Litmus Tests Research Articles

EU Conditionality and Minority Rights: A Comparative Study on Romania and Turkey

Minority rights protection has been one of the significant litmus tests for the success of the EU conditionality. In Romania, the accession process helped transform key minority policies and improved the records whereas in Turkey, the traditional minority policies still linger despite the small changes in early 2000s. This paper aims to analyze how EU conditionality in minority related policies has become successful in Romania but not in Turkey through the application of the external incentives model to the cases to see under which circumstances minority rights measures were adopted and refused. The model assumes that the EU conditionality can be expected to improve minority conditions when the credibility of conditionality is higher, the conditions are determinate and the domestic adoption costs are lower in target states. Therefore, the paper attempts to test this model’s assumptions and expectations within the cases of Romania and Turkey. The paper argues that although the veto players and domestic adoption costs primarily determine the success of the EU conditionality in minority rights in target states, the EU conditionality can, to an extent, undermine the power of resistant political forces by credible membership prospect and clear conditions.

Fences in weak memory models (extended version)

We present a class of relaxed memory models, defined in Coq, parameterised by the chosen permitted local reorderings of reads and writes, and by the visibility of inter- and intra-processor communications through memory (e.g. store atomicity relaxation). We prove results on the required behaviour and placement of memory fences to restore a given model (such as Sequential Consistency) from a weaker one. Based on this class of models we develop a tool, diy, that systematically and automatically generates and runs litmus tests. These tests can be used to explore the behaviour of processor implementations and the behaviour of models, and hence to compare the two against each other. We detail the results of experiments on Power and a model we base on them.

Wetting in Color: Colorimetric Differentiation of Organic Liquids with High Selectivity

Colorimetric litmus tests such as pH paper have enjoyed wide commercial success due to their inexpensive production and exceptional ease of use. Expansion of colorimetry to new sensing paradigms is challenging because macroscopic color changes are seldom coupled to arbitrary differences in the physical/chemical properties of a system. Here we present in detail the design of a "Wetting In Color Kit" (WICK), an inexpensive and highly selective colorimetric indicator for organic liquids that exploits chemically encoded inverse-opal photonic crystals to project minute differences in liquids' wettability to macroscopically distinct, easy-to-visualize structural color patterns. We show experimentally and corroborate with theoretical modeling using percolation theory that the highly symmetric structure of our large-area, defect-free SiO(2) inverse-opal films leads to sharply defined threshold wettability for liquid infiltration, occurring at intrinsic contact angles near 20° with an estimated resolution smaller than 5°. The regular structure also produces a bright iridescent color, which disappears when infiltrated with liquid, naturally coupling the optical and fluidic responses. To deterministically design a WICK that differentiates a broad range of liquids, we introduced a nondestructive quality control procedure to regulate the pore structure and developed two new surface modification protocols, both requiring only silanization and selective oxidation. The resulting tunable, built-in horizontal and vertical chemistry gradients let us tailor the wettability threshold to specific liquids across a continuous range. With patterned oxidation as a final step, we control the shape of the liquid-specific patterns displayed, making WICK easier to read. Using these techniques, we demonstrate the applicability of WICKs in several exemplary systems that colorimetrically distinguish (i) ethanol-water mixtures varying by only 2.5% in concentration; (ii) methanol, ethanol, and isopropyl alcohol; (iii) hexane, heptane, octane, nonane, and decane; and (iv) samples of gasoline (regular unleaded) and diesel. As wetting is a generic fluidic phenomenon, we envision that WICK could be suitable for applications in authentication or identification of unknown liquids across a broad range of industries.

AMBIVALENT CITIZENS

ABSTRACT This paper deals with the ambivalent position of Turkish nationalism vis-à-vis the Alevi ethno-religious identity. The Alevi are the largest ethno-religious minority in Turkey. Via a critical pluralist stance, the authors argue that the debates revolving around the origins and nature of the Alevi identity disclose the cultural –and, to a lesser extent, romantic – characteristics of Turkish nationalism and its relative inability to accommodate a fully civic and pluralist notion of national identity. The paper argues that the Alevi question is one of the litmus tests that reveal Turkish nationalism's uneasiness with adopting the idea of an ethno-religiously plural society. Two hegemonic branches of Turkish nationalism conceptualize the Alevi identity through ethno-cultural and religio-cultural lenses. This leads to the Alevi being coded as ‘ambivalent citizens’. This ambivalent status creates a bifurcated yet intertwined process of belonging and non-belonging, authenticity and stigmatization. The paper argues that the unremitting oscillation between the status of ‘genuine self-ness’ and ‘heretical otherness’ discloses the very non-civic and cultural foundations of Turkish nationalism.

