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International relations scholars have previously argued that states facing budget constraints will join alliances to free resources for domestic spending. In this paper, we focus on the primary mechanism by which leaders have relaxed this constraint: sovereign borrowing. Sovereign debt enables states to maintain stable tax rates while increasing expenditures to confront budgetary emergencies. Affordable access to credit, then, serves as both a source of power and an important buffer between security and the political consequences of fiscal policy. States that lack the confidence of investors must make tough choices between continued security and their electoral fortunes. We suggest that as governments lack access to affordable credit, they will substitute military capacity with alliance formation. Alliances provide a means for leaders to offset the loss of flexibility from diminished access to credit without disturbing the domestic political economy. Using previous models of alliance formation as a guide, our empirical evidence indicates that states that have a hard time borrowing are more likely to form an alliance than those states with affordable access to credit markets. Adapted from the source document.

Intro -- FREE SPEECH AND THE SUPREME COURT SELECT DECISIONS FROM 2011 -- FREE SPEECH AND THE SUPREME COURT SELECT DECISIONS FROM 2011 -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- Chapter 1 FUNERAL PROTESTS: SELECTED FEDERAL LAWS AND CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES* -- ABSTRACT -- INTRODUCTION -- SNYDER V. PHELPS -- CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE FEDERAL FUNERAL PROTEST LAWS -- Prohibition on Intentional Disturbance of a Military Funeral -- Content-Neutrality -- Significant Interest -- Narrow Tailoring -- Ample Alternative Speech Opportunities -- Prohibition on Impeding Access to or Egress from Funeral Location -- LEGISLATIVE OPTIONS AND PROPOSALS -- Expanding the Buffer Zone -- H.R. 961, The Safe Haven for Heroes Act of 2011 -- State Laws -- State Enforcement -- Private Right of Action -- End Notes -- Chapter 2 DECISION OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE CASE OF SNYDER V. PHELPS ET AL.* -- OPINION OF THE COURT -- I -- A -- B -- II -- III -- IV -- BREYER, J., CONCURRING -- ALITO, J., DISSENTING -- I -- II -- III -- IV -- V -- VI -- End Notes -- Chapter 3 SORRELL V. IMS HEALTH, INC.: THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF DATA FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES* -- ABSTRACT -- INTRODUCTION -- CONFLICTING APPEALS COURT DECISIONS -- First Circuit Cases -- Second Circuit Decision -- SORRELL V. IMS HEALTH, INC. -- End Notes -- Chapter 4 DECISION OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE CASE OF SORRELL V. IMS HEALTH INC. ET AL.* -- OPINION OF THE COURT -- I -- A -- B -- II -- A -- 1 -- 2 -- B -- 1 -- 2 -- BREYER, J., DISSENTING -- I -- II -- A -- B -- C -- III -- A -- B -- C -- IV -- V -- INDEX -- Blank Page

This article investigates how the Chinese labour law system has helped to reproduce capitalist hegemony, i.e. the ethico-political, moral and cultural leadership of the ruling class. Based on intensive fieldwork in the Pearl River Delta and 115 interviews with migrant workers, this article shows that the labour law system has exercised a double hegemonic effect with regards to capital-labour relations and state-labour relations. Through normalizing, countervailing, concealing and transmuting mechanisms, the labour law system has been able to buffer both the market economy and the party-state from workers' radical and fundamental criticism. However, the double hegemony mediated through the labour law system has influenced the Chinese migrant workers in an uneven manner: some of them have granted active consent to the ruling class leadership; some have only rendered passive consent; and some have refused to give any consent at all. (China Q/GIGA)

Forests have a very important position and role in the development of Nation and the state. Because forests can provide maximum benefit for the prosperity and welfare of the people. Besides, forests are an invaluable property of the nation and state, so that the country's rights to the forests and the results need to be kept and maintained, and protected through law Enforcement to function properly. Forest is a forest area that has a basic function as a protection of the buffer system of life to regulate water, prevent flooding, control erosion, prevent seawater intrusion, and maintain soil fertility. The effort to protect and secure forest functions is that a effort preserves and protects forest damage and forest outcomes caused by human and livestock deeds, fires, natural powers, pests, and diseases, and maintains and maintains the state rights of forests and forest outcomes. This study resulted in improvements in government policies that gave birth to the strengthening model of protection of damage to forest areas in general and Forest areas in particular

