A cellular technique utilizing spread-spectrum signals is proposed for personal communication systems and some of the requirements for the system are analyzed. Specific items that are discussed include bandwidth requirements, number of unique addresses, limits on the number of active users, power requirements, signal penetration and self-regulating features. It is believed that this approach to personal communications offers many advantages such as greater user density, overload capability, privacy and priority service. Furthermore, the proposed system is considered to be technologically feasible.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta. Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Alberta, 2003. Includes bibliographical references.

The remains of raised fields found throughout various regions of the Americas are a remarkable tribute to the farming and engineering skills of the prehispanic inhabitants of these areas. Raised field agriculture enabled dense populations to exist under environmental conditions that are today considered to be marginal for agricultural production. This dissertation focuses on the evolutionary history and ecology of raised field agriculture in the Lake Titioaca Basin of Peru. Raised field origins, their relationship to population, and the social organization and labor necessary for their construction and maintenance are addressed. Specific issues regarding 1) the process of intensification of agriculture and agricultural change and 2) the relationship between social organization and intensive agricultural systems are investigated. The results of archaeological survey, excavation and experimentation conducted between 1981 and 1986 indicate that 1) raised field agriculture appears relatively early; 2) raised field agriculture, although intensive in terms of cropping frequency and high production rates, is not necessarily labor intensive; 3) long-term sustained yields relative to low total labor input make this a very efficient agricultural system; and 4) the construction and management of raised fields are well within the means of individual farming families and locally organized social groups, and do not necessarily require the mechanisms of a centralized bureaucracy to ensure their use and functioning. Thermoluminescence dates from ceramics within raised fields provided critical data of construction and use periods of the agricultural system. Two phases were defined by the excavations. Phase I began sometime before 1000 B.C. and lasted until A.D. 400, and was associated with the early farming cultures in the basin and the later Pukara culture. Phase II began ca. A.D. 1000 and lasted until ca. A.D. 1450, and was associated with the Late Intermediate Aymara Kingdoms of the zone. It is argued that raised field agriculture developed early as a outgrowth of a wetland-oriented economy similar to that practiced by the ethnic group referred to in the colonial and ethnographic literature as "Uru." This economy provided a stable and rich base for early sedentary occupation of the lake shallows and a preadaptation for early raised field farming.

A study of Tlingit kinship and marriage patterns. The flexibility of this system allowed for the qualified leaders to step forward. Concurrently, this study indicates that some Northwest Coast groups may be oscillating chiefdoms.

ABSTRACT Perspectives on Learning: Information Theory and the Sciences of Complexity Stephen Pite The sciences of complex adaptive systems describe a universe of variability and transformation. The centrality of the role of information, information exchange, and information management across networks of nonlinear interaction provides a key to understanding the regularities of dynamic change in these systems. Drawing from contemporary theory in biology and physics, the role of information in the networked structures of complex adaptive systems points towards a common source for the patterns of transformation in complex systems. This model of networked interactions offers an opportunity to examine similarities of learning behaviors in natural and cultural systems, challenging developmentalist paradigms. The sciences of complexity suggest new approaches to formal educational practices. They pose challenges to mechanistic approaches to learning strategies. The research program proposed in this thesis offers an alternative perspective from which to observe and assess complex adaptive behaviors in formal learning practices.

This study explores indigenous language revitalization among adolescents in a Puebloan community through examination of the patterns of language interaction in which young people participate, both in their homes and in a formal youth program. The study reveals that despite expressed desires by both adults and young people for broader use of the community language, English dominates in inter-generational interaction. When attempts are made to use the local language, repairs in English (through code-switching) limit opportunities for adolescent community language learning. The net results include decreasing use of culturally important kinship terms, names, and relations, and the potential ending of ceremonial practices. The community has initiated efforts to reverse the accelerating drift toward English, and these are also detailed. Particular attention is given to local learning theories, the re-introduction of traditional practices and beliefs, and the various components of a youth program developed to meet the expressed desires of local adolescents, including greater exposure to community language, history, and culture. Ridicule and teasing, peer-pressure, and the formation of identities emerge across all domains as core components for understanding the complex nature of adolescent second language learning in the context of language revitalization. It is argued that in order to study and reflect on this complexity, it is useful to embrace a new paradigm of thought: complexity/chaos theory, and its applicability to language revitalization is demonstrated through discussion of the reported findings. Finally, the study demonstrates that there are benefits to focusing research not only locally, but also on multiple broader levels. The findings reinforce the value of looking not only at the individual second language learner and his or her immediate setting, but also at the speakers of the target language with whom the learner interacts, the multiple layers of social settings in which interaction takes place, the local attitudes towards learning and language, and the attitudes of the broader society toward minority groups, diverse ways of living, and multilingualism. It is in this last area where academia can make its most important contribution if the detrimental societal practices of the past are to be avoided in the future.