Investigating distance effects on environmental values: A choice modelling approach

This paper describes a Choice Modelling experiment set up to investigate the relationship between distance and willingness to pay for environmental quality changes. The issue is important for the estimation and transfer of benefits. So far the problem has been analysed through the use of Contingent Valuation-type of experiments, producing mixed results. The Choice Modelling experiment allows testing distance effects on parameters of environmental attributes that imply different trade-offs between use and non-use values. The sampling procedure is designed to provide a Ògeographically balancedÓ sample. Several specifications of the distance covariate are compared and distance effects are shown to take complex shapes. Welfare analysis also shows that disregarding distance produces under-estimation of individual and aggregated benefits and losses, seriously hindering the reliability of costbenefit analyses.choice Modelling techniques, distance, aggregation, sampling, functional forms.

Are non-use values distance-independent? Identifying the market area using a choice modelling experiment

This article tests for the effect of distance on non-use values using a Choice Modelling (CM) experiment. Estimating a distance decay relationship for non-use values (NUVs) is important because it would define the market area for an environmental good, i.e. identify the limits for aggregating individual benefit estimates. In contrast to the common definition of NUVs as non-usersÕ values, the CM experiment designs the environmental attributes so that NUV changes can be disentangled from Use Value (UV) changes. The experiment also allows for testing different specification of the distance covariates. Data are obtained from a geographically representative sample. Results show that NUVs do not depend on distance. Aggregation of NUVs is based on income and individualsÕ environmental attitudes.choice modelling, non-use values, aggregation, distance, geographical sampling.

Choice Modelling and laboratory experiments for non-market valuation: a framework

This paper is about combining Choice Modelling and laboratory experimentsincentive-compatible, stated preferences,pivot process, WTP/WTA disparity

A Methodological Approach to the Spatial Aggregation of Values

A Choice Modelling (CM) experiment is developed with the purpose of gaining some insight on how to identify the relevant population for the valuation of an environmental asset. The experiment is based on a survey of Perth residents over the values they attach to Kings Park, the largest urban park in Western Australia, 4/5 of which is native bushland. We design the experiment in order to isolate NUVs form UVs so that trade-offs between attributes of the asset imply tradeoffs between Use Values, Non-Use Values and money. One can then estimate the coefficients for each attribute and analyse the effect of distance on patterns of use. Preliminary results are obtained using data from a pre-survey trial of the questionnaire.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Investigating distance effects on environmental values: a choice modelling approach

Analysis of the relationship between distance and willingness to pay (WTP) is important for estimation and transfer of environmental benefits. Several contingent valuation (CV) studies have investigated this topic, but results are mixed. This paper describes a choice modelling (CM) application that estimates distance effects on parameters of three environmental attributes. Combinations of these attributes create different management policies for native vegetation. The CM study is based on a sampling procedure that provides a geographically balanced sample and statistical tests to choose the best specification of the distance–WTP relationship. Welfare analysis shows that disregarding distance causes under-estimation of individual and aggregated benefits and losses, seriously misdirecting resource allocation.choice modelling, geographical distance, spatial heterogeneity, stratified sample, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Natural Killer cells responsiveness to physical esercise: a brief review

Natural killer cells (NK) are a group of peripheral blood lymphocytes which display cytotoxic ac- tivity against a wide range of tumour cells. They are a consistent part of the inflammatory re- sponse that is activated when either internal or external injuries occur as they are able to syn- thesize perforins. An important role is played by NK cells in the host defence against tumours without expressing any antigen-binding recap- tor in their membrane which, however, distin- guish T and B lymphocytes. NK activity appears early in the immune response, thus providing immediate protection during the time required for the activation and proliferation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes and for their differentiation into functional cells. Even though much research regarding the effects of aerobic training exercise on NK cell numbers and function, there appears to be much controversy regarding its effect. NK cells are rapidly mobilized into circulation in response to acute exercise, most likely by in- creased shear stress and catecholamine-in- duced down-regulation of adhesion molecule expression. However, tissue injury and inflam- mation which often accompanies strenuous ex- ercise have been associated to post-exercise NK cell suppression. Scientific evidence indicates exercise-induced changes in NK cell redistribu- tion and function should be strongly influenced by stress hormones including catecholamines, cortisol and prolactin as well as by soluble me- diators such as cytokines and prostaglandins. The role of exercise therapy in cancer patients and survivors rehabilitation is becoming increasingly important as it is thought to modulate immunity and inflammation. However, more knowledge about the effects of exercise on im-mune function in these patients is needed

Hydroxytyrosol but not resveratrol ingestion induced an acute increment of post exercise blood flow in brachial artery

The aim of this study was to test if previous ingestion of compounds containing resveratrol or hydroxytyrosol, followed by an exhausting hand grip exercise, could induce an acute post-exercise increase in brachial blood flow. Six healthy subjects (three males and three females, 35 ± 7 years), 60 minutes after ingestion of a capsule containing 200 mg of resveratrol or 30 ml of extra virgin olive oil enriched with tyrosol, oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol, performed a hand grip exercise equal to half of their maximum strength until they were no longer able to express the same force (2-day interval between tests). The nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for statistical evaluations. Brachial artery blood flow (Fba) and both blood velocity (Vba) and artery diameter (Dba) were assessed immediately after exercise cessation by means of colour Doppler ultrasound. After ingestion of the oil mixture the post-exercise value of Fba median was 2.4 times higher than that after ingestion of the resveratrol compound (P = 0.03), and also the Vba median concerning the hydroxytyrosol was 1.9 times higher than that of the resveratrol (P = 0.03). Both functional foods did not lead to a significant difference in the Dba medians. These results indicate that hydroxytyrosol, but not resveratrol, may be an effective adjuvant of recreational or agonistic, long-lasting sports performances, thanks to the powerful blood flow increment which can be obtained as soon as one hour from its oral intake

Analisi morfo-funzionale dello scheletro post-craniale di Ziphius cavirostris, Mesoplodon bowdoini e Hyperoodon ampullatus (Cetacea: Ziphhidae)

Sulla base di osservazioni dirette, gli zifidi sono i cetacei che si spingono a maggiori profondità (superano i 1900m) e per una durata maggiore (1 h circa). Tra le tendenze evolutive dello scheletro degli zifidi compaiono caratteristiche peculiari, quali una pinna caudale la cui superficie idrodinamica è evidentemente poco sviluppata, pinne pettorali di ridotte dimensioni, una testa ridotta se paragonata alla lunghezza totale dell’animale e un rostro particolarmente denso. Durante la maturazione dell’individuo il rostro è soggetto a pachiostosi e osteosclerosi, caratteristiche dimorfiche e soggette a variazioni ontogenetiche. È stato proposto che questa struttura si sia evoluta per agevolare l’immersione; si tratta infatti dell’osso più denso in natura (in M. densirotris la densità di questa struttura è di 2.60 g/cm3). Sulla base di questa ipotesi, è stata condotta un’analisi morfo-funzionale della colonna vertebrale, al fine di stabilire se l’incremento ontologico della densità del rostro è enfatizzato da una ridotta densità dello scheletro post-craniale. Per ogni vertebra del rachide degli zifidi esaminati (Z. cavirostris, M. bowdoini e H. ampullatus) sono stati misurati la lunghezza, l’altezza e la larghezza del corpo vertebrale (CL, CH e CW rispettivamente), l‘altezza dei processi neurali (NPH, NAH e NSH) e il grado di inclinazione (NAI e NSI), tenendo conto del fatto che questi processi offrono punti d’inserzione per i muscoli coinvolti nella spinta propulsiva, quali il muscolo multifido e il lunghissimo del dorso. Per ognuna delle specie esaminate è stato calcolato il momento di forza e il momento di resistenza alla curvatura dorso-ventrale e latero-laterale ed è stato stimato il baricentro delle componenti assili. Il baricentro dello scheletro assile è stato stimato anche per Delphinus delphis – un piccolo delfinide che non si immerge oltre i 200 m di profondità – ed è stato confrontato con quello degli zifidi presi in esame, avvalorando l’ipotesi di partenza (il baricentro degli zifidi è notevolmente spostato in avanti). È stata eseguita una TAC (Tomografia Assile Computerizzata) sulla prima vertebra caudale (Ca1) dello zifio e del delfino comune, che ha messo in evidenza differenze notevoli tra le due specie, riconducibili probabilmente alla loro ecologia e quindi alla profondità preferenziale e alla dinamica del nuoto: in Z. cavirostris si osserva ρmean= - 423.03, mentre in D. delphis ρmean= - 104.54). In seguito alla micro-TAC, eseguita sulle falangi degli zifidi e del delfino comune, è emerso che M. bowdoini è caratterizzato da un tessuto trabecolare rarefatto (BV/TV=0.19, Conn.=846.88 e TbSpmean=0.82). Le trabecole di tutte le falangi esaminate sono tendenzialmente tubulari (SMI>2, tranne per H. ampullatus per il quale SMI<0)

Buddhism, Philosophy, History. On Eugène Burnouf’s Simple Sūtras

Philosophy has long become a key term in the study of Buddhism, defining the moral and rational essence of the Buddha’s teaching, emblematic of its Indian origins. In this essay, I suggest that the relation of Buddhism and philosophy, which prior to the mid-nineteenth century was framed as the relation of the Religion of Fo to the cult of voidness, was reformulated in the self-styled language of science in the wake of the study of Buddhism from Sanskrit sources. Specifically, I suggest that the philosophical dimension of Eugène Burnouf’s reading of the Divyāvadāna and his idea of “simple sūtra” played a crucial role in defining Buddhism as a philosophy for the late nineteenth and into the twentieth century. The idea of a “simple moral philosophy” emerged in Burnouf’s particular reading of the story of the Buddha’s last days in the Divyāvadāna and the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta, as the play of magic and death unfolds in the theme of the master’s denial of the will to live. Burnouf’s philosophical reading rests on the purification, in the theme of the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, of the foundations of magical power (catvāra ṛddhipāda) that articulate knowledge of this world and beyond in the Buddha’s discourses. In the conclusion, I reformulate Burnouf’s question about the Buddha’s moral philosophy in his study of the simple sūtras vis-à-vis the historically self-conscious question about the Buddha’s ability to defer death by magic that traces back to the early debate of Buddhist exegetical traditions

STRUCT: A Second-Generation URANS Approach for Effective Design of Advanced Systems

This work presents the recently developed STRUCT hybrid turbulence model and assesses its potential to address the poor grid consistency and limited engineering applicability typical of hybrid models. Renouncing the ability to consistently bridge RANS, LES and DNS based on the computational grid size, we aim at addressing the engineering design needs with a different mindset. We opt to leverage the robustness and computational efficiency of URANS in all nearly homogeneous flow regions while extending it to locally resolve complex flow structures, where the concept of Reynolds averaging is poorly applicable. The proposed approach is best characterized as a second generation URANS closure, which triggers controlled resolution of turbulence inside selected flow regions. The resolution is controlled by a single-point parameter representing the turbulent timescale separation, which quantitatively identifies topological flow structures of interest. The STRUCT approach demonstrates LES-like capabilities on much coarser grids, and consistently increases the accuracy of the predictions from the baseline URANS at increasing grid finesse. The encouraging results show the potential to support effective design application through resolution of complex flow structures while controlling the computational cost. The ultimate objective is to continue improving the robustness and computational efficiency while further assessing the accuracy and range of applicability