Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'River Crossing'

Caryl Phillips’s novel Crossing the River deals with European colonialism and the consequences of it. Crossing the River is a novel which embraces characters from colonized cultures as well as characters from colonizing cultures. Following a timeline that begins in 1752 and ends in 1963, the novel shows slavery in progress as well as what transpires in the aftermath of slavery        In this essay I will argue that Caryl Phillips demonstrates the complexity of colonialism and slavery in his novel Crossing the River; he approaches the two concepts from different perspectives and shows us that colonialism and slavery are complicated concepts. Caryl Phillips uses narrative to demonstrate the negative sides of colonialism and slavery, to show that the negative aspects of the two concepts can affect not only the colonized people but also the colonizing people.        Colonialism, in its traditional sense, is present in some of the novel’s episodes but slavery, in different forms, appears in all episodes. Nevertheless, all episodes in Crossing the River have a common origin; which Phillips reminds us about by using the relationship between plot and story. Diversity is an important theme in the novel. From a narrative perspective, Crossing the River has a diversity of narrators who tell their stories as well as other persons’ stories. There are female narrators as well as male ones; some narrators are known while other narrators are unknown. The ways the episodes are told are diversified. Some of the episodes follow a chronological line (“The Pagan Coast” and “Crossing the River”) while other episodes jump back and forth in time (“West” and “Somewhere in England”). The forms of narration are diversified, not only between the individual episodes but also within some of the episodes. Crossing the River plays with diversity in several layers. The structure of the novel is as diversified as the number of narrators, a diversity of ways of dealing with the main themes results in a diversity of fates for Phillips’s characters. Caryl Phillips combines structure with content to demonstrate that colonialism and slavery are problematic concepts: the negative consequences of the two concepts can, in different ways and in different degrees, affect colonized people as well as those responsible for colonialism.

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This thesis suggests that the existing protocols for initial emergency response to a chaotic event do not take advantage of the decision-making skills of front-line responders. Building from a foundation derived from the concepts of reductionism, holism and the Cynefin framework, a purposeful sample of real-world incidents was examined in an attempt to understand and demonstrate how front-line, emergent decision making can positively impact a chaotic emergency scene. From the research and sampling, a conceptual framework was developed that supports the implementation of a protocol that encourages front-line decision making. The research also identifies a point during the response that signifies entry into the chaotic domain. The REACT framework (respond, engage, act, communicate and transition) is proposed to empower first responders and give them the ability to respond to a crisis when there is not plan. The REACT framework is capable of being implemented at the lowest level of emergency response agencies. The utilization of this framework allows the decision-making skills of responders to develop incrementally. In addition, this thesis suggests that the framework serves as a mechanism to teach critical thinking and decision making.

In the first chapter of Crossing the River (1993), Caryl Phillips depicts the dilemma of a fluid identity for the peoples of the African diaspora and their descendants by using ambiguity to simulate feelings of contradiction, liminality and a double consciousness. The first character, Nash Williams, struggles with his cultural identity as an emancipated, black slave and missionary who is repatriated in Africa to convert the pagans of Liberia. A postcolonial reading of Nash’s hybrid position illustrates his experiences of unhomeliness, of religious doubt and realisation in the shortcomings of mimicry. The second character, Amelia Williams is divided by her dual identity as the wife of a slave owning-slave liberator in antebellum America. Via a contrapuntal reading of Amelia as the antagonist of the tale, her hostile manner supports the suggestion that she sought to control the peculiar situation which was threatening her livelihood, depreciating her social status and debasing her imperialist values. Her proslavery standpoint could not, however, be established unequivocally. Nevertheless, both Amelia and Nash are unmistakably troubled by inner conflicts engendered through slavery and polarised ideologies.

With the focus on universal health coverage (UHC) and the inclusion of an equity target in the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals, equity analysis is becoming prominent in the evaluation of health policies in low-income countries. Focusing on Cambodia, the overall aim of this thesis is to examine spatial and socio-economic equity patterns in maternal health services between 2000 and 2014, a period characterised by extensive health systems reforms. Inequities of maternal health services are examined on one UHC dimensions, population coverage in terms of use and quality of services. Using household surveys and the population census, inequities are measured using econometric analysis, logistic multilevel models and small area estimation. Results show that irrespective of residency, inequities in the use of services decrease over time as population coverage increases. However, use remains pro-rich in 2014. The pro-rich bias in urban areas is particularly strong when examining inequities of the quality of services received. In rural areas, inequities in quality by socio-economic status are low as most of the health services provided fail to meet the quality criteria applied. Moving beyond the urban/ rural dichotomy, large spatial inequities in the utilisation of services are for the first time observed at small areas, suggesting that health system characteristics and other socio-economic determinants manifest themselves geographically. Findings are discussed in the context of inverse equity hypothesis, health system reform and socio-economic development. The thesis concludes that there is partial support for the inverse equity hypothesis and that the hypothesis may have a spatial dimension that has previously not been captured. It also concludes that health system reforms targeting the supply-side of service provision probably had an effect on reducing inequities, but that socio-economic development including increased household wealth cannot be excluded as a major contributor to increased service uptake.

Caryl Phillis’s novel Crossing the River tells a story of the African diaspora caused by the slave trade. The novel not only depicts the physical aspect of diasporic life, but also sheds light on the cognitive aspects. It is visible separately in the four chapters, but also in the prologue and epilogue through Phillips’s use of the mystical voice of the disembodied father who addresses all his children of the African diaspora. This essay argues that Crossing the River is an example of black politics of resistance from two different perspectives. Firstly, Phillips uses the African diaspora to exemplify the hybrid identity, and to reject a binary colonial discourse and racism that have caused tremendous suffering for the African diaspora. Secondly, by not only rejecting the binary colonial discourse but also contesting and taking part in shaping a discourse that synthesizes different worlds, Crossing the River takes part in creating a more diverse and equal sense of the world.

This thesis examines the effectiveness of China’s economic activities in North Korea in terms of resolving China’s domestic non-traditional security problems. It studies the implementation of China’s foreign economic policy towards North Korea. The thesis uses qualitative research methodology to study the economic activities launched after 2002 near the Sino-DPRK border and in North Korean ocean territory. It hypothesises that the commercialisation of China’s foreign economic policy towards North Korea is driven by actors below the state in order to resolve their socio-economic problems at the sub-state level. This policy-transition from original pro-aid economic policy to North Korea also has important implications for the regional order in Northeast Asia. These implications include advancing the economic reform process in North Korea, worsening the relationship between China and South Korea, and reducing the effectiveness of the international effort to denuclearise North Korea. The specific non-traditional security problems which have driven three major sectors of China’s economic activities in North Korea, i.e. mineral resource and energy sector, fishery industry sector and cross-border activities sector, include issues such as environment pollution, resource scarcity, labor shortage and cultural decline that diverge from the China’s strategic targets to Korea Peninsular. This thesis explores the link between high and low politics in the implementation stage of Chinese foreign policy through the relatively active role of actors below the state in Sino-DPRK economic cooperation and their impacts at the regional level after 2002 in contrast to the previous dominant role of central government in this field.

Set against the backdrop of the Transatlantic slave trade, Caryl Phillips’s Crossing the River can be read as a novel which explores severed family ties and the intertwined relationship between the dominant and the subdued within the African diaspora. Questions concerning “race”, identity and representation can be traced in all the narratives and are also the focus of this essay. Diasporic identities most often involve a double consciousness, seeing and/or identifying with different perspectives. All of the characters are clearly affected by slavery and/or racism directly or indirectly. This essay will argue that this is evident in all the narratives, using Paul Gilroy’s concept of the Black Atlantic to illustrate this point. However, when it comes to representation and whose voice is heard, Phillips’s choices of focalization have adverse implications for the representation of Africa and Africans. Although the novel explores identities of people of the African diaspora and one of the narratives, “The Pagan Coast”, is set in Liberia, the country remains anonymous, and no African is awarded a voice in that narrative. In his attempt at capturing the essence of African diasporic identities, Phillips has neglected the influence of Africa and Africans.

