15,801 research outputs found
Emerging pluralist politics in Mozambique: the Frelimo-Renamo party system
In 1992, the Mozambican civil war was brought to a close, marking the beginning of a 'pacted' and fundamentally successful process of democratic change. Despite the extreme poverty of the country, Mozambique has managed to introduce a formally competitive electoral regime, in which movements that were formerly in violent opposition to one another have moved towards fragile pluralist practices, in marked contrast to, for example, Angola, whose peace process quickly unravelled. This paper examines the emergence of a two party system in Mozambique, in which the former Renamo guerrilla fighters appear to have embraced the possibilities of peace. Ultimately, however, Carbone warns against undue optimism, and highlights the weaknesses of the system that are still to be resolved. For all that the country has adopted a formally competitive political system, it continues to fall short of fully democratic and liberal practices
Choreographies in Practice
Choreographic Programming is a development methodology for concurrent
software that guarantees correctness by construction. The key to this paradigm
is to disallow mismatched I/O operations in programs, called choreographies,
and then mechanically synthesise distributed implementations in terms of
standard process models via a mechanism known as EndPoint Projection (EPP).
Despite the promise of choreographic programming, there is still a lack of
practical evaluations that illustrate the applicability of choreographies to
concrete computational problems with standard concurrent solutions. In this
work, we explore the potential of choreographies by using Procedural
Choreographies (PC), a model that we recently proposed, to write distributed
algorithms for sorting (Quicksort), solving linear equations (Gaussian
elimination), and computing Fast Fourier Transform. We discuss the lessons
learned from this experiment, giving possible directions for the usage and
future improvements of choreography languages
A Formal Model for Trust in Dynamic Networks
We propose a formal model of trust informed by the Global Computing scenario and focusing on the aspects of trust formation, evolution, and propagation. The model is based on a novel notion of trust structures which, building on concepts from trust management and domain theory, feature at the same time a trust and an information partial order
Connecting Mathematics and the Applied Science of Energy Conservation
To effectively teach science in the elementary classroom, pre-service K-8 teachers need a basic understanding of the underlying concepts of physics, which demand a strong foundation in mathematics. Unfortunately, the depth of mathematics understanding of prospective elementary teachers has been a growing and serious concern for several decades. To overcome this challenge, a two-pronged attack was used in this study. First. students in mathematics courses were coupled with physical science courses by linking registration to ensure co-requisites were taken. This alone improved passing rates. Secondly, an energy conservation project was introduced in both classes that intimately tied the theoretical mathematics base knowledge to problems in physical science, energy efficiency, and household economics. These connections made the mathematics highly relevant to the students and improved both their theoretical understanding and their grades. Together, the two approaches of tying mathematics to physical science and applying mathematical skills to solving energy efficiency problems have shown to be extremely effective at improving student performance. This five-year study not only exhibited record improvements in student performance, but also can be easily replicated at other institutions experiencing similar challenges in training pre-service elementary school teachers
Fractal Heterogeneous Media
A method is proposed for generating compact fractal disordered media, by
generalizing the random midpoint displacement algorithm. The obtained
structures are invasive stochastic fractals, with the Hurst exponent varying as
a continuous parameter, as opposed to lacunar deterministic fractals, such as
the Menger sponge. By employing the Detrending Moving Average algorithm [Phys.
Rev. E 76, 056703 (2007)], the Hurst exponent of the generated structure can be
subsequently checked. The fractality of such a structure is referred to a
property defined over a three dimensional topology rather than to the topology
itself. Consequently, in this framework, the Hurst exponent should be intended
as an estimator of compactness rather than of roughness. Applications can be
envisaged for simulating and quantifying complex systems characterized by
self-similar heterogeneity across space. For example, exploitation areas range
from the design and control of multifunctional self-assembled artificial nano
and micro structures, to the analysis and modelling of complex pattern
formation in biology, environmental sciences, geomorphological sciences, etc
Measuring the LISA test mass magnetic proprieties with a torsion pendulum
Achieving the low frequency LISA sensitivity requires that the test masses
acting as the interferometer end mirrors are free-falling with an unprecedented
small degree of deviation. Magnetic disturbances, originating in the
interaction of the test mass with the environmental magnetic field, can
significantly deteriorate the LISA performance and can be parameterized through
the test mass remnant dipole moment and the magnetic susceptibility
. While the LISA test flight precursor LTP will investigate these effects
during the preliminary phases of the mission, the very stringent requirements
on the test mass magnetic cleanliness make ground-based characterization of its
magnetic proprieties paramount. We propose a torsion pendulum technique to
accurately measure on ground the magnetic proprieties of the LISA/LTP test
masses.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
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