Russia's Islam: Discourse on Identity, Politics, and Security

Despite the long history of Muslims in Russia, most scholarly and political literatures on Russia’s Islam still narrowly interpret Muslim-Slavs relations in an ethnic-religious oppositional framework. In my work, I examine Russia’s discourse on Islam to argue that, in fact, the role of Islam in post-Soviet Russia is complex. Drawing from direct sources from academic, state, journalistic, and underground circles, often neglected by Western commentators, I identify ideational patterns in conceptualizations of Islam and reconstruct relational networks among authors. To explain complex intertextual relations within specific contexts, I utilize an analytically eclectic method that appropriately combines theories from different paradigms and/or disciplines. Thanks to my multi-dimensional approach, I show that, contrary to traditional views, Russia’s Muslims participate in processes of post-Soviet Russia’s identity formation. Starting from textual contents, avoiding pre-formed analytical frames, I argue that many Muslims in Russia perceive themselves as part of Russian civilization – even when they challenge the status-quo. Building on my initial findings, I state that a key element in Russia’s conceptualization of Islam is the definition, elaborated in the 1990s, of traditional Islam as part of Russian civilizational history, as opposed to extremist Islam as extraneous, hostile phenomenon. The differentiation creates an unprecedently safe, if confined, space for Islamic propositions, of which Muslims are taking advantage. Embedded in debates on Russian civilization, conceptualizations of Islam, then, influence Russia’s (geo)political self-perceptions and, consequently, its domestic and international policies. In particular, Russian so-far neglected Islamic doctrine supports views of Islamic terrorism as a political and not religious phenomenon. Hence, Russia interprets both terrorism and counterterrorism within its own historical tradition, causing its strategy to be at odds with Western views. Less apparently, these divergences affect Russian-U.S. broader relations. Finally, in revealing the civilizational value of Russia’s Islam, I expose intellectual relations among influential subjects who share the aim to devise a new civilizational model that should combine Slavic and non-Slavic, Orthodox and Islamic, Western, and Asian components. In this old Russian dilemma, the novelty is Muslims’ participation.

The relationship between student characteristics, computer literacy,technology acceptance, and distance education student satisfaction

The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between the characteristics of distance education students, their computer literacy and technology acceptance and distance education course satisfaction. The theoretical framework for this study will apply Rogers and Havelock's Innovation, Diffusion & Utilization theories to distance education. It is hypothesized that technology acceptance and computer competency will influence the student course satisfaction and explain the decision to adopt or reject distance education curriculum and technology. Distance education delivery, Institutional Support, Convenience, Interactivity and five distance education technologies were studied. The data were collected by a survey questionnaire sent to four Florida universities. Three hundred and nineteen and students returned the questionnaire. A factor and regression analysis on three measure of satisfaction revealed significant difference between the three main factors related to the overall satisfaction of distance education students and their adoption of distance education technology as medium of learning. Computer literacy is significantly related to greater overall student satisfaction. However, when competing with other factors such as delivery, support, interactivity, and convenience, computer literacy is not significant. Results indicate that age and status are the only two student characteristics to be significant. Distance education technology acceptance is positively related to higher overall satisfaction. Innovativeness is also positively related to student overall satisfaction. Finally, the technology used relates positively to greater satisfaction levels within the educational experience. Additional research questions were investigated and provided insights into the innovation decision process.

Accumulation rates of bulk sediment and opal in surface sediments of the South Atlantic

A set of 114 samples from the sediment surface of the Atlantic, eastern Pacific and western Indian sectors of the Southern Ocean has been analyzed for 230Th and biogenic silica. Maps of opal content, Th-normalized mass flux, and Th-normalized biogenic opal flux into the sediment have been derived. Significant differences in sedimentation patterns between the regions can be detected. The mean bulk vertical fluxes integrated into the sediment in the open Southern Ocean are found in a narrow range from 2.9 g/m**2 yr (Eastern Weddell Gyre) to 15.8 g/m**2 yr (Indian sector), setting upper and lower limits to the vertically received fraction of open ocean sediments. The silica flux to sediments of the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean is found to be 4.2 ± 1.4 * 10**11 mol/yr, just one half of the last estimate. This adjustment represents 6% of the output term in the global marine silica budget.

