The twin ports of Long Beach (POLB) and Los Angeles (POLA), consisting of fourteen individually gated terminals, combine to create the largest container port complex in the US. In 2015, the combined ports handled 15.4 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a 56% increase since 2000, expected to grow higher in the future. This large number of containers and the associated trips to/from the ports, result in traffic congestion, noise pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions in the vicinity of the ports. The current project studies the concept of "Centralized Processing of Chassis," and the possibility of using it to mitigate some of these problems. This concept revolves around an off-dock terminal (or several off-dock terminals), referred to as Chassis Processing Facilities (CPFs). A CPF is located close to the port, where trucks will go to exchange chassis, thereby reducing traffic at the marine terminals, resulting in reduced travel times and reduced congestion. The current project develops the required analytical framework for modeling and optimization of the CPF use. The developed analytical model is applied to a case study in the Los Angeles/Long Beach port area. The case study identifies sixteen locations in the vicinity of the ports that can be potentially used as CPFs, and examines several scenarios of container pickup/drop-off transactions. The study presents comparisons between the case when chassis exchanges occur at the CPFs versus the case when chassis exchanges occur at the marine terminals. It is shown that a reduction of up to 20% in total travel time can be achieved when using the CPFs, as compared to using only the marine terminals. The study also shows that using up to three of the potential sixteen CPFs provides significant improvements to total travel time, but using more than three CPFs will have insignificant additional benefits. Moreover, a discrete event simulation model is developed and used for detailed simulation scenarios, as well as for examining and evaluating the performance of heuristic methods. View the NCST Project Webpage


This investigation establishes a system of gold nanoparticles that show good colloidal stability as an X-ray computed tomography (XCT) contrast agent under soil conditions. Gold nanoparticles offer numerous beneficial traits for experiments in biology including: comparatively minimal phytotoxicity, X-ray attenuation of the material and the capacity for functionalization. However, soil salinity, acidity and surface charges can induce aggregation and destabilize gold nanoparticles, hence in biomedical applications polymer coatings are commonly applied to gold nanoparticles to enhance stability in the in vivo environment. Here we first demonstrate non-coated nanoparticles aggregate in soil-water solutions. We then show coating with a polyethylene glycol (PEG) layer prevents this aggregation. To demonstrate this, PEG-coated nanoparticles were drawn through flow columns containing soil and were shown to be stable; this is in contrast with control experiments using silica and alumina-packed columns. We further determined that a suspension of coated gold nanoparticles which fully saturated soil maintained stability over at least 5 days. Finally, we used time resolved XCT imaging and image based models to approximate nanoparticle diffusion as similar to that of other typical plant nutrients diffusing in water. Together, these results establish the PEGylated gold nanoparticles as potential contrast agents for XCT imaging in soil.


For nearly 20 years, the Test Feeder Working Group of the Distribution System Analysis Subcommittee has been developing openly available distribution test feeders for use by researchers. The purpose of these test feeders is to provide models of distribution systems that reflect the wide diversity in design and their various analytic challenges. Because of their utility and accessibility, the test feeders have been used for a wide range of research, some of which has been outside the original scope of intended uses. This paper provides an overview of the existing distribution feeder models and clarifies the specific analytic challenges that they were originally designed to examine. Additionally, this paper will provide guidance on which feeders are best suited for various types of analysis. The purpose of this paper is to provide the original intent of the Working Group and to provide the information necessary so that researchers may make an informed decision on which of the test feeders are most appropriate for their work.


The development of a large-scale high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power grid requires a reliable, fast, and low-loss circuit breaker. The load commutation switch (LCS) is an essential part of ABB's 1200-MW hybrid HVDC breaker concept, which builds up a low-loss conducting path for the load current. The technical requirements for the LCS are expressed in this paper by studying the operation principle of the hybrid HVDC breaker. The voltage stress over the LCS is determined based on a dc grid with 320 and 2 kA rated voltage and current. A system model of the hybrid HVDC breaker is developed in PSCAD/EMTDC to study the design criteria for snubber circuit and arrester blocks. It is observed that conventional snubber circuits are not suitable for a bidirectional LCS as the current of snubber capacitors prevent the fast interruption action. A modified snubber circuit is proposed in this paper along with two more alternatives for the LCS to overcome this problem. Moreover, the power loss model for a semiconductor device is discussed in this paper based on the 4.5-kV StakPak IGBT. The model is used to calculate the conduction power losses for different LCS topologies. Ultimately, a matrix of 3 X 3 IGBT modules is selected to provide a reliable LCS design which can handle several internal fault cases with no interruption of operation. A full-scale prototype has been constructed and tested in ABB HVDC Center, Ludvika, Sweden. The experimental test results are also included in the paper in order to verify the calculation and simulation study.


In this paper, the wire pressing device is designed, the range of true positive pressure, curves of steel friction coefficient changes with positive pressure. Describe the change trend of friction coefficient is: with the increasing pressure, friction coefficient of cable parallel wire decreased significantly, but when the pressure increases to a certain value, the friction coefficient decline is slowing down, and finally tends to a certain value. The curves of friction coefficient changes with positive pressure, provides a method and basis for the practical engineering of steel wire in the ultimate friction shear stress accurately, set up and stay cable as layered slipping model provides important parameters of bending stress analysis. From the numerical simulation method analyzes the positive pressure parallel wire between the start. This paper first parallel wire contact problem of two cables are analyzed with the classical theoretical solution and the FEM software ANSYS, to verify the feasibility, using ANSYS to solve the contact problem of accuracy and precision. On this basis, the strand steel beam of contact analysis, the preliminary inquiry arching effect on cable parallel wire


This paper seeks to problematize the role of local food systems within the food sovereignty movement and as a counter to the logic of the global industrial food system. It answers the question of how food sovereignty, via its tenet of local food systems, addresses the geographical and sectoral distances in the global food system. In doing this, it utilizes an approach loosely based on Chayanovian thinking and analytical tools provided through food regime analysis, the theory of uneven geographical development and the metabolic rift. The paper explores six forms of distance in the industrial food system – production from consumption, distant markets, peasants from their land, producers from consumers, the rural-urban divide and agriculture from nature. Then the paper situates local food systems within food sovereignty and food sovereignty within the wider transnational agrarian movements from which it emerged. Next the paper differentiates local food systems by scale, method and character. Finally, it illustrates how and to what extent food sovereignty counters these distances by evaluating the abilities and gaps of food sovereignty in relation to the various forms of distance.


In this article, the authors focus on members of the U.S. Senior Executive Service who choose collaboration as a management strategy to increase performance and, in particular, their views of the skill set of a successful collaborator. Based on the current literature on collaboration and networks, these executives might be expected to identify strategic thinking and strategic management as the most important skills. Contrary to expectations, the federal executives most frequently mentioned individual attributes and interpersonal skills as essential for successful collaboration, followed by group process skills, strategic leadership skills, and substantive/technical expertise. The article provides empirical substantiation of the previous literature, with one major difference: the strong reporting of the importance of individual attributes by federal executives (much more than previously reported by other scholars in the field). Strategic leadership skills, strategic management skills, and technical skills matter, but they are not the most important factors behind successful collaborations, according to federal executives.


THE NATIONS OF EAST ASIA are engaged in an arms buildup on a scale unseen elsewhere in the world, despite the lack of armed conflict in the region or immediate threats to peace. While there has not yet been a full-fledged regional arms race, an international community based on a common identity has yet to emerge in East Asia, and the possibility of an arms race or even a war cannot be ruled out. At the same time, East Asia enjoys extraordinarily fast economic growth, and the patterns and nature of this economic dynamism are creating forces pulling Asia in different directions. Economic forces unquestionably have implications for regional security, but there is great uncertainty about what types of economic forces will prevail. Some economic factors seem likely to encourage an arms race in East Asia. Others, however, seem more likely to inhibit an arms race. Strategic choices, based on our understanding of a complex relationship between economics and security, will shape, to no small extent, the regional order in East Asia. However, it is important to recognize that there are limits to economic influence on military buildups and security policy. The Realist Perspective There are three broad reasons why economic growth might lead to an arms race in East Asia. First, increased national wealth allows countries to expand their armed forces and to purchase more sophisticated military hardware. Enriched nations may strengthen their armies, and most rich economies in East Asia are doing precisely that, particularly as the United States shifts attention from security to economic issues, increasing uncertainty both in the United States and in Asia about what role the United States is to play in the region. In addition, zealous outside arms suppliers have redoubled their sale efforts in East Asia given shrinking markets elsewhere. Adherents to the "realist" school of international relations hold that increasing military spending can lead to a "security dilemma" in which each nation in a system feels compelled to take steps to improve its own security by strengthening its military, thus forcing countermoves by other nations, with the final result that every nation involved ends up less secure. Increasing military spending, however, should not be equated with an arms race. For an arms race to take place, there must be a clear sense of a specific enemy that one increases arms against. In other words, there must be a clear threat perception. East Asian nations generally understand and accept an overall increase in military spending in the region given the gap with Europe and North American in levels of military sophistication and military expenditure as percentage of GNP. Also, all parties want to avoid the trap of the self-fulfilling prophecy--creating enemies through excessive military spending when no real immediate threat exists. Thus, while economic growth has increased military spending in East Asia, it has not in and of itself created new security disputes. A second realist concern is that rapid and uneven economic growth intensifies competition between countries and that this competition may engender the kind of hostility that would lead to the perception of a clear threat. In both the United States and Japan, there has been the suggestion, albeit an extreme minority view, that trade disputes may spill over into military confrontation. However, there is little evidence that economic growth, or even bitter trade disputes, are breeding the kind of hostility that would serve as the basis for an arms race in East Asia. A more common concern is that trade and economic disputes will undermine the alliances, particularly the US-Japan alliance, that are critical to regional security. But, although US-Japan security ties have been strained by trade frictions, there is no indication that the United States wants to reduce its defense commitment to Japan or use such protection for economic gains. A third, more powerful, realist argument is that over time uneven economic growth leads to a shift of economic power among nations. …


