The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend: George Washington and France

This thesis looks at how George Washington was able to overcome his personal animosity towards France and ally himself with them during the American Revolution. This animosity originates with Washington’s early interactions with the French during the French and Indian War. It examines how the events during Washington first miliary mission and journey to Fort Le Boeuf, his first military conflict and surrender at Jumonville Glenn, and his service under General Braddock all helped develop that animosity. However, the overcoming of these early negative feelings for Washington was the culmination of three key factors. The first major guiding force was Washington’s pragmatic need for external aid. The second was the positive behavior and attitudes of Lafayette and Duportial. The final reason was that Washington’s personal beliefs and paradigm were influenced by the Enlightenment which caused him to rethink his views of France. Had Washington not been able to fight alongside the French, the American Revolution might have ended differently. His acceptance of this alliance is a core causality in the emergence of the United States of America

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE COGNITIVE IMPACTS OF MUSIC ACROSS DIFFERENT GENERATIONS OF INDIVIDUALS IN MITIGATING STRESS

The efficacy of music in therapeutically influencing human lifestyle can be broadly classified. Music is known to relieve stress and anxiety (Meyers et al., 2021). The influence of music in the cognitive regions of the brain and its ability to stimulate the body’s reward centers is considered a powerful tool to enhance and flourish human life. What makes music different from other mediums of stress relief is that the music industry is backed by variety. Individuals have the freedom to choose from different genres and select what best suits their personality. All humans share this cross-culturally existing feature called ‘music’ which is customizable and universal by nature (CROSS, 2001). Data was collected from 100 healthy respondents. Results showed that 83% of the participants chose music as the main source of distraction during stressful conditions. Pop and hip-hop was found to be the most preferred music genre for people in the age group of 15-35 years whereas classical music genre was the most preferred choice for individuals above 35 years of age. Another important observation in this paper was that the majority of the respondents increase their duration of listening to music during stressful situations, thus showing the significance of music as a solitary source in overcoming stress. In this paper, we aim to gauge the role of stress and the influence of music in positively mediating anxiety and stress issues in common individuals across different generations.&nbsp

The Lithuanian Agricultural and Food Industry: The Setting for Economic Reforms

After parliamentary elections and the formation of a new government, Lithuania declared the restoration of its independence from the USSR on March 11, 1990. Although Lithuania was not recognized as a separate state by the USSR and the world community until after the failed Moscow putsch of August 1991, the process of economic and political transformation began in 1990. The goal of the reforms is a democratic political system and a market-oriented economy. The agricultural and food industry has been emphasized in these reforms because of its historical significance and its current importance in the national economy. This report provides and overview of this industry leading up to and including 1989 so the context for the reforms and the potential consequences can be better understood. Emphasis is given to the structure of farming, agricultural production and productivity, food production and consumption, farm prices and profitability, and trade. Information presented on price reform decisions up to May 1991 is indicative of the type of change that is underway, but this process is continuing

Changes in vegetative cover on Western Arctic Herd winter range from 1981 to 2005: potential effects of grazing and climate change

The population of the Western Arctic Herd, estimated at 490 000 caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) in 2003, is at its highest level in 30 years. Twenty permanent range transects were established in the winter range of the Western Arctic Herd in 1981 to assess the impacts of grazing. These transects were revisited in 1995 and 1996 (1995/96). Only 18 of the transects were re-located, so an additional 7 transects were established in 1996. In 2005, all 25 remaining transects were revisited. Lichen coverage dropped by a relative 45.1% between 1981 and 1995/96 and by an additional relative 25.6% between 1995/96 and 2005. There was a significant decline in primary forage lichens between 1995/96 and 2005. Caribou use was greater in areas with high lichen abundance. Graminoid cover increased by a relative 118.4% from 1981 to 1995/96 and again by a relative 26.1% from 1995/96 to 2005. Shrub cover increased during the study whereas forb cover declined. The decline in lichen abundance on the winter range of the Western Arctic Herd over 24 years is an index of caribou habitat condition. The observed changes in vegetation cover can be attributed to caribou grazing, fire, and possibly global climate change. Continued declines in lichen cover could lead to population declines within the herd, range shifts, or both

Spatial and Spectral Characterization of the Gravitational-wave Background with the PTA Optimal Statistic

Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) have made tremendous progress and are now showing strong evidence for the gravitational-wave background (GWB). Further probing the origin and characteristics of the GWB will require more generalized analysis techniques. Bayesian methods are most often used but can be computationally expensive. On the other hand, frequentist methods, like the PTA Optimal Statistic (OS), are more computationally efficient and can produce results that are complementary to Bayesian methods, allowing for stronger statistical cases to be built from a confluence of different approaches. In this work we expand the capabilities of the OS through a technique we call the Per-Frequency Optimal Statistic (PFOS). The PFOS removes the underlying power-law assumption inherent in previous implementations of the OS, and allows one to estimate the GWB spectrum in a frequency-by-frequency manner. We have also adapted a recent generalization from the OS pipeline into the PFOS, making it capable of accurately characterizing the spectrum in the intermediate and strong GW signal regimes using only a small fraction of the necessary computational resources when compared with fully-correlated Bayesian methods, while also empowering many new types of analyses not possible before. We find that even in the strong GW signal regime, where the GWB dominates over noise in all frequencies, the injected value of the signal lies within the 50th-percentile of the PFOS uncertainty distribution in 41-45% of simulations, remaining 3σ-consistent with unbiased estimation

FAPRI U.S. Agricultural Sector Elasticities, Volume I: Crops

This report presents estimates of supply, demand, and price transmission elasticities for the U.S. crops sector. The estimates are derived from the U.S. crops model maintained by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) and are prepared in accordance with procedures stipulated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The first section of this report provides a general overview and describes the procedures used to perform the elasticity calculations. Each succeeding section provides general information about the elasticity estimates for a particular activity. Specific attention is given to those results that may not be intuitively clear and, in particular, to the elasticities that depend on the interaction of two or more equations in the FAPRI modeling system

FAPRI U.S. Agricultural Sector Elasticities, Volume II: Livestock, Poultry, and Dairy

This report presents estimates of supply, demand, and price transmission elasticities for the U.S. livestock, poultry, and dairy sectors. The estimates are derived from models maintained by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) and are prepared in accordance with procedures stipulated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)