Issues in Forest Restoration: Public perceptions of forest restoration in the southwest: A synthesis of selected surveys and literature

The restoration of forest ecosystems is an important, yet sometimes controversial, practice. In recent years numerous studies have explored how the public perceives forest health, restoration, and fire; however, few analyses have summarized and compared results across studies. The purpose of this publication is to identify consistencies in the results of recent studies, assess the publics overall understanding of forest restoration issues, and evaluate areas of continuing controversy. The information presented here is a synthesis of public survey research conducted throughout the country, with a primary focus on research conducted in the Southwest. We integrated a broad spectrum of literature in our evaluation, including peer-reviewed publications, gray literature, and unpublished studies. Each source was selected based on its focus and content area

Modelling the cost effectiveness of interferon beta and glatiramer acetate in the management of multiple sclerosis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the cost effectiveness of four disease modifying treatments (interferon betas and glatiramer acetate) for relapsing remitting and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis in the United Kingdom. DESIGN: Modelling cost effectiveness. SETTING: UK NHS. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cost per quality adjusted life year gained. RESULTS: The base case cost per quality adjusted life year gained by using any of the four treatments ranged from £42 000 ($66 469; 61 630) to £98 000 based on efficacy information in the public domain. Uncertainty analysis suggests that the probability of any of these treatments having a cost effectiveness better than £20 000 at 20 years is below 20%. The key determinants of cost effectiveness were the time horizon, the progression of patients after stopping treatment, differential discount rates, and the price of the treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Cost effectiveness varied markedly between the interventions. Uncertainty around point estimates was substantial. This uncertainty could be reduced by conducting research on the true magnitude of the effect of these drugs, the progression of patients after stopping treatment, the costs of care, and the quality of life of the patients. Price was the key modifiable determinant of the cost effectiveness of these treatments

The Relationship Between Moisture Content and X-Ray Sensitivity of Oat Seeds, Avena sativa

About a decade ago, Gustafsson (3) reported that the sensitivity of barley seeds to x-ray treatment was positively related to their moisture content. Sensitivity was measured by germination percentage and vigor of seedlings produced from treated seeds. However, Caldecott (1) recently has shown that barley seeds with a moisture percentage between 8 and 16 were more resistant to x-ray damage than those with either a lower or higher water content. These conflicting results probably are related to differences in methods used to temper the seeds by the two investigators. Gustafsson (3) soaked the seeds in water while Caldecott (1) placed them in desicators with different relative humidities. Metabolic activity and x-ray sensitivity of seed would be expected to be enhanced more by the first method. For a discussion of the physical significance of moisture content of seeds on x-ray sensitivity the reader is referred to a paper by Caldecott (2). This paper reports experiments conducted to determine the relationships between moisture content of seeds and x-ray sensitivity in hexaploid oats

Effect of Recurrent X-Radiation on Germination and Seedling Vigor in Oats

The immediate effects of exposing oat seeds to high dosages of X-ray are generally twofold: (a) many of the seeds fail to germinate, and (b) the seedlings produced are stunted. It is generally accepted that these physiologic effects react the same as other environmental variation in biological materials. However, it is possible that even though the physiologic effects disappear in one generation that certain weaknesses may persist but remain hidden. Weakened linkages of some type within chromosomes could conceivably be a case in point. If this is the case, one might expect the effects to be cumulative with repeated x-ray treatment in successive generations, since the basic units affected are probably chromosomes and genes. The study reported herein was conducted to determine to what extent the X-ray damage to oat seeds, measured as germination percentage and seedling vigor, was cumulative with recurrent radiation in one, two, and three seed generations. The measures of seedling vigor were plant height and weight per 100 seedlings

Radiometric calibration and processing procedure for reflective bands on LANDSAT-4 protoflight Thematic Mapper

The radiometric subsystem of NASA's LANDSAT-4 Thematic Mapper (TM) sensor is described. Special emphasis is placed on the internal calibrator (IC) pulse shapes and timing cycle. The procedures for the absolute radiometric calibration of the TM channels with a 122-centimeter integrating sphere and the transfer of radiometric calibration from the channels to the IC are reviewed. The use of the IC to calibrate TM data in the ground processing system consists of pulse integration, pulse averaging, IC state identification, linear regression analysis, and histogram equalization. An overview of the SCROUNGE-era (before August 1983) method is presented. Procedural differences between SCROUNGE and the TIPS-era (after July 1983) and the implications of these differences are discussed

Characterization of radiometric calibration of LANDSAT-4 TM reflective bands

Prelaunch and postlaunch internal calibrator, image, and background data is to characterize the radiometric performance of the LANDSAT-4 TM and to recommend improved procedures for radiometric calibration. All but two channels (band 2, channel 4; band 5, channel 3) behave normally. Gain changes relative to a postlaunch reference for channels within a band vary within 0.5 percent as a group. Instrument gain for channels in the cold focal plane oscillates. Noise in background and image data ranges from 0.5 to 1.7 counts. Average differences in forward and reverse image data indicate a need for separate calibration processing of forward and reverse scans. Precision is improved by increasing the pulse integration width from 31 to 41 minor frames, depending on the band

Commutator Leavitt path algebras

For any field K and directed graph E, we completely describe the elements of the Leavitt path algebra L_K(E) which lie in the commutator subspace [L_K(E),L_K(E)]. We then use this result to classify all Leavitt path algebras L_K(E) that satisfy L_K(E)=[L_K(E),L_K(E)]. We also show that these Leavitt path algebras have the additional (unusual) property that all their Lie ideals are (ring-theoretic) ideals, and construct examples of such rings with various ideal structures.Comment: 24 page

Polymers near Metal Surfaces: Selective Adsorption and Global Conformations

We study the properties of a polycarbonate melt near a nickel surface as a model system for the interaction of polymers with metal surfaces by employing a multiscale modeling approach. For bulk properties a suitably coarse grained bead spring model is simulated by molecular dynamics (MD) methods with model parameters directly derived from quantum chemical calculations. The surface interactions are parameterized and incorporated by extensive quantum mechanical density functional calculations using the Car-Parrinello method. We find strong chemisorption of chain ends, resulting in significant modifications of the melt composition when compared to an inert wall.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures (2 color), 1 tabl

Nonlinear quantum mechanics implies polynomial-time solution for NP-complete and #P problems

If quantum states exhibit small nonlinearities during time evolution, then quantum computers can be used to solve NP-complete problems in polynomial time. We provide algorithms that solve NP-complete and #P oracle problems by exploiting nonlinear quantum logic gates. It is argued that virtually any deterministic nonlinear quantum theory will include such gates, and the method is explicitly demonstrated using the Weinberg model of nonlinear quantum mechanics.Comment: 10 pages, no figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let