ENRICHING JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE: SEEKING TO IMPROVE THE RETENTION VOTE PHASE OF AN APPOINTIVE SELECTION SYSTEM

This article discusses the problems and potential solutions with the system of judicial appointment in the state of Nebraska. The article focuses on how improving public awareness about the existing system, its goals, and its current weaknesses, and implementing steps to address those weaknesses, will help to keep everyone moving toward the best possible system. While changing attitudes and interest in judicial retention elections is certainly not an easy task, it is only through seeking such change that reformers of an elective retention system can hope to near its potential effectiveness

Combined Effects of the North Atlantic Oscillation and the Arctic Oscillation on Sea Surface Temperature in the Alborán Sea

We explored the possible effects of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Arctic Oscillation (AO) on interannual sea surface temperature (SST) variations in the Albora´n Sea, both separately and combined. The probability of observing mean annual SST values higher than average was related to NAO and AO values of the previous year. The effect of NAO on SST was negative, while that of AO was positive. The pure effects of NAO and AO on SST are obscuring each other, due to the positive correlation between them. When decomposing SST, NAO and AO in seasonal values, we found that variation in mean annual SST and mean winter SST was significantly related to the mean autumn NAO of the previous year, while mean summer SST was related to mean autumn AO of the previous year. The one year delay in the effect of the NAO and AO on the SST could be partially related to the amount of accumulated snow, as we found a significant correlation between the total snow in the North Albora´n watershed for a year with the annual average SST of the subsequent year. A positive AO implies a colder atmosphere in the Polar Regions, which could favour occasional cold waves over the Iberian Peninsula which, when coupled with precipitations favoured by a negative NAO, may result in snow precipitation. This snow may be accumulated in the high peaks and melt down in spring-summer of the following year, which consequently increases the runoff of freshwater to the sea, which in turn causes a diminution of sea surface salinity and density, and blocks the local upwelling of colder water, resulting in a higher SST.CGL2009-11316 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain, and FEDER

Corruption and entrepreneurship: A bibliometric analysis

The impact of corruption on entrepreneurial dynamics became an attractive topic for scholars after the appearance of public scandals that led to the delegitimization of many governments in the last 40 years. The research that explored the relationship between corruption and entrepreneurship has produced controversial results. It appears that the interaction of these two constructs is influenced by contextual factors both at an individual and national level of analysis. By using a bibliometric methodology and a fractional counting method to analyse the scientific literature on corruption and entrepreneurship, this paper identifies and analyses 180 articles recorded in the Scopus database. It represents a contribution by showing the state of the art of research on corruption and entrepreneurship and proposes future lines of research. Important results have been found about the evolution of the volume of articles and citations on this topic over time. Significant academic interest in this field commenced in the 21st century, and more specifically in the last ten years. This work also provides findings about the most prolific journals, institutions and authors, as well as the most relevant countries, with the United States and United Kingdom leading in terms of the number of publications. In addition, an in-depth analysis of authors' keywords has identified different trends, such as institutions, economic growth, shadow economy, regulation, Africa, culture, economic development, business environment, and informal economy. Finally, some future research lines are proposed, such as institutional theory, tax morale, corruption perceptions, European regions, risk aversion and institutional entrepreneurship

Design and validation of a railway inspection system to detect lateral track geometry defects based on axle-box accelerations registered from in-service trains

Metropolitan railway transport has become an efficient solution to the mobility necessities in urban areas. Railway track maintenance tasks have to be improved and adjusted to metropolitan requirements, in particular the few hours available to operate due to the high frequency service offered. This paper describes and proposes an inertial monitoring system to detect and estimate track irregularities by using in-service vehicles. A new maintenance strategy is established, based on the railway track conditions and continuous monitoring is provided to do so. The system proposed consists of at least two accelerometers mounted on the bogie axle-box and a GPS (Global Positioning System). Lateral accelerations have been analyzed to study gauge and lateral alignment deviations. Accelerations have been treated and processed by high-pass filtering and validation has been carried out by comparison with measurements provided by a track monitoring trolley. Measurements were made on Line 1 of the Alicante metropolitan and tram network (Spain)

Railway traffic induced vibrations: comparison of analytical and finite element models

The recent increase in the use of the railway and the establishment of more restrictive policies of harmful environmental effects of railway transport highlights the need to investigate ground vibrations related to trains. Therefore models to evaluate how this phenomenon affects have been performed. This article aims to expose both analytical and 3D-FE models and to compare theoretical formulation and results. Models have been calibrated and validated with real data. Furthermore, a simulation of the acceleration level of different railway infrastructure elements has been achieved

Cuidados básicos com fotômetro de chama.

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Modeling wave propagation through an analytical surface model

Nowadays there is a certain development in the use of railway, especially in the form of trams and underground lines in urban areas. Despite its many advantages, this kind of transport is a significant source of vibrations, which may affect residents and buildings near to the track. Wave transmission through the ground is therefore a phenomenon of particular interest. The object of this article is to formulate and test an analytical model of vibration propagation through the terrain surface. The model is based on the wave equation and takes into account wave scattering and reflection in the interfaces between different soil layers. A sensitivity analysis of its main parameters is carried out, and then a comprehensive set of simulations is made to test model performance and analyze factors such as load magnitude and velocity or soil configuration. The model has proved to be an interesting instrument to study the vibration phenomenon from a theoretical point of view and some improvements are proposed to turn it into a tool for engineers and designers