scholarly journals Using Decision Science for Monitoring Threatened Western Snowy Plovers to Inform Recovery

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 569
Author(s):  
Bruce G. Marcot ◽  
James E. Lyons ◽  
Daniel C. Elbert ◽  
Laura Todd
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measures ◽  
Risk Attitude ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Monitoring Methods ◽  
Optimal Decisions ◽  
The Us ◽  
Fish And Wildlife Service ◽  
Snowy Plovers ◽  
On The Road ◽  
Western Snowy Plovers

Western Snowy Plovers (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) are federally listed under the US Endangered Species Act as Threatened. They occur along the US Pacific coastline and are threatened by habitat loss and destruction and excessive levels of predation and human disturbance. Populations have been monitored since the 1970s for distribution, reproduction, and survival. Since the species was federally listed in 1993 and a recovery plan was approved under the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2007, recovery actions have resulted in growing populations with increased presence at breeding and wintering sites throughout their Pacific Coast range. This success has created logistical challenges related to monitoring a recovering species and a need for identifying and instituting the best monitoring approach given recovery goals, budgets, and the likelihood of monitoring success. We devised and implemented a structured decision analysis to evaluate nine alternative monitoring strategies. The analysis included inviting plover biologists involved in monitoring to score each strategy according to a suite of performance measures. Using multi-attribute utility theory, we combined scores across the performance measures for each monitoring strategy, and applied weighted utility values to show the implications of tradeoffs and find optimal decisions. We evaluated four scenarios for weighting the monitoring objectives and how risk attitude affects optimal decisions. This resulted in identifying six strategies that best meet recovery needs and were Pareto optimal for cost-effective monitoring. Results were presented to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, responsible for monitoring as well as for consideration to ensure consistent monitoring methods across the species’ range. Our use of structured decision-making can be applied to cases of other species once imperiled but now on the road to recovery.

Archived Attributes: An Internet-Text Approach to Measuring Legislator Attitudes and Behavior

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Emily Kalah Gade ◽  
Sarah Dreier ◽  
John Wilkerson ◽  
Anne Washington
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Religious Rhetoric ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Internet Archive ◽  
Scientific Analysis ◽  
The Us ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Attitudes And Behavior ◽  
Time Invariant

Abstract The Internet Archive curated a 90-terabyte sub-collection of captures from the US government's public website domain (‘.gov’). Such archives provide largely untapped resources for measuring attributes, behaviors and outcomes relevant to political science research. This study leverages this archive to measure a novel dimension of federal legislators' religiosity: their proportional use of religious rhetoric on official congressional websites (2006–2012). This scalable, time-variant measure improves upon more costly, time-invariant conventional approaches to measuring legislator attributes. The authors demonstrate the validity of this method for measuring legislators' public-facing religiosity and discuss the contributions and limitations of using archived Internet data for scientific analysis. This research makes three applied methodological contributions: (1) it develops a new measure for legislator religiosity, (2) it models an improved, more comprehensive approach to analyzing congressional communications and (3) it demonstrates the unprecedented potential that archived Internet data offer to researchers seeking to develop meaningful, cost-effective approaches to analyzing political phenomena.

Use of Polysiloxane Coatings for Topside Applications on US Navy Ships

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Peter Ault ◽  
Pete Lockwood ◽  
Robert Cloutier ◽  
David Kinee
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
High Durability ◽  
Marine Industry ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Navy ◽  
Oxidation Resistant ◽  
Marine Applications ◽  
Type V

Polysiloxane coatings are the most recent high performance coatings developed to take advantage of the heat and oxidation resistant properties of silicone-based materials. Commercially available polysiloxane coatings predominately consist of organic-inorganic siloxane materials (though some pure siloxane materials are available). Recently, the US Navy has approved polysiloxane coatings as “High Durability” in their specification for exterior weather resistant coatings (MIL-PRF-24635 Type V and VI). Navy approval comes after over 20 years of industry development of polysiloxane coatings for high performance industrial and marine applications, yet issues remain with their cost-effective implementation in the Navy fleet. This paper will review experiences of the offshore and marine industry with polysiloxane coatings and provide an update on the Navy adoption of the technology.

Strategies for Promoting the Use of Concrete Pavements in Tanzania: Technical and Institutional Considerations

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-62
Author(s):  
D.A. Mfinanga ◽  
H. Bwire
Keyword(s):  
Road Construction ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Petroleum Products ◽  
Concrete Pavements ◽  
Construction Technology ◽  
The Road ◽  
Competing Demands ◽  
Resource Requirements ◽  
On The Road ◽  
Economic Developments

High-type roads in Tanzania have been predominantly of asphaltic concrete construction. This ever enlarging and ageing asphaltic road network represents increasing resource requirements on the road agency in the form of maintenance. Limited resources coupled with the ever sky-rocketing costs of petroleum products and the competing demands of social economic developments, presupposes the need to look for alternative road construction technology that is more cost-effective and resource optimising. Experience gained from developed and some developing countries where concrete pavements have been widely used suggests the potential of this type of pavement in many developingcountries. This paper discusses the technical aspects of design and construction- and maintenance-related aspects of concrete pavements. The discussion extends further to highlight issues pertaining to the performance of concrete pavements and strategies for promoting the use of concrete pavements in Tanzania. Conclusions and recommendationsare made with suggestions on how to start implementing the proposed strategies.

