Permanent Increase Research Articles

Cumulative Damage Mechanism of Short Fiber type C/SiC under Compression

This study investigated cumulative damage mechanisms of short fiber type C/SiC under compression. To measure mechanical properties (unloading modulus and permanent strain) before fracture, repeated loading–unloading tests were conducted using a strain gage. Damage was observed to assess characteristics of crack density, length, number, and propagation angle. Furthermore, relations between mechanical properties and damage characteristics were elucidated by application of Basista’s equations and by substituting crack densities inferred from damage observations. Stress–strain relations revealed nonlinear behavior. The unloading modulus did not change, but the permanent strain increased. Cracks propagated mainly between fibers, without fiber fracture, connecting other cracks in the direction of orientation 0 deg to 30 deg to the compressive axis. We estimated permanent strain using Basista’s equations and damage characteristics. Estimates roughly agreed with experiment results, suggesting that the permanent strain increase is attributable to closed crack sliding and friction caused by increased crack density.

State-dependent fiscal multipliers with preferences over safe assets

I examine the effect of fiscal policy at the zero lower bound when households have preferences over safe assets (POSA) parameterized consistent with microeconomic evidence on intertemporal choices and the macroeconomic elasticity between US government debt supply and bond yields. POSA loosen the link between household consumption and permanent-income, and imply a wealth effect from government bonds. Therefore, the multiplier of a permanent expenditure change increases. I show that these conclusions carry over to an estimated DSGE model. POSA improves the empirical fit of the model if the dataset includes forward interest rates on top of fiscal and macroeconomic data.

Justice for sale: political crises and legal development

AbstractPolitical security is often viewed as a necessary precondition for rulers to develop property-protecting legal institutions. I argue that because these institutions can build political support and generate revenue, domestically insecure rulers may also invest in them. I test this argument using newly collected 12th-century data on the operation of the nascent English common law system. Leveraging the 1192 shipwreck and subsequent kidnap of Richard I as an exogenous shock to domestic political security, I find that the catastrophe appears to have prompted the English Royal Court's short-term deployment to raise political support in areas vulnerable to rebellion. I present suggestive evidence that this effect in vulnerable areas persisted into the medium-term, and appears to have expanded to the rest of the country. Drawing on this and other evidence of changes in Royal Court funding, activity, and organization between 1184 and 1203, I argue that the shock may have helped to bring about a permanent increase in the Court's capacity and accessibility. These findings are relevant to studies of the common law and the political economy of legal institutions generally.

Permanent grassland hay-derived biochar increases plant N, P and K uptake on an acidic soil

Permanent grassland hay-derived biochar increases plant N, P and K uptake on an acidic soil

Patent protection, innovation, and technology transfer in a Schumpeterian economy

Abstract This paper analyzes the cross-country effects of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection on the relative wage, innovation, and technology transfer in a North-South quality-ladder model with innovative Northern R&D and adaptive Southern R&D. The degree of IPR protection in two countries differs in terms of patent breadth, which determines the markups of Northern firms and their Southern affiliates, respectively. In this model, stronger IPR protection in the South leads to a permanent decrease in the North-South wage gap, a temporary increase in the Northern innovation rate, and a permanent increase in technology transfer. By contrast, stronger IPR protection in the North leads to a permanent increase in the North-South wage gap, ambiguous effects on the Northern innovation rate, and a permanent decrease in technology transfer. Finally, we perform a quantitative analysis by calibrating the model to the US-China data, and the numerical results support these policy implications in addition to a welfare implication such that strengthening patent protection in one country leads to sizable welfare improvements in both countries.

