594 research outputs found
A Distinction Without A Difference: Vietnam, Sir Robert Thompson, and the Policing Failures of Vietnam
The scholarship analyzing the failure of the American involvement in Vietnam began even before the war finished. Whether the Orthodox School which considered the war unwinnable or the revisionist which argued there was a path to victory for the Americans, there have been libraries of tomes arguing who or what was to blame for the American defeat. An increased amount of scholarship recently has been written regarding the influence of British officer Sir Robert Thompson and his attempt to advise both the South Vietnamese and American war efforts.
Thompson, who gained fame as one of the key leaders for the British victory over the Communist insurgency during the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960), became a prominent author and military strategist writing several books on counterinsurgency of which the principles are still used in modern warfare.
The question this paper asks is exploring further in the Thompsonian scholarship as regards why America was unsuccessful in the Vietnam Conflict. While many have declared Thompson as an ignored military savior in answering this question, there has been little focus on Thompson’s stressing constabulary or colonial policing as the main effort in the counterinsurgency fight. Malaya, as a British colony, had a strong and effective colonial police force which was instrumental in defeating the Communist insurgency. While Vietnam was also a former colony, they had lost the French gendarmerie forces prior to independence. This paper explores the failure of France, the United States, and even Thompson himself in developing a proper constabulary type police force to stop the Vietnamese Communist insurgency. While France had their colonial police dismantled and neglected through World War II and post-colonial independence, the Americans were simply ignorant of understanding the purpose of a constabulary force, creating either a civilian type police force or infantry units. Thompson, despite writing books stressing the importance of paramilitary policing could not convince the Americans that counterinsurgency is won through an effective paramilitary police force. This paper argues Thompsonian Vietnam analysis needs more focus on the failures of the South Vietnam policing strategy
The role of hydrogen in room-temperature ferromagnetism at graphite surfaces
We present a x-ray dichroism study of graphite surfaces that addresses the
origin and magnitude of ferromagnetism in metal-free carbon. We find that, in
addition to carbon states, also hydrogen-mediated electronic states
exhibit a net spin polarization with significant magnetic remanence at room
temperature. The observed magnetism is restricted to the top 10 nm of
the irradiated sample where the actual magnetization reaches emu/g
at room temperature. We prove that the ferromagnetism found in metal-free
untreated graphite is intrinsic and has a similar origin as the one found in
proton bombarded graphite.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, submitted to New Journal of Physic
Experimental Evidence for Two-Dimensional Magnetic Order in Proton Bombarded Graphite
We have prepared magnetic graphite samples bombarded by protons at low
temperatures and low fluences to attenuate the large thermal annealing produced
during irradiation. An overall optimization of sample handling allowed us to
find Curie temperatures K at the used fluences. The
magnetization versus temperature shows unequivocally a linear dependence, which
can be interpreted as due to excitations of spin waves in a two dimensional
Heisenberg model with a weak uniaxial anisotropy.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Proton-induced magnetic order in carbon: SQUID measurements
In this work we have studied systematically the changes in the magnetic
behavior of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) samples after proton
irradiation in the MeV energy range. Superconducting quantum interferometer
device (SQUID) results obtained from samples with thousands of localized spots
of micrometer size as well on samples irradiated with a broad beam confirm
previously reported results. Both, the para- and ferromagnetic contributions
depend strongly on the irradiation details. The results indicate that the
magnetic moment at saturation of spots of micrometer size is of the order of
emu.Comment: Invited contribution at ICACS2006 to be published in Nucl. Instr. and
Meth. B. 8 pages and 6 figure
Exploring the function of protein kinases in schistosomes: perspectives from the laboratory and from comparative genomics
