Short-term and long-term effects of United Nations peace operations

Earlier studies have shown that United Nations peace operations make a positive contribution to peacebuilding efforts after civil wars. But do these effects carry over to the period after the peacekeepers leave? And how do the effects of UN peace operations interact with other determinants of peacebuilding in the long run? The author addresses these questions using a revised version of the Doyle and Sambanis dataset and applying different estimation methods to estimate the short-term and long-term effects of UN peace missions. He finds that UN missions have robust, positive effects on peacebuilding in the short term. UN missions can help parties implement peace agreements but the UN cannot fight wars, and UN operations contribute more to the quality of the peace where peace is based on participation, than to the longevity of the peace, where peace is simply the absence of war. The effects of UN missions are also felt in the long run, but they dissipate over time. What is missing in UN peacebuilding is a strategy to foster the self-sustaining economic growth that could connect increased participation with sustainable peace.Post Conflict Reintegration,Peace&Peacekeeping,International Affairs,Post Conflict Reconstruction,Politics and Government

Национальные особенности становления социальной ответственности бизнеса в Украине

Bidirectional low temperature networks are a novel concept that promises more efficient heating and cooling of buildings. Early research shows theoretical benefits in terms of exergy efficiency over other technologies. Pilot projects indicate that the concept delivers good performance if heating and cooling demands are diverse. However, the operation of these networks is not yet optimized and there is no quantification of the benefits over other technologies in various scenarios. Moreover, there is a lack of understanding of how to integrate and control multiple distributed heat and cold sources in such networks. Therefore, this paper develops a control concept based on a temperature set point optimization and agent-based control which allows the modular integration of an arbitrary number of sources and consumers. Afterwards, the concept is applied to two scenarios representing neighborhoods in San Francisco and Cologne with different heating and cooling demands and boundary conditions. The performance of the system is then compared to other state-of-the-art heating and cooling solutions using dynamic simulations with Modelica. The results show that bidirectional low temperature networks without optimization produce 26% less emissions in the San Francisco scenario and 63% in the Cologne scenario in comparison to the other heating and cooling solutions. Savings of energy costs are 46% and 27%, and reductions of primary energy consumption 52% and 72%, respectively. The presented operation optimization leads to electricity use reductions of 13% and 41% when compared to networks with free-floating temperature control and the results indicate further potential for improvement. The study demonstrates the advantage of low temperature networks in different situations and introduces a control concept that is extendable for real implementation

Safeguarding the Pandemic Agreement from Disinformation

Complicating the negotiation of a global pandemic treaty has been a sustained disinformation campaign worldwide to undermine the agreement by making and amplifying spurious assertions about what it intends to accomplish and how it will do so. Central to the disinformation campaign are erroneous claims about national sovereignty and forcible takings of pandemic countermeasures. Further, legitimate and unfounded unease concern weakened intellectual property (IP) and speech rights. Having followed the negotiations and provided technical assistance to the World Health Organization\u27s (WHO\u27s) leadership, we set the record straight in several key areas

Using SPARK as a Solver for Modelica

Modelica is an object-oriented acausal modeling language that is well positioned to become a de-facto standard for expressing models of complex physical systems. To simulate a model expressed in Modelica, it needs to be translated into executable code. For generating run-time efficient code, such a translation needs to employ algebraic formula manipulations. As the SPARK solver has been shown to be competitive for generating such code but currently cannot be used with the Modelica language, we report in this paper how SPARK's symbolic and numerical algorithms can be implemented in OpenModelica, an open-source implementation of a Modelica modeling and simulation environment. We also report benchmark results that show that for our air flow network simulation benchmark, the SPARK solver is competitive with Dymola, which is believed to provide the best solver for Modelica

Three-dimensional Magnetic Resonance Imaging–based Printed Models of Prostate Anatomy and Targeted Biopsy-proven Index Tumor to Facilitate Patient-tailored Radical Prostatectomy—A Feasibility Study

In this prospective single-center feasibility study, we demonstrate that the use of three-dimensional (3D)-printed prostate models support nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy (RP) and intraoperative frozen sectioning (IFS) in ten men suffering from intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer (PC), of whom seven harbored pT3 disease. Patient-specific 3D resin models were printed based on preoperative multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) to provide an exact 3D impression of significant tumor lesions. RP and IFS were planned in a patient-tailored fashion. The 36-region Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) v2.0 scheme was used to compare the MRI/3D print with whole-mount histopathology. In all cases, localization of the index lesion was correctly displayed by MRI and the 3D model. Localization of significant PC lesions correlated significantly (Pearson`s correlation coefficient of 0.88; p <  0.001). In addition, a significant correlation of the width, length, and volume of the tumor and prostate gland, derived from the printed model and histopathology, was found, using Pearson's correlation analyses and Bland-Altman plots. In conclusion, 3D-printed prostate models correlate well with final pathology and can be used to tailor RP. PATIENT SUMMARY: The use of three-dimensional (3D)-printed prostate models based on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may improve prostatectomy outcome. This study confirmed the accuracy of 3D-printed prostates compared with pathology from radical prostatectomy specimens. Thus, MRI-derived 3D-printed prostate models can assist in prostate cancer surgery

