scholarly journals Forestation in Puerto Rico, 1970s to Present

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Yuan ◽  
Jose Javier Lopez ◽  
Sabrina Arnold ◽  
Anna Brand ◽  
Jonas Klein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
The United States ◽  
Forest Growth ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Past Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Detection Analysis ◽  
The Government ◽  
Landsat Satellite

It is important to monitor the trend of forestland changes, as forests are vital sources and sinks of carbon on the earth. One of the most densely populated jurisdictions of the United States, Puerto Rico, has experienced significant transformations in the past century. This study examines forestation in the main island of Puerto Rico during the past four decades using feature extraction and change detection analysis in multitemporal Landsat satellite imagery. The results of the study show that forest cover in Puerto Rico had almost tripled from 15.7% to 45.7% between 1972 and 2014. Moreover, the forestation trend and pace in abandoned coffee plantations and pastures continued after 1990, driven by continuous socioeconomic transformation. Natural forestation and conservation efforts from the government and nongovernment organizations have also contributed to the forest growth on the island. The information gained and lessons learned during the process may be applied to other densely populated tropical insular territories. 

scholarly journals STATEMENT FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE W. E. B. DU BOIS INSTITUTE

2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Louis Gates
Keyword(s):  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Color Line ◽  
Du Bois ◽  
The Past ◽  
Considerable Work ◽  
Public Policy Decisions

In 1903, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois famously predicted that the problem of the twentieth century would be the problem of the color line. Indeed, during the past century, matters of race were frequently the cause of intense conflict and the stimulus for public policy decisions not only in the United States, but throughout the world. The founding of the Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race at the beginning of the twenty-first century acknowledges the continuing impact of Du Bois's prophecy, his pioneering role as one of the founders of the discipline of sociology in the American academy, and the considerable work that remains to be done as we confront the “problem” that Du Bois identified over a century ago.

Transportation Fuel Resiliency: Case Study of Tampa Bay

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110416
Author(s):  
Alexander Kolpakov ◽  
Austin Marie Sipiora ◽  
Caley Johnson ◽  
Erin Nobler
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Fuels ◽  
The United States ◽  
Tampa Bay ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Transportation Fuel ◽  
Fuel Supply ◽  
Preparedness Planning ◽  
The Past ◽  
Hurricane Irma

This case study presents findings from an analysis of the emergency preparation and response for Hurricane Irma, the most recent hurricane impacting the Tampa Bay region. The Tampa Bay region, in particular, is considered one of the most vulnerable areas in the United States to hurricanes and severe tropical weather. A particular vulnerability stems from how all petroleum fuel comes to the area by marine transport through Port Tampa Bay, which can be (and has been in the past) impacted by hurricanes and tropical storms. The case study discussed in this paper covers previous fuel challenges, vulnerabilities, and lessons learned by key Tampa Bay public agency fleets during the past 10 years (mainly as a result of the most recent 2017 Hurricane Irma) to explore ways to improve the area’s resilience to natural disasters. Some of the strategies for fuel-supply resiliency include maintaining emergency fuel supply, prioritizing fuel use, strategically placing the assets around the region to help with recovery, investing in backup generators (including generators powered by alternative fuels), planning for redundancies in fuel supply networks, developing more efficient communication procedures between public fleets, hurricane preparedness-planning, and upgrading street drainage systems to reduce the threat of local flooding.

The Flynn Effect

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Duckworth ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Graduate School ◽  
The United States ◽  
Delay Of Gratification ◽  
Average Score ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Political Scientist ◽  
Abstract Reasoning ◽  
Flynn Effect ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Difference

In tandem with increases in delay of gratification, the human capacity for abstract reasoning has increased enormously over the past century. This phenomenon is called the Flynn Effect, after the political scientist who discovered it. I first learned about the Flynn Effect in graduate school. I remember thinking it was impossible. How could it be that as a species, we're getting smarter? And not just a little bit smarter. The size of the Flynn Effect is staggering: more than 30 IQ points—the difference between getting an average score on a standard intelligence test versus qualifying as mentally gifted. Gains are comparable in all areas of the United States and, indeed, around the world.

Research Productivity and International Collaboration: A Study of Ecuadorian Science

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Antonio Castillo ◽  
Michael A. Powell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Latin American ◽  
International Collaboration ◽  
Research Productivity ◽  
Research Output ◽  
Scientific Productivity ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Government ◽  
Latin American Countries

Ecuador’s research output relative to other Latin American countries has been low historically; however, over the last 10 years, the government has put various policies in place to help remedy this situation. This is an analysis of Ecuadorian research productivity from 2006 to 2015. The scientific productivity of Ecuador has increased 5.16 times over the past years, exceeding Latin American growth. Over 80% of Ecuadorian publications include international collaboration mainly with the United States and some European and Latin American countries.

