Explode-decay dromions in the non-isospectral Davey-Stewartson I (DSI) equation

In this letter, we report the existence of a novel type of explode-decay dromions, which are exponentially localized coherent structures whose amplitude varies with time, through Hirota method for a nonisospectral Davey-Stewartson equation I discussed recently by Jiang. Using suitable transformations, we also point out such solutions also exist for the isospectral Davey-Stewartson I equation itself for a careful choice of the potentials

India as a Foreign Policy Actor – Normative Redux. CEPS Working Document No. 285, February 2008

This paper analyses India’s behaviour as a foreign policy actor by looking at India’s changing relations over the past decade with the EU, US, China, Japan, Myanmar, Pakistan, Nepal and, in a historical departure, the former princely state of Sikkim. It argues that though India has almost always been a normative actor, Indian foreign policy is today transiting from abstract, and frequently ‘unrealpolitik,’ views of what constitutes normative behaviour. India’s ‘Look East’ policy has been the cornerstone of this transition, indicating that economic growth, maritime capability and peace and stability in its neighbourhood are key goals of India’s present behaviour as a normative foreign policy actor

Exponentially Localized Solutions of Mel'nikov Equation

The Mel'nikov equation is a (2+1) dimensional nonlinear evolution equation admitting boomeron type solutions. In this paper, after showing that it satisfies the Painlev\'{e} property, we obtain exponentially localized dromion type solutions from the bilinearized version which have not been reported so far. We also obtain more general dromion type solutions with spatially varying amplitude as well as induced multi-dromion solutions.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Chaos, Solitons and Fractal

Pedagogies of Design and Multiliterate Learner Identities

In an era of multiliteracies, teaching and learning have become knowledge performances at multiple levels. Instead of a singular, linear focus upon print technologies, the techno-oriented philosophy of teaching aims at providing a rhizomatic network of texts where there is a close link between, and often an overlap of, different designs—linguistic, visual, spatial, and gestural—to construct the multiliterate learner. In this paper, I discuss the role of multimodal literacies in a primary classroom, affirming the role of multiliteracies and decentring the pre-dominance of linguistic at the cost of other designs. While the print media are acknowledged as significant to literacy, the multimodality of print is enhanced through visual and spatial design (Kenner, 2004). Through graphic examples of ICT applications of designs in a primary classroom, I demonstrate that students are operating through multitextual and digitextual (Everett, 2003) practices. What follows is the complex positioning and re-situating of teacher and learner identities engaged in learning through the knowledge processes of experiencing, identifying, applying and critiquing concepts (Kalantzis & Cope, 2004). In particular, I argue that within the diversity of present day classrooms, the digital oriented, multiliterate learner is implicated in constant identity construction by drawing upon macro and micro social practices. I conclude by reiterating the significance of new technologies and new literacy practices as essential to the construction of new learner identities

Processing Posting Lists Using OpenCL

One of the main requirements of internet search engines is the ability to retrieve relevant results with faster response times. Yioop is an open source search engine designed and developed in PHP by Dr. Chris Pollett. The goal of this project is to explore the possibilities of enhancing the performance of Yioop by substituting resource-intensive existing PHP functions with C based native PHP extensions and the parallel data processing technology OpenCL. OpenCL leverages the Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) of a computer system for performance improvements. Some of the critical functions in search engines are resource-intensive in terms of processing power, memory, and I/O usage. The processing times vary based on the complexity and magnitude of data involved. This project involves different phases such as identifying critical resource intensive functions, initially replacing such methods with PHP Extensions, and eventually experimenting with OpenCL code. We also ran performance tests to measure the reduction in processing times. From our results, we concluded that PHP Extensions and OpenCL processing resulted in performance improvements

A Supporting Role: How Accreditors Can Help Promote the Success of Community College Students

Examines the capacity of self-assessment and peer review processes to advance student achievement at higher education institutions. Part of the Achieving the Dream initiative to improve learning and outcomes for minority and low-income students

The Impact of Asymmetric Information Among Competing Insurgent Groups: Estimating an 'Emboldenment' Effect

This paper uses asymmetric access to information to test if an insurgency is factionalized. If it is factionalized, regional variation in information should influence attack levels as groups use violence to compete over visibility, resources and support. Using plausibly exogenous variation in satellite access, we show that attacks increased after the release of information on satellite television about US commitment to remain in Iraq. Because insurgents shift attacks toward more difficult (military) targets, the relative increase in attacks is offset by fewer total fatalities. Our findings illustrate that insurgent groups may be decentralized strategic actors subject to competitive forces.Iraq war, asymmetric information, media and violence