Valuing Australian cultural institutions: developing a cultural worldview scale

This paper explores the relationship between cultural attitudes and estimates of the economic value of cultural institutions. The relationship is tested with preliminary findings from an empirical study of the economic value of two national cultural institutions in Australia—the National Museum of Australia and Old Parliament House (the historic former national parliament building). The two institutions are the subject of separate choice modelling surveys aimed at estimating their economic value. An innovative element of the study is the development of a cultural worldview (CW) scale, similar in concept to the new ecological paradigm scale, to measure the latent characteristics of respondents. The study enables the testing of relationships between the CW scale, socio-demographic variables, and the stated economic values

Digital TV policies in the UK, US, Australia and Italy.

Many countries are in the process of converting their terrestrial television services from analog to digital transmission. Several different approaches have been adopted for the switchover with different apparent results. Spectrum is a scarce resource and delays in the switch off can have major effects on economic welfare as the spectrum tied up in analog transmission cannot be released for other uses. In this paper we examine the digital TV conversion policies and progress in the UK, USA, Australia and Italy, which have adopted different processes to achieve the desired switch-off. Each of the four countries decided to mandate the conversion of terrestrial television services from analog to digital transmission late in the last decade adopting policies with similar planned periods of transition and similar targets to complete the process. We look at the policies of each and the progress achieved to date to see what features appear to be enhancing or slowing down the achievement of the switch-over target

A tomographic approach to assessing the possibility of ring shake presence in standing chestnut trees

AbstractRing shake is a widespread phenomenon affecting a great number of species of both softwood and hardwood and is found in trees grown in temperate and tropical climates. Chestnut (Castanea sativaMill.) represents one of the most important hardwood timbers that is very often affected by ring shake. This defect seems to be the only real limit to the spread and use of chestnut wood worldwide on a scale closer to the availability of this wood. The aim of this study was to examine the potential of tomographic measurement as a non-destructive method for predicting the possibility of the presence of ring shake in standing chestnut trees. For this reason, the experiments were carried out in a chestnut coppice stand where one hundred chestnut standards were monitored using an acoustic tomographic device, and subsequently harvested by a local company and cross-sectioned corresponding to the acoustic tests. This work proposed an applied approach to predicting and determining wood quality (sound wood vs. defective wood) from tomographic data. The model, based on a non-linear approach, showed that sonic tomography can identify ring shake in a tree trunk without affecting its biological activity, overcoming the difficulties of predicting ring shake using only visual inspection

Spectrally resolved observations of atmospheric emitted radiance in the H2O rotation band

This paper presents the project Earth Cooling by Water Vapor Radiation, an observational programme, which aims at developing a database of spectrally resolved far infrared observations, in atmospheric dry conditions, in order to validate radiative transfer models and test the quality of water vapor continuum and line parameters. The project provides the very first set of far-infrared spectral downwelling radiance measurements, in dry atmospheric conditions, which are complemented with Raman Lidar-derived temperature and water vapor profiles

Productivity analysis and costs of wheel cable skidder during salvage logging in European beech stand

Salvage logging is increasing in Central Europe because of the growth of severe meteorological events, and timber harvesting in these conditions is challenging in terms of both productivity performances and safety of the operations. In recent years, with the increase of natural calamities, several researchers studied machinery productivity performances regarding salvage logging carried out by ground-based systems. In fact, a common post-disturbance management approach is salvage logging which consists of the widespread removal of damaged trees. In this research, system productivity and the cost of salvage logging are analysed in European beech stands affected by wet snow. The accretion of heavy wet snow poses the greatest risk to forests in the Northern Hemisphere. This type of snow attaches more effectively to tree crowns and branches when temperatures are close to freezing at the time of precipitation. As a result, trees may break or bend and may be uprooted when the soil is unfrozen. This study has been implemented to evaluate the productivity and cost-effectiveness of extraction in salvage logging deployed with a skidder in beech stands affected by two different types of wet snow damage. The results show that the productivity of the four-wheel-drive cable skidder, despite operating in salvage cutting with a removal intensity of 10%, is 14.73 m3·SMH–1, similar to skidder performances in ‘ordinary’ cuttings. Skidder’s productive time was 86% of the scheduled time, whereas the delays were due to organisational reasons, mechanical delays, and adverse weather conditions. The mean travel speed of the cable skidder obtained in this study is close to the results obtained from other studies on similar machines. The costs per unit are lower than effective cost consumptions for the other cable skidders and agricultural tractors, adapted for skidding operated in hardwood salvage logging. Therefore, under the given conditions, the operation of the fourwheel-drive cable skidder is viable from a silvicultural, technical, and economic point of view in the salvage operation logging

