Products Liability, Consumer Misperceptions, and Market Power

This paper compares alternative liability rules for allocating losses from defective products when consumers under- estimate these losses and producers may have some market power. If producers do not have any market power, the rule of strict liability .leads to both the first-best accident probability and industry output. If producers do have some market power, strict liability still leads to the first-best accident probability, but there will now be too little output of the industry. It is shown that if market power is sufficiently large, a negligence rule is preferable. Under this rule, firms can still be induced to choose the first-best accident probability, but now the remaining damages are borne by consumers. Since consumers underestimate these damages, they buy more than under strict liability. However, there is a limit to how much the negligence rule can encourage extra consumption. It is shown that if market power is sufficiently large, the rule of no liability may then be preferred to the negligence rule. Without any liability imposed, producers will not choose the first-best accident probability. However, this may be more than compensated for by the increased output of the industry.

A Study of the Effects of the Chloride Ion on the Lead-Silver Anodes and on the Lead Tenor of the Zinc Deposit in Zinc Electrolysis

The electrolyte used in the commercial production of electrolytic zinc from zinc sulphate solutions contains small amounts of impurities each of which has its own effects upon the process. Impurities such as antimony, cobalt, nickel, and iron tend to lower the current efficiency while other impurities such as chlorine, fluorine, and nitrates tend to increase the corrosion of the lead anodes and thereby increase the lead tenor of the zinc deposit

On thinning of chains in MCMC

1. Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) is a simulation technique that has revolutionised the analysis of ecological data, allowing the fitting of complex models in a Bayesian framework. Since 2001, there have been nearly 200 papers using MCMC in publications of the Ecological Society of America and the British Ecological Society, including more than 75 in the journal Ecology and 35 in the Journal of Applied Ecology. 2. We have noted that many authors routinely ‘thin’ their simulations, discarding all but every kth sampled value; of the studies we surveyed with details on MCMC implementation, 40% reported thinning. 3. Thinning is often unnecessary and always inefficient, reducing the precision with which features of the Markov chain are summarised. The inefficiency of thinning MCMC output has been known since the early 1990’s, long before MCMC appeared in ecological publications. 4. We discuss the background and prevalence of thinning, illustrate its consequences, discuss circumstances when it might be regarded as a reasonable option and recommend against routine thinning of chains unless necessitated by computer memory limitations

Estimating age from recapture data: integrating incremental growth measures with ancillary data to infer age-at-length

Estimating the age of individuals in wild populations can be of fundamental importance for answering ecological questions, modeling population demographics, and managing exploited or threatened species. Significant effort has been devoted to determining age through the use of growth annuli, secondary physical characteristics related to age, and growth models. Many species, however, either do not exhibit physical characteristics useful for independent age validation or are too rare to justify sacrificing a large number of individuals to establish the relationship between size and age. Length-at-age models are well represented in the fisheries and other wildlife management literature. Many of these models overlook variation in growth rates of individuals and consider growth parameters as population parameters. More recent models have taken advantage of hierarchical structuring of parameters and Bayesian inference methods to allow for variation among individuals as functions of environmental covariates or individual-specific random effects. Here, we describe hierarchical models in which growth curves vary as individual-specific stochastic processes, and we show how these models can be fit using capture–recapture data for animals of unknown age along with data for animals of known age. We combine these independent data sources in a Bayesian analysis, distinguishing natural variation (among and within individuals) from measurement error. We illustrate using data for African dwarf crocodiles, comparing von Bertalanffy and logistic growth models. The analysis provides the means of predicting crocodile age, given a single measurement of head length. The von Bertalanffy was much better supported than the logistic growth model and predicted that dwarf crocodiles grow from 19.4 cm total length at birth to 32.9 cm in the first year and 45.3 cm by the end of their second year. Based on the minimum size of females observed with hatchlings, reproductive maturity was estimated to be at nine years. These size benchmarks are believed to represent thresholds for important demographic parameters; improved estimates of age, therefore, will increase the precision of population projection models. The modeling approach that we present can be applied to other species and offers significant advantages when multiple sources of data are available and traditional aging techniques are not practical

