Shanghaied into the future: the Asianization of the future Metropolis in post-Blade Runner cinema

The clichéd 1930–1950 Western cinematic images of Shanghai as a fascinating den of iniquity, and, in contrast, as a beacon of modernity, were merged in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. As a result, a new standard emerged in science ction lms for the representation of future urban conglomerates: the Asianized metropolis. e standard set by this lm, of a dark dystopian city, populated by creatures of all races and genetic codes, will be adopted in most of the representations of future cities in non-Asian cinema. is article traces the representation of Shanghai in Western cinema from its earliest days (1932– Shanghai Express) through Blade Runner (1982) to the present (2013– Her). Shanghai, already in the early 1930s, sported extremely daring examples of modern architecture and, at the same time, in non-Asian cinema, was represented as a city of sin and depravity. is dualistic representation became the standard image of the future Asianized city, where its debauchery was o en complemented by modernity; therefore, it is all the more seedy. Moreover, it is Asianized, the “Yellow Peril” incarnated in a new, much more subtle, much more dangerous way. As such, it is deserving of destruction, like Sodom and Gomorrah

Optimally reorganizing Navy shore infrastructure

The end of the cold war has allowed the United States to significantly reduce defense spending. Spending has been reduced for both the force structure (i.e., equipment and manpower) and the military support base (i. e., infrastructure), but infrastructure reductions continue to lag force structure reductions. The United States Navy's recent initiatives to reduce its shore infrastructure costs include "regionalization", "outsourcing," and "homebasing." While regionalization and outsourcing decrease the number of jobs needed on a shore installation, homebasing generally increases the number of available personnel. These opposing effects require careful implementation. This thesis develops the Regionalization and Outsourcing Optimization Model (ROOM), an integer linear program that identifies an optimal combination of regionalization and outsourcing options for a Navy shore installation with personnel altered by homebasing. A ROOM test case uses actual data from the Pearl Harbor Naval Installation with proposed homebasing and regionalization and outsourcing options for 109 "functions," or shore installation activities. Disregarding homebasing and its opposing effects, regionalization is the lowest cost option for 106 of these functions. ROOM's optimal solution, however, recommends regionalizing only 21 functions, outsourcing 14, and leaving 74 unchanged. This solution yields a first-year savings of $9.5 millionhttp://archive.org/details/optimallyreorgan00kermLieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Optimally reorganizing navy shore infrastructure

The United States has significantly reduced defense spending since the end of the cold war for both its force structure (equipment and manpower) and military support base (infrastructure). However, infrastructure reductions at the conclusion of legislated Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) continue to lag force structure reductions. Reorganization, outsourcing and homebasing are current United States Navy initiatives to reduce shore infrastructure spending without BRAC. While regionalization and outsourcing decrease the number of jobs needed on a shore installation, homebasing generally increases the number of available personnel. To jointly consider these opposing effects, we develop the Regionalization and Outsourcing Optimization Model (ROOM), an integer linear program that suggests an optimal combination of regionalization and outsourcing for a Navy shore installation with personnel numbers altered by homebasing. ROOM is a novel application of optimization modeling. A ROOM test use from the Pearl Harbor Naval Installation has proposed homebasing, regionalization and outsourcing options for 109 "functions", or shore installation activities. Disregarding homebasing and its opposing effects, regionalization is myopically the lowest cost option for 106 of these functions. ROOM considers homebasing and recommends regionalizing only 21 functions, outsourcing 14, and leaving 74 unchanged. ROOM's recommendations reduce first-year personnel spending by more than $9.5 million

Event detection challenges, methods, and applications in natural and artificial systems

A system is a combination of elements whose collaborative actions produce results generally not attainable by the elements acting alone, and an event is a significant occurrence or large-scale activity that is unusual relative to normal patterns of behavior. Event detection, or the process of identifying the occurrence of an event, within both natural and artificial (or man-made) systems has long been a topic of research, and a variety of techniques have been developed to address event detection problems. This article is a treatise on the topic of event detection and a prequel to research previously conducted by the authors regarding the application of robust metamodels to uncertainty quantification and event detection within a geophysical system. The article explores the most common difficulties and challenges in event detection problems, describes the event detection methods most frequently employed, and provides example event detection applications in both natural and artificial systems. It incorporates the discoveries of and lessons learned by multiple researchers and authors over many combined years of experience in event detection theory and application; this rather broad study has never been previously published within a single volume. the article concludes with an examination of the intimate relationship and indivisible link between event detection and modeling and simulation

Optimally Reorganizing Navy Shore Infrastructure

The United States has significantly reduced defense spending since the end of the cold war for both its force structure (equipment and manpower) and military support base (infrastructure). However, infrastructure reductions at the conclusion of legislated Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) continue to lag force structure reductions. Reorganization, outsourcing and homebasing are current United States Navy initiatives to reduce shore infrastructure spending without BRAC. While regionalization and outsourcing decrease the number of jobs needed on a shore installation, homebasing generally increases the number of available personnel. To jointly consider these opposing effects, we develop the Regionalization and Outsourcing Optimization Model (ROOM), an integer linear program that suggests an optimal combination of regionalization and outsourcing for a Navy shore installation with personnel numbers altered by homebasing. ROOM is a novel application of optimization modeling. A ROOM test use from the Pearl Harbor Naval Installation has proposed homebasing, regionalization and outsourcing options for 109 "functions", or shore installation activities. Disregarding homebasing and its opposing effects, regionalization is myopically the lowest cost option for 106 of these functions. ROOM considers homebasing and recommends regionalizing only 21 functions, outsourcing 14, and leaving 74 unchanged. ROOM's recommendations reduce first-year personnel spending by more than $9.5 million

Empowerment praxis in community coalitions

Community coalitions address a wide variety of community problems, espousing a community development processes that promotes individual and collective self-determination. They offer a promising venue for the study of empowerment of individuals and organizations. This study utilizes data from members of 35 community coalitions organized for the prevention of alcohol and other drug problems to address the following questions: What individual characteristics are related to the psychological empowerment of coalition members? What organizational characteristics are related to the collective empowering of members? What organization characteristics are related to a coalition being organizationally empowered to succeed in achieving its objectives? At the individual level, psychological empowerment was most strongly related to individuals\u27 participation levels, sense of community, and perceptions of a positive organizational climate. At the group level, the strongest predictors of collective empowering (our operationalization of the empowering organization) were net benefits of participation, commitment, and positive organization climate. Psychological empowerment and positive organizational climate were the two predictors of organizational effectiveness (the empowered organization). Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed. © 1995 Plenum Publishing Corporation