Foreword

The land trust community and governments at all levels have become married to conservation easements as their land conservation tool of choice. The numbers speak for themselves: as of the date of this writing, there were reportedly 1,700 land trusts that have protected twelve million acres of land by use of conservation easements. The bulk of this growth both in conservation easements and the land trusts that deploy them has occurred since the 1980s when federal income tax incentives became more fully utilized by conservation easement donors. But the parties to this marriage have become complacent and inattentive in the face of a rapidly changing world resulting from global ecological catastrophes such as climate change and accelerated species extinction

Use of the public parks in Sweden during the 19th century : a political perspective

Offentliga parker började anläggas i svenska städer under 1800-talet, för första gången i historien fick idén om att alla har rätt till vackra gröna miljöer i staden spridning. Det var den borgerliga medelklassen som tog initiativ till parkerna och därmed formades de i hög grad efter deras ideal och preferenser. En avsikt med parkerna var att även arbetarklassen skulle nyttja dessa och på så vis förädlas, samlad dokumentation om i vilken utsträckning detta verkligen skedde saknas dock. Syftet med uppsatsen är att förklara hur värderingar och ideal kan göra avtryck i stadens offentliga rum och hur detta kan påverka vilka som använder dessa samt hur de används. Detta görs genom att tolka Nolins avhandling ”Till stadsbornas nytta och förslutande - Den offentliga parken i Sverige under 1800-talet” med hjälp av Gailing och Leibenaths ramverk för analys av landskapets politiska aspekter. Resultatet av analysen visar att det finns flera samband mellan de första parkernas funktioner och den borgerliga kulturen. Den tyder även på att parkerna i hög grad användes av borgarklassen och att de troligtvis inte var en lika självklar miljö för arbetarna att vistas i. Med tanke på den historiska kontexten är utfallet orimligt att kritisera utifrån moderna teorier, resultatet av studien kan dock vara ett användbart underlag för reflektion angående deltagandeprocesser för nutida landskapsarkitekter, stadsplanerare och andra liknande professioner.The public parks became a part of Swedish cities during the 19th century, for the first time in history the idea about the right to beautiful green spaces in cities for all people spread. It was the bourgeoisie who initiated the founding of public parks and hence, the characteristics of the parks got highly influenced by the ideals and preferences of the bourgeoisie. Another intention with the public parks was that the working class would use them and, in that way, get refined. If that purpose was fulfilled is, however, unanswered due to lack of documentation. The aim of this thesis is to explain the physical traces of human values and ideals in public urban spaces and how it can influence who uses them and how they are used. In order to do this, Nolins thesis ”Till stadsbornas nytta och förslutande - Den offentliga parken i Sverige under 1800-talet” will be interpreted by using Gailing and Leibenaths framework for analysing political aspects of landscape. The result of the analysis shows many connections between the functions of the first public parks and the bourgeoise culture. It also indicates that the first public parks were mainly used by the bourgeoisie; working class people did probably not to use the parks as places for recreation to the same extent. Considering the historical context, this turn-out is unreasonable to criticize with contemporary theories, the results of the thesis can however be useful for reflecting over participatory processes within landscape architecture, urban planning, and other related professions

Referral hiring in a recruitment situation: The importance of favoritism, fairness and gender.

Which factors will influence who you choose to recommend in referral hiring? Questions regarding nepotism and referral hiring were examined in the study. Special focus was laid on in group favoritism, perceived fairness and gender. With an experiment participants were faced with a scenario where they were asked to select a replacer for a job spot. In the experiment the participants were faced with a fairness priming, using words (primes) and a control condition. The participant also completed a moral test which was treated as a moderating variable. The conclusion was that the participants chose more friends of the same gender as themselves. The participants also chose to select their friends instead of two unknowns despite the fact that the friend was less suitable for the job. No connections were found between the sex, the fairness manipulation or the concept of fairness. The manipulation had no effect

A Silent Emergency Persists: The Limited Efficacy of U.S. Investment Sanctions on Burma

For the past three decades, the repressive military junta that has ruled Burma has engaged in torture, extra-judicial killings, compulsory labor, and arbitrary arrests and detentions. Economic growth and human development in Burma have stagnated. In response to human rights abuses and uninhibited drug production and trafficking, the United States imposed investment sanctions on Burma in 1997. However, Burma\u27s regional alliances and illicit profits from drugs have filled any vacuum left by withdrawal of U.S. investments and have neutralized the effect of the sanctions. Therefore, the United States needs to rethink its current sanctions scheme. The United States should consider a policy of constructive engagement to promote change, sustainable self-help, and growth in Burma. Further, the United States should promote international diplomatic involvement and should also support the establishment of a national human rights commission in Burma. Alternatively, if the United States believes that sanctions are the best method of promoting positive change in Burma, it should work with a multilateral organization such as the World Trade Organization or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on a multilateral sanctions scheme

Genetic diversity and historical demography of underutilised goat breeds in North-Western Europe

In the last decade, several studies aimed at dissecting the genetic architecture of local small ruminant breeds to discover which variations are involved in the process of adaptation to environmental conditions, a topic that has acquired priority due to climate change. Considering that traditional breeds are a reservoir of such important genetic variation, improving the current knowledge about their genetic diversity and origin is the first step forward in designing sound conservation guidelines. The genetic composition of North-Western European archetypical goat breeds is still poorly exploited. In this study we aimed to fill this gap investigating goat breeds across Ireland and Scandinavia, including also some other potential continental sources of introgression. The PCA and Admixture analyses suggest a well-defined cluster that includes Norwegian and Swedish breeds, while the crossbred Danish landrace is far apart, and there appears to be a close relationship between the Irish and Saanen goats. In addition, both graph representation of historical relationships among populations and f4-ratio statistics suggest a certain degree of gene flow between the Norse and Atlantic landraces. Furthermore, we identify signs of ancient admixture events of Scandinavian origin in the Irish and in the Icelandic goats. The time when these migrations, and consequently the introgression, of Scandinavian-like alleles occurred, can be traced back to the Viking colonisation of these two isles during the Viking Age (793-1066 CE). The demographic analysis indicates a complicated history of these traditional breeds with signatures of bottleneck, inbreeding and crossbreeding with the improved breeds. Despite these recent demographic changes and the historical genetic background shaped by centuries of human-mediated gene flow, most of them maintained their genetic identity, becoming an irreplaceable genetic resource as well as a cultural heritage

Ancient Sheep Genomes Reveal Four Millennia of North European Short-Tailed Sheep in the Baltic Sea Region

Sheep are among the earliest domesticated livestock species, with a wide variety of breeds present today. However, it remains unclear how far back this diversity goes, with formal documentation only dating back a few centuries. North European short-tailed (NEST) breeds are often assumed to be among the oldest domestic sheep populations, even thought to represent relicts of the earliest sheep expansions during the Neolithic period reaching Scandinavia <6,000 years ago. This study sequenced the genomes (up to 11.6X) of five sheep remains from the Baltic islands of Gotland and & Aring;land, dating from the Late Neolithic (similar to 4,100 cal BP) to historical times (similar to 1,600 CE). Our findings indicate that these ancient sheep largely possessed the genetic characteristics of modern NEST breeds, suggesting a substantial degree of long-term continuity of this sheep type in the Baltic Sea region. Despite the wide temporal spread, population genetic analyses show high levels of affinity between the ancient genomes and they also exhibit relatively high genetic diversity when compared to modern NEST breeds, implying a loss of diversity in most breeds during the last centuries associated with breed formation and recent bottlenecks. Our results shed light on the development of breeds in Northern Europe specifically as well as the development of genetic diversity in sheep breeds, and their expansion from the domestication center in general

Effects of dietary fibre on the human metabolism and metabolome

It is well-known that dietary fibre can have a positive effect on the development of lifestyle-dependent diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. However, the effect may be different for different kinds of fibre and different sub-populations at risk. Therefore, the effects of three different kinds of fibre on postprandial and long-term response in healthy subjects were investigated. Consumption of rye bran, oat powder, sugar beet fibre or a mixture of all three in a meal study, led to lower postprandial glucose levels for all meals except oat powder, although the difference was only significant for rye bran. The outcome seemed to be determined not only by the amount of soluble fibre, but also by the total dietary fibre content. The combined effect of an intake of oat bran, rye bran and sugar beet fibre was also investigated in a 5-week randomised cross-over intervention study in healthy, mildly hypercholesterolaemic subjects. Subjects were given a high-fibre (HF) diet (48 g) and a low-fibre (LF) diet (30 g). Despite the high fibre intake, no significant effects were observed on glucose, insulin, or lipid metabolism. However, low-grade inflammatory response was reduced by the HF diet, as reflected by decreased C-reactive protein and fibrinogen levels. Moreover, markers from the high intake of oat, rye and sugar beet fibre were observed in plasma and 24-h urine samples using an untargeted metabolomic profiling approach. After the HF diet, different benzoxazinoids and their metabolites 2-aminophenol sulphate, HPAA (N-(2-hydroxyphenyl)acetamide) and HHPAA (2-hydroxy-N-(2-hydroxyphenyl)acetamide), together with the alkylresorcinol metabolite DHPPA (3-(3,5-dihydroxyphenyl)-1-propanoic acid), were found to be specific for the rye intake, whereas enterolactone was related to rye and oat fibre intake. Some specific markers for oat intake were found, however, their identity needs further validation. One identified marker, 2,6-DHBA (dihydroxybenzoic acid), has not previously been reported as a marker related to dietary fibre intake. Whether there is a specific marker for sugar beet fibre intake remains unclear. These markers of the intake of specific dietary fibre sources could, if validated, serve as markers in intervention studies and larger observational studies, to provide more accurate data on general dietary fibre intake, apart from the subjects’ self-reported values, which are normally used. The effect of a healthy Nordic diet based on the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations, including a high dietary fibre intake, was investigated in obese subjects with metabolic syndrome. This was a randomised, parallel multi-centre study in which the Nordic diet was compared to a control diet. No effects were observed on the glucose and insulin metabolism, however, reductions in lipoproteins were found together with an indication of reduction in the inflammatory response after the intake of the Nordic diet. In conclusion, these studies confirm that a high dietary fibre intake has a beneficial effect on glucose and lipid metabolism. The intervention studies also indicated a reduction in low-grade inflammation markers that are associated with overweight and type 2 diabetes

PENGARUH KESADARAN WAJIB PAJAK, KEGIATAN SOSIALISASI PERPAJAKAN, DAN PEMERIKSAAN PAJAK TERHADAP PENERIMAAN PAJAK PENGHASILAN DI KPP PRATAMA BANDUNG CIBEUNYING

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui apakah kesadaran wajib pajak, kegiatan sosialisasi perpajakan, dan pemeriksaan pajak mempengaruhi penerimaan pajak penghasilan di KPP Pratama Bandung Cibeunying. Kesadaran wajib pajak diukur dari jumlah SPT Masa PPh 25 yang dilaporkan tepat waktu. Kegiatan sosialisasi perpajakan diukur dari jumlah kegiatan sosialisasi yang diadakan KPP Pratama Bandung Cibeunying untuk wajib pajak orang pribadi. Pemeriksaan pajak diukur dari jumlah STP PPh 25 yang diterbitkan bagi wajib pajak orang pribadi. Penerimaan PPh adalah jumlah penerimaan angsuran PPh pasal 25 wajib pajak orang pribadi di KPP Pratama Bandung Cibeunying. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode time series dan data kuantitatif berupa data sekunder yang diperoleh dari KPP Pratama Bandung Cibeunying untuk tahun pajak 2011 sampai 2015 setiap bulannya. Teknik analisa data yang digunakan adalah regresi linier berganda. Penelitian ini membuktikan bahwa kesadaran wajib pajak berpengaruh positif terhadap penerimaan pajak penghasilan di KPP Pratama Bandung Cibeunying, sosialisasi perpajakan tidak berpengaruh positif terhadap penerimaan pajak penghasilan di KPP Pratama Bandung Cibeunying dan pemeriksaan pajak berpengaruh positif terhadap penerimaan pajak penghasilan di KPP Pratama Bandung Cibeunying.;---This research aimed to determine whether taxpayers' awareness, tax socialization activities, and tax inspection affects the income tax revenue in KPP Pratama Bandung Cibeunying. Taxpayers' awareness was measured by the number of Income Tax Article 25 which were reported timely. Taxation socialization activities was measured by the number of socialization activities held by KPP Pratama Bandung Cibeunying for individual taxpayers. Tax inspection was measured by the number of Income Tax Article 25 issued for individual taxpayers. Income tax revenue is the amount of the installment receipt of Income Tax Article 25 from individual taxpayers in KPP Pratama Bandung Cibeunying. This research used time series method and quantitative data in the form of secondary data obtained from KPP Pratama Bandung Cibeunying for the fiscal years of 2011 until 2015 each month. The data analysis technique used was multiple linear regression. This research proved that taxpayers' awareness effects positively towards income tax revenue in KPP Pratama Bandung Cibeunying, tax socialization do not effects positively towards income tax revenue in KPP Pratama Bandung Cibeunying and tax inspection effects positively towards income tax revenue in KPP Pratama Bandung Cibeunying

Doing What Spiders Cannot-A Road Map to Supreme Artificial Silk Fibers

Fabricating artificial spider silk fibers in bulk scale has been a major goal in materials science for centuries. Two main routes have emerged for making such fibers. One method uses biomimetics in which the spider silk proteins (spidroins) are produced under nativelike conditions and then spun into fibers in a process that captures the natural, complex molecular mechanisms. However, these fibers do not yet match the mechanical properties of native silk fibers, potentially due to the small size of the designed spidroin used. The second route builds on biotechnological progress that enables production of large spidroins that can be spun into fibers by using organic solvents. With this approach, fibers that equal the native material in terms of mechanical properties can be manufactured, but the yields are too low for economically sustainable production. Hence, the need for new ideas is urgent. Herein, we introduce a structural-biology-based approach for engineering artificial spidroins that circumvents the laws with which spidroins, being secretory proteins, have to comply in order to avoid membrane insertion and provide a road map to the production of biomimetic silk fibers with improved mechanical properties