LEGISLATION OF MEDIA EDUCATION IN THE USA

In the conditions of permanent increase in the mass media (facilities of mass communication: the printed facilities, video products, television, Internet) the study of their influence on forming personality and the point of view acquires much importance. Information technologies are the determinative factor in forming a considerable part of national values of many countries. Media are the powerful source of informal education and education for different circles of population. In the article the author stresses the idea that the study of powerful potential of media resources is of a great importance and interest in the context of rapid development of digital technologies and their growing influence on people. The use of general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, systematization, comparison, generalization) enabled the study of Ukrainian and foreign scholars, official legislative documents. Legislation of the USA in the sphere of media education has been analyzed. The legislative ways of media education management have been considered. Progressive character of laws, regulations and other documents than enhance targeted and thoughtful use of media resources has been underlined. The fact that only with adoption of relevant legislation in the USA the state of affairs in media education changed for better proves the author’s idea about its influential role in such important sphere of social life. It is worth noticing that such initiatives were backed up by professional, state and community organizations that doubled the effect of media education implementation in the USA. The conclusion has been made about the contribution of relevant legislation into profound reform of education on systematic basis. It enabled to improve the quality of education by means of allowing educational establishments to react properly and timely to media requirements of the society.

Мaize hybrids for grain and silage in agro-ecological conditions of the Republic of Srpska

Maize is used in human and animal nutrition, in industrial processing (nutritional products, pharmaceutical industry, alcohol industry, chemical industry, textile industry). Economical significance of maize is derived from its yield, namely its total production of grain maize, as well as silage. Today, together with potatoes and sugar cane, maize is used for production of bioethanol, a very important source of renewable energy. Maize is grown worldwide on surfaces of 192,05 million ha, on which around 1,108 billion tonnes of grain is produced. The largest producers of genetically modified corn in the world are USA, Brasil, Argentina, while in the EU GM corn is grown in Spain and Portugal. Maize is the most important field crop in the Republic of Srpska and is grown on 46.7 % of sown areas. In a ten-year period (2008-2017) the least growing area on which the maize was grown were in 2012 (120,901 ha), and the largest in 2008 (148,539 ha). The limiting factor in achieving high yield are meteoroidal conditions (high temperatures, draught or excessive rainfall) because of which average yield variation is from 2.7 to 5.3 t ha-1 . The biggest cereals and maize production in Republic of Srpska, the one of 1,657,556 tonnes, was achieved in 2016 which, compared to 2015 was an increase of 46%, or 520,000 tonnes, and was affected by a record breaking maize production of 1.178.423 tonnes. In organic corn production the sweet and popcorn are the most bred. The improvement in agricultural production mostly depends on perfecting the existing and developing the new and appropriate technical solutions. The accent is increased on protection of the environment, production of healthy and quality food and decrease in production expenses, and all of this can be achieved by applying the conservation treatment of soil. Growing corn in complete and regular crop rows, especially in which there are legume plants, can significantly affect the decrease in weediness and increase in grain yield. The corn is often grown in combined sowing with other plants, most often with soy, beans and fodder pumpkin. Maize breeding in past period created many hybrids, which enabled a permanent yield increase. The methods of conventional breeding are efficient but slow in creating a germplasm tolerant on existing range of climate conditions and are not suitable for rapid improvement of multiple stress tolerance. Molecular breeding enables increase in speed and efficiency of breeding. The only institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina which deals with breeding and creating new species and hybrids of grown plants, adapted to local agroecological conditions is the PI Agricultural Institute, Banja Luka. So far, the Institute created nine maize hybrids, the most significant being BL 43.

Relational permanence and the potential for delinquency among African American adolescents in foster care

Social relationships are often seen as a buffer to delinquency. However, they may be correlated with negative outcomes, as delinquency may provide social benefits for adolescents in foster care. Relational permanence – a form of social support characterized by the presence of an ongoing caring and supportive person in the context of the foster care system – is the primary type of social relationship that is explored. Regression analyses were conducted examining whether relational permanence predicted later delinquency. We found an increase in relational permanence over time was correlated with higher levels of delinquency. These findings demonstrate that not all social relationships are correlated with positive outcomes. The multidimensionality of social relationships must be further understood in order to inform targeted interventions for youth in the foster care system. Considerations specifically for African-American adolescents in foster care are also addressed.

