Observations of Dispersion Cancellation of Entangled Photon Pairs

An experimental study of the dispersion cancellation occurring in frequency-entangled photon pairs is presented. The approach uses time-resolved up conversion of the pairs, which has temporal resolution at the fs level, and group-delay dispersion sensitivity of $\approx \ 20 \, \mathrm{fs}^2$ under experimental conditions. The cancellation is demonstrated with dispersion stronger than $\pm 10^3 \, \mathrm{fs}^2$ in the signal $(-)$ and idler $(+)$ modes. The observations represent the generation, compression, and characterization of ultrashort biphotons with correlation width as small as 6.8 times the degenerate optical period.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Optimization of an Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting Device

This paper presents the modeling and optimization of an electromagnetic-based generator for generating power from ambient vibrations. Basic equations describing such generators are presented and the conditions for maximum power generation are described. Two-centimeter scale prototype generators, which consist of magnets suspended on a beam vibrating relative to a coil, have been built and tested. The measured power and modeled results are compared. It is shown that the experimental results confirm the optimization theory

Public Service Decentralisation : Governance Opportunities and Challenges

Background This discussion paper identifies and analyses a number of key governance issues that are relevant to ‘decentralisation’ as a concept in public sector reform. It explores, particularly within the context of contemporary Irish experience, some of the key opportunities and challenges for effective leadership and collegiality in a geographically decentralised Irish civil and public service: areas which may have been comparatively neglected, in both research and policy terms, in the past but which demand further attention for effective implementation of current initiatives. The research draws upon: · an extensive review of the national and international literature on civil/public service decentralisation, as well as effective leadership and positive collegiality in the commercial and non-commercial sectors; · in-depth discussions with those engaged, at a senior level, both in Ireland and elsewhere with developing and implementing decentralisation programmes; · in-depth discussions with the chief officers in a crosssection of Irish public bodies directly affected by the current programme, as well as senior trade union representatives and senior private sector managers; In this regard, it must be stressed that the geographical decentralisation programme currently in hand for the Irish public service will have a direct and/or indirect impact not just on those specific bodies identified for decentralisation under the current programme but will have an impact across the public service as well as in other sectors. Indeed the changes that are afoot are of a scale and character that should lead to a fundamental recasting of the Irish system of public administration. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Policy context Since 1994, the Irish public service has been engaged upon a long-term programme of public service modernisation, also known as the Strategic Management Initiative (SMI), broadly along New Public Management (NPM) lines. While Ireland’s efforts at geographical decentralisation long predate the SMI and have not, until now, had significant, explicit implications for the modernisation agenda, a considerable sense of urgency has now been injected into this gradually, self-modernising administrative system. For, into a previously consensual and gradualist policy environment, the Minister for Finance in December 2003 announced the Irish government\u27s commitment to the voluntary decentralisation of over 10,300 posts in civil service departments/offices and agencies to over fifty locations across twenty-five counties throughout the country. Of this total, over 3,000 of the posts earmarked for relocation are in state agencies. Additionally, the government decided that, save in exceptional circumstances, any new agencies/bodies being established in the future should be located in areas compatible with this new programme. While decentralisation has not formed an explicit plank of either current or past Irish public service reform initiatives and while Ireland\u27s experience to date has demonstrated little devolution of fiscal and other high-level decision-making functions from central to local levels, the spatial decentralisation of Dublin-based public service employment and functions to non-metropolitan locations has been a feature of Irish administrative reorganisation at least since the 1960s. Broadly speaking, there have been two previous phases of geographical decentralisation in Ireland: (a) dispersal during the period 1967 to 1987; followed by (b) a complex period of dispersal, deconcentration and regionalisation (1988-2003). Thus, even before the new programme is implemented, previous national-level initiatives, together with the adoption of regional strategies by some departments/offices, have already resulted in a complex spatial mosaic of public service locations. Together with dispersed functional units, this complex mosaic includes regionalised and/or county-based offices supported by networks of branch, district and local offices. However, there is little doubt that, although it builds upon these earlier initiatives, the current decentralisation programme will present unprecedented management and operational challenges at the departmental/organisational and publicservice wide levels. It will also be important to learn from experiences in the past regarding