Creating a Relational Distributed Object Store

In and of itself, data storage has apparent business utility. But when we can convert data to information, the utility of stored data increases dramatically. It is the layering of relation atop the data mass that is the engine for such conversion. Frank relation amongst discrete objects sporadically ingested is rare, making the process of synthesizing such relation all the more challenging, but the challenge must be met if we are ever to see an equivalent business value for unstructured data as we already have with structured data. This paper describes a novel construct, referred to as a relational distributed object store (RDOS), that seeks to solve the twin problems of how to persistently and reliably store petabytes of unstructured data while simultaneously creating and persisting relations amongst billions of objects.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Luonnon monimuotoisuuden turvaaminen osaksi metsätaloutta – institutionaalisen sopeutumisen empiirinen tarkastelu

Tieteen tori: Metsäluonnon monimuotoisuus ja suojel

Reconstructing high resolution environmental change from carbonate-rich lakes in Turkey and Mexico using varve microfacies analysis

Analysis of lacustrine sediment records provide insight into terrestrial environmental change throughout the Holocene; however, poor chronological control often limits a record’s ability to identify the precise dynamics and drivers of these changes. Exploring these important aspects of environmental change can develop our understanding of the mechanisms driving long-term climatology and its influence on regional hydrological systems. To fully investigate these past environmental systems, high resolution, climatically-sensitive proxies are required. Here, microfacies analysis of varved sediment records from Nar Gölü, Turkey and Yaal Chac, Mexico provide long annually-resolved records of environmental, limnological and climatic change, from two regions lacking in continuous, high resolution archives. From Nar Gölü, varves were analysed from discrete sequences deposited during the early-mid and late Holocene (9,064 – 7,630 cal yrs BP and 2,540 – -51 cal yrs BP respectively), and from Yaal Chac, the early-mid Holocene (8,812 – 7,245 cal yrs BP and 5,346 – 4,295 cal yrs BP). These long, continuous depositional archives have permitted the reconstruction of both low- and high-frequency limnological change, where the sequences’ incremental chronologies have further enabled the pace and timing of change to be identified and robustly dated. In both lakes, organic-calcareous varve deposition is driven by the regions’ wet-dry seasonality. At Nar Gölü, sedimentological calibration using meteorological data identified the March-May evaporation/precipitation ratio as the primary control on the deposition of endogenic carbonates. Comparing specific carbonate sublayers’ mineralogy and thickness with their δ18Ocarbonate value further indicates that regional water balance over the last 2,600 years primarily drives carbonate deposition. Considering the sites’ similar seasonality and sedimentary microfacies, changes to the endogenic carbonate deposition and mineralogy are used to indicate high resolution changes to lake hydrology and the timing/intensity of dry-season E/P conditions in both lakes. Spectral analysis of these varved records, which provide incremental timeseries, is used to identify the multi-decadal drivers to depositional variability. The Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO) is likely detected within both lake records at various stages through the Holocene, where changes to sea surface temperatures are known to influence moisture supply and rainfall during each region’s respective wet-seasons. From Nar Gölü, changes to cyclicity are also proposed to reflect shifts in the relative influence of Atlantic-and tropical-derived climates, as the multi-decadal variability of Indian monsoon intensity is also known to drive dry-season aridity. Sedimentological-inferred changes to past conditions, specifically changes to the regional evaporation/precipitation (E/P) ratio, are finally used to provide the environmental context to societal change. Each region’s wet-dry seasonality increases societal vulnerability to drought, where periods of elevated evaporation/precipitation conditions may have influenced food and/or water security, and hence socio-economic stability. Temporal correlation between microfacies and societal changes provide circumstantial evidence that climatic change may have contributed to major societal shifts through the Holocene in both Turkey and Mexico

Should Denmark participate in European monetary unification ? an economic evaluation of the Danish decision to opt-out of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty on European union

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96934/1/MBA_PrimmerW_1996Final.pd

Female power in Shakespeare’s plays

This thesis examines the existence and extent of female power in a range of Shakespeare’s plays, discussing the meaning of 'female' and of 'power'. The author argues that the representation of female characters both endorses and challenges the construction of gender. Gender is defined within the thesis as the sexed-stereotyping of certain ways of speaking, thinking and behaving which are thought appropriate to the male or female sex. This creates the world of femininity and masculinity. The author argues that these are false concepts which the plays variously uphold or deny. This argument is explored within four specific areas: language, action, dress and sexuality. Where the plays show that the elision of female and feminine is false, the author argues that they demonstrate that power could exist unaffected by gendered ideals. The author also demonstrates that there are points where the plays themselves elide these two concepts, and thus do not transcend the circumstances and period of their own creation. The author concludes that, throughout the plays, contradictory versions of the female gender are simultaneously constructed. She argues that male characters are also subject to the construction of gender. Although this construction has a more negative effect for women than men, it can mean that men are victims too. The thesis demonstrates that the potency of power is affected by the gender of its possessor and that gender is a false, culturally- created construct. Seeing this observation not only as part of feminist Shakespearean criticism but also as relevant to the lives of real men and women, the author finally argues that understanding how misogyny works in literature, which is one aim of this thesis, is essential to changing why it works in life