Beyond Abrahamism : a fresh reading of the Tanakh traditions respecting Lot, Moab and Ammon

At the heart of this study is my interest in the way in which a religious community establishes its sense of identity and its boundaries in relation to other groups. I explore the case of Israel's attitude towards her eastern neighbours, the Moabites and Ammonites, as portrayed in Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible. Most commentary from the last one hundred years privileges one particular view of Moab and Ammon as traditional enemies of Israel. I aim to show the validity of readings of the biblical accounts that reveal a more complex relationship between Israel and her neighbours. Tanakh exhibits a dialectic between eirenic and hostile viewpoints. The stories of Abraham and Lot, who are presented as ancestors of Israel and of Moab and Ammon, to some degree represent Israel’s understanding of her neighbours. Conventional commentaries take for granted the accepted orthodoxy of Judaism, Christianity and Islam concerning Abraham and his significance in terms of faith and righteousness and blessing and covenant. As none of these notions is specifically linked to Lot at any point, he is treated as a pathetic figure and remains secondary in conventional commentary. Many commentaries denigrate the character of Lot, often in direct comparisons with Abraham. My reading of the texts of Genesis attempts to free the story of Lot from the constraints imposed by the way the story of Abraham functions. A careful reading of the Genesis account shows that Lot and Abraham exhibit similar elements of moral ambiguity, and Genesis contains no statement that condemns Lot on moral or religious grounds. Genesis 19, the single narrative in which Lot appears independently of Abraham, participates in the dialectic elsewhere in Tanakh. On the basis of a consistent pattern of action and speech throughout the first portion of Genesis 19, I advance my own original conception of the eirenic viewpoint of the narrator concerning Lot and his relationship to the divine. I attempt to demonstrate ways in which the story of Lot critiques or deconstructs the dominant ideology centred upon Abraham. My conception of the particular interests of the compiler of Genesis 19 is supported by several intertextual studies. These include the traditions of Sodom and of Zoar, the story of hospitality in Judges 19, the story of the deluge (Genesis 6-9) and stories of women who, like Lot’s daughters, act to continue the family line. In a treatment of the history of Lot traditions, I find evidence to separate the story of Lot from the work of the Yahwist. I consider whether the stories of Lot have a derivation east of the Jordan and whether the stories were of particular interest to the Deuteronomists. In the final chapter of this study, I focus on the main themes of the narratives concerning Lot and Abraham, and Moab and Ammon and Israel. The question of social boundaries arises in regard to many of these themes, such as the interaction of female and male, the role of wealth, the relation of city and country, kinship, and rights to land settlement. In this way, the treatment of Lot and Abraham in Tanakh and in subsequent traditions offers a perspective upon the formation of identity in the contemporary world of religious plurality.

Foucauldian analysis and 'the best interests of the child'

In this thesis I have developed a theoretical framework using Michel Foucault’s metaphor of the panopticon and applied the resulting discursive methodology to prominent risk assessment texts in Tasmanian Government child protection services. From the analysis I have developed an innovation poststructural practice of discursive empathy for use in child protection social work. Previous research has examined discourses such as madness, mothering, the family and masculinity using Foucault’s ideas and argued that each is a performance of social government. However my interest is in ‘the best interests of the child’ as governmentality; risk as the apparatus through which it is conducted and child abuse its social effect. In applying a discursive analysis, practices of risk assessment are therefore understood to actually produce intellectual and material conditions favourable to child abuse, rather than protect children from maltreatment. The theoretical framework produces in this thesis incorporates three distinct components of Foucault’s interpretive analytics of power: archaeology, genealogy and ethics. These components provide a structure for discourse analysis that is also a coherent methodical practice of Foucault’s notion of ‘parrhesia’. The practice of parrhesia involves social workers recognised that social power is subjectively dispersed yet also hierarchical. Using this notion I have analysed ‘the best interest of the child’ as a panopticon and argued that child abuse is a consequence. This thesis therefore demonstrates how child protection social workers can expose the political purpose involved in the discourse ‘the best interests of the child’, and in doing so challenge the hostile intellectual and material conditions that exist for children in our community. In concluding, I identify how discursive empathy is a readily accessible skill that social workers can use to practice parrhesia in a creative way.

