Trends of U.S. Emissions of Nitrogen Oxides and Volatile Organic Compounds

Using an array of unit root and structural break tests we find that the trend behavior of two air pollutants, Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), is substantially different. VOCs emissions are found to be trend-stationary with a break at the time the Clean Air Act of 1970 was passed whereas NOX emissions are found to be difference-stationary. The presence and location of a trend break in the NOX emissions depends on the test used, whether the break date is known or unknown in advance, the null hypothesis specification, and on data transformations.

Links between topography, wind, deflation, lakes and dust: The case of the Bodélé Depression, Chad

The Bodélé Depression, Chad is the planet's largest single source of dust. Deflation from the Bodélé could be seen as a simple coincidence of two key prerequisites: strong surface winds and a large source of suitable sediment. But here we hypothesise that long term links between topography, winds, deflation and dust ensure the maintenance of the dust source such that these two apparently coincidental key ingredients are connected by land-atmosphere processes with topography acting as the overall controlling agent. We use a variety of observational and numerical techniques, including a regional climate model, to show that: 1) contemporary deflation from the Bodélé is delineated by topography and a surface wind stress maximum; 2) the Tibesti and Ennedi mountains play a key role in the generation of the erosive winds in the form of the Bodélé Low Level Jet (LLJ); 3) enhanced deflation from a stronger Bodélé LLJ during drier phases, for example, the Last Glacial Maximum, was probably sufficient to create the shallow lake in which diatoms lived during wetter phases, such as the Holocene pluvial. Winds may therefore have helped to create the depression in which erodible diatom material accumulated. Instead of a simple coincidence of nature, dust from the world's largest source may result from the operation of long term processes on paleo timescales which have led to ideal conditions for dust generation in the world's largest dust source. Similar processes plausibly operate in other dust hotspots in topographic depressions

Spiritual Leadership in Religious Organizations: A Grounded Theory Study

research has not yet identified one specific style or set of characteristics that represents overall leadership effectiveness among christian pastors. this grounded theory qualitative study examined spiritual leadership in religious organizations in order to develop a theoretical model of effective leadership for pastors...the results of this study suggested the presence of five themes related to pastoral effectiveness in non-denominational christian churches: (a) communication; (b) personal development; (c) business acumen; (d) religious practices; and (e) relationships

Pathology Logics

Every year, thousands of marginalized parents become ensnared in the family regulation system, an apparatus more commonly referred to as the child welfare system. In prior work, I examined how the coercion of domestic violence survivors in the family regulation system perpetuates harmful knowledge production and serves to legitimize family regulation intervention. This Article focuses on another logic deeply embedded in the family regulation system: the pathologizing of impoverished and racialized groups. Scholars have discussed the pathologizing of marginalized groups to describe a host of different phenomena. In this Article, “pathology logic” refers to a logic that produces notions of individual responsibility, renders the structural conditions of poverty and racism invisible, and obscures resistance. Three key elements contribute to this logic. One, the policing of emotions by family regulation actors through ostensibly neutral behavioral descriptors. Two, the coercion of mental health evaluations and treatment that produce a formal clinical label. Three, the exacerbation and exploitation of emotional distress linked to family regulation intervention. The pathology label legitimizes intrusive state intervention into marginalized families’ lives and reifies their subjugation. This piece makes three significant contributions to the ongoing debate over the family regulation system’s role in the carceral state. First, it provides a definition of pathology logics in “child welfare.” Next, it examines the procedural and institutional drivers of pathology logics. Finally, this Article traces the language of pathology logics by showing how ostensibly neutral behavioral descriptors are used to police emotions and label marginalized families “deficient.” Pathology logics distract from the structures that render families in marginalized communities hyper-visible to the state, conceal the interconnectedness of carceral systems, obscure the destabilizing effects of poverty and racism, and erase the expertise of directly impacted families by equating resistance with pathology. Pathology constructs who is and is not “capable” of parenting without state intervention. Instead of centering incremental reform, this Article concludes by highlighting ways to shift power

The chemistry of the earth's crust

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