leadership and collegiality in a geographically complex civil service in order to help plot the future. The current proposals will not only mean that the majority of civil service, as well as public service, posts will be based outside Dublin but no fewer than eight government departmental HQs will be located away from the capital, while the government itself and many other departments and stakeholder organisations will continue to operate from the centre. As a consequence, an entirely new approach to the governance of the service will be required and, in particular, new models of leadership and collegiality developed. This dramatic policy initiative, in the short-term, has not only reverberated throughout the administrative system, but, in the longer term, has the potential to present hitherto un-thought of opportunities for radical reform and improvements in the way the Irish public service operates. Learning from others A number of other countries have implemented decentralisation initiatives in the past number of decades. For example, in the Netherlands and UK up to the end of the 1980s the decentralisation of public service employment away from the capital had been used as part of a regional development strategy to relieve long-term unemployment in declining industrial areas. More recently, evidence from secondary sources indicates international experience of relocation and decentralisation in a wide range of countries and/or other public administrations; e.g. France, Germany, Norway, Japan and Canada (British Colombia). Internationally, the geographical decentralisation of the civil and public service is seen as an opportunity to secure improved efficiency on the back of business process reengineering (BPR), new working practices and modernisation. However, this research found that, although some useful inferences can be drawn from a review of available international evidence, it is difficult to identify in other public administrations in OECD a direct comparator for the current programme of Irish decentralisation. This lack of a comparator relates to the scale of the current programme, its scope, timing and, above all, its inclusion of proposals to relocate entire organisations in locations away from the capital city and centre of political life. For example, the UK approach specifically excludes the movement of head offices of government departments away from London. Leadership and collegiality Available research evidence suggests that both effective leadership and positive collegiality are key features of good governance and the significance of both these qualities is at a premium within the context of a geographically complex, decentralised civil and public service. Such qualities of good governance as leadership, effectiveness, participation, coherence, programme delivery and effective stakeholder engagement are particularly relevant in the context of the decentralisation programme given the continuing location of the Oireachtas and a number of departments in central Dublin and the particular challenges posed by the geographical decentralisation of others. Indeed, it is important to note that, as early as March 2004, the Decentralisation Implementation Group was beginning to acknowledge the importance of these qualities in forming ‘a post-decentralised civil service’: ‘The geographic relocation and dispersal of staff may help to reinforce existing moves towards greater devolution of authority and responsibility to, and within, organisations. There will be an onus on management at organisational and suborganisational level to exercise greater de facto responsibility for HR, finance and other organisational matters. A more geographically dispersed civil service needs to be balanced by sufficiently strong common values and culture to support effective system-wide co-operation and decision-making. It will be necessary to reinforce, and invest more heavily in corporate culture and ethos’ (First Report of the Decentralisation Implementation Group to Minister for Finance p.28). These opportunities and challenges are explored in this research at corporate/service-wide, interdepartmental and intradepartmental levels A review of the latest international literature and best practice management frameworks clearly highlights that not only is effective leadership the cornerstone upon which organisational excellence is built, it also: · gives strategic direction: it develops and communicates vision, mission and values; · achieves change and focuses efforts on customer service; · develops and implements a system for organisational management and performance review; · motivates and supports people, acting as a role model; · manages the relationships with politicians and other stakeholders, acting in a socially responsible manner. These qualities hold true across the public and private sectors. Effective and visible leadership is required to promote an emphasis on co-operation, consensus, persuasion and the like. A key quality of leadership is also the capacity to operate in a collegial manner and to support collegiality between and within organisations. Together with positive collegiality, these qualities of effective leadership apply at three levels: the corporate or service-wide; the inter- and the intra-departmental. The key research question for this study was to consider the extent to which these qualities of leadership and collegiality could be affected by the geographical dispersal of the public service organisations concerned and, specifically, to identify and discuss opportunities and challenges thus presented. Opportunities and challenges There is little doubt that the current decentralisation programme will have a profound impact on structures, communication frameworks, networking fora