Tree-Maiming to Crop Destruction: Considering a Re-Emerging Repertoire

Property destruction has been a key part of the protest repertoire in Western Europe (and further afield) throughout history. Such acts have represented the physical manifestation of opposition to perceived inequalities in society, ranging from actions of groups such as the Luddites through to spontaneous food riots. Although these actions can be portrayed as unthinking and solely focused on destruction, it is important to consider underlying claim being made through the action. This paper draws on a catalogue of protest events to consider the wave of crop trashing that took place in the UK in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The aim is to locate these actions in the broader tradition of destruction targeting flora to determine the extent to which these actions can be seen as representing a traditional form of action and consider the degree of continuity in the underlying motives

A Comparison of Leadership in Controlled Military Democratisation

Military coup d’état displace civilian regimes in the name of cleaning up, but such actions can also challenge the coherence of the military by undermining the recognition of governing institutions. The decision of military regimes to relinquish power from a position of strength and move towards democracy is conditioned by a number of factors, requiring the leader to navigate between the perceived need to maintain political order and military professionalism. This paper considers regime change in Ecuador and Niger as cases of conversion, where elites were able to maintain control in the face of relatively weak organised opposition. The aims of the paper are to (1) determine the factors that can initiate democratisation of military regimes and (2) identify the role of leaders in shaping the process. It is argued that the relative durability of the subsequent regime is determined by the ability of the outgoing military regime to find suitable opposition to maintain order and resist the temptation to return to politics

Using Swift observations of prompt and afterglow emission to classify GRBs

We present an analysis of early BAT and XRT data for 107 gamma--ray bursts (GRBs) observed by the Swift satellite. We use these data to examine the behaviour of the X-ray light curve and propose a classification scheme for GRBs based on this behaviour. As found for previous smaller samples, the earliest X-ray light curve can be well described by an exponential which relaxes into a power law, often with flares superimposed. The later emission is well fit using a similar functional form and we find that these two functions provide a good description of the entire X-ray light curve. For the prompt emission, the transition time between the exponential and the power law gives a well-defined timescale, T_p, for the burst duration. We use T_p, the spectral index of the prompt emission, beta_p, and the prompt power law decay index, alpha_p to define four classes of burst: short, slow, fast and soft. Bursts with slowly declining emission have spectral and temporal properties similar to the short bursts despite having longer durations. Some of these GRBs may therefore arise from similar progenitors including several types of binary system. Short bursts tend to decline more gradually than longer duration bursts and hence emit a significant fraction of their total energy at times greater than T_p. This may be due to differences in the environment or the progenitor for long, fast bursts.Comment: 10 pages. 8 figures. Proceedings of the Royal Society Discussion meeting on Gamma-ray Bursts, September 18-20, 2006. To appear in Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc.

Nanocrystalline semiconductors: synthesis, properties, and perspectives

The preparation of hollow particles of ZnO by calcination of hydrozincite coated poly(styrene) beads is reported. Synthetic studies have been performed on such polymer/inorganic composite precursors in order to establish the optimum conditions for the preparation of the ZnO particles. The morphological properties of the powders were characterised by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The micrometric ZnO particles show morphological characteristics related to the template used in their preparation

Density-matrix simulation of small surface codes under current and projected experimental noise

We present a full density-matrix simulation of the quantum memory and computing performance of the distance-3 logical qubit Surface-17, following a recently proposed quantum circuit and using experimental error parameters for transmon qubits in a planar circuit QED architecture. We use this simulation to optimize components of the QEC scheme (e.g., trading off stabilizer measurement infidelity for reduced cycle time) and to investigate the benefits of feedback harnessing the fundamental asymmetry of relaxation-dominated error in the constituent transmons. A lower-order approximate calculation extends these predictions to the distance-$5$ Surface-49. These results clearly indicate error rates below the fault-tolerance threshold of surface code, and the potential for Surface-17 to perform beyond the break-even point of quantum memory. At state-of-the-art qubit relaxation times and readout speeds, Surface-49 could surpass the break-even point of computation.Comment: 10 pages + 8 pages appendix, 12 figure

Biomechanical demands differentiate transitioning vs. continuous stair ascent gait in older women

Background Stair ascent mechanics change with age, but little is known about the differing functional demands of transitioning and continuous ascent. Work investigating the risky transition from gait to ascent is sparse, and the strategies that older adults adopt to achieve these demanding tasks have not been investigated. Methods This study compared the biomechanics of a 2-step transitional (floor-to-step2) and continuous ascent cycle (step1-to-step3) and investigated the role of limb preference in relation to dynamometer-derived knee strength during this transition. A biomechanical analysis of 36 women (60–83 years) ascending a 3-step staircase was conducted. Findings The 2-step transitioning cycle was completed quicker, with a larger range of motion, increased forces, larger knee flexor and dorsiflexor moments and ankle powers (P ≤ 0.05), but reduced hip and knee flexion, smaller hip extensor moments and hip and knee powers compared to continuous ascent. During the transition, 44% of the participants demonstrated a consistent limb preference. In these cases large between-limb extensor strength differences existed (13.8%) and 71% of these participants utilised the stronger limb to execute the 2-step transitional cycle. Interpretation The preferential stronger-limb 2-step transitioning strategy conflicts with previous recommendations of a stronger lead limb for frail/asymmetric populations. Our findings suggest that most healthy older women with large between-limb differences utilise the stronger limb to achieve the considerable propulsion required to redirect momentum during the 2-step transition. The biomechanical demands of ascent, relative to limb strength, can inform exercise programmes by targeting specific muscle groups to help older adults maintain/improve general functioning

Theories of Technological Progress and the British Textile Industry from Kay to Cartwright

Editada en la Fundación Empresa PúblicaLa industria textil británica continúa en el centro del debate sobre la revolución industrial. Las innovaciones técnicas en el período produjeron una aceleración extraordinaria del crecimiento del output y una considerable reducción de los precios de los tejidos. En este trabajo presentamos un estudio de la comunidad de los inventores responsables de la transformación tecnológica, lo que nos permite alcanzar una serie de conclusiones nuevas sobre el ritmo y dirección de la actividad innovadora durante la revolución industrialThe cotton textile industry remains central to all accounts of the first industrial revolution. Innovations in this period precipitated an extraordinary acceleration in the growth of output and a steep decline in the cost of producing all varieties of cloth. In this paper we outline an explanation through an analysis of the community of inventors responsible for the technological transformation, which enables us to offer some generalizations of the pace and pattern of the inventive activity in this period.Publicad