Evaluating U.S. Democratization Pressure on Post-Coup Thailand

Immediately following the May 2014 military coup d’état in Thailand, the Obama Administration began a series of diplomatic and political actions, partly aimed at pressuring the Thai junta to return the country to democratic control. While this short-term democratization pressure proved largely unsuccessful, some Obama-era manuevers cast a spotlight on some of Thailand’s remaining vulnerabilities to external pressures. This paper analyzes the American response to the 2014 Thai military coup, using Levitsky and Way’s (2005) linkage and leverage democratization theory as a method of evaluation. The reach of American leverage is discussed and potential pressure points are revealed

7.2% efficient polycrystalline silicon photoelectrode

After etching, n-type cast polycrystalline silicon photoanodes immersed in a solution of methanol and a substituted ferrocene reagent exhibit photoelectrode efficiencies of 7.2%±0.7% under simulated AM2 illumination. Scanning laser spot data indicate that the grain boundaries are active; however, the semiconductor/liquid contact does not display the severe shunting effects which are observed at a polycrystalline Si/Pt Schottky barrier. Evidence for an interfacial oxide on the operating polycrystalline Si photoanode is presented. Some losses in short circuit current can be ascribed to bulk semiconductor properties; however, despite these losses, photoanodes fabricated from polycrystalline substrates exhibit efficiencies comparable to those of single crystal material. Two major conclusions of our studies are that improved photoelectrode behavior in the polycrystalline silicon/methanol system will primarily result from changes in bulk electrode properties and from grain boundary passivation, and that Fermi level pinning by surface states does not prevent the design of efficient silicon-based liquid junctions

A 14% efficient nonaqueous semiconductor/liquid junction solar cell

We describe the most efficient semiconductor/liquid junction solar cell reported to date. Under W‐halogen (ELH) illumination, the device is a 14% efficient two‐electrode solar cell fabricated from an n‐type silicon photoanode in contact with a nonaqueous electrolyte solution. The cell′s central feature is an ultrathin electrolyte layer which simultaneously reduces losses which result from electrode polarization, electrolyte light absorption, and electrolyte resistance. The thin electrolyte layer also eliminates the need for forced convection of the redox couple and allows for precise control over the amount of water (and other electrolyte impurities) exposed to the semiconductor. After one month of continuous operation under ELH light at 100 mW/cm^2, which corresponds to the passage of over 70 000 C/cm^2, thin‐layer cells retained over 90% of their efficiency. In addition, when made with Wacker Silso cast polycrystalline Si, cells yield an efficiency of 9.8% under simulated AMl illumination. The thin‐layer cells employ no external compensation yet surpass their corresponding experimental (three‐electrode) predecessors in efficiency

Political Obstacles to Justice and Reconciliation Mechanisms in Sri Lanka

After more than three decades of armed conflict, Sri Lanka continues to struggle to meet internal and external demands, which call for independent, transparent and accountable mechanisms to address human rights abuses and past mass atrocities. When authoritarian President Mahinda Rajapaksa was ousted in the January 2015 Presidential election by an unexpected rival, optimism for a more cooperative approach surged. However, this paper argues that the current government has outlined political distinctions between Sirisena and Rajapaksa, but their positions on key reconciliation mechanisms are comparative. It demonstrates this through a review of political documents and policy positions, and provides an analysis of statements, commitments, and engagements made internally and at the international level, presented in contrast with contradictory remarks made by Sri Lankan authorities

All-Optical Depletion of Dark Excitons from a Semiconductor Quantum Dot

Semiconductor quantum dots are considered to be the leading venue for fabricating on-demand sources of single photons. However, the generation of long-lived dark excitons imposes significant limits on the efficiency of these sources. We demonstrate a technique that optically pumps the dark exciton population and converts it to a bright exciton population, using intermediate excited biexciton states. We show experimentally that our method considerably reduces the DE population while doubling the triggered bright exciton emission, approaching thereby near-unit fidelity of quantum dot depletion.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Improving the Quality of European Hard Cheese by controlling interactions between Lactic Acid Bacteria and Propionic Acid Bacteria (LAB/PAB) (Stimulation of Propionic Acid Bacteria by Lactic

End of Project ReportTeagasc acknowledges with gratitude grant aid under the EU Framework Programme (FAIR 96-CT-1024).In the manufacture of Swiss-type cheese two successive fermentations occur. During manufacture, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), particularly Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus helveticus and Lb. delbrueckii subsp. lactis, convert lactose to lactate while, during ripening, propionic acid bacteria (PAB) convert lactate to propionic acid, acetic acid and carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 is responsible for eye formation and propionic acid results in the typical nutty flavour of Swiss-type cheese. There have been a few reports of interactions between a small number of LAB and PAB but the compounds involved have not been identified. A better understanding of this phenomenon is necessary to select strains of PAB for cheesemaking and improve the quality of hard cheeses. Cheese cannot be used for such a study because of its complexity and the length of time it is ripened. Hence, a simple whey-based model developed by Piveteau et al (1995) was successfully used to study the interactions between LAB and PAB. In this procedure, the LAB were grown overnight in milk and the whey was collected by centrifugation. After neutralisation and filter-sterilisation, the growth of strains of PAB in this whey and in a control whey produced from the same milk by acidification with lactic acid were compared. The objectives of this study were to refine the model of Piveteau et al (1995) to study the interactions between LAB and PAB and to determine the nature of the stimulant(s) produced by the LAB. * Thirty-two combinations of different commercial strains of PAB and LAB were evaluated in a modified whey model. None showed any inhibition and all showed some degree of stimulation but the extent of the stimulation depended on the particular pair of PAB and LAB used. * An inhibitor of PAB was found in milk, which prevented the growth of PAB from low (105 cfu/ml) but not from high inocula (107 cfu/ml). The inhibitor was heat stable (to autoclaving for 15 min), of low molecular mass and could be removed by pre-growth of some but not all starter LAB in milk. * Growth of P. freudenreichii DPC 3801 in control whey was stimulated by peptone, tryptone, casein hydrolysed by the crude proteinase of Lb. helveticus DPC 4571 and by pre-growth of the lactobacillus in milk, but not by vitamins (riboflavin, thiamine, PABA, Ca panthothenate, biotin and nicotinic acid) or minerals (MgSO4, MnCl2, CoCl2 and CuSO4). * Growth of Lb. helveticus DPC 4571 in milk resulted in significant increases in peptide and amino acid production but the amino acids produced did not stimulate the growth of the PAB. Based on these results it was concluded that the stimulation was due to production of peptides by the LAB from casein. * The whey model developed by Piveteau et al (1995) to study the interactions between PAB and LAB was shown to be reproducible. Adjustment of the pH of the whey to 5.4 rather than 6.0, incubation at 24ºC rather than 30ºC and addition of 1% NaCl, to simulate cheese ripening conditions allowed growth of all the PAB tested. * Several chromatographic procedures, including ion-exchange, gel permeation and reverse-phase, high-pressure liquid chromatography failed to categorically identify the peptide(s) responsible for the stimulation of the PAB. In some of these chromatographic systems,the stimulatory activity was shown to be present in several peaks implying that different peptides were involved.European Unio

The Level-0 Muon Trigger for the LHCb Experiment

A very compact architecture has been developed for the first level Muon Trigger of the LHCb experiment that processes 40 millions of proton-proton collisions per second. For each collision, it receives 3.2 kBytes of data and it finds straight tracks within a 1.2 microseconds latency. The trigger implementation is massively parallel, pipelined and fully synchronous with the LHC clock. It relies on 248 high density Field Programable Gate arrays and on the massive use of multigigabit serial link transceivers embedded inside FPGAs.Comment: 33 pages, 16 figures, submitted to NIM