How to Get There

2019 ◽  
pp. 202-234
Author(s):  
Lane Kenworthy
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Public Insurance ◽  
The Past ◽  
Government Role ◽  
The Right ◽  
Organized Interest

Abstract: The lesson of the past one hundred years is that as the United States gets richer, we are willing to spend more in order to safeguard against loss and enhance fairness. Advances in social policy come only intermittently, but they do come. And when they come, they usually last. The expansion of public insurance that has occurred over the past century is what we should expect for the future. I consider an array of potential obstacles, including Americans’ dislike of big government, Democrats’ centrism, Democrats’ electoral struggles, the shift to the right in the balance of organized interest group strength, the structure of America’s political system, racial and ethnic diversity, slowing economic growth, and more. None of these is likely to derail America’s slow but steady movement toward an expanded government role in improving economic security, enhancing opportunity, and ensuring decent and rising living standards for all.

scholarly journals Vulnerability due to Nocturnal Tornadoes

2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 795-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walker S. Ashley ◽  
Andrew J. Krmenec ◽  
Rick Schwantes
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Building Structures ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mobile Homes ◽  
The Past ◽  
High Fatality Rate ◽  
Potential Break ◽  
Tornado Warning ◽  
Dissemination System

Abstract This study investigates the human vulnerability caused by tornadoes that occurred between sunset and sunrise from 1880 to 2007. Nocturnal tornadoes are theorized to enhance vulnerability because they are difficult to spot and occur when the public tends to be asleep and in weak building structures. Results illustrate that the nocturnal tornado death rate over the past century has not shared the same pace of decline as those events transpiring during the daytime. From 1950 to 2005, a mere 27.3% of tornadoes were nocturnal, yet 39.3% of tornado fatalities and 42.1% of killer tornado events occurred at night. Tornadoes during the overnight period (local midnight to sunrise) are 2.5 times as likely to kill as those occurring during the daytime hours. It is argued that a core reason why the national tornado fatality toll has not continued to decrease in the past few decades is due to the vulnerability to these nocturnal events. This vulnerability is magnified when other factors such as escalating mobile (or “manufactured”) home stock and an increasing and spreading population are realized. Unlike other structure types that show no robust demarcation between nocturnal and daytime fatalities, nearly 61% of fatalities in mobile homes take place at night revealing this housing stock’s distinct nocturnal tornado vulnerability. Further, spatial analysis illustrates that the American South’s high nocturnal tornado risk is an important factor leading to the region’s high fatality rate. The investigation emphasizes a potential break in the tornado warning dissemination system utilized currently in the United States.

scholarly journals Equity and length of lifespan are not the same

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (30) ◽  
pp. 8420-8423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Seligman ◽  
Gabi Greenberg ◽  
Shripad Tuljapurkar
Keyword(s):  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Health Equity ◽  
Causes Of Death ◽  
The United States ◽  
Past Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Mortality Improvement ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Age Of Death

Efforts to understand the dramatic declines in mortality over the past century have focused on life expectancy. However, understanding changes in disparity in age of death is important to understanding mechanisms of mortality improvement and devising policy to promote health equity. We derive a novel decomposition of variance in age of death, a measure of inequality, and apply it to cause-specific contributions to the change in variance among the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) from 1950 to 2010. We find that the causes of death that contributed most to declines in the variance are different from those that contributed most to increase in life expectancy; in particular, they affect mortality at younger ages. We also find that, for two leading causes of death [cancers and cardiovascular disease (CVD)], there are no consistent relationships between changes in life expectancy and variance either within countries over time or between countries. These results show that promoting health at younger ages is critical for health equity and that policies to control cancer and CVD may have differing implications for equity.

Running With Your Hair on Fire: Lessons Learned From Transitioning a National University Sales Competition From Face-to-Face to Virtual in 16 Days

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-271
Author(s):  
Scott Inks ◽  
Kenyatta Barber ◽  
Terry W. Loe ◽  
Lukas P. Forbes
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Educational Environment ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Past ◽  
National University ◽  
Virtual Sales

Since their inception, university sales competitions have been key learning and educational components of university sales education. Over the past two decades, the oldest and one of the largest sales competitions in the United States has been held in a face-to-face format. However, due to the educational environment created from the COVID-19 pandemic, this competition was forced to convert to a virtual format over a 16-day period. This research outlines the steps taken to convert this event to virtual format and presents insights for other universities endeavoring to produce virtual sales competition events. Finally, research implications and direction for future research are presented.

Implementation of the Alberta Water for Life Strategy: strategic partnerships in action

2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (10) ◽  
pp. 255-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.E. Berzins ◽  
R. Harrison ◽  
P. Watson
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Life Strategy ◽  
Watershed Planning ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Strategic Partnerships ◽  
Stakeholder Consultation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Planning Policy ◽  
Quality Water ◽  
The Government

Alberta's Water for Life Strategy was introduced in 2003 with three main goals: safe, secure drinking water supply; healthy aquatic ecosystems; and, reliable, quality water supplies for a sustainable economy. The strategy establishes a framework of partnerships within the province that are charged with stakeholder consultation, integrated watershed planning, policy recommendations and implementation of a broad range of initiatives within this diverse prairie ecosystem. The Government of Alberta has established a framework of partnerships charged with implementation of the strategy: the province-wide Alberta Water Council, watershed planning and advisory councils that work on a basin-wide basis and watershed stewardship groups that deliver on-the-ground programs at the local and community level. The authors discuss the mandate(s) of each partnership group, key actions and deliverables. Examples are provided of specific projects undertaken by each partnership and a summary is provided of lessons learned based on the authors' direct experience over the past five years.

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