Historical development of the financial reporting model for state and local governments in the United States from late 1800s to 1999

This study examines the historical development of the financial reporting model for state and local governments in the United States from the late 1800s through the issuance by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) of Statement No. 34 in 1999. This research shows how the current governmental reporting standard evolved over time to meet diverse user needs by presenting both government-wide and fund statements, and requiring three governmental operating statements with potentially three different measurement focuses: the Statement of Activities; the Statement of Revenues, Expenditures, and Changes in Fund Balances; and the Budgetary Comparison Schedule. Overall, this historical study provides unique insights about the development of the governmental reporting model and an appreciation for the reporting requirements of GASB Statement No. 34

Anticipatory Self-Defense in the Cyber Context

This chapter explores the application of the law relating to anticipatory self-defence to attacks in the cyber domain

Cotton production with SDI, LEPA, and spray irrigation in a thermally-limited climate

Producers in the Northern Texas Panhandle and Southwestern Kansas are considering cotton as an alternative crop to corn because cotton has a similar profit potential for about one half the irrigation requirement. However, limited growing degree days pose some risk for cotton production. We hypothesized that cotton under subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) would undergo less evaporative cooling following an irrigation event compared with low energy precision applicators (LEPA) or spray irrigation and, therefore, would increase growing degree day accumulation and lead to earlier maturation. Cotton maturity was more related to irrigation rate than irrigation method, with dryland and minimal irrigation rates reaching maturity earliest. However, fiber quality, as indicated by total discount, was usually better with SDI. Lint yield and water use efficiency were greatest with SDI at low irrigation rates in 2003, and lint yield and gross returns were greatest with SDI regardless of irrigation rate in 2004

Comparison of spray, LEPA, and SDI for cotton and grain sorghum in the Texas Panhandle

Presented at the Central Plains irrigation conference on February 16-17, 2005 in Sterling, Colorado.Includes bibliographical references.Crop responses to MESA (mid-elevation spray application), LESA (low-elevation spray applicator), LEPA, (low energy precision application), and SDI (subsurface drip irrigation) were compared for full and deficit irrigation rates in the Texas Panhandle. Crops included three seasons of grain sorghum and one season of cotton; crop responses consisted of economic yield, seasonal water use, and water use efficiency (WUE). Irrigation rates were I0, I25, I50, I75, and I100 (where the subscript denotes the percentage of full irrigation, and I0 is dryland). Yield and WUE was greatest for SDI and least for spray at the I25 and I50 rates, and greatest for spray at the I100 rate. Yield and WUE trends were not consistent at the I75 rate. Seasonal water use was not significantly different in most cases between irrigation methods within a given irrigation rate. For cotton, the irrigation method did not influence boll maturity rates, but SDI resulted in higher fiber quality at the I25, I50, and I100 rates

Drip and evaporation

Presented at the Central Plains irrigation conference on February 16-17, 2005 in Sterling, Colorado.Includes bibliographical references.Loss of water from the soil profile through evaporation from the soil surface is an important contributor to inefficiency in irrigated crop production. Residue management systems may reduce this evaporative loss, but cannot be used in all cropping systems. Choice of the irrigation system and its management also can reduce evaporative loss. In particular, subsurface drip irrigation limits soil surface wetting and can lead to an overall reduction in evapotranspiration (crop water use) of as much as 10%. The example presented shows that most of the water savings occur early in the season when crop cover is not yet complete. Because evaporation from the soil surface has a cooling effect on the soil in the root zone, irrigation methods that limit evaporation will result in smaller fluctuations in soil temperature and warmer soil temperatures overall. For some crops such as cotton, this has beneficial effects that include earlier root growth, better plant development and larger yields

COMPARISON OF SDI, LEPA, AND SPRAY IRRIGATION PERFORMANCE FOR GRAIN SORGHUM

Subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), low−energy precision application (LEPA), and spray irrigation can be very efficient by minimizing water losses, but relative performance may vary for different irrigation system capacities, soils, crops, and climates. A three−year study was conducted at Bushland, Texas, in the Southern High Plains to compare SDI, LEPA, and spray irrigation for grain sorghum on a slowly permeable Pullman clay loam soil. Performance measures were grain yield, seed mass, soil water depletion, seasonal water use, water use efficiency (WUE), and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE). Each irrigation method was compared at five irrigation levels: 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of crop evapotranspiration. The irrigation levels simulated varying well capacities typically found in the region and dryland conditions. In all three years, SDI had greater yield, WUE, and IWUE than other irrigation methods at the 50% irrigation level and especially at the 25% level, whereas spray outperformed SDI and LEPA at the 75% and 100% levels. Differences in seed mass, soil water depletion, and seasonal water use were usually insignificant at the 25% and 50% levels and inconsistent at the 75% and 100% levels. Performance was most sensitive to irrigation level, then year, and then irrigation method, although relative rankings of performance for each irrigation method within an irrigation level were consistent across years. For this climate and soil, SDI offers the greatest potential yield, WUE, and IWUE for grain sorghum when irrigation capacities are very low

Low temperature characterization of modulation doped SiGe grown on bonded silicon-on-insulator