COVID-19 Helicopter Money, Monetary Policy and Central Bank Independence: Economics and Politics

This article discusses a form of fiscal monetization that produces losses in the central bank’s balance sheet, without a permanent increase in the money base. If an independent central bank acts as a long-sighted policymaker, an optimal helicopter monetary policy can be identified. At the same time, if the government in charge is made up of career-concerned politicians and citizens are heterogenous, then the policy mix will produce distributional effects, and conflicts between politicians and central bankers will be likely. Political pressures will arise and the helicopter money option will be less likely. The framework is applied in a discussion of the economics and politics of issuing COVID-19 perpetual bonds with the European Central Bank as the buyer.

Prediction of permanent deformation for subgrade soils under traffic loading in Southern China

ABSTRACT The cumulative permanent strain of subgrade soils plays an important role in the pavement structure design and long-term pavement performance maintenance. In Southern China, the hot and humid climate increases the risk of becoming a saturated condition for subgrade soils. The saturated subgrade soils will generate significant cumulative permanent strain under long-term cyclic loading compared with unsaturated soils. This study investigated the impact of the moisture content, number of cyclic loading, deviatoric stress and confining pressure on the evolution of the cumulative permanent strain for subgrade soils by using long-term cyclic (10,000 cycles) triaxial tests. The test results indicated that the cumulative axial permanent strain increase with the increasing moisture content, as well as the increasing number of cyclic loading and deviatoric stress but decreases with the increasing confining pressure. In order to predict the permanent deformation of subgrade soils in Southern China, a new model for predicting the permanent deformation of subgrade soil, which contains number of cyclic loading, initial bulk stress, octahedral shear stress and saturation, was proposed and validated.

What if people value nature? Climate change and welfare costs

We introduce temperature shocks and preferences for environmental quality in a real business cycle model with natural resources. Temperature anomalies are transmitted to the business cycles via their negative effects on output and agents’ utility. Our findings suggest that permanent and temporary weather shocks propagation and their welfare implications depend crucially on whether agents value environmental quality. A permanent increase in temperature reduces output with damages reaching up to 1.61% of GDP. Agents who value environmental quality experience a higher temporary welfare gain when facing a negative weather shock, but welfare drops faster as the economy returns to equilibrium. Temperature anomalies amplify the (negative) effect of climate change on natural resources use and welfare.

Assessing the Moisture Susceptibility at Interface of Asphalt Concrete Pavement Layers

The asphalt concrete flexible pavement consists of many layers interconnected by tack coat binder. The resistance of the bonding tack coat to the impact of moisture that ingress through the cracks into the interface of asphalt concrete can cause premature matrix degradation of pavement structure. In this investigation, the influence of moisture susceptibility on the bond strength and horizontal deformation of three layers of asphalt concrete are assessed under repeated shear stresses. The suitability of two types of tack coat (Rapid curing cutback RC-70 and medium setting cationic emulsion CMS) to support the resistance to moisture damage have been investigated. Asphalt concrete slab specimens have been prepared with the aid of roller compactor for the typical three layers usually implemented in flexible pavement in Iraq (wearing, binder and asphalt stabilized base courses) with (12, 19.5 and 25) mm nominal maximum size of aggregate. Layers were bonded by tack coat after construction of the bottom layers. Core specimens have been obtained and subjected to moisture damage then practiced 1200 cyclic shear stresses in the Pneumatic Repeated Load System PRLS using a special manufactured mold. Control core specimens have been obtained and practiced 1200 cyclic shear stresses. Specimens were tested for bond shear strength. The bond shear strength and horizontal deformation under repeated shear stresses were analyzed and compared. It was concluded that the horizontal permanent deformation increases by a range of (4 -27) % and (2-57) % after moisture damage when RC-70 and CMS tack coat were implemented respectively at various application rates. However, the reduction in bond shear strength due to moisture damage ranges between (2-17) % and (5 -30) % for RC-70 and CMS Tack coat interfaces. CMS tack coat exhibits higher bond shear strength ratio BSSR than RC-70 tack coat for all the application rates and is recommended for use from the moisture susceptibility point of view. Keywords: Moisture Susceptibility; Interface; Asphalt Concrete; Bond Shear; Horizontal Deformation; Tack Coat;

Lack of Helios During Neural Development Induces Adult Schizophrenia-Like Behaviors Associated With Aberrant Levels of the TRIF-Recruiter Protein WDFY1.

