Small states, great power? Gaining influence through intrinsic, derivative, and collective power

In recent years, scholars have devoted increased attention to the agency of small states in International Relations. However, the conventional wisdom remains that while not completely powerful, small states are unlikely to achieve much of significance when faced by great power opposition. This argument, however, implicitly rests on resource-based and compulsory understandings of power. This article explores the implicit connections between the concept of "small state" and diverse concepts of power, asking how we should understand these states' attempts to gain influence and achieve their international political objectives. By connecting the study of small states with additional understandings of power, the article elaborates the broader avenues for influence that are open to many states but are particularly relevant for small states. The article argues that small states' power can be best understood as originating in three categories: “derivative,” collective, and particular-intrinsic. Derivative power, coined by Michael Handel, relies upon the relationship with a great power. Collective power involves building coalitions of supportive states, often through institutions. Particular-intrinsic power relies on the assets of the small state trying to do the influencing. Small states specialize in the bases and means of these types of power, which may have unconventional compulsory, institutional, structural, and productive aspects.

Optimal power management strategy for energy storage with stochastic loads

In this paper, a power management strategy (PMS) has been developed for the control of energy storage in a system subjected to loads of random duration. The PMS minimises the costs associated with the energy consumption of specific systems powered by a primary energy source and equipped with energy storage, under the assumption that the statistical distribution of load durations is known. By including the variability of the load in the cost function, it was possible to define the optimality criteria for the power flow of the storage. Numerical calculations have been performed obtaining the control strategies associated with the global minimum in energy costs, for a wide range of initial conditions of the system. The results of the calculations have been tested on a MATLAB/Simulink model of a rubber tyre gantry (RTG) crane equipped with a flywheel energy storage system (FESS) and subjected to a test cycle, which corresponds to the real operation of a crane in the Port of Felixstowe. The results of the model show increased energy savings and reduced peak power demand with respect to existing control strategies, indicating considerable potential savings for port operators in terms of energy and maintenance costs.

In vitro analysis of human tooth pulp chamber temperature after low-intensity laser therapy at different power outputs

In vitro studies have provided conflicting evidence of temperature changes in the tooth pulp chamber after low-level laser irradiation of the tooth surface. The present study was an in vitro evaluation of temperature increases in the human tooth pulp chamber after diode laser irradiation (GaAlAs, lambda = 808 nm) using different power densities. Twelve human teeth (three incisors, three canines, three premolars and three molars) were sectioned in the cervical third of the root and enlarged for the introduction of a thermocouple into the pulp chamber. The teeth were irradiated with 417 mW, 207 mW and 78 mW power outputs for 30 s on the vestibular surface approximately 2 mm from the cervical line of the crown. The highest average increase in temperature (5.6A degrees C) was observed in incisors irradiated with 417 mW. None of the teeth (incisors, canines, premolars or molars) irradiated with 207 mW showed temperature increases higher than 5.5A degrees C that could potentially be harmful to pulp tissue. Teeth irradiated with 78 mW showed lower temperature increases. The study showed that diode laser irradiation with a wavelength of 808 nm at 417 mW power output increased the pulp chamber temperature of certain groups of teeth, especially incisors and premolars, to critical threshold values for the dental pulp (5.5A degrees C). Thus, this study serves as a warning to clinicians that ""more"" is not necessarily ""better"".

High-power diode laser in the disinfection in depth of the root canal dentin

Objective. The objective of this study was to evaluate the disinfection degree of dentine caused by the use of diode laser after biomechanical procedures. Study design. Thirty teeth were sectioned and roots were autoclaved and incubated for 4 weeks with a suspension of Enterococcus faecalis. The specimens were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 10): G1, instrumented with rotary files, irrigated with 0.5% sodium hypochlorite and 17% EDTA-T, and then irradiated by 830-nm diode laser at 3 W; G2, the same procedures as G1 but without laser irradiation; and G3, irrigation with saline solution (control). Dentin samples of each third were collected with carbide burs and aliquots were sowed to count viable cells. Results. The disinfection degree achieved was 100% in G1 and 98.39% in G2, when compared to the control group (G3). Conclusion. Diode laser irradiation provided increased disinfection of the deep radicular dentin in the parameters and samples tested.

Cyclic Maximal Ideals of Rings of Differential Operators over Power Series Rings

In [3], Bratti and Takagi conjectured that a first order differential operator S=11 +...+ nn+ with 1,..., n, {x1,..., xn} does not generate a cyclic maximal left (or right) ideal of the ring of differential operators. This is contrary to the case of the Weyl algebra, i.e., the ring of differential operators over the polynomial ring [x1,..., xn]. In this case, we know that such cyclic maximal ideals do exist. In this article, we prove several special cases of the conjecture of Bratti and Takagi.

Reduced gradient method combined with augmented Lagrangian and barrier for the optimal power flow problem

A new approach for solving the optimal power flow (OPF) problem is established by combining the reduced gradient method and the augmented Lagrangian method with barriers and exploring specific characteristics of the relations between the variables of the OPF problem. Computer simulations on IEEE 14-bus and IEEE 30-bus test systems illustrate the method. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The complementary exponential power lifetime model

In this paper we propose a new lifetime distribution which can handle bathtub-shaped unimodal increasing and decreasing hazard rate functions The model has three parameters and generalizes the exponential power distribution proposed by Smith and Bain (1975) with the inclusion of an additional shape parameter The maximum likelihood estimation procedure is discussed A small-scale simulation study examines the performance of the likelihood ratio statistics under small and moderate sized samples Three real datasets Illustrate the methodology (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved

Power series generalized nonlinear models

We introduce in this paper a new class of discrete generalized nonlinear models to extend the binomial, Poisson and negative binomial models to cope with count data. This class of models includes some important models such as log-nonlinear models, logit, probit and negative binomial nonlinear models, generalized Poisson and generalized negative binomial regression models, among other models, which enables the fitting of a wide range of models to count data. We derive an iterative process for fitting these models by maximum likelihood and discuss inference on the parameters. The usefulness of the new class of models is illustrated with an application to a real data set. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New mechanical samples positioning system for irradiations on a radial channel at nuclear research reactor in a full-power continuous operation

This paper describes a new mechanical samples positioning system that allows the safe placement and removal of biological samples for prolonged irradiation, in a nuclear reactor during full-power continuous operation. Also presented herein the materials of construction and operating principles. Additionally, this sample positioning system is compared with an existing pneumatic and automated transfer system, already available at the research reactors. The system consists of a mechanical arm with a claw, which can deliver the samples for irradiations without reactor shutdown. It was installed in the lEA-R1 research reactor at Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN), Sao Paulo, Brazil, and for the past 5 years, the system has successfully operated and allowed the conducting of important experiments. As a result of its introduction, the facility has been in a position to positively respond to the increased demand in studies of biology, medicine, physics, engineering, detector/dosimeter calibrations, etc. It is one example of the appropriated technologies that save energy and resources. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.