Autocracies as Mediators in Conflicts

It is puzzling why autocracies, which typically are not renowned for their human rights record or their observance of international norms related to human rights and are frequently inured in their own violent conflicts, would choose to take on the seemingly humanitarian role of peacemaker as often as democracies in the conflicts of other states in the absence of such things as a former colonial relationship or shared geographic proximity with them. I argue that autocracies will offer more often to mediate when they are subjected to international scrutiny, sanctioning, and/or condemnation, as well as materially and immaterially benefitting from their efforts afterwards. I also posit that based on institutional attributes such as the presence of a professional bureaucracy (such as is found in a party “machine” autocracy) or by contrast an all-powerful autocrat (such as is found in personalist regimes), different autocratic regime-types will be more likely to offer to mediate than others. To test my theory, I utilize Large-N datasets about international mediation and autocratic regimes, as well as qualitative sources including information derived from the United Nations, the U.S. State Department, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, news articles/reports, and statements and criticisms from various states, in order to investigate when autocracies offer to mediate interstate conflicts, as well as which types of autocracies are most likely to offer to mediate an end to an international conflict. Quantitative analysis yielded some inconclusive results, however finding that Party-based autocracies are most likely to offer to mediate an international conflict when being sanctioned relative to other types of autocracies, while qualitative analysis did indeed uncover evidence that when being subjected to international condemnation and scrutiny, autocracies are likely to offer to mediate international conflict

Learning-Focused Leadership and Leadership Support: Meaning and Practice in Urban Systems

Synthesizes three reports on what good education leadership means and how it can best be supported, including the role of the school leader and the transformation of central district offices to focus more on improving instruction. Outlines key practices

Structural dichroism in the antiferromagnetic insulating phase of V_2O_3

We performed near-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XANES) at V K edge in the antiferromagnetic insulating (AFI) phase of a 2.8% Cr-doped V_2O_3 single crystal. Linear dichroism of several percent is measured in the hexagonal plane and found to be in good agreement with ab-initio calculations based on multiple scattering theory. This experiment definitively proves the structural origin of the signal and therefore solves a controversy raised by previous interpretations of the same dichroism as non-reciprocal. It also calls for a further investigation of the role of the magnetoelectric annealing procedure in cooling to the AFI phase.Comment: 4 pages 3 figures. To be published in Phys. Rev. B (2005

High sensitivity sensor for moderate pressures

The metal-insulator transition of (V_(0.99)Ti_(0.01))_2O_3 is marked by dramatic changes in the electrical resistivity and the magnetic susceptibility, with a linear pressure variation of -6.06 K/kbar for P≤15 kbar. We propose its use as the sensing element of a manometer in applications where the superconducting transition of soft metals has been traditional

Agrin isoforms and their role in synaptogenesis

Agrin is thought to mediate the motor neuron-induced aggregation of synaptic proteins on the surface of muscle fibers at neuromuscular junctions. Recent experiments provide direct evidence in support of this hypothesis, reveal the nature of agrin immunoreactivity at sites other than neuromuscular junctions, and have resulted in findings that are consistent with the possibility that agrin plays a role in synaptogenesis throughout the nervous system

Modus Vivendi Beyond the Social Contract: Peace, Justice, and Survival in Realist Political Theory

This essay examines the promise of the notion of modus vivendi for realist political theory. I interpret recent theories of modus vivendi as affirming the priority of peace over justice, and explore several ways of making sense of this idea. I proceed to identify two key problems for modus vivendi theory, so conceived. Normatively speaking, it remains unclear how this approach can sustain a realist critique of Rawlsian theorizing about justice while avoiding a Hobbesian endorsement of absolutism. And conceptually, the theory remains wedded to a key feature of social contract theory: political order is conceived as based on agreement. This construes the horizontal tensions among individual or group agents in society as prior to the vertical, authoritative relations between authorities and their subjects. Political authority thereby appears from the start as a solution to societal conflict, rather than a problem in itself. I argue that this way of framing the issue abstracts from political experience. Instead I attempt to rethink the notion of modus vivendi from within the lived experience of political conflict, as oriented not primarily toward peace, but political survival. With this shift of perspective, the idea of modus vivendi shows us, pace Bernard Williams, that the “first political question” is not how to achieve order and stability, but rather: what can I live with

Characterization of nanometer-sized, mechanically exfoliated graphene on the H-passivated Si(100) surface using scanning tunnelling microscopy

We have developed a method for depositing graphene monolayers and bilayers with minimum lateral dimensions of 2-10 nm by the mechanical exfoliation of graphite onto the Si(100)-2x1:H surface. Room temperature, ultra-high vacuum (UHV) tunnelling spectroscopy measurements of nanometer-sized single-layer graphene reveal a size dependent energy gap ranging from 0.1-1 eV. Furthermore, the number of graphene layers can be directly determined from scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) topographic contours. This atomistic study provides an experimental basis for probing the electronic structure of nanometer-sized graphene which can assist the development of graphene-based nanoelectronics.Comment: Accepted for publication in Nanotechnolog

Mass enhancement and magnetic order at the Mott-Hubbard transition

We study the evolution with pressure P and band filling y of the heat capacity, Hall coefficient, and resistivity at the approach to the T→0 Mott-Hubbard metal-insulator transition (MIT) in highly correlated V_(2-y)O_3. Under P, the electronic effective mass m* diverges at the MIT with a negligible change in carrier concentration n away from half-filling. Conversely, in the doped system m* actually decreases as the MIT is approached, while n increases linearly with y. The low-T magnetic order in the metal helps us deconvolute contributions from charge correlations and spin fluctuations

Effect of correlations and disorder on electron states in the Mott-Hubbard insulator V_2O_3

We compare vanadium-deficient (nonstoichiometric) and titanium-doped vanadium sesquioxide through measurements of the electrical resistivity at a series of hydrostatic pressures, the magnetic susceptibility, and the low-temperature specific heat: all as a function of T. The pressure dependence of the critical temperature for this discontinuous metal-antiferromagnetic-insulator transition as well as the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility track in the two cases. However, the pressure dependence of the Hubbard gap, the slower than exponential form of the low-temperature resistivity, and the concentration of two-level systems are markedly different for V_(1.9967)O_3 and (V_(0.99)Ti_(0.01))_2O_3. We discuss our results in terms of the intra-atomic Coulomb repulsion, which is of comparable magnitude to the bare bandwidth of the vanadium 3d states. The band splitting in the antiferromagnetic insulating state is argued to cross over to a Slater-type splitting between the subbands narrowed by correlations with a sufficient degree of oxygen nonstoichiometry or Ti doping