The Market Value of Reducing Cancer Risk: Hedonic Housing Prices with Changing Information

In this paper, we use housing price changes occurring after the release of a regulatory agency\u27s environmental risk information to estimate the value people place on cancer risk reduction. Using a large original data set on the repeat sales of houses, matched with detailed data on hazardous waste cancer risk and newspaper publicity, we find that housing prices respond in a rational manner to changes in information about risk. Since the new information indicated that the sites in our sample pose relatively low cancer risk, the informational release led residents to lower their risk beliefs, resulting in an average housing price increase of $56 to$87. This price change implies a statistical value per case of cancer of $4.3 million to$8.3 million, which is similar to the estimates obtained in labor market studies of the value of a statistical life. Newspaper publicity about the local sites increased housing prices, suggesting that residents perceived the news as good

Benthic macroinvertebrates and degradation of phytomass as indicators of ecosystem functions in flooded rice cropping.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the ecosystem functions of a natural wetland and of artificially flooded rice areas, managed under organic and conventional systems, by phytomass degradation and by the colonization of this material by benthic macroinvertebrates. The experiment was carried out in a natural wetland area, and in two flooded rice areas managed under organic and conventional systems. Twenty-five decomposition bags filled with 10 g of dry vegetation were installed in each site. At 14, 28, 42, 56, and 70 days after the beginning of the experiment, five bags from each site were collected. Macroinvertebrates were identified and classified by functional trophic group. The number of species of benthic macroinvertebrates increased: natural wetland > organic system > conventional system. The Chironomidae group was present in all areas, confirming its food plasticity and adaptability to different substrates and environmental stress situations. The Amphipoda group was present only in the artificially flooded rice area, and the Acari, only in the natural wetland. The diversity of species in the natural wetland area was higher than in the artificially flooded rice area. Nutrient cycling, provided by phytomass decomposition, is affected by the management system, and the delay in this process causes a reduction of the ecosystem functions in the conventional system.Título em português: Macroinvertebrados betônicos e degradação da fitomassa como indicadores de funções ecossistêmicas em arroz irrigado por inundação

Cystic colon duplication causing intussusception in a 25-year-old man: report of a case and review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Colonic intussusception is a rare congenital abnormality, mostly manifesting before the age of two with abdominal pain and acute intestinal obstruction with or without bleeding. In adults it may occur idiopathically or due to an intraluminal tumor mass.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 25-year-old man presented with an acute abdomen and severe crampy abdominal pain. The clinical picture mimicked acute appendicitis. Transabdominal ultrasound examination revealed a 5 cm circular mass in the right upper abdomen. The ensuing computed tomography suggested an intussusception in the ascending colon. Intraoperatively, no full thickness invagination was detected. Due to a hard, intraluminal tumor a standard right hemicolectomy with ileotransversostomy was performed. The histopathological analysis revealed a cystic colon duplication leading to mucosal invagination and obstruction.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In adults, colon intussusception is a rare event causing approximately 1% of all acute intestinal obstructions. Unlike its preferentially nonsurgical management in children, a bowel intussusception in adults should be operated because an organic, often malignant lesion is present in most cases.</p

Idiopathic adult intussusception

Intussusception is an uncommon cause of abdominal pain in adults and poses diagnostic challenges for emergency physicians, due to its varied presenting symptoms and time course. Diagnosis is thus often delayed and results in surgical intervention due to the development of bowel ischaemia. We report on a young patient who presented with an ileo-ileal intussusception in whom there were no underlying lesions identified as a causal factor

Low-lying dipole response of 64Ni

Two complementary real-photon scattering experiments were conducted on the proton-magic 64 Ni nucleus to study the dipole response up to its neutron-separation energy of S n = 9.7 MeV . By combining both measurements, 87 E 1 and 23 M 1 transitions were identified above 4.3 MeV. The results of the observed M 1 transitions were compared to shell-model calculations using two different model spaces. It was found that the inclusion of excitations across the Z = 28 shell gap in the calculations has a large impact. Furthermore, average cross sections for decays to the ground state (elastic transitions) as well as to lower-lying excited states (inelastic decays) were determined. The corresponding E 1 channel was compared to calculations within the relativistic equation of motion (REOM) framework. Whereas the calculations of highest possible complexity reproduce the fragmentation and overall behavior of the E 1 average elastic cross section well, the predicted absolute cross sections are approximately twice as high as the experimental upper limits even though the latter also include an estimate of the inelastic-decay channel

Distant Event, Local Effects? Fukushima and the German Housing Market

The Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan in March 2011 caused a fundamental change in Germany's energy policy which led to the immediate shut down of nearly half of its nuclear power plants. This paper uses data from Germany's largest internet platform for real estate to investigate the effect of Fukushima on the German housing market. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find that Fukushima reduced house prices near nuclear power plants that were in operation before Fukushima by almost 6%. House prices near sites that were shut down right after the accident even fell by 10.8%. Our results suggest that economic reasons are of prime importance for the observed fall in house prices near nuclear power plants.Der Unfall im japanischen Atomkraftwerk Fukushima Daiichi im März 2011 führte zu einer fundamentalen Änderung der deutschen Energiepolitik. Kurzfristig wurden nahezu die Hälfte aller deutschen Atomkraftwerke geschlossen. Dieses Papier nutzt Daten von Deutschlands größter Internet-Plattform für Immobilien, um die Effekte von Fukushima auf den deutschen Immobilienmarkt zu untersuchen. Mit einem Differenz-von-Differenzen-Ansatz wird gezeigt, dass Fukushima und die damit verbundene Veränderung der deutschen Energiepolitik die Hauspreise im Umkreis von Atomkraftwerken, die vor dem Fukushima-Vorfall in Betrieb waren, um fast 6% reduziert hat. Die Preise für Häuser in der Nähe von Kernkraftwerken, die unmittelbar nach dem Vorfall geschlossen wurden, sanken sogar um 10,8%. Die Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass für die sinkenden Immobilienpreise in der Nähe von Atomkraftwerken vor allem ökonomische Gründe verantwortlich sind

Epidemics after Natural Disasters

The relationship between natural disasters and communicable diseases is frequently misconstrued. The risk for outbreaks is often presumed to be very high in the chaos that follows natural disasters, a fear likely derived from a perceived association between dead bodies and epidemics. However, the risk factors for outbreaks after disasters are associated primarily with population displacement. The availability of safe water and sanitation facilities, the degree of crowding, the underlying health status of the population, and the availability of healthcare services all interact within the context of the local disease ecology to influence the risk for communicable diseases and death in the affected population. We outline the risk factors for outbreaks after a disaster, review the communicable diseases likely to be important, and establish priorities to address communicable diseases in disaster settings