Measuring the Economic Impact of Agricultural Policies in Metro and Non-Metro Regions in Washington: A Regional General Equilibrium Approach

WA regional CGE model for the state of Washington was used to examine the economic impacts from increasing export demand in different agricultural industries and manufacturing. We developed a procedure to modify a state level IMPLAN based CGE model to include 4 household groups designated by geographic location (metro or non-metro) and type of household (farm or non-farm). We also disaggregated the single labor category from IMPLAN into 6 distinct labor groups comprised of like-skill occupations. Our grouping of households by geography and type verifies that economic impacts from agricultural export shocks, are not evenly distributed. Our results demonstrate that wages paid by the agriculture industry tend to benefit farm households more, and non-metro farm households the most. Welfare effects are also greatest for farm households in terms of equivalent variation. However, even metro non-farm households also receive positive welfare change through spillover effects in the form of increased returns to labor and capital captured by these households.agricultural exports, equivalent variation, welfare changes on metro and nonmetro households

Microstructure of Mica Glass-Ceramics and Interface Reactions between Mica Glass-Ceramics and Bone

This review paper characterizes glass-ceramics containing mica as main crystal phase. The phase formation reactions in dependence of the chemical composition and the microstructure are shown. Microstructure of mica glass-ceramics has been studied by electron replica and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) techniques. Mica glass-ceramics have previously been developed in Si02-B20rA120rMgO-F--base glasses. The material is machinable because of the precipitation of micas of fluorophlogopite-type. Also, a machinable glass-ceramic for dental applications was developed based on KMg2_5(Si40 10)F2-micas. We developed mica glass-ceramics in the Si02-Al20rMgO-NaiO-K20-F glass system. Phase formation within these glasses was observed by SEM. A double controlled nucleation and crystallization of mica and apatite crystals was possible in glasses of the SiOrMgO-NaiO-K20-F-CaO-P20s-(Al20 3) system. The main crystal phases of phlogopite-type were characterized by SEM and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and apatite crystals Ca5(P04)J(OH,F) were analyzed by X-ray diffraction measurements. The glass-ceramics are useful biomaterials for bone substitution. EDS analysis shows the ion exchange between glass-ceramics and body fluids. The interface reaction is characterized by formation of a small phosphate layer, and particularly by alkali ion exchange

Crystallization behavior of iron- and boron-containing nepheline (Na2 O●Al2 O3 ●2SiO2 ) based model high-level nuclear waste glasses

This study focuses on understanding the relationship between iron redox, composition, and heat‐treatment atmosphere in nepheline‐based model high‐level nuclear waste glasses. Glasses in the Na2O–Al2O3–B2O3–Fe2O3–SiO2 system with varying Al2O3/Fe2O3 and Na2O/Fe2O3 ratios have been synthesized by melt‐quench technique and studied for their crystallization behavior in different heating atmospheres—air, inert (N2), and reducing (96%N2–4%H2). The compositional dependence of iron redox chemistry in glasses and the impact of heating environment and crystallization on iron coordination in glass‐ceramics have been investigated by Mössbauer spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry. While iron coordination in glasses and glass‐ceramics changed as a function of glass chemistry, the heating atmosphere during crystallization exhibited minimal effect on iron redox. The change in heating atmosphere did not affect the phase assemblage but did affect the microstructural evolution. While glass‐ceramics produced as a result of heat treatment in air and N2 atmospheres developed a golden/brown colored iron‐rich layer on their surface, those produced in a reducing atmosphere did not exhibit any such phenomenon. Furthermore, while this iron‐rich layer was observed in glass‐ceramics with varying Al2O3/Fe2O3 ratio, it was absent from glass‐ceramics with varying Na2O/Fe2O3 ratio. An explanation of these results has been provided on the basis of kinetics of diffusion of oxygen and network modifiers in the glasses under different thermodynamic conditions. The plausible implications of the formation of iron‐rich layer on the surface of glass‐ceramics on the chemical durability of high‐level nuclear waste glasses have been discussed

Combined Quantitative X-ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and Transmission Electron Microscopy Investigations of Crystal Evolution in CaO–Al2O3–SiO2–TiO2–ZrO2–Nd2O3–Na2O System

Glass-ceramics, with a specific crystalline phase assembly, can combine the advantages of glass and ceramic and avoid their disadvantages. In this study, both cubic-zirconia and zirconolite-based glass-ceramics were obtained by the crystallization of SiO2-CaO-Al2O3-TiO2-ZrO2-Nd2O3-Na2O glass. Results show that all samples underwent a phase transformation from cubic-zirconia to zirconolite when crystallized at 900, 950, and 1000 °C. The size of the cubic-zirconia crystal could be controlled by temperature and dwelling time. Both cubic-zirconia and zirconolite crystals/particles show dendrite shapes, but with different dendrite branching. The dendrite cubic-zirconia showed highly oriented growth. Scanning electron microscopy images show that the branches of the cubic-zirconia crystal had a snowflake-like appearance, while those in zirconolite were composed of many individual crystals. Rietveld quantitative analysis revealed that the maximum amount of zirconolite was ∼19 wt %. A two-stage crystallization method was used to obtain different microstructures of zirconolite-based glass-ceramic. The amount of zirconolite remained approximately 19 wt %, but the individual crystals were smaller and more homogeneously dispersed in the dendrite structure than those obtained from one-stage crystallization. This process-control feature can result in different sizes and morphologies of cubic-zirconia and zirconolite crystals to facilitate the design of glass-ceramic waste forms for nuclear wastes

