Robust Stability of Iterative Learning Control Schemes

A notion of robust stability is developed for iterative learning control in the context of disturbance attenuation. The size of the unmodelled dynamics is captured via a gap distance, which in turn is related to the standard H2 gap metric, and the resulting robustness certificate is qualitatively equivalent to that obtained in classical robust H∞ theory. A bound on the robust stability margin for a specific adaptive ILC design is established

Modernity in British advertising: selling cocoa and chocolate in the 1930s

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the evolution of 'push' marketing in the confectionery industry in Britain during the 1930s. It examines the interplay between a manufacturer and advertising agency in creating advertising for cocoa and chocolate. Design/methodology/approach: A survey of the literature examines the uses of health and well-being in the design of advertising in Britain between the wars. The records of Rowntree and its main advertising agency, J Walter Thompson, are used to examine the themes and tactics used in advertising for cocoa and Aero chocolate bars during the 1930s. Findings: The paper emphasises the different ways in which health and nutrition was used in advertising for the two products. The campaigns of the 1930s built on earlier use of these themes. J Walter Thompson looked for ways of presenting commodities as 'new and improved' and their role extended into pressing for changes to production methods and the nature of products. Themes of modernity, sexuality and lifestyles all featured, confirming conclusions of earlier studies. However targeting of mothers and of different age and gender groups indicated that market segmentation was used extensively via print media and tailored advertising messages. Research limitations/implications: . Originality/value: Although Cadbury, Rowntree and confectionery have been studied in depth before, this paper emphasises their role in applying new advertising ideas to everyday items. It points to the influence of advertising on the mass of consumers compared to the middle and upper-income groups targeted in the marketing of houses, motor-cars and new consumer durable

On the road: travelling salesmen and experiences of mobility in Britain before 1939

Mobility has been a significant influence in the formation of identities for individuals and for certain occupations. Recent studies emphasises the associations of mobility with a sense of autonomy and personal freedom. This article explores the implications of mobility for a particular occupation, commercial travellers or travelling salesmen during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It assess the changing duration and life on the road and the impact of new forms of transport, from horseback to motor car. Mobility fundamentally shaped travellers' daily experiences, the ways in which they perceived themselves and their public image

‘From Seoul with love': the continuing relevance of the 1986 Seoul ILA declaration on progressive development of public international law relating to a new international economic order

The purpose of this article is to reconsider, in the light of global developments and other challenges, attempts over the past four decades to agree principles and rules of international law relating to the establishment and operation of a New International Economic Order (NIEO). For its critics, the NIEO was a one-sided attempt, based on unsound legal and economic principles, to undermine the integrity of the global economic system, a system that had played a vital role in permitting the world to recover following the tragedy of the Second World War. For its proponents, it was, on the other hand, a life-and-death attempt to reorder a system that was perpetually and unfairly biased against the poor majority; ‘life-and-death’ because the poverty that results from lack of development was not (nor continues to be) an abstract issue. In particular, in seeking to narrow the fi eld of enquiry, this article will review the attempt by the non-governmental International Law Association (ILA)– acting through its international committee on the topic – to forge a clearer North-South consensus on this matter through the adoption of its 1986 Seoul Declaration on Progressive Development of Principles of Public International Law relating to a New International Economic Order. In consciously trying to overcome some of the more overt political divisions within the UN General Assembly, the ILA sought to find carefully crafted compromises on such topics as permanent sovereignty over natural resources, specifi cally expropriation, the right to development, common heritage of mankind, as well as on broader issues of equality, equity and economic solidarity. Now, over twenty years after Seoul, it is fitting to consider whether the 1986 Declaration, in trying to move the debate forward, ultimately proved little more than a symbolic, but largely futile, gesture. Was this legal desiratum just too idealistic and utopian, particularly in the light of changing global circumstances and political realities

Symmetry, Structure and the Constitution of Objects

In this paper I focus on the impact on structuralism of the quantum treatment of objects in terms of symmetry groups and, in particular, on the question as to how we might eliminate, or better, reconceptualise such objects in structural terms. With regard to the former, both Cassirer and Eddington not only explicitly and famously tied their structuralism to the development of group theory but also drew on the quantum treatment in order to further their structuralist aims and here I sketch the relevant history with an eye on what lessons might be drawn. With regard to the latter, Ladyman has explicitly cited Castellani's work on the group-theoretical constitution of quantum objects and I indicate both how such an approach needs to be understood if it is to mesh with Ladyman's 'ontic' form of structural realism and how it might accommodate permutation symmetry through a consideration of Huggett's recent account

