Risk Assessment in Economic Feasibility Analysis: The Case of Ethanol Production in Texas

The objective of this study is to demonstrate the benefits of quantifying the economic viability of a proposed agribusiness under risk relative to a feasibility study which ignores risk. To achieve this objective, the economic viability of a 50 MMGPY ethanol facility in Texas is analyzed over a 10-year period in two ways: with no risk and with historical risk for prices and costs.Risk and Uncertainty,

Granular flows down inclined channels with a strain-rate dependent friction coefficient. Part I: Non-cohesive materials

The flow of a granular material down an incline of finite width with a strain-rate dependent coefficient of friction and a conical yield criterion is semi-analytically obtained using a characteristic method for flows on a deep layer of grains. This analysis leads to a flow field with three distinct zones: a Bagnold-flow zone below the free surface, a dead zone and a matching zone between the two, linked to slippage at the wall. A good agreement between the computed flow field and experimental data is obtained

On the Horizon: Better Bottom Detection for Areas of Sub-Aquatic Vegetation

Bottom detection methods in single beam echo sounding (SBES) are often less robust in areas with subaquatic vegetation. Due to current mapping efforts emphasizing near shore coverage for safety of navigation and the mission for alternative uses of hydrographic quality data with the Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IOCM) Center, there is a requirement for both robust bottom detection in areas with complex vegetation and delineation of the vegetated areas themselves. Vegetation can often be found growing in close proximity to rocks and other features of navigational significance and would provide valuable information to fisheries if prime fish habitats like eelgrass could also be mapped with the navigational hazards. A bottom detection algorithm implemented in the program TracEd is being evaluated for handling bottom detections on eelgrass in the water column. This algorithm allows for detections of multiple returns in a full waveform trace for each ping. Each of these returns is then tagged as being associated to seafloor or water column features. Should this algorithm prove to be more robust in recognizing returns from vegetation and identifying the underlying bottom, a systematic approach for NOAA to more accurately determine depth in areas of sub-aquatic vegetation might be possible. A full waveform SBES dataset collected in New Hampshire’s Great Bay Estuary is under analysis to determine whether bare earth can be distinguished from the eelgrass canopy in this area where eelgrass is common and well studied. Additionally, characteristics of the waveform necessary for bottom detection are also being evaluated for eelgrass mapping

Automated construction and analysis of political networks via open government and media sources

We present a tool to generate real world political networks from user provided lists of politicians and news sites. Additional output includes visualizations, interactive tools and maps that allow a user to better understand the politicians and their surrounding environments as portrayed by the media. As a case study, we construct a comprehensive list of current Texas politicians, select news sites that convey a spectrum of political viewpoints covering Texas politics, and examine the results. We propose a ”Combined” co-occurrence distance metric to better reflect the relationship between two entities. A topic modeling technique is also proposed as a novel, automated way of labeling communities that exist within a politician’s ”extended” network.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Agriculture of Central and Eastern European countries in the European Union

Agriculture posed considerable tensions for the processes of enlargement of the European Union, because of its continuing importance both in the economies of the applicant countries of Central and Eastern European countries which have joined EU on the 1st may 2004., and in the EU budget and acquis communautaire. The preparation of agriculture in the candidate countries to join the EU was rendered more complex by the fact that the Communitys Common Agricultural Policy was a moving target. The aim of this paper is to show the bases elements of the Common Agricultural Policy, but also to provide a survey of recent developments relating to agriculture in the EU and new member states of the EU before their accession to EU and their preparation to access on the enlarged market, in order to indicate the main challenges and difficulties posed by enlargement. It seems likely that agricultural policy in the enlarged EU will attach increased priority to objectives such as rural development and the environment. However, these new priorities may be expensive to realise, and may impose a growing burden on the national budgets of EU member states.Agriculture, European Union, Central and Eastern Europe countries, Transition, Enlargement.

Louis Guillaume, Gaston Bachelard , une amitié féconde

On présente ici l’itinéraire d’amitié en poésie du philosophe français Gaston Bachelard et du poète Louis Guillaume. Les influences et les échanges possibles entre deux êtres habités par le fair poétique ainsi que d’autres réflexions sur l’écriture se dégagent de la lecture attentive du journal de Louis Guillaume (1935-1971) et de la correspondance qu’ils ont entretenue entre 1951 et 1962.Se presenta aquí la trayectoria de amistad en poesía del filósofo francés Gaston Bachelard con el poeta Louis Guillaume. Las influencias y los posibles intercambios entre dos seres habitados por el hecho poético así como otras reflexiones sobre la escritura se desprenden de la lectura atenta del diario de Louis Guillaume (1935-1971) y de la correspondencia que ambos mantuvieron entre 1951 y 1962

3D attributed models for addressing environmental and engineering geoscience problems in areas of urban regeneration : a case study in Glasgow, UK

The City of Glasgow is situated on and around the lower floodplain and inner estuary of the River Clyde in the west of Scotland, UK. Glasgow’s urban hinterland once was one of Europe’s leading centres of heavy industry, and of ship building in particular. The industries were originally fed by locally mined coal and ironstone. In common with many European cities, the heavy industries declined and Glasgow was left with a legacy of industrial dereliction, widespread undermining, and extensive vacant and contaminated sites, some the infilled sites of clay pits and sand and gravel workings

From Elasticity to Hypoplasticity: Dynamics of Granular Solids

"Granular elasticity," useful for calculating static stress distributions in granular media, is generalized by including the effects of slowly moving, deformed grains. The result is a hydrodynamic theory for granular solids that agrees well with models from soil mechanics