Search

Missional ethics is a relatively new and unexplored theme emerging within missiology. Thus far the meaning of the term, 'missional ethics,' has been assumed rather than explicitly defined. This thesis provides an exegetical definition of missional ethics arrived at by exploring key biblical texts relevant to the theme—Deuteronomy, the Major Prophets and Luke-Acts. A canonical, narratival, missional, and performative hermeneutic was employed in the exploration of the nature, content, purpose, and development of missional ethics within the biblical texts. The exegesis demonstrated that missional ethics is an inherently community based project with emphases in justice, charity, and worship. Within the wider missiological discussion, this definition provides challenges and proposals to contemporary theory and praxis. The most significant contribution of this thesis is the proposal of a definition of missional ethics as follows: Missional ethics refers to the ways in which the believing community's behaviour—in particular their love for God, and love for neighbour, expressed in the exercise of justice, charity, and worship—bears witness, in the imitatio Dei, to the nature and character of God before a watching world.

There is little doubt that anthropogenic climate change will have long lasting, unavoidable, large scale and cross sector effects. Having a clear understanding of the scale and rate of projected future changes, and the potential impacts of those changes at multiple spatial and temporal scales, will be important to allow environmental managers the best chance of adapting to changing conditions. There are particular concerns about impacts on freshwater systems due to the coupling of direct impacts to both hydrology and ecology. Expected changes can be grouped into three functional categories: those affecting physico-chemical (broadly water quality), hydromorphological (physical structure and habitat) and biological elements of the lake system. The Lake-Landscape Context framework provides a way of approaching the sensitivity or resilience of an individual lake to change by exploring the complex and multi-layered relations between water, land and human activity. However, the exact combination of strategies and actions available to environmental managers is yet to be comprehensively documented beyond broad principles. To reach this goal, to manage our ecosystems in the most comprehensive and responsible way, we need to have a clear understanding of what and where that resource is, what the conservation priorities currently are and where threats to these priorities are likely to emerge. Therefore, the overall aim of this thesis was to develop adaptation strategies to minimise climate change impacts on the conservation interests of Scotland’s standing freshwater. This was approached through the adoption of the ESVRA conceptual framework, intended to assist policymakers and practitioners in adaptation planning. Practical actions can be guided by working through the framework’s four key stages: understanding exposure to the pressure (external drivers); considering the sensitivity and resilience of the system at multiple scales (internal functions); exploring areas of vulnerability (a measure of sensitivity plus exposure); and consideration of multiple possible responses across spatial and temporal scales. Chapter 2 explores the lake resource making use of the latest geospatial data and GIS techniques to investigate Scottish standing freshwaters in depth. 5,165 Scottish lakes exhibit an outstanding myriad of forms and sizes ranging across the country. This variety of form, density and distribution contribute to habitats of international importance for numerous species. Perhaps because of this diversity, no natural grouping of lakes were found based on simple hydromorphological categorisations. The use of landscape and wildness ‘scoring’ is a novel geographic approach, which may be an important factor in how landscapes are valued in the future. Chapter 3 investigates the direct exposure to global climate change facing Scotland. Projected changes to global climate were downscaled to illustrate impact on the UK and Scotland using both the UKCP09 and HadGEM2-ES climate models. Climate change by the 2050s will impact the UK in the range 1.1°C to 2.7°C with a clear South-East/North-West gradient. Precipitation too is projected to change in the UK in this time, with annual precipitation varying from -65 to +116 mm/yr. By incorporating the climate model data into a GIS it was possible to further interrogate the results for specific locations, with a detailed water balance model created for all 5165 lakes. This model suggests that during the summer months there will be sustained periods of water scarcity and deficit. Finally, in this chapter, a climate change spatial risk assessment was undertaken, identifying 200 lakes in the area of greatest projected change. Leading on from these findings, Chapter 4 explores the vulnerability of Scotland’s standing freshwaters. A vulnerability framework attempts to place resilience as a key part of the model, which has to date been missing from similar assessments. The expert weighted scoring mechanism highlights 851 of Scotland’s standing freshwaters, geographically spread across the country, as being highly vulnerable to projected climate changes. The results were mapped to show the vulnerability across Scotland and a display system for individual lakes proposed that allows a transparent and coherent structure that can shed light on distinct components of vulnerability, so that each can be evaluated individually, and in combination. Finally, in Chapter 5, a multipart online survey with key stakeholder experts actively involved in freshwater environmental management was produced to approach adaptation strategies and actions themselves. Over 80 adaptation actions specifically applicable to Scotland’s standing freshwaters were collated and grouped into 12 adaptation strategies. All 12 strategies were considered desirable with six strategies considered ‘Definitely feasible’, a further four considered ‘Likely feasible’. This provides a framework of potential actions that could help to reduce system sensitivity by increasing adaptive capacity or system resilience. In conclusion, while there are undoubtedly challenges ahead for Scotland’s standing freshwaters and for those who manage them, there is clear opportunity to make proactive and engaged decisions to minimise the impact of climate changes on the conservation interest of these important habitats.

The emergence of a more visible and powerful judiciary in Mexico in the last 20 years fits a pattern seen in new democracies all over the world. Democratization and judicialization in post-authoritarian regimes seem to converge, at times acting as mutually reinforcing processes. As part of the strengthening of the courts, the role of judicial review of administrative action has expanded considerably and it has given them a bigger role determining the boundaries of the relationship between citizens and the administration. This thesis looks at one instance of judicialization of administrative law using judicial review of expropriation in Mexico as a case study. Mexico has had some form of constitutional review since the nineteenth century, but its role has been largely ignored because Mexico’s system of government for the most part of the twentieth century can be described as a dominant party system in which a single party governed for almost 70 years. The Mexican political system was somewhere in between a full authoritarian regime and a democracy. In this context, formal judicial independence was severely limited and it was assumed that the courts never challenged the executive branch and were completely subordinate. This research examines how the Supreme Court in Mexico decided cases in which owners challenged expropriation orders between 1917 and 2008 and it concludes that judicial review of administrative action in Mexico was stronger than what is generally presupposed and that this judicialization of administrative law is increasingly having some negative consequences.