Intro -- MOUNTAINTOP MINING: BACKGROUND AND ISSUES -- MOUNTAINTOP MINING: BACKGROUND AND ISSUES -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- Chapter 1 MOUNTAINTOP MINING: BACKGROUND ON CURRENT CONTROVERSIES -- SUMMARY -- WHAT IS MOUNTAINTOP MINING? -- Regulatory Setting -- CRITICISM AND LEGAL CHALLENGES TO MOUNTAINTOP MINING -- OSM's Stream Buffer Zone Rule -- Other Litigation -- ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS AND CONGRESSIONAL ACTIVITY -- Recent Administration Actions -- Guidance on Permitting -- EPA Proposed Veto of a Mountaintop Mining Permit -- Congressional Actions -- End Notes -- Chapter 2 SURFACE COAL MINING: CHARACTERISTICS OF MINING IN MOUNTAINOUS AREAS OF KENTUCKY AND WEST VIRGINIA -- WHY GAO DID THIS STUDY -- WHAT GAO FOUND -- ABBREVIATIONS -- BACKGROUND -- Surface Coal Mining Methods Used in Kentucky and West Virginia -- Surface Coal Production in Kentucky and West Virginia -- Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act Requirements for Regulating Coal Mining Operations -- CHARACTERISTICS OF SURFACE COAL MINING IN MOUNTAINOUS AREAS IN KENTUCKY AND WEST VIRGINIA -- Acres under Open Permit Have Increased in Kentucky and West Virginia -- Mining in Kentucky and West Virginia Has Become More Geographically Concentrated -- The Length of Time That Permits Were Open in Kentucky and West Virginia Varies -- Many Permitted Acres in West Virginia Are Concentrated in a Few Large, Contiguously Permitted Areas -- CHARACTERISTICS OF RECLAIMED LANDS THAT WERE DISTURBED BY SURFACE COAL MINING IN MOUNTAINOUS AREAS OF KENTUCKY AND WEST VIRGINIA -- Fish and Wildlife Habitat and Forestland Were the Most Common Post-Mining Land Uses Approved, While Forestland Was the Most Common Land Use Prior to Mining -- Most Operations Are Required to Reclaim the Land to AOC, but There Are Exceptions -- Operators Were Approved to Construct Nearly 2,000 Valley and Hollow Fills from 2000 to 2008

At a time when the United States is sharply divided on women's reproductive rights, the focus has shifted from legality to that of access to reproductive healthcare services. This debate is too often defined by the pro-choice/anti-choice binary. This binary overlooks women who seek reproductive healthcare services for reasons other than abortion (such as pap smears, gynecological check-ups, birth control, STD testing, breast cancer preventive screenings, etc.). Self-proclaimed sidewalk counselors approach these women to convince them that there are alternatives to abortion. While some women may welcome a sidewalk counselor's approach, the women who choose to ignore them more often than not risk being scolded, yelled at, harassed, and humiliated publicly. These interactions leave many of these women shaken, nervous, and deterred from seeking necessary reproductive healthcare services. Many states have enacted buffer zone legislation to protect women trying to access reproductive healthcare clinics, but an overwhelming amount of these laws have been struck down on a First Amendment basis.The Supreme Court has decided these cases without defining who qualifies as a sidewalk counselor and who is properly deemed a more threatening protester against whom a legal action may be brought. This has caused great uncertainty in the law. This paper argues that sidewalk counselors and activists' protesting against abortion outside of these clinics is futile. Reproductive healthcare clinics offer a wide range of services—not just abortions. Therefore, it is impossible for anti-abortion activists to ascertain who is seeking an abortion and who is not without intruding into women's personal reproductive choices and medical needs. Buffer zones around reproductive healthcare facilities help protect women's privacy and their right to access so they may obtain the reproductive healthcare they are entitled to receive.

