THE COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF ALTERNATIVE EMISSION CONTROL POLICIES IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA

This study analyzes the ROG control costs of stationary sources in the San Joaquin Valley of California. The cost-effectiveness of market incentive approaches such as an uniform marketable permit system, localized marketable permit system and an ambient permit system as well as a traditional command-and-control approach are examined.Environmental Economics and Policy,

On the first two entries of the f-vectors of 6-polytopes

In 1906, Steinitz gave a complete characterization of the first two entries of the $f$-vectors of $3$-polytopes, while Grünbaum obtained a similar result for $4$-polytopes in his well-known book published in 1967. Recently, Kusunoki and Murai and independently Pineda-Villavicencio, Ugon, and Yost completely determined the first two entries of the $f$-vectors of $5$-polytopes. This paper can be regarded as a continuation of their works for $6$-polytopes. To be more precise, let $k$ denote the number of vertices of a $6$-polytope. The aim of this paper is to show that, when the number of edges is greater than or equal to $\frac{7}{2}(k-1)$ and $k\ge 14$, we can completely characterize the first two entries of the $f$-vectors of $6$-polytopes. As a consequence, for $7\le k\le 15$ we also give a complete characterization of the first two entries of the $f$-vectors of $6$-polytopes except for three cases $(12, 39)$, $(13, 43)$, and $(15, 47)$

Abrasive for Chemical Mechanical Polishing

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is one of the most essential processes in semiconductor manufacturing. Its importance becomes highly underscored at the advanced device toward sub 14 nm scaling. The fundamental mechanism of CMP is to create soften surface layer by chemical reaction and then, mechanical force by abrasive particles remove soften layer. The role of CMP is not only material removal, but also planarization, surface smoothening, uniformity control, defect reduction and more. Moreover, semiconductor yield enhancement is sensitively influenced by CMP processing. Surface scratching, which is generated by CMP in nature, is considered as ‘killer defect’ in semiconductor manufacturing. Hence, to achieve proper CMP performance without surface scratching, understanding and development of abrasive particles are crucially important. In this chapter, CMP fundamentals, applications and challenges associated with abrasive particle technology including synthesis (up to nanoparticle scale), tribochemical reaction, abrasive surface zeta potential behavior, particle size and its distribution will be discussed

ECONOMIC VIABILITY OF BT-CORN IN THE U.S.

Bt-corn, a genetically engineered insect resistant variety, has been adopted by almost one-quarter of all corn farmers, resulting in economic impacts on both conventional corn growers and Bt-corn growers. we estimate changes in profits for both types of farmers with different levels of seed premiums, yield increases and adoption rates. We find that Bt-corn growers will see their profits decline when the adoption rate and seed premium are high, if they are not offset by higher yields. Conventional corn growers will always experience a decline in profits because the yield increase from Bt-corn causes corn price to fall.Crop Production/Industries,