CS 46A/B: Introduction to Computer Science Course Redesign

Poster summarizing course redesign activities for CS 46A/B: Introduction to Computer Science.https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/davinci_itcr2014/1006/thumbnail.jp

Synthese, Kristallstruktur und Eigenschaften von Tetraaminophosphonium-iodid P(NH2)4I

Abstract The title compound has been prepared starting from phosphorothionic triamide SP(NH2)3 by methylation of the sulfur atom and subsequent ammonolysis reaction in dry acetonitrile and dichloromethane, respectively, both at room temperature. Suitable single crystals are obtained from an acetonitrile solution in a temperature gradient between 70 °C and room temperature. The crystal structure of [P(NH2)4]I has been determined by single crystal X-ray methods (P4/nbm; a = 842.6(2), c = 486.7(2) pm, Z = 2). In the solid [P(NH2)4]+ - and I−-ions are found with significant N - H···I-hydrogen bonding interactions between anions and cations (H -I: 276.4 pm). The P - N - bond length in the cation (160.7(2) pm) represents the shortest P - NH2 bond distance reported to date indicating a significant electrostatic strengthening. The condensation behaviour of [P(NH2)4]I in solution and in the solid has been investigated.</jats:p

A Marine Radar Wind Sensor

A new method for retrieving the wind vector from radar-image sequences is presented. This method, called WiRAR, uses a marine X-band radar to analyze the backscatter of the ocean surface in space and time with respect to surface winds. Wind direction is found using wind-induced streaks, which are very well aligned with the mean surface wind direction and have a typical spacing above 50 m. Wind speeds are derived using a neural network by parameterizing the relationship between the wind vector and the normalized radar cross section (NRCS). To improve performance, it is also considered how the NRCS depends on sea state and atmospheric parameters such as air–sea temperature and humidity. Since the signal-to-noise ratio in the radar sequences is directly related to the significant wave height, this ratio is used to obtain sea state parameters. All radar datasets were acquired in the German Bight of the North Sea from the research platform FINO-I, which provides environmental data such as wind measurements at different heights, sea state, air–sea temperatures, humidity, and other meteorological and oceanographic parameters. The radar-image sequences were recorded by a marine X-band radar installed aboard FINO-I, which operates at grazing incidence and horizontal polarization in transmit and receive. For validation WiRAR is applied to the radar data and compared to the in situ wind measurements from FINO-I. The comparison of wind directions resulted in a correlation coefficient of 0.99 with a standard deviation of 12.8°, and that of wind speeds resulted in a correlation coefficient of 0.99 with a standard deviation of 0.41 m s^−1. In contrast to traditional offshore wind sensors, the retrieval of the wind vector from the NRCS of the ocean surface makes the system independent of the sensors’ motion and installation height as well as the effects due to platform-induced turbulence

Eutrophication and mass production of Bluegreen Algae in the Baltic

Mass occurrences of the blue-green algae Aphanizomenon flos-aquae and Nodularia spumigena have been observed more often in the Baltic proper during the last few years. The present paper touches on some questions connected with the mass production of Cyanophyceae, such as the origin of the blue-green algae blooms, their limitation by nutrients, their nitrogen fixation and their role as nitrate suppliers. The agglomeration of blue-green algae is shown to be a biotic community, and some relations of these algae in the food web are examined. Some results of in sitt1 experiments and recent laboratory investigations are given

