On the spectrum of discrete-ordinates neutron transport problems

Over the last six decades, the discrete spectrum of the neutron transport operator has been widely studied. Important theoretical results can be found in the literature regarding the one-speed linear transport equation with anisotropic scattering. In this work, the discrete-ordinates (SN) transport problem with anisotropic scattering has been considered and the discrete spectrum results in multiplying media have been corroborated. The numerical results obtained for the dominant SN eigenvalues agreed with the ones for the analytic problem reported in the literature up to a triplet scattering order. A compact methodology to perform the spectral analysis to multigroup SN problems with high anisotropy order in the scattering and fission reactions is also presented in this paper.

The East and the West

This chapter reviews the cultural aspects of the East and the West. A wide range of differences between the East and the West is discussed in terms of the extrinsic and intrinsic differences. The extrinsic differences comprise architecture, the mode of clothing, everyday practices, and language and script, while the intrinsic differences consist of culture and value systems, attention and perception (holistic vs. analytic), problem solving (relation vs. categorization), and rhetorical structure (linear vs. roundabout). The locus of these differences is identified with respect to philosophical foundations and the characteristics of Eastern and Western cultures. The prevalent interpretations of the differences between the East and the West center on Diamond’s (1999) guns, germs, and steel, Nisbett’s (2003) geography of thought, and Logan’s (2004) alphabet effects. However, these interpretations cannot explain differences in ideologies, religious practices, and societal values among Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. Therefore, script relativity becomes a new interpretation of the engine behind the differences among the three East-Asian nations and between the East and the West.

Structured Analytic Techniques: Taxonomy and Technique Selection for Information and Intelligence Analysis Practitioners

The purpose of this article is to propose a new taxonomy and selection of structured analytictechniques for information and intelligence analysis practitioners. The presented taxonomyand selection of structured analytic techniques are based on the author’s experience in informationand intelligence analysis as well as in training analysts in the use of those techniques.The presented classification and selection of techniques have resulted from the author’sattempts to improve teaching and learning process of the analysts who were novice to structuredanalytic techniques. From the author’s experience, a well-constructed taxonomy aidsnovice analysts in understanding a purpose of used techniques and selecting the best-suitedtechnique for a given analytic problem. In the article the author will first offer definitions ofanalysis, analytic process and analytic spectrum. This will be followed by a review of the fourgeneral categories of analytic methods used in intelligence analysis. The author will furtherexplain the origins, concepts and characteristics of both structured analysis and structuredanalytic techniques. Next, structured analytic techniques will be discussed in the context ofthe Intelligence Cycle. Following this, the author will review several existing taxonomies ofstructured analytic techniques. The article will conclude with a taxonomy and a selection oftechniques for the information and intelligence analysis practitioners, based on a review ofthe literature augmented by the author’s professional experience.

In Search of Somatic Precursors of Spontaneous Insight

A considerable number of behavioral and neuroscientific studies on insight problem solving have revealed behavioral and neural correlates of the dynamic insight process; however, somatic correlates, particularly somatic precursors of creative insight, remain undetermined. To characterize the somatic precursor of spontaneous insight, 22 healthy volunteers were recruited to solve the compound remote associate (CRA) task in which a problem can be solved by either an insight or an analytic strategy. The participants’ peripheral nervous activities, particularly electrodermal and cardiovascular responses, were continuously monitored and separately measured. The results revealed a greater skin conductance magnitude for insight trials than for non-insight trials in the 4-s time span prior to problem solutions and two marginally significant correlations between pre-solution heart rate variability (HRV) and the solution time of insight trials. Our findings provide the first direct evidence that spontaneous insight in problem solving is a somatically peculiar process that is distinct from the stepwise process of analytic problem solving and can be represented by a special somatic precursor, which is a stronger pre-solution electrodermal activity and a correlation between problem solution time and certain HRV indicators such as the root mean square successive difference (RMSSD).

A Few (Skeptical) Notes on the Theoretical Ramifications of Genres in the Contemporary Public Space

This paper is a tentative attempt to identify some basic-level conceptual and theoretical problems underlying the mainstream genre theory, which adversely affect the analysis of rapidly evolving, complex and hybrid genres in the modern communicative space. Having discussed these problems, I go on to I argue that the space of contemporary public communication should be viewed as not only an “analytic problem”, but also/rather a domain whose explorations could potentially revise the existing principles of genre theory. In particular, I suggest such explorations should focus on the conception of (public communication) genres as (i) abstractions, (ii) activators and realizers of context, (iii) flexible macrostructures, (iv) social field entities, (v) assigners of interpersonal roles. Notwithstanding a possible advancement of genre theory resulting from this approach, I conclude that it is only a first and admittedly uncertain step in trying to establish a sound theoretical framework for communicative genres in the modern discourse space.

Fishing for Dog Food: Ethnographic and Ethnohistoric Insights on the Freshwater Reservoir in Northeastern North America

A review of current research reveals multiple lines of evidence suggesting that no single freshwater reservoir offset (FRO) correction can be applied to accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) ages obtained on carbonized food residue from cooking vessels. Systematically evaluating the regional presence, magnitude, and effects of a freshwater reservoir effect (FRE) is a demonstrably difficult analytic problem given the variation of ancient carbon reservoirs in both space and time within water bodies, and which should be performed in advance of AMS assays. In coastal and estuarine contexts,a prioripartitioning FRE from known marine reservoir effects (MRE) is also necessary to eliminate potential mixed effects. Likewise, any FRE varies based on the proportional mix of resources producing the residues and the ancient carbon uptake of those products. Processing techniques are a significant component of assessing potential FRE, and each pot/cooking vessel is therefore an independent context requiring analytic evaluation. In northeastern North America, there is little ethnohistoric/ethnographic evidence for fish boiling/stewing in ceramic cooking vessels; rather, fish were more often dried, smoked, or cooked for immediate consumption on open fires. Assays of fatty acids extracted from prehistoric vessel fabrics even on known fishing sites reveals no evidence for fish in the food mix. These observations suggest that the likelihoods of FRE in carbonized food residue in northeastern North America is therefore low, and that assays potentially suffering from FRO are minimal. In turn, this suggests that AMS ages from carbonized food residues are reliable unless analytically demonstrated otherwise for specific cases, and should take primacy over ages on other associated materials that have historically been employed for critical threshold chronological events.