\u3ci\u3eBody Counts: The Vietnam War and Militarized Refugees\u3c/i\u3e Book Review

In this book review of Body Counts: The Vietnam War and Militarized Refugees, the author reviews the concept of “militarized refugee,” explores “memory” as a research framework, and attempts to connect the author’s memory to the memory of the author of the book. The paper is inspired by her own curiosity about the lives of her father and uncles who were directly involved in the Vietnam War, as well as her experience with the lack of relevancy in the history curriculum throughout her K-12 education

Mutagenicity assessment of aerosols in emissions from wood combustion

Mestrado em Estudos AmbientaisPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) extracts of PM2.5 collected from combustion of seven wood species and briquettes were tested for mutagenic activities using Ames test with Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100. The woods werePinuspinaster (maritime pine), Eucalyptus globulus (eucalypt), Quercussuber (cork oak), Acacia longifolia (golden wattle), Quercusfaginea (Portuguese oak), Oleaeuropea (olive), and Quercus ilex rotundifolia (Holm oak). Burning experiments were done using woodstove and fireplace, hot start and cold start. A mutagenic/weak mutagenic response was recorded for all species except golden wattle. The extracts with indirect acting mutagenicity were mainly obtained from fireplace and cold start conditions. The strong mutagenic extracts were not correlated with high emission factors of carcinogenic PAHs. Several samples were weak mutagens at low concentration of PAHs. The negative result recorded for the golden wattle extracts is positive since after confirmation, this species can be recommended for domestic use.(FCT) - PTDC/AMB/65706/2006 (BIOEMI

Differential Rewards to, and Contributions of, Education in Urban China’s Segmented Labor Markets

Education’s role in determining worker incomes in China’s rapidly changing urban labor markets is investigated in this paper. Using worker data from a 1999-2000 urban enterprise survey, we examine the effects of education on the current earnings of continuously-employed urban workers, migrants, and laid off but subsequently re-employed workers, as well as on the most recent earnings of laid-off (but not subsequently re-employed) workers. We also decompose the earnings differentials between each of these groups of workers and then assess the contribution of education to explanations of the differentials. The empirical results demonstrate that educational attainment remains an important explanator of earnings differentials between institutionally-differentiated groups of workers in China’s urban labor markets. An interesting hierarchy of returns to education has developed. The education of migrants is generally poorly rewarded. The moderate returns to educational investments of the continuously-employed urban residents rank next. Re-employed urban residents experience the highest rewards to their education, especially those who used a competitive means to find their post-layoff employment. When we assess the earning differentials between groups using the continuously-employed urban residents as the basis of comparison, differences in educational attainments alone contribute between 16 and 52 percent of the explanation of the total inter-group wage gaps.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39893/3/wp508.pd

The 20 GHz spacecraft IMPATT solid state transmitter

The engineering development of a solid-state transmitter amplifier operating in the 20-GHz frequency range is described. This effort involved a multitude of disciplines including IMPATT device development, circulator design, multiple-diode circuit design, and amplifier integration and test. The objective was to develop a transmitter amplifier demonstrating the feasibility of providing an efficient, reliable, lightweight solid-state transmitter to be flown on a 30 to 20 GHz communication demonstration satellite. The work was done under contract from NASA/Lewis Research Center for a period of three years. The result was the development of a GaAs IMPACT diode amplifier capable of an 11-W CW output power and a 2-dB bandwidth of 300 MHz. GaAs IMPATT diodes incorporating diamond heatsink and double-Read doping profile capable of 5.3-W CW oscillator output power and 15.5% efficiency were developed. Up to 19% efficiency was also observed for an output power level of 4.4 W. High performance circulators with a 0.2 dB inserting loss and bandwidth of 5 GHz have also been developed. These represent a significant advance in both device and power combiner circuit technologies in K-band frequencies