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Autonomy

Autonomy

Autonomy is the condition of something that does not depend on anything else.
- In politics, a self-governing city or region, e.g. Kurdistan, Kosovo or Hong Kong SAR (not necessarily as a result of formal secession), is autonomous. Autonomy is usually a pre-requisite to separation or secession, however, autonomy does not necessarily lead to separation. Autonomy is not independence.
- In Eastern Christianity, autonomy is the status of a hierarchical church whose head bishop is appointed by a higher-ranking bishop, often a patriarch, who has no other authority over the autonomous church. This status is one step short of autocephaly.
- In computing, an autonomous peripheral is one that can be used with the computer turned off. For example, some multifunction printer/copier/fax units can still make copies and send faxes without the computer being turned on.
- Autonomy Systems is a company and its computer software package which performs pattern recognition using a Bayesian algorithm.
- Within self-determination theory in psychology, autonomy refers to 'autonomy support versus control', "hypothesizing that autonomy-supportive social contexts tend to facilitate self-determined motivation, healthy development, and optimal functioning."
- In education but specifically when considering the learning process, autonomy has to do with the learner. Learner autonomy is viewed as an individual awareness of one's potentials and strategies to take better advantage of one's learning context.
- In mathematical analysis, an autonomous ordinary differential equation is one that is independent of time.

Dependency

Dependency has a number of meanings:
- In project management, a dependency is a link amongst a project's terminal elements.
- In computer science, dependency is a state in which one object uses a functionality of another object. This may cause changes on implementation of one object that can affect implementation of another object.
- In behavioural medicine, dependence describes a continuum of physical and psychological attachments related to the concept of addiction.
- Dependency theory is an economic worldview.
- A dependent area is a classification of territory.
- The Ross Dependency is an area of Antarctica claimed by New Zealand.
- Co-dependency is a behavioural condition.
- A chemical dependency is such a strong need for a substance that it becomes necessary to have this substance just to function properly.

Politics

Politics is the process by which decisions are made for a given society. The method of making decisions for groups varies, but the act of decision making is the key component that characterises politics. Although it is generally applied to governments, politics is also observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. Political science is the study of political behavior and examines the acquisition and application of power, i.e. the ability to impose one's will on another. One theorist, Harold Lasswell, has defined politics as "who gets what, when, and how." Another definition of 'politics' is: "how power is distributed within a group or system".

A natural state

In 1651, Thomas Hobbes published his most famous work, Leviathan, in which he proposed a model of early human development to justify the creation of human associations. Hobbes described an ideal state of nature wherein every person had equal right to every resource in nature and was free to use any means to acquire those resources. He noted that such an arrangement created a “war of all against all” (bellum omnium contra omnes). Further, he noted that men would enter into a social contract and would give up absolute rights for certain protections. While it appears that social cooperation and dominance hierarchies predate human societies, Hobbes’s model illustrates a rationale for the creation of societies (polities).

Early history

V.G. Childe describes the transformation of human society that took place around 6000 BCE as an urban revolution. Among the features of this new type of civilization were the institutionalization of social stratification, non-agricultural specialised crafts (including priests and lawyers), taxation, and writing. All of which require clusters of densely populated settlements - city-states. The word "Politics" is derived from the Greek word for city-state, "Polis". Corporate, religious, academic and every other polity, especially those constrained by limited resources, contain dominance hierarchy and therefore politics. Politics is most often studied in relation to the administration of governments. The oldest form of government was tribal organization. Rule by elders was supplanted by monarchy, and a system of Feudalism as an arrangement where a single family dominated the political affairs of a community. Monarchies have existed in one form or another for the past 5000 years of human history.

Definitions

- Power is the ability to impose one's will on another. It implies a capacity for force, i.e violence.
- Authority is the power to enforce laws, to exact obedience, to command, to determine, or to judge.
- Legitimacy is an attribute of government gained through the acquisition and application of power in accordance with recognized or accepted standards or principles.
- A government is the body that has the authority to make and enforce rules or laws.

Political power

Samuel Gompers’ often paraphrased maxim,"Reward your friends and punish your enemies," hints at two of the five types of power recognized by social psychologists: incentive power (the power to reward) and coercive power (the power to punish). Arguably the other three grow out of these two. Legitimate power, the power of the policeman or the referee, is the power given to an individual by a recognized authority to enforce standards of behavior. Legitimate power is similar to coercive power in that unacceptable behavior is punished by fine or penalty. Referent power is bestowed upon individuals by virtue of accomplishment or attitude. Fulfillment of the desire to feel similar to a celebrity or a hero is the reward for obedience. Expert power springs from education or experience. Following the lead of an experienced coach is often rewarded with success. Expert power is conditional to the circumstances. A brain surgeon is no help when your pipes are leaking.

Authority and legitimacy

Max Weber identified three sources of legitimacy for authority known as (tripartite classification of authority). He proposed three reasons why people followed the orders of those who gave them:

Traditional

Traditional authorities receive loyalty because they continue and support the preservation of existing values, the status quo. Traditional authority has the longest history. Patriarchal (and more rarely Matriarchal) societies gave rise to hereditary monarchies where authority was given to descendants of previous leaders. Followers submit to this authority because "we've always done it that way." Examples of traditional authoritarians include kings and queens.

Charismatic

Charismatic authority grows out of the personal charm or the strength of an individual personality (see cult of personality for the most extreme version). Charismatic regimes are often short lived, seldom outliving the charismatic figure that leads them. Examples include Hitler, Napoleon, and Mao.

Legal-rational

Legal-Rational authorities receive their ability to compel behavior by virtue of the office that they hold. It is the authority that demands obedience to the office rather than the office holder. Modern democracies are examples of legal-rational regimes.

References

GOMPERS,SAMUEL; “Men of Labor! Be Up and Doing,” editorial, American Federationist, May 1906, p. 319

Self-governance

Self-governance is an abstract concept that refers to several scales of organization. It may refer to personal conduct or family units but more commonly refers to larger scale activities, i.e. professions, industry bodies, religions and political units, up to and including autonomous regions and aboriginal peoples (or others within nation-states who enjoy some sovereign rights). See governance for a fuller definition, and discussion of non-profit organization and corporate governance. Generally when self-governance of nation-states is discussed, it is called national sovereignty - a concept important in international law. Self-governance of cities is urban autonomy, and the democratic governance of an ecoregion is bioregional democracy. These will not be covered in this article. This article focuses on the self-governance of professions, industries including unions, and formal or informal political units including ethnic or ethical 'nations' not defined by national borders, and of religious organizations, which have professional and political elements. There are many historical examples of such organizations or groups, and some, e.g. the Roman Catholic Church, the Freemasons, the Iroquois Confederacy, have histories going back centuries, including vast bodies of precedent and shared culture and knowledge. A means of self-governance usually comprises at least the following:
- an ethical code that outlines acceptable behavior within the unit or group, e.g. the Hippocratic Oath of doctors, the Ten Key Values of Green parties.
- some set of criteria whereby an outside legal code or political authority can be called in - unless the group itself opposes such authority, e.g. organized crime groups which are self-governing almost by definition.
- a means of ensuring that outside authority does not become involved unless and until these criteria are satisfied, usually a code of silence regarding the activities of insiders when conversing with outsiders.
- a process for registering and resolving grievances, e.g. medical malpractice, union procedures, and for achieving closure regarding them.
- the power to discipline its own members, ranging from fines and censure up to and including killing them, e.g. the Irish Republican Army, mafia or Tong groups, and militaries (see Uniform Code of Military Justice)
- a means of selecting or electing leaders, e.g. a voting system, gang wars, identification of divinely selected individuals (e.g. Dalai Lama discovery).
- a means of controlling parties, factions, tendencies or other sub-groups that seek to break away and form new entities that would compete with the group or organization that already exists. Some degree of consensus decision making is usually involved in any self-governance system, if only because individual members of the group may choose to violate the criteria for invoking outside authority, break the code of silence, or otherwise cause the group to lose its autonomy. For instance, any member of the mafia can, and many do, "rat" (inform) on their colleagues, gaining a new identity, e.g. via the FBI Witness protection program in the U.S.. Such betrayal ends the individuals' involvement in the group, and he can no longer access its unique social capital. However, he will remember the instructional capital and possibly be able to restart activities without the help of his former group. To curtail this possibility, most groups have very powerful means of coercion to prevent breakaway factions (or, in religions, "heresies") from competing directly with the old group.

