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We acknowledge financial support from the research programme ‘Environmental Policy, Economic Reform and Endogenous Technology’, funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). We gratefully acknowledge useful comments by Egbert Jongen, Richard Nahuis, Michiel de Nooij and Bob van der Zwaan on an earlier version of this paper. Of course, the usual disclaimer applies. Research Memorandum 0105

Migration of unskilled labour out of agriculture is a basic characteristic of the process of industrialization, urbanization, modernization and economic development both historically and contemporarily. This paper outlines the recent developments in agricultural labour markets in rural odisha and investigates the issues of agricultural out migration and their implications for agriculture both from theoretical and empirical perspectives. The results indicate that migration does matter. It impacts on labour supply, real wage rate, productivity, output and cropping pattern in agriculture. The overall results contradict the prognosis of the surplus labour model and are consistent with the propositions of the market theory of wages as also with the findings of some of the earlier studies concerning other countries/areas.

This paper presents the results of a survey of over 4100 works created under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and over 4800 randomly selected users across 100 villages in 20 districts in Maharashtra. It has two goals: the first was to verify the existence of the assets and the second was to elicit user perceptions of the problems and benefits they associate with the work. The survey indicates that 87 of the works exist and function and over 75 of them are directly or indirectly related to agriculture. A bulk of the rest constitutes rural roads that connect habitations to farms and provides access to agricultural markets. The study also finds that 92 of the randomly selected users paper that their main occupation is farming; half of them are small and marginal farmers, owning less than 1.6 hectares of land. An overwhelming 90 of respondents considered the works very useful or somewhat useful; only 8 felt the works were useless. There is some eviden...

This paper recommends a system of upstream taxes on fossil fuels, combined with refunds for downstream emissions capture, to reduce carbon and local pollution emissions. Motor fuel taxes should also account for congestion and other externalities associated with vehicle use, at least until mileage-based taxes are widely introduced. An examination of

Posidonia oceanica (L.) is an endemic sea grass in the Mediterranean Sea. Its dead leaves are accumulated in the beaches. Biomass based on dead leaves of P. oceanica is considered as a beach waste. Therefore, they are burned to keep beaches clean. In the present study, an alternative eco-friendly evaluation approach for removal of methylene blue by dead leaves of P. oceanica is studied. Dynamic removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution is performed in a fixed-bed column. Effects of different flow rates and bed heights on column performance are investigated and best flow rate and bed height are observed at 7.28 mL/min and 9 cm, respectively. Column performance has been modeled with Thomas and Artificial Neural Network models. The results confirm that dead leaves of P. oceanica can be used as a fixed-bed material for the dynamic removal of dyes in the waste waters from textile industry.► Posidonia oceanica is an important endemic sea grass in the Mediterranean Sea. ► Its dead leaves accumulated on touristic beaches are considered as beach wastes. ► This study presents an alternative evaluation method related to dead leaves of Posidonia oceanica. ► Modeling of MB biosorption by Thomas and Artificial Neural Network Models. ► These beach wastes can be used in dynamic removal of dyes from aqueous solutions.

It has often been argued that oil, gas and minerals may have a negative impact on development as measured by income per capita. This does not say much about sustainability, which is critical for developing countries whose economic growth derives primarily from the exploitation of exhaustible resources. We take adjusted net savings (ANS) per capita as an indicator of weak sustainability to examine the link between resource dependence and sustainable development, and look at specific governance and armed violence indicators. Since it is hard to dis-entangle the direct effect of governance on development in empirical studies, we use the relative size of the youth bulge as instrument. Our results highlight a negative relationship between natural resource exraction and ANS but indicate that this is not inevitable. Effective checks on the power of the executive appears to be critical for sus-tainable outcomes. Effective legislative chambers, an independent judiciary and broad acceptance o...

Abstract. A growing body of research has centered on the issue of the relationship between financial and environmental performance. The lack of consensus in this literature can be attributed to several factors. The cost of complying with environmental regulation can be significant and detrimental to shareholder wealth maximization. Conversely, a firm that can effectively control pollution might also be able to effectively control other costs of production and hence earn a higher rate of return. We utilize data from the Investor Responsibility Research Center as well as a proprietary database to investigate the relationship between environmental performance and financial performance in electric utilities. Utilities, as producers and distributors of energy, produce substantial amounts of pollution. However, since public utilities are regulated, studying the financial and environmental performance of utilities affords us the opportunity to see what role regulation plays in enhancing or...

