Optimal Control of Brucellosis in Bison in the Yellowstone National Park Area

Brucellosis is a highly infectious bacterial disease that causes infected females to abort their calves. It has caused devastating losses to U.S. farmers over the last century. The only known focus of Brucellosis left in the nation is wildlife such as bison and elk in the Greater Yellowstone Area. Vaccination and test-and-slaughter have been applied to brucellosis management in bison, and there has been discussion that a combination of both could potentially eradicate the disease in the Yellowstone National Park. However, there is no study on how to allocate resources between the two actions. This paper investigates the optimal allocation of these two selective management options, in a bioeconomic framework, when there are both existence and recreational values for the wildlife host (bison) and when the host puts the livestock sector at risk.Bioeconomics, brucellosis, disease ecology, epidemiology, optimal control, susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) model, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

VHE Observations of BL Lacertae Objects: 1995-2000

The results of observations of 29 BL Lacertae objects taken with the Whipple Observatory 10 m gamma-ray Telescope between 1995 and 2000 are presented.Comment: 4 pages to be published in the Proceedings of the 28th International Cosmic Ray Conference (Tsukuba, Japan 2003

Economic Incentives for Controlling Trade-Related Biological Invasions in the Great Lakes

Ballast water from commercial ships engaged in international trade has been implicated as the primary invasion pathway in over 60 percent of new introductions of invasive alien species (IAS) in the Great Lakes since 1960. Recent policies have recognized that IAS are a form of biological pollution and have become focused on preventing new introductions. Given that emissions-based incentives are infeasible for the case of biological emissions, we investigate the cost-effectiveness of various performance proxy-based and technology-based economic incentives to reduce the threat of new invasions of Ponto-Caspian species in the Great Lakes.aquatic nuisance species, ballast water, uncertainty, risk management, performance-based incentives, environmental subsidies, International Relations/Trade, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The Ultraviolet Plume Instrument (UVPI)

The Ultraviolet Plume Instrument (UVPI) was launched aboard the Low-power Atmospheric Compensation Experiment (LACE) satellite on 14 Feb. 1990. Both the spacecraft and the UVPI were sponsored by the Directed Energy Office of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization. The mission of the UVPI was to obtain radiometrically calibrated images of rocket plumes at high altitude and background image data of the Earth, Earth's limb, and celestial objects in the near- and middle-UV wave bands. The UVPI was designed for nighttime observations, i.e., to acquire and track relatively bright objects against a dark background

The Glue Around Quarks and the Interquark Potential

The quarks of quark models cannot be identified with the quarks of the QCD Lagrangian. We review the restrictions that gauge field theories place on any description of physical (colour) charges. A method to construct charged particles is presented. The solutions are applied to a variety of applications. Their Green's functions are shown to be free of infra-red divergences to all orders in perturbation theory. The interquark potential is analysed and it is shown that the interaction responsible for anti-screening results from the force between two separately gauge invariant constituent quarks. A fundamental limit on the applicability of quark models is identified.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX, talk given at Montpellier meeting QCD9

THE ECONOMICS OF GREEN PAYMENTS FOR REDUCING AGRICULTURAL NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION IN THE CORN BELT

We develop a watershed-based model of green payments to examine how payments applied to different environmental performance measures compare on the basis of economic efficiency, equity, and environmental outcomes. We also explore how targeting in the specification of water quality goals (e.g., TMDLs) affects program performance.Environmental Economics and Policy,