Estimating Distributional Impacts of an Innovation Across Sectors in an Industry: A case study of the Australian wool industry

In this paper an approach that can be used to determine the distribution of a productivity gain on an industry is detailed. In particular, the model developed in this paper extends earlier evaluations by emphasising the crucial role of substitution between inputs across different participants in the supply chain. Crucial to any analysis of an industry are the estimates of the elasticity's of derived demand at each stage and how it changes, as the product is further refined. The wool industry is used to illustrate the effects of an innovation across sectors.Agribusiness, Production Economics,

Adding Substance to the Debate: Descartes on Freedom of the Will

It is widely accepted by commentators that Descartes believed in freedom of the will, but it is fiercely debated whether he accepted a libertarian or compatibilist notion of freedom. With this paper I argue that an examination of Descartes’ conception of ‘substance,’ specifically his distinction between divine substance and created substance, is a fruitful source for the debate regarding Descartes on freedom of the will. I argue that the commentators who read Descartes as a libertarian are forced to focus on passages that emphasize the similarity between God and humans. This is problematic because Descartes is clear that there is a non-univocality between God and humans concerning ‘substance.’ This non-univocality between God and humans puts a strain on the libertarian’s focus. During the course of this argument I examine the passages frequently cited by commentators concerning Cartesian freedom and I make explicit the analogy between Descartes’ view on substance and freedom. The upshot is that Descartes’ considered account of substance is further evidence for the compatibilist reading

Biblical Boogeymen, Holy Ghosts, and the New Demonology: A Review of Three Recent Books on Religion and Horror

This is a book review essay on three books: Brandon R. Grafius, Reading the Bible with Horror (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019); Brandon R. Grafius and John Morehead, eds., Theology and Horror: Explorations of the Dark Religious Imagination (Fortress Academic/Lexington, 2021); and Steve A. Wiggins, Nightmares with the Bible: The Good Book and Cinematic Demons (Fortress Academic/Lexington, 2020)

A multi-fidelity framework for physics based rotor blade simulation and optimization

New helicopter rotor designs are desired that offer increased efficiency, reduced vibration, and reduced noise. This problem is multidisciplinary, requiring knowledge of structural dynamics, aerodynamics, and aeroacoustics. Rotor optimization requires achieving multiple, often conflicting objectives. There is no longer a single optimum but rather an optimal trade-off space, the Pareto Frontier. Rotor Designers in industry need methods that allow the most accurate simulation tools available to search for Pareto designs. Computer simulation and optimization of rotors have been advanced by the development of "comprehensive" rotorcraft analysis tools. These tools perform aeroelastic analysis using Computational Structural Dynamics (CSD). Though useful in optimization, these tools lack built-in high fidelity aerodynamic models. The most accurate rotor simulations utilize Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) coupled to the CSD of a comprehensive code, but are generally considered too time consuming where numerous simulations are required like rotor optimization. An approach is needed where high fidelity CFD/CSD simulation can be routinely used in design optimization. This thesis documents the development of physics based rotor simulation frameworks. A low fidelity model uses a comprehensive code with simplified aerodynamics. A high fidelity model uses a parallel processor capable CFD/CSD methodology. Both frameworks include an aeroacoustic simulation for prediction of noise. A synergistic process is developed that uses both frameworks together to build approximate models of important high fidelity metrics as functions of certain design variables. To test this process, a 4-bladed hingeless rotor model is used as a baseline. The design variables investigated include tip geometry and spanwise twist. Approximation models are built for high fidelity metrics related to rotor efficiency and vibration. Optimization using the approximation models found the designs having maximum rotor efficiency and minimum vibration. Various Pareto generation methods are used to find frontier designs between these two anchor designs. The Pareto anchors are tested in the high fidelity simulation and shown to be good designs, providing evidence that the process has merit. Ultimately, this process can be utilized by industry rotor designers with their existing tools to bring high fidelity analysis into the preliminary design stage of rotors.Ph.D.Committee Co-Chair: Dr. Dimitri Mavris; Committee Co-Chair: Dr. Lakshmi N. Sankar; Committee Member: Dr. Daniel P. Schrage; Committee Member: Dr. Kenneth S. Brentner; Committee Member: Dr. Mark Costell

The New Orleans press-radio war and Huey P. Long, 1922-1936

The introduction of radio in America in the 1920s was greeted with much fanfare by the general public and by newspapers and politicians as well. Its popularity soared as radio sets became cheaper and more accessible. Newspapers were eager to boost their circulations by featuring the latest craze; many newspapers even started their own stations as a means of publicity. As the country sank deeper into the Great Depression in the 1930s, the relationship between the country\u27s press and radio worsened. The newspapers felt threatened that radio would take away their advertising revenue in addition to stealing their news dissemination function. The struggle for power and primacy that resulted is called the Press-Radio War. This thesis addresses the issues of the Press-Radio War in the 1920s and 1930s in New Orleans, Louisiana. The relationship between the press and radio in New Orleans around this time is intriguing because of the city\u27s size and status in the South. Another intriguing element of New Orleans during the press-radio war is the presence of Huey P. Long, who dominated the politics of Louisiana at the exact same time the relationship between radio and the press was most volatile. This thesis describes the introduction of radio into New Orleans and addresses the increasing animosity between newspapers and radio, which culminated in the Press-Radio War, and how Huey Long, using his political skill, manipulated both mediums and affected the course of the press-radio relationship in New Orleans

Master of Arts

thesisThe suffix -ywać has been described as imperfective, iterative, and habitual. Descriptively, -ywać behaves differently depending on whether or not it is suffixed to a verb with a perfectivizing prefix. If it is suffixed on to a verb with a perfectivizing prefix, then it is said to be imperfective. If it is suffixed on to a verb without a prefix however, it is said to be iterative or habitual. This thesis uses aspectual diagnostics to examine the function of -ywać in both paradigms, as well as claims about the perfectivizing VMs that attach to the verbs with the suffix. Crosslinguistic parallels from Inuktitut are also examined with respect to the Polish data

De(con)structive time : visual style and temporal simultaneity in the works of Gaspar Noe?ü.

Despite the popularity of director Gaspar Noe?ü's films, little critical attention has been give to the overall style or common themes within his work as a whole, which also includes short films and music videos. Instead most examinations focus on the controversial issues of explicit representations of sex and violence within his feature films. By examining a cross-section of some of Noe?ü's lesser know works such as his music videos and short films, one can find within them representations of his dominant visual style including kinetic camera movements and quickly-paced editing existing alongside extremely long static takes. Such a contrasting visual style suggests Noe?ü's preoccupation with time, and an examination of his two latest feature films, Irr?îversible and Enter the Void, reveal Noe?ü's unique filmic approach to representations of time. Within Irre?üversible, Noe?ü creates the effect of temporal simultaneity--of past, present, and future existing at once--through an intricately structured plot that engages and employs the spectator's memory more intensely than the typical narrative film. In Enter the Void this same concurrence of time is achieved through the subjective point-of-view shots of its protagonist, Oscar. The extended pov sequences position both Oscar and the spectator within the same perspectives in which to view his past, present, in a simultaneous fashion. Noe?ü's preoccupation with creating the effect of immediacy within his films as well as his heavy use of CGI effects places the director squarely within an ever-growing tendency with mainstream films to create a more virtual experience for the spectator. From 3-D movies, high frame rates, surround sound, IMAX experiences, and digital "realism," such attempts at manufactured authenticity coupled with explicit representations of violence introduces new concerns within the debate of the correlation between popular media and violence within society