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Right-of-way acquisition is a critical component of transportation infrastructure development. Transportation infrastructure projects cannot proceed without proper right-of-way acquisition or may face significant delays. State Departments of Transportation frequently acquire parcels of land for roadway expansion projects. A majority of these acquisitions can be partial takings, referring to a portion of a parcel that is acquired. The remainder of the property usually suffers economic changes due to the partial acquisition, which can be calculated as damage percentages. The damage percentage represents the extent to which the remaining land or property value has been diminished due to the acquisition. It reflects the remaining property value percentage that may have been lost or compromised due to the acquisition. This study aims to provide a robust model to estimate damage percentages to the remainder parcels that may help state Departments of Transportation appraisers make early predictions about the damages in cases involving partial takings. The research uses 509 appraisal reports from the Tennessee Department of Transportation to identify the key parcel attributes that influence the percentage of damages. Three regression models are developed: a linear regression model, a finite-mixture model (FMM), and a truncated FMM with two latent classes. The modeling results show that the truncated FMM with two classes outperforms the other models. To validate the models, actual sales data is collected and analyzed for 59 properties, and the results suggest that the model predictions are fairly accurate. A predictive tool is developed based on the models to help appraisers anticipate right-of-way damages under different scenarios and can provide early predictions about the damages. Practical Applications: A predictive tool called Right-of-Way Damage Assessment (ROWDA) is developed, which can utilize the coefficients of the linear regression model or the truncated finite-mixture model (FMM) based on the user's preference. The tool can allow state departments of transportation (DOTs) to anticipate right-of-way damages/costs under varying conditions. This tool is created to assess and study inputs from right-of-way acquisitions to determine the estimated percentage of damage. ROWDA provides DOT appraisals to check the cases where the estimations may be out of range. This Microsoft Excel Macro tool serves as a link between a group of attributes and regression equations. It allows the user to input multiple parcel characteristics and compute a prediction of the estimated damage percentage. All user inputs are saved in the worksheet within the workbook on which the tool is based. The tool boasts numerous potential applications, one of which involves estimating damages prior to initiating a project, even before comprehensive appraisals are conducted. Consequently, the tool aids in evaluating project feasibility, considering adjustments in the project's execution, and recognizing damage estimations from actual appraisals that deviate from previous assessments utilized to create the model's predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project bundling is a method used by state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and other public agencies to combine multiple construction projects into a single contract. Project bundling is typically applied when the projects share similarities in terms of type, size, and geographical location. Prior research has demonstrated cost savings and accelerated project delivery times due to this approach. However, little-to-no previous research efforts have particularly focused on developing a comprehensive guidance strategy for project bundling of various transportation projects. This paper aims to address this knowledge gap by identifying the best practices of project bundling that enable state DOTs to implement project bundling more efficiently. To achieve this goal, empirical evidence was gathered through semistructured interviews and follow-up correspondence with 16 representatives from different state DOTs and a local public agency. These interviews gathered insights into the methods and strategies used by different state DOTs to successfully bundle projects. For instance, the study discovered that agencies utilize different bundling strategies (for instance, optional-tie or mandatory-tie), as well as bundling approaches (scope-based or location-based). By qualitatively analyzing the success stories and lessons learned from these interviews, the study provides a comprehensive strategy that serves as a guide for state DOTs in navigating the project bundling for different construction projects. The main contribution of the study is the synthesis of the project bunding practices, which allows state DOTs and other transportation agencies to have a holistic approach to implementing project bundling to reap its maximum benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their close proximity to those serving time, correctional officers may not only be agents of control but also agents of change. Although state departments of correction often target for recruitment those individuals who can fulfill the custodial role of the job, little attention is given to hiring a human service-oriented workforce. To fill that void, we surveyed 673 newly hired correctional officer trainees from three states to determine the extent and sources of their embracement of a rehabilitative orientation. Our findings provide insight for departments of correction concerning the potential facilitators and inhibitors of achieving their rehabilitative mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Framed by Bakhtinian theories of authoritative discourse and heteroglossia, this study examines perceptions