Reconciling Children's Policy and Children's Rights: Barriers to Effective Government Delivery

Countries which have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, have committed to implementing its principles in law and policy. This article explores the challenges for securing children's rights through policy, drawing on a research project conducted for the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, which sought to identify barriers to effective government delivery for children and young people from the perspective of key stakeholders. The research concluded that, while some barriers (such as delay and availability of data) are not child-specific, they can be accentuated when children and young people are the main focus of policy development and more so when seeking to adopt a child rights-compliant approach to policy development and implementation. 

UNCRC and social workers' relationships with young children

This paper considers the provisions of the UNCRC and applies them to the field of child protection suggesting new ways of working that are rights compliant.

A Survey of Security in Software Defined Networks

The proposition of increased innovation in network applications and reduced cost for network operators has won over the networking world to the vision of Software-Defined Networking (SDN). With the excitement of holistic visibility across the network and the ability to program network devices, developers have rushed to present a range of new SDN-compliant hardware, software and services. However, amidst this frenzy of activity, one key element has only recently entered the debate: Network Security. In this article, security in SDN is surveyed presenting both the research community and industry advances in this area. The challenges to securing the network from the persistent attacker are discussed and the holistic approach to the security architecture that is required for SDN is described. Future research directions that will be key to providing network security in SDN are identified.

Legislating for political gender quotas in Ireland

In July 2012, legislation on political party funding and candidate gender quotas was enacted by the Irish Parliament. The Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012 provides for a 30% gender quota for party candidates at the next general election, rising to 40% seven years thereafter. Non-compliant parties will lose half of their annual state funding. Informed by insights from feminist institutionalism, this paper will consider the question: why did Irish political parties, who have always been so reluctant to tackle the question of women’s under-representation, suddenly do a volte-face and introduce such a radical measure as legislative gender quotas? In answering this question, we argue that the political reform discourse that emerged following the recent Irish economic crisis was a significant factor in the adoption of legislative gender quotas in the Republic of Ireland. It signified, and made visible, the divergence between politicians and the public on the issue in a context where political representatives were under question, and political institutions being criticised, for ineffective political management. We contend that Ireland is an example of how apparently enduring and immutable gender norms can be overcome. We suggest that feminist institutionalism enables an unpacking of the messy complexities of institutional resistance to change and reveals the power of informal institutions to shape outcomes leading to a major formal rule change.

Liquid coordination complexes: a new class of Lewis acids as safer alternatives to BF3 in synthesis of polyalphaolefins

Liquid coordination complexes (LCCs) are a new class of liquid Lewis acids, prepared by combining an excess of a metal halide (e.g. GaCl3) with a basic donor molecule (e.g. amides, amines or phosphines). LCCs were used to catalyse oligomerisation of 1-decene to polyalphaolefins (PAOs). Molecular weight distribution and physical properties of the produced oils were compliant with those required for low viscosity synthetic (Group IV) lubricant base oils. Kinematic viscosities at 100 °C of ca. 4 or 6 cSt were obtained, along with viscosity indexes above 120 and pour points below −57 °C. In industry, to achieve similar properties, BF3 gas is used as a catalyst. LCCs are proposed as a safer and economically attractive alternative to BF3 gas for the production of polyalphaolefins.

The BRUTUS Automatic Cryptanalytic Framework: Testing CAESAR Authenticated Encryption Candidates for Weaknesses

