The evolution of the U.S. commercial paper market since 1980

Commercial paper issues

Climate Change Planning: Soil Carbon Regulating Ecosystem Services and Land Cover Change Analysis to Inform Disclosures for the State of Rhode Island, USA

The state of Rhode Island (RI) has established its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals, which require rapidly acquired and updatable science-based data to make these goals enforceable and effective. The combination of remote sensing and soil information data can estimate the past and model future GHG emissions because of conversion of “low disturbance” land covers (e.g., evergreen forest, hay/pasture) to “high disturbance” land covers (e.g., low-, medium-, and high-intensity developed land). These modeled future emissions can be used as a predevelopment potential GHG emissions information disclosure. This study demonstrates the rapid assessment of the value of regulating ecosystems services (ES) from soil organic carbon (SOC), soil inorganic carbon (SIC), and total soil carbon (TSC) stocks, based on the concept of the avoided social cost of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for RI by soil order and county using remote sensing and information from the State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) and Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) databases. Classified land cover data for 2001 and 2016 were downloaded from the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC) website. Obtained results provide accurate and quantitative spatio-temporal information about likely GHG emissions and show their patterns which are often associated with existing urban developments. These remote sensing tools could be used by the state of RI to both understand the nature of land cover change and likely GHG emissions from soil and to institute mandatory or voluntary predevelopment assessments and potential GHG emissions disclosures as a part of a climate mitigation policy

Circulating CD34+ Cell Count is Associated with Extent of Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Asymptomatic Amish Men, Independent of 10-Year Framingham Risk

Background Bone-marrow derived progenitor cells (PCs) may play a role in maintaining vascular health by actively repairing damaged endothelium. The purpose of this study in asymptomatic Old Order Amish men (n = 90) without hypertension or diabetes was to determine if PC count, as determined by CD34+ cell count in peripheral blood, was associated with 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and measures of subclinical atherosclerosis. Methods and Results CD34+ cell count by fluorescence-activated cell sorting, coronary artery calcification (CAC) by electron beam computed tomography, and CVD risk factors were obtained. Carotid intimal-medial thickness (CIMT) also was obtained in a subset of 57 men. After adjusting for 10-year CVD risk, CD34+ cell count was significantly associated with CAC quantity ( p =0.03) and CIMT ( p < 0.0001). A 1-unit increase in natural-log transformed CD34+ cell count was associated with an estimated 55.2% decrease (95% CI: −77.8% to −9.3%) in CAC quantity and an estimated 14.3% decrease (95% CI: −20.1% to −8.1%) in CIMT. Conclusions Increased CD34+ cell count was associated with a decrease in extent of subclinical atherosclerosis in multiple arterial beds, independent of 10-year CVD risk. Further investigations of associations of CD34+ cell count with subclinical atherosclerosis in asymptomatic individuals could provide mechanistic insights into the atherosclerotic process

Trade in the Shadow of Power : Japanese Industrial Exports in the Interwar years

During the interwar years, Japanese industrialisation accelerated alongside the expansion of industrial exports to regional markets. Trade blocs in the interwar years were used as an instrument of imperial power to foster exports and as a substitute for productivity to encourage industrial production. The historiography on Japanese industrialisation in the interwar years describes heavy industries' interests in obtaining access to wider markets to increase economies of scale and reduce unit costs. However, this literature provides no quantitative evidence that proves the success of those mechanisms in expanding exports. In this paper we scrutinise how Japan&#8212;a relatively poor country&#8212;used colonial as well as informal power interventions to expand regional markets for its exports, especially for the most intensive human capital sector of the industrializing economy

Effect of volcanic dykes on coastal groundwater flow and saltwater intrusion : a field-scale multiphysics approach and parameter evaluation

Acknowledgments This research was primarily based on research grant‐aided by the Irish Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources under the National Geoscience Programme 2007–2013. It also benefited from complementary funding from the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society (SAGES). We acknowledge the contribution in data acquisition of the MSc students in Environmental Engineering at Queen's University Belfast, the landowner for access to the inland fields and the Department of Geography, Archaeology and Paleoecology at QUB for provision of the tidal model of Belfast Lough. The data used are listed in the references, tables, and figures and are available from the corresponding author upon demand. We acknowledge the constructive comments by the Associate Editor and three reviewers, which helped in improving the final manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Vertical zonation of testate amoebae in the Elatia Mires, northern Greece : palaeoecological evidence for a wetland response to recent climate change or autogenic processes?