of a Science-of-Reading-based state reading initiative five years into implementation. Using interview transcripts, researchers engaged in polyphonic analysis to bring the voices of teachers, reading interventionists, parents, administrators, and state department of education officials into created dialogue. Findings from this qualitative study suggest there were contrasting perspectives about reading and the SRI, that many participants felt the initiative narrowed reading instruction and constrained teachers' agency, and that, overall, there have been limited opportunities for dialogue about the initiative. Findings demonstrate that a narrow view of reading research may silence and delegitimize some stakeholder voices. This state's goal of sharpening the focus of reading instruction led to instruction that was perceived by some stakeholders as narrow, boring, and meaningless, unlikely to create the statewide culture of reading that was targeted. Implications for this and future state reading initiatives point to the value of dialogue among varied stakeholders, which might allow for the idiosyncrasies of the teaching and learning of reading and writing to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on COVID-19 as a determinant of antitrafficking efforts. While the impacts of COVID-19 on trafficking itself (including the increased awareness of new forms of exploitation and heightened vulnerabilities to trafficking) have been relatively well documented , , , , , , the impacts of the health emergency on governments’ antitrafficking efforts have received less attention. This article seeks to address this gap in the literature, building on the findings of the “Determinants of Anti-Trafficking Efforts” research project funded by the U.S. Department of State Office for Combatting Human Trafficking and implemented by the authors at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how early Cold War anti-communism transformed labor processes at the Port of Manila. In 1950 the threat of communism at the city's port gained the attention of the highest reaches of the US State Department. Shifting diplomatic discourses and a changing Cold War map imbued new meaning into trade union racketeering and Filipino dockworkers who were, it was dubiously argued, on the verge of joining the country's communists. Through archival analysis of diplomatic dispatches, intelligence reports, and newspaper sources, this article examines a series of spectacular events and covert political diplomacy. In particular it explains how an American Jesuit priest in Manila earned the trust of the State Department and played an outsized role in remaking pier-side labor politics. As concern grew in Washington, American diplomats covertly intervened to back the priest. In detailing how the piers staged global geopolitics, the article also situates these affairs in local political contexts to argue for a more nuanced understanding of anti-communism in Southeast Asia. Filipino trade union leaders and government officials colluded with but also subverted and remade American discourses and diplomacy to their own political and economic advantage. • Traces the shifting geographies of anti-communism in Manila during the early Cold War. • Examines the role of American government officials in reshaping Filipino trade union politics. • Contributes to studies of Manila's historical geographies and labor histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 1944 the State Department attempted to improve its communications security by creating a Division of Cryptography and mechanising the encryption process. This article assesses the effectiveness of these reforms and shows that State's new cipher equipment had cryptographic vulnerabilities. Moreover, the department was unable to maintain physical security at the Moscow embassy and through espionage and technical surveillance the KGB broke the ciphers and read American communications. The paper concludes by analysing the impact of this security failure, including the claim that intercepted messages influenced Stalin's decision to approve the North Korean invasion of South Korea in 1950. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School communities have been shut out of many of the more critical decision-making processes impacting local public schools. Decisions are mostly made as top-down actions from federal mandates, general assemblies, state departments, districts, and school level administration teams, isolating the school communities they are tasked to serve. To better understand the ways members of the school community can engage in decision making power, a critical discourse analysis was used to examine how school community members talk about power, who has power, and shifts in power as their schools undergo a community school implementation process. Using an updated public school model that is technically over a century old, some schools are using their communities to shift power through a community school model. Interviews and elicitation devices revealed that some school community members were beginning to understand their power through decision making. To continue this momentum, I recommend that community schools continue the discourse, make better distinctions between students and their data, and create parent liaison positions. In addition, community schools should look at ways to better engage parents, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, instructional assistants, and other classified staff to draw upon their expertise and knowledge. Finally, I urge districts and governance groups to consider the sustainability of their community schools and the actions they can take to ensure these schools have the time, funding, and power to make lasting, measurable changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality control (QC) is an essential component of quality assurance (QA) programs used to monitor and ensure the highway construction projects' quality. After receiving the contractor's QC plan, state departments of transportation (DOTs) conduct review and acceptance, monitor the QC process, and ensure construction quality by performing inspection activities. Given that state DOTs are increasingly implementing alternative contracting methods (ACMs), including construction manager/general contractor (CM/GC), design-build (D-B), and public–private partnerships (P3), it is essential to consider the impact of shifting more responsibility to the contractor on quality management activities, including developing and monitoring QC plans throughout the project development. The objective of this paper was to investigate the implementation of QC plans for administering QA specifications in highway infrastructure projects delivered using ACMs. The data collected from a national survey questionnaire of 43 DOTs in the US and structured interviews with seven DOT representatives were employed to investigate this research's objective. As a result, eight typical requirements of QC plans in ACM projects were identified in terms of certification and qualification of QC personnel and process control. Additionally, the standard of care of QC staff in ACMs was not found to be higher than that in design-bid-build. Nine risk factors related to the oversight of QC plans in D-B, CM/GC, and P3 highway projects were identified. There was no statistical difference in the nine risk scores among D-B, CM/GC, and P3 projects. The findings from seven case studies provide insights regarding the implementation of QC plans for ACM highway projects. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by advancing the understanding of how state agencies execute and oversee QC activities in ACM projects. The outcomes of this study may help state DOTs identify optimal QC practices to administer the QA process in ACM projects. This study investigates the current state of practice in implementing QC plans to manage and improve QA processes for highway projects delivered using ACMs such as CM/GC, D-B, and P3. This study synthesized and documented typical QC requirements used by state DOTs in reviewing, accepting, and monitoring contractor compliance with their QC plans. Additionally, the descriptive and inferential testing results of nine risk factors in implementing QC plans in highway projects found in this study enable highway agencies to effectively justify their monitoring process of the QC plan implementation. Further, the results from seven case studies provide insights and key lessons learned regarding (1) the guidance and templates for developing a QC plan; and (2) risk perceptions in managing the QC plan implementation in ACM highway projects that can benefit both the contractors and state DOTs. The outcomes of this study also shed light on exploring the optimal allocation of responsibilities between state DOTs and contractors in implementing QC activities to administer QA programs in ACM highway projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of public-sector biological control scientists and practitioners in the United States was determined by a survey conducted in 2019. A total of 344 personnel were identified in 49 states and Washington DC; 218 employed by universities, 86 by the federal government and 36 by state departments of agriculture. There were 10-34 personnel in eight states, 6-9 in 11, and 0-5 in 31, overall averaging less than 50% of their combined effort on biological control. Applications for biological control agents included about 30% for row crops and vegetables; 12% each for orchards, urban landscapes, outdoor ornamentals, and forests; and 22% for the remainder. The federal government provided an average of 42% of the funding for university, federal, and state biological control research and extension. The states contributed 29-35%, commodity groups supplied 19-24%, and the remaining funds were from private sources. Of 54 universities in the United States, 18 conducted in-person classroom education and training in biological control, with seven offering courses via distance. However, another 18 universities had discontinued their comprehensive courses. Biological control instruction was incorporated into courses and workshops on integrated pest management and sustainable agriculture at 50 universities. Correspondingly, during the past 24 years, biological control has gradually developed from primarily an independent discipline to increasingly being part of integrated pest management. Classical, augmentative and conservation biological control have nevertheless remained distinguishable high priority subdisciplines. Funding continues to be essential for advancing biological control, requiring societal understanding and acceptance. Advancement of biological control in the United States will require increased investment in personnel and their education and training, along with delivery of effective pest management technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 2021 the United States Department of State and United States Department of Education released a joint statement on the need for higher education to be global. At rural universities across our nation this can be a challenge. One method to globalize the curriculum and experience of students is to utilize the international students studying on your campus. In the fall 2019 this method was used for a cultural mentoring project pairing international MBA students with undergraduate students in an introductory course. This led to student sharing their experiences and cultural exchanges increasing the global and intercultural competence of all the students involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Families are critical to