Performance evaluation of a prototyped wireless ground sensor networks

This thesis investigated the suitability of wireless, unattended ground sensor networks for military applications. The unattended aspect requires the network to self-organize and adapt to dynamic changes. A wireless, unattended ground sensor network was prototyped using commercial off-the-shelf technology and three to four networked nodes. Device and network performance were measured under indoor and outdoor scenarios. The measured communication range of a node varied between three and nineteen meters depending on the scenario. The sensors evaluated were an acoustic sensor, a magnetic sensor, and an acceleration sensor. The measured sensing range varied by the type of sensor. Node discovery durations observed were between forty seconds and over five minutes. Node density calculations indicated that the prototype was scalable to five hundred nodes. This thesis substantiated the feasibility of interconnecting, self-organizing sensor nodes in military applications. Tests and evaluations demonstrated that the network was capable of dynamic adaptation to failure and degradation.http://archive.org/details/performanceevalu109452263Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

‘Working Together?’: The Salvation Army and the Job Network

This article explores the changing relationship between government and The Salvation Army, as manifested in the development and implementation of employment policy in Australia between 1998 and 2007. This exploration focuses on the introduction of market discourse throughout the contracting process, in particular how this discourse seeks to reconstruct service users as 'consumers', and the Salvation Army's response to this. By studying the ways in which this religiously and socially motivated non-profit organization sought to mediate neo-liberal discourses of competition and consumerism, we seek to shed light on the processes and pressures affecting faith-based and other non-profit organizations that increasingly find themselves acting as agents of government policy under the principles of New Public Management (NPM)

Folklore’s Timeless Past, Ireland’s Present Past, and the Perception of Rural Houses in Early Historic Ireland

This study examines how the archaeology of historic Ireland has been interpreted. Two approaches to the history and archaeology of Ireland are identified. The first, the timeless past, has its roots in a neo-Lamarckian view of the past. This perspective was particularly developed in the work of geographer and ethnographer, Estyn Evans. The second view, associated in particular with a nationalist approach to Ireland's past, looked to the west of the country where it was believed the culture had been preserved largely unchanged and in its purest form. The continuing impact of these frameworks upon the interpretation of rural settlement in the period 1200-1700 is examined. It is argued that historians and archaeologists alike have underestimated the quality of buildings. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC