The spatial turn: geographical approaches in the history of science

Over the past decade or so a number of historians of science and historical geographers, alert to the situated nature of scientific knowledge production and reception and to the migratory patterns of science on the move, have called for more explicit treatment of the geographies of past scientific knowledge. Closely linked to work in the sociology of scientific knowledge and science studies and connected with a heightened interest in spatiality evident across the humanities and social sciences this ‹spatial turn’ has informed a wide-ranging body of work on the history of science. This discussion essay revisits some of the theoretical props supporting this turn to space and provides a number of worked examples from the history of the life sciences that demonstrate the different ways in which the spaces of science have been comprehended.

Packet classification by multi-level cutting of the classification space

Traditionally, the Internet provides only a “best-effort” service, treating all packets going to the same destination equally. However, providing differentiated services for different users based on their quality requirements is increasingly becoming a demanding issue. For this, routers need to have the capability to distinguish and isolate traffic belonging to different flows. This ability to determine the flow each packet belongs to is called packet classification. Technology vendors are reluctant to support algorithmic solutions for classification due to their nondeterministic performance. Although content addressable memories (CAMs) are favoured by technology vendors due to their deterministic high-lookup rates, they suffer from the problems of high-power consumption and high-silicon cost. This paper provides a new algorithmic-architectural solution for packet classification that mixes CAMs with algorithms based on multilevel cutting of the classification space into smaller spaces. The provided solution utilizes the geometrical distribution of rules in the classification space. It provides the deterministic performance of CAMs, support for dynamic updates, and added flexibility for system designers.

A short proof of existence of disjoint hypercyclic operators

We give a short proof of existence of disjoint hypercyclic tuples of operators of any given length on any separable infinite dimensional Fr\'echet space. Similar argument provides disjoint dual hypercyclic tuples of operators of any length on any infinite dimensional Banach space with separable dual.

Phylogeographic analysis of North American populations of the parasitic herbaceous plant Monotropa hypopitys reveals a complex history of range expansion from multiple late glacial refugia

Aim We carried out a phylogeographic study across the range of the herbaceous plant species Monotropa hypopitys L. in North America to determine whether its current disjunct distribution is due to recolonization from separate eastern and western refugia after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Location North America: Pacific Northwest and north-eastern USA/south-eastern Canada. Methods Palaeodistribution modelling was carried out to determine suitable climatic regions for M. hypopitys at the LGM. We analysed between 155 and 176 individuals from 39 locations spanning the species' entire range in North America. Sequence data were obtained for the chloroplast rps2 gene (n=168) and for the nuclear ITS region (n=158). Individuals were also genotyped for eight microsatellite loci (n=176). Interpolation of diversity values was used to visualize the range-wide distribution of genetic diversity for each of the three marker classes. Minimum spanning networks were constructed showing the relationships between the rps2 and ITS haplotypes, and the geographical distributions of these haplotypes were plotted. The numbers of genetic clusters based on the microsatellite data were estimated using Bayesian clustering approaches. Results The palaeodistribution modelling indicated suitable climate envelopes for M. hypopitys at the LGM in both the Pacific Northwest and south-eastern USA. High levels of genetic diversity and endemic haplotypes were found in Oregon, the Alexander Archipelago, Wisconsin, and in the south-eastern part of the species' distribution range. Main conclusions Our results suggest a complex recolonization history for M. hypopitys in North America, involving persistence in separate eastern and western refugia. A generally high degree of congruence between the different marker classes analysed indicated the presence of multiple refugia, with at least two refugia in each area. In the west, putative refugia were identified in Oregon and the Alexander Archipelago, whereas eastern refugia may have been located in the southern part of the species' current distribution, as well as in the 'Driftless Area'. These findings are in contrast to a previous study on the related species Orthilia secunda, which has a similar disjunct distribution to M. hypopitys, but which appears to have recolonized solely from western refugia. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

THE EXPANSION HISTORY OF ALUMINUM TARGETS RELEVANT TO X-RAY LASER SCHEMES

For the first time, the technique of point projection absorption spectroscopy - which uses an intense, point source of X-rays to project and spectrally disperse an image of a plasma onto a detector- has been shown to be applicable to the study of expanding aluminium plasmas generated by approximately 80ps (2-omega) laser pulses. Massive, stripe targets of approximately 125-mu-m width and wire targets of 25-mu-m diameter have been studied. Using a PET Bragg crystal as the dispersive element, a resolving power of approximately 3500 was achieved with spatial resolution at the 5-mu-m level in frame times of the order of 80ps. Reduction of the data for times up to 150ps after the peak of the incident laser pulse produced estimates of the temperature and densities present, as a function of space and time.

