Decentralization, local government elections and voter turnout in Pakistan:

"Decentralization has the potential to improve the accountability of government and lead to a more efficient provision of public services. However, accountability requires broad groups of people to participate in local government. Thus, voter turnout at local government elections is an important component of government accountability. This study used survey data on the 2005 local government elections in Pakistan to analyze the impact of electoral mechanisms, the credibility of elections, and voters' socioeconomic characteristics on voter turnout. The rational-choice perspective is applied to develop the specifications of the empirical model. The empirical analysis is based on a series of standard and multilevel random-intercept logistic models. Our important findings reveal that (1) voter turnout is strongly associated with the personal and social gratifications people derive from voting; (2) the preference-matching ability of candidates for local government positions is marginal; and (3) the introduction of direct elections of the district nazims—a key position in local government—might improve electoral participation and thus create a precondition for better local government accountability. The findings also suggest that less educated people, farmers, and rural people are more likely to vote." Authors' AbstractDecentralization, local government elections, political participation, voter turnout, Public service provision, Governance,

Algorithms to Solve Singularly Perturbed Volterra Integral Equations

In this paper, we apply the Differential Transform Method (DTM) and Variational Iterative Method (VIM) to develop algorithms for solving singularly perturbed volterra integral equations (SPVIEs). The study outlines the significant features of the two methods. A comparison between the two methods for the solution of SPVIs is given for three examples. The results show that both methods are very efficient, convenient and applicable to a large class of problems

Two Dimensional Quantum Dilaton Gravity and the Positivity of Energy

Using an argument due to Regge and Teitelboim, an expression for the ADM mass of 2d quantum dilaton gravity is obtained. By evaluating this expression we establish that the quantum theories which can be written as a Liouville-like theory, have a lower bound to energy, provided there is no critical boundary. This fact is then reconciled with the observation made earlier that the Hawking radiation does not appear to stop. The physical picture that emerges is that of a black hole in a bath of quantum radiation. We also evaluate the ADM mass for the models with RST boundary conditions and find that negative values are allowed. The Bondi mass of these models goes to zero for large retarded times, but becomes negative at intermediate times in a manner that is consistent with the thunderpop of RST.Comment: 16 pages, phyzzx, COLO-HEP-309. (Confusing points in previous version clarified, discussion of ADM and Bondi masses in RST case added.

Utilising journey crime mapping and scripting to combat cyber ​​crime

Modern societies are now reliant on digital communication and networks for conducting a wide array of tasks, ranging from simple acts such as browsing the web through to mission critical tasks such as the management of critical infrastructure and industrial controls. This reliance shows a growing emphasis on strategic importance of cyberspace (Sharma, 2010). While organisations and individuals are keenly exploiting the benefits of cyberspace, these same platforms have also opened new avenues for nefarious actors in the pursuit of their criminal activities to attack, disrupt, or steal from organisations and individuals. Criminal organisations and lone criminals worldwide have access to powerful, evolving capabilities which they use to identify and target their victims allowing for the perpetration of a wide variety of cyber crimes. This paper discusses ways in which utilising methods from typically non-cyber disciplines – business and criminology – can successfully be applied to the cyber domain in order to help in the fight against and prevention of cyber crime. Through the provision of a visual representation, this paper clarifies how journey mapping and crime scripting can help in building an understanding of the steps criminals undertake during execution of a cyber crime. In essence, within our work we have deconstructed the lifecycle of a crime events and translated these into a visualisation map to show the full event process, highlighting key steps as well as positive and negative events. Such work is useful to several roles and organisation types as it can aid in their decision processes when undertaking steps in pursuit, prevention, preparation and protection

Quantum Exchange Algebra and Exact Operator Solution of A2A_2-Toda Field Theory

Locality is analyzed for Toda field theories by noting novel chiral description in the conventional nonchiral formalism. It is shown that the canonicity of the interacting to free field mapping described by the classical solution is automatically guaranteed by the locality. Quantum Toda theories are investigated by applying the method of free field quantization. We give Toda exponential operators associated with fundamental weight vectors as bilinear forms of chiral fields satisfying characteristic quantum exchange algebra. It is shown that the locality leads to nontrivial relations among the ${\cal R}$-matrix and the expansion coefficients of the exponential operators. The Toda exponentials are obtained for $A_2$-system by extending the algebraic method developed for Liouville theory. The canonical commutation relations and the operatorial field equations are also examined.Comment: 38 pages, Late

