Economic Contribution of State Parks to the North Dakota Economy

North Dakota's state parks are an important part of tourism which is an important component of the infrastructure supporting the state's economy. The purpose of this study was to estimate the contribution of state parks to the North Dakota economy in the form of increased levels of business activity, employment, personal income, and tax collections.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The role of interstitial nitrogen in the precipitation hardening reactions in high-chromium ferritic steels

Bibliography: pages 107-108.The effects of exposure to temperatures in the range 475 - 800°C on the hardness and associated microstructure of high chromium ferritic steels has been investigated. Low-carbon 26Cr-1Mo steels containing 0,02 - 0,04% nitrogen were found to constitute an age hardening system when quenched from a temperature of nitrogen solubility and exposed at temperatures in the range 600 - 700°C. TEM observations on thin foils revealed that hardening was associated with the formation of a high density of Cr-N zones. These grew on over-ageing into disc-shaped Cr-N precipitates situated on {100} lattice planes, and ultimately became large incoherent precipitates. Ageing at 475°C and 550°C produced hardening due to the formation of chromium-rich ferrite phases α' as a result of the miscibility gap in the Fe-Cr phase diagram. However the presence of interstitial nitrogen in solution in the steel considerably reduced the rate of hardening, especially at 475°C. TEM examination confirmed that this effect was due to the formation of Cr-N zones in preference to α'. This type of decomposition occurs by a mechanism of nucleation and growth, forming zones similar to those formed during an ageing at 600°C. When depleted of interstitial nitrogen, through precipitation at 800°C or through zone formation at 475°C, the specimens aged at 475°C underwent spinodal decomposition. Thus nitrogen in solid solution was found to have a significant effect on the 475°C hardening reaction. Precision X-ray diffraction measurements revealed the presence of secondary diffraction peaks associated with the Bragg peaks, which comfirmed the formation of Cr-rich phases during ageing at 475°C. The calculated associated lattice parameter measurements allowed estimates of the compositions of the decomposition phases to be made. These were calculated to be about 6-18% Cr in the Fe-rich and 60-80% Cr in the Cr-rich phases of the 26Cr-1Mo steel

PRIVATE LANDOWNER INTENT TO SUPPLY FOREST BIOMASS FOR ENERGY IN KENTUCKY

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is taking steps to expand bioenergy production in response to federal policy initiatives as well as environmental and energy security concerns. The success of this industry will be impacted by the supply of feedstock available from private individuals who own a majority (78%) of forest resources in the state. Despite a developing body of bioenergy research, little is known concerning the social availability of forest biomass for energy production. This study measures intent to harvest energy wood among family forest owners using a mail-­‐based survey and tests the effect of educational materials provided to participants. The theory of planned behavior is used to model factors that affect landowner intentions. Two-­‐thirds of respondents reported that they intend to include energy wood in future harvests, but the educational material treatment did not affect intentions. Respondents’ attitudes, perceived subjective norms, and perceived control each had a significant effect on intent to harvest. Respondents also identified barriers that may prevent them from harvesting, providing forestry professionals with a list of challenges to overcome if supply is to be maximized. The results of this study are valuable for all stakeholders involved in the development of a sustainable biomass and bioenergy industry

A Holistic Approach to eHealth Security in Australia: Developing a National eHealth Sercurity and Access Framework (NESAF)

The Australian ehealth landscape is confronted with new challenges for healthcare providers in appropriately managing and protecting personal health information. The vision of the National eHealth Security and Access Framework (NESAF) is to adopt a consistent approach to the application of health information security standards and provide better practice guidance in relation to eHealth specific security and access practices. The eHealth information security landscape has a number of unique attributes, many that are faced by other business that provide a service or products – but we see that there is no industry in Australia where such widespread changes in the access to, the creation and delivery of information is transpiring. As the significant investment in Australian eHealth unfolds the emerging threat and risk assessment for information security and access is more prominent. There is an increasing volume of information being exchanged and accessed, and that this will occur in novel ways supporting emerging clinical models and to meet patient needs and growing expectations from the information age. One key area that must be examined is data provenance, ensuring that all electronic health information is traceable from its creation at a verifiable trusted source, and through its transition and possible augmentation enroute to its destination for immediate and potential futures uses. This will support better health outcomes for patients, and also the use of the information to support tertiary and secondary uses. For example, Clinical Research may generate personal health content in the context of a clinical trial and its context of use bound to the research environment in which it was generated. The goals and principles of the NESAF are intended to guide in the design and implementation of secure eHealth systems to manage and protect healthcare information. This paper presents a description and discussion of the NESAF framework, and the work that has driven its formulation

A Holistic Approach to eHealth Security in Australia: Developing a National eHealth Sercurity and Access Framework (NESAF)

The Australian ehealth landscape is confronted with new challenges for healthcare providers in appropriately managing and protecting personal health information. The vision of the National eHealth Security and Access Framework (NESAF) is to adopt a consistent approach to the application of health information security standards and provide better practice guidance in relation to eHealth specific security and access practices. The eHealth information security landscape has a number of unique attributes, many that are faced by other business that provide a service or products – but we see that there is no industry in Australia where such widespread changes in the access to, the creation and delivery of information is transpiring. As the significant investment in Australian eHealth unfolds the emerging threat and risk assessment for information security and access is more prominent. There is an increasing volume of information being exchanged and accessed, and that this will occur in novel ways supporting emerging clinical models and to meet patient needs and growing expectations from the information age. One key area that must be examined is data provenance, ensuring that all electronic health information is traceable from its creation at a verifiable trusted source, and through its transition and possible augmentation enroute to its destination for immediate and potential futures uses. This will support better health outcomes for patients, and also the use of the information to support tertiary and secondary uses. For example, Clinical Research may generate personal health content in the context of a clinical trial and its context of use bound to the research environment in which it was generated. The goals and principles of the NESAF are intended to guide in the design and implementation of secure eHealth systems to manage and protect healthcare information. This paper presents a description and discussion of the NESAF framework, and the work that has driven its formulation

Performance based abstraction of biomimicry design principles using prototyping

A key challenge faced by biomimicry practitioners is making the conceptual leap between biology and design, particularly regarding collaborating across these knowledge domains and developing and evaluating design principles abstracted from biology. While many tools and resources to support biomimicry design exist, most largely rely on semantic techniques supporting analogical translation of information between biology and design. However, the challenges of evaluation and collaboration are common in design practice and frequently addressed through prototyping. This study explores the utility of prototyping in the unique context of biomimicry by investigating its impact on the abstraction and transfer of design principles derived from biology as well as on cross-domain collaboration between biologists and designers. Following a survey exploring current practices of practitioners, in depth interviews provided detailed accounts of project experiences that leveraged prototyping. Four primary themes were observed: (1) Approximation; (2) The Prototyping Principle; (3) Synthesis and Testing; and (4) Validation. These themes introduce a unique abstraction and transfer process based on form-finding and collaborative performance evaluation in contrast to the widely accepted semantic language-based approaches. Our findings illustrate how designers and engineers can leverage a prototyping skillset in order to develop boundary objects between the fields of biology and design to navigate challenges uniquely associated with the biomimicry approach

Chromosomal diversification and karyotype evolution of diploids in the cytologically diverse genus Prospero (Hyacinthaceae)

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited