Search

Communication and position sensing are among the most important capabilities for swarm robots to interact with their peers and perform tasks collaboratively. However, the hardware required to facilitate communication and position sensing is often too complicated, expensive, and bulky to be carried on swarm robots. Here we present Maneuverable Piccolissimo 3 (MP3), a minimalist, single motor drone capable of executing inter-robot communication via infrared light and triangulation-based sensing of relative bearing, distance, and elevation using message arrival time. Thanks to its novel design, MP3 can communicate with peers and localize itself using simple components, keeping its size and mass small and making it inherently safe for human interaction. We present the hardware and software design of MP3 and demonstrate its capability to localize itself, fly stably, and maneuver in the environment using peer-to-peer communication and sensing.

Despite their growing popularity, swarms of robots remain limited by the operating time of each individual. We present algorithms which allow a human to sculpt a swarm of robots into a shape that persists in space perpetually, independent of onboard energy constraints such as batteries. Robots generate a path through a shape such that robots cycle in and out of the shape. Robots inside the shape react to human initiated changes and adapt the path through the shape accordingly. Robots outside the shape recharge and return to the shape so that the shape can persist indefinitely. The presented algorithms communicate shape changes throughout the swarm using message passing and robot motion. These algorithms enable the swarm to persist through any arbitrary changes to the shape. We describe these algorithms in detail and present their performance in simulation and on a swarm of mobile robots. The result is a swarm behavior more suitable for extended duration, dynamic shape-based tasks in applications such as agriculture and emergency response., Comment: 20 pages, 17 figures

Energy security is widely examined from the perspective of energy import vulnerability, but it is less common to evaluate the vulnerability of energy exporters. This paper presents an assessment framework and quantitative scorecard for evaluating the economic vulnerability of countries with significant energy exports. The background research of various related conceptual frameworks distils useful insights from energy security, corporate risks, and general economic vulnerability. Carbon exposure, largely missing from related work, is introduced to the study in new factors to evaluate exporter vulnerability to increasing global action on climate change. A holistic view is taken of all energy resource exports as a novel approach, rather than focusing on individual fuels. The developed scorecard is used to provide case studies of five major global energy exporters with comparative analysis between countries and over time.

Energy security is widely examined from the perspective of energy import vulnerability, but it is less common to evaluate the vulnerability of energy exporters. This paper presents an assessment framework and quantitative scorecard for evaluating the economic vulnerability of countries with significant energy exports. The background research of various related conceptual frameworks distils useful insights from energy security, corporate risks, and general economic vulnerability. Carbon exposure, largely missing from related work, is introduced to the study in new factors to evaluate exporter vulnerability to increasing global action on climate change. A holistic view is taken of all energy resource exports as a novel approach, rather than focusing on individual fuels. The developed scorecard is used to provide case studies of five major global energy exporters with comparative analysis between countries and over time.

Expert knowledge is required to interpret data across a range of fields. Experts bridge gaps that often exists in our knowledge about relationships between data and the parameters of interest. This is especially true in geoscientific applications, where knowledge of the Earth is derived from interpretations of observable features and relies on predominantly unproven but widely accepted theories. Thus, experts facilitate solutions to otherwise unsolvable problems. However, experts are inherently subjective, and susceptible to cognitive biases and adverse external effects. This work examines this problem within geoscience. Three compelling examples are provided of the prevalence of cognitive biases from previous work. The problem is then formally defined, and a set of design principles which ensure that any solution is sufficiently flexible to be readily applied to the range of geoscientific problems. No solutions exist that reliably capture and reduce cognitive bias in experts. However, formal expert elicitation methods can be used to assess expert variation, and a variety of approaches exist that may help to illuminate uncertainties, avoid misunderstandings, and reduce herding behaviours or single-expert over-dominance. This work combines existing and future approaches to reduce expert suboptimality through a flexible modular design where each module provides a specific function. The design centres around action modules that force a stop-and-perform step into interpretation tasks. A starter-pack of modules is provided as an example of the conceptual design. This simple bias-reduction system may readily be applied in organisations and during everyday interpretations through to tasks for major commercial ventures.

