Keystone XL Pipeline Project: Key Issues

[Excerpt] This report describes the Keystone XL pipeline proposal and the process required for federal approval. It summarizes key arguments for and against the pipeline put forth by the pipeline’s developers, federal agencies, environmental groups, and other stakeholders. Finally, the report reviews the constitutional basis for the State Department’s authority to issue a Presidential Permit, and opponents’ possible challenges to this authority

Keystone XL Pipeline Project: Key Issues

[Excerpt] This report describes the Keystone XL Project as it is proposed in the 2012 Presidential Permit application and the process that the State Department is obligated to complete to issue or deny that application. To the extent that they may affect the State Department’s decision to issue or deny the current permit application, this report discusses selected issues related to the project proposed in 2008 and issues that have arisen since the State Department denied the initial permit application in 2012. This report also summarizes key arguments that have been raised, both for and against the pipeline, by the pipeline’s developers, state and federal agencies, environmental groups, private property owners, and other stakeholders. Finally, the report discusses the constitutional basis for the State Department’s authority to issue a Presidential Permit, and opponents’ possible challenges to this authority

Designing for Schadenfreude (or, how to express well-being and see if you're boring people)

This position paper presents two studies of content not normally expressed in status updates—well-being and status feedback—and considers how they may be processed, valued and used for potential quality-of-life benefits in terms of personal and social reflection and awareness. Do I Tweet Good? (poor grammar intentional) is a site investigating more nuanced forms of status feedback than current microblogging sites allow, towards understanding self-identity, reflection, and online perception. Healthii is a tool for sharing physical and emotional well-being via status updates, investigating concepts of self-reflection and social awareness. Together, these projects consider furthering the value of microblogging on two fronts: 1) refining the online personal/social networking experience, and 2) using the status update for enhancing the personal/social experience in the offline world, and considering how to leverage that online/offline split. We offer results from two different methods of study and target groups—one co-workers in an academic setting, the other followers on Twitter—to consider how microblogging can become more than just a communication medium if it facilitates these types of reflective practice

Keystone XL Pipeline: Overview and Recent Developments

[Excerpt] This report describes the Keystone XL Pipeline Project and the process that the State Department must complete to decide whether it will approve or deny TransCanada’s permit application. The report also discusses key energy security, economic, and environmental issues relevant to the State Department’s national interest determination. Some of these issues include perspectives among various stakeholders both in favor of and opposed to the construction of the pipeline. Finally, the report discusses the constitutional basis for the State Department’s authority to issue a Presidential Permit, and opponents’ possible challenges to this authority

Presynaptic Localization of Sodium/Calcium Exchangers in Neuromuscular Preparations

Calcium ions play a critical role in neurotransmitter release. The cytosolic Ca 2+ concentration ([Ca2+]cyt) at nerve terminals must therefore be carefully controlled. Several different mechanisms, including a plasmalemmal Na/Ca exchanger, are involved in regulating [Ca2+]cyta We employed immunofluorescence microscopy with polyclonal antiserum raised against dog cardiac sarcolemmal Na/Ca exchanger to determine the distribution of the exchanger in vertebrate neuromuscular preparations. Our data indicate that the Na/Ca exchanger is concentrated at the neuromuscular junctions of the rat diaphragm. The exchanger is also present in the nonjunctional sarcolemma, but at a much lower concentration than in the junctional regions. Denervation markedly lowers the concentration of the exchanger in the junctional regions; this implies that the Na/Ca exchanger is concentrated in the presynaptic nerve terminals. In Xenopus laevis nerve and muscle cell cocultures, high concentrations of the exchanger are observed along the neurites as well as at the nerve terminals. The high concentrations of Na/Ca exchanger at presynaptic nerve terminals in vertebrate neuromuscular preparations suggest that the exchanger may participate in the Ca-dependent regulation of neurotransmitter release. The Na/Ca exchanger is also abundant in developing neurites and growth cones, where it may also be important for Ca2+ homeostasis

Keystone XL Pipeline Project: Key Issues

This report describes the Keystone XL pipeline proposal and the process required for federal approval. It summarizes key arguments for and against the pipeline put forth by the pipeline's developers, federal agencies, environmental groups, and other stakeholders

U.S. Natural Gas Exports: New Opportunities, Uncertain Outcomes

This report examines what has changed in the U.S. natural gas market and the prospects and implications of the United States becoming a significant net natural gas exporter

U.S. Natural Gas Exports: New Opportunities, Uncertain Outcomes

This report examines what has changed in the U.S. natural gas market and the prospects and implications of the United States becoming a larger net exporter of natural gas. Bills to expedite and expand liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports have been introduced in the 114th Congress, including the LNG Permitting Certainty and Transparency Act (H.R. 351 and S. 33), the American Job Creation and Strategic Alliances LNG Act (H.R. 287), the Crude Oil Export Act (H.R. 156), the Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act (H.R. 89), and the Export American Natural Gas Act of 2015 (H.R. 428)

Oil Sands and the Keystone XL Pipeline: Background and Selected Environmental Issues

This report looks at concerns about the Keystone XL pipeline. These include the need for a Presidential Permit, as the pipeline crosses and international border. Additionally, the report discusses specific environmental issues that the Keystone XL proposal raises