The aftermath of ballot box success and failure: evidence from land preservation referendums

State and local governments put hundreds of referendums on the ballot each year. Often, they pass but sometimes they fail. What happens after a successful or failed attempt at the ballot box? Do advocates go back to voters with another request? And if they do, do they tend to succeed? We employ a regression discontinuity empirical framework to causally estimate referendum dynamics in the arena of land conservation. Our results suggest municipalities where a referendum just barely fails hold about 0.5 more referendums and pass about 0.28 more referendums than municipalities that just barely pass, meaning initial defeat is often reversed. We also investigate whether strategic changes are made in election approaches for those that try again. We find no evidence of systematic patterns in strategic revisions for municipalities that fail their first referendum. However, when revisions are made, our evidence suggests that voters appear to respond positively

Intracule functional models. IV. Basis set effects

We have calculated position and dot intracules for a series of atomic and molecular systems, starting from an unrestricted Hartree-Fock wave function, expanded using the STO-3G, 6-31G, 6-311G, 6-311++G, 6-311++G(d,p), 6-311++G(3d,3p), and 6-311++G(3df,3pd) basis sets as well as the nonpolarized part of Dunning's cc-pV5Z basis. We find that the basis set effects on the intracules are small and that correlation energies from the dot intracule ansatz are remarkably insensitive to the basis set quality. Mean absolute errors in correlation energies across the G1 data set agree to within 2 mE(h) for all basis sets tested.P.M.W.G. thanks the APAC Merit Allocation Scheme for a generous grant of supercomputer resources and the Australian Research Council Grant Nos. DP0664466 and DP0771978 for funding

Intracule Functional Models. IV. Basis set effects

We have calculated position and dot intracules for a series of atomic and molecular systems, starting from an unrestricted Hartree-Fock wave function, expanded using the STO-3G, 6-31G, 6-311G, 6-311++G, 6-311++G (d,p), 6-311++G (3d,3p), and 6-311++G (3df,3pd) basis sets as well as the nonpolarized part of Dunning's cc-pV5Z basis. We find that the basis set effects on the intracules are small and that correlation energies from the dot intracule ansatz are remarkably insensitive to the basis set quality. Mean absolute errors in correlation energies across the G1 data set agree to within 2mEh for all basis sets tested. © 2009 American Institute of Physics

Complete genome sequence of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Sequence type 1, SCC mec IV[2B], isolated in the 1990s from northern Western Australia

Sequence type 1 (ST1) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) SCCmec IV[2B] has become one of the most common community-associated MRSA clones in Australia. We report the complete genome sequence of one of the earliest isolated Australian S. aureus ST1-MRSA-IV strains, WBG8287, isolated from an Indigenous Australian patient living in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia

Complete genome sequences of three of the earliest community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated in remote Western Australia

Initially reported in Western Australia in the 1980s, community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) has become a major cause of S. aureus infections globally. We report the complete genome sequences of three of the earliest CA-MRSA strains isolated from remote Australian Indigenous communities in the Kimberley region of Western Australia

Two Mathematically Equivalent Versions of Maxwell's Equations

This paper is a review of the canonical proper-time approach to relativistic mechanics and classical electrodynamics. The purpose is to provide a physically complete classical background for a new approach to relativistic quantum theory. Here, we first show that there are two versions of Maxwell's equations. The new version fixes the clock of the field source for all inertial observers. However now, the (natural definition of the effective) speed of light is no longer an invariant for all observers, but depends on the motion of the source. This approach allows us to account for radiation reaction without the Lorentz-Dirac equation, self-energy (divergence), advanced potentials or any assumptions about the structure of the source. The theory provides a new invariance group which, in general, is a nonlinear and nonlocal representation of the Lorentz group. This approach also provides a natural (and unique) definition of simultaneity for all observers. The corresponding particle theory is independent of particle number, noninvariant under time reversal (arrow of time), compatible with quantum mechanics and has a corresponding positive definite canonical Hamiltonian associated with the clock of the source. We also provide a brief review of our work on the foundational aspects of the corresponding relativistic quantum theory. Here, we show that the standard square-root and the Dirac equations are actually two distinct spin-$\tfrac{1}{2}$ particle equations.Comment: Appeared: Foundations of Physic