Fast recovery from node compromise in wireless sensor networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are susceptible to a wide range of security attacks in hostile environments due to the limited processing and energy capabilities of sensor nodes. Consequently, the use of WSNs in mission critical applications requires reliable detection and fast recovery from these attacks. While much research has been devoted to detecting security attacks, very little attention has been paid yet to the recovery task. In this paper, we present a novel mechanism that is based on dynamic network reclustering and node reprogramming for recovering from node compromise. In response to node compromise, the proposed recovery approach reclusters the network excluding compromised nodes; thus allowing normal network operation while initiating node recovery procedures. We propose a novel reclustering algorithm that uses 2-hop neighbourhood information for this purpose. For node reprogramming we propose the modified Deluge protocol. The proposed node recovery mechanism is both decentralized and scalable. Moreover, we demonstrate through its implementation on a TelosB-based sensor network testbed that the proposed recovery method performs well in a low-resource WSN.

Ozbot and haptics : remote surveillance to physical presence

This paper reports on robotic and haptic technologies and capabilities developed for the law enforcement and defence community within Australia by the Centre for Intelligent Systems Research (CISR). The OzBot series of small and medium surveillance robots have been designed in Australia and evaluated by law enforcement and defence personnel to determine suitability and ruggedness in a variety of environments. Using custom developed digital electronics and featuring expandable data busses including RS485, I2C, RS232, video and Ethernet, the robots can be directly connected to many off the shelf payloads such as gas sensors, x-ray sources and camera systems including thermal and night vision. Differentiating the OzBot platform from its peers is its ability to be integrated directly with haptic technology or the 'haptic bubble' developed by CISR. Haptic interfaces allow an operator to physically 'feel' remote environments through position-force control and experience realistic force feedback. By adding the capability to remotely grasp an object, feel its weight, texture and other physical properties in real-time from the remote ground control unit, an operator's situational awareness is greatly improved through Haptic augmentation in an environment where remote-system feedback is often limited.

63Cu NMR investigation of effect of small additions of Sn to Al-1.7 at.%Cu in promoting accelerated phase transformations on aging

Very recently 63Cu NMR has been shown to be extremely sensitive in detecting and differentiating between the precipitate phases that form in Al-Cu alloys during heat treatment. This technique is now used to quantify the effectiveness of small additions of Sn to the alloy Al-1.7 at.% Cu in promoting the rapid nucleation and growth of the θ'-phase precipitate. Two parallel series of 63Cu NMR spectra were recorded for Al-1.7 at.% Cu and Al-1.7 at.% Cu-0.01 at.% Sn: (i) aged at 130° C to observe the comparative rate of phase evolution and (ii) aged at 200° C to observe the rate of growth of θ'-phase and to compare with the Vickers hardness of the alloys aged at 200° C for similar periods. Evidence is presented that a metastable precursor phase to θ' (labelled TPHM2757math001) is formed in Al-Cu-Sn which transforms to θ' on further aging.

On the role of cyclic unsaturated additives on the behaviour of lithium metal electrodes in ionic liquid electrolytes

Three cyclic vinyl based additives, based respectively on oxygen, sulphur and fluorine, are tested for their ability to improve the cycling of lithium in a hostile ionic liquid medium. Oxygen based vinylene carbonate is found to offer the best protection of the lithium metal whilst allowing very consistent lithium cycling to occur. The vinylene carbonate based system under study is, however, imperfect. Lithium metal is deposited in a dendritic morphology, and vinylene carbonate is rapidly consumed during lithium cycling if it is present in a small quantity. Our results suggest that ionic liquid systems critically relying on a small amount of additive to protect a lithium electrode are not viable for long cycle life secondary batteries. It is suggested that an ionic liquid which itself is lithium metal compatible be used instead.

The identification of sexual and violent motivations in men who assault women : implication for treatment

A qualitative analysis of interview data with 41 rapists determined that five implicit theories (ITs) underlie rapists’ offense supportive beliefs/feelings/motives: (a) dangerous world (DW)—where men have feelings of generalized anger and/or resentment toward others; (b) women are dangerous—where men hold a set of attitudes that are hostile toward women; (c) women as sexual objects (WSO)—where women are seen as primarily sexual objects; (d) male sex drive is uncontrollable—where sexual urges are seen all consuming; (e) entitlement—where men feel that they can do exactly what they want. Consideration of whether DW or WSO ITs were present or absent indicated that three main groups could be identified: Group 1: violently motivated—presence of DW and/or absence of WSO; Group 2: sexually motivated—presence of WSO and/or absence of DW; Group 3: sadistically motivated—presence of DW and WSO. These results are discussed in terms of treatment needs of rapists.

