Simon Says: Stay! A Study of the Regional Diffusion of Political Stability

This thesis suggests that neither the cue nor the result of a diffusion process need be manifested in a policy-change, but can indeed be simply the maintaining of the status quo, or rather, the hindrance of transformation. Also, it attempts to use this theory of regional diffusion of stability to explain the robustness of the authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and Northern Africa. This thesis does not wish to contend with previous explanations, such as the region's abundance of natural resources or patrimonial rule. The aim is instead to complement them in focusing on the regional diffusion of authoritarian norms and behaviours, or the motivation behind the authoritarian rule, rather than the source of the means for making stable authoritarianism possible

Propagation of Laminar Flames in Wet Premixed Natural Gas-Air Mixtures

The present work investigates the effect of adding small amounts of humidity on the inhibition of natural gas-air flames. The inhibition is quantified by measuring and calculating the laminar burning velocities (Su) of premixed ames from a C1-C2 mechanism. The experimental apparatus consists of a Mache-Hebra burner, equipped with flow controllers and air purification system. Steam is generated by injecting water into a preheated natural gas-air stream, by means of a syringe pump. The burning velocities are determined experimentally from the schlieren photography using the total flame area.The results indicate decreasing burning velocities with increasing steam concentration, demonstrating the importance of thermal capacity of water vapour on slowing down the flame propagation. There is no indication of flame acceleration due to kinetic considerations, even when the flames are doped with minute moisture loadings. It is shown in the calculations that the laminar burning velocity depends strongly on the number of grid points, and so a scaling relationship is developed for adjusting the computed values of Su. The kinetic model predicts closely the experimental results, but the agreement between the experimental and numerical data is better at lower temperatures. The relationship between Su and the concentration of the added water vapour, as calculated from the model, is linear. For the natural gas considered in this work, the laminar burning velocity at the atmospheric pressure decreases by 1.81cm s-1 at 150°C for each percentage point of humidity present in the gas mixture, and by 1.18 cm s−1 at 20°C

Sverigedemokraterna + FN = sant? En diskursanalys av Sverigedemokraternas tolkning av begreppet mänskliga rättigheter.

It is the aim of this paper to examine, and analyze at a discursive level, the Swedish Democrats' interpretation of the term 'human rights', as this is presented in the material available on the party's official website. The goal is then to investigate in what manner the party portrays its political ambitions in relation to 'human rights'. The theoretical foundation for this analysis is discourse theory as it is presented in the works of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. Furthermore, the aim is also to examine whether the Swedish Democrats? interpretation of 'human rights' is compatible with the established understanding of the term, such as this is presented in the international UN treaties on human rights. This will be done by thoroughly examining and comparing certain aspects of the Swedish Democrats' political ambitions, such as they have been portrayed in the analytical section of the paper, with relevant sections of the UN treaties

Yılan sokması

Robert Smythe Hichens'ın İleri'de yayımlanan Yılan Sokması adlı romanının ilk ve son tefrikalar

Youth Justice Resettlement Consortia: A process evaluation

Between 2014 and 2017 the Youth Justice Board (YJB) funded four resettlement consortia as part of the government’s Transforming Youth Custody Programme. These were in the East Midlands, South and West Yorkshire, North East London, and South London. The aim of the resettlement consortia was to pilot an enhanced service to children and young people leaving custody, and in doing so to improve their life chances and reduce reoffending. The YJB commissioned Carney Green to carry out this process evaluation to assess how the consortia had implemented their enhanced services and help inform future resettlement approaches

Retention procedures for stabilising tooth position after treatment with orthodontic braces

