U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Trade Facilitation, Enforcement, and Security

[Excerpt] This report describes and analyzes import policy and CBP’s role in the U.S. import process. (The report does not cover CBP’s role in the U.S. export control system.) The first section of the report describes the three overarching goals of U.S. import policy and the tension among them. Second, the report provides a legislative history of customs laws, followed by an overview of the U.S. import process as it operates today. Third, the import process and CBP’s role in it are discussed. The final section highlights several policy issues that Congress may consider in its oversight role or as part of customs or trade legislation, including measures seeking to provide additional trade facilitation benefits to importers and others enrolled in “trusted trader” programs, to improve enforcement of intellectual property and trade remedy laws, to strengthen cargo scanning practices, and/or to promote modernization of customs data systems, among other issues. A list of trade-related acronyms used in the report is provided in Appendix A

A importância das plantas daninhas na agricultura.

bitstream/item/34817/1/Plantasdaninhas.pd

Agrotóxicos, legalidade e informação.

bitstream/item/34971/1/Agrotoxicos.pd

Perceptions of Educator Preparation in the Field of English Language Learners

This study investigated how well pre-service teachers felt prepared to teach English Language Learners in the areas of second language (L2) acquisition and culture. 62 preservice teachers responded to a survey sent out to education majors at Southeastern University. Majority of the participants in the study indicated that they had less than adequate knowledge in the area of L2 acquisition and were less than adequately prepared to educate ELLs in the area of L2 acquisition. The participants indicated that they wanted professional development opportunities that focused on pedagogy for the specific stages of L2 acquisition. Regarding culture, a little more than half of the participants felt they had adequate or more than adequate knowledge in culture to educate ELLs, majority of participants felt they had some knowledge of culture but not specialized knowledge of culture, and more than half of the participants felt they were adequately or more than adequately prepared to teach with regards to culture. The participants indicated that they wanted professional development opportunities that focused on specialized cultural knowledge and cultural responsive pedagogy. The goal should be that all students feel more than adequately prepared regarding L2 acquisition, culture, and pedagogy. To help achieve this goal, the researchers suggest that ESOL instruction should be thoroughly integrated within all education classes through specific instruction and application of pedagogy for the L2 acquisition process and culturally responsive pedagogy

Jim Perlman, Ed Folsom, and Dan Campion, eds. Walt Whitman: The Measure of His Song. 200th Birthday Edition.

Review of Jim Perlman, Ed Folsom, and Dan Campion, eds. Walt Whitman: The Measure of His Song. 200th Birthday Edition

Why Do Some Aboriginal Communities Have Lower Crime Rates Than Others? A Pilot Study

Crime data collated by the New South Wales (NSW) Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) indicates that there is considerable variation in rates of Indigenous1 offending from one area to another in NSW, including in areas that are comparable in terms of Indigenous population. However, despite research findings that raise the importance of community context in relation to the offending of Indigenous individuals, there has been little investigation of the relationship between the dynamics of Indigenous communities and crime rates. In particular, there is a dearth of research that seeks to better understand the factors that may render Indigenous communities less prone to crime. This article outlines the findings of a pilot study undertaken by a research team from Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning at the University of Technology Sydney, with support from BOCSAR. The pilot study sought to better understand the factors that contribute to variations in rates of Indigenous offending by conducting qualitative research in two communities with significant Aboriginal populations â Wilcannia and Menindee â that are demographically and geographically comparable but with contrasting crime rates

A comparative analysis of returns of various financial asset classes in South Africa: a triumph of bonds?

There is a popular view that equities always outperform other fi nancial asset classes; especially bonds. This study investigates the performance of three common asset classes to determine whether or not this view is validated in South Africa. Conceptually, the popular view is irrational. If one class consistently and materially outperforms other asset classes, in the absence of other reasons, the other asset classes would disappear. Accordingly, rationally, in the long run and on a risk-adjusted basis, returns on all asset classes should conceptually more or less converge. The results from this study, which concentrates on equities, bonds and cash, show that in South Africa, even before adjusting for risk, there was no material difference between the returns of equities over long bonds over the 27-year period covered by this study (1986–2013). This is equally true for other shorter fi xed periods with the end-date (28 February 2013) being the focal point. It is even more evident that bonds outperform equities when a system of rolling periods is used. On a nominal basis (before adjusting for risk), over any randomly selected rolling period, bonds outperform equities in six of the seven categories. This study does not take tax into consideration. After adjusting for risk using the Sharpe ratio or other risk measures, bonds outperformed equities.Key words: equities, bonds, cash, performance, asset classes, risk-adjusted basis, outperformanc

Hybrid vehicle assessment. Phase 1: Petroleum savings analysis

The results of a comprehensive analysis of near term electric hybrid vehicles are presented, with emphasis on their potential to save significant amounts of petroleum on a national scale in the 1990s. Performance requirements and expected annual usage patterns of these vehicles are first modeled. The projected U.S. fleet composition is estimated, and conceptual hybrid vehicle designs are conceived and analyzed for petroleum use when driven in the expected annual patterns. These petroleum consumption estimates are then compared to similar estimates for projected 1990 conventional vehicles having the same performance and driven in the same patterns. Results are presented in the form of three utility functions and comparisons of sevral conceptual designs are made. The Hybrid Vehicle (HV) design and assessment techniques are discussed and a general method is explained for selecting the optimum energy management strategy for any vehicle mission battery combination. Conclusions and recommendations are presented, and development recommendations are identified

Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Cancer Therapy

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are among the most frequently used cell type for regenerative medicine. A large number of studies have shown the beneficial effects of MSC-based therapies to treat different pathologies, including neurological disorders, cardiac ischemia, diabetes, and bone and cartilage diseases. However, the therapeutic potential of MSCs in cancer is still controversial. While some studies indicate that MSCs may contribute to cancer pathogenesis, emerging data reported the suppressive effects of MSCs on cancer cells. Because of this reality, a sustained effort to understand when MSCs promote or suppress tumor development is needed before planning a MSC-based therapy for cancer. Herein, we provide an overview on the therapeutic application of MSCs for regenerative medicine and the processes that orchestrates tissue repair, with a special emphasis placed on cancer, including central nervous system tumors. Furthermore, we will discuss the current evidence regarding the double-edged sword of MSCs in oncological treatment and the latest advances in MSC-based anti-cancer agent delivery systems.Junta de Andalucía PI-0272-2017Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universdad CD16/00118, CP19/00046, PI16/00259, BFU2017-83588-P, CP14/00105, PI18/01590, PI17/02104, PIC18/0010, IC19/0052Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (USA) 2-SRA-2019-837-S-BFundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología 2018-00023