CdS and Zn(O,S) grown by chemical bath deposition are well-established buffer materials for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin-film solar cells and modules. Typically these buffers were combined with a ZnO:Al (AZO) or ZnO:B window layer and i-ZnO or (Zn,Mg)O as high-resistive interlayer. Nowadays, alternative transparent conductive oxide (TCO) materials with higher mobility as compared to AZO like indium zinc oxide (IZO) and hydrogen-doped indium oxide (IOH) are under investigation. In the present contribution, we report on the performance of CIGS cells with solution-grown Zn(O,S) or CdS buffer layers in combination with different stacking sequences including i-ZnO, (Zn,Mg)O, IZO, and IOH. Devices with the commonly used AZO window layer are used as references. Efficiencies above 16% without anti-reflective coating (ARC) are achieved for cells with Zn(O,S)/(Zn,Mg)O combined with IZO, IOH, and AZO whereas poor results are obvious with all Zn(O,S)/i-ZnO combinations. Nevertheless, CdS-buffered reference cells with the different TCO materials exhibit efficiencies in the range of 17–18% without ARC mainly due to higher open-circuit voltages. ; This work was also supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) under contract number REF-1131-52107. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Swiss Government or the European Union. Next to our Sharc25 funding: Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Inno-vation (SERI) under contract number 15.0158. Partial funding from SNF-NanoTera and Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SYNERGY: 20NA21_150950) as well as from Competence Center of Energy and Mobility (project CONNECT-PV) in the ETH Domain is kindly acknowledged. This work was partially supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) under contract number 0325762H (TCO4CIGS).

At a time when the United States is sharply divided on women's reproductive rights, the focus has shifted from legality to that of access to reproductive healthcare services. This debate is too often defined by the pro-choice/anti-choice binary. This binary overlooks women who seek reproductive healthcare services for reasons other than abortion (such as pap smears, gynecological check-ups, birth control, STD testing, breast cancer preventive screenings, etc.). Self-proclaimed sidewalk counselors approach these women to convince them that there are alternatives to abortion. While some women may welcome a sidewalk counselor's approach, the women who choose to ignore them more often than not risk being scolded, yelled at, harassed, and humiliated publicly. These interactions leave many of these women shaken, nervous, and deterred from seeking necessary reproductive healthcare services. Many states have enacted buffer zone legislation to protect women trying to access reproductive healthcare clinics, but an overwhelming amount of these laws have been struck down on a First Amendment basis.The Supreme Court has decided these cases without defining who qualifies as a sidewalk counselor and who is properly deemed a more threatening protester against whom a legal action may be brought. This has caused great uncertainty in the law. This paper argues that sidewalk counselors and activists' protesting against abortion outside of these clinics is futile. Reproductive healthcare clinics offer a wide range of services—not just abortions. Therefore, it is impossible for anti-abortion activists to ascertain who is seeking an abortion and who is not without intruding into women's personal reproductive choices and medical needs. Buffer zones around reproductive healthcare facilities help protect women's privacy and their right to access so they may obtain the reproductive healthcare they are entitled to receive.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- Acknowledgments -- Contributors -- Introduction -- Part I: Where the personal intersects with public policy -- 1. Why "you are what you eat" matters when talking about school lunch: A personal narrative -- References -- Part II: Understanding food insecurity -- 2. Child and adult food insecurity in the United States -- Introduction -- Definitions of food security/insecurity -- History of hunger and food insecurity in the United States -- Measurements -- Food insecurity prevalence in the United States -- Associations and consequences of food insecurity -- Associating factors -- Consequences of food insecurity -- Nutrition policy and nutrition assistance programs -- Local policy and grassroots movements addressing food insecurity -- Research gaps -- References -- 3. Unintended consequences of nutritional assistance programs: Children's school meal participation and adults' food security -- Introduction -- Background -- Food insecurity is associated with a range of negative child and adult outcomes -- Adults may buffer children from food insecurity within the household -- Child nutritional assistance programs may offset adult buffering -- School meals provide a substantial number of calories to children -- Resource reallocation and link to adult food security -- Data and methods -- Sample -- Analytic plan -- Results -- Descriptive statistics -- Regression analyses -- Discussion -- Limitations and future research -- References -- 4. The food environment and social determinants of food insufficiency and diet quality in rural households -- Literature review -- Food access and food deserts -- Food access and dietary intake -- Social context and dietary intake