INDEPENDENT EVALUATION OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CCITT G. 722 WIDEBAND CODING RECOMMENDATION.

The subjective performance of the G. 722 7-kHz wideband speech coding recommendation using music signals is described. A number of audible distortions specific to music signals were found to be present in real-time evaluations of the coder. As a result, three modifications are proposed which are found to improve the performance for music signals. These modifications are compatible with the G. 722 system configuration. Modifications made to G. 722 to alleviate the most serious aspects of the noise modulation are described: (1) an adaptive bit allocation scheme is used to reduce short and long-term nonoptimality; (2) spectral noise shaping is incorporated, significantly enhancing the subjective performance of certain modes; and (3) backward block adaptive prediction is used.

Validity of a personal and family history of cataract and cataract surgery in genetic studies.

PURPOSE:

To determine the accuracy of a history of cataract and cataract surgery (self-report and for a sibling), and to determine which demographic, cognitive, and medical factors are predictive of an accurate history.

METHODS:

All participants in the Salisbury Eye Evaluation (SEE) project and their locally resident siblings were questioned about a personal and family history of cataract or cataract surgery. Lens grading at the slit lamp, using standardized photographs and a grading system, was performed for both SEE participants (probands) and their siblings. Cognitive testing and a history of systemic comorbidities were also obtained for all probands.

RESULTS:

Sensitivity of a history of cataract provided on behalf of a sibling was 32%, specificity 98%. The performance was better for a history of cataract surgery: sensitivity 90%, specificity 89%. For self-report of cataract, sensitivity was also low at 55%, with specificity at 77%. Self-report of cataract surgery gave a much better performance: sensitivity 94%, specificity 100%. Different cutoffs in the definition of cataract had little impact. Factors predicting a correct history of cataract included high school or greater education in the proband (odds ratio [OR] = 1.13, 95% confidence interval [CI]1.02-1.25) and younger sibling (but not proband) age (OR = 0.94 for each year of age, 95% CI 0.90-0.99). Gender, race and Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) result were not predictive.

CONCLUSIONS:

Whereas accurate self and family histories for cataract surgery may be obtainable, it is difficult to ascertain cataract status accurately from history alone.

A importância do processo ensino: aprendizagem do trompete entre a música erudita e o jazz, tendo como objetivo a versatilidade na performance: relatório de estágio

Resumo I (Prática Pedagógica) - O Relatório de estágio foi concebido no âmbito da Unidade Curricular de Estágio do Ensino Especializado, Mestrado em Ensino da Música pela Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa. Assim, este documento assenta sobre a prática pedagógica desenvolvida no Conservatório de Música David de Sousa – Polo Pombal no ano letivo 2014-2015, abrangendo três alunos de diferentes graus de ensino. Neste Relatório será caracterizado o estabelecimento de ensino onde decorreu o estágio, assim como o desempenho que cada aluno teve durante o ano letivo, salientando os aspetos de competência motora, auditiva e expressiva. Este trabalho consistiu na avaliação do meu desempenho enquanto docente de trompete, permitindo-me refletir sobre os pontos bons e menos bons do meu trabalho, para que no futuro me seja possível atingir um nível mais elevado na minha atividade docente.

Of Structural Denial: A Narratological Study of the Structural Disintegration of the Novel Form

If an opening to the argument of this dissertation is of imperative necessity, one might tentatively begin with Herbert Quain, born in Roscommon, Ireland, author of the novels The God of the Labyrinth (1933) and April March (1936), the short-story collection Statements (1939), and the play The Secret Mirror (undated). To a certain extent, this idiosyncratic Irish author, who hailed from the ancient province of Connacht, may be regarded as a forerunner of the type of novels which will be considered in this dissertation. Quain was, after all, the unconscious creator of one of the first structurally disintegrated novels in the history of western literature, April March. His first novel, The God of the Labyrinth, also exhibits elements which are characteristic of structurally disintegrated fiction, for it provides the reader with two possible solutions to a mysterious crime. As a matter of fact, one might suggest that Quain’s debut novel offers the reader the possibility to ignore the solution to the crime and carry on living his or her readerly life, turning a blind eye to the novel itself. It may hence be argued that Quain’s first novel is in fact a compound of three different novels. It is self-evident that the structure of Quain’s oeuvre is of an experimental nature, combining geometrical precision with authorial innovation, and one finds in it a higher consideration for formal defiance than for the text itself. In other words, the means of expression are the concern of the author and not, interestingly, the textual content. April March, for example, is a novel which regresses back into itself, its first chapter focussing on an evening which is preceded by three possible evenings which, in turn, are each preceded by three other, dissimilar, possible evenings. It is a novel of backward-movement, and it is due to this process of branching regression that April March contains within itself at least nine possible novels. Structure, therefore, paradoxically controls the text, for it allows the text to expand or contract under its formal limitations. In other words, the formal aspects of the novel, usually associated with the restrictive device of a superior design, contribute to a liberation of the novel’s discourse. It is paradoxical only in the sense that the idea of structure necessarily entails the fixation of a narrative skeleton that determines how plot and discourse interact, something which Quain flouts for the purposes of innovation. In this sense, April March’s convoluted structure allows for multiple readings and interpretations of the same text, consciously germinating narratives within itself, producing different texts from a single, unique source. Thus, text and means of expression are bonded by a structural design that, rather than limiting, liberates the text of the novel.

Marginal/minority popular music : the concept of the "third space" and the case for "hybridities" of cultures/identities /

The topic of this thesis is marginaVminority popular music and the question of identity; the term "marginaVminority" specifically refers to members of racial and cultural minorities who are socially and politically marginalized. The thesis argument is that popular music produced by members of cultural and racial minorities establishes cultural identity and resists racist discourse. Three marginaVminority popular music artists and their songs have been chosen for analysis in support of the argument: Gil Scott-Heron's "Gun," Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" and Robbie Robertson's "Sacrifice." The thesis will draw from two fields of study; popular music and postcolonialism. Within the area of popular music, Theodor Adorno's "Standardization" theory is the focus. Within the area of postcolonialism, this thesis concentrates on two specific topics; 1) Stuart Hall's and Homi Bhabha's overlapping perspectives that identity is a process of cultural signification, and 2) Homi Bhabha's concept of the "Third Space." For Bhabha (1995a), the Third Space defines cultures in the moment of their use, at the moment of their exchange. The idea of identities arising out of cultural struggle suggests that identity is a process as opposed to a fixed center, an enclosed totality. Cultures arise from historical memory and memory has no center. Historical memory is de-centered and thus cultures are also de-centered, they are not enclosed totalities. This is what Bhabha means by "hybridity" of culture - that cultures are not unitary totalities, they are ways of knowing and speaking about a reality that is in constant flux. In this regard, the language of "Otherness" depends on suppressing or marginalizing the productive capacity of culture in the act of enunciation. The Third Space represents a strategy of enunciation that disrupts, interrupts and dislocates the dominant discursive construction of US and THEM, (a construction explained by Hall's concept of binary oppositions, detailed in Chapter 2). Bhabha uses the term "enunciation" as a linguistic metaphor for how cultural differences are articulated through discourse and thus how differences are discursively produced. Like Hall, Bhabha views culture as a process of understanding and of signification because Bhabha sees traditional cultures' struggle against colonizing cultures as transforming them. Adorno's theory of Standardization will be understood as a theoretical position of Western authority. The thesis will argue that Adorno's theory rests on the assumption that there is an "essence" to music, an essence that Adorno rationalizes as structure/form. The thesis will demonstrate that constructing music as possessing an essence is connected to ideology and power and in this regard, Adorno's Standardization theory is a discourse of White Western power. It will be argued that "essentialism" is at the root of Western "rationalization" of music, and that the definition of what constitutes music is an extension of Western racist "discourses" of the Other. The methodological framework of the thesis entails a) applying semiotics to each of the three songs examined and b) also applying Bhabha's model of the Third Space to each of the songs. In this thesis, semiotics specifically refers to Stuart Hall's retheorized semiotics, which recognizes the dual function of semiotics in the analysis of marginal racial/cultural identities, i.e., simultaneously represent embedded racial/cultural stereotypes, and the marginal raciaVcultural first person voice that disavows and thus reinscribes stereotyped identities. (Here, and throughout this thesis, "first person voice" is used not to denote the voice of the songwriter, but rather the collective voice of a marginal racial/cultural group). This dual function fits with Hall's and Bhabha's idea that cultural identity emerges out of cultural antagonism, cultural struggle. Bhabha's Third Space is also applied to each of the songs to show that cultural "struggle" between colonizers and colonized produces cultural hybridities, musically expressed as fusions of styles/sounds. The purpose of combining semiotics and postcolonialism in the three songs to be analyzed is to show that marginal popular music, produced by members of cultural and racial minorities, establishes cultural identity and resists racist discourse by overwriting identities of racial/cultural stereotypes with identities shaped by the first person voice enunciated in the Third Space, to produce identities of cultural hybridities. Semiotic codes of embedded "Black" and "Indian" stereotypes in each song's musical and lyrical text will be read and shown to be overwritten by the semiotic codes of the first person voice, which are decoded with the aid of postcolonial concepts such as "ambivalence," "hybridity" and "enunciation."

