Iet.

In iet, the phonetic aspects of speech, as well as additional vocal noises, are employed in preference to more conventional semantic and syntactic values, derived from recognized language. The lack of pre-existing text removes the necessity to flesh out the skeleton of a pre-existing structure, and in turn creates the possibility of having a musical discourse in which each vocalization serves to modify the sound world of the piece in a specifically conceived manner. Thusly, the singers utilize only fragments of speech, uttering single syllables, as well as other more marginal vocal sounds such as audible breathing, and the smacking of the lips. Throughout iet, the instruments and vocalists are in constant discourse, both seeming to provoke and mimic one another’s actions. Vocal features such as breathing are imitated by instruments, as the mechanical and physical qualities of instrumental performance are mimicked by the voices. The physicality of the voice is occasionally externalized, as the singers strike the outside of the mouth, and cheeks. This imitative exchange, which evolves throughout the course of the work, creates a type of experiential non-language between the voices and the instruments. While being non-communicative, this exchange behaves with a certain kind of self-defining structural grammar

Magnetic minerals in soils and paleosols as recorders of paleoclimate

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. June 2017. Major: Earth Sciences. Advisors: David Fox, Joshua Feinberg. 1 computer file (PDF); ix, 214 pages.It is a fundamental challenge for geologists to create quantitative estimates of rainfall and temperature in past climates. Yet, records of past climates are integral for understanding the complexities of earth system dynamics. The research presented in this dissertation begins to establish a framework for reconstructing paleoclimates using the magnetic properties of fossilized soils. Magnetic minerals are ubiquitous in soils, and their composition, grain size, and concentration is often directly related to the ambient climatic conditions that were present during soil formation. Using rock magnetic methods, it is possible to sensitively characterize the magnetic mineral assemblages in natural materials - including soils and paleosols. The fundamentals of rock magnetism and many of the common methods used in rock magnetic applications are presented in chapter 2 and chapter 3, respectively. Chapter 4 reviews the physical, chemical, and biological factors that affect magnetic mineral assemblages in soils, the magnetic methods we use to characterize them, and the known relationships between magnetic minerals in soils and climate. A critical component to developing replicable tools for reconstructing paleoclimate is developing analytical and statistical tools that are accessible to the greater community. Chapter 5 introduces a new model, MAX UnMix, that was developed as an open-source, online tool for rock magnetic data processing that is designed to be user-friendly and accessible. Two case studies, on both fossil (Chapter 7) and modern (Chapter 6) soils, are presented and discuss many issues related to applying magnetic paleoprecipitation proxies in deep time. Chapter 7 discusses difficulties in disentangling the effects of pedogenesis, diagenesis, and recent surficial weathering in Paleocene-Eocene (56-55 Ma) paleosols. Chapter 6 explores the relative influence of soil forming factors (vegetation vs. climate) on controlling the pedogenic formation of magnetic minerals in soils developing across the forest-to-prairie ecotone in NW Minnesota. The body of research presented in this dissertation provides many challenges to future workers, while at the same time highlighting that rock magnetism should be a useful tool for researchers interested in deep time paleoclimates moving forward

Rock magnetic and geochemical evidence for authigenic magnetite formation via iron reduction in coal-bearing sediments offshore Shimokita Peninsula, Japan (IODP Site C0020)

Sediments recovered at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site C0020, in a fore‐arc basin offshore Shimokita Peninsula, Japan, include numerous coal beds (0.3–7 m thick) that are associated with a transition from a terrestrial to marine depositional environment. Within the primary coal‐bearing unit (∼2 km depth below seafloor) there are sharp increases in magnetic susceptibility in close proximity to the coal beds, superimposed on a background of consistently low magnetic susceptibility throughout the remainder of the recovered stratigraphic sequence. We investigate the source of the magnetic susceptibility variability and characterize the dominant magnetic assemblage throughout the entire cored record, using isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM), thermal demagnetization, anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM), iron speciation, and iron isotopes. Magnetic mineral assemblages in all samples are dominated by very low‐coercivity minerals with unblocking temperatures between 350 and 580°C that are interpreted to be magnetite. Samples with lower unblocking temperatures (300–400°C), higher ARM, higher‐frequency dependence, and isotopically heavy δ56Fe across a range of lithologies in the coal‐bearing unit (between 1925 and 1995 mbsf) indicate the presence of fine‐grained authigenic magnetite. We suggest that iron‐reducing bacteria facilitated the production of fine‐grained magnetite within the coal‐bearing unit during burial and interaction with pore waters. The coal/peat acted as a source of electron donors during burial, mediated by humic acids, to supply iron‐reducing bacteria in the surrounding siliciclastic sediments. These results indicate that coal‐bearing sediments may play an important role in iron cycling in subsiding peat environments and if buried deeply through time, within the subsequent deep biosphere

Beyond Blue Skies: The Political Implications of China\u27s Environmental Movement

