The Clash between Pagans and Christians: The Baltic Crusades from 1147-1309

This research re-evaluates the Baltic Crusades from 1147-1309, and it studies the economic, religious, and political motivations of the crusaders, Emperor Frederick II, and the Teutonic Order. The article compares the German nobles power vis á vis the emperor and how their ongoing power struggle altered the Baltic Crusades. It further studies the evolution of religious ideas and how they affected Christian justifications for war during this time.No embargoAcademic Major: Histor

Spacecraft design sensitivity for a disaster warning satellite system

A disaster warning satellite (DWS) is described for warning the general public of impending natural catastrophes. The concept is responsive to NOAA requirements and maximizes the use of ATS-6 technology. Upon completion of concept development, the study was extended to establishing the sensitivity of the DWSS spacecraft power, weight, and cost to variations in both warning and conventional communications functions. The results of this sensitivity analysis are presented

How far will a behaviourally flexible invasive bird go to innovate?

Behavioural flexibility is considered a key factor in the ability to adapt to changing environments. A traditional way of characterizing behavioural flexibility is to determine whether individuals invent solutions to novel problems, termed innovativeness. Great-tailed grackles are behaviourally flexible in that they can change their preferences when a task changes using existing behaviours; however, it is unknown how far they will go to invent solutions to novel problems. To begin to answer this question, I gave grackles two novel tests that a variety of other species can perform: stick tool use and string pulling. No grackle used a stick to access out-of-reach food, even after seeing a human demonstrate the solution. No grackle spontaneously pulled a vertically oriented string, but one did pull a horizontally oriented string twice. Additionally, a third novel test was previously conducted on these individuals and it was found that no grackle spontaneously dropped stones down a platform apparatus to release food, but six out of eight did become proficient after training. These results support the idea that behavioural flexibility is a multi-faceted trait because grackles are flexible, but not particularly innovative. This contradicts the idea that behavioural flexibility and innovativeness are interchangeable terms.SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind (University of California Santa Barbara)This is the final version. It first appeared from Royal Society Publishing at http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160247

Backgrounds of squeezed relic photons and their spatial correlations

We discuss the production of multi-photons squeezed states induced by the time variation of the (Abelian) gauge coupling constant in a string cosmological context. Within a fully quantum mechanical approach we solve the time evolution of the mean number of produced photons in terms of the squeezing parameters and in terms of the gauge coupling. We compute the first (amplitude interference) and second order (intensity interference) correlation functions of the magnetic part of the photon background. The photons produced thanks to the variation of the dilaton coupling are strongly bunched for the realistic case where the growth of the dilaton coupling is required to explain the presence of large scale magnetic fields and, possibly of a Faraday rotation of the Cosmic Microwave Background.Comment: 9 pages in LaTex styl

Speech-like rhythm in a voiced and voiceless orangutan call

A.R.L. thanks the Menken Funds of the University of Amsterdam.The evolutionary origins of speech remain obscure. Recently, it was proposed that speech derived from monkey facial signals which exhibit a speech-like rhythm of ∼5 open-close lip cycles per second. In monkeys, these signals may also be vocalized, offering a plausible evolutionary stepping stone towards speech. Three essential predictions remain, however, to be tested to assess this hypothesis' validity; (i) Great apes, our closest relatives, should likewise produce 5Hz-rhythm signals, (ii) speech-like rhythm should involve calls articulatorily similar to consonants and vowels given that speech rhythm is the direct product of stringing together these two basic elements, and (iii) speech-like rhythm should be experience-based. Via cinematic analyses we demonstrate that an ex-entertainment orangutan produces two calls at a speech-like rhythm, coined "clicks" and "faux-speech." Like voiceless consonants, clicks required no vocal fold action, but did involve independent manoeuvring over lips and tongue. In parallel to vowels, faux-speech showed harmonic and formant modulations, implying vocal fold and supralaryngeal action. This rhythm was several times faster than orangutan chewing rates, as observed in monkeys and humans. Critically, this rhythm was seven-fold faster, and contextually distinct, than any other known rhythmic calls described to date in the largest database of the orangutan repertoire ever assembled. The first two predictions advanced by this study are validated and, based on parsimony and exclusion of potential alternative explanations, initial support is given to the third prediction. Irrespectively of the putative origins of these calls and underlying mechanisms, our findings demonstrate irrevocably that great apes are not respiratorily, articulatorilly, or neurologically constrained for the production of consonant- and vowel-like calls at speech rhythm. Orangutan clicks and faux-speech confirm the importance of rhythmic speech antecedents within the primate lineage, and highlight potential articulatory homologies between great ape calls and human consonants and vowels.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Characterization of the chemical signatures of air masses observed during the PEM experiments over the western Pacific