Kosovo

Kosovo and Metohija (Serbian: Косово и Метохија / Kosovo i Metohija , Albanian: Kosovë / Kosova) , in English most often called just Kosovo, is a province of Serbia. It is the subject of an ongoing territorial dispute between Serbia and the province's majority ethnic Albanian population. It lies within Serbia's traditional borders inside the Serbian-Montenegrin federation, but since the Kosovo War it has been administered by UNMIK, as a United Nations protectorate. The KFOR force responsible for Kosovo's security consists of various European countries, within and outside NATO. Its Albanian population referred to the province as the Republic of Kosovo between 1990 and 1999 and declared it an independent state, though outside its borders, it was recognized only by Albania. The province's final status has yet to be determined; talks on this issue are scheduled for later in 2006.

Geography

2006 With an area of 10,887 km² and a population of over two million on the eve of the 1999 crisis, Kosovo borders Montenegro to the northwest, with the districts of Raška, Toplica, Jablanica and Pčinja in Central Serbia to the North and East; the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the south, and Albania to the southwest form the international boundries. The largest cities are Priština (Albanian: Prishtina), the capital, with estimated 500,000 inhabitants, and Prizren in the southwest with 120,000: five other towns have populations in excess of 50,000.

Geographical regions

Metohija, called Rrafshi i Dukagjinit ("Dukagjin plateau") by Albanians, is the large basin at the west of the province. The region includes the towns of Istok, Peć, Dečani, Đakovica, Orahovac, and Prizren. The second largest region is Kosovo, a basin around the Sitnica river containing the cities of Uroševac, Priština, Vučitrn, and Kosovska Mitrovica. Kosovo Polje (Kosovo Field) is just a small field which was the site of the Battle of Kosovo; when the communist government changed the name of the province to Kosovo in 1968, they also started pushing "Kosovo Polje" as the name of entire region. Part of Kosovo along the river Lab which contains the city of Podujevo is called Malo Kosovo (literally "Little Kosovo"). Just between the Metohija and Kosovo is the Drenica with the cities of Srbica and Klina and Mališevo. Around the river Binačka Morava is Binačko Pomoravlje. At the southmost tip of the province, along the border with Macedonia lie the Gora, Sredačka Župa and Sirinićka Župa.

Name

The province is best known as Kosovo - this name has been the most widely used by maps and gazetteers within Serbia and abroad. The alternative spelling Kossovo was frequently used until the early 20th century and before that, Cassovo or Cassua, an Italianisation of the name. The name Kosovo (pronounced "KO-so-vo" by Serbs, "ko-SO-vah" by Albanians) appears to have its roots in the Slavic word kos which means "blackbird". The root word is widely used as a toponym in Slavic countries and the historical German name for Kosovo Polje, Amselfeld, does indeed mean "field of the blackbird". The name "Kosovo" is itself used in other Slavic countries, appearing in Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Russia (see Kosovo (disambiguation)). Meanwhile, according to Ottoman-Turkish sources, Kosova is originally a Turkish name that means "Thrush field". In Turkish "ova" is field, and "kus" (read koosh) is "thrush". In old Turkish, the word for "thrush" was "kos" (kosh) and in some of the parts of the Ottoman Empire, it was even pronounced as kos. This doesn't explain prevalence of the name in Slavic countries. Kosova (pronounced "ko-SO-vah") is the Albanian spelling for the province. Albanians tend to use "Kosova" exclusively in preference to the Serbian name, which many of them reject as a symbol of Serbian dominance. It is also occasionally spelled as Kosovë; this is due to the fact that in Albanian, adding the definite article to a noun changes the ending of the word. The Albanian-populated areas of the province and Albania itself tend to use "Kosova" exclusively. "Kosovo" is used, again almost exclusively, in the Serb-populated north of the province and in the rest of the former Yugoslavia. The international community tries to steer a middle path by referring formally to "Kosovo/Kosova." In practice, however, the Serbian variant is still the most frequently used outside of Kosovo while the Albanian variant is widely used by "internationals" within the province. The use of the two alternative names is a highly sensitive political issue for both Serbs and Kosovo Albanians, who regard the use of the other side's name as being a denial of their own side's territorial rights. During the Kosovo War, United States President Bill Clinton was criticised for frequently using "Kosova" and appearing to pronounce "Kosovo" the Albanian way, putting the emphasis on the middle syllable rather than on the first syllable as in the Serbian pronunciation. This may, however, have been a simple mispronunciation. Metohija (alternatively spelled Metohia) derives from the Greek word μετόχια (metochia), a term which denotes church-owned land. Historically, the estates of the Serbian Orthodox Church were located principally in this region. The name does not indicate a modern administrative district. Albanians tend not to use the name and instead prefer to call it Rrafshi i Dukagjinit, the "Dukagjin plateau". Some Kosovo Albanians refer to Kosovo as Dardania, the name of the ancient Roman province which covered the territory of modern Kosovo and part of the Republic of Macedonia. Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova has been an enthusiastic backer of a "Dardanian" identity and his flag and presidential seal refer to this notional identity. However, it is not recognised by any international power and the name "Kosova" remains more widely used among the Albanian population.

Former official names

- Autonomous Kosovo-Metohijan Area (1945-1963)
- Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija (1963-1968)
- Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo (1968-1989)
- Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija (1989 - present)
- Kosovo was also called "Republic of Kosova" by the shadow Kosovo Albanian government between a 1990 declaration of independence and the Kosovo War in 1999.

Adjective form

The question of what to call the inhabitants of Kosovo collectively has also aroused some debate. They have been called variously "Kosovars", "Kosovans" and "Kosovians". The two words accepted by the Oxford English Dictionary are "Kosovar" (borrowed from Albanian), the most widely used variant in English, by a long way, and "Kosovan" (using the English rules for demonyms) much less used. "Kosovian" is considered a non-standard word and very little used at all. As Kosovo has no formal statehood, current international usage is to refer to Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians. Most of the Albanian-descended community in Kosovo would prefer the use of Kosovar or Kosovan because of the attendant political overtones, whilst the Serb minority continue to think of themselves as Serb or Serbian (from Kosovo).

Kosovo placenames

Most localities in Kosovo have distinct Serbian and Albanian placenames, nearly all very similar, some differing radically, Like that of Ferizaj, for example. It went from Ferizaj to Ferizovic and eventually changed into Uroševac. During the Serbian administration of 1912-1999, Kosovo localities were known internationally almost exclusively by their Serbian names. Since the United Nations took over administration of the province in June 1999, the administration and some international organisations have adopted a policy of treating both versions equally. For the sake of convenience, this article gives alternative placenames the first time a locality is mentioned, but will use the more familiar Serbian version thereafter. A useful list of Serbian and Albanian forms of Kosovo placenames is available [http://web.archive.org/web/
- /http%3A//www.osce.org/kosovo/documents/reports/hr/part1/p5app.htm here] from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, as the original page is missing.

Flag

The province never had an official flag of its own. The Albanian flag is used by the Albanian-dominated administration and the vast majority of Kosovo Albanians. Kosovo's president, Ibrahim Rugova, has proposed an alternative flag of "Dardania" based on the design of the Albanian flag, but even within Kosovo it is little used. The Serb-inhabited area of north Kosovo uses only the flag of Serbia, which is formally the flag of the whole of Serbia including Kosovo, although this usage is rejected by virtually all Kosovo Albanians. The United Nations administration in Kosovo intends to establish a new flag for the province, which will undoubtedly be very different from the two national communities' existing flags. The current flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina emerged from a similar process of national reconciliation.

History

See History of Kosovo.