Nonsingular Black Hole Evaporation and ``Stable'' Remnants

We examine the evaporation of two--dimensional black holes, the classical space--times of which are extended geometries, like for example the two--dimensional section of the extremal Reissner--Nordstrom black hole. We find that the evaporation in two particular models proceeds to a stable end--point. This should represent the generic behavior of a certain class of two--dimensional dilaton--gravity models. There are two distinct regimes depending on whether the back--reaction is weak or strong in a certain sense. When the back--reaction is weak, evaporation proceeds via an adiabatic evolution, whereas for strong back--reaction, the decay proceeds in a somewhat surprising manner. Although information loss is inevitable in these models at the semi--classical level, it is rather benign, in that the information is stored in another asymptotic region.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, harvmac and epsf, RU-93-12, PUPT-1399, NSF-ITP-93-5

Dynamical Moving Mirrors and Black Holes

A simple quantum mechanical model of $N$ free scalar fields interacting with a dynamical moving mirror is formulated and shown to be equivalent to two-dimensional dilaton gravity. We derive the semi-classical dynamics of this system, by including the back reaction due to the quantum radiation. We develop a hamiltonian formalism that describes the time evolution as seen by an asymptotic observer, and write a scattering equation that relates the in-falling and out-going modes at low energies. At higher incoming energy flux, however, the classical matter-mirror dynamics becomes unstable and the mirror runs off to infinity. This instability provides a useful paradigm for black hole formation and introduces an analogous information paradox. Finally, we propose a new possible mechanism for restoring the stability in the super-critical situation, while preserving quantum coherence. This mechanism is based on the notion of an effective time evolution, that takes into account the quantum mechanical effect of the measurement of the Hawking radiation on the state of the infalling matter.Comment: 37 pages, 5 figures attached, epsf, harvmac, PUPT-143

Hamiltonian Approach to 2D Dilaton-Gravities and Invariant Adm Mass

The formula existing in the literature for the ADM mass of 2D dilaton gravity is incomplete. For example, in the case of an infalling matter shockwave this formula fails to give a time-independent mass, unless a very special coordinate system is chosen. We carefully carry out the canonical formulation of 2D dilaton gravity theories (classical, CGHS and RST). As in 4D general relativity one must add a boundary term to the bulk Hamiltonian to obtain a well-defined variational problem. This boundary term coincides with the numerical value of the Hamiltonian and gives the correct mass which obviously is time-independent.Comment: revised, 12 pages, PUPT-1379; we added a reference and corrected some minor typo

The planning policy of bilingualism in education in Iraq

Iraq as a multicultural and multilingual country has different languages as Arabic, which is the dominant language, and it also has some other minority languages, such as Kurdish, Turkish, Syriac....etc. Over the last 80 years, Iraq which was involved in some political struggles, had faced many internal problems regarding the Arabic domination that occurred, and this was owing to the absence of clear language policy used. Children learning in the Iraqi system, for instance, speak and study all courses in Arabic, while speaking and using their own culture at home tend to be done in their first language. The minorities’ language usage in Iraq was ignored both inside the schools as well as in the curriculum construction. So this study focuses on the following issues: the first issue is, What is the strategy of language planning policy in Iraq? the study discusses the strategy and the planning educational system that Iraq applies now, the second issue is, What is the status of minority languages in Iraq? Iraq is a multicultural county and has many minorities communities with different languages, the third issue is, What are the challenges of language in Iraq? as long as there is different languages within one country the study also focuses on the challenges that been faced in the planning policy system, and the last issue is, Is there a homogenous relationship during the current policy? How? the study shows the homogenous relationship inside the current policy and the researches give many suggestions and recommendations regarding to the current policy and what is needed for improving the educational planning policy system