Why Not Loan Instead of Loot? A Preventative Proposal Regarding the Illicit Trade of Antiquities in a World of Terrorism

This Comment provides a comprehensive and preventative solution to the destruction of antiquities at the hands of non-state actors. The solution is a customizable loan agreement that works in tandem with existing international legislation. It can be changed to meet the needs of unique situations and can be incorporated into the existing international agreements. However, its focus is prevention, not criminal litigation. The idea is to make this agreement available to governments, museums, and private actors who wish to participate in the protection of at-risk artifacts by removing them from the areas of conflict to safe environments ideal for conservation. This Comment will begin with a historical overview of the practice of illegal antiquities trade and destruction with a tour of major world events that sparked the need for international legislative protection. Next, this Comment will analyze international legislation to establish the strengths and weaknesses regarding the application to non-state actors. Then, this Comment will analyze domestic legislation, also in terms of strengths and weaknesses regarding non-state actors. Finally, this Comment will present a solution in the form of a contract shell that can be used for loan agreements between countries, private foundations, museums, and other entities. Specific analysis will be devoted to the realities of this loan agreement in terms of what it seeks to accomplish, what is seeks to prevent, and how it will apply to situations involving terrorist groups and violent non-state actors

Using cluster analysis to profile adolescent media use and exploring the relations to risk behaviours: The moderating role of age and gender

This study examined how profiles of adolescent media use including TV viewing, console and online games, and internet use including social networking, were linked to risk behaviours. A sample of960 year ten and 475 year twelve students from Western Australian schools responded to a computer-administered, self -report survey. Cluster analysis was used to group students into three media-use profiles labelled as TV & Games, Low Use and SNS & Internet. Differences among these media use profiles in alcohol use and delinquency were tested. The fmdings indicated significant media profile differences in alcohol use and delinquency. The TV & Games profile used alcohol and engaged in delinquency behaviours more than the SNS & Internet and Low Use profiles. Both year level and gender moderated the relations. There were a significant minority of adolescents who consumed media excessively and showed higher levels of alcohol use and delinquency behaviours. Boys in TV & Games and girls in SNS & Internet profiles at year 12 reported the highest rates of risk behaviours. The Low Use profile reported the lowest rates of risk behaviours across both year levels and genders

Identifying the origins of local atmospheric deposition in the steel industry basin of Luxembourg using the chemical and isotopic composition of the lichen Xanthoria parietina

Trace metal atmospheric contamination was assessed in one of the oldest European industrial sites of steel production situated in the southern part of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. Using elemental ratios as well as Pb, Sr, and Nd isotopic compositions as tracers, we found preliminary results concerning the trace metal enrichment and the chemical/isotopic signatures of the most important emission sources using the lichen Xanthoria parietina sampled at 15 sites along a SW-NE transect. The concentrations of these elements decreased with increasing distance from the historical and actual steel-work areas. The combination of the different tracers (major elements, Rare Earth Element ratios, Pb, Sr and Nd isotopes) enabled us to distinguish between three principal sources: the historical steel production (old tailings corresponding to blast-furnace residues), the present steel production (industrial sites with arc electric furnace units) and the regional background (baseline) components. Other anthropogenic sources including a waste incinerator and major roads had only weak impacts on lichen chemistry and isotopic ratios. The correlation between the Sr and Nd isotope ratios indicated that the Sr–Nd isotope systems represented useful tools to trace atmospheric emissions of factories using scrap metal for steel production

Etude de nouveaux agents de transfert et monomères phosphorés en polymérisation RAFT

