Surface plasmon-mediated far-field emission of laser dye solutions

Angle-resolved reflection and emission spectra of metal gratings consisting of sub-wavelength grooves and immersed into rhodamine B and rhodamine 19 solutions are presented. The measured reflection and emission dispersion diagrams reveal the surface plasmon polaritons positions and strong plasmon mediated emission enhancement, respectively. The same grating could be easily re-used for the characterization of different dye-molecules

Single and dual fiber nano-tip optical tweezers: trapping and analysis

An original optical tweezers using one or two chemically etched fiber nano-tips is developed. We demonstrate optical trapping of 1 micrometer polystyrene spheres at optical powers down to 2 mW. Harmonic trap potentials were found in the case of dual fiber tweezers by analyzing the trapped particle position fluctuations. The trap stiffness was deduced using three different models. Consistent values of up to 1 fN/nm were found. The stiffness linearly decreases with decreasing light intensity and increasing fiber tip-to-tip distance

Filling the gap : a learning network for health and human rights in the Western Cape, South Africa

We draw on the experience of a Learning Network for Health and Human Rights (LN) involving collaboration between academic institutions and civil society organizations in the Western Cape, South Africa, aimed at identifying and disseminating best practice related to the right to health. The LN’s work in materials development, participatory research, training and capacity-building for action, and advocacy for intervention illustrates important lessons for human rights practice. These include (i) the importance of active translation of knowledge and awareness into action for rights to be made real; (ii) the potential tension arising from civil society action, which might relieve the state of its obligations by delivering services that should be the state’s responsibility—and hence the importance of emphasizing civil society’s role in holding services accountable in terms of the right to health; (iii) the role of civil society organizations in filling a gap related to obligations to promote rights; (iv) the critical importance of networking and solidarity for building civil society capacity to act for health rights. Evidence from evaluation of the LN is presented to support the argument that civil society can play a key role in bridging a gap between formal state commitment to creating a human rights culture and realizing services and policies that enable the most vulnerable members of society to advance their health. Through access to information and the creation of spaces, both for participation and as a safe environment in which learning can be turned into practice, the agency of those most affected by rights violations can be redressed. We argue that civil society agency is critical to such action

A Contracted Path Integral Solution of the Discrete Master Equation

A new representation of the exact time dependent solution of the discrete master equation is derived. This representation can be considered as contraction of the path integral solution of Haken. It allows the calculation of the probability distribution of the occurence time for each path and is suitable as basis of new computational solution methods.Comment: For related work see http://www.theo2.physik.uni-stuttgart.de/helbing.htm

Summary of Terry v. Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club, 130 Nev. Adv. Op. 87

The Court adopted the “economic realities” test of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and held as a matter of law that performers at the Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club were “employees within the meaning of NRS 608.010, and thus entitled to the minimum wages guaranteed by NRS Chapter 608.

The Impact of Mississippi’s K-3 Literacy Initiative Professional Development

This quantitative survey study explored the statistical significance of participation in the training Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) by early childhood educators in Mississippi, specifically K-3. The three outcome measures were teachers’ beliefs related to Mississippi’s K-3 Literacy Initiative: instructional practices, student learning outcomes, and barriers of technology use in literacy instruction. A total of 78 people completed the LETRS Survey, which consisted of a five-point scale. Demographic data included: grade range, teaching experience, number of students taught weekly, highest degree earned, teaching a tested subject/grade, mode of instructional delivery, technological barriers, and parental support for remote literacy skills teaching and face-to-face phonics teaching. Data analyses with Spearman’s rho and linear regression yielded no statistically significant relationships between the independent variable (LETRS units of training the teacher attended) and the beliefs outcome measures regarding effectiveness of the LETRS professional development (face-to-face phonics instruction, parental literacy skills support, raising student outcomes in literacy skills, and technological barriers to phonics learning for students.) This page is required for all dissertations, theses, and doctoral projects

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Microscopic formula for transport coefficients of causal hydrodynamics

The Green-Kubo-Nakano formula should be modified in relativistic hydrodynamics because of the problem of acausality and the breaking of sum rules. In this work, we propose a formula to calculate the transport coefficients of causal hydrodynamics based on the projection operator method. As concrete examples, we derive the expressions for the diffusion coefficient, the shear viscosity coefficient, and corresponding relaxation times.Comment: 4 pages, title was modified, final version published in Phys. Rev.

’n Regsteoretiese en funks ionele perspektief op die beste belange van die (minderjarige) kind

In most modern legal systems the principle of the child’s best interests is held to be the panacea for adjudication in cases of interference within an intact family unit or remediation whenever the family is split apart. But with the same conviction one has to say that the principle is not sofinely tuned. As a simple rule of decision it must be rejected , because its content oscillates between it being a (paramount?) consideration amongst others and it being a norm depicting and weighing competing interests (rights). It is the premise of this article that even though the principle is indeterminate it can be made meaningful as an explicit criterion (amongst others) for adjudication only in cases where the court has already intervened within a parent-child relationship and wishes to resolve the whole issue as efficaciously as possible. It is further suggested that the principle should not be applied when there is state intervention in an intact family unit. Under these circumstances the best inte re st of the child and the preservation of family life result in an undeniable paradox. The tension cannot be resolved by applying the superficially simple rule of decision, namely the child’s best interest. A more exact test needs to be applied to remove some of the anomalies and uncertainties of the well-known concept. The author of this article suggests an approach of a more delictual nature. The question needs to be answered at what stage does it become unlawful for parents to infringe upon their child’s (subjective) rights or breach their legal duties towards their child, justifying court intervention in the family unit. The (positive) law has not specifically determined this boundary of (objective) unreasonable conduct and one has to rely on indicia relevant to a particular case, in accordance with the convictions of the community, such as the special relationship between the parties, the particular conflicting interests of the parties, the motives of the parlies, and appropriate considerations of social policy. In this way the concept (of the child’s best interests) can be simplified and elucidated