Extensive observations of tropospheric trace species during the second NASA Global Tropospheric Experiment Western Pacific Exploratory Mission (PEM-West B) in February-March 1994 showed significant seasonal variability in comparison with the first mission (PEM-West A), conducted in September-October 1991. In this study we adopt a previously established analytical method, i.e., the ratio C2H2/CO as a measure of the relative degree of atmospheric processing, to elucidate the key similarities and variations between the two missions. In addition, the C2H2/CO ratio scheme is combined with the back-trajectory-based and the LIDAR-based air mass classification schemes, respectively, to make in-depth analysis of the seasonal variation between PEM-West A and PEM-West B (hereinafter referred to as PEM-WA and PEM-WB). A large number of compounds, including long-lived NMHCs, CH4, and CO2, are, as expected, well correlated with the ratio C2H2/CO. In comparison with PEM-WA, a significantly larger range of observed C2H2/CO values at the high end for the PEM-WB period indicates that the western Pacific was more impacted by "fresher" source emissions, i.e., faster or more efficient continental outflow. As in the case of PEM-WA, the C2H2/CO scheme complements the back-trajectory air mass classification scheme very well. By combining the two schemes, we found that the atmospheric processing in the region is dominated by atmospheric mixing for the trace species analyzed. This PEM-WB wintertime result is similar to that found in PEM-WA for the autumn. In both cases, photochemical reactions are found to play a significant role in determining the background mixing ratios of trace gases, and in this way the two processes are directly related and dependent upon each other. This analysis also indicates that many of the upper tropospheric air masses encountered over the western Pacific during PEM-WB may have had little impact from eastern Asia's continental surface sources. NOx mixing ratios were significantly enhanced during PEM-WB when compared with PEM-WA, in the upper troposphere's more atmospherically processed air masses. These high levels of NOx resulted in a substantial amount of photochemical production of O3. A lack of corresponding enhancements in surface emission tracers strongly implies that in situ atmospheric sources such as lightning are responsible for the enhanced upper tropospheric NOx. The similarity in NOx values between the northern (higher air traffic) and southern continental air masses together with the indications of a large seasonal shift suggests that aircraft emissions are not the dominant source. However, photochemical recycling cannot be ruled out as this in situ source of NOx. Copyright 1999 by the American Geophysical Union

Quantum Mechanics and Linearized Gravitational Waves

The interaction of classical gravitational waves (GW) with matter is studied within a quantum mechanical framework. The classical equations of motion in the long wave-length limit is quantized and a Schroedinger equation for the interaction of GW with matter is proposed. Due to its quadrapole nature, the GW interacts with matter by producing squeezed quantum states. The resultant hamiltonian is quite different from one would expect from general principles, however. The interaction of GW with the free particle, the harmonic oscillator and the hydrogen atom is then studied using this hamiltonian.Comment: 24 pages, written in REVTE

Створення та діяльність УПА в період Другої світової війни в світлі північноамериканської історіографії

У статті здійснено комплексний аналіз північноамериканської історіографії діяльності УПА. Виходячи з методологічних підходів, дослідницьких технік та світоглядних позицій було виокремлено три групи північноамериканських дослідників: емігрантську, діаспорну та американську. Автор зосереджується на детальному аналізі часу створення і чисельності УПА та Волинській трагедії.The article is dedicated to the complex analysis of the North-American historiography of the UPA activity. According to methodological approaches, investigation technique, and world outlook of the authors, the three groups of North-American researchers were singled out: the emigrant, the diaspora and the American one. The author analyzes in detailed the time of creation and number of the UPA troops as well as the Volynian tragedy