Should historic sites protection be targeted at the most famous? Evidence from a contingent valuation in Scotland

We used a contingent valuation survey of a random sample of the general public living in Scotland to estimate how willingness to pay (WTP) for the conservation of historic sites (such as castles and stone circles) varies with how well-known these sites are and whether people have visited them. Each respondent was asked to state a maximum WTP in terms of higher income taxes for the conservation of two sites, one of which was “famous” and one of which was less well-known. The hypothetical scenario involved payment to avoid future damage to each site. When observable differences in respondent characteristics are controlled for, we found no significant differences in mean WTP across sites. However, a significant effect was found for respondent familiarity with each site (in terms of recognising it on a photograph), with sites which respondents were more familiar with attracting higher WTP values. Distance effects on WTP were mixed: significant effects of distance of the site from respondents’ homes were only found for the less well-known sites, but not for famous sites. The main conclusions of the study were that (i) the Scottish general public are willing to pay for the conservation of historic sites and that (ii) such values exist as much for less well-known sites as for famous sites. This implies that public funds should not be allocated solely to conservation of the best-known sites

Hydrodynamic Processes in Massive Stars

The hydrodynamic processes operating within stellar interiors are far richer than represented by the best stellar evolution model available. Although it is now widely understood, through astrophysical simulation and relevant terrestrial experiment, that many of the basic assumptions which underlie our treatments of stellar evolution are flawed, we lack a suitable, comprehensive replacement. This is due to a deficiency in our fundamental understanding of the transport and mixing properties of a turbulent, reactive, magnetized plasma; a deficiency in knowledge which stems from the richness and variety of solutions which characterize the inherently non-linear set of governing equations. The exponential increase in availability of computing resources, however, is ushering in a new era of understanding complex hydrodynamic flows; and although this field is still in its formative stages, the sophistication already achieved is leading to a dramatic paradigm shift in how we model astrophysical fluid dynamics. We highlight here some recent results from a series of multi-dimensional stellar interior calculations which are part of a program designed to improve our one-dimensional treatment of massive star evolution and stellar evolution in general.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, IAUS 252 Conference Proceeding (Sanya) - "The Art of Modeling Stars in the 21st Century

Rise to the Challenge: Examining the Relationship of Swimming & Autism Spectrum Disorders

The following research was prompted mostly by a personal experience teaching a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) how to swim. An additional factor came from hearing about some of the challenges that faced individuals with special needs and the lack of preparedness or awareness of facilities to accommodate those needs. Overall, the main purpose of this study is to offer more insight to the rising challenges faced within the area of adapted aquatics specifically in relation to persons who are impacted by ans ASD. The hope is that by heightening awareness, more research will be done and individuals with a physical disability will be assisted with greater ease and readiness when it comes to acquiring swim skills

Comment évaluer les services rendus par les réseaux d’irrigation ? Application au cas de la recharge de nappe

Les réseaux d’irrigation gravitaires du Sud de la France sont souvent confrontés à des difficultés pour assurer la pérennité de leurs infrastructures et fournir un service d’irrigation acceptable. Ces réseaux contribuent par ailleurs à la production de services pour lesquels ils sont rarement rémunérés. Dans cet article, nous proposons une méthode d’évaluation économique des externalités produites par les réseaux d’irrigation, dans l’optique d’estimer leur potentielle valeur d’échange. Elle s’inscrit dans la volonté de prendre en considération ces effets indirects afin d’assurer la durabilité de ces systèmes d’irrigation et leur intégration aux politiques d’aménagement du territoire. La méthode est appliquée à la recharge de nappe sur le canal de Corbère (Pyrénées-Orientales). Elle permet de mettre en évidence des intervalles de valeurs pouvant encadrer le montant d’une éventuelle rémunération au cours de négociations entre les producteurs du service (le gestionnaire du canal) et le bénéficiaire. / Surface irrigation associations in Southern France do frequently face difficulties to ensure infrastructures’ durability and to provide a satisfying irrigation service. Besides, these systems also provide additional services, for which they almost never receive any remuneration. This paper studies a method for assessing the economic value of externalities produced by these irrigation systems, in order to estimate their potential exchange value. This method comes from the will to take these services into account into the local spatial planning and, thereby, to ensure the durability of such irrigation systems. The method is then applied to the case of groundwater recharge by the Corbère surface irrigation system (Pyrénées-Orientales, France). As a result, we propose a range of values within which a payment for these services could be negotiated between the suppliers (irrigation associations) and the beneficiaries

Interview with William Kuhfuss, Class of 1934

Oral history interview with Illinois State Normal University alumnus Bill Kuhfuss, Class of 1934. The interview was conducted in Fall 1979, by John Sayer of the Alumni Services Office. They discuss fiscal challenges at the time of the interview, the Great Depression, and changes in Bloomington-Normal.https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/aoh/1003/thumbnail.jp

