Synchronization of particle motion in compressed two-dimensional plasma crystals

The collective motion of dust particles during the mode-coupling induced melting of a two-dimensional plasma crystal is explored in molecular dynamics simulations. The crystal is compressed horizontally by an anisotropic confinement. This compression leads to an asymmetric triggering of the mode-coupling instability which is accompanied by alternating chains of in-phase and anti-phase oscillating particles. A new order parameter is proposed to quantify the synchronization with respect to different directions of the crystal. Depending on the orientation of the confinement anisotropy, mode-coupling instability and synchronized motion are observed in one or two directions. Notably, the synchronization is found to be direction-dependent. The good agreement with experiments suggests that the confinement anisotropy can be used to explain the observed synchronization process.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Review of mangrove foraminifera from the Guaratiba tidal plain, Rio de Janeiro, SE Brazil, collected in the early 70\u27s

Abstrac

Space Climate Manifestation in Earth Prices - from Medieval England Up to Modern Usa

In this study we continue to search for possible manifestations of space weather influence on prices of agricultural products and consumables. We note that the connection between solar activity and prices is based on the causal chain that includes several nonlinear transition elements. These non-linear elements are characterized by threshold sensitivity to external parameters and lead to very inhomogeneous local sensitivity of the price to space weather conditions. It is noted that "soft type" models are the most adequate for description of this class of connections. Two main observational effects suitable for testing causal connections of this type of sensitivity are considered: burst-like price reactions on changes in solar activity and price asymmetry for selected phases of the sunspot cycle. The connection, discovered earlier for wheat prices of Medieval England, is examined in this work on the basis of another 700-year data set of consumable prices in England. Using the same technique as in the previous part of our work (Pistilnik and Yom Din 2004) we show that statistical parameters of the interval distributions for price bursts of consumables basket and for sunspot minimum states are similar one to another, like it was reported earlier for wheat price bursts. Possible sources of these consistencies between three different multiyear samples are discussed. For search of possible manifestations of the "space weather - wheat market" connection in modern time, we analyze dynamics of wheat prices in the USA in the twentieth century. We show that the wheat prices revealed a maximum/minimum price asymmetry consistent with the phases of the sunspot cycle. We discuss possible explanations of this observed asymmetry, unexpected under conditions of globalization of the modern wheat market.Comment: First International Symposium on Space Climate: Direct and Indirect Observations of Long-Term Solar Activity, 20-23 June 2004, Oulu, Finlan

Palynofacies and foraminifera as hidrodynamic indicators of Araguari estuary, Amazon coast, Amapá-Brazil

Abstrac

Foraminifera and bacterial activity in oil spillimpacted mangrove, Guanabara Bay, Brazil

Abstrac

Graft and Corruption Practices Among Selected Public Officials in Mindanao, Southern Philippines

This study aims to examine the graft and corruption practices among selected public officials in southern Philippines. Thestudy is qualitative in nature making use of case study method in which an in-depth analysis of primary data obtained fromeight informants, four of whom are town mayors and their four incumbent municipal treasurers, is employed. The findingsrevealed that the mayor informants got elected through vote buying and bribery. Politics and family matters intersect asinformants are supported by their families during election who used guns, gold and goons to ensure election victory. Theclannish nature of the community finds expression also in the selection of relatives in municipal employment and in accessingmunicipal resources. The most prevalent corruption practice disclosed by the informants is amassing the internal revenueallotment (IRA) for personal purposes in order to recover the huge amount of money spent during election. Other types ofcorruption practices also include falsification of documents, nepotism, bribery, kickbacks, and evasion of public bidding.These public officials also do not seem to perform official duties in their towns as they live outside of their municipalities.Inter-agency involvement of corruption among different government agencies in the areas studied are also uncovered.Moreover, the perceived negative effects of corruption are manifested in the poor delivery of the community’s basic socialservices in health, water supply, education, and security protection. Corruption also adversely affects the construction ofcommunity infrastructure facilities and the establishment of an equitable and solid economic base. The study has implicationsto the strict policy implementation of the provisions of the 1991 Local Government Code of the Philippines, The Anti-Graftand Corrupt Practices Act, and other pertinent laws in order to improve the transparency, integrity and accountability of publicofficials not only in southern Philippines but also in the entire countryKEYWORDS: governance, inter-agency corruption involvement, Internal Review Allotment, maratabat, nepotis

Relationship between foraminifera and bacteria in estuarine sediments from Santa Catarina Island, Brazil

Abstrac