The Political Economy of International Debt and Third World Development

This article examines the causes and implications of the international debt crisis. It begins by first defining the debt crisis and offers some basic explanations for the crisis. The analysis examines the costs of the debt crisis and develops some basic explanations for the crisis. It explores the same conditions in both the North and South countries. Also, the article addresses the role of international financial institutions, and pays some close attention to the problems of international financial establishments in the 1980s. Finally, it reviews some general solutions to the debt crisis and provides some tentative suggestions for future considerations

Observation of Fano-Resonances in Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes

We have explored the low-temperature linear and non-linear electrical conductance $G$ of metallic carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which were grown by the chemical-vapor deposition method. The high transparency of the contacts allows to study these two-terminal devices in the high conductance regime. We observe the expected four-fold shell pattern together with Kondo physics at intermediate transparency {G\alt 2e^2/h} and a transition to the open regime in which the maximum conductance is doubled and bound by $G_{max}=4e^2/h$. In the high-$G$ regime, at the transition from a quantum dot to a weak link, the CNT levels are strongly broadened. Nonetheless, sharp resonances appear superimposed on the background which varies slowly with gate voltage. The resonances are identified by their lineshape as Fano resonances. The origin of Fano resonances is discussed along the modelling.Comment: pdf including figures, see: http://www.unibas.ch/phys-meso/Research/Papers/2004/Fano-CVD-SWNT.pd

A scoping review of spine surgeries between specialties: comparing neurosurgeons versus orthopedic surgeons

Spine surgeries are both performed by neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons. However, there remains controversy whether surgeon specialty affects spine surgery outcomes and complications. The objective of this scoping review was to map the existing knowledge comparing the outcomes and complications of spine surgeries between neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons. Eligible studies are any English-written or -translated published journals written from year 2000 onwards that compared outcomes and/or complications of spine surgeries between neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons. Excluded papers are those which do not dichotomize or specify the surgeon specialty to either neurosurgeon or orthopedic surgeon. Medline database was used to systematically search for papers that compare the two specialties. Ten studies were selected which directly compared spine surgery outcomes of the two specialties, all of which are retrospective studies and most of it relied on the national database. Specific spine surgeries were varied between all studies. Overwhelmingly, these studies showed no significant differences between neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons in short term outcomes while there were some significant differences in complications. Based on this scoping study, surgeon specialty, whether neurosurgery or orthopedics, has no significant association in spine surgery outcomes. This may imply that despite the differences in training, patients may have good outcomes if treated by either specialty. However, questions remain whether the effect of further training after residency or fellowship, length of experience and number of cases of both surgeon specialties have a causal effect in outcomes of spine surgeries

Intermittency and Universality in Fully-Developed Inviscid and Weakly-Compressible Turbulent Flows

We performed high resolution numerical simulations of homogenous and isotropic compressible turbulence, with an average 3D Mach number close to 0.3. We study the statistical properties of intermittency for velocity, density and entropy. For the velocity field, which is the primary quantity that can be compared to the isotropic incompressible case, we find no statistical differences in its behavior in the inertial range due either to the slight compressibility or to the different dissipative mechanism. For the density field, we find evidence of ``front-like'' structures, although no shocks are produced by the simulation.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Wire scanners in low energy accelerators

Fast wire scanners are today considered as part of standard instrumentation in high energy synchrotrons. The extension of their use to synchrotrons working at lower energies, where Coulomb scattering can be important and the transverse beam size is large, introduces new complications considering beam heating of the wire, composition of the secondary particle shower and geometrical consideration in the detection set-up. A major problem in treating these effects is that the creation of secondaries in a thin carbon wire by a energetic primary beam is difficult to describe in an analytical way. We are here presenting new results from a full Monte Carlo simulation of this process yielding information on heat deposited in the wire, particle type and energy spectrum of secondaries and angular dependence as a function of primary beam energy. The results are used to derive limits for the use of wire scanners in low energy accelerators.Comment: 20 pages, 8 Postscript figures, uses elsart.cl

Patterns of Online Media Exposure among Young People in Anambra State, Nigeria

This study investigated Patterns of online media exposure among young people in Anambra State, Nigeria. The rationale behind the study was to ascertain the ways young people in Anambra State access social media networks and to determine the reasons why they use the various online media platforms. Pegged on the Technological Determinism and the Uses and Gratification theories of the mass media, the study adopted quantitative research design and employed the questionnaire for data collection. The paper used a sample size of two hundred youths purposively drawn from Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi (all major cities in Anambra State) and adopted the percentage method in data analysis. Findings of the study show that many young people in Anambra State expose themselves to online media mainly through the use of their cell phones/handsets/smart phones and laptop/PC and that they use the various online media platforms for academic research purpose, for making and maintaining friendship, for entertainment/amusement and relaxation, chatting and for other purposes. The paper concluded that social networking sites are very useful platforms for interactive communication among young people and recommended more proactive use of online media for better academic attainment of young people. Keywords: Patterns, Online, Media, Exposure, Young, People, Anambra State