8,869 research outputs found

    The Political Economy of Urban Land Reform in Hawaii

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    In the mid 1960s there were about 22,000 single-family leasehold homes in Honolulu. Dissatisfaction with leasehold led to reform legislation in 1967, allowing lessees to buy leased land. By 1991 less than 5000 lessees remained. This paper examines why landowners elected to lease rather than sell land and attributes the rise of leasehold to legal constraints on land sales by large estates, duties of estate trustees and the federal tax code. Idelogical forces initiated land reform in 1967, but rent-seeking forces captured the process in the mid 1970s. It is concluded that Hawaii's experiment with leasehold was a failure due to the difficulties associated with specifying and enforcing long-term contracts in residential land.

    Fuzzy Modeling and Parallel Distributed Compensation for Aircraft Flight Control from Simulated Flight Data

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    A method is described that combines fuzzy system identification techniques with Parallel Distributed Compensation (PDC) to develop nonlinear control methods for aircraft using minimal a priori knowledge, as part of NASAs Learn-to-Fly initiative. A fuzzy model was generated with simulated flight data, and consisted of a weighted average of multiple linear time invariant state-space cells having parameters estimated using the equation-error approach and a least-squares estimator. A compensator was designed for each subsystem using Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMI) to guarantee closed-loop stability and performance requirements. This approach is demonstrated using simulated flight data to automatically develop a fuzzy model and design control laws for a simplified longitudinal approximation of the F-16 nonlinear flight dynamics simulation. Results include a comparison of flight data with the estimated fuzzy models and simulations that illustrate the feasibility and utility of the combined fuzzy modeling and control approach

    The diet of a Southern Boobook Ninox novaeseelandiae in Box-ironbark country, central Victoria

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    The diet of a Southern Boobook Ninox novaeseelandiae in a Box-Ironbark woodland remnant in central Victoria was studied. An analysis of 42.5 pellets found invertebrates to represent 82% of the total prey items, but vertebrates, in the form of the House Mouse Mus domesticus, to represent 88% of the biomass. The proportion of spiders as prey items in the diet in this instance (43%) was significantly higher than in other studies on mainland Australia.<br /

    Early-Middle Pleistocene Beheading of the River Thames

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    This paper marks the centenary of the first of three articles by W.M. Davis on the beheading of the Thames, beginning with a statement of his capture hypothesis in 1895 and concluding with attempts to explain anomalous misfit streams in 1899 and 1909. It discusses Davis's classic thesis of river capture by slow, long-term landscape evolution and his apparent reluctance to accept the fact of rapid Quaternary climate change. In contrast, recent work based on lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and morphostratigraphy emphasises the dynamism of the Quaternary Period and its influence on river capture. Possible mechanisms for the beheading of the Thames, tectonism, glacial erosion and conventional Davisian river capture, and the timing of the event, are discussed. In conclusion, the paper summarises known and unknown components of the problem of the beheading of the Thames, and discusses the extent of Davis's influence on later Thames studies.Cet article marque le centenaire du premier de trois articles consacrés par W.M. Davis à la capture de la Tamise qui commençait par une déclaration de son hypothèse de capture en 1895 et concluait par des tentatives d'explication du réseau inadapté, en 1899 et 1909. L'article discute de la thèse classique de Davis de capture suivant une évolution lente, à long terme, du paysage, et son apparente réticence à accepter le fait des changements climatiques rapides survenus au Quaternaire. Par opposition, les travaux récents, fondés sur la lithostratigraphie, la biostratigraphie et la morphostratigraphie, soulignent l'importance de la période quaternaire et son influence sur les captures. Les mécanismes pouvant être responsables de la capture de la Tamise, notamment la tectonique, l'érosion glaciaire, la capture fluviale classique selon Davis, ainsi que la chronologie des événements, sont discutés. En conclusion, cet article résume les faits connus et les éléments méconnus du problème de la capture de la Tamise et discute des limites de l'influence de Davis sur les études postérieures sur la Tamise.Dieser Artikel hebt den hundertsten Jahrestag des Erscheinens des ersten von drei Artikeln von W.M. Davis ïiber die Ablenkung der Themse hervor. Dieser begann 1895 mit der Darlegung seiner Ablenkungs-Hypothese und schloss 1899 und 1909 mit Erklàrungsversuchen anomaler unteroder uberfâhiger Strômungen. Der Artikel setzt sich mit Davis' klassischer These der Flussablenkung durch langsame langzeitige Landschaftsentwicklung auseinander sowei seinem Widerstreben, die Tatsache einer schnellen Klimaverànderung im Quartâr zu akzeptieren. Im Gegensatz dazu betonen neuere Arbeiten ausgehend von Lithostratigraphie, Biostratigraphie und Morphostratigraphie die Dynamik der Quartâr-Zeit und ihren Einfluss auf die Flussablenkung. Môgliche Mechanismen bei der Ablenkung der Themse wie Tektonik, glaziale Erosion und die konventionelle Flussablenkung nach Davis, sowie der zeitliche Ablauf dieses Geschehens werden diskutiert. Abschliessend fasst der Artikel bekannte und unbekannte Elemente des Problems der Ablenkung der Themse zusammen und erôrtert, inwieweit Davis spâtere Themse-Studien beeinflusst hat

