Strain accumulation in the Santa Barbara Channel, 1971-1987

Geophysical evidence suggests a significant amount of north-south convergence occurs across the Santa Barbara Channel. Tectonic studies indicate a discrepancy between observed fault slip in California and the North American-Pacific plate motion. Newer plate motion models (NUVEL-1) yield a lower rate of convergence. Global Positioning System (GPS) data collected in the Santa Barbara Channel in 1987, when combined with 1971 trilateration measurements, should be sufficient to resolve the present-day convergence rate. In early 1987. from January 3 to 7, GPS data were collected at 14 sites in California and at 5 additional stations throughout North America. The data can be used to estimate the rate of crustal deformation (convergence) ocurring across the Santa Barbara Channel. The GPS baselines were computed with the Bernese 2nd generation software. A comparison was made between baseline lengths obtained with the Burnese and MIT softwares. Baseline changes from 1971 to January, 1987 (GPS-Bernese) across the Santa Barbara Channel were computed. A uniform strain model was calculated from the baseline changes. The present-day rate of convergence across the Santa Barbara Channel was determined to be 8 to 10 mm/yr. This conclusion is obtained from changes in the baseline length measured with a 1971 trilateration survey and a January, 1987, GPS survey. The rapid convergence rate, in addition to the history of large seismic events, suggests this region is a prime target for future geodetic and geophysical studies

Client Weight as a Barrier to Non-Biased Clinical Judgment

A sample of 95 Christian and 68 Non-Christian mental health professionals were given a picture of either an overweight or average-weight male or female client and a generic case vignette. Participants were asked to make clinical judgments of pathology and client attributions for the pictured client. Results indicated that mental health professionals ascribe more pathology and negative attributes to obese clients than to average-weight clients. In addition, Christian mental health professionals are just as likely as non-Christians to ascribe more negative attributes to obese clients. Ways to remove barriers to unbiased psychotherapy and deal with countertransference issues are discussed from a Christian perspective

Degradation and forgone removals increase the carbon impact of intact forest loss by 626%

Intact tropical forests, free from substantial anthropogenic influence, store and sequester large amounts of atmospheric carbon but are currently neglected in international climate policy. We show that between 2000 and 2013, direct clearance of intact tropical forest areas accounted for 3.2% of gross carbon emissions from all deforestation across the pantropics. However, full carbon accounting requires the consideration of forgone carbon sequestration, selective logging, edge effects, and defaunation. When these factors were considered, the net carbon impact resulting from intact tropical forest loss between 2000 and 2013 increased by a factor of 6 (626%), from 0.34 (0.37 to 0.21) to 2.12 (2.85 to 1.00) petagrams of carbon (equivalent to approximately 2 years of global land use change emissions). The climate mitigation value of conserving the 549 million ha of tropical forest that remains intact is therefore significant but will soon dwindle if their rate of loss continues to accelerate

Improving food production from livestock

This chapter is made accessible with permission from the Worldwatch Institute. Purchase the full report online at: http://www.nourishingtheplanet.or

Buying Core Competencies?A Study of the Impact of Outsourcing on IT Infrastructure Flexibility

In business, information technology (IT) outsourcing is the practice of purchasing information systems equipment or services from a vendor external to the firm. In businesses where information technology is key to business processes or products, issues concerning outsourcing are quite controversial. Does outsourcing allow firms to reduce high overhead costs and thus improve overall performance? Or does purchasing information systems services from the market weaken the business\u27s position to use the technology either to innovate strategic uses or to keep up with competitors\u27 innovations? A great deal of print has been dedicated to this debate in practitioners\u27 professional and trade journals (see, for example, Halper\u27s 1993 works) as well as in high-profile case studies (Huber 1993, and Loh and Venkatraman 1992b). Yet little deliberate research has been conducted to date (a notable exception is Loh and Venkatraman, 1992a). In a 1994-95 study on IT infrastructure flexibility in the insurance industry, data on outsourcing behavior was collected from 82 firms to determine whether it affected infrastructure flexibility. Preliminary analysis of the data has resulted in evidence that in the insurance industry, outsourcing is negatively correlated with certain characteristics of infrastructure flexibility. This paper summarizes the theoretic grounds for both attitudes about outsourcing, briefly describes the study conducted, and explains the nature of the early findings

Unpacking dimensions of evidentiary knowledge and reasoning in the teaching and learning of science

https://repository.isls.org/bitstream/1/601/1/273.pdfPublished versio

In Search of The IS Question: Stalking the Wild Information Event in its Amorphous Habitat

The problem of defining the IS discipline has been approached from two perspectives: purpose and practice. While both of these approaches provide useful windows into the science of IS, they include a common limitation in capturing and defining its amorphous character. This paper examines defining statements of two IS-related disciplines to identify their components. We examine the components in the context of the IS discipline to identify key problems which impede progress in distinguishing a discipline-generative statement. Two characteristics of the definition components appear to sidetrack a clear disciplinary focus in IS: 1) Our concepts of information, far from uniform, affect our perceptions of what we do and why.2) The practice of IS science itself is operating on its context in a manner which increasingly redefines and undermines traditional definitions of the business organizational context

Challenges in Designing a Future for Distributed Education

Distance education (DE) and learning is expanding in use from educational institution applications to a broader spectrum of business applications. As these uses grow it is important to recognize the driving forces and future challenges. To date the driving forces can be identified as enhanced educational opportunities, and the development of new delivery technologies involving audio, video, and data transmissions. Many- increased distance learning (DL) applications are the result of changing strategic plans of many higher education institutions to increase their student base. Understanding the current and future challenges concerning DL will result in the proper strategic planning for the development of new infrastructures as well as the design, implementation, and delivery of new course materials and approaches

"Now he walks and walks, as if he didn't have a home where he could eat": food, healing, and hunger in Quechua narratives of madness

In the Quechua-speaking peasant communities of southern Peru, mental disorder is understood less as individualized pathology and more as a disturbance in family and social relationships. For many Andeans, food and feeding are ontologically fundamental to such relationships. This paper uses data from interviews and participant observation in a rural province of Cuzco to explore the significance of food and hunger in local discussions of madness. Carers’ narratives, explanatory models, and theories of healing all draw heavily from idioms of food sharing and consumption in making sense of affliction, and these concepts structure understandings of madness that differ significantly from those assumed by formal mental health services. Greater awareness of the salience of these themes could strengthen the input of psychiatric and psychological care with this population and enhance knowledge of the alternative treatments that they use. Moreover, this case provides lessons for the global mental health movement on the importance of openness to the ways in which indigenous cultures may construct health, madness, and sociality. Such local meanings should be considered by mental health workers delivering services in order to provide care that can adjust to the alternative ontologies of sufferers and carers

A Mechanism-Based Approach to the Identification of Age–Period–Cohort Models

This article offers a new approach to the identification of age-period-cohort (APC) models that builds on Pearl's work on nonparametric causal models, in particular his front-door criterion for the identification of causal effects. The goal is to specify the mechanisms through which the age, period, and cohort variables affect the outcome and in doing so identify the model. This approach allows for a broader set of identification strategies than has typically been considered in the literature and, in many circumstances, goodness of fit tests are possible. The authors illustrate the utility of the approach by developing an APC model for political alienation.Sociolog