After Sales Service in Consumer Durable Goods:How Truly Satisfying?

This paper discusses the debate on customer satisfaction in the consumer durable goods markets. The argument for or against revolves around product features and prevalent after sales service to gage the customer satisfaction. The study described herein focuses on sales vis-a-vis after sales aspects. On different litmus tests the findings reveal that after sales' aspect of business activity leaves much to do. After sales business activities in the country has received little systematic research attention. After-sales service as a part of customer relationship management helps to enhance a customer's loyalty. The analysis focused on Air conditioners to illustrate the lacuna in the system. It calls for needs to realign the practice if long lasting relationship between the customer and the supplier needs to be developed for brand promotion. Results of this study confirm earlier findings in the reverent literature that there was strong relationship between the dependent variable of customer satisfaction and four independent variables- product sold, its delivery and installation, performance and lastly but more important repairs and maintenance of durable goods to keep customer smiling. The delighted customers in turn will remain loyal and always have a positive impression towards the company and its products.

Turning Germans into Texans: World War I and the Assimilation and Survival of German Culture in Texas, 1900-1930 (review)

Reviewed by: Turning Germans into Texans: World War I and the Assimilation and Survival of German Culture in Texas, 1900-1930 S. M. Duffy Turning Germans into Texans: World War I and the Assimilation and Survival of German Culture in Texas, 1900-1930. By Matthew D. Tippens. (Austin: Kleingarten Press, Pp. 266. Illustrations, map, tables, bibliography, index. ISBN 9780984357208, $17.95 paper.) Matthew Tippens's Turning Germans into Texans investigates how and why German communities in Texas changed from distinct, proud, and vibrant pockets of old world culture to groups of Americans with little connection to their linguistic heritage and family roots. It also gives the reader insight into the nature of "nativist" demands for Americanization (equated with patriotism) and the arguments circling the concept of "hyphenated" citizenship. The key to this issue, as the book's full title indicates, is the United States's experience in World War I and its repercussions throughout the 1920s, especially with the introduction of Prohibition and the second incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan. Tippens states that despite 20 percect of Americans claiming "full or partial German heritage" (3), Germany's role in the World Wars prevents them waving their ethnic banner in this multicultural age. This is a direct result of the federal government's campaign to mobilize the population in support of the war effort in 1917-18, which turned suspicion of non-English speaking foreigners into anti-German "hysteria." This antagonism became especially acute in Texas, where ruling elites were less entrenched than in the East, where "Anglo" settlement was no older (or even more recent) than non-English speaking Texans, and where there already existed concerns about the loyalties of Hispanics to the United States. Nineteenth-century Texas welcomed and encouraged German settlers who often arrived through arrangements by transatlantic organizations such as the Adelsverein. These settlers served several purposes: they settled large tracts of often inhospitable land, they were regarded as sturdy, hard-working farmers, and they were white and non-Spanish-speaking. The German immigrants' commitment to retaining their native language, through newspapers, schools, and churches, however, led many Anglos to distrust them. This factor was compounded in the eyes of many "nativists" by the Germans' Catholic or Lutheran affiliations (as opposed to the Baptist faith) and their stalwart condemnation of prohibition. The consumption of beer was, for most German Texans, crucial to their social lives and a basic human right. As a definable group, Germans had no distinct political affiliations and tended to band together more in social organizations (vereine) such as the Sons of Hermann. When war broke out in Europe in 1914, these organizations and related newspapers most often favored the Central Powers (the German and Austrian Empires), but more out of cultural and familial ties than out of loyalty to the Kaiser. After all, many German immigrants came to the United States to escape Prussian militarism. Nevertheless, they were at odds with the majority of U.S. citizens, and when the United States entered the Great War in 1917, there was no way to take back their past support for the present enemy. Even the litmus tests of buying [End Page 459] Liberty Bonds, prominently displaying the Stars and Stripes, or having sons serving in the army did little to alleviate the often violent backlash against those of German birth or ancestry. After the war German names, the German language, and political association with German American interests became liabilities in the United States. The horrific results of Nazism ensured that this continued throughout the twentieth century. Therefore, many German Texans Anglicized themselves, and their heritage now continues mostly in the form of tourist fests. Matthew Tippins has done an admirable job in demonstrating how this situation came to pass. His book is both a readable and engaging study of European immigration to Texas. It left this reviewer hoping for a follow-up volume that would go beyond the scope of this work into an investigation of such organizations as the German American Bund in Texas during the 1940s and 1950s. [End Page 460] S. M. Duffy Texas A&M International University Copyright © 2011 The Texas State Historical Association

