杜威和桑代克教育科学观之争

杜威和桑代克的教育科学观存在着严重的分歧。回顾杜威和桑代克教育科学观的内容、个人实践与影响,可以发现,两位教育思想巨人的教育科学观争论主要集中在三个方面：第一,在对于实验学校的态度上,杜威认为实验学校是教育科学研究的重要组成部分,而桑代克则认为教育测量与统计才是教育科学的中心,实验学校是可有可无的一部分。这一事实反映了二人对于教育科学本质的不同认识,杜威认为教育科学乃是服务于教育实践的规范科学,而桑代克则认为教育科学是进行教育理论生产的实证科学;第二,在教育研究中对于民主理念的理解上,杜威反对一切形式化的等级结构,而桑代克则认为教育研究中的等级结构是教育学科制度化的必要手段;第三,在教育研究的范式选择上,杜威希望将教育学打造成一门标准的学术科系,一种体现自由学科精神的“复数教育学”。而桑代克则是实证主义研究取向的代表。他主张由大学专业学院中真正的科学家来主导教育知识的生产,并由这些职业科学家建立一种“单数教育学”。     

基于相关度和注意力聚焦的图像内容检索

基于内容的检索中对图像和视频帧的处理是以色彩、形状和纹理等为基本特征,这些特征在图像背景比较单一的情况下容易获得。一旦图像背景为色彩和纹理均很复杂的图像时,图像中目标的颜色和形状等特征就很难获得。若将从计算机视觉中引出的相关度和注意力聚焦两个概念用于从复杂背景图像中定位和选取最有关的信息,则能够有效地检索到最匹配的图像。本文通过对相关度和注意力聚焦两个概念的讨论,介绍了计算机视觉对基于内容检索的作用,尤其是在可视示例查询ＱＶＥ（ＱｕｅｒｙｂｙＶｉｓｕａｌＥｘａｍｐｌｅ）的情况下从大图像数据库中检索图像的情况     

多项检验与单项检验的OC函数的关系

在军械装备维修中,对于维修时间除了进行通常的单项检验外,有时还要进行多项检验,一般为双项检验,即检验两个指定时间的维修度是否符合规定的标准。讨论了这种多项检验的OC函数与所对应的两个单项检验的OC函数的关系。     

Global counterinsurgency and US army expansion: the case for recruiting foreign troops

Given the nature of global counterinsurgency operations, the demands of military expansion, and the need for cultural, linguistic, and regional expertise, the United States Army should evaluate the establishment of US-led foreign troop units for its evolving force structure. This article proposes the creation of an American foreign legion based upon the recruitment of US-led, ethnically homogeneous tribal force units to meet the grist mill of counterinsurgency operations. This structured approach would be more beneficial than the current reliance on a de facto American Foreign Legion, represented by private military contractors (PMCs), many of them comprised of foreigners. These PMCs carry a number of oversight, accountability, and legal risks not found in a fully integrated, and US-officered foreign legion. The British Brigade of Gurkhas, the South-West African Police Counter-Insurgency Unit (Koevoet), and the Kit Carson Scouts serve as relevant historical examples where foreign troops were used to supplement national manpower resources.     

Controlled warfare: how directed-energy weapons will enable the US Military to fight effectively in an urban environment while minimizing collateral damage

US military operations are increasingly conducted within urban environments and with these operations come the risk of increasing the number of civilian casualties and infrastructure damage. The use of non-lethal weaponry, such as directed-energy weapons, is one method for minimizing collateral damage. This method enables US military forces to effectively fight within urban environments through force escalation capabilities. Using a series of historical examples and future scenarios for urban warfare, this article highlights deficiencies affecting military capabilities in military urban operations, addresses the consequences of collateral damage, assesses the effectiveness of directed-energy weapons in military urban operations and encourages further funding, research and integration of non-lethal weaponry, such as directed-energy weapons, within the US military.     

Interpreting the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Interpreting the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, by Daniel H. Joyner. Oxford University Press, 2011. 192 pages, $100.     

Comprehensive Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: An Emerging International Norm?

ABSTRACT

There have been calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons from the day they were invented. Over the last fifteen years, some indications can be found that such calls have been getting louder, among them Barack Obama's famous 2009 speech in Prague. In this article, we investigate if support for a comprehensive norm that would prohibit development, possession, and use of nuclear weapons is really growing. To assess the current status of that norm, we use the model of a “norm life cycle,” developed by Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink. We then analyze 6,545 diplomatic statements from the review process of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as well as from the UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, covering the years 2000 to 2013. The evidence shows that a comprehensive prohibition can be considered an emerging international norm that finds growing support among states without nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon states alike. Only a core group of states invoke the norm consistently, however. This leads us to conclude that the “tipping point” of the life cycle, at which adherence to a new norm starts to spread rapidly, has yet to be reached.     

ZERO NUCLEAR WEAPONS

The current nuclear nonproliferation order is no longer sustainable. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) has weakened considerably over the years, with nuclear have-nots displaying increased dissatisfaction with the status quo. Meanwhile, demands for civilian nuclear technology have led to increased proliferation risks in the form of dual-use technologies. Arms control as we currently understand it—piecemeal treaties and agreements—is no longer sufficient to address the growing threat of proliferation and the frailty of the NPT. This article calls for a bolder nonproliferation agenda pursuing multilateral nuclear disarmament. Disarmament is, in fact, technologically achievable; a lack of political will stands as the only remaining roadblock to a world free of nuclear weapons. A better understanding of the technological feasibility of disarmament, as well as recognition of the diminishing strategic value of nuclear weapons, will help to erode this political reluctance.     

MAKING THE AGENDA STICK Lessons Learned From the 2007 NPT PrepCom

After the conclusion of the 2008 Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Nonproliferation Review interviewed Ambassador Yukiya Amano of Japan, who presided over the 2007 session of the PrepCom in Vienna. He provided valuable insights into his preparations for the PrepCom and shared his thoughts on some of the most pressing issues that confronted his chairmanship and the PrepCom as a whole. The interview also provides useful perspectives on the future of the strengthened review process.     

THE NUCLEAR WEAPON STATES

The nuclear weapon states (NWS) have different perspectives on the desirability and feasibility of a world without nuclear weapons. A review of each of the current nuclear doctrines, postures, and disarmament policies of the five NWS shows that there is a clear divide between them, with some showing relatively determined leadership (the United States and the United Kingdom) and others expressing skepticism, if not complete disinterest (France, Russia, and China). Nevertheless, the prospects for progress on disarmament by the NWS at the 2010 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons remain reasonably good. Yet complete success will require much time as well as sustained and applied efforts from the NWS, first and foremost to improve their performance as international security guarantors.