The global cadastre

The article discusses whether a globally connected cadastre is possible. Most land transactions occur in domestic, national land markets. However, many parties are now looking beyond their borders. Indeed, international land trading is burgeoning: governments, businesses and citizens from various countries, whether rich or poor, are now actively engaged as buyers and sellers in global land deals. Basically, it is easier to transact in the global market than ever before: land is increasingly a global commodity. The world's interconnected financial markets support this growing level of international trade and investment but, as one saw with financial markets in 2008, the quality of these global systems should not be taken for granted. Such foreign investment in land is not new: international companies have been investing for some time in commercial development, housing and mineral exploration, and more recently agriculture too

A Study of the Heritage Business Owners and Artisans of the Bear River Heritage Area

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has defined heritage tourism as “Traveling to experience the places, artifacts and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present

Energy utilisation in South Africa.

Bibliography: leaves 167-188.The purpose of this study is to provide the Department of Planning and the Environment with the following information: 1) The quantities and forms of input and useful energy used by different sectors of the South African economy. (The terms input energy and useful energy are defined in section 1.2 of this chapter). 2) The efficiency of conversion of input energy to useful energy. 3) Current and expected trends in energy utilization within individual sectors of the economy.The two year contract to carry out this study was awarded to the Energy Research Institute at the University of Cape Town. The work was undertaken by one engineer assisted by a graduate engineer, supported by secretarial staff and supervised by a professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering

Examination of the Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation on the In Vitro Calcification of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Medial calcification refers to mineral deposition in the middle layer of arteries. This mineralization is common in chronic kidney disease patients and causes an increased chance of cardiovascular complications. Calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D, is often administered to these patients to treat an associated condition, secondary hyperparathyroidism. Unfortunately, calcitriol treatment may promote vascular calcification due to increasing serum calcium and phosphate. We examined the effects of calcitriol supplementation on vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) calcification, through atomic absorption, scanning electron microscopy, and western blot analysis. Additionally, we examined the effects of the combinations of calcitriol, fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23), and klotho. We determined that calcitriol supplementation alone increased calcification but was not associated with a transition towards an osteoblast-like phenotype. On the other hand, the combination of calcitriol and FGF-23 caused a decrease in calcification, but this decrease was attenuated with the further addition of klotho

Predicting neck pain in Royal Australian Air Force fighter pilots

Objective: Fighter pilots frequently report neck pain and injury, and although risk factors have been suggested, the relationships between risk factors and neck pain have not been quantified. The aim of this study was to identify personal and work behaviors that are significantly associated with neck pain in fighter pilots. Methods: Eighty-two Royal Australian Air Force fighter pilots were surveyed about their flying experience, neck pain prevalence, and prevention. Multinomial logistic regressions were used to fit models between pilots\u27 neck pain during and after flight and a range of personal and work characteristics. Results: In-flight neck pain was very weakly, yet positively associated with flight hours. Duration of postflight pain was positively associated with the weekly desktop work hours and the sum of preventative actions taken in flight. The duration pilots were considered temporarily medically unfit for flying was positively associated with pilots\u27 age and their weekly desktop work hours. Discussion: The risk factors identified by the current study should guide neck pain prevention for fighter pilots. In particular, reducing desktop working hours as well as incorporating specific neck-strengthening exercises and in-flight bracing actions should be considered by agencies to help alleviating neck pain in their pilot

Teaching the Monty Hall Dilemma to Explore Decision-Making, Probability, and Regret in Behavioral Science Classrooms

The Monty Hall Dilemma (MHD), made famous by the television game show Let’s Make a Deal, can be an effective teaching tool with wide ranging behavioral science applications. The format and history of the problem are presented as well as experimental data and variations on the original design. Strategic game playing choices are discussed from several perspectives including statistics, decision making, social and personality psychology, and cognitive functioning. Because the classroom exercise is engaging and counterintuitive, it challenges students to generate explanatory ideas that draw from multiple perspectives. It exemplifies the type of detective work and creative thinking that is central to doing research in the behavioral sciences, and it can be applied to fields as diverse as sociology, religious studies, biology, and behavioral economics

Examination of the Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation on the In Vitro Calcification of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Medial calcification refers to mineral deposition in the middle layer of arteries. This mineralization is common in chronic kidney disease patients and causes an increased chance of cardiovascular complications. Calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D, is often administered to these patients to treat an associated condition, secondary hyperparathyroidism. Unfortunately, calcitriol treatment may promote vascular calcification due to increasing serum calcium and phosphate. We examined the effects of calcitriol supplementation on vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) calcification, through atomic absorption, scanning electron microscopy, and western blot analysis. Additionally, we examined the effects of the combinations of calcitriol, fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23), and klotho. We determined that calcitriol supplementation alone increased calcification but was not associated with a transition towards an osteoblast-like phenotype. On the other hand, the combination of calcitriol and FGF-23 caused a decrease in calcification, but this decrease was attenuated with the further addition of klotho

Support Department Cost Allocations in the Georgia Healthcare Industry

This study examines support department cost allocations in the Healthcare Industry. The topic is of current interest to both accountants and to healthcare administrators because of recent innovations in the design of management accounting systems. Using a survey of Georgian healthcare firms, the results indicate that sophisticated support cost methods are used less than may be expected given the complexity of the healthcare firms\u27 operations. This result is documented despite the historical presence of support cost allocations through such industry practice as Medicare cost reports. Respondents indicate that the employment of cost allocation methods is determined internally by the financial management