Farming Fish in a Transitional Economy: A Case for East Timor

This case study evaluates the economic potential for a grow-out mariculture enterprise in East Timor while highlighting how such a business venture could help engage a transitional nation in foreign trade, increase employment opportunities and encourage community based projects that promote sustainable resource use.aquaculture, mariculture, grouper, East Timor, transitional economy, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q10, Q22,

Catching the Perfect Serial Killer: How Bacterial Evidence Can be Used to Advance a Forensic Investigation

Catching the Perfect Serial Killer: How Bacterial Evidence Can Advance a Forensic Investigation is a short story and process statement that serves to bring attention to the forensic possibilities that the field application of bacterial evidence presents. This project also allows individuals not familiar with the field to have a better understanding as to how bacterial evidence could be used to link a perpetrator to their crime. The short story, Catching the Perfect Serial Killer, follows Professor Amanda Newman at the University of California. A serial killer in her neighborhood leaves no forensic evidence behind. When the FBI takes over the case, they come to her for help. She uses bacterial cells left behind by the killer to help catch him. But, before the killer is caught, he goes after Amanda. The FBI must use the bacterial evidence to find the killer before it’s too late. The process statement, How Bacterial Evidence Can Advance a Forensic Investigation, explores what bacterial evidence is, how it can be analyzed, and how it can advance a forensic investigation. The process statement also explains why bacterial evidence can be used as a legitimate forensic tool by addressing the leading concerns for using bacterial evidence in a forensic investigation

Differences in health symptoms among residents living near illegal dump sites in Los Laureles Canyon, Tijuana, Mexico: a cross sectional survey.

Living near landfills is a known health hazard prompting recognition of environmental injustice. The study aim was to compare self-reported symptoms of ill health among residents of four neighborhoods, living in haphazardly constructed settlements surrounded by illegal dumpsites in Tijuana, Mexico. One adult from each of 388 households located in Los Laureles Canyon were interviewed about demographics, health status, and symptoms. Distance from each residence to both the nearest dumpsite and the canyon bottom was assessed. The neighborhoods were selected from locations within the canyon, and varied with respect to proximity to dump sites. Residents of San Bernardo reported significantly higher frequencies of ill-health symptoms than the other neighborhoods, including extreme fatigue (OR 3.01 (95% CI 1.6-5.5)), skin problems/irritations (OR 2.73 (95% CI 1.3-5.9)), stomach discomfort (OR 2.47 (1.3-4.8)), eye irritation/tears (OR 2.02 (1.2-3.6)), and confusion/difficulty concentrating (OR 2.39 (1.2-4.8)). Proximity to dumpsites did not explain these results, that varied only slightly when adjusted for distance to nearest dumpsite or distance to the canyon bottom. Because San Bernardo has no paved roads, we hypothesize that dust and the toxicants it carries is a possible explanation for this difference. Studies are needed to further document this association and sources of toxicants

The Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus: An Advocacy Tool for the 21st Century

Historic Preservation depends a great deal on national, state, and local legislative action from both a regulatory and funding perspective. To advocate successfully on behalf of a national historic preservation policy agenda, a comprehensive understanding of the nuances of the federal legislative process along with a strong insight into the internal and external dynamics feeding into that process are vital. At the federal level, many legislators choose to organize into partisan, bipartisan or bicameral groups, commonly called Congressional Member Organizations (CMOs) or caucuses, with the intent to pursue common legislative objectives, coordinate actions and affect policy within their legislative body. The Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus (CHPC) is such a group. The mission of this particular bipartisan caucus, formed at the beginning of the 108th Congress (2003-2004) within the U.S. House of Representatives, is based on the recognition that successful federal historic preservation policy requires coordination and advocacy efforts between federal, state, local, public, and private groups. The assumption is that these coordinated efforts, particularly when executed at the federal level with the help of caucus members and their staffs, can greatly enhance the probability of positive legislative outcomes for historic preservation

INTERDEPENDENCE OF AGRICULTURE AND TOURISM: QUANTIFYING THE VALUE OF THE AGRICULTURAL WORKING LANDSCAPE IN VERMONT

This study evaluates the impact of the agricultural working landscape on the Vermont tourist industry and state economy. Vermont is known for its scenery, especially its agricultural landscape. It has often been stated that Vermont's tourist industry, which represents 15% of the state's economy, depends upon this special landscape for its comparative advantage in the New England tourism market. However, Vermont's landscape is changing. The number of farms and acres of farmland have decreased significantly in the past several decades. State policy makers are grappling with the challenge of supporting and preserving both the farm and tourist economies in the face of regional and global competition. This study quantifies the impact of the agricultural working landscape on tourist demand in Vermont. Primary data were gathered through a survey of visitors to Vermont to determine how the disappearance of the agricultural landscape would affect their willingness to visit the state. Findings indicate that 84% of respondents value the agricultural landscape of Vermont and 58.5% of the respondents would be less likely to visit Vermont if there were very few farms. Knowing the level of this impact will help policy makers decide how much to invest in the preservation of farmland and marketing of farm visits and eco-tourism.Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