This thesis describes the development and evaluation of a stochastic mortality model that is intended to support shared decision-making between health care professionals and patients; health care planning; and actuarial analysis for life insurance, health insurance and pensions. The model uses risk factors and cause of death to calculate all-cause mortality in a modularised Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach. This modularisation allows the substitution of different cause of death models and hazard ratios, enabling customisation, calibration to different populations, and further research. The cause-specific sub-models used in this evaluation incorporate a method of auto-calibration to different populations using baseline population mortality rates, risk factor distributions, and individual risk factor values. The model can investigate the impact of changing trends in risk factors and population mortality rates. Trends in lifestyle factors such as smoking cessation, medical interventions that adjust risk factors such as blood pressure or serum cholesterol reduction, or interventions that reduce mortality from specific causes, can be examined. Non-specific, observed trends like the select transition effect seen in life insurance portfolios, or cohort effects relating to year of birth, can also be applied. A thorough internal and external evaluation of the model is presented, including its performance in simulating three randomised controlled trials (two of the treatment of hypertension, and one of cholesterol reduction in subjects experiencing a cardiovascular event), as well as three simulations of historical prospective cohort data projected over at least 16 years. A demonstration of the application of the model in the assessment of the impact of changing trends in obesity rates in the UK over the next 50 years suggests that rising obesity makes a modest negative contribution to mortality improvement, but not enough to reverse current improvement rates.

The thesis examines British fiction of the 1990s, focusing on the `novel of history'. It contributes to the analysis of recent and contemporary British fiction, joining work by John Brannigan, Steven Connor, Peter Childs, Dominic Head, Rod Mengham, Nick Rennison and Alan Sinfield. Whilst these critics have written about the centrality of the historical novel, the significance of the Holocaust and its use in fictional narrative remains relatively under-theorised. Issues surrounding memory and representation and their relation to history are central to an understanding of how British 1990s Holocaust novels dramatise the events of the `real'. In this regard, the thesis contributes to the theory that the 1990s British novel often `looked backwards' over the waning century. Fiction attempting to represent the Holocaust has made a significant contribution to this `taking stock'. A number of issues arise surrounding the complex relationship between historical `event' and `imaginary' text. Given the extremity of the Holocaust and the persistence of it as a 'secular-sacred' discourse, such issues are further problematised. The central theme is how British writers in the 1990s, given their temporal, spatial and familial distance from the event, have negotiated the `limits of representation' inherent in the aesthetic apprehension of the Holocaust. The fiction under discussion is by Martin Amis, Justin Cartwright, Robert Harris, John King, Caryl Phillips, Michele Roberts, W. G. Sebald, Rachel Seiffert, Zadie Smith and D. M. Thomas. The `apocalyptic turn' that many have characterised as emblematic of the 1990s is interpreted as a turning back to an `apocalypse' that has already taken place. Tropes of fragmented temporality, absence and presence, the sublime, articulation and silence, trauma, atrocity and the inherent problems of retelling the past are interpreted in relation to each individual text. Recent writing on the representation of the Holocaust also informs the central arguments of the thesis. Work by Saul Friedlander, Geoffrey H. Hartman, Berel Lang, Dominick LeCapra, Daniel R. Schwarz and Sue Vice discuss both the enduring legacy of the Holocaust and the areas of contention surrounding the `speaking' of the event. Holocaust representation will thus provide a `bridge' between analysis of the historical novel since 1989 and theoretical work on imagining the `Final Solution'. The thesis title is taken from Sebald's Austerlitz and alludes to the theme of contemporary writers making imaginary and ethical `journeys' back to the `dark heart' of the century. It also suggests something of the impulse to remember and `serve witness' to a generation of survivors. In conclusion, the thesis argues that despite the hegemony of postmodern concepts of the `textuality' of history and the instability of narrative, the Holocaust embodies a fundamental challenge to cultural and political relativism. The novels embrace and argue back against postmodern literary strategies, and in doing so reveal how ethical and aesthetic issues of representation are profoundly `tested' in context of the Holocaust.

Time-Depth-Recorders (TDRs) and satellite transmitters were deployed onto five Green turtles, Chelonia mydas. The attachment of these devices was to examine their mid-water diving behaviour, as they travelled back to Ascension Island after being experimentally displaced. The functions of two types of mid-water dives were examined, by investigating their patterns of occurrence, profiles and relationship with the speed of travel. The high-resolution pressure information was then used to investigate the descent and ascent tactics during these two types of mid-water dives. Short-term variations in the rtes of vertical movement were shown to reflect behavioural adaptations to deal with changes in lung volume and buoyancy with depth. Satellite-Relay-Data-Loggers (SRDLs) were deployed onto four Green turtles in order to study their diving behaviour and movements during the inter-nesting period at Ascension Island. The data obtained from the SRDLs allowed the reconstruction of complete dive profiles. Swim speed (N = 1 turtle), depth utilisation and the role of U-shaped dives to the sea bed were reported. Lung volumes were modelled in order to estimate aerobic dive limits of turtles resting at different depths. The routine swimming depth of Green turtle hatchlings was estimated, by direct observation, during their swimming frenzy. In agreement with predictions on the optimisation of swimming depth with regards to wave drag, it was found that hatchlings tended to swim at about 3.5 times their body thickness below the surface. This behavioural adaptation was thought to increase survival rtes. Information on the temporal occurrence of Leatherback turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, in the Bay of Biscay (French Atlantic coast) was presented for the period 1979-2000. The seasonal distributions of strandings and sightings were reported. The results indicated that ecological requirements (such as presence/absence of foraging material) were probably major factors driving the seasonal patterns of Leatherback turtle occurrences in temperate waters.

