WORLD FOOD OUTLOOK - AN AGRIBUSINESS RESPONSE

Agribusiness,

Disability resources for the educator

This thesis identifies what disability resources are currently accessible and needed by the educator in order to service the disabled student in the classroom. It is a compilation of medical, academic, financial and equipment resources currently available to the educator

International Intellectual Property Rights: Is China Serious About Enforcement?

In discussions regarding international intellectual property rights (IPR), China is always at the forefront of controversy.  When one mentions international IPR violations, China is the first country to come to mind.  A walk through the streets of Beijing will validate China’s problems with protection of intellectual property rights.  Street vendors aggressively peddle “Rolex” watches, pirated DVD’s, and “Mont Blanc” pens.  There are shopping centers whose shops appear to be solely populated with vendors selling fake goods with logos from Polo, Oakley, Coach, Prada and many, many more expensive brand names.  All of this seemingly illegal commerce is done openly without fear of consequence.  The inaction of regulatory authorities sends a message that China is complacent, possibly even supportive, with regard to IPR violations.  And maybe this is the case.  Think of the revenues generated, the number of workers employed in manufacturing and dealing pirated goods.  Possibly the enforcement of intellectual property rights could be too detrimental to the Chinese Economy

Les cités du Bas-Sahara. Eléments d'histoire urbaine

International audienceDans l’histoire urbaine du Maghreb central, marquée par de nombreuses discontinuités et ruptures, les cités du Bas-Sahara font figure d’exception. Elles traversent cette histoire agitée avec une remarquable pérennité.De Ptolémée aux enquêteurs des bureaux indigènes de la colonisation française, de l’Antiquité au 19ème siècle, ce sont les mêmes termes qui reviennent pour décrire l’organisation spatiale et les modes d’appropriation territoriale de ces régions. Ce sont des chapelets d’agglomérations, villages, bourgs et bourgades, appelés indistinctement ksar, s’égrainant le long des oueds, dont l’eau coule à la surface ou sous le sol, mais dont on peut nettement distinguer la ligne de front. Parmi cet ensemble d’agglomérations, une cité s’impose de par son importance et son rôle. Chaque réseau constitue un zab. Qu’est-ce qui explique cette permanence ? L’article propose d’apporter des éclairages en soulevant quelques pistes de recherche et en essayant de montrer ce qui en constituait le fondement

The Pilot Cropland Conversion Program: Accomplishments in its First Year, 1963

Excerpt from the report summary: This is a report of a study of the 1963 Pilot Cropland Conversion Program (CCP) in five areas after its first year of operation . The five areas included one each in North Dakota, Iowa, and Mississippi, and two in Georgia. Most of the land under agreements will remain in the program for 5 years. About a third of the land in North Dakota and a tenth of the land in Georgia will remain in the program for 10 years. Payment for conversion ranged from $8 an acre for the poorest land in the program in North Dakota to$70 an acre for the best land in the program in Iowa

Water in minerals? A peak in the infrared

The study of water in minerals with infrared spectroscopy is reviewed with emphasis on natural and synthetic quartz. Water can be recognized in minerals as fluid inclusions and as isolated molecules and can be distinguished from hydroxide ion. The distinction between very small inclusions and aggregates of structurally bound molecules is difficult. New studies of synthetic quartz using near-infrared spectroscopy are reported. These demonstrate that water molecules are the dominant hydrogen containing species in synthetic quartz but that this water is not in aggregates large enough to form ice when cooled

The Transition of CCS from Fossil Fuel CO2 Control to Negative Emissions

The last decade’s major investments in CCUS as a fossil fuel control technology have brought the field to the point that it is effective and readily designed. However even more rapid development of renewable technology is likely to keep CCUS from being a major player in world electric generation as investment in clean electricity from wind and solar is more cost effective and lower risk. However, at least 25% of the ultimate reductions in carbon emissions, and then any required atmospheric remediation through negative emissions, will require those same technologies in slightly different approaches. Much smaller scale capture plants will be required for industrial emissions and for biofuel plants. Fortunately a number of industrial players are already developing technology at this scale. The development of low carbon fuel standards is a huge innovation driver in this space. California regulations will, in the future, permit carbon capture on biofuels to be included in carbon footprint calculations. That market is designed to maintain a price of $100/ton for CO2, and current prices hover around that point. This confluence of new small carbon capture technology and innovative means for providers to get paid for capture will create a new generation of carbon capture, and ultimately negative emissions technologies. Challenges include CO2 transportation and underground storage when the sources are smaller than today’s power plant plans. This talk will focus on the US market for small scale-capture driven by biofuel production, and the approaches that carbon capture providers are taking to make their technology appropriate at this scale

Gardening time: Monuments and landscape from Sardinia, Scotland and Central Europe in the very long Iron Age

