The Coase Theorem, or the Coasian Lens? An Application to GMO Regulation

We develop a property rights-transaction costs framework called the Coasian Lens (CL). We argue the CL captures Coase's seminal ideas (1937; 1960) more closely than the Coase Theorem. We use the CL to examine how regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) may affect contract structures in the global agri-food chain.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Internationalization of Revised UCC Article 5--Letters of Credit

The 1995 revision of Article 5 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) was heavily influenced by international practice as reflected in the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP). The Reporter for Revised UCC Article 5, Professor James J. White, acknowledges the heavy influence of international practice, views it as a mixed blessing, and attributes it to the focused efforts of the letter of credit bankers\u27 trade association, the United States Council on Inter- national Banking, Inc. (USCIB). This article further explains and welcomes the internationalization of Revised UCC Article 5

Coordinate Confusion in Conformal Cosmology

A straight-forward interpretation of standard Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) cosmologies is that objects move apart due to the expansion of space, and that sufficiently distant galaxies must be receding at velocities exceeding the speed of light. Recently, however, it has been suggested that a simple transformation into conformal coordinates can remove superluminal recession velocities, and hence the concept of the expansion of space should be abandoned. This work demonstrates that such conformal transformations do not eliminate superluminal recession velocities for open or flat matter-only FRLW cosmologies, and all possess superluminal expansion. Hence, the attack on the concept of the expansion of space based on this is poorly founded. This work concludes by emphasizing that the expansion of space is perfectly valid in the general relativistic framework, however, asking the question of whether space really expands is a futile exercise.Comment: 5 pages, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

Spectroscopic membership for the populous 300 Myr-old open cluster NGC 3532

NGC 3532 is an extremely rich open cluster embedded in the Galactic disc, hitherto lacking a comprehensive, documented membership list. We provide membership probabilities from new radial velocity observations of solar-type and low-mass stars in NGC 3532, in part as a prelude to a subsequent study of stellar rotation in the cluster. Using extant optical and infra-red photometry we constructed a preliminary photometric membership catalogue, consisting of 2230 dwarf and turn-off stars. We selected 1060 of these for observation with the AAOmega spectrograph at the Anglo-Australian Telescope and 391 stars for observations with the Hydra-South spectrograph at the Victor Blanco Telescope, obtaining spectroscopic observations over a decade for 145 stars. We measured radial velocities for our targets through cross-correlation with model spectra and standard stars, and supplemented them with radial velocities for 433 additional stars from the literature. We also measured log g, Teff, and [Fe/H] from the AAOmega spectra. Together with proper motions from Gaia DR2 we find 660 exclusive members. The members are distributed across the whole cluster sequence, from giant stars to M dwarfs, making NGC 3532 one of the richest Galactic open clusters known to date, on par with the Pleiades. From further spectroscopic analysis of 153 dwarf members we find the metallicity to be marginally sub-solar, with [Fe/H]=-0.07. Exploiting trigonometric parallax measurements from Gaia DR2 we find a distance of $484^{+35}_{-30}$ pc. Based on the membership we provide an empirical cluster sequence in multiple photometric passbands. A comparison of the photometry of the measured cluster members with several recent model isochrones enables us to confirm the 300 Myr cluster age. However, all of the models evince departures from the cluster sequence in particular regions, especially in the lower mass range. (abridged)Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 19 pages, 18 Figures, and 6 Table

VEXAR PLASTIC NETTING TO REDUCE POCKET GOPHER DEPREDATION OF CONIFER SEEDLINGS

In 1976, we began a comprehensive evaluation of Vexar seedling protectors as a means of reducing damage to conifer seedlings by pocket gophers (Thomomys spp.). The protectors are cylinders of plastic netting that gradually decompose in sunlight. The evaluation is being conducted on four national forests in three western states. Three conifer species, lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa), and Shasta red fir (Abies magnifica var. shastensis), are under study. After two growing seasons, gophers have caused only 5 percent mortality among Vexar -enclosed seedlings compared to 20 percent mortality among unprotected seedlings. In addition, stocking and heights of protected seedlings are better than those of unprotected seedlings. Problems associated with the use of Vexar included compression of the protectors by snow, breakage of the plastic during subfreezing temperatures, and protrusion of seedling terminals through mesh openings; however, these problems have been minor thus far. Information on long-term effectiveness and cost efficiency is still needed before we can recommend operational use of Vexar protectors for pocket gopher damage control

The Effects of Endophyte-Infected KY 31 Tall Fescue Seed on Northern Bobwhite Reproduction

We assessed the impact of feeding an endophyte-free, endophyte-infected (Acremonium coenophialum), KY 31 tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) and a control diet on northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) reproduction. The birds consumed significantly more of the tall fescue diets compared to the control diet. There was no difference in female body weights at the end of the experiment. Male birds lost significantly more weight on the tall fescue diets than the control diet. The birds were in positive nutritional balances on all diets. There were no treatment effects on egg production, fertility, embryo mortality, hatch ability, or number of chicks per hen. Significantly more birds died eating endophyte-infected tall fescue seed compared to endophyte-free and control diets. These results indicate that tall fescue does not affect quail reproduction as indicated by previous authors. However, the endophyte does affect the weight gain of male birds and caused high mortality in these birds. We propose the alkaloids created by the endophyte caused a swelling of the cloaca which elicited a behavioral response in the birds causing them to become cannibalistic. These data support the idea that tall fescue does not provide quality nutritional habitat for northern bobwhite

Joining the Hubble Flow: Implications for Expanding Space

The concept of expanding space has come under fire recently as being inadequate and even misleading in describing the motion of test particles in the universe. Previous investigations have suffered from a number of shortcomings, which we seek to correct. We study the motion of test particles in the universe in detail, solving the geodesic equations of General Relativity for a number of cosmological models. In particular, we use analytic methods to examine whether particles removed from the Hubble flow asymptotically rejoin the Hubble flow, a topic that has caused confusion because of differing definitions and invalid reasoning. We conclude that particles in eternally expanding but otherwise arbitrary universes do not in general rejoin the Hubble flow

Thermally Activated Magnetization and Resistance Decay during Near Ambient Temperature Aging of Co Nanoflakes in a Confining Semi-metallic Environment

We report the observation of magnetic and resistive aging in a self assembled nanoparticle system produced in a multilayer Co/Sb sandwich. The aging decays are characterized by an initial slow decay followed by a more rapid decay in both the magnetization and resistance. The decays are large accounting for almost 70% of the magnetization and almost 40% of the resistance for samples deposited at 35 $^oC$. For samples deposited at 50 $^oC$ the magnetization decay accounts for $\sim 50$ of the magnetization and 50% of the resistance. During the more rapid part of the decay, the concavity of the slope of the decay changes sign and this inflection point can be used to provide a characteristic time. The characteristic time is strongly and systematically temperature dependent, ranging from $\sim1$x$10^2 s$ at 400K to $\sim3$x$10^5 s$ at 320K in samples deposited at $35 ^oC$. Samples deposited at 50 $^oC$ displayed a 7-8 fold increase in the characteristic time (compared to the $35 ^oC$ samples) for a given aging temperature, indicating that this timescale may be tunable. Both the temperature scale and time scales are in potentially useful regimes. Pre-Aging, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) reveals that the Co forms in nanoscale flakes. During aging the nanoflakes melt and migrate into each other in an anisotropic fashion forming elongated Co nanowires. This aging behavior occurs within a confined environment of the enveloping Sb layers. The relationship between the characteristic time and aging temperature fits an Arrhenius law indicating activated dynamics