Historical Calibration of a Water Account System

Models that are used for future based scenarios should be calibrated with historical water supply and use data. Historical water records in Australia are discontinuous, incomplete and often incongruently disaggregated. We present a systematic method to produce a coherent reconstruction of the historical provision and consumption of water in Victorian catchments. This is demonstrated using WAS: an accounting and simulation tool that tracks the stocks and flows of physical quantities relating to the water system. The WAS is also part of, and informed by, an integrated framework of stocks and flows calculators for simulating long-term interactions between other sectors of the physical economy. Both the WAS and related frameworks consider a wide scope of inputs regarding population, land use, energy and water. The physical history of the water sector is reconstructed by integrating water data with these information sources using a data modelling process that resolves conflicts and deduces missing information. The WAS allows strategic exploration of water and energy implications of scenarios of water sourcing, treatment, delivery and end use cognisant of historical records.water accounting, stocks and flows, historical time series, data modelling, calibration

Martial Lawlessness: The Legal Aftermath of Kwangju

On August 26, 1996, two former presidents of the Republic of Korea, Chun Doo-Hwan and Roh Tae-Woo, were convicted of insurrection, treason, and corruption. The charges arose out of their December 1979 coup and the ruthlessly violent suppression of a democratic protest in the city of Kwangju in May 1980. This article recounts the origins and analyzes the progress of this dramatic criminal trial, which has attracted worldwide attention. The current South Korean head of state, President Kim Young-Sam, has depicted the conviction of his predecessors as a historic juncture opening a new era of constitutionalism for Korea. Despite the popularity of the prosecutions in Korea, however, critics see the cases as motivated by revenge or political opportunism and have questioned whether the trials actually will serve to establish a Rule of Law under which Korea\u27s dynamic political economy can purge itself of chronic corruption and authoritarian abuses of power. Other issues examined include continuing impacts of the Kwangju tragedy upon U.S.-Korean relations as well as possible implications of the criminal prosecutions for Korean reunification and for future transitions to democracy in other nations

Cognitive Function and Human Capital Accumulation Across the Day: Evidence from Randomized School Schedules

This study examines how variation of within-day cognitive function affects human capital accumulation. Cognitive function, which neurobiologists have found varies widely across the day, has thus far been an important omission in the economics literature. We quantify its role on human capital accumulation using data from five cohorts of college freshman at the United States Air Force Academy, where students face randomized scheduling and a common set of classes and exams. We find clear evidence that daily fluctuations in cognitive function affects academic achievement-a student does 0.25 standard deviations better at her highest observed ability than at her worst. Cognitive function is affected by the time of day that learning takes place, but also importantly, by the context of a student\u27s schedule and the degree of cognitive fatigue at that time of day- students perform 0.05 standard deviations worse if they have back-to-back classes than if they just had a break. Differences in effects along the ability distribution suggest that overall effi- ciency gains are possible. Prioritizing the schedules of those most impacted by cognitive fatigue would be equivalent to improving their teacher quality by a standard deviation in 40% of offered classes. Findings suggest that a re-organization of students\u27 daily school schedules is a promising and potentially low-cost educational intervention

Mercury in the Puget Sound food web: factors influencing body burdens in multiple species.

Mercury is a contaminant of concern in aquatic organisms world-wide. These biota are exposed to mercury from both natural emissions and human-caused sources. The Washington Department of Ecology has implemented a Chemical Action Plan (CAP) campaign to virtually eliminate the human-caused sources of mercury in Washington. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program (PSEMP) - Toxics in Biota team has assessed the geographic extent and magnitude of mercury and other chemical contaminants in 18 fish and macroinvertebrates species across Puget Sound since 1989. In this report we compare total mercury concentrations in over 2000 samples from multiple fish and macroinvertebrate species to evaluate where in the food web mercury may be elevated, and which life history characteristics are associated with elevated body burdens. Characteristics we tested included age, trophic level, tissue lipid content, gender and proximity to known mercury sources (i.e., urbanized locations or elevated sediment mercury concentration). The highest mercury concentrations (greater than 0.50 mg/kg, wet wt.) occurred in sixgill sharks (Hexanchus griseus) an apex predator, and long-lived rockfishes (Sebastes spp.), especially in urban locations. Mean mercury concentrations were less than 0.17 mg/kg, wet wt. for all other species, but also varied with age and proximity to contaminant source. For example, most of the variability in muscle mercury concentrations of English sole (Parophrys vetulus) was explained by age and sediment mercury concentration. We also compared the concentration of mono-methyl mercury to total mercury for a subset of 220 samples, representing a range of species and tissues. Overall the majority of mercury (\u3e90%) was methylated, though there were notable exceptions. These data provide a solid basis for understanding the factors influencing mercury accumulation in the Puget Sound food web and serve as baseline data to evaluate the effectiveness of the Washington’s mercury CAP

Randomized trial of polychromatic blue-enriched light for circadian phase shifting, melatonin suppression, and alerting responses.

