Valuing the Benefits of Preserving Agricultural Landscapes: A Meta-Analysis of Stated Preference studies

Agricultural landscapes provide us with multiple ecosystem services, including provisioning services like crops; regulatory services like pest control, nutrient cycling, water quality management and pollination as well as cultural services like recreation, aesthetic beauty and habitats for wildlife. Many of these include non-market goods and services which are not traded in the market and lack market prices. Thus, environmental valuation studies using Revealed (RP) and Stated Preference (SP) methods are needed to value them, which can then provide the right incentives for optimal economic management of these landscapes. This thesis reviews and analyzes published SP studies worldwide in the last 15 years (2007-2022) that have used either Choice Experiment (CE) or Contingent Valuation (CV) methods to value agricultural landscapes. A meta-analysis of 17 primary SP studies with 189 estimates of willingness to pay (WTP) for agricultural landscapes across Europe, Asia, Oceania, and North America was performed to see what characteristics of the landscape, the valuation method used and the affected population determine people's (WTP) for preserving agricultural landscapes. It was also compared to an existing meta-analysis of older studies (1982 – 2008) to see whether the drivers of WTP had changed in the last 15 years. Results indicate that society’s willingness to pay (WTP) for agricultural landscapes is influenced by the size of the valued changes in landscapes, recreational services, the choice experiment (CE) valuation method, current condition of the landscape and other relevant variables. Landscape attributes such as the scarcity of agricultural lands, the direction (i.e., avoiding degradation or getting improvements) and their ecosystem services strongly influence people's preferences and WTP. Contrary to the existing meta-analysis, no significant results indicated that GDP per capita influences people's willingness to pay for agricultural landscapes. The findings provide valuable insights into the complex factors shaping people's preferences for agricultural landscapes

Khamis Siam

Dr. Khamis Siam is a professory and advisor within the Chemistry Department and has a research focus on computational chemisty. He has served as KNEA president twice, first from 1998 to 1998 and again from 2019 to 2023

Office microlaparoscopic intrafallopian transfer of day one zygote versus day three embryo transfer after previous failed ICSI trials

The objective of the study was to investigate whether transferring zygotes on day 1 would result in similar pregnancy rates compared to transferring cleavage stage embryos on day 3 in a prospective randomized trial, using the office microlaparoscopic procedure. Patients undergoing IVF/ICSI treatments were randomized to either day 1 or day 3 transfers after previous failed ICSI trials due to failed implantation. The primary outcome measure was pregnancy rate. Pregnancy rates were higher in day 3 group (55/131, 42%)when compared to day 1 (34/123, 28%, P = 0.024). Similarly, implantation rates were higher in day 3 group (P= 0.03). There were more cycles with cryopreservation in the day 1 group (P < 0.001). Embryo quality on day 3 was similar between pattern 0 and nonpattern 0 zygotes. Day 3 embryo transfers result in better pregnancy and implantation rates compared to day 1 zygote transfers

IMPROVING IRRIGATION WATER ALLOCATION EFFICIENCY USING ALTERNATIVE POLICY OPTIONS IN EGYPT

This study provides an empirical perspective on alternative irrigation policies for allocating limited water to agricultural production in Egypt. Positive mathematical programming is used for model calibration. Three policy options for Egypt are tested: water pricing, water complementary input factor taxes, and output taxes. The results of the research show that: 1) water pricing needs to be much higher than the recovery cost in order to be effective in limiting irrigation water use; 2) at a higher tax rate, fertilizer and energy taxes are effective in reducing the irrigation water demand while maintaining adequate welfare levels; 3) a pesticide tax is less effective than fertilizer or energy taxes; and 4) an output tax on sugar cane and rice would decrease irrigation water demand substantially while allocating land to other crops which are less water intensive and have higher market values.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Active sites for adsorption of B-carotene

Tabii tapak aktif dalam aluminosilikat untuk penjerapan B-karotena telah diperiksakan. Zeolit bertukaran kation mempunyai berbagai darjat pertukaran NH4+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe3+ dan Cu 2+ telah disediakan. Kehabluran sampel-sampel itu aelepas diaktifkan pada 450 °C telah Hiperiksakan oleh difrakse sinar X dart luaa permukaan ditentukan dengan penjerapan N2 (BET). Keasidan permukaan sampel ini juga ditentukan oleh pentitratan tak-berair dengan menggunakan penunjuk trifenilmetanol. The nature of active sites in aluminosilicates for the adsorption of B-carotene was investigated. Cation exchanged zeolites with varying + 2+ 2+ 3+ 2+ extent of exchange of NH4+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe3+ and Cu2+ were prepared. The crystallinity of these samples activated at 450°C were checked by x-ray diffraction and the surface areas were determined by N2 adsorption (BET). The surface acidities of the samples were also determined by. nonaqueous titration using triphenylmethanol indicator