The Costs and Benefits of Reducing Acid Rain

Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments initiated a dramatic reduction in emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides by electric power plants. This paper presents the results of an integrated assessment of the benefits and costs of the program, using the Tracking and Analysis Framework (TAF) developed for the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP). Although dramatic uncertainties characterize our estimates especially with respect to the benefits of the program, many of which we have modeled explicitly, we find that the benefits can be expected to substantially outweigh the costs of the emission reductions. The lion’s share of benefits result from reduced risk of premature mortality, especially through reduced exposure to sulfates, and these expected benefits measure several times the expected costs of the program. Significant benefits are also estimated for improvements in health morbidity, recreational visibility and residential visibility, each of which measures approximately equal to costs. In contrast, areas that were the focus of attention in the 1980s including effects to soils, forests and aquatic systems still have not been modeled comprehensively, but evidence suggests benefits in these areas to be relatively small, at least with respect to "use values" for the environmental assets that are affected.

Highway sustainability construction: reducing carbon emissions using process management.

Carbon emission is a critical issue in infrastructure development, including the highway construction industry. Previous studies suggest that continuous carbon emission across highway projects is due to the use of different types of construction equipment and their inherent activities. Several research studies focused on arbitrary evaluation in order to reduce carbon emission using simulation, life-cycle analysis and multi-criteria optimisation. However, the general lack of methodological rigour brings into question the effectiveness of these carbon reduction methods. In addition, some of these studies do not show suitable improvement in carbon reduction and some of the findings are restricted in their usability. The present study aims to develop an integrated technique and a better understanding for the use of process management in reducing carbon emissions from highway construction projects. The study uses the literature review as the basis for its enquiry, enabling the use of secondary information as inputs to the analytical hierarchy process. The result shows that 'Strategy' has the highest weight score. The pattern of results indicates that a new paradigm shift is required in the use of strategic process management approaches in highway carbon reduction. Two contributions are made: firstly, the recommendation for early decision-making in order to include carbon reduction strategy during the highway feasibility study and tender phases. Secondly, the recommendation to use the proposed strategic process management framework in determining realistic carbon reduction strategies across the highway construction sector

Impacts and Risk Management of COVID-19 Pandemic on Real Estate Supply Chain

Industry experts internationally have raised concerns regarding the significant risk posed to the real estate sector by the unprecedented global pandemic of Covid-19. The influence of Covid-19 has been swift, and with emerging wide-ranging consequences. The stay-at-home-policy has stagnated real estate and other economic activities. Many lenders, buyers and estate agents are evaluating the threats and opportunities in their operations. Developers face stoppages resulting from the impact and inherent risks of the stay-at-home policies on the built environment, and real estate chain. Return on investments initiated, but not completed due to the pandemic negative effect has resulted in a financial crisis. Similarly, there are fears that income streams, such as rental incomes, and mortgage payments, which are already being affected negatively in the short-term may worsen in the long-term due to economic recession. The purpose of the study, therefore, is to identify any COVID-19 pandemic impact, its mitigation for the tenant, and across the supply chain within the real estate sector in the United Kingdom. The study is based on a qualitative descriptive research design. The required data has been collected mainly through an extensive review of the available secondary sources. Occupiers’ Sentiment Index and past recessionary financial performance were used to provide a wide-ranging insight into crisis effects on the macroeconomy of the property market. Consequently, two procedural approaches are utilised; firstly, the economic recovery scenario V, U, W and L shapes, are analysed to determine the potential recovery pattern of supply chains across the real estate sector. Secondly, the use of a legal context to mitigate the pandemic risk across the sector. The findings reveal an emerging dynamic trend, rooted in contract clause revamping, as suggestive of a mitigation approach by the industry. The significance of the study provides a robust platform on which a long-term response to any future unprecedented pandemic within the real estate-built environment can be delivered

Impacts and risk management of COVID-19 pandemic on real estate supply chain.

Industry experts internationally have raised concerns regarding the significant risk posed to the real estate sector by the unprecedented global pandemic of Covid-19. The influence of Covid-19 has been swift, and with emerging wide-ranging consequences. The stay-at-home-policy has stagnated real estate and other economic activities. Many lenders, buyers and estate agents are evaluating the threats and opportunities in their operations. Developers face stoppages resulting from the impact and inherent risks of the stay-at-home policies on the built environment, and real estate chain. Return on investments initiated, but not completed due to the pandemic negative effect has resulted in a financial crisis. Similarly, there are fears that income streams, such as rental incomes, and mortgage payments, which are already being affected negatively in the short-term may worsen in the long-term due to economic recession. The purpose of the study, therefore, is to identify any COVID-19 pandemic impact, its mitigation for the tenant, and across the supply chain within the real estate sector in the United Kingdom. The study is based on a qualitative descriptive research design. The required data has been collected mainly through an extensive review of the available secondary sources. Occupiers’ Sentiment Index and past recessionary financial performance were used to provide a wide-ranging insight into crisis effects on the macroeconomy of the property market. Consequently, two procedural approaches are utilised; firstly, the economic recovery scenario V, U, W and L shapes, are analysed to determine the potential recovery pattern of supply chains across the real estate sector. Secondly, the use of a legal context to mitigate the pandemic risk across the sector. The findings reveal an emerging dynamic trend, rooted in contract clause revamping, as suggestive of a mitigation approach by the industry. The significance of the study provides a robust platform on which a long-term response to any future unprecedented pandemic within the real estate-built environment can be delivered

Rentabilidade de diversas espécies agrícolas durante o estabelecimento de sistemas agroflorestais agroecológicos

TCC(graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de Ciências Biológicas. Biologia.A adoção de sistemas agroecológicos por agricultores ainda ocorre de maneira lenta, de modo que diferentes estudos apontam aspectos sócio-econômicos entre os principais gargalos contribuindo para isso. O período inicial de implantação destes modelos, neste caso, destaca-se por ser uma fase delicada economicamente ao produtor, uma vez que os gastos são altos e muitas vezes o retorno não. Tendo isso em vista, o presente trabalho procurou comparar a rentabilidade de diversas espécies anuais agrícolas durante o primeiro ano de cultivo de um sistema agroflorestal agroecológico, em São Pedro de Alcântara – SC. Para tal, foram considerados os custos envolvidos com a implantação de 23 espécies, bem como a produtividade e valores de comercialização apresentados por cada uma. Em seguida, foram estimados seus rendimentos líquidos e potencial de recuperação de investimentos. Observou-se, enfim, uma grande variabilidade de rentabilidade entre as espécies. A grande maioria das espécies apresentou uma renda líquida média negativa, de modo que apenas a Capuchinha e a Mandioca obtiveram rendimentos líquidos positivos, suficientes para cobrir o gasto nelas investido. Tais resultados estão diretamente associados à produtividades muito baixas verificadas para cada espécie, e que devem ter ocorrido devido a fatores ambientais locais desfavoráveis à produção, como infertilidade e compactação do solo, bem como um período de seca nos primeiros meses. Além disso, os gastos com mão de obra representaram os maiores custos neste período, e tiveram grande importância para o saldo final. De maneira geral, os resultados verificados são consequência de um período de “aprendizado”, em que se desconhecia a adaptabilidade de cada espécie ao local, bem como de um cenário desfavorável, em que as condições para produção não eram as mais adequadas.The adoption of agro-ecological systems by farmers still occurs slowly, so that different studies point out social-economic issues between the most important bottlenecks contributing for that. The initial establishment period of these models, in this case, stands out for being an economically delicate phase for the producer, once the costs are high and in many occasions the returns aren’t. With that in mind, this study aimed to compare the net income of different annual species during the first year of an agro-ecological agroforestry system in São Pedro de Alcântara/SC. For that, the costs involved with the implantation of 23 species were considered, so as the productivity and marketing values presented by each of them. In sequence, the net income and the investment recovery potential were estimated. With that, a high variability of the net income was observed between the species. Most part of them presented a negative net result, so that only the Garden Nasturtiun and the Cassava obtained positive net results, sufficient to cover their investments. These results are directly linked to the low productivities verified for each species, and they probably were a consequence of adverse local environmental conditions for cultivation, such as soil compression and infertility, so as a dry period in the first months. In addition, the costs with labor represented the main spending’s in this period, and had a great importance for the final balance. Generally, the performances observed can be explained as a result of a “learning” period, in which the adaptability of each species to the location where unknown, so as due to a “conservative” scenario wherein the conditions for production were unfavorable

A Graphical Tool and Methods for Assessing Margin Definition From Daily Image Deformations

Estimating the proper margins for the planning target volume (PTV) could be a challenging task in cases where the organ undergoes significant changes during the course of radiotherapy treatment. Developments in image-guidance and the presence of onboard imaging technologies facilitate the process of correcting setup errors. However, estimation of errors to organ motions remain an open question due to the lack of proper software tools to accompany these imaging technological advances. Therefore, we have developed a new tool for visualization and quantification of deformations from daily images. The tool allows for estimation of tumor coverage and normal tissue exposure as a function of selected margin (isotropic or anisotropic). Moreover, the software allows estimation of the optimal margin based on the probability of an organ being present at a particular location. Methods based on swarm intelligence, specifically Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) are used to provide an efficient estimate of the optimal margin extent in each direction. ACO can provide global optimal solutions in highly nonlinear problems such as margin estimation. The proposed method is demonstrated using cases from gastric lymphoma with daily TomoTherapy megavoltage CT (MVCT) contours. Preliminary results using Dice similarity index are promising and it is expected that the proposed tool will be very helpful and have significant impact for guiding future margin definition protocols