The Scanning Microwave Limb Sounder (SMLS) is a space-borne heterodyne radiometer which will measure pressure, temperature and atmospheric constituents from thermal emission between 180 and 680 GHz. SMLS, planned for the Global Atmospheric Composition Mission of the NRC Decadal Survey, uses a novel toric Cassegrain antenna to perform both elevation and azimuth scanning. These provide better horizontal and temporal resolution and coverage than were possible with elevation-only scanning at typical Low-Earth orbit spacing in the two previous MLS satellite instruments. Development of the SMLS antenna was the focus of a 2006 Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program whose phase II culminated in the fabrication and thermal stability testing of a composite demonstration model of the SMLS primary reflector. This reflector has the full 4m height and 1/3 the width planned for flight. An Instrument Incubator Program (IIP) titled "A deployable 4 Meter 180 to 680 GHz antenna for the Scanning Microwave Limb Sounder" continues development of the SMLS antenna with the study of 5 topics: 1) detailed mathematical modeling of the antenna patterns from which we simulate geophysical parameter retrievals in order to establish FOV performance requirements; 2) thorough correlation of finite element model predictions with measurements made on the SBIR reflector. We will again measure deformations of this reflector, under more flight-like thermal gradients, using higher precision metrology techniques available in a new large-aperture facility at JPL; 3) fabrication of a full-width primary reflector whose asbuilt surface figure will better meet the figure requirements of SMLS than did the SBIR reflector; 4) integration of the primary with other reflectors, and with residual front ends built in a 2007 IIP, in a breadboard antenna; and finally 5) RF testing of the breadboard on a Near Field Range at JPL. We report on significant progress in 3 areas of the current IIP: development of the mathematical model to predict SMLS antenna patterns and their application in a preliminary set of geophysical retrievals; the correlation between surface deformation predicted by finite element models and measurement in the 2009 isothermal stability tests of the SBIR, with implications for the thermal gradient testing to be performed at JPL; and aspects of the conceptual design of the full-width primary reflector to be fabricated and tested in the 2nd and 3rd years of the IIP.


Heavy-sarcoplasmic-reticulum vesicles from rabbit skeletal muscle show not only caffeine-induced calcium release in a medium allowing active calcium loading, but also oscillations in calcium concentration under appropriate conditions. The xanthine derivatives 7-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine and theophylline also induce oscillations under the same conditions. Calcium-releasing substances with other chemical structures such as adenosine nucleotides or calmodulin antagonists do not induce this effect. With the help of specific inhibitors such as ruthenium red, neomycin or magnesium it was demonstrated that the oscillation mechanism involves the ryanodine receptor/calcium channel. When ATP was substituted by GTP or ITP no oscillations occurred after caffeine application. The subsequent application of ATP, but not of adenosine 5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate or adenosine 5'-[beta,gamma-methylene]triphosphate activated the oscillating mechanism, showing ATP to be an essential component of the oscillating system. We investigated the influence of the experimental conditions by altering the caffeine and ATP concentrations, calcium load, pH and ionic strength amongst other parameters. Potassium and anion channels are not involved in calcium oscillations of heavy sarcoplasmic reticulum, nor are the oscillations dependent on membrane potential.


Whether a political system can attract high-quality candidates is key to producing high-quality politicians. In this article, we examine the issue of candidate pool formation in developing countries where elections are absent. We argue that a government can attract competent individuals to become candidates when it can provide them with a significant selectoral advantage. Exploiting a natural experiment in China, where universities adopt an arbitrary score cutoff to enroll students, we show that students attending top elite universities, which enjoy strong alumni networks in politics, are more likely to be interested in a political career than their peers in other universities. Analysis of an original online survey confirms that alumni networks serve as a causal mechanism by enhancing elite university students' future prospect in political selection. Our study differs from existing research that focuses on the role of election in choosing the "good types" and shows that social networks can serve as an effective instrument to attract the best talents to work for the government.


The natural ground, through which highway cuts are made, contributes to the waters to be drained in these cuts. The problem of seepage in such cases is studied on the basis of the analysis of the hydrodynamic forces within the flow medium. The problem is somewhat similar to trapezoidal sections of finite lengths of earth dams where some rigorous solutions for the free surfaces only were developed, such as those by Falkovich, Mikhailov, Meletchenko, Pavlovsky and Polubarinova-Kochina. The proposed method checks favorably with these solutions and gives not only the free surface but also a complete solution. In highway cuts, the extent of the flow region is not limited as in the case of earth dams. A procedure is explained by which the developed formulas can be extended for application to highway cuts. The free surface, the discharge face, the rate of flow towards the highway cuts and the hydropotential distribution within the natural ground along these cuts, can be determined directly by the proposed method. An illustrative example is also presented.


Social product development (SPD) is a network-based innovation model in which firms or platforms use social mechanisms and social technologies to mobilize organizationally independent individuals––co-creators––to co-create new products. SPD networks require the maintenance of external participation across the innovation cycle to survive competition and thrive in the innovation sector. While prior research suggests that the viability, survivability, and productivity of social networks generally depend on user experience, we have limited evidence on the particular role of user experience in the context of SPD networks. Responding to this need, we introduce a conceptual model to theorize and operationalize co-creation experience in SPD networks. Through validating the proposed model, we demonstrate why co-creation experience is critical for predicting co-creators' behavioral intentions and maintaining their actual contribution. Finally, we explore the theoretical and practical implications of the results. Future studies can leverage the findings to better capture co-creation experience and contribute to designing successful SPD networks.


This paper is a kind of manifesto for a new conception of literary translation as a unique literary genre that is imitative but qualitatively different from, and not necessarily worse than, the model it imitates. It explores this possibility by first interrogating Gerard Genette's model of literariness in Fiction and Diction – considering how literary translation as a unique genre might fit that model – and then considering what the literary translator imitates, and the relationship between translation and the novel as similar imitative genres. Key to this comparison is the novel's early (and continuing) reliance on the "found-translation framing device," which is effectively what Gideon Toury calls a pseudotranslation but is not (necessarily) designed to hide original creation – rather, to play with the illusion of reality. The paper ends with the suggestion that literature tout court might be reimagined in terms of its transformative energies – and that translation might come to be seen as one of literature's most definitive genres.


Finite-length roller contacts are found in apex seal-housing interfaces in rotary engines, as well as in many other mechanical systems, such as those at the interfaces of meshing gear teeth, cam followers, and roller bearings. Rollers are usually designed with crowns and modified ends to mitigate the negative effects of misalignment, thermal deformation, and edge-induced non-uniform displacement. A crowned-roller elastohydrodynamic lubrication model is enriched and employed to investigate seven housing surface profiles, including a sinusoidal recess, sinusoidal ends, the combination design of a sinusoidal recess and sinusoidal ends, multiple sinusoidal recesses, a concave shape, and a concave shape with sinusoidal ends or round corners, aiming to improve the tribological performance of the interface via increasing the minimum film thickness but reducing the average and maximum film thicknesses, and lowering friction coefficient. The modified discrete convolution and fast Fourier transform method with duplicated padding is utilized to deal with the potential free-end-surface effect. The simulation results suggest that the combinations of a concave shape and sinusoidal ends, or round corners, are the best designs because they can help distribute the lubricant most uniformly without causing a negative edge effect.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reconceptualize the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) in the light of social cognitive theory to investigate the role of social capital, specifically the leadership skill as a social capital generating influence in the formation of entrepreneurial intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

A new conceptualization of TPB is proposed to allow the impact of bonding and bridging cognitive social capital to be mediated by TPB constructs of perceived desirability and feasibility of entrepreneurship. Hypotheses are developed related to leadership skills, family background and social norms as external and internal indicators of social capital, and tested on primary data from 322 student respondents in a Colombian business school.

Findings

Leadership skills, indicative of bridging cognitive social capital, are found to be strongly and significantly associated with entrepreneurial intentions through the mediating role of the core TPB constructs. Evidence for the role of bonding social capital through measures of the social acceptability of entrepreneurship and family background is mixed, and in the case of family background no indirect association with intentions is found.

Research limitations/implications

Although the Latin American context would suggest significant population variation in personal and background resource, there is relatively little variation across this sample, particularly in terms of family background. Thus, rates of graduate entrepreneurship may relate more closely to constraints acting on entry into higher education than on other background characteristics, and therefore future work in similar contexts ought to be conducted across a wider socio-economic sample.

Practical implications

Opportunities to develop and enhance student perception of leadership ability through either education or experience might improve levels of graduate entrepreneurship, alongside traditional activities to raise self-efficacy and perceived salience of entrepreneurship.

Originality/value

Student leadership skills have rarely been addressed in the context of entrepreneurship development. This paper highlights the relevance of this in a developing economy context.


The transition from a centrally planned to a market-based economic system should change fundamentally the roles of government and public enterprises in the East-Central European countries of Hungary, Poland, and the Czech and Slovak Federated Republic (CSFR). The size of government should diminish, and that of the private sector increase, as subsidies, which are difficult to justify at market prices, are phased out. Taxes in centrally planned economies tend to be highly distortionary relative to those in market economies, making a restructuring of the tax system desirable to improve efficiency and growth prospects. These changes, in combination with competitive pressures and the objective of eventual membership in the European Community, should cause expenditure and tax systems in East-Central Europe to resemble the Western European model. This paper attempts to establish the extent to which these systems are moving towards the Western European model and the structure of taxes and expenditures likely to result. It also identifies risks to the reform process resulting from pressures on budget balances during the transition, as tax revenues decline and countries are reluctant to phase out subsidies to unprofitable enterprises.


Object detection in wide area motion imagery (WAMI) has drawn the attention of the computer vision research community for a number of years. WAMI proposes a number of unique challenges including extremely small object sizes, both sparse and densely-packed objects, and extremely large search spaces (large video frames). Nearly all state-of-the-art methods in WAMI object detection report that appearance-based classifiers fail in this challenging data and instead rely almost entirely on motion information in the form of background subtraction or frame-differencing. In this work, we experimentally verify the failure of appearance-based classifiers in WAMI, such as Faster R-CNN and a heatmap-based fully convolutional neural network (CNN), and propose a novel two-stage spatio-temporal CNN which effectively and efficiently combines both appearance and motion information to significantly surpass the state-of-the-art in WAMI object detection. To reduce the large search space, the first stage (ClusterNet) takes in a set of extremely large video frames, combines the motion and appearance information within the convolutional architecture, and proposes regions of objects of interest (ROOBI). These ROOBI can contain from one to clusters of several hundred objects due to the large video frame size and varying object density in WAMI. The second stage (FoveaNet) then estimates the centroid location of all objects in that given ROOBI simultaneously via heatmap estimation. The proposed method exceeds state-of-the-art results on the WPAFB 2009 dataset by 5-16% for moving objects and nearly 50% for stopped objects, as well as being the first proposed method in wide area motion imagery to detect completely stationary objects.


Translation sub-model is one of the most important components in statistical machine translation, but the conventional approach suffers from two major problems. Firstly, translation sub-model is not optimized with respect to any of automatic evaluation metrics of SMT (such as BLEU). The second problem is over-fitting to training data. This paper presents a new unified framework, by adding a scalable translation sub-model into the conventional framework. The sub-model is optimized with the same criterion as the translation output is evaluated (BLEU), and trained using margin infused relaxed algorithm (MIRA) to handle over-fitting. Under our new framework, MIRA and minimum error rate training (MERT) are unified into an interactive training process. Our approach has not only shown to improve performance over a state-of-the-art baseline, but also generalize well in-domain training data to out-of-domain test data.


Teddy Girls brings together, for the first time in one publication, images taken by Ken Russell of this scarcely documented subculture. Taken around London in January 1955 and published in the Picture Post on June 4th that year, these photographs are a testament to the supremely stylish young women depicted. The style of the Teddy Girls, like that of the Teddy Boys, grew out of a trend for Edwardian influenced fashion in post-World War II London. However, these women should be seen as more than a feminine facsimile of their male counterparts and Russell's images document the ingenuity and complexity of their sartorial choices. As well as recording the style of the Teddy Girls, these images also provide a snapshot of London in 1955, a city in flux, still rebuilding itself after the damage inflicted by war. An essay by the fashion historian, Mairi MacKenzie, considers the cultural history and context within which these women lived and the photos were taken.


A roundtable discussion was held with 29 experienced Public Health researchers and policy makers from 9 countries at an international conference in Australia. Their experiences were discussed about establishing and maintaining research projects and health programs in developing countries. This paper aims to (1) Highlight methodological issues relevant to the conduct of research and development in low income settings as discussed at the roundtable; (2) List the main barriers in implementing research and project initiatives in low-income settings; and (3) present recommendations for meeting researchers' needs across cultures without jeopardising methodological rigour. Lessons learnt on barriers for the conduct of methodologically sound research were classified in four domains: investigator factors, community factors, strategic factors and methodological factors. Proposed solutions emerged in the areas of strategic guidelines, attitudinal changes and methodological approaches. Practical solutions to individual and systematic barriers were also suggested. It is hoped that these recommendations will influence current practice and assist other researchers in preparing and undertaking appropriate research methods and health program delivery strategies in low-income settings.


While we can observe a fast evolution and innovation of link-layer technologies and networked applications, the core Internet architecture with TCP/IP remains rigid. New protocols and networking paradigms exist but suffer from global deployment issues, acceptance, and use by application developers. In order to address these problems, we previously proposed NENA, a framework that aims at a better decoupling of applications and networks. In this paper, we evaluate the framework's concepts and interfaces to determine the minimum set of invariants needed to operate protocol families that differ in their basic abstractions and paradigms. We demonstrate that it is possible to realize a framework for multiple diverse protocols and paradigms while introducing only a small set of invariants.


We present a systematic study of ultrafast all-optical switching of Si photonic bandgap woodpile crystals using broadband tunable nondegenerate pump-probe spectroscopy. At pump-probe coincidence, we investigate the behavior of the differential reflectivity at the blue edge of the stop band for a wide range of pump and probe frequencies. Both dispersive and absorptive features are observed from the probe spectra at coincidence. As the pump frequency is tuned through half the electronic bandgap of Si, the magnitude of both these features increases. For the first time, to the best of our knowledge, we unambiguously identify this dispersive effect with the electronic Kerr effect in photonic crystals and attribute the absorptive features to nondegenerate two photon absorption. The dispersive and absorptive nonlinear coefficients are extracted and are found to agree well with the literature. Finally, we propose a nondegenerate figure of merit, which defines the quality of switching for all nondegenerate optical switching processes.


We develop a simple mathematical version of Garrison's model. The purpose to develop a mathematical framework is to (1) show how such representation can be used and (2) layout a path for future work that requires a more flexible version of Garrison's treatment than the graphical exposition. While the graphical model is limited to three dimensions, a mathematical version can include more variables of interest. First, we develop the mathematical framework of Garrison's treatment. Then we apply it to the cases of increase in savings, secular growth, and the Austrian business cycle theory.


We present new coarse resolution (0.5� ×0.5�)vegetation height and vegetation-cover fraction data sets between
60� S and 60� N for use in climate models and ecological
models. The data sets are derived from 2003–2009 measurements collected by the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) on the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat), the only LiDAR instrument that provides close to global coverage. Initial vegetation height is calculated from GLAS data using a development of the model of Rosette et al. (2008) with further calibration on desert sites. Filters are developed to identify and eliminate spurious observations in the GLAS data, e.g. data that are affected by clouds, atmosphere
and terrain and as such result in erroneous estimates
of vegetation height or vegetation cover. Filtered GLAS vegetation height estimates are aggregated in histograms from 0 to 70m in 0.5m intervals for each 0.5�×0.5�. The GLAS vegetation height product is evaluated in four ways. Firstly, the Vegetation height data and data filters are evaluated using aircraft LiDAR measurements of the same for ten sites in the Americas, Europe, and Australia. Application of filters to the GLAS vegetation height estimates increases the correlation with aircraft data from r =0.33 to r =0.78, decreases the root-mean-square error by a factor 3 to about 6m (RMSE) or 4.5m (68% error distribution) and decreases the bias from 5.7m to −1.3 m. Secondly, the global aggregated GLAS vegetation height product is tested for sensitivity towards the choice of data quality filters; areas with frequent cloud cover and areas with steep terrain are the most sensitive to the choice of thresholds for the filters. The changes in height estimates by applying different filters are, for the main part, smaller than the overall uncertainty of 4.5–6m established from the site measurements. Thirdly, the GLAS global vegetation height product is compared with a global vegetation height product typically used in a climate model, a recent global tree height product, and a vegetation greenness product and is shown to produce realistic estimates of vegetation height. Finally, the GLAS bare soil cover fraction is compared globally with the MODIS bare soil fraction (r = 0.65) and with bare soil cover fraction estimates derived from AVHRR NDVI data (r =0.67); the GLAS treecover fraction is compared with the MODIS tree-cover fraction (r =0.79). The evaluation indicates that filters applied to the GLAS data are conservative and eliminate a large proportion of spurious data, while only in a minority of cases at the cost of removing reliable data as well. The new GLAS vegetation height product appears more realistic than previous data sets used in climate models and ecological models and hence should significantly improve simulations that involve the land surface.


The American chestnut (Castanea dentata), once known as 'The King of the Forest' in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada, has been all but extirpated by chestnut blight disease caused by an Asiatic bark fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica. A group of scientists at The American Chestnut Foundation has been working since 1983 to develop blight resistant American chestnut by inter-species backcross breeding with the relatively resistant Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima). In an effort to facilitate this breeding program we have initiated cytogenetic studies of these two species and their F1 and backcross hybrids. Here we report our successes in preparing somatic chromosomes using enzymatic digestion of American chestnut seedling root tips and demonstrate the quality of the chromosome spreads using fluorescent in situ hybridization with ribosomal DNA probes. Our results show two 18S-28S rDNA sites, one major and one minor, and one 5S rDNA site in American chestnut. This is the first such report for American chestnut and our preliminary results appear similar for Chinese chestnut.


