MILITIA, NATIONALISM, AND POLICY IN GERMANY, POLAND, AND SWEDEN SINCE 2014

Europe has witnessed radical change since 2014, with the Crimean annexation and immigration crisis creating fertile ground for national populists, paramilitaries, and hybrid war strategies in Germany, Poland, and Sweden. This thesis explores 100 years of paramilitary history with particular emphasis on the post-2014 time frame. The historical evidence answers two questions; how paramilitaries are endangering the state’s monopoly on violence amid changing civil-military relationships, and how policy can mitigate pathological paramilitary threats while improving local security given contemporary threats? The region is divided in outlook. One considers paramilitaries a malignant far-right extremist cadre. Another considers them extensions of the military-security apparatus under the state’s purview. Another has societal-militarization concepts that paramilitaries do not fit into, so they are left out entirely. These broad camps represent the respective approaches to paramilitarism of Germany, Poland, and Sweden. These three case studies suggest that militias and nationalism are expanding across borders as a backlash against Europe’s core political and economic arrangements—often with Russian encouragement—in various measures and degrees in each state. Still, the paramilitary phenomenon is a potential source of strength where states improve civil-military relations with prudent paramilitary directives.Lieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Apparent sharpness of 3D video when one eye's view is more blurry.

When the images presented to each eye differ in sharpness, the fused percept remains relatively sharp. Here, we measure this effect by showing stereoscopic videos that have been blurred for one eye, or both eyes, and psychophysically determining when they appear equally sharp. For a range of blur magnitudes, the fused percept always appeared significantly sharper than the blurrier view. From these data, we investigate to what extent discarding high spatial frequencies from just one eye's view reduces the bandwidth necessary to transmit perceptually sharp 3D content. We conclude that relatively high-resolution video transmission has the most potential benefit from this method

Towards a Network-based View of Effective Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

We conceptualize entrepreneurial ecosystems as fundamentally reliant on networks and explore how and under what conditions inter-organizational networks lead an entrepreneurial ecosystem to form and evolve. It is widely accepted that entrepreneurial ecosystems possess a variety of symbiotic relationships. Research has focused considerable efforts in refining the structure and content of resources found within these networked relationships. However, merely focusing on actor-level characterizations dilutes the notion that social relationships change and are complex. There has been little conceptual treatment of the behavioral and governance factors that underpin how quality interactions composing an entrepreneurial ecosystem develop and change over time. In response, we provide a longitudinal ethnographic study examining how ecosystems are managed and evolve in their relational configurations and governance at critical junctures. Using mixed methods and data collected over three years, we reveal a cyclical process of relational development central to the initiation, development, and maintenance phases of a valuable entrepreneurial ecosystem. We contribute to a conceptualization of effective ecosystems as reliant on networks, we reveal the behavior and governance characteristics at play in the entrepreneurial ecosystem during each phase of its evolution

II Rosso e le stampe

Injectable, in situ-gelling magnetic composite materials have been fabricated by using aldehyde-functionalized dextran to cross-link superparamagnetic nanoparticles surface-functionalized with hydrazide-functionalized poly­(<i>N</i>-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM). The resulting composites exhibit high water contents (82–88 wt.%) while also displaying significantly higher elasticities (G′ >60 kPa) than other injectable hydrogels previously reported. The composites hydrolytically degrade via slow hydrolysis of the hydrazone cross-link at physiological temperature and pH into degradation products that show no significant cytotoxicity. Subcutaneous injections indicate only minor chronic inflammation associated with material degradation, with no fibrous capsule formation evident. Drug release experiments indicate the potential of these materials to facilitate pulsatile, “on-demand” changes in drug release upon the application of an external oscillating magnetic field. The injectable but high-strength and externally triggerable nature of these materials, coupled with their biological degradability and inertness, suggest potential biological applications in tissue engineering and drug delivery

The occurrence of different vertical jump types in basketball competition and their relationship with lower-body speed-strength qualities

Jumps occur frequently in basketball and can be executed from a single-leg take-off following a run-up or bilaterally from a standing start. Understanding the type of jumps performed in competition and how different muscular qualities influence their performance, informs training prescription. Firstly, to quantify the occurrence of different jump types performed in competition an analysis of 15 semi-professional basketball games was undertaken. Secondly, to understand the influence of muscular qualities on performance of different jump types, Semi-professional male basketball players (N=17) performed jump tests standing vertical jump, running vertical jumps with a double leg take-off (RVJ2) and a single leg take-off (RVJ1) and tests of lower-body speed-strength reactive strength index (RSI) from a drop jump, counter movement jump (CMJ) and squat jump.  A stationary approach was employed for 69%, a running approach for 26% and a one-step approach for 5%. RVJ1 displayed non-significant (P=0.07) moderate correlation with jump height attained from the CMJ (r=0.439) and a very large (r =.806) significant (P<0.01) correlation with RSI. Most jumps were executed from a stationary start with a bilateral take-off while a run-up occurred prior to a substantial proportion of jumps. Jumps with a single-leg take-off from a run-up strongly correlate with RSI

Co-producing representations of summer rainfall in Bangladesh

Climate adaptation governance increasingly investigates the cultural capacities of communities to cope with climate variability and change. This paper reports on research of the symbolic representations of summer rainfall in the cultural repertoires guiding diverse institutionalised fields of activity in Sylhet Division. The research conducted interviews and co-created ‘cognitive maps’ with communities, to critically reflect on their changing seasonal symbols. The study revealed a common stock of summer symbols in Sylhet communities, which individuals reconfigure for strategizing and justifying particular practices. Symbols are stable but not static. As people’s uses of knowledge systems change—moving toward scientific representations—so too does their use of symbols. Moreover, environmental and climatic changes, such as a drying summer, are undermining long-held semiotic templates. Many local and traditional signs no longer hold, leaving communities without cultural templates for timely seasonal action. This work highlights the importance of cultural frameworks for organising communities’ seasonal adaptation, and the imperative for critically revisiting frameworks in rapid flux.publishedVersio