La Polymérisation par transfert réversible de chaîne par addition fragmentation (RAFT) est une méthode de polymérisation radicalaire par désactivation réversible (PRDR) qui offre un grand potentiel pour la synthèse de polymères de composition, structure et architecture complexes dans des conditions de traitement adaptées à la production industrielle. Le principe de la polymérisation RAFT est basé sur l'utilisation des agents de transfert de structure générale RS(C=S)Z. Le transfert de l'agent RAFT est généralement affecté par la nature des groupements R et Z comme le montre les différentes études menées sur les différentes familles comme les dithioesters, dithiocarbamates, trithiocarbonates et xanthates (agents MADIX). Le sujet abordé dans ces travaux de recherche se focalise sur l'élaboration de nouveaux agents RAFT phosphorés capables de contrôler la polymérisation radicalaire. Egalement, l'étude d'un monomère phosphoré l'acide vinylphosphonique, a été réalisée par voie RAFT/MADIX. Le premier chapitre aborde l'état de l'art du domaine de la polymérisation radicalaire par désactivation réversible avec un passage en revue des principaux types de polymérisation radicalaire par désactivation réversible existant à l'heure actuelle, l'accent étant mis particulièrement sur les procédés désignés RAFT/MADIX. Le deuxième chapitre est consacré à la synthèse et la caractérisation de deux familles d'agents RAFT phosphorés, de type métallocarbonyl diphénylphosphine carbodithioates (M-RAFT), phosphinoyl et (thiophosphinoyl)carbodithioate (PX-RAFT). Le troisième chapitre concerne l'évaluation de l'effet de ces molécules dans la polymérisation radicalaire par désactivation réversible de différents monomères usuels comme le styrène, les acrylates de n-butyle, de tert-butyle et de 2-éthylhexyle, un acrylamido comme le tert-butyle acrylamide, ainsi que l'acétate de vinyle. Le dernier chapitre porte sur l'étude de la polymérisation de l'acide vinylphosphonique par voie RAFT/MADIX.Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization is a reversible-deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) method which offers a great potential for tailor-making polymers under process conditions suitable for large industrial production. Its principle is based on the use of thiocarbonyl thio reversible chain transfer agents of general structure RS(C=S)Z. The transfer ability of the RAFT agent is markedly affected by the nature of its Z group, as exemplified in several studies for dithioesters, dithiocarbamates, trithiocarbonates and xanthates (MADIX agents). The subject addressed in this research focuses on radical polymerization by RAFT with the objective to develop new phosphorus RAFT agents capable of modulating radical polymerization. Also, the study of phosphorus hydrophilic monomers like vinyl phosphonic acid was achieved by RAFT / MADIX. The first chapter is devoted to the "state of the art" in the field of RDRP with a review of major types of radical polymerization by reversible deactivation existing at the moment, with special emphasis on the processes called "RAFT/MADIX" used in this research. The second chapter deals with the synthesis and characterization of two types of phosphorus RAFT agents such as metallocarbonyl diphenylphosphinecarbodithioates (M-RAFT), phosphinoyl and (thiophosphinoyl) carbodithioates (PX-RAFT). The third chapter presents the evaluation of these phosphorus compounds in the RAFT/MADIX polymerization of various known monomers as styrene, acrylates like n-butyl acrylate, tert-butyl acrylate and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, acrylamido like tert-butyl acrylamide and vinyl acetate. The last chapter deals with the study of vinylphosphonic acid by RAFT/MADI

Future API Manufacturing Excellence

Many pharmaceutical manufacturing processes are costly, time-intensive, and energy-intensive. Due to the high operational costs, optimization of these processes would result in large economic savings. Fluid bed granulation takes inputs of air temperature, air flow rate, phase duration, binder spray rate, and inlet air humidity. A series of simulations were run to determine optimal operating conditions. It was determined that the process parameters should be limited to the following to meet product standards and reduce costs: air flow rate of 2800 (m3/h), inlet air temperature of 55˚C for spraying and 75˚C for drying, phase duration 124 minutes , binder spray rate of 900 g/s, and inlet air humidity can range from 1-20 g water/kg air. The lyophilization simulation takes process inputs of maximum process time, temperature, pressure, and vial type and returns outputs of peak product temperature, drying time, and maximum sublimation rate. Several primary drying simulations were run for an 8R vial dose and a 20 mL vial dose to determine the optimal operating conditions. The conditions that resulted in the greatest operational cost savings for both the 8R vial and the 20 mL vial were a pressure of 30 Pa, an initial temperature of -9˚C and a final temperature of 1˚C. Based on the proposed conditions, both operational cost and equipment depreciation savings were identified mainly due to lower run times across both processes. For fluid bed granulation, $31,136 operational annual savings were identified amounting to$467,000 over the 15-year project. For lyophilization, $23,500 in annual operational cost savings amounting to$352,000 over the 15-year project life were found. Further operational savings only yielded marginal improvements in profitability