This thesis will provide an assessment of the novels of Allan Massie in the light of his critical writing and the demonstration of his engagement with the works of Jean-Paul Sartre and Sir Walter Scott. Massie’s political opinions and the much-noted influence of Evelyn Waugh on his work have led to the assumption that Massie’s novels sit uncomfortably alongside the main currents of modern Scottish fiction. This thesis contends that the comparisons with Waugh have tended to obscure Massie’s metafictional technique and his employment of overt and implicit intertextual discourses with the works of both Sartre and Scott. This facet of Massie’s fictional oeuvre represents an engagement with European philosophy, political thought and literature from within a tradition of Scottish fiction which is part of an expansive post-modern European literary discourse. The engagement with French existentialism places Massie within a strong contemporary field of Scottish fiction alongside such authors as Spark, Kelman and McIlvanney. This thesis reveals Massie’s conviction that the cultural inheritance of Calvanist theology predisposes Scottish writers towards the discourse between free will and determinism which features so prominently within French existentialism. Massie’s novels infer the shared philosophical and cultural ground between Sartre and Scott. Massie’s engagement with Walter Scott elucidates his critical engagement with Sartre by revealing the role of the unconscious mind in the extent of freedom which the individual may possess, and exposing the propensity of Sartre’s thought to solipsism. The analysis of Massie’s novels reveals an interrogation of Sartrean existentialism as it is presented in Sartre’s philosophical, critical, dramatic and fictional works.

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study designed to describe the experience of HIV medication adherence using a mobile phone application. For the purpose of this qualitative study, nine semi-structured focus group discussions were conducted over a three-month period at an AIDS service organization in Central Texas. The data were analyzed following the principles of thematic analysis. During analysis, four themes were identified and relations between these themes were delineated to reflect the experiences of the 23 participants. Improving adherence to antiretroviral therapy is key in reducing the morbidity and mortality of HIV disease; and daily medication adherence may prevent the occurrence of the development of drug resistant mutant strains of HIV (Mbuagbaw et al., 2011). Adherence to ART may be complex secondary to person, behavioral, and treatment factors (Halkitis, Palamar, & Mukjerjee, 2008); and noncompliance to taking daily HIV medications may be considered a community health issue secondary to risk for viral transmission. The mobile phone application, Care4Today™ Mobile Health Manager, was the intervention tool; and collection of focus group discussion outcomes over a three-month period with baseline versus end-of-study data determined the feasibility and acceptability of this medication adherence intervention. The greater the intention to engage in a behavior, such as daily adherence to HIV medication regimes, the greater is the likelihood of its performance. The findings suggest that when individuals are offered the necessary resources, such as a mobile phone medication reminder application, they may have greater success in performing the behavior. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study analyses how institutional factors impact on processes of isomorphism in the design of regulatory regimes. It does so through a comparative examination of regulatory reform in the railway domain in Britain and Germany in three time periods, the post-First World War and the post-Second World War periods as well as the 1990s. It is argued that pressures for isomorphism, defined as the increasing homogenisation of a unit with other units in its policy environment, are exerted by several policy environments. These pressures can be distinguished in their degree of domain- and paradigm-orientation. Domain-orientation consists of regulatory change which is based on sector-specific sources, whereas paradigm-orientation involves the application of supposedly universal 'policy recipes' across policy domains. The study questions whether three institutional factors - the insulation of the regulatory space from coercive pressures, the insulation of the political-administrative nexus in the regulatory space and the insulation of the regulatory space from societal forces - can explain why in some cases reforms are domain-oriented, but, in other cases, reforms are paradigm-oriented. The comparative analysis of reform in British and German railway regulation provides three conclusions. First, in all cases, pressures for isomorphism emerging from different policy environments provided competing 'templates' for regulatory design ideas. Second, among the institutional factors, the insulation of the political-administrative nexus in the regulatory space was identified as the most important factor for explaining the orientation of the selected regulatory instruments. Third, in the light of the study's historical and institutional perspective, this thesis critically evaluates arguments proclaiming the emergence of a 'regulatory state' in contemporary Europe.

This thesis adapts and improves on the methods of TD(k) (Sutton 1988) that were successfully used for backgammon (Tesauro 1994) and applies them to other complex games that are less amenable to simple pattem-matching approaches. The games investigated are chess and shogi, both of which (unlike backgammon) require significant amounts of computational effort to be expended on search in order to achieve expert play. The improved methods are also tested in a non-game domain. In the chess domain, the adapted TD(k) method is shown to successfully learn the relative values of the pieces, and matches using these learnt piece values indicate that they perform at least as well as piece values widely quoted in elementary chess books. The adapted TD(X) method is also shown to work well in shogi, considered by many researchers to be the next challenge for computer game-playing, and for which there is no standardised set of piece values. An original method to automatically set and adjust the major control parameters used by TD(k) is presented. The main performance advantage comes from the learning rate adjustment, which is based on a new concept called temporal coherence. Experiments in both chess and a random-walk domain show that the temporal coherence algorithm produces both faster learning and more stable values than both human-chosen parameters and an earlier method for learning rate adjustment. The methods presented in this thesis allow programs to learn with as little input of external knowledge as possible, exploring the domain on their own rather than by being taught. Further experiments show that the method is capable of handling many hundreds of weights, and that it is not necessary to perform deep searches during the leaming phase in order to learn effective weights

