Massive Support Research Articles

The 10th Volkskammer of the GDR – Just a keen student or a parliament with its own culture?

The last parliament of the GDR, the 10. Volkskammer, existed only from March to October 1990 and was undoubtedly different from those in other eastern European communist countries. This had to do with its special situation as the parliament of one half of a former united nation. After the victory of the conservatives in the election of March 1990 it was clear that the majority of voters wanted unification with West Germany according to Art. 23 of the German Constitution and as quickly as possible. This meant reunification by accession of the GDR to the Federal Republic. It was the Volkskammer’s main task to organize this process. Given that the 400 newly elected MPs were completely unexperienced following the model of the German Bundestag was probably the only way to be able to tackle the problems they were faced with. But this meant too that there was little room and no time to develop own solutions to their problems. Critics saw the massive support by West German political parties and institutions as a form of colonization. And a lot of MPs too were highly critical of their work. A feeling of lack of influence and powerlessness was widespread. But, as the example of the reintroduction of the five Länder shows, both sides could pull in the same direction too.This article tries to answer the question whether this parliament was only an assiduous student of its West German master or despite the circumstances able to develop its own culture and its own pace.

Turkey: Presidential Elections, 2014

The first direct presidential election in Turkey is remarkable because of the thin margin with which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected against the expectations of a massive support. It marks beginning of a new era in Turkish politics indicating widespread discontentment and fear regarding the policies of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). On the other hand, the ruling party has retained its support among conservatives, business, and middle classes, especially in Anatolia region. However, the rise of new political forces in the 2015 general elections that failed to give a clear majority to any group should force the AKP to rethink over its policies, particularly the rising concern of authoritarian behavior and appropriation of power. Further, concerns over crackdown of media and dissent and growing instances of violation of human rights may lead to a backlash from the electorate. The AKP government has also come in from criticism for its handling of the Syrian crisis and its action against Syrian Kurds may turn the fragile peace achieved with its own Kurdish population.

Mixing metaphors: Building infrastructure for large scale school turnaround

The purpose of this analysis is to increase understanding of the possibilities and challenges of building educational infrastructure—the basic, foundational structures, systems, and resources—to support large-scale school turnaround. Building educational infrastructure often exceeds the capacity of schools, districts, and state education agencies and, thus, requires collaborating with “lead turnaround partners” with specialized capabilities for such work. However, there is little research to guide the selection or operation of lead turnaround partners. The analysis uses a descriptive case study of one organization with success operating as a lead turnaround partner (Success for All) to develop a framework to guide the selection of lead turnaround partners, support their operations, and structure further research. While base level achievement gains can be realized within 3 years, the analysis suggests that fully establishing school-level infrastructure is estimated conservatively as a 7 years process, and fully establishing system-level infrastructure has been an on-going, 40 year process. The analysis suggests a strong need to balance the rhetorical urgency of “turnaround” with the understanding that building educational infrastructure to improve large numbers of underperforming schools will likely require massive, sustained technical, financial, policy, and political support.

Les perceptions locales de la participation communautaire à la santé au Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso has been implementing a strategy of community participation in the health system for several years.The main objective of this strategy is to involve people in the decision-making process in order to improve the use of health services and to encourage massive support of communities for health promotion activities. Empirical data indicate a low involvement of communities in activities designed to promote participation. This article aims to identify the perceptions of local people in relation to community participation in health. The study was conducted in the Tenkodo go health district, located in the administrative region of East-Center, about 190 km from the capital. This exclusively qualitative study used two data collection methods: individual interviews and focus groups. Data were collected in two health areas. The results show that communities have negative perceptions on the community participation in health strategy,which is perceived by the majority as a mechanism of exploitation of the population by health workers and members of health center management committees. These negatives perceptions of the participation strategy have a negative impact on the behaviour of communities,reflected by the very low participation rate in community activities.Urgent action is needed to revitalize the existing participation mechanisms.