To reduce the probability of future large earthquakes, traffic light systems (TLSs) define appropriate reactions to observed induced seismicity depending on each event's range of local earthquake magnitude (ML). The impact of velocity uncertainties and station site effects may be greater than a whole magnitude unit of ML, which can make the difference between a decision to continue (“green” TLS zone) and an immediate stop of operations (“red” zone). We show how to include these uncertainties in thresholds such that events only exceed a threshold with a fixed probability. This probability can be set by regulators to reflect their tolerance to risk. We demonstrate that with the new TLS, a red-light threshold would have been encountered earlier in the hydraulic fracturing operation at Preston New Road, UK, halting operations and potentially avoiding the later large magnitude events. It is therefore critical to establish systems which permit regulators to account for uncertainties when managing risk.

The Department of Defense (DoD) has significantly increased its investment in the design, evaluation, and deployment of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) capabilities to address national security needs. While there are numerous AI/ML successes in the academic and commercial sectors, many of these systems have also been shown to be brittle and nonrobust. In a complex and ever-changing national security environment, it is vital that the DoD establish a sound and methodical process to evaluate the performance and robustness of AI/ML models before these new capabilities are deployed to the field. This paper reviews the AI/ML development process, highlights common best practices for AI/ML model evaluation, and makes recommendations to DoD evaluators to ensure the deployment of robust AI/ML capabilities for national security needs.

Seismic body wave traveltime tomography and surface wave dispersion tomography have been used widely to characterize earthquakes and to study the subsurface structure of the Earth. Since these types of problem are often significantly non-linear and have non-unique solutions, Markov chain Monte Carlo methods have been used to find probabilistic solutions. Body and surface wave data are usually inverted separately to produce independent velocity models. However, body wave tomography is generally sensitive to structure around the subvolume in which earthquakes occur and produces limited resolution in the shallower Earth, whereas surface wave tomography is often sensitive to shallower structure. To better estimate subsurface properties, we therefore jointly invert for the seismic velocity structure and earthquake locations using body and surface wave data simultaneously. We apply the new joint inversion method to a mining site in the United Kingdom at which induced seismicity occurred and was recorded on a small local network of stations, and where ambient noise recordings are available from the same stations. The ambient noise is processed to obtain inter-receiver surface wave dispersion measurements which are inverted jointly with body wave arrival times from local earthquakes. The results show that by using both types of data, the earthquake source parameters and the velocity structure can be better constrained than in independent inversions. To further understand and interpret the results, we conduct synthetic tests to compare the results from body wave inversion and joint inversion. The results show that trade-offs between source parameters and velocities appear to bias results if only body wave data are used, but this issue is largely resolved by using the joint inversion method. Thus the use of ambient seismic noise and our fully non-linear inversion provides a valuable, improved method to image the subsurface velocity and seismicity.

The ability to extract information from scattered waves is usually limited to singly scattered energy even if multiple scattering might occur in the medium. As a result, the information in arrival times of higher-order scattered events is underexplored. This information is extracted using fingerprinting theory. This theory has never previously been applied successfully to real measurements, particularly when the medium is dispersive. The theory is used to estimate the arrival times and scattering paths of multiply scattered waves in a thin sheet using an automated scheme in a dispersive medium by applying an additional dispersion compensation method. Estimated times and paths are compared with predictions based on a sequence of straight ray paths for each scattering event given the known scatterer locations. Additionally, numerical modelling is performed to verify the interpretations of the compensated data. Since the source also acts as a scatterer in these experiments, initially, the predictions and the numerical results did not conform to the experimental observations. By reformulating the theory and the processing scheme and adding a source scatterer in the modelling, it is shown that predictions of all observed scattering events are possible with both prediction methods, verifying that the methods are both effective and practically achievable., Applied Geophysics and Petrophysics