Wavelength comparisons have indicated that circadian phase-shifting and enhancement of subjective and EEG-correlates of alertness have a higher sensitivity to short wavelength visible light. The aim of the current study was to test whether polychromatic light enriched in the blue portion of the spectrum (17,000 K) has increased efficacy for melatonin suppression, circadian phase-shifting, and alertness as compared to an equal photon density exposure to a standard white polychromatic light (4000 K). Twenty healthy participants were studied in a time-free environment for 7 days. The protocol included two baseline days followed by a 26-h constant routine (CR1) to assess initial circadian phase. Following CR1, participants were exposed to a full-field fluorescent light (1 × 10 14 photons/cm 2 /s, 4000 K or 17,000 K, n = 10/condition) for 6.5 h during the biological night. Following an 8 h recovery sleep, a second 30-h CR was performed. Melatonin suppression was assessed from the difference during the light exposure and the corresponding clock time 24 h earlier during CR1. Phase-shifts were calculated from the clock time difference in dim light melatonin onset time (DLMO) between CR1 and CR2. Blue-enriched light caused significantly greater suppression of melatonin than standard light ((mean ± SD) 70.9 ± 19.6% and 42.8 ± 29.1%, respectively, p \u3c 0.05). There was no significant difference in the magnitude of phase delay shifts. Blue-enriched light significantly improved subjective alertness (p \u3c 0.05) but no differences were found for objective alertness. These data contribute to the optimization of the short wavelength-enriched spectra and intensities needed for circadian, neuroendocrine and neurobehavioral regulation

Effects of body size and temperature on population growth

For at least 200 years, since the time of Malthus, population growth has been recognized as providing a critical link between the performance of individual organisms and the ecology and evolution of species.We present a theory that shows how the intrinsic rate of exponential population growth, , and the carrying capacity, rmax K, depend on individual metabolic rate and resource supply rate. To do this, we construct equations for the metabolic rates of entire populations by summing over individuals, and then we combine these population-level equations with Malthusian growth. Thus, the theory makes explicit the relationship between rates of resource supply in the environment and rates of production of new biomass and individuals. These individual-level and population-level processes are inextricably linked because metabolism sets both the demand for environmental resources and the resource allocation to survival, growth, and reproduction. We use the theory to make explicit how and why exhibits its characteristic dependence on body size and rmax temperature. Data for aerobic eukaryotes, including algae, protists, insects, zooplankton, fishes, and mammals, support these predicted scalings for. The metabolic flux of energy and materials also rmax dictates that the carrying capacity or equilibrium density of populations should decrease with increasing body size and increasing temperature. Finally, we argue that body mass and body temperature, through their effects on metabolic rate, can explain most of the variation in fecundity and mortality rates. Data for marine fishes in the field support these predictions for instantaneous rates of mortality. This theory links the rates of metabolism and resource use of individuals to life-history attributes and population dynamics for a broad assortment of organisms, from unicellular organisms to mammals

The benefits of using reduced item variable scales in marketing segmentation

This study investigated the use of two reduced item constructs in marketing research, Involvement Scale and Consumer Expertise and their relationships. Previous findings suggested that both constructs could use reduced items and that they would be useful as marketing segmentation tools. Response rates to consumer questionnaires are declining; therefore, shorter questionnaires in marketing communications are more likely to be completed. This study establishes the current reliability of using these two reduced item constructs in automotive research and tests their validity using triangulation questions. Data collection used a novel approach in which respondents to a motor show used the new Apple iPad to complete an online questionnaire. Results revealed that the reduced item constructs are reliable and valid and would be useful for research involving large ticket items. They would be particularly useful to researchers where they are used as part of, rather than the main focus of, the research