A posteriori corrections for cubic and quintic interpolating splines at equally-spaced knots

The method proposed recently by Lucas [13], for the a posteriori correction of odd degree interpolating periodic splines is extended to non-periodic cubic and quintic splines

A class of cubic and quintic spline modified collocation methods for the solution of two-point boundary value problems

This paper is concerned with the study of a class of methods for solving second and fourth-order two-point boundary-value problems. The methods under consideration are modifications of the standard cubic and quintic spline collocation techniques, and are derived by making use of recent results con- cerning the a posteriori correction of cubic and quintic interpolating spline

The use of learning management platforms in school context - a national study

This report results from a national study carried out under the Project “Educational application of learning management platforms”, supported and funded by the Computers, Networks, and Internet in Schools department of the Portuguese Ministry of Education- General Directorate for Innovation and Educational Development. This report has been developed by the ICT Competence Centre of the Faculty of Sciences- University of Lisbon, during the school year 2007/2008

Exact Nonequilibrium Work Generating Function for a Small Classical System

We obtain the exact nonequilibrium work generating function (NEWGF), for a small system consisting of a massive Brownian particle connected to internal and external springs. The external work is provided to the system for a finite time interval. The Jarzynski equality (JE), obtained in this case directly from the NEWGF, is shown to be valid for the present model, in an exact way regardless of the rate of external work

Structural and optical properties of europium doped zirconia single crystals fibers grown by laser floating zone

Yttria stabilized zirconia single crystal fibers doped with europium ions were developed envisaging optical applications. The laser floating zone technique was used in order to grow millimetric high quality single crystal fibers. The as-grown fibers are completely transparent and inclusion free, exhibiting a cubic structure. Under ultraviolet (UV) excitation, a broad emission band appears at 551 nm. The europium doped fibers are translucent with a tetragonal structure and exhibit an intense red emission at room temperature under UV excitation. The fingerprint transition lines between the 5D0 and 7FJ(0–4) multiplets of the Eu3+ ions are observed with the main emission line at ∼ 606 nm due to 5D0→7F2 transition. Photoluminescence excitation and wavelength dependent the photoluminescence spectra confirm the existence of different Eu3+ optical centers. © 2011 American Institute of PhysicsFCT-PTDC/CTM/66195/2006FCT-SFRH/BD/45774/200

PESTICIDE REGULATION AND THE RULE-MAKING PROCESS

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Distribution and genetic variability of Staphylinidae across a gradient of anthropogenically influenced insular landscapes

This paper describes the distribution and genetic variability of rove beetles (Coleoptera Staphylinidae) in anthropogenically influenced insular landscapes. The study was conducted in the Azores archipelago, characterized by high anthropogenic influence and landscape fragmentation. Collections were made in five islands, from eight habitats, along a gradient of anthropogenic influence. The species of Staphylinidae from the Azores collected for this study were widely distributed and showed low habitat fidelity. Rove beetle richness was associated with anthropogenic influence and habitat type, increasing from less to more anthropogenic impacted habitats. However, genetic diversity of profiled species (i.e. with three or more specimens per species/habitat) does not seem affected by anthropogenic influence in the different habitat types, isolation or landscape fragmentation. COI haplotypes were, as a rule, not exclusive to a given island or habitat. High level of genetic divergence and nucleotide saturation was found in closely related morphological designated species, demonstrating possible disparities between currently defined taxonomic units based on morphology and molecular phylogenies of Staphylinidae. This study found evidence of cryptic speciation in the Atheta fungi (Gravenhorst) species complex which had thus far remained undetected. Similar trends were found for Oligota parva Kraatz, Oxytelus sculptus Gravenhorst, Oligota pumilio Kiesenwetter. Previous studies with lower taxonomical resolution may have underestimated the biotic diversity reported in the Azores in comparison to other Macaronesian archipelagos.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mapping the “invisible college of international lawyers” through obituaries

Since Oscar Schachter’s famous articulation of the concept, scholars have attempted to know more about the composition and functioning of the ‘invisible college of international lawyers’ which makes up our profession. They have done this though surveying public rosters of certain sections of the profession (arbitrators, International Court of Justice counsel), providing general anecdotal accounts about informal connections between members, or establishing certain individuals’ influence in the development of discrete legal concepts. Departing from these approaches, we use the obituaries published in the British Yearbook of International Law (1920-2017) to draw a map of the ‘invisible college of international lawyers’. Obituaries are a unique window into international law’s otherwise private inner life, unveiling professional connections between international lawyers and their shared career paths beyond a single academic or judicial institution. Employing network analysis, a method commonly used in social sciences to describe complex social phenomena such as this, we are able to demonstrate the ubiquity of informal networks whereby ideas move, and provide evidence of the community’s homogeneity. Exploring the connections between international lawyers and their shared characteristics in this novel way, we shed light on the features of the community and the impact individual personalities have on the law. These characteristics of the profession and its members may be obvious to insiders, but are seldom acknowledged. Graphic representation is a powerful tool in bolstering critiques for diversity and contestation of mainstream law-making narratives. More than an exercise in exhaustive mapping, we seek to take the ‘dead white men’ trope to an extreme, provoking the reader to question the self-image of the profession an impersonal expert science

Linear Pinch Equilibrium of Non-Neutral Plasma Revisited: Phenomenological Consequences of a Numerical Accuracy Problem

Weibel in 1959 under considerations of a collisionless non-neutral cylindrical plasma column studied a linear pinch confinement equilibrium. As reported here, due to non-linearity of the ordinary differential equations obtained for the electrostatic and magnetostatic fields is possible to demonstrate that the confining features previously obtained are extremely dependent on the initial conditions, and the arrangement of two parameters (β - the ratio between ion and electron mass; M/KT - ratio between relativistic rest energy associated with the pair electron-ion and thermal energy kT ) related to the plasma column characteristics. We investigated in this paper the plasma column behavior (confining or non-confining) under modifications of that set of parameters. We detected a set of parameters values that imposes a confining configuration with an electronic skin effect on the plasma column, not yet reported or discussed in the literature