Before Us Is The Salesman’s House: Exploring the Contingent Aesthetic of eBay

In 2012, data artist Jer Thorp and statistician Mark Hansen collaborated on an installation called Before Us Is The Salesman’s House. Commissioned by theeBay/PayPal corporation, and inspired by Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, thisdata art project has been described variously as “an investigation of eBay as a cultural artefact,” “a kind of fly-over of [eBay’s] rich data landscape,” and “a portrait ofhumanity in the purchases we make.” Based on big data from eBay and ProjectGutenberg, it uses sheer random contingency to show the interweavings of literary texts with everyday commodities. This essay seeks to read the challenging project that is Before Us Is The Salesman’s House variously as literary text, a piece of corporate art,an opening for social critique, and an example of Nicolas Bourriaud’s relationalaesthetics

Joy and Pain: An Affect Studies Perspective on Natural Birth Films

This paper uses discussions of pain, shame, and joy within critical affect studies to exam-ne two documentaries, The Business of Being Born (2008) and Orgasmic Birth (2008). It argues that, despite its valuable contributions, natural childbirth discourse conveys a troubling message, one that insists on joy over pain, advocates choice rather than systematic change, and perpetuates a problematic dichotomy between “natural” and “medical” birth.Cet article utilise les discussions sur la douleur, la honte et la joie dans le cadre des études sur les effets critiques, afin d’examiner deux documentaires, Business of Being Born (2008) et Orgasmic Birth. Il soutient que, en dépit de leurs précieuses contributions, les discours sur l’accouchement naturel transmettent un message troublant. Ce message met plus l’emphase sur la joie que la douleur, et prône le choix plutôt qu’un changement systématique, en plus de perpétuer la dichotomie problématique entre l’accouchement « naturel » et l’accouchement « médical »

Book Review: Racialized Migrant Women in Canada: Essays on Health, Violence, and Equity

Review of Racialized Migrant Women in Canada: Essays on Health, Violence, and Equity, edited by Vijay Agne

Before Us Is The Salesman’s House: Exploring the Contingent Aesthetic of eBay

In 2012, data artist Jer Thorp and statistician Mark Hansen collaborated on an installation called Before Us Is The Salesman’s House. Commissioned by theeBay/PayPal corporation, and inspired by Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, thisdata art project has been described variously as “an investigation of eBay as a cultural artefact,” “a kind of fly-over of [eBay’s] rich data landscape,” and “a portrait ofhumanity in the purchases we make.” Based on big data from eBay and ProjectGutenberg, it uses sheer random contingency to show the interweavings of literary texts with everyday commodities. This essay seeks to read the challenging project that is Before Us Is The Salesman’s House variously as literary text, a piece of corporate art,an opening for social critique, and an example of Nicolas Bourriaud’s relationalaesthetics

Habitat allocation to maximize biodiversity: a technical description of the HAMBO model

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of spatial allocations of nature conservation, it is necessary that a benchmark allocation can be known that achieves the maximum ecological value at given costs. This calls for an optimisation model that takes into consideration the main ecological considerations, such as habitat type and connectivity. This document presents the HAMBO model (Habitat Allocation to Maximise BiOdiversity), which maximises the habitat quality of a nature reserve network for a number of species under a given financial budget. For each species the model takes into consideration the suitability of different ecosystems and the home range of the species. The document describes four ways to translate the spatial considerations in the ecological model LARCH to a linear optimisation model, and demonstrates the effects on conservation costs

Exploring the experience of episodic memory: the contribution of sensory modalities and mental imagery to vivid reliving

Episodic memory involves a rich, vivid reliving of past events accompanied by a multitude of sensory details. The focus of this thesis was to further understand the processes that support this rich reliving in episodic memory. The study in Chapter 2 used electroencephalography (EEG) to explore differences in neural dynamics between episodic memory replay occurring in multiple modalities (audio and visual simultaneously) or just one modality (audio or visual alone). Results revealed no differences in oscillatory power across the modalities suggesting that oscillatory power may not be sensitive to modality of material for successful replay of event memory. Chapter 3 employed transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to disrupt the functioning of the angular gyrus, and examined performance for recognition and source recollection, as well as confidence, to determine if interrupting multimodal feature integration impacted the subjective experience reflected in confidence of recollection. The data revealed a trend for reduced confidence of multimodal recollection following angular gyrus stimulation compared to a control site. The studies in Chapter 4 turned towards examining how individual differences may impact the experience of reliving, focusing on individuals’ ability to use object and spatial imagery to mentally picture sensory information in the mind’s eye. Results demonstrate that object imagery ability predicts a sense of reliving both for recent memories and remote memories, while spatial imagery ability is related to subjective judgements about spatially related manipulations. It establishes that imagery ability needs to be measured as separate constructs and considered carefully in regard to what memory process is being assessed. The work conducted in this thesis has contributed to furthering understanding of the neural correlates and individual dynamics that support reliving in episodic memory as a vivid multimodal experience

