This dissertation draws upon Western literature in critical theory, aesthetics, art theory, and art history to explore how lying can foster aesthetic experience and the sociopolitical effects of this experience. It nominates the idea of pseudology—lying as an art—and outlines its distinguishing features from the dawn of postmodernism to contemporary practices. This study demonstrates an analysis of lying premised on an understanding of aesthetics as caught up in the wider issues of public pedagogy and everyday politics. Taking as case studies specific works of Marcel Duchamp, Robert Rauschenberg, VALIE EXPORT, and Carol Duncan, this dissertation argues for the narrative framing of artwork as paramount for its reception. As well, by examining the artistic mystifications of Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Coco Fusco, Joshua Schwebel, and Iris Häussler, this dissertation analyzes the use of pseudology in institutional critique. The study finds that perfidious practices can point to the importance of the relational boundary between what is real/unreal, highlight the social construction of this boundary’s aesthetic aspects, and reveal the ways in which each of us are active in the construction of a shared reality. Ultimately, our active framing of everyday life and the affective nature of our construction of a shared reality has been problematized by a contemporary prevalence of lying in the realms of public culture and politics. Pseudology reveals the power of narrative framing. The pseudological artworks discussed here expose, as models for the political aesthetic of lying, the need to debate the very tenets of reality constantly and continually—an essential civic action in the ethical, communal relationships of a democracy. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / An analysis of the use of lying as an artistic technique.

保險業資金運用的限制乃民國87年台灣保險界的熱門話題之一，不但有許多保險公司要求財政部放寬資金運用的限制，因為他們認為保險法中明文規定保險資金運用的範圍和比率，使保險資金運用相當僵化，且由於企業經營環境變化極大，因此法令的限制會影響保險公司的營運狀況；而財政部保險司成立的保險革新小組中，也對資金運用的限制有深入的探討，因為限制的範圍不但影響保險公司本身的投資情況，更因為保險公司有龐大的資金可運用，而可能牽動台灣的金融經濟情勢，因此值得深入的探討。 本研究的主要目的包括下列兩點： 1.研究保險公司資金運用績效在民國81年保險法大幅修訂，對資金運用加諸更明確的規定，與保險法修訂前的資金運用績效加以詳細比較，瞭解政府設定資金運用的限制對保險公司獲利率之影響，並針對投資風險進行實證分析，因為高風險伴隨著高報酬，故同時考慮風險與收益的影響程度。 2.初步分析本國保險公司7項經營上的比率例如流動比率是否因為保險法修訂之後而受到影響。 本篇論文的資料來源是來自台北市人壽保險同業公會所出版的『人壽保險業務統計年報』與保險事業發展中心所出版的『產物保險統計要覽』，並採用年報中的資產負債表、損益表與資金運用表加以實證分析。 研究時間以民國81年保險法修訂第146條之1到第146條之5為時間上的分界點，分析民國76年到民國80年資金運用的限制未修訂前的資金運用績效與民國81年到民國86年資金運用的限制修訂後的資金運用績效做比較，但因為依照法令規定發現保險公司有2年的調整期，因此研究時間分成3段（民國76-80年，民國81、82年，民國83-86年）。 本研究同時考慮投資收益率與投資風險，發現在兩迴歸模型中投資收益率與投資收益率變異數之係數均大於0，並且為顯著，代表兩者具有正相關的情形，符合高風險伴隨高報酬的理論；由Markowitz的『平均數-變異數投資組合模式』所求出的效率前緣發現加諸投資限制後，會使效率前緣向右下方移動，亦即同時使風險增加與投資報酬率減少；經由本研究的實證發現保險法的修訂對於保險公司投資績效與投資風險均造成顯著的影響，亦即保險法修訂後，使得保險公司的投資收益率減少，並增加保險公司的投資風險，因此本研究認為目前法令對於資金運用的限制的確有放寬的必要。 由於本研究發現投資上限對保險公司的投資績效會產生顯著的影響，並且會增加保險公司的風險，因此保險公司大聲疾呼再度修改保險法第146條之1到第146條之5與放寬投資限制的確有其必要性；另外本研究之實證可得知保險公司的經營性質會影響其投資收益率，並且因為產、壽險在資金結構與業務性質均有相當程度的差異，因此建議可將產、壽險的資金運用分別規範，由於我們發現限制會對保險公司的投資情形產生影響，加上壽險公司的投資收益率比較高，而投資風險比較低，因此本研究認為對於壽險公司的資金運用規範應該要比較寬鬆。 第一章 緒論 1 第一節 研究動機 1 第二節 研究目的 2 第三節 研究流程與架構 4 第二章 保險業資金運用介紹與文獻回顧 5 第一節 保險法第146條所規定資金運用途徑之介紹 5 第二節 衡量法令限制對企業造成影響之文獻 18 第三章 研究方法 27 第一節 資料來源 27 第二節 研究方法 29 第三節 兩段迴歸 36 第四章 實證分析 37 第一節 各種IRIS比率的實證結果 37 第二節 投資收益率的實證結果 42 第三節 投資收益率之變異數的實證結果 46 第五章 結論與建議 51 第一節 研究結論與建議 51 第二節 研究限制 54 參考文獻 55

