DYNAMIC LEARNING AND CONTEXT-DEPENDENCE IN SEQUENTIAL, ATTRIBUTE-BASED CONTINGENT VALUATION

A hybrid stated-preference model is developed that combines the referendum contingent valuation response format with an experimentally designed set of attributes. A sequence of valuation questions is asked to a random sample in a mail-out mail-back format. Econometric analysis shows that willingness to pay for policy attributes is formed dynamically.Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

The Phosphorus Puzzle: Why Metal Phosphites Could Be the Missing Piece

It is well understood that phosphorylation of organic molecules is a keystone mechanism toward developing early cell function. However, the source of phosphorous in prebiotic chemistry is under debate. Phosphate minerals were abundant on the early Earth, but they are highly insoluble. In comparison, metal phosphites are significantly more soluble. While they may not have been preserved in the geological record, there are several plausible pathways for their formation under prebiotic conditions. We hypothesize that metal phosphites were a major source of phosphorus. To test our hypothesis, we synthesized and characterized metal phosphites, containing the most abundant cations on the early Earth (Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe2+, Fe3+). Then we reacted the metal phosphites with glycerol or propanol and looked for phosphonylated organic molecules. (n.b., Phosphonylated molecules contain a phosphite (PO33-), and phosphorylated molecules contain a phosphate (PO43-).) In nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments, we observe the formation of glycerol-a-phosphite and glycerol-b-phosphite when CaHPO3 and glycerol react at 60oC. Experiments investigating the reactivity of iron (II or III) phosphite and magnesium phosphite are ongoing

MR418: Farm Property Taxes in Maine

The purpose of this report is to look at the effect of property taxes on agriculture in Maine using existing data sources. We investigate four specific issues: (1) whether property taxes on agricultural lands in Maine differ from the property taxes on agricultural lands at a national level; (2) whether property taxes on agricultural lands in Maine differ from the property taxes on land in nonagricultural uses in Maine; (3) whether property taxes have increased as a percentage of production costs for Maine agriculture over the past fifty years; (4) whether property taxes on agricultural lands differ for farms located in different regions of the statehttps://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_miscreports/1007/thumbnail.jp

Limb radiance inversion radiometer

Engineering and scientific objectives of the LRIR experiment are described along with system requirements, subassemblies, and experiment operation. The mechanical, electrical, and thermal interfaces between the LRIR experiment and the Nimbus F spacecraft are defined. The protoflight model qualification and acceptance test program is summarized. Test data is presented in tables to give an overall view of each test parameter and possible trends of the performance of the LRIR experiment. Conclusions and recommendations are included

The effect of moving on union dissolution

This paper examines the effect of migration and residential mobility on union dissolution among married and cohabiting couples. While there is a large, multi-disciplinary literature looking at the determinants of union dissolution in Europe and North America, the possible impact of geographical mobility has received little attention. This is despite the fact that moving is a stressful life event and that numerous studies suggest that women’s economic well-being and employment suffer from family moves which are usually stimulated by the man’s career. We base our longitudinal analysis on retrospective event-history data from Austria and apply hazard regression. Our results show that couples who move frequently have a significantly higher risk of union dissolution. We argue that frequent moving increases couple stress and union instability through a variety of mechanisms.Austria, dissolution of marriage, event history analysis, internal migration, residential mobility

CLONES : a closed-loop simulation framework for body, muscles and neurons

International audienc

Exotic and excited-state radiative transitions in charmonium from lattice QCD

We compute, for the first time using lattice QCD methods, radiative transition rates involving excited charmonium states, states of high spin and exotics. Utilizing a large basis of interpolating fields we are able to project out various excited state contributions to three-point correlators computed on quenched anisotropic lattices. In the first lattice QCD calculation of the exotic 1-+ eta_c1 radiative decay, we find a large partial width Gamma(eta_c1 -> J/psi gamma) ~ 100 keV. We find clear signals for electric dipole and magnetic quadrupole transition form factors in chi_c2 -> J/psi gamma, calculated for the first time in this framework, and study transitions involving excited psi and chi_c1,2 states. We calculate hindered magnetic dipole transition widths without the sensitivity to assumptions made in model studies and find statistically significant signals, including a non-exotic vector hybrid candidate Y_hyb? -> eta_c gamma. As well as comparison to experimental data, we discuss in some detail the phenomenology suggested by our results and the extent to which it mirrors that of quark potential models and make suggestions for the interpretation of our results involving exotic quantum numbered states

Trace Complexity of Chaotic Reversible Cellular Automata

Delvenne, K\r{u}rka and Blondel have defined new notions of computational complexity for arbitrary symbolic systems, and shown examples of effective systems that are computationally universal in this sense. The notion is defined in terms of the trace function of the system, and aims to capture its dynamics. We present a Devaney-chaotic reversible cellular automaton that is universal in their sense, answering a question that they explicitly left open. We also discuss some implications and limitations of the construction.Comment: 12 pages + 1 page appendix, 4 figures. Accepted to Reversible Computation 2014 (proceedings published by Springer

AceTree: a tool for visual analysis of Caenorhabditis elegans embryogenesis

BACKGROUND: The invariant lineage of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has potential as a powerful tool for the description of mutant phenotypes and gene expression patterns. We previously described procedures for the imaging and automatic extraction of the cell lineage from C. elegans embryos. That method uses time-lapse confocal imaging of a strain expressing histone-GFP fusions and a software package, StarryNite, processes the thousands of images and produces output files that describe the location and lineage relationship of each nucleus at each time point. RESULTS: We have developed a companion software package, AceTree, which links the images and the annotations using tree representations of the lineage. This facilitates curation and editing of the lineage. AceTree also contains powerful visualization and interpretive tools, such as space filling models and tree-based expression patterning, that can be used to extract biological significance from the data. CONCLUSION: By pairing a fast lineaging program written in C with a user interface program written in Java we have produced a powerful software suite for exploring embryonic development