Learning how (not) to fire a gun: combatant training and civilian victimization

What is the relationship between the type of training combatants receive upon recruitment into an armed group and their propensity to abuse civilians in civil war? Does military training or political training prevent or exacerbate the victimization of civilians by armed non-state actors? While the literature on civilian victimization has expanded rapidly, few studies have examined the correlation between abuse of civilians and the modes of training that illegal armed actors receive. Using a simple formal model, we develop hypotheses regarding this connection and argue that while military training should not decrease the probability that a combatant engages in civilian abuse, political training should. We test these hypotheses using a new survey consisting of a representative sample of approximately 1,500 demobilized combatants from the Colombian conflict, which we match with department-level data on civilian casualties. The empirical analysis confirms our hypotheses about the connection between training and civilian abuse and the results are robust to adding a full set of controls both at the department and at the individual level

Separazioni conflittuali e minori

All’interno di separazioni altamente conflittuali, non è infrequente che si presentino situazioni in cui un figlio rifiuta, in maniera ingiustificata, un genitore. Esclusi i casi in cui sono presenti abusi, trascuratezza o condizioni reali di paura per cui il rifiuto è motivato, come mai un figlio può arrivare a rifiutare in maniera totale e permanente di incontrare un genitore? Può capitare che durante la separazione tra i coniugi siano presenti e persistano conflitti esasperanti, che in alcuni casi evolvono in dinamiche relazionali disfunzionali. Capita anche che a volte, all’interno di queste dinamiche, un genitore metta in atto una sorta di “alienazione” nei confronti dell’altro genitore, a cui corrisponde un rifiuto da parte del figlio del genitore cosiddetto “alienato”. Il minore, coinvolto in maniera attiva in queste dinamiche, si trova quindi in una condizione di rischio. Al di là del “dibattito” scientifico in merito alla definizione del fenomeno, ciò che risulta fondamentale è non disconoscerlo.

Diário da Constituinte [gravação de vídeo] : [programa n. 362]

Sem acordo para a votação do Regimento Interno, a Constituinte terminou seus trabalhos de 1987. Ontem, foi realizada a última sessão Plenária deste ano. Durante a sessão o presidente da Constituinte fez uma apelo para que todos compareçam no início dos trabalhos, no dia 4 de janeiro de 1988. Constituintes avaliam os trabalhos no ano que se finda e registram as expectativas para o próximo ano e esperam acima de tudo o entendimento.

Development of improved fire design rules for cold-formed steel wall systems

Traditionally the fire resistance rating of LSF wall systems is based on approximate prescriptive methods developed using limited fire tests. Therefore a detailed research study into the performance of load bearing LSF wall systems under standard fire conditions was undertaken to develop improved fire design rules. It used the extensive fire performance results of eight different LSF wall systems from a series of full scale fire tests and numerical studies for this purpose. The use of previous fire design rules developed for LSF walls subjected to non-uniform elevated temperature distributions based on AISI design manual and Eurocode3 Parts 1.2 and 1.3 was investigated first. New simplified fire design rules based on AS/NZS 4600, North American Specification and Eurocode 3 Part 1.3 were then proposed in this study with suitable allowances for the interaction effects of compression and bending actions. The importance of considering thermal bowing, magnified thermal bowing and neutral axis shift in the fire design was also investigated. A spread sheet based design tool was developed based on the new design rules to predict the failure load ratio versus time and temperature curves for varying LSF wall configurations. The accuracy of the proposed design rules was verified using the test and FEA results for different wall configurations, steel grades, thicknesses and load ratios. This paper presents the details and results of this study including the improved fire design rules for predicting the load capacity of LSF wall studs and the failure times of LSF walls under standard fire conditions.

Design and realization of high-performance wave-pipelined 8×8 b multiplier in CMOS technology

Wave pipelining is a design technique for increasing the throughput of a digital circuit or system without introducing pipelining registers between adjacent combinational logic blocks in the circuit/system. However, this requires balancing of the delays along all the paths from the input to the output which comes the way of its implementation. Static CMOS is inherently susceptible to delay variation with input data, and hence, receives a low priority for wave pipelined digital design. On the other hand, ECL and CML, which are amenable to wave pipelining, lack the compactness and low power attributes of CMOS. In this paper we attempt to exploit wave pipelining in CMOS technology. We use a single generic building block in Normal Process Complementary Pass Transistor Logic (NPCPL), modeled after CPL, to achieve equal delay along all the propagation paths in the logic structure. An 8×8 b multiplier is designed using this logic in a 0.8 ?m technology. The carry-save multiplier architecture is modified suitably to support wave pipelining, viz., the logic depth of all the paths are made identical. The 1 mm×0.6 mm multiplier core supports a throughput of 400 MHz and dissipates a total power of 0.6 W. We develop simple enhancements to the NPCPL building blocks that allow the multiplier to sustain throughputs in excess of 600 MHz. The methodology can be extended to introduce wave pipelining in other circuits as well