De nombreuses études en phytoremédiation visent à accroître le prélèvement des métaux par les plantes pour dépolluer les sols. Ce travail porte sur une nouvelle approche de phytoremédiation appelée Jardins Filtrants qui consiste à traiter le sol dans des casiers végétalisés par des plantes de milieux humides (Phragmites australis, Iris pseudacorus et Salix viminalis) et irrigués de manière à imposer une alternance des conditions hydromorphie-assèchement afin d'accroître la solubilité de métaux dans le sol et de les extraire par lixiviation. Dans une expérience pilote de seize mois, cette approche a été appliquée pour la phytoremédiation de Zn, Cu et Pb d'un sol agricole fortement pollué par l'épandage d'eaux usées. Le bilan de masse des métaux dans les systèmes sol-plante a montré que seule une quantité non-significative des métaux a été accumulée dans la biomasse des plantes. Une quantité importante des métaux a été éliminée du sol via la phytolixiviation résultant de l'interaction de l'activité racinaire avec l'irrigation. Un traitement chimique complémentaire au citrate permet d'augmenter la lixiviation. Les mécanismes de transformations de Zn et Cu impliqués dans cette phytoremédiation ont été mis en évidence par combinaison des techniques analytiques sur la source synchrotron à micro- (µXRF, µXRD, µEXAFS) et macro-échelle (EXAFS) couplée aux analyses chimiques, permettant d'identifier et quantifier les formes des métaux dans le sol. Dans le sol initial, le zinc a été majoritairement sous formes de minéraux secondaires (Zn-ferrihydrite, Zn-phosphate et Zn-phyllosilicate modélisé par Zn-kérolite) et le cuivre a été associé essentiellement à la matière organique. L'activité racinaire dans les conditions hydromorphie-assèchement a profondément modifié la spéciation des métaux. Zn-ferrihydrite, une des formes majoritaires de Zn, a été complètement dissoute. La dissolution réductive de cet oxyhydroxyde de fer, favorisée par les conditions d'hydromorphie, a induit la lixiviation de Zn. Une partie de Zn solubilisé a coprécipité avec Fe en un autre oxyhydroxyde de fer zincifère moins soluble, Zn-goethite substituée, dans les conditions oxydantes et avec assistance des racines formant des plaques de goethite en défense contre l'excès de métaux dissous. De plus, les nouvelles particules de Zn métallique et ZnO ont été découvertes dans la rhizosphère, en faible quantité. L'oxydation de la matière organique a induit l'excès de Cu cationique toxique. En réponse au stress oxydant, ce cuivre a été biotransformé par les racines en association avec des mycorhizes en nanoparticules de Cu métallique, en quantité importante. Ce nouveau mode de biominéralisation peut être typique des plantes de milieux humides. Cette nouvelle voie de phytoremédiation implique principalement la phytolixiviation induisant la solubilisation des métaux et leur lixiviation et la phytotransformation, due pour une part à la phytodétoxication, conduisant la conversion des métaux toxiques en formes peu solubles.

<p>Numera Nette Wermeld Enström.</p>

No description available.

This thesis describes the principles of making application which is able to set and control camera. The first part describes basic camera connections and it explains definition and specification of camera’s features. The second part of my thesis describes implementation of application, which can use more cameras to image preview, image acquisition and to simply set of camera’s features. To implement the applications we can use MATLAB and C++BUILDER uses opencv libraries.

In my thesis, I focus on the task of recognizing human iris from an image.In the beginning, the work deals with a question of biometrics, its importance and basic concepts, which are necessary for use in following text. Subsequently process of human Iris detection is described together with theory of evolution algorithms. In the implementation part, is described the design of implemented solution, which uses evolution algorithms, where is emphasis on correct pupil and iris boundary detection.

