This paper examines the efŽ ciency of electric power generation plants in the United States. A 1996 data set from the Utility Data Institute and county-level wage data from the Bureau of Labor statistics provide the information needed to construct measures of cost, output, and input prices for 78 steam plants using natural gas as the primary fuel. This paper uses a Bayesian stochastic frontier ...

We update the cost of nuclear power as calculated in the MIT (2003) Future of Nuclear Power study. Our main focus is on the changing cost of construction of new plants. The MIT (2003) study provided useful data on the cost of then recent builds in Japan and the Republic of Korea. We provide similar data on later builds in Japan and the Republic of Korea as well as a careful analysis of the fore...

This paper investigates gamma emitter radioactivity in a system consisting of soil and plants. Some selected samples of tissues of animals fed with the plants from these sites were also measured. In soil and plant samples artificial (Cs, Cs) and natural (thorium and uranium series) isotopes were detected. Despite the relatively high content of the natural isotopes in plants and their seeds, the...

Nosocomial infections caused by fungi have increased greatly in recent years, mainly due to the rising number of immunocompromised patients. However, the available antifungal therapeutic arsenal is limited, and the development of new drugs has been slow. Therefore, the search for alternative drugs with low resistance rates and fewer side effects remains a major challenge. Plants produce a varie...

Since 2007, coal-fired electricity generation in the US has declined by a stunning 25%. At the same time, natural gas-fired generation and wind generation have dramatically increased due to technological advances and policy interventions. We examine the joint impact of natural gas prices and wind generation on coal generation, with a particular focus on the interaction between low natural gas p...

Climatic niche models for invasive plants are usually constructed with occurrence records taken from literature and collections. Because these data neither discriminate among life-cycle stages of plants (adult or juvenile) nor the origin of individuals (naturally established or man-planted), the resulting models may mispredict the distribution ranges of these species. We propose that more accur...

Plant studies that have investigated the fitness consequences of growing with siblings have found conflicting evidence that can support different theoretical frameworks. Depending on whether siblings or strangers have higher fitness in competition, kin selection, niche partitioning and competitive ability have been invoked. Here, we bring together these processes in a conceptual synthesis and a...

Considering the many secondary natural metabolites available from plants, phenolic compounds play a particularly important role in human health as they occur in significant amounts in many fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants. In this review natural phenolic compounds of plant origin with significant anti-angiogenic properties are discussed. Thirteen representatives from eight different natu...

background & aim: secondary metabolites with bioactive and functional properties in essence of aromatic plants can be useful for improvement of quality and persistence of food as natural preservative.  the aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro antibacterial of essential oils of some of the medicinal plants collected from chaharmahal va bakhtiari province, iran. experimental: the e...

Understanding the factors that control the mortality rates of species in their natural environments is important for understanding the structure and dynamics of populations, communities and ecosystems. Here, we test a model of natural mortality that yields explicit, quantitative predictions based on the constraints of body size and temperature on individual metabolism. Extensive field data from...