children's learning and play a vital role on their children's team. As such, preparation standards across the Division for Early Childhood, National Association for the Education of Young Children, and other key entities include family practices as part of their recommendations. This content analysis examined how states included family practices into initial licensure requirements of early childhood (ECE) and early childhood special educators (ECSE). Documents were collected electronically from state departments of education across the U.S. in 2021. This analysis determined if states required family-related practices, what was required, and what terminology and concepts were included in family-related requirements. Overall, 55% of states included family practices for ECSE while 45% of states included them for ECE. Increasing the inclusion of family practices in initial licensure requirements and building relationships across state licensing agencies and institutions of higher education may better prepare educators to partner with families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex trafficking is a national issue. The U.S. Department of State estimates there are 600,000 to 800,000 victims of sex trafficking in the United States each year. Victims are physically, emotionally, or sexually abused by their trafficker and experience indescribable trauma. This trauma has lasting biological and psychological consequences and often leads to criminal behavior. Because of the trauma and abuse, victims cannot be held morally culpable for the crimes they commit due to their victimization. However, most states punish rather than rehabilitate victims. One way to protect victims is through affirmative defense laws, yet forty-two states have improper affirmative defense laws. This Article proposes that those states adopt a unique affirmative defense for victims who commit a crime as a result of their sex trafficking victimization. For brevity, one of the forty-two states, Arizona, is used as a case study state to illustrate the importance of such a defense. The defense is not only victim-centered but also trauma-informed. It considers the needs and wants of the victim during the criminal justice process. It also recognizes that a victim's trauma can lead to criminal behavior, thus negating moral culpability. Finally, it is in line with feminist legal reasoning. The defense allows victims to present their story to the court, reclaim their autonomy, and integrates perspectives other than those in the dominant culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lack of an accurate, publicly available database of burn/trauma resources creates challenges in providing burn care. In response to this gap, our group developed the National Injury Resource Database (NIRD), a comprehensive database of all US burn centers (BC) and trauma centers (TC) and their capabilities. Lists of all national BC and TC were obtained from the American Burn Association (ABA), the American College of Surgeons, and every state department of health. Data was cross-checked and included BC/TC were linked with a 7-digit identification number using the American Hospital Association Quick Search guide. Each center's resources and verification status were validated with electronic or telephonic communications. The final database includes 135 BC and 617 TC, of which 18 are BC-only, 500 are TC-only, and 117 are combined BC/TC. ABA-verified BC (n = 76) are only found in Washington DC and 31 states, and 8 states have no BC. In the last 10 years, a net increase of 7 burn centers was found nationally. The ABA's online BC directory is outdated. NIRD represents the only up-to-date, comprehensive listing of BC and TC in existence. It categorizes all currently operating BC and TC across myriad classifications of designation and capabilities. • National Injury Resource Database (NIRD) is a comprehensive listing of all US burn & trauma centers. • NIRD lists burn and trauma center resources, designations, & verifications. • The 76 ABA-verified burn centers are clustered in 31 states & DC. • Eight states have no burn centers, verified or unverified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the prevalence and implementation of four key school counseling policies at the state level and to what extent they are monitored for positive impact on the school counseling profession. Drawing on an analysis of state school counseling policy documents and interviews with school counseling leaders from 30 state education agencies, we found that policies vary considerably across states. Within states, the constrained authority of state counseling officials and lack of funded counseling mandates contributed to differences in policy implementation at the local level. These barriers can unintentionally reduce the efficacy of counseling policies and thus their impact on students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the late 1950s, prompted by the US State Department, an interracial group of national leaders of women's organizations in the United States formed the African Women's Committee to reach out to their African counterparts in the wake of successful independence movements throughout the continent. After consulting with numerous African women and leading experts on Africa, the committee initiated a program that brought groups of African women to the United States for short training programs designed to strengthen their leadership skills through both coursework and immersion in women's organizations. This article examines the assumptions both groups of women brought to their interactions and the ways the program changed during this period as a response to racist encounters in the US, new teachers in the classes and African women's evaluations of their experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of research