This article presents an approach to automating the creation of land-use/land-cover classification (LULC) maps from satellite images using deep neural networks that were developed to perform semantic segmentation of natural images. This work is important since the production of accurate and timely LULC maps is becoming essential to government and private companies that rely on them for large-scale monitoring of land resource changes. In this work, deep neural networks are trained to classify each pixel of a satellite image into one of a number of LULC classes. The presented deep neural networks are all pre-trained using the ImageNet Large-Scale Visual Recognition Competition (ILSVRC) datasets and then fine-tuned using approximately 19,000 Landsat 5/7 satellite images of resolution 224×224 taken of the Province of Manitoba in Canada. The result is an automated solution that can produce LULC maps images significantly faster than current semi-automated methods. The contributions of this article are the observation that deep neural networks developed for semantic segmentation can be used to automate the task of producing LULC maps; the use of these networks to produce LULC maps; and a comparison of several popular semantic segmentation architectures for solving the problem of automated LULC map production.

James Hammond and co-authors report from a BGA meeting on how advances in instrumentation are opening up opportunities for dense, large-scale deployments of seismometers on land and in the oceans.

BackgroundA call has recently been made by the public health and medical communities to understand the neighborhood context of a patient's life in order to improve education and treatment. To do this, methods are required that can collect "contextual" characteristics while complementing the spatial analysis of more traditional data. This also needs to happen within a standardized, transferable, easy-to-implement framework.MethodsThe Spatial Video Geonarrative (SVG) is an environmentally-cued narrative where place is used to stimulate discussion about fine-scale geographic characteristics of an area and the context of their occurrence. It is a simple yet powerful approach to enable collection and spatial analysis of expert and resident health-related perceptions and experiences of places. Participants comment about where they live or work while guiding a driver through the area. Four GPS-enabled cameras are attached to the vehicle to capture the places that are observed and discussed by the participant. Audio recording of this narrative is linked to the video via time stamp. A program (G-Code) is then used to geotag each word as a point in a geographic information system (GIS). Querying and density analysis can then be performed on the narrative text to identify spatial patterns within one narrative or across multiple narratives. This approach is illustrated using case studies on post-disaster psychopathology, crime, mosquito control, and TB in homeless populations.ResultsSVG can be used to map individual, group, or contested group context for an environment. The method can also gather data for cohorts where traditional spatial data are absent. In addition, SVG provides a means to spatially capture, map and archive institutional knowledge.ConclusionsSVG GIS output can be used to advance theory by being used as input into qualitative and/or spatial analyses. SVG can also be used to gain near-real time insight therefore supporting applied interventions. Advances over e

A novel source location method based on coda wave interferometry (CWI) was applied to a microseismic data set of mining-induced events recorded in Nottinghamshire, England. CWI uses scattered waves in the coda of seismograms to estimate the differences between two seismic states. We used CWI to estimate the distances between pairs of earthquake locations, which are then used jointly to determine the relative location of a cluster of events using a probabilistic framework. We evaluated two improvements to this location technique: These account for the impact of a large difference in the dominant wavelength of a recording made on different instruments, and they standardize the selection of parameters to be used when implementing the method. Although the method has been shown to produce reasonable estimates on larger earthquakes, we tested the method for microseismic events with shorter distinguishable codas in recorded waveforms, and hence, fewer recorded scattered waves. The earthquake location results are highly consistent when using different individual seismometer channels, showing that it is possible to locate event clusters with a single-channel seismometer. We thus extend the potential applications of this cost-effective method to seismic events over a wider range of magnitudes.

