The State of the Art in Economic Instruments and Institution for Water Quality Management

Economic instruments for environmental quality management have received widespread attention in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries as a means of achieving improved environmental quality at the lowest cost. This paper describes the economic instruments currently used in water quality management -- charges, subsidies and effluent trading, then reviews the experience of Western countries in exercising these policies. The paper further identifies new institutional developments aimed at achieving more effective environmental quality management. Based upon this experience with both instruments and institutions in Western countries, lessons are offered for improving water quality management policy in Central and Eastern Europe

Origin of fluids in the shallow geothermal environment of Savo, Solomon Islands.

Savo is a recently emergent volcano. An active geothermal system has been present for at least 50 years, expressed at the surface by numerous hot springs, fumaroles and steaming ground. Samples of water and steam were collected from geothermal features and non-thermal springs and wells, and representative samples of altered rocks and precipitates were collected from geothermal areas. Analysis of the waters for anion, cation and stable isotope composition shows that the waters discharging at the surface fall into two groups Reoka type fluids have the high sulfate, low pH, and enriched δ18O and δD values typical of steam heated acid sulfate waters, where shallow groundwater is heated by rising steam and gas. Isotopically light H2S is oxidised in the near surface environment to produce the sulfate content. Rembokola type fluids have chemistry distinct from the Reoka type fluids, despite the two being found within close proximity (<10 m). Rembokola Type fluids produce a carbonate sinter, so are assumed to be saturated with bicarbonate. The aqueous sulfate has heavy δ34S, suggesting that it is not exclusively produced by the oxidation of H2S in the near surface environment. We suggest that condensation of volcanic gases (including CO2 and isotopically heavy SO2) into meteoric-derived groundwater in the upper levels of the volcanic edifice produces these carbonate–sulfate waters. The presence of SO2 suggests that there is a degassing magma at depth, and potentially a high sulfidation-type epithermal system beneath the steam heated zone

Sepsis caused by bloodstream infection in patients in the intensive care unit: the impact of inactive empiric antimicrobial therapy on outcome

Background: Sepsis is one of the leading causes of death in the UK. Aims: The aims of this study were to identify the rate of inactive antimicrobial therapy (AMT) in the ICU and whether inactive AMT had an effect on in hospital mortality, ICU mortality, 90-day mortality and length of hospital stay. Additionally, we wanted to identify risk factors for receiving inactive AMT. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study conducted at Glasgow Royal Infirmary ICU between January 2010 and December 2013, with 12,000 blood cultures taken over this time period, of which n=127 were deemed clinically significant. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify risk factors independently associated with mortality. To identify risk factors for receiving inactive AMT a univariable and a subsequent multivariate analysis was constructed. Results: The rate of inactive AMT was 47% (n =60). Our multivariate analysis showed that receiving antibiotics within the first 24 hours of ICU admission led to a reduced mortality (RR 1.70; 95% CI 1.19-2.44.) Furthermore, it showed that severity of illness (as defined by SIRS criteria sepsis vs septic shock) increased mortality (OR 9.87; 95% CI 1.73-55.5). However, inactive AMT did not increase mortality (OR 1.07; 95% CI 0.47-2.41) or length of hospital stay (53.2 vs 69.1 days p=0.348.) We identified fungal bloodstream infection as a risk factor for receiving inactive AMT (OR 5.10;95% CI 1.29-20.14. Conclusion: Mortality from sepsis is influenced by multiple factors. We were unable to demonstrates that inactive AMT had an effect on mortality in sepsis

The latency of target elicited saccadic eye movements

In 1967 M.G. Saslow found that latencies of target elicited saccades were significantly reduced when the target onset was preceded shortly by the offset of a fixation point (Saslow, 1967). This result has subsequently been replicated by various authors, and has provided the basis for a number of investigations into the properties of the mechanisms of saccadic control. In 1983 B. Fischer and R. Boch reported the discovery of a second effect. Using the same basic experimental methods and using monkeys as subjects, they found a population of saccades with extremely short reaction times in addition to the general reduction in saccade latencies previously reported. They termed this population 'express saccades' (Fischer and Boch, 1983).Various models have been proposed to explain both the reduction in saccade latencies reported by Saslow, and the occurrence of 'express saccades’ reported by Fischer et al. This thesis provides an explicit, quantitative framework against which these models can be compared. Although the phenomenon of express saccades has been well established for monkeys, the evidence for their occurrence in humans appears less convincing. This thesis tests in a rigorous manner for a population of saccades in humans equivalent to the express saccades found for monkeys. Chapter One reviews the experimental factors that affect the latencies of target elicited saccades. The validity of the 'when/where' distinction in models of saccadic control is discussed in Chapter Two. In Chapter Three the reduction in saccade latencies found by Saslow, and express saccades, are discussed in greater detail together with models proposed in explanation. The fourth chapter gives the rationale for experiments designed to test these models, and in Chapter Five these experiments are described and their results and implications for models of saccadic latency are discussed. Conclusions to the thesis are given in Chapter Six