This report summarizes our results from security analysis covering all 57 competitions for authenticated encryption: security, applicability, and robustness (CAESAR) first-round candidates and over 210 implementations. We have manually identified security issues with three candidates, two of which are more serious, and these ciphers have been withdrawn from the competition. We have developed a testing framework, BRUTUS, to facilitate automatic detection of simple security lapses and susceptible statistical structures across all ciphers. From this testing, we have security usage notes on four submissions and statistical notes on a further four. We highlight that some of the CAESAR algorithms pose an elevated risk if employed in real-life protocols due to a class of adaptive-chosen-plaintext attacks. Although authenticated encryption with associated data are often defined (and are best used) as discrete primitives that authenticate and transmit only complete messages, in practice, these algorithms are easily implemented in a fashion that outputs observable ciphertext data when the algorithm has not received all of the (attacker-controlled) plaintext. For an implementor, this strategy appears to offer seemingly harmless and compliant storage and latency advantages. If the algorithm uses the same state for secret keying information, encryption, and integrity protection, and the internal mixing permutation is not cryptographically strong, an attacker can exploit the ciphertext–plaintext feedback loop to reveal secret state information or even keying material. We conclude that the main advantages of exhaustive, automated cryptanalysis are that it acts as a very necessary sanity check for implementations and gives the cryptanalyst insights that can be used to focus more specific attack methods on given candidates.

Development and Validation of a Lateral Flow Immunoassay for the Rapid Screening of Okadaic Acid and All Dinophysis Toxins from Shellfish Extracts

A single-step lateral flow immunoassay was developed and validated to detect okadaic acid (OA) and dinophysis toxins (DTXs), which cause diarrhetic shellfish poisoning. The performance characteristics of the test were investigated, in comparison to reference methods (liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and/or bioassay), using both spiked and naturally contaminated shellfish. A portable reader was used to generate a qualitative result, indicating the absence or presence of OA-group toxins, at concentrations relevant to the maximum permitted level (MPL). Sample homogenates could be screened in 20 min (including extraction and assay time) for the presence of free toxins (OA, DTX1, DTX2). DTX3 detection could be included with the addition of a hydrolysis procedure. No matrix effects were observed from the species evaluated (mussels, scallops, oysters, and clams). Results from naturally contaminated samples (n = 72) indicated no false compliant results and no false noncompliant results at <50% MPL. Thus, the development of a new low-cost but highly effective tool for monitoring a range of important phycotoxins has been demonstrated.

Geostatistical Fisher discriminant analysis

A geostatistical version of the classical Fisher rule (linear discriminant analysis) is presented.This method is applicable when a large dataset of multivariate observations is available within a domain split in several known subdomains, and it assumes that the variograms (or covariance functions) are comparable between subdomains, which only differ in the mean values of the available variables. The method consists on finding the eigen-decomposition of the matrix W-1B, where W is the matrix of sills of all direct- and cross-variograms, and B is the covariance matrix of the vectors of weighted means within each subdomain, obtained by generalized least squares. The method is used to map peat blanket occurrence in Northern Ireland, with data from the Tellus
survey, which requires a minimal change to the general recipe: to use compositionally-compliant variogram tools and models, and work with log-ratio transformed data.

What defines a geochemical map? Implications for environmental assessment.

The environmental quality of land is often assessed by the calculation of threshold values which aim to differentiate between concentrations of elements based on whether the soils are in residential or industrial sites. In Europe, for example, soil guideline values exist for agricultural and grazing land. A threshold is often set to differentiate between concentrations of the element that naturally occur in the soil and concentrations that result from diffuse anthropogenic sources. Regional geochemistry and, in particular, single component geochemical maps are increasingly being used to determine these baseline environmental assessments. The key question raised in this paper is whether the geochemical map can provide an accurate interpretation on its own. Implicit is the thought that single component geochemical maps represent absolute abundances. However,because of the compositional (closed) nature of the data univariate geochemical maps cannot be compared directly with one another.. As a result, any interpretation based on them is vulnerable to spurious correlation problems. What does this mean for soil geochemistry mapping, baseline quality documentation, soil resource assessment or risk evaluation? Despite the limitation of relative abundances, individual raw geochemical maps are deemed fundamental to several applications of geochemical maps including environmental assessments. However, element toxicity is related to its bioavailable concentration, which is lowered if its source is mixed with another source. Elements interact, for example under reducing conditions with iron oxides, its solid state is lost and arsenic becomes soluble and mobile. Both of these matters may be more adequately dealt with if a single component map is not interpreted in isolation to determine baseline and threshold assessments. A range of alternative compositionally compliant representations based on log-ratio and log-contrast approaches are explored to supplement the classical single component maps for environmental assessment. Case study examples are shown based on the Tellus soil geochemical dataset, covering Northern Ireland and the results of in vitro oral bioaccessibility testing carried out on a sub-set of archived Tellus Survey shallow soils following the Unified BARGE (Bioaccessibility Research Group of Europe).

