Climate Change and Game Theory

This survey paper examines the problem of achieving global cooperation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Contributions to this problem are reviewed from non-cooperative game theory, cooperative game theory, and implementation theory. Solutions to games where players have a continuous choice about how much to pollute, games where players make decisions about treaty participation, and games where players make decisions about treaty ratification, are examined. The implications of linking cooperation on climate change with cooperation on other issues, such as trade, is examined. Cooperative and non-cooperative approaches to coalition formation are investigated in order to examine the behaviour of coalitions cooperating on climate change. One way to achieve cooperation is to design a game, known as a mechanism, whose equilibrium corresponds to an optimal outcome. This paper examines some mechanisms that are based on conditional commitments, and could lead to substantial cooperation.Climate change negotiations, game theory, implementation theory, coalition formation, subgame perfect equilibrium, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Price Floors for Emissions Trading

Price floors in greenhouse gas emissions trading schemes can have advantages for technological innovation, price volatility, and management of cost uncertainty, but implementation has potential pitfalls. We argue that the best mechanism for implementing a price floor is to have firms pay an extra fee or tax. This has budgetary advantages and is more compatible with international permit trading than alternative approaches that dominate the academic and policy debate. The fee approach can also be used to implement more general hybrid approaches to emissions pricing.Price Floor, Price Ceiling, Carbon Tax, Emissions Trading, Carbon Pricing, Price and Quantity Controls, Waxman-Markey Bill

How the Cervical Microbiota Contributes to Cervical Cancer Risk in Sub-Saharan Africa

Despite ongoing efforts, sub-Saharan Africa faces a higher cervical cancer burden than anywhere else in the world. Besides HPV infection, definitive factors of cervical cancer are still unclear. Particular states of the cervicovaginal microbiota and viral infections are associated with increased cervical cancer risk. Notably, HIV infection, which is prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, greatly increases risk of cervicovaginal dysbiosis and cervical cancer. To better understand and address cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa, a better knowledge of the regional cervicovaginal microbiome is required This review establishes current knowledge of HPV, HIV, cervicovaginal infections, and the cervicovaginal microbiota in sub-Saharan Africa. Because population statistics are not available for the region, estimates are derived from smaller cohort studies. Microbiota associated with cervical inflammation have been found to be especially prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, and to associate with increased cervical cancer risk. In addition to high prevalence and diversity of HIV and HPV, intracellular bacterial infections such as Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Mycoplasma hominis are much more common than in regions with a low burden of cervical cancer. This suggests the prevalence of cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa may be partially attributed to increased cervical inflammation resulting from higher likelihood of cervical infection and/or microbial dysbiosis

Respiratory burst function of ovine neutrophils

Background: Respiratory burst function resulting in the release of reactive oxygen species such as superoxide anion (O(2)(-)) from neutrophils is one of the key mechanisms of the innate immune system, and maladaptive control of this mechanism is thought to play a pivotal role in the development of pathologies such as acute lung injury and sepsis. Ovine models of these pathologies are limited by the poor understanding of ovine neutrophil respiratory burst function

The Brightest Carbon Stars

It is currently accepted that Hot-Bottom-Burning (HBB) in intermediate-mass asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars prevents the formation of C~stars. Nevertheless, we present in this paper the results of some detailed evolutionary calculations which show that even with HBB we obtain C~stars at the highest luminosities reached on the AGB. This is due to mass-loss reducing the envelope mass so that HBB ceases but dredge-up continues. The high mass-loss rate produces an optically thick wind before the star reaches C/O>1. This is consistent with the recent results of van Loon et al. (1997a,b) who find obscured C~stars in the Magellanic Clouds at luminosities up to M_{bol} = -6.8.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures included. Note that these are quality-reduced figures for net transmission. If you want best quality figures, these are available from http://www.maths.monash.edu.au/~johnl/preprints/preprints.htm

Navigating the career transition from industry to academia

Transitions from ‘industry’ to ‘academia’ represent a unique type of career change. Although such transitions are becoming increasingly common in Australian universities and beyond, there is no coherent framework for making sense of the multiple and intersecting factors involved in these inter-domain movements. This form of occupational transition challenges the traditional and increasingly outdated conception of the linear academic tenure track. Thus, in order to revise the notion of the tenure track and gain a fuller understanding of these career trajectories, we must seek to understand the motivations for such occupational movements as well as the short-term, medium-term and long-term social, emotional and professional needs and preferences of practitioner-academics having made this transition. This article presents an attempt to re-think the imagery and language that have come to characterize this type of career movement as well as the attitudes within and between industry and academia. The authors advocate that transitions from industry to academia do not require the dismantling of linkages between the two fields, but rather are made more meaningful and effective when pre-existing professional and personal linkages are maintained and encouraged