and the relationship interface between the civil service, the political and stakeholder systems. How this is managed is vital in terms of the effects on customer service and the efficiency of business processes during the transition phase and beyond. As such, if effectively managed and implemented, it could represent a unique opportunity to fundamentally revisit and restructure the ways in which the civil and wider public services conduct their business. There is little doubt that the movement of public service bodies away from Dublin will provide an unprecedented xiii opportunity for a fundamental overhaul of work done and the way it is done, through the use of business process reengineering and other techniques. Concerns from the past regarding blocked career progression for those in dispersed and regional civil service offices could be ameliorated by adopting a regional approach to facilitate promotion across public service bodies. Otherwise, a move away from Dublin would very definitely become a one-way journey. Because of the travel imperative for contact with the minister and meetings with other public servants, while the burden of travel will be greatly increased, especially when engaged in EU and other international work, it is very likely that both the frequency and management of meetings will become subject to stricter discipline. The use of ICT will help communication but it is expected to be only a limited substitute for face-to-face collegiality. The discussions that took place during this research also suggest that it could be timely to re-explore the potential benefits of a Senior Civil Service. Such an incremental step could support the development of leadership skills training and help sustain collegiality at the service-wide level. Respondents frequently expressed concern that local pressures could lead to a parochial mindset developing. For instance one respondent said: ‘Leadership has not historically been considered as a skill that can be learned - it has been regarded rather as Churchill described ‘greatness’: you can be born with it, achieve it or have it thrust upon you. Yet recent thinking in both the private and public sectors sees the development of the skills of leadership as essential to the effective delivery of any programme of change - and that all efficient organisations are in a state of ordered change’. It was outside the scope of this research to suggest or even less to prescribe firm recommendations for further action. That needs to be on the national agenda for another day. However, although no organisation is scheduled to decentralise before the end of 2006, there is little doubt that, if the current decentralisation programme is to rise above the very considerable logistical issues (around staffing/training and physical infrastructure) that have understandably pre-occupied the implementation agenda to date, then serious consideration of the governance opportunities and challenges arising from this programme need to rise up that agenda. Only two of these issues have been initially reviewed and discussed in this paper: namely effective leadership and positive collegiality. However, it is clear from this research that, if Ireland is to retain its hard won and justified reputation for first rate civil and public services, as well as its international standing, positive action is required across a wide front to turn leadership and collegiality challenges into opportunities. On the basis of this research evidence, such action should include constructive, informed and positive support being given to a wide range of issues, including: · Giving urgent attention to the development of a servicewide Knowledge Management initiative to minimise loss and open up new opportunities for knowledge sharing on a collegial basis, within, between and across those public service bodies significantly affected by the decentralisation programme. Allied to this is the need to map more clearly, and understand better, current formal and informal networks within the service. These will need to be significantly recast. Resort to ICT and large amounts of travel appear to only offer partial solutions. · Implementing a coherent, service-wide change management programme, which recognises and empowers leadership within and across the civil and wider public services. Again models appear to exist, based upon international best practice, which could inform this process, as could the more systematic indepth analysis of private sector experiences. It would appear also that the timing could be opportune for a revisiting and reassertion of core public service values that could help to maintain consistency in the considerably more geographically complex and younger service of the future. Allied and supportive of this approach could be the further examination of the implications for Ireland of the explicit development of a senior civil and public service. In summary, there is little doubt that the current leaders of the Irish public service have had decentralisation thrust upon them, even though it may be up to their successors to fully operationalise the resultant changes from new and diverse localities. While issues of staffing and infrastructure are understandably pre-occupying minds presently concerned with implementation, action will need to be commenced soon to rearticulate, and sustain, the values of the Irish public service and to cultivate the leadership skills necessary for the next generation of secretaries general and chief executives so that the modernisation programme set in motion a decade ago is sustained and re-invigorated. In a decade from now, a new generation of leaders should be leading an entirely recast, modernised civil and public service, in diverse places but with shared values

