MARYLAND\u27S NEXT SMART GROWTH INITIATIVE: THE NEXT STEPS

This article discusses Maryland\u27s Smart Growth and Neighborhood Conservation Initiative, the nation\u27s first statewide, incentive-based program to reduce the impact of urban sprawl. It has been used as a model by other states and espouses the notions that no growth is bad and the economy and environment are intertwined. Maryland attempts to change the bottom line of development decisions by making it more attractive and less costly to build in designated growth areas. The article identifies the next steps in Maryland\u27s Smart Growth initiative and concludes that Maryland and the United States must be successful in these and similar efforts to avoid a future of environmental and economic harm as a result of sprawl

REVIEW: AMPHIBIAN SURVEYS IN FORESTS AND WOODLANDS

Amphibian surveys provide information on the distribution, abundance and habitat requirements of species, and the environmental variables that control diversity. Such information is needed for effective conservation planning and management of forests and woodlands, including monitoring of amphibian populations in a period of apparent global decline. Amphibian surveys can be time-consuming and expensive, and many issues must be addressed to maximize the reliability of the resulting data. Sampling techniques that are effective in one region or habitat type may be less so in another, and a preliminary study comparing different techniques before undertaking a survey may be necessary. Data collected in poorly designed surveys can be unsuitable for statistical analysis, and may sometimes present a misleading picture of the distribution, abundance and habitat requirements of amphibian species. This review examines issues of survey design, assesses past amphibian surveys in forest and woodland habitats, and provides recommendations for planning an amphibian survey. Firstly, the study area and survey aims should be identifi ed, and proposed sampling techniques assessed using relevant literature or a pilot study. Ethical issues associated with proposed sampling techniques should also be considered. The number, size and arrangement of the survey units (e.g. plots, sites or transects) should be sufficient to address the survey aims. The survey units should be systematically surveyed several times with appropriate sampling techniques

Enterprise, Innovation and the Enviroment

This report aims to profile the activity of small and medium sized enterprises (SME) operating in the UK's environmental sector. The environmental sector is expected to be critical for the future economic development of the UK supporting a new low carbon economy. As many entrepreneurial and innovative firms require significant funding to support their innovative activities this report specifically investigates the innovation activity and financial requirements UK environmental companies. The survey report highlights the role of a variety of funding sources, including public investment for supporting these firms, particularly those active in R&D. Responding firms show a strong record of performance to date, particularly R&D active companies but also have expectations of additional finance being made available for the future in the form of loans, equity finance and government funding

High growth firms, innovation and competition: the case of the US pharmaceutical industry

Innovation is key to economic growth. But firms, across sectors and regions, are highly skewed in their ability to engage with innovation, and even more skewed in their ability to translate investments in innovation into higher growth. While there was initially much attention on 'small' firms (SMEs), due to the assumption that they are more entrepreneurial and innovative, recent evidence that small firms contribute less to innovation and employment than commonly believed, has caused attention to move towards 'high growth innovative' firms (HGF). There is, however, the risk that this newly emphasized category of firms is also being 'hyped up' given how short a time period 'high growth' lasts, and how 'high growth' appears to only be important when combined with other firm specific conditions. Our paper is dedicated to exploring under what conditions high growth firms matter, in a dynamic setting over the history of the US pharmaceutical industry from 1963-2002. Following Coad and Rao (2008), we use quantile regression techniques to study the R&D-growth relationship in high growth firms compared to low growth firms. We find that the relationship is influenced by a mix of firm level characteristics including R&D intensity, R&D scale and venture capital funding. But more importantly we find that this relationship is sensitive to the changing competitive environment over the industry's history

Single-shot femtosecond laser ablation of nano/polycrystalline titanium investigated using molecular dynamics and experiments

