Buying price of event information in two-action decision problems

Being able to determine in advance whether certain events occur or not enables a decision maker to reduce the uncertainty of a two-action lottery, although the exact outcome of the lottery may still not be known with certainty. This paper studies the á priori value of information in such a decision making environment. Of interest to the decision maker is to compare the value of information about different events in advance of gathering the information. Using buying price as value of information, we show that when information about the occurrence of two different events are offered to a risk neutral decision maker, the event with a greater contribution in absolute value to the expected value of the lottery has higher value in terms of its buying price. For risk averse decision makers, a preference condition needs to be imposed on the set difference of two events to obtain a generic conclusion. We provide several examples that demonstrate the usefulness of these results.     

Exploring Land Developer Perspectives on Conservation Subdivision Design and Environmentally Sustainable Land Development

Insight into land developers’ perspectives on alternative residential developments and the barriers they experience in trying to develop them can be crucial in efforts to change environmentally damaging low-density, large-lot, and automobile-dependent residential patterns. Using a semi-structured interview instrument followed by short surveys, I examined the views of 16 developers in Waukesha County, WI, USA, a county that has experienced significant development pressures and widespread implementation of conservation subdivision design. The land developer investigation focused on conservation subdivision design familiarity and implementation, and identified a number of barriers that developers experienced in implementing the design. While the majority of the developers appeared familiar with the design and had experience developing conservation subdivisions, their motivations for developing them varied, as did their on-site conservation practices. The barriers included the lack of land use regulations supporting the design, economic factors, community opposition, and a lack of knowledge about sustainable residential development practices. Strategies to promote more environmentally sustainable residential land development patterns include providing a more supportive institutional environment, enacting different regulations and guidelines for natural resources protection, and offering education on ecologically sound development and planning practices.     

Is Russia suffering from Dutch Disease? Cointegration with structural break

This paper examines whether Russia suffers from “Dutch Disease” by investigating the real appreciation of the Russian ruble and the relative de-industrialization in the post Soviet Union-era. According to UNDP Russia Report (2009) the Russian economy has indeed exhibited some typical symptoms of “Dutch Disease” in recent years as upward movements in oil prices are accompanied by a reduction in the share of manufacturing output and an increase in service prices. Furthermore, the report claims that these developments may trigger a recession in Russia in the future. Using Gregory and Hansen (1996a, 1996b) and Arai and Kurozumi (2007) structural break cointegration frameworks, our results indicate that the Russian economy exhibits some typical symptoms of “Dutch Disease”. Although the diagnosis is not certain, the risk is evident. Hence, policies that would make the Russian economy more robust to shocks in the oil price need to be carefully designed and implemented.     

The preference of the most appropriate radical-based regeneration process for spent activated carbon by the PROMETHEE approach

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, regeneration of spent granular activated carbon (GAC) with reactive dye by hydroxyl and sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation...     

Health risk assessment of soil trace elements using the Sequential Gaussian Simulation approach

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, the performance of the Sequential Gaussian Simulation (SGS) approach was studied with the aim of accurately determining local health...     

Fate of selected pharmaceuticals in hospital and municipal wastewater effluent: occurrence,removal, and environmental risk assessment