La convención de las discordias: Ocaña, 1828

Constituent congresses in pro-independence Spanish America were generally meetings that declared or ratified the existence of new States. In this sense, it can be said that they were basically characterized by the convergence of opinions and by the quest for unanimity. For that reasonl, when the agreements reached began to disintegrate, they naturally resorted to the procedure of convening a new constituent body to repair the fissures and ward off the threats of dissolution. But how were they to resolve irreconcilable differences? And what happened if, instead of settling the most heated disputes, all hope of compromise finally vanished and the corps of deputies failed in their essential mission? By analyzing the Ocana Convention of 1928, the failure of which had a great deal to do with the final dissolution of the Republic of Colombia (1819-1831), this text poses such questions and seeks to analyze the moment in which the constituent assemblies became milestones for political boundaries and prepared the way for civil war. It does so by making use of the documentation available in the Archivo General de la Nacion (AGN) and systematically confronting it with French and Chilean diplomatic sources. The article also seeks to challenge the widely disseminated idea of massive and spontaneous support of the Colombian peoples for the dictatorship of Bolivar.

'Sic transit gloria mundi': Gallipoli, a centenary reflection.

'Sic transit gloria mundi': Gallipoli, a centenary reflection.

Reconceiving SNAP

Since its creation, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has changed from an antihunger program to an income-supplementation program. Because the program (and its predecessor Food Stamp Program) was not designed for this purpose, the result is a program that has many unintended and, many believe, negative effects. The key challenge is to modernize a massive income support program that started as a small food assistance program. The author proposes an effort to rationalize the current patchwork of programs that make up the U.S. safety net—in a way that balances what looks to be long-term weak demand for labor with the need to minimize the work and marriage disincentives in current law.

Feasibility Assessment of the Implementation of Solar and Wind Energy Technologies in the Current Context of Iran-Case Study: Kerman

One of the most important issues in various energy issues is to decrease fossil fuel energy usage and promote renewable energies in developing countries. Iran as a developing country began exploiting renewable resources from the early 1990s. This paper investigates the financial viability of renewable energy technologies in Kerman, which is located in the hot and dry parts of Iran and has a high potential of solar and wind energy. First the potential for solar and wind energy sources are studied and afterwards through two quantitative methods, the cost of this implementation is compared to the benefits gained. The results prove that without a massive financial support by the government, renewable energies would not be economically feasible to be implemented into private households.

Longwall chock sudden closure incident below coal pillar of adjacent upper mined coal seam under shallow cover in the Shendong coalfield

The Shendong coalfield is characterized with shallow cover depth and multi coal seams that are closely distributed. A number of longwall (LW) faces are in operation in the second coal seam. Due to the geological disturbances and different deployments of LW panels, a large number of coal pillars were left in the overlying extracted coal seam. Massive LW chock support failure incidents (e.g. sudden closure and hydraulic cylinder damage) occurred when the LW face of the lower coal seam cut across below the coal pillars of the upper coal seam. Through conducting stability analysis of key blocks above coal pillars, the mechanism involved was revealed and the roles that two key factors (depth of cover of the overlying coal pillar, and inter-burden thickness) played in the process were investigated. It is believed that the rotation and motion of the key blocks of roof strata above coal pillar have the potential to make the overlying stress concentrated at coal pillars. The high compressive stress is very likely to be transferred to the inter-burden and LW chocks. Hence redirecting the stress and/or reducing the capability of stress transfer of coal pillars become the primary consideration for developing a solution. A method of pre-advancing a roadway through the upper coal pillar was proposed to induce it to fail prior to LW face exiting the coal pillar. The proposed solution was subsequently applied to LW22303 of the Bulianta coal mine, Shendong coalfield, and achieved substantial benefits.

Sliding weight supports for W7-X magnet system: structural aspects

The Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) stellarator is presently under commissioning at the Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik in Greifswald. The coil system consisting of 70 superconducting coils of seven different types is supported by a massive central support structure (CSS), and thermally protected by the cryostat. The magnet system weight is borne by supports which are bolted to the cold CSS. These ten so-called cryo-legs penetrate through the cryostat wall to the warm machine base. The design of the cryo-legs incorporates glass-reinforced plastic tubes to guarantee relatively small thermal conductivity. In order to ensure free thermal shrinkage of the magnet system and to reduce stresses in the cryo-legs, sliding and rotating bearings are used as interfaces to the machine base. Tie-rods between the machine base and the warm ends of the cryo-legs prevent toroidal rotation of the magnet system, as well as any other horizontal shifts due to asymmetric loads. The assembly of the magnet system introduced some vertical imperfections in the cryo-leg positions causing considerable additional internal stresses which were not considered during the design stage. In addition, originally not planned trim coils induce unsymmetrical cyclic loads. Therefore, the previously used method to analyse one magnet system module with periodical boundary conditions is not applicable. Consequently, a model of the complete magnet system, including all five modules, was created and analysed. Fatigue analyses of the cryo-legs under the new cyclic loads, applied on top of the approximately 100 t static weight, have been performed in order to evaluate the lifetime. The paper presents the progress in structural analyses of the W7-X magnet system under the as-built conditions, loads due to the trim coil operation, and results of the weight support fatigue analysis.

