Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau endemic Nannoglottis (Asteraceae)

All taxa endemic to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are hypothesized to have originated in situ or from immediately adjacent areas because of the relatively recent formation of the plateau since the Pliocene, followed by the large-scaled biota extinction and recession caused by the Quaternary ice sheet. However, identification of specific progenitors remains difficult for some endemics, especially some endemic genera. Nannoglottis, with about eight species endemic to this region, is one such genus. Past taxonomic treatments have suggested its relationships with four different tribes of Asteraceae. We intend to identify the closest relatives of Nannoglottis by evaluating the level of monophyly, tribal delimitation, and systematic position of the genus by using molecular data from ndhF gene, trnL-F, and ITS region sequences. We find that all sampled species of Nannoglottis are a well-defined monophyly. This supports all recent taxonomic treatments of Nannoglottis, in which all sampled species were placed in one broadly re-circumscribed genus. Nannoglottis is most closely related to the Astereae, but stands as an isolated genus as the first diverging lineage of the tribe, without close relatives. A tentative relationship was suggested for Nannoglottis and the next lineage of the tribe was based on the ITS topology, the "basal group," which consists of seven genera from the Southern Hemisphere. Such a relationship is supported by some commonly shared plesiomorphic morphological characters. Despite the very early divergence of Nannoglottis in the Astereae, the tribe must be regarded to have its origin in Southern Hemisphere rather than in Asia, because based on all morphological, molecular, biogeographical, and fossil data, the Asteraceae and its major lineages (tribes) are supposed to have originated in the former area. Long-distance dispersal using Southeast Asia as a steppingstone from Southern Hemisphere to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the most likely explanation for this unusual biogeographic link of Nannoglottis. The 23-32-million-year divergence time between Nannoglottis and the other Astereae estimated by DNA sequences predated the formation of the plateau. This estimation is further favored by the fossil record of the Asteraceae and the possible time of origin of the Astereae. Nannoglottis seems to have reached the Qinghai-Tibet area in the Oligocene-Eocene and then re-diversified with the uplift of the plateau. The molecular infragenetic phylogeny of the genus identifies two distinct clades, which reject the earlier infrageneric classification based on the arrangement of the involucral bracts and the length of the ligules, but agree well with the habits and ecological preferences of its current species. The "alpine shrub" vs. "coniferous forest" divergence within Nannoglottis was estimated at about 3.4 million years ago when the plateau began its first large-scale uplifting and the coniferous vegetation began to appear. Most of the current species at the "coniferous forest" clade of the genus are estimated to have originated from 1.02 to 1.94 million years ago, when the second and third uprisings of the plateau occurred, the climate oscillated and the habitats were strongly changed. The assumed evolution, speciation diversity, and radiation of Nannoglottis based on molecular phylogeny and divergence times agree well with the known geological and paleobotanical histories of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

自治式水下机器人回收系统的研究与设计

本文介绍了我们承担研制的国家“８６３”计划１０００ｍ及６０００ｍ无缆水下机器人的回收系统．回收系统在４级海况下不用专用母船能够成功地回收水下机器人，依据母船、海况、水下机器人及其他具体情况，介绍了两种不同的回收方案和回收器，经海上试验证明是有效和可行的。

Thermal stability of nano-KH particles and their chemical reactivities

The variation of specific surface area and chemical reactivity of nano-KH particles treated at different temperatures has been studied, The BET surface area of nano-KH decreases with the increase of heat treatment temperature, while the chemical reactivity per unit surface increases steadily. These results indicate that the state of KH surface is changed after heat treatment. Large specific surface area of nano-KH is a major factor for its high chemical reactivity, nevertheless, the surface in an activated state with high surface energy is also an important factor for its high chemical reactivity. Nano-KH alone can polymerize styrene rapidly with the formation of polystyrene.

An Analog VLSI Chip for Estimating the Focus of Expansion

For applications involving the control of moving vehicles, the recovery of relative motion between a camera and its environment is of high utility. This thesis describes the design and testing of a real-time analog VLSI chip which estimates the focus of expansion (FOE) from measured time-varying images. Our approach assumes a camera moving through a fixed world with translational velocity; the FOE is the projection of the translation vector onto the image plane. This location is the point towards which the camera is moving, and other points appear to be expanding outward from. By way of the camera imaging parameters, the location of the FOE gives the direction of 3-D translation. The algorithm we use for estimating the FOE minimizes the sum of squares of the differences at every pixel between the observed time variation of brightness and the predicted variation given the assumed position of the FOE. This minimization is not straightforward, because the relationship between the brightness derivatives depends on the unknown distance to the surface being imaged. However, image points where brightness is instantaneously constant play a critical role. Ideally, the FOE would be at the intersection of the tangents to the iso-brightness contours at these "stationary" points. In practice, brightness derivatives are hard to estimate accurately given that the image is quite noisy. Reliable results can nevertheless be obtained if the image contains many stationary points and the point is found that minimizes the sum of squares of the perpendicular distances from the tangents at the stationary points. The FOE chip calculates the gradient of this least-squares minimization sum, and the estimation is performed by closing a feedback loop around it. The chip has been implemented using an embedded CCD imager for image acquisition and a row-parallel processing scheme. A 64 x 64 version was fabricated in a 2um CCD/ BiCMOS process through MOSIS with a design goal of 200 mW of on-chip power, a top frame rate of 1000 frames/second, and a basic accuracy of 5%. A complete experimental system which estimates the FOE in real time using real motion and image scenes is demonstrated.

Probabilistic Solution of Inverse Problems

In this thesis we study the general problem of reconstructing a function, defined on a finite lattice from a set of incomplete, noisy and/or ambiguous observations. The goal of this work is to demonstrate the generality and practical value of a probabilistic (in particular, Bayesian) approach to this problem, particularly in the context of Computer Vision. In this approach, the prior knowledge about the solution is expressed in the form of a Gibbsian probability distribution on the space of all possible functions, so that the reconstruction task is formulated as an estimation problem. Our main contributions are the following: (1) We introduce the use of specific error criteria for the design of the optimal Bayesian estimators for several classes of problems, and propose a general (Monte Carlo) procedure for approximating them. This new approach leads to a substantial improvement over the existing schemes, both regarding the quality of the results (particularly for low signal to noise ratios) and the computational efficiency. (2) We apply the Bayesian appraoch to the solution of several problems, some of which are formulated and solved in these terms for the first time. Specifically, these applications are: teh reconstruction of piecewise constant surfaces from sparse and noisy observationsl; the reconstruction of depth from stereoscopic pairs of images and the formation of perceptual clusters. (3) For each one of these applications, we develop fast, deterministic algorithms that approximate the optimal estimators, and illustrate their performance on both synthetic and real data. (4) We propose a new method, based on the analysis of the residual process, for estimating the parameters of the probabilistic models directly from the noisy observations. This scheme leads to an algorithm, which has no free parameters, for the restoration of piecewise uniform images. (5) We analyze the implementation of the algorithms that we develop in non-conventional hardware, such as massively parallel digital machines, and analog and hybrid networks.

Creation of Computer Animation from Story Descriptions

This report describes a computer system that creates simple computer animation in response to high-level, vague, and incomplete descriptions of films. It makes its films by collecting and evaluating suggestions from several different bodies of knowledge. The order in which it makes its choices is influenced by the focus of the film. Difficult choices are postponed to be resumed when more of the film has been determined. The system was implemented in an object-oriented language based upon computational entities called "actors". The goal behind the construction of the system is that, whenever faced with a choice, it should sensibly choose between alternatives based upon the description of the film and as much general knowledge as possible. The system is presented as a computational model of creativity and aesthetics.

A dichotomic search algorithm for mining and learning in domain-specific logics

Ferr?, S. and King, R. D. (2004) A dichotomic search algorithm for mining and learning in domain-specific logics. Fundamenta Informaticae. IOS Press. To appear

Uptake and use of electronic information services: trends in UK higher education from the JUSTEIS project

Urquhart, C., Lonsdale, R.,Thomas, R., Spink, S., Yeoman, A., Armstrong, C. & Fenton, R. (2003). Uptake and use of electronic information services: trends in UK higher education from the JUSTEIS project. Program, 37(3), 167-180. Sponsorship: JISC

ROSSI: Emergence of communication in Robots through Sensorimotor and Social Interaction

ROSSI: Emergence of communication in Robots through Sensorimotor and Social Interaction, T. Ziemke, A. Borghi, F. Anelli, C. Gianelli, F. Binkovski, G. Buccino, V. Gallese, M. Huelse, M. Lee, R. Nicoletti, D. Parisi, L. Riggio, A. Tessari, E. Sahin, International Conference on Cognitive Systems (CogSys 2008), University of Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2008 Sponsorship: EU-FP7

Newton's aerodynamic problem in media of chaotically moving particles

Plakhov, A.Y.; Torres, D., (2005) 'Newton's aerodynamic problem in media of chaotically moving particles', Sbornik: Mathematics 196(6) pp.885-933 RAE2008

Constructing Universities as Organizations: University Reforms in Poland in the Light of Institutional Theory

This chapter shows that apart from changes at the systemic and institutional levels, successful reform implementation struggles with a gradual change in academic beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. Currently, visions of the university proposed by the Polish academic community and visions of it proposed by Polish reformers and policymakers (within ongoing reforms) are worlds apart. I shall study recent reforms in the context of specific academic self--protective narratives being produced in the last two decades (at the collective level of the academic profession) and in the context of the Ivory Tower university ideals predominant at the individual level (as studied comparatively through a large--scale European survey of the academic profession). Institutions change both swiftly, radically – and slowly, gradually. Research literature on institutional change until recently was focused almost exclusively on the role of radical changes caused by external shocks, leading to radical institutional reconfigurations. And research literature about the gradual, incremental institutional change have been emergent for about a decade and a half now (Mahoney and Thelen 2010; Streeck and Thelen 2005, 2009; Thelen 2003). Polish higher education provides interesting empirical grounds to test institutional theories. Both types of transformations (radical and gradual) may lead to equally permanent changes in the functioning of institutions, equally deep transformations of their fundamental rules, norms and operating procedures. Questions about institutional change are questions about characteristics of institutions undergoing changes. Endogenous institutional change is as important as exogenous change (Mahoney and Thelen 2010: 3). Moments in which there emerge opportunities of performing deep institutional reforms are short (in Poland these moments occurred in 2009-2012), and between them there are long periods of institutional stasis and stability (Pierson 2004: 134-135). The premises of theories of institutional change can be applied systematically to a system of higher education which shows an unprecedented rate of change and which is exposed to broad, fundamental reform programmes. There are many ways to discuss the Kudrycka reforms - and "constructing Polish universities as organizations" (rather than traditional academic "institutions") is one of more promising. In this account, Polish universities are under construction as organizations, and under siege as institutions. They are being rationalized as organizations, following instrumental rather than institutional logics. Polish academics in their views and attitudes are still following an institutional logic, while Polish reforms are following the new (New Public Management-led) instrumental logics. Both are on a collision course about basic values. Reforms and reformees seem to be worlds apart. I am discussing the the two contrasting visions of the university and describing the Kudrycka reforms as the reistitutionalization of the research mission of Polish universities. The core of reforms is a new level of funding and governance - the intermediary one (and no longer the state one), with four new peer-run institutions, with the KEJN, PKA and NCN in the lead. Poland has been beginning to follow the "global rules of the academic game" since 2009. I am also discussing two academic self-protection modes agains reforms: (Polish) "national academic traditions" and "institutional exceptionalism" (of Polish HE). Both discourses prevailed for two decades, none seems socially (and politically) acceptable any more. Old myths do not seem to fit new realities. In this context I am discussing briefly and through large-scale empirical data the low connectedness to the outside world of Polish HE institutions, low influence of the government on HE policies and the low level of academic entrepreneurialism, as seen through the EUROAC/CAP micro-level data. The conclusion is that the Kudrycka reforms are an imporant first step only - Poland is too slow in reforms, and reforms are both underfunded and inconsistent. Poland is still accumulating disadvantages as public funding and university reforms have not reached a critical point. Ever more efforts lead to ever less results, as macro-level data show. Consequently, it may be useful to construct universities as organizations in Poland to a higher degree than elsewhere in Europe, and especially in Western Europe.

Systematic Verification of Safety Properties of Arbitrary Network Protocol Compositions Using CHAIN

Formal correctness of complex multi-party network protocols can be difficult to verify. While models of specific fixed compositions of agents can be checked against design constraints, protocols which lend themselves to arbitrarily many compositions of agents-such as the chaining of proxies or the peering of routers-are more difficult to verify because they represent potentially infinite state spaces and may exhibit emergent behaviors which may not materialize under particular fixed compositions. We address this challenge by developing an algebraic approach that enables us to reduce arbitrary compositions of network agents into a behaviorally-equivalent (with respect to some correctness property) compact, canonical representation, which is amenable to mechanical verification. Our approach consists of an algebra and a set of property-preserving rewrite rules for the Canonical Homomorphic Abstraction of Infinite Network protocol compositions (CHAIN). Using CHAIN, an expression over our algebra (i.e., a set of configurations of network protocol agents) can be reduced to another behaviorally-equivalent expression (i.e., a smaller set of configurations). Repeated applications of such rewrite rules produces a canonical expression which can be checked mechanically. We demonstrate our approach by characterizing deadlock-prone configurations of HTTP agents, as well as establishing useful properties of an overlay protocol for scheduling MPEG frames, and of a protocol for Web intra-cache consistency.

Use of semiconductor optical amplifiers in signal processing applications

We describe a 42.6 Gbit/s all-optical pattern recognition system which uses semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs). A circuit with three SOA-based logic gates is used to identify the presence of specific port numbers in an optical packet header.

Principles and prejudice: The erosion of fairness in admissibility determinations relating to historic child sexual abuse trials in Ireland

This thesis interrogates the construction of fairness to the accused in historic child sexual abuse trials in Ireland. The protection of fairness is a requirement of any trial that claims to adhere to the rule of law. Historic child sexual abuse trials, in which the charges relate to events that are alleged to have taken place decades previously, present serious challenges to the ability of the trial process to safeguard fairness. They are a litmus test of the courts’ commitment to fairness. The thesis finds that in historic abuse trials fairness to the accused has been significantly eroded and that therefore the Irish Courts have failed to respect the core of the rule of law in these most serious of prosecutions. The thesis scrutinises two bodies of case law, both of which deal with the issue of whether evidence should reach the jury. First, it examines the decisions on applications brought by defendants seeking to prohibit their trial. The courts hearing prohibition applications face a dilemma: how to ensure the defendant is not put at risk of an unfair trial, while at the same time recognising that delay in reporting is a defining feature of these cases. The thesis traces the development of the prohibition case law and tracks the shifting interpretations given to fairness by the courts. Second, the thesis examines what fairness means in the superior courts’ decisions regarding the admissibility of the following kinds of evidence, each of which presents particular challenges to the ability of the trial to safeguard fairness: evidence of multiple complainants; evidence of recovered memories and evidence of complainants’ therapeutic records. The thesis finds that in both bodies of case law the Irish courts have hollowed out the meaning of fairness. It makes proposals on how fairness might be placed at the heart of courts’ decisions on admissibility in historic abuse trials. The thesis concludes that the erosion of fairness in historic abuse trials is indicative of a move away from the liberal model of criminal justice. It cautions that unless fairness is prioritised in historic child sexual abuse trials the legitimacy of these trials and that of all Irish criminal trials will be contestable.

The intra-Traveller debate on ‘Traveller ethnicity’ in the Republic of Ireland. A critical discourse analysis

This dissertation assesses from an under-explored angle the enduring contention over Travellers’ ethnic recognition in the Republic of Ireland, particularly over the last decade. The novelty of this study concerns not only its specific focus on and engagement with the debate on ‘Traveller ethnicity’ among Traveller activists. It also pertains to the examination of Travellers’ arguments for and against ethnicity in light of critical theorisations as well as insights from identity politics. Furthermore, the adoption of a Critical Discourse Analytical framework offers new perspectives to this controversy and its potential implications. Finally, this thesis’ relevance extends beyond the contention on ‘Traveller ethnicity’ in itself. It also draws attention to the complex dynamics of colonisation and appropriation between the global and the local. Particularly, it points to the interplay between international human rights discourses and the local ones, formulated by NGOs struggling for equality. In this way it sheds light on more general issues such as the dialectical potential of human rights discourses: the benefits and pitfalls of framing recognition claims in the legalistic terms of human rights. In this study it is argued that the contention on ‘Traveller ethnicity’ defies a simplistic polarisation between Irish Travellers and the Irish State since it has been simultaneously played out within the Travelling community. Specifically, this study explores how ‘Traveller ethnicity’ has been introduced, embraced, promoted and contested within Traveller politics to the point of becoming a hotly debated and divisive issue among Traveller activists and at the heart of the community itself. Putting Traveller activists centre-stage, their discourses for and against ‘Traveller ethnicity’ are examined and assessed against one another and their potential implications for Traveller politics, policies and identities are pointed out. Contending discourses are historically contextualised as the product of specific structural, material and discursive configurations of power and socio-economic relations within Irish society. Discourses for and against ‘Traveller ethnicity’ are assessed as being significant beyond the representational level. They are regarded as contributing to dialectically constitute Travellers’ ways of being, representing and acting. Furthermore these discourses are considered as sites and means of power struggles, whose stakes are not only words, but relate to issues of power and leadership within the Travelling community; adjudications over material resources; the adoption of certain policy approaches over others; and, finally, the consolidation of certain subject positions over others for Travellers to draw upon and relate to mainstream society. This study highlights an ongoing ideological struggle for the naturalisation of ‘Traveller ethnicity’ as a self-evident ‘fact’, which involves no active choice by Travellers themselves. Overall, ‘Traveller ethnicity’ appears to constitute an enduring source of dilemmas for the Travelling community. These revolve around the contradictory potential of ethnicity claims-making —both its perils and advantages— and its status as a potent political strategic resource that can both challenge and reinforce existing power relations, policies and identities.