We present the first Love-wave group velocity and shear velocity maps of the British Isles obtained from ambient noise interferometry and fully non-linear inversion. We computed interferometric inter-station Green's functions by cross-correlating the transverse component of ambient noise records retrieved by 61 seismic stations across the UK and Ireland. Group velocity measurements along each possible inter-station path were obtained using frequency-time analysis and converted into a series of inter-station traveltime datasets between 4 and 15 seconds period. Traveltime uncertainties estimated from the standard deviation of dispersion curves constructed by stacking randomly-selected subsets of daily cross-correlations, were observed to be too low to allow reasonable data fits to be obtained during tomography. Data uncertainties were therefore estimated again during the inversion as distance-dependent functionals. We produced Love-wave group velocity maps within 8 different period bands using a fully non-linear tomography method which combines the transdimensional reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo (rj-McMC) algorithm with an eikonal raytracer. By modelling exact raypaths at each step of the Markov chain we ensured that the non-linear character of the inverse problem was fully and correctly accounted for. Between 4 and 10 seconds period, the group velocity maps show remarkable agreement with the known geology of the British Isles and correctly identify a number of low-velocity sedimentary basins and high-velocity features. Longer period maps, in which most sedimentary basins are not visible, are instead mainly representative of basement rocks. In a second stage of our study we used the results of tomography to produce a series of Love-wave group velocity dispersion curves across a grid of geographical points focussed around the East Irish Sea sedimentary basin. We then independently inverted each curve using a similar rj-McMC algorithm to obtain a series of one

Estimating image uncertainty is fundamental to guiding the interpretation of geoscientific tomographic maps.We reveal novel uncertainty topologies (loops) which indicate that while the speeds of both low- and high-velocity anomalies may be well constrained, their locations tend to remain uncertain. The effect is widespread: loops dominate around a third of United Kingdom Love wave tomographic uncertainties, changing the nature of interpretation of the observed anomalies. Loops exist due to 2nd and higher order aspects of wave physics; hence, although such structures must exist in many tomographic studies in the physical sciences and medicine, they are unobservable using standard linearized methods. Higher order methods might fruitfully be adopted.

If energy emitted by a seismic source such as an earthquake is recorded on a suitable backbone array of seismometers, source-receiver interferometry (SRI) is a method that allows those recordings to be projected to the location of another target seismometer, providing an estimate of the seismogram that would have been recorded at that location. Since the other seismometer may not have been deployed at the time at which the source occurred, this renders possible the concept of “retrospective seismology” whereby the installation of a sensor at one period of time allows the construction of virtual seismograms as though that sensor had been active before or after its period of installation. Here we construct such virtual seismograms on target sensors in both industrial seismic and earthquake seismology settings, using both active seismic sources and ambient seismic noise to construct SRI propagators, and on length scales ranging over 5 orders of magnitude from ∼40 m to ∼2500 km. In each case we compare seismograms constructed at target sensors by SRI to those actually recorded on the same sensors. We show that spatial integrations required by interferometric theory can be calculated over irregular receiver arrays by embedding these arrays within 2-D spatial Voronoi cells, thus improving spatial interpolation and interferometric results. The results of SRI are significantly improved by restricting the backbone receiver array to include approximately those receivers that provide a stationary-phase contribution to the interferometric integrals. Finally, we apply both correlation-correlation and correlation-convolution SRI and show that the latter constructs fewer nonphysical arrivals.

A cholera outbreak began in Haiti during October, 2010. Spatiotemporal patterns of household-level cholera in Ouest Department showed that the initial clusters tended to follow major roadways; subsequent clusters occurred further inland. Our data highlight transmission pathway complexities and the need for case and household-level analysis to understand disease spread and optimize interventions.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2000., Includes bibliographical references (p. 55-56)., by Andrew W. Curtis., S.M.