Framing adaptation to climate change – a challenge for building institutions

Adaptation to climate change has long been neglected in climate and development policy and there is an institutional deficit in addressing adaptation action. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has yet to develop coherent institutional structures that facilitate the effective implementation of adaptation and related commitments in a way that is at once catalytic and synergetic at the global level. The question of how to respond adequately to the requirements of adaptation to climate change is still an open one and a matter of controversy in discussions, also with regard to a follow-up agreement for the Kyoto Protocol. One of the related challenges, in UNFCCC negotiations but also in development policy and practice, is the definition of a conceptual basis for adaptation from which to derive action. The question of how adaptation is conceptualized is crucial for leveraging action and addressing adaptation across different scales, from the global to the local level. This applies not only for the United Nations Framework Convention but also for institution building in a wider sense. It forms the basis for adaptation strategies, implementation, the calculation of adaptation costs and financial needs or translates into eligibility criteria for funding. Especially, the funding mechanisms of the climate convention, the connecting link between the global and the national or local level, assume an important position here. Their institutional arrangement and conceptual basis can influence action on adaptation on a broad scale. While the concept and problem definition of mitigation is relatively clearly framed with regard to cause and effect, the conceptual frame of adaptation remains vague and has changed over time. Adaptation was initially conceptualized from an environmental and climate change perspective focusing on impacts of climate change. It is now increasingly seen from a development perspective emphasizing development needs and aspects of vulnerability to current climate variability. Each perspective emphasizes a different type of policy response. Three fora are relevant for the evolution of conceptual thinking on adaptation to climate change: the UNFCCC, scientific discourse and development policy and practice. Adaptation has been framed differently in each of these. Nevertheless, there are core characteristics of adaptation that emerge from these discourses. They are represented by the following questions: — Adaptation to what? (climate-related stimuli) — Who or what adapts? (characteristics of system) — How does adaptation occur? (attributes, forms, types of adaptation) — On what time scale and on what spatial scale is adaptation being addressed? (time/space scale) — Who defines adaptation how and why? (power, processes, decision criteria, information) — How to address uncertainty and responsibility in adaptation? The last three aspects of adaptation have until now not received sufficient attention in defining adaptation options, and they are challenging for institution building: — The definition of time scales of adaptation needs careful balancing between short- and long-term requirements, development needs and climatic trends. To what time scale of climatic trends should adaptation measures respond and within what time frame can they be considered as climate change adaptation measures? — The question of “who defines, how and why?” is an important parameter in targeting adaptation as there is no concept-inherent, pre-given definition of a problem of and hence solution for adaptation. This implies that the challenge for adaptation planning and addressing it in institutions lies in the definition of the problem itself. What are the processes, criteria and information on which a decision is based? As there are no common, “objective” criteria of what “good” or “bad” adaptation to climate change is, the decision criteria for adaptation measures need to be socially embedded. — Uncertainty is a dominant feature of adaptation in a twofold sense. On the one hand, impacts of climate change are uncertain and there will be no definite information on what needs to be adapted to. On the other hand, there is a degree of uncertainty with regard to the determinants of vulnerability and there is no guarantee that certain measures will lead to reduced vulnerability or enhanced adaptive capacity. Both aspects of uncertainty imply the risk of maladaptation or maladaptedness. What is the best way to address the question of responsibility if adaptation fails? In view of the core characteristics of adaptation, what are the implications for a future adaptation framework under the UNFCCC? Addressing adaptation relates to a reframing of the effects of climate change that can be addressed under the convention and to whether this includes climate variability. The parties to the convention should reconsider the conceptual frame of adaptation funding and adopt a representative governance structure. The adaptation framework should adopt a process-oriented approach to adaptation that includes climate variability, and it should strengthen the generation of context-specific information and analysis. At present, uncertainty and responsibility are not addressed sufficiently under the convention

Library Technology – Between Local Tools and Global Solutions

Digital information infrastructures such as Google or Wikipedia are often compared to libraries. As traditional libraries, they support the circulation of knowledge resources. However, they are neither operated by nor designed for library institutions. In order to describe the contribution of libraries to the digital infrastructures of the 21st century more precisely, the term Library Technology is applied in this text. Library Technology will be demarcated from terms such as Digital Libraries, a frequently used concept in Computer Science and colloquial language. The focus lies on present and future developments of infrastructures in science, such as the European Science Cloud (EOSC). It is suggested that the original contribution of libraries to current and future data infrastructure is present but not explicitly visible or referenced in communications. This rather hidden, implicit role is interpreted to be detrimental to the library identity in the 21st century. It is recommended to reference the role of the library more explicitly.Digitale Informationsinfrastrukturen wie Google oder Wikipedia werden oft mit Bibliotheken verglichen. Wie traditionelle Bibliotheken unterstützen sie die Zirkulation von Wissensressourcen. Sie werden jedoch weder von bibliothekarischen Einrichtungen betrieben noch sind sie für diese konzipiert. Um den Beitrag von Bibliotheken zu den digitalen Infrastrukturen des 21. Jahrhunderts genauer zu beschreiben, wird in diesem Text der Begriff Bibliothekstechnologie verwendet. Bibliothekstechnologie von Begriffen wie „Digital Libraries“, einem häufig verwendeten Begriff in der Informatik und der Umgangssprache, abgegrenzt. Der Fokus liegt auf aktuellen und zukünftigen Entwicklungen von Dateninfrastrukturen im Wissenschaftsbereich, wie beispielsweise der European Science Cloud (EOSC). Der ursprüngliche Beitrag von Bibliotheken zur gegenwärtigen und zukünftigen Dateninfrastruktur ist präsent, aber in der Kommunikation nicht explizit sichtbar. Diese eher versteckte, implizite Rolle ist der Bibliotheksidentität im 21. Jahrhundert abträglich. Es wird empfohlen, expliziter auf die Rolle der Bibliothek hinzuweisen.Peer Reviewe