The impact of hydrogeology on the instability of a road cutting through a drumlin in the North of Ireland

This paper describes the hydrogeological processes which caused unexpected instability and quick conditions during the excavation of a 25m deep cutting through a drumlin in County Down, Northern Ireland. A conceptual hydrogeological model of the cutting, based on pore pressures monitored during and after the excavation demonstrates how quick conditions at the toe of the cutting caused liquefaction of the till. Stability of the cutting was re-established by draining the highly permeable, weathered Greywacke which underlies the drumlin, through the use of a deep toe drain. In spite of this drainage, the cutting was only marginally stable due to the presence of a low permeability zone in the till above the bedrock which limits the reduction of elevated pore pressures within the upper to mid-depths of the drumlin. The factor of safety has been further improved by the addition of vertical relief drains at the crest and berm of the cutting to relieve the pore-pressures within the upper till by intercepting the weathered bedrock. The paper also highlights the importance of carrying out an adequate site investigation compliant with Eurocode 7 and additional monitoring in excavations in stiff, low permeability till.

Los Shuar de Zamora y la misión Franciscana: Mundo Shuar

Las referencias que vamos a consignar en estos párrafos introductorios se refieren a la comarca, que teniendo por centro la desaparecida población de Logroño, que estuvo sito en la confluencia del Paute con el Zamora, tiene como circunferencia occidental las poblaciones de Paute, Loja, Huancabamba y Jaén: comarca vastísima que se extiende desde el segundo grado de latitud sur hasta el sexto grado del mismo hemisferio. El sistema hidrográfico que domina en esta región es el del Marañen con sus primeros contribuyentes del norte, señalándose el Santiago y el Chinchipe: el Santiago toma este nombre desde la confluencia del Paute con el Zamora. Una reseña meritoria de esta comarca escribió en 1913 el señor Luis Ulloa, premiada por la Sociedad Geográfica de Lima y publicada en el Boletín de la misma, tomo XXIX: es trabajo de copiosa erudición, acompañada de criterio histórico robusto. En él se basa la parte más sustancial del extracto que ofrecemos a los lectores.

Multilayer optimization in radio resource allocation for the packet transmission in wireless networks

