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Perspectives on Democracy & Governance in Africa

Perspectives on Democracy & Governance in Africa

The United States is facing fundamental budgetary challenges. Federal debt held by the public exceeds 70 percent of the nation''s annual output or GDP, a percentage not seen since 1950, and a continuation of current policies would boost the debt further. Although debt would decline to 58 percent of GDP in 2022 under the current-law assumptions that underlie the CBO''s baseline projections, those projections depend heavily on significant increases in taxes and decreases in spending that are scheduled to take effect at the beginning of January. If, instead, lawmakers maintained current policies by preventing most of those changes from occurring, what the CBO refers to as the alternative fiscal scenario, debt held by the public would increase to 90 percent of GDP 10 years from now and continue to rise rapidly thereafter. This book reviews the scale and sources of the federal government''s budgetary imbalance, various options for bringing spending and taxes into closer alignment, and criteria that lawmakers and the public might use to evaluate different approaches to deficit reduction.

The 2007-2009 recession was long and deep, and according to several indicators was the most severe economic contraction since the 1930s (but still much less severe than the Great Depression). The slowdown of economic activity was moderate through the first half of 2008, but at that point the weakening economy was overtaken by a major financial crisis that would exacerbate the economic weakness and accelerate the decline. Economic recovery began in mid-2009. Real gross domestic product (GDP) has been on a positive track since then, although the pace has been uneven and slowed significantly in 2011. The stock market has recovered from its lows, and employment has increased moderately. On the other hand, significant economic weakness remains evident, particularly in the balance sheet of households, the labour market, and the housing sector. This book provides select research and analyses pertaining to the economic recovery and sustaining U.S. economic growth in a post-crisis economy.

Deficiencies exposed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2007 served as a catalyst compelling the Departments of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) to address a host of problems for wounded, ill, and injured service-members and veterans as they navigate through the recovery care continuum. This continuum extends from acute medical treatment and stabilization, through rehabilitation to reintegration, either back to active duty or to the civilian community as a veteran. In spite of 5 years of departmental efforts, recovering service-members and veterans are still facing problems with this process and may not be getting the services they need. This book provides an overview and assessment of the care and benefit management system for recovering service-members and veterans.

From the beginning of the American federal government, Congress has required executive branch agencies to release or otherwise make available government information and records. Some scholars and statesmen, including James Madison, thought access to information -- commonly referred to in contemporary vernacular as "transparency" -- was an essential cornerstone of democratic governance. Today, the federal government attempts to balance access to information with the need to protect certain information (including national security information and trade secrets) in order to achieve transparency. As a consequence, access and protection are often in tension with one another. This book first assesses the meaning of transparency and subsequently examines the statutes, initiatives, requirements, and other actions that make information more available to the public or protect if from public release. Also discussed is whether existing transparency initiatives are effective in reaching their stated goals.

The VA/DoD published the first Clinical Practice Guideline for management of opioid therapy for chronic pain in 2003. This original publication was intended to improve pain management, quality of life, and quality of care for veterans. The focus of the guideline has been to provide education and guidance to primary care clinicians, researchers and other health professionals as they encounter patients with persistent pain and its complications. This book aims to update the evidence base of the 2003 Guideline. It is focused, as was the original CPG, on chronic opioid therapy (opioid therapy for more than one month). It is directed to the clinician who is interested in knowing more about this approach to the management of chronic pain.

In this book, the authors present current research in the study of hormones and behavior. Topics include the neuroendocrine regulation of sedation and excitation in neonatal chicks; the behavior of the mother and vasopressin; inhibited TRHergic pathway of amygdala and insular cortex may participate in high anxiety levels and decreased food intake of dehydrated-induced anorexic rats; the difference between morning and evening thyrotropin response to protirelin(TRH); altered energy balance in response to sleep restriction; hormones in breast carcinogenesis; ecdysteriods and honeybee social behaviors; and changes in appetite-associated hormone and feeding behavior in advanced age.

In this book, the authors present current research in the study of glycosides and gingseng. Topics include the synthesis and physico-chemical properties of benzimadazolone derivatives with N-bound glycosidic units; motif-based exploration of glycoside hydrolases family 1; ginsenoside and gintonin; Mediterranean medicinal plants; isoflavone c-glycosides isolated from the root of Kudzu (pueraria lobata) and their estrogenic and antimutagenic activities; changes in the composition of saccharides in rice grains through cooking and digestion using synthetic human saliva; and the effects of ultrasound assisted extraction of water soluble constituents on Brazilian ginseng roots.

Millions of Americans are unable to provide their own transportation or have difficulty accessing public transportation. Such transportation-disadvantaged individuals may include those who are elderly, have disabilities, or have low income. This book examines the federal programs that are authorized to use federal funds for transportation services to assist these "transportation-disadvantaged" individuals in accessing human service programs.

Due to the growth in natural gas production from shale gas, the United States is benefiting from some of the lowest prices for natural gas in the world and faces the question of how to best use this resource. Different segments of the U.S. economy have different perspectives on the role natural gas can play. Suppliers, which have become the victims of their own production success, are facing low prices that are forecast to remain low. Some companies that have traditionally produced only natural gas have even turned their attention to oil in order to improve their financial situation. Smaller companies are having a difficult time continuing operations and larger companies, have bought into many shale gas assets. Prices have remained low even as consumption has increased, in part, because producers have raised production to meet the demand and because companies have improved efficiency and extraction techniques. This book examines what has changed in the natural gas industry and focuses on the demand side and ancillary benefits to the U.S. economy.