The role of the WDFY1 protein has been studied as a TLR3/4 scaffold/recruiting protein in the immune system and in different oncogenic conditions. However, its function in brain remains poorly understood. We have found that in mice devoid of Helios (He–/– mice), a transcription factor specifically expressed during the development of the immune cells and the central nervous system, there is a permanent and sustained increase of Wdfy1 gene expression in the striatum and hippocampus. Interestingly, we observed that WDFY1 protein levels were also increased in the hippocampus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of schizophrenic patients, but not in the hippocampus of Alzheimer’s disease patients with an associated psychotic disorder. Accordingly, young He–/– mice displayed several schizophrenic-like behaviors related to dysfunctions in the striatum and hippocampus. These changes were associated with an increase in spine density in medium spiny neurons (MSNs) and with a decrease in the number and size of PSD-95-positive clusters in the stratum radiatum of the CA1. Moreover, these alterations in structural synaptic plasticity were associated with a strong reduction of neuronal NF-κB in the pyramidal layer of the CA1 in He–/– mice. Altogether, our data indicate that alterations involving the molecular axis Helios-WDFY1 in neurons during the development of core brain regions could be relevant for the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.

Large-scale afforestation significantly increases permanent surface water in China's vegetation restoration regions

China is facing the challenge of the uncertain impacts of large-scale afforestation on regional water resources. However, the effects of vegetation cover changes on the variation in surface water at the regional scale are still controversial. Here, we focused on the 0.9 million km2 vegetation restoration region in China, where the highest significant vegetation cover changes on the earth. Multi-source remote sensing data were used to describe the characteristics of seasonality and transition of surface water and to analyse the causes of surface water changes from climate, vegetation cover and other human factors. Our results show that the annual maximum NDVI of Northeast region (NE) and Loess Plateau region (LP) increased significantly from 0.74 to 0.85 and 0.49 to 0.62 from 2000 to 2015, respectively. Meanwhile, permanent water, as a vital component of surface water, exhibited net increases of 695.6 km2 and 119.4 km2 in NE and LP from 2000 to 2015, respectively. The extension in permanent water and the implementation of ecological projects exhibited highly consistent spatiotemporal patterns. Statistical analysis indicated that vegetation cover is an important factor in controlling permanent water changes. Human activities such as building dams and reservoirs are also an important explanatory variable for permanent water increases. The newly built dams contributed 43% in NE and 25% in LP to the increase in permanent water. In addition, although climatic factors were not the main factor influencing permanent water, precipitation significantly affected the total surface water in NE. These findings have potential implications for understanding surface water and forest dynamics and formulating regional development plans in the vegetation restoration region in China.

Will the locals benefit?: The effect of wind power investments on rural wages

An important and poorly understood question when communities consider wind power investments is whether the local population will benefit financially. I examine the effect of wind power investment on wages in rural counties in the US. I combine quarterly panel data on wages with data on all wind power plant investments larger than 1 megawatt (MW). Using a Bayesian multilevel model estimated by MCMC, I estimate a significant positive effect, with a magnitude consistent with a 2% permanent increase in wages following an investment in a large wind farm of 400 MW. However, this effect has large geographic and socioeconomic variation. Counties with low employment tend to see little impact on wages from wind power, potentially because slack in the labor market prevents wages from rising. From a policy perspective, these results are most relevant for local regulators and planners, who seek to balance the benefits and costs of wind farms to the community. This research indicates that wind farms can provide, on average, a modest boost to local wages, with some areas seeing an out-sized effect.

