6,451 research outputs found

    UMSL Bulletin 2023-2024

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    The 2023-2024 Bulletin and Course Catalog for the University of Missouri St. Louis.https://irl.umsl.edu/bulletin/1088/thumbnail.jp

    Spatial adaptive settlement systems in archaeology. Modelling long-term settlement formation from spatial micro interactions

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    Despite research history spanning more than a century, settlement patterns still hold a promise to contribute to the theories of large-scale processes in human history. Mostly they have been presented as passive imprints of past human activities and spatial interactions they shape have not been studied as the driving force of historical processes. While archaeological knowledge has been used to construct geographical theories of evolution of settlement there still exist gaps in this knowledge. Currently no theoretical framework has been adopted to explore them as spatial systems emerging from micro-choices of small population units. The goal of this thesis is to propose a conceptual model of adaptive settlement systems based on complex adaptive systems framework. The model frames settlement system formation processes as an adaptive system containing spatial features, information flows, decision making population units (agents) and forming cross scale feedback loops between location choices of individuals and space modified by their aggregated choices. The goal of the model is to find new ways of interpretation of archaeological locational data as well as closer theoretical integration of micro-level choices and meso-level settlement structures. The thesis is divided into five chapters, the first chapter is dedicated to conceptualisation of the general model based on existing literature and shows that settlement systems are inherently complex adaptive systems and therefore require tools of complexity science for causal explanations. The following chapters explore both empirical and theoretical simulated settlement patterns based dedicated to studying selected information flows and feedbacks in the context of the whole system. Second and third chapters explore the case study of the Stone Age settlement in Estonia comparing residential location choice principles of different periods. In chapter 2 the relation between environmental conditions and residential choice is explored statistically. The results confirm that the relation is significant but varies between different archaeological phenomena. In the third chapter hunter-fisher-gatherer and early agrarian Corded Ware settlement systems were compared spatially using inductive models. The results indicated a large difference in their perception of landscape regarding suitability for habitation. It led to conclusions that early agrarian land use significantly extended land use potential and provided a competitive spatial benefit. In addition to spatial differences, model performance was compared and the difference was discussed in the context of proposed adaptive settlement system model. Last two chapters present theoretical agent-based simulation experiments intended to study effects discussed in relation to environmental model performance and environmental determinism in general. In the fourth chapter the central place foragingmodel was embedded in the proposed model and resource depletion, as an environmental modification mechanism, was explored. The study excluded the possibility that mobility itself would lead to modelling effects discussed in the previous chapter. The purpose of the last chapter is the disentanglement of the complex relations between social versus human-environment interactions. The study exposed non-linear spatial effects expected population density can have on the system and the general robustness of environmental inductive models in archaeology to randomness and social effect. The model indicates that social interactions between individuals lead to formation of a group agency which is determined by the environment even if individual cognitions consider the environment insignificant. It also indicates that spatial configuration of the environment has a certain influence towards population clustering therefore providing a potential pathway to population aggregation. Those empirical and theoretical results showed the new insights provided by the complex adaptive systems framework. Some of the results, including the explanation of empirical results, required the conceptual model to provide a framework of interpretation

    Functional Nanomaterials and Polymer Nanocomposites: Current Uses and Potential Applications

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    This book covers a broad range of subjects, from smart nanoparticles and polymer nanocomposite synthesis and the study of their fundamental properties to the fabrication and characterization of devices and emerging technologies with smart nanoparticles and polymer integration

    Digitalization and Development

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    This book examines the diffusion of digitalization and Industry 4.0 technologies in Malaysia by focusing on the ecosystem critical for its expansion. The chapters examine the digital proliferation in major sectors of agriculture, manufacturing, e-commerce and services, as well as the intermediary organizations essential for the orderly performance of socioeconomic agents. The book incisively reviews policy instruments critical for the effective and orderly development of the embedding organizations, and the regulatory framework needed to quicken the appropriation of socioeconomic synergies from digitalization and Industry 4.0 technologies. It highlights the importance of collaboration between government, academic and industry partners, as well as makes key recommendations on how to encourage adoption of IR4.0 technologies in the short- and long-term. This book bridges the concepts and applications of digitalization and Industry 4.0 and will be a must-read for policy makers seeking to quicken the adoption of its technologies

    Crisis for Whom?

