Reducing Bias from Choice Experiments Estimates in the Demand for Recreation

In valuing the demand for recreation, the literature has grown from using revealed preference methods to applying stated preference methods, namely contingent valuation and choice modelling. Recent attempts have merged revealed and stated preference data to exploit the strengths of both sources of data. We use contingent behaviour and choice experiments data to show that, with choice experiments exercises, when respondents are asked to choose which improvement programme they prefer for a site with recreational opportunities, failing to consider the information explaining the number of visits that respondents intend to take to a recreational site under each hypothetical programme leads to biased coefficients estimates in the models for the choice experiments data.travel cost, contingent behaviour, choice experiments, revealed preferences, stated preferences, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q51, Q26,

A comprehensive model to determine the effects of temperature and species fluctuations on reaction rates in turbulent reacting flows

The use of probability theory to determine the effects of turbulent fluctuations on reaction rates in turbulent combustion systems is briefly reviewed. Results are presented for the effect of species fluctuations in particular. It is found that turbulent fluctuations of species act to reduce the reaction rates, in contrast with the temperature fluctuations previously determined to increase Arrhenius reaction rate constants. For the temperature fluctuations, a criterion is set forth for determining if, in a given region of a turbulent flow field, the temperature can be expected to exhibit ramp like fluctuations. Using the above results, along with results previously obtained, a model is described for testing the effects of turbulent fluctuations of temperature and species on reaction rates in computer programs dealing with turbulent reacting flows. An alternative model which employs three variable probability density functions (temperature and two species) and is currently being formulated is discussed as well

The Mystery of the Marble Man and His Hat: A Reconsideration of the Bari Episcopal Throne

The iconographic programme of the episcopal throne in the basilica of San Nicola in Bari, Italy, has proven tenaciously enigmatic, particularly on account of the central figure on the throne’s base, whose identity has so far eluded scholars. This article reinterprets the Bari throne in light of late eleventh-century ecclesiastical politics, notes artistic echoes within the Adriatic, and demonstrates the crucial importance of contemporary Fatimid art to an understanding of the central figure likely to be intended to represent a Muslim. The throne is, thus, reconceived as the expression of a dialogue between a crusading pope and a consolidating prelate, as a response to the social upheaval prompted by the Norman conquest of southern Italy, and as new evidence for cross-Mediterranean cultural contacts at the dawn of the Crusades

The star-formation history of the universe - an infrared perspective

A simple and versatile parameterized approach to the star formation history allows a quantitative investigation of the constraints from far infrared and submillimetre counts and background intensity measurements. The models include four spectral components: infrared cirrus (emission from interstellar dust), an M82-like starburst, an Arp220-like starburst and an AGN dust torus. The 60 $\mu$m luminosity function is determined for each chosen rate of evolution using the PSCz redshift data for 15000 galaxies. The proportions of each spectral type as a function of 60 $\mu$m luminosity are chosen for consistency with IRAS and SCUBA colour-luminosity relations, and with the fraction of AGN as a function of luminosity found in 12 $\mu$m samples. The luminosity function for each component at any wavelength can then be calculated from the assumed spectral energy distributions. With assumptions about the optical seds corresponding to each component and, for the AGN component, the optical and near infrared counts can be accurately modelled. A good fit to the observed counts at 0.44, 2.2, 15, 60, 90, 175 and 850 $\mu$m can be found with pure luminosity evolution in all 3 cosmological models investigated: $\Omega_o$ = 1, $\Omega_o$ = 0.3 ($\Lambda$ = 0), and $\Omega_o$ = 0.3, $\Lambda$ = 0.7. All 3 models also give an acceptable fit to the integrated background spectrum. Selected predictions of the models, for example redshift distributions for each component at selected wavelengths and fluxes, are shown. The total mass-density of stars generated is consistent with that observed, in all 3 cosmological models.Comment: 20 pages, 25 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ. Full details of models can be found at http://astro.ic.ac.uk/~mrr/countmodel

Analysis of airborne imaging spectrometer data for the Ruby Mountains, Montana, by use of absorption-band-depth images

Airborne Imaging Spectrometer-1 (AIS-1) data were obtained for an area of amphibolite grade metamorphic rocks that have moderate rangeland vegetation cover. Although rock exposures are sparse and patchy at this site, soils are visible through the vegetation and typically comprise 20 to 30 percent of the surface area. Channel averaged low band depth images for diagnostic soil rock absorption bands. Sets of three such images were combined to produce color composite band depth images. This relative simple approach did not require extensive calibration efforts and was effective for discerning a number of spectrally distinctive rocks and soils, including soils having high talc concentrations. The results show that the high spectral and spatial resolution of AIS-1 and future sensors hold considerable promise for mapping mineral variations in soil, even in moderately vegetated areas

The role of course development and design in an itinerant schooling program: the perceptions of staff members of the School of Distance Education in Brisbane, Queensland

This paper examines the perceptions of teachers associated with the Brisbane School of Distance Education (Queensland, Australia), concerning their role in the establishment and implementation of a primary education program for children of the Showmen's Guild of Australasia. Interviews with five itinerant teachers revealed that their responsibilities include assessing correspondence papers from students and maintaining telephone contact with students, home tutors, and parents, as well as working in selected towns on a short-term basis to teach 'face-to-face' lessons to itinerant students. Each teacher worked with between 15 and 20 children, usually in family groups across grade levels. Teachers expressed concerns about the show children's lifestyle and how this has affected their educational and social development. However, all teachers felt that the distance education program had improved the children's educational opportunities and adequately addressed their educational needs. Disadvantages of the children's itinerant lifestyle that the program was unable to address were lack of routine, lack of continuity, dependence on the support of the home tutor, role conflicts of local teachers, and insufficient program funding. Implications for other itinerant education projects include recognizing the importance of teacher attitudes when implementing an educational program for a marginalized group. Contains 20 references. (LP

Evaluation of radiometric and geometric characteristics of LANDSAT-D imaging system

With vegetation masked and noise sources eliminated or minimized, different carbonate facies could be discriminated in a south Florida scene. Laboratory spectra of grab samples indicate that a 20% change in depth of the carbonate absorption band was detected despite the effects of atmospheric absorption. Both bright and dark hydrothermally altered volcanic rocks can be discriminated from their unaltered equivalents. A previously unrecognized altered area was identified on the basis of the TM images. The ability to map desert varnish in semi-arid terrains has economic significance as it defines areas that are less susceptible desert erosional process and suitable for construction development

The three-dimensional structure of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, from travel time tomography

A linear, travel time tomography study of the most active shield volcano of the world, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, was undertaken to determine the lateral heterogeneities produced by its intricate magmatic and tectonic environment. Kilauea provides an ideal setting to do tomography because of its dense seismograph array and many local earthquakes that allow excellent ray coverage of complex subsurface features. Local P wave data from ∼ 12,295 events were inverted using a one-dimensional layered velocity model. Inversions were done for two cell sizes (5×5×5 km and 1×1×1 km) to resolve structural regions on different length scales. This study provided a view of the average velocity variations relative to a one-dimensional velocity model. Analysis and interpretation of the tomographic images allowed us to infer the following model. The main shallow magma reservoir is delineated by a slow velocity region southeast of the summit from 0 to 2 km depth. There is a distinct high velocity region centered northwest of the summit from 0 to 2 km depth that represents a cap of dense, intrusive dikes surrounding the magma chamber. We suggest that the shallow reservoir is a narrow, compartmentalized region of sills and dikes, centered just south-southeast of Halemaumau caldera. Below the main reservoir, the summit is imaged as a slightly fast region from 5 to 10 km in the coarse model indicating that the main conduit is structurally defined by an intrusive dike complex until about 10 km. The rift zones of Kilauea are imaged as major, high velocity entities, widening to the south with depth until 6 km. These fast anomalies are related to the sheeted dike complexes along the rifts. On a finer scale, slow anomalies suggest the presence of magma pockets centered at 0–2 km depth beneath Mauna Ulu, Makaopuhi and Puu Oo, along the east rift zone (ERZ). Two significant high velocity regions along the lower ERZ near Kalalua and Kaliu are inferred to represent intrusive barriers to magma injection along the shallow (0–4 km) ERZ conduit. The southwest rift zone may have an intrusive barrier related to a high velocity region just southwest of Mauna Iki. The Hilina and Kaoiki fault zones are imaged as slow features at shallow depths (< 5 km) related to the open fractures and scarps along the normal faults. The Koae fault system is imaged as a slightly fast shallow structure (< 6 km) possibly related to intrusive diking from the adjacent rift zones that fill and may even induce the extensional structures associated with this complex fault zone. Continued inversions with the immense amount of seismic data collected for Hawaiian events will allow the detailed development of a three-dimensional structural model for Kilauea. Such a model will be extremely useful to seismologists and petrologists alike for understanding the tectonic growth and magmatic evolution of this dynamic shield volcano