Multi-generational genetic consequences of reinforcement in a bird metapopulation

Translocation of conspecific individuals to reduce extinction risk of small, isolated populations and prevent genetic depletion is a powerful tool in conservation biology. An important question is how the translocated individuals influence the long-term genetic composition of the recipient population. Here, we experimentally reinforced a house sparrow (Passer domesticus) population, and examined the impact of this translocation on allele frequencies, levels of heterozygosity and genetic differentiation over six cohorts. We found no permanent increase in the mean number of alleles across loci or levels of observed heterozygosity, but a few alleles private to the translocated individuals remained in the population and we found a short-term increase in heterozygosity. Consequently, genetic differentiation of the recipient population compared to the genetic composition prior to reinforcement was small. The limited genetic impact was due to combined effects of a small probability of establishment and low mating success for the translocated individuals, together with increased genetic drift in the recipient population. Our findings emphasize the importance of selection and genetic drift as forces that may decrease the genetic contribution of reinforcement, especially in small populations. Conservation managers should aim to improve habitat quality in the recipient population to reduce genetic drift following translocation and thereby avoid the need for continued reinforcement. Furthermore, by facilitating establishment success and selecting individuals expected to have high mating success, possibly indicated by sexually selected traits, genetic contribution of released individuals is increased which in turn will decrease reproductive skew and genetic drift.

Effects of Aerosolized Carfentanil on Cardiac Function in Ferrets

Carfentanil (CRF) is a potent synthetic opioid primarily used in anaesthetizing large animals. Exposure to CRF can cause both respiratory and central nervous system depression. Respiratory depression can lead to hypoxia, which may lead to cardiac damage and ultimately death. Myocardial damage has been observed in ferrets exposed to aerosolized CRF. Troponin is a protein complex that plays an integral part in muscle contractions within the myocardium and is used as an indicator of myocardial damage. An increase in blood levels of troponin in exposed ferrets would suggest underlying cardiac damage. Select animals were treated with naloxone (NX), an opioid antagonist, to investigate whether reversing opioid effects altered cardiac function or troponin levels.Male telemetrized ferrets were exposed to aerosolized CRF in a whole‐body plethysmography chamber. Cardiac parameters and respiratory dynamics were collected before, during, and after CRF exposure. Ferrets received no treatment, an oral or intramuscular (i.m.) dose of NX (0.375, 0.75, 1.5, or 3 mg/mL), or water 30 minutes post‐exposure. Euthanasia occurred 24 hours post‐exposure, and blood was collected via descending aorta or heart stick. Serum was separated from blood and analyzed using a high sensitivity rat cardiac troponin‐I enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Average troponin levels for all animals ranged from 0.00 – 6.30 ng/mL. Troponin levels were not statistically different across treatment groups, though we observed an increase in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and increased incidents of premature junction complexes for animals exposed to CRF, indicating potential cardiac distress. The increase in MAP could be a compensatory mechanism to overcome hypoxia due to decreased respiration induced by CRF. Both control and exposed animals showed an increase in MAP following treatment; however, sham‐exposed animals had no rise in MAP post‐treatment. This rise in MAP could be due to a combination of NX treatment and a response to being handled for the injection. Overall, our results suggest that CRF does not directly cause myocardial damage, nor do surgically implanted cardiac telemetry devices cause an explicit, permanent increase in troponin levels. Further investigation is needed to determine if cardiac abnormalities observed in ferrets are caused via hypoxia or other unknown mechanisms.Support or Funding InformationOpinions, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the US Army. This research complied with the Animal Welfare Act and implementing Animal Welfare Regulations and adhered to the principles noted in The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. This research was supported by DTRA RD‐CB. E.P., W.Y.T., M.R. S.P., A.D., and V.D.C. were supported in part by an appointment to the Postgraduate Research Participation Program at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through an interagency agreement between the US Department of Energy and USAMRDC.

