Can U.S. oil production survive the 20th century?

The plunge in world oil prices has brought further difficulties to U.S. oil production, which has been declining in recent years. At the current low prices, most domestic oil wells are not profitable. This calls into question the long-run viability of oil production in the United States. Whether oil production remains a viable part of the U.S. economy in the next century will depend on how long oil prices remain at their current low levels.> Lamb and Wilkerson show how the recent low prices for oil on world markets reflect a combination of demand and supply effects, with both short-run and long-run forces at work. For example, sluggish demand growth reflects both milder weather in some parts of the world (a short-run phenomenon) and the impacts of the Asian financial crisis, which could persist for some time. Meanwhile, supply has mushroomed, in part due to the short-run effect of Iraq's return to higher levels of oil production. In the main, however, the increase in supply reflects sharp declines in the cost of discovering and extracting oil reserves. On balance, the current low prices appear to be mainly the result of longer run demand and supply forces, suggesting that prices are likely to remain low for some time to come. If world oil prices do remain low, U.S. oil is unlikely to be competitive in world markets. Therefore, the domestic oil sector is likely to continue to lose market share for the foreseeable future.Petroleum industry and trade ; Prices

Improving Qualitative Assessment In Higher Education

This dissertation considers in turn the role education plays in civil, democratic society; the role assessment plays in education; and the role theoretical constructs and cultural contexts play in assessment. Then, through literature review, document analysis, and interviews, the analysis investigates, identifies, and recommends grounded-theory-derived practices for improving qualitative assessment in higher education settings. The process of qualitative assessment is understood as being heuristic and continual, requiring re-examination and revision to maintain both its validity and reliability. To this end, rubrics are essential to efficiently and reliably assessing everything qualitative, whereas the realities of institutional culture and politics require adroit leadership from educators and administrators, drawing from manifest praxes in organizational theory, management theory, and political theory, to affect progressive change

Variance Component Estimates for Growth Traits in Beef Cattle Using Selected Variants from Imputed Low-Pass Sequence Data

A beef cattle population (n=2,343) was used to assess the impact of variants identified from imputed low-pass sequence (LPS) on the estimation of variance components and genetic parameters of birth weight (BWT) and post weaning gain (PWG). Variants were selected based on functional impact and were partitioned into four groups (Low, Modifier, Moderate, High) based on predicted functional consequences and re-partitioned based on consequence of mutation, such as missense and untranslated region variants, into six groups (G1-G6). Each subset was used to construct a genomic relationship matrix (GRM) for univariate animal models. Multiple analyses were conducted to compare the proportion of additive genetic variation explained by the different subsets individually and collectively, and these estimates were benchmarked against all LPS variants in a single GRM and array (e.g., GeneSeek Genomic Profiler 100K) genotypes. When all variants were included in a single GRM, heritability estimates for BWT and PWG were 0.43±0.05 and 0.38±0.05, respectively. Heritability estimates for BWT ranged from 0.10-0.42 dependent on which variant subsets were included. Similarly, estimates for PWG ranged from 0.05-0.38. Results showed that variants in the subsets Modifier and G1 (untranslated region) yielded similar heritability estimates compared to the inclusion of all variants yielded the highest estimates, while estimates from GRM containing only variants in the categories High, G4 (non-coding transcript exon), and G6 (start and stop loss/gain) were the lowest. All variants combined provided similar heritability estimates to chip genotypes and provided minimal to no additional information when combined with chip data. This suggests that the chip data and the variants from LPS predicted to be less consequential are in relatively high linkage disequilibrium with the underlying causal variants and sufficiently spread throughout the genome to capture larger proportions of additive genetic variation. Advisor: Matthew L. Spangle

Karl Kraus and the Jewish question: assimilation, language, and persecution in Vienna, 1874-1936

This study examines the Viennese satirist Karl Kraus and his responses to the Jewish Question and anti- Semitism. Through a comprehensive analysis of his major works, this project reveals Kraus\u27s underlying views on Jewish identity and his ideas for resolving the Jewish Question. Kraus attacked acculturated German-speaking Jews for failing to assimilate into society. In his mind, the bourgeois Jewish intellectuals had retreated into a transparent ghetto of aesthetic values, literary expression, and capitalist-materialism, represented by the Jewish press. For Kraus, anti-Semitism persisted because the Jews maintained their status as Jews, and therefore could not assimilate into Viennese society. His solution to this faulty assimilation was to renounce all ties to Judaism and adopt Viennese culture completely

Brief Communications: Rapid and Costly Ageing in Wild Male Flies

Ageing (senescence) has never been demonstrated convincingly in any insect in the wild, where mean life-spans are probably much shorter than in the laboratory1, and most evidence for senescence in other wild animals (such as mammals) is limited to their reduced survival with age2. Here we show that ageing is detectable in wild populations of a very short-lived insect, the antler fly (Protopiophila litigata), and causes debilitating and costly effects that force a decline not only in survival probability, but also in the reproductive rate of males. Our findings argue against the possibility of a trade-off between fitness components, whereby survival may decline without senescence if investment in reproduction increases with age3, and indicate that ageing rates are subject to intense selection in the wild. Although theory predicts the evolution of rapid senescence in organisms that experience high extrinsic (age-independent) mortality rates4, it has been suggested that very few individuals in these groups (such as insects or small mammals) survive long enough in the wild to exhibit detectable5,6 senescence. We tested for senescence in a wild population of the antler fly, a small dipteran that breeds exclusively on discarded antlers of moose and deer. The tendency of adult flies to spend their lives on a single antler, as well as the long duration of their mating (2.3 h; reference 7), facilitate the acquisition of field data on mating success and survival. We surveyed mating aggregations on nine moose antlers every 2 h over 72 days, and recorded the presence and mating status (single or coupled) of each of 609 individually marked males8

What is the best regimen for newly diagnosed hypertension?

Low-dose thiazide diuretics (eg, hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 to 25 mg/d) are the best first-line pharmacotherapy for treating uncomplicated hypertension(strength of recommendation [SOR]: A, based on randomized trials [RCTs] and 1 meta-analysis). Alternate first-line agents include angiotensinconverting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, beta blockers, and calcium channel blockers (SOR: A, based on RCTs)

Sex effects on life span and senescence in the wild when dates of birth and death are unknown

Males and females allocate and schedule reproductive effort in very different ways. Because the timing and amount of reproductive effort influence survival and thus the optimization of life histories, mortality and senescence are predicted to be sex specific. However, age-specific mortality rates of wild animals are often difficult to quantify in natural populations. Studies that report mortality rates from natural populations are, therefore, almost entirely confined to long-lived, easy-to-track species such as large mammals and birds. Here, we employ a novel approach using capture–mark–recapture data from a wild population of black field crickets (Teleogryllus commodus) to test for sex differences in demographic aging. In this species, the age of captured adults cannot be readily determined, and animals cannot be reliably captured or observed every night, resulting in demographic data on individuals whose dates of birth and death are unknown. We implement a recently developed life-table analysis for wild-caught individuals of unknown age, in combination with a well-established capture–mark–recapture methodology that models probabilistic dates of death. This unified analytical framework makes it possible to test for aging in wild, hard-to track animals. Using these methods to fit Gompertz models of age-specific mortality, we show that male crickets have higher mortality rates throughout life than female crickets. Furthermore, males and females both exhibit increasing mortality rates with age, indicating senescence, but the rate of senescence is not sex specific. Thus, observed sex differences in longevity are probably due to differences in baseline mortality rather than aging. Our findings illustrate the complexity of the relationships between sex, background mortality, and senescence rate in wild populations, showing that the elevated mortality rate of males need not be coupled with an elevated rate of aging

Impact of Climate Change on Wheat Production in Kentucky

Summary: From 2002 to 2012, Kentucky winter wheat ranged in value from $52 million to$209 million. Climate change and variability have the potential to significantly impact this important economic enterprise within our state. This report summarizes the current state of knowledge of the potential of climate change to impact wheat production in Kentucky and surrounding states