Impacts of climate change of seaports: A survey of knowledge, perceptions, and planning efforts among port administrators

Port authorities from around the world were surveyed to ascertain how administrators feel climate change might impact their operations, what level of change would be problematic, and how they plan to adapt to new conditions. The survey was distributed to 350 major ports through two leading international port organizations, the International Association of Ports and Harbors and the American Association of Port Authorities. (PDF contains 4 pages

The Effects of Socio-economic Variables on Urban Bee Community Composition in Metropolitan Detroit

In light of pollinator decline, green areas within cities can provide habitat for insect pollinators. As cities sprawl outward, lawns and lawn care chemicals expand in tandem with ecological repercussions, so the role cities play in pollinator conservation becomes increasingly important. Socio-economic factors like income and race may affect patterns of lawn care and cultivated plant diversity, which could affect pollinator communities in ways urban ecologists are only beginning to understand. Here we present a study of bees in 24 residential lawns in the city area and suburbs of Detroit along a socioeconomic gradient. We analyze relationships between census data, floral richness, and native bee abundance, diversity and composition. Through GIS analysis and selection of linear mixed models, we address the following questions, 1) Do temperature and floral species richness affect native bee abundance and genus richness in lawns? and 2) Do the socio-economic factors of income and race affect native bee abundance and richness across Metropolitan Detroit? Results show that both income and race have significant negative relationships with bee abundance while floral richness has a significant positive relationship with bee abundance. Likewise, income has a significant negative relationship with genus richness, but only when suburban sampling sites with high floral richness are removed from the model. Floral richness has a significant positive relationship with genus richness. This highlights the importance of local-level beefriendly lawn landscape characteristics while also pointing to the detrimental landscape-level impact of lawn chemical inputs. These findings have potential relevant policy implications for lawn management, urban development and sprawl, and support policy initiatives on the municipal level to regulate the use of lawn chemicals.Master of ScienceSchool for Environment and SustainabilityUniversity of Michiganhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146744/1/Martin_Austin_Thesis.pd

Processing to Enable Direct-Write Additive Manufacturing of Ceramics and Ceramic Composites

This research focuses on the processing of novel feedstocks for and during direct-write additive manufacturing (AM), specifically the direct ink writing (DIW) and Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) manufacturing processes, in order to produce ceramic and ceramic-based composite components. Strongly dispersed, concentrated (φ = 0.42), nanoparticle (d50 ~0.3 µm), zirconia (ZrO2) pastes were used to print densely filled, large continuous volume (≳ 1 cm3) ceramic components. An elastic shear modulus (G’) of 56,000 Pa and yield stresses between 6 and 10 Pa allowed for printed components of 34.5 mm in height over 115 layers without slumping due to partial drying. Printed parts exhibited lateral particle migration during post-processing. Several methods were proposed to improve future feedstocks to prevent this defect. A zirconium diboride (ZrB2) paste (φ = 0.45) was formulated to print fine-featured (\u3c335 \u3eµm), ultra-high temperature ceramic (UHTC) monoliths. The final ZrB2-based paste exhibited an elastic shear modulus of ~104 Pa, flow index of 0.34, and flow stress of ~40 Pa, as-designed for monolithic printing. In discrete multi-material printing, dielectric and conductor formulations were printed together to established considerations for co-DIW of ceramic electronic packaging technologies. Low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) structures were demonstrated by co-printing but were not successfully post-processed due to mismatched co-drying. In graded printing, a Mo (φ = 0.45) paste was developed to print with ZrB2. These formulations were successfully combined to 3D print 11 layer, 10% gradings between the constituents into laminar bars. These bars were pressurelessly sintered to 2050°C without observed cracking but had an average warpage of 20 ± 9° --Abstract, p. i

Exploring the Effects of International Wage Differences on Brain Drain

This paper examines how international wage differences affect brain drain by comparing the effects of skill-specific wage differences on low, medium, and high-skilled emigration. Previous literature explores qualitative factors behind migrant flow, but there is little focus on the role of wage differences in individuals’ decisions to emigrate. A relatively new data set on emigration rates by education level and a modified gravity model provide a unique analysis of bilateral migration flows. This paper finds that wage differences may have a significant and positive effect on and low-skilled emigration, but a less significant effect on high-skilled emigration or brain drain

hagis, an R Package Resource for Pathotype Analysis of Phytophthora sojae Populations Causing Stem and Root Rot of Soybean

Phytophthora sojae is a significant pathogen of soybean worldwide. Pathotype surveys for Phytophthora sojae are conducted to monitor resistance gene efficacy and determine if new resistance genes are needed. Valuable measurements for pathotype analysis include the distribution of susceptible reactions, pathotype complexity, pathotype frequency, and diversity indices for pathotype distributions. Previously the Habgood-Gilmour Spreadsheet (HaGiS), written in Microsoft Excel, was used for data analysis. However, the growing popularity of the R programming language in plant pathology and desire for reproducible research made HaGiS a prime candidate for conversion into an R package. Here we report on the development and use of an R package, hagis, that can be used to produce all outputs from the HaGiS Excel sheet for P. sojae or other gene-for-gene pathosystem studies

On File With: The Challenges of Inaccessible References

This article examines the use of “on file with” citations in student-edited law reviews and journals and their impact on future research endeavors. It then explores potential remedies to make unpublished materials held by authors more accessible and identifies factors to consider before posting these materials online. Finally, it argues that law libraries are best suited to develop solutions for making unpublished materials more accessible and to serve as long-term stewards of these valuable resources