Metallic liquid hydrogen and likely Al2O3 metallic glass

Dynamic compression has been used to synthesize liquid metallic hydrogen at 140 GPa (1.4 million bar) and experimental data and theory predict Al2O3 might be a metallic glass at ~300 GPa. The mechanism of metallization in both cases is probably a Mott-like transition. The strength of sapphire causes shock dissipation to be split differently in the strong solid and soft fluid. Once the 4.5-eV H-H and Al-O bonds are broken at sufficiently high pressures in liquid H2 and in sapphire (single-crystal Al2O3), electrons are delocalized, which leads to formation of energy bands in fluid H and probably in amorphous Al2O3. The high strength of sapphire causes shock dissipation to be absorbed primarily in entropy up to ~400 GPa, which also causes the 300-K isotherm and Hugoniot to be virtually coincident in this pressure range. Above ~400 GPa shock dissipation must go primarily into temperature, which is observed experimentally as a rapid increase in shock pressure above ~400 GPa. The metallization of glassy Al2O3, if verified, is expected to be general in strong oxide insulators. Implications for Super Earths are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 14th Liquid and Amorphous Metals Conference, Rome 201

Electronic monitoring in Scotland 1998 - 2006

The electronic monitoring (EM) of offenders originated in the USA and grew steadily across Europe and rest of the world during the1990s (Ball, Huff and Lilly 1988; Mayer, Haverkamp and Levy 2003). Electronically monitored Restriction of Liberty Orders (RLOs) were introduced in Scotland by the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997 in the last days of a Conservative administration (Scottish Office 1996). They were part of a general strategy intended to strengthen existing forms of community supervision, to increase public and judicial confidence in such supervision and thereby to improve public protection. However, as McAra (1999) notes, there was still significant deference in the Conservative strategy to the humanistic, “penal welfare” values so staunchly upheld by Scottish crime policy networks since the 1960s, which had both survived the encroaching “culture of control” (Garland 2001), and bestowed a distinctive “tartan” slant on several indigenous criminal justice institutions. Until recently, the congruence or otherwise of EM with the enduring Scottish inflection on penal welfare values has been at the heart of all arguments about it in Scotland, although, tentatively, it might now be suggested that the questions are changing

Between a crown and a gibbet: Benjamin F. Butler and the early war years.

Stout and ugly, brusque and brilliant, Benjamin F. Butler stormed across the American scene in a tumultuous career lasting nearly half a century. Able jurist, wily politician, and farsighted but sometimes luckless Civil War General, Butler devoted his life to a zealous quest for renown and success, a search matched in intensity by a passion for aiding society\u27s downtrodden. Often a pure party man who would not go beyond that which his political affiliations demanded, he was yet often the fiery advocate of controversial social reform. Whether battling for New England\u27 exploited factory operatives or seeking an avenue for black rights in Civil War America, Ben Butler\u27s energies were aimed towards the uplifting of the underdog, even as those energies were directed towards the achievement of Butler\u27s personal recognition

Biometric surveillance in schools : cause for concern or case for curriculum?

This article critically examines the draft consultation paper issued by the Scottish Government to local authorities on the use of biometric technologies in schools in September 2008 (see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/09/08135019/0). Coming at a time when a number of schools are considering using biometric systems to register and confirm the identity of pupils in a number of settings (cashless catering systems, automated registration of pupils' arrival in school and school library automation), this guidance is undoubtedly welcome. The present focus seems to be on using fingerprints, but as the guidance acknowledges, the debate in future may encompass iris prints, voice prints and facial recognition systems, which are already in use in non-educational settings. The article notes broader developments in school surveillance in Scotland and in the rest of the UK and argues that serious attention must be given to the educational considerations which arise. Schools must prepare pupils for life in the newly emergent 'surveillance society', not by uncritically habituating them to the surveillance systems installed in their schools, but by critically engaging them in thought about the way surveillance technologies work in the wider world, the various rationales given to them, and the implications - in terms of privacy, safety and inclusion - of being a 'surveilled subject'