Active Sites in Graphene and the Mechanism of CO2 Formation in Carbon Oxidation

Over the past decade we have witnessed a steady rise in contributions of computational quantum chemistry to the understanding of reactivity of carbon materials. Several litmus tests must be applied to this evolving body of work before it can be viewed with a sufficient degree of confidence. The results of a crucial test are presented here: formulation of thermodynamically and kinetically plausible paths for CO(2) formation in the deceivingly simple reaction C + (1 - y/2)O(2) = (1 - y)CO(2) + yCO. A mechanism is proposed that clarifies the nature of atoms responsible for adsorption and reaction of molecular oxygen on the surface of sp(2)-hybridized carbons, both flat and curved, and is also consistent with the postulate that the (re)active sites are carbene- and carbyne-type carbon atoms at graphene edges. Using density functional theory and representative two-dimensional graphene clusters, a direct and an indirect route to CO(2) formation were identified as both necessary and sufficient to account for key experimental observations. The former involves single-site O(2) adsorption on carbene-type zigzag edges. The latter includes the presence of mobile epoxide-type oxygen on the basal plane and its insertion into an edge hexagon, analogous to the conversion of benzene oxide to oxepin; such "unzipping" of graphene and CO(2) desorption is favored at oxygen-saturated edges, thus accounting for the well-documented phenomenon of induced heterogeneity of carbon reactive sites.

Refugee Children and their Future

Although children constitute half of the world's refugee population, the long-term future of refugee children still does not receive sufficient attention in the general debate on the refugee issue, and in particular on so-called durable solutions. The positive impact of the successful integration and assimilation in the past of millions and millions of refugees is largely discarded as irrelevant under “today's changed conditions”. Equally ignored are the lessons that should have been learned from having allowed during the last 60 years millions and millions of generations of children to be born and raised as refugees with the only future promised to them being a “return” to the past. The conclusion of the present article is that refugee children represent a tremendous potential for the good and also for future crises and suffering. Thus, one of the principal litmus tests of the quality of refugee policies should be: “What do they do for the long-term future of refugee children?”

Innate immune defenses: Finding a new way to calm the storm

The inflammatory response is a critical mechanism used by multicellular organisms to protect themselves from cellular damage caused by microorganisms or other stimuli. In a dysregulated state, inflammation can also contribute to the chronicity of debilitating conditions such as cystic fibrosis, Crohn's disease and asthma.1 In a recent study published in Immunology and Cell Biology, Pingel et al.2 have provided evidence of a novel mechanism used by the host to dampen the inflammatory response observed during periodontal disease (Figure 1) that can result because of the presence of pro-inflammatory bacterial molecules. This dampening process is likely to contribute to maintaining tissue homeostasis and might further lend itself to manipulation to better treat this painful, debilitating and unsightly condition.

Assessing Machine Volition: An Ordinal Scale for Rating Artificial and Natural Systems

Volition, although often poorly defined, is a concept of interest and utility to both philosophers and researchers in artificial intelligence. In this article, a definition of volition is proposed and a functionally defined, physically grounded ordinal scale and a procedure by which volition might be measured are put forward: a type of Turing test for volition, but motivated by an explicit analysis of the concept being tested and providing results that are graded, rather than Boolean, so that candidate systems may be ranked according to their degree of volitional endowment. It is proposed that volition is a functional, aggregate property of certain physical systems and it is defined as the capacity for adaptive decision-making. The scale, similar in scope to Daniel Dennett's Kinds of Minds scale, is then outlined, as well as a set of progressive “litmus tests” for determining where a candidate system falls on the scale. Such a formulation may be useful for understanding volition and assessing the progress made in engineering intelligent, autonomous artificial organisms.