Paragenetic history of the Ordovician Trenton Group carbonates, Southwestern Ontario

Geochemical examination of the rock matrix and cements from core material extracted from four oil wells within southwestern Ontario suggest various stages of diagenetic alteration and preservation of the Trenton Group carbonates. The geochemical compositions of Middle Ordovician (LMC) brachiopods reflect the physicochemical water conditions of the ambient depositional environment. The sediments appear to have been altered in the presence of mixed waters during burial in a relatively open diagenetic microenvironment. Conodont CAl determination suggests that the maturation levels of the Trenton Group carbonates are low and proceeded at temperatures of about 30 - 50°C within the shallow burial environment. The Trenton Group carbonates are characterized by two distinct stages of dolomitization which proceeded at elevated temperatures. Preexisting fracture patterns, and block faulting controlled the initial dolomitization of the precursor carbonate matrix. Dolomitization progressed In the presence of warm fluids (60 75°C) with physicochemical conditions characteristic of a progressively depleted basinal water. The matrix is mostly Idiotopic-S and Idiotopic-E dolomite, with Xenotopic-A dolomite dominating the matrix where fractures occur. The second stage of dolomitization involved hydrothermal basinal fluid(s) with temperatures of about 60 - 70°C. These are the postulated source for the saddle dolomite and blocky calcite cements occurring in pore space and fractures. Rock porosity was partly occluded by Idiotopic-E type dolomite. Late stage saddle dolomite, calcite, anhydrite, pyrite, marcasite and minor sphalerite and celestite cements effectively fill any remaining porosity within specific horizons. Based on cathode luminescence, precipitation of the different diagenetic phases probably proceeded in open diagenetic systems from chemically homogeneous fluids. Ultraviolet fluorescence of 11 the matrix and cements demonstrated that hydrocarbons were present during the earliest formation of saddle dolomite. Oxygen isotope values of -7.6 to -8.5 %0 (PDB), and carbon isotope values of - 0.5 and -3.0 %0 (PDB) from the latest stage dog-tooth calcite cement suggest that meteoric water was introduced into the system during their formation. This is estimated to have occurred at temperatures of about 25 - 40°C. Specific facies associations within the Trenton Group carbonates exhibit good hydrocarbon generating potential based on organic carbon preservation (1-3.5%). Thermal maturation and Lopatin burial-history evaluations suggest that hydrocarbons were generated within the Trenton Group carbonates some time after 300 Ma . Progressively depleted vanadium trends measured from hydrocarbon samples within southwestern Ontario suggests its potential use as a hydrocarbon migration indicator on local (within an oilfield) and on regional scales.

Indices and Implications of Emotional Underarousal for Persons with a History of Head Trauma