Environmental protection is quietly becoming China\u27s most promising political issue for citizen participation. In contrast to recent crackdowns in the autonomous region of Tibet, the failed Charter 08 petition in December 2008, and nearing the twentieth anniversary of the failed 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests, the government has displayed remarkable tolerance for environmental protests. Though not encouraging protests directly, the Communist Party controlled state has shown support for the environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) at the heart of China\u27s environmental movement. Despite challenges, there is an independent environmental movement underway in China. Under the official objective of environmental protection, this movement has formed alliances with the media, academics, international organizations and even government officials. Facing increased environmental dissatisfaction by its citizens, and unable to enforce its own environmental protection policy, the Chinese government has institutionalized provisions for public participation in environmental protection. This project applies the available research and information on China\u27s environmental movement to theoretical frameworks to define and predict its future. From this investigation, it is apparent that the environmental movement has created an atmosphere in China that allows for discussion and debate of certain issues. Promisingly, it has adjusted to the realities of Chinese politics much better than the confrontational social movements before it. Quietly the environmental movement is leading the charge toward a freer and more democratic society in China

A New Approach to Understanding the Early Miocene Paleoenvironment of Rusinga Island (Lake Victoria, Kenya): Using Leaf Margin Analysis, Leaf Area Analysis and Digital Leaf Physiognomy

Nearly one hundred years of field work has established Rusinga Island, Lake Victoria, Kenya as one of the most important Early Miocene (17-20 Ma) primate sites in Africa. In order to fully understand the patterns of Early Miocene primate evolution, it is critical to understand the paleoenvironments and paleoclimates in which these primates lived. In spite of the amount of paleontological work that has been conducted on Rusinga Island, results of paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic studies have been contradictory. Furthermore, although there are abundant fossil plant remains on Rusinga, there have not been any studies that have attempted to reconstruct paleoclimate directly from fossil leaves. The correlation of the size and shape of woody dicot leaves with temperature and rainfall has been used to develop proxies for reconstructing mean annual temperature (MAT) and mean annual precipitation (MAP) from fossil leaves. Thus, the fossil leaves from Rusinga can be used to directly reconstruct the paleoclimate and paleoenvironment that existed during the evolution of Early Miocene primates, including the stem hominoid Proconsul. A preliminary collection of 91 fossil leaves representing 28 distinct morphotypes (26 woody dicotyledonous (dicot) angiosperms and 2 monocotyledonous angiosperms) was made from a fossiliferous deposit near the top of the Grit Bed Member of the Hiwegi Formation near Kaswanga Point on Rusinga Island. I used the dicot morphotypes to estimate MAT and MAP using both univariate and multivariate methods. These analyses demonstrate that the Early Miocene MAT and MAP on Rusinga Island were ≥ 30°C and ~100-160cm, respectively. These estimates provide good preliminary evidence to suggest that the Early Miocene paleoenvioronment on Rusinga may have been a tropical-seasonal forest, and not a tropical woodland as reported by previous studies

Relative Influence on Total Cancelled Operating Room Time from Patients Who Are Inpatients or Outpatients Preoperatively

BACKGROUND: In previous studies, hospitals' operating room (OR) schedules were influenced markedly by decisions made within a few days of surgery. At least half of ORs had their last case scheduled or changed within 2 working days of surgery. In the current investigation, we studied whether many of these changes were due to patients who were admitted before surgery. We differentiated these inpatients from outpatients having ambulatory surgery or admitted on the day of surgery. METHODS: From 21 facilities of a nonacademic health system throughout the United States, N = 5 eight-week periods of cancellation data were obtained. From an academic hospital, N = 8 thirteen-week periods of cancellation data were obtained, including detailed audit data with timestamps of the entire scheduling/rescheduling/cancellation history for each case. RESULTS: (1) In the non-academic health system, outpatients accounted for 1.6% 0.1% (SEM) of the scheduled minutes that were cancelled, whereas inpatients accounted for 8.1% +/- 0.4%. Consequently, even though inpatients represented much less than half the total scheduled minutes of surgery (16.2% +/- 0.5%, P < 0.0001), they accounted for approximately half of the total cancelled minutes (overall P = 0.55, 49% +/- 2%; hospitals only P = 0.062, 57% +/- 3%). (2) In the nonacademic health system, each 10% increase in a facility's percentage of outpatients making a physical visit to a preoperative clinic (versus only a preoperative phone call) was associated with a 0.0% +/- 0.1% absolute decrease in cancelled minutes (P = 0.58). (3) In the academic hospital, inpatients accounted for 22.3% +/- 0.4% of the scheduled minutes but most of the total cancelled minutes (70% +/- 2%, P < 0.0001). Slightly more than half the total inpatient cancelled minutes (54% +/- 1%, P = 0.006) were due to cases scheduled within 1 workday prior to the day of surgery (e.g., Friday for Monday, Monday for Tuesday). During this period, inpatient cancellation rates, measured in minutes, were several-fold larger than outpatient rates (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Facilities can achieve a 2% cancellation rate for patients who are outpatient preoperatively with very few attending a preoperative clinic, when a virtual evaluation is carried out by phone. At least half of the cancelled time at health systems and hospitals is attributable to inpatients, and these patients principally are scheduled within 1 workday of the day of surgery. This is why there are so many changes to the OR schedule within 1 workday before the day of surgery. Hospitals should evaluate the cost-effectiveness of earlier assessments of inpatients. In addition, scheduling office decision-making within 1 workday before surgery should be based on statistical forecasts that include the risks of cancellation and of inpatient add-on cases being scheduled. Hospitals should monitor the performance of their perioperative managers with respect to such behavior