Laser ablation, a crucial technique in various scientific and industrial fields, plays a pivotal role in precision manufacturing. Industries such as aerospace rely on laser technology for tasks like drilling microscale holes in jet turbine components to enhance air-cooling efficiency. Moreover, laser-based material processing is indispensable in addressing healthcare challenges with facilitating the postprocessing of 3D-printed bespoke components like patient-specific implants as an example. Ultrashort pulsed laser ablation enables precise micro and nanofabrication, enhancing material properties like wettability, adhesion and biocompatibility. This is particularly important in medical applications like implant development, as it can help reduce the possibility of post-surgery infections. Scientifically, understanding the intricacies of ultrashort pulsed laser ablation contributes to ongoing research and development efforts in ablation technology, fostering the enhancement of new material properties related to surface modifications. Additionally, laser ablation plays a crucial role in additive manufacturing technology like 3D printing of metals by facilitating the post-processing stage. This thesis investigates the ultrashort pulsed laser ablation of titanium, utilising a combination of molecular dynamics simulations and experiments. Molecular dynamics simulations are used for their capability to model systems at the atomistic scale and ultrashort timescale (femtoseconds in this work), in contrast to the finite element method, and for their computational efficiency compared to methods employing more detailed calculations like density functional theory. The primary focus of this work is on exploring the size effect by examining variations in beam spot diameter and grain size with profound implications for ultraprecision manufacturing of titanium surfaces in sub-micron length scale, produced by casting and additive manufacturing techniques. It contributes a nuanced understanding of ultrashort pulsed laser ablation by bridging the gap between molecular dynamics simulations and experiments. It extends the boundaries by simulating the largest feasible atomistic models and measuring features at the smallest scale permitted by the available metrology devices in experiments. The key observations showed the critical importance of the beam spot diameter in determining the laser fluence necessary to achieve average plasma temperatures of around 9,000 K, as well as a direct correlation between the grain size and the response of the material to laser irradiation. Notably, the simulations indicated that the 10 nm laser beam spot diameter compared to the 25 nm requires 59% more absorbed laser energy for ablation. Furthermore, the investigation revealed that by increasing the grain size in alpha-phase titanium, when the number of grains in the volume of 500,000 nm³ were reduce from 500 grains to 10, 36% more absorbed laser fluence was necessary to achieve average plasma temperatures of approximately 9,000 K, despite the material exhibiting higher heat conductivity. Additionally, a comparative analysis of ultrashort pulsed laser ablation between atomistic models of pure titanium with single crystal and polycrystalline structures were carried out using molecular dynamics simulations. The results revealed that the nanocrystalline sample modelled in this work, which exhibited lower heat conduction, produced a relatively deeper crater compared to its single crystal counterpart. The single crystal sample had a greater resistance to ablation, leading to the formation of a recast layer with rougher edges in contrast to the nanocrystalline sample. In materials science and engineering "size effect" is attributed to a phenomenon where the mechanical, thermal, optical or electrical properties of a crystalline material changes as a function of its physical size where at least one dimension is in submicron length scale. Experimental examination of the size effect was carried out on commercially pure titanium (consisting of 99.6% titanium and the remaining 0.4% containing carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, iron and oxygen atoms) and Ti-6Al-4V alloy where craters were formed on both materials using single-shots with identical fluence while varying the diameter of the laser beam. It was observed that reducing the beam spot diameter resulted in relatively shallower craters, suggesting an increased threshold for ablation. Experiments comparing single-shot laser ablation outcomes between casted and 3D-printed Ti-6Al-4V alloy revealed that the 3D-printed surface (\u1d445\u1d44e = 32 \u1d45b\u1d45a) produced a slightly cleaner crater and smoother recast layer compared to the casted material (\u1d445\u1d44e = 45 \u1d45b\u1d45a). This observation was made after subjecting both substrates to ultrashort pulsed laser irradiation with identical laser parameters

A rigourous demonstration of the validity of Boltzmann's scenario for the spatial homogenization of a freely expanding gas and the equilibration of the Kac ring

Boltzmann provided a scenario to explain why individual macroscopic systems composed of a large number $N$ of microscopic constituents are inevitably (i.e., with overwhelming probability) observed to approach a unique macroscopic state of thermodynamic equilibrium, and why after having done so, they are then observed to remain in that state, apparently forever. We provide here rigourous new results that mathematically prove the basic features of Boltzmann's scenario for two classical models: a simple boundary-free model for the spatial homogenization of a non-interacting gas of point particles, and the well-known Kac ring model. Our results, based on concentration inequalities that go back to Hoeffding, and which focus on the typical behavior of individual macroscopic systems, improve upon previous results by providing estimates, exponential in $N$, of probabilities and time scales involved

Tuna-Led Sustainable Developlment in the Pacific

The paper reviews the importance of tuna fisheries in the western and central Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and examines whether current and proposed economically focussed institutional mechanisms, that underpin tuna management, are sufficient to promote appropriate and long term tuna-led development. Substantial potential gains are shown to exist from co-operation in terms of tuna management, but it seems highly unlikely such benefits will be realised in the short or medium term despite the formation in 2004 of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. Even if gains from co-operation were to be realised, without substantial improvements in the nstitutional quality and capacity of many PICs the tuna fisheries might still fail to sustain the region’s long-term development. The study’s implications are that the twin development priorities in the region should be support for social infrastructure, especially capacity building to increase the effectiveness of the public sector, and the promotion of co-operative approaches to ensure the sustainability and profitable use of the region’s shared fishery resources.

Strengthening America's Best Idea: An Independent Review of the National Park Service's Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate

NRSS requested that an independent panel of the National Academy conduct a review of its effectiveness in five core functions, its relationships with key internal stakeholders, and its performance measurement system. Among other things, the National Park Service's Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate (NRSS) is responsible for providing usable natural and social science information throughout the National Park Service (NPS). NRSS leadership requested this review of the directorate's performance on five core functions, its relationships with key internal NPS stakeholders, and its performance measurement system.Main FindingsThe panel determined that NRSS is a highly regarded organization that provides independent, credible scientific expertise and technical information. The panel also found that NRSS and NPS have additional opportunities to advance natural resource stewardship throughout the Service. If implemented, the panel's eight major recommendations will: (1) help the Service respond to the parks' environmental challenges while raising public awareness about the condition of these special places; (2) strengthen NRSS as an organization; (3) promote scientifically based decision-making at the national, regional, and park levels; and (4) improve the existing performance measurement system

Temporal constraints of the word blindness posthypnotic suggestion on Stroop task performance

The present work investigated possible temporal constraints on the posthypnotic word blindness suggestion effect. In a completely within-subjects and counterbalanced design 19 highly suggestible individuals performed the Stroop task both with and without a posthypnotic suggestion that they would be unable to read the word dimension of the Stroop stimulus, both when response–stimulus interval (RSI) was short (500 ms) or equivalent to previous studies (3500 ms). The suggestion reduced Stroop interference in the short RSI condition (54 vs. 6 ms) but not in the long RSI condition (52 vs. 56 ms), and did not affect Stroop facilitation. Our results suggest that response to the suggestion involves reactive top-down control processes that persist only if levels of activation can be maintained