Evaporation maps for ternary non-ideal liquid mixtures

This thesis deals with the evaporation of non-ideal liquid mixtures using a multicomponent mass transfer approach. It develops the concept of evaporation maps as a convenient way of representing the dynamic composition changes of ternary mixtures during an evaporation process. Evaporation maps represent the residual composition of evaporating ternary non-ideal mixtures over the full range of composition, and are analogous to the commonly-used residue curve maps of simple distillation processes. The evaporation process initially considered in this work involves gas-phase limited evaporation from a liquid or wetted-solid surface, over which a gas flows at known conditions. Evaporation may occur into a pure inert gas, or into one pre-loaded with a known fraction of one of the ternary components. To explore multicomponent masstransfer effects, a model is developed that uses an exact solution to the Maxwell-Stefan equations for mass transfer in the gas film, with a lumped approach applied to the liquid phase. Solutions to the evaporation model take the form of trajectories in temperaturecomposition space, which are then projected onto a ternary diagram to form the map. Novel algorithms are developed for computation of pseudo-azeotropes in the evaporating mixture, and for calculation of the multicomponent wet-bulb temperature at a given liquid composition. A numerical continuation method is used to track the bifurcations which occur in the evaporation maps, where the composition of one component of the pre-loaded gas is the bifurcation parameter. The bifurcation diagrams can in principle be used to determine the required gas composition to produce a specific terminal composition in the liquid. A simple homotopy method is developed to track the locations of the various possible pseudo-azeotropes in the mixture. The stability of pseudo-azeotropes in the gas-phase limited case is examined using a linearized analysis of the governing equations. Algorithms for the calculation of separation boundaries in the evaporation maps are developed using an optimization-based method, as well as a method employing eigenvectors derived from the linearized analysis. The flexure of the wet-bulb temperature surface is explored, and it is shown how evaporation trajectories cross ridges and valleys, so that ridges and valleys of the surface do not coincide with separation boundaries. Finally, the assumption of gas-phase limited mass transfer is relaxed, by employing a model that includes diffusion in the liquid phase. A finite-volume method is used to solve the system of partial differential equations that results. The evaporation trajectories for the distributed model reduce to those of the lumped (gas-phase limited) model as the diffusivity in the liquid increases; under the same gas-phase conditions the permissible terminal compositions of the distributed and lumped models are the same.

Resilience and critique

I would like to thank Philip Hammond and Julian Reid for their thoughtful reviews. For Reid, the ‘life’ focus of resilience thinking is just another liberal/ neoliberal governmentality, enabling the reproduction and extension of biopolitical rule, thus my book provides interesting insights, but is not necessarily essential for the making of such claims. For Hammond, the conceptual distinctions made in the book shed some useful insights into current discussions of how policy understandings are being transformed and the emergence of the new doxa of complexity and its relational ontology (drawing adherents from across the, now defunct, Left–Right ideological divide).

Strength of the Iberian intraplate lithosphere: Cenozoic deformations and seismicity

Previous studies about the strength of the lithosphere in the Iberia centre fail to resolve the depth of earthquakes because of the rheological uncertainties. Therefore, new contributions are considered (the crustal structure from a density model) and several parameters (tectonic regime, mantle rheology, strain rate) are checked in this paper to properly examine the role of lithospheric strength in the intraplate seismicity and the Cenozoic evolution. The strength distribution with depth, the integrated strength, the effective elastic thickness and the seismogenic thickness have been calculated by a finite element modelling of the lithosphere across the Central System mountain range and the bordering Duero and Madrid sedimentary basins. Only a dry mantle under strike-slip/extension and a strain rate of 10-15 s-1, or under extension and 10-16 s-1, causes a strong lithosphere. The integrated strength and the elastic thickness are lower in the mountain chain than in the basins. These anisotropies have been maintained since the Cenozoic and determine the mountain uplift and the biharmonic folding of the Iberian lithosphere during the Alpine deformations. The seismogenic thickness bounds the seismic activity in the upper–middle crust, and the decreasing crustal strength from the Duero Basin towards the Madrid Basin is related to a parallel increase in Plio–Quaternary deformations and seismicity. However, elasto–plastic modelling shows that current African–Eurasian convergence is resolved elastically or ductilely, which accounts for the low seismicity recorded in this region.

