A Self-Consistent Method to Assess Air Quality Co-Benefits from US Climate Policies

Air quality co-benefits can potentially reduce the costs of greenhouse gas mitigation. However, while many studies of the cost of greenhouse gas mitigation model the full macroeconomic welfare impacts, most studies of air quality co-benefits do not. We employ a US computable general equilibrium economic model previously linked to an air quality modeling system, and enhance it to represent the economy-wide welfare impacts of fine particulate matter. We present a first application of this method to explore the efficiency and the distributional implications of a clean energy standard (CES) and a cap–and–trade (CAT) program that both reduce CO2 emission by 10% in 2030 relative to 2006. We find that co-benefits from fine particulate matter reduction completely offset policy costs by 110% (40% to 190%), transforming the net welfare impact of the CAT into a gain of $1 (-$5 to $7) billion 2005 US$. For the CES, the corresponding co-benefit (median $8;$3 to $14)/tCO2 is a smaller fraction (median 5%; 2% to 9%) of its higher policy cost. The eastern US garners 78% and 71% of co-benefits for the CES and CAT, respectively. By representing the effects of pollution-related morbidities and mortalities as an impact to labor and the demand for health services, we find that the welfare impact per unit of reduced pollution varies by region. These interregional differences can enhance the preference of some regions, like Texas, for a CAT over a CES, or switch the calculation of which policy yields higher co-benefits, compared to an approach that uses one valuation for all regions. This framework could be applied to quantify consistent air quality impacts of other pricing instruments, subnational trading programs, or green tax swaps.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support for this work provided by the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change through a consortium of industrial sponsors and Federal grants. Additionally, the authors acknowledge support from: the US EPA under the Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program (#R834279); MIT's Leading Technology and Policy Initiative; US Department of Energy Office of Science grant DE-FG02-94ER61937; the MIT Energy Initiative Total Energy Fellowship (Saari); and a MIT Martin Family Society Fellowship (Saari)

Voting and the Cardinal Aggregation of Judgments

The paper elaborates the idea that voting is an instance of the aggregation of judgments, this being a more general concept than the aggregation of preferences. To aggregate judgments one must first measure them. I show that such aggregation has been unproblematic whenever it has been based on an independent and unrestricted scale. The scales analyzed in voting theory are either context dependent or subject to unreasonable restrictions. This is the real source of the diverse 'paradoxes of voting' that would better be termed 'voting pathologies'. The theory leads me to advocate what I term evaluative voting. It can also be called utilitarian voting as it is based on having voters express their cardinal preferences. The alternative that maximizes the sum wins. This proposal operationalizes, in an election context, the abstract cardinal theories of collective choice due to Fleming and Harsanyi. On pragmatic grounds, I argue for a three valued scale for general elections

Flexural Strength of Interlocking Compressed Earth Brick (ICEB) Unit

This paper presents the flexural strength of the ICEB unit. The flexural strength is important in determining the strength of the masonry unit. About 260 units of ICEB consist three type of unit were tested on flatwise (bed direction) and inverted direction, with the different shape at the top and bottom of the ICEB. The unit was loaded at midspan through a steel bearing plate of 6.4 mm thickness and 38.1 mm width. Specimens were supported at both ends which are free to rotate in the longitudinal and transverse directions during the test. The highest flexural strength of ICEB is Wall Brick for both flatwise and inverted direction which is 2.36 N/mm2 and 2.15 N/mm2, respectively. For flatwise direction, Beam Brick has the lowest flexural strength which is 1.55 N/mm2, and in inverted direction Column Brick flexural strength is lower than Beam Brick which is 1.65 N/mm2. ICEB can be used in construction and has the equal properties as other common brick and block at the market nowadays

Symmetry, bifurcation and stacking of the central configurations of the planar 1+4 body problem

