Developments in X-ray laser pumping with travelling wave at Vulcan

Saturated output has been observed for both Ne and Ni-like X-ray lasers when Pumped in the transient mode. As these 'normal' transitions display very high gain, attempts have been made to observe a 2p --> 2s inner shell transition in Ne-like ions, which scale well towards the water window. Modelling of the pump conditions for Ge lasing at 6.2 run is presented. As the predicted gain is low the experiment was set up for 18 mm targets. Shots were taken on Ti, Fe, Ni and Ge. A similar to1.5 ps travelling wave pulse is applied at various times after the peak of a long, preforming Pulse. Various pump conditions were attempted but no inner shell X-ray laser was detected.

A Hybrid Evolutionary Approach to the Nurse Rostering Problem

Nurse rostering is a difficult search problem with many constraints. In the literature, a number of approaches have been investigated including penalty function methods to tackle these constraints within genetic algorithm frameworks. In this paper, we investigate an extension of a previously proposed stochastic ranking method, which has demonstrated superior performance to other constraint handling techniques when tested against a set of constrained optimisation benchmark problems. An initial experiment on nurse rostering problems demonstrates that the stochastic ranking method is better in finding feasible solutions but fails to obtain good results with regard to the objective function. To improve the performance of the algorithm, we hybridise it with a recently proposed simulated annealing hyper-heuristic within a local search and genetic algorithm framework. The hybrid algorithm shows significant improvement over both the genetic algorithm with stochastic ranking and the simulated annealing hyper-heuristic alone. The hybrid algorithm also considerably outperforms the methods in the literature which have the previously best known results.

From the "pólis" to the modern state: an approach to the problem of politics in Heidegger

This paper starts off asking whether a strictly political approach may be deduced based on Martin Heidegger’ ontological analyses of modernity. His interpretation of the Greek phenomenon of the polis is discussed along with the distinction established therein between this form of community and the modern state, founded according to Heidegger on the metaphysical essence of modernity. To clarify this question regard is had to the proclamation of values observed by Heidegger in the different forms of state organization arising in the age of technical consummation of metaphysics. In this connection, his vision of nihilism is studied and a hypothesis is finally offered as to the form of state that would be consistent with a renunciation of the values required, in his view, by the manifestation of the entity in modernity as a wholly producible object.

British drugs policy: Problematizing the distinction between legal and illegal drugs and the definition of the ‘drugs problem’.

This article draws upon an extensive literature review of the social and medical sciences, official documents and various websites to critically re-evaluate the basis of British drugs policy. The article problematizes the rationale for criminalizing certain substances and questions the distinctions created between legal and illegal drugs; in so doing, the article argues that the definition of the `drugs problem' is the real problem. It shows that the debate on illegal drugs is filled less with factual truths and more with misinformation which creates public fear and provides a questionable basis for public policy. The article questions current thinking regarding the drugs/crime relationship and concludes by exploring some implications for policy and practice.