Grandfathering and greenhouse: the role of compensation and adjustment assistance in the introduction of a carbon emissions trading scheme for Australia

The terms ‘grandfather clause’ and ‘grandfathering’ describe elements of a policy program in which existing participants in an activity are protected from the impact of regulations, restrictions or charges applied to new entrants. In this paper, the role of grandfathering in the design of a carbon emissions trading scheme in Australia is assessed. It is argued that adjustment assistance policies such as those adopted in conjunction with previous microeconomic reform programs are preferable to policies based on the free issue of emissions permits.grandfathering, emissions trading, compensation, adjustment assistance,

Ionic Capillary Evaporation in Weakly Charged Nanopores

Using a variational field theory, we show that an electrolyte confined to a neutral cylindrical nanopore traversing a low dielectric membrane exhibits a first-order ionic liquid-vapor pseudo-phase-transition from an ionic-penetration "liquid" phase to an ionic-exclusion "vapor" phase, controlled by nanopore-modified ionic correlations and dielectric repulsion. For weakly charged nanopores, this pseudotransition survives and may shed light on the mechanism behind the rapid switching of nanopore conductivity observed in experiments.Comment: This version is accepted for publication in PR

An adjudicated hermeneutic single-case efficacy design study of experiential therapy for panic/phobia

This paper illustrates the application of an adjudicated form of Hermeneutic Single Case Efficacy Design (HSCED), a critical-reflective method for inferring change and therapeutic influence in single therapy cases. The client was a 61 year-old European-American male diagnosed with panic and bridge phobia. He was seen for 23 sessions of individual Process-Experiential/Emotion-Focused Therapy. In this study, affirmative and skeptic teams of researchers developed opposing arguments regarding whether the client changed over therapy and whether therapy was responsible for these changes. Three judges representing different theoretical orientations then assessed data and arguments, rendering judgments in favor of the affirmative side. We discuss clinical implications and recommendations for the future interpretive case study research

Seasonal circulation over the Catalan inner-shelf (northwest Mediterranean Sea)

This study characterizes the seasonal cycle of the Catalan inner-shelf circulation using observations and complementary numerical results. The relation between seasonal circulation and forcing mechanisms is explored through the depth-averaged momentum balance, for the period between May 2010 and April 2011, when velocity observations were partially available. The monthly-mean along-shelf flow is mainly controlled by the along-shelf pressure gradient and by surface and bottom stresses. During summer, fall, and winter, the along-shelf momentum balance is dominated by the barotropic pressure gradient and local winds. During spring, both wind stress and pressure gradient act in the same direction and are compensated by bottom stress. In the cross-shelf direction the dominant forces are in geostrophic balance, consistent with dynamic altimetry data. Key Points A hydrodynamic model is implemented for the first time in Catalan inner-shelf. Frictional and pressure gradient are revealed as the main forcing mechanisms A clear seasonal pattern is found in the current velocity.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS) Advanced Technology AT5 Virtualized Infiniband Report

The NCCS is part of the Computational and Information Sciences and Technology Office (CISTO) of Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Sciences and Exploration Directorate. The NCCS's mission is to enable scientists to increase their understanding of the Earth, the solar system, and the universe by supplying state-of-the-art high performance computing (HPC) solutions. To accomplish this mission, the NCCS (https://www.nccs.nasa.gov) provides high performance compute engines, mass storage, and network solutions to meet the specialized needs of the Earth and space science user communitie

Willingness to pay for policies to reduce health risks from COVID-19: Evidence from U.S. professional sports

Airborne transmission of COVID-19 increased the need for health policies to reduce transmission in congregate settings associated with minimal risk before the pandemic. While a large literature estimates tradeoffs between policies designed to reduce negative health outcomes, no empirical research addresses consumer willingness to pay for health policies designed to reduce airborne virus transmission. Using survey data from 1,381 fans of professional sports teams, we estimate consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for reduced likelihood of coronavirus transmission through mask and social distancing policies using a stated preference approach. The results indicate increased attendance likelihood if the venue requires masks and limits attendance, with significant heterogeneity in WTP across risk scenarios and sports. We characterize consumers as casual fans who prefer a mask requirement but are indifferent to capacity constraints, strong fans who are anti-maskers and prefer capacity constraints, and a second group of casual fans with positive WTP under both mask and limited capacity requirements. Casual fans’ WTP for masking, $38 per NBA game attended, is more than double their WTP for capacity constraints only. Strong fans’ WTP for attending capacity constrained NBA games was$490, more than 400% higher than the pre-pandemic average WTP of $105

Structural Element Testing in Support of the Design of the NASA Composite Crew Module

In January 2007, the NASA Administrator and Associate Administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate chartered the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) to design, build, and test a full-scale Composite Crew Module (CCM). For the design and manufacturing of the CCM, the team adopted the building block approach where design and manufacturing risks were mitigated through manufacturing trials and structural testing at various levels of complexity. Following NASA's Structural Design Verification Requirements, a further objective was the verification of design analysis methods and the provision of design data for critical structural features. Test articles increasing in complexity from basic material characterization coupons through structural feature elements and large structural components, to full-scale structures were evaluated. This paper discusses only four elements tests three of which include joints and one that includes a tapering honeycomb core detail. For each test series included are specimen details, instrumentation, test results, a brief analysis description, test analysis correlation and conclusions

Determination of Adrenal Response After Oral Administration of Multiple Doses of Methylprednisolone

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97189/1/j.1552-4604.1979.tb01627.x.pd

CARD8 and NLRP1 Undergo Autoproteolytic Processing through a ZU5-Like Domain

The “Function to Find Domain” (FIIND)-containing proteins CARD8 (Cardinal; Tucan) and NLRP1 (NALP1; NAC) are well known components of inflammasomes, multiprotein complexes responsible for activation of caspase-1, a regulator of inflammation and innate immunity. Although identified many years ago, the role of the FIIND is unknown. Here, we report that CARD8 and NLRP1 undergo autoproteolytic cleavage at a conserved SF/S motif within the FIIND. Using bioinformatics and computational modeling approaches, we detected striking structural similarity between the FIIND and the ZU5-UPA domain present in the autoproteolytic protein PIDD. This allowed us to generate a three-dimensional model and to gain insights in the molecular mechanism of the cleavage. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments revealed that the second serine of the SF/S motif is required for CARD8 and NLRP1 autoproteolysis. Furthermore, we discovered an important function for conserved glutamic acid and histidine residues, located in proximity of the cleavage site in regulating the autoprocessing efficiency. Altogether, these results identify a function for the FIIND and show that CARD8 and NLRP1 are ZU5-UPA domain-containing autoproteolytic proteins, thus suggesting a novel mechanism for regulating innate immune responses