Pirates and poachers: Fan fiction and the conventions of reading and writing

This article explores what teachers and students can learn about contemporary story‐telling from a study of fan fiction – that is, stories created by readers and viewers out of the canonical material of previously published fictions. Drawing on the example of Pirates of the Caribbean, it investigates ways in which fan fiction writers develop codes and conventions to govern themselves. For example, online litmus tests establish when a writer is self‐indulgently writing ‘Mary Sue’ characters into a story; the self‐styled Protectors of the Plot Continuum patrol the fictional limits of an imagined world to make sure that canonical information is not violated by fan fiction writers. This article makes use of such examples to investigate how quality control in fan fiction is codified, and to explore what teachers can learn from such enterprises about contemporary writing, reading and viewing. It compares these possibilities with issues of online literacy outlined by Henry Jenkins under three headings: the participation gap, the transparency problem, and the ethics challenge.

Living in the Past: The Kelo Court and Public-Private Economic Redevelopment

This Article analyzes the Supreme Court’s most recent foray into redevelopment - the controversial case of Kelo v. City of New London. Over angry dissents by the Court’s conservatives, an unenthusiastic Justice Stevens validated New London’s condemnation of single-family homes for a mixed-use commercial development. The case ignited afirestorm of opposition. Property rights advocates, moving beyond the dissenters’ arguments, introduced legislation in most states and in Congress which would terminate the use of condemnation to assist economic redevelopment for any purpose. This Article critiques both the majority opinion and dissents in light of the modern practice of public private economic redevelopment. It argues that the majority opinion fails to elucidate the economic and social activity involved, and that the facts in Kelo are unrepresentative of modern redevelopment - a productive and necessary cure for land use market failure in center cities. This public-private collaboration catalyzes the revitalization of downtowns, facilitates infill development, and produces much of the nation’s affordable housing. Where such redevelopment requires the use of eminent domain, its exercise is essential against economically motivated owners who refuse to participate in the redevelopment and hold out for untenable prices. The exercise of eminent domain rarely involves condemnation of residential uses, and when so directed, now requires relocation and produces compensation that usually exceeds fair market value. This Article proposes that modern public-private economic redevelopment commingles public and private uses, public and private ownership, and public and private gain in ways that renders inapposite and un-administrable both the majority’s view of land use and the dissenters’ proposed litmus tests for acceptable use of eminent domain. Finally, this Article contends that Justice O’Connor’s dissent clashes inexplicably with principles of deference she herself articulated in the Court’s last pronouncement on redevelopment, that the dissenters’ policy complaints are decades out-of-date, and that the America the Justices would reinstate lies in the irretrievable past.

What’s New about the Politics of Science?

administration of President George W. Bush, the federal government has been providing handsome and steadily increasing dollar support for research and development. In constant 2005 dollars, the federal budget for research and development (RD Transcript of State of the Union Speech, 2006). Yet the news is not all good, especially in public policymaking for areas related to science and technology. Defense has commanded the preponderant proportion of the increase in the federal R&D budget since 2000 (AASS, 2006). The Bush administration persistently censors, distorts, or manipulates policy-relevant scientific information, ignoring or rejecting the advice of authoritative experts in sensitive areas such as global warming and human stem-cell research. It has reportedly subjected potential scientific advisers to political litmus tests, quashing nominations to advisory committees on partisan grounds (Branscomb, 2004: 54). And the president himself has granted intellectual legitimacy

Diagnostics of hydrogen plasma with in situ optical emission and silicon probes

In this work, an approach has been adopted to explore plasma properties by combining an in situ optical emission technique with a contact angle measurement. Hydrogen plasma was generated with a radio-frequency power source. The plasma parameters such as number densities and temperatures were derived from the optical emission spectroscopic data. Small silicon chips were placed at various positions inside a discharge tube as probes for the plasma conditions. The hydrogen-plasma-treated silicon chip surfaces were characterized with the contact angle measurement method. The change of wettability on the silicon surface was observed with various plasma treatment times. The spectroscopic information about the plasma is correlated with the results of the surface characterization. It is found that the rate of the increasing hydrophilicity is sensitive to the amount of helium added and the location in the discharge tube. A simple model describing the relation between the surface coverage area of water droplet and the variation of contact angle has been established. We have proposed plasma excitation and reaction mechanisms for the observed correlation between plasma temperatures and the wettability of the silicon surface. It shows that small silicon chips can serve as “litmus tests” for the plasma conditions without introducing too much perturbation.