In order to investigate the spatial variability in length and weight at age seen in Ammodytes marinus during the period 1974-1977 (Anon. 1978), samples of A. marinus were collected during 1991 from Shetland, Fair Isle, the Fisher Bank, the Skagerrak and Rona. The samples were collected from the five sites during July when the peak in summer growth rate would have passed and any spatial differences resulting would be most marked. Greatest differences in length, weight and total lipid content were found to exist between fish from Shetland and the Fisher Bank. At the Fisher Bank fish were significantly longer, heavier and contained more lipid than fish of the same age at Shetland. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was carried out on the 0 group and pooled 1 and 2+ group data. 82.5% (0-group) and 72.0% (1 and 2+ group) of the variance within the data was explained by the first two principal components. Plots of the scores of the first two principal components from the respective PCA's supported the spatial differences revealed in the analysis of the length, weight and lipid data. Sea temperatures and zooplankton biomass were suggested as factors influencing the spatial differences in size at age. Samples of A. marinus were also collected from Shetland and the Fisher Bank throughout the summer of 1991 to investigate differences in growth rate and lipid accumulation over a protracted period. Temporal differences in size at age could therefore be investigated. Over the four month study period fish of all age classes were found to be longer, heavier and containing more lipid at the Fisher Bank that at Shetland supporting the earlier analysis.

This thesis studies the development and outcomes of housing and social security policies designed to make rent affordable to tenants in Great Britain. The primary research questions are first. How has policy changed and Why. and, second. How much have these changes cost, and to whom. The period studied is between 1945 and 1986. Policy development is analyzed through historical examination of documentary archives and published sources. Three themes are used to explore the evolution of policy. First, the development of housing policy is approached by examining the changing priorities between the aims of making rent affordable, the constraint of public spending and of tenure preference. Second, social security policy is analyzed to establish the role of rent in selective and universal benefit strategies. Third, the role of central and local government relations is explored to establish whether the role of rents and subsidies has been one characterised by conflicting aims between these two levels of government. The outcomes of policy are analyzed through secondary analysis of published government data, and through computerised secondary analysis of Family Expenditure Survey machine-readable data. The changing household composition and incomes of rented households is analyzed and compared between tenures. Model rented households are compared over time to assess the changing value of means tested rent rebates. FES samples from 1971, 1976, 1981 and 1986 are examined to establish how the affordability of rent has changed according to three criteria. First, a comparison is made of rent as a proportion of net household incomes, both with and without means tested rent subsidies. Second, rent is compared to equivalent household net income, with an examination of those who pay high and low proportions of income on rent in the top and bottom quintiles of tenant income distribution. Third, disposable household income, having paid rent, is examined in relation to equivalent supplementary benefit levels. The last outcomes discussed are those associated with public expenditure. Spending on rent support is examined to establish its changing value in real terms. Explanations are examined for changing trends in spending, and the distribution of spending examined between programmes, between central and local government, and between local authority and private landlords.

Problem: Research suggests that multiple generations of students (predominantly Generation X and millennials) are concurrently enrolled in online classes and that the number of online students continues to grow. The problem investigated in this study was to identify the level of satisfaction as well as the preferences of students from Generation X and the millennial generation; the preferences include the reason for choosing online education and interaction preferences when engaged in online education. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to characterize the generational differences (Generation X and millennial generation) and preferences between online students. Specifically, the study focused on factors that led to the decision to enroll in online classes and the level of engagement and interaction for these groups within an online course. Additionally, the study focused on determining the level of satisfaction from each of the two generational groups. Methodology: This was a comparative descriptive study of both Generation X and millennial online students. Eighty-eight participants who were currently enrolled in a degree-granting online education program completed an online survey that measured their level of satisfaction and their preferences for enrolling in online classes. The survey also addressed similarities and differences between each of the two generations with respect to preferences and satisfaction. Findings: The data suggest millennial online students prefer and are satisfied with the level of interaction with their instructor, other students, and the learning community. On the other hand, Generation X online students are less satisfied with these same interaction types. Millennials are less satisfied with the speed of online education feedback and response when compared to their older classmates. Both generations are satisfied with the content and the ease of use of online education, including the opportunity to select the exact course content that is of interest to them. Conclusions: Both generations are satisfied with their online educational experience, but there are differences between preferences and the level of satisfaction of both generations studied. Recommendations: Although there are differences in expectations and the level of satisfaction, this study supports the need for continued research in the development of online curriculum and services that will be beneficial to all online learners. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Fine substrate sediments are considered to be important in the management of urban river systems. Urban construction activities have been reported to increase sediment loads causing the temporary siltation of channel substrates within the urban area. Nevertheless fine sediment derived from urban areas frequently carry toxic material well in excess of background concentration levels. While the soluble phase of heavy metals and the importance of their association with suspended sediment has received considerable attention, longer term studies of fine urban river-bed sediments are limited. Furthermore studies of heavy pollutants in active stream sediments, below mine waste tips, have shown the channel substrate can provide a long term store for heavy metals in association with fine sediments. This thesis investigates the variety of impacts that urbanisation has upon the sedimentation of gravel bed rivers. A freeze coring technique and infIltration baskets have been used to study the textural-geochemical properties of fme matrix sediment and its development within an urban river-bed framework, within and below a number of contrasting urban catchments in the U.K. Complex urban hydrological and sedimentological regimes are shown to have a variable influence upon matrix sedimentation. The actual volume of matrix present within the urbanised substrate is influenced by the degree of urbanisation within the catchment. Furthermore this sediment is finer in size and associated heavy metal concentrations are well in excess of natural background levels. Although heavy metal levels do correlate slightly with textural characteristics, the presence of maximum concentrations at depth in the substrate indicate possible mobilisation of metals within the urbanised river-bed. The temporal behaviour of matrix development within an urbanised substrate is shown to differ from natural river-beds. Despite high suspended sediment concentrations the magnitude of the potential rate of supply is lower, by 50 percent, and dominated by organic material. This sediment also contains elevated heavy metal cocnentrations. This contrasts to the inorganic sediment ingress of natural river substrates. It is concluded that fine matrix sediments within urban gravel bed rivers should be at least of concern to public health engineers, water authorities and conservationists.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate some aspects of Urdu examinations in Britain. The changeover from GCE to GCSE has required Urdu teachers and students to develop a broader range of skills. The goals of the Urdu-using community do not necessarily accord with the demands of the GCSE, which requires Urdu to be examined according to criteria determined for French. Chapter 1 discusses factors which affect the examination and distinguish Urdu from French: the students' bilingual background, teachers and teaching provision, the implications of the change in the examination system, the introduction of the National Curriculum and the notion of parity of status with 'Modern Languages'. Chapter 2 analyses the GCSE criteria and the Urdu syllabuses derived from them. Certain aspects of the GCSE are given special consideration, including writing standards, the oral examination, discrete-skill testing and the use of dual language papers. In view of the social priority accorded to writing by the Urdu-using community it was thought appropriate to investigate examination candidates' written performance. Chapter 3 discusses the rationale for the collection and analysis of the corpus analysed. Chapter 4 demonstrates the types and range of verbs and verb forms used by the candidates and relates them to the GCSE vocabulary and structure lists. Chapter 5 analyses errors with particular reference to the influence of Panjabi and the relationship between phonemes and graphemes and considers them from the standpoint of the GCSE assessment criteria. Chapter 6 contains an analysis of English words used in the Urdu compositions and of those included in the GCSE vocabularies. The final chapter summarises the findings of the research and suggests areas worthy of further investigation. Alternative examination formats are also suggested which may be more appropriate for Urdu than those prescribed. These include graded assessment, the introduction of national attainment targets and the development of a new post 16+ examination.