Brazil's Rendition of the 'Responsibility to Protect' Doctrine: Promising or Stillborn Diplomatic Proposal?

Brazil has actively participated in the debate around the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P) doctrine. More recently, Brazil has even proposed what it believes to be a new approach—the ‘Responsibility while Protecting’ (RwP) corollary to R2P. By launching its own rendition for R2P, Brazil has attempted to reinforce the role of the UN Security Council in two different ways: First, in restricting the use of force on the grounds of ‘Responsibility to Protect,’ which, according to Brazilian diplomatic reasoning, would hinge upon a multilateral assessment of the situation — a condition expected to considerably diminish the arbitrariness in decision making with respect to the use of force. Second, Brazil aimed to highlight the necessity of reform in the UNSC, since, from a Brazilian viewpoint, the decisions of this organ must be representative in order to discharge new tasks assigned to it. Notwithstanding, Brazil's diplomatic proposal has arguably failed to gain massive support from the countries that compose the UN Security Council political establishment and seems now to be forgotten. This paper aims to provide an account on the Brazilian reaction to “Responsibility to Protect” and its first consequences.

Anticoagulant Managements of Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation in Two Patients with Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT): Use of Argatroban as an Anticoagulant for Cardiopulmonary Bypass

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) can cause fatal arterial or venous thrombosis/thromboembolism. In high-risk cases, heparin should be immediately discontinued and an alternative administered; the only alternative permitted in Japan is argatroban, a direct thrombin inhibitor. Anticoagulation in patients with recent HIT requiring cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) surgery is challenging, because it is sometimes difficult to find out appropriate dosage of argatroban using ACT based monitoring calculation. Two dilated cardiomyopathy patients with HIT were administered argatroban as the anticoagulant for the CPB in left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. After discontinuing argatroban, blood coagulopathy persisted beyond its expected half-life, leading to abnormal haemostasis. Because of severe intraoperative and postoperative bleeding, both patients required massive transfusion support, despite the case 2 performed plasmapheresis to eliminate argatroban at the weaning from CPB. However, blood loss in case 2 (18,159 ml) was significantly lower than that in case 1 (31,292 ml), which might be contributed by the smaller dosage of argatroban (242 mg in case 2 vs. 489 mg in case 1) and plasmapheresis. Prolongation of ACT is multifactorial and affected by platelet count, fibrinogen concentration and, particularly total dose of argatroban. Furthermore, literatures and our experienses revealed that the recovery time to baseline ACT after stopping argatroban was significantly correlated with the total dose of argatroban (r=0.927). But, we could not authenticate the potency of plasmapheresis to eliminate argatroban and HIT antibodies. Because no specific antidotes are available for argatroban, surgical teams should carefully monitor timing of argatroban administration and the total dosage.

BRAZIL'S RENDITION OF THE 'RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT' DOCTRINE: PROMISING OR STILLBORN DIPLOMATIC PROPOSAL?

Brazil has actively participated in the debate around the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P) doctrine. More recently, Brazil has even proposed what it believes to be a new approach—the ‘Responsibility while Protecting’ (RwP) corollary to R2P. By launching its own rendition for R2P, Brazil has attempted to reinforce the role of the UN Security Council in two different ways: First, in restricting the use of force on the grounds of ‘Responsibility to Protect,’ which, according to Brazilian diplomatic reasoning, would hinge upon a multilateral assessment of the situation — a condition expected to considerably diminish the arbitrariness in decision making with respect to the use of force. Second, Brazil aimed to highlight the necessity of reform in the UNSC, since, from a Brazilian viewpoint, the decisions of this organ must be representative in order to discharge new tasks assigned to it. Notwithstanding, Brazil's diplomatic proposal has arguably failed to gain massive support from the countries that compose the UN Security Council political establishment and seems now to be forgotten. This paper aims to provide an account on the Brazilian reaction to “Responsibility to Protect” and its first consequences.

