Electricity deregulation and the valuation of visibility loss in wilderness areas: A research note.

Visibility in most wilderness areas in the northeastern United States has declined substantially since the 1970s. As noted by Hill et al. (2000), despite the 1977 Clean Air Act and subsequent amendments, human induced smog conditions are becoming increasingly worse. Average visibility in class I airsheds, such as the Great Gulf Wilderness in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, is now about one-third of natural conditions. A particular concern is that deregulation of electricity production could result in further degradation because consumers may switch to lower cost fossil fuel generation (Harper 2000). To the extent that this system reduces electricity costs, it may also affect firm location decisions (Halstead and Deller 1997). Yet, little is known about the extent to which consumers are likely to make tradeoffs between electric bills and reduced visibility in nearby wilderness areas. This applied research uses a contingent valuation approach in an empirical case study of consumers’ tradeoffs between cheaper electric bills and reduced visibility in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. We also examine some of the problems associated with uncertainty with this type of analysis; that is, how confident respondents are in their answers to the valuation questions. Finally, policy implications of decreased visibility due to electricity deregulation are discussed

Quantization and Fractional Quantization of Currents in Periodically Driven Stochastic Systems I: Average Currents

This article studies Markovian stochastic motion of a particle on a graph with finite number of nodes and periodically time-dependent transition rates that satisfy the detailed balance condition at any time. We show that under general conditions, the currents in the system on average become quantized or fractionally quantized for adiabatic driving at sufficiently low temperature. We develop the quantitative theory of this quantization and interpret it in terms of topological invariants. By implementing the celebrated Kirchhoff theorem we derive a general and explicit formula for the average generated current that plays a role of an efficient tool for treating the current quantization effects.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure

Polyoxometalate multi-electron-transfer catalytic systems for water splitting

The viable production of solar fuels requires a visible-light-absorbing unit, a H2O (or CO2) reduction catalyst (WRC), and a water oxidation catalyst (WOC) that work in tandem to split water or reduce CO2 with H2O rapidly, selectively, and for long periods of time. Most catalysts and photosensitizers developed to date for these triadic systems are oxidatively, thermally, and/or hydrolytically unstable. Polyoxometalates (POMs) constitute a huge class of complexes with extensively tunable properties that are oxidatively, thermally, and (over wide and adjustable pH ranges) hydrolytically stable. POMs are some of the fastest and most stable WOCs to date under optimal conditions. This Microreview updates the very active POM WOC field; it reports the application of POMs as WRCs and initial self-assembling metal oxide semiconductor–photosensitizer–POM catalyst triad photoanodes. The complexities of investigating these POM systems, including but not limited to the study of POM-hydrated metal-ion–metal-oxide speciation processes, are outlined. The achievements and challenges in POM WOC, WRC, and triad research are outlined

Improved Disease Resistance on the Way – One Key to Soybean Improvement

As spring planting season begins, it is difficult to predict those diseases that may be most problematic during the growing season of 2008. So much depends upon rainfall, temperature and a myriad of other factors that can affect crops and pathogens. This includes potential for resistance to various pathogens. Despite all the management practices we talk about, disease resistance remains one of the most practical and economic ways to control plant disease. But, sometimes the genes that confer that resistance are not so easy to find. Iowa State University scientists, in research that would not have been possible without support by soybean check-off dollars, have recently been working to develop a means to find and characterize resistance genes to pathogens when resistance has been difficult to find

Emotional/Behavioral Disorders: A Retrospective Examination of Social Skills, Linguistics, and Student Outcomes

A language-based social skills instruction intervention used to prepare middle and high school students with emotional/behavioral disorders for return to less restrictive public school placements was evaluated. The daily 50-minute intervention focused on repetitive readings, recitations, and role-playing of skill step procedures until students achieved mastery on each required task in five broad dimensions: peer relations, self-management, academic, compliance, and assertion. The students were divided into three groups according to the length of intervention (under 2 years, 2 to 3 years, and more than 3 years). Dependent t tests were used to test the effects of prolonged intervention on past year and final year disruptive behavior totals and response to a self-control question for students in each group. In addition, a chi-square was used to evaluate the frequency of students with four or fewer disruptive behaviors across groups to determine progress toward unsupervised transition. Implications for social skills intervention and communication disorders practice are discussed