AMPHIBIAN RESPONSE TO A LARGE-SCALE HABITAT RESTORATION IN THE PRAIRIE POTHOLE REGION

Over the next half-century, scientists anticipate that nearly one third of the currently recognized 7,450 amphibian species will become extinct. Many organizations have responded to the challenge of conserving amphibian biodiversity, some indirectly. Under the auspices of the Iowa Great Lakes Management Plan, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Natural Resources, and their partners have been implementing habitat restoration efforts designed to protect water quality, provide recreational opportunities, and benefit wildlife at the regional level. With this program, over 130 wetlands have been created in the past 30 years on recently purchased public lands—one of the largest wetland restoration projects conducted in the Prairie Pothole Region of the Great Plains. While amphibians were not the main target of these restorations, we show that in response, 121 new breeding populations of native Northern Leopard Frogs (Lithobates pipiens; n = 80) and Eastern Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum; n = 41) have been established; in addition, we found 19 populations of non-native American Bullfrogs (L. catesbeianus). Using the program PRESENCE, we show that leopard frog occupancy was greatest in newer (<18 years old), intermediate-sized wetlands, and that tiger salamander occupancy was greatest in small wetlands without fish and larval bullfrogs. These data imply that because native amphibians responded positively to these newly established wetlands, habitat availability has likely been a factor in limiting population numbers. Further, these data suggest the presence of fishes and introduced bullfrogs interferes with the ability of tiger salamanders to colonize restored wetlands

A major QTL corresponding to the Rk locus for resistance to root-knot nematodes in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.).

Key messageGenome resolution of a major QTL associated with the Rk locus in cowpea for resistance to root-knot nematodes has significance for plant breeding programs and R gene characterization. Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) is a susceptible host of root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) (RKN), major plant-parasitic pests in global agriculture. To date, breeding for host resistance in cowpea has relied on phenotypic selection which requires time-consuming and expensive controlled infection assays. To facilitate marker-based selection, we aimed to identify and map quantitative trait loci (QTL) conferring the resistance trait. One recombinant inbred line (RIL) and two F2:3 populations, each derived from a cross between a susceptible and a resistant parent, were genotyped with genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. The populations were screened in the field for root-galling symptoms and/or under growth-chamber conditions for nematode reproduction levels using M. incognita and M. javanica biotypes. One major QTL was mapped consistently on linkage group VuLG11 of each population. By genotyping additional cowpea lines and near-isogenic lines derived from conventional backcrossing, we confirmed that the detected QTL co-localized with the genome region associated with the Rk locus for RKN resistance that has been used in conventional breeding for many decades. This chromosomal location defined with flanking markers will be a valuable target in marker-assisted breeding and for positional cloning of genes controlling RKN resistance

Metallurgical Structures of As-Cast and Heat-Treated High-Palladium Dental Alloys

Scanning electron microscope observations and energy-dispersive spectroscopic analyses have been performed on two first-generation and two second-generation high-palladium dental casting alloys. A specimen design simulating a maxillary central incisor coping was employed to conserve metal, while providing thin and thick sections to yield a range of solidification rates. The alloys were centrifugally cast in air, following standard dental laboratory techniques; three castings were prepared for each alloy. Each casting was sectioned to produce two mirror-image specimens, and one specimen received the appropriate oxidation heat treatment, followed by a simulated full porcelain firing sequence. After metallographic polishing, specimens were examined with a scanning electron microscope. The as-cast alloys displayed multi-phase microstructures which could be explained by the rapid solidification conditions and the relevant phase diagrams. The simulated porcelain firing heat treatment caused a variety of bulk microstructural changes in the coping sections, along with formation of complex subsurface oxidation regions which were less thick for the second-generation alloys. Elemental compositions of the palladium solid solution matrix in the heat-treated alloys were in good agreement with nominal alloy compositions provided by the manufacturers. Ruthenium-rich particles found in the microstructures of three alloys are consistent with a proposed mechanism for grain refinement

Metallurgical Structures of As-Cast and Heat-Treated High-Palladium Dental Alloys

Scanning electron microscope observations and energy-dispersive spectroscopic analyses have been performed on two first-generation and two second-generation high-palladium dental casting alloys. A specimen design simulating a maxillary central incisor coping was employed to conserve metal, while providing thin and thick sections to yield a range of solidification rates. The alloys were centrifugally cast in air, following standard dental laboratory techniques; three castings were prepared for each alloy. Each casting was sectioned to produce two mirror-image specimens, and one specimen received the appropriate oxidation heat treatment, followed by a simulated full porcelain firing sequence. After metallographic polishing, specimens were examined with a scanning electron microscope. The as-cast alloys displayed multi-phase microstructures which could be explained by the rapid solidification conditions and the relevant phase diagrams. The simulated porcelain firing heat treatment caused a variety of bulk microstructural changes in the coping sections, along with formation of complex subsurface oxidation regions which were less thick for the second-generation alloys. Elemental compositions of the palladium solid solution matrix in the heat-treated alloys were in good agreement with nominal alloy compositions provided by the manufacturers. Ruthenium-rich particles found in the microstructures of three alloys are consistent with a proposed mechanism for grain refinement