Principal operators' farm risk attitudes in hot and cold climates

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Zia Wahdat ◽  
Michael Gunderson
Keyword(s):  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Risk Attitude ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
Risk Attitudes ◽  
Ordered Logit ◽  
Climate Classification ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Hot Climate ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Government

PurposeThe study investigates whether there is an association between climate types and farm risk attitudes of principal operators.Design/methodology/approachThe study exploits temperature variation in the diverse climate types across the US and defines hot- and cold-climate states. Ordered logit and generalized ordered logit models are used to model principal operators' farm risk attitudes, which are measured on a Likert scale. The study uses two datasets. The first dataset is a 2017 survey of US large commercial producers (LCPs). The second dataset provides a Köppen-Geiger climate classification of the US at a spatial resolution of 5 arcmin for a 25-year period (1986–2010).FindingsThe study finds that principal operators in hot-climate states are 4–5% more likely to have a higher willingness to take farm risk compared to principal operators in cold-climate states.Research limitations/implicationsIt is likely that farm risk mitigation decisions differ between hot- and cold-climate states. For instance, the authors show that corn acres' enrollment in federal crop insurance and computers' usage for farm business are pursued more intensely in cold-climate states than in hot-climate states. A differentiation of farm risk attitude by hot- and cold-climate states may help agribusiness, the government and economists in their farm product offerings, farm risk management programs and agricultural finance models, respectively.Originality/valueBased on Köppen-Geiger climate classification, the study introduces hot- and cold-climate concepts to understand the relationship between climate types and principal operators' farm risk attitudes.

scholarly journals Nine Recommendations for the Safety on Road both of the People and the Traffic Police

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (01) ◽  
pp. 79-85
Author(s):  
Madhur Dev Bhattarai
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Road Accident ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Occupational Hazards ◽  
Traffic Police ◽  
The Road ◽  
The People ◽  
On The Road ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Injured Patients

Safety of people and traffic police on road and the provision of prompt and appropriate treatment of injured persons in road accident are urgent concerns. The nine recommendations accordingly made are 1) Considering anyone who informs about or brings to the hospitals the accident victims as innocent until proved otherwise, 2) Annual payment by all vehicle owners (as per the cost of vehicles) to generate treatment fund for any road accident injured patients in the free general (not paying or private or extended health service) outdoor or emergency clinics or ward of the public hospitals irrespective of anyone’ fault in the accident (insurance or other agencies may be assigned to handle the amount deposited and reimbursement of the payments to the hospitals), 3) Implementation of helmet wearing by motorcycle riders and pillion riders in motorcycles, 4) Stricter fine for hazardous traffic offenses, 5) Drivers of the larger vehicles should not automatically be held responsible for any accidents involving other smaller vehicles (to prevent smaller vehicles and motorcycles to drive recklessly), 6) Drivers should not be just held responsible to bear health expenses of injured patients (which is much more than the compensation required in the event of death of injured persons); this is to encourage drivers to take injured persons immediately to hospitals and prevent inclination to allow their deaths indirectly or directly; the drivers should be proportionately fined or punished as per the traffic regulations if they are found to be negligent, 7) Safe and visible platform for the traffic police to stay on the road, 8) Provision of cost-effective respirators for traffic police and traffic supervisors, and 9) Compensation for occupational hazards to the traffic police and field traffic supervisors by distributing to them adequate proportion (e.g. one-third to one-half) of the fund collected by stricter fine paid for the hazardous traffic offences. Provision of various allowances, including for hazards, and benefits is a common practice in the country. Compensation for the occupational hazards of the traffic police provides incentives to and motivates them to remain vigilant about hazardous traffic offenses day and night everywhere and, thus, is essential for the safety of the people.   

Accuracy Requirements for Cost-effective Suicide Risk Prediction Among Primary Care Patients in the US

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric L. Ross ◽  
Kelly L. Zuromski ◽  
Ben Y. Reis ◽  
Matthew K. Nock ◽  
Ronald C. Kessler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Risk Prediction ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
The Us ◽  
Primary Care Patients

First-Line Pembrolizumab Plus Chemotherapy for Extensive-Stage Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youwen Zhu ◽  
Huabin Hu ◽  
Dong Ding ◽  
Shuosha Li ◽  
Mengting Liao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Small Cell ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Small Cell Lung ◽  
First Line ◽  
The Us ◽  
Extensive Stage ◽  
The Cost ◽  
First Line Treatment

Abstract Background：The phase III clinical trial Keynote-604 indicated that pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy could generate clinical benefits in Extensive-Stage Small-Cell Lung Cancer (ES-SCLC). We aim to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy as the first-line treatment of ES-SCLC from the United States (US) payers’ perspective.Methods: A synthetical Markov model was used to evaluate cost and effectiveness of pembrolizumab plus platinum-etoposide (EP) versus EP in first-line therapy for ES-SCLC from the data of Keynote-604. Lifetime costs life-years (LYs), quality adjusted LYs (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were estimated. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. In addition, We also considered subgroup cost-effectiveness.Results: Pembrolizumab plus EP resulted in additional 0.18 QALYs (0.32 LYs) and corresponding incremental costs $113,625, resulting an ICER of $647,509 per QALY versus EP. The most influential factor in this model was the cost of pembrolizumab. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed there was 0% probability that pembrolizumab combination chemotherapy was cost-effective at willingness-to-pay (WTP) values of $150,000 per QALY in the US. The results of subgroup probabilistic sensitivity analyses suggested that all subgroups were not cost-effective.Conclusion: From the perspective of the US payer, pembrolizumab plus EP is not a cost-effective option as first-line treatment for patients with ES-SCLC at a WTP threshold of $150,000 per QALY.

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