Since Nineteen Eighty Four : representations of surveillance in literary fiction

The field of surveillance studies is developing at a rapid rate, fuelled by a deep unease about the future of individual privacy and growing interest in a number of questions that lie at the heart of the discipline. What information is held about us? To what extent is that information secure? How should new technologies be regulated? How will developments in surveillance affect our ordinary and everyday lives? Deliberately multi-disciplinary in character, New Directions in Surveillance and Privacy examines these questions from a range of different perspectives, and includes contributions from leading academics in sociology, law, management studies, literary analysis and Internet studies. As privacy comes under increasing threat and surveillance extends into more and more areas of our daily lives, surveillance studies needs to develop in new directions, form new perspectives, and gain new insights. In keeping with this aim, the chapters of this book consider how individuals, organisations, and states gather, analyse, and share ever-increasing amounts of our personal and private information. Divided into three sections, this book contains chapters touching on issues of legal regulation, changes in the technology of surveillance, and on the future of privacy and surveillance. In so doing, this new collection provides a unique and eclectic insight into the question of how the spread of surveillance is changing our lives and the societies in which we live

Coupled Electron Ion Monte Carlo Calculations of Dense Metallic Hydrogen

We present a new Monte Carlo method which couples Path Integral for finite temperature protons with Quantum Monte Carlo for ground state electrons, and we apply it to metallic hydrogen for pressures beyond molecular dissociation. We report data for the equation of state for temperatures across the melting of the proton crystal. Our data exhibit more structure and higher melting temperatures of the proton crystal than Car-Parrinello Molecular Dynamics results. This method fills the gap between high temperature electron-proton Path Integral and ground state Diffusion Monte Carlo methods

Development of a Land Use Mapping and Monitoring Protocol for the High Plains Region: A Multitemporal Remote Sensing Application

The purpose of this project was to develop a practical protocol that employs multitemporal remotely sensed imagery, integrated with environmental parameters to model and monitor agricultural and natural resources in the High Plains Region of the United States. The value of this project would be extended throughout the region via workshops targeted at carefully selected audiences and designed to transfer remote sensing technology and the methods and applications developed. Implementation of such a protocol using remotely sensed satellite imagery is critical for addressing many issues of regional importance, including: (1) Prediction of rural land use/land cover (LULC) categories within a region; (2) Use of rural LULC maps for successive years to monitor change; (3) Crop types derived from LULC maps as important inputs to water consumption models; (4) Early prediction of crop yields; (5) Multi-date maps of crop types to monitor patterns related to crop change; (6) Knowledge of crop types to monitor condition and improve prediction of crop yield; (7) More precise models of crop types and conditions to improve agricultural economic forecasts; (8;) Prediction of biomass for estimating vegetation production, soil protection from erosion forces, nonpoint source pollution, wildlife habitat quality and other related factors; (9) Crop type and condition information to more accurately predict production of biogeochemicals such as CO2, CH4, and other greenhouse gases that are inputs to global climate models; (10) Provide information regarding limiting factors (i.e., economic constraints of pumping, fertilizing, etc.) used in conjunction with other factors, such as changes in climate for predicting changes in rural LULC; (11) Accurate prediction of rural LULC used to assess the effectiveness of government programs such as the U.S. Soil Conservation Service (SCS) Conservation Reserve Program; and (12) Prediction of water demand based on rural LULC that can be related to rates of draw-down of underground water supplies

Re(de)fining Narrative Events: Examining Television Narrative Structure

The authors introduce a new analytical instrument, the Scene Function Model, as an expansion of Seymour Chatman\u27s theoretical classification of story events into kernels and satellites. The Scene Function Model is designed to examine the narrative function of television scenes and provide the user with a clearer understanding of the structure of the television narrative

Properties of planetary fluids at high pressure and temperature

In order to derive models of the interiors of Uranus, Neptune, Jupiter and Saturn, researchers studied equations of state and electrical conductivities of molecules at high dynamic pressures and temperatures. Results are given for shock temperature measurements of N2 and CH4. Temperature data allowed demonstration of shock induced cooling in the the transition region and the existence of crossing isotherms in P-V space

Land use distribution and changes in the urban-rural fringe area of South Albany, Oregon

The need to control irreversible conversions of prime agricultural lands to urban land uses has come to light in recent years. Resulting policy statements by the State of Oregon and federal agencies have added support to this premise. Nevertheless, inefficient conversions of agricultural to idle lands in response to urban pressure are increasing in the South Albany urban-rural fringe area. Additionally, residential land uses are expanding with major encroachments on high quality agricultural lands