bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Kinetically controlled release of uranium from soils
Authors: BRAITHWAITE A. , LIVENS F. R. , RICHARDSON S. , HOWE M. T. , GOULDING K. W. T. 
Published: August 2010

SummaryAlthough trade element uptake on and release from solid phases are fundamental controls on the migration of the elements in the environment, the controls are incompletely understood. The extraction of uranium from two soils, both of which have been labelled naturally with uranium, was therefore studied using a cation resin exchange technique. One soil was a peat from the Needle's Eye natural analogue site, Scotland, and the other was a calcareous brown earth from Derbyshire, England. The effects of different exchanging cations, solution pH and the presence of complexing anions (Cl−, CO32−, SO42−) in solution on uranium extraction were assessed. The extraction could be described by a simple, first‐order kinetic model with up to three rate constants being identifiable in individual experiments. In both soils no single reaction pathway appeared to dominate, and extraction was slow, with rate constants of 10−3−10−4 h−1 in acid conditions and around 10−6 h−1 in neutral conditions. Half‐times for uranium release in the experiments were in the range 30–60 days in acid and around 10 years in neutral conditions; in the field they are therefore expected to be several years at both sites. Incorporation of kinetic factors into a simple one‐dimensional migration model illustrates that their overall effect is to retard migration. Ideally, therefore, reaction rates should be taken into account in predictive modelling of element transport.
The phosphorus composition of soil solutions and soil leachates: Influence of soil:solution ratio
Authors: CHAPMAN P. J. , EDWARDS A. C. , SHAND C. A. 
Published: August 2010

SummaryCompositional differences between soil solutions obtained by different methods have frequently been reported; variations in the soi1: solution ratio may explain these results. In this study we compared the amount and composition of phosphorus (P) in soil leachates and soil solutions from a temperate grassland soil in northeast Scotland and determined the influence of soi1:solution ratio on P fractions in soil water extracts. Leachates were collected from intact soil cores over 6 months, the cores were then destructively sampled, and soil solutions obtained by centrifuging. Molybdate reactive P (MRP) represented 71% of the total dissolved P (TDP) in soil leachates but only 54% in soil solutions. The MRP component in soil water extracts increased from 71% to 92% as the soi1:solution ratio increased from 1:15 to 1:15·4, while the dissolved organic P (DOP) component decreased from 26% to 6%. As the soil:solution ratio increased the amount of MRP extracted increased; by contrast the amount of DOP and dissolved condensed P (DCP) extracted remained constant. While the MRP component is regulated by soil sorption processes, the supply and amount of DOP and DCP is probably related to biological activity. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) extracted at wide soi1:solution ratios contained a smaller proportion of P than that extracted at narrower ratios. The results indicate differences in the behaviour of P fractions in the soil at various soi1:solution ratios and that these are reflected in the P composition of soil solution and leachate.
Computer‐assisted tomography of macroporosity and its application to study the activity of the earthwormAporrectodea nocturna
Authors: DANIEL O. , KRETZSCHMAR A. , CAPOWIEZ Y. , KOHLI L. , ZEYER J. 
Published: August 2010

SummaryIn a pre‐alpine meadow in the Toggenburg (Switzerland), casts of the earthwormAporrectodea nocturna, initially detected 20 years ago around a newly planted hedge, now extend 170 m from the hedge. The abundance of A.nocturmadecreased between 140 and 170 m from the hedge from 237 (site: An+) to 0 (site: An−) individuals m−2. The worm's activity and the macroporosity it has created have been studied using CAT scanning followed by automated image analysis of pores from 1·5 to 9 mm diameter. Brightness values in images from CAT scanning showed distinct local frequency maxima for stones, soil matrix and macropores. Measured diameters of pores were strongly linearly correlated with diameters of needles used to produce artificial pores. Pores from 1·5 to 3 mm were most abundant. The maximum number of pores from 1·5 to 9 mm (about 1600 m−2) was larger than the maximum number of all earthworms (about 480 m−2). Modelling the cast production ofA. nocturnaindicated that 23·8 kg m−2were deposited on the soil's surface within 3 months. The measured macroporosity (1·5–6 mm) was one‐quarter to one‐sixth of the pore volume corresponding to the removed casts. Thus, net production of pores by earthworms was a result both of the burrowing activity and of the refilling with eroded cast material. Depth distributions of bulk density, total porosity and pores from 1·5 to 9 mm were different at An+ from those at An−. However, diffusion of butane was equal at An+ and An−. Three‐dimensional reconstruction suggested that the disposition (continuity, interconnectivity) of pores was more important for gas diffusion than the structure (size distribution, frequency) and bulk soil parameters.
Factors controlling the partitioning of pyrene to dissolved organic matter extracted from different soils
Authors: Marschner B. , Winkler R. , JÖdemann D. 
Published: August 2010

SummaryThe mobility of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) in soils can be influenced by the presence of dissolved organic matter (DOM). While numerous studies have determined interactions of HOCs with humic and fulvic acids, only few data exist on the partitioning of HOCs to natural, non‐fractionated DOM as it occurs in soil solutions. In this study, DOM was extracted from 17 soil samples with a broad range of chemical and physical properties, originating from different land uses. The partition coefficients of pyrene to DOM were determined in all soil extracts and for two commercial humic acids using the fluorescence quenching method. For the soil extracts, log KDOC values ranged from 3.2 to 4.5 litres kg−1. For the Aldrich and Fluka humic acids, log KDOC was 4.98 and 4.96 litres kg−1, respectively, thus indicating that they are not representative for soil DOM. After excluding these two values, the statistical analysis of the data showed a significant negative correlation between log KDOC and pH. This was also shown for one sample where the pH was adjusted to values ranging from 3 to 9. A multiple regression analysis suggested that ultraviolet absorbance at 280 nm (an indicator for aromaticity) and the E4:E6 ratio (an indicator for molecular weight) had additional effects on log KDOC. The results indicate that the partitioning of pyrene to DOM is reduced at alkaline pH, probably due to the increased polarity of the organic macromolecules resulting from the deprotonation of functional groups. Only within a narrow pH range was the KDOC of pyrene mainly related to the aromaticity of DOM.
Preferential flow and transport in soil: progress and prognosis
Authors: Clothier B. E. , Green S. R. , Deurer M. 
Published: August 2010

SummarySoil is the first filter of the world’s water; its buffering and filtering determine the quality and quantity of our reserves of subterranean and surface water. Preferential flow can either enhance, or curtail, the capacity of the soil to buffer and filter, and it can compromise, or boost, other ecosystem services. We ask ‘when do preferential flow and transport matter?’ We identify 12 of 17 ecosystem services that benefit from preferential flow and three that are affected detrimentally. We estimate by simple arithmetic the value of preferential flow to ecosystem services to be globally some US$304 billion (109) per year. We review the 1989 Monte Verità meeting on preferential flow processes and summarize the 2006 presentations, some of which are published in this issue of the Journal. New technologies and innovative experiments have increased our understanding of the conditions that initiate and sustain preferential flows. We identify contemporary exigencies, and suggest avenues for their resolution. We are progressing through observation‐led discovery. Our prognosis is that new data will enable us to develop better models, and more aptly to parameterize existing models, and thereby predict the impact, benefits and detriments of preferential flow in soil.
Migration and range use of Asian Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis macqueenii breeding in the Gobi Desert, China, revealed by satellite tracking
Authors: JUDAS JACKY , COMBREAU OLIVIER , LAWRENCE MARK , SALEH MOHAMMED , LAUNAY FREDERIC , XINGYI GAO 
Published: August 2010

Four adult male Asian Houbara Bustards Chlamydotis macqueenii were caught on their breeding grounds in the Gobi Desert of China and tracked by satellite from July 2000 for from 5 months to > 3.5 years. Wintering areas were identified for two individuals, one on the Turkmenistan/Uzbekistan border in the Amur‐Darya valley, the second at the Iran/Turkmenistan border. One individual used the same wintering and breeding areas for three consecutive years. Overall departure dates from breeding grounds ranged from 29 September to 14 October, with arrival on wintering quarters from 23 October to 7 November. Birds left their wintering grounds between 2 and 21 March and reached their breeding areas between 11 and 21 April. The mean overall migration distance was 3935 km (sd = ± 229, n = 9). Houbara Bustards mainly followed steppe areas to migrate avoiding the highest elevations of the Himalayan massif and travelling 267 km/day on average. Pre‐breeding migration lasted longer than post‐breeding and included more and longer stopovers. The Taukum Desert and Jungar Basin are critical areas for migration of eastern Houbara populations. Breeding range, used for 5.5 months, was 274 km2 (sd = ± 53, n = 4), whereas wintering range, used for around 4 months a year, was 76 km2 (sd = ± 22, n = 3). Range use pattern appeared similar for Asian Houbara released in central Saudi Arabia, but differed from the African Houbara Bustard. More investigations are required to determine the effects of food availability and meteorological conditions on the migration pattern and on the use of stopovers by Asian Houbara Bustards.
Human Capital Formation and General Equilibrium Treatment Effects: A Study of Tax and Tuition Policy
Authors: Heckman James J. , Lochner Lance , Taber Christopher 
Published: August 2010

AbstractPolicies to promote human capital formation have been advocated as a remedy for reducing the economy‐wide problem of rising wage inequality. These policies are national in character and are designed to substantially alter the proportion of the work‐force that is skilled. Yet the methods used to evaluate these policies are partial equilibrium in nature and do not take account of the consequences of the changes in skill prices that are produced by the policies.This paper summarises our research on general equilibrium evaluation of tuition and tax policies. We compare estimates of policy impact from our approach with those obtained from conventional partial equilibrium ‘treatment effect’ approaches to policy evaluation, and find substantial differences. Conventional partial equilibrium approaches present an overly optimistic view of what tax and tuition policy can achieve because they ignore the change in human capital investment levels induced by the change in prices due to the policy. In addition, conventional partial equilibrium approaches fail to provide an accurate assessment of the welfare consequences of these policies.
The Marginal Cost of Public Funds in Closed and Small Open Economies
Authors: Ruggeri Giuseppe 
Published: August 2010

AbstractThe efficiency cost of taxation has become an increasingly important consideration in the evaluation of alternative tax policy options. This paper provides a review of estimates of the efficiency costs of taxation and presents some new estimates for small open economies. The available studies suggest that, in closed economies, the distortions from taxation are highest for corporate taxes and lowest for wage taxes. This efficiency ranking of different taxes does not hold in small open economies. It is shown that, in a small open economy, this ranking is reversed. Personal income taxes are less distortionary than wage taxes primarily because the link between domestic saving and investment is severed. Corporate taxes are also less distortionary for a variety of factors, such as changes in depreciation levels, payments to foreigners and terms of trade.
Prospects for Co‐ordination of Corporate Taxation and the Taxation of Interest Income in the EU
Authors: Haufler Andreas 
Published: August 2010

AbstractThis paper evaluates the recent proposals for a co‐ordinated capital tax policy in the European Union, focusing on an EU‐wide minimum withholding tax on interest income and alternative ways to increase the effective tax rate on corporate profits. The analysis draws on current theoretical and empirical research and views the recent capital tax reforms undertaken by individual member countries as rational adjustments to changing conditions in capital markets. Special emphasis is placed on the constraints for EU tax policy imposed by the possibility of shifting capital income to third countries. The paper concludes that some aggregate efficiency gains can be expected from the EU co‐ordination proposals, but additional tax collections will be limited largely to the group of small savers while highly mobile large‐scale investors are likely to avoid the EU tax.
Some Implications of Changing the Tax Basis for Pension Funds
Authors: Atkinson Margaret E. , Creedy John , Knox David M. 
Published: August 2010

AbstractGovernments in many developed economies provide private pension plans with significant taxation incentives. However, as many retirement income systems are now being reviewed due to demographic, social and economic pressures, these taxation arrangements are also under scrutiny. This paper discusses some of the implications of the differences between the traditional taxation treatment adopted by most OECD nations and that adopted by Australia, where there is a tax on contributions, a tax on investment earnings and a tax on benefits. The results show that there are significant differences in the net value of the benefits received by individuals and the taxation revenue received by the government. On the other hand, it is shown that there is remarkably little to distinguish between the two tax structures in terms of summary measures of lifetime income, although the form in which the benefit is taken in retirement is significant in influencing intragenerational equity.
Government spending on research and development in the UK
Authors: Stoneman Paul 
Published: August 2010

AbstractThis paper explores the extent of current UK government spending on science and technology placed in its recent historical context. The allocation of this spending across the different arms of government, the primary purposes of the expenditures undertaken and the extent to which the government performs as well as funds R&D are also explored, with some international comparisons analysed. The political and institutional processes that determine the revealed patterns of expenditure in the UK, the rationales behind such spending and the aims and objectives of the main spending departments are discussed, as is the interaction with EU expenditures on science and technology. The effectiveness of or pay‐off to government support of this kind is also considered before future spending plans are addressed.
Public financing of the arts in England
Authors: Peacock Alan 
Published: August 2010

AbstractThe paper describes the method, amount and composition of public financing of the arts and heritage services in England during the 1990s. This offers the background to a discussion of how far the rationale for government financing for such services can rely on arguments derived from welfare economics. The presence of ‘market failure’ has been widely accepted by successive governments and their advisers, but attempts to remove it have encountered the familiar problems of ensuring allocative and technical efficiency when production subsidies are the main policy instrument. Special attention is devoted to the policy dilemmas that are likely to arise in the years ahead in the performing arts, heritage and broadcasting.
Comparing in‐work benefits and the reward to work for families with children in the US and the UK
Authors: Brewer Mike 
Published: August 2010

AbstractThe income transfer systems for low‐income families in the US and the UK try both to reduce poverty and to encourage work. In‐work benefits are a key part of both countries' strategies through the earned income tax credit and the working families' tax credit (and predecessors) respectively. But tax credits are only one part of the whole tax and welfare system. In‐work benefits, taxes and welfare benefits combine in both countries to provide good financial incentives for lone parents to do minimum‐wage work, but poorer incentives to increase earnings further. But direct comparisons of budget constraints hide important points of detail. First, not enough is known about what determines take‐up of in‐work benefits. Second, the considerable differences in assessment and payment mechanisms and frequency between EITC and WFTC mean that low‐income families in the US and the UK may respond very differently to apparently similar financial incentives.
UK policy coordination: the importance of institutional design
Authors: Bhundia Ashok , O'Donnell Gus 
Published: August 2010

AbstractThis paper considers the principles that underpin the design of the UK's macroeconomic framework, with particular emphasis on the importance of good institutional design in ensuring effective coordination of monetary and fiscal policy when an independent Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee has operational responsibility for setting interest rates. The theoretical literature on policy coordination finds that the cost of central bank independence is less monetary‐fiscal coordination. We argue that once account is taken of the institutional arrangements, this conclusion does not hold for the UK. In fact, the UK macroeconomic policy framework represents a significant improvement in policy coordination through mechanisms that allow for greater transparency and accountability in policy‐making. Among the measures discussed in the paper is the role of the Treasury Representative on the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee.
Pot of gold or winner's curse? An event study of the auctions of 3G mobile telephone licences in the UK
Authors: Cable John , Henley Andrew , Holland Kevin 
Published: August 2010

