Early in the history of the field of nuclear science, experiments were performed to ascertain whether the half-lives of the radioactive substances being studied – isotopes then called the “radium emanation” [222Rn], “radium A” [218Po], “radium B” [214Pb], and “radium C” [214Bi] - were dependent upon any external factors. At that time, the external factors deemed most likely to affect half-life were temperature and pressure. After several experiments, designed to pick up any change in half-life in the course of changing temperature or pressure, had failed to find any significant changes, it was concluded that half-life does not depend on the physical properties of external environment. And that was the state of the field for a long time - for almost 100 years, in fact. Fairly recently, however, half-life measurements were recorded, and published, that seemed to show a change in half-life at the few percent level for certain radioactive nuclides which were exposed to extremes of temperature - thus challenging the long-held belief in the unchangeability of half-lives. In addition to half-life changes caused by temperature change, other experiments seemed to find half-life changes caused by other external influences, including the chemical environment of the decaying radioactive nuclide, and even the distance between Earth and the Sun at the time of the half-life measurement. In this study we present evidence that the initial beliefs in the immutability of radioactive half-life (with the exception of a few nuclides decaying by electron capture whose orbital electrons are involved in both the decay and also in the chemical bonding of those nuclides) is indeed correct; we have done this by performing precise half-life measurements on the β− emitter 198Au, the EC emitter 97Ru, and on the β− emitter 198Au when sited in gold(III) oxide, Au2O3, (an insulator for practical purposes). We have performed various experiments designed to detect any half-life change at the level of a few parts in 10^4 due to change in temperature, physical environment, or the Earth-Sun distance. In these experiments, we have found no significant half-life change due to any of these external factors. These results represent the most accurate demonstrations of the immutability of radioactive half-life change ever made.

<p> The abstract is not available from PDF copy and paste.</p>

<p> Abstract The proclamation of the <i>Universal Declaration of Human Rights</i> by the United Nations on December 10, 1948 gave birth to the contemporary human rights movement. Despite the worldwide influence the idea of human rights has enjoyed, the concept of human rights has been plagued by a number of criticisms. Among the most pervasive and persistent criticisms of human rights are that they represent an individualist viewpoint, and they are a relative product of Western society that are hardly universal. One purpose of this dissertation is to challenge these criticisms. However, in recent decades the idea of human rights has been expanded past its original individual focus to incorporate the idea of collective, or group rights. The juxtaposition of universal, individual rights with particular, collective rights raises anew the issues of individualism and universalism in the human rights debate. In this dissertation, I compare the work of the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain, the Peruvian theologian Gustavo Guti&eacute;rrez, and the American philosopher Martha Nussbaum in order to yield a contextually sensitive natural law approach to human rights that will serve as a common justificatory basis for individual and collective human rights. This common justificatory basis is capable of addressing the questions of individualism and universalism generated by the theoretical tensions generated by the juxtaposition of the <i>Universal Declaration of Human Rights</i> (1948), which enshrines individual, universal rights, and the more recent <i>United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</i> (2007), which enshrines more particularistic, group rights.</p>

<p> This thesis aims to determine the effectiveness of the largest corporate social responsibility initiative, the United Nations Global Compact, in the protection of human rights by businesses. Certain scholars critique the Compact's human rights principles and voluntary aspect while others support it. The main critique is that the principles fail to provide adequate direction to businesses. However, my assertion is that the voluntary initiative's human rights principles are effective. I have relied on secondary literature in analyzing the paths of a number of signatory businesses, each from differing sectors, in addressing human rights. It appears that the vagueness of the principles serves a purpose for businesses of different industry types and contexts. In other words, my originally proposed thesis was strengthened after examining how various signatory businesses have sought to support human rights. Rather than turning the principles into a highly structured code of conduct for all businesses as the critics have argued, I argue that the principles should remain general and that more detailed direction must be developed for each individual business according to industry type, geographical location, size, and other particular circumstances.</p>