Eukaryotic protein kinases are well conserved through evolution. The genome of Schistosoma mansoni, which causes intestinal schistosomiasis, encodes over 250 putative protein kinases with all of the main eukaryotic groups represented. However, unraveling functional roles for these kinases is a considerable endeavor, particularly as protein kinases regulate multiple and sometimes overlapping cell and tissue functions in organisms. In this article, elucidating protein kinase signal transduction and function in schistosomes is considered from the perspective of the state-of-the-art methodologies used and comparative organismal biology, with a focus on current advances and future directions. Using the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a comparator we predict roles for various schistosome protein kinases in processes vital for host invasion and successful parasitism such as sensory behavior, growth and development. It is anticipated that the characterization of schistosome protein kinases in the context of parasite function will catalyze cutting edge research into host-parasite interactions and will reveal new targets for developing drug interventions against human schistosomiasis
Fokker-Planck Equation for Boltzmann-type and Active Particles: transfer probability approach
Fokker-Planck equation with the velocity-dependent coefficients is considered
for various isotropic systems on the basis of probability transition (PT)
approach. This method provides the self-consistent and universal description of
friction and diffusion for Brownian particles. Renormalization of the friction
coefficient is shown to occur for two dimensional (2-D) and three dimensional
(3-D) cases, due to the tensorial character of diffusion. The specific forms of
PT are calculated for the Boltzmann-type of collisions and for the
absorption-type of collisions (the later are typical for dusty plasmas and some
other systems). Validity of the Einstein's relation for the Boltzmann-type
collisions is analyzed for the velocity-dependent friction and diffusion
coefficients. For the Boltzmann-type collisions in the region of very high
grain velocity as well as it is always for non-Boltzmann collisions, such as,
e.g., absorption collisions, the Einstein relation is violated, although some
other relations (determined by the structure of PT) can exist. The generalized
friction force is investigated in dusty plasma in the framework of the PT
approach. The relation between this force, negative collecting friction force
and scattering and collecting drag forces is established.+AFwAXA- The concept
of probability transition is used to describe motion of active particles in an
ambient medium. On basis of the physical arguments the PT for a simple model of
the active particle is constructed and the coefficients of the relevant
Fokker-Planck equation are found. The stationary solution of this equation is
typical for the simplest self-organized molecular machines.+AFwAXA- PACS
number(s): 52.27.Lw, 52.20.Hv, 52.25.Fi, 82.70.-yComment: 18 page
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Mercury retorting of calcine waste, contaminated soils and railroad ballast at the Idaho National Egineering Laboratory
The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) has been involved in nuclear reactor research and development for over 40 years. One of the earliest major projects involved the development of a nuclear powered aircraft engine, a long-term venture which used mercury as a shielding medium. Over the course of several years, a significant amount of mercury was spilled along the railroad tracks where the test engines were transported and stored. In addition, experiments with volume reduction of waste through a calcine process employing mercury as a catalyst resulted in mercury contaminated calcine waste. Both the calcine and Test Area North wastes have been identified in Department of Energy Action Memorandums to be retorted, thereby separating the mercury from the various contaminated media. Lockheed Idaho Technologies Company awarded the Mercury Retort contract to ETAS Corporation and assigned Parsons Engineering Science, Inc. to manage the treatment field activities. The mercury retort process entails a mobile unit which consists of four trailer-mounted subsystems requiring electricity, propane, and a water supply. This mobile system demonstrates an effective strategy for retorting waste and generating minimal secondary waste
Effects of Timber Harvest on Amphibian Populations: Understanding Mechanisms from Forest Experiments
Accompanying appendix may be accessed at: http://hdl.handle.net/10355/1365Harvesting timber is a common form of land use that has the potential to cause declines in amphibian populations. It is essential to understand the behavior and fate of individuals and the resulting consequences for vital rates (birth, death, immigration, emigration) under different forest management conditions.We report on experimental studies conducted in three regions of the United States to identify mechanisms of responses by pond-breeding amphibians to timber harvest treatments. Our studies demonstrate that life stages related to oviposition and larval performance in
the aquatic stage are sometimes affected positively by clearcutting, whereas effects on juvenile and adult terrestrial stages are mostly negative
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