1,182 research outputs found
The great powers and the establishment of security regimes:: the formation of the Concert of Europe, 1792-1815
No full textOver the past two centuries, international relations have been marked by greater institutionalization. This trend has characterized not only trade and economic relations but also such highly sensitive areas as security and political-military cooperation among states. The institutionalization of security issues by means of establishing global and regional security organizations, such as the UN and NATO, or issue-specific security regimes, such as the non-proliferation regime, raises important questions about the changing nature of international relations. Why do states cooperate to establish international security regimes in the first place? Why do they succeed in establishing security regimes in some cases and fail in others?
In my dissertation I addresses these questions by studying several attempts made by the great powers between 1792 and 1815 to form an early case of a security regime, known as the Concert of Europe. As an example of successful great power cooperation in security issues, the study of the Concert has recently acquired a great deal of political as well as academic importance, leading to the emergence of substantial scholarship among historians and political scientists. The literature on the Concert is abundant, however, it suffers from a major weakness: it offers bivariate explanations of regime formation, emphasizing either power, interests or knowledge as the key variable. The same weakness characterizes the regime scholarship in general. I redress these weaknesses in the scholarship by using a multivariate approach to the study of the formation of the Concert. I focus on the interplay of four key factors -- power, interests, knowledge and leadership in the creation of the European Concert.
I do not treat the formation of the Concert of Europe as a single case study. The formation of the Concert constitutes a series of mini-cases and thus may be viewed as a small-N study. Between 1792 and 1815 the great powers went through several rounds of negotiations over the creation of a European concert, which corresponded to the formation of several anti-French coalitions. The Second and the Third Coalitions represent cases of failure to form a European concert, while the Grand Coalition (1814-1815) is a clear-cut case of success.
The findings reached on the basis of all four case-studies are numerous and shed new light on the relative role played by the key major factors -- power, interests, knowledge and leadership in the creation of security regimes. As a theory-generating small-N study, the findings of the dissertation may be tested in other cases of security regime formation such as the creation of the League of Nations (1919) or the United Nations (1945).Ph.D.Includes bibliographical references (p. 226-240)
Three-cluster nuclear molecules
No full textA three-center phenomenological model able to explain, at least from a qualitative point of view, the difference in the observed yield of a particle-accompanied fission and that of binary fission was developed. It is derived from the liquid drop model under the assumption that the aligned configuration, with the emitted particle between the light and heavy fragment is obtained by increasing continuously the separation distance, while the radii of the light fragment and of the light particle are kept constant. During the first stage of the deformation one has a two-center evolution until the neck radius becomes equal to the radius of the emitted particle. Then the three center starts developing by decreasing with the same amount the two tip distances. In such a way a second minimum, typical for a cluster molecule, appears in the deformation energy. Examples are presented for Pu parent nucleus emitting -particles and C in a ternary process
The "Akopian" vault performed by elite male gymnasts: Which biomechanical variables are related to a judge's score?
No full textBackground: A vaulting performance takes a short time and it is influenced by and affects the quantity of mechanical variables. The significant relationships between the vaulting score and specific aspects of the gymnast's vault should conduct coaches to monitor these variables as a part of training or routine testing. Objective: The aim of the current study was to determine the biomechanical variables that are related to a successful performance of the Akopian vaults performed by top level male gymnasts during the World Cup competition. Methods: Fifteen top-level male gymnasts participated in this study. For the 3D analysis, two digital camcorders with a frame rate of 50 Hz were used. The data were digitized by the Simi motion software. The Hay and Reid method was used to identify the biomechanical variables that determine the linear and angular motions of the handspring and front somersault vaults. A correlation analysis was used to establish the relationship between the biomechanical variables and the judges' scores. The level of statistical significance was determined at the value of p < .05. Results: In the Akopian vaults, in five out of 24 variables arising from the deterministic model showed a significant relationship to the score. A significant correlation was found in the maximum height of the body center of mass in the second flight phase, in the height of the body center of mass at the mat touchdown, in the change of the vertical velocity during the take-off from the vaulting table, and in the duration of the second flight phase. Conclusions: The results of the study suggest that a successful execution of Akopian vaults and the achievement of a higher score required: to maximize the change in vertical velocity in the table contact phase and maximize vertical velocity in the table take-off phase; to maximize the amplitude of the second flight phase, which is determined by the duration of the second flight phase, by the maximum height of the body center of mass in the second flight phase and by the distance of the vaulting table during landing; and to maximize the height of the body center of mass in the mat contact phase
ARMENIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY OF V-VII CENTURIES: SPECIFICITY OF STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITIONAL TECHNIQUES OF NARRATION
