Winking Through the Blindfold: What Motivates the White-Color Criminal?

Many legal scholars have discussed different facets of white-collar crime. The question of whether the offending individual or the corporation should be punished to deter white-collar crime has been discussed. There have also been articles dealing with whether monetary fines, or prison terms, act as more effective sanctions. This article will attempt to identify and analyze the motivations and different character traits exhibited by many white-collar criminals and offer some suggestions to attempt to decrease the incidence of white-collar crime

Semi-empirical model of MOST and passive devices focused on narrowband RF blocks

Trabajo presentado al DCIS celebrado en Avignon (Francia) del 28 al 30 de noviembre de 2012.This paper presents a semi-empirical modeling of MOST and passive elements to be used in narrowband radiofrequency blocks for nanometer technologies. This model is based on a small set of look-up tables (LUTs) obtained via electrical simulations. The MOST description is valid for all-inversion regions of MOST and the data is extracted as function of the gm=ID characteristic; for the passive devices the LUTs include a simplified model of the element and its principal parasitic at the working frequency f0. These semi-empirical models are validated by designing a set of 2.4-GHz LNAs and 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz VCOs in three different MOST inversion regions.This work has been financed in part by the Junta de Andalucía project P09-TIC-5386 and the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad project TEC2011-28302, both of them co-financed by the FEDER program.Peer Reviewe

2.4-GHz single-ended input low-power low-voltage active front-end for zigbee applications in 90 nm CMOS

Congreso celebrado en Linkoping (Suecia) del 29 al 31 de Agosto del 2011.A 2.4-GHz CMOS single ended-input differential-output front-end built with a common source low noise amplifier (CS-LNA) and a switched transconductor mixer (SW-MIX) is presented. The circuit is designed and optimized to work in a ZigBee receiver. Since this is a low power consumption standard, a single-ended LNA is preferred over a fully-differential topology because it leads to lower cost in area and power consumption. Also, moderate and weak inversions regions were selected for the operation of the principal transistors. The front-end prototype has been implemented in a 90 nm RF process and occupies a chip area of 0.74 mm2 including on-chip inductors. Very competitive results are observed: a maximum conversion gain (CG) of 30 dB, a DSB noise figure of 7.5 dB, a maximum IIP3 of -12.8 dBm and IIP2 of 14.4 dBm while it consumes 4.7 mW from a 1.2 V supply.This work has been financed in part by FEDER funds through the SR2 project (Catrene2A105SR2 under the Avanza+ Spanish program TSI-020400-2010-55) and the Andalusian Government project P09-TIC-5386, and by the Spanish MAE-AECID grants program.Peer Reviewe

Managing benign tracheal stenosis during COVID-19 outbreak

If elective surgery has been recommended to be postponed some diseases could potentially become life-threatening and cannot be delayed. Among these conditions, tracheal idiopathic stenosis, primary caused by endotracheal intubation or tracheostomy, usually become symptomatic when reach 50% obstruction. Endoscopic procedures could be considered as frst treatment in selected patients after stenosis evaluation, such as non-complex stenosis with low grade of cartilage involvement or tracheomalaci

Reinforcement of wood with natural fibers

This paper describes an experimental programme which examines the reinforcement in flexure of timber beams with composite materials based on natural fibers in the form of fabrics made from hemp, flax, basalt and bamboo fibers. The industrial use of natural fibers has been continuously increasing since 1990s due to their advantages in terms of production costs, pollution emissions and energy consumption for production and disposal. The technique allows the reinforcement of the intrados of beams, avoiding the dismantling of the overlying part of the structure with significant savings in terms of costs and work time. The test program consists of three phases incorporating 45 beams. The bending tests on the wooden elements made it possible to measure the increase in capacity and stiffness resulting from the composite reinforcement. This was applied to beams, creating different arrangements and using different quantities (number of layers). Despite the diversity of the various tests carried out, the results obtained in some cases showed significant increases in terms of load-carrying capacity and in deflection ductility

Effects of cropping practice dynamics on permanent grassland vegetation during the conversion to organic farming