Trade Agreements in the Last 20 Years: Retrospect and Prospect for Agriculture / Les accords commerciaux au cours des 20 dernières années : rétrospective et perspectives pour l’agriculture / Handelsabkommen in den letzten 20 Jahren: Rückblick und Ausblick für die Landwirtschaft

We provide an overview of major developments in multi-and plurilateral trade agreements over the last twenty years with a focus on the implications for agricultural and food markets. We take stock of what has been accomplished in market integration, remaining obstacles to trade, events that have changed the trade landscape, and emerging issues. Agricultural tariffs have fallen through commitments made in the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture and through the proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs). Nevertheless, agricultural trade remains distorted with some extremely high tariffs. RTAs have achieved progress on nontariff measures and other beyond-the- border frictions. World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations on agricultural trade distortions have stalled because of their complexity and divergent political interests among WTO members. In addition, the dispute settlement mechanism no longer functions. The WTO will have to adjust to a world of RTAs and use its tools and procedures to support the multilateral trading system by promoting increased transparency of RTAs and their conformity with existing WTO agreements. The WTO can also use existing tools to head off disputes using specific trade concern mechanisms, such as those implemented through the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) committees. d’ensemble des principales évolutions dans les accords commerciaux multilatéraux et plurilatéraux au cours des vingt dernières années, en mettant l’accent sur les implications pour les marchés agricoles et alimentaires. Nous faisons le point sur ce qui a été accompli en matière d’intégration des marchés, les obstacles au commerce restant en place, les événements qui ont modifié le paysage commercial et les problèmes émergents. Les tarifs agricoles ont baissé du fait des engagements pris dans le cadre de l’Accord du Cycle d’Uruguay sur l’agriculture et de la prolifération des accords commerciaux régionaux (ACR). Néanmoins, le commerce agricole reste faussé, certains droits de douane demeurant extrêmement élevés. Les ACR ont permis de réaliser des progrès sur les mesures non tarifaires et d’autres frictions au-delà des frontières. Les négociations à l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) sur les distorsions des échanges agricoles sont au point mort en raison de leur complexité et des intérêts politiques divergents parmi les membres de l’OMC. De plus, le mécanisme de règlement des différends ne fonctionne plus. L’OMC devra s’adapter à un monde d’ACR et utiliser ses outils et procédures pour soutenir le système commercial multilatéral en promouvant une transparence accrue des ACR et leur conformité avec les accords existants de l’OMC. L’OMC peut également utiliser les outils existants pour éviter les différends en utilisant les mécanismes portant sur des questions commerciales spécifiques, tels que ceux mis en oeuvre par le biais des comités pour les questions sanitaire et phytosanitaire (SPS) et les obstacles techniques au commerce (OTC). Wir geben einen Überblick über die wichtigsten Entwicklungen bei multi-und plurilateralen Handelsabkommen in den letzten zwanzig Jahren. Der Fokus liegt dabei auf den Agrar-und Lebensmittelmärkten. Wir machen eine Bestandsaufnahme von dem, was bei der Marktintegration erreicht wurde, von den verbleibenden Handelshemmnissen, von Ereignissen, die die Handelslandschaft verändert haben, und von neuen Problemen. Die Agrarzölle sind durch die Beschlüsse der Uruguay-Runde und durch die zunehmende Anzahl an regionalen Handelsabkommen (RTAs) gesunken. Dennoch bleibt der Agrarhandel mit einigen extrem hohen Zöllen verzerrt. Im Rahmen der regionalen Handelsabkommen wurden Fortschritte bei nichttarifären Maßnahmen und anderen grenzüberschreitenden Spannungen erzielt. Die Verhandlungen der Welthandelsorganisation (WTO) über Handelsverzerrungen im Agrarbereich sind aufgrund ihrer Komplexität und der unterschiedlichen politischen Interessen ihrer Mitglieder ins Stocken geraten. Darüber hinaus funktioniert der WTO-Streitbeilegungsmechanismus nicht mehr. Die WTO muss sich auf eine Welt mit regionalen Handelsabkommen einstellen. Und sie muss ihre Instrumente und Verfahren einsetzen, um das multilaterale Handelssystem zu unterstützen, indem sie eine größere Transparenz der regionalen Handelsabkommen und deren Übereinstimmung mit den bestehenden WTO-Übereinkommen fördert. Die WTO kann hierbei auch auf bestehende Instrumente zurückgreifen, um Streitigkeiten mit Hilfe spezieller Mechanismen für Handelsfragen abzuwenden. Als Beispiele können die Ausschüsse für gesundheitliche und pflanzenschutzrechtliche Maßnahmen (SPS) und technische Handelshemmnisse (TBT) genannt werden

