Using twins and scaling to construct cospectral graphs for the normalized Laplacian

The spectrum of the normalized Laplacian matrix cannot determine the number of edges in a graph, however finding constructions of cospectral graphs with differing number of edges has been elusive. In this paper we use basic properties of twins and scaling to show how to construct such graphs. We also give examples of families of graphs which are cospectral with a subgraph for the normalized Laplacian matrix

Review of 'The politics of EU accession: ideology, party strategy and the European question in Hungary', by A. Batory

No abstract available

Organizing for Everything We Do: CWA at AT&T and US West

[Excerpt] In the Communications Workers of America, we\u27ve been facing tough challenges in recent years. Add Reaganomics to the breakup of the Bell System and changing technology, and you have a formula for a rough time at the bargaining table. To increase our power, we\u27ve increasingly been using an organizing approach for everything we do. We call it Mobilization

Organisational scapegoats and hierarchical constraints : a critical discourse analysis of inter-agency collaboration within New Zealand's public sector : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy (Humanities and Social Sciences) in Defence and Security Studies at Massey University, Manawatu , New Zealand

The legacy of the 2000s whole-of-government reform agenda promotes that public sector agencies work across the sector, encouraging an inter-agency collaborative approach to resolve the so called ‘wicked problems’ facing New Zealand. The initial 1980s public service reform agenda, established on a neoliberal philosophy, afforded greater decision-making autonomy to public servants and hierarchical simplification. Yet the author’s experience of inter-agency collaboration as a mid-level public sector official is that, despite best intentions, it is difficult in practice due to the paradoxical requirement of autonomous decision-making power and obligation to individual departments and their Chief Executives. These paradoxes manifest as tensions between the collaborative causal powers (agency) of public servants and the structure and practices of New Zealand’s Westminster system of governance that remains palpably hierarchical. This research uses Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as a methodological means of validating this hypothesis within the context of a case study of the National Maritime Coordination Centre. This theoretically driven research presents CDA as an alternative and instructive lens that provides an enhanced understanding of the real world issues associated with collaboration within New Zealand’s public sector to present possibilities for change

The dawn of the age of the drones: an Australian privacy law perspective

Examines Australia\u27s privacy laws in relation to unmanned aerial vehicles, to identify deficiencies that may need to be addressed. Introduction Suppose a homeowner habitually enjoys sunbathing in his or her backyard, protected by a high fence from prying eyes, including those of an adolescent neighbour. In times past such homeowners could be assured that they might go about their activities without a threat to their privacy. However, recent years have seen technological advances in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (‘UAVs’), also known colloquially as drones, that have allowed them to become reduced in size, complexity and price. UAVs today include models retailing to the public for less than $350 and with an ease of operation that enables them to serve as mobile platforms for miniature cameras. These machines now mean that for individuals like the posited homeowner’s adolescent neighbour, barriers such as high fences no longer constitute insuperable obstacles to their voyeuristic endeavours. Moreover, ease of access to the internet and video sharing websites provides a ready means of sharing any recordings made with such cameras with a wide audience. Persons in the homeowner’s position might understandably seek some form of redress for such egregious invasions of their privacy. Other than some form of self-help, what alternative measures may be available? Under Australian law this problem yields no easy answer. In this country, a fractured landscape of common law, Commonwealth and state/territory legislation provides piecemeal protection against invasions of privacy by cameras mounted on UAVs. It is timely, at what may be regarded as the early days of the drone age, to consider these laws and to identify deficiencies that may need to be addressed lest, to quote words that are as apt today as they were when written over 120 years ago, ‘modern enterprise and invention … through invasions upon [their] privacy, [subject victims] to mental pain and distress, far greater than could be inflicted by mere bodily injury.

Expertise and Service: A Call to Action

Although theological librarianship occurs most often at seminaries or graduate level theology programs, there are also librarians working with theology on an undergraduate level. In many cases, these librarians are responsible for additional subject areas and may or may not have any theological expertise or training. While the two groups do the same types of work, they are doing so in different ways. To explore these commonalities and differences, a study was conducted among undergraduate theology liaisons and those results were compared with the literature and data regarding graduate level theological librarianship. One hundred ten undergraduate librarians responded to a survey regarding theological liaison activities, and the results indicate both the need for more research and the need for further emphasis on undergraduate subject-area liaison duties in theology and adjacent areas