Politics and international status

Kosovo's international status is anomalous in that although it is a Serbian province within the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, the actual administration is presently conducted by the United Nations with no involvement on the part of the Serbia government (under Security Council resolution 1244 of 10 June 1999; see [http://www.un.org/Docs/scres/1999/sc99.htm Security Council Resolutions 1999]). The government of the province is the responsibility of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Under the terms of the Kumanovo agreement and subsequent UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which ended the Kosovo War, security is provided by the Kosovo Force (KFOR), which is led by NATO and is answerable to UNMIK. UNMIK has so far established a provisional assembly, provisional government and the office of provisional president, which are legislative and executive bodies under UNMIK's control. Control of security, justice and external affairs are still under full UNMIK control. The Assembly of Kosovo was elected in November 2001 and again in 2004. Ibrahim Rugova was elected as president in March 2002. The seat of the assembly, government and president is in Prishtina/Pristina. So far, the parliament has enacted and UNMIK approved a constitutional framework, customs code, and two criminal codes. UNMIK is issuing travel documents which serve instead of passports in countries which are accepting to recognise them as such; UNMIK is also issuing identity cards and car plates, which again are valid only in countries which are accepting them as such. Kosovo's postal system is also usable only in countries which are accepting to recognise it as such (letters addressed to Kosovo only, or to Serbia and Montenegro have a chance of not arriving; the Universal Postal Union advises correspondents to use "Kosovo (UNMIK)" as the address [http://www.upu.int/post_code/en/countries/KOS.pdf]). UNMIK has also created a police force (the Kosovo Police Service) with employees from all ethnic communities (Albanian, Serbian, Roma, Bosniac, etc), but dominated by Kosovo Albanians. It also manages the province's railways and airline (Kosova Airlines). The airspace of the province is controlled by KFOR. UNMIK uses the United Nations flag. The Constitutional Framework enacted by the Kosovo assembly (with UNMIK approval) has adopted a policy of affirmative action in the assembly to ensure that the province's minorities are properly represented. Out of 120 seats, 10 are reserved for Serbs and another 10 for non-Albanian minorities, while the remaining 100 seats are elected through direct voting. Kosovo is still recognised internationally as a part of Serbia. Its final status has not yet been resolved, though talks on the subject are planned for later in 2005, and considerable difficulties lie ahead in reconciling the incompatible positions of the Albanian and non-Albanian sides. The Albanians reject Serbian sovereignty and demand seccesion from the country. On the other side, Serbia is opposed to yielding any of its territory and for historical and religious reasons continues to see the province as the heartland of Serbian culture. The international community is reluctant to see Kosovo become independent, as its independence without Belgrade's consent would violate international law (the principles of territorial integrity and noninterference in internal affairs). It could also potentially provide a precedent for the parallel Serb demands of secession for the Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina, re-igniting tension in that country. The Nato countries insisted on the republican borders as the only acceptable solution during the wars in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 90s, but this does not rule out that they might violate this principle in the case of Serbia and Montenegro. New Bi-Partisan Alliances such as the leading "Alliance for a New Kosovo" ([http://www.newkosovo.org/]) strongly advocate for a free multiethnic, open society and proclaim very valid arguments on an eloquent basis that justify the final status for Kosovo as an independent sovereign Kosovo in the best sense of the word as the only way forward for the benefit of regional stability in South-Eastern Europe. The Alliance for a New Kosovo has a very experienced and powerful Advisory Board consisting of highly skilled former top US Government and Military officials and statesmen such as Hon. Frank Carlucci, former Secretary of Defence (Ronald Reagan). Questions have also been raised about whether an independent Kosovo would be politically or economically viable, given the small size of the province and its feeble economy.

Currency

UNMIK declared the euro to be official currency of the province in 2001 in the course of implementing a currency reform. This was undertaken to replace the previous widespread use of the Deutschmark, which had become de facto currency even before the 1999 war. However, the Serbian dinar remains an official currency, though used principally in the Kosovo Serb enclaves; it is only used sporadically outside of them. Most trade is conducted using the euro, Kosovo's administration uses euro exclusively, and all commercial banks use the euro as the primary currency. Of other international currencies, the United States dollar and Swiss franc are the most widespread.

Demographics

Albanian nations now comprise an almost 90% majority of the population of the province. Their percentage as a proportion of the province's population has increased steadily over time as a result of a high birth rate, Albanian immigration and non-Albanian emigration. Many of the province's inhabitants became refugees during the war but most of the Albanian refugees quickly returned to their homes at its end. In the aftermath of the conflict, several hundred thousand non-Albanians, especially Serbs, Janjevs, and Romas, fled the province to escape renewed intercommunal violence. The non-Albanian population of Kosovo has continued to fall in recent years due to a combination of economic hardship and ethnic tension. According to the 2000 Living Standard Measurement Survey of the Statistical Office of Kosovo[http://www.sok-kosovo.org/pdf/population/Kosovo_population.pdf], Kosovo's total population is approximately 1,970,000 with the following ethnic proportions:
- 88% Albanians (1,733,600)
- 7% Serbs (173,900)
- 3% Bosniaks and Muslims (59,100)
- 2% Romas (39,400)
- 1% Turks (19,700) Intercommunal violence has further reduced the number of non-Albanians in Kosovo since this survey, and many of those who do remain now live in refugee camps or in heavily guarded villages. Kosovo had in 1991 census the highest natality rate in Europe. Compared to low natality rate in the rest of Serbia (Vojvodina having the lowest natality rate in Europe) if Kosovo stayed in Serbia, Kosovo Albanians would become the majority in Serbia by year 2030.

External links

- [http://kosovareport.blogspot.com Kosovareport] - A comprehensive blog in English with news from local, regional and international media
- [https://www.osce.org/documents/mik/1999/11/1620_en.pdf Human Rights in Kosovo: As Seen, As Told. Volume I, October 1998 - June 1999].
-
- [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/kosovo.html Kosovo maps from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection]
- [http://www.chmouel.com/geeklog/gallery/gallery_individual.php/mkosovo/ A collection of photos from Kosovo]
- [http://www.newkosovo.org/ Alliance for a New Kosovo, Washington D.C.]
- [http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=519 Ibrahim Rugova: Victory of the Passive Resistance?]

Pro-Albanian

- [http://www.kosovan.com Kosovan.com] A community based website with forums, information, chatroomss and flash games.
- [http://BalkanUpdate.blogspot.com Balkan Update]- A blog with news, analysis and the lates updates from Balkans
- [http://kosovareport.blogspot.com Kosovareport] - A comprehensive blog in English with news from local, regional and international media
- [http://www.kosovalive.com KosovaLive] - Independent news agency with some news in English
- [http://www.eciks.org Economic Initiative for Kosovo] - "...latest news, analysis and publications from the Kosovar economy"
- [http://www.rtklive.com RTK] - Kosova's public television (news in Albanian, Serbian, Turkish and Roma)
- [http://www.kosova.com Kosova Information Center] - LDK's news agency (Albanian only)
- [http://www.albanian.com/main/countries/kosova Albanian.com] - general information
- [http://www.alb-net.com/warcrimes-img/warcrimes.htm Kosovo Crisis Center] - Serbian Massacres of Albanians
- [http://www.kosovaelire.com/ Kosova e lirë] (Free Kosova) -- Material about Kosovars and Albanians in Albanian language.
- [http://beqiraj.com/kosova/de/ General information from Beqiraj.com] (in German)
- [http://beqiraj.com/kosova/al/ General information from Beqiraj.com] (in Albanian)
- [http://www.forumi.zeriyt.com Discussion Forum for Albanians from Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro] (English/Albanian)
- [http://www.alb-shkenca.org/images/stories/Why%20Independence.pdf Why Independence for Kosovo?] A summary of the case for an independent Kosova by two Prishtina intellectuals

Pro-Serb

- [http://www.kosovo.com/sk/history/kosovo_origins/default.htm Hugo Roth, Kosovo Origins]: a historian's comprehensive overview
- [http://opinionleaders.htmlplanet.com/koskosova.html What's in a Name? Kosova or Kosovo?] - Etymological analysis by J. P. Maher Ph. D. (Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, Northeastern Illinois University Chicago)
- [http://www.kosovo.com/ Kosovo.com] Serbian Orthodox Church's official website on Kosovo
- [http://BalkanUpdate.blogspot.com Balkan Update]- A blog with news, analysis and the lates updates from Balkans
- [http://www.rastko.org.yu/kosovo/crucified/default.htm Account of destroyed Serbian Orthodox churches in Kosovo and Metohija]
- [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/decani/ Kosovo Newsgroup archive]
- [http://www.kc.gov.yu/ Coordination Center of SCG and the Republic of Serbia for Kosovo]
- [http://www.srbija.sr.gov.yu/kosovo-metohija/ Serbian Government Kosovo-Metohija site]
- [http://www.tserkovnost.org/srbija/ Eastern Orthodox Resource Centre] Category:Disputed territories Category:United Nations ko:코소보 ja:コソボ

