The U.S.-Iran Track II Dialogue (20022008): Lessons Learned and Implications for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund's Grantmaking Strategy

From 2002 through 2008, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) supported a Track II dialogue involving influential American and Iranian citizens, co-organized and co-facilitated with the UnitedNations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA), under the able leadership of Ambassador William Luers. Recognizing that the U.S.-Iranian relationship presents perhaps the most important and troubling foreign policy challenge facing both countries, the Track II dialogue was launched in December 2002.The purpose of this paper is to examine the RBF's experience with the practice of Track II dialogues in light of other experiments with similar dialogues both as a conflict prevention and management tool and as an important component of a peacemaking strategy

Optimizing cooperative cognitive radio networks with opportunistic access

Optimal resource allocation for cooperative cognitive radio networks with opportunistic access to the licensed spectrum is studied. Resource allocation is based on minimizing the symbol error rate at the receiver. Both the cases of all-participate relaying and selective relaying are considered. The objective function is derived and the constraints are detailed for both scenarios. It is then shown that the objective functions and the constraints are nonlinear and nonconvex functions of the parameters of interest, that is, source and relay powers, symbol time, and sensing time. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain closed-form solutions for the optimal resource allocation. The optimization problem is then solved using numerical techniques. Numerical results show that the all-participate system provides better performance than its selection counterpart, at the cost of greater resources

Natuurlijk een veilige kust

Als je bij zwaar weer over het strand wandelt, ervaar je de krachten van wind en zee aan den lijve. Als je dan bedenkt dat ruim 9 miljoen Nederlanders beneden de zeespiegel leven, besef je hoe kwetsbaar we eigenlijk zijn. Robuuste zeerepen, sterke zeedijken en met dammen afgesloten zeearmen houden de zee buiten de deur. Als we duinen en dijken blijven verhogen neemt de kans op een overstroming weliswaar af, maar mocht de zeewering onverhoopt doorbreken, dan zullen de gevolgen groter zijn dan ooit. Het is daarom tijd voor een duurzame benadering die ons minder kwetsbaar maakt. Dat kan door met de natuur mee te werke

The Effect of Airway Pressure Release Ventilation on Pulmonary Catheter Readings: Specifically Pulmonary Capillary Wedge Pressure in a Swine Model

Background. Airway pressure release ventilation (APRV) is a mode of mechanical ventilation that theoretically believed to improve cardiac output by lowering right atrial pressure. However, hemodynamic parameters have never been formally assessed. Methods. Seven healthy swine were intubated and sedated. A baseline assessment of conventional ventilation (assist control) and positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) of 5 cm H2O was initiated. Ventilator mode was changed to APRV with incremental elevations of CPAP-high from 10 to 35 cm H2O. After a 3-to-5-minute stabilization period, measurements of hemodynamic parameters (PCWP, LAP, and CVP) were recorded at each level of APRV pressure settings. Results. Increasing CPAP caused increased PCWP and LAP measurements above their baseline values. Mean PCWP and LAP were linearly related (LAP = 0.66∗PCWP + 4.5 cm H2O, R2 = 0.674, and P < .001) over a wide range of high and low CPAP values during APRV. With return to conventional ventilation, PCWP and LAP returned to their baseline values. Conclusion. PCWP is an accurate measurement of LAP during APRV over variable levels of CPAP. However, PCWP and LAP may not be accurate measurements of volume when CPAP is utilized

Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis Associated with Anaplasmosis

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a hyperinflammatory syndrome characterized by unregulated macrophage and T-lymphocyte activation resulting in cytokine overproduction and subsequent histiocytic phagocytosis. Variant infections, particularly viruses have been postulated as the inciting factor for this potentially fatal disease. Herein, we will report a case of HLH associated with anaplasmosis