Stability of the WTP measurements with successive use of choice experiments method and multiple programmes method

This paper is part of an investigation to evaluate the benefits of landscape policies. Such policies are, within a specific area (here the Monts d’Arrée in Brittany), favouring some landscape attributes. We test out a procedure based on a double device. The first one relies on the choice experiments method and focuses on each attribute. Without prior information about the presence of substitution and complementarity effects between attributes, we work on the basis of scenarios built to ensure the independence of attributes. The important question of the impact of an attribute variation on the aesthetic value of another one, when these attributes are jointly perceived, is tackled by use of the multi-programme method. The two surveys were launched after an interval of one year, sampling among the same population. The WTP results obtained from each method are not statistically different.Valuation; choice modelling; multi-attributes choice set; multi-programme method; choice experiments; landscape; Monts d’Arrée

Direct Laser Sintering of Borosilicate Glass

Despite the advantages that selective laser sintering (SLS) offers in terms of material availability, many materials have yet to be explored for feasibility and even fewer are available on a commercial basis. This paper presents initial investigations for one such material, borosilicate glass, which could be of particular interest to filter manufacturers because it presents an attractive alternative to the conventional, time-consuming way of producing filters of various porosity classes. Process results are presented including a determination of the optimal parameter window and the effect of processing parameters on the density and surface quality. The effects of thermal post-processing and the inclusion of an additive are also discussed.Mechanical Engineerin

Relating Weyl and diffeomorphism anomalies on super Riemann surfaces

Starting from the Wess-Zumino action associated to the super Weyl anomaly, we determine the local counterterm which allows to pass from this anomaly to the chirally split superdiffeomorphism anomaly (as defined on a compact super Riemann surface without boundary). The counterterm involves the graded extension of the Verlinde functional and the results can be applied to the study of holomorphic factorization of partition functions in superconformal field theory.Comment: (LATEX, 18 pages), MPI-Ph/92-38, LPTB 92-

Organic Agriculture in Estonia

Report contains the information about organic farming development, organic food production, processing and marketing in Estonia until 2004

Precision Medicine In Atrial Fibrillation: A Risk Model For Management With Dabigatran V. Warfarin

The Precision Medicine Initiative aims to advance Medicine from “one-size-fits-all” treatments to more individualized approaches. Clinical trials evaluate treatments by analyzing average outcomes, and thus risk overlooking potential differences in treatment effect among different subsets of the study population. The use of multivariate models has been proposed as a way to identify heterogeneity of treatment effect and to determine patients’ individualized treatment risks and benefits. We analyzed the Randomized Evaluation of Long-Term Anticoagulation Therapy (RELY) trial of dabigatran versus warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation, to determine if the application of multivariate predictive models could demonstrate heterogeneity of treatment effect among the study population. We developed two models to predict patients’ risk of stroke or systemic embolism and risk of major bleeding if treated with dabigatran or warfarin. We then applied these models to the individual patients in the RE-LY trial, and determined patients difference in risk if treated with dabigatran versus warfarin. Individual difference in stroke risk for dabigatran 110mg and 150mg versus warfarin was -0.78% 0.95% and -1.32% 1.31% and the difference in major bleeding risk was -1.12% 1.44% and -0.41% 2.39%, respectively. These findings demonstrate heterogeneity of treatment effect in the RE-LY trial, and the ability of multivariate risk models to identify distinct treatment risks for individual patients. Such models could be used in clinical practice provide patients and clinicians with individualized treatment risk information and improve treatment decisions