The effect of powder processing on densification, microstructure and mechanical properties of hydroxyapatite

The influence of powder processing and sintering temperature on densification, microstructure and mechanical properties of hydroxyapatite (HAp) ceramics was studied. The as-dried, calcined and processed HAp powders were uniaxially compacted and sintered at various temperatures (1000-1400 degreesC) for 3 h. The as-dried and processed powders, attained 97% of theoretical density (TD) at 1100 degreesC) at higher sintering temperatures, the density of the as-dried powder compact was found to decrease. A uniform microstructure with fine grain size (2.3 pm) was observed for material obtained from processed powder, whereas exaggerated grain growth with closed pores were observed in as-dried and unprocessed powder compacts. The Vickers' hardness, fracture toughness and flexural strength of HAp were determined and a maximum value of 6.3 GPa and 0.88 MPam(1/2) and 60.3 MPa, respectively were obtained for processed compact. The processing of HAp has improved its densification, microstructure homogeneity and mechanical properties. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd and Techna S.r.l. All rights reserved.

Revista Cultura Económica, 2014, Año XXXII nº 88 (número completo)

Contenido: Editorial -- Artículos: El discernimiento espiritual en la toma de decisiones / Luk Bouckaert -- El redescubrimiento de la filosofía personalista de Jacques Maritain / Opdebeeck, Henrik -- Emprendedorismo guiado por la espiritualidad / Zsolnai, Laszlo -- ¿Podemos formar líderes responsables? / de Bettignies, Henri Claude -- La concepción de la sabiduría según los managers / Thompson, Mike -- Reseñas de libros

Sapientia, 1968, Vol. XXIII, nº 88 (número completo)

Contenido: Imposibilidad de la Teología sin la Filosofía / Octavio N. Derisi – Santo Tomás de Aquino y nuestra situación intelectual / Adolfo Muñoz Alonso – Dinámica de la integración material / J. E. Bolzán – Notas sobre la creatio de nihilo en Juan Escoto Eriúgena (conclusión) / Gustavo A. Piemonte – Notas y comentarios -- Bibliografía

Comportamiento agro-industrial de diez cultivares de caña de azúcar (Saccharum spp. híbridos): Ingenio Benjamín Zeledón, caña planta y primer retoño

Comportamiento agro –industrial de 10 cultivares de caña de azúcar (sacharum spp. híbrido). Ing. Benjamín Zeledón. Caña planta y 1er retoño Autor: Reynaldo J Calderón Mena. En los ciclos 86/87 y 87/88 en el ingenio Benjamín Zeledón, fue estudiado el comportamiento agro-industrial de nueve cultivares de caña de azúcar en comparación con la variedad L 68-90, el ensayo fue sembrado el 26 de marzo de 1986 en suelos francos de la serie Buenos Aires y su cosecha se realizó en cañas de 12 meses de edad el 10 de Marzo de 1987 y el 14 de marzo de 1988, en los ciclos de caña planta y el primer retoño respectivamente: El diseño utilizado fue el de bloques completos al azar y los parámetros estudiados fueron: población,. Altura, peso promedio de los tallos, rendimiento agrícola, rendimiento industrial, rendimiento agro-industrial y % de floración: los datos obtenidos fueron sometidos a análisis de varianza y a las pruebas de Newman Keuls y Dunnett ambas al 5% de significación: en el ciclo de caña planta los mejores comportamientos fueron obtenidos: en el rendimiento agrícola por las variedades Q 75 y DB 66-113; en el rendimiento agro-industrial por la variedad testigo L68-90 y en el rendimiento agro-industrial por las variedades q 75, Db 66-113, DB 51-362 y B62-118; mientras que en el ciclo de primer retoño los resultados más sobresalientes fueron obtenidos : en el rendimiento agrícola por las variedades B 62- 163, b6-118, DB66-113D 51-362, q75 Y C87-51; en el rendimiento agro- industrial por las variedad B62-118, B62-163, Db51-362, Db 66-113 y C87-51.