The relationship between vegetation and modern pollen assemblages on Mount Paggeo (NE Greece)

In this study, we investigated the relationship between vegetation and modern-pollen rain along the elevational gradient of Mount Paggeo. We apply multivariate data analysis to assess the relationship between vegetation and modern-pollen rain and quantify the representativeness of forest zones. This study represents the first statistical analysis of pollen-vegetation relationship along an elevational gradient in Greece. Hence, this paper improves confidence in interpretation of palynological records from north-eastern Greece and may refine past climate reconstructions for a more accurate comparison of data and modelling. Numerical classification and ordination were performed on pollen data to assess differences among plant communities that beech (Fagus sylvatica) dominates or co-dominates. The results show a strong relationship between altitude, arboreal cover, human impact and variations in pollen and nonpollen palynomorph taxa percentages.

Interpretation and typology Spanish indefinite pronoun uno in three discoursive genres

This study investigates the Spanish indefinite pronoun uno (“one”). After a detailed analysis of its occurrences in authentic language, we find that its interpretation varies depending on the linguistic context. Therefore, we examine which elements of the context - we focus on the broader context, beyond the sentence – have an impact on its interpretation and develop a typology of the indefinite pronoun as to its interpretation. The pronoun may be interpreted as completely generic or specific (referring to the speaker, the listener or a third person). Its interpretation can also be located in an intermediate position between these interpretive extremes.In addition, we compare its use in various discursive genres - spontaneous conversations, academic essays and web forum - which are distinguished by the presence or absence of interactivity and of more or less subjectivity / intersubjectivity. The comparison shows that pronoun use depends on these characteristics.

DESARROLLO DE APLICACIÓN MÓVIL DE REALIDAD AUMENTADA PARA INSTITUCIONES EDUCATIVAS.

El propósito de esta investigación es el desarrollo de una aplicación que pueda instalarse y utilizarse en dispositivos móviles, tales como celulares o tablets, mediante la cual los usuarios tendrán acceso inmediato a contenidos multimedia que brindarán información complementaria a los materiales de estudio presentados en carreras de grado, tecnicaturas, diplomaturas y cursos. Dicho programa tendrá la capacidad de escanear e interpretar un patrón de Realidad Aumentada ubicado en materiales impresos permitiendo la reproducción de vídeos, archivos de audio y gráficos en 3D, entre otros usos. Este desarrollo, utilizado como recurso didáctico para la enseñanza, enriquecerá la experiencia del alumno durante el momento de estudio ya que le permitirá integrar realidad y virtualidad de manera inmediata generando una interactividad con los contenidos que lo llevará a ser un participante activo del proceso de aprendizaje, lo que redundará en un aumento de la motivación y la eficacia de los materiales de estudio. The purpose of this research is to develop an application that can be installed and used on mobile devices such as phones or tablets, through which users will have immediate access to multimedia content that will provide additional information to study materials presented in racing degree, technical programs and courses. This program will have the ability to scan and interpret a pattern of augmented reality located in printed materials allowing playback of video, audio and 3D graphics, among other uses. This development, which is used as a teaching resource for teaching, enrich the student""s experience during the time of study as it will enable to integrate reality and virtuality immediately generate interactivity with the content that will be an active participant in the learning process, which will result in increased motivation and the effectiveness of the study materials.

Service Loyalty: An Integrative Model and Examination across Service Contexts

Marketing academics and practitioners generally agree that customer loyalty is vital to business success. There is less agreement on the factors that determine customer loyalty, particularly in service contexts. Research on the determinants of service loyalty has taken three distinct paths: 1) quality/value/satisfaction; 2) relationship quality; and, 3) relational benefits. In this research, the authors coalesce these paths to derive a model that links dimensions of customer loyalty (cognitive, affective, intention, and behavioral) with a system of determinants. The model is tested with data from varied services (airlines, banks, beauty salons, hospitals, hotels, and mobile telephone) and 3,500 customers in China. Results are consistent across contexts and support a multidimensional view of customer loyalty. Key loyalty determinants are customer satisfaction, commitment, service fairness, service quality, trust, and a construct new to service loyalty models—commercial friendship. The research contributes to the literature by providing a more complete, integrated view of customer loyalty and its determinants in services contexts.

Visualising Spaces: The Illustrated Map as a Mode of Communicating Fact, Fiction and Feeling

Communicating thoughts, facts and narratives through visual devices such as allegory or symbolism was fundamental to early map making and this remains the case with contemporary illustration. Drawing was employed then as a way of describing historic narratives (fact and folklore) through the convenience of a drawn symbol or character. The map creators were visionaries, depicting known discoveries and anticipating what existed beyond the agreed boundaries. As we now have photographic and virtual reality maps at our disposal, how can illustration develop the language of what a map is and can be? How can we break the rules of map design and yet still communicate the idea of a sense of place with the aim to inform, excite and/or educate the ‘traveller’? As Illustrators we need to question the purpose of creating a ‘map’: what do we want to communicate and is representational image making the only way to present information of a location? Is creating a more personal interpretation a form of cartouche, reminiscent of elements within the Hereford Mappa Mundi and maps of Blaeu, and can this improve/hinder the communicative aspect of the map? Looking at a variety of historical and contemporary illustrated maps and artists (such as Grayson Perry), who track their journeys through drawing, both conventional journeys and emotional, I will aim to prove that the illustrated map is not mere decoration but is a visual language providing an allegorical response to tangible places and personal feelings.

Spike-timing dependent plasticity and connectivity in primate sensorimotor cortex

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

A integração e compreensão do desenho na modelação 3D : enquadramento académico

Na medida em que os produtos e os processos de criação são cada vez mais mediados digitalmente, existe uma reflexão recente acerca da relação entre as imagens e as ferramentas usadas para a sua produção. A relação natural e estreita entre a dimensão conceptual e a dimensão física abre a discussão ao nível da semântica e dos processos da projetação e manipulação das imagens, nas quais estão naturalmente incluídas as ferramentas CAD. Tendo o desenho um papel inequívoco e fundamental no exercício da projetação e da modelação 3D é pertinente perceber a relação e a articulação entre estas duas ferramentas. Reconhecendo o desenho como uma ferramenta de domínio físico capaz de expressar o pensamento que opera a transformação de concepções abstratas em concepções concretas, reconhecê-lo refletido na dimensão virtual através de um software CAD 3D não é trivial, já que este, na generalidade, é processado através de um pensamento cujo contexto é distante da materialidade. Metodologicamente, abordaremos esta questão procurando a verificação da hipótese através de uma proposta de exercício prático que procura avaliar o efeito que as imagens analógicas poderão ter sobre o reconhecimento e operatividade da ferramenta Blender num enquadramento académico. Pretende-se, pois, perceber como o desenho analógico pode integrar o processo de modelação 3D e qual a relação que mantém com quem elas opera. A articulação do desenho com as ferramentas de produção de design, especificamente CAD 3D, permitirá compreender na especialidade a articulação entre ferramentas de diferentes naturezas tanto no processo da projetação quanto na criação de artefactos visuais. Assim como poderá lançar a discussão acerca das estratégias pedagógicas de ensino do desenho e do 3D num curso de Design.

Intrinsic gas-phase electrophilic reactivity of Ccclic N-alkyl- and N-acyliminium ions

he intrinsic gas-phase reactivity of cyclic N-alkyl- and N-acyliminium ions toward addition of allyltrimethylsilane (ATMS) has been compared using MS2 and MS3 pentaquadrupole mass spectrometric experiments. An order of electrophilic reactivity has been derived and found to agree with orders of overall reactivity in solution. The prototype five-membered ring N-alkyliminium ion 1a and its N-CH3 analogue 1b, as well as their six-membered ring analogues 1c and 1d, lack N-acyl activation and they are, accordingly, inert toward ATMS addition. The five- and six-membered ring N-acyliminium ions with N-COCH3 exocycclic groups, 3a and 3b, respectively, are also not very reactive. The N-acyliminium ions 2a and 2c, with s-trans locked endocyclic N-carbonyl groups, are the most reactive followed closely by 3c and 3d with exocyclic (and unlocked) N-CO2CH3 groups. The five-membered ring N-acyliminium ions are more reactive than their six-membered ring analogues, that is:  2a > 2c and 3c > 3d. In contrast with the high reactivity of 2a, its N-CH3 analogue 2b is inert toward ATMS addition. For the first time, the transient intermediates of a Mannich-type condensation reaction were isolatedthe β-silyl cations formed by ATMS addition to N-acyliminium ionsand their intrinsic gas-phase behavior toward dissociation and reaction with a nucleophile investigated. When collisionally activated, the β-silyl cations dissociate preferentially by Grob fragmentation, that is, by retro-addition. With pyridine, they react competitively and to variable extents by proton transfer and by trimethylsilylium ion abstractionthe final and key step postulated for α-amidoalkylation. Becke3LYP/6-311G(d,p) reaction energetics, charge densities on the electrophilic C-2 site, and AM1 LUMO energies have been used to rationalize the order of intrinsic gas-phase electrophilic reactivity of cyclic iminium and N-acyliminium ions.

Ecossistema domiciliar de pais cardiopatas e o modo de viver dos filhos: possibilidades de promoção da saúde pelo conhecimento da enfermagem/saúde

Objetivou-se compreender a possibilidade de o ecossistema domiciliar de pais portadores de morbidades cardiovasculares propiciar atitudes e comportamentos que corroborem para manifestações análogas na saúde dos filhos que convivem neste ambiente, e compreender como o cuidado de enfermagem/saúde com ações interativas de promoção de saúde domiciliar seja capaz de dissipar estas atitudes e comportamentos nos filhos. Para o conhecimento, a compreensão, interação do ecossistema domiciliar e o modo de viver dos filhos de pai/mãe cardiopata como um processo dinâmico e inter-relacional, foi utilizada a abordagem sistêmica de Ilya Prigogine, com enfoque nos princípios ecossistêmicos. O percurso metodológico se baseou na Teoria Fundamentada nos Dados, que, de maneira sistemática, interativa e criativa, possibilitou o desenvolvimento da teoria formal: Compreendendo possibilidades Interativas de orientações da Enfermagem/Saúde no Ecossistema domiciliar dos filhos de pais cardiopatas para mudanças de comportamentos e atitudes. Esta é uma teoria fidedigna e fundamentada nos dados da pesquisa, que culminou com o desenvolvimento de suas categorias. A coleta e análise dos dados foram realizadas conforme a preconização da teoria, de forma comparativa e constante, seguindo os passos: codificação inicial ou aberta, categorização e codificação teórica, sendo utilizada também a observação. Totalizou a amostra teórica onze filhos de pai/mãe cardiopatas, entrevistados no Brasil e em Portugal, onde, neste último, foi realizado um Intercâmbio de Doutorado com a finalidade de potencializar os conceitos e direcionar novas possibilidades aos fenômenos apresentados. Como processo de análise dos dados e agrupamento das categorias utilizou-se o modelo paradigmático desenvolvido por Glaser (1968) correspondente à família de códigos 6 Cs e de códigos interativos. A teoria formal emergiu a partir de dois fenômenos e suas categorias. O fenômeno, Conhecendo o ecossistema domiciliar de filhos de pai/mãe cardiopata na perspectiva das orientações da enfermagem/saúde, englobou as categorias: Demonstrando conhecimento sobre aspectos que possibilitam o infarto (condição causal); Associando a vivência da doença e orientações às modificações no modo de viver (condição estratégica); Relatando possibilidades de orientações para os filhos de pai/mãe cardiopata (condição de contingência); Reconhecendo a importância das orientações para o viver melhor (condição de consequência). Em relação ao fenômeno Conhecendo comportamentos e atitudes de filhos de pai/mãe cardiopata, as categorias elencadas foram: Descrevendo atitudes e comportamentos do(a) filho(a) antes da doença do(a) pai/mãe (condição causal); Relatando comportamentos e atitudes dos filhos pós-doença do(a) pai/mãe (condição estratégica); Reconhecendo a importância da mudança de comportamentos e atitudes para um viver saudável (condição de consequência). A teoria que emergiu por meio dos dados deste trabalho fundamenta a importância das ações de enfermagem/saúde para a promoção da saúde, confirma a tese proposta no projeto de pesquisa e permite concluir que a perspectiva ecossistêmica direciona para o conhecimento, a compreensão e discussão, evidentemente, mais amplos, dos contextos apresentados, pelas suas dinâmicas e interatividades.