Christianity and Time

Christianity has no one theory of time. But there are several constraints that Christian conceptions of time should meet, among which are the following three. First, Christianity arose within a fundamental monotheistic assumption that the world is created by God, and therefore time must be related to dive creation somehow. Second, Christianity arose in response to the person of Jesus of Nazareth who was supposed from the earliest times to have been historically decisive so that time needs to be understood in part in terms of history. Third, Christianity carries on always in the conceptual world of the cultures it engages, currently that of late-modern science, and therefore now it must come to terms with time as defined by physical cosmology as well as other sciences. Conceptions of time in Christianity thus need to be understood historically in relation to the historically developing conceptions of God and creation, of the meaning and significance of Jesus Christ, and of physical cosmology

Controls on the distribution of landslides triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, Sichuan Province, China

Landsliding is the dominant mass wasting process in upland areas where the rate of river incision is higher than that of rock weathering of hillslopes. Although progressive erosional processes can provide sufficient conditions for slope failure, the majority of landslides are induced by earthquakes, rainstorms or a combination of these two. Landslides are also one of the most destructive geological processes, being the primary cause of damage and fatalities associated with severe storms and earthquakes in mountainous regions. On 12th May 2008 the magnitude 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake occurred in the Longmen Shan mountain range, on the northwest margin of the Sichuan Basin. Landsliding contributed greatly to the high death toll of over 70,000 and widespread infrastructural damage produced by the earthquake. The event offers an opportunity to both broaden the global database of seismically induced landslides and study the processes involved in earthquake-triggered landsliding, for a large continental thrust event with complex faulting mechanisms and diverse geophysical conditions. To achieve this, the following investigation builds upon recent advances in landslide remote sensing, to develop automated detection algorithms through which landslides can be accurately mapped using a range of satellite data. Using these techniques, a first order, regional landslide inventory map of slope failures triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake is produced, over an area of 12,000km2 along the main rupture zone. The production of this dataset demonstrates the application of automated classification techniques for the rapid generation of landslide data, for both geomorphological research and hazard management applications. The data is used to examine the interaction of fault rupture dynamics, topography and geology on landslide failure location, and identify key characteristics of the landslide distribution. Findings of the study demonstrate high levels of landslide occurrence along the entire mapped length of the rupture zone, and an exponential decay in landslide density with distance from the co-seismic surface ruptures. This is superimposed over a marked hanging wall effect, along with clear geological and topographic controls on landslide occurrence. Through generalised linear modelling, peak ground acceleration attenuation patterns, hillslope gradient, relief, local elevation and geology are identified as core controls on the location of landslides. The results of this research shed light on some increasingly recognised though poorly understood characteristics of seismically induced landslide distributions. The dataset produced contributes to the limited global database of earthquake-triggered landslide inventories, as well producing a widely applicable resource for further study of the Wenchuan earthquake and post-seismic landscape evolution

Using the language laboratory to develop the listening ability of adult learners of English by means of practice in the perception of stress

This thesis is concerned with specific aspects of two general problems : firstly, the inability of teachers and students to utilize the potential of the language laboratory to maximum effect, and secondly, the inability of many learners of English to acquire a confident understanding of spoken English. The language laboratory was designed as a class teaching aid according to certain principles of language learning and its use is limited and defined by the facilities it provides and the conditions upon its use. Since supplementary use of the language laboratory may lead to under-exploitation of facilities, there needs to be investigation into areas of language training, suggested by current research in related fields, in which the language laboratory can play a fully integrated training role. Recent work on speech perception and child language development suggests that stress and rhythm, as prosodic features, are important perceptual factors in the rapid and efficient understanding of connected English speech, and, consequently, that an absence of accurate stress perception may reduce the listener's decoding ability. An attempt is made in this thesis to develop materials for training in stress perception, and to test techniques for their exploitation which are especially suited to use in the language laboratory. The thesis begins with a consideration of problems and aims, and than continues in Chapter Two with a review of the main issues regarding language laboratory use found in the literature. There then follows a discussion on the exploitation of specific facilities offered by the language laboratory, and the conditions upon their successful use. In Chapter Three, teacher and student use of the language laboratory is observed and assessed in live sessions in four language schools in Britain. The following two chapters, Chapter Four and Chapter Five, are concerned with the perception of stress and rhythm, and its role in understanding connected English speech. After a brief review of the literature and research on models of speech perception and understanding, and on child language development, in which their relevance to second language learning is discussed, recent research is presented, which indicates the importance of stress and rhythm in the accurate decoding of connected speech. Its bearing on second language training is considered, together with the problems of testing listening comprehension. There follow the reports of a series of experiments in which the ability of native speakers and learners of English to perceive and produce different spacing and pacing patterns of stress was tested, as well as the effect of varying the spacing and pacing of stress on the understanding of connected speech. The next two chapters, Chapter Six and Chapter Seven, link language laboratory use and stress perception in the design of a battery of materials, the purpose of which is to train learners in the perception of stress at word and utterance levels. The battery, in the form of a complete course, is then tested in order to assess its value in improving listening comprehension ability in learners of English, and the degree to which it exploits language laboratory facilities. The final chapter, Chapter Eight, attempts to relate the conclusions formed to the larger process of receptive and productive language development within the language laboratory context, and to the place of the stress perception materials in a complete language course