Conterminous United States land cover change patterns 2001–2016 from the 2016 National Land Cover Database

The 2016 National Land Cover Database (NLCD) product suite (available on www.mrlc.gov), includes Landsat-based, 30 m resolution products over the conterminous (CONUS) United States (U.S.) for land cover, urban imperviousness, and tree, shrub, herbaceous and bare ground fractional percentages. The release of NLCD 2016 provides important new information on land change patterns across CONUS from 2001 to 2016. For land cover, seven epochs were concurrently generated for years 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2013, and 2016. Products reveal that land cover change is significant across most land cover classes and time periods. The land cover product was validated using existing reference data from the legacy NLCD 2011 accuracy assessment, applied to the 2011 epoch of the NLCD 2016 product line. The legacy and new NLCD 2011 overall accuracies were 82% and 83%, respectively, (standard error (SE) was 0.5%), demonstrating a small but significant increase in overall accuracy. Between 2001 and 2016, the CONUS landscape experienced significant change, with almost 8% of the landscape having experienced a land cover change at least once during this period. Nearly 50% of that change involves forest, driven by change agents of harvest, fire, disease and pests that resulted in an overall forest decline, including increasing fragmentation and loss of interior forest. Agricultural change represented 15.9% of the change, with total agricultural spatial extent showing only a slight increase of 4778 km2, however there was a substantial decline (7.94%) in pasture/hay during this time, transitioning mostly to cultivated crop. Water and wetland change comprised 15.2% of change and represent highly dynamic land cover classes from epoch to epoch, heavily influenced by precipitation. Grass and shrub change comprise 14.5% of the total change, with most change resulting from fire. Developed change was the most persistent and permanent land change increase adding almost 29,000 km2 over 15 years (5.6% of total CONUS change), with southern states exhibiting expansion much faster than most of the northern states. Temporal rates of developed change increased in 2001–2006 at twice the rate of 2011–2016, reflecting a slowdown in CONUS economic activity. Future NLCD plans include increasing monitoring frequency, reducing latency time between satellite imaging and product delivery, improving accuracy and expanding the variety of products available in an integrated database.

Refractive Index Contrast Polymers: Photoresponsive Systems with Spatial Modulation of Refractive Index for Photonics.

The development of an intriguing concept using optical polymers for photonics is reported to enable modulation of refractive index (RI) in solution cast thin films with precise spatial control. While extensive efforts in polymer science have focused on methods to prepare optically transparent polymers with high RI, the creation of photoresponsive polymer systems to spatially adjust the refractive index upon irradiation is a distinct technical challenge requiring development of materials amenable to this process. The ability to create refractive index contrast (i.e., a difference in RI between two domains) is a critical capability required in photonics for the fabrication of integrated photonics devices, such as, polymer waveguides. In this report, we detail the synthesis of optical polymers tailored to this application, termed Refractive Index Contrast (RIC) polymers, in which the RI of the material can be photopatterned where UV exposure in the presence of a photoacid generator resulted in a permanent increase of RI in the exposed regions thus creating regions of high RIC. This process creates the high RI core of waveguides in a single step and lends itself to rapid fabrication of photonic devices via direct laser writing. Waveguides made from RIC polymers were found to have propagation losses of ∼2 dB/cm at 1550 nm.

Oil price shocks and the composition of current account balance

It is a well-established regularity that permanent oil price shocks do not have a permanent effect on the current account deficit. This requires that sub-components of the current account or trade balance will make the necessary adjustments to accommodate the higher energy bill of a country triggered by permanent crude oil price increases. Empirical evidence gathered from Turkey reveals that, in the long run, balancing the current account is provided by a permanent increase in the net exports of Agricultural Production, Maintenance and Repair Services, Travel, Construction, Financial Services, Compensation of Employees, and Goods under Merchanting (non-tradable components of the current account balance); and a permanent decrease in the net exports of Mining, Fishery, Other Goods for BEC Classification, Investment Income, Manufacturing Services on Physical Inputs Owned by Others, and Transport balances mostly in sectors that use energy heavily in production. All these responses are found to be statistically significant in the more than 24 periods we consider in this study.