We examined the role of altered emotional functioning across the spectrum of injury severity (mild head injury [MHI], moderate/severe traumatic brain injury [TBI]), its implications for social behaviours, and the effect of modifying arousal and its relation to cognitive performance. In the first study (N = 230), students with self-reported MHI endorsed engaging in socially unacceptable and erratic behaviours significantly more often than did those with no MHI. We did not find significant differences between the groups in the measure of emotional intelligence (EI); however, for students who reported a MHI, scores on the EI measure significantly predicted reports of socially unacceptable behaviours such that lower scores predicted poorer social functioning, accounting for approximately 20% of the variance. Also, the experience of postconcussive symptoms was found to be significantly greater for students with MHI relative to their peers. In the second study (N = 85), we further examined emotional underarousal in terms of physiological (i.e., electrodermal activation [EDA]) and self-reported responsivity to emotionally-evocative picture stimuli. Although the valence ratings of the stimuli did not differ between students with and without MHI as we had expected, we found evidence of reduced and/or indiscriminate emotional responding to the stimuli for those with MHI which mimics that observed in other studies for persons with moderate/severe TBI. We also found that emotional underarousal followed a gradient of injury severity despite reporting a pattern of experiencing more life stressors. In the third study (N = 81), we replicated our findings of emotional underarousal for those with head trauma and also uniquely explored neuroendocrine aspects (salivary cortisol; cortisol awakening response [CAR]) and autonomic indices (EDA) of emotional dysregulation in terms of stress responsivity across the spectrum of injury severity (MHI [n = 32], moderate/severe TBI [n = 9], and age and education matched controls [n = 40]). Although the manipulation was effective in modifying arousal state in terms of autonomic and self-reported indices, we did not support our hypothesis that increased arousal would be related to improved performance on cognitive measures for those with prior injury. To our knowledge, this is the only study to examine the CAR with this population. Repeated measure analysis revealed that, upon awakening, students with no reported head trauma illustrated the typical CAR increase 45 minutes after waking, whereas, students who had a history of either mild head trauma or moderate/severe TBI demonstrated a blunted CAR. Thus, across the three studies we have provided evidence of emotional underarousal, its potential implications for social interactions, and also have identified potentially useful indices of dysregulated stress responsivity regardless of injury severity.

Force potentiation as a modulator of contractile performance: Implications for control of skeletal muscle force and energetics of work

This thesis investigated the modulation of dynamic contractile function and energetics of work by posttetanic potentiation (PTP). Mechanical experiments were conducted in vitro using software-controlled protocols to stimulate/determine contractile function during ramp shortening, and muscles were frozen during parallel incubations for biochemical analysis. The central feature of this research was the comparison of fast hindlimb muscles from wildtype and skeletal myosin light chain kinase knockout (skMLCK-/-) mice that does not express the primary mechanism for PTP: myosin regulatory light chain (RLC) phosphorylation. In contrast to smooth/cardiac muscles where RLC phosphorylation is indispensable, its precise physiological role in skeletal muscle is unclear. It was initially determined that tetanic potentiation was shortening speed dependent, and this sensitivity of the PTP mechanism to muscle shortening extended the stimulation frequency domain over which PTP was manifest. Thus, the physiological utility of RLC phosphorylation to augment contractile function in vivo may be more extensive than previously considered. Subsequent experiments studied the contraction-type dependence for PTP and demonstrated that the enhancement of contractile function was dependent on force level. Surprisingly, in the absence of RLC phosphorylation, skMLCK-/- muscles exhibited significant concentric PTP; consequently, up to ~50% of the dynamic PTP response in wildtype muscle may be attributed to an alternate mechanism. When the interaction of PTP and the catchlike property (CLP) was examined, we determined that unlike the acute augmentation of peak force by the CLP, RLC phosphorylation produced a longer-lasting enhancement of force and work in the potentiated state. Nevertheless, despite the apparent interference between these mechanisms, both offer physiological utility and may be complementary in achieving optimal contractile function in vivo. Finally, when the energetic implications of PTP were explored, we determined that during a brief period of repetitive concentric activation, total work performed was ~60% greater in wildtype vs. skMLCK-/- muscles but there was no genotype difference in High-Energy Phosphate Consumption or Economy (i.e. HEPC: work). In summary, this thesis provides novel insight into the modulatory effects of PTP and RLC phosphorylation, and through the observation of alternative mechanisms for PTP we further develop our understanding of the history-dependence of fast skeletal muscle function.

Rearrangement of the urban space in the sector of Saint Victorino and Saint Ines (Bogota) in relation with the dynamics of informality and marginality (1948-2010)

The present article analyze the urban transformations happened in the sector of Saint Victorino and Saint Ines in the city of Bogota D.C. between 1948 and 2010, making use of the "Genealogical Methodology" during the process of inquiry that allow to contrast the visions that are usually accepted of "progress" and "urban renovation" in the urban market context by the existence of a informal economic and a population in conditions of marginality that configures a good part of the "popular urban culture" of the Bogota in the 20th and 21st century. This vision permit to observe from various perspectives the changes that happened in this sector of the city, the impacts of the history facts occurred en this time period and, in special, the real effects of a rearrangement urban process that began in 1998 and has been prolonged to date, which has left a significant mark about the urban and social physiognomy of the place.