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

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