We present the first Rayleigh wave group speed maps of the British Isles constructed from ambient seismic noise. The maps also constitute the first surface wave tomography study of the crust under the British Isles at a relatively high resolution. We computed interferometric, interstation Rayleigh waves from vertical component records of ambient seismic noise recorded on 63 broad-band and short-period stations across the UK and Ireland. Group velocity measurements were made from the resulting surface wave dispersion curves between 5 and 25 s using a multiple phase-matched filter method. Uncertainties in the group velocities were computed by calculating the standard deviation of four dispersion curves constructed by stacking a random selection of daily cross-correlations. Where an uncertainty could not be obtained for a ray path using this method, we estimated it as a function of the interreceiver distance. Group velocity maps were computed for 5–25-s period using the Fast Marching forward solution of the eikonal equation and iterative, linearized inversion. At short and intermediate periods, the maps show remarkable agreement with the major geological features of the British Isles including: terrane boundaries in Scotland; regions of late Palaeozoic basement uplift; areas of exposed late Proterozoic/early Palaeozoic rocks in southwest Scotland, northern England and northwest Wales and, sedimentary basins formed during the Mesozoic such as the Irish Sea Basin, the Chester Basin, the Worcester Graben and the Wessex Basin. The maps also show a consistent low-velocity anomaly in the region of the Midlands Platform, a Proterozoic crustal block in the English Midlands. At longer periods, which are sensitive velocities in the lower crustal/upper mantle, the maps suggest that the depth of Moho beneath the British Isles decreases towards the north and west. Areas of fast velocity in the lower crust also coincide with areas thought to be associated with underplating of the lo

A cholera outbreak began in Haiti during October, 2010. Spatiotemporal patterns of household-level cholera in Ouest Department showed that the initial clusters tended to follow major roadways; subsequent clusters occurred further inland. Our data highlight transmission pathway complexities and the need for case and household-level analysis to understand disease spread and optimize interventions.

Background Fine-scale and longitudinal geospatial analysis of health risks in challenging urban areas is often limited by the lack of other spatial layers even if case data are available. Underlying population counts, residential context, and associated causative factors such as standing water or trash locations are often missing unless collected through logistically difficult, and often expensive, surveys. The lack of spatial context also hinders the interpretation of results and designing intervention strategies structured around analytical insights. This paper offers a ubiquitous spatial data collection approach using a spatial video that can be used to improve analysis and involve participatory collaborations. A case study will be used to illustrate this approach with three health risks mapped at the street scale for a coastal community in Haiti. Methods Spatial video was used to collect street and building scale information, including standing water, trash accumulation, presence of dogs, cohort specific population characteristics, and other cultural phenomena. These data were digitized into Google Earth and then coded and analyzed in a GIS using kernel density and spatial filtering approaches. The concentrations of these risks around area schools which are sometimes sources of diarrheal disease infection because of the high concentration of children and variable sanitary practices will show the utility of the method. In addition schools offer potential locations for cholera education interventions. Results Previously unavailable fine scale health risk data vary in concentration across the town, with some schools being proximate to greater concentrations of the mapped risks. The spatial video is also used to validate coded data and location specific risks within these “hotspots”. Conclusions Spatial video is a tool that can be used in any environment to improve local area health analysis and intervention. The process is rapid and can be repeated in study sites t

This non-experimental study examined the influence of an initiative that High Risk School District (pseudonym) implemented to offset the effect of low student academic performance in low performing-schools. The study attempted to answer the following research question: Does having a Teach For America (TFA) teacher have an influence on a student's Algebra I EOC score, independent of gender and race? Teach For America teachers were assigned to the district's most disenfranchised schools. Previous studies have revealed mixed results on TFA teachers' impact on student achievement. The researcher compared student performance on the Algebra I North Carolina End of Course test in High Risk Schools between TFA and non-TFA classrooms. To analyze the data, the responses were measured using the composite Algebra I EOC scores, and the explanatory variables of student gender (male or female), race (African-American, Hispanic and White) and teacher type (TFA or non-TFA) employing a hierarchical modeling procedure. After considering the nesting nature of students within different schools, the researcher used hierarchical linear modeling and found that students taught by TFA out-performed students taught by non-TFA students t (1956)= 3.23, p=.002. Students taught by TFA teachers for all subgroups White, Black and Hispanic out performed students taught by non-TFA teachers (all ps<.01). The results of this study demonstrate that TFA teachers assigned to Algebra I classes have a significant influence on increasing student achievement. The researcher discusses the limitations of these findings. Other studies have shown that TFA teachers, in comparison to regularly certified teachers, have a negative influence on achievement.