"In this groundbreaking study, author Malcolm Frierson moves comedy from the margins to the center of the American Civil Rights Movements. Freedom in Laughter: Dick Gregory, Bill Cosby, and the Civil Rights Movement reveals how stand-up comedians Dick Gregory and Bill Cosby used their increasing mainstream success to advance political issues, albeit differently. After exploring Gregory's and Cosby's adolescent experiences in St. Louis and Philadelphia, respectively, Frierson juxtaposes the comedians' diverging humor and activism. The fiery Gregory focused on the politics of race, something that won him respectability at the expense of his career in the long term. Cosby focused on the politics of respectability and catapulted to television and film stardom, although militant blacks repeatedly questioned his image. Yet both, Frierson argues, carried the aims of the black struggle for freedom. An epilogue considers the comedians' post-civil rights era trajectories. Accessibly written and peppered with Gregory's and Cosby's original material, Freedom in Laughter may be enjoyed by academics, history buffs, and anyone interested in American popular culture"--

ABSTRACTThis paper presents stochastic models for analyzing production to stock and production on demand systems with arbitrary demand, production, machine breakdown and repair processes, and a finite buffer. Expressions are developed for the transition probabilities among the different states, the proportion of transitions that take the process to a particular state, the probabilities that the process is at a particular state, and the expected state residence times. Also, expressions are developed for some quantities of interest, like average inventory, percentage of lost sales, and expected waiting time. Applications are discussed for various demand, production, machine breakdown, and repair processes and numerical examples are presented. Guidelines are given for utilizing the models in evaluating the economic performance of production systems. Using an approximation procedure, the models are used for modeling multi‐stage serial production to stock and production on demand lines. Simulation results indicated that the quality of the approximation is very good. The multi‐stage models are useful in practical situations, because they allow the use of different probability distributions for the various processes (production, machine failure, etc.) of each stage.

"This book focuses on the main institutional changes affecting the Social Investment approach, as the framework for the European social agenda. The contributions gathered address these issues from different angles, placing two fundamental issues at the centre of the analysis. The first concerns the promotion of the strategic actions of European institutions and the national governments aimed at making social investment a recovery priority in the Eurozone. The second aims to make the social investment approach compatible not only with a high road to growth, as it is in the Stock-Flow-Buffer scheme, but also with the right to balance market and non-market activities as a universal right linked to a different combination of working and living time. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of social policy and European politics"--

"One of the goals of Russia's Eastern policy was to turn Moldavia and Wallachia, the two Romanian principalities north of the Danube, from Ottoman vassals into a controllable buffer zone and a springboard for future military operations against Constantinople. Russia on the Danube describes the divergent interests and uneasy cooperation between the Russian officials and the Moldavian and Wallachian nobility in a key period between 1812 and 1834. The main conclusion of the book is that although Russian policy was driven by self-interest, and despite the Russophobia among a great part of the Romanian intellectuals, this turbulent period significantly contributed to the emergence, several decades later, of modern Romania"--

This article describes the EU's impact on economic performance in the new Member States since the advent of membership. It first deals with the EU's role in promoting the economic boom that marked the region up to 2007, emphasizing the role of the single market and of the EU in anchoring and encouraging economic policy liberalization. The second section investigates the EU role in buffering the bust that occurred after 2007, looking at structural fund spending and financial sector instruments to enhance liquidity. I argue the EU had a (mostly unintentional) pro-cyclical effect that fuelled the boom and contributed to setting up the region for a very hard fall during the bust. I also show the EU efforts to buffer the hard times were far quicker in the area of structural fund spending compared to very slow and limited innovation in liquidity provision, especially for non-eurozone states. Adapted from the source document.