Digital Commons Network^™

Emergent Rhythmic Structures As Cultural Phenomena Driven By Social Pressure In A Society Of Artificial Agents, Joao Pedro Magalhaes Martins

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This thesis studies rhythm from an evolutionary computation perspective. Rhythm is the most fundamental dimension of music and can be used as a ground to describe the evolution of music. More specifically, the main goal of the thesis is to investigate how complex rhythmic structures evolve, subject to the cultural transmission between individuals in a society. The study is developed by means of computer modelling and simulations informed by evolutionary computation and artificial life (A-Life). In this process, self-organisation plays a fundamental role. The evolutionary process is steered by the evaluation of rhythmic complexity and by the exposure to rhythmic …

Earhart County: The Making Of A World War Two Wondertale, Nicola Russell Johnson

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

The aim of Earhart County was to create a book which would bring the world of World War Two aviation to a mainstream audience, utilising the magic and durability of folklore to mythologize the incredible feats of Churchill’s finest generation. Whilst entertaining its audience, it aims at giving them a glimpse at the many lives and aircraft that flew during the war. Research was conducted mainly through the study of autobiographical and biographical accounts of both famous and unknown aircrew, as well as post-war and contemporary fiction, aircraft manuals and books detailing the various aeroplanes flown throughout the war. Research …

Auschwitz: Art, Commemoration And Memorialisation: From 1940 To The Present, Stefan Ludwik Aloszko

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

STEFAN LUDWIK ALOSZKO AUSCHWITZ: ART, COMMEMORATION AND MEMORIALISATION: FROM 1940 TO THE PRESENT ABSTRACT This thesis explores chronologically the art, commemoration and memorialisation of the Nazi concentration and extermination camps at Auschwitz, from their establishment in 1940 to the present day. Following a review of the literature in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 examines the production of works of art by the inmates of the camp. That art should have been produced at all in Auschwitz may conflict with our expectations, given the conditions of life within the camp. Nevertheless, art was as necessary in Auschwitz as it is elsewhere. The …

Sound Synthesis With Cellular Automata, Jaime Serquera

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This thesis reports on new music technology research which investigates the use of cellular automata (CA) for the digital synthesis of dynamic sounds. The research addresses the problem of the sound design limitations of synthesis techniques based on CA. These limitations fundamentally stem from the unpredictable and autonomous nature of these computational models. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to develop a sound synthesis technique based on CA capable of allowing a sound design process. A critical analysis of previous research in this area will be presented in order to justify that this problem has not been previously solved. …

The Value Of Marine Conservation, Sian Rees

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

The marine environment provides essential ecosystem services that are critical to the functioning of the earth’s life support system and the maintenance of human well-being. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are recognised as being the mechanism though which marine natural capital may be conserved. This thesis focuses on the value associated with marine conservation in a case study area, Lyme Bay, England where a ‘closed area’ was created in 2008. A review of literature spanning 20 years shows that despite sound ecological knowledge of a marine area, the reliance on traditional neo-classical economic valuations for marine spatial planning can obscure other …

Creative Tourism In Saint Petersburg: The State Of The Art, Valery Gordin, Marina Matetskaya

Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice

Tourism development in St. Petersburg, which is a major cultural centre, has improved in terms of tourist flows; both tourism demand and tourist products have become more diverse. These improvements give grounds for a fairly optimistic prognosis for the tourist industry in St. Petersburg. At the same time, there are a number of factors which may endanger sustainable development of tourism in St. Petersburg. The current situation calls for a more flexible and innovative approach to industry development. Among these factors are the pronounced seasonal character of tourism, the short-term visits of most of the tourists, and the rather conservative, …

Boosting Potential Creative Tourism Resources: The Case Of Siby (Mali), Lénia Marques

Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice

This paper further develops the conceptual framework for creative tourism, discussing the co-creation of experiences and the identification of potential resources for creative tourism development. The case of the village of Siby, in Mali, West Africa, illustrates the development of tourism and creativity in a non-western, rural environment, where creative tourism experiences can emerge spontaneously. The impacts of creative tourism are analysed and the need for more specific policies is highlighted, particularly in view of the inherent risks in creative tourism development.