Foreign Bank Behavior During Financial Crises

Several European countries face challenges reminiscent of those faced by the emerging economies of Latin America. The economic booms in some peripheral Euro-zone countries financed by large capital inflows; the credit and asset price booms and then the busts including Sudden Stops in capital flows; the strong interaction between sovereign debt and domestic banking systems; the role of foreign banks and contagion; and all in the context of a fixed exchange rate, are familiar plotlines for Latin American audiences. For those Euro-zone countries that built up large Euro-denominated external liabilities, Latin America's experience is particularly relevant and worrisome. Still, Europe may be in a better position to navigate a path out of the crisis given cooperative mechanisms that were absent in Latin America, particularly the availability of massive liquidity support. Nonetheless, while such support buys time, it does not guarantee success. This paper argues that reflecting on Latin America's experience provides useful lessons for Europe to improve the chances for a successful resolution.

From 1.5 Meters to 10.4 Meters in 20 Years: Technological Evolution at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in the Development of Infrared Instrumentation for Terrestrial Telescopes

This paper reviews the evolution of the technical development of infrared instrumentation for terrestrial telescopes at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). The three most representative instruments, CAIN (installed on the 1.5 m Carlos Sánchez Telescope), LIRIS (on the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope), and EMIR (on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias) are described and compared. Each project entailed an improvement and a technological advance in relation to its predecessor. Larger optical beams brought larger lenses, larger mechanisms to hold them, stiffer and more massive support structures, and a scale factor upgrade of their cryostats. The evolution of infrared projects has been closely linked to the development of the manufacturing, assembly, integration and verification facilities at the IAC and has also had a strong influence on management techniques. As an indication of the growth in complexity of projects over time, this paper highlights the framework of available human resources, established consortia, timing and costs associated with the three instruments.

The position of agriculture in the Russian Federation - the last two decades development overview

The paper provides an analysis of the last two decades Russian agricultural sector development. The main objective of the paper is to highlight the main changes which occurred. The paper is also identifying the role of agriculture in the Russian economy and society development. On the basis of the results coming from the paper, it is possible to characterize the Russian agriculture as follows. After a significant decline in the early 90s and the long process of transformation, the Russian economy including agricultural sector is starting to recover and it is stabilizing. The slowdown of the Russian agricultural performance was stopped (the millstone is the year 2000). At present, the Russian agrarian sector is under the process of recovery especially because of the massive state support (market protection and subsidies coming into agriculture). Agriculture is an important part of the Russian economy. Russia is characterized by large areas of agricultural land, one third of its population lives in the rural areas. The Russian Federation produces many of agricultural products and foodstuffs. However, the country is not self-sufficient in many products. The highest level of the import dependence is observed for meat, vegetables and fruits. Primary products dominate in the structure of Russian exports. Food and agricultural products amount for about only 2% of the Russian total export. The share of agricultural products in the Russian import is more significant and it amounts to 14%. However, in 2000s, there is a significant growth of the foreign trade turnover due to the expansion of both imports and exports. Currently, Russia is seeking not only to achieve a high level of self-sufficiency in basic agricultural products, but also it is trying to be a significant driver in the area of the international trade in agricultural products and foodstuffs.  

The Demand for Landed Property as Collateral for Loan Facilities and its Impact on Small Enterprises’ Investment Drive

One of the biggest constraints in developing countries, as far as investment by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is concerned, is finance. They (SMEs) often cite difficult access to finance as an important constraint on their operations. For starters the problem is often seed capital whilst that of established enterprises is working capital as well as finance for expansion. The last resort, in most cases, for most of these needy investors and prospective investors is often to borrow from financial institutions. Financial institutions, however in granting the credit required, would normally demand some form of security for the repayment of the money loaned. One of such securities often demanded by financial institutions (especially in developing countries such as Ghana) is landed property. This study “The Demand for Landed Property as Collateral for Loan Facilities and its Impact on Small Enterprises’ Investment Drive” examines the issues associated with the demand for and the use of landed property as collateral by financial institutions and SMEs respectively and the impact of this requirement on investment drive in Wa Municipality of Ghana. The study revealed that small enterprises’ ability (ownership of landed property) to meet the requirement of landed property as collateral varies significantly from their willingness to mortgage their property. Fewer SMEs are able to meet the requirement than those who cannot. There was however, massive support for the requirement. The requirement was found to impact negatively on the investment drive of SMEs. The findings are based on a sample of 302 respondents made up of all (7) financial institutions in the Municipality that accept landed property as collateral and 205 SMEs identified as legal and successful and therefore potential candidates for bank financing.

Porosity: Networking Cities for a Changing Climate

On October 28th 2013 Hurricane Sandy hit land on the East Coast of the United States. The deadliest storm to hit the country since 2005 it caused tens of billions of dollars in damage, destroyed thousands of homes, left millions without electric service, and caused 117 deaths in the United States, including 53 in New York, making Sandy the most life costly hurricane to hit the United States mainland since Hurricane Katrina. In all an estimated 186 people were killed across the United States, the Caribbean, and Canada. In the immediate aftermath of the storm not only did the emergency services, state and federal government implement emergency plans of action, including both direct intervention on the ground and massive financial support, so too did a number of charities, community and residents groups across the US. One of the most surprising of these groups was what became known as Occupy Sandy. As noted by the Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute: “Within hours of Sandy’s landfall, members from the Occupy Wall Street movement used social media to tap the wider Occupy network for volunteers and aid. Overnight, a volunteer army of young, educated, tech-savvy individuals with time and a desire to help others emerged. In the days, weeks, and months that followed, “Occupy Sandy” became one of the leading humanitarian groups providing relief to survivors across New York City and New Jersey. At its peak, it had grown to an estimated 60,000 volunteers—more than four times the number deployed by the American Red Cross.” What this phenomenon clearly demonstrates is the potential for digital networking to improve response to catastrophic storm events at a community level. Far from being solely a question of material support and logistics, the response to the disaster was one equally definable as digital. Pointing to the possible rethinking of issues around the extreme and localised consequences of climate change and responses to it in purely traditional infrastructural terms, the social media focused organisation of Occupy Sandy potentially offers us a new frame of reference to deal with these, and less catastrophic issues around climate change and our response to it. This paper provides a discussion of the projected impacts of global environmental change in urban environments in the United States, with a particular focus on their impact on existing storm and sanitary water infrastructure. However, it theorizes a new approach to this archaic system of infrastructure that exploits social networking tools and digital technologies to build greater networks for climate change resilience across the United States and, by extension, elsewhere.

Does massive funding support of researchers work?: Evaluating the impact of the South African research chair funding initiative

In this study we evaluate whether a substantial increase in public funding to researchers is associated with a material difference in their productivity. We compare performance measures of researchers who were granted substantial funding against researchers with similar scholarly standing who did not receive such funding. We find that substantial funding is associated with raised researcher performance – though the increase is moderate, is strongly conditional on the quality of the researcher who receives the funding, and is greater in some disciplines than others. Moreover the cost per additional unit of output is such as to raise questions about the usefulness of the funding model. The implication is that public research funding will be more effective in raising research output where selectivity of recipients of funding is strongly conditional on the established track record of researchers.

Central Bank Support Coalitions

The Federal Reserve's ideological in Congress is not constant but changes over time with the mandate that it is pursuing. When the Federal Reserve (Fed) is fighting inflation, the Right supports it and the Left attacks it. But when the Fed's primary focus shifts to recession and high unemployment, the coalitions reverse and the Left supports the while the Right attacks it. A second complementary influence involves the Fed's foreign operations. I argue that the Fed's massive support for foreign central banks during the recent crisis further alienated the Right for anti-globalization reasons, compounding the ideological effect arising from the Fed's focus on unemployment. I evaluate these arguments in two ways. First, I analyze all congressional proposals since 1973 to increase oversight of the to see if opponents (identified as proposal sponsors and co-sponsors), move from Left to Right as the moves from fighting inflation to fighting unemployment. The results strongly support this conditional conjecture. Second, I examine roll-call voting on Ron Paul’s 2012 Audit the Fed bill, finding that the Fed's congressional support coalition is now solidly left-wing, with attacks emanating from the Right. This is due to a combination of monetary conditions – reducing unemployment is the Fed's current priority – and the Right's antipathy to the Fed's global activities.