We studied the pathologic features and whether clinical features could predict pathologic outcomes in small renal masses. The study included all adult patients with solitary, nonmetastatic renal masses 4 cm or smaller confirmed by nephrectomy or needle biopsy between 2004 and 2006. Tumor size, histologic type, Fuhrman nuclear grade, and stage were obtained from surgical pathology reports. Clinical variables included age, sex, tumor size, and symptomatology. The study included 290 men and 198 women (mean age, 59.3 years). Median tumor size was 2.6 cm (range, 0.5-4.0 cm). Approximately 84% of masses were incidentally detected. Nonneoplastic entities, benign neoplasms, and low- and high-grade carcinoma accounted for 1.6%, 18.0%, 49.0%, and 31.4% of masses, respectively. Women were more likely to have a benign mass (27.3% vs 14.5% of men, P < .001). Age (P = .56), tumor size (mean, 2.63 vs 2.46 cm for benign; P = .08), and symptomatology (P = .46) were not associated with malignancy. Multivariate analyses using sex, age, tumor size, and symptomatology failed to produce a model useful to predict the pathology of individual tumors. This inability may argue for an increased role for needle biopsy in their evaluation.


Abstract The round goby, Neogobius melanostomus, is a Ponto-Caspian fish species currently found in many parts of Europe, including the North Sea riverine deltas. The objective of this study was to examine the parasite community of fish caught in the lower Elbe (Süderelbe – tidal zone; Geesthacht – non-tidal) in Germany and compare it with published data from the upper Elbe (Ústí nad Labem) in the Czech Republic. Twelve parasite taxa were recorded in the lower Elbe, six in the Süderelbe and nine near the city of Geesthacht. Süderelbe fish were mainly infected with Angullicola crassus larvae, while gobies from Geesthacht – with glochidia and sporadically occurring Pomporhynchus laevis, and the opposite situation was observed at Ústí nad Labem. It appears that a large tidal weir at Geesthacht significantly contributes to the division of the round goby population, with the Geesthacht parasite community being more similar to that at Ústí nad Labem than the one from the Süderelbe, thus increasing the likelihood that shipping from Hamburg was the introduction vector to Ústí nad Labem. We also recorded Acanthocephalus rhinensis in the Elbe for the first time, and in a new host – the round goby. Thus, round gobies may represent a new vector for the introduction of this parasite along the Elbe.


Fighting for Peace in Somalia provides the first comprehensive analysis of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), an operation deployed in 2007 to stabilize the country and defend its fledgling government from one of the world's deadliest militant organizations, Harakat al-Shabaab. The book's two parts provide a history of the mission from its genesis in an earlier, failed regional initiative in 2005 up to mid-2017, as well as an analysis of the mission's six most important challenges, namely, logistics, security sector reform, civilian protection, strategic communications, stabilization, and developing a successful exit strategy. These issues are all central to the broader debates about how to design effective peace operations in Africa and beyond. AMISOM was remarkable in several respects: it would become the African Union's (AU) largest peace operation by a considerable margin, deploying over 22,000 soldiers; it became the longest running mission under AU command and control, outlasting the nearest contender by over seven years; it also became the AU's most expensive operation, at its peak costing approximately US$1 billion per year; and, sadly, AMISOM became the AU's deadliest mission. Although often referred to as a peacekeeping operation, AMISOM's personnel were given a range of daunting tasks that went well beyond the realm of peacekeeping, including VIP protection, war-fighting, counterinsurgency, stabilization, and state-building as well as supporting electoral processes and facilitating humanitarian assistance.


A web-based bibliography and database manager which allows you to create your own personal database. References can be imported from text files, online databases, websites and other sources.


An evaluation of Pakistan crop sector was carried out covering the 1990-2005 period to check whether the sector was technically productive, financially viable and economically efficient and optimal. It started with evaluating the yields of Pakistan's crops relative to the world average yields. The results imply that: (a) Pakistan's crop yields are, in general, not comparable to the world average yields; (b) tomato, barley and sorghum are producing less than 50% of the world average yields; (c) the yields of lentils, millets, rapeseed/mustard and maize are ranging between 35 - 50 percent lower than the world averages; and (d) the yields of IRRI rice, onion, wheat, sugarcane and gram are 13 - 23% lower than the world averages. To check financial viability of Pakistan crop sector, net returns from each crop were compared with returns from the banking sector in terms of interest rates. On the basis of these ratios (NIRR) all crops were categorized into five groups: (a) Basmati rice, IRRI rice, onion and tomato, which appear to have the highest NIRR values> 10 that is, returns are 10 times of the banking sector interest rate; (b) gram, berseem, millet fodder, potato and rapeseed./mustard, received NIRR values ranging between 5 and 10; (c) wheat, barley and sorghum fodder, having NIRR values between 2 and 5; (d) mung, seed cotton, maize fodder and sugarcane, with the NIRR value between 1 and 2; and (e) maize, millet and sorghum earned NIRR Each of the major crops was tested using optimization technique (optimize output, which in turn minimize total cost). We find that producers of two crops (Basmati rice and potato) optimize their outputs; in 13 cases, crop producers have not been optimizing. In three cases (IRRI rice, maize fodder and millet fodder), the estimated optimal output falls beyond the upper limit of the confidence interval of the existing output level, suggesting that efforts to increase output (yield) per hectare would help. In the remaining 10 sub-optimal cases (seed cotton, sugarcane, maize, onion, mung, sorghum fodder, wheat, gram, berseem and rapeseed), the estimated optimal output falls below the lower limit of the confidence interval, theoretically suggesting that decrease in existing level of output (yield) per hectare would optimize, which is not a reasonably good option as the yields per hectare of these crops are already very low. Hence, efforts should be made to decrease cost of production and increase yield per hectare of these crops simultaneously. When testing the optimality of Pakistan crop sector using Linear Programming (LP), it was found that taking Kharif and Rabi crops separately would give representative results against when these crops were taken as a whole-year planning package. Of the 19 major crops tested for optimality, only 5 crops - Basmati rice, IRRI rice, onion, gram and potato - have emerged as optimal for all times; while another 6 crops - mung, sorghum fodder, millet fodder, wheat, rapeseed/ mustard and berseem - turned out to be optimal but not throughout the study period, indicating optimality of lesser degree relative to other crops. Of the remaining eight crops, six crops - sugarcane, maize, maize fodder, sorghum, millets and barley - have remained altogether sub-optimal throughout the period; one crop - seed cotton - remained suboptimal most of the times and another one - tomato - remained suboptimal for the latest period. Optimality of these crops was further checked for possible effects of globalization and WTO's trade liberalization using the recent 5-year period (2000-05) in our analysis. As far as the five all-time-optimal crops (Basmati rice, IRRI rice, onion, gram and potato) are concerned, these crops are expected to withstand globalization with the exception of gram. Similarly, the six most-of-the-time optimal crops (mung, sorghum fodder, millet fodder, wheat, rapeseed/mustard and berseem) withstand globalization with the exception of mung. Hence, cultivation of gram and mung on large areas may not be viable in the wake of falling prices. As far as six altogether sub-optimal crops (sugarcane, maize and maize fodder, sorghum, millet and barley) are concerned, these crops would not withstand globalization, nor do they appear to be capable of benefiting from WTO trade liberalization induced high prices. Hence price incentives would not be recommended for these crops; instead efforts should be made to improve their optimality through improving technology. Seed cotton and tomato crops do not withstand globalization. WTO trade liberalization induced high prices are expected to work for seed cotton, but not for tomato. Hence, efforts to improve the optimality status of former crop should be made using price incentives as well, while for the latter crop, efforts should concentrate on improving productivity.


An experiment was conducted to compare three cold-climate strawberry pro-duction systems. Replicated field plots of conventional matted row, advanced matted row and cold-climate plasticulture production systems were established in 2002 at Beltsville, MD, and managed according to commercial standard practices for the re-gion. The following components of sustainability were determined: economic viability and efficiency, environmental impacts, and public acceptance. Marketable yields for the first harvest season in the spring of 2003 were lower than normal due to above average rainfall and high disease incidence. The conventional matted row was the highest yielding at 17,400kg/ha, followed by the advanced matted row and plasticul-ture with 13,200 and 11,800 kg/ha, respectively. During the establishment year, soil loss from rain-induced surface runoff was more than 4-fold greater in conventional matted row, and 1.5-fold greater in plasticulture compared to advanced matted row. To identify preferences of pick-your-own customers, volunteers harvested fruit from subplots in each system and completed questionnaires. Overall, the volunteers indi-cated a preference for plasticulture, which was likely a result of larger fruit size, ease of harvest, and a higher percentage of marketable fruit.


The integration of discrete mathematics into the secondary school curriculum (grades 7-12) is an important consideration because the mathematical area is dynamic and interesting, providing students the development of mathematical thinking. Also, it provides for teachers the opportunity to develop innovative mathematics instruction. Since the publication of the document Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 1989), it has been difficult to determine how many schools have integrated discrete mathematics as a separate or as an integrated course in the school mathematics curriculum. Moreover, the mathematics education research community has, for the most part, not focused on teachers' perceptions about teaching and learning discrete mathematics as an area of investigation. Because of the lack of research in this area, the researcher investigated preservice secondary mathematics teachers' perceptions about discrete mathematics and their reactions to the integration of discrete mathematis into the school curriculum. The researcher purposely selected four preservice secondary teachers who were enrolled in a mathematics course in the fall of 2005. Various data sources were used to get a deep understanding of each participant, including selected coursework, an online survey, and interviews. Results indicated that these preservice teachers perceive discrete mathematics as meaningful to students, as it emphasizes processes such as problem solving and mathematical thinking, and it provides opportunities to use innovative instruction. Because of this, the preservice teachers believe that discrete mathematics should be integrated in the school mathematics curriculum. In addition, several factors that affect the integration of discrete mathematics in the school were identified. These factors are the state curriculum and testing, the historical emphasis of algebra and calculus in the school curriculum, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1989, 2000) Standards documents' views of discrete mathematics, teachers' views of discrete mathematics, the lack of knowledge of discrete mathematics, and the lack of materials and guidelines for teaching discrete mathematics.