Conference Reports: Journal Of Tourism Consumption And Practice Volume 4 No.2 2012, Grahm Busby

Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice

Educational travel – Expanding Horizons, Tallinn 19-21 August 2011 The First BITCO – Belgrade International Tourism Conference – Belgrade, 22-24 March 2012 Dark Tourism Symposium – UCLAN Westleigh Conference Centre, Preston – 24 April 2012

Book Reviews: Journal Of Tourism Consumption And Practice Volume 4 No.2 2012, Graham Busby, Charlie Mansfield, Kevin Meethan

Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice

World Film Locations – Madrid Torres Hortelano, L.J. (ed) (2011) Intellect Books & University of Chicago Press, Bristol and Chicago. 128 pp. Pb ISBN-978-1-84150-568-8 World Film Locations: Paris. Marcelline Block (ed). (2011) Intellect Books & University of Chicago Press, Bristol and Chicago. Pp. 128. Pb. ISBN 978-1-84150-561-9, E ISBN 978-1-84150-561-6. Collective Creativity: Art and Society in the South Pacific. Katherine Giuffre (2009) Ashgate pp163 ISBN 987-0-7546-7664-5

Impacts Of Climate Change And Fisheries On The Celtic Sea Ecosystem, Valentina Lauria

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Climate change and fisheries have affected marine environments worldwide leading to impacts on ecosystem structure and functioning. However there is clear evidence of spatial variability in the response of these impacts both within and among marine ecosystems. Although several studies have tried to explain the effect of these impacts on marine food webs, it is unclear how they interact, and how they may affect marine ecosystems remains an important unanswered question. This suggests the urgent need for multiple-trophic level and ecosystem-based management approaches to account for both fisheries and climate change impacts at ocean basins across the globe. Marine apex …

A Gis Based Spatial Decision Support System For Landscape Character Assessment, Faye Elanor Davey

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) provides a structured approach to identifying the character and distinctiveness about the landscape. It is a tool used to identify what makes a location unique, a set of techniques and procedures used to map differences between landscapes based on their physical, cultural and historical characteristics. Although the UK has committed to assessing all of its landscapes by signing the European Landscape Convention in 2006, only 60% of coverage has been achieved. The majority of LCAs are carried out by professional environment or landscape consultancies rather than ‘in-house’. Geographical Information Systems are increasingly being used to collate …

Developing Methods For Understanding The Nature Of Voting Patterns And Party Competition In Britain, Galina Borisyuk

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This research both develops new methods and expands upon existing methodologies in order to improve our understanding of voting patterns and party competition in Britain. The thesis comprises five sections, each of which relates to a particular research focus. The first and principal section describes the process of determining a new method for decomposing electoral bias for three-party competition under simple plurality rules of voting. The study of electoral bias is important for voting systems that requires periodic boundary reviews intended to equalise electorate and to remove malapportionment. These papers describe both the process for developing the threeparty bias method …

Emancipating The Many: A Practice Led Investigation Into Emergent Paradigms Of Immediate Political Action, Wolfgang Fiel

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

The immediate catalyst for having taken up this study was the violent outbreak of weeks of public unrest in the Paris banlieus in the wake of the shooting of young man on the run from the police on October 27 2005. The obvious inability of local municipalities and police forces to explain, let alone to anticipate the swelling discontent with a system which is generally assumed to work effectively and to benefit all has led me to the assumption that we have entered a stage where the concept of representational democracy is seriously compromised. The sheer scale or projected growth …

A Garden In Her Cups: Botanical Medicines Of The Anglo-American Home, C.1580 – 1800, Bruna Gushurst-Moore

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This thesis focuses on the domestic use of plant-based medicines within Early Modern English and Colonial American households, and establishes the defining framework of a domestic botanical culture. It reconstructs the relationship between domestic, popular, and learned medical cultures to reveal the breadth of that practice, demonstrating the unique characteristics of the domestic culture which are underpinned by a shared canon of herbs and a high degree of flexible adaptability by individual practitioners. The botanicals (medicinal plants and the remedies made from them) are themselves analysed through the genres of household receipt book manuscripts, private letters, and journals, as well …

Spirited Measures And Victorian Hangovers: Public Attitudes To Alcohol, The Law And Moral Regulation., Henry Yeomans

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

From alarm about the prospect of ‘twenty-four drinking’ to campaigns for a minimum price per unit, the last decade has shown that alcohol consumption is an inflammatory issue in this country. It has become commonplace to hear that drinking is ‘out of control’ and that it is a new and worsening problem largely unique to Britain. However, comparative research reveals that alcohol consumption in Britain is not unusually high and even a cursory glance at history shows that extreme bouts of alarm about drinking have been common on these shores since at least the eighteenth century. What is at the …

Installation Art And Memory: A Practice-As-Research Exploration, James Barber

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This practice-as-research project investigates how a piece of site-responsive Installation Art, titled Triple Point Dunnage (exhibited in Royal William Yard, June 2009), can be used to generate knowledge about memory work through experience of site. Working in dialogue with the ideas of Daniel C. Dennett, Lucy Lippard and Gaston Bachelard, I attempted to create a permeable and fluctuating creative setting for the memory work of participants. An approach that used site as a stimulant within a process which also incorporated theoretical themes. During the period of design and construction, I interacted with and recorded interviews with people who had a …

Coconuts And The Emergence Of Violence In Sulu: Beyond Resource Competitionpparadigms, Yancey Orr

Environmental Science and Policy: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Systematic Review Of Interventions In Primary Care To Improve Health Literacy For Chronic Disease Behavioral Risk Factors, J Taggart, A Williams, S Dennis, A Newall, T Shortus, N Zwar, E Denny-Wilson, M Harris

Nursing Papers and Journal Articles

Background: To evaluate the effectiveness of interventions used in primary care to improve health literacy for change in smoking, nutrition, alcohol, physical activity and weight (SNAPW).

Methods: A systematic review of intervention studies that included outcomes for health literacy and SNAPW behavioral risk behaviors implemented in primary care settings.

We searched the Cochrane Library, Johanna Briggs Institute, Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Psychinfo, Web of Science, Scopus, APAIS, Australasian Medical Index, Google Scholar, Community of Science and four targeted journals (Patient Education and Counseling, Health Education and Behaviour, American Journal of Preventive Medicine and Preventive Medicine).

Study inclusion criteria: Adults over 18 …

Is There Scope For Community Health Nurses To Address Lifestyle Risk Factors? The Community Nursing Snap Trial, B Chan, R Laws, A Williams, G Davies, M Fanaian, M Harris, Cn Snap Project Team

Nursing Papers and Journal Articles

Background: This paper examines the opportunity and need for lifestyle interventions for patients attending generalist community nursing services in Australia. This will help determine the scope for risk factor management within community health care by generalist community nurses (GCNs).

Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study conducted in four generalist community nursing services in NSW, Australia. Prior to service contacts, clients were offered a computer-assisted telephone interview to collect baseline data on socio-demographics, health conditions, smoking status, physical activity levels, alcohol consumption, height and weight, fruit and vegetable intake and 'readiness-to-change' for lifestyle risk factors.

Results: 804 clients participated (a response …

La Notion D’Appartenance Ethnoculturelle Dans La Recherche Et L’Intervention En Réadaptation: Un Bilan Des Connaissances, Daniel Côté

États de la question, rapports d’expertise et revues de littérature

Au Canada, avec le vieillissement de la main-d’œuvre et le faible taux de natalité, l’État doit faire appel à l’immigration pour éviter une croissance négative de la population et pour combler les besoins de main-d’œuvre de l’industrie. Il est rapporté que les immigrants et les personnes issues des minorités ethnoculturelles présentent une vulnérabilité accrue face aux risques liés à la SST et à l’incapacité prolongée. Cependant, très peu de choses sont connues sur les dynamiques sous-jacentes à ces groupes plus vulnérables, sur l’évolution de leurs conditions de vie, leur état de santé et sur les difficultés auxquelles ils peuvent faire …

Translating And Adapting The Mathematical Knowledge For Teaching (Mkt) Measures: The Cases Of Indonesia And Norway, Dicky Ng, Reidar Mosvold, Janne Fauskanger

The Mathematics Enthusiast

This paper examines issues of translating and adapting an instrument that aims at measuring mathematical knowledge for teaching in Indonesia and Norway. The instrument was created for use in the U.S., and we discuss problematic and challenging issues of translation and adaptation. Two items from the released items pool were translated using a common framework modified from a previous study to exemplify critical issues that need to be resolved prior to using such instrument in another country. Themes identified in this study include a) minor challenges due to cultural differences; b) the use of technical language in schools; c) incommensurable …

Was Pythagoras Chinese- Revisiting An Old Debate, Ross Gustafson

The Mathematics Enthusiast

Two of the great ancient civilizations were those of the Greeks and the Chinese. Many great works of art, architecture, philosophy and literature have been produced by both of these civilizations. When it comes to mathematics in the Western World, the Greeks have also been credited with many contributions to the field, especially geometry. Anyone who has completed a standard high school mathematical curriculum has been introduced to the names of Pythagoras, Euclid and Archimedes and their methods. Not as widely credited in the Western world are the mathematical contributions of the ancient Chinese civilization. An examination into Chinese mathematics …

Tme Volume 9, Numbers 1 And 2

The Mathematics Enthusiast

No abstract provided.

Oliver Twist And Inklings Of ‘Grotesque’, Ehsan Hafezi Kermani, Roshanak Fazli

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Oliver Twist is a novel in which the society of pilfers and felons were reconnoitered uninvited by a young boy whose name is Oliver in the Victorian period. He as an orphan faces with dissimilar circumstances that are concealed to the eyes of the conventional people. Dickens, as the narrator of the story, has logged those absurdities and clumsiness in his novel. Dickens uses the idea of grotesque to display the conditions and the scenes to alert people in forms of comic and tragic. Dearth, poverty, lives of thieves, and whatever ensued in his time are dexterously exhibited in this …

Justice Efficacy And Argument Strength In Mock Juror Decision-Making In A Civil Trial, Katharina Kluwe

Master's Theses

In 2005, 48,300 state and federal civil jury trials occurred in the United States (National Center for State Courts, 2009). Approximately 15% of the verdicts juries render are inaccurate (Spencer, 2007). Therefore, it is of utmost important to increase juror accuracy. The current thesis investigated jurors' justice efficacy as it relates to persuasion. Mock jurors' levels of justice efficacy were manipulated by giving them false feedback on a moral reasoning task. Participants read a civil trial summary, and received weak or strong statements by potential other jurors. The relation between argument strength and verdict did not depend on the feedback …

(Women's) Archival Spaces And Trans Voices? A (Re)Search And Proposal, Jeremy Curtis Main

Master's Theses

Transgender has been silenced, exiled, forgotten, erased, ignored, maltreated, killed, and ultimately, in a major theme of this research project, excluded from histories. Yet, like women, African-Americans, and gay men and lesbians before them, transgender and their allies are working toward inclusion and independence. History, it seems, can no longer ignore them. One of the surest ways to "prove" a history is to have the original items of that history in an archives. So, what representation do we find among various United States' archives concerning transgender people? Unfortunately, like with many other marginalized groups, much work has to be investigated …

An Analysis Of Barriers To And Strategies For Improving Parent Engagement, Candice Renee Shakur

Master's Theses

Research shows that parent engagement can be a useful tool for improving student achievement. But, in many low-income urban schools, encouraging schools and parents to invest in parent engagement is a struggle. This paper explores some of the barriers that exist in low-income urban communities that work to limit parent engagement; it also identifies some of the strategies available to increase the frequency and quality of parent engagement in low-income urban communities.

Policy-Borrowing And Globalization Challenging French Universities In The 21st Century, Charlotte Stroumza

Master's Theses

French universities are currently undergoing an overhaul and, in my thesis, I analyze the 2007 Loi relative aux Libertés et Responsabilités des Universités (LRU), or law that makes universities autonomous, as a policy borrowed from the United States. This thesis attempted to analyze the process of policy borrowing using Phillips and Ochs' method. It also considered the role that the Bologna Process and globalization may have played in the creation of the LRU. The conclusion is that the LRU is the result of three phenomena: policy-borrowing from the United States; pressures from international and regional agencies; the individual understanding of …

Service Learning In The International Context: How Can It Be Beneficial When Studying Abroad?, Marquita Anna-Belle Butler

Master's Theses

This study focuses on service learning in the international context and the benefits it has on higher education study abroad programs. Study abroad participation at the collegiate level is continuing to rise every year and some programs even require it. Implementing a service learning component into a study abroad program is an increasing trend. For these reasons it was important to conduct this study. The study was based on a program based out of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Three cohorts went abroad and had a service learning component. Students went abroad in 2008 and 2010. Interviews about their …

Muppets Abroad: Globalization Of Multiculturalism And The International Co-Productions Of Sesame Street, Julianna Carlson Palm

Master's Theses

In recent years globalization has been cited as the cause or force changing our world, making it more interdependent and "smaller" through new means of technology and communication. As such a force, globalization is seen as pervasive in all aspects of contemporary life. Sesame Street has been used as an educational tool in the United States since 1969 and since that time, the producers of the program have created a presence in various countries throughout the world, using the technology of television to communicate with preschool audiences. In particular in the last decade, new productions have begun and been funded …