Gardening may seem worlds away from Nuraghi and brochs, but tending a garden is a long process involving patience, accretion and memory. Scholars argue that memories are also cultured, developed and regained. The monuments in Scotland and Sardinia are testament to the importance of memory and its role in maintaining social relations. This collection of twenty-one papers addresses the theme of memory anchored to the enduring presence of monuments, mainly from Scotland and Sardinia, but also from Central Europe and the Balkans.This book, and the conference upon which it was based, were funded by The ACE Foundation, The Fondazione Banco di Sardegna and the McDonald Institute. We are grateful to the British School at Rome and Magdalene College, Cambridge for their support

Trace Hydrogen in Minerals

Trace hydrogen in minerals most frequently occurs bonded to oxygen. The resulting water and hydroxyl (OH-) affect and play a role in a variety of mineral properties and reactions. This thesis examines the occurrence of trace hydrogen in nominally anhydrous minerals, the mechanisms by which trace hydrogen participates in reactions and controls properties, and the changes that occur in hydrogen speciation and siting as a function of temperature. The principal tool used in this study is infrared (IR) spectroscopy because of its sensitivity to the highly polar O-H bond, yielding quantitative information on concentration, and symmetry, speciation, and siting information. The speciation of trace hydrogen in garnet and low temperature natural and synthetic quartz is examined in detail. In garnet hydrogen occurs as the hydrogarnet substitution, four hydroxyl groups replacing a silicate tetrahedron. This substitution is extremely common among natural garnets. Concentrations range from 0.05 to 0.20 wt. % (as H2O) in garnets from most occurrences, including garnets from the mantle. This trace hydrogen is truly dissolved. The hydrogen found in natural and synthetic quartz formed at low temperature can occur as either hydroxyl or molecular water. The molecular water is the active participant in hydrolytic weakening of quartz, but it is not truly dissolved. It occurs as small groups of molecules (approximately 5 to 200) which were trapped during rapid growth. Two properties of minerals affected by trace hydrogen are strength and radiation response. Molecular water may be responsible for weakening of other minerals as well as quartz. Both water and hydroxyl participate in radiation response of minerals. In metamict zircon, water stabilizes local charge imbalance formed when bonds are broken. Water enters the crystal after a threshold of damage occurs, and reacts with broken bonds to form hydroxyl groups. These must reform molecular water and be expelled before recrystallization occurs during heating. In quartz, molecular water is strongly correlated with the formation of citrine color during irradiation, but inhibits the formation of the amethyst color center Fe4+. Apparently molecular hydrogen forms during radiolysis of the water, and reduces the Fe4+. Several hydroxyl sites in topaz are strongly correlated with the formation of brown color upon irradiation. The unifying theme in all these reactions is the extreme mobility of hydrogen and the ease with which different oxygen-hydrogen species may be formed in silicates. The behavior of trace hydrogen at temperatures of geologic interest has been examined using high temperature infrared spectroscopy. Direct observations of speciation, concentration, and properties have been made up to 1200°C. In muscovite there is no change in hydrogen speciation or site up to the dehydration point, as expected. However, in cordierite and beryl water reversibly partitions into a gas-like state above 400°C, and the formation of this new state controls the dehydration behavior. In topaz, hydroxyl groups have been observed converting to new sites at temperatures above 500°C. In orthoclase feldspar, one type of molecular water dehydrates at 200°C, while a second type converts irreversibly to a new hydrous species above 600°C. There is no evidence for the existence of hydrogen species other than hydroxyl and water in silicate minerals. The hydrogarnet substitution (four hydroxyl groups in a tetrahedral configuration) is common in garnets and may be important in other orthosilicates. The most common hydrous species in nominally anhydrous silicates (aside from fluid inclusions and alteration) are: small groups of trapped water molecules; individual water molecules occupying voids in the structure of minerals; hydroxyl occurring in a charge balancing role such as AlO3OH substituting for SiO4; hydroxyl neutralizing substitutional atoms, e.g., LiOH; and hydroxyl groups formed from the reaction of broken bonds with water as in radiation damaged minerals. There is no evidence for the presence of the oxonium ion, H3O+, in common minerals, and the existing evidence for the occurrence of molecular hydrogen may better be explained by the presence of water or hydroxyl groups.</p

Effects of Alpha and Gamma Radiation on Glass Reaction in an Unsaturated Environment

Radiation may effect the long-term performance of glass in an unsaturated repository site by interacting with air, water vapor, or liquid water. The present study examines (1) the effects of alpha or gamma irradiation in a water vapor environment, and (2) the influence of radiolytic products on glass reaction. Results indicate that nitric and organic acids form in an irradiated water vapor environment and are dissolved in thin films of condensed water. Glass samples exposed to these conditions react faster and have a different assemblage of secondary phases than glasses exposed to nonirradiated water vapor environments. 23 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs