Religious Relationships with the Environment in a Tibetan Rural Community : Interactions and Contrasts with Popular Notions of Indigenous Environmentalism

Acknowledgments: We thank Beijing Forestry University, our field assistants Tashi Rabden, Pema Dechin, Tsewang Chomtso and Gele Chopel for their invaluable help, the Forest Bureau of Daocheng county for permission and support, and the people of Samdo for their hospitality and participation. The research was funded by the ESRC and the World Pheasant Association. This paper is a contribution to Imperial College’s Grand Challenges in Ecosystems and the Environment initiative. Two anonymous reviewers gave valuable comments on the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Expansion of flight simulator capability for study and solution of aircraft directional control problems on runways, appendixes

The models used to implement the DC-9-10 aircraft simulation for the Runway Direction Control study are presented. The study was done on the Douglas Aircraft six-degree-of-freedom motion simulator. Documentation of the models was in algebraic form, to the extent possible. Effort was directed toward presenting what was actually done rather than general forms

The LATDYN user's manual

The LATDYN User's Manual presents the capabilities and instructions for the LATDYN (Large Angle Transient DYNamics) computer program. The LATDYN program is a tool for analyzing the controlled or uncontrolled dynamic transient behavior of interconnected deformable multi-body systems which can undergo large angular motions of each body relative other bodies. The program accommodates large structural deformation as well as large rigid body rotations and is applicable, but not limited to, the following areas: (1) development of large flexible space structures; (2) slewing of large space structure components; (3) mechanisms with rigid or elastic components; and (4) robotic manipulations of beam members. Presently the program is limited to two dimensional problems, but in many cases, three dimensional problems can be exactly or approximately reduced to two dimensions. The program uses convected finite elements to affect the large angular motions involved in the analysis. General geometry is permitted. Detailed user input and output specifications are provided and discussed with example runstreams. To date, LATDYN has been configured for CDC/NOS and DEC VAX/VMS machines. All coding is in ANSII-77 FORTRAN. Detailed instructions regarding interfaces with particular computer operating systems and file structures are provided

External Diseconomies in Competitive Supply: Comment

In a recent article in this Review, Charles Goetz and James Buchanan (G-B) assert that . . . the standard description of misallocation in the presence of external production diseconomies is misleading . . . because these externalities produce a . . . combination of exchange-inefficiency with production-inefficiency [which ] renders the construction of correction devices much more difficult (p. 889). Stated otherwise their contention is that with external diseconomies that are internal to an industry, i.e., those that each firm in an industry inflicts on other firms in the same industry, a competitive regime in the presence of a per unit tax on output designed to eliminate the difference between private and social marginal cost will not achieve a Pareto optimum. The competitive equilibrium even after the imposition of the corrective tax lies inside the production possibilities frontier. The purpose of this note is to suggest that the G-B analysis while technically correct is based on a set of assumptions that differs in a particular aspect from what we believe to be the assumptions of the neoclassical paradigm. Moreover within the framework of the neoclassical model we show the standard prescription regarding a corrective tax to be correct. As it turns out, the difference between the G-B model and the neoclassical model is likely to be negligible in any meaningful application but in any case we show that in the G-B model, a lump sum tax imposed on top of the standard Pigovian per-unit tax will restore full Pareto optimality

External Diseconomies in Competitive Supply: Comment

In a recent article in this Review, Charles Goetz and James Buchanan (G-B) assert that . . . the standard description of misallocation in the presence of external production diseconomies is misleading . . . because these externalities produce a . . . combination of exchange-inefficiency with production-inefficiency [which ] renders the construction of correction devices much more difficult (p. 889). Stated otherwise their contention is that with external diseconomies that are internal to an industry, i.e., those that each firm in an industry inflicts on other firms in the same industry, a competitive regime in the presence of a per unit tax on output designed to eliminate the difference between private and social marginal cost will not achieve a Pareto optimum. The competitive equilibrium even after the imposition of the corrective tax lies inside the production possibilities frontier. The purpose of this note is to suggest that the G-B analysis while technically correct is based on a set of assumptions that differs in a particular aspect from what we believe to be the assumptions of the neoclassical paradigm. Moreover within the framework of the neoclassical model we show the standard prescription regarding a corrective tax to be correct. As it turns out, the difference between the G-B model and the neoclassical model is likely to be negligible in any meaningful application but in any case we show that in the G-B model, a lump sum tax imposed on top of the standard Pigovian per-unit tax will restore full Pareto optimality