The designed plasma facing materials for the divertor-components in ITER are up to now carbon (graphite or CFC) and tungsten. The heat flux loading can result in temperatures of up to 550°C at the interface between the plasma facing material and the CuCrZr heat sink, an operation temperature which is too high for CuCrZr. Additionally the temperature gradient and the mismatch in thermal expansion (CTE) of both parts of the divertor result in high stresses at the interface. A tungsten-copper composite material with a gradation from pure copper on the one side to pure tungsten on the opposite side is supposed to support the stress reduction. The tungsten contributes to the strength of the composite, whereas the copper provides the required thermal conductivity (TC) of at least 200 W/mK. The graded W/Cu layers were produced by the "chemical mixing" method and subsequent liquid phase sintering. Here the use of sub-µm W-particle sizes offers an opportunity to gain well dispersed W-particles with high Cu-containing composites resulting in lower CTE values and higher thermal conductivities compared to coarser W-powders. Brazing of the functionally graded W/Cu interlayers to CuCrZr and CFC materials resulted in adjoined mock-ups.


Improving the efficiency with which we use energy is often said to be the most cost-effective way to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, such improvements usually lower the cost of using energy-intensive goods and may create wealth from the energy savings, both of which lead to increased energy use, a "rebound'' effect. Disagreements about the magnitude of energy efficiency rebound are immense and play a central role in debates over the role energy efficiency can play in combating climate change. But these differing views seem to stem as much from the lack of a common framework for the analysis as from different estimates of key parameters. I present a theoretical framework that parses rebound into economic income and substitution effects. The framework captures the wide range of rebound effects that have been termed direct, indirect, re-spending, and transformational rebound, among others. It does not capture economy-wide impacts, such as the potential for a macroeconomic multiplier or the impact on energy prices, which I discuss separately. I then explore the implications of this framework for measurement of rebound, examining rebound from improved auto fuel economy and lighting efficiency. The illustrative calculations I carry out suggest that rebound that more than offsets the savings from energy efficiency investments (known as "backfire") is unlikely, but rebound is likely to significantly reduce the net savings from at least these energy efficiency improvements.


Prior evidence for early activity in Broca's area during reading may reflect fast access to articulatory codes in left inferior frontal gyrus pars opercularis (LIFGpo). We put this hypothesis to test using a benchmark for articulatory involvement in reading known as the masked onset priming effect (MOPE). In masked onset priming, briefly presented pronounceable strings of letters that share an initial phoneme with subsequently presented target words (e.g., gilp-GAME) facilitate word naming responses compared with unrelated primes (dilp-GAME). Crucially, these priming effects only occur when the task requires articulation (naming), and not when it requires lexical decisions. A standard explanation of masked onset priming is that it reflects fast computation of articulatory output codes from letter representations. We therefore predicted 1) that activity in left IFG pars opercularis would be modulated by masked onset priming, 2) that priming-related modulation in LIFGpo would immediately follow activity in occipital cortex, and 3) that this modulation would be greater for naming than for lexical decision. These predictions were confirmed in a magnetoencephalography (MEG) priming study. MOPEs emerged in left IFG at ∼100 ms posttarget onset, and the priming effects were more sustained when the task involved articulation.


Abstract Over the past 15 years, the seismic shifts caused by the convergence of biomolecular, chemical, physical, mathematical, and computational sciences alongside cutting-edge developments in information technology and engineering have erupted into a new field of scientific endeavor dubbed Synthetic Biology. Recent rapid advances in high-throughput DNA sequencing and DNA synthesis techniques are enabling the design and construction of new biological parts (genes), devices (gene networks) and modules (biosynthetic pathways), and the redesign of biological systems (cells and organisms) for useful purposes. In 2014, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae became the first eukaryotic cell to be equipped with a fully functional synthetic chromosome. This was achieved following the synthesis of the first viral (poliovirus in 2002 and bacteriophage Phi-X174 in 2003) and bacterial (Mycoplasma genitalium in 2008 and Mycoplasma mycoides in 2010) genomes, and less than two decades after revealing the full genome sequence of a laboratory (S288c in 1996) and wine (AWRI1631 in 2008) yeast strain. A large international project – the Synthetic Yeast Genome (Sc2.0) Project – is now underway to synthesize all 16 chromosomes (∼12 Mb carrying ∼6000 genes) of the sequenced S288c laboratory strain by 2018. If successful, S. cerevisiae will become the first eukaryote to cross the horizon of in silico design of complex cells through de novo synthesis, reshuffling, and editing of genomes. In the meantime, yeasts are being used as cell factories for the semi-synthetic production of high-value compounds, such as the potent antimalarial artemisinin, and food ingredients, such as resveratrol, vanillin, stevia, nootkatone, and saffron. As a continuum of previously genetically engineered industrially important yeast strains, precision genome engineering is bound to also impact the study and development of wine yeast strains supercharged with synthetic DNA. The first taste of what the future holds is the de novo production of the raspberry ketone aroma compound, 4-[4-hydroxyphenyl]butan-2-one, in a wine yeast strain (AWRI1631), which was recently achieved via metabolic pathway engineering and synthetic enzyme fusion. A peek over the horizon is revealing that the future of "Wine Yeast 2.0" is already here. Therefore, this article seeks to help prepare the wine industry – an industry rich in history and tradition on the one hand, and innovation on the other – for the inevitable intersection of the ancient art practiced by winemakers and the inventive science of pioneering "synthetic genomicists". It would be prudent to proactively engage all stakeholders – researchers, industry practitioners, policymakers, regulators, commentators, and consumers – in a meaningful dialog about the potential challenges and opportunities emanating from Synthetic Biology. To capitalize on the new vistas of synthetic yeast genomics, this paper presents wine yeast research in a fresh context, raises important questions and proposes new directions.


Orientation: The extensive role that social support plays in the lives of South African Police Service (SAPS) members outside of the expected work networks of professionals and colleagues should be further studied to reflect on the benefits received when handling the stressful and traumatic effects of operational work. Research purpose: The objective of this study was to describe the concepts of multifaceted social support network systems as perceived by SAPS members in the context of the Vhembe District (South Africa) in assisting them to deal with the effects of their operational work. Motivation for the study: There is still a call in social research to focus on the influence of different functions and sources of social support. Research design, approach and method: A descriptive phenomenological research design was used, and 20 SAPS participants were selected through purposive sampling. Unstructured,face-to-face interviews, field notes, telephone follow-ups and diaries were used to collect data which was subsequently analysed through phenomenological explication. Main findings: The results show that social support is not a linear process but is multifaceted,depending on specific operational settings. Furthermore, the social support network system identified is informed by the values of communal living in the Vhembe District as well as in the operational context in which the SAPS members work. Practical/managerial implications: The SAPS should help initiate and involve, during the debriefing of operational members, types and functions of social support that are dependent on organisational and community contexts. Contribution/value-add: This study makes a meaningful contribution to understanding that social support in the SAPS operational context is different from other contexts.


In view of ongoing atmospheric warming, there is concern as to whether retreating glaciers uncover a rocky or sedimentary bed. Sedimentary beds are abundant in high-mountain areas and represent, if exposed, a severe hazard potential for outbursts of periglacial lakes or debris flows. Furthermore, knowledge about glacier sediment balance is needed when dealing with climate sensitivity of recent and historical glaciers. The main factors influencing sediment balance of a glacierised mountain catchment have been organised into an index (Ies) of glacier erosion and sedimentation, which distinguishes between glaciers eroding into bedrock and those building up thick sedimentary beds. GIS-based methods were developed to extract the needed Ies-parameters from Digital Elevation Models (DEM), digitised glacier outlines and central flowlines. These methods were automated and tested on 84 Swiss Alpine glaciers. The results were validated through comparisons with forefield classifications and manually derived index results. The comparison with classified forefields confirms that the index allows for a rough
assessment of the glacial sediment balance. In order to improve the predictability of glacier-bed characteristics, a better understanding of the periglacial debris production is necessary. However, the high overall accuracy of the comparison with the manual glacier-by-glacier investigation shows the potential of using GIS-based modelling with DEM in geomorphodynamics.


UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Dubai: The City as Corporation, by Ahmed Kanna. Minneapolis, MN and London: University of Minnesota Press, 2011. 262 pages. $25 paper. In recent years, media and academic attention to Dubai has been booming as the city-state has undergone a profound urban transformation. While most representations of Dubai's rapid growth are either celebratory stories of Arab modernity or denigrations of the capitalist migrant labor exploitation upon which this modernity is built, Kanna's book provides an intricate exploration of the complex scales, processes, and actors involved in the rise of Dubai as a "city-corporation." The title of the book, taken from an Emirati political scientist's Arabic term al-madina al-sharika,1 both grounds this project in local understandings and rhetoric of progress and connects Dubai's shifting geographies of belonging and exclusion to broader scholarly conversations about neoliberalism, transnational migration, urbanism, and state-making. As such, Dubai: The City as Corporation is a welcome and refreshing study of the nuanced and overlapping ideologies that made Dubai the global city that it is today, and how Dubai's diverse residents engage with the city and its transformations. The book's introduction and first two chapters explore how Dubai's leaders, Western urbanists, and journalists have been engaged in an "Orientalism in reverse" in discussions about Dubai. Kanna writes: "No longer is the non-Western other traditional, timeless, and mysterious. But culture talk still persists, if in a different form" (p. 6). This different form is one in which Dubai becomes tabula rasa for a new Arab modernity, one that is evacuated of historical situatedness, political struggles, and ethnonational diversity. The author explains how the Al-Maktoum "family-state," "parastatal" construction firms (those that are partly private but owned in large part by ruling family interests), "starchitects" (world-famous designers like Rem Koolhaas), and other urban planners converged in the building of New Dubai in the first decade of the millennium. The emergent city that Kanna traces is one in which Dubai's history of ethnic, national, and economic plurality was replaced by a purified version of "modern" Emirati identity. Through labor camps on the periphery of the city that erase the presence of the majority of migrants, and through neoliberal spectacles of ahistorical Emiratiness in the city's booming construction and tourism projects, the literal and figurative landscape of Dubai was shifting in the early 2000s, producing what Kanna calls an "outside-inside spatialization" (p. 72). It is this combination of local specificity and its constant erasure in the building of contemporary Dubai that Kanna argues can inform us more broadly about urban theory, Middle Eastern Studies, and the anthropology of globalization. …


