Next Big Thing? Methamphetamine in the United States

A new major study disproving the popular belief that there exists a growing methamphetamine "epidemic" within the United States. 41 page

Minnesota Agricultural Economist 700

International Relations/Trade,

Communication networks with endogenous link strength

This paper analyzes the formation of networks when players choose how much to invest in each relationship. We suppose that players have a fixed endowment that they can allocate across links, and in the baseline model, suppose that link strength is an additively separable and convex function of individual investments, and that agents use the path which maximizes the product of link strengths. We show that both the stable and efficient network architectures are stars. However, the investments of the hub may differ in stable and efficient networks. Under alternative assumptions on the investment technology and the reliability measure, other network architectures can emerge as efficient and stable

Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk: Defining Critical Race Theory in Research

This paper focuses on what constitutes a Critical Race Theory (CRT) methodology. Over the last decade there has been a noticeable growth in published works citing CRT in the UK. This has led to an increase in practical research projects utilising CRT as their framework. It is clear that research on ‘race’ is an emerging topic of study recently encapsulated by the work of Seidman (2004), Bulmer and Solomos (2004), Gunaratnam (2003), Denzin and Giardina (2006; 2007), Tuhiwai Smith (2006), and Denzin, Lincoln and TuhiwaiSmith (2008). What is less visible is a debate on how CRT is positioned in relation to the ‘nexus of methodic practice, substantive theory and epistemological underpinnings that is a methodology (Harvey 1990:1). These philosophical, ethical, and practical questions are initially considered here by examining the notions of ontology, epistemology and methodology before practical considerations of recognising, framing and applying CRT research methodologies are explored

Cordaid-IICD Health Programme Uganda:Health Management Information Systems as a Tool for Organisational Development\ud

A Health Management Information System (HMIS) can be a powerful tool to make health care delivery more effective and far more efficient. This paper describes how an HMIS can also be used for organisational development and reports on the experiences of the HMIS programme of the Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau (UCMB) in Uganda. The programme forms part of a larger programme on ICTs for health in Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia and is supported jointly by the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) and the Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development Aid (Cordaid). The goal of the paper is to evaluate the project against a background of organisational development and to draw practical lessons from the project that may provide guidance to new HMIS projects in the development context.\u

Two houses: legislative studies and the Atlantic divide

Legislative scholars have a history of stepping back occasionally to examine the development and state of the sub-discipline (Budge 1973; Gamm and Huber 2002; Loewenberg, Patterson, and Jewell 1985; Mezey 1993; Morris-Jones 1983; Pasquino 1973; Patterson 1989). Many of these existing reviews, although valuable, are predominantly of a qualitative and subjective nature and are, in most cases, now dated. This paper provides a bibliometrical analysis of the state of legislative studies in the United States and Europe by exploring the content of eight political science journals. I looked at six general political science journals, three originating in the United States and three in Europe, as well as the content of two legislative studies journals—the American-based Legislative Studies Quarterly and the British-based Journal of Legislative Studies

The Strategy of Innovative Development of Economy of Ukraine till 2030

The Strategy of the development of the innovative activity sphere for the period up to 2030 approved by the Government of Ukraine has been analyzed in the article. It was determined that the innovative activity sphere has several disadvantages. The following issues have not been considered: application of tax privileges for the activation of innovative activity of domestic enterprises; implementation of the list of specific innovative projects, which are fully or partially financed from the state budget; direct connection of the state with business and society; mechanism of interaction between universities and domestic enterprises; people responsible for the implementation of the Country Innovation Strategy at the state and local levels have not been assigned; the priority of public procurement of high-tech products from domestic manufacturers has not been established; mechanisms of annual monitoring and control of the stages of strategy implementation have not been defined.The ways of overcoming these issues have been provided in the article. An algorithm of the implementation of the Innovative Development Strategy of Ukraine until 2030 has been developed and suggested, which will make the state policy in the sphere of innovation activity more systematic and advanced. The suggested algorithm of strategy implementation consists of five main stages: preparatory, computational, organizational, practical implementation and result from analysis. At each of these stages, the functions and responsibilities of each participant in the innovation process are defined: the state, research institutions, local governments, and business structures. The deadlines for the implementation of necessary transformations and practical mechanisms for their realization have been determined. The role of state bodies as the main organizational element of the Strategy development is highlighted.The algorithm of the realization of the Strategy of Innovative Development of the Ukrainian Economy suggested by the author will ensure the consistent and gradual implementation of the structural elements of the national innovation system, its effective transformation, and further development, since each step of the Strategy is a logical stage of implementing a comprehensive program to ensure the development of innovative relations in the state’s economy

Wet oxidation of GeSi at (700)C

About 500-nm-thick films of Ge0.36Si0.64 and Ge0.28Si0.72 grown epitaxially on (100)Si have been oxidized at 700-degrees-C in wet ambient. A uniform GexSi1-xO2 oxide layer forms with a smooth interface between it and the unoxidized GexSi1-x layer below. The composition and structure of that layer remains unchanged as monitored by backscattering spectrometry or cross-sectional transmission electronic microscopy. The oxide of both samples grows as square root of oxidation duration. The parabolic rate constant increases with the Ge content and is larger than that for wet oxidation of pure Si at the same temperature. The absence of a regime of linear growth at this relatively low temperature indicates a much enhanced linear rate constant

Creep fatigue of low-cobalt superalloys: Waspalloy, PM U 700 and wrought U 700

The influence of cobalt content on the high temperature creep fatigue crack initiation resistance of three primary alloys was evaluated. These were Waspalloy, Powder U 700, and Cast U 700, with cobalt contents ranging from 0 up to 17 percent. Waspalloy was studied at 538 C whereas the U 700 was studied at 760 C. Constraints of the program required investigation at a single strain range using diametral strain control. The approach was phenomenological, using standard low cycle fatigue tests involving continuous cycling tension hold cycling, compression hold cycling, and symmetric hold cycling. Cycling in the absence of or between holds was done at 0.5 Hz, whereas holds when introduced lasted 1 minute. The plan was to allocate two specimens to the continuous cycling, and one specimen to each of the hold time conditions. Data was taken to document the nature of the cracking process, the deformation response, and the resistance to cyclic loading to the formation of small cracks and to specimen separation. The influence of cobalt content on creep fatigue resistance was not judged to be very significant based on the results generated. Specific conclusions were that the hold time history dependence of the resistance is as significant as the influence of cobalt content and increased cobalt content does not produce increased creep fatigue resistance on a one to one basis