PART I: History of Typhus and Typhus-like Fevers in India, Burma and the Federated Malay States • Symptomatology • Serology • • PART II: Description of cases showing a positive Weil-Felix Reaction • • Commentary • Summary and conclusions • Tables • References.

The multi-centred carbonatitic complex of Homa Mountain consists of a central cone sheet complex intruded into a domed area of country rock, surrounded by further arcuate zones of intrusive activity. The earlier events included intrusion of a body of ijolite, as a series of discontinuous bodies probably connected at depth. Later events include at least five stages of carbonatite intrusion and also numerous carbonatitic breccias. Syenitic rocks formed by concentration of late stage material at the margins of the ijolite which deuterically altered the ijolite and metasomatised the country rock to fenite contemporaneously. Minerals formed at such contacts are low temperature, potash-rich, orthoclase and aegirine with apatite the chief minor constituent. A second style of fenitization is recognized involving net veining of more widespread areas of country rock away from ijolite contacts. This reaches its climax in arcuate zones of shearing and brecciation within the central high ground. Where there is evidence of partial melting of such fenites to iron oxide-bearing trachytes. Coarse feldspathic rocks also carrying iron oxides are present near ijolites and early carbonatites. The feldspar in these is very similar to that in the fenites. Metasomatism at Homa is believed to involve introduction of large amounts of juvenile potash only, much of the soda being derived by redistribution of that already present in the country rock. A period of erosion during which superficial, lacustrine and possibly pyroclastic deposits were laid down then occurred and the mountain reduced to near its present topography. Following this erosional interval small scale vents of breccia and melilite-bearing material were intruded. The melilitites show all stages of replacement by carbonate. The above later stages of activity occurred during Late Pliocene or Pleistocene time. They were accompanied by some phonolitic activity within the complex and more in the area to the east along an extension of the southern boundary fault of the Nyanza Rift.

(i) Intraspecific variation in leaf morphology and anatomy within Geranium sanguineum, Trollius europaeus and Ranunculus acris has been investigated against a background of the ecological (including edaphic), taxonomic, historical and cytological factors involved in the evolution of each species. Cultivated material, population samples and herbarium specimens have been used. (ii) Genotypically-determined ecoclinal variation in leaf dissection, leaf size, stomatal density and leaf thickness has been found. Leaf dissection increases from oceanic to continental habitats (G.sanguineum, R.acris), from high to low altitudes (T.europaeus, R.acris). Leaf size decreases from shaded to open habitats (G.sanguineum), and with increasing altitude and latitude (T.europaeus, R.acris). Leaf thickness and stomatal density increase from shaded to open habitats (G.sanguineum). (iii) Environmental modification ("reaction pattern") of leaf morphology in G.sanguineum parallels the genotypically-determined variation. (iv) Genotypically-determined variation in height and habit, phenology, pubescence and flower colour has also been investigated. With the exception of flower colour, the variation is shown to be ecologically correlated. (v) The adaptive significance of the observed ecotypic differentiation is discussed at length and compared with information from the fields of morphogenesis, physiognomic plant geography and physiology. Convergence or parallelism in leaf structure at the different evolutionary levels is considered as strongly suggestive of direct survival value. The possible role of genetic assimilation in ecotypic differentiation is discussed. (vi) Experimental evidence is presented which demonstrates the profound influence of leaf shape on the physiological processes of the plant. Gaseous exchange and heat transfer rates are much higher in small and/or narrow leaves. The ecological importance of this is discussed and the observed differentiation of leaf morphology is considered to be directly adaptive.