Humoral immune responses are thought to be enhanced by complement-mediated recruitment of the CD21–CD19–CD81 coreceptor complex into the B cell antigen receptor (BCR) complex, which lowers the threshold of B cell activation and increases the survival and proliferative capacity of responding B cells. To investigate the role of the CD21–CD35 complement receptors in the generation of B cell memory, we analyzed the response against viral particles derived from the bacteriophage Qβ in mice deficient in CD21–CD35 (Cr2−/−). Despite highly efficient induction of early antibody responses and germinal center (GC) reactions to immunization with Qβ, Cr2−/− mice exhibited impaired antibody persistence paralleled by a strongly reduced development of bone marrow plasma cells. Surprisingly, antigen-specific memory B cells were essentially normal in these mice. In the absence of CD21-mediated costimulation, Qβ-specific post-GC B cells failed to induce the transcriptional regulators Blimp-1 and XBP-1 driving plasma cell differentiation, and the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2, which resulted in failure to generate the precursor population of long-lived plasma cells residing in the bone marrow. These results suggest that complement receptors maintain antibody responses by delivery of differentiation and survival signals to precursors of bone marrow plasma cells.


This paper attempts to contribute to the increasing body of research on the working practices of legal academics and what has been called the 'private life' of the law school. It seeks to subject to further empirical investigation the analysis made by Collier, Cownie, McGlynn, Morley, Wells and others that the new corporate managerialism in universities has created a gendered regime of control and target setting. It examines one under-researched aspect of academic practice, namely the award of sabbaticals. The study draws on an examination of the practice of sabbatical leave by academic staff in both pre- and post-1992 university law schools. Although sabbaticals are widely assumed to be necessary for the effective development of research and scholarship, there has been little recent investigation of their operation in English universities. This is in contrast to the USA where a number of studies have been conducted. Sabbaticals are thus an aspect of the 'donnish dominion' which, although well covered in campus novels, is missing from researched surveys of university life. The paper reviews the relevant literature on sabbaticals, reports on the results of a study of the published criteria law schools have for awarding sabbaticals and analyses responses to a questionnaire sent to law school heads on the operation of their policies. Particular areas of interest are differing practices between universities, possible gender bias and the relevance of sabbaticals both to the teaching versus research debate and to an understanding of academics' working lives more generally. The survey results suggest that the practical application of sabbatical policies demonstrates the ambivalent way managerialism operates in universities. Although performance targets are stipulated, the mechanism for enforcement in relation to sabbatical awards is surprisingly light or non-existent. It is argued that the use of sabbatical leave plays a part in defining both the status of university law schools and also the organisation of academic research. It thus impacts on the formation of the professional identities of legal academics. Those who are excluded from this benefit may be marginalised and areas of academic labour considered inappropriate for sabbaticals consequently regarded as secondary. This may entrench already existing areas of inequality.


The practices of witchcraft and witch-hunting, despite cultural and regional differentiations, have been able to maintain its global presence. Ubiquitously traced in several countries, the convention of accusing and killing people, especially women, on charges of practicing witchcraft is prevalent in India as well. Resting upon empirical data, we attempt to put forth an overview about the nature and character of these practices from the perspective of community members residing in the province which records the highest number of witchcraft related killings in India, i.e. Jharkhand. An evaluation of reasons, as well as policy interventions in place for preventing such practices in the region have been delineated in the paper. Simultaneously, fortified within the emancipatory framework of research, steps for contending and combating this protruding concern have also been advanced. Putting compendiously, the overall quintessence of this endeavour is to put forward ways to bring about the desired social change, wherein such superstition driven customs take an adieu.


OBJECTIVES
An increasing number of Americans are turning to kratom for self-management of various pain, anxiety, and mood states and as an opioid substitute. Addiction to this unique botanical develops and carries a high relapse risk and, to date, there are no guidelines on how to maintain long-term abstinence. The aim of this article is to compile all available information on management of "kratom use disorder" (KUD)-as coined here-from the literature, with evidence from the clinical practice of expert addictionologists in an attempt to develop a standard of care consensus.

METHODS
A systematic literature search was conducted to capture all relevant cases pertaining to maintenance treatment for KUD. Results were supplemented with case reports and scientific posters gleaned from reliable online sources and conference proceedings. Additionally, a survey of members of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) was administered to assess the practice patterns of experts who treat patients with KUD in isolation of a comorbid opioid use disorder (OUD).

RESULTS
Based on a literature review, 14 reports exist of long-term management of KUD, half of which do not involve a comorbid OUD. Pharmacological modalities utilized include mostly buprenorphine but also a few cases of naltrexone and methadone, all with favorable outcomes. This is supported by the results of the expert survey, which demonstrated that those who have managed KUD in isolation of a comorbid OUD reported having utilized buprenorphine (89.5%), as well as the other medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).

CONCLUSIONS
This is the first comprehensive review to examine the existing literature referring to management of KUD in combination with a survey of current experts' clinical consensus regarding pharmacological management. Based on this information, it seems reasonable that the indication for MOUD should be extended to cases of moderate to severe KUD.


Because of increased environmental awareness by city planning commissions, there are more urban parks and greenbelt areas. These areas often result in increased human and wildlife contacts, thus resulting in the need for management plans regarding urban wildlife. From September 1998 to March 1999, we conducted mammal surveys of the urban greenspace Murray Park, Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas. Surveys were conducted using five methods :direct observations; spot lighting; live trapping; animal sign; and scent posts. Species recorded included, opossum {Didelphis virginiana), nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), beaver (Castor canadensis), woodchuck (Marmota monax), muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus), swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus), coyote (Canis latrans), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), raccoon (Procyon lotor), mink (Mustela vison), river otter (Lontra canadensis), bobcat (Lynx rufus), skunk sp., white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and domestic dog (Canis familiaris) and cat (Felis sylvestris). These species represent 19 of the 23 mammals expected in surrounding natural areas. Management plans for urban wildlife need to include all mammals that potentially occur in the area.


ABSTRACT This paper investigates the relationship between firms' transition towards upstream-R&D activities and the availability of R&D employees with PhD training. Doctoral trained employees have distinct motivations for research: some have stronger preferences for intellectual freedom and autonomy, while others reveal greater aspirations for targeted research and opportunities for development of new products and processes. These contrasting profiles among PhD trained employees lead to ambiguous predictions about whether a greater presence of employees with a doctoral training enhances the capacity of firms to initiate upstream-oriented R&D. We examine this question by studying a large sample of Spanish manufacturing firms which are active in development activities, and investigate the effect of PhD trained R&D employees on the propensity of firms to initiate upstream-oriented R&D. Our results show that a higher proportion of PhDs in R&D functions has a positive and significant influence on the firm's initiation of an upstream-oriented R&D strategy.


Introduction: Different sizes of crowns may be tried on children since there is no universal crown size because of distinctions in tooth morphology from one child to other. During the process of trial and error, the crown gets contaminated which needs to be sterilized for reuse of crown. This study was carried out to evaluate the physical–mechanical outcome after the sterilization and disinfection of pediatric preformed crowns. Materials and Methods: In total, sixty crowns consisted of 20 each, stainless steel crowns (SSCs) (3M ESPE), preveneered stainless steel (Kinder Krowns), and Zirconia crowns (Kinder Krowns) which were divided into four groups. G1 in which crowns did not undergo any sterilization, G2 consisted of fast sterilization, similarly G3 was slow sterilization, and G4 underwent chemical disinfection using Korsolex Plus for 15 min. Following sterilization, all the crown samples were observed under a stereomicroscope at ×200 magnification and assessed for color change, crazing, dimensional stability, and fracturing. Post hoc Tukey test and two-way ANOVA were performed for comparison between types of crowns and sterilization methods, with a significance level was set at P < 0.05. Results: There was no color change or fracturing following sterilization among crowns in any of the groups. Highest crazing was noted in stainless steel and the least in Zirconia crowns. Preveneered stainless steel was the most dimensionally stable and SSCs was the least. Conclusion: No color changes and fracture were noted in any type of crowns. Preveneered stainless steel was most dimensionally stable followed by Zirconia and SSCs. Maximum crazing was seen in SSCs and nil in Zirconia.


Species distributions are influenced by spatial structure in environmental factors, but the scales at which these dependencies occur and the effect of habitat patch diversity, connectivity and spatial arrangement have rarely been investigated in deep-sea settings. In this study, spatially limited photographic transects collected from Rockall Bank, NE Atlantic, were combined with sidescan and multibeam sonar maps to model spatial patterns in species distribution and biodiver- sity. Sediment interpretation maps were created and canonical ordination techniques were used to examine relationships between fine-scale sediment characteristics extracted from the digital stills as well as landscape metrics describing the patch mosaic structure of the surrounding areas. Fine-scale sediment characteristics explained 45.1 and 63.8% of the variation in species composi- tion and biodiversity, respectively. This survey effectively captured variation in species distribu- tion resulting from iceberg ploughmarks, occurring at a scale of <50 m — which would normally go undetected by traditional ship-based studies. Our study suggests that fine-scale environmental information is required to capture the spatial heterogeneity of complex seafloor areas in sufficient detail to model species distributions and biodiversity.