Special Administrative Region

:This article deals with the Special Administrative Regions set up by the People's Republic of China. For the historic special administrative region set up by the Republic of China when it administered the mainland, view this article. Not to be confused with Special Economic Zone. : For the administrative division of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, go here. A Special Administrative Region (SAR) (Simplified Chinese: 特别行政区; Traditional Chinese: 特別行政區; pinyin: tèbié xíngzhèngqū; Cantonese IPA: /tɐk⁶piːt⁶ hɐŋ⁴tsɪŋ³kʰɵy¹/; Jyutping: dak6bit6 hang4zing3keoi1; Yale: dahkbiht hàhngjingkeūi) is a political subdivision of the People's Republic of China. The PRC at present has two SARs, Hong Kong and Macau; each has a Chief Executive as head of government.

Current situation

Background

Article 31 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China authorizes the National People's Congress to create special administrative regions and to create a Basic Law which provides those regions with a high degree of autonomy, a separate political system and a capitalist economy under the principle of "one country, two systems" proposed by Deng Xiaoping.

High degree of autonomy

Currently, the two SARs of Hong Kong and Macau are responsible for all issues except acts of state like diplomatic relations and national defence: consequently, they have their own judiciaries and courts of final appeal, immigration policies, currencies and extradition processes. The pre-existing legal systems, namely common law in Hong Kong and Portuguese law in Macau, are preserved except consequential to establishment of courts of final appeal. With listed exceptions, national laws applying in the mainland do not apply in an SAR. These listed exceptions must involve diplomacy, national defence or something beyond the scope of the SAR's autonomy.

Suffrage in the National People's Congress

Like other administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong and Macau are represented in the National People's Congress, although suffrage is not well-defined and is not open to the general public. Interestingly their representation is not prescribed in the constitution of the PRC, unlike provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities and the military do. Before they became Special Administrative Regions, they had representation in the NPC through Guangdong Province, but had no representation to the legislature of the United Kingdom and Portugal. (Macau residents who are holders of Portuguese passports can vote in Portugal.)

External affairs

Special Administrative Regions are empowered to contract a wide range of agreements with other countries and territories such as mutual abolition of visa requirement, mutual legal aid, extradition, handling of double taxation and others. In diplomatic talks involving an SAR, the SAR concerned may send officials to be part of the delegation.

Defence and military

The People's Liberation Army is garrisoned in both the SARs. The garrison and its members must obey all SAR laws as well as national laws applicable to them. They do not participate in the governance of the SAR but the SAR may send for them in times of emergency such as natural disasters. According to the basic laws, defence is the responsibility of the Central People's Government. There is no law providing for enrolment of Hong Kong and Macau residents in the forces during ordinary times, and no Hong Kong and Macau residents are currently enroled.

Immigration and nationality

Each of the SARs issue passports on its own, only to its permanent residents who are concurrently nationals of the PRC, that is, PRC nationals satisfying one of the following conditions:
- born in the SAR;
- born anywhere while either parent was a permanent resident of the SAR;
- resided continuously for seven or more years in the SAR. Apart from affording the holder consular protection by the People's Republic of China, these passports also specify that the holder has right of abode in the issuing SAR. The National People's Congress has also put each SAR in charge of administering the PRC's Nationality Law in its respective realms, namely naturalisation, renunciation and restoration of PRC nationality and issuance of proof of nationality.

Offer to Taiwan

The People's Republic of China has offered Taiwan a similar status to that of a SAR if it accepts PRC sovereignty; however the Republic of China government on Taiwan refuses to accept the offer, and most polls indicate that only around 10 per cent of the electorate on the island support it. Unlike Hong Kong and Macau, the proposed Taiwan SAR would keep its own armed forces rather than receive a garrison. The promise of a high-degree of autonomy, as afforded to Hong Kong and Macau, among other things, is enshrined in the Anti-Secession Law of the People's Republic of China enacted in 2005. Proposal for Taiwan as a SAR: [http://www.china.org.cn/e-white/taiwan/10-4.htm]

Secession

Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or political entity. Typically there is a strong issue difference that drives the withdrawal. The word derives from the latin term secessio.

Political secessions

American Revolution

A proposed example of successful secession in the modern era is American Revolution by which the Thirteen Colonies separated from the British Crown. Some argue that this was a secession movement as opposed to a revolution. Revolutions seek to replace current governments or to seek independence from colonial rule, while secession movements seek to separate from current governments in which the party seeking separation already has a voice.

Confederate States of America

Other secession movements include the case of the Southern states of the United States seceding to form the Confederate States of America. Less dramatically, new U.S. states were commonly formed out of an older state as the United States grew, such as in the northeast (Maine created out of Massachusetts), the mid-Atlantic (Kentucky created out of Virginia) and then repeatedly in the western territories. The formation of such states are not typically considered secessionist because they were officially accepted by the parent state and the national government. During the American Civil War, West Virginia seceded from the state of Virginia (which had joined the Confederacy) and became the 35th state of the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the 1869 case Texas v. White that unilateral secession by a U.S. state was unconstitutional.

Local examples in the United States

Local examples of secession also exist, such as the attempt of Staten Island to break away from New York City in the late-1980s and early 1990s. San Fernando Valley recently lost a vote to separate from Los Angeles County but has seen an increased attention to its infrastructure needs. Several cities in Vermont including Killington are currently exploring a secession request to allow them to join New Hampshire over claims that they are not getting adequate return of state resources from their state tax contributions. There have been other modern secessionist movements to create new states. There was a short-lived effort to create a Jefferson State out of counties in southern Oregon and northern California in 1941, in part motivated by requests for better roads, but it was quickly shelved by the outbreak of World War II. Advocates in the upper peninsula of Michigan, with off and on intensity, have called for it to become a separate 51st state. A movement in Western Massachusetts, harkening back to Shays' Rebellion, seeks to secede from Massachusetts. There have been calls for formation of Cascadia in the Pacific Northwest. A less ambitious plan would create a new state from Washington east of the Cascade Mountains, along with northern Idaho, northwestern Montana, and possibly northeastern Oregon. It would be centered on Spokane, Washington (the largest city in the region), and called "Columbia" after the Columbia River. The Great Republic of Rough and Ready was a small, short-lived self-declared independent nation that existed in Nevada County in northern California in the United States in 1850. Founded in the town of Rough and Ready by miners largely as a protest against a recently-introduced tax on new mining claims and the prohibition of alcohol in Nevada County, it never achieved formal recognition of any government and was abolished after only three months. The incident has become part of the colorful folklore of the region. At the time of the "secession", the town was populated largely by miners from Wisconsin. The declaration of independence was sent to Washington, DC, but was lost along the way. The United States Congress never got official word that a small town in the newly-admitted State of California was seceding from both the state and the Union, and thus the U.S. government never had the opportunity to take formal action against the "secession." Had it achieved true independence, it would have become the world's smallest nation, with an area of only 0.75 square miles (1.9 km²). The citizens disbanded the Republic the following summer, supposedly when they realized to their dismay that they could not celebrate Independence Day on July 4, since they were no longer part of the United States. The history of the Republic is now celebrated annually in Nevada County on Secession Days during the second weekend of April. There are also web sites currently advocating a separate [http://www.newcaliforniarepublic.org California] nation, and independent nation of Hawaii as well as other [http://www.secessionist.us sections] of the United States. A humorous response to an alleged infringement of the Constitutional protection against unlawful search and seizure inspired the brief formation of the Conch Republic in the Florida Keys. Many articles after the 2004 Presidential election questioned whether the so-called "blue" and "red" states can continue to co-exist or ever reconcile or if they might be drifting toward irreparable policy differences and social conflict and possible future separation. Alternatively it is possible the political conflict may result in gradual diminution of the federal government- for lack of a true national consensus - and perhaps a greater emphasis on state rights to permit them to chart more of their own domestic agendas while maintaining the federal union for a more limited set of national actions than undertaken today and for international purposes.

