Alaska Native Corporation Endowment Models

New settlement trust provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 have significant implications for Alaska Native Corporation (ANC) business longevity and the appropriateness of an operating business model given ANC goals as stated in their missions. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) authorized the creation of for-profit corporations for the benefit of Alaska Native shareholders. But for Alaska Natives, cultural continuation was and continues to be a desired goal. Considering the typical life span of U.S. corporations and the inevitability of eventual failure, the for-profit corporate model is inconsistent with aspects of the ANC mission. Settlement trust amendments to ANCSA facilitate ANC cultural continuation goals solving the problem of business viability risk. We make a normative case that ANCs should consider increasing endowment business activity. We also discuss the Alaska Permanent Fund and lessons that those structuring settlement trusts might learn from literature on sovereign wealth funds and endowments

Iran as a Strategic Threat to the U.S. in the Middle East and Its Impact on U.S. Policy in the Region

This essay will examine Iran\u27s nuclear program and foreign and defense policy and how these threats shape U.S. defense and foreign policy in the region. Iran\u27s advanced nuclear program is only one aspect of its goal to reaching regional hegemony in the Middle East. Iran looks to establish itself as a dominant power in the region by employing non-military tools such as promoting Shiism and Iranian ideology and supporting Arab and non-Arab political leaders and groups friendly toward Iran. Meanwhile, the United States and other world powers are concerned about Iran\u27s enrichment program being diverted to develop nuclear weapons, which may further destabilize the region. In addition to maintaining an advanced nuclear program, Iran has also taken courses of action to expand its influence and preserve its interests in the Middle East by providing direct material support to terrorist groups and developing military capabilities that threaten the security of the U.S. and its allies in the region. Because of Iran\u27s destabilizing role in the region, such as its support of terrorist proxy groups in Iraq and Syria, and Iran\u27s development of missile and naval capabilities directed at countering the defenses of Israel and U.S.-allied Gulf states, the U.S. may have to modify its Middle East policy that reflects Iran\u27s larger and potentially more destructive role in the region while also gradually expecting greater burden-sharing from its regional partners

Environmental Equity in Illinois: A County-Level Comparison of Toxic Releases

In 2008, 21,695 industrial facilities reported to the US Environmental Protection Agency\u27s Toxic Release Inventory Program. Collectively, these facilities reported releasing 3.86 billion pounds of toxic chemicals into the local environment. Of these 3.86 billion pounds of toxic chemicals, 78.7 million were released in the state of Illinois. This study addresses the question of whether or not this toxic pollution is distributed equally between individuals of different race in Illinois. The study uses both county-level hazardous air emissions data from the EPA and US Census data from the years 2000 and 2008. The study employs both statistical analysis and ordinary least squares regressions and determines that Illinois counties with higher populations of black residents are more likely to have higher levels of hazardous air emissions

Glueball mass measurements from improved staggered fermion simulations

We present the first 2+1 flavour spectrum measurements of glueball states using high statistics simulations with improved staggered fermions. We find a spectrum consistent with quenched measurements of scalar, pseudoscalar andtensor glueball states. The measurements were made using 5000 configurations at a lattice spacing of 0.123 fm and pion mass of 280 MeV and 3000 configurations at 0.092 fm with a pion mass of 360 MeV. We see some evidence of coupling to 2 pion states. We compare our results with the experimental glueball candidate spectrum as well as quenched glueball estimates.Comment: 22 pages, 19 figures and 8 tables, minor additions on mixing post-refere

New people: the younger informal settlements in central Durban

The report commissioned by the Department of Local Government and National Housing covers six survey areas, the first four of which are regarded as younger informal settlements closer to the city centre (Cato Manor, Kennedy Road, Briardene and Block AK). The remaining two are formal townships (Umlazi and Clermont) which have experienced informal housing areas within them. The report was completed by the Rural-Urban Studies Unit

Prognostic Value of Computed Tomography : Measured Parameters of Body Composition in Primary Operable Gastrointestinal Cancers

Professor Graeme Murray, Department of Pathology, University of Aberdeen provided us access to the colorectal cancer pathology databases from which the colorectal component of the research was based. Conflict of interest There are no conflicts of interest.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Report of the direct infrared sensors panel

The direct infrared sensors panel considered a wide range of options for technologies relevant to the science goals of the Astrotech 21 mission set. Among the technologies assessed are: large format arrays; photon counting detectors; higher temperature 1 to 10 micro-m arrays; impurity band conduction (IBC) or blocked impurity band (BIB) detectors; readout electronics; and adapting the Space Infrared Telescope Facility and Hubble Space Telescope. Detailed development plans were presented for each of these technology areas