Déploiement et mise à jour de coupes de concavité

RÉSUMÉ : Dans le cadre de minimisation concave, un type de problème d'optimisation quadratique, nommé bilinéaire disjoint (BILD), peut se reformuler en deux problèmes linéaires symétriques MinMax (LMM). Comme les solutions optimales de BILD et de ses reformulations LMM sont liées par une simple bijection, la question de notre travail de recherche s'agit profiter de cette reformulation pour résoudre BILD. Dans la littérature, une technique de calcul, appelée coupe de concavitée, proposée par Tuy [39] en 1964, s'avère importante afin de résoudre les BILD. L'algorithme basé uniquement sur cette technique n'est pas sûrement de convergence finie. Cela est dû à plusieurs problèmes, parmi lesquels nous citons : le problème de dégénérescene et le problème de cumul des coupes. Depuis, des chercheurs tentent d'améliorer la convergence de l'algorithme des plans coupants. Pour ce faire, ils ont intégré cet algorithme avec d'autres techniques de calcul. En effet, Konno [23] a introduit la technique Mountain Climbing en 1971 pour évaluer à chaque itération une solution locale. Avec l'usage des pseudo-sommets, Marcus [34] a developpé en 1999 des coupes similaires à celles de Tuy en décomposant le cône polyèdral. En 2001, Alarie et al. ont traité le problème de dégénérescence et ont exploité la technique de "Branch and Bound" pour les instances BILD de grande dimension. La recherche proposée dans ce mémoire se situe dans la continuation de ces travaux. Nous proposons deux nouvelles stratégies pour la génération de coupes de concavité. Dans la première, nous avons élaboré une mise à jour dynamique des coupes après qu'une améioration de la valeur objectif soit faite. Dans la seconde, au lieu que les coupes soient associées à des sommets, nous les avons associées aux pseudo-sommets. Ces deux nouvelles stratégies sont testées numériquement sur un ensemble de problèmes tests tirés de la littérature ainsi que sur une collection de problèmes générés aléatoirement.----------ABSTRACT : In the context of concave minimisation, a type of quadratic optimization problem, called BILD problem, can be reformulated into two symmetrical linear MinMax problems LMM. As there is a simple bijection between the optimal solution of BILD and their reformulations LMM, our research question is to take advantage of this reformulations for solving BILD. In the litterature, a computation technique , called concavity cut, proposed by Tuy [39] in 1964, has been shown to be useful solving the BILD problem. However, it is still unknown whether the nite convergence of a cutting planes algorithm can be enforced by the concavity cut itself or not. This is due to several problems, among which we mention : the degeneracy problem and the accumulation of cuts. Since then, researchers have attempted to improve the convergence of the cutting planes algorithm. To achieve this, they have integrated the algorithm with other computation techniques. Indeed, Konno [23] introduced in 1971 the mountain climbing (MC) technique to evaluate in each iteration a local optimal solution. In 1999, Marcus [34] used the pseudo-vertices to developed similar Tuy cuts by decomposing the polyhedral cone. Alarie and al. treated in 2001 the degeneracy problem ant they have exploited the "Branch and Bound" technique for solvign BILD instances with large dimensions. The proposed research in this project is the continuation of this works. Thus, we proposed two ways for deploying cuts. In the rst one, we dynamically update previously generated cuts after an improvement of the objective function value. In the second, instead rooting the cuts at vertices, we root them at pseudo-vertices. These two new strategies are tested numerically on a set of test problems issued from the literature as well as on a collection of randomly generated instances

Profiling youths’ art engagement and the links to university aspirations

Arts engagement is rarely researched however for adolescents this activity forms part of a range of organised and structured activities that have been associated with positive university aspirations and post-high school educational trajectories (Denault & Poulin, 2009). Identifying, building, and supporting university aspirations are crucial during adolescence, particularly for disadvantaged and low socioeconomic status (SES) students (Sellar & Gale, 2011), and art engagement may contribute to the likelihood of young people going to university. The environment (school or community) in which arts activities are engaged in, and intensity of participation (number of hours per week) are two dimensions that inform student engagement in arts. Students’ SES, age and gender also influence the association between engagement and university expectations, especially for low SES students where the salience of the engagement may be more pronounced (Blomfield & Barber, 2011). We sought to explore the association between arts engagement and the students’ expectation to attend university after high school and whether this association differed between high and low SES groups

Communicable Diseases Among Refugees with a Focus on the Middle East

During the past few years, millions of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa fled their countries to almost everywhere in the globe. Civil wars and acts of violence are the main reasons behind the exodus of populations seeking a better life and more secure living conditions. In fact, the current conflict in Syria and Iraq led to massive influx of refugees worldwide and in particular to neighboring countries of the Middle East. This refugee situation is unparalleled since the end of World War II. Besides the individual tragedies of refugees, a public health disaster is being witnessed in the countries of origin which, in many instances, affect the hosting countries as well. Many of these hosting countries witnessed a re-emergence of numerous communicable diseases as a result of the influx of refugees; they were unprepared, and their health sectors did not deliver the adequate response. In this chapter, we review major sexually transmitted diseases in refugees, with a focus on the Middle East. We also discuss the major actions taken in response to the ongoing displacement of refugees by the Government of Lebanon and suggest solutions and recommendations to the Lebanese public health system which is facing new urgent challenges