Hillslope memory and spatial and temporal distributions of earthquake-induced landslides

Large earthquakes commonly trigger widespread and destructive landsliding. However, current approaches to modeling regional-scale landslide activity do not account for the temporal evolution of progressive failure in brittle hillslope materials. Progressive failure allows hillslopes to possess a memory of previous earthquakes, which has the potential to influence landslide activity in future earthquakes. The original contribution of this thesis is to address the influence of hillslope memory on spatial and temporal patterns of earthquake-triggered landslide activity, through a combination of landslide inventory analysis and numerical modeling. An understanding of spatial distributions of earthquake-triggered landslides is first established, through analysis of inventories of landslides triggered by five large (M_w > 6.7) earthquakes. The results show how current landscape conditions at the time of earthquakes influence hillslope failure probability. By identifying factors exhibiting a common influence on landslides triggered by all five earthquakes, general spatial models of landslide probability are developed, which are transferrable between different earthquakes and regions. Analysis of model performance for landslide distributions triggered by two sequential earthquakes is then used to establish where this spatial approach breaks down. Errors in the landslide distribution predicted for the second earthquake suggest that the legacy of damage to hillslope materials accrued from the first earthquake is an important control on landslide occurrence. Given the infrequent recurrence of large earthquakes and limited temporal coverage of landslide data, a new modelling approach is developed to understand how hillslope memory influences long-term patterns of earthquake-triggered landslide activity. The model integrates the site-scale evolution of hillslope progressive failure into modeling regional-scale earthquake-triggered landslide activity, in response to sequences of earthquakes. The model results suggest that the sensitivity of landscapes to landslide-triggering increases following large earthquakes, due to damage accumulated in hillslopes that do not reach the point of failure, and decays as these hillslopes fail in response to subsequent, lower-magnitude events. Prolonged elevated levels of rainfall-triggered landslide activity observed following large earthquakes appear to reflect this result. Using the model outputs, a methodology is proposed for predicting temporal variability in landslide activity using records of seismic data. The model results also suggest that, when hillslopes undergo progressive failure, relationships between seismic forcing and landslides are influenced by the magnitude-frequency distribution of earthquakes. As a result, current approaches that use these relationships to predict levels of long-term landslide hazard and erosion rates, but do not account for regional differences in earthquake distributions, may suffer from systematic under- or over-prediction. These significant implications for predicting the geomorphological and human impact of landslides highlight the need for detailed multi-temporal datasets recording the evolution of landslide activity following major earthquakes, in order to quantitatively investigate the influence of hillslope memory in real landscape settings

Scientifically Defensible and Measurable Anti-Phishing Training

Problem: How can the effectiveness of a phishing attack be quantified and/or measured? Applications: This project will provide a resource for Idaho National Labs to quantitavely evaluate the effectiveness of their security awareness program in regards to phishing attacks. In turn, it will aid them in hardening the human element of security at the research facility. Approach: Our approach is to construct a fully functional phishing system where we can craft phishing emails, send emails, and place links that point to our web application. We hope to use this system to conduct an anonymous and non-malicious experiment. This data will assist in the design and implementation of the algorithm that will evaluate the relative effectiveness of a phishing email. Interim Results: At this point in time we have have started the experimental approval process and developed a functioning phishing system to use in our experiment. We have created the framework in which to construct our algorithm. Anticipated Results: Next Semester we plan to have a fully functioning phishing email evaluation algorithm. In addition are trying to run a live phishing study at VCU and if it is approved, itwill provide valuable data on the accuracy of our algorithm.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1027/thumbnail.jp

Reducing nutrient discharge from agriculture through the implementation of BMPs – how far can we go?

Algal blooms in south west Western Australia are a symptomatic response to excess nutrient input. Whilst a range of Best Management Practices (BMPs) are available to address the causes of nutrient pollution, most investment has been directed towards symptoms. In order to treat nutrient pollution causes effectively it is important to evaluate possible nutrient reductions and costs, and to determine whether accrued benefits can influence BMP adoption. Models were developed for catchments near Albany (south coast of Western Australia), and for the Peel-Harvey catchment (70 km south of Perth) to estimate costs and benefits of implementing conventional BMPs in scenarios representing the current nutrient reduction effort, the maximum feasible and the most cost effective suite of BMPs. For catchments without ready access to Alkaloam™ (a nutrient-retentive soil amendment), model estimates indicate that current nutrient reductions are around 10%, with a further 20-30% possible. Those with access to Alkaloam™ could reduce phosphorus by a further 25%. Over a 10 year period, the net cost of BMPs was budget positive, resulting in a net benefit to land managers. Economic barriers to the adoption of these BMPs appear limited and bring the current low adoption levels into question. The maximum possible reductions using available BMPs may not be sufficient to arrest water quality decline and to achieve water quality targets