In this work we are interested in the central configurations of the planar 1+4 body problem where the satellites have different infinitesimal masses and two of them are diametrically opposite in a circle. We can think this problem as a stacked central configuration too. We show that the configuration are necessarily symmetric and the other sattelites has the same mass. Moreover we proved that the number of central configuration in this case is in general one, two or three and in the special case where the satellites diametrically opposite have the same mass we proved that the number of central configuration is one or two saying the exact value of the ratio of the masses that provides this bifurcation.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1103.627

Expression of Ciona intestinalis AOX causes male reproductive defects in Drosophila melanogaster

Background: Mitochondrial alternative respiratory-chain enzymes are phylogenetically widespread, and buffer stresses affecting oxidative phosphorylation in species that possess them. However, they have been lost in the evolutionary lineages leading to vertebrates and arthropods, raising the question as to what survival or reproductive disadvantages they confer. Recent interest in using them in therapy lends a biomedical dimension to this question. Methods: Here, we examined the impact of the expression of Ciona intestinalis alternative oxidase, AOX, on the reproductive success of Drosophila melanogaster males. Sperm-competition assays were performed between flies carrying three copies of a ubiquitously expressed AOX construct, driven by the a-tubulin promoter, and wild-type males of the same genetic background. Results: In sperm-competition assays, AOX conferred a substantial disadvantage, associated with decreased production of mature sperm. Sperm differentiation appeared to proceed until the last stages, but was spatially deranged, with spermatozoids retained in the testis instead of being released to the seminal vesicle. High AOX expression was detected in the outermost cell-layer of the testis sheath, which we hypothesize may disrupt a signal required for sperm maturation. Conclusions: AOX expression in Drosophila thus has effects that are deleterious to male reproductive function. Our results imply that AOX therapy must be developed with caution.Peer reviewe

Expression of Ciona intestinalis AOX causes male reproductive defects in Drosophila melanogaster

Background: Mitochondrial alternative respiratory-chain enzymes are phylogenetically widespread, and buffer stresses affecting oxidative phosphorylation in species that possess them. However, they have been lost in the evolutionary lineages leading to vertebrates and arthropods, raising the question as to what survival or reproductive disadvantages they confer. Recent interest in using them in therapy lends a biomedical dimension to this question. Methods: Here, we examined the impact of the expression of Ciona intestinalis alternative oxidase, AOX, on the reproductive success of Drosophila melanogaster males. Sperm-competition assays were performed between flies carrying three copies of a ubiquitously expressed AOX construct, driven by the a-tubulin promoter, and wild-type males of the same genetic background. Results: In sperm-competition assays, AOX conferred a substantial disadvantage, associated with decreased production of mature sperm. Sperm differentiation appeared to proceed until the last stages, but was spatially deranged, with spermatozoids retained in the testis instead of being released to the seminal vesicle. High AOX expression was detected in the outermost cell-layer of the testis sheath, which we hypothesize may disrupt a signal required for sperm maturation. Conclusions: AOX expression in Drosophila thus has effects that are deleterious to male reproductive function. Our results imply that AOX therapy must be developed with caution.Peer reviewe

Engineering the Production of Major Catechins by Escherichia coli Carrying Metabolite Genes of Camellia sinensis

A mimicked biosynthetic pathway of catechin metabolite genes from C. sinensis, consisting of flavanone 3 hydroxylase (F3H), dihydroflavonol reductase (DFR), and leucoanthocyanidin reductase (LCR), was designed and arranged in two sets of constructs: (a) single promoter in front of F3H and ribosome-binding sequences both in front of DFR and LCR; (b) three different promoters with each in the front of the three genes and ribosome-binding sequences at appropriate positions. Recombinant E. coli BL (DE3) harbouring the constructs were cultivated for 65 h at 26°C in M9 medium consisting of 40 g/L glucose, 1 mM IPTG, and 3 mM eriodictyol. Compounds produced were extracted in ethyl acetate in alkaline conditions after 1 h at room temperature and identified by HPLC. Two of the four major catechins, namely, (−)-epicatechin (0.01 ) and (−)-epicatechin gallate (0.36 mg/L), and two other types ((+)-catechin hydrate (0.13 mg/L) and (−)-catechin gallate (0.04 mg/L)) were successfully produced