Distinguishing consumers' need for uniqueness from individuation and general need for uniqueness

This paper describes the results of five previously unpublished studies designed to investigate the distinctiveness of consumers' need for uniqueness scale (CNFU) from two competing predictors of differentiating behaviors from the psychological literature - individuation and general need for uniqueness. Consumers' need for uniqueness is defined as the trait of pursuing differentness relative to others through the acquisition, utilization, and disposition of consumer goods for the purpose of developing and enhancing one's self-image and social image. As such, the research offers additional evidence from an extensive program of research regarding the validity of the consumer need for uniqueness scale developed by Tepper, Bearden and Hunter (2000). Specifically, the results of the studies demonstrate that the scale operates distinctively through counterconformity motivation as hypothesized and moderates the effects of situational variables on preferences for differentiating consumer offerings as expected.

The Sophists (Ancient Greek)

The sophists were itinerant professional teachers and intellectuals who frequented Athens and other Greek cities in the second half of the fifth century B.C.E. In return for a fee, the sophists offered young wealthy Greek men an education in aretē (virtue or excellence), thereby attaining wealth and fame while also arousing significant antipathy. Prior to the fifth century B.C.E., aretē was predominately associated with aristocratic warrior virtues such as courage and physical strength. In democratic Athens of the latter fifth century B.C.E., however, aretē was increasingly understood in terms of the ability to influence one’s fellow citizens in political gatherings through rhetorical persuasion; the sophistic education both grew out of and exploited this shift. The most famous representatives of the sophistic movement are Protagoras, Gorgias, Antiphon, Hippias, Prodicus and Thrasymachus.

The historical and philological difficulties confronting an interpretation of the sophists are significant. Only a handful of sophistic texts have survived and most of what we know of the sophists is drawn from second-hand testimony, fragments and the generally hostile depiction of them in Plato’s dialogues.

The philosophical problem of the nature of sophistry is arguably even more formidable. Due in large part to the influence of Plato and Aristotle, the term sophistry has come to signify the deliberate use of fallacious reasoning, intellectual charlatanism and moral unscrupulousness. It is, as the article explains, an oversimplification to think of the historical sophists in these terms because they made genuine and original contributions to Western thought. Plato and Aristotle nonetheless established their view of what constitutes legitimate philosophy in part by distinguishing their own activity – and that of Socrates – from the sophists. If one is so inclined, sophistry can thus be regarded, in a conceptual as well as historical sense, as the ‘other’ of philosophy.

Perhaps because of the interpretative difficulties mentioned above, the sophists have been many things to many people. For Hegel (1995/1840) the sophists were subjectivists whose sceptical reaction to the objective dogmatism of the presocratics was synthesised in the work of Plato and Aristotle. For the utilitarian English classicist George Grote (1904), the sophists were progressive thinkers who placed in question the prevailing morality of their time. More recent work by French theorists such as Jacques Derrida (1981) and Jean Francois-Lyotard (1985) suggests affinities between the sophists and postmodernism.

This article provides a broad overview of the sophists, and indicates some of the central philosophical issues raised by their work. Section 1 discusses the meaning of the term sophist. Section 2 surveys the individual contributions of the most famous sophists. Section 3 examines three themes that have often been taken as characteristic of sophistic thought: the distinction between nature and convention, relativism about knowledge and truth and the power of speech. Finally, section 4 analyses attempts by Plato and others to establish a clear demarcation between philosophy and sophistry.

Insect based navigation and its applications to the autonomous control of mobile robots

Giving robots the ability to autonomously move around in various real-world environments has been a major goal of AI (artificial intelligence) for quite some time. To this end it is vital for robots to be able to perceive their surroundings in 3D; they must be able to estimate the range of obstacles in their path.

Animals navigate through various uncontrolled environments with seemingly little effort. Flying insects, especially, are quite adept at manoeuvring in complex, unpredictable and possibly hostile and hazardous environments.

In this paper it is shown that very simple motion cues, inspired by the visual navigation of flying insects, can be used to provide a mobile robot with the ability to successfully traverse a corridor environment. Equipping an autonomous mobile robot with the ability to successfully navigate real-word environments (in real-time) constitutes a major challenge for AI and robotics. It is in this area that insect based navigation has something to offer.

