Monetary and fiscal impacts on exchange rates

Foreign exchange rates ; Fiscal policy ; Monetary policy ; Budget deficits ; Dollar, American

Classical reflections on the deficit

Deficit financing ; Debt management ; Crowding out (Economics) ; Interest rates

Reconstructing human rights: a pragmatic and pluralist inquiry in global ethics

This work sets out to critically reconstruct human rights as both an ethical ideal and a political practice. I critique conventional moral justifications of human rights and the related role they play in legitimating political authority, arguing that the pluralism and political content of human rights cannot be eliminated. I reconstruct the relationship between ethics and politics through an engagement with pragmatist and pluralist moral theory, which I then develop into a democratising account of human rights by incorporating work on agonistic democracy. The resulting view of human rights is situated and agonistic, seeing the act of claiming human rights as a political act that makes demands on the social order in the name of a particular ethical ideal. Rather than seeing the political act of claiming rights as undermining human rights as universal moral principles, it becomes essential to global ethics as such. The international political aspect of rights is then examined by looking to the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in historical context, and contrasting human rights practice as expressed in popular social movements with conventional state-centric and legalist accounts. In the end the defence of human rights that is offered aims to preserve the transformative power of human rights claims, their democratising content, while undermining their totalising tendency, in which a singular conception of humanity provides certain moral principles to legitimate political authority

History of nutrient inputs to the northeastern United States, 1930–2000

Humans have dramatically altered nutrient cycles at local to global scales. We examined changes in anthropogenic nutrient inputs to the northeastern United States (NE) from 1930 to 2000. We created a comprehensive time series of anthropogenic N and P inputs to 437 counties in the NE at 5 year intervals. Inputs included atmospheric N deposition, biological N2 fixation, fertilizer, detergent P, livestock feed, and human food. Exports included exports of feed and food and volatilization of ammonia. N inputs to the NE increased throughout the study period, primarily due to increases in atmospheric deposition and fertilizer. P inputs increased until 1970 and then declined due to decreased fertilizer and detergent inputs. Livestock consistently consumed the majority of nutrient inputs over time and space. The area of crop agriculture declined during the study period but consumed more nutrients as fertilizer. We found that stoichiometry (N:P) of inputs and absolute amounts of N matched nutritional needs (livestock, humans, crops) when atmospheric components (N deposition, N2 fixation) were not included. Differences between N and P led to major changes in N:P stoichiometry over time, consistent with global trends. N:P decreased from 1930 to 1970 due to increased inputs of P, and increased from 1970 to 2000 due to increased N deposition and fertilizer and decreases in P fertilizer and detergent use. We found that nutrient use is a dynamic product of social, economic, political, and environmental interactions. Therefore, future nutrient management must take into account these factors to design successful and effective nutrient reduction measures

Evaluating the Library’s Open and Affordable e-TextbookProgram as a Student Success Initiative

Academic Library Services at East Carolina University leads a two-part affordable and alternative textbook program as part of a key initiative for its Strategic Framework. One part of the program is the Course Adopted Textbooks (CAT) initiative to purchase ebook copies of required textbooks. The second part is an alternative textbook mini-award to faculty members who create materials and/or substitute materials that are free or low-cost to students in place of traditional commercial textbooks. Since these programs have been operational for about nine years, an evaluation would help the library realize the impact of these programs on the campus community and determine future areas of growth. Evaluation strategies will vary between CAT and the alternative textbook program. The CAT initiative can be partially evaluated on cost-per-use. We are also interested in the frequency that specific titles, including their later editions, are used, as well as the total number of students and course sections served, and the departments most impacted. Currently, the alternative textbook program’s evaluation focuses on cost savings for students and faculty experiences with the program. The alternative textbook program would benefit from additional evaluations as noted in the Open Education Group’s COUP Framework. Recently, the university’s bookstore changed from being university-owned to being operated by Barnes & Noble. Another significant change in recent years is expanded awareness of OpenStax, particularly for foundations classes that have multiple sections. This evaluation will consider the impacts of these changes as well as impacts of other possible changes related to the university bookstore

Detecting Life and Biology-Related Parameters on Mars

An integrated, miniaturized, low-power instrument capable of the detection and early characterization of microbial life in the soil of Mars is proposed. Based on the detection apd monitoring of on-going metabolism as being the surest evidence for extant life, the experiments will probe for chirality in metabolism, for circadian rhythm, and for photosynthesis. However, the instrument package will also be able to detect biosignatures and a variety of other physical and chemical parameters of the Martian surface that have significance for life. These include the presence and the physical state of water, the existence of an oxidant, the pH and the penetrability of the soil. Using the legacy of the 1976 Viking Labeled Release (LR) life detection experiment in conjunction with state-of-the-art laser diode spectral analysis, the instrument can be flown stand-alone, with or without a rover, or as part of an MSL-type mission. Sterility for experiment integrity and for planetary protection is provided

Textbook Affordability Initiatives: Supporting Teaching facutly for Student Success

In this roundtable discussion, we will discuss the role of textbook affordability in student success. Librarians from Joyner Library will share their experiences with their textbook affordability initiatives which include the Course-Adopted Textbook Program and the Alternative Textbook Program. Additionally, a recent Alternative Textbook grant recipient will share her experiences with using course materials that are free for students. The session discussion will also focus on ways to partner with campus departments on textbook affordability initiatives. Additionally, participants will share some sources for discovering course content, and common questions that occur to faculty along the way

Comparing Visual Assembly Aids for Augmented Reality Work Instructions

Increased product complexity and the focus on zero defects, especially when manufacturing complex engineered products, means new tools are required for helping workers conduct challenging assembly tasks. Augmented reality (AR) has shown considerable promise in delivering work instructions over traditional methods. Many proof-of-concept systems have demonstrated the feasibility of AR but little work has been devoted to understanding how users perceive different AR work instruction interface elements. This paper presents a between-subjects study looking at how interface elements for object depth placement in a scene impact a user’s ability to quickly and accurately assemble a mock aircraft wing in a standard work cell. For object depth placement, modes with varying degrees of 3D modeled occlusion were tested, including a control group with no occlusion, virtual occlusion, and occlusion by contours. Results for total assembly time and total errors indicated no statistically significant difference between interfaces, leading the authors to conclude a floor has been reached for optimizing the current assembly when using AR for work instruction delivery. However, looking at a handful of highly error prone steps showed the impact different types of occlusion have on helping users correctly complete an assembly task. The results of the study provide insight into how to construct an interface for delivering AR work instructions using occlusion. Based on these results, the authors recommend customizing the occlusion method based on the features of the required assembly task. The authors also identified a floor effect for the steps of the assembly process, which involved picking the necessary parts from tables and bins. The authors recommend using vibrant outlines and large textual cues (e.g., numbers on parts bins) as interface elements to guide users during these types of “picking” steps