The Elatia Mires of northern Greece are unique ecosystems of high conservation value. The mires are climatically marginal and may be sensitive to changing hydroclimate, while northern Greece has experienced a significant increase in aridity since the late twentieth century. To investigate the impact of recent climatic change on the hydrology of the mires, the palaeoecological record was investigated from three near-surface monoliths extracted from two sites. Testate amoebae were analysed as sensitive indicators of hydrology. Results were interpreted using transfer function models to provide quantitative reconstructions of changing water table depth and pH. AMS radiocarbon dates and 210Pb suggest the peats were deposited within the last c. 50 years, but do not allow a secure chronology to be established. Results from all three profiles show a distinct shift towards a more xerophilic community particularly noted by increases in Euglypha species. Transfer function results infer a distinct lowering of water tables in this period. A hydrological response to recent climate change is a tenable hypothesis to explain this change; however other possible explanations include selective test decay, vertical zonation of living amoebae, ombrotrophication and local hydrological change. It is suggested that a peatland response to climatic change is the most probable hypothesis, showing the sensitivity of marginal peatlands to recent climatic change

Stakeholder Theory and Marketing: Moving from a Firm-Centric to a Societal Perspective

This essay is inspired by the ideas and research examined in the special section on “Stakeholder Marketing” of the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing in 2010. The authors argue that stakeholder marketing is slowly coalescing with the broader thinking that has occurred in the stakeholder management and ethics literature streams during the past quarter century. However, the predominant view of stakeholders that many marketers advocate is still primarily pragmatic and company centric. The position advanced herein is that stronger forms of stakeholder marketing that reflect more normative, macro/societal, and network-focused orientations are necessary. The authors briefly explain and justify these characteristics in the context of the growing “prosociety” and “proenvironment” perspectives—orientations that are also in keeping with the public policy focus of this journal. Under the “hard form” of stakeholder theory, which the authors endorse, marketing managers must realize that serving stakeholders sometimes requires sacrificing maximum profits to mitigate outcomes that would inflict major damage on other stakeholders, especially society

Publisher Correction: Deep coverage whole genome sequences and plasma lipoprotein(a) in individuals of European and African ancestries.

The original version of this article contained an error in the name of the author Ramachandran S. Vasan, which was incorrectly given as Vasan S. Ramachandran. This has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the article

Deep coverage whole genome sequences and plasma lipoprotein(a) in individuals of European and African ancestries.

Lipoprotein(a), Lp(a), is a modified low-density lipoprotein particle that contains apolipoprotein(a), encoded by LPA, and is a highly heritable, causal risk factor for cardiovascular diseases that varies in concentrations across ancestries. Here, we use deep-coverage whole genome sequencing in 8392 individuals of European and African ancestry to discover and interpret both single-nucleotide variants and copy number (CN) variation associated with Lp(a). We observe that genetic determinants between Europeans and Africans have several unique determinants. The common variant rs12740374 associated with Lp(a) cholesterol is an eQTL for SORT1 and independent of LDL cholesterol. Observed associations of aggregates of rare non-coding variants are largely explained by LPA structural variation, namely the LPA kringle IV 2 (KIV2)-CN. Finally, we find that LPA risk genotypes confer greater relative risk for incident atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases compared to directly measured Lp(a), and are significantly associated with measures of subclinical atherosclerosis in African Americans

Dementia and detectives: Alzheimer's disease in crime fiction

Fictional representations of dementia have burgeoned in recent years, and scholars have amply explored their double-edged capacity to promote tragic perspectives or normalising images of ‘living well’ with the condition. Yet to date, there has been only sparse consideration of the treatment afforded dementia within the genre of crime fiction. Focusing on two novels, Emma Healey’s Elizabeth is Missing and Alice LaPlante’s Turn of Mind, this article considers what it means in relation to the ethics of representation that these authors choose to cast as their amateur detective narrators women who have dementia. Analysing how their narrative portrayals frame the experience of living with dementia, it becomes apparent that features of the crime genre inflect the meanings conveyed. While aspects of the novels may reinforce problem-based discourses around dementia, in other respects they may spur meaningful reflection about it among the large readership of this genre