An Analysis of Major Determinants of Poverty in Agriculture Sector in Pakistan

Replaced with revised version of paper 05/21/08.Food Security and Poverty,

Strong Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entanglement from a single squeezed light source

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) entanglement is a criterion that is more demanding than just certifying entanglement. We theoretically and experimentally analyze the low resource generation of bi-partite continuous variable entanglement, as realized by mixing a squeezed mode with a vacuum mode at a balanced beam splitter, i.e. the generation of so-called vacuum-class entanglement. We find that in order to observe EPR entanglement the total optical loss must be smaller than 33.3 %. However, arbitrary strong EPR entanglement is generally possible with this scheme. We realize continuous wave squeezed light at 1550 nm with up to 9.9 dB of non-classical noise reduction, which is the highest value at a telecom wavelength so far. Using two phase controlled balanced homodyne detectors we observe an EPR co-variance product of 0.502 \pm 0.006 < 1, where 1 is the critical value. We discuss the feasibility of strong Gaussian entanglement and its application for quantum key distribution in a short-distance fiber network.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

On Index Policies for Stochastic Minsum Scheduling

Minimizing the sum of completion times when scheduling jobs on identical parallel machines is a fundamental scheduling problem. Unlike the well-understood deterministic variant, it is a major open problem how to handle stochastic processing times. We show for the prominent class of index policies that no such policy can achieve a distribution-independent approximation factor. This strong lower bound holds even for simple instances with deterministic and two-point distributed jobs. For such instances, we give an -approximative list scheduling policy

“E-Day” in Bern: promoting e-resources through an all-day event

For the first time a joint event between the library, the Medical Faculty and external partners was held at the medical library of Bern University. With a combination of promotional and social activities and information skills taster sessions the library tried to raise awareness of e-resources and increase their use

The Every Student Succeeds Act: A Summary of Federal Policy and Implications for Maine

Part I summarizes key topics of federal education policy articulating accountability requirements for state education agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs, or school districts). In that section we describe major goals of the legislation and which components are the same or changed in the federal law. The findings are grouped into nine topic areas, so that readers may more easily find information on areas of particular interest. We also provide short excerpts from key sections of the law for reference at the end of each topic section. Part II describes specific goals and changes in both the structure of federal funding programs and anticipated funding levels for selected programs. That section is organized by the numbered entitlement programs. Funding for some initiatives has been shifted from one block grant program to another and, in other areas, states will have more flexibility to choose how federal funds are spent

Effect of tibial plateau angle < 5° on ground reaction forces in dogs treated with tibial plateau leveling osteotomy for cranial cruciate ligament rupture up to 6 months postoperatively

Tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) has been commonly performed in dogs with cranial cruciate ligament disease (CCLD) since the introduction by Slocum and Slocum (1993). To reduce cranial tibial thrust the TPLO technique aims for a postoperative tibial plateau angle (TPA) of 5–6.5°. In recent years studies have shown that a postoperative TPA below 5° could be beneficial regarding stifle stability or meniscal load. Dogs with CCLD that were treated with TPLO, were examined preoperatively, six weeks, three and six months postoperatively with gait analysis and grouped according to their postoperative TPA. The aims of study was (1) to evaluate if dogs with a postoperative TPA below 5° would have a faster limb function recovery up to six months postoperatively as measured objectively with ground reaction forces (GRFs) and (2) to determine whether the postoperative TPA correlates with the outcome measurements. Dogs with TPA 0.05). No correlation for the postoperative TPA 5° and <5° TPA together), indicating that with lower postoperative TPA dogs had a more symmetrical gait in hindlimbs SIPVF (r = 0.144, p < 0.05) and SIVI (r = 0.189, p < 0.01). The study indicates that a lower postoperative TPA could be beneficial regarding hindlimb symmetry indices of GRFs

Pattern Formation in Semiconductors

In semiconductors, nonlinear generation and recombination processes of free carriers and nonlinear charge transport can give rise to non-equilibrium phase transitions. At low temperatures, the basic nonlinearity is due to the autocatalytic generation of free carriers by impact ionization of shallow impurities. The electric field accelerates free electrons, causing an abrupt increase in free carrier density at a critical electric field. In static electric fields, this nonlinearity is known to yield complex filamentary current patterns bound to electric contacts