No full textFocusing on the historical works of the first Armenian historians and writers of V-VII centuries the issue scrutinizes the peculiarities and formula of the textual organization characteristic to the Armenian "Histories". The author concludes that the structures of the works under consideration draw upon somewhat common historical scenario implying the fate of the Armenian people’s instant dependance on their commitment to the Christianity. The author shows that the events of the Armenian late antique history gave grounds for developing of two different blueprints of the Armenian history: the worst-case and the optimistic ones
ARMENIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY OF V-VII CENTURIES: SPECIFICITY OF STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITIONAL TECHNIQUES OF NARRATION
No full textFocusing on the historical works of the first Armenian historians and writers of V-VII centuries the issue scrutinizes the peculiarities and formula of the textual organization characteristic to the Armenian "Histories". The author concludes that the structures of the works under consideration draw upon somewhat common historical scenario implying the fate of the Armenian people’s instant dependance on their commitment to the Christianity. The author shows that the events of the Armenian late antique history gave grounds for developing of two different blueprints of the Armenian history: the worst-case and the optimistic ones
Fine frequency estimation for GPS receivers
No full textThis item is available only to currently enrolled UTSA students, faculty or staff. To download, navigate to Log In in the top right-hand corner of this screen, then select Log in with my UTSA ID.A GPS receiver designed for indoor operation must have an operation mode with equivalent noise bandwidth on the order of 10 Hz in the acquisition stage. This requires current systems to perform large numbers of code/frequency search combinations which is extremely time-consuming. Due to these large searches, the tracking stage often must include a preliminary fine frequency process for refining the carrier frequency determination before tracking initiates. An alternative is to provide for a more precise signal acquisition, however, correlation becomes corrupted if the signal fragment is larger than 20 ms. Correlation is required due to the Doppler shifting and clock inaccuracies. The precision of the carrier frequency must be within 50 Hz. We have validated that four solutions are obtainable from the patent equations which greatly reduce the uncertainty of fine frequency offset. Additionally, precision can be observed by limiting the amount of noise associated with the carrier frequency. This allows for reduction in the computational burdens of the receiver and removing the acquisition stage from the ranging receiver.Electrical and Computer Engineerin
Inclusive Jet Production at CDF
No full textThe inclusive jet cross section was measured by CDF at center of mass energies of 1800 and 630 GeV. At {radical}s =1800 GeV, the inclusive jet cross section is compared with NLO QCD predictions (with different sets of parton distribution functions) and with measurement by D0 Collaboration. Strong coupling constant is extracted (as a consistency check) from 1800 GeV inclusive jet data. The ratio of scaled inclusive jet cross sections measured at two values of {radical}s is compared with NLO QCD predictions. Comparison with D0 result is also shown
Calcium Released From Intracellular Stores Inhibits GABA<sub>A</sub>-Mediated Currents in Ganglion Cells of the Turtle Retina
No full textAkopian, Abram, Robert Gabriel, and Paul Witkovsky. Calcium released from intracellular stores inhibits GABAA-mediated currents in ganglion cells of the turtle retina. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 1105–1115, 1998. We studied spiking neurons isolated from turtle retina by the whole cell version of the patch clamp. The studied cells had perikaryal diameters >15 μm and fired multiple spikes in response to depolarizing current steps, indicating they were ganglion cells. In symmetrical [Cl−], currents elicited by puffs of 100 μM γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) were inward at a holding potential of –80 mV. All of the GABA-evoked current was blocked by SR95331 (20 μM), indicating that it was mediated by a GABAAreceptor. The GABA-evoked currents were unaltered by eliciting a transmembrane calcium current either just before or during the response to GABA. On the other hand caffeine (10 mM), which induces Ca2+release from intracellular stores, inhibited the GABA-evoked current on average by 30%. The caffeine effect was blocked by introducing the calcium buffer bis-( o-aminophenoxy)- N, N, N′, N′-tetraacetic acid (BAPTA) into the cell but was unaffected by replacing [Ca2+]owith equimolar cobalt. Thapsigargin (10 μM), an inhibitor of intracellular calcium pumps, and ryanodine (20 μM), which depletes intracellular calcium stores, both markedly reduced a caffeine-induced inhibition of the GABA-evoked current. Another activator of intracellular calcium release, inositol trisphosphate (IP3; 50 μM), also progressively reduced the GABA-induced current when introduced into the cell. Dibutyryl adenosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP; 0.5 mM), a membrane-permeable analogue of cAMP, did not reduce GABA-evoked currents, suggesting that cAMP-dependent kinases are not involved in suppressing GABAAcurrents, whereas calmidazolium (30 μM) and cyclosporin A(20 μM), which inhibit Ca/calmodulin-dependent phosphatases, did reduce the caffeine-induced inhibition of the GABA-evoked current. Alkaline phosphatase (150 μg/ml) and calcineurin (300 μg/ml) had a similar action to caffeine or IP3. Antibodies directed against the ryanodine receptor or the IP3receptor reacted with the great majority of neurons in the ganglion cell layer. We found that these two antibodies colocalized in large ganglion cells. In summary, intracellular calcium plays a role in reducing the currents elicited by GABA, acting through GABAAreceptors. The modulatory action of calcium on GABA responses appears to work through one or more Ca-dependent phosphatases.</jats:p
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