    Diet of powerful owls Ninox strenua in inner city Melbourne parks, Victoria

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    Most dietary studies of Powerful Owls Ninox strenua have been from forested habitats or partially disturbed habitats on the urban fringe. The diets of single Powerful Owls roosting in two inner city parks in Melbourne, Victoria, in 2008 and 2009 were analysed. Common Brushtail Possum Trichosurus vulpecula and Common Ringtail Possum Pseudocheirus peregrinus were the only prey species recorded in the Fitzroy Gardens (occurring in equal numbers in the Owl&rsquo;s diet), whereas Common Brushtail Possums and Black Rats Rattus rattus were recorded in the diet of the Flagstaff Gardens bird. This is a less diverse prey selection than recorded in the only other inner city dietary analysis for this species

    The Integrated Spectra of M32 and of 47 Tucanae: A Comparative Study in the Mid-Ultraviolet With IUE

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    Low-resolution mid-UV spectra of M32 and 47 Tuc have been extracted from the IUE archival database, along with spectra of 41 F and G dwarfs with well-determined atmospheric parameters and integrated spectra of 24 Galactic globular clusters. We have used five mid-UV spectral indices defined by Fanelli et al. to constrain the stellar content of M32 and 47 Tuc and to make a comparative study between the two stellar systems. In the case of 47 Tuc, the bulk of the mid-UV light is shown to come from the main-sequence turnoff stars, with much smaller (but significant) contributions coming from red horizontal-branch stars, red giants, and A stars (presumably, blue stragglers). In contrast, M32 is shown to have no significant contribution from a red horizontal-branch population, has a more metal-rich main-sequence turnoff, and has a significantly larger hot star contribution than is inferred to be present in 47 Tuc. These inferences are consistent with conclusions obtained from integrated light studies of M32 and 47 Tuc in the blue

    Measuring fragmentation in dissociative identity disorder: the integration measure and relationship to switching and time in therapy

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    Background: Some people with dissociative identity disorder (DID) have very little communication or awareness among the parts of their identity, while others experience a great deal of cooperation among alternate identities. Previous research on this topic has been sparse. Currently, there is no empirical measure of integration versus fragmentation in a person with DID. In this study, we report the development of such a measure. Objective: The goal of this study was to pilot the integration measure (IM) and to address its psychometric properties and relationships to other measures. The IM is the first standardized measure of integration in DID. Method Eleven women with DID participated in an experiment that included a variety of tasks. They filled out questionnaires about trauma and dissociation as well as the IM. They also provided verbal results about switching among alternate identities during the study sessions. Results: Participants switched among identities an average of 5.8 times during the first session, and switching was highly correlated with trauma. Integration was related to switching, though this relationship may be non-linear. Integration was not related to time in psychotherapy. Conclusions: The IM provides a useful beginning to quantify and study integration and fragmentation in DID. Directions for future research are also discussed, including expanding the IM from this pilot. The IM may be useful in treatment settings to assess progress or change over time

    Analyzing Starbursts Using Magellanic Cloud Star Clusters as Simple Stellar Populations

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    Integrated spectra have been obtained of 31 star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds (MC) and of four Galactic globular clusters. The spectra cover the wavelength range 3500–4700 Å at a resolution of 3.2 Å FWHM. The MC clusters primarily cover the age range from less than 108 to about 3 Gyr and hence are well-suited to an empirical study of aging poststarburst stellar populations. An age-dating method is presented that relies on two spectral absorption feature indices, Hδ/Fe I λ4045 and Ca II, as well as an index measuring the strength of the Balmer discontinuity. We compare the behavior of the spectral indices in the observed integrated spectra of the MC clusters with that of indices generated from theoretical evolutionary synthesis models of varying age and metal abundance. The synthesis models are based on those of Worthey, when coupled with the combination of an empirical library of stellar spectra by Jones for the cooler stars and synthetic spectra, generated from Kurucz model atmospheres, for the hotter stars. Overall, we find good agreement between the ages of the MC clusters derived from our integrated spectra (and the evolutionary synthesis modelling of the spectral indices) and ages derived from analyses of the cluster color-magnitude diagrams, as found in the literature. Hence, the principal conclusion of this study is that ages of young stellar populations can be reliably measured from modelling of their integrated spectra
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