The concentrations and distribution of β-blockers, lipid regulators, and psychiatric and cancer drugs in the influent and effluent of the municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and the effluent of 16 hospitals that discharge into the wastewater treatment plant mentioned in this study at two sampling dates in summer and winter were examined. The pharmaceutical contribution of hospitals to municipal wastewater was determined. The removal of target pharmaceuticals was evaluated in a WWTP consisting of conventional biological treatment using activated sludge. Additionally, the potential environmental risk for the aquatic receiving environments (salt lake) was assessed. Beta-blockers and psychiatric drugs were detected in high concentrations in the wastewater samples. Atenolol (919 ng/L) from β-blockers and carbamazepine (7008 ng/L) from psychiatric pharmaceuticals were detected at the highest concentrations in hospital wastewater. The total pharmaceutical concentration determined at the WWTP influent and effluent was between 335 and 737 ng/L in summer and between 174 and 226 ng/L in winter. The concentrations detected in hospital effluents are higher than the concentrations detected in WWTP. The total pharmaceutical contributions from hospitals to the WWTP in summer and winter were determined to be 2% and 4%, respectively. Total pharmaceutical removal in the WWTP ranged from 23 to 54%. According to the risk ratios, atenolol could pose a high risk (risk quotient > 10) for fish in summer and winter. There are different reasons for the increase in pharmaceutical consumption in recent years. One of these reasons is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been going on for 2 years. In particular, hospitals were operated at full capacity during the pandemic, and the occurrence and concentration of pharmaceuticals used for the therapy of COVID-19 patients has increased in hospital effluent. Pandemic conditions have increased the tendency of people to use psychiatric drugs. It is thought that beta-blocker consumption has increased due to cardiovascular diseases caused by COVID-19. Therefore, the environmental risk of pharmaceuticals for aquatic organisms in hospital effluent should be monitored and evaluated.

     

Evaluation of ecological risk,source, and spatial distribution of some heavy metals in marine sediments in the Middle and Eastern Black Sea region,Turkey

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In the present study, the concentration levels of heavy metals such as Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cr, and Pb in sediment samples collected from 16 sampling...     

The risk estimation and assessment of heavy metal exposure by biomonitoring in the breast milk of mothers in the Cukurova Region,Turkey

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Toxic heavy metals released into the environment through various industrial processes have potential adverse effects on the environment and human...     

The evaluation of ecology-based tourism potential in coastal villages in accordance with landscape values and user demands: the Bursa-Mudanya-Kumyaka case

Ecology-based tourism, which is integrated with nature, developed in environmentally conscious areas and enriched by different cultures, has become more important in the direction of extending tourism throughout the year. While the landscape values of the area are important functions for tourism activities to be carried out in natural characteristics, the preferences of the users are also important. Ecology-based tourism, which develops in connection with the concepts of intacteness, the protection-use balance and sustainability, and the demands and expectations of tourists, constitute the basis of our study. For this purpose, the study was carried out in Kumyaka, a small coastal neighborhood (village) of the county of Mudanya in the province Bursa, Turkey with important natural, historical and cultural assets. Fieldwork, field analysis, literature search, interviews with tourists coming to the field, interviews with the day trippers and survey work were conducted in the study. While evaluating the ecology-based tourism potential of the area, the demands and expectations of tourists have been taken into account together with the available area data. According to the results of the survey, tourists are mostly interested in having the most scenic value and quietness when choosing the area. The types of tourism that tourists most wanted to experience in the field were 42.38% culture tourism and 32.32% nature tourism. As a result of tourists’ demands and expectations, the tourism activities to be carried out in accordance with the possibilities of the area were examined and ecology based planning proposals and holistic planning approaches were developed.     

Effects of thermal barrier coating on the performance and combustion characteristics of a diesel engine fueled with biodiesel produced from waste frying cottonseed oil and ultra-low sulfur diesel

In this study, the top surfaces of piston and valves of a four-strokes and direct-injection diesel engine have been coated—with no change in the compression ratio—with a 100 μm of NiCrAl lining layer via plasma spray method and this layer has later been coated with main coating material with a mixture of 88% of ZrO₂, 4% of MgO and 8% of Al₂O₃ (400 μm). Then, after the engine-coating process, ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) as base fuels and its blend with used frying cottonseed oil derived biodiesel in proportion of 20%, volumetrically, have been tested in the coated engine and data of combustion and performance characteristics on full load and at different speeds have been noted. The results, which were compared with those obtained by uncoated-engine operation, showed that thermal efficiency increased, and engine noise reduced. Cylinder gas pressure values obtained from the diesel engine which has been coated with thermal barriers have been found to be somewhat higher than those of the uncoated-engine. Also, maximum pressure values measured in both engines and under the same experimental conditions through the use of test fuel have been obtained after TDC. Moreover, heat release rate and heat release have occurred earlier in the coated-engine. NOx emissions were increased while CO and HC emissions were remained almost the same with a little bit decrease.