Locating Rousseau\u27s Legislator in the Social Contract

It is challenging to define precisely what role the legislator plays in Rousseau’s Social Contract; however, when viewed in light of the ancient guardians, the role of the legislator becomes less obscure. This paper pursues the similarities between Rousseau’s concept of the legislator and Plato’s concept of the guardian while also exploring the poignant differences between the two. One cannot help but notice their fundamental similarities such as the superior character and intelligence of the legislator and how each communicates with the people. Their ultimate purpose and legitimacy differs, however, in that the legislator plays a more esoteric role in his relation to the people to order to persuade them of his ideas. Conversely, the guardian’s purpose is one of enlightenment through reason; he never has to persuade anyone of anything

The Kolla of Argentina: Neoliberal Trends and the Promise of Law in the Process of Reframing, Claiming and Maintaining Land Rights

Indigenous groups around the world have faced countless hardships—the Kolla of northwestern Argentina are no exception. While there is no doubt that the Kolla are a minority group both oppressed and marginalized, they have only recently begun to reconceptualize themselves as indigenous. Kolla identity struggles coupled with larger Latin American trends explained below make the Kolla an excellent case study to conceptualize the larger struggle between neoliberal governments and indigenous employment of international legal norms. Processes of legal globalization have led to the increasing codification of the collective rights of indigenous peoples in Latin America. This can be seen in states’ constitutional revisions, ratifications of ILO 169 and signings of the 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I argue that these codifications are not always about recognizing rights as such, but rather indicate the states’ limited acceptance of cultural diversity, which maintains the state as a rational actor operating between needs and interests of multiple actors. Furthermore, I interpret this limited acceptance to be evidence for a neoliberal trend in governmental functions. In the case of the Kolla and arguably Latin America more broadly, the neoliberal framework re-conceptualizes the state to be a property distributor that solely protects property rights rather than engages in broader social provision or support. In other words, the government may codify certain rights that appear to benefit indigenous peoples, but in reality fails to take seriously these rights in any practical sense. I argue that the government’s neoliberal stance can explain this implementation gap. The intentional lack of processes and structures for seeking redress as well as the absence of enforcement methods attest to the government’s apathy. Moreover, the government may “rationally” side with corporate interests in its larger function weighing needs and interests of many actors

Kondo resonance in a nanotube quantum dot coupled to a normal and a superconducting lead

We report on electrical transport measurements through a carbon nanotube quantum dot coupled to a normal and a superconducting lead. The ratio of Kondo temperature and superconducting gap $T_{K}/\Delta$ is identified to govern the transport properties of the system. In the case of $T_{K}<\Delta$ the conductance resonance splits into two resonances at $\pm \Delta$. For the opposite scenario $T_{K}>\Delta$ the conductance resonance persists, however the conductance is not enhanced compared to the normal state due to a relative asymmetry of the lead-dot couplings. Within this limit the data is in agreement with a simple model of a resonant SN-interface.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. submitted to the Proc. Rencontres de Moriond on Quantum Information and Decoherence in Nanosystems 200

Neurotrophic keratitis after micropulse transscleral diode laser cyclophotocoagulation.

PurposeTo report two cases of neurotrophic keratitis (NK) after micropulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation (MP-TCP).ObservationsTwo patients with predisposing factors for decreased corneal sensation developed NK 1 month after MP-TCP. Both patients did not heal with initial treatment with topical antibiotic and preservative free artificial tears. One patient required use of a bandage contact lens and the other patient required tarsorrhaphy. Both eyes experienced recurrence of NK.Conclusions and importanceNK can be triggered after MP-TCP in patients with underlying predisposing factors for decreased corneal sensation. This uncommon but vision-threatening complication should be discussed preoperatively with high-risk patients as a possible adverse event after MP-TCP and followed closely postoperatively

Dielectronic recombination and stability of warm gas in AGN

Understanding the thermal equilibrium (stability) curve may offer insights into the nature of the warm absorbers often found in active galactic nuclei. Its shape is determined by factors like the spectrum of the ionizing continuum and the chemical composition of the gas. We find that the stability curves obtained under the same set of the above mentioned physical factors, but using recently derived dielectronic recombination rates, give significantly different results, especially in the regions corresponding to warm absorbers, leading to different physical predictions. Using the current rates we find a larger probability of having thermally stable warm absorber at 10^5 \kel than previous predictions and also a greater possibility for its multiphase nature. the results obtained with the current dielectronic recombination rate coefficients are more reliable because the warm absorber models along the stability curve have computed coefficient values, whereas previous calculations relied on guessed averages for the same due to lack of available data.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters. The definitive version is available at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/hom

Optical and near infrared observations of SN 1998bu

Infrared and optical spectra of SN 1998bu at an age of one year after explosion are presented. The data show evidence for the radioactive decay of 56Co to 56Fe, long assumed to be the powering source for the supernova light curve past maximum light. The spectra provide direct evidence for at least 0.4 solar masses of iron being present in the ejecta of the supernova. The fits to the data also show that the widths of the emission lines increase with time. Photometric measurements in the H-band show that the supernova is not fading during the observation period. This is consistent with theoretical expectations.Comment: accepted A&A, 7 pages, 9 figure

The Mid-infrared Fine-structure Lines of Neon as an Indicator of Star For mation Rate in Galaxies

The fine-structure lines of singly ([Ne II] 12.8 micron) and doubly ([Ne III] 15.6 micron) ionized neon are among the most prominent features in the mid-infrared spectra of star-forming regions, and have the potential to be a powerful new indicator of the star formation rate in galaxies. Using a sample of star-forming galaxies with measurements of the fine-structure lines available from the literature, we show that the sum of the [Ne II] and [Ne III] luminosities obeys a tight, linear correlation with the total infrared luminosity, over 5 orders of magnitude in luminosity. We discuss the formation of the lines and their relation with the Lyman continuum luminosity. A simple calibration between star formation rate and the [Ne II]+[Ne III] luminosity is presented.Comment: To appear in ApJ. 8 page

Illumination in symbiotic binary stars: Non-LTE photoionization models. II. Wind case

We describe a non-LTE photoionization code to calculate the wind structure and emergent spectrum of a red giant wind illuminated by the hot component of a symbiotic binary system. We consider spherically symmetric winds with several different velocity and temperature laws and derive predicted line fluxes as a function of the red giant mass loss rate, \mdot. Our models generally match observations of the symbiotic stars EG And and AG Peg for \mdot about 10^{-8} \msunyr to 10^{-7} \msunyr. The optically thick cross- section of the red giant wind as viewed from the hot component is a crucial parameter in these models. Winds with cross-sections of 2--3 red giant radii reproduce the observed fluxes, because the wind density is then high, about 10^9 cm^{-3}. Our models favor winds with acceleration regions that either lie far from the red giant photosphere or extend for 2--3 red giant radii.Comment: 51 pages, LaTeX including three tables, requires 15 Encapsulated Postscript figures, to appear in Ap

Silicates in D-type symbiotic stars: an ISO overview

We investigate the IR spectral features of a sample of D-type symbiotic stars. Analyzing unexploited ISO-SWS data, deriving the basic observational parameters of dust bands and comparing them with respect to those observed in other astronomical sources, we try to highlight the effect of environment on grain chemistry and physic. We find strong amorphous silicate emission bands at 10 micron and 18 micron in a large fraction of the sample. The analysis of the 10 micron band, along with a direct comparison with several astronomical sources, reveals that silicate dust in symbiotic stars shows features between the characteristic circumstellar environments and the interstellar medium. This indicates an increasing reprocessing of grains in relation to specific symbiotic behavior of the objects. A correlation between the central wavelength of the 10 and 18 micron dust bands is found. By the modeling of IR spectral lines we investigate also dust grains conditions within the shocked nebulae. Both the unusual depletion values and the high sputtering efficiency might be explained by the formation of SiO moleculae, which are known to be a very reliable shock tracer. We conclude that the signature of dust chemical disturbance due to symbiotic activity should be looked for in the outer, circumbinary, expanding shells where the environmental conditions for grain processing might be achieved. Symbiotic stars are thus attractive targets for new mid-infrared and mm observations.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures, 5 tables - to be published in A