The Constitution and International Agreements or Unilateral Action Curbing “Peace-Imperiling’ Propoganda

Non-spherical particles are present all around us, in biological, industrial and environmental processes. Making predictions of their impact on us and systems in our vicinity can make life better for everyone here on earth. For example, the ash particles from a volcano eruption are non-spherical and their spreading in the atmosphere can hugely impact the air traffic, as was also proven in 2010. Furthermore, the orientation of the wood fibres in a paper sheet influences the final properties of the paper, and the cause of a specific fibre orientation can be traced back to the fluid flows during the manufacturing process of the paper. In this thesis, experimental and numerical work is presented with the goal to understand and utilize the behavior of elongated particles in fluid flows. Two different experimental setups are used. The first one, a turbulent half channel flow, aims at increasing the understanding of how particles with non-zero inertia behave in turbulence. The second setup is an attempt to design a flow field with the purpose to align nanofibrils and create high performance cellulose filaments. Experiments were performed in a turbulent half channel flow at different flow set- tings with dilute suspensions of cellulose acetate fibres having three different aspect ratios (length to width ratio). The two main results were firstly that the fibres agglom- erated in streamwise streaks, believed to be due to the turbulent velocity structures in the flow. Secondly, the orientation of the fibres was observed to be determined by the aspect ratio and the mean shear, not the turbulence. Short fibres were oriented in the spanwise direction while long fibres were oriented in the streamwise direction. In order to utilize the impressive properties (stiffness comparable to Kevlar) of the cellulose nanofibril in a macroscopic material, the alignment of the fibrils must be controlled. Here, a flow focusing device (resulting in an extensional flow), designed to align the fibrils, is used to create a cellulose filament with aligned fibrils. The principle is based on a separation of the alignment and the assembly of the fibrils, i.e. first align the fibrils and then lock the aligned structure. With this process, continuous filaments were created, with properties similar to that of the wood fibre at the same fibril alignment. However, the highest alignment (lowest angle) of the fibrils in a filament created was only 31o from the filament axis, and the next step is to increase the alignment. This thesis includes modeling of the alignment process with the Smoluchowski equation and a rotary diffusion. Finding a model that correctly describes the alignment process should in the end make it possible to create a filament with fully aligned fibrils.QC 20140908</p

Singularities of the susceptibility of an SRB measure in the presence of stable-unstable tangencies

Let $\rho$ be an SRB (or "physical"), measure for the discrete time evolution given by a map $f$, and let $\rho(A)$ denote the expectation value of a smooth function $A$. If $f$ depends on a parameter, the derivative $\delta\rho(A)$ of $\rho(A)$ with respect to the parameter is formally given by the value of the so-called susceptibility function $\Psi(z)$ at $z=1$. When $f$ is a uniformly hyperbolic diffeomorphism, it has been proved that the power series $\Psi(z)$ has a radius of convergence $r(\Psi)>1$, and that $\delta\rho(A)=\Psi(1)$, but it is known that $r(\Psi)<1$ in some other cases. One reason why $f$ may fail to be uniformly hyperbolic is if there are tangencies between the stable and unstable manifolds for $(f,\rho)$. The present paper gives a crude, nonrigorous, analysis of this situation in terms of the Hausdorff dimension $d$ of $\rho$ in the stable direction. We find that the tangencies produce singularities of $\Psi(z)$ for $|z|1$ if $d>1/2$. In particular, if $d>1/2$ we may hope that $\Psi(1)$ makes sense, and the derivative $\delta\rho(A)=\Psi(1)$ has thus a chance to be definedComment: 12 page

How did the great recession affect different types of workers ? evidence from 17 middle-income countries

This paper examines how different types of workers in 17 middle-income countries were affected by labor market retrenchment during the great recession. Impacts on different types of workers varied by country and were only weakly related to the severity of the shock. Among active workers, youth experienced by far the largest adverse impacts on employment, unemployment, and wage employment, particularly relative to older adults. The percentage employment reductions, for example, were greatest for youth in each sector of the economy, as firms reacted to the shock by substituting away from inexperienced workers. Employment rates, as a share of the population, also plummeted for men. Larger drops in male employment were primarily attributable to men's higher initial rate of employment, although men's concentration in the hard-hit industrial sector also played an important role. Within each sector, percentage employment declines were similar for men and women. Added worker effects among women were mild, even among less-educated workers. Differences in labor market outcomes across education groups and urban or rural residence tended to be smaller. These findings bolster the case for targeted support to displaced youth and wage employees. Programs targeted to female and unskilled workers should be undertaken with appropriate caution or empirical support from timely data, as they may not benefit the majority of affected workers.Labor Markets,Labor Policies,Labor Standards,Work&Working Conditions,Population Policies

How Did the Great Recession Affect Different Types of Workers? Evidence from 17 Middle-Income Countries

This paper examines how different types of workers in 17 middle-income countries were affected by labor market retrenchment during the great recession. Impacts on different types of workers varied by country and were only weakly related to the severity of the shock. Among active workers, youth experienced by far the largest adverse impacts on employment, unemployment, and wage employment, particularly relative to older adults. The percentage employment reductions, for example, were greatest for youth in each sector of the economy, as firms reacted to the shock by substituting away from inexperienced workers. Employment rates, as a share of the population, also plummeted for men. Larger drops in male employment were primarily attributable to men's higher initial rate of employment, although men's concentration in the hard-hit industrial sector also played an important role. Within each sector, percentage employment declines were similar for men and women. Added worker effects among women were mild, even among less-educated workers. Differences in labor market outcomes across education groups and urban or rural residence tended to be smaller. These findings bolster the case for targeted support to displaced youth and wage employees. Programs targeted to female and unskilled workers should be undertaken with appropriate caution or empirical support from timely data, as they may not benefit the majority of affected workers.labor markets, emerging economies, economic shocks

The effect of school type on academic achievement : evidence from Indonesia

Using data from Indonesia, Newhouse and Beegle to evaluate the impact of school type on academic achievement of junior secondary school students (grades 7-9). Students that graduate from public junior secondary schools, controlling for a variety of other characteristics, score 0.15 to 0.3 standard deviations higher on the national exit exam than comparable privately schooled peers. This finding is robust to OLS, fixed-effects, and instrumental variable estimation strategies. Students attending Muslim private schools, including Madrassahs, fare no worse on average than students attending secular private schools. The results provide indirect evidence that higher quality inputs at public junior secondary schools promote higher test scores.Teaching and Learning,Secondary Education,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Primary Education,Gender and Education