is railroad passenger transportation. The subject of research is a change management system. The problem to be solved is to improve the efficiency of railroad transport enterprises in the field of passenger transportation by introducing a change management system. In the study, the concept of the formation of a change management system in the field of passenger transportation of railroad transport in Ukraine under wartime conditions was devised. Since the conditions of war refer to a variety of emergencies, the concept of “emergency situation”, its types, characteristics, and signs that describe its existence are considered. The conditions of emergencies are defined. The properties of total and hybrid war affect the fundamental features of the state management of railroad passenger transport in Ukraine, the work of state departments and railroad passenger transport management enterprises. Taking into account the peculiarities of each type of war and the principles of the state, a system of interconnection of the features and principles of the state management of railroad passenger transportation with possible aggressive changes under wartime conditions was built. Such a system is the core of the devised concept of formation and modeling a change management system in the field of railroad passenger transportation in Ukraine under war conditions. Within the framework of the concept, a strategy is formed – a set of actions during an emergency of a military nature. Based on this concept, in the future, it is possible to construct stages of research, the existence of which could make it possible to build a model of the concept, namely the processes of forming a system of changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Redlining has been associated with worse health outcomes and various environmental disparities, separately, but little is known of the interaction between these two factors, if any. We aimed to estimate whether living in a historically-redlined area modifies the effects of exposures to ambient PM2.5 and extreme heat on mortality by non-external causes. Methods: We merged 8,884,733 adult mortality records from thirteen state departments of public health with scanned and georeferenced Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) maps from the University of Richmond, daily average PM2.5 from a sophisticated prediction model on a 1-km grid, and daily temperature and vapor pressure from the Daymet V4 1-km grid. A case-crossover approach was used to assess modification of the effects of ambient PM2.5 and extreme heat exposures by redlining and control for all fixed and slow-varying factors by design. Multiple moving averages of PM2.5 and duration-aware analyses of extreme heat were used to assess the most vulnerable time windows. Results: We found significant statistical interactions between living in a redlined area and exposures to both ambient PM2.5 and extreme heat. Individuals who lived in redlined areas had an interaction odds ratio for mortality of 1.0093 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0084, 1.0101) for each 10 µg m−3 increase in same-day ambient PM2.5 compared to individuals who did not live in redlined areas. For extreme heat, the interaction odds ratio was 1.0218 (95% CI 1.0031, 1.0408). Conclusions: Living in areas that were historically-redlined in the 1930's increases the effects of exposures to both PM2.5 and extreme heat on mortality by non-external causes, suggesting that interventions to reduce environmental health disparities can be more effective by also considering the social context of an area and how to reduce disparities there. Further study is required to ascertain the specific pathways through which this effect modification operates and to develop interventions that can contribute to health equity for individuals living in these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that neoliberal rationality implies the economic opening of state spaces in a borderless global market, this article proposes a critical reassessment of the origins of actually existing neoliberalism, with the twofold aim of addressing the empirical shortcomings of the conventional narrative and specifying the conditions of the emergence of neoliberalization. The present authors demonstrate how the US Department of State implemented a foreign economic policy between 1933 and 1947 which constituted one of the first neoliberal experiments of the twentieth century, engendering the hotbed of transatlantic neoliberalization which unfolded, albeit incompletely, in the following decades. This revisitation of the origins of neoliberalization has, in turn, enabled a theoretical reframing of the neoliberal spatiality, intersecting multiple stream framework analysis and the neo-institutionalist approach, in order to highlight the complexity of the factors responsible for the emergence of political neoliberalism in the context of the global crisis of the 1930s and 1940s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Safe Third Country" principle in international refugee law refers to a State's ability to reject a person's asylum application if they have already been granted protection by another country in compliance with the 1951 Refugee Convention. However, asylum seekers face higher risks Of human trafficking because of their transient and vulnerable circumstances, and some of the most frequently implicated Safe Third Countries are consistently ranked in Tier 2 or below in the US State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report; this ranking indicates that they are not in full compliance with the minimum standards provided in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. This Comment argues that asylum seekers who have experienced human trafficking throughouttheir migration journey should be exempted from Safe