ABSTRACT Silicon nanowire (SiNW) field effect transistors (FETs) have been widely investigated as biological sensors for their remarkable sensitivity due to their large surface to volume ratio (S/V) and high selectivity towards a myriad of analytes through functionalization. In this work, we propose a long channel (L > 500 nm) junctionless nanowire transistor (JNT) SiNW sensor based on a highly doped, ultrathin body field-effect transistor with an organic gate dielectric εr = 1.7. The operation regime (threshold voltage Vth) and electrical characteristics of JNTs can be directly tuned by the careful design of the NW/Fin FET. JNTs are investigated through 3D Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) simulations performed as a function of geometrical dimensions and channel doping concentration Nd for a p-type tri-gated structure. Two different materials, namely, an oxide and an organic monolayer, with varying dielectric constants εr provide surface passivation. Mildly doped Nd = 1 × 1019 cm−3, thin bodied structures (fin width Fw < 20 nm) with an organic dielectric (εr = 1.7) were found to have promising electrical characteristics for FET sensor structures such as Vth ~ 0 V, high relative sensitivities in the subthreshold regime S > 95%, high transconductance values at threshold gm,Vfg=0 V > 10 nS, low subthreshold slopes SS ~ 60 mV/dec, high saturation currents Id,max ~ 1–10 μA and high Ion/Ioff > 104–1010 ratios. Our results provide useful guidelines for the design of junctionless FET nanowire sensors that can be integrated into miniaturized, low power biosensing systems.

"Stoneley guided waves in a fluid-filled fracture generally
have larger amplitudes than other waves; therefore, their
properties need to be incorporated into more realistic models.
A fracture is modeled as an infinite layer of viscous fluid
bounded by two elastic half-spaces with identical parameters.
For small fracture thickness, a simple dispersion equation
for wave-propagation velocity is obtained. This velocity
is much smaller than the velocity of a fluid wave in a Biottype
solution, in which fracture walls are assumed to be rigid.
At seismic prospecting frequencies and realistic fracture
thicknesses, the Stoneley guided wave has wavelengths on
the order of several meters and a quality factor Q exceeding
10, which indicates the possibility of resonance excitation in
fluid-bearing rocks. The velocity and attenuation of Stoneley
guided waves are distinctly different at low frequencies for
water and for oil. The predominant role of fractures in fluid
flow at field scales is supported by permeability data, showing
an increase of several orders of magnitude when compared
with values obtained at laboratory scales. The data suggest
that Stoneley guided waves should be taken into account
in theories describing seismic wave propagation in fluid-saturated
rocks."

Silk–elastinlike protein polymer, SELP-815K, with eight silk and fifteen elastin units and a lysine (K) modified elastin, was genetically engineered with longer silk and elastin units compared to existing hydrogel forming analogs (SELP-415K and SELP-47K). Hydrogels of the three SELPs (with similar MWs) were investigated for their structure–function relationships. Results indicate that equilibrium swelling ratio in these hydrogels is a function of polymer structure, concentration, cure time and ionic strength of media. Swelling was not influenced by the changes in pH. Storage moduli observed by dynamic mechanical analysis and the Debye–Bueche correlation length obtained from small-angle neutron scattering provided structural insight that suggests the cross-linking densities in these hydrogels follow the order SELP-47K > SELP-815K > SELP-415K. These results allude to the importance of the length of elastin blocks in governing the spacing of the cross-linked hydrogel network and that of silk in governing the stiffness of their 3-dimensional structures.

Justin Taylor has argued that in its pre-Markan form the pericope in Mark 9:11-13 (// Matt 17:10-13 // Justin, Dial. 49.15-17) envisaged Jesus as Elijah. When Mark utilized this tradition he did not alter this portrayal of Jesus. Matthew, however, envisaged John the Baptist as Elijah and altered the pericope accordingly. Justin’s version of the pericope indicates that he was still privy to the pre-Markan version. Later copyists of Matthew and Mark further adjusted the pericope in these two Gospels, transferring elements from one to the other.

Against Taylor, I argue that the pericope, as Mark originally recorded it and as it read in its pre-Markan form, presented John as Elijah. Matthew utilized only Mark’s Gospel and Justin utilized Matthew’s, not a pre-Markan tradition.

French: Justin Taylor a fait valoir que, dans sa version pré-marcienne, la péricope de Mc 9,11-13 (// Mt 17,10-13 // Justin, Dial. 49.15-17) envisageait Jésus comme étant Élie. Lorsque Marc a utilisé cette tradition, il n'a pas modifié ce portrait de Jésus. Matthieu, cependant, a envisagé Jean le Baptiste comme étant Élie et a modifié la péricope en conséquence. La version de Justin de la péricope indique qu'il était toujours au courant de la version pré-marcienne. Plus tard, des copistes de Matthieu et de Marc réorganisèrent la péricope de ces deux évangiles, trans-férant des éléments de l'un à l'autre.

Contre Taylor, je soutiens que la péricope, telle que Marc l'avait initialement composée et telle qu'elle se lisait dans sa version pré-marcienne, a présenté Jean comme étant Élie. Matthieu n'a utilisé que l'Évangile de Marc et Justin a utilisé l'Évangile de Matthieu, et non une tradition pré-marcienne.