A brief survey is given of the progress made in the study and development of Q-switched lasers in recent years, and a review of the theory relevant to the work described, is outihed. A gain-switched giant pulse ruby laser system, employing two ruby rods of differing lengths in a single resonant cavity coupled with a rotating prism,has been developed. A systematic study of the output characteristics of this system under various conditions has been carried out. High resolution spectroscopy, including nanosecond time-resolution, of the emission of this laser, and also of a Pockels cell switched laser, has rendered possible the direct observation of the axial and off-axial mode structure, and has shown the existence of an intensity dependent frequency shift towards higher frequency in the giant pulses. When the two ruby rods in the gain-switched device are differentially cooled, simultaneous two frequency output pulses with powers in the tens of megawatt region are obtained, the wavelength separation of the two frequencies being tunable from 1 to 5.5Å. The suitability of this device for certain experiments in non-linear optics, such as the generation of the sum and difference frequencies in crystals, and nonlinear resonance mixing in plasmas, is considered. The two frequency output of the laser system has been mixed in ADP, to generate the sum frequency, and the conversion efficiency of the latter process compared with that of second harmonic generation.

Permanent magnets are used in many everyday devices to assist in the conversion of electronic energy into mechanical energy. Traditional manufacturing pathways are well established, however, they inherently suffer from long lead times and high costs for low volume production runs. A technique known as additive manufacturing (colloquially 3D printing) has been applied to many industries using a multitude of materials with success in reducing both product development times and cost for prototypes and low volume production runs. Due to this reported success, several additive manufacturing techniques have been investigated in order to rapidly produce magnets of custom geometries using isotropic magnetic material (specifically neodymium-iron-boron). Although some of these techniques have shown promise, many require pre-processing of the raw powders into a filament or fluid suspension, thus increasing the number of steps in the process. As permanent magnet raw material is commercially available in powdered form, it was hypothesised that a powder-based additive manufacturing technique known as selective laser sintering could be used to produce permanent magnets by mechanical alloying of magnetic powder with a powdered polymer binder. It was further hypothesised that by combining the use of high energy anisotropic magnetic powder with an in-situ alignment fixture, as used in the industrial manufacturing process, permanent magnets with higher performance than those produced using additive manufacturing from isotropic powders. Accordingly, there were three key aims in this research project: ii Additive Manufacturing of Bonded NdFeB Magnets by Selective Laser Sintering  Develop a selective laser sintering machine from off-the-shelf components and compare the geometrical and mechanical properties of the produced polyamide-12 parts with that of a commercial machine.  Using two commercially available isotropic magnetic powders with flake and sphere particle morphologies mixed with polyamide-12 powder, determine the processing parameters and mixing ratios which lead to magnets with the most accurate geometrical and strongest mechanical and magnetic properties.  Develop and test an in-situ particle alignment fixture and examine its effect on the geometrical and magnetic properties of magnets produced from anisotropic magnetic powder mixed with polyamide-12. The first experimental chapter (Chapter 3) covers designing, building and validating the tool required to conduct the research which is a selective laser sintering machine produced solely from off-the-shelf parts. Over the next two chapters (Chapters 4 and 5), the influence of machine processing parameters (laser power = 0.5 – 1.17 W, scan spacing = 0.11, 0.22, 0.31 mm) and powder loading fraction (0 – 90%/vol) on the properties of magnets produced from two commercially available neodymium-iron-boron powders was examined. By examining the geometrical, mechanical and magnetic properties, preferred processing parameters and mixing ratios could be identified based on their deviation from model data and highest mechanical and magnetic strength. Next (Chapter 6), an in-situ alignment fixture based upon a Helmholtz coil was proposed and a prototype developed. The ability of the coil to impart torque to anisotropic particles while minimising translational forces was examined using images captured with an optical microscope then evaluated using image processing techniques to characterise the percentage of loose particles it could align. Finally (Chapter 7), the Helmholtz coil-based alignment fixture was added to the selective laser sintering machine where it was used to provide an alignment field to each layer of anisotropic powder prior to consolidation by the laser. The geometry, density and magnetic properties of the permanent magnets were examined in the presence and absence of the alignment field. The constructed selective laser sintering machine was demonstrated to produce parts from polyamide-12 reaching densities of 918 ± 9 kg/m3 and achieving an elastic Additive Manufacturing of Bonded NdFeB Magnets by Selective Laser Sintering iii modulus of 358.36 ± 3.04 MPa and elongation at break of 11.13 ± 0.02%. Permanent magnets produced from the mechanically alloyed commercial powders demonstrated the best properties with a supplied energy density of 0.255 J/mm2 possessing comparable magnetic characteristics to those produced with other AM methods (311 ± 9 and 363 ± 6 mT for the flake and spherical powders respectively). It was also demonstrated that magnetic powder loading fractions above 30%/vol for the spheres and 50%/vol for the flakes showed no significant increases in magnetic performance while the mechanical performance deteriorated significantly. An in-situ alignment fixture, based upon a Helmholtz coil, demonstrated 30% alignment of a selection of particles according to optical image analysis of randomly orientated flake particles. When used during the processing of magnets, the magnetic performance, when using anisotropic powder, was shown to increase by 28%. However, the low loose packing density of the starting powder (2880 kg/m3) compared to the isotropic powders (3023 kg/m3 for the flakes and 4017 kg/m3 for the spheres) limited the maximum density of the magnets and thus suffered from poorer than expected magnetic performance. The content of this thesis demonstrates the development of an open source-based selective laser sintering machine which was then used to explore the production of permanent magnets from commercially available isotropic and anisotropic powders with the addition of an in-situ alignment fixture.

