Search

Government agencies offer economic incentives to citizens for conservation actions, such as rebates for installing efficient appliances and compensation for modifications to homes. The intention of these conservation actions is frequently to reduce the consumption of a utility. Measuring the conservation impact of incentives is important for guiding policy, but doing so is technically difficult. However, the methods for estimating the impact of public outreach efforts have seen substantial developments in marketing to consumers in recent years as marketers seek to substantiate the value of their services. One such method uses Bayesian Stuctural Time Series (BSTS) to compare a market exposed to an advertising campaign with control markets identified through a matching procedure. This paper introduces an extension of the matching/BSTS method for impact estimation to make it applicable for general conservation program impact estimation when multi-household data is available. This is accomplished by household matching/BSTS steps to obtain conservation estimates and then aggregating the results using a meta-regression step to aggregate the findings. A case study examining the impact of rebates for household turf removal on water consumption in multiple Californian water districts is conducted to illustrate the work flow of this method.

California is challenged by its worst drought in 600 years and faces future water uncertainty. Pioneering new data infrastructure to integrate water use data across California's more than a thousand water providers will support water managers in ensuring water reliability. The California Data Collaborative is a coalition of municipal water utilities serving ten percent of California's population who are delivering on that promise by centralizing customer water use data in a recently completed pilot project. This project overview describes tools that have shown promising early results in improving water efficiency programs and optimizing system operations. Longer term, these tools will help navigate future uncertainty and support water managers in ensuring water reliability no matter what the future holds. The uniquely publicly-owned data infrastructure deployed in this project is envisioned to enable the world's first "marketplace of civic analytics" to power the volume of water efficiency measurements water managers require at a radically more cost effective price. More broadly, this data-utility approach is adaptable to domains other than water and shows specific potential for the broader universe of natural resources., Comment: Presented at the Data For Good Exchange 2016

The Projection Congruent Subset (PCS) is new method for finding multivariate outliers. PCS returns an outlyingness index which can be used to construct affine equivariant estimates of multivariate location and scatter. In this note, we derive the finite sample breakdown point of these estimators., Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures

The Residual Congruent Subset (RCS) is a new method for finding outliers in the linear regression setting. Like many other outlier detection procedures, RCS searches for a subset which minimizes a criterion. The difference is that the new criterion was designed to be insensitive to the outliers. RCS is supported by FastRCS, a fast regression and affine equivariant algorithm which we also detail. Both an extensive simulation study and two real data applications show that FastRCS performs better than its competitors., Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1301.2053

The Projection Congruent Subset (PCS) Outlyingness is a new index of multivariate outlyingness obtained by considering univariate projections of the data. Like many other outlier detection procedures, PCS searches for a subset which minimizes a criterion. The difference is that the new criterion was designed to be insensitive to the outliers. PCS is supported by FastPCS, a fast and affine equivariant algorithm which we also detail. Both an extensive simulation study and a real data application from the field of engineering show that FastPCS performs better than its competitors., Comment: 21 pages 12 figures

With an increase in consciousness for overfishing, fish feed producers are shifting towards plant-based protein sources. According to the literature, plant-based protein diets for shrimp are associated with low attractability and palatability. Commercially, cephalopods (e.g., squid) and crustaceans (e.g., krill) derived ingredients are used to improve the palatability of shrimp diets. However, production of these ingredients are also associated with several environmental issues including overfishing and biodiversity loss. Insect derived ingredients are not only sustainable and could also help in improving the health of consuming animals. Ingredients such as insect protein hydrolysate could also have a potential role in enhancing palatability of shrimp diets. In this study, we evaluated the potential of black soldier fly (BSF) larvae protein hydrolysate to replace commercial squid meal and krill oil for the purpose of palatability enhancement. During this study, we investigated the following parameters: a) crude composition of four different diets; b) time required by first shrimp to begin feeding (time to strike); and c) palatability improvement. Results of this study indicates significant palatability improvement with inclusion of BSF larvae protein hydrolysate. Improvement of palatability could be attributed to high free amino acid content in comparision to commercially used feed ingredients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last ten years, Hermetia illucens, the black soldier fly (BSF), has become one of the most farmed insect species. Interest in the species stems from the ability of the larvae to convert low-grade organic materials into high-value food, feed, and technical products. Despite the inherent efficiency of this species, significant improvements in performance are possible. One means to improvement is selective breeding, which has been widely applied in other livestock species. Selective breeding, which has been practiced for thousands of years, relies on mating animals with desirable traits to concentrate these traits. This contrasts with gene editing approaches. Traits of interest in livestock include faster growth, higher finishing weight and lower feed conversion ratios. A successful selective breeding program is a considerable scientific accomplishment, and furthermore if the results are applicable in an industrial setting the effect on the economics of production and its environmental impact can be considerable. Literature on BSF has explored genetic variation in the species, genetic plasticity (BSF) and reported on preliminary insights from sequencing. To date, there have been no public research results reflecting a focused, multi-year selective breeding effort. In 2019, Protix and Hendrix Genetics began selective breeding for increased body weight. The research presented summarizes the outcomes of this multi-year program. Over the course of the selection program, significant increases in relevant parameters have been achieved and will be reported. Larval performance improvement of selected line over base population line has been evaluated for standard measures on larval weight, total yield and nutritional composition. The means used to achieve improvement remain confidential, but the research outcomes are relevant in their own right as they provide an indication towards the potential that selective breeding may play in the cultivation of BSF. This may stimulate further research interest in this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]