The evolution of the cia's covert action mission, 1947-1963

The core contentions and departures of this study are that: (1) a three way delineation distinguished the basic types of operation that the CIA performed, between defensive, offensive, and preventive covert action; (2) the agency and its forerunner organisations anticipated government policy and initiated small-scale political clandestine operations during 1946 and 1947, ahead of being given official sanction for such activities; (3) the CIA's operations directorate played a more significant role as an instrument of wider strategic objectives, most notably during the Eisenhower years, than has hitherto been suggested; and (4) domestic politics had a strong impact on the development and deployment of CIA covert action, especially during the McCarthy era. Only by taking these factors into account can the early evolution of the CIA's operations directorate be fully understood

Elements of narrative technique in the "Canterbury Tales" and Chaucer's approach to short-story writing

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

A history of literary censorship in England.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

Tomography of X-ray Nova Muscae 1991: Evidence for ongoing mass transfer and stream-disc overflow

We present a spectroscopic analysis of the black hole binary Nova Muscae 1991 in quiescence using data obtained in 2009 with MagE on the Magellan Clay telescope and in 2010 with IMACS on the Magellan Baade telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory. Emission from the disc is observed in H alpha, H beta and Ca II (8662 A). A prominent hotspot is observed in the Doppler maps of all three emission lines. The existence of this spot establishes ongoing mass transfer from the donor star in 2009-2010 and, given its absence in the 1993-1995 observations, demonstrates the presence of a variable hotspot in the system. We find the radial distance to the hotspot from the black hole to be consistent with the circularization radius. Our tomograms are suggestive of stream-disc overflow in the system. We also detect possible Ca II (8662 A) absorption from the donor star.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRA

The chronology of reindeer hunting on Norway's highest ice patches.

The melting of perennial ice patches globally is uncovering a fragile record of alpine activity, especially hunting and the use of mountain passes. When rescued by systematic fieldwork (glacial archaeology), this evidence opens an unprecedented window on the chronology of high-elevation activity. Recent research in Jotunheimen and surrounding mountain areas of Norway has recovered over 2000 finds-many associated with reindeer hunting (e.g. arrows). We report the radiocarbon dates of 153 objects and use a kernel density estimation (KDE) method to determine the distribution of dated events from ca 4000 BCE to the present. Interpreted in light of shifting environmental, preservation and socio-economic factors, these new data show counterintuitive trends in the intensity of reindeer hunting and other high-elevation activity. Cold temperatures may sometimes have kept humans from Norway's highest elevations, as expected based on accessibility, exposure and reindeer distributions. In times of increasing demand for mountain resources, however, activity probably continued in the face of adverse or variable climatic conditions. The use of KDE modelling makes it possible to observe this patterning without the spurious effects of noise introduced by the discrete nature of the finds and the radiocarbon calibration process

Do shorter lengths of stay increase readmissions after total joint replacements?

BackgroundEnhanced recovery after surgery protocols for total joint replacements (TJRs) emphasize early discharge, yet the impact on readmissions is not well documented. We evaluate the impact of a one-day length of stay (LOS) discharge protocol on readmissions.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective review of all primary TJRs (hip and knee) from April 2014 to March 2015. Patients who had adequate support to be discharged home were categorized into 2 groups, 1-day (n = 174) vs 2-day (n = 285) LOS groups. Patients discharged to rehabilitation were excluded (n = 196).ResultsPatients in the 1 day group were more likely to be younger (61.7 vs 64.8 years, P < .001), be male (56.3% vs 40.4%, P = .001), and have a lower body mass index (30.0 vs 31.4 kg/m2, P = .012). One-day LOS patients had shorter surgical times (79.7 vs 85.6 minutes, P = .001) and more likely had spinal anesthesia (46.0% vs 31.2%, P = .001). The overall 30-day all-cause (2.3% vs 2.5%, P = .591) and 90-day wound-related (1.1% vs 1.1%, P = .617) readmission rates were equivalent between groups.ConclusionsEarly discharge does not increase readmissions and may help attenuate costs associated with TJRs. Further refinement of protocols may allow for more patients to be safely discharged on postoperative day 1

Integrating feature attribution methods into the loss function of deep learning classifiers

Feature attribution methods are typically used post-training to judge if a deep learning classifier is using meaningful concepts in an input image when making classifications. In this study, we propose using feature attribution methods to give a classifier automated feedback throughout the training process via a novel loss function. We call such a loss function, a heatmap loss function. Heatmap loss functions enable us to incentivize a model to rely on relevant sections of the input image when making classifications. Two groups of models were trained, one group with a heatmap loss function and the other using categorical cross entropy (CCE). Models trained with the heatmap loss function were capable of achieving equivalent classification accuracies on a test dataset of synthesised cardiac MRIs. Moreover, HiResCAM heatmaps suggest that these models relied to a greater extent on regions of the input image within the heart. A further experiment demonstrated how heatmap loss functions can be used to prevent deep learning classifiers from using non-causal concepts that disproportionately co-occur with certain classes when making classifications. This suggests that heatmap loss functions could be used to prevent models from learning dataset biases by directing where the model should be looking when making classifications

How Common is Common Human Reason?:The Plurality of Moral Perspectives and Kant’s Ethics

In his practical philosophy, Kant aims to systematize and ground a conception of morality that every human being already in some form is supposedly committed to in virtue of her common human reason. While Kantians especially in the last few years have explicitly acknowledged the central role of common human reason for a correct understanding of Kant’s ethics, there has been very little detailed critical discussion of the very notion of a common human reason as Kant envisages it. Sticker critically discusses in what ways Kant is committed to the notion that there are certain rational insights and rational capacities that all humans share, and thus investigates critically how Kant thinks moral normativity appears to the common human being, the rational agent who did not enjoy special education or philosophical training