424 research outputs found
Valuing National Forest Recreation Access: Using a Stratified On-Site Sample to Generate Values Across Activities for a Nationally Pooled Sample
The Forest Service controls vast quantities of natural resources including timber, wildlife, watersheds, air sheds, and ecosystems. For many of these resources, recreation is one of the primary uses of the natural asset. Recreation visits taken to National Forests are not "purchased" in the same type of market as other goods (e.g., timber, grazing, or housing). The price of, and ultimately benefit received from, recreation to National Forests cannot be estimated via traditional market prices and quantities. Alternate methods must be employed to estimate the value of recreation access. We use on-site survey data from the Forest Service's National Visitor Use Monitoring database (2000-2003) and stated preference demand estimation methods to model annual recreation trip-taking behavior to National Forests. We then use these models to derive estimates of per-visit net economic benefits across regions and activities. In 2000, the FS began conducting systematic research into recreation visitation levels on National Forest lands under the National Visitor Use Monitoring Project (NVUM). From 2000 to 2003 NVUM has collected data from 120 National Forests providing information on the number of annual visits, primary activity, local area expenditures, satisfaction with facilities, and limited demographic information. These data were collected using an on-site stratified random sampling scheme resulting in over 90,000 completed surveys. Using the NVUM data we estimate the net economic value (NEV) of recreation on National Forest lands. The dataset used to estimate these values contains 73,655 observations. Using a truncated negative binomial estimator, weighted by a composite factor that adjusts for the stratified, on-site nature of the data, we have estimated a series of pooled, multi-site recreation demand models and calculated net economic values for recreational visits to the National Forests for each of fourteen activities and four RPA regions (Pacific, Rocky Mountain, Northern, and Southern) on a per visit per individual value and for a per activity day per individual basis. Our results indicate that for most models and specifications, adjusting for the choice based sampling frame by using a truncated, weighted, stratified, negative binomial estimator, as well as accounting for regional and activity differences, reduces the estimate of the average per day and per activity day values. Forest managers and others involved in managing, planning, and administering resources used for recreation often need an estimate of the economic value of the resource. For many of these resources non-market analysis must be used to generate this information. For forest recreation, many of the values currently available come from secondary sources or from small samples. The values estimated using NVUM represent an improvement over many of the currently available forest recreation values because of the unique nature of the large-scale, stratified random sample.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,
Accounting for Geographic Heterogeneity in Recreation Demand Models
Spatial differences in site characteristics and user populations may result in heterogeneity of recreation preferences and values across geographic regions. Non-linear mixed effects models provide a potential means of accounting for this heterogeneity. This approach was tested by estimating a national-level recreation demand model with encouraging results.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,
EFFECTS OF RESERVOIR AQUATIC PLANT MANAGEMENT ON RECREATIONAL EXPENDITURES AND REGIONAL ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
Exotic aquatic plant management is a major concern for public reservoir management in many regions of the United States. A study was conducted to measure the effects of alternative aquatic plant management strategies on recreational expenditures and regional economic activity. The study areas was Lake Guntersville, Alabama, and the local economy surrounding the lake. Lake Guntersville is one of the largest reservoirs in the Tennessee Valley Authority system. Results suggested the relatively moderate levels of aquatic plant control are associated with the highest levels of recreation-related economic effects on the economy surrounding Lake Guntersville.Aquatic plants, Input-output analysis, Public reservoir management, Recreational expenditures, Regional economic activity, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,
Seasonal variation of citrinin in traditionally brewed African beer
A seasonal study on citrinin concentrations in traditional beer was conducted using a standardised enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Representative samples of indigenous South African beer were collected during the hot, mild and cold seasons from marginal-urban settlements in the Kimberley area, South Africa. The mean temperature and humidity readings were 37C and 29% for respectively summer, 19.4C and 7.1% for spring, and 16.3C and 6.5% for winter. Samples were analysed for the mycotoxincitrinin using a commercial Ridascreen (citrinin) ELISA kit, validated for the purpose of the study. The recovery level achieved for citrinin in beer samples using the kit was 117 + - 15%. The inter-assay and intra-assay variations were 17.8 and 14.8% respectively. Standard curves prepared using traditional beer samples were similar to the standard curves prepared using the kit standards. The mean citrinin concentrations found in the various samples were 257.6 ug/kg, 99.0 and 185.7 ug/kg for the summer, spring and winter seasons respectively and the levels ranged between 35.6 ug/kg (min) and 924.2 ug/kg (max). Statistically significant differences (p ?0.05) were found between the citrinin levels of the summer and spring samples and also between citrinin levels of the spring and winter samples (p ?0.001). The relatively high levels of citrinin in selected samples may, with prolonged exposure, have adverse impacts on the health of consumers. Thus further studies into the origin and levels of this mycotoxin should be a priority
Estimating the Net Economic Value of National Forest Recreation: An Application of the National Visitor Use Monitoring Database.
Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,
Measurement of the Gluino Mass via Cascade Decays for SPS 1a
If R-parity conserving supersymmetry is realised with masses below the TeV
scale, sparticles will be produced and decay in cascades at the LHC. In the
case of a neutral LSP, which will not be detected, decay chains cannot be fully
reconstructed, complicating the mass determination of the new particles. In
this paper we extend the method of obtaining masses from kinematical endpoints
to include a gluino at the head of a five-sparticle decay chain. This
represents a non-trivial extension of the corresponding method for the squark
decay chain. We calculate the endpoints of the new distributions and assess
their applicability by examining the theoretical distributions for a variety of
mass scenarios. The precision with which the gluino mass can be determined by
this method is investigated for the mSUGRA point SPS 1a. Finally we estimate
the improvement obtained from adding a Linear Collider measurement of the LSP
mass.Comment: 40 pages; extended discussion of error
Gravitino Dark Matter Scenarios with Massive Metastable Charged Sparticles at the LHC
We investigate the measurement of supersymmetric particle masses at the LHC
in gravitino dark matter (GDM) scenarios where the next-to-lightest
supersymmetric partner (NLSP) is the lighter scalar tau, or stau, and is stable
on the scale of a detector. Such a massive metastable charged sparticle would
have distinctive Time-of-Flight (ToF) and energy-loss () signatures. We
summarise the documented accuracies expected to be achievable with the ATLAS
detector in measurements of the stau mass and its momentum at the LHC. We then
use a fast simulation of an LHC detector to demonstrate techniques for
reconstructing the cascade decays of supersymmetric particles in GDM scenarios,
using a parameterisation of the detector response to staus, taus and jets based
on full simulation results. Supersymmetric pair-production events are selected
with high redundancy and efficiency, and many valuable measurements can be made
starting from stau tracks in the detector. We recalibrate the momenta of taus
using transverse-momentum balance, and use kinematic cuts to select
combinations of staus, taus, jets and leptons that exhibit peaks in invariant
masses that correspond to various heavier sparticle species, with errors often
comparable with the jet energy scale uncertainty.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, updated to version published in JHE
Reconstructing Sparticle Mass Spectra using Hadronic Decays
Most sparticle decay cascades envisaged at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
involve hadronic decays of intermediate particles. We use state-of-the art
techniques based on the \kt jet algorithm to reconstruct the resulting hadronic
final states for simulated LHC events in a number of benchmark supersymmetric
scenarios. In particular, we show that a general method of selecting
preferentially boosted massive particles such as W, Z or Higgs bosons decaying
to jets, using sub-jets found by the \kt algorithm, suppresses QCD backgrounds
and thereby enhances the observability of signals that would otherwise be
indistinct. Consequently, measurements of the supersymmetric mass spectrum at
the per-cent level can be obtained from cascades including the hadronic decays
of such massive intermediate bosons.Comment: 1+29 pages, 12 figure
Mass Determination in SUSY-like Events with Missing Energy
We describe a kinematic method which is capable of determining the overall
mass scale in SUSY-like events at a hadron collider with two missing (dark
matter) particles. We focus on the kinematic topology in which a pair of
identical particles is produced with each decaying to two leptons and an
invisible particle (schematically, followed by each
decaying via where is invisible). This topology
arises in many SUSY processes such as squark and gluino production and decay,
not to mention t\anti t di-lepton decays. In the example where the final
state leptons are all muons, our errors on the masses of the particles ,
and in the decay chain range from 4 GeV for 2000 events after cuts to 13
GeV for 400 events after cuts. Errors for mass differences are much smaller.
Our ability to determine masses comes from considering all the kinematic
information in the event, including the missing momentum, in conjunction with
the quadratic constraints that arise from the , and mass-shell
conditions. Realistic missing momentum and lepton momenta uncertainties are
included in the analysis.Comment: 41 pages, 14 figures, various clarifications and expanded discussion
included in revised version that conforms to the version to be publishe
High-quality permanent draft genome sequence of the Mimosa asperata - nodulating Cupriavidus sp strain AMP6
Cupriavidus sp. strain AMP6 is an aerobic, motile, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming rod that was isolated from a root nodule of Mimosa asperata collected in Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Texas, in 2005. Mimosa asperata is the only legume described so far to exclusively associates with Cupriavidus symbionts. Moreover, strain AMP6 represents an early-diverging lineage within the symbiotic Cupriavidus group and has the capacity to develop an effective nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with three other species of Mimosa. Therefore, the genome of Cupriavidus sp. strain AMP6 enables comparative analyses of symbiotic trait evolution in this genus and here we describe the general features, together with sequence and annotation. The 7,579,563 bp high-quality permanent draft genome is arranged in 260 scaffolds of 262 contigs, contains 7,033 protein-coding genes and 97 RNA-only encoding genes, and is part of the GEBA-RNB project proposal
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