Holomorphic curves in exploded manifolds: regularity

The category of exploded manifolds is an extension of the category of smooth manifolds related to tropical geometry in which some adiabatic limits appear as smooth families. This paper studies the dbar equation on variations of a given family of curves in an exploded manifold. Roughly, we prove that the dbar equation on variations of an exploded family of curves behaves as nicely as the dbar equation on variations of a smooth family of smooth curves, even though exploded families of curves allow the development of normal crossing or log smooth singularities. The resulting regularity results are used in a series of separate papers to construct Gromov Witten invariants for exploded manifolds.Comment: 52 pages. v2: The construction of Gromov Witten invariants has been removed to another paper. v3: rewritten introduction, improved exposition. v4, v5: improved exposition v6, v7: Minor improvements and some expanded explanations, (including weakened hypothesis for Proposition 3.11), as suggested by an anonymous referee of a different paper. Final version to appear in Geometry and Topolog

An Expert System for Managing an Activated Sludge Wastewater Treatment Plant

A diagnostic expert system for an activated sludge wastewater treatment plant has been designed to link with a relational database management system for obtaining operational parameter values that are used by the program to diagnose operational problems that may occur in the process. The problems that are dealt with by the system are bulking sludge, floating sludge, defloculation, ashing, solids washout, foaming problems, high soluble effluent BOD and problems in the aeration system. The link between the expert system and the database is accomplished via programming that is initiated by the expert system program. The operator of the system is not required to perform any action in order for the appropriate retrievals of operational parameter values to occur. The system is designed such that parameter values are retrieved from the database if such a database exists and contains appropriate values and, if no such database exists or if the appropriate values are not present, the operator is queried for the parameter values. Since many wastewater treatment plants maintain database management systems for operational parameter values, such an expert system has advantages over stand alone systems. However, an override of the database query is possible, making the system useful for experimental queries and for training

Ola de la Vida:a social play game

Ola de la Vida (ODLV) is a three-player cooperative game which was produced over the course of 48 hours within Global Game Jam in January 2017, at the Abertay University Jam Site.The Game is a playful intervention (an objects or events which seek to bring people together through play) that aims to invite players to form temporary relationships with their co-players through physical contact, collaboration and coaching during play in a co-located context (i.e. where all players are present in the same play space). The game also seeks to expand the play experience beyond the three players to the wider audience by inviting spectatorship through play as performance.The game was designed by Mona Bozdog, Lynn Parker, Danny Parker, and Alex Pass. Since its inception, it has undergone significant development to enhance its usability (through tutorials) and its features to enhance the development of a community of play, including the introduction of clear player scores and high scores for the game. Lynn Parker contributed to the design of physical interactions within the game, the enhancement of usability through tutorials and scores and the creation of digital art for the game in partnership with Alex Pass.Ola De La Vida as a practice as research work offers design insight into use of spectatorship to create a temporary community around a game and to enhance the facilitation of discussion between active players, previous players, spectators, and semi-spectators. The work builds on the varying levels of participation in play, proposing semi-spectatorship: where players are active in a game but have a critical distance afforded to them by the design of the game which offers them and their co-players (where appropriate) potential benefits in play

Moral Enhancement Can Kill

There is recent empirical evidence that personal identity is constituted by one’s moral traits. If true, this poses a problem for those who advocate for moral enhancement, or the manipulation of a person’s moral traits through pharmaceutical or other biological means. Specifically, if moral enhancement manipulates a person’s moral traits, and those moral traits constitute personal identity, then it is possible that moral enhancement could alter a person’s identity. I go a step further and argue that under the right conditions, moral enhancement can constitute murder. I then argue that these conditions are not remote

Homicide in Alaska, 1986–2015

Revised 1 Feb 2017. Data available in both Excel and PDF format. (Download below.)This fact sheet presents data reported on homicides in Alaska from 1986 to 2015 as reported in the Alaska Department of Public Safety publication Crime in Alaska. Over the 30-year period from 1986 to 2015, homicide rates decreased in Alaska overall, but increased in the Municipality of Anchorage. The Fact Sheet also presents data on the most commonly used weapons in homicides, victim-offender relationships, and clearance rates for homicides.Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of JusticeHomicide rates / Homicide weapons / Victim-offender relationship / Clearance rates / Summary / Note

Firearm Use in Violent Crime in the U.S. and Alaska, 1985-2012

This fact sheet presents national and statewide statistics from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports program on the use of firearms in the commission of three violent crimes — homicide (murder and nonnegligent homicide), robbery, and aggravated assault — in the U.S. and Alaska from 1985 to 2012. Data on the use of knives and other cutting instruments, strong-arm tactics, and other weapons in the commission of these crimes are also presented.Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of JusticeUniform Crime Reports / Crime rates / Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter (homicide) / Robbery / Aggravated assault / Summary / Note

Second Life: the seventh face of the library?

Viewpoint/Discussion Paper Purpose This paper gives a brief introduction to Second Life, an outline of how one academic librarian has got involved with using it and reviews the issues that have arisen from a library perspective. Approach It offers a reflection on whether library activities in Second Life are different to library services in the real world and suggests that Second Life is just another ‘face’ of the library. Findings Second Life is still in the very early stages of development. There are various barriers and challenges to overcome before it can be used widely within universities. However, this paper shows it does provide an opportunity to experiment and explore what information resources are required in this environment and how librarianship and librarians need to evolve to cater for users in a three dimensional world. Originality/value This paper is based on personal experience and offers as many questions as answers

AJSAC 15-02

This fact sheet presents data on admissions to, and confined populations in, the Alaska Department of Corrections (DOC) from 2004 to 2013, focusing on incarcerated populations and rates, in both in-state and out-of-state facilities, as well as populations and rates in special supervision programs such as Community Residential Centers (CRCs) and electronic monitoring (EM). Data was compiled using the annual DOC Offender Profile publications for 2004 to 2013.Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of JusticeAdmissions / Admission rates / Incarcercerated population / Special supervision programs / Length of confinement / Summary / Note

A Critical Evaluation of Rea’s Response to the Problem of Divine Hiddenness

In an important discussion of the problem of hiddenness, Michael Rea briefly presents and defends an argument from divine hiddenness which he thinks encapsulates the problem of divine hiddenness, and then develops a detailed and nuanced response to this argument. Importantly, Rea claims that his response does not depend on the commonly held theistic view that God allows hiddenness to secure human goods. In this paper I offer a detailed criticism of Rea’s account of what justifies God in allowing divine hiddenness, arguing that Rea’s response to the argument from divine hiddenness is unsuccessful

Compulsory moral bioenhancement should be covert

Some theorists argue that moral bioenhancement ought to be compulsory. I take this argument one step further, arguing that if moral bioenhancement ought to be compulsory, then its administration ought to be covert rather than overt. This is to say that it is morally preferable for compulsory moral bioenhancement to be administered without the recipients knowing that they are receiving the enhancement. My argument for this is that if moral bioenhancement ought to be compulsory, then its administration is a matter of public health, and for this reason should be governed by public health ethics. I argue that the covert administration of a compulsory moral bioenhancement program better conforms to public health ethics than does an overt compulsory program. In particular, a covert compulsory program promotes values such as liberty, utility, equality, and autonomy better than an overt program does. Thus, a covert compulsory moral bioenhancement program is morally preferable to an overt moral bioenhancement program