<p> Using historical case studies I demonstrate that in the post-1494 European states-system, alliances could be formed to address the problem created by the presence of a potential hegemon only if there was a great power to coordinate and finance opposition to the challenger. This state's undertakings, as coordinator and financier, played a necessary but not sufficient role providing the means needed to address the collective action problem which, most of the times, interfered with the formation of an alliance. Not all states can fulfill the function of systemic coordinator. Only a great power with high levels of wealth and security, with spare resources to spend on allies, and with its political elite sharing the same foreign policy's goal--to contain or defeat the challenger--can be a coordinating state. It was only when there was an active coordinator in the European system that alliances were formed to deal with the destabilizing presence of a systemic challenger. Yet, the mere presence of an alliance never guaranteed that the challenger would not win. It was only when there was a coordinator with the capacity to provide directly and indirectly high amounts of additional-military-capacity that the alliance was successful. The amount of additional-military-capacity available is the result of the interaction of two independent variables, the amount of spare resources used by the leader of the coordinating state, and this leader's level of skills. The two-step model I build goes against the deterministic element located at the heart of the balance of power theory. Alliances were not necessarily formed and victorious as the theory states. It was the presence of a coordinator which made this double outcome possible. With the addition of the coordinator model, the balance of power theory becomes a powerful analytical tool at the disposal of IR specialists and statesmen.</p>

Thèse (M.A.)--Université de Sherbrooke (Canada), 2008. / Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 1 février 2007). In ProQuest dissertations and theses. Publié aussi en version papier.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 176-185).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of History, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 14, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-12, Section: A, page: 4826. Adviser: Michael C. Grossberg.

This thesis aims to provide a comprehensive investigation of the reformed British militia between its reconstitution in 1852 and its abolition (and replacement by the Special Reserve) in 1908, addressing one of the major remaining gaps in our understanding of the auxiliary forces of this period. The post-1852 militia has generally been overshadowed by its eighteenth and early nineteenth century predecessor, and of the few major works that do examine the force after its reform, most do so as part of broader studies examining it from the point of view of the regular army, or as an epilogue to a much broader study of the militia of the earlier period, or the wider amateur military tradition as a whole. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to provide the first dedicated study of the reformed British militia in recent years. It will move beyond the limited ‘top-down’ approach characteristic of many works examining the wider Victorian army and instead tap into a more recent methodological trend which utilises a range of national and local archival material to examine the nuances of what remained a locally organised force. It will examine not just the role of the militia and the way in which it was organised, but also study the nature and composition of its officer corps, its rank and file, and will investigate areas which have been hitherto largely ignored such as the way discipline was maintained in what remained an amateur force. It will conclude with an examination of the militia’s unprecedented service during the South African War before going onto examine the process by which the militia was ultimately abolished and replaced by the Special Reserve (and ask whether or not this represented a moment of continuity, or an outright break with the past.) This study rejects the idea that during this period the militia largely became ‘an anachronistic auxiliary’ to the regular army. There can be no doubt that it became increasingly centralised under the control of the War Office and that it also provided a vital role as a source of both officers and men for the regular army. Yet by looking at a mix of both national and local archival material, a more nuanced picture emerges. Several units managed to retain a degree of organisational independence and a social distinctiveness from the wider army. Furthermore, many of the reforms which altered the organisation of the force had important benefits. Compared to the 1850s and 1860s, during which the newly reconstituted force was forced to yield to the exigencies of the regular army, the militia of the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s was arguably better trained, better equipped and quantitatively stronger than during the preceding decades.

Examines the historiographical and practical problems of using newspapers in historical research. Studies the methods of different types of professional and non-professional historians, to evaluate the value of newspapers as historical documents and the problems particular to them. Examines the difficulties associated with newspapers in library collections from both the perspectives of newspaper users and custodians. Seeks to provide recommendations for both groups to facilitate the use of newspapers. The research adopted essentially qualitative methods. Using questionnaires and interviews, the opinions and experiences of historians in Wales were studied. Case studies of newspaper collections in Wales were undertaken to examine current policies and strategies at a local level. The research was also undertaken with collaboration from the British Library Newspaper Library and with specific reference to the work of the NEWSPLAN project. Concludes that newspapers are an important source for all manner of historical enquiries, but that historians often require further guidance in order to search, use and evaluate them. Different patterns of use were observed among different types of historians. Also suggests that newspapers are unlike other historical documents, because of their nature and role in society. Specific techniques are provided to assist the historian using newspapers. The use of newspapers is also shaped by the policies and strategies of both local and national newspaper collections. Thus, guidelines and recommendations are provided to assist these organisations. Further work is urged, to understand the needs of historians and the specific problems that newspapers present, following the five million pound Heritage Lottery Fund Award for the NEWSPLAN project in March 1999.