"Judenaufnahmen fürs Archiv" : das dokumentarische Filmmaterial "Asien in Mitteleuropa", 1942

„Himmler betreibt augenblicklich die große Umsiedlung der Juden aus den deutschen Städten nach den östlichen Ghettos. Ich habe veranlasst, dass hier im großen Umfange Filmaufnahmen gemacht werden. Das Material werden wir für die spätere Erziehung unseres Volkes dringend brauchen.“ Das Interesse der Nationalsozialisten, Bildmaterial ihrer Opfer über die Zeit der Vertreibung und Vernichtung hinaus zu bewahren, ist ein Aspekt, der von der geschichtswissenschaftlichen Forschung bislang nur am Rande betrachtet worden ist. Die Existenz zahlreicher Bildquellen sowie Hinweise und Spuren bezüglich ihrer Produktion, Sammlung und Archivierung sprechen aber deutlich für verschiedene Projekte, in denen versucht wurde, von nationalsozialistischer Seite Material für eine spätere Verwendung zu schaffen. Anhand des „Jüdischen Zentralmuseum der SS in Prag“ wurde die Idee und Vorgehensweise, selektiv bestimmte Aspekte des jüdischen Lebens von Seiten der Nationalsozialisten zu archivieren, schon in einigen Untersuchungen sehr gut nachgezeichnet und bietet so Anstoß für weitere Forschungen in diese Richtung. In diesem Zusammenhang lassen sich auch einige Filmaufnahmen dokumentarischer Art einordnen, die eine ähnliche Tendenz aufweisen. Hauptsächlich handelt es sich dabei um Filmaufnahmen aus den Jahren 1941 und 1942 über die Umsiedlung der Juden in die polnischen Ghettos sowie um Aufnahmen aus den Ghettos, unter anderem im Warschauer Ghetto, in Dombrowa und Bendzin, sowie vermutlich in Lublin. Allen Aufnahmen ist bei näherer Betrachtung gemein, dass nicht willkürliche, sondern bewusst ausgewählte Motive aufgegriffen wurden, die stereotype Vor- und Darstellungen des europäischen Judentums transportieren. Vor dem Hintergrund großangelegter Bestrebungen des Propagandaministeriums, Dokumente für die Zukunft zu bewahren, erscheint es daher naheliegend, dass von offizieller Seite systematisch ein spezifisch verfasstes Repertoire an Bildmaterial über das europäische Judentum geschaffen werden sollte, auf das für eine zukünftige Propaganda hätte zurückgegriffen werden können. In der 1937 gegründeten „Kommission zur Bewahrung von Zeitdokumenten“ konkretisierte sich erstmals die Idee, bewusst Material zu produzieren. In seiner Rede anlässlich der Gründung der Kommission sah Propagandaminister Joseph Goebbels ihre Aufgaben darin: „…dass der menschliche Geist ohne weiteres in der Lage ist, Mittel und Wege zu finden, um diese Vorgänge nicht nur für den Tagesbedarf zu reproduzieren, sondern sie auch für eine weite Zukunft zu erhalten.“ Diese vorab geschaffene Deutung äußert sich in dem Filmmaterial durch die Visualisierung einer bestimmten konstruierten Repräsentationsform des europäischen Judentums. Dafür sollte ein bestimmtes „Bild des Judentums“ inszeniert, hier speziell im Medium Film gespeichert und somit für die Zukunft archiviert werden. Im Folgenden soll am Beispiel des im Warschauer Ghetto gedrehten Filmmaterials „Asien in Mitteleuropa“ (Archivtitel) diese Inszenierung nachgezeichnet werden. Nach einer kurzen Einordnung der vorhandenen Hinweise zum Produktionshintergrund soll anhand filmanalytischer Bezugspunkte, wie inhaltliche Leitlinie, Kameratechnik und Schnittfolge, aufgezeigt werden, auf welches „Bild des Juden“ in der Zukunft zurückgegriffen werden sollte und wie dieses Bild im Medium Film umgesetzt wurde.The interest of National Socialists to preserve film material of their victims beyond expulsion and elimination is an aspect which is only being looked at from a site perspective of historical science, even though a number of films and photos as well as indications and traces of their production, accumulation and archiving are existing. In the following article the form and intention of concerted made graphical material will be traced on the basis of the documentary film material “Asien in Mitteleuropa” which was recorded in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942