Prototyping the BOPTEST framework for simulation-based testing of advanced control strategies in buildings

Advanced control strategies are becoming increasingly necessary in buildings in order to meet and balance requirements for energy efficiency, demand flexibility, and occupant comfort. Additional development and widespread adoption of emerging control strategies, however, ultimately require low implementation costs to reduce payback period and verified performance to gain control vendor, building owner, and operator trust. This is difficult in an already first-cost driven and risk-averse industry. Recent innovations in building simulation can significantly aid in meeting these requirements and spurring innovation at early stages of development by evaluating performance, comparing state-of-the-art to new strategies, providing installation experience, and testing controller implementations. This paper presents the development of a simulation framework consisting of test cases and software platform for the testing of advanced control strategies (BOPTEST - Building Optimization Performance Test). The objectives and requirements of the framework, components of a test case, and proposed software platform architecture are described, and the framework is demonstrated with a prototype implementation and example test case

Contrast sensitivity test and conventional and high frequency audiometry: information beyond that required to prescribe lenses and headsets

In Optometry and in Audiology, the routine tests to prescribe correction lenses and headsets are respectively the visual acuity test (the first chart with letters was developed by Snellen in 1862) and conventional pure tone audiometry (the first audiometer with electrical current was devised by Hartmann in 1878). At present there are psychophysical non invasive tests that, besides evaluating visual and auditory performance globally and even in cases catalogued as normal according to routine tests, supply early information regarding diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, renal failure, cardiovascular problems, etc. Concerning Optometry, one of these tests is the achromatic luminance contrast sensitivity test (introduced by Schade in 1956). Concerning Audiology, one of these tests is high frequency pure tone audiometry (introduced a few decades ago) which yields information relative to pathologies affecting the basal cochlea and complements data resulting from conventional audiometry. These utilities of the contrast sensitivity test and of pure tone audiometry derive from the facts that Fourier components constitute the basis to synthesize stimuli present at the entrance of the visual and auditory systems; that these systems responses depend on frequencies and that the patient's psychophysical state affects frequency processing. The frequency of interest in the former test is the effective spatial frequency (inverse of the angle subtended at the eye by a cycle of a sinusoidal grating and measured in cycles/degree) and, in the latter, the temporal frequency (measured in cycles/sec). Both tests have similar duration and consist in determining the patient's threshold (corresponding to the inverse multiplicative of the contrast or to the inverse additive of the sound intensity level) for each harmonic stimulus present at the system entrance (sinusoidal grating or pure tone sound). In this article the frequencies, standard normality curves and abnormal threshold shifts inherent to the contrast sensitivity test (which for simplicity could be termed "visionmetry") and to pure tone audiometry (also termed auditory sensitivity test) are analyzed with the purpose of contributing to divulge their ability to supply early information associated to pathologies not solely related to the visual and auditory systems respectively. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.Fil:Comastri, S.A. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil:Martin, G. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil:Simon, J.M. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina

Global Monitoring of Atmospheric Trace Gases, Clouds and Aerosols from UV/vis/NIR Satellite Instruments: Currents Status and Near Future Perspectives

A new generation of UV/vis/near‐IR satellite instruments like GOME (since 1995), SCIAMACHY (since 2002), OMI (since 2004), and GOME‐2 (since 2006) allows to measure several important stratospheric and tropospheric trace gases like O_3, NO_2, OClO, HCHO, SO_2, BrO, and H_2O as well as clouds and aerosols from space. Because of its extended spectral range, the SCIAMACHY instrument also allows the retrieval of Greenhouse gases (CO_2, CH_4) and CO in the near IR. Almost all of the tropospheric trace gases are observed by these instruments for the first time. From satellite data it is possible to investigate the temporal and spatial variation. Also different sources can be characterised and quantified. The derived global distributions can serve as input and for the validation of atmospheric models. Here we give an overview on the current status of these new instruments and data products and their recent applications to various atmospheric and oceanic phenomena