Third Country agreements with States that rank in Tier 2 or below. It will survey Greece, Turkey, and the Northern Triangle as examples of States often deemed to be Safe Third Countries, yet have recurring difficulties prosecuting human trafficking violations and protecting victims; this Comment will ultimately propose a solution as to how these exemptions can be implemented in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study details a new, network-level optimization tool aimed at supporting transportation agencies in their efforts to reduce the global warming potential of their road pavement infrastructure. Through a two-stage bottom-up algorithm that integrates with a comprehensive cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment, the proposed tool learns optimal management policies for individual pavement sections and uses that information to guide network-level allocation choices. Through a realistic case study based on data made available by a state department of transportation, this study demonstrates that the proposed modelling approach identifies management strategies expected to reduce the global warming potential of a pavement network by up to 4.8% over 20 years relative to a more traditional, reactive management approach. The resulting model presented in this paper can support agencies in achieving ambitious targets to reduce the global warming potential of their paved infrastructure systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify and map different value chains of Naga King chilli and examine the challenges faced by various stakeholders. Data were collected from 100 randomly selected respondents, including 50 farmers, 20 intermediaries, and 30 consumers. The key players identified in the value chain were Naga King chilli growers (predominantly small-scale farmers), wholesalers (local and distant), retailers/vendors (local and distant), and consumers. The study identified four major marketing channels: Channel I (Naga King chilli producer-consumer), Channel II (Naga King chilli producer-local wholesaler-local retailer-consumer), Channel III (Naga King chilli producer-distant wholesaler-distant retailer-distant consumer), and Channel IV (Naga King chilli producer-local wholesaler-distant wholesaler-distant retailer-distant consumer). Major challenges faced by the value chain players included wide price fluctuations, supply shortages, handling and storage issues, and the perishable nature of chilli. The findings suggest promoting contract arrangements between farmers and buyers to ensure a steady supply of products. Initiatives such as post-harvest handling training for tribal farmers, proper storage facilities, and the formation of cooperatives or farmer producer organizations (FPOs/FPCs, training through KVKs, NGOs, state departments etc.) could help small-scale producers receive better prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional driven piles are made from steel, concrete, timber, or composite materials. These piling options have limitations with respect to corrosion, durability, driveablity, and performance. Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) pile is a new alternative that has already been adopted by various state Departments of Transportation in the United States for addressing the limitations that exist with conventional piles. UHPC piles are made of a cementitious composite material mixture that possesses exceptional properties such as higher strength, low capillary porosity, and high resistance to corrosion, making them a suitable option for use as a deep foundation. For several reasons, it is necessary to cast piles with a shorter length and splice them at the site to reach the desired lengths. These reasons include shipping limitations, unpredictable soil condition, reducing transportation costs, construction time, and damage during installation. This study aims to explore and summarize the currently available options for connecting UHPC pile segments. Accordingly, after a brief introduction on driven piles, this paper investigates various splicing systems that can be used for UHPC piles through reviewing previous research studies and field applications. The applicable splices are then compared based on several criteria such as capacity, durability, cost, and ease of application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the contours of U.S. diplomacy in Czechoslovakia before and during the Velvet Revolution of 1989, showing how the U.S. embassy in Prague, in collaboration with the U.S. National Security Council (NSC) and State Department, crafted U.S. policy. Drawing on recently available primary materials (including declassified U.S. telegrams, Czechoslovak archival documents, unpublished memoirs, and original interviews), this article highlights the role of the U.S. embassy during the period from August to November 1989, including how key officials, above all Ambassador Shirley Temple Black, analyzed political developments, assisted Czechoslovak dissidents, and pursued extensive engagement with the Communist government. The article provides the first scholarly, granular account of U.S. diplomacy in Czechoslovakia during the November 1989 upheavals and contributes to the historiography on U.S. foreign policy and the end of the Cold War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 19 December 2023, the United States Department of State issued an Announcement concerning the outer limits of the continental shelf in areas beyond 200 nautical miles (M) of the coast (the U.S. Announcement), three of which are in the Asia-Pacific region. This article provides the spatial scope of the areas within the limits of the U.S. continental shelf beyond 200 M located in the Asia-Pacific region and examines the implications of the U.S. Announcement for the entitlement of continental shelf