Interview with Julie Hale

Emily Reth interviews Julie Hale about her life as a student at Wright State University. They discuss topics ranging from morning routines, the first day of classes, to favorite classes and professors

Brexit will exacerbate long-term challenges facing the UK economy

Leaving the EU represents the largest change in the UK’s relationship with the rest of the world in half a century. The impact won’t be a one-off event. Structural changes will take place over the long term, as capital and labour adjust to the new trading arrangements. Household incomes will decrease as a result of a weaker pound and lower investment and trade. But we should not expect changes to the UK’s overall services focus and export specialisation. Swati Dhingra, Emily Fry, Sophie Hale, and Ningyuan Jia write that understanding the scale and nature of this change, and the extent of progress so far, is crucial for policymakers looking to reset the country’s economic strategy

The power of the “weak” and international organizations

By nearly every measure, power in the international system is concentrated, meaning that most states lack significant power resources. And yet international relations theory tends to focus on the behavior of great powers. This special issue instead explores the strategies that “weak” states use in the context of international organizations both to advance their interests and to resist pressure from stronger states. We define weakness as a relative lack of power across one or more dimensions. While the literature, to the extent it has focused on weak actors, has too often defined weakness solely in material terms, we adopt a broader conception that builds on the influential typology of power by Barnett and Duvall (Barnett and Duvall, 2005a, Barnett and Duvall, International Organization 59, 39–75, 2005b). A multidimensional conceptualization of power allows analysts to show how actors that are weak in one dimension (often material power) may be stronger on other dimensions, giving them greater capacity for action than is often recognized. From this framework we create a typology of “strategies of the weak” that emphasizes the agency of weaker actors to make the most of their positions. The contributions to the special issue, summarized here, illuminate and substantiate many of these strategies across a diverse range of international organizations, understood as both forums and actors. As the articles show, these alternative theoretical mechanisms help explain how and why seemingly weak states sometimes fare better than a simplistic assessment of their material capabilities might suggest. By deepening our understanding of weakness and how it influences state behavior, the volume advances our theoretical understanding of how power is built, wielded, and resisted in and through international organization

The National Adult Reading Test: restandardisation against the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Fourth edition

Since publication in 1982, the 50-item National Adult Reading Test (NART; Nelson, 1982; NART–R; Nelson & Willison, 1991) has remained a widely adopted method for estimating premorbid intelligence both for clinical and research purposes. However, the NART has not been standardised against the most recent revisions of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III (1997) and WAIS-IV (2008)). Our objective, therefore, was to produce reliable standardised estimates of WAIS-IV IQ from the NART. Ninety-two neurologically healthy British adults were assessed and regression equations calculated to produce population estimates of WAIS-IV full-scale IQ (FSIQ) and constituent index scores. Results showed strong NART/WAIS-IV FSIQ correlations with more moderate correlations observed between NART error and constituent index scores. FSIQ estimates were closely similar to the published WAIS and WAIS-R estimates at the high end of the distribution, but at the lower end were approximately equidistant from the highly discrepant WAIS (low) and WAIS-R (high) values. We conclude that the NART is likely to remain an important tool for estimating the impact of neurological damage on general cognitive ability. We advise caution in the use of older published WAIS and/or WAIS-R estimates for estimating premorbid WAIS-IV FSIQ, particularly for those with low NART scores

CReSIS airborne radars and platforms for ice and snow sounding

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.This paper provides an update and overview of the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) radars and platforms, including representative results from these systems. CReSIS radar systems operate over a frequency range of 14–38 GHz. Each radar system's specific frequency band is driven by the required depth of signal penetration, measurement resolution, allocated frequency spectra, and antenna operating frequencies (often influenced by aircraft integration). We also highlight recent system advancements and future work, including (1) increasing system bandwidth; (2) miniaturizing radar hardware; and (3) increasing sensitivity. For platform development, we are developing smaller, easier to operate and less expensive unmanned aerial systems. Next-generation platforms will further expand accessibility to scientists with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities

Biomass production of herbaceous energy crops in the United States: field trial results and yield potential maps from the multiyear regional feedstock partnership

Current knowledge of yield potential and best agronomic management practices for perennial bioenergy grasses is primarily derived from small‐scale and short‐term studies, yet these studies inform policy at the national scale. In an effort to learn more about how bioenergy grasses perform across multiple locations and years, the U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE)/Sun Grant Initiative Regional Feedstock Partnership was initiated in 2008. The objectives of the Feedstock Partnership were to (1) provide a wide range of information for feedstock selection (species choice) and management practice options for a variety of regions and (2) develop national maps of potential feedstock yield for each of the herbaceous species evaluated. The Feedstock Partnership expands our previous understanding of the bioenergy potential of switchgrass, Miscanthus, sorghum, energycane, and prairie mixtures on Conservation Reserve Program land by conducting long‐term, replicated trials of each species at diverse environments in the U.S. Trials were initiated between 2008 and 2010 and completed between 2012 and 2015 depending on species. Field‐scale plots were utilized for switchgrass and Conservation Reserve Program trials to use traditional agricultural machinery. This is important as we know that the smaller scale studies often overestimated yield potential of some of these species. Insufficient vegetative propagules of energycane and Miscanthus prohibited farm‐scale trials of these species. The Feedstock Partnership studies also confirmed that environmental differences across years and across sites had a large impact on biomass production. Nitrogen application had variable effects across feedstocks, but some nitrogen fertilizer generally had a positive effect. National yield potential maps were developed using PRISM‐ELM for each species in the Feedstock Partnership. This manuscript, with the accompanying supplemental data, will be useful in making decisions about feedstock selection as well as agronomic practices across a wide region of the country

