The AIIB in the Liberal International Order

The rise of China raises fundamental questions about the future of the liberal international order (LIO) at a time when it is under ever more strain. Although China’s focus for some years was on joining and participating in existing multilateral institutions, today China is increasingly building its own. Prominent among them is the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), launched in late 2014. Against the background of contending theoretical expectations, this article examines the extent to which the AIIB either reinforces or challenges the LIO and highlights what this tells us about China’s broader relationship with the LIO. We provide a definition of the LIO that is based on its social purpose rather than on its formal characteristics. State-centric approaches offer insights into China’s decision to engage in new institution building via the AIIB, but we argue that a focus on social purpose is necessary to assess the AIIB’s broader implications for the LIO. We find that, while conforming in large measure to existing institutional models, the AIIB promotes China’s integration into global social networks, strengthens state-led development pathways, and is associated with the Chinese norm of non-interference. The AIIB, thus, foreshadows the possibility of an institutionalised international order indifferent to liberalism. In sum, the AIIB reflects the tensions between the socialising effects of the LIO and China’s growing externalisation of its own non-liberal, state-led model of political economy

Efficiently representing the integer factorization problem using binary decision diagrams

Let p be a prime positive integer and let α be a positive integer greater than 1. A method is given to reduce the problem of finding a nontrivial factorization of α to the problem of finding a solution to a system of modulo p polynomial congruences where each variable in the system is constrained to the set {0,...,p − 1}. In the case that p = 2 it is shown that each polynomial in the system can be represented by an ordered binary decision diagram with size less than 20.25log2(α)3 + 16.5log2(α)2 + 6log2(α) whereas previous work on the subject has only produced systems in which at least one of the polynomials has an ordered binary decision diagram representation with size exponential in log2(α). Using a different approach based on the Chinese remainder theorem we prove that for α ≥ 4 there is an alternative system of boolean equations whose solutions correspond to nontrivial factorizations of α such that there exists a C \u3e 0, independent of α, such that for any order σ on the variables in the system every function in the system can be represented by a σ-OBDD with size less than C log2(log2(α))2log2(α)4

Assessing Hong Kong’s blueprint for internationalising higher education

  This paper provides a critical assessment of the key recommendations for internationalising higher education in Hong Kong issued by the University Grants Committee in December 2010. Key topics include the rationale for internationalisation, the process by which internationalisation will be carried out, the proposal that Hong Kong aspire to become a regional “education hub,” the roles of English, Cantonese and Putongua in instruction and the impact of internationalisation on curriculum reform and student learning. In general, the report represents a missed opportunity to provide clear and compelling guidance to the university sector in Hong Kong regarding internationalisation

Third Coast Percussion presents Points of Contact

KSU School of Music presents Third Coast Percussion, Points of Contact.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1096/thumbnail.jp

Ordinary Soldiers: A Study in Ethics, Law and Leadership

Ordinary Soldiers uses a World War II case study as the basis for educating, training, and inspiring current and future officers through critical consideration of leadership and ethics. The resource prompts discussion of the legal and ethical standards U.S. military professionals are expected to meet, the challenges military leaders face in making consistently legal decisions in a combat theater, and the consequences of failure to meet these standards. Ordinary Soldiers has been designed in a modular format that can be adapted depending upon time available, lesson objectives, and class sizes ranging from just a few students to nearly 100. It is used at military academies, by the Reserve Officer Training Corps, and in other professional military education venues

The potential for circular dichroism as an additional facile and sensitive method of monitoring low-molecular-weight heparins and heparinoids

The ultraviolet circular dichroism (CD) spectra of commercial low-molecular-weight heparins, heparinoids and other anticoagulant preparations have been recorded between 180 and 260 nm. Principal component analysis of the spectra allowed their differentiation into a number of groups related to the means of their production reflecting the structural changes introduced by each process. The findings suggest that CD provides a complementary technique for the rapid analysis of heparin preparations

Group F Streptococcal Bacteremia Complicating a Bartholin's Abscess

Background: Group F streptococci are Gram-positive cocci typically isolated from wound infections and abscesses. Bacteremia with group F streptococcus is uncommon, and the lower gynecologic tract has not been reported as a source. We report a case of a Bartholin's abscess leading to group F streptococcal bacteremia. Case: A 31-year-old female noted fever and rigors 30 min after manipulation of a 3-day-old vulvar abscess. An empty Bartholin's gland abscess was found on examination, and blood cultures grew β-hemolytic group F streptococci. The patient was treated with ampicillin/sulbactam, symptoms improved, and follow-up blood cultures revealed no growth. Conclusion: Group F streptococci are known to inhabit various body sites and have a predilection for forming abscesses; however, bacteremia is infrequent. They have occasionally been identified in true infections of the genitourinary tract but only very rarely in Bartholin's abscesses. This case of group F streptococcal bacteremia following self-drainage of a Bartholin's abscess constitutes the first such description in the medical literature