The New Governance and the Tools of Public Action: An Introduction

A fundamental re-thinking is currently underway throughout the world about how to cope with public problems. Stimulated by popular frustrations with the cost and effectiveness of government programs and by a new-found faith in liberal economic theories, serious questions are being raised about the capabilities, and even the motivations, of public-sector institutions. This type of questioning has spread beyond American political discourse to other parts of the world. Underlying much of this reform surge is a set of theories that portrays government agencies as tightly structured hierarchies insulated from market forces and from effective citizen pressure and therefore free to serve the personal and institutional interests of bureaucrats instead. The heart of this revolution has been a fundamental transformation not just in the scope and scale of government action, but in its basic forms. Instead of relying exclusively on government to solve public problems, a host of other actors is being mobilized as well, sometimes are their own initiative but often in complex partnerships with the state

On Balazard, Saias, and Yor's equivalence to the Riemann Hypothesis

Balazard, Saias, and Yor proved that the Riemann Hypothesis is equivalent to a certain weighted integral of the logarithm of the Riemann zeta-function along the critical line equaling zero. Assuming the Riemann Hypothesis, we investigate the rate at which a truncated version of this integral tends to zero, answering a question of Borwein, Bradley, and Crandall and disproving a conjecture of the same authors. A simple modification of our techniques gives a new proof of a classical Omega theorem for the function S(t) in the theory of the Riemann zeta-function.Comment: 11 page

Nonadiabatic Electronic Interactions In The Ion-Pair States Of NelCl

Nonadiabatic interactions in the NeIC1 van der Waals complex have been explored in the lowest energy triad of IC1 ion-pair states (approximately 39 000 cm-1). Dispersed fluorescence measurements reveal emission characteristic of multiple ion-pair electronic states, with the relative contributions from the E(O+ ), beta(1), and D\u27(2) states changing with the initial IC1 vibrational excitation (v(IC1)). Emission directly from NeIC1 (v(IC1) = O) complexes indicates that the initially prepared NeIC1 levels have mixed electronic character and that the IC1 electronic parentage changes with the initial van der Waals vibrational level selected. NeIC1 complexes prepared with 1-4 quanta of IC1 stretch undergo rapid vibrational predissociation with a strong propensity for DELTA-V(IC1) = - 1 relaxation. The electronic state(s) populated in the IC1 fragments differ from the mixed electronic character of the initially prepared level, demonstrating that vibrational predissociation is accompanied by nonadiabatic electronic state changing processes. The observed final state selectivity may be attributed to the relative strength of the nonadiabatic couplings between the initial NeIC1 bound state and the final IC1 states or a momentum gap rationale based on the overlap between the NeIC1 bound state wave function and the highly oscillatory continuum wave function of the separating fragments

Cooling a single atom in an optical tweezer to its quantum ground state

We report cooling of a single neutral atom to its three-dimensional vibrational ground state in an optical tweezer. After employing Raman sideband cooling for tens of milliseconds, we measure via sideband spectroscopy a three-dimensional ground-state occupation of ~90%. We further observe coherent control of the spin and motional state of the trapped atom. Our demonstration shows that an optical tweezer, formed simply by a tightly focused beam of light, creates sufficient confinement for efficient sideband cooling. This source of ground-state neutral atoms will be instrumental in numerous quantum simulation and logic applications that require a versatile platform for storing and manipulating ultracold single neutral atoms. For example, these results will improve current optical tweezer experiments studying atom-photon coupling and Rydberg quantum logic gates, and could provide new opportunities such as rapid production of single dipolar molecules or quantum simulation in tweezer arrays.Comment: Updated intro, titl

Factors influencing development of management strategies for the Abou Ali River in Lebanon. I: Spatial variation and land use

Surface water bodies are progressively subject to increasing stress as a result of environmentally degrading processes primarily related to anthropogenic activities. This study assesses and examines the impact of land use and anthropogenic activities on the spatial variation in water quality of the Abou Ali River in North Lebanon. It is the first detailed study of its kind in Lebanon and adds to the existing Knowledge by shedding light on a relatively small Mediterranean river in a developing country where there is a paucity of such studies. The assessment was conducted at the end of the dry season in 2002 and 2003 and the end of the wet season in 2003 and 2004. The study has demonstrated the importance of anthropogenic influences on the water quality of the Abou Ali River Basin, as concentrations of most contaminants were higher at locations with greatest human activity. The most adversely affected area was the section of the river that flows through an entirely urbanized and highly populated region, the Tripoli conurbation. Upstream rural sites were enriched by contaminants primarily from non-point sources such as agricultural runoff and poultry litter whereas contaminant concentrations at the urban sites were enriched by a combination of sewage discharge and flow of contaminants from upstream. If the Abou Ali River is to be utilized as a managed water resource and its water quality sustained, point source discharges will require treatment and land use management must be planned to minimize the impact of diffuse source pollution on the river. A high priority should be given to the implementation and enforcement of the precautionary and polluter pays principles. Moreover, an effective legal, economic and institutional framework is required to encourage investment in waste reduction and control and to introduce environmentally sound practices

Communiqué No. 16: Escalating Pension Benefit Costs -- Another Threat to Nonprofit Survival?

Provides findings from a national survey of nonprofits that examines the benefits of nonprofit retirement programs, explores the financial stress the plans are under, and describes the coping strategies developed by organizations