THE IMPACT OF THE TOURISM SECTOR ON THE VERMONT ECONOMY: THE INPUT-OUTPUT ANALYSIS

There are only few states in the United States where state income relies heavily on tourism industry, and Vermont is one of them. Vermont has the advantage in possessing spectacular landscape, clean environment, and attractive agriculturally based rural community, which provide an excellent opportunity for tourism industry development. Vermont economy also benefits from the tourists' activities because: (1) tourists contribute significant amount of income to Vermont economy, especially from ski business; (2) tourists' expenditures in Vermont become a significant source of state tax income; and (3) to sustain tourism industry in Vermont helps to preserve rural community environment as well as nature beauty in Vermont. Although tourism industry is very important to Vermont, there is limited information associated with the economic impacts from the tourism industry to Vermont economy. The objectives of this article include: (1) to quantify the economic activities of tourism-related sectors in Vermont in order to create a tourism industry; and (2) to estimate the economic impacts of the tourism industry on Vermont economy in terms of total output, Gross State Product (GSP), employment, and dependency and inter-industry linkages between tourism industry and other industries in Vermont. Three surveys have been designed to gather data for tourists' activities and expenditures: (1) a nation-wide visitor survey in order to understand the profiles and expenditures of Vermont tourists; (1) a lodging business survey to estimate total revenue and cost structures for three sizes of the lodging businesses - small, medium, and large; and (3) a ski resort survey to estimate ski total revenue and cost structure and its contribution to recreation industry in Vermont. Further analysis in tourism impacts on Vermont economy is carried out by running a input-output model using Impact analysis for PLANing (IMPLAN) software. Several interesting results are concluded from this study. For the profile of the visitors, the majority tourists coming to Vermont are domestic pleasure travelers, every visiting domestic household spends approximately $323.66 for every trip to Vermont, and 75$29,000, and finally winter average revenue for a ski area is $19 millions of dollars ($4.3 millions of dollars in summer/fall). The impacts of tourism industry on Vermont economy include: (1) tourism industry counts for 15% of the total state output value, 22% of the state employment, and 26% of the indirect business tax; (2) for every million dollars spent by tourists in Vermont - 35 jobs are created, additional 690 thousands of dollars worth output will be generated, employment compensation will increase by $540,546 dollars, and indirect business tax will increase by$127,807 dollars. It has been shown that Tourism industry contributes significantly to Vermont economy relative to Agriculture and Manufacturing industries.tourism, Vermont, Input-Output model, Visitor survey, Lodging survey, Ski Survey, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Gestural depiction of motion events in narrative increases symbolic distance with age

We examined gesture representation of motion events in narratives produced by three- and nine-year-olds, and adults. Two aspects of gestural depiction were analysed: how protagonists were depicted, and how gesture space was used. We found that older age groups were more likely to express protagonists as an object that a gesturing hand held and manipulated, and less likely to express protagonists with whole-body enactment gestures. Furthermore, for older age groups, gesture space increasingly became less similar to narrated space. The older age groups were less likely to use large gestures or gestures in the periphery of the gesture space to represent movements that were large relative to a protagonist’s body or that took place next to a protagonist. They were also less likely to produce gestures on a physical surface (e.g., table) to represent movement on a surface in narrated events. The development of gestural depiction indicates that older speakers become less immersed in the story world and start to control and manipulate story representation from an outside perspective in a bounded and stage-like gesture space. We discussed this developmental shift in terms of increasing ‘symbolic distancing’ (Werner & Kaplan, 1963)

The hitchhiker's guide to avian malaria

The ecological mechanisms underlying the dispersal of parasites are poorly understood, which is of particular concern in view of currently emerging infectious diseases. In a new study, Pérez-Tris and Bensch examined the distribution and prevalence of avian malaria in a migratory bird across Western Europe. They concluded that repeated independent evolution of year-round transmission has enabled some avian malaria lineages to become more widespread, and more prevalent, than lineages that are transmitted only during the summer. This study blurs the boundaries of evolutionary ecology, epidemiology and macroecology with great potential for cross-disciplinary research

3D Monte Carlo radiation transfer modelling of photodynamic therapy

We acknowledge the support of the UK Engineering and Physics Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for funding through a studentship for C L Campbell as well as the Alfred Stewart Trust.The effects of ageing and skin type on Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) for different treatment methods have been theoretically investigated. A multilayered Monte Carlo Radiation Transfer model is presented where both daylight activated PDT and conventional PDT are compared. It was found that light penetrates deeper through older skin with a lighter complexion, which translates into a deeper effective treatment depth. The effect of ageing was found to be larger for darker skin types. The investigation further strengthens the usage of daylight as a potential light source for PDT where effective treatment depths of about 2 mm can be achieved.Publisher PD