AbstractCommentators have suggested that the winning companies in the UK 3G mobile telephone auction overpaid for their licences. However, event‐study method using the market model under ordinary least squares (OLS), robust and structural time‐series estimation yields no systematic evidence of the ‘winner's curse’. Positive as well as negative one‐day wealth effects are observed amongst both winners and losers, and there is no lasting adverse market reaction to the winners, taken as a group. We conclude there is no case for easing the regulatory stance in the industry on grounds that the winners paid too much.
The Distribution of Public Expenditure across the UK Regions
Authors: McLean Iain , McMillan Alistair 
Published: August 2010

AbstractThe distribution of UK revenue to the regional and territorial governments, administrations and authorities that spend the money is based on a hotchpotch of badly designed formulae. This is widely recognised. The Barnett formula, which allocates money to the devolved territories, has been attacked from all sides, its consequences described as ‘terribly unfair’ by its progenitor, Lord Barnett. The mechanism by which resources are distributed to local authorities within the English regions has been abandoned by the government, although its replacement has not yet been determined. This paper argues that a common basis for government spending across the regions and territories of the UK will be more equitable and efficient, and may even depoliticise the financial framework of the UK.
Disparate Geography of Consumption, Production, and Environmental Impacts
Authors: Ståhls Monika H. , Mayer Audrey L. , Tikka Päivi M. , Kauppi Pekka E. 
Published: August 2010

SummaryInternational trade transfers social and environmental impacts across national borders. The consumption of forest products often takes place far away from industrial production sites, and mills procure raw material from remote forests. Finland produces about 10% of forest products that are traded internationally, with the majority of its exports destined for other European countries. Here we report and analyze data that demonstrate that international leakage, in relative terms, increased faster than the production of commodities. The international consumption of products made in Finland increased, and an increase in wood imports from Russia provided the raw material for most of the incremental production. The international consumption‐production system translated the increasing global demand for Finnish products into increased harvests in Russia, until the Russian customs duties started to increase in 2007. We argue that national and regional policies for the promotion of sustainable consumption and production must be analyzed and assessed from an international, holistic perspective.
Embodied Resource Flows and Product Flows
Authors: Duchin Faye , Levine Stephen H. 
Published: August 2010

SummaryWe develop the absorbing Markov chain (AMC) for describing in detail the network of paths through an industrial system taken by an embodied resource from extraction through intermediate products and, finally, consumer products. We refer to this as a resource‐specific network. This work builds on a recent literature in industrial ecology that uses an AMC to quantify the number of times a resource passes through a recycling sector before ending up in a landfill. Our objective is to incorporate into that analysis an input‐output (IO) table so that the resource paths explicitly take account of the interdependence of sectors through their reliance on intermediate products. This feature makes it possible to track multiple resources simultaneously and consistently and to represent both resources and products in mixed units. Hypothetical scenarios about technological changes and changes in consumer demand are analyzed with an IO model, and model solutions generate the AMC database. A numerical example is provided. We identify the three most critical enhancements to the standard IO model that will be needed for analyzing material cycles: the incorporation of waste‐processing sectors, stock and flow relationships, and international trade. The idea is to implement an AMC after each modeling step for analyses, such as tracking a resource extracted in one region to landfills in other regions and evaluating ways to intensify secondary recovery at key junctures in between.
Policy Strategies to Promote Eco‐Innovation
Authors: del Río Pablo , Carrillo‐Hermosilla Javier , Könnölä Totti 
Published: August 2010

SummaryThis article elaborates an integrated policy framework, including policy features and specific measures that can be implemented to mitigate the barriers to eco‐innovations. We claim that factors inhibiting the development and uptake of eco‐innovations are multifaceted and stem from different sources. This systems view, which highlights the multilayered conception of the obstacles to eco‐innovation, calls for a combination of environmental and technology policies adapted to the different barriers and characteristics of the technologies. Drawing on evolutionary economics, the article sheds light on the appropriate combinations of framework conditions and instruments that are most effective to promote eco‐innovation, considering different barriers and eco‐innovation types (process/product, mature/immature, and radical/incremental).