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    Children feature centrally in the ubiquitous narratives of ‘migration crises’. They are often depicted as essentially vulnerable and in need of special protections, or suspiciously adult-like and a threat to national borders. At the same time, many voices, experiences, and stories are rarely heard, especially about children on the move within the global South. This bilingual book, written in English and Spanish, challenges simplistic narratives to enrich perspectives and understanding. Drawing on collaborations between young (im)migrants, researchers, artists and activists, this collection asks new questions about how crises are produced, mobility is controlled, and childhood is conceptualised. Answers to these questions have profound implications for resources, infrastructures, and relationships of care. Authors offer insights from diverse global contexts, painting a rich and insightful tapestry about childhood (im)mobility. They stress that children are more than recipients of care and that the crises they face are multiple and stratifying, with long historical roots. Readers are invited to understand migration as an act of concern and love, and to attend to how the solidarities between citizens and ‘others’, adults and children, and between children, are understood and forged.La niñez ocupa un lugar central en las narrativas omnipresentes de las ""crisis migratorias"". A menudo ésta es representada como esencialmente vulnerable y necesitada de protección especial, como sospechosamente parecida a los adultos, o como una amenaza para las fronteras nacionales. Al mismo tiempo, existen muchas voces, experiencias e historias que rara vez son escuchadas, especialmente aquellas que hablan sobre las infancias en movimiento dentro del Sur global. 'Este libro bilingüe, escrito en inglés y español, desafía las narrativas simplistas para enriquecer nuestra perspectivas y comprensión. Basada en colaboraciones entre jóvenes (in)migrantes, investigadores, artistas y activistas, esta colección plantea nuevas preguntas sobre cómo se producen las crisis, cómo se controla la movilidad y cómo se conceptualiza a la infancia y la niñez. Las respuestas a estas preguntas tienen profundas implicaciones para la distribución de recursos, la infraestructura y las prácticas de cuidado. Las y los autores ofrecen perspectivas que surgen de diversos contextos globales, construyendo un rico y detallado tapiz sobre la (in)movilidad infantil. Destacan que niñas y niños son mucho más que simples receptores de cuidados y que las crisis que enfrentan son múltiples y estratificadas, con profundas raíces históricas. Se invita a las/os lectoras/es a entender la migración como un acto de concientización y amor, y a poner atención en cómo se entienden y forjan las solidaridades entre ciudadanos y aquellos que son percibidos como “otros”; entre adultos y niñas/os, y entre las/os niñas/os mismas/os

    Studies on photoactive ruthenium(II) and iridium(III) polypyridyl complexes

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    This thesis reports studies into several photoactive transition metal complexes. The photochemistry of [Ir(tpy)Cl3], hitherto used mainly as a synthetic precursor in thermal reactions, is reported in Chapter 2. Results showed that photosubstitution occurred under light, with solvent replacing one chloride ligand to give [Ir(tpy)(S)Cl2]+, where S is solvent (H2O, MeOH, MeCN). Two isomeric photoproducts were discovered in DMSO: one identified as [Ir(tpy)(kS-DMSO)Cl2]Cl (2A) and the other as [Ir(tpy)(kO-DMSO)Cl2]Cl (2B). 2A was the primary product under green light (505nm), whereas 2B predominated at long-wave UV wavelengths. Furthermore, these isomers could interconvert photochemically in a bi-directional linkage isomerism process that could be cycled at least five times over 250 hours without evidence of photodecomposition. Instances of photoswitches with photochemically driven forward and reverse processes such as this are relatively uncommon and lead to promising applications, e.g. in erasable information storage. Further study showed the conversion of 2A to 2B was an intermolecular process, and that 2A was also photoactive in other solvents. The photobiological activity of [Ir(Menphen)2Cl2]Cl (n=0, 2 or 4)] is reported in Chapter 3. Cytotoxicity was determined both with and without irradiation, against several cancer cell lines, and intra-cellular accumulation was tracked using fluorescence microscopy. The complexes accumulated mainly in lysosomes, and their toxicity increased under light (>390nm). [Ir(Me2phen)2Cl2]Cl showed promise as an effective light-activated anticancer agent and we recommend further biochemical studies with this complex. Further biological testing, including cell cycle analysis and protein expression, indicated that these complexes are probably very similar to so-called cationic amphiphilic drugs (CAD), which have been shown to have some efficacy against cancer, but also potentially harmful side effects. For these iridium complexes, CAD characteristics are only activated under light, which increases selectivity. Chapter 4 investigates the photocytotoxicity of mononuclear Ru(II) complexes with and without the tetradentate ligand bb7, which could increase structural strain and thereby enhance photochemistry. We found instead that these structures remained relatively unstrained with no enhancement in their photoactivity. However, [Ru(Me4phen)3]2+ was found, for the first time, to have promise as a photoactive anticancer agent

    Co-op to Cafeteria: Building a Food Value Chain for Farm to School

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    The central theme of this M.S. Environmental Studies portfolio considers farm-to-school as a medium for food system transformation within an innovative regional partnership of producer-owned food hubs and a state education agency. The portfolio consists of three main elements. The first element is a literature review that examines the holistic farm-to-school model, with a particular focus on local food procurement. The second element is a strategic communications plan, which was developed as part of an internship project with the Northwest Food Hub Network and the Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center. The aim of this plan is to promote value-added products in farm-to-school sales. The third element comprises a series of five profiles that highlight various farm-to-school programs on behalf of the Northwest Food Hub Network.https://scholarworks.umt.edu/grad_portfolios/1333/thumbnail.jp

    Southern Adventist University Undergraduate Catalog 2022-2023

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    Southern Adventist University\u27s undergraduate catalog for the academic year 2022-2023.https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/undergrad_catalog/1121/thumbnail.jp

    Contraception and Modern Ireland : A Social History, c.1922-92

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    Contraception was the subject of intense controversy in twentieth-century Ireland. Banned in 1935 and stigmatised by the Catholic Church, it was the focus of some of the most polarised debates before and after its legalisation in 1979. This is the first comprehensive, dedicated history of contraception in Ireland from the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 to the 1990s. Drawing on the experiences of Irish citizens through a wide range of archival sources and oral history, Laura Kelly provides insights into the lived experiences of those negotiating family planning, alongside the memories of activists who campaigned for and against legalisation. She highlights the influence of the Catholic Church's teachings and legal structures on Irish life showing how, for many, sex and contraception were obscured by shame. Yet, in spite of these constraints, many Irish women and men showed resistance in accessing contraceptive methods
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