Consumer Protection and Antitrust Enforcement at the Speed of Light: The FTC Meets the Internet

The Impact of Technological Change in the Canada/U.S. Contex

Renewable Energies

Fossil fuels are being consumed at much faster rates than they are produced in the Earth's crust; hence, the world's supply of these fuels is being depleted. The depletion of these nonrenewable fuels is a major challenge facing humanity. There are alternative sources of energy that are renewable and not based on the burning of fossil fuels. Renewable energy resources are those from sources that are capable of being continually replenished after exploitation. They are not exhaustible within human timescales. They occur naturally and abundantly and provide relatively clean energy that does not produce greenhouse gases like fossil fuels do

09 Paleotempestology: Reconstructing Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Tracks in the Pre-HURDAT Era

The study of past tropical cyclone activity by means of geological proxies and/or historical documentary records is known as paleotempestology. This scientific discipline has become prominent over the course of the last decade partially in response to the recent increase in tropical cyclone count and intensity in the North Atlantic basin witnessed since 1995. The field has also developed due to the socioeconomic impacts of tropical cyclones particularly along vulnerable coastal regions. During the twenty-five years prior to the start of the most recent increase in hurricane activity, major (Category 3, 4, or 5) hurricanes were less frequent than in previous decades. Yet, property losses from the hurricanes that did make landfall in the United States increased during this period due to development in damage prone areas (NOAA Paleoclimatology Program, 2000). Many researchers hence stress the importance of identifying historical tropical cyclones to understand long term trends in tropical cyclone climatology and to determine the influence of anthropogenic global warming on tropical cyclone activity and intensity. The North Atlantic Hurricane Database (HURDAT) has been one of the authoritative sources for examining North Atlantic tropical cyclone activity trends since 1850. However, some of the deadliest known hurricanes and potentially most active seasons in the North Atlantic basin occurred prior to the beginning of the HURDAT record (Table 1), including the Great Hurricane of 1780 that killed an estimated 22,000 people and was one of eight known tropical cyclones during that season. This chapter will provide a brief overview of some paleotempestology techniques and illustrate a methodology for identifying and reconstructing historical North Atlantic tropical cyclone tracks in the pre-HURDAT era employing a Geographic Information System (GIS) and utilizing readily accessible archival data.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/modern_climatology/1008/thumbnail.jp

Women Organizing Women –‘Doing it Backwards and in High Heels’

Summary This article looks at the formative stages of a Zimbabwean NGO, the Musasa Project. The process of arriving at a particular organizational model is examined. Particular attention is paid to two aspects of this process i) problems experienced in an organization run by women for women, in particular, the issue of gendered ‘dis?ease’ in the public sphere of work and how it affects performance, and ii) the impact of increased external funding on the organizational model and on the relative importance of members of the organization. The final section of the article poses questions about ‘scaling?up’ of NGOs, how it can affect organizational priorities, and how the accompanying ‘professionalization’ can marginalize less well?educated staff. A model of scaling?up is proposed which, by setting up structures to enhance the ‘voice’ of the constituency, ensures that their views continue to be heard. RESUME Comment s'y prendre à reculons, en chaussures à hauts talons Cet article examine les stades formateurs d'une ONG au Zimbabwe, le Projet de Musasa. Il examine le processus par lequel un model d'organisation particulier a été atteint. Deux aspects spécifiques sont examinés: tout d'abord les problèmes qui se sont soulevés dans une organisation menée par des femmes pour des femmes et notamment, la question des conditions défavorables au genre dans le secteur du service public et l'effet de ces conditions sur la performance; et deuxièmement, l'impact de l'augmentation des financements de provenance extérieure sur le modèle organisationnel adopté, et la question de l'importance relative des membres de l'organisation. La dernière section de l'article pose des questions sur la croissance des ONG et comment celle?ci peut affecter les priorités organisationnelles, ainsi que la manière dans laquelle la “professionalisation” qui l'accompagne peut servir à marginaliser les membres du personnel les moins bien éduqués. Un modèle de croissance est proposé et celui?ci, grâce à la mise en place de structures qui puisssent accentuer la “voix” des représenté(e)s, garantit que leurs opinions ne cesseront d'être entendus. RESUMEN Al revés y en tacos altos El artículo explora las fases formativas de una NGO en Zimbabwe, el proyecto Musasa. Se examina el proceso de llegada a un modelo organizativo particular, especialmente en dos aspectos: a) los problemas existentes en una organización manejada por mujeres para mujeres, en particular es asunto de la ‘incómodidad práctica’ del género en las esferas de actuación pública y cómo ésta afecta los resultados, y b) el impacto del aumento de la financiación externa en el modelo organizativo y en la importancia relativa de los miembros de la organización. Finalmente, el artículo plantea un serie de interrogantes relativos a la ‘ampliación’ de las NGOs, cómo ésta puede afectar prioridades de organización, y cómo la profesionalización que la acompaña puede marginalizar al personal con menos educación. Se propone un modelo de ‘ampliación’ que establece las estructuras para estimular las voces del distrito, y asegurar que sus opiniones sean escuchadas

