53 research outputs found
Grace on the Gulf
No full textAfter the liberation of Kuwait by coalition forces in 1991, the Kuwaitis have been grateful and gracious hosts. Commander Torrens of the US base on Kuwait tries to continue this friendly relationship, and makes a new friend in the process. A short memoir about kindness, religion, and a shared ethos.
Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit
Biogeochemical Dynamics and Response to Permafrost Degradation in McMurdo Dry Valley Streams, Antarctica
No full textStreams are biogeochemical connectors that transport and transform nutrients and carbon throughout their watershed. This ability can be altered temporarily or permanently by anthropogenic disturbances like climate warming. The ephemeral streams of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica [MDV], are ‘model systems’, with relatively simple ecology and hydrology: they are fed only by glacial meltwater, and perennial microbial communities drive stream ecosystem function. As Antarctic climate warming continues, it is important to understand both current stream biogeochemical processes and how these may alter under a warmer climate regime.
My research goals are to quantify two key MDV stream biogeochemical processes: carbon fluxes and nutrient (N, P) uptake; and to assess how these ecosystems respond to a warming-related thermokarst disturbance. First, I quantified concentration-discharge relationships for dissolved organic carbon [DOC], and found that, despite low organic carbon stocks and large diel changes in discharge, these streams exhibit DOC chemostasis. To explain this behavior, I developed a new conceptual model for DOC generation and storage. Next, I used pulse additions to determine nutrient uptake dynamics for NO3-N, NH4-N and PO4-P in six streams across the Taylor Valley, at nutrient concentrations from ambient to saturation. These streams demonstrated efficient uptake even at concentrations 2-3 orders of magnitude above typical background levels, indicating biotic ability to adjust to large and rapid changes in nutrient levels. Finally, I quantified stream biotic response to a 2012 thermokarst event, which loaded sediment and nutrients into an MDV stream, by using high-resolution satellite imagery to map stream microbial mat activity from 2010 to 2019. Surprisingly, biotic activity increased the year after the thermokarst event, indicating that MDV mat communities are resilient to this type of disturbance. We hypothesize that significantly-higher post-thermokarst N and P loads may have aided this rapid recovery.
As a whole, my research advances understanding of essential stream biogeochemistry in this polar desert environment, including how these systems may respond to a warmer future. Findings from these model systems can also advance our understanding of more complex systems, e.g. temperate and tropical streams, where the microbially-driven processes I elucidate are often hidden by other, larger fluxes.</p
Biogeochemical Dynamics and Response to Permafrost Degradation in McMurdo Dry Valley Streams, Antarctica
No full textStreams are biogeochemical connectors that transport and transform nutrients and carbon throughout their watershed. This ability can be altered temporarily or permanently by anthropogenic disturbances like climate warming. The ephemeral streams of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica [MDV], are ‘model systems’, with relatively simple ecology and hydrology: they are fed only by glacial meltwater, and perennial microbial communities drive stream ecosystem function. As Antarctic climate warming continues, it is important to understand both current stream biogeochemical processes and how these may alter under a warmer climate regime.
My research goals are to quantify two key MDV stream biogeochemical processes: carbon fluxes and nutrient (N, P) uptake; and to assess how these ecosystems respond to a warming-related thermokarst disturbance. First, I quantified concentration-discharge relationships for dissolved organic carbon [DOC], and found that, despite low organic carbon stocks and large diel changes in discharge, these streams exhibit DOC chemostasis. To explain this behavior, I developed a new conceptual model for DOC generation and storage. Next, I used pulse additions to determine nutrient uptake dynamics for NO3-N, NH4-N and PO4-P in six streams across the Taylor Valley, at nutrient concentrations from ambient to saturation. These streams demonstrated efficient uptake even at concentrations 2-3 orders of magnitude above typical background levels, indicating biotic ability to adjust to large and rapid changes in nutrient levels. Finally, I quantified stream biotic response to a 2012 thermokarst event, which loaded sediment and nutrients into an MDV stream, by using high-resolution satellite imagery to map stream microbial mat activity from 2010 to 2019. Surprisingly, biotic activity increased the year after the thermokarst event, indicating that MDV mat communities are resilient to this type of disturbance. We hypothesize that significantly-higher post-thermokarst N and P loads may have aided this rapid recovery.
As a whole, my research advances understanding of essential stream biogeochemistry in this polar desert environment, including how these systems may respond to a warmer future. Findings from these model systems can also advance our understanding of more complex systems, e.g. temperate and tropical streams, where the microbially-driven processes I elucidate are often hidden by other, larger fluxes.</p
Bank Left
No full textAn air force pilot needs to choose his copilot.
Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit
A Couch
No full textIn the wake of 9/11, a pilot chooses returning to command over comforting his family.
Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit
Sam\u27s Club
No full textA harrowing interview with The White House, a 45 pound briefcase called \u27The Football containing presidential launch codes, and an unpaid debt to a certain grocer.
Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit
Untouchable
No full textThree 18 year old Air Force Cadets, finding themselves with a bit of cash and unsupervised free time, decide to make the most of it. A penthouse suite, a casino, a fast car, and the freedom of youth; if only for a day.
Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit
The Political Economy of Free Trade, WTO and the Developing Countries
No full textThis paper examines the existing literature on trade liberalisation and itseffect on the economies of developing countries. It will also briefly examine the theory of comparative advantage which is seen as justification for global trade liberalisation under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation. This process is also associated with greater openness, economic interdependence and deepening economic integration with the world economy. The study is important because once again the international institutions strongly advocate trade and financial liberalisation in developing countries. The proponents of trade liberalisation argue that multilateral trade negotiations would achieve these goals, and poor countries particularly would benefit from it. However, such policies may increase vulnerability and make developing countries further hostages of international finance capital. Adoption of open market policies in agriculture would also mean the abandoning of self-reliance and food sovereignty, which may have wider consequences in terms of food shortages, food prices and rural employment
It only took 2 clicks and he’d lost me: Dimensions of inclusion and exclusion in ICT supported tertiary engineering education
No full textCurrent conceptualisations of the digital divide have broadened beyond the notion of ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ to include a more multifaceted perspective in which individuals and the contexts in which they learn are explicitly considered. This paper reports on a qualitative case study of a compulsory Engineering foundations course at a tertiary institution in New Zealand. The course provides a broad introduction to engineering concepts, with particular emphasis on problem solving, the design process, and use of 3-dimensional computer-aided design (CAD) software. Findings illustrate and illuminate the multidimensional nature of information and communication technology (ICT) inclusion/ exclusion and are described within three themes – technological, conceptual, and aspirational/ professional. Implications are presented for course designers and lecturers interested in providing more inclusive learning environments
Quality change and other influences on measures of export prices of manufactured goods
No full textMeasures of long-term trends in world export prices for manufactured goods, and in the terms of trade between manufactured goods and primary products, are sensitive to many choices in methods for weighting indexes, base periods, and (most important) changes in quality. For example: 1) wieghting products by their importance in exports to developing countries, rather than by their importance in exports to all countries, reduces the estimated rate of increase in prices for manufactured goods by about 0.1 or 0.2 percentage points a year; 2) a shift in weights from those of an early year (1963) to those of a recent year (1986) reduces the rate of increase in prices by about a third of a percentage point a year; 3) export price indexes with weights of Japanese exports grow about 0.2 to 0.4 percentage points a year less than one weighted by the U.S. export composition, with the larger difference for indexes based on 1963 weights; 4) adjusting the price index for exports of machinery and transport equipment for quality changes not accounted for in the price indexes reduces the rate of increase for those products by about one percentage point a year, and that adjustment for only those products reduces the estimated rate of increase in prices for all manufactures by about half a percentage point a year. Conservative estimates of the bias in the most commonly used measure of export prices of manufactured products - the U.N. export unit value index for manufactures - suggest that this measure overstates the long-run rise in prices for manufactured goods by more than half a percentage point a year, probably one percentage point or more. If so, there has been no long-term trend toward the prices of manufactured goods rising faster that prices for primary products. However, no conceivable estimate of bias in measures of prices for manufactured goods would reverse the picture of declining relative prices for primary products in the 1980s.Access to Markets,Markets and Market Access,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT
- …