No description available.

This dissertation examines how the trait of intelligence is portrayed in novels of twentieth-century Britain, and how this portrayal grapples with the quantitative revolution in the conception of intelligence, brought on by the invention of IQ testing in the 1900s. I trace the construction of characters’ intelligence across different genres, starting with Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, through the modernist Bildungsromane of Henry James, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf, to Iris Murdoch’s realism, and finally to Lee Child’s late twentieth- century serial thrillers featuring Jack Reacher. I posit that the IQ model of intelligence as abstracted, quantified, and statistically measurable is profoundly at odds with the novelistic investment in the unique individual subject. This project traces the narratological strategies of characterization through which intelligence—or cleverness, or smartness, or brightness—are conveyed to the reader. Novels, generally speaking, do not provide the IQ scores of their characters; and though we might occasionally encounter an explicit narratorial characterization of some fictional being or other as “remarkably clever,” most often we must rely on perceptions of behavior, speech, and thought in order to assess characters’ intelligence, much as we do in real life. As the psychometric paradigm gained prominence in the psychological circles in the United States, England, and Europe, and as more people were exposed—and subjected—to intelligence testing, its values and assumptions gained more cultural traction. Attributes like mathematical facility, logical and systemic thinking, or a large vocabulary, are likely to yield a high score on an IQ test, as well as a favorable judgment in an informal, casual assessment, such as that of a date or a new acquaintance at a party. This dissertation, therefore, explores how this permeation of the psychometric paradigm into general culture affect the novelistic construction of smartness. Ultimately, I argue that against the IQ model, the novels I am reading construct a conception of intelligence as a coherent set of cognitive abilities, remarkably consistent across genres, which overlaps, yet reconfigures, the priorities and epistemological frameworks of psychometrics. This model centers on the notion of observation, i.e., a mix of sensory susceptibility to impressions and the cognitive skill of taking notice of the world and of other people. It is both anchored to the body by connoting a sensory experience, and divorced from it in conveying a more purely cognitive process, one of directing attention and processing information, thus renegotiating psychometric assumptions regarding embodiment and sensory experience—as well as the relationship between the individual’s intelligence, the world, and the minds of others.

Identifying mechanisms that determine who lives and dies is the first step in developing successful restoration techniques for rare species and endangered habitats. We studied interactions that affect establishment of native plant forbs of conservation concern at the seedling stage to support the theoretical basis for restoration activities in Pacific Northwest prairies. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that seedling establishment is controlled by 1) competition with or 2) facilitation by existing vegetation and that the interaction is mediated in part by environmental stress. We direct-seeded or planted vegetative plugs of Lupinus oreganus, Castilleja levisecta, Erigeron decumbens, Iris tenax and Sidalcea malviflora ssp. virgata into 20 plots with a range of community compositions in high-stress upland prairies at each of three sites. We counted seedlings and estimated cover of plant functional groups as well as litter, bare soil and disturbance then used linear regression to test for effects of these factors on seedling establishment. We found evidence of indirect facilitation of grass on seedling establishment in the first year: higher accumulations of leaf litter increased seedling numbers at two sites. In the second year, there was evidence of facilitation by live vegetation and litter on seedlings at one site, but no net effect of either competition or facilitation at the other two sites. Overall, we found more evidence for positive interactions than we did for competition. In particular, litter appeared to have a positive effect on seedling establishment of L. oreganus and S. malviflora ssp. virgata. This is contrary to the common perception that litter inhibits plant establishment but supports the theory that facilitation is more common in high stress sites; practitioners should consider seeding into leaf litter at some sites. To support a robust approach to conservation and reintroduction of species with dormant seed, we characterized dormancy types and developed germination protocols for S. malviflora ssp. virgata and I. tenax. S. malviflora ssp. virgata has physical dormancy and may have physiological dormancy. Scarification followed by four weeks of cold moist stratification was effective in initiating germination. I. tenax has morphophysiological dormancy which is overcome by four weeks of warm moist stratification followed by 6-12 weeks of cold stratification. We also conducted a meta-analysis of experiments that tested pre-sowing seed scarification of L. oreganus and conclude that breaking physical dormancy prior to direct seeding does not support higher establishment relative to unscarified seeds in this species. / Graduation date: 2012