Background and Objectives: Much previous attention has been paid in the orthodontic literature to craniofacial skeletal patterns and morphology of the upper airway and their association with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, the majority of 3D airway investigations in recent years have analyzed the relationship of the airway with various anteroposterior (AP) skeletal patterns using traditional 2D cephalometric landmarks and measurements, such as SNA and SNB. The Six Elements of Orofacial Harmony is a diagnostic and treatment philosophy that has attempted to provide a more accurate and clinically relevant determination of the position of teeth and jaws. Element II specifically deals with AP position of the jaws relative to a reproducible referent, the goal anterior limit line (GALL). The specific aim of this study is to utilize cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) to investigate pharyngeal airway morphology relative to various A-P jaw positions as described by Element II. E xperimental Design and Methods: A sample of 86 CBCT scans of pre-treatment orthodontic patients aged 18-30 from the private practice of Dr. Thomas Shipley was used for this study. IRB-approval was obtained, and an approval letter was obtained from Dr. Shipley for permission to use the records from his office. Exclusion criteria included history of orthodontic treatment, complex open bite with divergent occlusal planes, craniofacial/developmental deformity, adenoid hypertrophy, history of tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy, and poor image quality or artifacts. Pre-treatment CBCT scans were de-identified and DICOM files were analyzed using Dolphin Imaging 11.5 software. CBCT slices were used to extract a 2D lateral cephalogram for each subject, from which a GALL was determined and a Six Elements evaluation performed. Using this evaluation, subjects were divided into groups based on classification of individual AP positions of the maxilla and mandible relative to the GALL, as well as other craniofacial measurements. Subjects were also be divided in to skeletal groups based on traditional cephalometric SNA, SNB, and ANB angles to serve as control groups. Dolphin 3D was utilized to measure each subject's lower pharyngeal airway volume (AV), airway length (AL), and minimum cross-sectional area (mCA), as well as other dimensional characteristics of the oropharynx and hypopharynx, compared across skeletal groups. Data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA and unequal variances t-tests to determine statistical significance of the results. Results: In the optimal Mx-GALL group, the average AV (23296.1 +/- 1095.6 mm3) and MCA (332.3 +/- 16.4 mm2) were significantly higher (p = 0.011 and 0.023) than every other position group. No other craniofacial variables had a statistically significant correlation with airway dimensions. Conclusions: The anteroposterior position of the maxilla relative to GALL has a significant correlation with pharyngeal airway size and shape. This is a novel and clinically relevant finding that can have a significant influence on surgical and non-surgical treatment planning. Subjects grouped by SNA measurement did not display any correlation with airway dimensions, and this angular classification may be providing an incomplete picture of the position of the maxilla and its relationship with the pharyngeal airway.

In the closing years of the 19th Century, when Charles Villiers Stanford, Hubert Parry and Edward Elgar were at the height of their fame and influence in British musical society Henry Walford Davies emerged as one of the most promising talents of the day, receiving commissions from the provincial music festivals of Great Britain, which were a rite of passage for emerging composers. Between 1904 and 1929 Davies produced eleven sacred choral-orchestral works for these festivals and one further work, which were received favorably in their day but are now almost forgotten. There are five large multi movement works: The Temple, Everyman, Lift up your Hearts, Noble Numbers, Song of Saint Francis and six short works: Five Sayings of Jesus, Fantasy, Heavens Gate, Men and Angels, High Heaven’s King, Christ in the Universe and Ode on Time. Davies also composed a substantial amount of chamber, orchestral, church, and children’s music. Renewed interest in his music has resulted in some recent recordings, notably Everyman, his most successful cantata. This study provides a survey of these sacred choral-orchestral works: the background to them, their initial reception, their musical style and attributes. While some are similar in construction, the nature of each work is defined by a deep commitment to the text, which manifests itself through musical expression and innovation. Information is also provided about performing materials and options for performance. The neglect of Walford Davies’ sacred choral-orchestral works is discussed in the final chapter. It may have been a change in musical taste or simply that the intensely religious and personal nature of the works were out of favor in the aftermath of war. What can be said for certain is that his work is full of originality and as Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote on one occasion “beauty of invention.” Contains an analysis of the sacred choral-orchestral works: The Temple, Everyman, Lift Up Your Hearts, Noble Numbers, Song of St Francis, Five Sayings of Jesus, Fantasy, Heaven's Gate, Men and Angels, High Heaven's King, Christ in the Universe, and Ode on Time. Advisor: Therees Tkach Hibbard

Protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum is a complex process whose malfunction is implicated in disease and aging. Using the cell's endogenous sensor (the unfolded protein response), we identified several hundred yeast genes with roles in endoplasmic reticulum folding and systematically characterized their functional inter-dependencies by measuring unfolded protein response levels in double mutants. This strategy revealed multiple conserved factors critical for endoplasmic reticulum folding including an intimate dependence on the later secretory pathway, a previously uncharacterized six-protein transmembrane complex, and a co-chaperone complex that delivers tail-anchored proteins to their membrane insertion machinery. The use of a quantitative reporter in a comprehensive screen followed by systematic analysis of genetic dependencies should be broadly applicable to functional dissection of complex cellular processes from yeast to man.

