Legislative History of the Fair Labor Standards Act

With recent advances in power electronic technology, High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission system has become an alternative for transmitting power especially over long distances. Multi-Terminal HVDC (MTDC) systems are proposed as HVDC systems with more than two terminals. These systems can be geographically wide. While in AC grids, frequency is a global variable, in MTDC systems, DC voltage can be considered as its dual. However, unlike frequency, DC voltage can not be equal across the MTDC system. Control of DC voltage in MTDC systems is one of the important challenges in MTDC systems. Since the dynamic of MTDC system is very fast, DC voltage control methods cannot rely only on remote information. Therefore, they can work based on either local information or a combination of local and remote information. In this thesis, first, the MTDC system is modeled. One of the models presented in this thesis considers only the DC grid, and effects of the AC grids are modeled with DC current sources, while in the other one, the connections of the DC grid to the AC grids are also considered. Next, the proposed methods in the literature for controlling the DC voltage are described and in addition to these methods, some control methods are proposed to control the DC voltage in MTDC system. These control methods include two groups. The first group (such as Multi-Agent Control methods) uses remote and local information, while the second group (such as Sliding Mode Control and H¥ control) uses local information.The proposed multi-agent control uses local information for immediate response, while uses remote information for a better fast response. Application of Multi-Agent Control systems leads to equal deviation of DC voltages from their reference values. Using remote information leads to better results comparing to the case only local information is used. Moreover, the proposed methods can also work in the absence of remote information. When AC grid is considered in the modeling, the MTDC system has anon-linear dynamic. Sliding Mode Control, a non-linear control method with high disturbance rejection capability, which is non-sensitive to the parameter variations, is applied to the MTDC system. It controls the DC voltage very fast and with small or without overshoot. Afterward, a static state feedback H¥ control is applied to the system which minimizes the voltage deviation after a disturbance and keeps the injected power of the terminals within the limits. Finally, some case studies are presented and the effectiveness of the proposed methods are shown. All simulations have been done in MATLAB and SIMULINK.QC 20140911</p

Satellite microwave observations of polar lows

Includes bibliographical references

A spiritual song: a portfolio of multi-process prints

None provided

The past, present and future of HIV, AIDS and resource allocation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>How should HIV and AIDS resources be allocated to achieve the greatest possible impact? This paper begins with a theoretical discussion of this issue, describing the key elements of an "evidence-based allocation strategy". While it is noted that the quality of epidemiological and economic data remains inadequate to define such an optimal strategy, there do exist tools and research which can lead countries in a way that they can make allocation decisions. Furthermore, there are clear indications that most countries are not allocating their HIV and AIDS resources in a way which is likely to achieve the greatest possible impact. For example, it is noted that neighboring countries, even when they have a similar prevalence of HIV, nonetheless often allocate their resources in radically different ways.</p> <p>These differing allocation patterns appear to be attributable to a number of different issues, including a lack of data, contradictory results in existing data, a need for overemphasizing a multisectoral response, a lack of political will, a general inefficiency in the use of resources when they do get allocated, poor planning and a lack of control over the way resources get allocated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>There are a number of tools currently available which can improve the resource-allocation process. Tools such as the Resource Needs Model (RNM) can provide policymakers with a clearer idea of resource requirements, whereas other tools such as Goals and the Allocation by Cost-Effectiveness (ABCE) models can provide countries with a clearer vision of how they might reallocate funds.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Examples from nine different countries provide information about how policymakers are trying to make their resource-allocation strategies more "evidence based". By identifying the challenges and successes of these nine countries in making more informed allocation decisions, it is hoped that future resource-allocation decisions for all countries can be improved.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We discuss the future of resource allocation, noting the types of additional data which will be required and the improvements in existing tools which could be made.</p

Constructing Contemporary Nationhood in the Museums and Heritage Centres of Catalonia

Geographically Spain consists of a complex mosaic of cultural identities and regional aspirations for varying degrees of autonomy and independence. Following the end of violent conflict in the Basque country, Catalonia has emerged as the most vocal region pursuing independence from the central Spanish state. Within the Catalan separatist movement, cultural heritage sites and objects have been appropriated to play an intrinsic role in supporting political aims, with a variety of cultural institutions and state-sponsored monumentality playing an active part in the formation and dissemination of particular identity-based narratives. These ae centred around the themes of a separate and culturally distinct Catalan nation which has been subject to extended periods of oppression by the varying manifestations of the central Spanish State.  Recent developments have seen museums and other historic sites and places being appropriated and redesigned to play a more consciously active, overt and supportive role in the independence movement

Does the California market squid (Loligo opalescens) spawn naturally during the day or at night? A note on the successful use of ROVs to obtain basic fisheries biology data

The California market squid (Loligo opalescens Berry), also known as the opalescent inshore squid (FAO), plays a central role in the nearshore ecological communities of the west coast of the United States (Morejohn et al., 1978; Hixon, 1983) and it is also a prime focus of California fisheries, ranking first in dollar value and tons landed in recent years (Vojkovich, 1998). The life span of this species is only 7−10 months after hatching, as ascertained by aging statoliths (Butler et al., 1999; Jackson, 1994; Jackson and Domier, 2003) and mariculture trials (Yang, et al., 1986). Thus, annual recruitment is required to sustain the population. The spawning season ranges from April to November and spawning peaks from May to June. In some years there can be a smaller second peak in November. In Monterey Bay, the squids are fished directly on the egg beds, and the consequences of this practice for conservation and fisheries management are unknown but of some concern (Hanlon, 1998). Beginning in April 2000, we began a study of the in situ spawning behavior of L. opalescens in the southern Monterey Bay fishing area

Intraformational Parabolic Recumbent Folds in the Coconino Sandstone (Permian) and Two Other Formations in Sedona, Arizona (USA)

We report sedimentary structures that in all ways resemble parabolic recumbent folds (PRFs) in the cross-bedded portions of the Schnebly Hill Formation, the Coconino Sandstone and the Toroweap Formation (Arizona, USA). Field evidence suggests they are penecontemporaneous and intraformational. Intraformational refers to deformation that occurs between undeformed beds. Recumbent cross-bed sets occur over a wide area (\u3e375 km2 [144 mi2]) at many different locations and horizons in the Sedona area, especially within the Coconino Sandstone. Deformation resulting from slumping dunes (dry or damp) is ruled out because of the nature of the deformation along cross-bed dip, the size and length of the deformation along horizontal bedding planes (sometimes up to 170 m [557 ft] along dip) and the lack of small faults usually concurrent with such slumping known from modern dunes. Neither do the folds resemble deformation that has been caused by post-depositional groundwater movement or seismic activity which often produces convolute bedding. We do report some seismic features in the Schnebly Hill Formation, but these features have distinct characteristics that distinguish them from PRFs. Although the exact mechanism of PRF formation is still debated, it is generally agreed that strong water currents combined with liquefaction play major roles in overturning the top of a cross-bed set during the deposition of the cross-bed. Rare planar-beds, directly associated with the PRFs in the Coconino, suggest that the needed liquefaction may have occurred from changes in flow regime. Some workers have already suggested that parts of the Schnebly Hill and Coconino were deposited by marine sand waves on a shallow continental shelf; a hypothesis that is considerably strengthened in light of these new data along with additional petrographic data that we have collected