Canada

In addition, Canada has had the chronic threat of the province of Quebec seceding in some fashion from the confederation. This has led to two referendums which voted repeatedly to defeat the move, but the possibility of another remains. See Secession of Quebec. There is also a growing Secessionist sentiment in the province of Alberta, see Alberta Separatism.

World of art

In the world of art, the term Sezession has been applied to withdrawals from official academies by artists seeking greater freedom to exhibit avant-garde or controversial work. Three such withdrawals occurred in the German-speaking world in the last years of the nineteenth century: the Vienna Secession and the Munich and Berlin Secessions.

External links

- [http://4.1911encyclopedia.org/S/SE/SECESSION.htm Secession - from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica]
- [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0844253.html Secession - from the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia]
- [http://www.jeffersonstate.com/ Website on short-lived effort to create Jefferson State on the U.S. west coast] Category:Ethics Category:Politics

Independence

:For other uses, see Independence (disambiguation) Independence is fully autonomous self-government of a nation or state by its residents and population, generally exercising sovereignty. The term independence is used in contrast to subjugation, which refers to a region as a "territory" —subject to the political and military control of an external government. The word is sometimes used in a weaker sense to contrast with hegemony, the indirect control of one nation by another, more powerful nation. Independence can be the initial status of an emerging nation (often filling a political void), but is often an emancipation from some dominating power. It can be argued that independence is a negative definition: the state of not being controlled by another power through colonialism or imperialism. Independence may be obtained by decolonization, or by separation or dismemberment. Although the last three can often coincide with it, they are not to be confused with revolution, which typically refers to the violent overthrow of a ruling authority. This sometimes only aims to redistribute power—with or without an element of emancipation, such as in democratization—within a state, which as such may remain unaltered. The Russian October Revolution, for example, was not intended to seek national independence; the United States Revolutionary War, however, was. Autonomy (in slight contrast) refers to a kind of independence which has been granted by an overseeing authority that itself still retains ultimate authority over that territory. A protectorate refers to an autonomous region that depends upon a larger government, for its protection as an autonomous region. The dates of established independence (or, to a lesser degree, the commencement of revolution), are typically celebrated as a national holiday known as an independence day. Sometimes, a state wishing to achieve independence from a dominating power will issue a declaration of independence, the most famous of which is the U.S. Declaration of Independence issued in 1776.

Article note

The dates of independence, as they have been ported into many articles from the CIA World Factbook are defined as follows: :For most countries, [the given date is that] when sovereignty was achieved...For the other countries, the date given may not represent "independence" in the strict sense, but rather some significant nationhood event such as the traditional founding date or the date of unification, federation, confederation, establishment, or fundamental change in the form of government, such as state succession. Category:Freedom ja:独立 th:เอกราช

Eastern Christianity

Eastern Christianity refers collectively to the Christian traditions which developed in Greece, the Balkans, the rest of Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, and the Middle East over several centuries of religious antiquity. Its division from Western Christianity has as much to do with culture, language, and politics as theology. A definitive date for the commencement of schism cannot be given (see East-West Schism), although conventionally, it is often stated that the Assyrian Church of the East became estranged from the "Great Church" of the Roman Empire in the years following the Council of Ephesus (431), Oriental Orthodoxy separated after the Council of Chalcedon (451), and the final split between the Churches of Rome and Constantinople occurred in 1054 (often called the Great Schism).

Families of churches

Eastern Christians have a shared tradition, but have also known division from one another over the centuries. Eastern Christianity can be described as comprising four families of churches.
- The Eastern Orthodox accept seven Ecumenical Councils as defining their faith tradition (though many regard the councils of 879-80 and 1341-1351 as being the Eighth and Ninth Ecumenical Councils). The church is divided along national lines, made up of 14 or 15 national autocephalous bodies. Smaller churches are autonomous, and have a mother church that is autocephalous. Barring small schismatic bodies, Eastern Orthodox are united in communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople, though unlike in the Roman Catholic Church, this is a looser connection rather than a top-down hierarchy (see primus inter pares).
- The Oriental Orthodox accept only three Ecumenical Councils, those of Nicea (AD 325), Constantinople (381), and Ephesus (431), especially rejecting the definitions of the Council of Chalcedon (451). Oriental Orthodoxy first developed on the eastern limit of the Byzantine Empire, particularly in Egypt and Syria, in reaction to Chalcedon. In those locations, there are also Eastern Patriarchs, but the rivalry between the two has largely vanished in the centuries since schism. There are autocephalous churches in full communion in Armenia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and India as well.
- The Assyrian Church of the East accepts only the Council of Nicaea and the First Council of Constantinople. Developing within the Persian Empire, further east, it rapidly took a different course from other Eastern Christians.
- The Eastern Catholic (or "Uniat[e]") family of churches are in communion with the Roman Catholic Church (of which Eastern Catholics form around 2%), but are rooted in the traditions of Eastern Christianity. For example, their priests need not be celibate, and their parish priests administer the sacrament of confirmation to newborn infants immediately after baptism, via the rite of chrismation; the infants are then administered Holy Communion. Many of these churches were originally part of one of the above families and are closely related to them by way of ethos and liturgical practice.
- In addition to these four mainstream branches, there are a number of much smaller groups which, like Protestants, are dissenters from the dominant tradition in their area, but are usually not referred to as Protestants because they lack historical ties to the Reformation, and usually lack a classically Protestant theology. Most of these are either part of the more traditional Old Believer movement, which arose from a schism with Russian Orthodoxy, or the more radical "Spiritual Christianity" movement. The latter includes a number of diverse "low-church" groups, from the Bible-centered Molokans to the self-mutilating Skoptsy. None of these groups are in communion with the mainstream churches listed above, aside from a few Old Believer parishes in communion with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (which is itself relatively isolated).

External links

- [http://www.melkite.org/eastern.htm Eastern Catholics] Information concerning Christians of eastern rites who are in communion with, and under the jurisdiction of, the Pope, the Bishop of Rome.
- [http://www.cnewa.org/ecc-bodypg.aspx?eccpageID=62&IndexView=toc The Armenian Catholic Church]
- [http://www.cired.org Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East]
- [http://www.goarch.org Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America].
- [http://sor.cua.edu Syriac Orthodox Resources] A compendium of information and links related to the Oriental Orthodox Communion.
- [http://www.orthodoxunity.org/ A site adovcating unity between Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christians.]
- [http://www.aramaicpeshitta.com/ Eastern Christian Bible Resources - contains Lamsa Bible and more] Category:Christian group structuring Category:Eastern Orthodoxy Category:Oriental Orthodoxy

Autocephaly

In hierarchical Christian churches, especially Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, autocephaly is the status of a hierarchical church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. When an ecumenical council or a high-ranking bishop, such as a patriarch or other primate, releases an ecclesiastical province from the authority of that bishop while the newly independent church remains in full communion with the hierarchy to which it then ceases to belong, the council or primate is granting autocephaly. For example, the Cypriot Orthodox Church was granted autocephaly by the Council of Ephesus and is ruled by the Archbishop of Cyprus, who is not subject to any higher ecclesiastical authority, although his church remains in full communion with the other Eastern Orthodox churches. Similarly, the Tewahedo Church of Ethiopia was granted autocephaly by the Coptic pope in 1950, and the Orthodox Church in America was granted autocephaly by the Patriarch of Moscow in 1970. (The Greek Orthodox Church in North America is not autocephalous, but is subject to the Patriarch of Constantinople, although many are seeking for it to become so.) While autocephalous does mean self-governing, it literally means "self-headed". Kephalos means "head" in Greek. Hence, autocephalous denotes self-headed, or a head unto itself, while autonomous literally means "self-legislated", or a law unto itself. Nomos is the Greek for "law'. One step short of autocephaly is autonomy. A church that is autonomous has its highest-ranking bishop, such as an archbishop or metropolitan, appointed by the patriarch of the parent church, but is self-governing in all other respects.

