Adapting Rubbish Theory for heritage tourism

Michael Thompson's Rubbish Theory explains how the values of objects change and that to understand how we value objects we need to understand ‘rubbish’, that is, objects which hold no value. He explained that most objects lose value after they are created and eventually become rubbish. However, there are some objects that maintain their value, which he calls ‘durables’. His theory explains how some objects move from rubbish to having durable value. When this theory is adapted to illustrate the multiple values attributed to objects at heritage sites, it is possible to explain how heritage tourism can result in conflict at a destination and how durable objects can lose their value, which is not possible according to Thompson.     

A cost-effectiveness analysis of celecoxib compared with diclofenac in the treatment of pain in osteoarthritis (OA) within the Swedish health system using an adaptation of the NICE OA model

Objectives:

Celecoxib for the treatment of pain resulting from osteoarthritis (OA) was reviewed by the Tandvårds- och läkemedelsförmånsverket–Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Board (TLV) in Sweden in late 2010. This study aimed to evaluate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of celecoxib plus a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) compared to diclofenac plus a PPI in a Swedish setting.

Methods:

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK developed a health economic model as part of their 2008 assessment of treatments for OA. In this analysis, the model was reconstructed and adapted to a Swedish perspective. Drug costs were updated using the TLV database. Adverse event costs were calculated using the regional price list of Southern Sweden and the standard treatment guidelines from the county council of Stockholm. Costs for treating cardiovascular (CV) events were taken from the Swedish DRG codes and the literature.

Results:

Over a patient’s lifetime treatment with celecoxib plus a PPI was associated with a quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gain of 0.006 per patient when compared to diclofenac plus a PPI. There was an increase in discounted costs of 529kr per patient, which resulted in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of 82,313kr ($12,141). Sensitivity analysis showed that treatment was more cost effective in patients with an increased risk of bleeding or gastrointestinal (GI) complications.

Conclusions:

The results suggest that celecoxib plus a PPI is a cost effective treatment for OA when compared to diclofenac plus a PPI. Treatment is shown to be more cost effective in Sweden for patients with a high risk of bleeding or GI complications. It was in this population that the TLV gave a positive recommendation. There are known limitations on efficacy in the original NICE model.     

南卡人圆"美国梦"——亚伦·格雷斯潘的奋斗传奇

在大学的学生经常听到：当实习生是你毕业后找工作最好的敲门砖。对于亚伦．格雷斯潘(Allen Gillespie),实习生给他的不仅是开始,也是一个起飞的发射台。他的实习生机会对他及对他的雇主是双赢的。亚伦是住在南卡州的Ander- son市,离乔治亚州的亚特兰大市东北2小时车程。他就读于弗吉尼亚州的华盛顿李大学,一心想进     

Jobs-housing balance in an era of population decentralization: An analytical framework and a case study

Despite the well-established theoretical understanding on the benefits of compact cities to the attainment of sustainable transport goals, there has been a worldwide trend of population decentralization in cities. In this paper, an analytical framework, which can be applied to other cities to quantify the potential commuting travel savings and environmental benefits of different job policies in cities having different rates and patterns of population decentralization, is presented. A case study of Hong Kong in the 1992-2002 decade is used to illustrate the analytical framework. The findings suggest that a city’s population patterns did have significant implications on the commuting travel savings from alternative job relocation policies. With a dispersed population pattern, the expected environmental benefits from a job decentralization policy can be very substantial.     

Modeling production externalities in the maquila industry

In the past decade, the maquiladora export industry surpassed both tourism and petroleum products to become the number one source of earned foreign exchange for Mexico. The continued growth of the maquila industry suggests that there may be significant production spillovers into the local environments. Dynamic modeling, using STELLA, provides a framework for quantifying the environmental impacts emanating from the growth of the maquila industry, focusing on wastewater treatment consequences and resulting infrastructural policy considerations. Such detailed modeling of industrial, infrastructural, and ecological linkages has not yet been a feature of research on this region, despite the potential for significant human health ramifications. An environmental model is therefore developed for two focal urban communities, Nogales and Mexicali, facing potential wastewater treatment concerns due to the growth of nearby maquila factories. In the former case, the analysis revealed the inadequacy of the capacity planning for the treatment of effluent; in the latter case, conservative projections reveal that the system upgrades should be able to handle demands through 2020.     

The Relationship Between Labor Market Structure and Clergy Compensation in Protestant Denominations

Many recent economic studies have shown that traditional economic theory applies to nontraditional settings such as religious organizations. This paper contrasts two labor markets for clergy that result from different denominational polities to examine the impact of labor market structure on clergy compensation in Protestant denominations. Many Protestant churches operate autonomously and clergy and congregations negotiate contracts in a free market. However, in a distinct sub-group of Protestant denominations there is involvement by denominational hierarchy in order to raise the level of clergy compensation and benefits. Regression analysis using a unique, random sample of US clergy suggests that different labor market structures result in economically important and statistically significant differences in the distributions of clergy salaries and benefits.