Touristing home: muddy fields in native anthropology

In this paper, I explore dilemmas of conducting fieldwork at home. Using examples of my field and analytical notes, I illustrate the emotional, affective charge the process of ethnographic writing can take, especially when one positions herself as a feminist and attempts to produce feminist work. I argue that there is value in allowing ourselves to inhabit this messy analytical space and to use this experience as a basis for useful theorizing

Minimal cover-automata for finite languages

AbstractA cover-automaton A of a finite language L⊆Σ∗ is a finite deterministic automaton (DFA) that accepts all words in L and possibly other words that are longer than any word in L. A minimal deterministic finite cover automaton (DFCA) of a finite language L usually has a smaller size than a minimal DFA that accept L. Thus, cover automata can be used to reduce the size of the representations of finite languages in practice. In this paper, we describe an efficient algorithm that, for a given DFA accepting a finite language, constructs a minimal deterministic finite cover-automaton of the language. We also give algorithms for the boolean operations on deterministic cover automata, i.e., on the finite languages they represent

The Leaching Characteristics of Selenium from Coal Fly Ashes

The leaching characteristics of selenium from several bituminous and subbituminous coal fly ashes under different pH conditions were investigated using batch methods. Results indicated that pH had a significant effect on selenium leaching from bituminous coal ash. The minimum selenium leaching occurred in the pH range between 3 and 4, while the maximum selenium leaching occurred at pH 12. The release of selenium from subbituminous coal ashes was very low for the entire experimental pH range, possibly due to the high content of calcium which can form hydration or precipitation products as a sink for selenium. The adsorption results for different selenium species indicated that Se(VI) was hardly adsorbable on either bituminous coal ashes or subbituminous coal ashes at any pH. However, Se(IV) was highly adsorbed by bituminous coal ashes under acidic pH conditions and was mostly removed by subbituminous coal ashes across the entire pH range. This result suggests that the majority of selenium released from the tested fly ashes was Se(IV). A speciation-based model was developed to simulate the adsorption of Se(IV) on bituminous coal fly ash, and the pH-independent adsorption constants of HSeO3* and SeO3 2* were determined. The modeling approach is useful for understanding and predicting the release process of selenium from fly ash

Square, Power, Positive Closure, and Complementation on Star-Free Languages

International audienceWe examine the deterministic and nondeterministic state complexity of square, power, positive closure, and complementation on star-free languages. For the state complexity of square, we get a non-trivial upper bound $$(n-1)2^n - 2(n-2)$$ and a lower bound of order $${\Theta }(2^n)$$. For the state complexity of the k-th power in the unary case, we get the tight upper bound $$k(n-1)+1$$. Next, we show that the upper bound kn on the nondeterministic state complexity of the k-th power is met by a binary star-free language, while in the unary case, we have a lower bound $$k(n-1)+1$$. For the positive closure, we show that the deterministic upper bound $$2^{n-1}+2^{n-2}-1$$, as well as the nondeterministic upper bound n, can be met by star-free languages. We also show that in the unary case, the state complexity of positive closure is $$n^2-7n+13$$, and the nondeterministic state complexity of complementation is between $$(n-1)^2+1$$ and $$n^2-2$$

Social dynamics of community resilience building in the face of climate change : the case of three Scottish communities

Meeting global targets that maintain temperatures at 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels while adapting to the growing impacts of climate change requires significant and rapid societal change. Within this context, there has been growing interest in building community resilience to shocks and stressors and as a forward-looking process. Yet while there has been extensive attention to conceptual aspects, there has been much less on how this can be achieved in practice. This research worked with three communities in Scotland (UK) regularly exposed to flooding and other integrated challenges to learn from action about community resilience building. A carefully developed four-tiered transdisciplinary approach was applied that included: relationship-building; enhancing capacities to work with interconnections; enabling processes; and supportive action-oriented research. The findings of the analysis of the system dynamics that were occurring during the resilience-building process highlight that it is a complex and messy social process. Yet, it also shows that if quality and sufficient quantity of support and time to help surface and deliberate on underlying assumptions about communities and change is provided, it can be possible to stimulate emergence of beneficial reinforcing social dynamics that begin to support collaborative and systemic action. To further advance know how about resilience building, much greater focus will be needed on the ‘how’ of resilience. This, in turn, will require new framings of, and approaches for, community resilience and new framings of research, knowledge and knowing