Optimal Extraction of Fibre Optic Spectroscopy

We report an optimal extraction methodology, for the reduction of multi-object fibre spectroscopy data, operating in the regime of tightly packed (and hence significantly overlapping) fibre profiles. The routine minimises crosstalk between adjacent fibres and statistically weights the extraction to reduce noise. As an example of the process we use simulations of the numerous modes of operation of the AAOmega fibre spectrograph and observational data from the SPIRAL Integral Field Unit at the Anglo-Australian Telescope.Comment: Accepted for publication in PAS

Doing gender and development: understanding empowerment and local gender relations

A major dilemma in Gender and Development (GAD) work is why it is that sometimes women may feel better off colluding with gendered structures that ensure their continued subordination rather than seeking approaches that will allow them to break free of this. Kandiyoti (1988 Gender and Society 2 274-90) has identified this apparent collusion as 'patriarchal bargains', which offer women greater advantages than they perceive can be achieved by challenging the prevailing order. Such women are therefore reluctant to engage in empowering activities that may challenge their gendered bargain. This paper explains this dilemma in the context of GAD work undertaken with Bedouin women in Southern Egypt

Benefit Transfer: Choice Experiment Results

Benefit transfer entails using estimates of non-market values derived at one site as approximations to benefits at other sites. The method finds favour because it can be applied quickly and cheaply, however the validity of benefit transfer is frequently questioned. Published studies generally indicate that errors from the approach can be extremely large and could result in significant resource misallocations. Assessing the validity of benefit transfer is complicated by differences in the nature of study and policy sites, the changes being valued, valuation methods, time of study, availability of substitutes and complements, and demographic, social and cultural differences. A choice experiment was used to evaluate the transferability of benefit estimates for identical goods between two different populations. The study design allowed most of the confounding factors to be controlled, so provides a strong test of benefit transfer validity. Several different tests were applied to evaluate benefit transfer validity, with conflicting results. The paper investigates the merits of the alternative tests and concludes that utility functions were different for the two populations.Choice model, Choice experiment, Benefit transfer, Mitigation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Financial Economics, Land Economics/Use, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Efficient design for willingness to pay in choice experiments: evidence from the field

Efficient experimental designs offer the potential to reduce confidence intervals for parameters of interest in choice models, or to reduce required sample sizes. C-efficiency recognizes the salience of willingness to pay estimates rather than utility function parameters. This study reports on a choice model application that incorporated updated statistical designs based on initial responses in order to maximize C-efficiency. The revised design delivered significant improvements.experimental design, choice experiment, efficiency, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Spatially and Temporally Explicit Energy System Modelling to Support the Transition to a Low Carbon Energy Infrastructure – Case Study for Wind Energy in the UK

Renewable energy sources and electricity demand vary with time and space and the energy system is constrained by the location of the current infrastructure in place. The transitioning to a low carbon energy society can be facilitated by combining long term planning of infrastructure with taking spatial and temporal characteristics of the energy system into account. There is a lack of studies addressing this systemic view. We soft-link two models in order to analyse long term investment decisions in generation, transmission and storage capacities and the effects of short-term fluctuation of renewable supply: The national energy system model UKTM (UK TIMES model) and a dispatch model. The modelling approach combines the benefits of two models: an energy system model to analyse decarbonisation pathways and a power dispatch model that can evaluate the technical feasibility of those pathways and the impact of intermittent renewable energy sources on the power market. Results give us the technical feasibility of the UKTM solution from 2010 until 2050. This allows us to determine lower bounds of flexible elements and feeding them back in an iterative process (e.g. storage, demand side control, balancing). We apply the methodology to study the long-term investments of wind infrastructure in the United Kingdom

Developing a more clinically-relevant mouse model of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity.

Cisplatin is a nephrotoxic chemotherapeutic that causes acute kidney injury (AKI) in 30% of patients. Although recovery can occur after one episode of cisplatin-induced AKI, studies have indicated multiple episodes may lead to the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD), an irreversible disease with no current treatments. The standard mouse model of cisplatin-induced AKI consists of one, high dose of cisplatin (\u3e 20 mg/kg) that is lethal to the animal three days later. This model doesn’t accurately reflect the repeated dosing regimen patients receive, and doesn’t allow for long-term outcome studies of pathologies associated with CKD. We have developed a repeated dosing model of cisplatin (7mg/kg once a week for four weeks). This model allows for the long-term survival of mice, and the associated pathology is fibrosis-the hallmark of CKD. Thus, data indicate that the repeated dosing model can be used to study AKI to CKD progression

Requiem for a Pipedream: Oil, The World Bank, and the Need for Human Rights Assessments

The revenues associated with oil and other extractive industries projects in sub-Saharan Africa\u27particularly as they are contrasted with the living conditions of those for whom these revenues could provide the greatest benefit\u27raise the hope of using natural resources to achieve significant poverty alleviation. From the impoverished villages of the Niger Delta to south Sudan, however, oil wealth has rarely led to widespread poverty alleviation. More often than not, the revenues that should in theory be a great boon to development are in practice associated with disastrous human rights fallout as living standards actually decrease and governance indicators worsen, a phenomenon known as the \u27resource curse.\u27 This Article analyzes the various \u27lessons learned\u27 that have been articulated in the wake of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline project\u27s collapse, and argues that many of them miss the mark

Firing tests on Missouri coal

"June, 1912.