Merge branches 'doc.2015.12.05a', 'exp.2015.12.07a', 'fixes.2015.12.07a', 'list.2015.12.04b' and 'torture.2015.12.05a' into HEAD

doc.2015.12.05a:  Documentation updates
exp.2015.12.07a:  Expedited grace-period updates
fixes.2015.12.07a:  Miscellaneous fixes
list.2015.12.04b:  Linked-list updates
torture.2015.12.05a:  Torture-test updates