A panel dataset of COVID-19 vaccination policies in 185 countries

We present a panel dataset of COVID-19 vaccine policies, with data from 01 January 2020 for 185 countries and a number of subnational jurisdictions, reporting on vaccination prioritization plans, eligibility and availability, cost to the individual and mandatory vaccination policies. For each of these indicators, we recorded who is targeted by a policy using 52 standardized categories. These indicators document a detailed picture of the unprecedented scale of international COVID-19 vaccination rollout and strategy, indicating which countries prioritized and vaccinated which groups, when and in what order. We highlight key descriptive findings from these data to demonstrate uses for the data and to encourage researchers and policymakers in future research and vaccination planning. Numerous patterns and trends begin to emerge. For example: ‘eliminator’ countries (those that aimed to prevent virus entry into the country and community transmission) tended to prioritize border workers and economic sectors, while ‘mitigator’ countries (those that aimed to reduce the impact of community transmission) tended to prioritize the elderly and healthcare sectors for the first COVID-19 vaccinations; high-income countries published prioritization plans and began vaccinations earlier than low- and middle-income countries. Fifty-five countries were found to have implemented at least one policy of mandatory vaccination. We also demonstrate the value of combining this data with vaccination uptake rates, vaccine supply and demand data, and with further COVID-19 epidemiological data

Multiple-University Extension Program Addresses Postdisaster Oil Spill Needs Through Private Funding Partnership

In response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) was formed to answer oil spill–related scientific questions. However, peer-reviewed scientific discoveries were not reaching people whose livelihoods depended on a healthy Gulf of Mexico. GoMRI and the four Gulf of Mexico Sea Grant programs partnered to develop a regional Extension program with a team of multidisciplinary specialists and a regional manager embedded within the Sea Grant programs. The team answered oil spill science questions from target audiences. The program leaders also identified the value of adding a regional Extension communicator to enhance their Extension products

Multiproxy Reduced-Dimension Reconstruction of Pliocene Equatorial Pacific Sea Surface Temperatures

A controversial aspect of the Pliocene climate system is a posited permanent sea surface temperature (SST) distribution resembling that during El Ni&ntilde;o events, which is largely inferred from sea surface temperatures reconstructed from several sites in the equatorial Pacific. We utilize a reduced‐dimension methodology on a compilation of previously published multiproxy (Mg/Ca, Uk&prime;37, TEX86, and foraminifer assemblages) Pliocene SST records from the equatorial Pacific to reconstruct spatial and temporal snapshots of SST anomalies and a time series of Ni&ntilde;o indices from 5 to 1 Ma. The use of multiple proxies increases the number of study sites and thereby improves the robustness of the reconstruction. We find that the early Pliocene equatorial Pacific was characterized by a reduced zonal SST difference due to minimal change in the west and extreme warmth in the east which peaked at 4.3 Ma. The intensity of this mean El Ni&ntilde;o‐like SST state then gradually diminished toward modern conditions. We also use the Pliocene Ni&ntilde;o 4 time series to estimate the past strength of Indian Summer Monsoon given the modern correlation of it to the Ni&ntilde;o 4 index. Results indicate the monsoon was weaker throughout the study interval with weakest conditions (~37% less rainfall than modern) occurring at 4.3 Ma, congruent with regional proxy records. In summation, this reduced‐dimension approach spatially and temporally resolves the warm mean state of the Pliocene equatorial Pacific and has numerous applications to inferences of paleoclimate conditions in distal regions teleconnected to El Ni&ntilde;o today. Plain Language Summary The Pliocene Epoch (5.3&ndash;2.6 million years ago) is the most recent time interval in Earth history when atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations may have been similar to today and the continents were in their current configuration. For these reasons, Pliocene paleoclimate reconstructions are considered to be a useful indicator of conditions expected by the end of the 21st century. Several marine‐derived Pliocene reconstructions from the equatorial Pacific suggest a sea surface temperature (SST) distribution that resembles SSTs during El Ni&ntilde;o events today. El Ni&ntilde;o events have widespread impacts including reduced marine productivity in the eastern equatorial Pacific and weakened Indian Summer Monsoon. Insights into Pliocene El Ni&ntilde;o‐like SSTs are typically based on paleoclimate reconstructions from a few sites that are then used to infer regional conditions. In this study, we apply a statistical method to a compilation of nine Pliocene SST records across the equatorial Pacific to fill in the spatial gaps in the paleotemperature reconstructions. Our maps of reconstructed Pliocene SSTs reveal that the eastern equatorial Pacific was 3&ndash;6 &deg;C warmer than today, which is consistent with a mean El Ni&ntilde;o‐like state. Given the modern El Ni&ntilde;o‐Indian Summer Monsoon relationship, we estimate that Pliocene monsoon was ~20&ndash;40% weaker than today. Key Points Pliocene equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures were warmer than modern everywhere, with largest anomalies in the east A mean El Ni&ntilde;o‐like state, characterized by a reduced zonal sea surface temperature difference, existed in the Pliocene equatorial Pacific Pliocene Indian Summer Monsoon is estimated to have been ~20&ndash;40% weaker than modern</p