END OF IDEOLOGY? A TREND ANALYSIS OF COMMUNIST PARTY STRENGTH IN TEN ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACIES

During the early 1960s, a number of prominent political and social theorists argued that one of the major results of the phenomenal economic growth of Western Europe after World War II was the "deradicalization" of politics. Ideology would cease to be a major' factor as the radical parties of the left and right responded to a breakdown in traditional class cleavages to pursue "pragmatic" programs of economic reforrn.! More recent studies focusing on value changes (Inglehart, 1971) and capital-labor confrontations (Hibbs, 1976) in these countries suggest, however, that ideological politics has not disappeared. This paper examines trends in strength of the communist parties in ten West European nations to determine whether their hypothesized decline as a result of economic development/ has occurred

U.S. ARMS CONTROL POLICY: CONGRESSIONAL CONSTRAINT OR MIC BUSINESS AS USUAL?

This paper entertains the possibility that a military-industrial complex does in fact exist; that it is not constrained by Congress; that arms policy continues to serve this complex; and that in fact, Congress legitimates MIC activity through ritualistic conflict. Laurance's hypothesis that Congress has recently taken a more active role in the policy process is challenged. Using Yarmolinsky's broader conception ofarms policy, it is argued that arms policy has not significantly changed even though Congressional action has become more conflictual. Finally, it is argued that the changed Congressional role is best understood in terms ofEdelman's reversal ofsystems theory

Investigation into Field Impairment Tests and an evaluation of their validity and reliability as clinical tests of drug-related impairment of driving ability

Background: Drug use among the driving population is a major hazard to road safety and has been the subject of widespread research worldwide. In an attempt to detect and appropriately prosecute “drug-drivers”, the UK has made legislative changes and has introduced Field Impairment Tests (FIT) in the Railway and Transport Safety Act 2003. These FIT, which are identical to the Standardised Field Sobriety Tests (SFST), were devised in the USA in the 1970s to identify clinical signs of impairment due to alcohol intoxication, but were not designed or intended to identify drug-related driving impairment. Concerns have been expressed that FIT are too difficult for their stated function, and are also inappropriate tests, since although they have been validated for alcohol effects they have never been validated for the effects of drugs. This thesis has sought to clarify matters and has questioned the validity of FIT by testing two opposing hypotheses – 1) FIT are reliable and valid tests of drug-related impairment to drive - and drug-free individuals perform well on all tests. 2) FIT are not reliable and valid tests of drug-related impairment to drive - and are too difficult for some groups of drug-free individuals to perform. Methods: A questionnaire was designed and a postal survey was undertaken of 960 Forensic Medical Examiners (FMEs) who were asked to give their opinion on the Field Impairment Tests (FIT). The responses of the FMEs were analysed in detail (chapter 3). FIT were then carried out on three separate groups of 100 subjects in police custody who were all known to have used no drugs for a period of at least 8 hours prior to the testing process (chapter 4). Group A subjects were opiate dependent; Group B were subjects who received legally prescribed methadone; Group C individuals denied any form of drug use. All study groups were simultaneously examined using conventional psychomotor tests, and the results were compared using detailed statistical analysis with logistic regression and summative scores. Results: Returned FME questionnaires showed 63% of FMEs considered the tests “about right” but a significant number (p<0.0001) of 33% of FMEs stated FIT were “too difficult”. The studies on subjects in custody clearly showed 82% of group A; 44% of group B; and 19% of group C were unable to complete FIT satisfactorily, although only 12% of group A; 2% of group B; and 3% of group C were unable to successfully perform conventional psychomotor and cognitive tests. These findings clearly supported the assertions held by 33% of FMEs surveyed that FIT were too difficult for their stated purpose and that poor performance in FIT could not be regarded as definitive evidence of drug-related impairment in driving ability. VII Conclusions: The results of the research studies conducted have provided very strong support in favour of hypothesis 2) FIT are not reliable and valid tests of drug-related impairment to drive - and are too difficult for some groups of drug-free individuals to perform. In an attempt to overcome the problems in respect of FIT, specific proposals have been offered including the introduction of a new battery of more relevant clinical tests of impairment (CTI); a change in the method and manner in which the proposed new tests are applied; and possible legislative and administrative measures which might be introduced to more appropriately and effectively tackle this on-going hazard to road safety

Design of an interactive video disc-based learning system

Thesis (B.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1985.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERINGBibliography: leaves 54-55.by Michael Dennis O'Keefe.B.S

Wireless Sensor Networks for Condition Monitoring in the Railway Industry : a Survey

In recent years, the range of sensing technologies has expanded rapidly, whereas sensor devices have become cheaper. This has led to a rapid expansion in condition monitoring of systems, structures, vehicles, and machinery using sensors. Key factors are the recent advances in networking technologies such as wireless communication and mobile adhoc networking coupled with the technology to integrate devices. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) can be used for monitoring the railway infrastructure such as bridges, rail tracks, track beds, and track equipment along with vehicle health monitoring such as chassis, bogies, wheels, and wagons. Condition monitoring reduces human inspection requirements through automated monitoring, reduces maintenance through detecting faults before they escalate, and improves safety and reliability. This is vital for the development, upgrading, and expansion of railway networks. This paper surveys these wireless sensors network technology for monitoring in the railway industry for analyzing systems, structures, vehicles, and machinery. This paper focuses on practical engineering solutions, principally,which sensor devices are used and what they are used for; and the identification of sensor configurations and network topologies. It identifies their respective motivations and distinguishes their advantages and disadvantages in a comparative review

Bis(2-acetylpyridine-κ2 N,O)silver(I) tetra­fluoridoborate: a complex with silver in a seesaw coordination geometry

The reaction of 2-acetylpyridine with silver(I) tetra­fluorido­borate leads to the discrete title complex, [Ag(C7H7NO)2]BF4, in the cation of which the Ag atom is coordinated by two 2-acetylpyridine ligands, each of which is N,O-bidentate, albeit with stronger bonding to the N atoms [Ag—N = 2.2018 (15) and 2.2088 (14) Å; Ag—O = 2.5380 (13) and 2.5454 (13) Å]. The four-coordinate Ag atom has a seesaw coordination geometry with a τ4 index of 0.51. The tetra­fluoridoborate anion is disordered over two orientations with 0.568 (10):0.432 (10) occupancies