Directivity and sound power radiated by a source under a boundary layer

This paper considers the radiation of sound from compact 2D or 3D sources located in an otherwise rigid wall, bounding a region of fluid flowing parallel to the wall. The sound radiation problem is modeled using a wavenumber decomposition. Numerical results show how the radiated power and directivity depend on the free-stream flow Mach number and the thickness of the boundary layer adjacent to the wall. The numerical model is validated by comparing the sound power and directivity obtained in the limiting case of a thin boundary layer with that obtained from an alternative analytical model in which the flow is uniform and there is slip at the boundary

Testing the Dynamic Theory of Emissions Trading: Experimental Evidence for Global Carbon Trading

Simulation models and theory prove that emission trading converges to market equilibrium. This paper sets out to falsify these results using experimental economics. Three experiments are conducted for the six largest carbon emitting industrialized regions. Two experiments use auctions: the first single-bid auction and the second a Walrasian auction. The third relies on bilateral, sequential trading. The paper finds that, in line with the standard theory, both auctions and bilateral, sequential trading capture a significant part (88 to 99 percent) of the potential cost savings of emission trading. As expected from dynamic trade theory, all experiments show that the market price converges (although not fully) to the market equilibrium price. In contrast to the theory, the results also suggest that not all countries will gain from trading. In both the bilateral trading experiment and the Walrasian auction, one country will actually be worse off with trade. In particular, bilateral, sequential trading leads to a distribution of gains significantly different from the competitive market outcome. This is due to speculative behavior, imperfect foresight and market power

Learned predictiveness training modulates biases towards using boundary or landmark cues during navigation

A number of navigational theories state that learning about landmark information should not interfere with learning about shape information provided by the boundary walls of an environment. A common test of such theories has been to assess whether landmark information will overshadow, or restrict, learning about shape information. Whilst a number of studies have shown that landmarks are not able to overshadow learning about shape information, some have shown that landmarks can, in fact, overshadow learning about shape information. Given the continued importance of theories that grant the shape information that is provided by the boundary of an environment a special status during learning, the experiments presented here were designed to assess whether the relative salience of shape and landmark information could account for the discrepant results of overshadowing studies. In Experiment 1, participants were first trained that either the landmarks within an arena (landmark-relevant), or the shape information provided by the boundary walls of an arena (shape-relevant), were relevant to finding a hidden goal. In a subsequent stage, when novel landmark and shape information were made relevant to finding the hidden goal, landmarks dominated behaviour for those given landmark-relevant training, whereas shape information dominated behaviour for those given shape-relevant training. Experiment 2, which was conducted without prior relevance training, revealed that the landmark cues, unconditionally, dominated behaviour in our task. The results of the present experiments, and the conflicting results from previous overshadowing experiments, are explained in terms of associative models that incorporate an attention variant

Thinking outside of the box: Transfer of shape-based reorientation across the boundary of an arena

The way in which human and non-human animals represent the shape of their environments remains a contentious issue. According to local theories of shape learning, organisms encode the local geometric features of the environment that signal a goal location. In contrast, global theories of shape learning suggest that organisms encode the overall shape of the environment. There is, however, a surprising lack of evidence to support this latter claim, despite the fact that common behaviours seem to require encoding of the global-shape of an environment. We tested one such behaviour in 5 experiments, in which human participants were trained to navigate to a hidden goal on one side of a virtual arena (e.g. the inside) before being required to find the same point on the alternative side (e.g. the outside). Participants navigated to the appropriate goal location, both when inside and outside the virtual arena, but only when the shape of the arena remained the same between training and test (Experiments 1a and 1b). When the arena shape was transformed between these stages, participants were lost (Experiments 2a and 2b). When training and testing was conducted on the outside of two different-shaped arenas that shared local geometric cues participants once again explored the appropriate goal location (Experiment 3). These results provide core evidence that humans encode a global representation of the overall shape of the environments in, or around, which they navigate

Blocking Spatial Navigation Across Environments that have a Different Shape

According to the geometric module hypothesis, organisms encode a global representation of the space in which they navigate, and this representation is not prone to interference from other cues. A number of studies, however, have shown that both human and non-human animals can navigate on the basis of local geometric cues provided by the shape of an environment. According to the model of spatial learning proposed by Miller and Shettleworth (2007, 2008), geometric cues compete for associative strength in the same manner as non-geometric cues do. The experiments reported here were designed to test if humans learn about local geometric cues in a manner consistent with the Miller-Shettleworth model. Experiment 1 replicated previous findings that humans transfer navigational behavior, based on local geometric cues, from a rectangle-shaped environment to a kite-shaped environment, and vice versa. In Experiments 2 and 3, it was observed that learning about non-geometric cues blocked, and were blocked by, learning about local geometric cues. The reciprocal blocking observed is consistent with associative theories of spatial learning; however, it is difficult to explain the observed effects with theories of global-shape encoding in their current form

Amphibia: Anura: Hylidae Scarthyla vigilans (Solano 1971): Range Extension and New Country Record for Trinidad, W.I. With Notes on Tadpoles, Habitat, Behaviour and Biogeographical Significance.

We report a range extension and new country record for Scarthyla vigilans in Trinidad, West Indies. The species was previously known only from populations on mainland South America. We include notes on behavior, habitat and tadpole development, and discuss the biogeographical significance of the species’ presence in Trinidad, particularly with respect to consequences for understanding colonization events on this Caribbean island