A Regional Rescue of the Nation-State: Changing Regional Perspectives on Europe

[From the introduction]. Milward’s work has been influential in the intergovernmentalist traditions of analysis of the EU. This paper is not meant in any direct sense as a contribution to the debates intergovernmentalists have had with others. The analogy with Milward is first and foremost about how governments at one level can (try to) instrumentalise the resources and opportunities available to governments at another. For Milward 'nation-state' (that is, member state2) central governments fostered and instrumentalised an emergent transnational structure of government to achieve their own interests. This paper argues that regional governments have increasingly sought to instrumentalise member state central governments as a means of achieving their interests, that is preserving the meaning of regional law-making powers. It commences with a discussion of the conditions which prompt regional 'mobilisation' (Hooghe 1995) in the EU before examining in turn the three distinct strategies through which legislative regions have sought to realise their aims in the EU

Span Programs and Quantum Space Complexity

While quantum computers hold the promise of significant computational speedups, the limited size of early quantum machines motivates the study of space-bounded quantum computation. We relate the quantum space complexity of computing a function f with one-sided error to the logarithm of its span program size, a classical quantity that is well-studied in attempts to prove formula size lower bounds. In the more natural bounded error model, we show that the amount of space needed for a unitary quantum algorithm to compute f with bounded (two-sided) error is lower bounded by the logarithm of its approximate span program size. Approximate span programs were introduced in the field of quantum algorithms but not studied classically. However, the approximate span program size of a function is a natural generalization of its span program size. While no non-trivial lower bound is known on the span program size (or approximate span program size) of any concrete function, a number of lower bounds are known on the monotone span program size. We show that the approximate monotone span program size of f is a lower bound on the space needed by quantum algorithms of a particular form, called monotone phase estimation algorithms, to compute f. We then give the first non-trivial lower bound on the approximate span program size of an explicit function

Mobile forms of communication and the transformation of relations between the public and private spheres

Stress is placed upon contextual issues and for this reason we will theoretically consider aspects of the modern society that are working in conjunction with the mobile phone to alter the public/private dichotomy. The article focuses upon the themes of: emergent practices, community, authority, domestication and etiquette, and notions of space. Rather than focusing solely on perceived change we shall also consider continuities and adaptation in social action, drawing on a range of ethnographic research

Neon and CNO Abundances for Extreme Helium Stars -- A Non-LTE Analysis

A non-LTE (NLTE) abundance analysis was carried out for three extreme helium stars (EHes): BD+10 2179, BD-9 4395, and LS IV+6 002, from their optical spectra with NLTE model atmospheres. NLTE TLUSTY model atmospheres were computed with H, He, C, N, O, and Ne treated in NLTE. Model atmosphere parameters were chosen from consideration of fits to observed He I line profiles and ionization equilibria of C and N ions. The program SYNSPEC was then used to determine the NLTE abundances for Ne as well as H, He, C, N, and O. LTE neon abundances from Ne I lines in the EHes: LSE 78, V1920 Cyg, HD 124448, and PV Tel, are derived from published models and an estimate of the NLTE correction applied to obtain the NLTE Ne abundance. We show that the derived abundances of these key elements, including Ne, are well matched with semi-quantitative predictions for the EHe resulting from a cold merger (i.e., no nucleosynthesis during the merger) of a He white dwarf with a C-O white dwarf.Comment: Astrophysical Journal, accepte

Issues Regarding the Early Development of Caddo Culture Discussion Topics for the East Texas Caddo Research Group, December 2008

Is there a consensus regarding which archaeological traits are diagnostic of Caddo culture? What are the necessary and sufficient traits for designating a context as “Caddo” as opposed to, for example, “pre-Caddo” or “Coles Creek?

Ethical Dimensions in Clothing Purchase

It is widely reported that consumer interest in environmental and ethical issues is growing. Evidence suggests that ethical considerations are now impacting on a broad range of consumption decisions. The focus of this paper is the impact such concerns may hold in clothing purchase decision making. Through an inductive qualitative approach, clothing purchase decision making has been explored before discussing consumers’ knowledge and concern of ethical issues within the supply chain. Any impact that these concerns may exert has been discussed. It is identified that although there is widespread knowledge and understanding of the ethical issues that may be present in the manufacture of clothing, these concerns do not play a primary role in consumers’ selection of items. Product attributes such as colour, style and fit dominate the decision making process in most cases. Despite this, ethical considerations can be seen to impact on the consumer in three key ways: initial boycott of particular products or brands; influencing final purchase decisions if items are similar on other criteria and, impacting on post-purchase satisfaction with the product