Examining the Relationship Between Environmental Policy and Economic Competitiveness in the United States and the European Union

In sum, when considering the findings of all three chapters of this thesis cumulatively, several implications are worth noting in regards to the relationship between environmental policy and economic competitiveness. First, the notion that adopting stringent environmental standards will impede on a state\u27s ability to remain economically competitive was shown to be the exception, rather than the rule in all of the cases surveyed in this thesis. Moreover, the cumulative research throughout this thesis has shown the depth of complexity that exists between environmental and economic policy networks. Each chapter illustrated how the general relationship between government and private interests continues to evolve; in some cases the relationship between the government and interest groups was shown to enhance environmental policy standards, while in others private interests were shown to impede on the potential for environmental standards to expand. On the whole, I believe this thesis has served to expand McCormick and Mitchell\u27s (2007) findings surrounding caucuses and interest groups in Chapter 4, and going further than that by showing how similar relationships have manifested at the domestic level in the United States and Europe through the public/private partnerships of utility and energy production companies outlined in the case studies of Chapters 2 and 3

Government Created Medical Practice Guidelines: The Opening of Pandora\u27s Box

This article will discuss the background and creation of medical practice guidelines in part II. Next, we will define and discuss in Part III the two primary types of medical practice guidelines: privately created guidelines and government created guidelines. In Part IV, we will compare and contract the current medical practice guidelines programs in operation. Finally, we will recommend in section V that a medical practice guidelines program offering an affirmative defense to complying physicians should be implemented on the state level

Government Created Medical Practice Guidelines: The Opening of Pandora\u27s Box

The fact-specific holding “Summary judgment was improper in an insured\u27s claim against its insurer for the denial of treatment through a utilization review process because neither Wyoming law nor the insurance contract provided an administrative remedy requiring exhaustion.

Alternative sampling for variational quantum Monte Carlo

Expectation values of physical quantities may accurately be obtained by the evaluation of integrals within Many-Body Quantum mechanics, and these multi-dimensional integrals may be estimated using Monte Carlo methods. In a previous publication it has been shown that for the simplest, most commonly applied strategy in continuum Quantum Monte Carlo, the random error in the resulting estimates is not well controlled. At best the Central Limit theorem is valid in its weakest form, and at worst it is invalid and replaced by an alternative Generalised Central Limit theorem and non-Normal random error. In both cases the random error is not controlled. Here we consider a new `residual sampling strategy' that reintroduces the Central Limit Theorem in its strongest form, and provides full control of the random error in estimates. Estimates of the total energy and the variance of the local energy within Variational Monte Carlo are considered in detail, and the approach presented may be generalised to expectation values of other operators, and to other variants of the Quantum Monte Carlo method.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure

Quantum Monte Carlo study of the Ne atom and the Ne+ ion

We report all-electron and pseudopotential calculations of the ground-stateenergies of the neutral Ne atom and the Ne+ ion using the variational and diffusion quantum Monte Carlo (DMC) methods. We investigate different levels of Slater-Jastrow trial wave function: (i) using Hartree-Fock orbitals, (ii) using orbitals optimized within a Monte Carlo procedure in the presence of a Jastrow factor, and (iii) including backflow correlations in the wave function. Small reductions in the total energy are obtained by optimizing the orbitals, while more significant reductions are obtained by incorporating backflow correlations. We study the finite-time-step and fixed-node biases in the DMC energy and show that there is a strong tendency for these errors to cancel when the first ionization potential (IP) is calculated. DMC gives highly accurate values for the IP of Ne at all the levels of trial wave function that we have considered

Excitations and benchmark ensemble density functional theory for two electrons

A new method for extracting ensemble Kohn-Sham potentials from accurate excited state densities is applied to a variety of two electron systems, exploring the behavior of exact ensemble density functional theory. The issue of separating the Hartree energy and the choice of degenerate eigenstates is explored. A new approximation, spin eigenstate Hartree-exchange (SEHX), is derived. Exact conditions that are proven include the signs of the correlation energy components, the virial theorem for both exchange and correlation, and the asymptotic behavior of the potential for small weights of the excited states. Many energy components are given as a function of the weights for two electrons in a one-dimensional flat box, in a box with a large barrier to create charge transfer excitations, in a three-dimensional harmonic well (Hooke's atom), and for the He atom singlet-triplet ensemble, singlet-triplet-singlet ensemble, and triplet bi-ensemble.Comment: 15 pages, supplemental material pd

Calcareous nannofossil assemblage changes across the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum: Evidence from a shelf setting

Biotic response of calcareous nannoplankton to abrupt warming across the Paleocene/Eocene boundary reflects a primary response to climatically induced parameters including increased continental runoff of freshwater, global acidification of seawater, high sedimentation rates, and calcareous nannoplankton assemblage turnover. We identify ecophenotypic nannofossil species adapted to low pH conditions (Discoaster anartios, D. araneus, Rhomboaster spp.), excursion taxa adapted to the extremely warm climatic conditions (Bomolithus supremus and Coccolithus bownii), three species of the genus Toweius (T. serotinus, T. callosus, T. occultatus) adapted to warm, rather than cool, water conditions, opportunists adapted to high productivity conditions (Coronocyclus bramlettei, Neochiastozygus junctus), and species adapted to oligotropic and/or cool‐water conditions that went into refugium during the PETM (Zygrablithus bijugatus, Calcidiscus? parvicrucis and Chiasmolithus bidens). Discoaster anartios was adapted to meso- to eutrophic, rather than oligotrophic, conditions. Comparison of these data to previous work on sediments deposited on shelf settings suggests that local conditions such as high precipitation rates and possible increase in major storms such as hurricanes resulted in increased continental runoff and high sedimentation rates that affected assemblage response to the PETM

Downscaling a Global Climate Model to Simulate Climate Change Impacts on U.S. Regional and Urban Air Quality

Climate change can exacerbate future regional air pollution events by making conditions more favorable to form high levels of ozone. In this study, we use spectral nudging with WRF to downscale NASA earth system GISS modelE2 results during the years 2006 to 2010 and 2048 to 2052 over the continental United States in order to compare the resulting meteorological fields from the air quality perspective during the four seasons of five-year historic and future climatological periods. GISS results are used as initial and boundary conditions by the WRF RCM to produce hourly meteorological fields. The downscaling technique and choice of physics parameterizations used are evaluated by comparing them with in situ observations. This study investigates changes of similar regional climate conditions down to a 12km by 12km resolution, as well as the effect of evolving climate conditions on the air quality at major U.S. cities. The high resolution simulations produce somewhat different results than the coarse resolution simulations in some regions. Also, through the analysis of the meteorological variables that most strongly influence air quality, we find consistent changes in regional climate that would enhance ozone levels in four regions of the U.S. during fall (Western U.S., Texas, Northeastern, and Southeastern U.S), one region during summer (Texas), and one region where changes potentially would lead to better air quality during spring (Northeast). We also find that daily peak temperatures tend to increase in most major cities in the U.S. which would increase the risk of health problems associated with heat stress. Future work will address a more comprehensive assessment of emissions and chemistry involved in the formation and removal of air pollutants