Modulation doped pseudomorphic Si0.87Ge0.13 strained quantum wells were grown on bonded silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates. Comparison with similar structures grown on bulk Si(100) wafers shows that the SOI material has higher mobility at low temperatures with a maximum value of 16 810 cm 2/V s for 2.05 × 1011 cm – 2 carries at 298 mK. Effective masses obtained from the temperature dependence of Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations have a value of (0.27 ± 0.02) m0 compared to (0.23 ± 0.02) m0 for quantum wells on Si(100) while the cyclotron resonance effective masses obtained at higher magnetic fields without consideration for nonparabolicity effects have values between 0.25 and 0.29 m0. Ratios of the transport and quantum lifetimes, tau/tau q=2.13 ± 0.10, were obtained for the SOI material that are, we believe, the highest reported for any pseudomorphic SiGe modulation doped structure and demonstrates that there is less interface roughness or charge scattering in the SOI material than in metal–oxide–semiconductor field effect transistors or other pseudomorphic SiGe modulation doped quantum wells

First Science Results From SOFIA/FORCAST: Super-Resolution Imaging of the S140 Cluster at 37\micron

We present 37\micron\ imaging of the S140 complex of infrared sources centered on IRS1 made with the FORCAST camera on SOFIA. These observations are the longest wavelength imaging to resolve clearly the three main sources seen at shorter wavelengths, IRS 1, 2 and 3, and are nearly at the diffraction limit of the 2.5-m telescope. We also obtained a small number of images at 11 and 31\micron\ that are useful for flux measurement. Our images cover the area of several strong sub-mm sources seen in the area -- SMM 1, 2, and 3 -- that are not coincident with any mid-infrared sources and are not visible in our longer wavelength imaging either. Our new observations confirm previous estimates of the relative dust optical depth and source luminosity for the components in this likely cluster of early B stars. We also investigate the use of super-resolution to go beyond the basic diffraction limit in imaging on SOFIA and find that the van Cittert algorithm, together with the "multi-resolution" technique, provides excellent results

Non-invasive molecular imaging of inflammatory macrophages in allograft rejection.

BackgroundMacrophages represent a critical cell type in host defense, development and homeostasis. The ability to image non-invasively pro-inflammatory macrophage infiltrate into a transplanted organ may provide an additional tool for the monitoring of the immune response of the recipient against the donor graft. We therefore decided to image in vivo sialoadhesin (Sn, Siglec 1 or CD169) using anti-Sn mAb (SER-4) directly radiolabelled with (99m)Tc pertechnetate.MethodsWe used a heterotopic heart transplantation model where allogeneic or syngeneic heart grafts were transplanted into the abdomen of recipients. In vivo nanosingle-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT/CT) imaging was performed 7 days post transplantation followed by biodistribution and histology.ResultsIn wild-type mice, the majority of (99m)Tc-SER-4 monoclonal antibody cleared from the blood with a half-life of 167 min and was located predominantly on Sn(+) tissues in the spleen, liver and bone marrow. The biodistribution in the transplantation experiments confirmed data derived from the non-invasive SPECT/CT images, with significantly higher levels of (99m)Tc-SER-4 observed in allogeneic grafts (9.4 (±2.7) %ID/g) compared to syngeneic grafts (4.3 (±10.3) %ID/g) (p = 0.0022) or in mice which received allogeneic grafts injected with (99m)Tc-IgG isotype control (5.9 (±0.6) %ID/g) (p = 0.0185). The transplanted heart to blood ratio was also significantly higher in recipients with allogeneic grafts receiving (99m)Tc-SER-4 as compared to recipients with syngeneic grafts (p = 0.000004) or recipients with allogeneic grafts receiving (99m)Tc-IgG isotype (p = 0.000002).ConclusionsHere, we demonstrate that imaging of Sn(+) macrophages in inflammation may provide an important additional and non-invasive tool for the monitoring of the pathophysiology of cellular immunity in a transplant model

Proceedings of the 21st annual Central Plains irrigation conference, Colby Kansas, February 24-25, 2009

Presented at the 21st annual Central Plains irrigation conference on February 24-25, 2009 in Colby, Kansas.Includes bibliographical references.Crop production was compared under subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), low energy precision applicators (LEPA), low elevation spray applicators (LESA), and mid elevation spray applicators (MESA) at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service Conservation and Production Research Laboratory, Bushland, Tex., USA. Each irrigation method was compared at irrigation rates meeting 25, 50, 75, and 100% of full crop evapotranspiration (ETc). Crops included three seasons of grain sorghum, one season of soybean (planted following a cotton crop that was destroyed by hail), and four seasons of upland cotton. For grain sorghum, SDI followed by LEPA, MESA, and LESA resulted in greater grain yield, water use efficiency, and irrigation water use efficiency at the 25- and 50% irrigation rates, whereas MESA followed by LESA outperformed LEPA and SDI at the 75- and 100% irrigation rates. For soybean, the same trend was observed at the 25- and 50% irrigation rates, whereas SDI followed by MESA, LEPA, and LESA resulted in the best crop response at the 75% irrigation rate, and MESA followed by SDI, LESA, and LEPA resulted in the best crop response at the 100% irrigation rate. Cotton response was consistently best for SDI, followed by LEPA, and either MESA or LESA at all irrigation rates. Within each irrigation rate, few significant differences were observed among irrigation methods in total seasonal water use for all crops