EMERGING AGRICULTURAL WATER CONSERVATION PRICE INCENTIVES

Recent Bureau of Reclamation policies encourage or require irrigation districts to adopt price conservation incentives. Using unpublished survey results and new district-level information, we examine the rate structures and incentives of district water pricing. Our findings reveal that the majority of districts use fixed charges independent of the quantity of water delivered and that most conservation rate structures recently implemented are designed so that the first tier quantity allocation satisfies most crop water needs. Although other district management objectives may be satisfied, price incentives are diminished or nonexistent. The question of whether conservation is being achieved is tautological and depends on how each district defines conservation.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

IRRIGATION DISTRICT ADOPTION OF WATER CONSERVING RATE STRUCTURES

A binary choice model was used to identify the attributes that influence irrigation district adoption of conservation rate structures. Using principles of rate design and irrigation district administration as a framework, measures of irrigation district rate structure objectives and physical and economic conditions were developed. The factors investigated characterize the constraints under which districts operate, value and cost of water, quantity of water delivered and revenue risk for districts. Rate structure adoption was predicted with over 75% accuracy. Both significant and non-significant factors are key to understanding rate choice. Districts were more likely to adopt conservation rate pricing when the cost of water to farmers was greater, higher value crops were grown and in areas with warmer and longer growing seasons. These conditions may be interpreted as reflecting the presence of greater opportunity costs in allocating water between low and higher valued uses. Conservation rate pricing was less likely to be adopted by districts where the proportion of alfalfa to total acreage was higher and with higher per acre deliveries of water. Somewhat surprisingly, annual variation in water deliveries (which should increase the risk of revenue shortfalls) and size of the district (larger districts being more sophisticated) have little bearing on the type of rate structure adopted.Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Goal-setting intervention to reduce occupational sedentary behaviour

Introduction: Occupational sedentary behaviour is an emerging public health concern. Office-based workplaces provide an ideal setting to implement an intervention due to the large proportion of sitting time reported during work hours. Previous sedentary behaviour interventions have included goal-setting as a behaviour change strategy with promising results. The aim of the current study was to explore the most and least effective goals as perceived by office-based workers for reducing occupational sedentary behaviour. Methods: Twenty-Seven University-based office workers participated in the study. Participants were invited to participate in an interview after the completion of a 6-week intervention where participants self-determined six incremental goals. The interview was audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Following this, the data was thematically analysed. Results: As a collective group, the goals which were considered to be the most effective included walking further or up/down stairs to attend amenities, standing when the phone rang and/or standing for the duration of the phone call, walking further to fill water bottle, walking during a break or walking to visit colleagues or to a specific area. Coincidentally, the least effective goals included standing while on the phone and walking during the day. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the same goal can be considered to be the most or least effective for an individual. This indicated that sedentary behaviour goal-setting interventions need to account for individual preference and match the level of willingness of the participant as a 'one size fits all' approach is unlikely to be effective

EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONSERVATION WATER-PRICING PROGRAMS: REPLY

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONSERVATION WATER-PRICING PROGRAMS

Charging farmers increasing block prices for irrigation deliveries is advocated as a means of encouraging agricultural water conservation in the West. We formulated a model of a hypothetical irrigated river basin to investigate the hyrdro-economic circumstances in which such pricing leads to water conservation. Our results indicate that increasing delivery prices may encourage irrigators to make adjustments with countervailing impacts on consumptive water use and conservation. Whether these countervailing impacts combine to conserve water or increase its consumptive use must be resolved empirically. An alternative resolution of this ambiguity is to assess water prices in terms of consumptive use.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Reliability and validity of the ActivPAL activity monitor for office-based tasks

The ActivPAL physical activity monitor has been previously reported as a reliable and valid tool to measure everyday physical activities. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the ActivPAL during typical office-based activities. A convenient sample of 10 adults participated in this study with two ActivPAL units attached to the participant's right thigh. Participants completed 6 minutes of specific office-based tasks such as typing an email, writing on a whiteboard, collecting printing and running a small errand with instructions provided through an audio recording. Each bout was filmed with time of sitting, standing and walking visually assessed using the same categories provided by the ActivPAL analysis. Reliability between ActivPAL recordings was assessed via Wilcoxon comparisons and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Relative error was calculated as the difference between visual observations and ActivPAL recordings. Validity was assessed via Wilcoxon comparisons between ActivPAL recordings and video observations. There were no significant differences between ActivPAL units for sitting (196.2+/-5.0 vs. 195.9+/-5.1 seconds), standing (121.8+/-4.8 vs. 122.3+/-6.9 seconds) or walking (42.0+/-6.1 vs. 41.9+/-7.1 seconds) activities. Significant ICC were detected for sitting (0.928), standing (0.849) and walking (0.849) time. In contrast, the ActivPAL recordings for sitting, standing and walking time were significantly different to visual observations (p3.8%, >24.5% and >54.1%, respectively. The current study has identified ActivPAL units as reliable tools to document physical activity. However, the ActivPAL underestimated sitting and walking time, and overestimated standing time during office-based tasks

An update on e-cigarettes and orthodontics

E-cigarettes can be a useful cessation aid for adult smokers. However, the use of e-cigarettes by young people in the UK has been on the rise and is of increasing concern. The implications of e-cigarette use among patients undergoing orthodontic treatment have not yet been reviewed. This narrative review explores the emerging evidence base underpinning the relationship of e-cigarette use on tooth movement, demineralization and surgical outcomes

Socioeconomic deprivation and surgical outcomes: ISOS and VISION-UK sub-study (Statistical Analysis Plan)

In this paper, we aim to determine if socioeconomic deprivation in England is associated with outcomes after surgery: mortality, in-hospital complications at 30 days, and hospital length of stay. We will also identify clinical factors associated with social deprivation and assess whether adjustment for these factors modify the effect of socioeconomic deprivation on outcomes for a range of surgical categories

Responsive polysaccharide-grafted surfaces for biotribological applications

The elucidation of biolubrication mechanisms and the design of artificial biotribological contacts requires the development of model surfaces that can help to tease out the cues that govern friction in biological systems. Polysaccharides provide an interesting option as a biotribological mimic due to their similarity with the glycosylated molecules present at biointerfaces. Here, pectin was successfully covalently grafted at its reducing end to a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface via a reductive amination reaction. This method enabled the formation of a wear resistant pectin layer that provided enhanced boundary lubrication compared to adsorbed pectin. Pectins with different degrees of methylesterification and blockiness were exposed to salt solutions of varying ionic strength and displayed responsiveness to solvent conditions. Exposure of the grafted pectin layers to solutions of between 1 and 200 mM NaCl resulted in a decrease in boundary friction and an increase in the hydration and swelling of the pectin layer to varying degrees depending on the charge density of the pectin, showing the potential to tune the conformation and friction of the layer using the pectin architecture and environmental cues. The robust and responsive nature of these new pectin grafted surfaces makes them an effective mimic of biotribological interfaces and provides a powerful tool to study the intricate mechanisms involved in the biolubrication phenomenon