Military Presence around and beyond the Base Area

The C3 bathhouse, in the heart of the old lower town, the grandest Roman bath in Dura, was not originally envisaged to form part of the present project as it lay well outside the area previously recognized as forming the Roman military base. However, it has long been thought that this bath, and the similar facility M7 at the other end of Main St near the Palmyrene Gate, were constructed by the soldiers. In the case of the C3 bathhouse it also became apparent post-2010 that the zone taken over by the military extended all the way into the adjacent block B2, while the S frontage of B4 opposite the bath on Lower Main St may well have been the edge of the unified military base. Consequently, had it been possible to conduct further fieldwork as projected for 2012, full re-survey of the C3 and (for completeness and comparison) M7 baths would have been undertaken. Circumstances prevented this; however, discussion of these facilities is still necessary, especially as both were only summarily published. This review draws on a preliminary inspection undertaken in 2010, as well as archival material. It concludes that the C3 facility was significantly larger and grander even than already understood. Like the other bathhouses, the C3 facility was visible as an upstanding mound, and especially noticeable as the Ottoman road ran directly through it. The bath was partially excavated during the sixth season, and archival records are relatively good including a six-page typescript document, ‘Notes on Roman Bath in Block C3, excavated Jan.–Mar. 1933’, annotated ‘M. Crosby?’ There is also partial photographic coverage of the structure. The finds registers record 262 finds from the building, over 100 of them ascribed to specific rooms; however, few can now be specifically identified. Brown published a brief account of the bath, composed from ‘the notes of the excavator, Miss Margaret Crosby, carefully checked by personal observation of the author’ (PR 6, 95, n. 7). This, the only publication on the C3 facility, formed part of Brown’s comparative study of Dura’s bathhouses (PR 6, 95–104 and pl. IV, reproducing archive drawing Bath N.12; note on the mosaics and inscription 631: PR 6, 104–5; pls XVI.2–3; XXXIX.1–3).

An Efficient Hardware-Oriented Algorithm of Spatial Motion Vector Prediction for AVS HD Video Encoder

Motion Vector Prediction (MVP) plays an important role in improving coding efficiency in HEVC, H.264/AVC and AVS video coding standard. MVP is implemented by exploiting redundancy of adjacent-block optimal coding information under the constraint that MVP must be performed in a serial way. The constraint prevents parallel processing and MB pipeline based on LevelC+. In multi-stage pipeline, to some extent, adjacent-block best mode-decision information can hardly be obtained. In this paper, we propose a new hardware-oriented method to improve the coding performance at a cost of few hardware resources. When adjacent block is not available, spatial motion vector prediction (SMVP) for integer motion estimation (IME) and fraction motion estimation (FME) will take the IME best mode information and FME best mode information of left block as best information to derive PMV (Predicted Motion Vector) for current macro-block or block. Experimental results shows that the method we propose can achieve a better performance than the existing methods by 0.1db for the cases with intense movement and a non-degrading performance for flat cases.

Self-Embedding Watermarking with Content Restoration Capabilities

In this chapter, the authors give a survey about self-embedding watermarking, which enables not only detection of tampered regions but also recovering the damaged information. They introduce the pioneering method as well as the representative schemes, including adjacent-block detection, hierarchical detection and self-recovery, dual watermarks, reference sharing, and flexible self-recovery. The authors analyze the distinguishing features and loopholes by considering four key techniques, namely the secure block-mapping function, the unambiguous authentication, the reference information extraction, and the watermark embedding approaches. They make comparative studies on the above works and then outline further research directions and a conclusion.

Masking Technique to Enable Multiple Site Defect Analysis on a Microchip

As feature sizes are shrinking beyond 130nm, fresh subsets of failures are coming to light. Multiple site defect analysis with adjacent block comparisons and multiple site comparative nanoprobing have become mandatory for these extraordinary and non-visible defects. There are instances where inspection or analysis will be required at multiple sites over a wide area on a sample. Traditional mechanical deprocessing techniques do not allow us to maintain planarity over a relatively large area, typically tens of microns. This article presents a 'masking technique' that addresses the issue of 'adjusting' the level at several local sites on a microchip. This technique can be utilized at all deprocessing levels of defect analysis and comparative circuit analysis and is time, tools, and labor efficient. Additionally, it enables multiple site nanoprobing, a preferred and essential tool for electrical validation of non-visible failures at technologies 90nm and beyond.

Landscape and Building Design for Bushfire Areas

Shortlisted in TAFE Vocational Education category in the 2004 Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing. The devastation wreaked by bushfires on Australian homes and landscapes is an all too familiar scenario. Yet, why do we often see one house burn, whilst an apparently similar house on an adjacent block can endure? Research has shown that many factors affect the chances of a building surviving a bushfire. If you are designing landscapes and buildings in bushfire areas you need to be aware of these factors so that the chances of losses to life and property can be minimised. Landscape & Building Design for Bushfire Areas integrates the latest scientific knowledge about buildings and bushfires with a flexible design approach. The book contains two main sections: 1) Provides a clear description of what happens in a bushfire. It describes the environment in which bushfires occur, how a fire attacks, and how buildings are ignited and destroyed. 2) Sets out a practical design approach to the design of buildings and their immediate surroundings. It presents a range of options for designing the various elements of both landscapes and buildings in bushfire-prone areas. This book encourages design for bushfire to be included as a normal part of designing in bushfire-prone areas, rather than as an undesirable add-on. It will assist planning and building regulatory authorities to improve and administer regulatory requirements and guidelines.

European earwig phenology and effect of understorey management on population estimation

European earwigs (Forficula auricularia L) were sampled in a Canterbury apple orchard over two growing seasons using shelter traps comprised of corrugated cardboard rolls Adult activity peaked during December and January in both seasons while activity of nymphs peaked two weeks earlier Earwig counts were consistently higher in a block receiving herbicide treatments compared with an adjacent block receiving pea straw mulch Competition between the sampling unit and the surrounding peastraw habitat probably explains this effect Factors affecting the sampling method used are discussed and the need for an alternative sampling system that better reflects absolute abundance is concluded