Brief Study (brief + study)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Humanities and Social Sciences33%
Earth and Environmental Science33%

Selected Abstracts

Defining paganism in the Carolingian world

EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE, Issue 4 2007
James Palmer
Generations of scholars have looked for evidence of ,paganism' in continental sources from the eighth and ninth centuries. This paper surveys some of the key problems in defining and conceptualizing the available literary evidence for such a project. Part one argues for a return to the sources to help escape the intellectual baggage created by discussions of ,pan-Germanic paganism', interpretatio Romana and, more recently, folk practices. From the perspective of the sources' producers, paganism needs to be understood as a category of difference employed to provide a better definition of Christianity itself. In part two this line of thought is pursued through a brief study of the ways in which classical learning framed not only Carolingian attitudes to paganism, but also related strategies of moralizing. [source]

A brief study of applications of the generalized reciprocal method and of some limitations of the method

GEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING, Issue 5 2000
Bengt Sjögren
An analysis of the generalized reciprocal method (GRM), developed by Palmer for the interpretation of seismic refraction investigations, has been carried out. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the usefulness of the method for geotechnical investigations in connection with engineering projects. Practical application of the GRM is the main object of this study rather than the theoretical/mathematical aspects of the method. The studies are partly based on the models and field examples presented by Palmer. For comparison, some other refraction interpretation methods and techniques have been employed, namely the ABC method, the ABEM correction method, the mean-minus-T method and Hales' method. The comparisons showed that the results, i.e. the depths and velocities determined by Palmer, are partly incorrect due to some errors and misinterpretations when analysing the data from field examples. Due to the limitations of the GRM, some of which are mentioned here, stated by Palmer in his various publications, and other shortcomings of the method (e.g. the erasing of valuable information), the GRM must be regarded as being of limited use for detailed and accurate interpretations of refraction seismics for engineering purposes. [source]

Continental-scale phenology: warming and chilling

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 11 2010
Mark D. Schwartz
Abstract With abundant evidence of recent climate warming, most vegetation studies have concentrated on its direct impacts, such as modifications to seasonal plant and animal life cycle events (phenology). The most common examples are indications of earlier onset of spring plant growth and delayed onset of autumn senescence. However, less attention has been paid to the implications of continued warming for plant species' chilling requirements. Many woody plants that grow in temperate areas require a certain amount of winter chilling to break dormancy and prepare to respond to springtime warming. Thus, a comprehensive assessment of plant species' responses to warming must also include the potential impacts of insufficient chilling. When collected at continental scale, plant species phenological data can be used to extract information relating to the combined impacts of warming and reduced chilling on plant species physiology. In this brief study, we demonstrate that common lilac first leaf and first bloom phenology (collected from multiple locations in the western United States and matched with air temperature records) can estimate the species' chilling requirement (1748 chilling hours, base 7.2 °C) and highlight the changing impact of warming on the plant's phenological response in light of that requirement. Specifically, when chilling is above the requirement, lilac first leaf/first bloom dates advance at a rate of , 5.0/, 4.2 days per 100-h reduction in chilling accumulation, while when chilling is below the requirement, they advance at a much reduced rate of , 1.6/, 2.2 days per 100-h reduction. With continental-scale phenology data being collected by the USA National Phenology Network (http://www.usanpn.org), these and more complex ecological questions related to warming and chilling can be addressed for other plant species in future studies. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society [source]

Using the PRISM to Compare the Explanatory Value of General and Role-Contextualized Trait Ratings

JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 6 2007
Dustin Wood
ABSTRACT In an earlier work (Wood & Roberts, 2006), the Personality and Role Identity Structural Model (PRISM) was proposed as a model for organizing the relations between diverse self-perceptions, with a person's general identity ("how I am in general") organized above diverse role identities (e.g., "how I am as an employee"), which in turn is organized above role-specific behaviors and experiences (e.g., typical interactions with coworkers). In the present article, I argue that despite the fact that role trait measures are often much more related to role behaviors than general trait measures in cross-sectional analyses, general trait measures better capture the dispositional causes of a person's role behavior. In support of this, a brief study is presented illustrating how general traits may be better predictors than role-contextualized trait ratings of the evolution of an individual's experiences or behaviors within a given context. Finally, I contend that the basic framework of the PRISM, where a person's behaviors and identities within multiple contexts are assessed simultaneously and longitudinally alongside general personality ratings, is necessary to make strong statements concerning the nature of the relationships between personality traits and role experiences. [source]

A low voltage folded cascode LNA for ultra-wideband applications

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 11 2010
Sunil L. Khemchandani
Abstract A low noise amplifier scheme to achieve low-voltage and wide-bandwidth operation is presented. This circuit is based on folded cascode topology combined with wideband impedance matching and shunt peaking load. One of the drawbacks of the proposed scheme is that it uses more area than the conventional cascode due to the two additional inductors and capacitors to implement the capacitively coupled LC tanks. To reduce the area of the circuit, we have used stacked inductors, a brief study of these kinds of inductors is presented. Two low noise amplifiers have been fabricated using a mature 0.35 ,m BiCMOS technology, one using the cascode conventional approach and the other using the proposed topology. Measurement results show that for the same transistors operating conditions, the low-voltage amplifier performance is similar than the conventional cascode. By virtue of the small area of stacked inductors, the size of both low noise amplifiers is comparable. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 52:2495,2500, 2010; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25530 [source]

Lessons from Kipling and Rao: How to Re-Appropriate Another Culture

ORBIS LITERARUM, Issue 4 2002
Ian Almond
This brief study will examine Anglo-Indian Rudyard Kipling and Indo-Anglian Raja Rao's, attempts to re-appropriate a foreign culture in terms of their own wills. The novelist Rao's conviction of India's position as the origin of all Western culture, alongside Kipling's own curious tale of a tribe of distant "Englishmen" rediscovered in Northwest Afghanistan, both offer examples of attempts to re-describe and ultimately re-locate radically different cultures within the authors' own more familiar vocabularies. How does this cultural re-appropriation take place, and what happens to the author's parent culture when something as radically ,other' as an Afghan tribe or a medieval French heresy is suddenly and unexpectedly re-incorporated into the ,family'? The often unsettling consequences of this operation are considered as they manifest themselves in both texts in similar ways, advancing the possibility that cultural-appropriation affects the appropriator as much as the appropriated. And so strong is the inclination that is rooted in Mankind to the Love of their Country, that some learned and witty Men , have used great Art and Industry to represent them with such advantage to the World, as though Paradise were but another Name for their native Country. Bishop Stillingfleet1 [source]