The UK has been reprocessing spent nuclear fuel since the 1950's and has a resultant 140 tonne stockpile of civil separated PuO₂. Whilst the current UK Plutonium Policy is to fabricate the PuO2 into Mixed Oxide (MOx) fuel, a significant portion of the stockpile material will be unsuitable for fuel fabrication rendering it as future higher activity waste. As such, there is a need for research and development of wasteforms and treatment methods for immobilising these high activity wastes. The UK has a catalogue of Pu-based wastes known as Pu-residues. These wastes are highly heterogeneous and both chemically and physically variable, thus require a flexible wasteform and waste treatment option that can accommodate the wide variations. It is envisaged that a waste immobilisation route suitable for Pu-residues may conform to future requirements for processing other stockpile material identified as waste. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has identified hot isostatic pressing (HIPing) as a potential thermal treatment option for consolidating Pu-residues into suitable wasteforms. HIPing provides a wide operating window and can process multiple wasteform materials into dense, hermetically sealed waste packages ready for long-term storage and eventual geological disposal. The flexibility of HIP means low volume, complex waste-streams, such as Pu-residues, can be treated on a case by case basis and ultimately processed on the same plant line into ceramic, glass-ceramic or metal encapsulated wasteforms. Advantages of HIP for processing PuO₂ wastes, such as the civil stockpile material, also include; significant waste volume reductions, excellent Pu accountancy throughout the plant-line and minimal secondary waste production. This PhD project aimed to develop high fraction zirconolite glass-ceramics for the disposition of Pu-based higher activity wastes within the UK and utilised hot isostatic pressing as the thermal treatment method throughout. Following on from previous work in this area, conducted by the UK's National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), this thesis studied zirconolite glass-ceramics for Pu disposition, with primary focus on; formulation optimisation, the effect of CaF₂ as a waste digesting agent, the effect of Cl contamination and waste incorporation behaviour through surrogate studies and PuO₂ validation tests. The main results from this thesis are given below. Formulation studies revealed a strong correlation between glass composition and the resultant crystalline phase assemblage in the glass-ceramics. An Al2O3 rich glass was found to promote a higher yield of zirconolite and subsequently reduced the abundance of accessory phases in the final wasteform. It was hypothesised that changes to the glass structure, with increased levels of Al₂O₃, resulted in a lower solubility of the ceramic forming oxides in the glass phase, thus promoted the formation of zirconolite. Through the formulation studies the stages of phase formation were also investigated and revealed information on intermediate phases and those precipitated from the melt during cooling. CaF2 was shown to be an effective waste digestion agent, but was eliminated from the glass-ceramic formulation to reduce the neutron source term of the wasteform. Through formulation investigations and waste incorporation trials, a glass-ceramic formulation and processing route that achieved full waste incorporation and suitable phase assemblages and microstructures, without the need for CaF₂, were achieved. This result meant the neutron source term of the wasteform was reduced by removal of the 100% abundant 19F ions, which partake in damaging (a,n)-reactions. Some Pu-residue wastes are contaminated with Cl due to the degradation of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) packaging during storage. The Cl solubility limit of the optimised glass-ceramic formulation was found to be 3 – 4 times higher than the conservative upper limit of contamination expected in the wastes. Contamination levels of this magnitude had no detrimental effects on the microstructure or phase assemblage of the glass-ceramics and did not inhibit CeO₂ incorporation. Incorporation studies confirmed the preferential incorporation of actinide surrogates into the ceramic phase(s). The reduction of Ce was shown to promote the formation of a Ce-rich perovskite phase. The U study achieved near complete digestion of the UO2 surrogate, with preferential incorporation into the zirconolite phase. The development of the glass-ceramic system and successful results of the surrogate studies, led to the fabrication and characterisation of PuO₂ bearing HIP samples. These samples were part of a validation study towards investigating the effect of controlled oxygen fugacity on the partitioning behaviour of Pu within the glass-ceramic wasteform. The results in this thesis, confirmed complete incorporation of the PuO₂ and achieved microstructures and phase assemblages that were indicative of those obtained through the surrogate studies. This work has given a new insight into the mechanisms controlling phase formation and waste incorporation, essential for understanding these glass-ceramic wasteforms. This thesis demonstrates a clear progression from process and formulation optimisation, to surrogate studies and the consolidation of PuO2 containing HIP samples, with promising and exciting results with regards to the development of the wasteform. A major part of this work focused on surrogate studies but the author was able to validate these results with PuO2 at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). This was a huge advancement of this research that was unattainable within the UK's current capabilities. As well as wasteform development, this work has contributed to the advancements of the HIP technology for processing radioactive waste, through the installation of the Active Furnace Isolation Chamber (AFIC) at The University of Sheffield. The results from this project have a direct impact and current relevance to the UK's Pu management strategy and provides a framework of information that is applicable to the current industrial developments in this area of nuclear waste management.

The design earthquake selection problem is fundamentally probabilistic. Disaggregation of a probabilistic model of the seismic hazard offers a rational and objective approach that can identify the most likely earthquake scenario(s) contributing to hazard. An ensemble of time series can be selected on the basis of the modal earthquakes derived from the disaggregation. This gives a useful time-domain realization of the seismic hazard, to the extent that a single motion parameter captures the important time-domain characteristics. A possible limitation to this approach arises because most currently available motion prediction models for peak ground motion or oscillator response are essentially independent of duration, and modal events derived using the peak motions for the analysis may not represent the optimal characterization of the hazard. The elastic input energy spectrum is an alternative to the elastic response spectrum for these types of analyses. The input energy combines the elements of amplitude and duration into a single parameter description of the ground motion that can be readily incorporated into standard probabilistic seismic hazard analysis methodology. This use of the elastic input energy spectrum is examined. Regression analysis is performed using strong motion data from Western North America and consistent data processing procedures for both the absolute input energy equivalent velocity, (Vea), and the elastic pseudo-relative velocity response (PSV) in the frequency range 0.5 to 10 Hz. The results show that the two parameters can be successfully fit with identical functional forms. The dependence of Vea and PSV upon (NEHRP) site classification is virtually identical. The variance of Vea is uniformly less than that of PSV, indicating that Vea can be predicted with slightly less uncertainty as a function of magnitude, distance and site classification. The effects of site class are important at frequencies less than a few Hertz. The regression modeling does not resolve significant effects due to site class at frequencies greater than approximately 5 Hz. Disaggregation of general seismic hazard models using Vea indicates that the modal magnitudes for the higher frequency oscillators tend to be larger, and vary less with oscillator frequency, than those derived using PSV. Insofar as the elastic input energy may be a better parameter for quantifying the damage potential of ground motion, its use in probabilistic seismic hazard analysis could provide an improved means for selecting earthquake scenarios and establishing design earthquakes for many types of engineering analyses.

Aristóteles; filosofía antigua, ética. Eudaimonia; felicidad.

The article treat with the voluntary action (in which we can include the free human action) and non voluntary causality. The author wants give some aclarations over the actual controversy, from Aquinas thought.