Development and characterization of 3CaO.P2O5-SiO2-MgO glass-ceramics with different crystallization degree

The CaO-P2O5-SiO2-MgO system presents several compounds used as biomaterials such as hydroxyapatite (HA), tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and TCP with magnesium substituting partial calcium (TCMP). The beta-TCMP phase with whitlockite structure has interesting biological features and mechanical properties, meeting the requirements of a bioactive material for bone restoration. In this work, the production of Mg-doped TCP, beta-TCMP, has been investigated by crystallization from a glass composed of 52.75 wt% 3CaO center dot P2O5, 30 wt% SiO2 and 17.25 wt% MgO (i.e., 31.7 mol% CaO, 10.6 mol% P2O5, 26.6 mol% MgO and 31.1 mol% SiO2) using heat treatments between 775. and 1100 degrees C for up to 8 h. The devitrification process of the glass has been accompanied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD), relative density and bending strength measurements. The characterization by HRXRD and DSC revealed the occurrence of whitlockite soon after the bulk glass preparation, a transient non-cataloged silicate between 800 degrees C and 1100 degrees C, and the formation of diopside in samples treated at 1100 degrees C as crystalline phases. The overall crystalline fraction varied from 26% to 70% depending on the heat treatments. Furthermore, contraction of the a-axis lattice parameter and expansion of the c-axis lattice parameter of the whitlockite structure have been observed during the heat treatments, which were attributed to the beta-TCMP formation with the partial substitution of Ca2+ by Mg2+. Relative densities near 99% and 97% for the glass and glass-ceramics respectively indicated a discrete reduction as a function of the devitrification treatment. Bending strengths of 70 MPa and 120 MPa were determined for the glass and glass-ceramic material crystallized at 975 degrees C for 4 h, respectively

Vulnerability to natural disasters in Serbia: spatial and temporal comparison

The frequency of natural disasters and the extent of their consequences at a global level are constantly increasing. This trend is partially caused by increased population vulnerability, which implies the degree of population vulnerability due to high magnitude natural processes. This paper presents an analysis of vulnerability to natural disaster in Serbia in the second half of the twentieth and the early twenty-first century. Vulnerability changes were traced on the basis of demographic–economic indicators derived from statistical data for local government units (municipalities) provided by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. Calculations were performed in the geographical information system environment. The results of the study show that spatial and temporal vulnerability variations are causally correlated with changes in the selected components. Significant rise of vulnerability is related to urban areas, while lower values are characteristic for other areas of Serbia; this is primarily a consequence of different population density

Excretion patterns of coccidian oocysts and nematode eggs during the reproductive season in Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita)

Individual reproductive success largely depends on the ability to optimize behaviour, immune function and the physiological stress response. We have investigated correlations between behaviour, faecal steroid metabolites, immune parameters, parasite excretion patterns and reproductive output in a critically endangered avian species, the Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita). In particular, we related haematocrit, heterophil/lymphocyte ratio, excreted immune-reactive corticosterone metabolites and social behaviour with parasite excretion and two individual fitness parameters, namely, number of eggs laid and number of fledglings. We found that the frequency of excretion of parasites’ oocysts and eggs tended to increase with ambient temperature. Paired individuals excreted significantly more samples containing nematode eggs than unpaired ones. The excretion of nematode eggs was also significantly more frequent in females than in males. Individuals with a high proportion of droppings containing coccidian oocysts were more often preened by their partners than individuals with lower excretion rates. We observed that the more eggs an individual incubated and the fewer offspring fledged, the higher the rates of excreted samples containing coccidian oocysts. Our results confirm that social behaviour, physiology and parasite burden are linked in a complex and context-dependent manner. They also contribute background information supporting future conservation programmes dealing with this critically endangered species

Microsatellite Support for Active Inbreeding in a Cichlid Fish

In wild animal populations, the degree of inbreeding differs between species and within species between populations. Because mating with kin often results in inbreeding depression, observed inbreeding is usually regarded to be caused by limited outbreeding opportunities due to demographic factors like small population size or population substructuring. However, theory predicts inclusive benefits from mating with kin, and thus part of the observed variation in inbreeding might be due to active inbreeding preferences. Although some recent studies indeed report kin mating preferences, the evidence is still highly ambiguous. Here, we investigate inbreeding in a natural population of the West African cichlid fish Pelvicachromis taeniatus which showed clear kin mating preferences in standardized laboratory experiments but no inbreeding depression. The presented microsatellite analysis reveals that the natural population has, in comparison to two reference populations, a reduced allelic diversity (A = 3) resulting in a low heterozygosity (Ho = 0.167) pointing to a highly inbred population. Furthermore, we found a significant heterozygote deficit not only at population (Fis = 0.116) but also at subpopulation level (Fis = 0.081) suggesting that inbreeding is not only a by-product of population substructuring but possibly a consequence of behavioral kin preferences