The aim of this work was to identify the impact of farming practices on permanent grassland vegetation during the conversion from conventional to organic farming. We considered functional and species diversities in order to compare the different grassland categories based on the farming practices used over a period of six years - five years before conversion and one year after. We identified three categories of grasslands: those generally cut twice a year, those intensely grazed, and those that were used under diversified practices. We showed that grasslands characterised by cutting and low fertilization level have the highest species richness compared to the other two categories (23.2, 16.9 and 17 species, respectively), and the lowest pastoral index (45.9, 66.8 and 68.6, respectively). These cut paddocks also presented the highest functional diversity (i.e., richness of functional property attributes) for two of the properties studied: means of dispersal and establishment strategy as defined by Grime. Grasslands with diversified practices (grazing, cutting and nitrogen supply) were not characterised by any single or combined functional property attribute, to the contrary of the two other categories. Finally, farming practices alone do not explain all of the differences in vegetation. We therefore hypothesize that, first, the dynamics of permanent grassland vegetation following conversion to organic farming is only initiated by agricultural practices and, second, other key factors such as landscape characteristics affect these dynamics

Respiração basal do solo influenciada por diferentes sistemas de preparo do solo e sucessão de culturas.

A alteração provocada pelo uso contínuo do solo de maneira convencional modifica os estoques de carbono contribuindo para degradação do solo, através da emissão de CO2 para a atmosfera. O experimento para avaliar a Respiração do Solo está sendo realizado no Campus Experimental da Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia - UNIR, localizado no município de Rolim de Moura/RO. Para avaliar a emissão de dióxido de carbono CO2 em diferentes formas de preparo do solo e sucessão de culturas. Para os teores de gás carbônico (C-CO2) liberados para a atmosfera, a análise de variância mostrou que houve valores significativos para o tratamento preparos do solo e também para sucessão de culturas, variando de 2,54 a 2,85 mg C m-2 dia -1. O sistema de preparo que apresentou maior efluxo foi o plantio direto alternativo (PDA) com 2,853 mg C m-2 dia -1, e o que apresentou menor efluxo foi o preparo alternativo (PRA) com 2,545 mg C m-2 dia -1 o qual não diferiu estatisticamente do plantio direto convencional (PDC) e do plantio tradicional (PRT). Para o fator sucessão de culturas o maior valor de emissão de gás carbônico foi encontrado no ambiente onde havia leguminosa + leguminosa (3,185 mg.kg-1 m2 dia-1), ou seja, onde havia menor relação C/N da palhada para ser atacada pelos microrganismos. Por outro lado o menor valor de gás carbônico foi encontrado no tratamento leguminosa+gramínea (2,416 mg.kg-1 m2 dia-1), apesar de não ter valores estatisticamente diferentes das sucessões gramínea+leguminosa e gramínea+gramínea

A comparative analysis of Pancoast tumour resection performed via video-assisted thoracic surgery versus standard open approaches

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present paper was to conduct a comparative analysis of outcomes after thoracoscopic resection versus standard thoracotomy approach in the treatment of Pancoast tumours. METHODS: All consecutive patients with Pancoast tumours undergoing surgical treatment from March 2000 to November 2012 were enrolled. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to whether a thoracoscopic or standard thoracotomy approach was adopted. In addition to morbidity and mortality, (i) intensity of pain; (ii) respiratory function focusing on the postoperative value and its variation with respect to the predicted value (Delta); (iii) analgesic consumption at different times during the postoperative course; and (iiii) survival rate were recorded in both groups and the inter-group differences were statistically compared. RESULTS: Of the 45 enrolled patients, 34 (75%) were included in the final analysis (18 in the thoracoscopic group and 16 in the standard group). Eleven (25%) patients were excluded because they (i) were unfit for surgery after induction therapy (n = 4); (ii) refused the operation (n = 1) or (iii) had unexpected pleural involvement (n = 6). Compared with the standard group, in the thoracoscopic group we observed less pain (P = 0.01), better recovery of forced vital capacity (P = 0.01) and forced expiratory value in 1 s (P < 0.001), and a reduction in opioid (P = 0.01) and analgesic consumption (P = 0.02). The median survival for all patients was 15 months. Patients with N0/N1 disease had better median survival than N2 patients (47 vs 9 months; P = 0.009). One local recurrence in the standard group was observed 1 year after operation, whereas 2 local recurrences, 1 in the thoracoscopic group and another in the standard group, were registered 2 years after the operation (P = 1.0). Finally, 4 (22%) extrathoracic metastases in the thoracoscopic group and 5 (31%) in the standard group (P = 0.8) were found over the 2 years following the procedure. CONCLUSIONS: In the management of Pancoast tumours, a thoracoscopic approach is safe and may be an effective adjunct to standard surgical resection in selected cases. Such an approach enabled surgeons to explore the pleural cavity and avoid exploratory thoracotomy in cases of unexpected pleural involvement