12,748 research outputs found
Votes and Violence: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Nigeria
Following the wave of democratization during the 1990s, elections are now common in low-income societies. However, these elections are frequently flawed. We investigate the Nigerian general election of 2007, which is to date the largest election held in Africa and one seriously marred by violence. We designed and conducted a nationwide field experiment based on randomized anti-violence grassroots campaigning. We find direct effects on violence outcomes from exploring both subject-surveying and independent data sources. Crucially, we establish that voter intimidation is effective in reducing voter turnout, and that the violence was systematically dissociated from incumbents. We suggest that incumbents have a comparative advantage in alternative strategies, vote buying and ballot fraud. Voter intimidation may be a strategy of the weak analogous to terrorism.Violence, Conflict, Electoral Politics, Political Economy, Randomized Experiment, Field Experiment, Nigeria, West Africa
Ocean shrimp report 1977 season
Statewide Pacific ocean shrimp, Pandalus jordani, landings
totaled 15,639,585 lb, more than triple the 1975 record catch of 4,992,233 lb. Record landings were recorded in Area A (Eureka-Crescent City), Area B-2 (Bodega Ray) with catches
totaling 13,025,844 and 2,028,607 lb, respectively. Area B-1
(Fort Bragg) landings totaled 585,133 lb and no landings were reported from Area C (Avila-Morro Bay). In Area A the average catch per hour for the season for single-rig vessels was 1,241 lb and 2,228 lb for double-rig vessels. Area B-2 average catch per hour by the single-rig vessels was 2,536 lb. Two-year-old (1975 year class) shrimp dominated the catches in all areas. The outlook for the 1978 season in all areas is questionable because of the relatively weak showing of the incoming 1977 year class but it might make a significant contribution if abundant and of a marketable slze. (19pp.
Ocean shrimp report 1978 season
Statewide Pacific ocean shrimp, Pandalus jordani, landings
totaled 13,163,243 lb, down about 2.5 million lb from the 1977 record catch of 15,639,584 lb. However, the 1978 landings were still the second highest on record. Area A (Eureka-Crescent City) landings were the second
highest in history with landings of 11,101,895 lb. Landings of 2,061,348 lb in Area B-1 (Fort Bragg) broke all existing records for the bed. The previous record was 799,722 lb landed in 1961. No landings were reported for Areas B-2 (Bodega Bay) and C (Avila-Morro Bay). In Area A the average catch per hour for the season for single-rig vessels was 581 lb and 862 lb for double-rig vessels. Area B-1 average
catch per hour was 819 lb and 1,069 lb per hour for single-rig and double-rig vessels, respectively. Two-year-old (1976 year class) shrimp dominated the catches during the first three months in Area A and throughout the season in Area B-1. One-year-old (1977 year class)
shrimp dominated the catches in Area A from July to the end of the season. Catches during the first part of October in Area A fell below the established criteria for keeping the season open. This necessitated closing the season two weeks early. (16pp.
Evolution of Biological Complexity
In order to make a case for or against a trend in the evolution of complexity
in biological evolution, complexity needs to be both rigorously defined and
measurable. A recent information-theoretic (but intuitively evident) definition
identifies genomic complexity with the amount of information a sequence stores
about its environment. We investigate the evolution of genomic complexity in
populations of digital organisms and monitor in detail the evolutionary
transitions that increase complexity. We show that because natural selection
forces genomes to behave as a natural ``Maxwell Demon'', within a fixed
environment genomic complexity is forced to increase.Comment: LaTeX 19 pages, incl. 4 fig
Apollo experience report: Lunar module environmental control subsystem
A functional description of the environmental control subsystem is presented. Development, tests, checkout, and flight experiences of the subsystem are discussed; and the design fabrication, and operational difficulties associated with the various components and subassemblies are recorded. Detailed information is related concerning design changes made to, and problems encountered with, the various elements of the subsystem, such as the thermal control water sublimator, the carbon dioxide sensing and control units, and the water section. The problems associated with water sterilization, water/glycol formulation, and materials compatibility are discussed. The corrective actions taken are described with the expection that this information may be of value for future subsystems. Although the main experiences described are problem oriented, the subsystem has generally performed satisfactorily in flight
Investigating the removal of some pharmaceutical compounds in hospital wastewater treatment plants operating in Saudi Arabia
The concentrations of 12 pharmaceutical compounds (atenolol, erythromycin, cyclophosphamide, paracetamol, bezafibrate, carbamazepine, ciprofloxacin, caffeine, clarithromycin, lidocaine, sulfamethoxazole and Nacetylsulfamethoxazol (NACS)) were investigated in the influents and effluents of two hospital wastewater treatment plants (HWWTPs) in Saudi Arabia. The majority of the target analytes were detected in the influent samples apart from bezafibrate, cyclophosphamide, and erythromycin. Caffeine and paracetamol were detected in the influent at particularly high concentrations up to 75 and 12 ug/L, respectively. High removal efficiencies of the pharmaceutical compounds were observed in both HWWTPs, with greater than 90 % removal on average. Paracetamol, sulfamethoxazole, NACS, ciprofloxacin, and caffeine were eliminated by between >95 and >99 % on average. Atenolol, carbamazepine, and clarithromycin were eliminated by >86 % on average. Of particular interest were the high removal efficiencies of carbamazepine and antibiotics that were achieved by the HWWTPs; these compounds have been reported to be relatively recalcitrant to biological treatment and are generally only partially removed. Elevated temperatures and high levels of sunlight were considered to be the main factors that enhanced the removal of these compounds
Measurement of the Nodal Precession of WASP-33 b via Doppler Tomography
We have analyzed new and archival time series spectra taken six years apart
during transits of the hot Jupiter WASP-33 b, and spectroscopically resolved
the line profile perturbation caused by the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. The
motion of this line profile perturbation is determined by the path of the
planet across the stellar disk, which we show to have changed between the two
epochs due to nodal precession of the planetary orbit. We measured rates of
change of the impact parameter and the sky-projected spin-orbit misalignment of
yr and
~ yr, respectively,
corresponding to a rate of nodal precession of
~ yr. This is only the
second measurement of nodal precession for a confirmed exoplanet transiting a
single star. Finally, we used the rate of precession to set limits on the
stellar gravitational quadrupole moment of
.Comment: Published in ApJL. 5 pages, 3 figures. Corrected error in the
calculation of J_
Doppler-beaming in the Kepler light curve of LHS 6343 A
Context. Kepler observations revealed a brown dwarf eclipsing the M-type star
LHS 6343 A with a period of 12.71 days. In addition, an out-of-eclipse light
modulation with the same period and a relative semi-amplitude of 2 x 10^-4 was
observed showing an almost constant phase lag to the eclipses produced by the
brown dwarf. In a previous work, we concluded that this was due to the light
modulation induced by photospheric active regions in LHS 6343 A. Aims. In the
present work, we prove that most of the out-of-eclipse light modulation is
caused by the Doppler-beaming induced by the orbital motion of the primary
star. Methods. We introduce a model of the Doppler-beaming for an eccentric
orbit and also considered the ellipsoidal effect. The data were fitted using a
Bayesian approach implemented through a Monte Carlo Markov chain method. Model
residuals were analysed by searching for periodicities using a Lomb-Scargle
periodogram. Results. For the first seven quarters of Kepler observations and
the orbit previously derived from the radial velocity measurements, we show
that the light modulation of the system outside eclipses is dominated by the
Doppler-beaming effect. A period search performed on the residuals shows a
significant periodicity of 42.5 +- 3.2 days with a false-alarm probability of 5
x 10^-4, probably associated with the rotational modulation of the primary
component.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure
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