795 research outputs found
The collapse of Rana Plaza and the limits, options and challenges of transnational labour regulation
The collapse of the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh on 24 April 2013 resulted in the death of over 1,100 workers and many more injured workers. Consequently, it has again raised the debate about the social responsibility of multinational companies (MNCs) for their full production chain. European and North-American MNCs have responded to this with the adoption of two agreements. Although these agreements have been welcomed, being transnational private agreements, from a legal point of view, they raise some questions, especially about their legal status. This paper describes in brief the main legal challenges of these transnational, private agreements and how they can be (partially) be met. Secondly, the two agreements are analysed to what extent they meet those challenges. The paper concludes with some general considerations about their promises and limits to actually make a difference
The Open Methods of Coordination as Amplifier for EU Soft Law
The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/[insert DOI
Artery/vein classification using reflection features in retina fundus images
Automatic artery/vein (A/V) classification is one of the important topics in retinal image analysis. It allows the researchers to investigate the association between biomarkers and disease progression on a huge amount of data for arteries and veins separately. Recent proposed methods, which employ contextual information of vessels to achieve better A/V classification accuracy, still rely on the performance of pixel-wise classification, which has received limited attention in recent years. In this paper, we show that these classification methods can be markedly improved. We propose a new normalization technique for extracting four new features which are associated with the lightness reflection of vessels. The accuracy of a linear discriminate analysis classifier is used to validate these features. Accuracy rates of 85.1, 86.9 and 90.6% were obtained on three datasets using only local information. Based on the introduced features, the advanced graph-based methods will achieve a better performance on A/V classification.</p
Relationship between brachycephalic airway syndrome and gastrointestinal signs in three breeds of dog
Objectives: To assess the breed-specific prevalence of, and effects of corrective airway surgery on, gastrointestinal signs in French bulldogs, English bulldogs and pugs presenting with brachycephalic airway syndrome to a referral teaching hospital.
Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, ptyalism, regurgitation and vomiting were graded at presentation using a previously established scoring system. Staphylectomy and nares resection were performed on all dogs. Gastrointestinal signs were re-assessed via telephone follow-up at least 6 weeks after surgery.
Results: Ninety-eight dogs were included: French bulldogs (n=43), English bulldogs (n=12) and pugs (n=43). Overall population prevalence of all gastrointestinal signs was 56%. Breed-specific prevalence for French bulldogs was 93%, English bulldogs 58% and pugs 16%. There was post-surgical clinical improvement in gastrointestinal signs for the whole study population, especially in French bulldogs.
Clinical Significance: The prevalence of gastrointestinal signs in dogs presenting with brachycephalic airway syndrome and improvement in these clinical signs following corrective surgery may vary between breeds
Spectroscopy on two coupled flux qubits
We have performed spectroscopy measurements on two coupled flux qubits. The
qubits are coupled inductively, which results in a
interaction. By applying microwave radiation, we observe resonances due to
transitions from the ground state to the first two excited states. From the
position of these resonances as a function of the magnetic field applied we
observe the coupling of the qubits. The coupling strength agrees well with
calculations of the mutual inductance
Optimal trap shape for a Bose gas with attractive interactions
Dilute Bose gas with attractive interactions is considered at zero
temperature, when practically all atoms are in Bose-Einstein condensate. The
problem is addressed aiming at answering the question: What is the optimal trap
shape allowing for the condensation of the maximal number of atoms with
negative scattering lengths? Simple and accurate analytical formulas are
derived allowing for an easy analysis of the optimal trap shapes. These
analytical formulas are the main result of the paper.Comment: Latex file, 21 page
Relative momentum for identical particles
Possible definitions for the relative momentum of identical particles are
considered
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