External link

- [http://www.orthodoxwiki.org/Autocephaly Autocephaly], an OrthodoxWiki article Category:Eastern Orthodoxy Category:Oriental Orthodoxy Category:Christian group structuring

Peripheral

:For an account of the words periphery and peripheral as they are used in biology, sociology, politics, computer hardware, and other fields, see the periphery disambiguation page. A peripheral is a type of computer hardware that is added to a host computer in order to expand its abilities. More specifically the term is used to describe those devices that are optional in nature, as opposed to hardware that is either demanded, or always required in principle. The term also tends to be applied to devices that are hooked up externally, typically through some form of computer bus like USB. Typical examples include joysticks, printers and scanners. Devices such as monitors and disk drives are not considered peripherals when they are not truly optional, and video capture cards are typically not referred to as peripheral because they are internal devices.

List of common peripherals

- Storage
- Removable (Writes/reads portable media)
- CD
- CD-ROM
- CD-RW
- CD-R
- DVD
- DVD-ROM
- DVD-RW
- DVD-R
- USB flash drive
- Tape drive
- Floppy disk
- Punch card
- Internal
- Hard disk
- RAM
- Disk array controller
- Input
- Manual
- Keyboard
- Pointing devices
- Mouse
- Trackball
- Joystick
- Touch screen
- Joypad
- Image scanner
- Computer terminal
- Computer speech recognition
- Webcam
- Digitizing tablet
- Barcode reader
- Output
- Printing
- Plotter
- Printer
- Braille embosser
- Sound
- Computer speech synthesis
- Sound card
- Speakers
- Visual
- Graphics card
- Monitor
- Refreshable Braille display
- Networking
- Modem
- Network card

External link

- [http://dmoz.org/Computers/Hardware/Peripherals/ Peripherals category in dmoz] ja:周辺機器 Category:Embedded systems Category:Computer hardware

Autonomy Systems

Autonomy Systems Ltd. () is an enterprise software company based in Cambridge, United Kingdom and San Francisco, USA. It develops a variety of knowledge management applications using pattern recognition techniques. Autonomy's software is used by various large global corporations and public sector agencies, including Deutsche Bank, BBC, Frito-lay/Pepsico, NASA, T-Mobile, Hewlett Packard, Shell, Citigroup, Phillips, Vodafone, Department of Homeland Security, the SEC and the UK Houses of Parliament. Autonomy was founded in Cambridge, England in 1996 by Dr Michael Lynch as a spinoff from Cambridge Neurodynamics Ltd. Autonomy is currently listed on the London Stock Exchange. In June 2005, Autonomy acquired etalk, German company Global Linxs, and Virage, a software developer of Video search software.
- [http://www.autonomy.com/ Autonomy Systems] – official site Category:Software companies

Bayesian

Bayesian refers to probability and statistics -- either
- methods associated with the Reverend Thomas Bayes (ca. 1702–1761); or
- the degree-of-belief interpretation of probability, as opposed to frequency or proportion or propensity interpretations; or
- Bayes' theorem on conditional probability. The development has taken place after his death, and includes:
- Bayesian probability
- Bayesian inference
- Bayesian network
- Bayes factor
- Bayesian model comparison
- Bayesian filtering
- Empirical Bayes method
- Naive Bayes classifier
- Bayesian game

Learner autonomy

Learner autonomy has been the 'buzz' word in foreign language education in the past decades, especialy when talking about life-long learning skills. It has transformed old practices in the language classroom and has given origin to self access facilities around the world. Language teaching is now seen as language learning and it has placed the learner as the centre of our attention in language learning education. Many definitions have been given to the term, depending on the writer, the context and the level of debate, educators have come to. It has been considered as a personal human trait, as a political measure or as an educational move. This is due to the fact that autonomy is seen either (or both) as a means or as an end in education. Some of the most well known defintions in present literature are:
- 'Autonomy is the ability to take charge of one's own learning' (Henri Holec)
- 'Autonomy is essentially a matter of the learner's psychological relation to the process and content of learning' (David Little)
- 'Autonomy is a situation in which the learner is totally responsible for all the decisions concerned with his [or her] learning and the implementation of those decisions'.(Lesley Dickinson)
- 'Autonomy is a recognition of the rights of learners within educational systems'. (Phil Benson) Taken from Gardner and Miller, Establishing Self-Access from theory to practice. CUP (1999) One of the key aspects to consider in defining Learner Autonomy is whether we view it as a means to an end (learning a foreign language) or as an end in itself (making people autonomous learners). These two options do not exclude each other, both of them can be part of our views towards language learning or learning in general. Category:Education by subject

Ordinary differential equation

:ODE redirects here. For the real-time physics engine, see open dynamics engine. In mathematics, and particularly in analysis, an ordinary differential equation (or ODE) is an equation that involves the derivatives of an unknown function of one variable. A simple example of an ordinary differential equation is :

f' = f \,

, where

f \,

is an unknown function, and

f'\,

is its derivative. See differential calculus and integral calculus for basic calculus background. An ODE may be thought of as an equation depending on a single spatial variable. An ODE is called autonomous if it is time-independent, and nonautonomous otherwise. Important theorems in the field of ODEs include broad existence and uniqueness theorems and for ODEs in the plane, the Poincaré-Bendixson theorem.

Definition

Let y represent an unknown function of x, and let :

y', y

,\ \dots,\ y^ denote the derivatives : $\frac,\ \frac,\ \dots,\ \frac.$ An ordinary differential equation (ODE) is an equation involving : $x,\ y,\ y',\ y$ ,\ \dots . The order of a differential equation is the order n of the highest derivative that appears. If the highest derivative appears only in integer powers, then the degree of the equation is the highest power of the highest derivative. A solution of an ODE is a function y(x) whose derivatives satisfy the equation. Such a function is not guaranteed to exist and, if it does exist, is usually not unique. A general solution of an nth-order equation is a solution containing

n

arbitrary variables, corresponding to n constants of integration. A particular solution is derived from the general solution by setting the constants to particular values. A singular solution is a solution that can't be derived from the general solution. When a differential equation of order n has the form :

F\left(x, y', y

,\ \dots,\ y^\right) = 0 it is called an implicit differential equation whereas the form : $F\left(x, y', y$ ,\ \dots,\ y^\right) = y^ is called an explicit differential equation. A differential equation not depending on x is called autonomous, and one with no terms depending only on x is called homogeneous.

General application

An important special case is when the equations do not involve

x

. These differential equations may be represented as vector fields. This type of differential equation has the property that space can be divided into equivalence classes based on whether two points lie on the same solution curve. Since the laws of physics are believed not to change with time, the physical world is governed by such differential equations. (See also symplectic topology for abstract discussion.) In the case where the equations are linear, the original equation can be solved by breaking it down into smaller equations, solving those, and then adding the results back together. Unfortunately, many of the interesting differential equations are non-linear, which means that they cannot be broken down in this way. There are also a number of techniques for solving differential equations using a computer (see numerical ordinary differential equations). Ordinary differential equations are to be distinguished from partial differential equations where

y

is a function of several variables, and the differential equation involves partial derivatives.