An assessment of mussel mortality caused by a drop in the water level of Lake Kariba

The level of Lake Kariba steadily fell during the period 1 June 1979 to 2 Feb 1980, except for a 2-wk period during Dec when it was allowed to rise slightly. Following this the level was again drawn down in anticipation of the Upper Zambezi flood water reaching the lake. At its highest level in June 1979 the lake was 487.42 m above sea level but by Feb 1980 it had dropped to 484.53 m, a total drop of 2.89 m. This left a considerable area of exposed shoreline and a large number of stranded mussels. This report presents the results of an attempt to estimate the mussel mortality, carried out from 28 Jan to 1 Feb 1980. The study area extended from the Charara river mouth to Andora harbour with a total of 24 stations

Tuning in to babies: Nurturing relationships in early childhood settings

Babies are born primed to engage with people and to explore the world around them. They are learning and developing from their day of birth in every context in which they find themselves. As babies’ participation in out-of-home early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings is rising (OECD, 2012), the quality of this education and care is of the utmost importance. This article explores why we should focus on babies in ECEC settings in Ireland, the unintended consequences of some policy actions, the specialised knowledge and relational skills required for working with babies, and some recommendations for policy and practice

2012: The End of the World as We Know It?

Many so-called “2012 doomsayers theorists,” such as John Major Jenkins and Jose Arguelles successfully convinced a portion of the modern Western world that the ancient Maya had predicted the end of the world. They swayed many into believing that the world was supposed come to a violent end on December 21, 2012. This important date is referred to as the end of the “Great Cycle” of 13 Bak’tuns, according to translations of the ancient Maya hieroglyphic texts. But what evidence, if any, in the archaeological recorded suggested a cataclysmic collapse in support of these doomsday predictions? Here, I explore the root of these concepts of violent collapse. Although we now know their predictions were false, they seem to have gotten a good deal of the Western world worried about what was to come this past winter. What exactly did these doomsayers like Jenkins and Arguelles predict and how do their predictions compare with what the ancient and contemporary Maya say? The archaeological evidence that survives suggests the ancient Maya would not have feared this time but would have celebrated it as a time of renewal. Although the ancient Maya mythology suggests destruction of the world at the end of the 13th Bak’tun, a new world would no doubt have been anticipated by the ancient Maya who would have celebrated this period as a time of rebirth and renewal, much like other important period endings in their calendar. Below I review the doomsayers’ theories and present evidence from several archaeological contexts that suggest the predictions of December 21st, 2012 do not accurately reflect the thinking of the ancient Maya

'Slowly becoming sales promotion men?': Negotiating the career of the sales representative in Britain, 1920s–1970s

The commercial traveler, or traveling salesman, was an agent of commercialism and modernization as well as a stock character in British popular culture. To C. Wright Mills, salesmen faced particularly challenging demands to conform to managerial direction. This article examines how British salesmen negotiated their occupational identity during the twentieth century. Developments in marketing, corporate growth, and periods of war and recession all challenged salesmen’s status and autonomy. These influences prompted a lengthy and recurring debate about how best to present, defend, and justify their work and identity. New marketing techniques and management systems evolved steadily, rather than producing sudden or uniform changes in the ways in which salesmen worked. Their culture of enterprise and individualism persisted, in part as it was shared by employers and managers. The impact of new marketing methods proved greatest in confectionery, tobacco, and other consumer goods trades as sales of branded, packaged goods expanded. Even then, salesmen contributed to shaping their work and occupational identity, proving unable to establish professional credentials and dividing over whether adopting trade union methods could improve their position

[Review of] Samuel J. Brakel. American Indian Tribal Courts: The Cost of Separate Justice

This monograph (111 pages of text) is part of a larger research endeavor being conducted by the American Bar Foundation and sanctioned by the American Bar Association and the American Bar Endowment, among others. According to the American Bar Foun- dation: “Its mission is to conduct research that will enlarge the understanding and improve the functioning of law and legal institutions (pp iv).” This particular project was initiated to investigate the cost of separate tribal justice