Single-Particle Diffusion-Coefficient on Surfaces with Ehrlich-Schwoebel-Barriers

The diffusion coefficient of single particles in the presence of Ehrlich-Schwoebel barriers (ESB)is considered. An exact expression is given for the diffusion coefficient on linear chains with random arrangements of ESB. The results are extended to surfaces having ESB with uniform extension in one or both directions. All results are verified by Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX2e, 6 eps-figure

Field desorption ion source development for neutron generators

A new approach to deuterium ion sources for deuterium-tritium neutron generators is being developed. The source is based upon the field desorption of deuterium from the surfaces of metal tips. Field desorption studies of microfabricated field emitter tip arrays have been conducted for the first time. Maximum fields of 30 V/nm have been applied to the array tip surfaces to date, although achieving fields of 20 V/nm to possibly 25 V/nm is more typical. Both the desorption of atomic deuterium ions and the gas phase field ionization of molecular deuterium has been observed at fields of roughly 20 V/nm and 20-30 V/nm, respectively, at room temperature. The desorption of common surface adsorbates, such as hydrogen, carbon, water, and carbon monoxide is observed at fields exceeding ~10 V/nm. In vacuo heating of the arrays to temperatures of the order of 800 C can be effective in removing many of the surface contaminants observed

Reformed traditions

Postprin

Unsung Heroines: Women and Natural Disasters

Although women play crucial parts in disaster preparedness, mitigation, and recovery, their roles in disasters are often overlooked or ignored. However, history shows that when disasters strike, women sometimes form spontaneous associations to assist relief and recovery efforts. At other times, women\u27s organizations direct their resources for disaster relief and recovery. Women\u27s organizations also partner with international disaster assistance agencies to expedite relief efforts. Are women more vulnerable to disasters? What are women\u27s capabilities for responding to disasters? What can international organizations do to integrate women more effectively into disaster planning and recovery? Vulnerabilities and Risks The circumstances of women\u27s lives determine how they are affected by disasters and their options for responding. Poor people are generally at greater risk during natural disasters, and women are disproportionately represented among the poor. Lack of transportation prevents poor households from moving themselves and their possessions out of harm\u27s way. Poor families may not learn about impending disasters or evacuation plans because of illiteracy or the absence of telephones, radios, and televisions in their lives. The location of poor neighborhoods and inferior construction materials used to build he image is familiar: Women and their children weeping amidst the wreckage of their homes and communities, destroyed and forever changed by forces of nature beyond anyone\u27s control. But this dramatic picture tells only one small part of the story. After the television crews depart, women are often the unsung heroines, picking up the pieces and going forward with the painstaking process of rebuilding lives. homes for the poor are other reasons for greater vulnerability. The prolonged drought that plagued northeastern Kenya during the early 1990s killed much of the livestock on which the population subsisted. The result was widespread displacement, as people moved to towns in search of relief supplies. The poorest households, most of which were female-headed, settled in displaced persons camps outside the towns. When heavy rains flooded the same region in 1997-1998, these households lost their meager possessions and were displaced again. Cultural practices, such as a requirement that women be escorted in public by male relatives, can increase women\u27s vulnerability in disasters. For example, during the recurrent Bangladesh floods, many women drowned as a result of their refusal to leave their homes alone. During Disasters, Women Take the Lead… In spite of their high exposure to risk during disaster, women time and again are often key players after disaster strikes. This is often the result of women translating skills acquired through their daily routines into invaluable disaster assistance. For example, drawing on experience gained from managing large extended households, individual women have turned their homes into feeding centers and shelters for displace

United States Institute of Peace Teaches International Security Personnel to Resolve Conflicts without Resorting to the Use of Force

Over the past decade, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) has trained members of police and military forces around the world to prepare them to participate in international peacekeeping operations or to contribute to post-conflict stabilization and rule of law interventions in their own or in other war-torn countries. Most of the training takes place outside the United States, from remote, rugged bases to centrally located schools and academies, from Senegal to Nepal, from Italy to the Philippines. Training Programs for International Security Personnel Today\u27s crisis, conflict, and post-conflict contexts are characterized by complexity, multiple parties, blurred boundaries, blurred distinctions between combatants and civilians, and greater numbers of civilian casualties than combatant casualties. There are often many interveners attempting to manage the conflict, including international, regional, national and community-level state and nonstate actors. Intervening security forces – international military and police-are required to assume responsibilities for which they were not prepared, and to operate in domains in which they were not trained. Military forces may find themselves carrying out activities traditionally conducted by police forces, and police may find themselves carrying out their traditional activities in combat zones. Both may find themselves supporting or actually implementing activities associated with the full range of tasks associated with nation-building or state-building, or tasked with managing conflicts in contexts far outside their routine responsibilities. At the same time, international peace operations, stabilization and reconstruction initiatives face shortages of well-trained security forces to meet their requirements for effective conflict management. Training for these types of operations involves skills not addressed in training for conventional military or police activities. Security forces in these contexts must be prepared to support humanitarian operations, contribute to economic and political development activities, and engage in peacebuilding and conflict resolution. They must also be prepared to communicate, coordinate, and collaborate with national and community level elected officials, business leaders, international and local non-governmental organizations, traditional leaders, religious leaders. In addition, they must work in tandem with the security forces of host countries and those of dozens of intervening countries. During the past decade and a half, a number of international, regional, and national training institutions and training programs have been established to prepare security personnel for working in complex crisis, conflicts, and post-conflict environments. These include the African Contingency Operation

The Cross-Border Dialogue Initiative

The Cross-Border Dialogue Initiative empowers border communities to solve their own problems non-violently and to advocate for their own needs and aspirations non-violently with their own governments and with international actors. The Pashtun tribal communities along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan are among the most-conflict affected in the world today. The populations of these regions were on the frontlines of the Cold War and they are on the frontlines of the global war on terror today. In addition, they are afflicted by long-standing tribal conflicts that are both aggravated by and contribute to national, regional, and global conflicts, as the parties to tribal conflicts attempt to manipulate and are manipulated by external forces. Finally, they are marginalized within the polities and economies of their own countries, but have often responded to their marginalization in ways that have been counter-productive. The Cross-Border Dialogue Initiative aims to empower border communities to solve their own problems non-violently and to advocate for their own needs and aspirations non-violently with their own governments and with international actors. The Cross-Border Dialogue Initiative is a collaborative effort of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), led by Senior Program Officer Mary Hope Schwoebel and supported by Senior Program Officer Keith Bowen, the Welfare Association for the Development of Afghanistan (WADAN), and the Sustainable Peace and Development Organization (SPADO). The Initiative was launched in January 2010. Its culmination of the first phase of the initiative were two national conferences in Kabul and Islamabad in January and February 2011. The Cross-Border Dialogue Initiative is funded by the United States Agency for International Development through an interagency transfer

Women in Yemen\u27s Protests

Amid the upheavals in Yemen, USIP’s Mary Hope Schwoebel discusses the role of women in the political protests and how it is likely to affect their future statu

What Gets Libraries Sued: Measuring Librarian Fears Against Statistical Realities

“We can’t do that, we’ll get sued.” How do libraries balance the benefits of a course of action with legal risks? Our project attempts to explore this by obtaining librarian feedback via a survey, evaluating existing literature, and compiling legal cases