Encounters with Unjust Authority

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/50942/1/167.pd

Grain Shipments on the Mississippi River System: A Long-Term Projection

The costs of delays for shipping commodities on the Mississippi River are important and adversely impact growth in shipments. Lock and dam expansion requires substantial capital investment and an extended time period to complete. This study analyzes delay costs and the competitive position of grain shipments on the Mississippi River system. A spatial optimization model of the world grain trade was developed. Results indicated that without expansion in barge capacity, delay costs in 2020 would increase on each reach, with some up to $1.08/mt. Expansion results in reduced delay costs. Barge demand is also impacted by rail capacity. Finally, expanding the locks would result in a re-allocation of shipments among modes, reaches, and ports, notwithstanding minor adjustments in production.Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade,

FUNDAMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING WORLD GRAIN TRADE IN THE NEXT TWO DECADES

Replaced with corrected version of paper 04/04/08.International Relations/Trade,

Catalyzing Rebellion: An Introduction to the Mobilization in Miniature Project

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/50913/1/138.pd

Australia: PISA Australia—Excellence and Equity?

Australia’s education system reflects its history of federalism. State and territory governments are responsible for administering education within their jurisdiction and across the sector comprising government (public), Catholic systemic and other independent schooling systems. They collaborate on education policy with the federal government. Over the past two decades the federal government has taken a greater role in funding across the education sector, and as a result of this involvement and the priorities of federal governments of the day, Australia now has one of the highest rates of non-government schooling in the OECD. Funding equity across the sectors has become a prominent issue. Concerns have been compounded by evidence of declining student performance since Australia’s initial participation in PISA in 2000, and the increasing gap between our high achievers and low achievers. This chapter explores Australia’s PISA 2018 results and what they reveal about the impact of socioeconomic level on student achievement. It also considers the role of school funding and the need to direct support to those schools that are attempting to educate the greater proportion of an increasingly diverse student population including students facing multiple layers of disadvantage

Integrated Testing Approaches for the NASA Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle

The Ares I crew launch vehicle is being developed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to provide crew and cargo access to the International Space Station (ISS) and, together with the Ares V cargo launch vehicle, serves as a critical component of NASA's future human exploration of the Moon. During the preliminary design phase, NASA defined and began implementing plans for integrated ground and flight testing necessary to achieve the first human launch of Ares I. The individual Ares I flight hardware elements - including the first stage five segment booster (FSB), upper stage, and J-2X upper stage engine - will undergo extensive development, qualification, and certification testing prior to flight. Key integrated system tests include the upper stage Main Propulsion Test Article (MPTA), acceptance tests of the integrated upper stage and upper stage engine assembly, a full-scale integrated vehicle ground vibration test (IVGVT), aerodynamic testing to characterize vehicle performance, and integrated testing of the avionics and software components. The Ares I-X development flight test will provide flight data to validate engineering models for aerodynamic performance, stage separation, structural dynamic performance, and control system functionality. The Ares I-Y flight test will validate ascent performance of the first stage, stage separation functionality, validate the ability of the upper stage to manage cryogenic propellants to achieve upper stage engine start conditions, and a high-altitude demonstration of the launch abort system (LAS) following stage separation. The Orion 1 flight test will be conducted as a full, un-crewed, operational flight test through the entire ascent flight profile prior to the first crewed launch

Prevalence of drug-drug interactions in oncology patients enrolled on National Clinical Trials Network oncology clinical trials

Abstract Background Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) in subjects enrolling in clinical trials can impact not only safety of the patient but also study drug outcomes and data validity. This makes it critical to adequately screen and manage DDIs. The study objective was to determine the prevalence of DDIs involving study medications in subjects enrolling in National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) clinical trials at a single institution. DDIs were evaluated based on study protocol recommendations for concomitant medication use (i.e. exclude, avoid or use caution), screening via DDI tool, and pharmacist review. Methods Subjects enrolled in NCTN trials of commercially available agents between January 2013 and August 2017 were included if a complete medication list was available. Complete medication lists were collected from the date of enrollment or the next available date then screened utilizing protocol guidance and the DDI screening tool, Lexicomp® Drug Interactions (Wolters Kluwer, Hudson, OH). Interactions were reviewed for clinical relevance: defined as a DDI that would require a medication change to ensure study agent safety and efficacy at enrollment. Results One hundred and twenty-eight subjects enrolled in 35 clinical trials were included. Protocol guidance detected 15 unique DDI pairs that should be avoided or used with caution in 10.2% (13/128) of subjects. The majority of these subjects did not have a clinically relevant DDI (69.2%, 9/13) based on pharmacist review. Lexicomp® detected moderate to major DDIs in 24.2% (31/128) of subjects, with 9.4% (12/128) having a clinically relevant DDI. Conclusions This study confirms a high prevalence of DDIs present in subjects enrolling in oncology clinical trials. Further efforts should be made to improve methods to detect and manage DDIs in patients enrolling on clinical trials to ensure patient safety and trial data validity.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146516/1/12885_2018_Article_5076.pd

Genetic Subdivision and Variation in Selfing Rates Among Central American Populations of the Mangrove Rivulus, Kryptolebias marmoratus.

We used 32 polymorphic microsatellite loci to investigate how a mixed-mating system affects population genetic structure in Central American populations (N = 243 individuals) of the killifish Kryptolebias marmoratus (mangrove rivulus), 1 of 2 of the world's only known self-fertilizing vertebrates. Results were also compared with previous microsatellite surveys of Floridian populations of this species. For several populations in Belize and Honduras, population structure and genetic differentiation were pronounced and higher than in Florida, even though the opposite trend was expected because populations in the latter region were presumably smaller and highly selfing. The deduced frequency of selfing (s) ranged from s = 0.39-0.99 across geographic locales in Central America. This heterogeneity in selfing rates was in stark contrast to Florida, where s > 0.9. The frequency of outcrossing in a population (t = 1 - s) was tenuously correlated with local frequencies of males, suggesting that males are one of many factors influencing outcrossing. Observed distributions of individual heterozygosity showed good agreement with expected distributions under an equilibrium mixed-mating model, indicating that rates of selfing remained relatively constant over many generations. Overall, our results demonstrate the profound consequences of a mixed-mating system for the genetic architecture of a hermaphroditic vertebrate