Diabetes mellitus and the eye: axial length

Background and aims: The refractive error of the eye is dependent on its axial length. Refractive error is known to fluctuate significantly in poorly controlled diabetic patients. Recently it has been reported that human eyes fluctuate in axial length during the day. However, this change is not detectable in all subjects, suggesting physiological influences such as diet. The purpose of this study was to investigate fluctuations in axial length and blood glucose levels (BGLs) in diabetic patients and control subjects, using partial coherence interferometry. Material and methods: Periodic axial length measurements were taken with an IOLMaster (Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany) in 21 type 2 diabetic subjects (age 56 ± 11 years), 19 type 1 diabetic subjects (age 38 ± 15 years) and 18 non-diabetic controls (age 46 ± 22 years). Additionally, BGLs were measured using a HemoCue Beta glucose analyser (HemoCue, Ängelholm, Sweden). Measurements were taken between 8AM and 8PM at approximately two hourly intervals. The ocular length variability was mapped against time of day and related to BGLs, age, and the degree of diabetic retinopathy. Results: Axial length variations were found to be significant with time (ANOVA, P=.003) and there was a significant effect for the interaction between group and time of day (ANOVA, P.05) Conclusion: Axial length varies throughout the day in diabetic and control subjects; however, this change does not appear to be significant in every individual. The data suggest a maximum axial length value in the afternoon. Changes in axial length from baseline did not correlate with BGLs, age, or the degree of diabetic retinopathy. Therefore, blood glucose levels may not be the main physiological influence in axial length fluctuations

Elementary analysis of the special relativistic combination of velocities, Wigner rotation, and Thomas precession

The purpose of this paper is to provide an elementary introduction to the qualitative and quantitative results of velocity combination in special relativity, including the Wigner rotation and Thomas precession. We utilize only the most familiar tools of special relativity, in arguments presented at three differing levels: (1) utterly elementary, which will suit a first course in relativity; (2) intermediate, to suit a second course; and (3) advanced, to suit higher level students. We then give a summary of useful results, and suggest further reading in this often obscure field.Comment: V1: 25 pages, 6 figures; V2: 22 pages, 5 figures. The revised version is shortened and the arguments streamlined. Minor changes in notation and figures. This version matches the published versio

Fiber-Flux Diffusion Density for White Matter Tracts Analysis: Application to Mild Anomalies Localization in Contact Sports Players

We present the concept of fiber-flux density for locally quantifying white matter (WM) fiber bundles. By combining scalar diffusivity measures (e.g., fractional anisotropy) with fiber-flux measurements, we define new local descriptors called Fiber-Flux Diffusion Density (FFDD) vectors. Applying each descriptor throughout fiber bundles allows along-tract coupling of a specific diffusion measure with geometrical properties, such as fiber orientation and coherence. A key step in the proposed framework is the construction of an FFDD dissimilarity measure for sub-voxel alignment of fiber bundles, based on the fast marching method (FMM). The obtained aligned WM tract-profiles enable meaningful inter-subject comparisons and group-wise statistical analysis. We demonstrate our method using two different datasets of contact sports players. Along-tract pairwise comparison as well as group-wise analysis, with respect to non-player healthy controls, reveal significant and spatially-consistent FFDD anomalies. Comparing our method with along-tract FA analysis shows improved sensitivity to subtle structural anomalies in football players over standard FA measurements

Moving beyond the ‘language problem': developing an understanding of the intersections of health, language and immigration status in interpreter-mediated health encounters

Health systems internationally are dealing with greater diversity in patient populations. However the focus on ‘the language problem’ has meant little attention is paid to diversity within and between migrant populations; and how interpreted consultations are influenced by intersecting migratory, ethnicity and sociodemographic variables. Our analysis of the experiences of patients, health care providers and interpreters in Scotland evidences the need to move beyond language, addressing multiple hidden inequalities in health care access and provision that operate in both clinic and, especially, home-based settings. We call for a practice-evidenced research agenda promoting cultural communication across health care and home settings, acknowledging immigration status as a social determinant of health. Sur le plan international, des systèmes de santé font face à une diversité croissante dans ses populations de patients. Cependant, l’accent sur ‘le problème de langue’ se traduit dans une manque d’attention à la diversité a l’intérieur même et entre des populations des migrants; et la façon par laquelle des variables migratoire, ethnique et sociodémographique influencent elles-mêmes des consultations interprétées. Notre analyse des expériences des patients, des professionnels fournissant de soins de santé et des interprètes offre des preuves du besoin de dépasser le problème de langue. Et en faisant cela, nous adressons des multiples inégalités, souvent cachées dans des contextes de soins de santé, dans les milieux clinique et domicile. Nous proposons un programme de recherche basé sur la pratique, qui favorise la communication culturelle dans des milieux clinique et domicile, et qui reconnait le statut d’immigration comme un déterminant social de la santé