Uniform electron gases

We show that the traditional concept of the uniform electron gas (UEG) --- a homogeneous system of finite density, consisting of an infinite number of electrons in an infinite volume --- is inadequate to model the UEGs that arise in finite systems. We argue that, in general, a UEG is characterized by at least two parameters, \textit{viz.} the usual one-electron density parameter $\rho$ and a new two-electron parameter $\eta$. We outline a systematic strategy to determine a new density functional $E(\rho,\eta)$ across the spectrum of possible $\rho$ and $\eta$ values.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 5 table

Community action for sustainable housing: Building a low-carbon future

This paper presents a new analytical framework of 'grassroots innovations' which views community-led initiatives for sustainable development as strategic green niches with the potential for wider transformation of mainstream society. This framework is applied to a low-carbon, low-impact, community-based sustainable housing initiative in the USA that pioneers straw bale housing techniques within a strong community-building ethos. The project is evaluated according to New Economics criteria of sustainable consumption, and is found to be successful at localising the construction supply chain, reducing ecological footprints, community-building, enabling collective action and building new institutions and systems of provision around housebuilding. However, viewing it as a strategic niche with aim to influence wider society, it is clear that it faces significant challenges in diffusing its ideas and practices beyond the niche. Its model is not necessarily suitable for scaling up or widespread replication; however, the scope for niche lessons to be adopted by mainstream builders is greater, given a supportive policy environment. Recognising the innovative nature of green niches at the policy level could lead to new approaches to governance of bottom-up community action for sustainable development

The Ca²⁺-gated channel TMEM16A amplifies capillary pericyte contraction and reduces cerebral blood flow after ischemia

Pericyte-mediated capillary constriction decreases cerebral blood flow in stroke after an occluded artery is unblocked. The determinants of pericyte tone are poorly understood. We show that a small rise in cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in pericytes activates chloride efflux through the Ca2+-gated anion channel TMEM16A, thus depolarizing the cell and opening voltage-gated calcium channels. This mechanism strongly amplifies the pericyte [Ca2+]i rise and capillary constriction evoked by contractile agonists and ischemia. In a rodent stroke model, TMEM16A inhibition slows the ischemia-evoked pericyte [Ca2+]i rise, capillary constriction and pericyte death, reduces neutrophil stalling and improves cerebrovascular reperfusion. Genetic analysis implicates altered TMEM16A expression in poor patient recovery from ischemic stroke. Thus, pericyte TMEM16A is a crucial regulator of cerebral capillary function, and a potential therapeutic target for stroke and possibly other disorders of impaired microvascular flow, such as Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia

Will improving wastewater treatment impact shorebirds? Effects of sewage discharges on estuarine invertebrates and birds

Human communities often discharge wastewaters into estuaries, influencing their organic and pollutant loading, benthic community and trophic structure. The implementation of the Water Framework Directive has encouraged the treatment of wastewater discharges across European estuaries, but the implications for invertebrate and waterbird communities are poorly understood. We explore the effects of untreated sewage discharges on the distribution and abundance of foraging black-tailed godwits Limosa limosa and their main benthic prey (bivalves and polychaetes) on the Tejo estuary in Portugal, a major European Special Protection Area with ongoing wastewater improvements. Patches of mudflat in close proximity to sewage streams (70 m), and godwits foraging in these areas can attain the highest intake rates recorded for the estuary. However, high intake rates can also be attained on bivalve prey, and bivalve biomass and density increase slightly with distance from sewage streams. As the organic input from sewage outfalls influences invertebrate abundance and godwit foraging rates over relatively small areas, the ongoing implementation of a sewage treatment network on the Tejo estuary seems likely to have only a limited impact on the wintering godwit population. The localized effect of untreated sewage discharges on benthic communities suggests that the implications for predatory birds are relatively minor where alternative prey are available, but may be more severe in locations with more depauperate, polychaete-dominated invertebrate communities