Antenna selection in massive mimo based on matching pursuit

As wireless services proliferate, the demand for available spectrum also grows. As a result, the spectral efficiency is still an issue addressed by many researchers looking for solutions to provide quality of service to a growing number of users. massive MIMO is an attractive technology for the next wireless systems since it can alleviate the expected spectral shortage. This work proposes two antenna selection strategies to be applied in the downlink of a massive MIMO system, aiming at reducing the transmission power. The proposed algorithms can also be employed to select a subset of active sensors in centralized sensor networks. The proposed strategy to select the antennas is inspired by the matching pursuit technique. The presented results show that an efficient selection can be obtained with reduced computational complexity.Com a proliferação de serviços wireless, a demanda por espectro disponível também cresce. Logo, a eficiência espectral é um assunto de grande interesse na comunidade científica, que procura por meios para fornecer qualidade de serviço ao crescente número de usuários. massive MIMO é uma técnica repleta de atrativos a ser empregada na futura geração wireless, já que aproveita o espectro existente eficientemente. Este trabalho propõe duas estratégias de seleção de antenas para serem empregadas no downlink de um sistema massive MIMO, visando a redução da potência de transmissão. Os algoritmos propostos podem também ser usados para selecionar um subconjunto de sensores ativos em uma rede centralizada de sensores. A estratégia proposta para seleção de antenas é inspirada na técnica matching pursuit. Os resultados apresentados indicam que uma seleção eficiente pode ser obtida com baixa complexidade computacional

Dry Rotary Swaging with Structured Tools

AbstractRotary swaging is a cold bulk forming process. The diameter of the workpiece is reduced incrementally by oscillating movement of the tools. The established processes use lubricants which fulfill necessary functions such as lubricating, cooling and cleaning of the tools. Disadvantages caused by the use of lubricant are costs of recycling, replacement of lost coolant and for the cleaning of the workpiece. To eliminate the lubricant it is necessary to substitute the functions of the lubricant in other ways. For example by means of coating and structuring of the tools.In this study infeed rotary swaging with structured tools is investigated using finite element simulations. Different structures are implemented in the reduction zone of the tools. The influence is investigated by the radial and axial process forces. Additionally first structured tools are manufactured and experimentally tested. The results of modeling and testing are discussed

Nudging farmers to enrol land into agri-environmental schemes : the role of a collective bonus

This survey was funded by the ONEMA in the framework of the 2011 call for research projects ‘Changer les pratiques agricoles pour préserver les services écosystémiques’, supporting the implementation of the French National Action plan Ecophyto 2018.This article shows that the introduction of a conditional collective bonus in an agri-environmental scheme (AES) can improve farmers’ participation and increase land enrolment for lower overall budgetary costs. This monetary bonus is paid in addition to the usual AES payment if a given threshold is reached in terms of aggregate farmer participation. Using a choice experiment, we estimate the preferences of winegrowers in the South of France for such a bonus. We show that it contributes to increased expectations of farmers on others’ participation, therefore shifting a pro-environmental social norm and favouring the adoption of less pesticide-intensive farming practices.PostprintPeer reviewe

Intermediale Möglichkeiten von Film und Theater

Der Film „Noviembre“ von Achero Mañas aus dem Jahr 2003 ist im Gesamtpanorama der spanischen Filmlandschaft einzigartig, weil hier erstmals die Medien Straßentheater und Performance thematisiert werden. Die Frage nach den Auswirkungen der im Film präsentierten Medien auf den Film selbst und seine Bedeutung rückt das Phänomen der Intermedialität in den Fokus der Auseinandersetzung. Mit ihr stellt sich gleichfalls die Frage nach den Funktionen die, die Intermedialität in Bezug auf die Bedeutungskonstitution des Medienprodukts übernimmt. Anhand der Analysekategorien von Irina Rajewsky werden intermediale Bezüge des Films auf andere Medien vorgestellt und analysiert. Das Spiel von Realität und Fiktion, umgesetzt in der Wahl des Genres als Dokufiktion, eröffnet eine weitere Perspektive auf Prozesse der Intermedialität. Konkret werden anhand des gewählten Beispiels vier Funktionen der Intermedialität in der Arbeit vorgestellt: die Erinnerungsfunktion, das Eröffnen eines metamedialen Diskurses, die Erweiterung der Bedeutungsebene, und schließlich eine sogenannte „Brennpunktfunktion“

Do European agri-environment measures help reduce herbicide use? Evidence from viticulture in France

Funding for this research was provided by the French Agency for Water and Aquatic Environments (1073/2012) (ONEMA) as part of the 2011 call for projects ‘Changer les pratiques agricoles pour preserver les services ecosystemiques' supporting the implementation of the French National Action plan Ecophyto 2018. This paper was partly funded by the Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government.Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are a central component of the European environmental policy, but few of these schemes have been carefully evaluated and doubts are often expressed about their effectiveness. We use original data collected from winegrowers who participated in an AES targeting non-point source pollution from herbicides in 2011 and 2012 in the South region of France. Using the variation in the implementation of the scheme across time and space and a matching approach, we show that the quantity of herbicides used by participants in the scheme in 2011 ranges from 38 to 53% below what they would have used without the scheme and this percentage is between 42 and 50% in 2012. Further, our results suggest that least demanding AES options are effective in avoiding pollution peaks when weed pressure is high, whereas more demanding AES options guarantee an overall reduction in herbicide use, even during relatively easy farming years in which less weed pressure is experienced.PostprintPeer reviewe