Search

In this work, I use insights from Conceptual Metaphor and Frame Semantics to demonstrate that the metaphorical expressions εἰρηνοποιήσας and διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτου (Col. 1.20b) evoke conceptual frames from both the Graeco-Roman conceptual world and the Jewish one. The impact of the christological configuration of the concept of peacemaking through blood in Colossians lies precisely in the incongruity between its message and the familiar frames known to the Gentile/Jewish audience in Colossae. The thesis is divided into two main parts bracketed by an introductory chapter and a conclusion. Having presented my literature review and method in chapter 1, Part 1 of the thesis (chapters 2 and 3) investigates εἰρηνοποιήσας διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτου (Col. 1.20b) against the Graeco-Roman conceptual world. In chapter two, I propose that the pax romana frame, strongly present in Asia Minor, constituted a key conceptual frame for the analysis of peacemaking through blood in Colossians 1.20b. In chapter three, I examine how the pax romana frame affects the reading of εἰρηνοποιήσας διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτου in Colossians 1.20b and how it challenges the perception of reality of the first-century readers in Asia Minor. The second part of the thesis (chapters 4-6) addresses the question of what frames could have been triggered in the mind of a Jewish reader steeped in the Old Testament by the metaphorical language of reconciliation and peacemaking by human bloodshed in Colossians 1.20. I argue that the reconciliation language (Col. 1.20a) had the potential to activate the rîb-pattern frame while peacemaking through human bloodshed (Col. 1.20b) could have evoked the offering of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 52.13-53.12-a passage located in the midst of rîb-passages in Deutero-Isaiah. Chapter 4 outlines the main elements of the Old Testament rîb-pattern whereas chapter 5 investigates Isaiah 53 within the literary context of Deutero-Isaiah. Chapter 6 argues that "reconciliation" metaphor in Colossians 1.20a had the potential to evoke the rîb-controversy frame whereas peacemaking through blood in verse 20b had the potential to activate the Isaiah 53 frame in the minds of the Jewish audience of Colossians.

Three trophic models of the Western English Channel were built using the Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) software. A model for 1994 represented a warm period. Two models represented colder periods in 1973 and in 1985, the later coinciding with a considerable increase in fish and shellfish landings. One of the main observed differences among the models was an increase in primary production that seemed to be reflected in changes in fish biomass. Some parameters estimated indicate that (1) the ecosystem was relatively immature or disturbed, (2) despite the increase fishing effort since the 1970s, the system maturity increased in 1985 and (3) with the increased fishing mortalities operating in the system, this trend was reversed in the 1994 model. Ecosim simulations run from 1973 to 1999 indicated that a bottom-up mechanism plays an important role in the system production. By accounting for primary production changes and by estimating the so-called vulnerability parameters, it was possible to improve the goodness of fit of the model estimates to the available biomass data by about 62 to 68% compared to fitting using only the series of fishing mortalities. The 1994 model was used to explore the effects of the use of the EwE fishing optimization routine on profits, number of jobs and ecosystem structure. An "ideal" mixed policy configuration was found when ecosystem structure was weighted slightly higher than were profits and jobs. This scenario led to an overall reduction in effort but also to increased profits and biodiversity, with almost no lost in the number of jobs. The optimizations also showed that the average trophic level of the catches is quite conservative to changes in ecosystem structure, which contrasted with an estimated biodiversity index from Ecosim that showed huge changes as a function of the weights placed on the policy functions.

Leather is a widely used component of many products such as shoes, car seats, garments and other leather goods. Because it is a natural material, a tanned hide will contain visual and hidden flaws. In addition, its mechanical properties vary over the hide. At present, hides are inspected and assessed by skilled operatives. Further, current objective leather testing requires removal of samples and is either destructive and/or incompatible with real time operation, and little or no information about the rest of the skin is provided. A novel mechanical scanning system was built for non-destructive leather testing. The investigation was focused on two of the most important physical leather properties, static compressibility across thickness and tensile properties for low strain regions. The results of static compression energy measurements for a compressive strain of 10 percent, showed a close agreement with the results of tests performed by a conventional compressibility tester. Further, the results of strain energy and stress measurements for a strain of 2 percent, revealed a very good correlation with the results of conventional tensile tests for a similar strain. The application of infrared thermography, a non destructive and contact less technique, to leather characterisation and inspection was investigated in this work. It was shown that this technique could be used for detecting defects in leather, as well as for estimating their size and deepness. However, defect visibility by infrared thermography is conditioned by the fact that a defective area has to cause different material properties or produce an internal thermal resistance. Further, the prohibitive cost of infrared thermography cameras for automation is a serious limitation for its application in current leather testing. It is recommended that the ideal testing system would be based on the combination of mechanical scanning, normal computer vision and infrared thermography. The normal computer vision part of this system would be responsible for measuring area and detecting defects that are visible in nature. The infrared thermography part of the system would be responsible for detecting the type of defects overlooked by the previous method, as well as some thermo-physical parameters. Finally, the Mechanical Scanning System would provide the physical properties of leather, like compressibility, tensile modulus, shear stress and softness that the vision based inspection systems are incapable of providing. In this way, every single skin could be completely characterised in terms of defects and physical properties.