Hesitations About Special Divine Action: Reflections on Some Scientific, Cultural and Theological Concerns

The new interest in special divine action has led to a close reading of the great debates and discussions of the early modern period in an attempt to understand contemporary resistance to the notion of divine action, and to develop strategies for reaffirming the notion in a refined manner. Although continuing engagement with and evaluation of the Humean legacy on miracles and divine action will be of central importance to this programme of review, there are other issues that also need to be addressed. In this article I identify some of the factors that have caused or continue to cause difficulties for the articulation of a concept of special divine action and I suggest how they might be engaged

Correlating and predicting the air infiltration through the cracks of suspended timber floors

This paper shows that the visible gap length may be used as a physical parameter when correlating pressure difference to volume flow rate (or air velocity) through the cracks between floorboards and can be termed the Equivalent Crack Length. The crack widths, which previously have been determined separately from the edge effect coefficient and the laminar flow coefficient, were significantly different. When analysed graphically they can be shown to correlate by an empirical relationship. A generalised equation is proposed that, in conjunction with the empirical relationship, allows predictions to be made of the volume flow rate through the cracks between floorboards for a known pressure difference

Poly(aryl ethers) and related polysiloxane copolymer molecular coatings: Preparation and radiation degradation

The radiation degradation of poly(arylene ether sulfones) and related materials is studied. These basic studies are important both as a means to developing stronger, more stable matrix resins for composite materials, as well as to improve the data base in regard to chemical structure-physical property relationships. Thirty homo and copolymers were synthesized, at least partially characterized and, in several cases suitable film casting techniques were developed. Four samples were chosen for initial radiation degradation. Poly(dimethyl siloxane) soft bocks/segments can preferentially migrate to the surface of copolymer films. Since siloxanes are utilized as thermal control coatings, this form of 'molecular' coating is of interest. The chemistry for preparing such copolymers with any of the polymers described was demonstrated

Photon induced secondary electron emission

Numerical models for predicting photon-induced secondary electron emission are presented. The results are compared with experimental measurements made using a Co-60 gamma ray source

Exploring the democratic potential of online social networking: The scope and limitations of e-participation

Copyright © 2012 by the Association for Information Systems.The availability and promise of social networking technologies with their perceived open philosophy has increasingly inspired citizens around the world to participate in political activity on the Web. Recent examples range from opposing public policies, such as government funding cuts, to organizing revolutionary social movements, such as those in the Middle East and North Africa. Although online spaces create remarkable opportunities for various forms of political action, there are concerns over the power of existing institutions to control and even censor such interaction spaces. The objective of this article is to draw together different insights on the online engagement phenomenon, highlighting both its potential and limitations as a mechanism for fostering democratic debate and influencing policy making. We examine recent examples from Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. Finally, we summarize the implications of our work and outline directions for further research

An experimental study of surface pressure fluctuations in a separating turbulent boundary layer

Measurements of streamwise velocity fluctuation and surface pressure fluctuation spectra and wavespeeds are reported for a well-documented separating turbulent boundary layer. Because a portion of the acoustic pressure fluctuations is the same across the nominally two-dimensional turbulent flow, it is possible to decompose two microphone signals and obtain directly the turbulent flow contributions to the surface pressure spectra. The rms surface pressure fluctuation p' and spectra phi(omega) increase through the adverse pressure gradient attached flow region and the detached flow zone and scale on the maximum turbulent shearing stress tau(M); p'/tau(M) increases to the detachment location and decreases downstream due to the rapid movement of the pressure-fluctuation-producing motions away from the wall after the beginning of intermittent backflow. At lower frequencies for the attached flow phi(omega) is approximately omega to the -0.7 while phi(omega) is approximately omega to the -3 at higher frequencies. After the beginning of intermittent backflow, phi(omega) varies with omega at low frequencies and omega to the -3 at high frequencies; farther downstream the lower frequency range varies with omega to the 2.4. The surface pressure fluctuation celerity for the attached flow increases with frequency and agrees with the semi-logarithmic overlap equation of Panton and Linebarger. After the beginning of the separation process, the wavespeed decreases because of the oscillation of the instantaneous wavespeed direction and the streamwise coherence decreases drastically

Low power techniques for video compression

This paper gives an overview of low-power techniques proposed in the literature for mobile multimedia and Internet applications. Exploitable aspects are discussed in the behavior of different video compression tools. These power-efficient solutions are then classified by synthesis domain and level of abstraction. As this paper is meant to be a starting point for further research in the area, a lowpower hardware & software co-design methodology is outlined in the end as a possible scenario for video-codec-on-a-chip implementations on future mobile multimedia platforms

\u27I am not disabled. It\u27s my environment that makes me disabled\u27: A critical ethnography of age-related vision loss (ARVL) in older adulthood

This thesis aims to deepen understandings of how various aspects of the environment shape how older adults with age-related vision loss (ARVL) negotiate and engage in occupation. The thesis further raises critical awareness of the ways in which environmental features, embedded in ageist and ableist assumptions, shape and perpetuate experiences of disability for older adults with ARVL. A critical ethnography was undertaken, informed by theoretical concepts drawn from critical gerontology, environmental gerontology, a critical occupational perspective, and critical disability theory. A total of ten older adults with ARVL participated in three data generation sessions consisting of a narrative interview, semi-structured in-depth interview, and participant observation session. Seven community organization representatives participated in a semi-structured in-depth interview and sixteen relevant documents were critically reviewed. This work is comprised of five integrated manuscripts, in addition to the introduction, methodology, and discussion chapters. Chapter two presents a scoping review that explores pre-existing research addressing factors, including demographic, emotional, behavioral, diagnostic, and environmental, which influence the occupational engagement of older adults with ARVL. Chapter four provides a rationale for expanding the application of a critical sensibility to existing conceptualizations of the environment in an effort to expand the field of environmental gerontology beyond a micro-and meso-level approach towards a holistic view of the environment. Chapter five explores how a critical disability theory approach could lead to new research foci in the study of ARVL. Key findings of the critical ethnography are presented in chapters six and seven. Chapter six focuses on exploring those attributes that older adults with ARVL perceive as being the markers of a \u27good old age\u27 and how their negotiations of everyday occupation occur in relation to these markers. Chapter seven aims to highlight how experiences of disability for the informants are shaped through interactions with environmental features, thereby highlighting the socio-political production of disability. This work points to novel empirical, methodological, and theoretical insights relevant to the ARVL field. This work also has implications for persons with vision loss, vision rehabilitation professionals, and researchers as well as for the development of vision-friendly environments and inclusive social policy