beyond 200 M of other Asia-Pacific States. The article briefly describes the requirement for establishing the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 M in keeping with Article 76 of the 1982 United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Project is then described before the legal issues arising for a non-State Party to UNCLOS are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1989 marked a turning point in international history, with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. In Italy, the secretary of the Communist Party, Achille Occhetto, underlines the need to redefine its identity, and this process will lead two years later, in 1991, to a new political force. The US State Department follows every step with interest and concern, trying to understand what consequences the beginning of the communist transformation could also have on American interests. This essay focuses on the interpretative line of the United States through the vision expressed by diplomats who lived and worked in Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the contours of U.S. diplomacy in Czechoslovakia before and during the Velvet Revolution of 1989, showing how the U.S. embassy in Prague, in collaboration with the U.S. National Security Council (NSC) and State Department, crafted U.S. policy. Drawing on recently available primary materials (including declassified U.S. telegrams, Czechoslovak archival documents, unpublished memoirs, and original interviews), this article highlights the role of the U.S. embassy during the period from August to November 1989, including how key officials, above all Ambassador Shirley Temple Black, analyzed political developments, assisted Czechoslovak dissidents, and pursued extensive engagement with the Communist government. The article provides the first scholarly, granular account of U.S. diplomacy in Czechoslovakia during the November 1989 upheavals and contributes to the historiography on U.S. foreign policy and the end of the Cold War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring road surface temperatures is crucial to establishing winter maintenance strategies by the State Departments of Transportation (State DOTs) in the United States. Traditionally, transportation agencies rely on the information provided by Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) for road surface temperatures along roadways. However, these systems are costly and only provide estimates at specific locations, resulting in distant areas being under-represented. In recent years, some interpolation techniques have been considered to address this gap by estimating the road surface temperatures between the RWIS stations. Nevertheless, these techniques are only valid when the RWIS data are available. This study aims to estimate the road surface temperatures using forecast weather data which are available at high spatial resolution in the National Weather Service Database maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). To this end, road surface temperature data were collected from roadways using a vehicle-mounted infrared temperature sensor. Furthermore, the associated forecast weather parameters from the National Weather Service database were used to develop relationships between the publicly available weather forecast data and the actual road surface temperatures using multiple linear regression. The authors developed two estimation models for dark and light groups and leveraged the gridded forecast weather data from the national weather service database to visualize the estimated road surface temperatures along roadways using a GIS approach. The results showed that the ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, average temperature of the previous day, and road surface conditions (wet/dry) are statistically significant in estimating the road surface temperatures using gridded forecast weather data. The performance of the models was validated, and satisfactory accuracy metrics (i.e., mean absolute error) of approximately 1°C and 2°C were achieved for the dark and light groups, respectively. The proposed method was implemented in the TxDOT Wichita Falls district as a part of a Snowplow Operations Management System to provide information about the estimated road surface temperatures to transportation managers for the 2021–2022 winter season. This information facilitates establishing proactive anti-icing measures in locations where possible low surface temperatures are expected. The findings of this research contribute to a better understanding of the influence of publicly available weather forecast parameters on road surface temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction bid documents may contain uncertain or incomplete information that can affect project pricing as well as project performance, if not addressed prior to bidding. To resolve the uncertainties and clarify project requirements, the risk and uncertainties prevailing in the document should be identified at an early stage of the project life cycle. In this study, pre-bid request for information (RFI) is utilized as a key clue to quantify project ambiguities and uncertainties of a bid document, as pre-bid RFI is generated by bidders when any ambiguous or incomplete information is encountered in the bid document. Despite the significance of pre-bid RFI in quantifying project uncertainty, studies considering pre-bid RFI to identify project uncertainty are limited. Driven by document-based analysis, this study aims to investigate what uncertainties are frequently encountered in bid documents and how they affect project pricing. To achieve the research goal, this study will (1) identify the prevailing risks/uncertainties in the bid document; (2) determine the most common risks/uncertainties and their impacts on bid price; and (3) verify the