In Opposition to Epistemic Modesty

The purpose of this paper is to refute the philosophy of epistemic modesty; we attempt to do so through three types of arguments. 1.) By employing the principle of explosion, as well as the telescoping and Taylor polynomial series of calculus to develop logically-backed arguments and scenarios, we evaluate the definitional vagueness of deep content. Through this established logic, we have found that professor Farid Masrour’s concept of deep content implicates the concept of infinitely deeper content; that infinitely deeper content is unnecessary to definitively determine the truth value of certain content; and that infinitely deeper content can be approximated to determine the definitive truth value of certain other content without 100 percent certainty. 2.) Given the context of infinite impacts, religions and philosophies such as Christianity and absolute deontology justify infinite violence under epistemic modesty. Given that an epistemically modest individual would follow the moral advice of someone more knowledgeable about morality and ethics than themselves, we concluded epistemic modesty to be dangerous. Furthermore, we contended that a core tenet of epistemic modesty – cross-paradigm comparison – is impossible due to the lack of a consistent locus of value between various philosophies. 3.) By applying an alternative epistemological school of thought in order to solve the unhooking problem presented by Masrour, we argue that epistemic modesty is unneeded to detach ordinary projects from anti-skeptical ones. Specifically, epistemic disjunctivism, an immodest epistemology, provides the same advantage in regards to the unhooking problem while aligning more closely to contemporary linguistic norms. The conclusion is that epistemic modesty is implausible as a philosophy

Recurrent adult-onset hypophyseal Langerhans cell histiocytosis after radiotherapy: A case report

INTRODUCTION: Langerhans cell histiocytosis is a rare disease within the adult population, with very few cases reported as solitary hypophyseal lesions in adults. Of the reported cases, most have been treated successfully with surgery, radiotherapy, and/or chemotherapy. Radiotherapy has been thought to be curative at the relatively low dose of 20Gy. Here we report a case of recurrent hypophyseal Langerhans cell histiocytosis 9 months after radiotherapy with an interval period of symptomatic and radiographic response to therapy. CASE PRESENTATION: A 50-year-old Caucasian woman who had headaches, memory difficulties, and diabetes insipidus was found to have a 2.5cm suprasellar mass. Langerhans cell histiocytosis was diagnosed following stereotactic brain biopsy. Further workup revealed no other lesions. Initial radiation treatment succeeded in shrinking the tumor and relieving clinical symptoms temporarily; however, growth and recurrence of clinical symptoms was noted at 9 months. Re-irradiation was well tolerated and the patient had no acute side effects. CONCLUSION: Isolated hypophyseal involvement by Langerhans cell histiocytosis in adults is a unique presentation of a rare disease. Although radiotherapy doses as low as 20Gy have been reported to offer control, this case demonstrates that higher doses may be warranted to ensure tumor control. With modern imaging and radiotherapy techniques higher doses should offer little increased more durable risk to surrounding critical structures

A High Density Integrated Genetic Linkage Map of Soybean and the Development of a 1536 Universal Soy Linkage Panel for Quantitative Trait Locus Mapping

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are the marker of choice for many researchers due to their abundance and the high-throughput methods available for their multiplex analysis. Only recently have SNP markers been available to researchers in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] with the release of the third version of the consensus genetic linkage map that added 1141 SNP markers to the map. Our objectives were to add 2500 additional SNP markers to the soybean integrated map and select a set of 1536 SNPs to create a universal linkage panel for high-throughput soybean quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping. The GoldenGate assay is one high-throughput analysis method capable of genotyping 1536 SNPs in 192 DNA samples over a 3-d period. We designed GoldenGate assays for 3456 SNPs (2956 new plus 500 previously mapped) which were used to screen three recombinant inbred line populations and diverse germplasm. A total of 3000 workable assays were obtained which added about 2500 new SNP markers to create a fourth version of the soybean integrated linkage map. To create a “Universal Soy Linkage Panel” (USLP 1.0) of 1536 SNP loci, SNPs were selected based on even distribution throughout each of the 20 consensus linkage groups and to have a broad range of allele frequencies in diverse germplasm. The 1536 USLP 1.0 will be able to quickly create a comprehensive genetic map in most QTL mapping populations and thus will serve as a useful tool for high-throughput QTL mapping