<i>Aporosa</i> Blume from the paleoequatorial rainforest of Bikaner, India: Its evolution and diversification in deep time

The Gondwanan origin, northward migration and subsequent collision with Asia means that the Indian subcontinent is of particular interest regarding the origin and dispersal of numerous plants and animal species. With this in mind, we describe a fossil leaf of Aporosa Blume (Phyllanthaceae) from the Paleogene of the Indian subcontinent and discuss its evolution and diversification with respect to the moving Indian plate and its connection with Southeast Asia since the early Cenozoic. At present, Aporosa Blume is confined to Southeast Asia with a few species in India and New Guinea. It is represented by six endemic species growing in the evergreen forests of India and Sri Lanka, including Aporosa acuminata Thwaites, which is morphologically close to the here described fossil from Bikaner, Rajasthan, India. From the age of the fossil and the distribution of its modern comparable form, it is assumed that Aporosa originated on the Indian subcontinent and then was distributed to Southeast Asia, supporting the ‘Out of India’ hypothesis. Diversification of the genus might have taken place either in the Paleogene or Neogene. Our fossil leaf material also indicates the existence of palaeoequatorial (< 10° N) tropical rain forests in western India during the Paleogene in contrast to dry and desertic climate occurring today

On the Mechanical Energy Available to Drive Solar Flares

Where does solar flare energy come from? More specifically, assuming that the ultimate source of flare energy is mechanical energy in the convection zone, how is this translated into energy dissipated or stored in the corona? This question appears to have been given relatively little thought, as attention has been focussed predominantly on mechanisms for the rapid dissipation of coronal magnetic energy by way of MHD instabilities and plasma micro instabilities. We consider three types of flare theory: the steady state "photospheric dynamo" model in which flare power represents coronal dissipation of currents generated simultaneously by sub-photospheric flows; the "magnetic energy storage" model where sub-photospheric flows again induce coronal currents but which in this case are built up over a longer period before being released suddenly; and "emerging flux" models, in which new magnetic flux rising to the photosphere already contains free energy, and does not require subsequent stressing by photospheric motions. We conclude that photospheric dynamos can power only very minor flares; that coronal energy storage can in principle meet the requirements of a major flare, although perhaps not the very largest flares, but that difficulties in coupling efficiently to the energy source may limit this mechanism to moderate sized flares; and that emerging magnetic flux tubes, generated in the solar interior, can carry sufficient free energy to power even the largest flares ever observed.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figur

Walmart\u27s Sustainability Journey: Andy Ruben and the Design of Organizaional Structures and Systems (A)

The case “Andy Ruben and the Design of Strategic Goals and Processes” flows from the previous discussion, by moving from the development of an ambitious vision to the challenges of adopting strategic policies and processes to reach those aspirations in practice. This case puts students into the role of Andy Ruben, Walmart’s first Vice-President for Sustainability , asking them to make concrete decisions about what should be done, in what order, and by what process if they were to implement an ambitious corporate sustainability strategy. In the case, Ruben confronts specific choices about how to define the responsibilities of the new sustainability office at Walmart in his efforts to lead the organization toward achieving Lee Scott’s vision. In Case B, we review the basic decisions Ruben made while building the resultant sustainability office

Photoemission from alkali and silver halides Quaterly status report, period ending 30 Apr. 1970

Temperature effects on photoemissions from silver halide

First occurrence of mastixioid (Cornaceae) fossil in India and its biogeographic implications

Mastixioids in the family Cornaceae, are presently native only in limited areas of Asia, they have rich fossil fruit record in Cenozoic sediments of Europe and North America, but unfortunately none have been reported from Cenozoic sediments of India and Asia until now. Here, we report the occurrence of leaf remains (both impression and compression) along with carbonised fruits, resembling morphologically and anatomically those of the extant endemic species Mastixia arborea C.B. Clarke. Our materials were recovered from the middle Miocene to early Pleistocene Siwalik sediments exposed around West Kameng and Papumpare districts in Arunachal Pradesh, eastern Himalaya. These new fossil materials confirm the existence of Mastixia in the Miocene-Pleistocene Siwalik forests in India. At present the modern analogue does not grow in the eastern Himalaya and is endemic to the tropical evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, situated at the same palaeolatitude as the fossil locality. Extinction from the entire eastern Himalaya and probable movement of this taxon to the Western Ghats is likely due to climate change in the area, related to the Himalayan Orogeny during Miocene–Pleistocene times. The disappearance of Mastixia from this area may be related to the gradual intensification of rainfall seasonality since the late Miocene. The recovery of this species and our earlier-described evergreen taxa from the same Siwalik time (Mio-Pleistocene), suggest the existence of tropical, warm and humid climatic conditions during the period of deposition. The leaf and fruit remains are here described as new species, namely Mastixia asiatica Khan, Bera M et Bera S, sp. nov. and Mastixia siwalika Khan, Bera M et Bera S, sp. nov. respectively. This report documents the first fossil record of Mastixia leaf remains using both macro and micromorphological characters. We also review the historical phytogeography, and highlight the phytogeographic implication of, the mastixioids

Reconstructing Cenozoic vegetation from proxy data and models – A NECLIME synthesis (Editorial)

[No abstract available

Walmart\u27s Sustainability Journey: Andy Ruben and the Design of Organizational Structures and Systems (B)

The case “Andy Ruben and the Design of Strategic Goals and Processes” flows from the previous discussion, by moving from the development of an ambitious vision to the challenges of adopting strategic policies and processes to reach those aspirations in practice. This case puts students into the role of Andy Ruben, Walmart’s first Vice-President for Sustainability , asking them to make concrete decisions about what should be done, in what order, and by what process if they were to implement an ambitious corporate sustainability strategy. In the case, Ruben confronts specific choices about how to define the responsibilities of the new sustainability office at Walmart in his efforts to lead the organization toward achieving Lee Scott’s vision. In Case B, we review the basic decisions Ruben made while building the resultant sustainability office

Measurement of electron-phonon scattering in insulators by photoinjection Quarterly status report, period ending 31 Jan. 1969

Measurement of electron phonon scattering in insulators by photoinjectio

INSTITUTIONS AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE OF DISTRUST IN THE RUSSIAN HOUSEHOLD DEPOSIT MARKET, 1992-1999

In our analysis of the Russian household deposit market during the 1990s, we show how the initial conditions of market emergence contributed to a vicious circle in which private commercial banks progressively lost the trust of potential depositors. The roots of this destructive dynamic lay in the initial conditions of market emergence. Initial experiences of fraud and financial loss led Russian households to distrust that commercial banks would honor their contractual obligations. As distrust grew and became more ingrained, the competitive conditions in the deposit market changed in a way that further increased the gains to opportunism and decreased the returns to trust production. In a self-reinforcing process, fraud begat more fraud.

Institutional Technology and the Chains of Trust: Capital Markets and Privatization in Russia and the Czech Republic

The introduction of mass privatization policies in Russia and the Czech Republic depended on the creation of impersonal capital markets to finance the needs of privatized companies and to provide a secondary market for the trading of securities. Yet, mass privatization created the contradictory conditions of generating millions of poorly informed shareholders, with no efficient markets for the sale of the shares. The absence of financial markets created systematic pressures to move assets by illegal or non-transparent means to users who value them. Privatization created the incentives to destroy the financial markets critical to its success. A comparative case analysis of post-privatization market formation in both these countries demonstrates that the functional necessity for these markets does not engender their own creation. In the absence of institutional mechanisms of state regulation and trust, markets become arenas for political contests and economic manipulation. The irony of these policies is that a principal lesson has been that market reforms cannot create viable markets, only institutional formation can.