significance of pre-bid RFIs in bid uncertainty prediction models. To achieve these objectives, public project data from US state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) were collected and used for frequency analysis, correlation testing, and machine learning-based prediction models. The results of uncertainty prediction models showed that uncertainties driven by pre-bid RFI analysis can improve the project risk prediction up to 15%, verifying the significance of RFIs in the bid price prediction model. This study will contribute to the construction management body of knowledge by clarifying the likelihood of errors and uncertainties that should be checked before bidding, thereby proactively preventing future design changes, claims, and dispute risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay responds to recent critiques of the U.S. State Department's inconsistent application of congressionally mandated foreign-aid restrictions following several successful coups d'état in countries receiving USAID foreign assistance. This demographic analysis, which conforms to an age-structural modeling and forecasting protocol that was originally developed for U.S. strategic intelligence efforts, finds: (1.) a disproportionately high level of coup vulnerability (the probability of experiencing a successful coup) among youthful countries (median age equal to or less than 25.5 years), particularly among states in the early-youthful segment of this phase (median age equal to or less than 20.5 years); and (2.) a dramatic one-time decline in coup vulnerability among all phases of the age-structural transition following the end of the Cold War. This essay's two-decade forecast of an expected gradual decline in coups is consistent with the slow and halting pace of age-structural change that is currently projected by the 2022 revision of the UN Population Division's medium scenario for countries along the equatorial midriff of Africa, and in parts of the Middle East and southcentral Asia. These findings support an alternative criticism – not of the U.S. State Department's reluctance to restrict foreign assistance to coup perpetrators, but of currently mandated restrictions that neglect to exempt USAID programs known to advance the age-structural transition (i.e. those that extend girls' educational attainment, improve access to family planning and other reproductive health services, or expand women's autonomy and rights). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the complicity of writing centers in the Global North in global neocolonialism despite its resounding rejection within Western writing center scholarship, in which Romeo García contends that writing tutors can be "decolonial agents." We show that higher education is used by governments in the Global North as a neocolonial tool and situate international U.S. writing center initiatives within this context. Writing centers have remained complicit in global neocolonialism involving the commodification and exportation of American English as well as Western-style institutions, curricula, and pedagogies. This is most explicit in recent writing center initiatives undertaken by the U.S. Department of State in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Central and Southeast Asia. Our analysis of the IWCA and the global community of writing center organizations reveals that few institutions in the field are well positioned to address this important issue. Indeed, the IWCA has remained silent on the complicity of writing centers in the Global North in neocolonialism despite the resounding rejection of neocolonialism within the writing center community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, many researchers have focused on providing new ideas and frameworks to help improve conventional bridge inspection planning approaches, however, little guidance is provided for implementing these new ideas in practice, resulting in limited change. Accordingly, this qualitative study aims to identify the factors that can help improve research products and accelerate research transfer to bridge inspection departments with the goal of enhancing bridge inspection practice. This study used semi-structured interviews, written interviews, and questionnaires for data collection to provide rich results. Responses from twenty-six bridge personnel from state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) across the United States (U.S.) were included in this study. The study found that most participants support a fixed inspection interval over a variable interval since fixed intervals are easier in scheduling and budget planning. Also, participants indicated that the barriers hindering the use of nondestructive techniques are the training required by inspectors, traffic control, and the required access equipment. The study presents the factors change leaders should focus on to facilitate organizational change in DOTs such as enhancing the capacity of DOT staff members and gaining support from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research article examines the use of quantitative methods in decision-making processes in public industrial sector companies in Iraq. The findings indicate that these companies do not currently utilize quantitative methods, highlighting the need for a central supporting unit to implement these methods. The article emphasizes the importance of quantitative methods in making objective economic decisions and reducing uncertainty in local markets. It also discusses the challenges faced by these companies and suggests the involvement of experts in management sciences and economics to overcome these challenges. The article concludes by recommending the establishment of training programs and specialized technical departments to improve decision-making. [Extracted from the article]