Economische inpasbaarheid van natuurbeheer bij graasdierbedrijven

Het Milieu- en Natuurplanbureau (MNP) heeft in 2007 een ex-ante evaluatie uitgevoerd van de omslag van het natuurbeleid. In de evaluatie is onder andere gekeken of pakketten voor de subsidieregelingen agrarisch natuurbeheer (SAN) en natuurbeheer (SN) economisch inpasbaar zijn bij graasdierbedrijven (melkvee en zoogkoeien). In dit rapport worden de gehanteerde methode en uitgangspunten gepresenteerd. Ook wordt een uitgebreide analyse gegeven van de economische inpasbaarheid bij graasdierbedrijven. De modelberekeningen zijn voor vijf representatieve bedrijven uitgevoerd met FIONA (Farm based Integrated Optimization model for Nature and Agriculture). Dit model rekent voor een gegeven vergoeding voor SAN- en SN-pakketten voor elk bedrijf uit wat de optimale inpasbaarheid van deze pakketten is . Op basis hiervan is een raming gemaakt van de totale economische inpasbaarheid bij graasdierbedrijven met landerijen binnen de Ecologische Hoofdstructuur (EHS). Behalve een projectie van de totale economische inpasbaarheid van huidige SAN- en SN-pakketten bij de huidige ligging van de bedrijven ten opzichte van de EHS zijn projecties gegeven voor een volledige ligging van de bedrijven in de EHS. Ook is de inpasbaarheid onder een toekomstig scenario geanalyseerd. Verder zijn enkele alternatieven doorgerekend bij gewijzigde pakketvoorwaarden gericht op een beter ecologisch resultaat. Het onderzoek laat zien dat de taakstelling voor het natuurbeleid in de huidige situatie in principe gerealiseerd kan worden, maar dat dit in de toekomst niet onder alle omstandigheden is gegarandeerd. Trefwoorden: agrarisch natuurbeheer, natuurbeheer, natuurbeleid, graasdierbedrijven, melkvee, zoogkoeien, Subsidieregeling Agrarisch Natuurbeheer (SAN), Subsidieregeling Natuurbeheer (SN

Carbon-12 Reaction Rate on a Neutron Star in a Common Envelope Binary System

In this thesis I calculate a new reaction rate for 12C formed via the resonant reaction pathway that leads to formation of 12C in an excited state known as the Hoyle State. This research was precipitated by the discovery that the radiative width (Γ_rad) was 34 percent higher than the previously accepted value[1]. This is considerably larger than the uncertainty on the previously accepted value. I then used a scaling factor to assess the impact a higher rate could have on nucleosynthesis models using NuGrid. The astrophysical environment simulated was for a neutron star in a common envelope binary system. The neutron star spirals towards the centre of a late stage red giant; which provides the helium rich environment and the extreme temperature and pressure that is perfect for explosive nucleosynthesis to occur. A primary example of explosive nucleosynthesis is the triple alpha process investigated by this research. My results, having used a scaling factor that increased the triple alpha reaction rate by 30 percent in line with my results. This appears to cause a significant increase in the abundance of 12C, in some instances 3 times more 12C is present compared to simulations using the old reaction rate. This is the first time this has been investigated in this astrophysical environment. My results clearly show that Nucleosynthesis models are significantly impacted by the higher reaction rate for Carbon-12

Kosten voor habitattypen in Natura 2000-gebieden : toepassing van de methode Kosteneffectiviteit natuurbeleid

Deze studie beschrijft de berekening van de kosten voor het natuurbeleid in de Natura 2000-gebieden, gebaseerd op de aanwezige habitattypen. De kosten zijn afgeleid van het benodigde beheer en de milieutekorten rond vermesting en verdroging. De ligging van de habitattypen is bepaald op basis van het koppelingsbestand ´ecotopen en habitattypen´ en op basis van de stikstofdepositie. In totaal gaat het om een areaal van 56.922 ha. De gemiddelde kosten voor het realiseren van de habitattypen liggen bij 800 euro/ha/jaar, variërend van ruim 100 euro/ha/jaar in Groningen tot 3.250 euro/ha/jaar in Utrecht. Door een andere manier van toewijzing van de habitattypen verschillen de in de huidige studie berekende kosten en arealen met milieutekorten van die uit de eerdere studie naar de kosten van de Natura 2000-gebieden