The swarming logic of inversion and the elevation of Satan

Editors' prefac

The International Society for Metal Music Studies

Presentation No one could have imagined a decade ago that heavy metal studies would have grown at the rate it has. It would not be accurate to say that it has spread across the globe from any particular point, but rather through effective communication, music media publicity publication output, symposia and conferences, the movement has emerged by scholars consolidating their commitment already at work in metal music studies. Indeed, this was noted along with the idea for a metal studies soci..

Faecal sludge in Accra, Ghana: problems of urban provision

Urban on-site sanitation services present challenges for emptying, transporting, disposing and treating faecal waste. Transfer stations can be used by household-level emptiers to safely dispose of faecal sludge, but they rarely exist. Accra‟s use of transfer stations has provided an opportunity to research their functioning, as part of broader faecal sludge management arrangements. The paper discusses the benefits offered by use of transfer stations, as well as reasons currently limiting their operation. While costs associated with operating and emptying these stations are passed to householders, an illegal sector thrives offering lower cost emptying services, typically with disposal of faecal sludge directly into the environment. At present, bucket latrines offer sanitation services to low-income households unable to afford higher service levels, such as septic tanks. The local government aims to phase-out all bucket latrines by 2010, but affordable alternatives have not been found. Where limited access to land inhibits investment in permanent facilities, families may abandon household sanitation altogether. The paper concludes that correct use of transfer stations can provide improvements for existing faecal sludge management and reduce indiscriminate dumping. They must be made available to all workers, through effective public-private arrangements for ownership and operation

Maximizing sparsity of wavelet representations via parameterized lifting

Our goal is to determine the wavelet basis that represents a given signal as sparsely as possible. In a previous paper [1], we proposed a novel, two-parameter method for designing a stable biorthogonal wavelet basis which maximizes the sparseness of a signal’s wavelet representation. We chose the Gini index as a measure of sparsity and sparsify a signal by lifting the wavelet basis with the parameters that maximize the Gini index of the resulting wavelet representation. In this paper we show an efficient manner of calculating the optimal parameters obtained by taking the derivative of the wavelet coefficients through the differentiation of the Gini Index. This allows us to find the parameters that yield the most sparse (in a Gini Index sense) set of wavelet coefficients in a fast, effective manner. Index Terms — Wavelet transforms, Signal representations, Signal processing, Adaptive signal processing, Data compressio

Faecal sludge management in Accra, Ghana: strengthening links in the chain

Achieving a fully operational Faecal Sludge Management (FSM) chain requires well managed and sustainable services in all aspects of the collection (emptying), transport (haulage), disposal and treatment of faecal sludge. A fully operational FSM chain offers one type of sustainable sanitation system, particularly for urban populations in low and middle-income countries. Failure to ensure all links in the chain are strong and working effectively results in untreated faecal sludge contaminating the environment, with serious implications for human health and environmental degradation. Research in Accra, Ghana has identified important constraints to achieving an efficient and fully functioning FSM chain, with consequences for both people and the environment. Opportunities to improve the institutional and operating environment are identified, particularly affecting engagement between the public and private sector and civil society. Improved stakeholder engagement, together with better regulation, management and access to facilities, enhances services in a way that bring wider benefits to all