Competition and Vertical/Agglomeration Effects in Media Mergers: Bagging Bundle Benefits

Existing frameworks (such as used by the New Zealand Commerce Commission in its recent evaluation of the proposed merger between Sky Television and Vodafone) require, as a first step, the definition of the relevant markets affected by the merger or vertical integration activity. Historic precedents in the telecommunications sector have tended towards finding that vertical agglomeration effects when network operators integrate downstream into the provision of applications and services to end-consumers are harmful to competition. Such Structure-Conduct-Performance methods of evaluating mergers and other aspects of market performance are problematic when the firm(s) concerned supply many different products, both together in various different bundle forms and separately as individual components. Defining the markets for (merger) analysis on the basis of only one of the components in a possible bundle that the (merged) firm may supply risks overlooking the complex interactions that occur on the demand side when consumers make their purchase decisions. This is especially likely to be an issue in the supply of internet applications and content bundled with broadband internet access. Consumers have heterogeneous preferences for different applications and content (hereafter ‘content’), and will purchase (or access) many different content types. Even though ownership of rights to distribute one content may confer a degree of market power in for the owner-provider over those consumers with very strong preferences for this content over all others, it is not axiomatic that the firm will be able to exert this power over consumers whose preferences are more evenly distributed. The more variety there is in the content bundles available, and the more heterogeneous are consumers’ preferences across the various content types, the greater is the number of possible markets in which interaction is likely to occur and the more problematic it becomes to identify the relevant markets for analysis of mergers and antitrust cases. We propose that classic merger and antitrust analysis based on econometric cost-benefit analysis can be augmented by using simulation and numerical analysis of a range of bundle offers expected to be relevant in decision-making. We develop a simple model and use it to demonstrate how this approach could have informed the recent New Zealand Commerce Commission decision about the proposed Sky-Vodafone merger by offering some quantitative estimates of total and consumer welfare and provider profits under the proposed factual (with bundling) and counterfactual (individual component sales) cases. The approach may also inform other analyses, such as the assessment of the effects of two-sided markets and firm pricing decisions

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Employing Travel Time to Compare the Value of Competing Cultural Organizations

A number of studies have applied non-market valuation techniques to measure the value of cultural goods. Virtually all of these studies are single case applications and rely mostly on stated preferences, such as contingent valuation techniques. We compare the relative value of multiple, competing goods and show how revealed preferences, in particular travel time, may be used for this. In addition, we account for heterogeneity. Using a unique transaction database with the visiting behavior of 80,821 Museum Cardholders to 108 Dutch museums, we propose a latent class application of a logit model to account for the different distances of museums to the population and for differences in willingness-to-travel.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44648/1/10824_2005_Article_5796.pd

Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with life-threatening COVID-19

Interindividual clinical variability in the course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is vast. We report that at least 101 of 987 patients with life-threatening coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia had neutralizing immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against interferon-w (IFN-w) (13 patients), against the 13 types of IFN-a (36), or against both (52) at the onset of critical disease; a few also had auto-Abs against the other three type I IFNs. The auto-Abs neutralize the ability of the corresponding type I IFNs to block SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. These auto-Abs were not found in 663 individuals with asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and were present in only 4 of 1227 healthy individuals. Patients with auto-Abs were aged 25 to 87 years and 95 of the 101 were men. A B cell autoimmune phenocopy of inborn errors of type I IFN immunity accounts for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia in at least 2.6% of women and 12.5% of men