refined in analyzing small units in time and space to identify locally significant trade offs. PROPDEMM showed the politically most controversial trade off to be between construction of energy generating facilities and life support for the minnow, a controbersy that would probably be decided in favor of the environmentalist because of their power and non-openness to change. Improvements to the model to do a better job of interfacing environmental with social data were recommended. Social modeling in such low population areas was found to be restricted by laws against disclosure of private information because of the very small numbers of individuals living in many evaluation units

The limits of corporate social responsibility : Techniques of neutralization, stakeholder management and political CSR

Since scholarly interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) has primarily focused on the synergies between social and economic performance, our understanding of how (and the conditions under which) companies use CSR to produce policy outcomes that work against public welfare has remained comparatively underdeveloped. In particular, little is known about how corporate decision-makers privately reconcile the conflicts between public and private interests, even though this is likely to be relevant to understanding the limitations of CSR as a means of aligning business activity with the broader public interest. This study addresses this issue using internal tobacco industry documents to explore British-American Tobacco’s (BAT) thinking on CSR and its effects on the company’s CSR Programme. The article presents a three-stage model of CSR development, based on Sykes and Matza’s theory of techniques of neutralization, which links together: how BAT managers made sense of the company’s declining political authority in the mid-1990s; how they subsequently justified the use of CSR as a tool of stakeholder management aimed at diffusing the political impact of public health advocates by breaking up political constituencies working towards evidence-based tobacco regulation; and how CSR works ideologically to shape stakeholders’ perceptions of the relative merits of competing approaches to tobacco control. Our analysis has three implications for research and practice. First, it underlines the importance of approaching corporate managers’ public comments on CSR critically and situating them in their economic, political and historical contexts. Second, it illustrates the importance of focusing on the political aims and effects of CSR. Third, by showing how CSR practices are used to stymie evidence-based government regulation, the article underlines the importance of highlighting and developing matrices to assess the negative social impacts of CSR

An integrated crisis communication framework for strategic crisis communication with the media: A case study on a financial services provider

In order for organisations to survive in an ever-changing milieu in the current business environment, sufficient crisis communication and management practices need to be in place to ensure organisational survival. Despite the latter, organisational crises are often inefficiently managed which could be ascribed to the lack of managing crises strategically (Kash & Darling 1998:180). This article explores the lack of strategic crisis communication processes to ensure effective crisis communication with the media as stakeholder group. It is argued that the media is one of the main influences of public opinion (Pollard & Hotho 2006:725), thereby emphasising the need for accurate distribution of information. Furthermore, the study will focus specifically on the financial industry, as it is believed that this industry is more sensitive and thus more prone towards media reporting as financial services providers manage people’s money (Squier 2009). A strategic crisis communication process with the media is therefore proposed, facilitated through an integrated crisis communication framework, which focuses on a combination of Integrated Communication (IC) literature with emphasis on Grunig’s theory of communication excellence to build sustainable media relationships through two-way communication; and proposing a crisis communication process that has proactive, reactive and post-evaluative crisis communication stages, thereby moving away from crisis communication as a predominant reactive function.Communication Scienc

Designer Gene Delivery Vectors: Molecular Engineering and Evolution of Adeno-Associated Viral Vectors for Enhanced Gene Transfer

Gene delivery vectors based on adeno-associated virus (AAV) are highly promising due to several desirable features of this parent virus, including a lack of pathogenicity, efficient infection of dividing and non-dividing cells, and sustained maintenance of the viral genome. However, several problems should be addressed to enhance the utility of AAV vectors, particularly those based on AAV2, the best characterized AAV serotype. First, altering viral tropism would be advantageous for broadening its utility in various tissue or cell types. In response to this need, vector pseudotyping, mosaic capsids, and targeting ligand insertion into the capsid have shown promise for altering AAV specificity. In addition, library selection and directed evolution have recently emerged as promising approaches to modulate AAV tropism despite limited knowledge of viral structure–function relationships. Second, pre-existing immunity to AAV must be addressed for successful clinical application of AAV vectors. “Shielding” polymers, site-directed mutagenesis, and alternative AAV serotypes have shown success in avoiding immune neutralization. Furthermore, directed evolution of the AAV capsid is a high throughput approach that has yielded vectors with substantial resistance to neutralizing antibodies. Molecular engineering and directed evolution of AAV vectors therefore offer promise for generating ‘designer’ gene delivery vectors with enhanced properties