Development and testing of a measure designed to assess the quality of care transitions

BACKGROUND: To improve the quality of care delivered to older persons receiving care across multiple settings, interventions are needed. However, the absence of a patient-centred measure specifically designed to assess this care has constrained innovation. OBJECTIVE: To develop a rigorously designed and tested measure, the Care Transition Measure (CTM). SETTING: A large, integrated managed care organisation in Colorado with approximately 55,000 members over the age of 65 years. PARTICIPANTS: Patients 65 years and older who were recently discharged from hospital and received subsequent skilled nursing care in a facility or in the home. METHODS: Six focus groups of older persons and their caregivers (n=49) were established. Standard qualitative analytic techniques were applied to written transcripts and four key domains were identified: (1) information transfer; (2) patient and caregiver preparation; (3) self-management support; and (4) empowerment to assert preferences. Specific CTM items were developed, pilot tested, and refined. Psychometric testing, conducted in a different population but selected using the same entry criteria (n=60), included content and construct validity, intra-item variation, and floor/ceiling properties. RESULTS: Older patients and clinicians found the measure to be highly relevant and comprehensive (i.e. content validity). Construct validity was assessed by comparing items from the CTM to selected items from a measure developed by Hendriks and colleagues (Medical Care 2001; 39(3): 270–283). Inter-item Spearman correlations ranged 0.388–0.594. No significant floor or ceiling effects were detected. CONCLUSIONS: The CTM was developed with substantial input from older patients and their caregivers. Psychometric testing suggested that the measure was valid. The CTM may serve to fill an important gap in health system performance evaluation by measuring the quality of care delivered across settings

A deep Large Binocular Telescope view of the Canes Venatici I dwarf galaxy

We present the first deep color-magnitude diagram of the Canes Venatici I (CVnI) dwarf galaxy from observations with the wide field Large Binocular Camera on the Large Binocular Telescope. Reaching down to the main-sequence turnoff of the oldest stars, it reveals a dichotomy in the stellar populations of CVnI: it harbors an old (> 10 Gyr), metal-poor ([Fe/H] ~ -2.0) and spatially extended population along with a much younger (~ 1.4-2.0 Gyr), 0.5 dex more metal-rich, and spatially more concentrated population. These young stars are also offset by 64_{-20}^{+40} pc to the East of the galaxy center. The data suggest that this young population, which represent ~ 3-5 % of the stellar mass of the galaxy within its half-light radius, should be identified with the kinematically cold stellar component found by Ibata et al. (2006). CVnI therefore follows the behavior of the other remote MW dwarf spheroidals which all contain intermediate age and/or young populations: a complex star formation history is possible in extremely low-mass galaxies.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL. Minor changes, conclusions unchange

Indiana’s Past & Future Climate: A Report from the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment

Indiana’s climate is changing. Temperatures are rising, more precipitation is falling and the last spring frost of the year has been getting steadily earlier. This report from the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment (IN CCIA) describes historical climate trends from more than a century of data, and future projections that detail the ways in which our climate will continue to change

Biogeochemical Exploration of the Pescadero Basin Vents

In 2015, the deepest high-temperature hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean (3,700 m) were discovered in a sediment-covered pull-apart basin along the Pescadero Transform Fault in the Gulf of California. Biological communities were observed thriving among the carbonate chimney structures (Figure 1; Goffredi et al., 2017). As a result of their striking contrast to other hydrothermal systems, the high- temperature, high-carbon Pescadero Basin vents provided the opportunity to examine the influence of tectonic setting on the nature of seafloor vent sites, the fundamental geochemical controls on biological colonization in the deep ocean, and the role of fluid venting on global-scale ocean chemistry and climate. In November 2017, with support from the Dalio Ocean Initiative, a multidisciplinary science team led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientists set out on E/V Nautilus to investigate this area of active venting