External Economies and Competitive Equilibrium

In an article published in 1955, Murray Kemp analyzed the case for interference with the competitive allocation of resources when external economies of production are present. In the specific model we are interested in—where the costs of any one producer\u27s operations are affected by the total output of all producers of the same product—Kemp attempted to show that where entry into the industry is closed (although the industry is otherwise perfectly competitive), there can always be found a subsidy, either on the product or on a particular factor, which will be a sufficient incentive to firms to produce an optimal output or to use an optimal quantity of each factor. However Kemp argues that where there is open entry, subsidies are rarely a sufficient remedy for the misallocation of resources resulting from external economies; in many cases found in reality, fiscal controls are impotent to restore an optimal allocation of resources. In the absence of far-reaching changes in the laws safeguarding property rights, the only possible solution [emphasis added] in those cases involves recourse to direct controls. We disagree with this conclusion and intend to show that for the kind of external economy discussed by Kemp, even in the case of open entry a simple Pigovian subsidy is sufficient to restore the economy to a Pareto-optimal position. (A similar conclusion applies to external diseconomies where a tax is the policy variable.

The small FNR regulon of Neisseria gonorrhoeae: comparison with the larger Escherichia coli FNR regulon and interaction with the NarQ-NarP regulon

BACKGROUND: Neisseria gonorrhoeae can survive during oxygen starvation by reducing nitrite to nitrous oxide catalysed by the nitrite and nitric oxide reductases, AniA and NorB. The oxygen-sensing transcription factor, FNR, is essential for transcription activation at the aniA promoter, and full activation also requires the two-component regulatory system, NarQ-NarP, and the presence of nitrite. The only other gene known to be activated by the gonococcal FNR is ccp encoding a cytochrome c peroxidase, and no FNR-repressed genes have been reported in the gonococcus. In contrast, FNR acts as both an activator and repressor involved in the control of more than 100 operons in E. coli regulating major changes in the adaptation from aerobic to anaerobic conditions. In this study we have performed a microarray-led investigation of the FNR-mediated responses in N. gonorrhoeae to determine the physiological similarities and differences in the role of FNR in cellular regulation in this species. RESULTS: Microarray experiments show that N. gonorrhoeae FNR controls a much smaller regulon than its E. coli counterpart; it activates transcription of aniA and thirteen other genes, and represses transcription of six genes that include dnrN and norB. Having previously shown that a single amino acid substitution is sufficient to enable the gonococcal FNR to complement an E. coli fnr mutation, we investigated whether the gonococcal NarQ-NarP can substitute for E. coli NarX-NarL or NarQ-NarP. A plasmid expressing gonococcal narQ-narP was unable to complement E. coli narQP or narXL mutants, and was insensitive to nitrate or nitrite. Mutations that progressively changed the periplasmic nitrate sensing region, the P box, of E. coli NarQ to the sequence of the corresponding region of gonococcal NarQ resulted in loss of transcription activation in response to the availability of either nitrate or nitrite. However, the previously reported ligand-insensitive ability of gonococcal NarQ, the "locked on" phenotype, to activate either E. coli NarL or NarP was confirmed. CONCLUSION: Despite the sequence similarities between transcription activators of E. coli and N. gonorrhoeae, these results emphasise the fundamental differences in transcription regulation between these two types of pathogenic bacteria

Interactive voice response system (IVRS): Data quality considerations and lessons learned during a microbicide placebo adherence trial with young men who have sex with men.

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106616/1/Interactive voice response system IVRS Data quality considerations and lessons learned during a microbicide placebo adherence trial with young men who have sex with men.pd

Probing the Pulsar Wind Nebula of PSR B0355+54

We present XMM-Newton and Chandra X-ray observations of the middle-aged radio pulsar PSR B0355+54. Our X-ray observations reveal emission not only from the pulsar itself, but also from a compact diffuse component extending ~50'' in the opposite direction to the pulsar's proper motion. There is also evidence for the presence of fainter diffuse emission extending ~5' from the point source. The compact diffuse feature is well-fitted with a power-law, the index of which is consistent with the values found for other pulsar wind nebulae. The morphology of the diffuse component is similar to the ram-pressure confined pulsar wind nebulae detected for other sources. The X-ray emission from the pulsar itself is described well by a thermal plus power-law fit, with the thermal emission most likely originating in a hot polar cap.Comment: 9 pages (uses emulateapj.cls), 8 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in Ap

INTEGRAL observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud

The first INTEGRAL observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud (carried out in 2003) are reported in which two sources are clearly detected. The first source, SMC X-1, shows a hard X-ray eclipse and measurements of its pulse period indicate a continuation of the long-term spin-up now covering ~30 years. The second source is likely to be a high mass X-ray binary, and shows a potential periodicity of 6.8s in the IBIS lightcurve. An exact X-ray or optical counterpart cannot be designated, but a number of proposed counterparts are discussed. One of these possible counterparts shows a strong coherent optical modulation at ~2.7d, which, together with the measured hard X-ray pulse period, would lead to this INTEGRAL source being classified as the fourth known high mass Roche lobe overflow system.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA