88 research outputs found
The Political Economy of Non-Traditional Security: Explaining the Governance of Avian Influenza in Indonesia
Given the common association of non-traditional security (NTS) problems with globalisation, surprisingly little attention has been paid to how the political economy context of given NTS issues shape how they are securitised and managed in practice. We argue that security and its governance are always highly contested because different modes of security governance invariably privilege particular interests and normative agendas in state and society, which relate directly to the political economy. Drawing on critical political geography, we argue that, because NTS issues are perceived as at least potentially transnational, their securitisation often involves strategic attempts by actors and coalitions to ‘rescale’ their governance beyond the national political and institutional arenas, into new, expert-dominated modes of governance. Such efforts are often resisted by other coalitions, for which this rescaling is deleterious. As evidenced by a case study of avian influenza in Indonesia, particular governance outcomes depend upon the nature of the coalitions assembled for and against rescaling in specific situations, while these coalitions’ make-up and relative strength is shaped by the political economy of the industries that rescaling would affect, viewed against the broader backdrop of state-society relations
Physics of Neutron Star Crusts
The physics of neutron star crusts is vast, involving many different research
fields, from nuclear and condensed matter physics to general relativity. This
review summarizes the progress, which has been achieved over the last few
years, in modeling neutron star crusts, both at the microscopic and macroscopic
levels. The confrontation of these theoretical models with observations is also
briefly discussed.Comment: 182 pages, published version available at
<http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2008-10
Understanding Novel Superconductors with Ab Initio Calculations
This chapter gives an overview of the progress in the field of computational
superconductivity.
Following the MgB2 discovery (2001), there has been an impressive
acceleration in the development of methods based on Density Functional Theory
to compute the critical temperature and other physical properties of actual
superconductors from first-principles. State-of-the-art ab-initio methods have
reached predictive accuracy for conventional (phonon-mediated) superconductors,
and substantial progress is being made also for unconventional superconductors.
The aim of this chapter is to give an overview of the existing computational
methods for superconductivity, and present selected examples of material
discoveries that exemplify the main advancements.Comment: 38 pages, 10 figures, Contribution to Springer Handbook of Materials
Modellin
Selective laser trabeculoplasty: past, present, and future
Over the past two decades, selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) has increasingly become an established laser treatment used to lower intraocular pressure in open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertensive patients. In this review we trace the origins of SLT from previous argon laser trabeculoplasty and review the current role it has in clinical practice. We outline future directions of SLT research and introduce emerging technologies that are further developing this intervention in the treatment paradigm of glaucoma.Eye advance online publication, 5 January 2018; doi:10.1038/eye.2017.273
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