975 resultados para Minstrel shows.
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With the rising popularity of anime amongst animation students, audiences and scholars around the world, it has become increasingly important to critically analyse anime as being more than a ‘limited’ form of animation, and thematically as encompassing more than super robots and pocket monsters. Frames of Anime: Culture and Image-Building charts the development of Japanese animation from its indigenous roots within a native culture, through Japan’s experience of modernity and the impact of the Second World War. This text is the result of a rigorous study that recognises the heterogeneous and polymorphous background of anime. As such, Tze-Yue has adopted an ‘interdisciplinary and transnational’ (p. 7) approach to her enquiry, drawing upon face-to-face interviews, on-site visits and biographical writings of animators. Tze-Yue delineates anime from other forms of animation by linking its visual style to pre-modern Japanese art forms and demonstrating the connection it shares with an indigenous folk system of beliefs. Via the identification of traditional Japanese art forms and their visual connectedness to Japanese animation, Tze-Yue shows that the Japanese were already heavily engaged in what was destined to become anime once technology had enabled its production. Tze-Yue’s efforts to connect traditional Japanese art forms, and their artistic elements, to contemporary anime reveals that the Japanese already had a rich culture of visual storytelling that pre-dates modern animation. She identifies the Japanese form of the magic lantern at the turn of the 19th century, utsushi-e, as the pre-modern ancestor of Japanese animation, describing it as ‘Edo anime’ (p. 43). Along with utsushi-e, the Edo period also saw the woodblock print, ukiyo-e, being produced for the rising middle class (p. 32). Highlighting the ‘resurfacing’ of ‘realist’ approaches to Japanese art in ukiyo-e, Tze-Yue demonstrates the visual connection of ukiyo-e and anime in the …
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop and test an integrative services framework to investigate the role of perceived trade show effectiveness on overall trade show service outcome, conceptualised as the intention to purchase a related product after, rather than during, a show. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the services marketing and trade show literature, the authors test a model of trade show effectiveness with data collected from 592 attendees at a major automotive trade show in a large metropolitan centre. Findings Results show that improving trade show visitors' perceived service quality positively affects visitor perceptions of trade show effectiveness. Furthermore, both trade show effectiveness and service quality directly influence future purchase intention. Research limitations/implications Employing a services theoretical framework to evaluate trade show visitor experiences provides an alternative to the traditional marketing communications approach. By viewing such visits as service encounters, managers must inevitably consider the effects of service quality and service outcomes in determining the likely success of their shows. The study primarily focuses on one large consumer show and therefore does not constitute a complete, nor necessarily representative, sample of the trade show industry. Originality/value The original contribution of the paper stems from the paucity of research conceptualising trade shows as services and the comparative lack of emphasis placed on visitors rather than exhibitors in the literature. The research not only has utility for trade show organisers but also provides necessary theory-based research in the trade show domain.
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A major challenge in modern photonics and nano-optics is the diffraction limit of light which does not allow field localisation into regions with dimensions smaller than half the wavelength. Localisation of light into nanoscale regions (beyond its diffraction limit) has applications ranging from the design of optical sensors and measurement techniques with resolutions as high as a few nanometres, to the effective delivery of optical energy into targeted nanoscale regions such as quantum dots, nano-electronic and nano-optical devices. This field has become a major research direction over the last decade. The use of strongly localised surface plasmons in metallic nanostructures is one of the most promising approaches to overcome this problem. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to investigate the linear and non-linear propagation of surface plasmons in metallic nanostructures. This thesis will focus on two main areas of plasmonic research –– plasmon nanofocusing and plasmon nanoguiding. Plasmon nanofocusing – The main aim of plasmon nanofocusing research is to focus plasmon energy into nanoscale regions using metallic nanostructures and at the same time achieve strong local field enhancement. Various structures for nanofocusing purposes have been proposed and analysed such as sharp metal wedges, tapered metal films on dielectric substrates, tapered metal rods, and dielectric V-grooves in metals. However, a number of important practical issues related to nanofocusing in these structures still remain unclear. Therefore, one of the main aims of this thesis is to address two of the most important of issues which are the coupling efficiency and heating effects of surface plasmons in metallic nanostructures. The method of analysis developed throughout this thesis is a general treatment that can be applied to a diversity of nanofocusing structures, with results shown here for the specific case of sharp metal wedges. Based on the geometrical optics approximation, it is demonstrated that the coupling efficiency from plasmons generated with a metal grating into the nanofocused symmetric or quasi-symmetric modes may vary between ~50% to ~100% depending on the structural parameters. Optimal conditions for nanofocusing with the view to minimise coupling and dissipative losses are also determined and discussed. It is shown that the temperature near the tip of a metal wedge heated by nanosecond plasmonic pulses can increase by several hundred degrees Celsius. This temperature increase is expected to lead to nonlinear effects, self-influence of the focused plasmon, and ultimately self-destruction of the metal tip. This thesis also investigates a different type of nanofocusing structure which consists of a tapered high-index dielectric layer resting on a metal surface. It is shown that the nanofocusing mechanism that occurs in this structure is somewhat different from other structures that have been considered thus far. For example, the surface plasmon experiences significant backreflection and mode transformation at a cut-off thickness. In addition, the reflected plasmon shows negative refraction properties that have not been observed in other nanofocusing structures considered to date. Plasmon nanoguiding – Guiding surface plasmons using metallic nanostructures is important for the development of highly integrated optical components and circuits which are expected to have a superior performance compared to their electronicbased counterparts. A number of different plasmonic waveguides have been considered over the last decade including the recently considered gap and trench plasmon waveguides. The gap and trench plasmon waveguides have proven to be difficult to fabricate. Therefore, this thesis will propose and analyse four different modified gap and trench plasmon waveguides that are expected to be easier to fabricate, and at the same time acquire improved propagation characteristics of the guided mode. In particular, it is demonstrated that the guided modes are significantly screened by the extended metal at the bottom of the structure. This is important for the design of highly integrated optics as it provides the opportunity to place two waveguides close together without significant cross-talk. This thesis also investigates the use of plasmonic nanowires to construct a Fabry-Pérot resonator/interferometer. It is shown that the resonance effect can be achieved with the appropriate resonator length and gap width. Typical quality factors of the Fabry- Pérot cavity are determined and explained in terms of radiative and dissipative losses. The possibility of using a nanowire resonator for the design of plasmonic filters with close to ~100% transmission is also demonstrated. It is expected that the results obtained in this thesis will play a vital role in the development of high resolution near field microscopy and spectroscopy, new measurement techniques and devices for single molecule detection, highly integrated optical devices, and nanobiotechnology devices for diagnostics of living cells.
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This study investigates the value of a robotics-based school engagement experience for preservice teachers enrolled in a fourth year technology education curriculum unit and analyses their perceived abilities and confidence to design and implement engaging technology activities following this experience. Technology is a key learning area in Australian schools but research shows that most teachers find this subject challenging to teach. This could be attributed to teachers’ attitudes and their lack of knowledge, hence investigating preservice teachers’ involvement with technology may provide further insights. In this study, 30 preservice teachers used robotics to implement technology activities with 22 primary school students from a school in a low socio-economic area. Surveys were administered to ascertain the preservice teachers' perceptions of their school engagement experiences. The data gathered from the participants showed that they had gained confidence and knowledge from the experience and felt the engagement activity would assist them to develop and implement technology activities in their future classrooms.
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The cultural and creative industries contribution to the economic and social sustainability of cities is a well acknowledged phenomenon which has accelerated in the era of urban renewal since the late twentieth century. The second-tier city of Brisbane, Australia was for many years considered a cultural backwater in the national context, yet its recent urban development within a short period of time has produced a city that now has all the hallmarks of a ‘creative city’. Brisbane’s transformation has been shaped by urban and cultural policies that are largely focussed around its inner-metropolitan localities, producing a growth in cultural infrastructure and the aestheticisation of inner-city precincts. However, like most Australian cities, the majority of Brisbane’s population live, and increasingly work in the suburbs. This article is based on a large research project that shows that creative industries workers are well represented across suburban localities. The article examines the policy and planning implications for creative industries located in Australian outer suburbs and the communities in which they are located.
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The Monte Carlo DICOM Tool-Kit (MCDTK) is a software suite designed for treatment plan dose verification, using the BEAMnrc and DOSXYZnrc Monte Carlo codes. MCDTK converts DICOM-format treatment plan information into Monte Carlo input files and compares the results of Monte Carlo treatment simulations with conventional treatment planning dose calculations. In this study, a treatment is planned using a commercial treatment planning system, delivered to a pelvis phantom containing ten thermoluminescent dosimeters and simulated using BEAMnrc and DOSXYZnrc using inputs derived from MCDTK. The dosimetric accuracy of the Monte Carlo data is then evaluated via comparisons with the dose distribution obtained from the treatment planning system as well as the in-phantom point dose measurements. The simulated beam arrangement produced by MCDTK is found to be in geometric agreement with the planned treatment. An isodose display generated from the Monte Carlo data by MCDTK shows general agreement with the isodose display obtained from the treatment planning system, except for small regions around density heterogeneities in the phantom, where the pencil-beam dose calculation performed by the treatment planning systemis likely to be less accurate. All point dose measurements agree with the Monte Carlo data obtained using MCDTK, within confidence limits, and all except one of these point dose measurements show closer agreement with theMonte Carlo data than with the doses calculated by the treatment planning system. This study provides a simple demonstration of the geometric and dosimetric accuracy ofMonte Carlo simulations based on information from MCDTK.
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Aspect orientation is an important approach to address complexity of cross-cutting concerns in Information Systems. This approach encapsulates these concerns separately and compose them to the main module when needed. Although there a different works which shows how this separation should be performed in process models, the composition of them is an open area. In this paper, we demonstrate the semantics of a service which enables this composition. The result can also be used as a blueprint to implement the service to support aspect orientation in Business Process Management area.
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This thesis provides the first evidence on how ownership concentration and structure relate to the timeliness of price discovery and reporting lags in Malaysia. Based on a sample of 1,276 Malaysian firms from 1996 to 2009, the results show that ownership concentration and the identity of the largest shareholder matter to the timeliness of price discovery and reporting lags. Specifically, closely-held firms are more timely in their price discovery and have shorter reporting lags, particularly if the largest shareholder is a foreigner or a financial institution. Government-owned firms have longer reporting lags, as expected, but we find no evidence that family-owned firms have significantly different timeliness of price discovery and reporting lags than other firms. Additional analysis shows that prior to the implementation of the Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance, firms were more timely in their price discovery but longer in their reporting lag.
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Ecological sustainability has been proposed to address the problem of human impacts increasingly degrading planetary resources and ecosystems, threatening biodiversity, eco-services and human survival. Ecological sustainability is an imperative, with Australia having one of the highest eco-footprints per person worldwide. While significant progress has been made via implementation of ecologically sustainable design in urban communities, relatively little has been undertaken in small, disparate regional communities in Australia. Regional communities are disadvantaged by rural economic decline associated with structural change and inequities of resource transfer. The ecologically sustainable solution is holistic, so all settlements need to be globally wise, richly biodiverse yet locally specific. As a regional solution to this global problem, this research offers the practical means by which a small regional community can contribute. It focuses on the design and implementation of a community centre and the fostering of transformative community learning through an integrated ‘learning community’ awareness of ecologically sustainable best practice. Lessons learned are documented by the participant researcher who as a designer, facilitator, local resident and social narrator has been deeply connected with the Tweed-Caldera region over a period since 1980. The collective action of the local community of Chillingham has been diligently recorded over a decade of design and development. Over this period, several positive elements emerged in terms of improvements to the natural and built environment, greater social cohesion and co-operative learning along with a shift towards a greener local economy. Behavioural changes in the community were noted as residents strived to embrace ecological ideals and reduce fossil fuel dependency. They found attractive local solutions to sourcing of food and using local employment opportunities to up skill their residents via transformative learning as a community in transition. Finally, the catalytic impact of external partnering has also been documented. How well the region as a whole has achieved its ecologically sustainable objectives is measured in terms of the delivered success of private and public partnering with the community, the creation of a community centre cum environment education centre, the restoration of local heritage buildings, the repair of riparian forests and improved water conditions in local river systems, better roads and road safety, local skills and knowledge transfer, support of local food and local/regional growers markets to attract tourists via the integrated trails network. In aggregate, each and every element contributes to a measure of eco-positive development for the built environment, its social organisation and its economy that has guided the local community to find its own pathway to sustainability. Within the Tweed-Caldera bioregion in northern New South Wales, there has been a lack of strategic planning, ecologically sustainable knowledge and facilities in isolated communities that could support the development of a local sustained green economy, provide a hub for socio-cultural activities and ecology based education. The first challenge in this research was to model a whole systems approach to eco-positive development in Chillingham, NSW, a small community where Nature and humanity know no specific boundary. The net result was the creation of a community environment education centre featuring best-affordable ecological practice and regionally distinctive, educational building form from a disused heritage building (cow bale). This development, implemented over a decade, resonated with the later regional wide programs that were linked in the Caldera region by the common purpose of extending the reach of local and state government assistance to regional NSW in economic transition coupled with sustainability. The lessons learned from these linked projects reveal that subsequent programs have been significantly easier to initiate, manage, develop and deliver results. In particular, pursuing collaborative networks with all levels of government and external private partners has been economically effective. Each community’s uniqueness has been celebrated and through drawing out these distinctions, has highlighted local vision, strategic planning, sense of belonging and connection of people with place. This step has significantly reduced the level of friction between communities that comes from natural competition for the finite pool of funds. Following the pilot Tweed-Caldera study, several other NSW regional communities are now undertaking a Community Economic Transition Program based on the processes, trials and positive experiences witnessed in the Tweed-Caldera region where it has been demonstrated that regional community transition programs can provide an opportunity to plan and implement effective long term strategies for sustainability, empowering communities to participate in eco-governance. This thesis includes the design and development of a framework for community created environment education centres to provide an equal access place for community to participate to meet their essential needs locally. An environment centre that facilitates community transition based on easily accessible environmental education, skills and infrastructure is necessary to develop local cultures of sustainability. This research draws upon the literatures of ecologically sustainable development, environmental education and community development in the context of regional community transition towards ‘strong sustainability’. The research approach adapted is best described as a four stage collaborative action research cycle where the participant researcher (me) has a significant involvement in the process to foster local cultures of sustainability by empowering its citizens to act locally and in doing so, become more self reliant and socially resilient. This research also draws upon the many fine working exemplars, such as the resilience of the Cuban people, the transition town initiative in Totnes, U.K. and the models of Australian Community Gardens, such as CERES (Melbourne) and Northey Street (Brisbane). The objectives of this study are to research and evaluate exemplars of ecologically sustainable environment education centres, to facilitate the design and development of an environment education centre created by a small regional community as an ecologically sustainable learning environment; to facilitate a framework for community transition based on environmental education, skills and infrastructure necessary to develop local cultures of sustainability. The research was undertaken as action research in the Tweed Caldera in Northern NSW. This involved the author as participant researcher, designer and volunteer in two interconnected initiatives: the Chillingham Community Centre development and the Caldera Economic Transition Program (CETP). Both initiatives involved a series of design-led participatory community workshops that were externally facilitated with the support of government agency partnerships, steering committees and local volunteers. Together the Caldera research programs involved communities participating in developing their own strategic planning process and outcomes. The Chillingham Community Centre was developed as a sustainable community centre/hub using a participatory design process. The Caldera Economic Transition Program (CETP) prioritised Caldera region projects: the Caldera farmer’s market; community gardens and community kitchens; community renewable energy systems and an integrated trails network. The significant findings were: the CETP projects were capable of moving towards an eco-positive design benchmark through transformative learning. Community transition to sustainability programs need to be underpinned by sustainability and environmental education based frameworks and practical on ground experience in local needs based projects through transformative learning. The actioned projects were successfully undertaken through community participation and teamwork. Ecological footprint surveys were undertaken to guide and assess the ongoing community transition process, however the paucity of responses needs to be revisited. The concept of ecologically sustainable development has been adopted internationally, however existing design and planning strategies do not assure future generations continued access to healthy natural life support systems. Sustainable design research has usually been urban focussed, with little attention paid to regional communities. This study seeks to redress this paucity through the design of ecologically sustainable (deep green) learning environments for small regional communities. Through a design-led process of environmental education, this study investigates how regional communities can be facilitated to model the principles of eco-positive development to support transition to local cultures of sustainability. This research shows how community transition processes and projects can incorporate sustainable community development as transformative learning through design. Regional community transition programs can provide an opportunity to plan long term strategies for sustainability, empowering people to participate in eco-governance. A framework is developed for a community created environment education centre to provide an equal access place for the local community to participate in implementing ways to meet their essential needs locally. A community environment education centre that facilitates community transition based on holistic environmental education, skills and infrastructure is necessary to develop local cultures of sustainability.
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Abstract. Fire safety of light gauge cold-formed steel frame (LSF) stud walls is significant in the design of buildings. In this research, finite element thermal models of both the traditional LSF wall panels with cavity insulation and the new LSF composite wall panels were developed to simulate their thermal behaviour under standard and real design fire conditions. Suitable thermal properties were proposed for plasterboards and insulations based on laboratory tests and literature review. The developed models were then validated by comparing their results with available fire test results. This paper presents the details of the developed finite element models of load bearing LSF wall panels and the thermal analysis results. It shows that finite element models can be used to simulate the thermal behaviour of load bearing LSF walls with varying configurations of insulations and plasterboards. Failure times of load bearing LSF walls were also predicted based on the results from finite element thermal analyses.
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This important research is published at a critical time in the history of PRINCE2. The world’s project managers are under incredible scrutiny and pressure to ensure their projects deliver quality on time and on budget – and even more so during a world recession. The research shows that PRINCE2 goes a long way to helping them achieve these goals. Although its origins began in the UK, PRINCE2 now has a truly international reach. We are delighted that the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has undertaken this global, thorough and informative research project. While it highlights the strengths of the methodology itself, the report also looks at the challenges organisations face when using a project management method such as PRINCE2. We’re sure the challenges will resonate with project managers around the world. Securing executive support to champion the adoption of PRINCE2, creating a robust business case and prioritising project governance are key issues that all project managers will grapple with during their career. The research also shows that to be thoroughly effective, organisations need to properly embed PRINCE2 and tailor it to suit their particular circumstances. Many successful organisations have sought the effective help of accredited consulting organisations to assist them in developing a programme to tailor and inculcate this method into their organisational culture. The latest version incorporates a whole chapter on tailoring PRINCE2. We believe that the publication of PRINCE2 Directing Successful Projects using PRINCE2 and the development of further support in the form of materials, mentoring and training for senior executives will be of significant benefit to contemporary project based organisations. The APM Group has already developed a qualification for sponsors in conjunction with the UK’s Home Office to help with this.
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A quantitative, quasi-experimental study of the effectiveness of computer-based scientific visualizations for concept learning on the part of Year 11 physics students (n=80) was conducted in six Queensland high school classrooms. Students’ gender and academic ability were also considered as factors in relation to the effectiveness of teaching with visualizations. Learning with visualizations was found to be equally effective as learning without them for all students, with no statistically significant difference in outcomes being observed for the group as a whole or on the academic ability dimension. Male students were found to learn significantly better with visualizations than without, while no such effect was observed for female students. This may give rise to some concern for the equity issues raised by introducing visualizations. Given that other research shows that students enjoy learning with visualizations and that their engagement with learning is enhanced, the finding that the learning outcomes are the same as for teaching without visualizations supports teachers’ use of visualizations.
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The structures of the open chain amide carboxylic acid rac-cis-[2-(2-methoxyphenyl)carbamoyl]cyclohexane-1-carboxylic acid, C15H19NO4, (I) and the cyclic imides rac-cis-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3a,4,5,6,7,7-hexahydroisoindole-1,3-dione,C15H17NO3, (II), chiral cis-2-(3-carboxyphenyl)-3a,4,5,6,7,7a-hexahydroisoindole-1,3-dione, C15H15NO4,(III) and rac-cis-2-(4-carboxyphenyl)- 3a,4,5,6,7,7a-hexahydroisoindole-1,3-dione monohydrate, C15H15NO4. H2O) (IV), are reported. In the amide acid (I), the phenylcarbamoyl group is essentially planar [maximum deviation from the least-squares plane = 0.060(1)Ang. for the amide O atom], the molecules form discrete centrosymmetric dimers through intermolecular cyclic carboxy-carboxy O-H...O hydrogen-bonding interactions [graph set notation R2/2(8)]. The cyclic imides (II)--(IV) are conformationally similar, with comparable phenyl ring rotations about the imide N-C(aromatic) bond [dihedral angles between the benzene and isoindole rings = 51.55(7)deg. in (II), 59.22(12)deg. in (III) and 51.99(14)deg. in (IV). Unlike (II) in which only weak intermolecular C-H...O(imide) hydrogen bonding is present, the crystal packing of imides (III) and (IV) shows strong intermolecular carboxylic acid O-H...O hydrogen-bonding associations. With (III), these involve imide O-atom acceptors, giving one-dimensional zigzag chains [graph set C(9)], while with the monohydrate (IV), the hydrogen bond involves the partially disordered water molecule which also bridges molecules through both imide and carboxyl O-atom acceptors in a cyclic R4/4(12) association, giving a two-dimensional sheet structure. The structures reported here expand the structural data base for compounds of this series formed from the facile reaction of cis-cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylic anhydride with substituted anilines, in which there is a much larger incidence of cyclic imides compared to amide carboxylic acids.
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With well over 700 species, the Tribe Dacini is one of the most species-rich clades within the dipteran family Tephritidae, the true fruit flies. Nearly all Dacini belong to one of two very large genera, Dacus Fabricius and Bactrocera Macquart. The distribution of the genera overlap in or around the Indian subcontinent, but the greatest diversity of Dacus is in Africa and the greatest diversity of Bactrocera is in south-east Asia and the Pacific. The monophyly of these two genera has not been rigorously established, with previous phylogenies only including a small number of species and always heavily biased to one genus over the other. Moreover, the subgeneric taxonomy within both genera is complex and the monophyly of many subgenera has not been explicitly tested. Previous hypotheses about the biogeography of the Dacini based on morphological reviews and current distributions of taxa have invoked an out-of-India hypothesis; however this has not been tested in a phylogenetic framework. We attempted to resolve these issues with a dated, molecular phylogeny of 125 Dacini species generated using 16S, COI, COII and white eye genes. The phylogeny shows that Bactrocera is not monophyletic, but rather consists of two major clades: Bactrocera s.s. and the ‘Zeugodacus group of subgenera’ (a recognised, but informal taxonomic grouping of 15 Bactrocera subgenera). This ‘Zeugodacus’ clade is the sister group to Dacus, not Bactrocera and, based on current distributions, split from Dacus before that genus moved into Africa. We recommend that taxonomic consideration be given to raising Zeugodacus to genus level. Supportive of predictions following from the out-of-India hypothesis, the first common ancestor of the Dacini arose in the mid-Cretaceous approximately 80 mya. Major divergence events occurred during the Indian rafting period and diversification of Bactrocera apparently did not begin until after India docked with Eurasia (50–35 mya). In contrast, diversification in Dacus, at approximately 65 mya, apparently began much earlier than predicted by the out-of-India hypothesis, suggesting that, if the Dacini arose on the Indian plate, then ancestral Dacus may have left the plate in the mid to late Cretaceous via the well documented India–Madagascar–Africa migration route. We conclude that the phylogeny does not disprove the predictions of an out-of-India hypothesis for the Dacini, although modification of the original hypothesis is required.
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Soufrière Hills volcano, Montserrat, has been erupting since 1995. During the current eruption, a large part of the material produced by the volcano has been transported into the sea, modifying the morphology of the submarine flanks of the volcano. We present a unique set of swath bathymetric data collected offshore from Montserrat in 1999, 2002 and 2005. From 1999 to 2002, pyroclastic flows associated with numerous dome collapses entered the sea to produce 100 Mm3 deposit. From 2002 to 2005, the 290 Mm3 submarine deposit is mainly from the 12–13 July 2003 collapse. These data allow us to estimate that, by May 2005, at least 482 Mm3 of material had been deposited on the sea floor since 1995. We compare on-land characteristics and volumes of dome collapse events with the submarine deposits and propose a new analysis of their emplacement on the submarine flanks of the volcano. The deposition mechanism shows a slope dependence, with the maximum thickness of deposit before the break in the slope, probably because of the type of the dense granular flow involved. We conclude that from 1995 to 2005 more than 75% of the erupted volume entered the sea.