Existence and nature of solutions

The problem of solving a differential equation is to find the function

y

whose derivatives satisfy the equation. For example, the differential equation :

y

+ y = 0 \, has the general solution : $y = A \cos + B \sin \,$ , where A, B are constants determined from boundary conditions. In general, an n-th order equation allows both $x$ and $y$ to be fixed, as well as all the $n-1$ lower order derivatives of $y$ ; the remaining equation can be solved (at least conceptionally) for $y^$ . If the equation has finite degree $d$ , then we now have a polynomial equation in $y^$ with at most $d$ roots. Therefore there can be as many as $d$ possible values for $y^$ at any given point and for any possible values of the lower order derivatives, though there may be ranges of these points and values where there are fewer solutions (or none at all). A Lipschitz condition must also be satisfied for a solution to exist. Thus, in the previous example, a second-order, first-degree equation, any point on the plane and any slope through that point can be selected and yield a unique solution (since the single root of $y$ exists for any value of

y

). Note in particular that there are an infinity of solutions through any given point; this is a general characteristic of equations of order higher than one. Lipschitz condition Consider now :

(y')^2 + xy' - y = 0 \,

with general solution :

y = Ax + A^2 \,

This is a first-order, second-degree equation, thus any point can have at most two solutions passing through it, corresponding to the two roots of

y'

in the quadratic equation that would result after fixing

x

and

y

. Studying the quadratic equation's discriminant (

x^2 + 4y

) leads to the conclusion that only a single solution exists along the parabola

y = - \frac x^2

(where the discriminant is zero) and that no solution exists below this parabola (where both roots are complex). The parabola in this problem is an example of a cusp locus; a curve along which two or more roots of the differential equation are identical. Along such a locus it is possible to move from one general solution to another while still obeying the differential equation; thus the presence of cusp loci introduce the possibility of singular solutions. In this example, the parabola

y = - \frac x^2

is such a singular solution; it satisfies the original differential equation, and a full set of solutions must include such possibilities as the hybrid solution:

y = \begin x + 1, & \mbox x < -2 \\ - \frac x^2, & \mbox -2 <= x < 2 \\ -x + 1, & \mbox x >= 2 \end

where the cusp locus has been used to connect two particular solutions; note that the first derivative (the only derivative to appear in the differential equation) is continuous at the transitions. ([http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/b/bib/bibperm?q1=abv5010.0001.001 Johnson], Chapter 5)

Types of differential equations with some history

The influence of geometry, physics, and astronomy, starting with Newton and Leibniz, and further manifested through the Bernoullis, Riccati, and Clairaut, but chiefly through d'Alembert and Euler, has been very marked, and especially on the theory of linear partial differential equations with constant coefficients.

Homogeneous linear ODEs with constant coefficients

The first method of integrating linear ordinary differential equations with constant coefficients is due to Euler, who realized that solutions have the form

e^

, for possibly-complex values of

z

. Thus :

\frac   + A_\frac   + \cdots + A_y = 0

has the form :

z^n e^ + A_1 z^ e^ + \cdots + A_n e^ = 0

so dividing by

e^

gives the nth-order polynomial :

F(z) = z^ + A_z^ + \cdots + A_n = 0

In short the terms :

\frac  \quad\quad(k = 1, 2, \cdots, n).

of the original differential equation are replaced by z^k. Solving the polynomial gives n values of z,

z_1, \dots,z_n

. Plugging those values into

e^

gives a basis for the solution; any linear combination of these

e^

will satisfy the differential equation. This equation F(z) = 0, is the "characteristic" equation considered later by Monge and Cauchy. If z is a (possibly not real) zero of F(z) of multiplicity m and $k\in\ \,$ then $y=x^ke^ \,$ is a solution of the ODE. These functions make up a basis of the ODE's solutions. If the A_i are real then real-valued solutions are preferable. Since the non-real z values will come in conjugate pairs, so will their corresponding ys; replace each pair with their linear combinations Re(y) and Im(y). A case that involves complex roots can be solved with the aid of Euler's formula.
- Example: Given $y$ -4y'+5y=0 \,. The characteristic equation is

z^2-4z+5=0 \,

which has zeroes 2+i and 2−i. Thus the solution basis

\

\ \,

. Now y is a solution iff

y=c_1y_1+c_2y_2 \,

for

c_1,c_2\in\mathbb C

. Because the coefficients are real,
- we are likely not interested in the complex solutions
- our basis elements are mutual conjugates The linear combinations :

u_1=\mbox(y_1)=\frac=e^\cos(x) \,

and :

u_2=\mbox(y_1)=\frac=e^\sin(x) \,

will give us a real basis in

\

Linear ODEs with constant coefficients

Suppose instead we face :

\frac   + A_\frac   + \cdots + A_y = f(x)

For later convenience, define the characteristic polynomial :

P(v)=v^n+A_1v^+\cdots+A_n

We find the solution basis

\

as in the homogeneous (f=0) case. We now seek a particular solution y_p by the variation of parameters method. Let the coefficients of the linear combination be functions of x: :

y_p=u_1y_1+u_2y_2+\cdots+u_ny_n

Using the "operator" notation

D=d/dx

and a broad-minded use of notation, the ODE in question is

P(D)y=f

; so :

f=P(D)y_p=P(D)(u_1y_1)+P(D)(u_2y_2)+\cdots+P(D)(u_ny_n)

With the constraints :

0=u'_1y_1+u'_2y_2+\cdots+u'_ny_n

0=u'_1y'_1+u'_2y'_2+\cdots+u'_ny'_n

:… :

0=u'_1y^_1+u'_2y^_2+\cdots+u'_ny^_n

the parameters commute out, with a little "dirt": :

f=u_1P(D)y_1+u_2P(D)y_2+\cdots+u_nP(D)y_n+u'_1y^_1+u'_2y^_2+\cdots+u'_ny^_n

But

P(D)y_j=0

, therefore :

f=u'_1y^_1+u'_2y^_2+\cdots+u'_ny^_n

This, with the constraints, gives a linear system in the

u'_j

. This much can always be solved; in fact, combining Cramer's rule with the Wronskian, :

u'_j=(-1)^f\frac

The rest is a matter of integrating

u'_j

. The particular solution is not unique;

y_p+c_1y_1+\cdots+c_ny_n

also satisfies the ODE for any set of constants c_j. See also variation of parameters. Example: Suppose

y

-4y'+5=sin(kx). We take the solution basis found above $\$ . : : : Using the list of integrals of exponential functions : : And so : (Notice that u₁ and u₂ had factors that canceled y₁ and y₂; that is typical.) For interest's sake, this ODE has a physical interpretation as a driven damped harmonic oscillator; y_p represents the steady state, and $c_1y_1+c_2y_2$ is the transient.
Linear ODEs with variable coefficient

Method of undetermined coefficients
The method of undetermined coefficients (MoUC), is useful in finding solution for $y_p$ . Given the ODE $P(D)y = f(x)$ , find another differential operator $A(D)$ such that $A(D)f(x) = 0$ . This operator is called the annihilator, and thus the method of undetermined coefficients is also known as the annihilator method. Applying $A(D)$ to both sides of the ODE gives an homogeneous ODE $\big(A(D)P(D)\big)y = 0$ for which we find a solution basis $\$ as before. Then the original nonhomogeneous ODE is used to construct a system of equations restricting the coefficients of the linear combinations to satisfy the ODE. Undetermined coefficients is not as general as variation of parameters in the sense that an annihilator does not always exist. Example: Given $y$ -4y'+5=\sin(kx),

P(D)=D^2-4D+5

. The simplest annihilator of

\sin(kx)

A(D)=D^2+k^2

. The zeros of

A(z)P(z)

are

\

, so the solution basis of

A(D)P(D)

\=\

. Setting

y=c_1y_1+c_2y_2+c_3y_3+c_4y_4

we find : giving the system :

i=(k^2+4ik-5)c_3+(-k^2+4ik+5)c_4

0=(k^2+4ik-5)c_3+(k^2-4ik-5)c_4

which has solutions :

c_3=\frac i

c_4=\frac i

giving the solution set :

Method of variation of parameters

As explained above, the general solution to a non-homogeneous, linear differential equation

y

(x) + p(x) y'(x) + q(x) y(x) = g(x) can be expressed as the sum of the general solution $y_h(x)$ to the corresponding homogenous, linear differential equation $y$ (x) + p(x) y'(x) + q(x) y(x) = 0 and any one solution

y_p(x)

y

(x) + p(x) y'(x) + q(x) y(x) = g(x). Like the method of undetermined coefficients, described above, the method of variation of parameters is a method for finding one solution to $y$ (x) + p(x) y'(x) + q(x) y(x) = g(x), having already found the general solution to

y

(x) + p(x) y'(x) + q(x) y(x) = 0. Unlike the method of undetermined coefficients, which fails except with certain specific forms of g(x), the method of variation of parameters will always work; however, it is significantly more difficult to use. For a second-order equation, the method of variation of parameters makes use of the following fact:
Fact
Let p(x), q(x), and g(x) be functions, and let $y_1(x)$ and $y_2(x)$ be solutions to the homogeneous, linear differential equation $y$ (x) + p(x) y'(x) + q(x) y(x) = 0. Further, let u(x) and v(x) be functions such that

u'(x) y_1(x) + v'(x) y_2(x) = 0

and

u'(x) y_1'(x) + v'(x) y_2'(x) = g(x)

for all x, and define

y_p(x) = u(x) y_1(x) + v(x) y_2(x)