Na última década tem-se assistido a um crescimento exponencial das redes de comunicações sem fios, nomeadamente no que se refere a taxa de penetração do serviço prestado e na implementação de novas infra-estruturas em todo o globo. É ponto assente neste momento que esta tendência irá não só continuar como se fortalecer devido à convergência que é esperada entre as redes móveis sem fio e a disponibilização de serviços de banda larga para a rede Internet fixa, numa evolução para um paradigma de uma arquitectura integrada e baseada em serviços e aplicações IP. Por este motivo, as comunicações móveis sem fios irão ter um papel fundamental no desenvolvimento da sociedade de informação a médio e longo prazos. A estratégia seguida no projecto e implementação das redes móveis celulares da actual geração (2G e 3G) foi a da estratificação da sua arquitectura protocolar numa estrutura modular em camadas estanques, onde cada camada do modelo é responsável pela implementação de um conjunto de funcionalidades. Neste modelo a comunicação dá-se apenas entre camadas adjacentes através de primitivas de comunicação pré-estabelecidas. Este modelo de arquitectura resulta numa mais fácil implementação e introdução de novas funcionalidades na rede. Entretanto, o facto das camadas inferiores do modelo protocolar não utilizarem informação disponibilizada pelas camadas superiores, e vice-versa acarreta uma degradação no desempenho do sistema. Este paradigma é particularmente importante quando sistemas de antenas múltiplas são implementados (sistemas MIMO). Sistemas de antenas múltiplas introduzem um grau adicional de liberdade no que respeita a atribuição de recursos rádio: o domínio espacial. Contrariamente a atribuição de recursos no domínio do tempo e da frequência, no domínio espacial os recursos rádio mapeados no domínio espacial não podem ser assumidos como sendo completamente ortogonais, devido a interferência resultante do facto de vários terminais transmitirem no mesmo canal e/ou slots temporais mas em feixes espaciais diferentes. Sendo assim, a disponibilidade de informação relativa ao estado dos recursos rádio às camadas superiores do modelo protocolar é de fundamental importância na satisfação dos critérios de qualidade de serviço exigidos. Uma forma eficiente de gestão dos recursos rádio exige a implementação de algoritmos de agendamento de pacotes de baixo grau de complexidade, que definem os níveis de prioridade no acesso a esses recursos por base dos utilizadores com base na informação disponibilizada quer pelas camadas inferiores quer pelas camadas superiores do modelo. Este novo paradigma de comunicação, designado por cross-layer resulta na maximização da capacidade de transporte de dados por parte do canal rádio móvel, bem como a satisfação dos requisitos de qualidade de serviço derivados a partir da camada de aplicação do modelo. Na sua elaboração, procurou-se que o standard IEEE 802.16e, conhecido por Mobile WiMAX respeitasse as especificações associadas aos sistemas móveis celulares de quarta geração. A arquitectura escalonável, o baixo custo de implementação e as elevadas taxas de transmissão de dados resultam num processo de multiplexagem de dados e valores baixos no atraso decorrente da transmissão de pacotes, os quais são atributos fundamentais para a disponibilização de serviços de banda larga. Da mesma forma a comunicação orientada à comutação de pacotes, inenente na camada de acesso ao meio, é totalmente compatível com as exigências em termos da qualidade de serviço dessas aplicações. Sendo assim, o Mobile WiMAX parece satisfazer os requisitos exigentes das redes móveis de quarta geração. Nesta tese procede-se à investigação, projecto e implementação de algoritmos de encaminhamento de pacotes tendo em vista a eficiente gestão do conjunto de recursos rádio nos domínios do tempo, frequência e espacial das redes móveis celulares, tendo como caso prático as redes móveis celulares suportadas no standard IEEE802.16e. Os algoritmos propostos combinam métricas provenientes da camada física bem como os requisitos de qualidade de serviço das camadas superiores, de acordo com a arquitectura de redes baseadas no paradigma do cross-layer. O desempenho desses algoritmos é analisado a partir de simulações efectuadas por um simulador de sistema, numa plataforma que implementa as camadas física e de acesso ao meio do standard IEEE802.16e.

