Intracavity Dye-Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (IDLAS) for application to planetary molecules

Time-resolved, quasi-continuous wave, intracavity dye-laser absorption spectroscopy is applied to the investigation of absolute absorption coefficients for vibrational-rotational overtone bands of water at visible wavelengths. Emphasis is placed on critical factors affecting detection sensitivity and data analysis. Typical generation-time dependent absorption spectra are given

The 2017 Session of the Nevada Legislature and the Failure of Higher Education Reform

Executive Summary This report analyzes 11 bills introduced during the 79th Session of the Nevada Legislature that proposed to reorganize, reform, and realign various aspects of the state’s higher education system. The analysis reveals the following: Despite bipartisan support for higher education reform, nearly all of the reform bills failed, including two bills vetoed by Governor Brian Sandoval. The failure to enact meaningful reform stands in contrast to the implementation of bills appropriating more resources for higher education. Opposition to reform legislation was strongest among those most invested in legitimizing and perpetuating current arrangements. The report also considers the institutional and cultural factors that reinforce these outcomes. These factors include: The mismatch between legislative capacity and the demand for policy reform. The selective manner in which higher education officials engaged in the Legislature. Misconceptions about the components of the state’s land-grant institution and the Board of Regents’ constitutional carve out prohibiting legislative action. The report concludes with policy recommendations for the Nevada Legislature. Foremost among these are: The second passage of AJR 5, an override of the AB 407 veto, and reintroduction and passage of the failed reform bills. Separation of the governance of the two- and four-year colleges from the branches of the state university, reduction in the size of the Board of Regents, and reorganization of the administration of higher education. Developing separate funding formulas for the universities and the two- and four-year colleges, and adding funding weights for courses completed by first generation, minority, and Pell Grant eligible students. Creation of the Assembly and Senate Higher Education and Economic Development Committees to improve legislative oversight and coordination. Elevation of Great Basin College to a four-year institution and realignment of the two and four-year colleges’ service areas to facilitate regional economic integration

Design and implementation of microfluidic chip to study chemotactic migration of cancer cells

Chemotactic movement in response to drug candidates is one of the leading tangible indicators of cell's state, which has widely spread in biomedical fields ranging from normal wound healing to metastatic migration of cancer cells. To facilitate its development, a microfluidic chemotaxis chip has been designed and implemented on top of dynamic cell culture. Different from static chip confining itself to inadequate cellular functions, the microfluidic chemotaxis chip provides a more versatile alternative to enable a better compatible experimental condition forming. A soft lithography-based method is used to prepare chips from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which is a favourable material for manufacturing microfluidic devices. The competitive features of the chemotactic chip include a wide range of controllable flow rates, higher levels of automation, economic feasibility based on the small usage amount of material in microscale, to name but a few. In the chemotactic chip, the mixing efficiency between two inflowing liquids is finely controlled by a syringe or pressure-based pump, resulting in a chemotactic gradient that can be manipulated by adjusting the flow rate. The chip model that applied in the experiments is simulated by COMSOL Multiphysics®, which is a dominated fluidic simulation software. The final selections, such as flow rate, design, and dimension of the chip are contingent on the simulation results and empirical considerations. Finally, the chip with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) is validated under the microscope. And the experimental data is analysed in comparison to the theoretical data computed from the simulation

Thomas Hobbes and a chastened 'global' constitution the contested boundaries of the law

Hobbes’ account of politics, law and obligation has long been read, especially by realists in international affairs, as leaving no space for international law or institutions. This paper argues that a more nuanced reading of Hobbes’ ideas about law and politics provides support for not only a defence of international law but a defence of a (chastened) global constitution. Hobbes’ constitutionalism does not derive from a separation or balance of powers but on two other elements of constitutionalism: the importance of the individual and the centrality of law. The paper proceeds as follows: The first section locates Hobbes theory of law in relation to his theory of authority, drawing on David Dyzenhaus’s emphasis on the rule of law in Hobbes. The second section draws on theorists such as Larry May to find a defence of international law and institutions, what I call international constitutionalism. The third section turns to Richard Flathman’s interpretation of Hobbes as a theorist of liberal self-making, suggesting how his insights can be applied globally. The conclusion brings these thoughts to bear on the relevance of Hobbes for global law and politics.PostprintPeer reviewe

A deeper order? A roundtable on William Bain, Political Theology of International Order

A brief introduction to the roundtable on William Bain, Political Theology of International Order.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Those who heard it first: The political implications of the sermon on the mount to Jesus’ Jewish audience

This dissertation examines the Sermon on the Mount (in the Gospel of Matthew) from the perspective of politics and peace. It investigates not what Jesus meant, but what his audience heard and were likely to have understood. It does this in order to ascertain the novelty or otherwise of Jesus’ teachings on peace with regard to Jewish thought and political understandings of his time. His audience was primarily Jewish, and the political implications they drew from Jesus’ teachings would have been influenced by established Jewish thought on ethics and governance. This dissertation researches specifically this: how would Jesus’ Jewish listeners have interpreted the peace sayings of the Sermon on the Mount? This dissertation finds that the Jewish intellectual framework within which Jesus’ first audience heard the Sermon on the Mount contained many specific sayings found in Pirkei Avot, and also a history of practice of non-violent action found in Jewish tradition, and that the oral law and the Sermon on the Mount both reflect Jewish ethical ideologies of non-violent resistance. This dissertation argues that, in the Sermon on the Mount, a very Jewish Jesus – a man true to the religio-political views of his day – reaffirms a Jewish ethical form of non-violent resistance. The most important evidence available is the Gospel of Matthew itself, Jewish ethical writings such as Pirkei Avot, other Mishna writings, and writings on the lex talionis. The evidence points to an audience that would have perceived Jesus as teaching non-violence in a context of resistance rather than completely passive submission. The overall finding of this dissertation will be that the writer of Matthew depicts a Jesus who, in style, form, and content, builds on a Jewish ethical foundation to promote non-violent assertion of equality and human dignity in the widely known and oft-cited Sermon on the Mount

Global constitutionalism : a practical universal

This article argues that this special section reveals a practical global constitutionalism, or one that integrates a liberal constitutional set of ideas with the histories and practices of Asian states.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Conclusion : Christian traditions of war and peace

This article provides an overview of the contributions to this special issue. It organizes the contributions through three conceptual lenses: the person, the state, and the church.Peer reviewe

Balloon tank skin strain measurements at liquid-hydrogen temperature on centaur flight vehicle

Balloon tank skin strain measurements at liquid hydrogen temperature on Centaur flight vehicl