Achieving Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Early Childhood Education Through Critical Reflection in Transformative Learning

The central role of education in creating a more sustainable future has been already recognized by educators and policy-makers alike. This chapter argues that this can only be truly achieved through the efforts of teachers in implementing an “education of a different kind,” a general educational shift that seeks to encompass a converging transformation of the priorities and mindsets of education professionals. In this regard, the professional preparation of teachers, as the leading actors in shaping children’s learning processes, and their continuous professional development are vital considerations for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) to be successfully achieved. Linking transformative learning and ESD has emerged as a distinct and useful pedagogy because they both support the process of critically examining habits of mind, then revising these habits and acting upon the revised point of view. This study aims to describe and evaluate the potential of transformative learning in innovating mainstream education toward sustainability by focusing on the role of critical reflection in a capacity building research project realized in Turkey. The data was gathered from 24 early childhood educators using a mixed-method research design involving learning diaries, a learning activities survey, and follow-up interviews. This chapter identified content, context, and application method of the in-service training as factors that have contributed to the reflective practices of the participants. In addition, presenting the implications regarding the individual differences in how learners engage in critical reflection practices, this research offers a framework for a content- and process-based approach derived from Mezirow’s conception of critical reflection

B7 Costimulation Molecules Encoded by Replication-Defective, vhs-Deficient HSV-1 Improve Vaccine-Induced Protection against Corneal Disease

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) causes herpes stromal keratitis (HSK), a sight-threatening disease of the cornea for which no vaccine exists. A replication-defective, HSV-1 prototype vaccine bearing deletions in the genes encoding ICP8 and the virion host shutoff (vhs) protein reduces HSV-1 replication and disease in a mouse model of HSK. Here we demonstrate that combining deletion of ICP8 and vhs with virus-based expression of B7 costimulation molecules created a vaccine strain that enhanced T cell responses to HSV-1 compared with the ICP8−vhs− parental strain, and reduced the incidence of keratitis and acute infection of the nervous system after corneal challenge. Post-challenge T cell infiltration of the trigeminal ganglia and antigen-specific recall responses in local lymph nodes correlated with protection. Thus, B7 costimulation molecules expressed from the genome of a replication-defective, ICP8−vhs− virus enhance vaccine efficacy by further reducing HSK

Membrane-Associated Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan Is a Receptor for Adeno-Associated Virus Type 2 Virions

The human parvovirus adeno-associated virus (AAV) infects a broad range of cell types, including human, nonhuman primate, canine, murine, and avian. Although little is known about the initial events of virus infection, AAV is currently being developed as a vector for human gene therapy. Using defined mutant CHO cell lines and standard biochemical assays, we demonstrate that heparan sulfate proteoglycans mediate both AAV attachment to and infection of target cells. Competition experiments using heparin, a soluble receptor analog, demonstrated dose-dependent inhibition of AAV attachment and infection. Enzymatic removal of heparan but not chondroitin sulfate moieties from the cell surface greatly reduced AAV attachment and infectivity. Finally, mutant cell lines that do not produce heparan sulfate proteoglycans were significantly impaired for both AAV binding and infection. This is the first report that proteoglycan has a role in cellular attachment of a parvovirus. Together, these results demonstrate that membrane-associated heparan sulfate proteoglycan serves as the viral receptor for AAV type 2, and provide an explanation for the broad host range of AAV. Identification of heparan sulfate proteoglycan as a viral receptor should facilitate development of new reagents for virus purification and provide critical information on the use of AAV as a gene therapy vector