Background: Retention is the phase of orthodontic treatment that attempts to keep teeth in the corrected positions after treatment with orthodontic braces. Without a phase of retention, there is a tendency for teeth to return to their initial position (relapse). To prevent relapse, almost every person who has orthodontic treatment will require some type of retention. Objectives: To evaluate the effects of different retention strategies used to stabilise tooth position after orthodontic braces. Search methods: We searched the following databases: the Cochrane Oral Health Group\u27s Trials Register (to 26 January 2016), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (2015, Issue 12), MEDLINE via Ovid (1946 to 26 January 2016) and EMBASE via Ovid (1980 to 26 January 2016). We searched for ongoing trials in the US National Institutes of Health Trials Register (ClinicalTrials.gov) and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform. We applied no language or date restrictions in the searches of the electronic databases. We contacted authors of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to help identify any unpublished trials. Selection criteria: RCTs involving children and adults who had had retainers fitted or adjunctive procedures undertaken to prevent relapse following orthodontic treatment with braces. Data collection and analysis: Two review authors independently screened eligible studies, assessed the risk of bias in the trials and extracted data. The outcomes of interest were: how well the teeth were stabilised, failure of retainers, adverse effects on oral health and participant satisfaction. We calculated mean differences (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for continuous data and risk ratios (RR) with 95% CI for dichotomous outcomes. We conducted meta-analyses when studies with similar methodology reported the same outcome. We prioritised reporting of Little\u27s Irregularity Index to measure relapse. Main results: We included 15 studies (1722 participants) in the review. There are also four ongoing studies and four studies await classification. The 15 included studies evaluated four comparisons: removable retainers versus fixed retainers (three studies); different types of fixed retainers (four studies); different types of removable retainers (eight studies); and one study compared a combination of upper thermoplastic and lower bonded versus upper thermoplastic with lower adjunctive procedures versus positioner. Four studies had a low risk of bias, four studies had an unclear risk of bias and seven studies had a high risk of bias. Removable versus fixed retainers Thermoplastic removable retainers provided slightly poorer stability in the lower arch than multistrand fixed retainers: MD (Little\u27s Irregularity Index, 0 mm is stable) 0.6 mm (95% CI 0.17 to 1.03). This was based on one trial with 84 participants that was at high risk of bias; it was low quality evidence. Results on retainer failure were inconsistent. There was evidence of less gingival bleeding with removable retainers: RR 0.53 (95% CI 0.31 to 0.88; one trial, 84 participants, high risk of bias, low quality evidence), but participants found fixed retainers more acceptable to wear, with a mean difference on a visual analogue scale (VAS; 0 to 100; 100 being very satisfied) of -12.84 (95% CI -7.09 to -18.60). Fixed versus fixed retainers The studies did not report stability, adverse effects or participant satisfaction. It was possible to pool the data on retention failure from three trials that compared polyethylene ribbon bonded retainer versus multistrand retainer in the lower arch with an RR of 1.10 (95% CI 0.77 to 1.57; moderate heterogeneity; three trials, 228 participants, low quality evidence). There was no evidence of a difference in failure rates. It was also possible to pool the data from two trials that compared the same types of upper fixed retainers, with a similar finding: RR 1.25 (95% CI 0.87 to 1.78; low heterogeneity; two trials, 174 participants, low quality evidence). Removable versus removable retainers One study at low risk of bias comparing upper and lower part-time thermoplastic versus full-time thermoplastic retainer showed no evidence of a difference in relapse (graded moderate quality evidence). Another study, comparing part-time and full-time wear of lower Hawley retainers, found no evidence of any difference in relapse (low quality evidence). Two studies at high risk of bias suggested that stability was better in the lower arch for thermoplastic retainers versus Hawley, and for thermoplastic full-time versus Begg (full-time) (both low quality evidence). In one study, participants wearing Hawley retainers reported more embarrassment more often than participants wearing thermoplastic retainers: RR 2.42 (95% CI 1.30 to 4.49; one trial, 348 participants, high risk of bias, low quality evidence). They also found Hawley retainers harder to wear. There was conflicting evidence about survival rates of Hawley and thermoplastic retainers. Other retainer comparisons Another study with a low risk of bias looked at three different approaches to retention for people with crowding, but normal jaw relationships. The study found that there was no evidence of a difference in relapse between the combination of an upper thermoplastic and lower canine to canine bonded retainer and the combination of an upper thermoplastic retainer and lower interproximal stripping, without a lower retainer. Both these approaches are better than using a positioner as a retainer. Authors\u27 conclusions: We did not find any evidence that wearing thermoplastic retainers full-time provides greater stability than wearing them part-time, but this was assessed in only a small number of participants. Overall, there is insufficient high quality evidence to make recommendations on retention procedures for stabilising tooth position after treatment with orthodontic braces. Further high quality RCTs are needed

The garden of Allah

Mode of access: Internet

Undertow

Miranda Friend, a therapist at a Cape Town psychiatric hospital, wants to reverse herself from the cul-de-sac of her life. At thirty, she is in a dead-end relationship and is working in a hospital which is struggling under new management