Willingness to Pay for the Preservation of Lo Go - Xa Mat National Park in Vietnam

Lo Go - Xa Mat National Park has great value in terms of biodiversity but preserving the park is a great challenge for the Vietnamese government. This study estimated the willingness to pay of households to preserve Lo Go - Xa Mat National Park, using the contingent valuation method. We employed the single-bounded dichotomous choice question format to estimate how much households in Ho Chi Minh City were willing to contribute towards a preservation plan for the park. This plan comprised twelve preservation activities and compensating the local communities for their foregone income. The study found that households in Ho Chi Minh City were willing to pay at least VND 6,209 per month for three years for the preservation of Lo Go - Xa Mat National Park. With protest votes included, factors strongly affecting households' willingness to pay were bid amount and the amount of their monthly electricity bill. The education level of the respondents and the number of working people in the household had significant but lesser impact on their willingness to pay. Without protest votes, the bid amount, monthly electricity bill amount and education level of respondents significantly affected willingness to pay. We found that the annualized benefit value of the project was larger than its annualized cost. This indicated that the preservation plan was economically viable. This study does not provide the total value of Lo Go - Xa Mat National Park, but it shows the great value of the park in terms of local households' willingness to pay for its preservation and this is important information for policy-makers in deciding how to protect the park efficiently.willingness to pay, Vietnam

Scientific Progress, Understanding, and Knowledge: Reply to Park

Dellsén has recently argued for an understanding-based account of scientific progress, the noetic account, according to which science makes cognitive progress precisely when it increases our understanding of some aspect of the world. I contrast this account with Bird’s ; epistemic account, according to which such progress is made precisely when our knowledge of the world is increased or accumulated. In a recent paper, Park criticizes various aspects of my account and his arguments in favor of the noetic account as against Bird’s epistemic account. This paper responds to Park’s objections. An important upshot of the paper is that we should distinguish between episodes that constitute and promote scientific progress, and evaluate account of scientific progress in terms of how they classify different episodes with respect to these categories

Notes on the Quadratic Integers and Real Quadratic Number Fields

It is shown that when a real quadratic integer $\xi$ of fixed norm $\mu$ is considered, the fundamental unit $\varepsilon_d$ of the field $\mathbb{Q}(\xi) = \mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{d})$ satisfies $\log \varepsilon_d \gg (\log d)^2$ almost always. An easy construction of a more general set containing all the radicands $d$ of such fields is given via quadratic sequences, and the efficiency of this substitution is estimated explicitly. When $\mu = -1$, the construction gives all $d$'s for which the negative Pell's equation $X^2 - d Y^2 = -1$ (or more generally $X^2 - D Y^2 = -4$) is soluble. When $\mu$ is a prime, it gives all of the real quadratic fields in which the prime ideals lying over $\mu$ are principal

Reduced-complexity transmit-beamforming codebook search algorithm

A two-stage reduced-complexity index search algorithm is proposed for finding the best vector in the codebook of quantised equal gain transmission based multiple-input multiple-output arrangements. When the number of transmit antennas is more than three, the normalised complexity is halved while maintaining the same symbol error rate as the benchmark

Ways to Preserve Biological Diversity of Bog Ecosystems within Natural Parks System

Results of field research, GIS-mapping and simulation of ecosystems including relict bogs within the conservation area of a new regional Natural park are represented in the article. Functional zoning of the park area with the argumentation of different use provisions have been developed on the basis of author’s landscape pla

Pengetahuan Masyarakat Pekurehua di Sekitar Taman Nasional Lore Lindu, Sulawesi Tengah Tentang Tumbuhan Obat dan Pemanfaatannya

The Lore Lindu National Park is one of National Parks in Indonesia. This National Park belongs to Donggala and Poso district, Central Sulawesi Province, administratively total area is 229.000 Ha. The major ethnics who live in this Park are Kaili, Behoa and Pekurehua. In order to explore the medicinal plants used by them, the ethno botany study is carried out by direct interview to Pekurehua tribes in Wuasa, Poso district, Central Sulawesi, eastern part of Lore Lindu National Park. It has been known that about 104 species from 93 genera and 46 families are used as medicinal plants by Pekurehua tribes. Some of the medicinal plants have herb habits and those species can be used to cure approximately 46 types of illness. One of those species, Hiha (Alstonia scholar is) is categorized as an endangered species and it is used by them as well. Pekurehua people is not only used the higher plants as medicines but also lower plant, such as lichen (Parmeliaceae)

Charge and spin ordering in Nd{1/3}Sr{2/3}FeO{3}

We have investigated the charge and spin ordering in Nd{1/3}Sr{2/3}FeO{3} with neutron diffraction technique. This sample undergoes a charge ordering transition accompanying charge disproportionation of 2Fe4+ -> Fe3+ + Fe5+. We measured the superlattice reflections due to the charge and spin ordering, and confirmed that charges and spins order simultaneously at Tco = 185 K. The ordering pattern of charges and spins in this sample can be viewed as three dimensional stripe order, and is compared with two dimensional stripe order observed in other transition metal oxides.Comment: REVTeX, 4 pages, 3 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Chem. Solid

Sistem Informasi Prediksi Jumlah Wisatawan Pada Jawa Timur Park Group Kota Wisata Batu Menggunakan Metode Forecasting

Pada tahun 2015 ini, Jawa Timur Park Group berencana meningkatkan jumlah kunjungan wisatawan ke Kota Batu pada umumnya dan ke objek wisata Jawa Timur Park Group pada khususnya menjadi 4,5 juta wisatawan. Dengan adanya rencana target tersebut, maka salah satu cara yang dapat dilakukan adalah mendapatkan sumber informasi yang akurat untuk memperoleh nilai peramalan di periode selanjutnya dengan dibuatnya sistem informasi prediksi yang menggunakan metode Forcasting dengan algoritma Weghted Moving Average. Dari metode peramalan tersebut dapat dihitung forcast error atau nilai errornya dengan menggunakan algoritma Mean Error. Metode tersebut digunakan untuk memberikan kemudahan pada bagian Marketing Jawa Timur Park Group dalam membuat kebijakan rencana kedatangan jumlah wisatawan dengan adanya nilai peramalan diperiode selanjutnya ini. Dari analisa yang telah dilakukan, dapat disimpulkan bahwa sistem informasi prediksi ini dapat digunakan untuk mengetahui prediksi jumlah wisatawan yang berkunjung Jawa Timur Park Group pada periode selanjutnya, sehingga dapat memberikan kemudahan pada bagian Marketing Jawa Timur Park Group dalam membuat kebijakan rencana kedatangan jumlah wisatawan