Commentary on Nyqvist KH, Sorell A & Ewald U (2005) Litmus tests for verification of feeding tube locations in infants: evaluation of their clinical use. Journal of Clinical Nursing 14, 486–495

Commentary on Nyqvist KH, Sorell A &amp; Ewald U (2005) Litmus tests for verification of feeding tube locations in infants: evaluation of their clinical use. <i>Journal of Clinical Nursing</i> 14, 486–495

Litmus tests for verification of feeding tube location in infants: evaluation of their clinical use

To examine the clinical use of litmus paper tests for the assessment of aspirates in infants. In connection with establishing a programme for home care of infants with requirement of tube feeding with parents as the infants' carers, the need for a research-based method for verification of feeding tube position was identified by nurses as a complement to other methods. In adult care the litmus paper test is commonly used when visual inspection is not sufficient for assessment of aspirates obtained from feeding tubes. Observational study. Nurses performed litmus tests for verification of feeding tube location in a convenience sample of 60 infants born at a gestational age (GA) of 24-42 weeks. Presence/absence and volumes of aspirates were recorded as well as positive/negative litmus test reactions. Analyses on the association between test results and the infants' GA and postmenstrual and postnatal age at the time of the tests were conducted. Data were obtained from 2970 tube feeds. Aspirates were present on 1840 occasions (62%). A higher proportion of infants with absence of aspirates were born at a GA below 32 weeks. A positive reaction occurred in 97% of the tests in volumes between 0.01 and 22 ml. Birth at a GA below 32 weeks and respiratory problems were associated with negative tests. The high ratio of positive litmus reactions at all maturational levels supports the bedside use of analysis of pH in gastric aspirates for verification of feeding tube location. Application of pH indicator paper is recommended as a complementary method for assessment of aspirates from feeding tubes.

Science policy in the USA. Sweeping changes to government science under the Bush administration may have caused long-term damage, scientists fear.

Sweeping changes to government science under the Bush administration may have caused long-term damage, scientists fear

The committee furor and the Certainty Principle

Providing governments with advice on difficult problems, especially those involving environmental quality, is an increasingly serious responsibility for the scientific community. In fulfilling it, we need to make sure that our input is thoughtful and technically capable, and that it reflects judgments uninflected by political or ideological conviction. It is equally important for the government to seek out the most knowledgeable scientific and technical sources for the advice it needs, and to ensure a balance of views from the advisers it chooses. Here in the US, recent actions by the administration regarding federal advisory committees are raising questions, both for government and for scientists. Objections have been raised over the non-renewal of committees that have been important to the nation's health – for example, the National Human Research Protections Advisory Committee, established in 2000 in response to deficiencies in the protection processes for human subjects, and the Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing, appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Continuity is important in both these areas, and it is hard to imagine that these vacancies can be allowed to remain. The advisory committee fuss is not only about cancellation. In an area of great importance to environmental scientists, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee for the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) was subject to almost wholesale replacement – involving 15 out of 18 members. Whenever that sort of things happens, suspicions flourish. Thus it is no surprise that some lively politics are being played out here. Indeed, an editorial by David Michaels and colleagues in the October 2002 issue of Science (Vol 298, p 703) has produced a flood of letters from persons whose service on other scientific advisory committees has been denied because they failed to pass various ideological litmus tests. The concern is understandable, and much is being made of the character and past record of certain individuals among the new members – a natural enough reaction, given the unexpectedly abrupt character of the dismissals. But the scientific community would be mistaken to single out for criticism the past positions and associations of particular individuals. Advisory committees work best when various views are present; balance is important, because it facilitates the kind of understanding that results from debate and compromise. That said, it makes sense to look at the entire roster and reach a judgment about the fairness of its composition – not person by person, but in terms of balance. Some new members of the NCEH committee appear to share a general philosophy of regulation that may be called the Certainty Principle. Whether the topic is beryllium toxicity, climate change, or the carcinogencity of asbestos, the argument runs like this: if there is still some uncertainty, we should withhold regulatory action. That is a recipe for gridlock, because governments have to make decisions about risk even when the data aren't as good as we would like. To be fair, though, the Certainty Principle probably originated as a reaction to the widespread use by the consumer and environmental movements of the Precautionary Principle, an all-purpose argument for wider safety margins. Neither is really a principle. Each is a formula, resting on assumptions about how much protection from risk societies owe their members. Scientists ought to want the NCEH committee in action, along with those FDA advisory committees, and the others. The nation needs them. For every new member who is a habitual defender of the Certainty Principle, there should be an equally informed and persuasive advocate for the Precautionary Principle. After all, convictions about risk and how we should manage it belong in the mix, but only in moderate doses. The majority of members should be scientists who are unswervingly devoted to neither, “principle” but annoyingly persistent about getting more data and doing more analysis. Prof. Donald Kennedy, Editor-in-Chief

The Committee Furor and the Certainty Principle

Providing governments with advice on difficult problems, especially those involving environmental quality, is an increasingly serious responsibility for the scientific community. In fulfilling it, we need to make sure that our input is thoughtful and technically capable, and that it reflects judgments uninflected by political or ideological conviction. It is equally important for the government to seek out the most knowledgeable scientific and technical sources for the advice it needs, and to ensure a balance of views from the advisers it chooses. Here in the US, recent actions by the administration regarding federal advisory committees are raising questions, both for government and for scientists. Objections have been raised over the non-renewal of committees that have been important to the nation's health – for example, the National Human Research Protections Advisory Committee, established in 2000 in response to deficiencies in the protection processes for human subjects, and the Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing, appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Continuity is important in both these areas, and it is hard to imagine that these vacancies can be allowed to remain. The advisory committee fuss is not only about cancellation. In an area of great importance to environmental scientists, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee for the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) was subject to almost wholesale replacement – involving 15 out of 18 members. Whenever that sort of things happens, suspicions flourish. Thus it is no surprise that some lively politics are being played out here. Indeed, an editorial by David Michaels and colleagues in the October 2002 issue of Science (Vol 298, p 703) has produced a flood of letters from persons whose service on other scientific advisory committees has been denied because they failed to pass various ideological litmus tests. The concern is understandable, and much is being made of the character and past record of certain individuals among the new members – a natural enough reaction, given the unexpectedly abrupt character of the dismissals. But the scientific community would be mistaken to single out for criticism the past positions and associations of particular individuals. Advisory committees work best when various views are present; balance is important, because it facilitates the kind of understanding that results from debate and compromise. That said, it makes sense to look at the entire roster and reach a judgment about the fairness of its composition – not person by person, but in terms of balance. Some new members of the NCEH committee appear to share a general philosophy of regulation that may be called the Certainty Principle. Whether the topic is beryllium toxicity, climate change, or the carcinogencity of asbestos, the argument runs like this: if there is still some uncertainty, we should withhold regulatory action. That is a recipe for gridlock, because governments have to make decisions about risk even when the data aren't as good as we would like. To be fair, though, the Certainty Principle probably originated as a reaction to the widespread use by the consumer and environmental movements of the Precautionary Principle, an all-purpose argument for wider safety margins. Neither is really a principle. Each is a formula, resting on assumptions about how much protection from risk societies owe their members. Scientists ought to want the NCEH committee in action, along with those FDA advisory committees, and the others. The nation needs them. For every new member who is a habitual defender of the Certainty Principle, there should be an equally informed and persuasive advocate for the Precautionary Principle. After all, convictions about risk and how we should manage it belong in the mix, but only in moderate doses. The majority of members should be scientists who are unswervingly devoted to neither, “principle” but annoyingly persistent about getting more data and doing more analysis. Prof. Donald Kennedy, Editor-in-Chief

Managing the oil wealth: OPEC's windfalls and pitfalls

A heterogeneous group with shared objectives the framework of analysis OPEC's birth, growing pains and maturity windfall allocation and adjustment policies country report cards cross-country performance the Litmus tests summary of findings.