Tourists’ willingness to pay for entry to the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal

This study seeks to determine international tourists’ willingness to pay (WTP) for entry fees in the Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA), Nepal. Data were collected in the ACA from May to June of 2011where 101 international tourists participated in a contingent valuation survey. A modified New Environmental Paradigm scale, with both attitudinal and behavioural statements, was utilized to assess the influence of environmental commitment on WTP. The analysis suggests that the rating of trekking as the most important motive for entering the ACA was the only variable with a potentially important influence on WTP for the entrance fee into the ACA. A majority of participants were willing to pay considerably more than the current entry fee of USD 27. Environmental commitment was not found to have a significant effect on WTP. The mean and median WTP values were found to be USD 71.63 and USD 60, respectively. There is some evidence that this study may have been subjected to starting point bias. As such, the WTP values may be inflated

Monoclonal Antibody Identification of Subpopulations of Cerebral Cortical Neurons Affected in Alzheimer disease

Neuronal degeneration is one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer disease (AD). Given the paucity of molecular markers available for the identification of neuronal subtypes, the specificity of neuronal loss within the cerebral cortex has been difficult to evaluate. With a panel of four monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) applied to central nervous system tissues from AD patients, we have immunocytochemically identified a population of vulnerable cortical neurons; a subpopulation of pyramidal neurons is recognized by mAbs 3F12 and 44.1 in the hippocampus and neocortex, and clusters of multipolar neurons in the entorhinal cortex reactive with mAb 44.1 show selective degeneration. Closely adjacent stellate-like neurons in these regions, identified by mAb 6A2, show striking preservation in AD. The neurons recognized by mAbs 3F12 and 44.1, to the best of our knowledge, do not comprise a single known neurotransmitter system. mAb 3A4 identifies a phosphorylated antigen that is undetectable in normal brain but accumulates early in the course of AD in somas of vulnerable neurons. Antigen 3A4 is distinct from material reactive with thioflavin S or antibody generated against paired helical filaments. Initially, antigen 3A4 is localized to neurons in the entorhinal cortex and subiculum, later in the association neocortex, and, ultimately in cases of long duration, in primary sensory cortical regions. mAb 3F12 recognizes multiple bands on immunoblots of homogenates of normal and Ad cortical tissues, whereas mAb 3A4 does not bind to immunoblots containing neurofilament proteins or brain homogenates from AD patients. Ultrastructurally, antigen 3A4 is localized to paired-helical filaments. Using these mAbs, further molecular characterization of the affected cortical neurons is now possible

Mechanics of periodic elastomeric structures with varying void volume fraction and thin-film coating

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2008."June 2008."Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-45).Super-elastic periodic structures possess special mechanical, photonic, phononic, and topological properties, making them particularly relevant for application at the micro and nano length scales. This study examines the behavior of such materials in two and three dimensions when void volume fraction is varied and a thin-film coating is incorporated. Computer modeling was used to predict and understand the mechanics of the transformation behavior; results showed that three-dimensional specimens behaved like their 2D counterparts and that addition of the film influenced structural transformation. Specifically, increasing volume fraction brought pattern transformation at lower values of stress and strain. Conversely, film presence postponed transformation and made it a gradual process. The film also showed considerable out-of-plane displacement and created a channel which spanned the structure. Out-of-plane motion and pattern transformation were verified experimentally by loading a 90 x 110 mm specimen to a strain of about 13% using a testing fixture. Although conducted in the macroscopic domain, experimental behavior can be expected at smaller length scales. The transformations and the surface topology alterations are reversible upon unloading, giving the ability to use deformation as a means of tuning or switching wave propagation properties that depend on periodicity, and surface properties that depend on topology.by Michael C. Kozlowski.S.B

Forest resource information system, phase 3

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Are economists overconfident? Ideology and uncertainty in expert opinion

Economics frequently serves as an advisory discipline to policymakers, bolstered in part by its claims to a unified intellectual framework and high disciplinary consensus. Recent research challenges this perspective, providing empirical evidence that economists' professional opinions are divided by ideological commitments to either free markets on one hand or state intervention on the other. We investigate the influence of ideology in economics by examining the relation between economists' ideological commitments and the certainty with which they express their expert opinions. To examine this relationship, we analyze data from the Initiative on Global Markets Economic Experts Panel, a unique survey of 51 economists at seven elite American universities. Our results suggest that economists with ideologically patterned views report higher levels of certainty in their opinions than their less ideologically consistent peers, but this boost in confidence is limited to topics that closely pertain to the free market versus interventionism divide

Theory of agent-based market models with controlled levels of greed and anxiety

We use generating functional analysis to study minority-game type market models with generalized strategy valuation updates that control the psychology of agents' actions. The agents' choice between trend following and contrarian trading, and their vigor in each, depends on the overall state of the market. Even in `fake history' models, the theory now involves an effective overall bid process (coupled to the effective agent process) which can exhibit profound remanence effects and new phase transitions. For some models the bid process can be solved directly, others require Maxwell-construction type approximations.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figure

A Morse-theoretical analysis of gravitational lensing by a Kerr-Newman black hole

Consider, in the domain of outer communication of a Kerr-Newman black hole, a point (observation event) and a timelike curve (worldline of light source). Assume that the worldline of the source (i) has no past end-point, (ii) does not intersect the caustic of the past light-cone of the observation event, and (iii) goes neither to the horizon nor to infinity in the past. We prove that then for infinitely many positive integers k there is a past-pointing lightlike geodesic of (Morse) index k from the observation event to the worldline of the source, hence an observer at the observation event sees infinitely many images of the source. Moreover, we demonstrate that all lightlike geodesics from an event to a timelike curve in the domain of outer communication are confined to a certain spherical shell. Our characterization of this spherical shell shows that in the Kerr-Newman spacetime the occurrence of infinitely many images is intimately related to the occurrence of centrifugal-plus-Coriolis force reversal.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures; REVTEX; submitted to J. Math. Phy

Bug-in-Ear Technology as a Clinical Teaching Tool for Au.D. Education: A Pilot Study

Traditional forms of clinical pedagogy include post-observation feedback and side-by-side coaching. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate a newer strategy, bug-in-ear technology (BIET), in which clinical supervisors provide live feedback through a discrete earpiece. BIET has the potential to overcome limitations associated with traditional clinical pedagogy. This pilot study compared side-by-side coaching to BIET coaching, using standardized patients in an on-campus audiology clinic. In this study, first-year Au.D. students conducted a case history assessment for two standardized patients. Likert-response ratings and qualitative data from open-set questions indicated BIET coaching was well received by supervisors because it provided a discrete way to deliver quick, live feedback to students. Although supervisor ratings of BIET were slightly more positive than student ratings, comments from both students and supervisors indicated they could see BIET coaching working well in the future, with modifications. Likert-response items indicated student preference for BIET was associated with feelings of confidence and desire to use BIET. More research is needed to examine ways in which BIET coaching can be operationalized to support audiology clinical education