The Geothermal Probabilistic Cost Model with an Application to a Geothermal Reservoir at Heber, California

A financial accounting model that incorporates physical and institutional uncertainties was developed for geothermal projects. Among the uncertainties it can handle are well depth, flow rate, fluid temperature, and permit and construction times. The outputs of the model are cumulative probability distributions of financial measures such as capital cost, levelized cost, and profit. These outputs are well suited for use in an investment decision incorporating risk. The model has the powerful feature that conditional probability distribution can be used to account for correlations among any of the input variables. The model has been applied to a geothermal reservoir at Heber, California, for a 45-MW binary electric plant. Under the assumptions made, the reservoir appears to be economically viable

Applied Research at American Water – Turning Ideas into Applications

Dr. Schneider will present an overview of American Water’s Research and Development program. American Water is the largest investor-owned utility in the US and its research program has been investigating issues critical to the water industry for over 30 years. The R&D team, based in New Jersey, is comprised of more than 15 engineers, chemists, and microbiologists and is currently involved with research related to such diverse topics as biofiltration, management of Legionella, advanced oxidation of trace organic compounds, remote sensing for algae detection as part of multi- layer early warning systems for mitigation of harmful algae blooms, remote sensing for water leak detection, evaluation of particle (and pathogen) removal in beach wells for desalination plants and other topics. Beyond a general overview of the research program, two specific case studies – biofiltration and ultrasonic algae control will be presented

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015: Exciting Discoveries in DNA Repair by Aziz Sancar

On October 7, 2015, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2015 was awarded to three deserving scientists for their pioneering research on DNA repair. Tomas Lindahl was recognized for studies that uncovered the inherent instability of DNA as well as the mechanism of the base excision repair pathway, Paul Modrich for characterization of the mismatch repair pathway, and Aziz Sancar for mechanistic elucidation of the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway. For me, the announcement of these awards in my area of research was extremely gratifying, particularly so because Aziz was my mentor during my Ph.D. studies that examined the steps of prokaryotic NER. Memorably, I trained in the Sancar labor- atory at a time where groundbreaking discoveries were being made in the burgeoning field of DNA repair, and can personally attest to his dedication and keen intellect. The text below primarily addresses Aziz’s critical contributions towards our understanding of NER processes in E. coli during the early years of study on this pathway. Other researchers have made important contributions in this area that may not be specified or cited here due to emphasis and space constraints of this article

AN IMPACT AND COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF AN EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME AT A SOUTH AFRICAN BANK

According to Follis (2001:37), “Without people (or human resources) organisations would notbe able to function and deliver their products or services to their customers”. In addition to theimportant role that people play, Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) are designed toenable management to build the productivity capacity of each individual in the organisation(Malatji, 2001:34). It is therefore essential that the human resource sector of organisations ismanaged and developed in order to optimise the individual and group capacity of humanresources to reach these organisational objectives and personal goal

Political Theory in Institutional Context: The Case of Patriot Royalism

In the aftermath of the Stamp Act, prominent American thinkers of otherwise unquestioned Whiggish affiliation adopted an expansive view of the king’s prerogative powers while simultaneously denying Parliament’s authority to interfere in the internal governance of the colonies. Scholars have generally attributed this stance, known as “patriot royalism,” to political necessity: with no other means of disputing Parliament’s oppressive actions, desperate pamphleteers sought to revive the discredited constitutional ideas of the Stuarts. In contrast, we argue that this position was deeply rooted in the institutional context of colonial governance. More specifically, we show that revolutionary Americans directly experienced lawmaking by Privy Council and the Board of Trade over which, as a practical matter, there was no higher authority. This “conciliar” form of governance, which survived the break with England, exerted a significant influence on the constitutional framers and their handiwork

Asian migration to Europe and the development of a Common European Migration and Refugee Policy

"In der nahen Zukunft wird Europa mit zusätzlichen Migrationströmen gesteigerte ethnischer Heterogenität konfrontiert werden. Die adäquaten politischen Vorkehrungen hierfür zu schaffen, wird eine der größten politischen Herausforderungen der nächsten Jahre sein." (Autorenreferat