The article examines the layout of Hatshepsut's Punt reliefs, proposing a new interpretation of their internal structure and ideological function within the decorative programme of the Deir el-Bahari temple. The author argues that the reliefs form a cycle of subsequent scenes, starting at the southernmost end of the west wall, continuing through the south wall up to the northern part of the west wall. As for the scenes represented on the northernmost end of the west wall and on the north wall, it is argued that they should be viewed as forming a single ideological entity, which at the same time corresponds to the long historical inscription placed on the easternmost end of the south wall. That way the reliefs reflect both aspects of Egyptian eternity: the linear (in the cycle of subsequent episodes) and the circular one (in the ideological link between the southern- and northernmost extremities of the Punt Portico). As for the function of the reliefs, it is argued that they were supposed to magically repeat Hatshepsut's Punt expedition and thus provide her divine father Amun-Ra with all exotic products necessary in his cult. The author also tries to demonstrate, how Hatshepsut was gradually identified with the goddess Hathor in her aspect of the Lady of Punt and the female counterpart of Amun-Ra throughout the Punt reliefs.


The term "Health Services" embraces a multitude
of activities. It also covers a multitude of organisational
sins.
Since 1945, when the Executive, in its wisdom,
decided to appoint a Director of Hospital and Medical Services,
a Director of Tuberculosis and.a Director of Mental Hygiene
in addition to the existing position of Director of Public
Health, and then placed a layman, the Secretary, in the
position of Permanent Head, the sorry tale of disorganisation has increased in woe year by year, until the situation as it
exists in 1959 threatens a complete breakdown. My criticism
of the arrangements made in 1945 has nothing to do with the
appointment of a layman as Permanent Head, indeed I consider
a trained and experienced lay administrator to have a better
chance of success than the average.medical practitioner. It
is to the lack of foresight shown by those senior officers
charged with advising the Government that I allude. Knowing
that the Public Health Act of 1935 was framed to give wide
powers to an officer also endowed with the authority of a
Permanent Head under the Public Service Act, 1923, those senior
officers apparently saw no incompatibility between the powers
of the Director of Public Health, now to be a subordinate
officer, and the new Permanent Head. If they did foresee
difficulties, then it seems that they took the line of least
resistance by hoping that the new arrangement would be made to
work somehow; but the fact remains that the Office of Director of Public Health retained all its public health powers when it
became a subordinate position, and thereby provided fertile ground for clashes of personality with a Permanent Head, be he
layman or medico.


ABSTRACT Pierre Bourdieu is known for his research in the areas of education and cultural stratification that led to a number of theoretical contributions informing the social sciences. Bourdieu's interrelated concepts of field, capital, and habitus have become central in many approaches to inequality and stratification across the social sciences. In addition, we argue that Bourdieu's ideas also feature in what is increasingly known as 'digital sociology.' To underscore this claim, we explore the ways in which Bourdieu's ideas continue to have a major impact on social science research both on and with digital and Internet-based technologies. To do so, we offer a review of both Bourdieusian theorizing of the digital vis-à-vis both research on the social impacts of digital communication technologies and the application of digital technologies to social science research methods. We contend that three interconnected features of Bourdieu's sociology have allowed his approach to flourish in the digital age: (1) his theories' inseparability from the practice of empirical research; (2) his ontological stance combining realism and social constructionism; and (3) his familiarity with concepts developed in other disciplines and participation in interdisciplinary collaborative projects. We not only reason that these three factors go some way in accounting for Bourdieu's influence in many sociological subfields, but we also suggest that they have been especially successful in positioning Bourdieusian sociology to take advantage of opportunities associated with digital communication technologies.


This paper considers Justice Breyer's dissent in District of Columbia v. Heller - in which the Court established an individual right to bear arms - as a species of progressive jurisprudence. By progressive, I do not mean a political program but rather an approach to how the Supreme Court views its role and its work. Progressive jurisprudence was developed in the shadow of the relative formalism of the classical jurists and forged in the pragmatic philosophical tradition at the turn-of-the-century. Progressive judges eschewed absolutist constitutional claims; their decisions were fact-based, attentive to changing social conditions, and deferential to legislatures. That progressive attitude has been in decline for some time, for it comes from a conception of the judge that is at odds with two twentieth century jurisprudential trends. The first trend is the idea that rights should be understood as trumps, defined in opposition to the public interest. The second trend is a pervasive skepticism that legislatures or courts do or can ascertain and implement the public interest in the first place. This skepticism has generated repeated efforts to cabin judicial discretion out of a concern that judges are simply engaged in politics by another name. Justice Scalia - the author of the majority opinion in Heller - is deeply skeptical of legislative or judicial attempts to arrive at an honest assessment of the public good. Justice Breyer is less so; the "problem" of judicial power that Scalia's originalism attempts to solve is simply less of a concern for him.


Background and Purpose— The level of total homocysteine (tHcy) that confers a risk of ischemic stroke is unsettled, and no prospective cohort studies have included sufficient elderly minority subjects. We investigated the association between mild to moderate fasting tHcy level and the incidence of ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, and vascular death in a multiethnic prospective study. Methods— A population-based cohort was followed for vascular events (stroke, myocardial infarction, and vascular death). Baseline values of tHcy and methylmalonic acid were measured among 2939 subjects (mean age, 69±10; 61% women, 53% Hispanics, 24% blacks, and 20% whites). Cox proportional models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs in tHcy categories after adjusting for age, race, education, renal insufficiency, B12 deficiency, and other risk factors. Results— The adjusted HR for a tHcy level ≥15 μmol/L compared with <10 μmol/L was greatest for vascular death (HR=6.04; 95% CI, 3.44 to 10.60), followed by combined vascular events (HR=2.27; 95% CI, 1.51 to 3.43), ischemic stroke (HR=2.01; 95% CI, 1.00 to 4.05), and nonvascular death (HR=2.02; 95% CI, 1.31 to 3.14). Mild to moderate elevations of tHcy of 10 to 15 μmol/L were not significantly predictive of ischemic stroke, but increased the risk of vascular death (2.27; 95% CI, 1.44 to 3.60) and combined vascular events (1.42; 95% CI, 1.06 to 1.88). The effect of tHcy was stronger among whites and Hispanics, but not a significant risk factor for blacks. Conclusions— Total Hcy elevations above 15 μmol/L are an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke, whereas mild elevations of tHcy of 10 to 15 μmol/L are less predictive. The vascular effects of tHcy are greatest among whites and Hispanics, and less among blacks.


Salicylic acid (SA) is one of the plant growth regulators which reduced the salt stress impact on plants. In the present investigation, the role of SA in inducing salinity tolerance was studied in different stages of Oryza sativa L. (ASD16 and BR26) and its role in the SA biosynthetic pathway genes for the salt tolerance. The salinity of five soil samples from Erayumanthurai region was analyzed and found that the soil sample E1 and E5 showed high and low salinity respectively. SA, when applied at 1.0 mM, provided considerable protection against salt stress imposed by adding 100 mM NaCl during the germination and vegetative stage. But the application of SA during the reproductive stage under salt stress condition did not improve the morphological characters and the yield. So, the SA was applied during the germination and vegetative stage to the low and high saline soil that increased the yield. The expression levels of SA biosynthetic pathway genes (OsCM, OsICS and OsPAL) were increased by the SA treatment under salt stress condition that may enhance the salt tolerance level of rice plants. So, the SA could be used as a potential growth regulator to improve plant growth under salt stress conditions.


Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus L.) undergo a cross-continental migration each year, depending on the presence of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca L.), both as a food source and for breeding purposes. The past two decades have seen a marked decline in monarch populations. These declines are partially attributed to a loss of milkweed plants in agricultural areas. To prevent monarch butterfly extinction, conservation efforts are working to increase milkweed prevalence. Common milkweed is able to grow in a variety of habitat types and environmental conditions; however, the plants response to environmental change has not been extensively studied. The first chapter in this thesis examined the response of northeastern milkweed populations to changes in temperature and precipitation. In addition, the response of plants to increasing levels of soil salinity was investigated, as milkweed plants in the northeast are particularly vulnerable to exposure to high salt levels. Growth patterns were captured by the following response variables: plant height, number of nodes and leaves, stem diameter, stem, root, and whole plant biomass, and leaf area. We found a mixed response of growth characteristics to elevated temperature; leaf area and root biomass were smaller, while node count was larger, and all other variables did not have consistent trends across trials. Across variables, drought conditions reduced plant growth compared to control and excess precipitation treatments, while excess was generally larger than control, although not consistently across response variables. As soil salinity increased, plant growth characteristics decreased, but low salt levels did not differ significantly from the control; therefore we concluded that common milkweed is moderately salt tolerance. These findings indicate that common milkweed populations may experience decreased growth rate with changing environmental conditions; however, the changes we observed will not likely result in an overall significant decrease. Conservation initiatives are currently focusing on planting milkweed near agricultural areas. While this is helpful for monarch butterflies, common milkweed can act as a host to many viral plant pathogens, which is problematic for growers. The second chapter of this thesis surveyed wild populations of northeastern common milkweed for the presence of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). Tissue samples were tested for CMV using Immunostrip and ELISA methods. Seed samples were subsequently collected from plants testing positive for the virus and grown up to determine the rate of seed transmission. We found low levels (2.5%) of CMV positive plants throughout the northeast, with most field sites testing negative for the disease. Seed transmission studies were all negative, indicating that common milkweed seeds do not transmit CMV. These results demonstrate that common milkweed does not substantially contribute to the spread of CMV in the northeastern United States. The final chapter of this thesis presents methods for propagating common milkweed in tissue culture. Common milkweed has a high level of genetic variation, due to outcrossing, complex pollination methods, and incompatibility in selfpollination. Callus induction was obtained on Murashige and Skoog media containing 10 μM BAP + 5 μM NAA; shoot proliferation was obtained on media containing 1.25 μM BAP + 5 μM NAA; and root production occurred on media with 1.25 μM BAP and 2.5 μM NAA. The formulations in this thesis allow for the production of in vitro plantlets for future research efforts.