. Then

y_p(x)

is a solution to the non-homogeneous, linear differential equation

y

(x) + p(x) y'(x) + q(x) y(x) = g(x).
Proof
$y_p(x) = u(x) y_1(x) + v(x) y_2(x)$ $y_p$ (x) + p(x) y'_p(x) + q(x) y_p(x) = g(x) + u(x) y_1(x) + v(x) y_2(x) + p(x) u(x) y_1'(x) + p(x) v(x) y_2'(x) + q(x) u(x) y_1(x) + q(x) v(x) y_2(x) $= g(x) + u(x) (y_1$ (x) + p(x) y_1'(x) + q(x) y_1(x)) + v(x) (y_2(x) + p(x) y_2'(x) + q(x) y_2(x)) = g(x) + 0 + 0 = g(x)
Usage
To solve the second-order, non-homogeneous, linear differential equation $y$ (x) + p(x) y'(x) + q(x) y(x) = g(x) using the method of variation of parameters, use the following steps: #Find the general solution to the corresponding homogeneous equation $y$ (x) + p(x) y'(x) + q(x) y(x) = 0. Specifically, find two linearly independent solutions $y_1(x)$ and $y_2(x)$ . #Since $y_1(x)$ and $y_2(x)$ are linearly independent solutions, their Wronskian $y_1(x) y_2'(x) - y_1'(x) y_2(x)$ is nonzero, so we can compute $-(g(x) y_2(x))/()$ and $()/()$ . If the former is equal to u(x) and the latter to v(x), then u and v satisfy the two constraints given above: that $u'(x) y_1(x) + v'(x) y_2(x) = 0$ and that $u'(x) y_1'(x) + v'(x) y_2'(x) = g(x)$ . We can tell this after multiplying by the denominator and comparing coefficients. #Integrate $-(g(x) y_2(x))/()$ and $()/()$ to obtain u(x) and v(x), respectively. (Note that we only need one choice of u and v, so there is no need for constants of integration.) #Compute $y_p(x) = u(x) y_1(x) + v(x) y_2(x)$ . The function $y_p$ is one solution of $y$ (x) + p(x) y'(x) + q(x) y(x) = g(x). #The general solution is $c_1 y_1(x) + c_2 y_2(x) + y_p(x)$ , where $c_1$ and $c_2$ are arbitrary constants.
Higher-order equations
The method of variation of parameters can also be used with higher-order equations. For example, if $y_1(x)$ , $y_2(x)$ , and $y_3(x)$ are linearly independent solutions to $y(x) + p(x) y$ (x) + q(x) y'(x) + r(x) y(x) = 0, then there exist functions u(x), v(x), and w(x) such that $u'(x) y_1(x) + v'(x) y_2(x) + w'(x) y_3(x) = 0$ , $u'(x) y_1'(x) + v'(x) y_2'(x) + w'(x) y_3'(x) = 0$ , and $u'(x) y_1$ (x) + v'(x) y_2(x) + w'(x) y_3(x) = g(x). Having found such functions (by solving algebraically for u(x), v(x), and w(x), then integrating each), we have $y_p(x) = u(x) y_1(x) + v(x) y_2(x) + w(x) y_3(x)$ , one solution to the equation $y(x) + p(x) y$ (x) + q(x) y'(x) + r(x) y(x) = g(x).
Example
Solve the previous example, $y$ + y = \sec x Recall $\sec x = \frac = f$ . From technique learned from 3.1, LHS has root of $r = \pm i$ that yield $y_c = C_1 \cos x + C_2 \sin x$ , (so $y_1 = \cos x$ , $y_2 = \sin x$ ) and its derivatives : $\left\$

Autonomous robot
Autonomous robots are robots which can perform desired tasks in unstructured environments without continuous human guidance. Many kinds of robots are autonomous to some degree. Different robots can be autonomous in different ways. A high degree of autonomy is particularly desirable in fields such as space exploration, where communication delays and interruptions are unavoidable. Some modern factory robots are "autonomous" within the strict confines of their direct environment. Maybe not every degree of freedom exists in their surrounding environment but the work place of the factory robot is challenging and can often be unpredictable or even chaotic. The exact orientation and position of the next object of work and (in the more advanced factories) even the type of object and the required task must be determined. This can vary unpredicatably (at least from the robot's point of view). From the start, factory robots have not been subject to continuous human guidance or necessarily any human guidance at all. One important area of robotics research is to enable the robot to cope with its environment whether this be on land, underwater, in the air, underground or in space. A fully autonomous robot in the real world has the ability to:
- Gain information about the environment.
- Work for months or years without human intervention.
- Travel from point A to point B, without human navigation assistance.
- Avoid situations that are harmful to people, property or itself
- Repair itself without outside assistance. A robot may also be able to learn autonomously. Autonomous learning includes the ability to:
- Learn or gain new capabilities without outside assistance.
- Adjust strategies based on the surroundings.
- Adapt to surroundings without outside assistance. Autonomous robots still require regular maintenance, as do other machines.
Examples of progress towards commercial autonomous robots

Self-maintenance
The first requirement for physical autonomy is the ability for a robot to take care of itself. The most basic self-maintenance is to find a docking station and recharge itself or swap its batteries as needed. Once this is accomplished, social robots can perform and interact without additional autonomous behaviors. Toy robots, for instance, are increasingly sophisticated socially: the most advanced example is Sony's Aibo range of robotic toy dogs, which are capable of self-docking. [http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994845 Honda performing robots] are now also available for rent, at costs "similar to those of hiring a rock star." Self maintenance is based on "proprioception", or sensing one's own status. Most robots have proprioceptive heat monitoring. Some robots can now sense whether they are level, wet, stuck, or otherwise in jeopardy. Proprioception was the focus of the DARPA Proceptor project, including participants from CMU, SRI, SAIC, ActivMedia Robotics and many other research groups trying to identify whether robotic vehicles were encountering a tree or lake they must circumnavigate vs. a bush or puddle they might pass over. Increased proprioception will be required for robots to work autonomously near people and in harsh environments.
Task performance
The next step in autonomous behavior is to actually perform a physical task. A new area showing commercial promise is domestic robots, with a flood of small vacuuming robots beginning with iRobot and Electrolux in 2002. While the level of intelligence is not high in these systems, they navigate over wide areas and pilot in tight situations around homes using contact and non-contact sensors. Both of these robots use proprietary algorithms to increase coverage over simple random bounce. Similarly, the Friendly Robotics lawn mower uses an RF perimeter wire, like a dog fence, as a virtual version of bump sensing. However, this mower uses sophisticated tiling algorithms to calculate the most effective pattern for cutting the entire lawn. The next level of autonomous task performance requires a robot to perform conditional tasks. For instance, MobileRobots' security robot can be programmed to detect intruders and respond in a particular way depending upon where the intruder is.
Indoor position sensing and navigation
For a robot to associate behaviors with a place (localization) requires it to know where it is and to be able to navigate point-to-point. Such navigation began with wire-guidance in the 1970's and progressed in the early 2000's to beacon-based triangulation. Current commercial robots autonomously navigate based on sensing natural features. The first commercial robots to achieve this were Pyxus' HelpMate hospital robot and the CyberMotion guard robot, both designed by robotics pioneers in the 1980's. These robots originally used manually created CAD floor plans, sonar sensing and wall-following variations to navigate buildings. The next generation, such as MobileRobots' PatrolBot and autonomous wheelchair, both introduced in 2004, have the ability to create their own laser-based maps of a building and to navigate open areas as well as corridors. Their control system changes its path on-the-fly if something blocks the way. Add the ability to control elevators and electronic doors, as SwissLog's and many other indoor bots do, and now robots can now freely navigate entire buildings. Autonomous stair-climbing, however, has not yet been achieved by any commercial bot. As these indoor techniques continue to develop, vacuuming robots will gain the ability to clean a