Insect inspired behaviours for the autonomous control of mobile robots

Animals navigate through various uncontrolled environments with seemingly little effort. Flying insects, especially, are quite adept at manoeuvring in complex, unpredictable and possibly hostile environments. Through both simulation and real-world experiments, we demonstrate the feasibility of equipping a mobile robot with the ability to navigate a corridor environment, in real time, using principles based on insect-based visual guidance. In particular we have used the bees’ navigational strategy of measuring object range in terms of image velocity. We have also shown the viability and usefulness of various other insect behaviours: (i) keeping walls equidistant, (ii) slowing down when approaching an object, (iii) regulating speed according to tunnel width, and (iv) using visual motion as a measure of distance travelled.

Local energy, the pre-envelope, and filter resolution

We examine the construction of new filters for computing local energy, and compare these filters with the Gabor filters and the three-point-filter of Venkatesh [l]. Further, we demonstrate that the effect of convolution with complex Gabor filters is to band-pass (with some differentiating effect) and compute the local energy of the result. The magnitude of the resulting local energy is then used to detect features [2], [3] (step features, texture etc.), and the phase is used to classify the detected features [l], [4] or provide disparity information for stereo [5] and motion work [6], [7]. Each of these types of information can be obtained at multiple resolutions, enabling the use of course to fine strategies for computing disparity, and allowing the discrimination of image textures on the basis of which parts of the Fourier domain they dominate [8], [9].

Discovery of activity structures using the hierarchical hidden Markov model

In building a surveillance system for monitoring people behaviours, it is important to understand the typical patterns of people's movement in the environment. This task is difficult when dealing with high-level behaviours. The flat model such as the hidden Markov model (HMM) is inefficient in differentiating between signatures of such behaviours. This paper examines structure learning for high-level behaviours using the hierarchical hidden Markov model (HHMM).We propose a two-phase learning algorithm in which the parameters of the behaviours at low levels are estimated first and then the structures and parameters of the behaviours at high levels are learned from multi-camera training data. Our algorithm is then evaluated using data from a real environment, demonstrating the robustness of the learned structure in recognising people's behaviour.

Performance and anthropometric characteristics of prospective elite junior Australian footballers : a case study in one junior team

The aim of the study was to compare anthropometric and physical performance data of players who were selected for a Victorian elite junior U18 Australian rules football squad. Prior to the selection of the final training squad, 54 players were assessed using a battery of standard anthropometric and physical performance tests. Multivariate analysis (MANOVA) showed significant (p < 0.05) differences between selected and non-selected players when height, mass, 20-m sprint, agility and vertical jump height were considered collectively. Univariate analysis revealed that the vertical jump was the only significant (p < 0.05) individual test and a near significant trend (p = 0.07) for height differentiating between selected and non-selected players with medium effect sizes for all other tests except endurance. In this elite junior football squad, physical characteristics can be observed that discriminate between players selected and non-selected, and demonstrates the value of physical fitness testing within the talent identification process of junior (16–18 years) players for squad and/or team selection. Based on MANOVA results, the findings from this study suggest team selection appeared to be related to a generally higher performance across the range of tests. Further, age was not a confounding variable as players selected tended to be younger than those non-selected. These findings reflect the general consensus that, in state-based junior competition, there is evidence of promoting overall player development, selecting those who are generally able to fulfil a range of positions and selecting players on their potential.

Gaming maching addiction : the role of avoidance, accessibility and social support

Commonality in etiology and clinical expression plus high comorbidity between pathological gambling and substance use disorders suggest common underlying motives. It is important to understand common motivators and differentiating factors. An overarching framework of addiction was used to examine predictors of problem gambling in current electronic gaming machine (EGM) gamblers. Path analysis was used to examine the relationships between antecedent factors (stressors, coping habits, social support), gambling motivations (avoidance, accessibility, social) and gambling behavior. Three hundred and forty seven (229 females: M = 29.20 years, SD = 14.93; 118 males: M = 29.64 years, SD = 12.49) people participated. Consistent with stress, coping and addiction theory, situational life stressors and general avoidance coping were positively related to avoidance-motivated gambling. In turn, avoidance-motivated gambling was positively related to EGM gambling frequency and problems. Consistent with exposure theory, life stressors were positively related to accessibility-motivated gambling, and accessibility-motivated gambling was positively related to EGM gambling frequency and gambling problems. These findings are consistent with other addiction research and suggest avoidance-motivated gambling is part of a more generalized pattern of avoidance coping with relative accessibility to EGM gambling explaining its choice as a method of avoidance. Findings also showed social support acted as a direct protective factor in relation to gambling frequency and problems and indirectly via avoidance and accessibility gambling motivations. Finally, life stressors were positively related to socially motivated gambling but this motivation was not related to either social support or gambling behavior suggesting it has little direct influence on gambling problems.