The comparative biology of ethanol consumption: An introduction to the symposium

In classical Greek, the word “symposium” signifies a drinking party held for the purposes of intellectual discussion. This symposium introduces a new evolutionary perspective on an ancient question: why are many animals, including humans, attracted to ethanol? Recent research has shown that behavioral responses to ethanol and molecular pathways of inebriation are shared among many taxa (Wolf and Heberlein, 2003), and that the preferences of modern humans for alcohol consumption may derive from the diets of our fruit-eating ancestors (i.e., alcoholism as evolutionary hangover; Dudley, 2000, 2002). Placement of ethanol consumption within historical and comparative contexts may thus yield insight into contemporary patterns of human consumption and excessive use

Turbulence and pressure loss characteristics of the inlet vanes for the 80- by 120-ft wind tunnel

A series of wind tunnel investigations were conducted to determine the flow characteristics downstream of a set of wind tunnel inlet flow conditioning vanes. The purpose was to develop an understanding of the flow mechanisms that contributed to the pressure loss and turbulence generated by the vane set. The near-field characteristics and flow field development were investigated with a 1/3 scale two dimensional model of the vane set at near full-scale Reynolds numbers. In a second series of tests, the global flow field characteristics were investigated by means of a 1/15 scale model of the full vane set and the 5:1 contraction leading to the model's test section. Scale effects due to Reynolds number mismatch were identified and their significance noted and accounted for when possible. Scaling parameters were adopted that allowed predictions to be made of the expected turbulence and pressure distributions in the full-scale wind tunnel test section, based on the small-scale test results. The predictions were found to be in good agreement with actual measurements made in the full-scale facility

Meinardus' theorem on weighted partitions: extensions and a probabilistic proof

We give a probalistic proof of the famous Meinardus' asymptotic formula for the number of weighted partitions with weakened one of the three Meinardus' conditions, and extend the resulting version of the theorem to other two classis types of decomposable combinatorial structures, which are called assemblies and selections. The results obtained are based on combining Meinardus' analytical approach with probabilistic method of Khitchine.Comment: The version contains a few minor corrections.It will be published in Advances in Applied Mathematic

Insularity, Omission and Exclusion at Cambridge University Press

A review essay of the 2014 book, Shakespeare and the Digital World: Redefining Scholarship and Practice edited by Christie Carson and Peter Kirwan (Cambridge University Press, 2015)

“By Nature Fram’d to Wear a Crown”? Decolonizing the Shakespeare Authorship Question

Reprinted with permission from Brief Chronicles www.briefchronicles.comThe paper suggests that the academy's marginalization of Shakespeare authorship scholarship originates in the imperial origins of the broader culture, in particular within the totalizing, essentialist and self-aggrandizing rhetoric concerning the "natural genius" of both "the West" and its paragon, William Shakespeare of Stratford-Upon-Avon. Postcolonial readings of early Shakespeareana and contemporary defenders of Western imperialism demonstrate how the invocation of "Nature" as an explanatory metanarrative was the keystone element in establishing the "genius of the West," of which the semi-divine Shakespeare was a not insignificant ingredient. Seeing the quasi-religious grace of "natural genius" as the origin of and Divine support for the European-dominated global order of the colonial era -- and the corresponding privileged position of the white race -- both elevated the colonizer and Shakespeare himself from ontological scrutiny.Editor Roger Stritmatter writes: "I am pleased to confirm in writing your permission for your Brief Chronicles essay, "By Nature Fram'd to Wear a Crown? Decolonizing the Shakespeare Authorship Question" (Brief Chronicles 5 (2014): 11-30) to be reprinted by the University of Winnipeg.

Seeing the Forest for the Trees on Mars: Locating the Ideology of the “Library of the Future”

For many decades now library practitioners have been generating a vast literature concerned with the “library of the future.” While much of this literature may be classified according to its imperatives for radical versus incremental change, what is largely absent from these articles is a theoretical understanding of the underlying ideological bases of their arguments, as well as extrinsic or transdisciplinary perspectives. Reconsidering these prescriptions for the future of the library through the lens of futures studies has the potential to afford us critical perspectives on their ideological foundations. Hal Niedzviecki’s 2015 book Trees on Mars: Our Obsession with the Future is analyzed to locate the ideological tensions in LIS literature between chasing the future on the one hand and cherishing the security of tradition on the other.https://cjal.ca/index.php/capal/article/view/2756

Revisiting cold war ideology in the secure city: towards a political economy of urbicide

Article considers the ideological foundations of contemporary urban securitization following the 9/11 attacks in terms of similar discourse in the early atomic age.Editorial staff confirms on behalf of the journal co-editors, that the author is welcome to post his article in the digital repository at the University of Winnipeg, under the conditions set out by the repository.https://philpapers.org/rec/DUDRC

Knowledge Ill-Inhabited: The Subjugation of Post-Stratfordian Scholarship in Academic Libraries

Appendices for this paper may be found at http://winnspace.uwinnipeg.ca/handle/10680/845Since 2000 there has been a surge of scholarly and popular publishing supporting the proposition that the name “Shake-Speare” was a pseudonym disguising a nobleman named Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, while the Stratford “Bard” of traditional biography is mere legend. However, this “post-Stratfordian” literature is at present poorly-represented in Canada’s academic libraries, while Library of Congress indexing has long marginalized it. For this paper, holdings of post-2000 Shakespeare biographies in Canada’s university libraries were analyzed, as were relevant LC classifications and subject headings, revealing a powerful normative bias against post-Stratfordian publishing.https://shakespeareoxfordfellowship.org/wp-content/uploads/TOX17_Dudley_Knowledge_Ill-Inhabited-1.pd

Sculpting the Future: Planning for Libraries in Transformation

Books reviewed Library 2020: Today's Leading Visionaries Describe Tomorrow's Library. Edited by Joseph Janes. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow press. 2013. Print: 161 pp. 45.00 USD. ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-8714-5 (pbk. : alk. paper); 978-0-8108-8715-2 (ebook). Mossop, Stephen. Achieving Transformational Change in Academic libraries (Chandos Information Professional Series). Oxford: Chandos Publishing. 2013. Print: 197 pp. 80.00 USD. ISBN-13: 978-1-84334-724-8 (print); ISBN-13: 978-1- 78063-390-9 (online)

The Curious Case of Academic Publishing

The recent controversy over The Edwin Mellen Press lawsuit against McMaster University librarian Dale Askey is considered a symptom of a larger problem: the unsustainable demands from the academy itself which have created a market for publishers like Edwin Mellen. The overproduction of doctorates combined with the relentless demand faculties place upon their members to produce publishable research — as well as sometimes rigid gatekeeping of acceptable scholarship — have contributed to the creation of a lucrative market for “alternative” publishing venues — many of them of questionable quality and reputation. Until academic culture changes to admit fewer doctoral students and to judge quality over quantity when conducting tenure reviews, the market for academic publishing will only continue to grow, thereby presenting librarians with an increasingly complex collection management problem