Social and Ethnic Segregation in Europe: Levels,Causes, and Effects

Abstract: The measurement of segregation, the understanding of its drivers, and the effects of segregation are three interrelated issues that receive ample attention on both sides of the Atlantic. The comparative study of these subjects in Europe is not an easy task because the continent is highly fragmented and diversified. This regards the types of welfare state, but also the multitude of urban histories. Consequently, there is a lack of uniform information. Nevertheless, this paper makes an attempt to sketch the variety of ethnic and social segregation within Europe, using a large number of sources. It is shown that generally segregation levels in Europe are more moderate compared to what we can find in American cities, but these differences are not absolute. The paper also links the levels of segregation with a range of potential explanations and provides a window on European research focusing on effects of segregation.     

Stable Oxygen and Carbon Isotopic Compositions of Lates stappersii Otoliths from Lake Tanganyika,East Africa

In this study, we measured growth trends in oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios in whole sagittal otoliths from three adult centropomid fish (Lates stappersii) from each of three sub-basins of Lake Tanganyika, East Africa. Sampling density was 20 to 50 samples per otolith. Both δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values increase with age. The δ¹⁸O data suggest that otoliths were precipitated near the expected equilibrium with the ambient environment (ca. +3.5‰) and support a migration pattern from surface waters during larval stages to deeper waters (40 to 80 m) for mature fish. Relatively high δ¹⁸O values in the southern sub-basin are consistent with cooler temperatures in the region during seasonal upwelling. The δ13C increase from otolith core to edge is large (up to 4‰) and is interpreted as due to ontogenetic changes in diet and contributions from a decrease in the proportion of respired CO₂ incorporated into otolith carbonate as metabolic rates of the fish dropped with maturity. The data seem to successfully reveal life strategy and migration patterns of L. stappersii, document regional differences in lake conditions, and provide a record of temperature within the water column during which the fish lived. Higher resolution studies and analyses of historical samples could be used to constrain modern and past growth patterns, and to reconstruct past temperature gradients and productivity patterns in the lake.     

Design of recursive digital filters for the selection or rejection of a particular velocity in seismic signals

In this paper a new type of velocity-selecting/rejecting filter which passes or stops a particular event in a seismic signal is proposed. The velocity-selecting filter is based on a time-space band-pass filter with sharp passband for a particular direction, and similarly, the velocity-rejecting filter is based on a time-space band-stop filter. A technique for designing such filters, in terms of an infinite-impulse-response (IIR) filter, is presented, in which a rotated version of separable filter is used. Finally, numerical examples are included to illustrate the design theory.     

How effective is the addition of nanoscaled particles to alumina–magnesia refractory castables?

The addition of nanoscaled alumina and magnesia particles to the matrix of alumina–magnesia refractory castables drastically reduces the residual expansion related to the in situ spinel formation. Nonetheless, as their benefits on other relevant properties have not been reported so far, the effectiveness of such nanoengineering design for castables applied in steel ladles is still uncertain. In the present work, not only the expansion level, but also the corrosion resistance, the hot modulus of rupture and the creep deformation of different nanoparticle-containing castables were evaluated and compared with the results attained by refractory materials designed only by micrometric-scaled Al₂O₃ and MgO. Although the addition of a nanoalumina and nanomagnesia mixture ensured the best results regarding to the expansive behavior, thermo-mechanical and thermo-chemical properties, its performance was only slightly superior to the castable containing micrometric alumina and magnesia particles. Therefore, as the cost–benefit ratio is one of the main requirements for the end users, the nanotechnology use in the refractory production must be previously carefully analyzed.     

Effect of morphology on shear viscosity for binary blends of polycarbonate and polystyrene

The structure and rheological properties of binary blends of polycarbonate (PC) and polystyrene (PS) were investigated using various PS samples with different molecular weights, namely PS1k (M_w = 1,000), PS53k (M_w = 53,000), and PS240k (M_w = 240,000). The blends with PS53k and PS240k show phase-separated structures, whereas the blend with PS1k is miscible. The shear viscosity decreases greatly on addition of PS53k and PS240k, especially at high shear rates, which would be a great advantage at processing operations. Because the nonlinear response occurs in the small strain region for multilayered films of PC and PS240k, the origin of the significant viscosity drop for the phase-separated system is interfacial slippage at the phase boundary.     

Fundamentals and applications on in situ spinel formation mechanisms in Al2O3–MgO refractory castables

Although the physical expansion associated with the in situ formation of magnesium–aluminate spinel (MgAl₂O₄) is well-reported, some questions related to this behavior, such as the different volume change values experimentally attained when compared to theoretical one and the pore generation after the reaction, remain open. Thus, the main objective of this work is to shed some light on these questions by evaluating a cement-bonded alumina–magnesia castables, designed using dead-burnt magnesia of different particle size ranges. Microstructural observations suggested that the faster Mg²⁺ migration during the spinel formation led to vacancy accumulation and, consequently, to pore generation, as a direct result of the Kirkendall effect. Additionally, the overall expansion of alumina–magnesia castables seemed to be ruled by two main factors: its sintering efficiency and the different possibilities of the Al₂O₃ and MgO interactions in the mixture. Those consequences, however, do not usually affect the castable corrosion behavior in industrial applications, due to the benefits imposed by the structural constraint.     

Successful engraftment of unrelated cord blood stem cells for familial erythrophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. Kinki Cord Blood Bank

PURPOSE: To describe a case of Felty syndrome (FS) in a child with (JRA) and review the previous literature on this rare entity. METHODS: Review of clinical data including results of serial blood counts, bone marrow aspirate, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-typing, and abdominal sonography. RESULTS: Serial blood counts over 2 years revealed persistent leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. Bone marrow aspirate showed normal trilineage hematopoiesis, abdominal sonography demonstrated an enlarged spleen, but normal liver and portal circulation. HLA-typing was most significant for positivity of the DR 1 allele. CONCLUSION: This is only the third child, and the first preadolescent, to be reported with FS complicating juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. This condition needs to be considered in the differential diagnosis when leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, or both develop in patients with JRA.     

Characterization of silicon dioxide films on a 4H-SiC Si(0001) face by fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy

We used Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy to characterize silicon dioxide (SiO(2)) films on a 4H-SiC(0001) Si face. We found that the peak frequency of the transverse optical (TO) phonon in SiO(2) films grown on a 4H-SiC substrate agrees well with that in SiO(2) films grown on a Si substrate, whereas the peak frequency of the longitudinal optical (LO) phonon in SiO(2) films on a 4H-SiC substrate is red-shifted by approximately 50 cm(-1) relative to that in SiO(2) films on a Si substrate. We concluded that this red-shift of the LO phonon is mainly caused by a change in inhomogeneity due to a decrease in density in the SiO(2) films. Furthermore, cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy results indicated that the channel mobility of the SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) decreases roughly in proportion to the increase in the intensity of the CL peak at 460 and 490 nm, which is attributed to the increase in the number of oxygen vacancy centers (OVCs). FT-IR and CL spectroscopies provide us with a large amount of data on OVCs in the SiO(2) films on a 4H-SiC substrate.