In body ownership illusions participants feel that a mannequin or virtual body (VB) is their own. Earlier results suggest that body ownership over a body seen from behind in extra personal space is possible when the surrogate body is visually stroked and tapped on its back, while spatially and temporal synchronous tactile stimulation is applied to the participant's back. This result has been disputed with the claim that the results can be explained by self-recognition rather than somatic body ownership. We carried out an experiment with 30 participants in a between-groups design. They all saw the back of a VB 1.2 m in front, that moved in real-time determined by upper body motion capture. All felt tactile stimulation on their back, and for 15 of them this was spatially and temporally synchronous with stimulation that they saw on the back of the VB, but asynchronous for the other 15. After 3 min a revolving fan above the VB descended and stopped at the position of the VB neck. A questionnaire assessed referral of touch to the VB, body ownership, the illusion of drifting forwards toward the VB, and the VB drifting backwards. Heart rate deceleration (HRD) and the amount of head movement during the threat period were used to assess the response to the threat from the fan. Results showed that although referral of touch was significantly greater in the synchronous condition than the asynchronous, there were no other differences between the conditions. However, a further multivariate analysis revealed that in the visuotactile synchronous condition HRD and head movement increased with the illusion of forward drift and decreased with backwards drift. Body ownership contributed positively to these drift sensations. Our conclusion is that the setup results in a contradiction—somatic feelings associated with a distant body—that the brain attempts to resolve by generating drift illusions that would make the two bodies coincide.


Abstract The exploratory drilling of 200 wildcat wells along the NE Atlantic margin has yielded 30 finds with total discovered resources of c. 4.1×10 9 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE). Exploration has been highly concentrated in specific regions. Only 32 of 144 quadrants have been drilled, with only one prolific province discovered – the Faroe–Shetland Basin, where 23 finds have resources totalling c. 3.7×10 9 BOE. Along the margin, the pattern of discoveries can best be assessed in terms of petroleum systems. The Faroe–Shetland finds belong to an Upper Jurassic petroleum system. On the east flank of the Rockall Basin, the Benbecula gas and the Dooish condensate/gas discoveries have proven the existence of a petroleum system of unknown source – probably Upper Jurassic. The Corrib gas field in the Slyne Basin is evidence of a Carboniferous petroleum system. The three finds in the northern Porcupine Basin are from Upper Jurassic source rocks; in the south, the Dunquin well (44/23-1) suggests the presence of a petroleum system there, but of unknown source. This pattern of petroleum systems can be explained by considering the distribution of Jurassic source rocks related to the break-up of Pangaea and marine inundations of the resulting basins. The prolific synrift marine Upper Jurassic source rock (of the Northern North Sea) was not developed throughout the pre-Atlantic Ocean break-up basin system west of Britain and Ireland. Instead, lacustrine–fluvio-deltaic–marginal marine shales of predominantly Late Jurassic age are the main source rocks and have generated oils throughout the region. The structural position, in particular relating to the subsequent Early Cretaceous hyperextension adjacent to the continental margin, is critical in determining where this Upper Jurassic petroleum system will be most effective.


Coordination of the induction of genes encoding extracellular enzymes and sugar uptake systems in fungi are often mediated by transcription factors (TFs). The aim of this thesis was to study the transcriptional regulatory network in more detail by analysis of sugar-specific TFs in A. niger and A. nidulans. This research was focused on interactive aspects of regulation such as (1) combinatorial control of gene expression and (2) identification of novel transcriptional network motifs linking the TFs. In addition, a few previously characterized TFs involved in plant biomass degradation were re-evaluated in a broader context. Chapter 2 describes genetic interactions between A. nidulans AraR, XlnR and GalR in regulation of pentose and D-galactose catabolism. AraR and XlnR were previously shown to regulate genes encoding enzymes involved in L-arabinose and D-xylose conversion in both A. nidulans and A. niger, while GalR was linked to regulation of the Leloir D-galactose pathway. Our data showed that GalR is involved in the oxido-reductive D-galactose catabolic pathway in A. nidulans, but not in the pentose catabolic pathway. In contrast, AraR and XlnR not only control the pentose catabolic pathways, but also genes of the oxido-reductive D-galactose catabolic pathway. Chapter 3 describes characterization of D-galacturonic acid responsive TF GaaR in A. niger by studying the transcriptome response of the reference strain and ΔgaaR grown on D-galacturonic acid and pectin. GaaR was shown to mainly control expression of genes encoding enzymes involved in degradation of the homogalacturonan part of pectin as well as D-galacturonic acid transport and metabolism. Complete degradation of pectin might require co-operative action of several TFs in A. niger. Previous studies identified two TFs involved in degradation of pectin, AraR, responding to L-arabinose, and RhaR, responding to L-rhamnose. Chapter 4 describes combinatorial control of gene expression by AraR, RhaR and the recently characterized GaaR in A. niger grown on sugar beet pectin. The results of this study demonstrate that GaaR, AraR and RhaR are all involved in regulation of pectinolytic gene expression during growth on a complex carbon source, which is rich in pectin. Moreover, the study reveals genes under combined control of two or three TFs. Transcriptional regulatory networks are based on interactions between TFs and their target genes. In some cases, expression of a gene relies on two TFs, of which the 'primary' TF regulates the 'modulating' TF. The primary TF is activated by the presence of an inducer, while the modulating TF is transcriptionally activated by the primary TF. Chapter 5 describes the identification of two putative XlnR and AmyR-affected modulating TFs and asses their involvement in plant biomass degradation in A. niger. In Chapter 6, we studied the physiological role of XlnR and AraR in colonization of unprocessed wheat bran by high-resolution microscopy and exo-proteomics. Deletion of xlnR in A. niger reduced secretion of hemicellulolytic enzymes and resulted in reduced biofilm formation especially on the smooth surface of the wheat bran flake. This is the first in vivo demonstration of the physiological importance of these regulators. The results are summarized and discussed in Chapter 7.


The Canadian oil sands -the third largest proven reserves of oil after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela- are located in Northern Alberta, Canada; these deposits of unconventional oil are an attractive investment for oil & gas developers and governments not only because of the size of the reserves but also the  geopolitical stability of the region. Nevertheless, the development of the projects and current operations are facing opposition and struggling with a negative campaign around the world due in part to misinformation of the facts, lack of knowledge of the process throughout the projects life cycle, and years of stakeholder mismanagement. Indisputably, the development of the projects carries a series of impacts (environmental, social, economic, and health); developers and operators may dispute the intensity of the impacts but not the existence of them. The manuscript discusses the impacts on land, water and air resources based on indicators included in sustainability reports presented by oil sands developing and operating organizations. These reported statistics give a broader understanding of the current state of the Canadian oil sands and their development. The aim of the manuscript is to present these statistics four most common environmental impacts from oil sands development:  greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use, and tailing ponds. Keywords:  sustainability, oil & gas, oil sands, energy consumption.


Part I: INTRODUCTION AND BASIC TAX MODEL. 1. An Introduction to Taxation and Understanding the Federal Tax Law. 2. Working with the Tax Law. 3. Tax Formula and Tax Determination An Overview of Property Transactions. Part II: GROSS INCOME. 4. Gross Income: Concepts and Inclusions. 5. Gross Income: Exclusions. Part III: DEDUCTIONS. 6. Deductions and Losses: In General. 7. Deductions and Losses: Certain Business Expenses and Losses. 8. Depreciation, Cost Recovery, Amortization, and Depletion. 9. Deductions: Employee and Self-Employed-Related Expenses. 10. Deductions and Losses: Certain Itemized Deductions. 11. Investor Losses. Part IV: SPECIAL TAX COMPUTATION METHODS, PAYMENT PROCEDURES, AND TAX CREDITS. 12. Alternative Minimum Tax. 13. Tax Credits and Payment Procedures. Part V: PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS. 14. Property Transactions: Determination of Gain or Loss and Basis Considerations. 15. Property Transactions: Nontaxable Exchanges. 16. Property Transactions: Capital Gains and Losses. 17. Property Transactions: Section 1231 and Recapture Provisions. Part VI: ACCOUNTING PERIODS, ACCOUNTING METHODS, AND DEFERRED COMPENSATION. 18. Accounting Periods and Methods. 19. Deferred Compensation. Part VII: CORPORATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS. 20. Corporations and Partnerships. Appendix A: Tax Rate Schedule and Tables. Appendix B: Tax Forms. Appendix C: Glossary of Tax Terms. Appendix D: Table of Code Sections Cited Table of Regulations Cited Table of Revenue Procedures and Revenue Rulings Cited. Appendix E: Comprehensive Tax Return Problems. Appendix F: Table of Cases Cited. Appendix G: Depreciation. Subject Index.