China already has the highest numbe of,and largest cities in its history. According to recent statistics, Chinese cities were home to 52.6% of China’s total population at the end of 2012. If the current trend holds, it is predicted that by 2025 the Chinese urban population will be over 1 billion including eight megacities, each with a population of over 10 million. Urbanisation is part of a central strategy of the Chinese Government to aid development and gradually raise welfare standards. Meanwhile, environmental problems in China are getting more severe which now threatens the balance of sustainable development. To address the environmental challenges caused by and in cities and to balance its economic growth with social and environmental aspects, China has made itself a vast living laboratory for sustainable urban development approaches. Many city concepts such as green city, garden city, and eco-city and low-carbon city have been promoted and put into practicein the past two decades at different levels and scales. The reasons why so many concepts have been used in China are: the vague definition of sustainable development; different governmental departments have been engaged in promoting different concepts each with a different focus; the concept itself evolved over time. One common feature of these concepts is that none of them is well defined. However, there is a clear trend that the concepts are becoming more comprehensive regarding their coverage of more aspects of sustainability. Case analysis of the more popular concepts eco-city, low-carbon city, low-carbon eco-city, eco-civilization, and other experiences show, that the lack of definition of the concepts proves important barriers in practice. It’s not possible to clearly define these concepts because they are more or less value based, but it is desirable to develop more scientifically based frameworks within which urban planning can be carried out. Another barrier is that urban planning in China is implemented with a confused backdrop of a state operating somewhere between the old Soviet style of centralized planning and a growing market economy. Concepts like low-carbon and eco-city are introduced top-down and are hardly understood among local planners. There is also a danger that market actors make fundamental changes in well-developed plans during the implementation phase. In this thesis acase study carried out in the city of Xuzhou has shown that a process oriented and simpler framework for eco-city development with a clear focus on resource efficiency can be applied in a Chinese context. A three level approach has been used in order to escape from the trap of trying to find exact definitions for the concepts used in China. Depending on the ambition level chosen by acity, different planning methods should be applied and different sets of indicators should be chosen. What is needed in order to move forward in China is a more participatory planning structure at local levels including the public and NGOs. This is because of the values included in sustainability frameworks. If the development of a framework is not anchored in a broad participatory process, the likelihood of success is lessened. There is little evidence of such development in China today particularly when lack of legislation making local engagement in environmental issues more difficult. Takingin to account the subjective nature of sustainability frameworks, it is also clear that China has to develop its own narratives for sustainable urban development based on its own culture. The application of more or less ready-made western countries solutions for urban development has not been very successful in China. Looking into the future we can see that the global need for resources will grow in an almost uncontrolled way for several reasons and there are no signs that this phenomenon will phase out. This raises the question: is development based on ecological modernisation theory, which means we can decouple economic growth from environmental degradation by applying new technologies and system thinking, a feasible way forward, or do we need to find new more radical ways to change the urban metabolism based on totally new narratives for the future. The challenge for Industrial Ecology will be to tie together industrial metabolism with urban metabolism into models for increasing resource efficiency in the overall metabolism, including the use of natural resources from agriculture, forestry, mining and harvesting of resources from sea. Another challenge will be to connect awareness to action and find ways to see how results from Industrial Ecology methods can be used in practice in cooperation with actors in society. Industrial Ecologycan develop into more of a science for decision support in the planning of sustainable urban development. However new research as well as new methods is needed to handle the complex issues of the normative component in frameworks for sustainability and for expanding the thinking around ecological modernisation. Research in developing quantitative metabolic models hasto be complemented with the formulation of research questions together with practitioners and other disciplines (like urban planning, ecology, and social science) in how to promote more radical changes in urban metabolism. This will need the establishment of many movements in society aiming to formulate new narratives for the future. There are examples of such movements forchanging consumption patterns in society e.g. collaborative consumption, which is an economic model based on sharing, trading, borrowing or lending instead of owning. The Industrial Ecology community should have an overall vision to bridge the gap between science and practice toward sustainable futures for our society. Development of ideas to this end will be the focus of the next step in my research towards my Ph Dthesis. This will include qualitative eco-cycle models for more effective utilization of material and energy in the societal metabolism as well as new socio-technical models for integration of these models into urban planning routines.

QC 20140212

Since the start of the 21st century, energy security concerns and rising international energy costs have led China to pursue the development of a coal to oil industry, whereby converting a portion of the nation's abundant coal reserves into gasoline, diesel, or jet fuel, China might be able to increase its domestic oil production and generate profits. But a large-scale coal to oil industry exerts added pressure on China's domestic coal reserves and water resources, and generates significant greenhouse gas emissions. The tension between the potential benefits of coal to oil development and its associated negative externalities present a challenge for China's energy policymakers, who must balance competing demands for energy security, resource management, and equitable development. The challenge of effectively managing the development of this industry is complicated by the characteristic problems plaguing energy sector governance in China, including the absence of a powerful energy policymaking institution, the decentralized nature of the country's economic development, and the influence of large energy companies. This study examines the evolution of China's coal to oil industry and the policies shaping its development in order to better understand energy sector governance in China and the complex challenges confronting policymakers as they strive to balance an array of competing demands. It finds that weak energy institutions and powerful domestic actors indeed hinder China's ability to efficiently formulate energy policies for the coal to oil industry, while considerations about the industry's environmental and resource impacts compel a cautious approach to development. China's incremental approach to formulating a long-term plan for the development of the coal to oil industry may, in the end, yield more effective policies.

Structural health monitoring is a very important phase of the maintenance of a civil work. In fact, thanks to the installation of a system able to monitor the conditions of a structure, it is possible to verify how this same structure responds to the loads to which it is subjected and to identify potentially damaged zones. Specifically, a railway bridge crossing a river undergoes stresses and deformations caused by the passage of trains, earthquake events and interactions with water. The INFRASAFE project aims to investigate all these aspects in order to guarantee a total monitoring of a specific structure - the bridge at Revere crossing Po river – in the environmental surrounding where it is placed. This research thesis is part of such project in a sense that it constitutes the preliminary analytical phase prior the experimental campaigns in the site. The truss structure will be modeled in Straus7 and a modal analysis will be performed in order to determine its frequencies and vibration modes. In addition, the axle loads of the real trains passing on the bridge will be considered for a linear static analysis. The results of such analysis will be investigated and the most stressed steel junction will be locally modeled in order to study its fatigue capacity.

Abstract   The aim of this essay is to explain why Caryl Phillips presents Joyce as "the adopted daughter of Africa" at the end of Crossing the River (1993). This will be done by performing a close reading. This essay will focus on Joyce’s actions and behaviour. Aspects of feminism and postcolonial theory will act as the theoretic basis for the analysis. The analysis of Joyce’s character will be put in relation to the whole of Phillips’ “Black Atlantic” narrative and to gender and third wave feminist theories. The analysis will show that Joyce, by breaking racial norms, renouncing her faith, defying her mother, divorcing her husband, and falling in love with Travis, is the person who defines hope in the novel. Her character, together with her son Greer, shows a path to reconciliation between races in the aftermath of colonialism.

As replacement and removal of undersized culverts gains momentum as an effective technique for restoring natural stream flows and removing fish passage barriers, it is important to evaluate the benefits of these efforts on the in-stream and adjacent riparian habitat for other species of potential concern. This study compares stream-associated amphibian (SAA) occurrence in streams adjacent to different road crossing structures on unpaved forest roads in the Wilson River watershed located within the Tillamook State Forest, Oregon. Surveys were conducted at road crossing structures for three taxa of SAA; Pacific giant salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus), coastal tailed frog (Ascaphus truei), and Columbia torrent salamander (Rhyacotriton kezeri). Statistical models were created to analyze the effect of habitat variables on SAA occupancy, and determine whether those variables changed relative to road crossing structures.

Results showed that coastal tailed frog occupancy was positively associated with dissolved oxygen and crayfish presence, negatively associated with longitude, and had a slight quadratic relationship to channel confinement. Because all sites were highly saturated with oxygen, percent dissolved oxygen was likely a surrogate for one or more other covariates, such as in-stream habitat or substrate size. Detection rates of Pacific giant salamander were too high and detection rates of Columbia torrent salamander were too low to provide reliable models, but they did provide some insight into the factors affecting occupancy in the study area, including information about their interactions with road crossing structures. Occupancy rates of Pacific giant salamanders in the study area appear to be unaffected by road crossings, fish passable or otherwise. Conversely, torrent salamanders seemed to be mostly absent from the study sites altogether, but based on the one stream where they were detected, they are not excluded from occupying fish barrier culvert sites.

Top weighted habitat covariates, including dissolved oxygen, channel confinement, crayfish and fish presence, and flow constriction are all indicators of disturbance that can be linked to road crossings. Although the size and structure of road crossings did not prove to significantly influence SAA occupancy, indicators of stream disturbance that can be related to road crossings were included in the best models for predicting occupancy, demonstrating the importance of reducing disturbance related to road crossings on streams.

The aim of this essay is to examine the tension at the heart of the British colonial discourse as it affects the relationship of Travis and Joyce in the chapter "Somewhere in England", in Caryl Phillips's 1993 novel, Crossing the River. The thesis of the essay is that the colonial discourse of the British insists on a racial signifier in the imagined community of the British, and thus resists the idea that a person can be both black and British. The postcolonial analysis shows that it is Joyce's rejection of the national discourse along with the displacement of Travis from a segregated America into a superficially kinder environment that allows their relationship to develop. Yet, along with Travis's death, the contradictions and hypocrisy of the colonial discourse serve to undermine Joyce's lack of racial prejudice and contribute to her giving up her baby at the end of the war.

The aim of this essay is to explore motherhood in two postcolonial literary works by African American author Toni Morrison and British author Caryl Phillips, who was born in the Caribbean. The essay is based on Morrison’s award winning novel Beloved, which was published in 1987 and was inspired by the escaping African American slave Margareth Garner. It is set just after the American Civil War and the novels deals with the trauma of slavery from the perspective of Sethe, a slave who kills her own daughter to save her from slavery. The second novel on which this essay is based is Caryl Phillips’ novel Crossing the River, which was published 1993 and focused on the African diaspora from different perspectives. Crossing the River is a non-chronological narrative covering four different characters (three African American people and one white slave trader during the eighteenth century). This essay, however, only deals with the last of the four narratives depicting white British Joyce who mothers a child with African American soldier Travis. The hypothesis on which the essay is based is that the institution of American slavery has denied the female protagonists in the two novels, Sethe and Joyce, their maternal selves. The analysis revealed that both women suffer from racial domination, and race, or simply skin color, is what leads to the maternal loss of the two protagonists. Both authors depict the world of the colonizer and the colonized and they address the common pain and guilt shared by black as well as white people.

Through the critical discourse analysis of Anglophone Caribbean literature as a polyrhythmic performance, this research sets out to examine the claim that, in a world in a state of constant flux, emerging Caribbean voices are offering a challenging perspective on how to negotiate identity away from the binary constructs of centre and margin. It argues that the Caribbean writer, as a self-conscious producer of alternative discourses, offers an innovative and transcultural vision of the self. This research consists of three stages which integrate critical discourse and literary analysis with colonial/postcolonial and socio-cultural theories. Firstly, it investigates the power of language as an operation of discourse through which to apprehend reality within a binary system of representation. It then examines how the concept of discourse, as a site of contestation and meaning, enables the elaboration of a Caribbean counter-discourse. Finally, it explores the role, within the Caribbean text, of literary techniques such as narrative fragmentation, irony, dialogism, intertextuality, ambivalence and the carnivalesque to challenge, disrupt the established order and offer new perspectives of being. My study of Anglophone Caribbean texts highlights the power of language and the authority of the ‘book’ as subtle, insidious tools of domination and colonisation. It also demonstrates how, by allowing hitherto marginalised voices to write themselves into being, Caribbean writers enable linear narratives and monolithic visions of reality to be contested and other perspectives of understanding and of meaning to be uncovered. It exposes the plurality and the interweaving of discourses in the Caribbean text as a liberating, dynamic force which enables new subject positions and realities to emerge along the lines of similarity and difference. At a time when the issue of identity is one of the central problems in the world today, the research argues that this celebration of the plural, the fluid and the ambivalent offers new ways of being away from the stultifying perspective of essentialist forms.

Through the critical discourse analysis of Anglophone Caribbean literature as a polyrhythmic performance, this research sets out to examine the claim that, in a world in a state of constant flux, emerging Caribbean voices are offering a challenging perspective on how to negotiate identity away from the binary constructs of centre and margin. It argues that the Caribbean writer, as a self-conscious producer of alternative discourses, offers an innovative and transcultural vision of the self. This research consists of three stages which integrate critical discourse and literary analysis with colonial/postcolonial and socio-cultural theories. Firstly, it investigates the power of language as an operation of discourse through which to apprehend reality within a binary system of representation. It then examines how the concept of discourse, as a site of contestation and meaning, enables the elaboration of a Caribbean counter-discourse. Finally, it explores the role, within the Caribbean text, of literary techniques such as narrative fragmentation, irony, dialogism, intertextuality, ambivalence and the carnivalesque to challenge, disrupt the established order and offer new perspectives of being. My study of Anglophone Caribbean texts highlights the power of language and the authority of the ‘book’ as subtle, insidious tools of domination and colonisation. It also demonstrates how, by allowing hitherto marginalised voices to write themselves into being, Caribbean writers enable linear narratives and monolithic visions of reality to be contested and other perspectives of understanding and of meaning to be uncovered. It exposes the plurality and the interweaving of discourses in the Caribbean text as a liberating, dynamic force which enables new subject positions and realities to emerge along the lines of similarity and difference. At a time when the issue of identity is one of the central problems in the world today, the research argues that this celebration of the plural, the fluid and the ambivalent offers new ways of being away from the stultifying perspective of essentialist forms.

When oil and gas pipelines cross rivers they are often buried in the ground beneath the floodplain and river bed. There is a risk that river will expose the pipe by lateral bank erosion, as well as bed erosion, and then there is a risk that the pipe will break. Pipe failure can cause loss of revenue, repair and reparation costs, political difficulties and adverse environmental impacts. Buried pipeline crossings correctly located and engineered do not affect the flow hydraulics and river regime. Therefore, pipeline crossing projects should be based on the study of natural processes including those which lead to lateral movement of the channel. This study deals with the scientific knowledge of a variety of channel types and their evolution by lateral movements. The literature review and statistical analysis reveal that the rates of bank erosion depend on the type of river channel pattern. Data from different channel types are obtained from the literature with reference to a variety of parameters which are then grouped depending upon the scale of the problem under consideration (catchment, reach and local scales). These data for bank erosion rates are analyzed to develop general relationships with such factors as size of river system, shape of channel, bed type, gradient, riparian vegetation etc. Statistical examinations show that there is strong correlation between bank erosion rate and the catchment area and with channel geometry. Weak correlations with water discharge and with flow variability suggest that bank erosion rates will not be changed significantly in the near future if discharge and/or its variability alter under climate change. Results are used to provide science-based recommendations to estimate lateral activity applicable to many regions of the world.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004.
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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Seeking to navigate and explore diasporic identity, as reflected in and by transatlantic narrative spaces, this thesis looks to three very different novels birthed out of the Atlantic context (at different points of the Atlantic triangle and at different moments in history): Our Sister Killjoy or Reflections from a Black-eyed Squint (1977) by Ama Ata Aidoo, The Chosen Place, The Timeless People (1969) by Paule Marshall and Crossing the River (1993) by Caryl Phillips. Recognising the weight of location – cultural, geographic, temporal – on the literary construction of transatlantic identity, this thesis traces the way in which Aidoo, Marshall and Phillips use fictional texts as tools for grappling with ideas of home and belonging in a world of displacement, fracture and (ex)change. Uncovering the impact of roots, as well as routes (rupta via) on the realisation of identity for the diasporic subject, this study reveals and wrestles with various narrative portrayals of the diasporic condition (a profoundly human condition). Our Sister Killjoy presents identity as inherently imbricated with nationalism and pan-Africanism, whereas The Chosen Place presents identity as tidalectic, caught in the interstices between western and African subjectivities. In Crossing the River on the other hand, diasporic identification is constructed as transnational, fractal and perpetually in-process. This study argues that in the absence of an established sense of terra firma the respective authors actively construct home through narrative, resulting in what Erica L. Johnson has described as terragraphica. In this way, each novel is perceived and explored as a particular terragraphica as well as a fictional lieux de mémoire (to borrow Pierre Nora’s conception of “sites of memory”). Using the memories of transatlantic characters as (broken) windows through which to view history, as well as filters through which the present can be understood (or refracted), are techniques that Aidoo, Marshall and Phillips employ (although, Aidoo’s use of memory is less obvious). Tapping into various sites of memory in the lives of the fictional characters, the novels themselves become mediums of remembering, not as a means of storing facts about the past, but for the ambivalent purpose of understanding the impact of the past on the present.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In ’n poging om diasporiese identiteit te karteer en te ondersoek, betrek hierdie verhandeling drie uiteenlopende romans wat in die Atlantiese konteks, naamlik vanuit die verskillende hoeke van die Atlantiese driehoek en verskillende geskiedkundige Atlantiese momente, ontstaan het. Die drie romans sluit in: Our Sister Killjoy or Reflections from a Black-eyed Squint (1977) deur Ama Ata Aidoo, The Chosen Place, The Timeless People (1969) deur Paule Marshall en Crossing the River (1993) deur Caryl Phillips. Deur die belangrikheid van plek – kultureel, geografies en temporeel – in die literêre konstruksie van transatlantiese identiteit, te beklemtoon, spoor hierdie verhandeling die manier waarop Aidoo, Marshall en Phillips fiktiewe tekste aanwend na om sin te maak van idees oor tuiste en geborgenheid in ’n wêreld van verdringing, skeuring en (ver)wisseling. Deur die impak van die oorsprong op, asook die weg (rupta via) na, die verwesenliking van identiteit vir die diasporiese subjek te toon, onthul en worstel hierdie tesis met verskeie narratiewe uitbeeldings van die diasporiese toestand (’n toestand eie aan die mens). Our Sister Killjoy stel identiteit as inherent vermeng met nasionalisme en pan-Afrikanisme voor, terwyl The Chosen Place identiteit as tidalekties uitbeeld – vasgevang tussen westerse en Afrika-subjektiwiteite. In Crossing the River word diasporiese identifisering egter gekonstrueer as transnasionaal, fraktaal en ewigdurend in ’n proses van ontwikkeling. Hierdie studie voer verder aan dat die onderskeie skrywers tuiste aktief deur narratief konstrueer in die afwesigheid van ’n gevestigde bewustheid van terra firma, of onbekende land of plek. Die gevolg is ’n voortvloeiing van wat deur Erica L. Johnson beskryf word as terragraphica. Vervolgens word elk van die romans gesien en verken as ’n spesifieke terragraphica asook ’n fiktiewe lieux de mémoire, gegrond in Pierre Nora se konsep “sites of memory”. Die benutting van transatlantiese karakters se herhinneringe as (gebreekte) vensters waardeur die geskiedenis bespeur kan word en filters waardeur die hede verstaan (of gerefrakteer) kan word, is die tegnieke wat Aidoo, Marshall en Phillips aanwend – alhoewel Aidoo se gebruik van geheue minder ooglopend is. Deur verskeie terreine van geheue in die lewens van die fiktiewe karakters te betrek, ontwikkel die romans tot mediums van onthou, nie in die sin van feite van die verlede wat gestoor word nie, maar met die dubbelsinnige doel om die impak van die verlede op die hede te verstaan.

Winter roads, built from compacted snow and I or ice, are common throughout the circumpolar North. They are considered effective and economical means of providing seasonal access into permafrost terrain while minimizing the potential for environmental damage. The purpose of this study is an appraisal of long-term environmental impacts of winter roads by comparative assessment of terrain morphology, microclimate, permafrost, soils, and vegetation, on winter road right-of-ways and in adjacent undisturbed control areas.

[ES] Las inundaciones pueden llegar a desestabilizar los vehículos y estos, a su vez, pueden exacerbar los efectos negativos de las inundaciones cuando son arrastrados por el flujo, generando no solamente pérdidas económicas sino también de vidas humanas. En las ciudades, la mayor parte de las muertes durante las inundaciones ocurre al interior de los vehículos debido a que los conductores intentan cruzar con sus vehículos por zonas inundadas (Jonkzman and Kelman 2005; Drobot et al. 2007; Kellar and Schmidlin 2012). En países desarrollados, un alto porcentaje de estas muertes ocurre durante inundaciones relámpago cuando los conductores intentan cruzar por zonas inundadas en lugar de evitarlas (Fitzgerald et al. 2010; Kellar y Schmidlin 2012). Debido a esto, en áreas sujetas a inundaciones relámpago, casi la mitad de las víctimas son pasajeros atrapados en sus vehículos (Versini et al. 2010a) Entre las partes de las vías que resultan afectadas por las crecidas de los ríos se encuentran los puentes, las cuales son obras de infraestructura muy importantes. Un alto porcentaje de los fallos de los puentes a nivel mundial se presenta debido a las crecidas de los ríos, lo cual tiene un impacto negativo en los vehículos y los sistemas de transporte. Debido a esto, con el fin de realizar una adecuada gestión de las inundaciones es necesario determinar el riesgo de inestabilidad al que están sometidos los vehículos en una zona inundable. Sin embargo, a pesar del impacto negativo de las inundaciones, hasta la fecha se dispone de pocos estudios que permitan determinar los efectos negativos que las condiciones climáticas generan sobre los sistemas de transporte (Molarius et al., 2014). En esta investigación se desarrolló una nueva metodología para calcular este riesgo a partir de las características de las crecidas, los puentes, los vehículos, y el tráfico vehicular. Esta metodología fue generada a partir de una estructura conceptual y un desarrollo matemático novedosos y permite determinar el riesgo a través de la integral estadística de la amenaza de inestabilidad y la vulnerabilidad de los coches. En áreas urbanas y en las intersecciones entre las corrientes de agua y las vías, la amenaza se establece a través de una función de estabilidad de autos parcialmente sumergidos, las características geométricas de los vehículos y las características hidrodinámicas de las crecidas (calados y velocidades) y su probabilidad de ocurrencia, mientras que la vulnerabilidad se calcula por medio de la combinación de la susceptibilidad y la exposición de los coches. En puentes, la peligrosidad se obtiene a través del análisis de los datos de caudal disponibles y la vulnerabilidad mediante el análisis del estado estructural del puente, las características de la cuenca y del cauce aguas arriba y aguas abajo de la estructura, la estabilidad del canal y la potencial acumulación de acarreos. La metodología desarrollada se implementó para determinar el riesgo en los siguientes casos de estudio, los cuales están localizados en territorio español: (i) en las áreas urbanas correspondientes a los municipios de Alfafar y Massanassa, (ii) en los sitios de intersección entre vías y ríos localizados en el municipio de Godelleta; y (iii) en 12 puentes fluviales. Los resultados obtenidos podrían estar indicando que el método propuesto tiene en cuenta los elementos más importantes que deben considerarse al establecer este tipo de riesgo. La metodología desarrollada permite obtener un panorama detallado del riesgo de desestabilización de los vehículos debido a inundaciones en una zona determinada. En consecuencia, la implementación de esta metodología puede ayudar a disminuir los efectos negativos antes y durante este tipo de eventos, resultando de gran ayuda para las entidades encargadas de la planificación urbana y de la protección civil con el fin de diseñar e implementar acciones que permitan disminu
[CAT] Les inundacions poden desestabilitzar els vehicles i aquests, al mateix temps, poden exacerbar els efectes negatius de les inundacions quan són arrossegats pel flux, generant no solament pèrdues econòmiques sinó també de vides humanes. A les ciutats, la major part de les morts durant les inundacions ocorre a l'interior dels vehicles pel fet que els conductors intenten creuar amb els seus vehicles per zones inundades (Jonkzman and Kelman 2005; Drobot et al. 2007; Kellar and Schmidlin 2012). En països desenvolupats, un alt percentatge d'aquestes morts ocorre durant inundacions llampec quan els conductors intenten creuar per zones inundades en lloc d'evitar-les (Fitzgerald et al. 2010; Kellar i Schmidlin 2012). A causa d'això, en àrees subjectes a inundacions llampec, quasi la meitat de les víctimes són passatgers atrapats en els seus propis vehicles (Versini et al. 2010a) Entre les parts de les vies que resulten afectades per les crescudes dels rius es troben els ponts, les quals són obres d'infraestructura molt importants. Un alt percentatge de les fallades dels ponts a nivell mundial es presenta com a conseqüència de les crescudes dels rius, la qual cosa té un impacte altament negatiu en els vehicles i els sistemes de transport.. A causa d'això, amb la finalitat de realitzar una adequada gestió de les inundacions és necessari determinar el risc d'inestabilitat al qual estan sotmesos els vehicles en una zona inundable. No obstant això, malgrat l'impacte negatiu de les inundacions, fins a la data es disposa de pocs estudis que permeten determinar els efectes negatius que les condicions climàtiques generen sobre els sistemes de transport (Molarius et al., 2014). En la present investigació es va desenvolupar una nova metodologia per a calcular aquest risc a partir de les característiques de les crescudes, els ponts, els vehicles, i el trànsit vehicular. Aquesta metodologia va ser generada a partir d'una estructura conceptual i un desenvolupament matemàtic nous i permet determinar el risc a través de la integral estadística de l'amenaça d'inestabilitat i la vulnerabilitat dels cotxes. En àrees urbanes i en les interseccions entre els corrents d'aigua i les vies, l'amenaça s'estableix a través d'una funció d'estabilitat de cotxes parcialment submergits, les característiques geomètriques dels vehicles i les característiques hidrodinàmiques de les crescudes (calats i velocitats) i la seua probabilitat d'ocurrència, mentre que la vulnerabilitat es calcula per mitjà de la combinació de la susceptibilitat i l'exposició dels cotxes. En ponts, la perillositat s'obté a través de l'anàlisi de les dades de cabal disponibles i la vulnerabilitat mitjançant l'anàlisi de l'estat estructural del pont, les característiques de la conca i del llit aigües amunt i aigües avall de l'estructura, l'estabilitat del canal i la potencial acumulació d'enderrocs. La metodologia desenvolupada es va implementar per a determinar el risc en els següents casos d'estudi, els quals estan localitzats en territori espanyol: (i) en les àrees urbanes corresponents als municipis d'Alfafar i Massanassa, (ii) en els llocs d'intersecció entre vies i rius localitzats en el municipi de Godelleta; i (iii) en 12 ponts fluvials. Els resultats obtinguts podrien estar indicant que el mètode proposat té en compte els elements més importants que han de considerar-se en establir aquest tipus de risc. La metodologia desenvolupada permet obtindre un panorama detallat del risc de desestabilització dels vehicles a causa d'inundacions en una zona determinada. En conseqüència, la implementació d'aquesta metodologia pot ajudar a disminuir els efectes negatius abans i durant aquesta mena d'esdeveniments, resultant de gran ajuda per a les entitats encarregades de la planificació urbana i de la protecció civil amb la finalitat de dissenyar i implementar accions que permeten disminuir els efectes negatius de les inundacions.
[EN] Flooding can destabilize vehicles which might, in turn, exacerbate the negative effects of floods when vehicles are swept away by flows, leading to economic loss and fatalities. The main cause of death in cities during flood events corresponds to cars being swept away when they are driven by flooded roads (Jonkzman and Kelman 2005; Drobot et al. 2007; Kellar and Schmidlin 2012). In developed countries a high percentage of these deaths occurs during flash floods when drivers try to cross overflowing water bodies instead of avoiding them (Fitzgerald et al. 2010; Kellar and Schmidlin 2012). Hence, in areas subject to flash floods almost half of the victims are passengers trapped inside their own vehicles (Versini et al. 2010a). Among the parts of the roads that are most affected by floods are bridges, which are very important infrastructure works for society. Because of this, a high percentage of bridge failures worldwide occur as a result of river floods, which has highly negative impacts for vehicles and transportation systems. Therefore, in order to suitably manage floods, it is necessary to determine the risk of instability to which vehicles in flood-prone areas are subject. However, Despite the negative impact of floods, very few studies have centred on determining the negative effects of floods on transport systems (Molarius et al., 2014). In this research, a new methodology to estimate this risk based on the characteristics of vehicles, floods, bridges and vehicular traffic was developed. This methodology was generated from a novel conceptual structure and mathematical development and allows to determine the risk by the statistical integral of the instability hazard and the vehicles' vulnerability. In urban areas and stream crossings, the hazard is determined by a stability criterion of partially submerged cars, the geometric characteristics of the vehicles and the hydrodynamic characteristics of the floods (depths and velocities) and their probability of occurrence, while vulnerability is calculated by combining the susceptibility and exposure of cars. In bridges, the hazard is obtained by analysing available discharge data and the vulnerability by examining the structural condition of the bridge, the characteristics of the watershed and watercourse upstream and downstream of the structure, the stability of the channel and the potential accumulation of debris. The developed methodology was implemented to determine the risk in the following case studies, which are located in Spanish territory: (i) in the urban areas corresponding to the towns of Alfafar and Massanassa; (ii) in the stream crossings located in the municipality of Godelleta; and (iii) in 12 river bridges located. The results obtained could be indicating that the proposed method takes into account the most important elements to be considered when establishing this type of risk. The developed methodology provides a detailed vision of the vehicle instability risk due to flooding in a given area. Consequently, implementing this methodology can help to reduce negative effects before and during flooding events, which is extremely helpful for those organizations in charge of urban planning and civil protection to design and take actions that cushion the negative effects of flooding.
I thank Colciencias for financing this research through call 728-2015.
Bocanegra Vinasco, RA. (2020). Evaluation of the risk due to fluvial flooding in vehicles and road infrastructures at basin scale [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/157654
TESIS

My thesis examines the discourse of Mexico in the works of three twentieth-century American authors-Cormac McCarthy, Jack Kerouac, and Katherine Anne Porter-in order to analyze representations of Otherness in modernism and postmodernism. I seek to destabilize the dividing line between these periods as well as to show how representation in postmodernity has become more problematic due in large part to the proliferation of consumer culture. Though the Mexico that McCarthy employs in Blood Meridian and the Border Trilogy (All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, and Cities of the Plain) escapes many stereotypes, his Mexico is merely a staging ground that he uses to examine postmodern questions of philosophy while deconstructing myths such as the Old West and Manifest Destiny and reflecting on the ramifications of World War II. Therefore, McCarthy elides Mexico by using its Otherness as a mirror that enables reflection on the Self. Kerouac too is interested in using Mexico to solve U.S. problems. In On the Road, Kerouac's fictional counterpart, Sal Paradise, searches for the authenticity missing from middle-class American life by ultimately turning to the "authentic" Mexico. Though he is able to distinguish between simulations and reality in his own cultural context, once south of the border Sal misrecognizes what is a hypperreal Mexico for supreme authenticity. By contrast, when Katherine Anne Porter crosses the border, she is quick to identify corruption and revolutionary failure in Mexico. When pieces such as "Xochimilco" and "María Concepción" are placed alongside that of the work of Diego Rivera, a leader in the Mexican muralist movement, it becomes clear that Porter essentializes her Mexican subjects with the specific political goal in mind of furthering the revolution. Additionally, by crossing the generic lines separating fiction and non-fiction, Porter approximates what could be called a postmodern form of ethnography. Yet all of her representational strategies are tempered, especially in her last Mexican story, Hacienda, by an awareness that representations of Other cannot be other than flawed.

L’esercito italiano e la conquista della Catalogna (1808-1811) Uno studio di Military Effectiveness nell’Europa napoleonica Settori scientifico-disciplinari SPS/03 – M-STO/02 La ricerca ha lo scopo di ricostruire e valutare l’effettività militare dell’esercito italiano al servizio di Napoleone I. In primo luogo attraverso un’analisi statistica e strategica della costruzione, e del successivo impiego, dell’istituzione militare del Regno d’Italia durante gli anni della sua esistenza (1805-14); successivamente, è stato scelto un caso di studi particolarmente significativo, come la campagna di Catalogna (1808-11, nel contesto della guerra di Indipendenza spagnola), per poter valutare il contributo operazionale e tattico dei corpi inviati dal governo di Milano e la loro integrazione con l’apparato militare complessivo del Primo Impero. La tesi ha voluto rispondere alla mancanza di studi sul comportamento in guerra dell’esercito italiano e, allo stesso tempo, introdurre nella storiografia militare italiana la metodologia di studi, d’origine anglosassone e ormai di tradizione trentennale, di Military Effectiveness. La ricerca si è primariamente basata, oltre che sulla copiosa memorialistica a stampa italiana e francese, sulla documentazione d’archivio della Secrétairerie d’état impériale (Archives Nationales di Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, Parigi), del Ministère de la Guerre francese (Service historique de la Défence, di Vincennes, Parigi) e del Ministero della Guerra del Regno d’Italia (Archivio di Stato di Milano). Dal punto di vista dei risultati è stato possibile verificare come l’esercito italiano abbia rappresentato, per Bonaparte, uno strumento duttile e di facile impiego, pur in un contesto di sostanziale marginalità numerica complessiva di fronte alle altre (e cospicue) forze messe in campo da parte dell’Impero e dei suoi altri Stati satellite e alleati. Per quanto riguarda la campagna di conquista della Catalogna è stato invece possibile appurare il fondamentale contributo dato dal contingente italiano, sotto i punti di vista operazionale e tattico, per la buona riuscita dell’invasione; questo primariamente grazie alle elevate caratteristiche generali mostrate dallo stesso, ma anche per peculiarità disciplinari e organizzative che resero i corpi italiani adatti a operazioni particolarmente aggressive.
The Italian Army and the Conquest of Catalonia (1808-1811) A Study of Military Effectiveness in Napoleonic Europe Academic Fields and Disciplines SPS/03 – M-STO/02 The research has the purpose of reconstruct and evaluate the military effectiveness of the Italian Army existed under the reign of Napoleon I. Firstly through a statistic and strategic analysis of the development, and the following deployment, of the military institution of the Kingdom of Italy in the years of its existence (1805-14). Afterwards, a particularly significant case study was chosen, as the campaign of Catalonia (1808-11, in the context of the Peninsular War), in order to assess the operational and tactical contribution of the regiments sent by the Government of Milan and their integration in the overall military apparatus of the First Empire. The thesis wanted to respond to the lack of studies on the Italian army’s behavior in war and, at the same time, to introduce the methodology of the Military Effectiveness Studies (of British and American origin and, by now, enriched by a thirty-year old tradition) in the Italian historiography. The research is primarily based, besides the numerous memoirs of the Italian and French veterans, on the archive documentation of the Secrétairerie d’état impériale (Archives Nationales of Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, Paris), of the French Ministère de la Guerre (Service historique de la Défence, of Vincennes, Paris) and of the Italian Ministero della Guerra (Archivio di Stato di Milano). About the results, it has been verified how the Italian army has become a flexible and suitable instrument for Bonaparte, albeit in a context of substantial overall numerical marginality in comparison to the heterogeneous forces available to the Empire and its others satellites and allied states. Regarding the campaign of Catalonia, instead, it was possible to ascertain the fundamental contribution of the Italian regiments, in an operational and tactical perspective, for the success of the invasion. This was primarily due to the excellent general characteristics shown by the expeditionary force, but also to disciplinary and organizational peculiarities that have made the Italian corps suitable for particularly aggressive operations.

碩士
國立中正大學
外國語文研究所
101
Abstract African victimization plays an important part in Caryl Phillips’s Crossing the River. With his unique fragmented writing style, Phillips retells the slavery history with four different stories in different periods of time and each story shows the African victimization. After the shameful discourse between the African father and the slave trader, the tragic lives of Nash, Martha and Travis can be seen as the continuity of African victimization. Phillips reveals the fact that both the white and the black share the same responsibility of the slavery history. By adopting Benjamin Mendelsohn’s and Hans von Hentig’s victim typology, I discover that these characters separately fall into different victim types according to their situations. Their victimization can be divided into the active victimization and passive victimization based on the sources of victimization. If the oppression comes from the internal thought, it is called active victimization. If the oppression comes from the external world, it is called passive victimization. Nash and Martha belong to the type of active victimization. Travis and the slaves on Hamilton’s slave ship belong to the type of passive victimization. By comparing the passive victimization, I find that Phillips brings up the idea that the white in the racial mix-up family can be the victim, instead of the oppressor. My purpose is to demonstrate that African victimization is not equal to the unwritten rule that the white one-sidedly oppress the black. Through analyzing the types of African victimization, I consider that Phillips points out the importance of humanity which people need in the future. Keywords: Caryl Phillips, Crossing the River, African victimization

碩士
國立屏東科技大學
土木工程系碩士班
92
Common failures of river crossing structures in Taiwan are caused by the steep channel slopes and rapid flows, as well as weak geological formations. There are nine different types of structure protection works commonly used in Taiwan. The present study considers flexible weirs and the use of grade control structures; those downstream of Kaoping Bridge and on the Laonung River are used for observation, analysis and evaluation. By analyzing the displacement of concrete blocks and strips at the grade control structure downstream of Kaoping Bridge, prior to and after the 2003 flood season, it has been shown that stability analysis of sliding and overturning single and multiple concrete blocks can be used for concrete block design. Laboratory studies indicate that concrete strips can be effectively used instead of 40 cm diameter rocks in preventing the loss of fill materials between concrete blocks. By measuring cross-section variations downstream of the grade control structure prior to and after the flood season, it was also found that the Bligh equation can be used to determine the required length of river bed protection downstream of grade control structures. Cross-section data upstream of the Tuku grade control structure on Laonung River were analyzed for the period 2001-2003. The results indicate that commonly used empirical equations can be used to determine the slope of deposition upstream of the grade control structure located in the reach adjacent to the confluence of Laonung and Ailiao Rivers. The results from this study are based on limited data, because the grade control structure downstream of Kaoping Bridge has been completed for only one year. However, the results can be used as reference to design similar types of grade control structures and to verify laboratory test results. It is recommended to continue data collection, to install monitoring instruments at the site for further investigations, and to continue studies to improve the design criteria.

Thesis (M.Eng.)--University of Louisville, 2006.
Title and description from thesis home page (viewed Jan. 30, 2007). Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Vita. "August 2006." Includes bibliographical references (p.78-79).

碩士
國立臺北教育大學
數學暨資訊教育學系(含數學教育碩士班)
103
This study aimed to explore problem-based learning to discuss the issue river-crossing problem , its implementation process, students reflect on the difficulties, action strategies and teachers. The subjects were four sixth-graders, mining action research, carried out for three action cycle, through continuous cycle of planning, action, reflection and correction, to collect data, including teacher observation records, student personal record table, group record table discussion, self-assessment form, peer assessment form, record interviews and teaching survey form, and recording, video mode records the discussion. The main findings of this study First, teaching course (A) the implementation of PBL, must pay attention to distribution and application time. (B) Students completing the structure of the table is more strange, can gain experience through more write better. (C) to assist the animation game can help students to think in the abstract concrete, help to improve interest in learning. Second, the difficulties encountered by students and action strategies to solve (A) the implementation of PBL, students' thinking speed becomes faster, reasoning ability, skills has improved. (B) The student self-learning situation, the better, the more growth. (C) Students have their own strengths, their own expertise to play. Third, teaching reflection researcher (A) Degree is for students to design issues can affect the implementation of results. (B) the implementation of PBL promotes professional growth of teachers. 1. Master teaching time. 2. The concept of lay, so that students can successfully solve problems. 3. Change faith, student-centered, given the waiting time. 4. The time-consuming to implement problem-based learning, students can learn skills and express the problem-solving process.

Tese de doutoramento em Antropologia, no ramo de Antropologia Biológica, apresentada ao Departamento de Ciências da Vida da Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra.
Dental morphological studies are based on the analysis of genetically controlled discrete traits, which are expressed on the morphology of teeth and bones of the oral cavity. Population studies at different geographical and chronological levels have demonstrated that frequency patterns of those traits differ in human populations. The similarities and differences in the distribution of those patterns can be statistically compared in order to calculated biological affinities of human populations. Three human osteological samples were used in this study as proxies for dental variability of archaeological populations in the Middle Guadiana Valley. These series are chrono-culturally affiliated to the Chalcolithic (also referred to as Copper Age). Two of them were exhumed from tombs 1 (PDG1) and 2 (PDG2) in the Archaeological Complex of Perdigões, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal. The third one comes from the tomb of Cerro de las Baterías, La Albuera, Extremadura, Spain. The human remains were excavated from collective burials in which most of the skeletonized elements were disarticulated. Anthropic and natural taphonomic alterations were limiting factors of the study. The main limitation introduced by taphonomy is the impossibility to identify craniomandibular compatibilities. Consequently, individual dentitions could not be isolated. The main objectives of this research were: (I) to characterize the dental morphology of the samples; (II) to gather information on the biological affinities of these samples among themselves and to other series in comparative analyses at synchronic and diachronic levels; (III) to contribute to the resolution at their status in relation to major dental complexes; (IV) to identify possible exogenous contributions to the local phenetic profile; and (V) to provide useful data to future comparative studies on the dental morphology of local/regional populations. The Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS) was used to identify and evaluate almost all discrete traits used in the morphological analysis of the osteological series. The only trait not included in that method is a recently described variation for the human dentition, identified in the process of this study: Hypotrophic Roots of the Upper Central Incisors (HRUCI). This morphological variation is characterized by the occurrence of UI1 roots that are equal in length to or shorter than their respective crowns. In total, thirty two dental non-metric traits were employed in this analysis. Nine of those were registered on more than one type of tooth. Simple descriptive statistics was used to calculate the frequency for each discrete trait and other data relevant to tooth morphology such as average tooth wear. Bivariate correlation (Kendall’s tau-b) tests were used to evaluate the intra-observer error and inter-sample correlations. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was used to calculate biological affinities of the samples among themselves and to other series published by different authors. Results of the intra-observer error was based on two observations of the largest series. They indicate high precision for both non-dichotomized and dichotomized frequencies. Positive correlation among samples was stronger between PDG1 and PDG2 than between either of them and BT07. This result suggests that both samples from Perdigões were probably drawn from the same population or from biologically close related ones. Average tooth wear in the three samples was low when compared to other series from geographically and chronologically similar contexts. This dental morphological study on the three Chalcolithic series contributed to their inclusion within the Eurodont Dental Complex. They suggest a borderline position between the European and the North African expression of that dental complex. The European populations sampled in the Guadiana display North African influences in the distribution of some non-metric traits. These influences possibly result from genetic exchanges with North Africa in prehistoric times. Positioning of the samples here is compatible with the dental morphological cline in the expression of discrete traits between the Afridont and the Eurodont patterns. PCA tests applied to the biological affinities of these populations to others indicate strong phenetic (and by proxy, genetic) similarity to the modern Portuguese population and to other Iberian archaeological populations. The Chalcolithic samples from PDG1, PDG2 and BT07 are biologically related to North Africans to a lesser extent. They share less phenetic similarities with prehistoric populations from the Italian Peninsula. Finally they seem to have little biological affinity with populations from eastern Mediterranean and North Europe.
Os estudos de morfologia dentária não métrica baseiam-se na análise de caracteres discretos geneticamente controlados expressos na forma dos dentes e dos ossos da cavidade oral. Estudos populacionais a várias escalas geográficas e cronológicas demonstram que diferentes populações humanas são caracterizadas por padrões de distribuição específicos para as frequências em que estes caracteres ocorrem. Estes padrões podem ser usados para calcular estatisticamente as afinidades biológicas entre as populações. Três amostras osteológicas humanas foram analisadas para auferir sobre a variabilidade dentária de populações arqueológicas da região do Vale Médio do Rio Guadiana entre Espanha e Portugal. As três séries são crono-culturalmente atribuíveis ao Calcolítico (ou Idade do Cobre). As primeiras duas amostras provêm dos túmulos 1 (PDG1) e 2 (PDG2) do Complexo Arqueológico dos Perdigões, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal. A terceira amostra foi exumada do túmulo de Cerro de las Baterías, La Albuera, Extremadura, Espanha. Os restos humanos estudados provém de contextos de inumação coletiva em que a maioria dos ossos estavam desarticulados. Alterações tafonómicas antrópicas e naturais foram fatores limitadores do estudo, impedindo inclusivamente a identificação de conexões crânio-mandibulares e consequentemente de dentições individuais. Os objetivos principais deste trabalho foram: (I) caracterizar a morfologia dentária destas amostras; (II) obter informações sobre as afinidades biológicas entre estas amostras Calcolíticas e outras, ao nível sincrónico e diacrónico; (III) contribuir para a caracterização da sua relação aos complexos dentários macrorregionais das destas amostras em estudo; (IV) identificar possíveis contribuições exógenas ao perfil fenético local, e (V) fornecer dados úteis para futuros estudos comparativos da morfologia dentária de populações pré-históricas. O Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS) foi usado como metodologia de identificação e aferição dos caracteres discretos a serem usados na análise morfológica das populações estudadas. O único caracter discreto não constante nesta metodologia consiste numa variação morfológica recém-descrita para a dentição humana, identificada no curso deste trabalho: Raízes Hipotróficas do Incisivo Central Superior (Hypotrophic Roots of the Upper Central Incisors ou HRUCI). Esta alteração é caracterizada pela ocorrência de raízes com comprimento igual ou menor que o comprimento máximo da coroa em incisivos centrais superiores. Trinta e dois caracteres discretos dentários foram incluídos nesta amostra. Nove destes caracteres foram aferidos em mais de um tipo de dente. Estatística descritiva simples foi usada para a obtenção das frequências de cada caracter discreto, bem como para a obtenção de outros dados relevantes à morfologia dentária como a média do desgaste dentário. Testes de correlação bivariáveis (tau-b de Kendall) foram utilizados para avaliar o erro intra-observador e a correlação inter-amostra. A Análise de Componentes Principais (PCA) foi aplicada para os cálculos de afinidades biológicas entre as amostras aqui estudadas e entre estas e outras publicadas por diversos autores. A avaliação do erro intra-observador baseado na correlação entre duas observações da maior amostra osteológica resultou numa alta precisão tanto para frequências dicotomizadas quanto não dicotomizada. A correlação positiva entre as amostras foi mais forte entre PDG1 e PDG2 do que entre ambas e BT07. Este resultado sugere que ambas as amostras exumadas nos Perdigões provavelmente provêm de uma mesma população ou de populações biologicamente muito próximas. O desgaste dentário médio nas três amostras foi considerado baixo em comparação com outras séries geográfica e cronologicamente próximas. O estudo morfológico das amostras contribuiu para o seu enquadramento dentro do padrão Eurodonte, evidenciado pela sua posição limítrofe entre a expressão Europeia deste complexo dentário e a expressão Norte-Africana do mesmo. As populações amostradas no Guadiana, apesar de geograficamente localizadas na Europa, apresentam influências Norte-Africanas na distribuição de frequências para alguns caracteres dentários. Estas influências possivelmente resultam de trocas genéticas com o Norte da África em períodos pré-históricos. O posicionamento das amostras aqui estudadas é compatível com a variação clinal morfológica na expressão de carateres discretos que ocorre entre os padrões Afridonte e o Eurodonte. Os testes de PCA aplicados à afinidade biológica entre estas populações e diversas outras resultam em forte proximidade fenotípica (e indiretamente, genética) com a população portuguesa atual e com outras populações arqueológicas Ibéricas. Em menor grau, as amostras Calcolíticas relacionam-se biologicamente com populações arqueológicas Norte Africanas. Menor proximidade biológica é observável entre estas amostras e outras populações pré-históricas provenientes da Península Itálica. Por fim, as amostras Calcolíticas parecem ter pouca afinidade biológica com populações do Mediterrâneo oriental e do Norte da Europa.
FCT - SFRH/BD/70495/2010

碩士
國立臺灣海洋大學
運輸科學系
107
Base on the numbers of ships density and bridge have been rapidly increased, therefore, the risks of collisions between the ship-to-ship and ship-to- bridge in the river have been increased substantially. The behavior of ships has been more important and become a new issue. For solving this inland river transportation issue, this study proposed the novel Fuzzy model which is called Bridge Crossing Priority Model (BCPM), the BCPM is combined with ship condition data includes length, width, speed and heading collected from Automatic Identification System (AIS) and environmental data obtained from local weather station as Fuzzy linguistic variables. There are two inputs with one output in every Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC) system of this model. In order to confirm the index can work successfully, this research adjusts the fuzzy linguistic language in the last FLC system of the model. This research applies Fuzzy Logic Control theory and spatial decision assessment by Marine Geographic Information System (MGIS). In the past, there were no scholars applied the fuzzy distinguish method into the study of ships behavior in the inland river. The contribution of the study is it the first research of applying the real AIS data as parameters, and using the fuzzy distinguish method to build the Bridge Crossing Priority Research on Index (BCPI). Finally, after considerate ships characteristics, and the hydrologic environment in the real-time around the bridge area, the study has proposed the novel BCPI for inland river vessels, which can provide the best decision support for Inland River Vessel Traffic Service (IRVTS) to enhance the inland river navigation safety. Therefore, BCPI will promote traffic circulation and reduce the waiting time for ships, and reduce the pollution of ships emissions.

碩士
國立臺北大學
不動產與城鄉環境學系
93
During the process of economic development, Taiwan banking is allowed to set up branch offices in China, but branch offices can not provide financial services to Taiwanese business. Therefore, Taiwan banks try to use another way to provide financial services to Taiwanese business. This study thus aims to analyze the influence of Taiwanese business and Taiwan banking industry in crossing strait financial interaction under the restriction and opening in crossing-strait financial decrees. And discuss the relationship of Taiwanese business, Taiwan Banking and Taiwan government in crossing strait financial interaction. Finally, this study will take the Changjiang River Delta as an example, to analyze the spatial characteristic and function of Taiwan banking industry in crossing strait financial interaction. This study discovers the limitation of the special political environment between Taiwan and China, and the restriction of the decree makes branch offices not only can not provide financial services to Taiwanese business, but also can not try to use another way to provide financial services. Taiwan banks that cooperate with foreign invested banks or Chinese invested banks usually provide financial services to the medium sized Taiwanese business, because they under the headquarters, and there is no language and culture barrier, so medium sized Taiwanese business also trends to cooperate with Taiwan banks. Besides, the spatial distribution of the crossing-strait investment of Taiwan banks can be divided into three areas: Changjiang River Delta, Pearl River Delta and Northern China, but the financial function of each area is slightly different. Though there are close economic and trade contacts between Taiwan and China, the limitation of the special political environment between Taiwan and China, and the restriction of the decree make the crossing-strait financing function of Taiwan banks is limited. Taiwanese business lacks financial support of national banking in crossing-strait investment. And also limits the development of Taipei into international financial center.

This dissertation is a study of cynical practices against a backdrop of increasing censorship and surveillance in Chinese everyday life. It takes a particular view that with its distinctive Chinese shades and hues, cynicism (in this work “wanshi”) as a mode of behavior and an outlook on life is embedded within what is often considered a marginal culture called “rivers and lakes” (jianghu). Oscillating back and forth between utopian vision and political reality, the cynics’ odyssey through space and time began in the imaginary world of jianghu conceived by fourth-century B.C. Taoist philosopher Zhuangzi. The jianghu of his literary creation is allegorically set in nature, a space outside officialdom and social order; only in this world can one truly roam free, unencumbered by constrictive career ambitions and complex human relationships. Jianghu alluded to the lifeworld of a hermit. About six centuries later, Zhuangzi’s vision captured the imagination of the wider intelligentsia in an empire crumbling under social and political turmoil not unlike that of the philosopher. Jianghu became a cultivated fantasy space among the literary and political elite in the cultural milieu characterized as “aesthetic hermitism”: from the construction of pleasure gardens, to hosting literary salons and drinking parties, to patronizing a hermit to dwell in the private garden for the otherworldly aura and the worldly status it brought to the hosts. Hermits jumped aboard the zeitgeist, moving from mountains and caves initially, to private gardens and later to court and marketplace that were emblematic of power and materialism. By this time, hermitism was no longer defined by the dwelling place, but rather by the inner strength unperturbed by earthly matters and surroundings. Eventually in the Song dynasty (960 – 1219), jianghu evolved into a socialized milieu for not just various misfits and outcasts that had been forced out of the longstanding clan system, but also powerful figures hiding in the imperial court with treacherous ambitions. Of the myriad jianghu figures, storytellers who disseminated historical tales of fraternal love and loyalty in taverns, in the name of righteousness, were key to popularizing the hitherto elite culture. These deviations from the original jianghu of Zhuangzi’s conception shaped the (a)social character of the emerging cynic, who is at once a realist and a player. This circuitous route to the genealogical line of the cynic affords the facilities and perspectives necessary to examine the contemporary figure of jianghu. Drawing on two years of ethnographic fieldwork in several artist communities in Beijing, particularly Songzhuang, where the artists referred to themselves and their social milieu as intrinsically jianghu, much of this dissertation looks into their lifeworld – conditions of their “habitat”, mode of existence and worldview – and their everyday practices and skills pertaining to agency and communication in order to bypass surveillance, censorship and outright subjugation. Bearing some resemblance to the bygone raconteurs in taverns, the artists’ techniques of coded communication were quickly appropriated and innovated by the general public on the constantly monitored social media and everywhere in cyperspace. Rather than discuss jianghu as a separate entity from the mainstream society, this work proposes to view it from a “practice” perspective. As such, the last part of the dissertation restages two larger-than-life online battles to reflect upon a range of potentialities of cynical practices as opposed to direct confrontations and ironic expressions in the age of hyperconnectivity.