Horses as Sources of Proprietary Information: Commercialization, Conservation, and Compensation Pursuant to the Convention on Biological Diversity

Horses indigenous to East and Southeast (E/SE) Asia, including native, landrace, feral, and wild populations, embody valuable genetic diversity. Conservation efforts for animals have largely been driven by humane altruism, with little consideration for the information value of genomes. Yet, if horses are viewed as archives of information as well as objects of affection, their conservation shifts to a market-based paradigm. Horse genetic resources (GR) likely contain significant value to the lucrative global horse industry, including veterinary applications such as diagnostics, therapeutics, genetic markers, gene therapies, and cloning technologies. As biotechnology becomes increasingly sophisticated, mining of horse GR will accelerate, thus facilitating identification, inventorying, bioprospecting, and commercialization of genetic information. Yet, establishing a value chain that balances equitable compensation for commercial applications while promoting conservation of horse populations remains a challenge. Recommendations presented here include establishing regional and national human resource and institutional capacity (competent national authorities), that catalog eco-geographical inventories of horse GR; monitor, manage, market and direct equitable value chains from horse to genetic information to commercial products; and ensure revenue flow back to support conservation. This system will foster market incentives to build capacity for sustainable conservation of the diverse horse populations of E/SE Asia

The Effect of Radiation on the Electrical Properties of Aluminum Gallium Nitride/Gallium Nitride Heterostructures

AlGaN/GaN Heterojunction Field Effect Transistors (HFETs) were irradiated at low temperature and the temperature dependent changes to drain current, gate current, capacitance, and transconductance were measured. The results were compared to the charge control model of the drain current and trap-assisted tunneling model of the gate current to determine the source of the radiation-induced changes. AlGaN/GaN HFETs demonstrated threshold voltage shifts and drain current changes after irradiation. After electron and neutron irradiation applied at ~80 K, measurement of the drain current at this temperature showed an increase that saturated after 1013 electrons/cm2 or 1010 neutrons/cm2 due to positive charge build-up in the AlGaN layer. Measurement at room temperature after low-temperature irradiation showed a decrease in drain current due to the build up of charged defects along the AlGaN-GaN interface that decrease the mobility in the 2DEG and hence decrease the current. Gate leakage currents increased after low temperature irradiation and the increase was persistent after room temperature annealing. The increased leakage current was attributed to trap-assisted tunneling after application of the trap-assisted tunneling model. Comparison of the model to post-irradiation vs. pre-irradiation data showed that the dominant parameter change causing increased gate current was an increase in trap concentration

Points of Peace: Hideyoshi’s Sword Hunt and the Hidden Violence of the Great Peace

Through a study of the unification policies of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, I highlight a more complete image of commoner politics and power in order to explain the two hundred years of peace that followed the Sengoku Period. I narrow in on the Sword Hunt Edict of 1588, which removed all forms of weapons from the non-samurai groups and solidified the social order. My research addresses the power retained by the non-elite population, who had a long history of protests (ikki) and self-government (jiriki kyusei) and who made up the bulk of the armed forces during war. By studying the well-documented history of peasant protests in conjunction with the peace policies, I emphasize the contradictory nature and the limitations of this armistice; for most of the country, ‘peace’ was a relative term and the general populace continued to use violence and other forms of mass protest to demonstrate their influence.Master of Art

Two-Dimensional Temperature Analysis of Nuclear Fireballs Using Digitized Film

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have begun digitizing technical films spanning the atmospheric nuclear testing operations conducted by the United States from 1945 through 1962. Each atmospheric nuclear test was filmed by Edgerton, Germeshausen, and Grier, Inc., using between 20 to 40 cameras per test. These technical film test data represent a primary source for advancing the knowledge of nuclear weapon output as well as the understanding of nonnuclear high-temperature gases. This manuscript outlines the procedures followed in order to perform two-dimensional temperature calculations for early time nuclear fireballs using digitized film. The digitized optical densities of the film were converted into irradiance on the film that was then used to determine an effective power temperature. The events Wasp Prime and Tesla of Operation Teapot were analyzed using this technique. Film temperature results agreed within uncertainties with historic data collected by calorimeters. Results were also validated by comparison to a thermal heat flux solution that utilizes historic thermal yield values to normalize radiant flux. Additionally, digital imaging and remote sensing image generation was used to demonstrate that the two-dimensional temperature calculation was self-consistent

EPR identification of defects responsible for thermoluminescence in Cu-doped lithium tetraborate (Li2B4O7) crystals

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) is used to identify the electron and hole traps responsible for thermoluminescence (TL) peaks occurring near 100 and 200 ◦C in copper-doped lithium tetraborate (Li2B4O7) crystals. As-grown crystals have Cu+ and Cu2+ ions substituting for lithium and have Cu+ ions at interstitial sites. All of the substitutional Cu2+ ions in the as-grown crystals have an adjacent lithium vacancy and give rise to a distinct EPR spectrum. Exposure to ionizing radiation at room temperature produces a second and different Cu2+ EPR spectrum when a hole is trapped by substitutional Cu+ ions that have no nearby defects. These two Cu2+ trapped-hole centers are referred to as Cu2+-VLi and Cu2+active, respectively. Also during the irradiation, two trapped-electron centers in the form of interstitial Cu0 atoms are produced when interstitial Cu+ ions trap electrons. They are observed with EPR and are labeled Cu0A and Cu0B. When an irradiated crystal is warmed from 25 to 150 ◦C, the Cu2+active centers have a partial decay step that correlates with the TL peak near 100 ◦C. The concentrations of Cu0A and Cu0B centers, however, increase as the crystal is heated through this range. As the crystal is futher warmed between 150 and 250 ◦C, the EPR signals from the Cu2+active hole centers and Cu0A and Cu0B electron centers decay simultaneously. This decay step correlates with the intense TL peak near 200 ◦C