Milton On Liberty

During the hundred years from Elizabeth to Cromwell European thinkers became acutely conscious of many of the problems and ideas that concern us most intimately even today. In philosophy, in science, in the arts, and in theories of sovereignty and of the state, the foundations were laid for later thought and practice. The most serious wars, unlike the national jealousies of the eighteenth century which were often dynastic, were fought in defense of some conscientious scruple, however much their significance might be clouded by royal ambition or greed. Three of these in particular give us a group of thinkers on the powers of the state, the question of sovereignty, and above all the meaning of liberty. The Civil War in France between the League and the Huguenots anticipates in a curious way the war a half century later in England between the Parliament and Charles I, and chiefly in the way in which both parties, Catholic and Protestant, set about a search for motives for the deposition of a sovereign who outraged the religious and political scruples of a considerable number of his subjects. The Dutch likewise in their long war for freedom from Spain were compelled to buttress their faith by searching for sound principles of political science. The constitutional revolt that gave France Jean Bodin and the Netherlands Althusius and Hugo Grotius, gave England, among others, John Milton

Vascular anomalies in a case of situs inversus

Situs inversus is a developmental condition in which the thoracic and abdominal organs fail to negotiate their normal migration patterns and the result is a mirror-image arrangement of these viscera. The literature provides evidence that individuals with this condition have a higher incidence of other congenital malformations (e.g. heart anomalies). Here we describe the dissection of a 71 yearold female cadaver with situs inversus, in which we discovered multiple anomalous vessels associated with the coeliac trunk directed toward the liver. In addition, we identified the inferior vena cava on the left side and a persistent supracardinal vein on the right, constituting a double inferior vena cava. Finally, we identified multiple abnormal venous channels associated with the sub-renal inferior vena cava. These vascular patterns are indeed a rare finding and have surgical implications but may indicate a higher incidence of vascular anomalies in cases of situs inversus

The Attraction of FDI to Conflicted States: The Counter-Intuitive Case of US Oil and Gas

States burdened with conflict have been considered to be undesirable destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) due to, inter alia, political instability, regulatory unpredictability, and expropriation risk. However, we develop an alternative view based on corporate governance and real option theories. We analyze a dataset of FDI location decisions made in the Oil and Gas sector by 250 US firms across 44 countries between 2007 and 2013. After controlling for energy reserves, the results show counter-intuitively, that civil war and terrorism risks, and terrorist events are positively associated with US investment in Oil and Gas. US subsidiaries also show high levels of ownership commitment. It is tempting to conclude that US Oil and Gas is a wholly unique, resource-bound case, but we argue that this disconnect may have occurred for two reasons. First, a threat of conflict and violence can make MNEs exercise their growth options and expand resource extraction sooner rather than later. Second, political instability does not necessarily lead to higher levels of FDI expropriation risk. On the contrary, instability can reduce the incentives for the state to seize assets from technologically superior MNEs, i.e. it may reduce expropriation risk. Just as the rule of law and ‘good’ governance can constrain a state from expropriation, there are theoretical reasons why ‘bad’ governance resulting from instability and incapacity may do so, too

Using Birdsfoot Trefoil in Kentucky Pastures

Birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) is an excellent pasture legume in the Corn Belt and in northeast United states . It has usually been considered too poorly adapted to Kentucky to merit trial by the farmers. Observations and grazing results in Woodford county during the last 14 years, however, indicate that this view is no longer valid. A grazing trial was established in 1954, with birdsfoot trefoil and Kentucky bluegrass as one of three mixtures used. Trefoil was seeded alone in the spring, and an excellent stand was obtained. Bluegrass was drilled in the established trefoil in September 1954. There were four 4-acre experimental pastures of trefoil-bluegrass and an additional 6-acre field which was used as a reserve pasture

A risk computation model for environmental restoration activities

A risk computation model useful in environmental restoration activities was developed for the US Department of Energy (DOE). This model, the Multimedia Environmental Pollutant Assessment System (MEPAS), can be used to evaluate effects of potential exposures over a broad range of regulatory issues including radioactive carcinogenic, nonradioactive carcinogenic, and noncarcinogenic effects. MEPAS integrates risk computation components. Release, transport, dispersion, deposition, exposure, and uptake computations are linked in a single system for evaluation of air, surface water, ground water, and overland flow transport. MEPAS uses standard computation approaches. Whenever available and appropriate, US Environmental Protection Agency guidance and models were used to facilitate compatibility and acceptance. MEPAS is a computational tool that can be used at several phases of an environmental restoration effort. At a preliminary stage in problem characterization, potential problems can be prioritized. As more data become available, MEPAS can provide an estimate of baseline risks or evaluate environmental monitoring data. In the feasibility stage, MEPAS can compute risk from alternative remedies. However, MEPAS is not designed to replace a detailed risk assessment of the selected remedy. For major problems, it will be appropriate to use a more detailed, risk computation tool for a detailed, site-specific evaluation of the selected remedy. 15 refs., 2 figs

Borehole plugging materials development program, report 2

The data for 2 yr of grout mixtures durability studies developed for the borehole plugging program of the Nuclear Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) are reported. In addition, data for 1 yr of durability studies of grout mixture field samples used to plug the ERDA No. 10 exploratory drill hole near the WIPP site are included. The grout samples and the data do not show any evidence of deterioration during the durability studies that include exposure to brine at both ambient and elevated temperatures. The data include strength, compressional wave velocity, dynamic modulus, expansion, weight change, porosity, permeability, bond strength, chemical analysis of cements, and petrographic examinations. The work was performed at the Concrete Division of the Structures Laboratory of the US Army Engineer Waterways Experiments Station (WES), Vicksburg, Mississippi. The work is continuing at WES

Ground state cooling in a bad cavity

We study the mechanical effects of light on an atom trapped in a harmonic potential when an atomic dipole transition is driven by a laser and it is strongly coupled to a mode of an optical resonator. We investigate the cooling dynamics in the bad cavity limit, focussing on the case in which the effective transition linewidth is smaller than the trap frequency, hence when sideband cooling could be implemented. We show that quantum correlations between the mechanical actions of laser and cavity field can lead to an enhancement of the cooling efficiency with respect to sideband cooling. Such interference effects are found when the resonator losses prevail over spontaneous decay and over the rates of the coherent processes characterizing the dynamics.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures; J. Mod. Opt. (2007