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the effect of different surface conditioning methods on the tensile bond strength (TBS) and integrity of the amalgam-resin composite interface, using commercially available restoration repair systems. METHODS: One hundred and sixty Gamma 2 amalgam specimens were stored in artificial saliva for 2 weeks and then randomly assigned to one of the following conditioning groups (n=20/group): Group 1: air abrasion, alloy primer and 'Panavia 21', Group 2: air abrasion and 'Amalgambond Plus', Group 3: air abrasion and 'All-Bond 3', Group 4: diamond bur, alloy primer and 'Panavia 21', Group 5: diamond bur and 'Amalgambond Plus', Group 6: diamond bur and 'All-Bond 3', Group 7: silica coating technique, and Group 8: non-conditioned amalgam surfaces (control group). Subsequently, resin composite material was added to the substrate surfaces and the amalgam-resin composite specimens were subjected to TBS testing. Representative samples from the test groups were subjected to scanning electron microscopy and surface profilometry. The data was analysed statistically with one-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey's tests (α=0.05). RESULTS: The mean TBS of amalgam-resin composite ranged between 1.34 and 5.13MPa and varied with the degree of amalgam surface roughness and the type of conditioning technique employed. Significantly highest TBS values (5.13±0.96MPa) were obtained in Group 1 (p=0.013). CONCLUSION: Under the tested conditions, significantly greater tensile bond strength of resin composite to amalgam was achieved when the substrate surface was conditioned by air abrasion followed by the application of the Panavia 21 adhesive system. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Effecting a repair of an amalgam restoration with resin composite via the use of air abrasion and application of Panavia 21 would seem to enhance the integrity of the amalgam-resin composite interface. Clinical trials involving the implementation of this technique are indicated to determine the usefulne

Traditional methods of imaging the Earth's subsurface using seismic waves require an identifiable, impulsive source of seismic energy, for example an earthquake or explosive source. Naturally occurring, ambient seismic waves form an ever-present source of energy that is conventionally regarded as unusable since it is not impulsive. As such it is generally removed from seismic data and subsequent analysis. A new method known as seismic interferometry can be used to extract useful information about the Earth's subsurface from the ambient noise wavefield. Consequently, seismic interferometry is an important new tool for exploring areas which are otherwise seismically quiescent, such as the British Isles in which there are relatively few strong earthquakes. One of the possible applications of seismic interferometry is ambient noise tomography (ANT). ANT is a way of using interferometry to image subsurface seismic velocity variations using seismic (surface) waves extracted from the background ambient vibrations of the Earth. To date, ANT has been used successfully to image the Earth's crust and upper-mantle on regional and continental scales in many locations and has the power to resolve major geological features such as sedimentary basins and igneous and metamorphic cores. Here we provide a review of seismic interferometry and ANT, and show that the seismic interferometry method works well within the British Isles. We illustrate the usefulness of the method in seismically quiescent areas by presenting the first surface wave group velocity maps of the Scottish Highlands using only ambient seismic noise. These maps show low velocity anomalies in sedimentary basins such as the Moray Firth, and high velocity anomalies in igneous and metamorphic centres such as the Lewisian complex. They also suggest that the Moho shallows from south to north across Scotland which agrees with previous geophysical studies in the region.

We give a linear-time algorithm that checks for isomorphism between two 0-1 matrices that obey the circular-ones property. This algorithm leads to linear-time isomorphism algorithms for related graph classes, including Helly circular-arc graphs, \Gamma-circular-arc graphs, proper circular-arc graphs and convex-round graphs., Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures

Frontiers of Seismology was a wide-ranging, cross-disciplinary meeting held in Edinburgh in April this year. Susanne Sargeant, Lars Ottemöller, Brian Baptie, Andy Bell, Andrew Curtis and Ian Main join forces to give a flavour of the meeting and the new strengths it revealed in seismology in the UK.

Video imagery can be acquired from aerial, terrestrial and marine based platforms and has been exploited for a range of remote sensing applications over the past two decades. Examples include coastal surveys using aerial video, routecorridor infrastructures surveys using vehicle mounted video cameras, aerial surveys over forestry and agriculture, underwater habitat mapping and disaster management. Many of these video systems are based on interlaced, television standards such as North America’s NTSC and European SECAM and PAL television systems that are then recorded using various video formats. This technology has recently being employed as a front-line, remote sensing technology for damage assessment post-disaster. This paper traces the development of spatial video as a remote sensing tool from the early 1980s to the present day. The background to a new spatial-video research initiative based at National University of Ireland, Maynooth, (NUIM) is described. New improvements are proposed and include; low-cost encoders, easy to use software decoders, timing issues and interoperability. These developments will enable specialists and non-specialists collect, process and integrate these datasets within minimal support. This integrated approach will enable decision makers to access relevant remotely sensed datasets quickly and so, carry out rapid damage assessment during and post-disaster.

In the aftermath of a disaster like Hurricane Katrina, remote-sensing methods are often employed in an effort to assess damage. However, their utility may be limited by the aerial perspective and image resolution. The Spatial Video Acquisition System (SVAS), in conjunction with a Geographic Information System (GIS), has the potential to be a complementary methodology for obtaining damage assessment information as well as capturing recovery related geographies associated with post-traumatic stress. An example is provided from the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans with data that could be used to predict neighborhood post-traumatic stress. Results reveal six dimensions in which a SVAS can improve existing disaster-related data collection approaches: organization, archiving, transferability, evaluation, objectivity, and feasibility.

Putnam’s version of social capital, and the main problems with it, are outlined in Chapter One of this thesis. In Chapters Two and Three alternative conceptual approaches are examined to see whether they might resolve any of the difficulties in Putnam’s work. The six problems arising from Putnam’s work identified in Chapter One are: 1) the lack of a developed conceptual framework; 2) whether macro-level analysis is appropriate; 3) how the concept fits with considerations of structure and agency; 4) whether the negative aspects of social capital are fully taken into account; 5) what the relative merits of “bonding” and “bridging” social capital are; and; 6) whether social capital is only ever a by-product of other activities or can also be consciously created. In Chapter Two, Coleman and Ostrom’s separate work in social capital is analysed. They use the concept as part of an attempt to add broader social considerations to theories of rational and collective action. In Chapter Three, the main authors examined are Bourdieu and Lin. Bourdieu uses social capital to complement his concept of cultural capital in looking at the reproduction of inequality. Lin develops a theory of social capital that focuses on individuals’ action in pursuing resources in networks. It emerges that the other authors can contribute various elements that help to address some of the problems in Putnam’s work. Yet the most appropriate level of analysis and the full implications of bridging social capital remain points of contention. In Chapter four the future of Putnam’s use of social capital is debated and it is concluded that he will have to abandon his macro-level analysis if the full conceptual intricacies of social capital are to be realised.

The objective of the study was to examine the effects of trans-9-octadecenoic acid (elaidic) and trans-II-octadecenoic acid (trans-vaccenic) on uptake and alteration of exogenous fatty acids by mouse mammary epithelial cells. Cells from a subclone of the COMMA-D cell line were plated on uncoated plastic petri dishes and grown to confluence. Supplemental fatty acids bound to bovine serum albumin were added to the medium applied to the confluent cell cultures. Treatments included 200 JlM octadecanoic acid (CI8:0) as a control and 100 JlM CI8:0 with one of the following JlM ratios of cis-octadecenoic acid (cis-CI8:I) to elaidic or trans-vaccenic: 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 0:100. In addition, all treatments were conducted with or without lactogenic hormone supplementation. The cellular protein to DNA ratio and total amount of fatty acids per mg protein were decreased (P < .05) by addition of lactogenic hormones. In treatments without hormone supplementation, however, the total amount of cellular fatty acids per mg protein was decreased (P < .05) by addition of either trans-CI8:I isomer. Results indicated a significant (P < .05) relationship between the concentration oftrans-C18:1 in the media and uptake of trans-C 18: 1 isomers, and retroconversion of trans-C 18: 1 to trans-C 16: 1. The slopes of the lines for cellular C16:0, cis-C16:1, and cis-CI8:1 were less (P < .05) than zero as concentration oftrans-CI8:1 in the media increased. However, trans-CI8:1 isomers did not influence the proportion of polar and nonpolar lipids synthesized by the cells. It appears that trans fatty acids may depress milk fat output by decreasing de novo fatty acid synthesis and cis-C 18: I content.

Postmodern theorising has presented the reader as an active agent in the process of the interpretation of texts. Sociology of knowledge approaches have identified both the author and the reader of texts as socially embodied within a context. This study presents a unique collection of readings in the Gospel of Luke by ordinary real-readers from a disadvantaged and/or marginalised social and ecclesial location, within an affluent first world context. These readings, transcribed in Volume Two, present empirical reader research for analysis, through dialogue and conversation with professional readings in the Gospel of Luke, in order to assess what contribution the former might make to contemporary hermeneutics. Identifying contemporary human experience of ordinary real-readers as the starting point in their reading of the Lukan text, the study illustrates how these readings act as a useful tool of suspicion in conversation with readings that claim to be objective and value-neutral, and how they facilitate critical reflection on the ideological and theological commitments of the dominant classes in society and church. The value and legitimacy of the readings of ordinary real-readers is discussed, and how their social and ecclesial marginalisation and disadvantage provides a nontotalising presence in biblical interpretation, a presence that guards against the claims of permanence made by those in the academic and ecclesial world. Identification of contemporary human experience as inevitably influencing the process of interpretation leads to a consideration of the place of the historical critical paradigm in biblical studies. The value and legitimacy of ordinary real readers as active agents in the process of interpretation, and the contribution they make to contemporary hermeneutics, requires a consideration of safeguards against reading anarchy. The process of self and social analysis, and an openness to dialogue and conversation with those outside our own contexts, incl

Postmodern theorising has presented the reader as an active agent in the process of the interpretation of texts. Sociology of knowledge approaches have identified both the author and the reader of texts as socially embodied within a context. This study presents a unique collection of readings in the Gospel of Luke by ordinary real-readers from a disadvantaged and/or marginalised social and ecclesial location, within an affluent first world context. These readings, transcribed in Volume Two, present empirical reader research for analysis, through dialogue and conversation with professional readings in the Gospel of Luke, in order to assess what contribution the former might make to contemporary hermeneutics. Identifying contemporary human experience of ordinary real-readers as the starting point in their reading of the Lukan text, the study illustrates how these readings act as a useful tool of suspicion in conversation with readings that claim to be objective and value-neutral, and how they facilitate critical reflection on the ideological and theological commitments of the dominant classes in society and church. The value and legitimacy of the readings of ordinary real-readers is discussed, and how their social and ecclesial marginalisation and disadvantage provides a nontotalising presence in biblical interpretation, a presence that guards against the claims of permanence made by those in the academic and ecclesial world. Identification of contemporary human experience as inevitably influencing the process of interpretation leads to a consideration of the place of the historical critical paradigm in biblical studies. The value and legitimacy of ordinary real readers as active agents in the process of interpretation, and the contribution they make to contemporary hermeneutics, requires a consideration of safeguards against reading anarchy. The process of self and social analysis, and an openness to dialogue and conversation with those outside our own contexts, incl