Until relatively recently, natural gas-rich shale formations throughout the United States were not considered to have significant resource value because no technologies existed to economically recover the gas. Development and deployment of advanced drilling and reservoir stimulation methods have dramatically increased the gas production from these "unconventional gas shales". The Marcellus Shale formation potentially represents one of the largest unconventional natural gas resources in the United States, underlying much of West Virginia and Pennsylvania, southern New York, eastern Ohio, western Maryland, and Western Virginia. Directional drilling and "hydraulic fracturing" are essential to exploiting these low permeability shale gas resources. Although oil and gas developers have applied these technologies in conventional oil and natural gas fields for some time, recent improvements in both technologies have allowed them to be applied effectively to unconventional gas shales on an industrial scale. This book reviews the Marcellus Shale resource, development processes, and related surface water and groundwater issues.

The departure of long-time President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, in the face of massive anti-government protests, was greeted with euphoria within Tunisia and sparked opposition and reform movements across the region. Yet despite significant accomplishments since that time, Tunisians today face a wide range of challenges, including economic hardship, relatively impoverished interior, and the security implications of events in neighbouring Libya. Domestic tensions between Islamists and secularists have also burgeoned. This book explores Tunisia''s transition and the future of the country and the region, with a focus on: the struggle between reformists and entrenched forces carried over from the former regime; the potential shape of the new political system; the role and influence of Islamism in the government and society; the question of how to transform the formerly repressive security services; and the difficult diplomatic balance, for the U.S. and other actors, of encouraging greater democratic openness while not undermining other foreign policy priorities.

Water and energy are inextricably linked and mutually dependent, with each affecting the others availability. Since 2009, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued five reports on the interdependencies between energy and water. These reports have shown that a considerable amount of water is used to cool thermoelectric power plants, grow feedstocks and produce biofuels, and extract oil and natural gas. Some of these sources of energy may also negatively affect water quality. In addition, developing oil and gas resources can product waste-water, known as ''produced water'', that must be managed or treated. Conversely, significant amounts of energy are needed to extract, transport, treat, and use water in urban areas. This book identifies key energy-water nexus issues that Congress and federal agencies need to consider when developing and implementing national policies for energy and water resources.

The political change and unrest that have swept through the Middle East and North Africa since early 2011 are likely to have profound consequences for the pursuit of long-standing U.S. policy goals in the region with regard to regional security, global energy supplies, U.S. military access, bilateral trade and investment, counter-proliferation, counter-terrorism, and the promotion of human rights. The profound changes in the region may alter the framework in which these goals are pursued and challenge the basic assumptions that have long guided U.S. policy. This book assesses some of the policy implications of recent and ongoing events in the region, with a focus on Egypt, Iran, Syria, Libya, Israel, Tunisia, and Bahrain.

Turbulent flow means fluid flow in which the fluid undergoes irregular fluctuations. Understanding the turbulent behaviour in flowing fluids is one of the most intriguing and important problems that have been the focus of research for decades due to its great importance in a variety of engineering applications. Common examples of turbulent flow include atmospheric and ocean currents, flow through turbines and pumps, blood flow in arteries, oil transport in pipelines, lava flow, and the flow in boat wakes and around aircraft wing tips, etc. In the present book, we focus on areas of current turbulence research. Recent progress on modelling and analysis of turbulent flows is reviewed, and likely directions for future research on these topics are indicated. This text is unusual in as much as it provides both general commentaries as well as recent specialized developments in the field of turbulence modelling.

Learning and understanding how medicine acts, what the body does to the drug, with both the beneficial and potentially deleterious effects it has, are among the key steps in becoming a pharmacist. Scientific disciplines, such as anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, genetics, biochemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry are required to clearly and complexly understand the concepts of general pharmacology. This book provides current, readable, necessary background information of this branch of basic pharmacology. It reviews the underlying mechanisms of action of drugs; which factors influence the fate of the drug administered to the organism; and how they can be modulated by a concomitant disease and other therapy. In addition, basic principles of drug interactions are also discussed. This book will be applicable and adaptable to various educational programs for pharmacists and other medical professionals.

The environment consists of the surroundings in which an organism operates including air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna, humans and their interrelation. It is this environment which is both so valuable, on the one hand, and so endangered on the other. Effects stemming from the choices made by the human population in regards to environmental health are by and large ruining the environment both for themselves and for other organisms. This series covers leading-edge research in a cross-section of fields focusing on the environment including current research data on the ecotoxicological and genetic approach paradigms for environmental assessment; polybrominated ether (PBDE)flame retardants as emergent environmental pollutants; bioindicators for water quality; water resources in Tunisia; quorum sensing for clean environment and green bioenergy; spatio-temporal ecosystem shifts in the Baltic Sea; and the effects of high deer density on forest regeneration.

This book presents a comprehensive review of the renewable energy technologies environment and sustainable development; earth temperatures, heat pumps and systems design; the energy crisis and the role of renewables and global warming; energy and demand study of heating and cooling equipment; feedstocks for lignocellulosic biofuels; energy efficient technologies for refrigeration and air conditioning; and the principles of ground source energy.

This compilation presents original study results on the leading edge of neuroscience research. Each article has been carefully selected in an attempt to present substantial research results across a broad spectrum. Included in this volume is white matter hyperintensities and major affective disorders; neurotransmitters in the sympathetic nervous system; the beneficial consequences of oxytocin on motherhood and offspring cognitive development; premotor cortex and primary motor cortex in action language comprehension; pain treatment by tDCS of the human primary motor cortex; neurotransmitter synthesis by newborn neurons in the penumbral cortex; central auditory processing alterations in phonological dyslexia; participation of the hippocampus in memory function; and the motor cortex under hypoxia.