Performance analysis of 4G wireless networks using system level simulator

In the last decade, mobile wireless communications have witnessed an explosive growth in the user’s penetration rate and their widespread deployment around the globe. In particular, a research topic of particular relevance in telecommunications nowadays is related to the design and implementation of mobile communication systems of 4th generation (4G). 4G networks will be characterized by the support of multiple radio access technologies in a core network fully compliant with the Internet Protocol (all IP paradigms). Such networks will sustain the stringent quality of service (QoS) requirements and the expected high data rates from the type of multimedia applications (i.e. YouTube and Skype) to be available in the near future. Therefore, 4G wireless communications system will be of paramount importance on the development of the information society in the near future. As 4G wireless services will continue to increase, this will put more and more pressure on the spectrum availability. There is a worldwide recognition that methods of spectrum managements have reached their limit and are no longer optimal, therefore new paradigms must be sought. Studies show that most of the assigned spectrum is under-utilized, thus the problem in most cases is inefficient spectrum management rather spectrum shortage. There are currently trends towards a more liberalized approach of spectrum management, which are tightly linked to what is commonly termed as Cognitive Radio (CR). Furthermore, conventional deployment of 4G wireless systems (one BS in cell and mobile deploy around it) are known to have problems in providing fairness (users closer to the BS are more benefited relatively to the cell edge users) and in covering some zones affected by shadowing, therefore the use of relays has been proposed as a solution. To evaluate and analyse the performances of 4G wireless systems software tools are normally used. Software tools have become more and more mature in recent years and their need to provide a high level evaluation of proposed algorithms and protocols is now more important. The system level simulation (SLS) tools provide a fundamental and flexible way to test all the envisioned algorithms and protocols under realistic conditions, without the need to deal with the problems of live networks or reduced scope prototypes. Furthermore, the tools allow network designers a rapid collection of a wide range of performance metrics that are useful for the analysis and optimization of different algorithms. This dissertation proposes the design and implementation of conventional system level simulator (SLS), which afterwards enhances for the 4G wireless technologies namely cognitive Radios (IEEE802.22) and Relays (IEEE802.16j). SLS is then used for the analysis of proposed algorithms and protocols.

Acesso banda larga sem fios em ambientes heterogéneos de próxima geração

O acesso ubíquo à Internet é um dos principais desafios para os operadores de telecomunicações na próxima década. O número de utilizadores da Internet está a crescer exponencialmente e o paradigma de acesso "always connected, anytime, anywhere" é um requisito fundamental para as redes móveis de próxima geração. A tecnologia WiMAX, juntamente com o LTE, foi recentemente reconhecida pelo ITU como uma das tecnologias de acesso compatíveis com os requisitos do 4G. Ainda assim, esta tecnologia de acesso não está completamente preparada para ambientes de próxima geração, principalmente devido à falta de mecanismos de cross-layer para integração de QoS e mobilidade. Adicionalmente, para além das tecnologias WiMAX e LTE, as tecnologias de acesso rádio UMTS/HSPA e Wi-Fi continuarão a ter um impacto significativo nas comunicações móveis durante os próximos anos. Deste modo, é fundamental garantir a coexistência das várias tecnologias de acesso rádio em termos de QoS e mobilidade, permitindo assim a entrega de serviços multimédia de tempo real em redes móveis. Para garantir a entrega de serviços multimédia a utilizadores WiMAX, esta Tese propõe um gestor cross-layer WiMAX integrado com uma arquitectura de QoS fim-a-fim. A arquitectura apresentada permite o controlo de QoS e a comunicação bidireccional entre o sistema WiMAX e as entidades das camadas superiores. Para além disso, o gestor de cross-layer proposto é estendido com eventos e comandos genéricos e independentes da tecnologia para optimizar os procedimentos de mobilidade em ambientes WiMAX. Foram realizados testes para avaliar o desempenho dos procedimentos de QoS e mobilidade da arquitectura WiMAX definida, demonstrando que esta é perfeitamente capaz de entregar serviços de tempo real sem introduzir custos excessivos na rede. No seguimento das extensões de QoS e mobilidade apresentadas para a tecnologia WiMAX, o âmbito desta Tese foi alargado para ambientes de acesso sem-fios heterogéneos. Neste sentido, é proposta uma arquitectura de mobilidade transparente com suporte de QoS para redes de acesso multitecnologia. A arquitectura apresentada integra uma versão estendida do IEEE 802.21 com suporte de QoS, bem como um gestor de mobilidade avançado integrado com os protocolos de gestão de mobilidade do nível IP. Finalmente, para completar o trabalho desenvolvido no âmbito desta Tese, é proposta uma extensão aos procedimentos de decisão de mobilidade em ambientes heterogéneos para incorporar a informação de contexto da rede e do terminal. Para validar e avaliar as optimizações propostas, foram desenvolvidos testes de desempenho num demonstrador inter-tecnologia, composta pelas redes de acesso WiMAX, Wi-Fi e UMTS/HSPA.