A Tale of Two Unions: The British Union and the European Union After Brexit

Brexit is a tale of two unions, not one: the British and the European unions. Their origins are different, but both struggle to maintain unity in diversity and both have to face the challenge of populism and claims of democratic deficit. Mark Corner suggests that the "four nations" that make up the UK can only survive as part of a single nation-state, if the country looks more sympathetically at the very European structures from which it has chosen to detach itself. This study addresses both academic and lay audiences interested in the current situation of the UK, particularly the strains raised by devolution and Brexit

Christ and theology: a study in Karl Barth

This thesis is presented as a critical analysis of Karl Earth's work which attempts to be philosophically and theologically literate. It tries to bring out the pervasive influence of Kant upon Karl Barth, in particular upon Fides Quaerens Intellectum, a work which concludes with a stinging attack upon Kant's version of the ontological argument, and yet which owes so much to a Kantian dualism for its own conclusions. The work is also intended as criticism of Professor T.F. Torrance's interpretation of Karl Barth, which we regard as philosophically untenable because resting upon a false epistemology. We believe that Professor Torrance is one of many interpreters of Karl Barth who have yet to come to terms with the issues raised for theological realism by the epistemological revolution brought about largely through Kant's influence. We also offer a theological critique of Barth. His theology is, we believe, based upon a form of Christocentrism which has been criticised as 'Christomonist'. We attempt to develop this criticism with our own interpretation of it in this thesis. Finally, we conclude with the argument that a properly Christocentric theology must always understand the nature of God in terms of the form of His self-disclosure in Christ. There must be no sense in which the cry 'Let God be God!' seems rather to override than to call attention to the fact that God was in Christ. We believe that Barth does not consistently hold to this principle in his work, and that consequently there is a dimension to God's being in Christ which is lacking in his theology. We believe that this dimension is a Kenotic one

Developing spatio-temporal prediction models for arbovirus activity in nothern Australia based on remotely sensed bioclimatic variables

Vector-borne diseases pose an ongoing threat to public and animal health in the north ofAustralia. A number of surveillance programs are in place to determine the extent of virus activityand control the risk, but these are labour- and cost intensive while producing data with largetemporal and spatial gaps. Using the example of Bluetongue virus, the aim of this study was toinvestigate the potential of remotely sensed variables to facilitate the development of area-widepredictive models that complement traditional surveillance activities.Bioclimatic variables were derived for the Northern Territory from MODIS and TRMM remotesensing data products covering a period of nine years. Spatial and temporal uncertainty in thesurveillance data required the annual aggregation of environmental variables on a pastoralproperty level. Generalized Additive Models (GAM) were developed based on variables such asNDVI and land surface temperature to produce annual prediction maps of virus activity. Externalvalidation showed that the model correctly predicted 75% of the results from cattle stations testedfor Bluetongue. Remaining uncertainty in the model can be mainly attributed to the spatio-temporalinconsistency of the available surveillance data.This case study has developed a cost-effective approach based on a set of robustenvironmental predictors that facilitate the generation of arbovirus prediction maps soon after thepeak of risk for infection. While this research focused on Bluetongue Virus, we see a large potentialto expand the method to other areas and viruses particularly in view of the increasing populationsin Northern Australia

Protecting File Systems with Transient Authentication

Laptops are vulnerable to theft, greatly increasing the likelihood of exposing sensitive files. Unfortunately, storing data in a cryptographic file system does not fully address this problem. Such systems ask the user to imbue them with long-term authority for decryption, but that authority can be used by anyone who physically possesses the machine. Forcing the user to frequently reestablish his identity is intrusive, encouraging him to disable encryption.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41362/1/11276_2004_Article_5384743.pd

Evidence- and risk-based planning for food security under climate change

Planning robust climate-smart development programs can be done today with existing information. We propose a risk-household-option modeling approach to address household food security under climate change in Africa. Through a case study in Niger, we demonstrate that prioritizing CSA is possible by taking into account livelihood status, risks, and potential effects of CSA practices

Evidence- and risk-based planning for food security under climate change: Results of a modeling approach for climate-smart agriculture programming

Planning robust climate-smart development programs can be done today with existing information. We propose a risk-household-option modeling approach to address household food security under climate change in Africa. hrough a case study in Niger, we demonstrate that prioritizing CSA is possible by taking into account livelihood status, risks, and potential effects of CSA practices

The Neural Substrates of Infant Sleep in Rats

Sleep is a poorly understood behavior that predominates during infancy but is studied almost exclusively in adults. One perceived impediment to investigations of sleep early in ontogeny is the absence of state-dependent neocortical activity. Nonetheless, in infant rats, sleep is reliably characterized by the presence of tonic (i.e., muscle atonia) and phasic (i.e., myoclonic twitching) components; the neural circuitry underlying these components, however, is unknown. Recently, we described a medullary inhibitory area (MIA) in week-old rats that is necessary but not sufficient for the normal expression of atonia. Here we report that the infant MIA receives projections from areas containing neurons that exhibit state-dependent activity. Specifically, neurons within these areas, including the subcoeruleus (SubLC), pontis oralis (PO), and dorsolateral pontine tegmentum (DLPT), exhibit discharge profiles that suggest causal roles in the modulation of muscle tone and the production of myoclonic twitches. Indeed, lesions in the SubLC and PO decreased the expression of muscle atonia without affecting twitching (resulting in “REM sleep without atonia”), whereas lesions of the DLPT increased the expression of atonia while decreasing the amount of twitching. Thus, the neural substrates of infant sleep are strikingly similar to those of adults, a surprising finding in light of theories that discount the contribution of supraspinal neural elements to sleep before the onset of state-dependent neocortical activity

Using Co-Inquiry to Study Co-Inquiry: Community-University Perspectives on Research

In the context of a rapid development of interest in community-university research partnerships, this article argues for a greater focus on collaborative reflexivity to enhance learning from the research process and contribute toward developing sustainable and ethical research collaborations. Incorporating perspectives of community and university participants, the article offers a case study analysis of a UK-based co-inquiry action research group. This group not only studied examples of community-university research collaborations, but also reflected on its own workings as an example of collaborative research in action—scrutinizing relationships of power, responsibility, and boundaries in the group (collaborative reflexivity). This article argues that research projects might be designed with space designated for co-inquiry action research or similar inquiry groups. These co-inquiry groups would serve as replacements or supplements to more traditional steering or advisory groups

Using co-inquiry to study co-inquiry: community-university perspectives on research collaboration

In the context of a rapid development of interest in community-university research partnerships, this article argues for a greater focus on collaborative reflexivity to enhance learning from the research process and contribute toward developing sustainable and ethical research collaborations. Incorporating perspectives of community and university participants, the article offers a case study analysis of a UK-based co-inquiry action research group. This group not only studied examples of community-university research collaborations, but also reflected on its own workings as an example of collaborative research in action—scrutinizing relationships of power, responsibility, and boundaries in the group (collaborative reflexivity). This article argues that research projects might be designed with space designated for co-inquiry action research or similar inquiry groups. These co-inquiry groups would serve as replacements or supplements to more traditional steering or advisory groups