Digital Commons Network^™

A Study Of The Role Of Cytokines In Acute Pancreatitis In Man, Alison Marie Smithies

Other Faculty of Health Theses

Introduction: Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease with a diverse aetiology and variableclinical course. The IL-l gene cluster has been implicated in this disease.Aims: The aims of the study were to investigate polymorphisms of the genes encoded within the IL-lgene cluster in patients with acute pancreatitis and normal controls and to determine therelationship between the polymorphisms and protein levels.Methods: Genotype and allele frequencies were determined in controls (n=217) and patients withacute pancreatitis (n=137) using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by digestion withrestriction endonucleases where applicable. Protein levels were determined using in vitrostimulation of PBMCs followed by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent …

Study Of The Effect Of Turbulence On The Properties Of Flocculated Mud, Andrew Manning

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

For the successful management of an estuary, an accurate simulation model predicting sediment transport patterns is a necessity. This requires a knowledge of the vertical mass settling flux (MSF), which is the product of the suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration and the settling velocity (Ws). However the presence of cohesive sediments (i.e. mud) complicates this description due to the ability of mud particles to flocculate into larger aggregates (floes) which demonstrate faster settling velocities and lower effective densities (pe) than the component cohesive particles. The generation of turbulent shear stress (TSS) within the water column is regarded as having a …

The Synthesis Of Estuarine Bathymetry From Sparse Sounding Data, Janet Eirlys Burroughes

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

The two aims of the project involved: 1. Devising a system for prediction o f areas of bathymetric change within the Fal estuary 2. Formulating and evaluating a method for interpolating single beam acoustic bathymetry to avoid artefacts o f interpolation. In order to address these aims, sources of bathymetric data for the Fal estuary were identified as Truro Harbour Office, Cornwall County Council and the Environment Agency. The data collected from these sources included red wavelength Lidar, aerial photography and single beam acoustic bathymetry from a number of different years. These data were input into a Geographic Information System …

The Relationship Between Livestock Distribution Channels And Animal Welfare, Karen Christina Murray

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Major changes are taking place in all sectors of the livestock and meat producing industries from farm to consumer which impinge on the processes and patterns of livestock distribution from farm to slaughter. These changes are identified and described. A survey of the complete journeys from farm to abattoir of 18,393 slaughterweight lambs sold direct from farm to abattoir, via livestock auction markets and via electronic auctions was conducted. Lambs sold direct from farm to abattoir experienced shorter journeys (in terms of both median duration and distance) than lambs sold through either of the other two channels. Lambs sold through …

Implementing Marine Pollution Policy : Proposals For Change, Jonathan Peter Richards

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

This study aims to determine the factors that affect the implementation of marine pollution policy, especially with regard to regulation of the hazardous substances which contaminate the marine environment- The purpose is to identify weaknesses in the current regulatory regime and to propose improvements. The study also aims to develop a new strategic framework for the implementation of the recent international policy commitments, which call for the complete cessation of discharges of hazardous substances into the marine environment by the year 2020. Furthermore, the study seeks to provide evidence to support or challenge current theories relating to regulation and policy …

Developments And Benefits Of Liquid Feeding Through Fermentation For The Post-Weaned Pig, Colm Anthony Moran

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

A programme of study was undertaken to assess the safety and palatability of fermented liquid feed. A series of laboratory experiments was conducted to select an inoculant capable of fermenting liquid feed at 20°C. Whilst combinations of cultures dropped the pH the most rapidly, the Lb. plantarum (PC) strain decreased the pH the lowest. A series of trials were conducted using a rifampicin mutant of Lb. plantarum (PC) to examine the fate of the starter culture. In an experiment using liquid milled wheat the addition of the starter culture resulted in an improvement in the inhibition of coliforms over the …

Music In Reality The Relation Of Music, Emotion And Pre-Socratic Myth, Brian Capleton

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This thesis is in two sections. The first critically examines the tradition of harmonia mundi. The earliest complete and developed account of musica mundana appears in Plato, but numerous fragmented references appear in the pre-Socratic sources. The notion that harmonia mundi originated as an idea of quantitative speeds and distances of the celestial bodies, is discredited. Rather, it is shown that it more probably originates as an expression of an 'esoteric spiritual' teaching in which self-knowledge, death, the concept of harmonia, and consequently music, are related. The idea that the greatest importance of music rests on the relationship of music …

The Importance Of Being : The Autobiographical Subject In The Drama And Memoirs Of Ronald Duncan, Anna Claire Trussler

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This study developed after considerable time spent collating and cataloguing data contained in Ronald Duncan's archive. Familiarisation with the material led to my identifying a need to explore the elusive nature of the personality that biographical material should hope to uncover. Duncan was prone to mainly confessional writing, a kind of writing that demands a causal inference between life and work. Furthermore, the archive supplies multiple data sources that serve to aid chronology, trace reliability, provide external corroboration and investigate truth-value. My study follows a loosely chronological structure after discerning shifts in his thematic concerns. The years up until the …

Designing A Visual Component Of Communication Within 3d Avatar Virtual Worlds, Nicholas John Earle

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

Over the last few years 3D avatar virtual worlds (AVW) have emerged on the Internet. These are computer generated, multi-user, graphical spaces within which people meet, form social groups and interact with each other in real time, typically through the exchange of text or audio messages. Each user is represented within the space by a digital image known as an avatar, which is usually humanoid in form, and is predominantly under the control of the person it represents. This thesisd escribesa creativep roject that is concernedw ith aspectso f social communication between users of "Ws. In particular, an avatar is …

Poetic Anatomy Of The Numinous Creative Passages Into The Self As Beloved, Partou Zia

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This research is shaped by the actual experience of practice: as painter and writer. My preoccupation is with the nodal moment when conscious awareness is suspended, and both the corporal and psychic involvement in realising the work almost transport one to another zone of effectiveness. This zone, which I name as the poetic zone, is where the numinous enters the ordinary. The investigation for a space/place/moment that lies beyond the logic of acceptable discourse can help initiate and give shape to a new vocabulary - visual or literary. By orchestrating a methodology, which functions on several layers, I have endeavoured …

From Rio To Romola: Morality And Didacticism In The English Appreciation Of Early Italian Art 1836-1863, Matthew T.W. Plampin

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This thesis takes as its starting point the marked rise in interest in the earlier schools of Italian painting in the English art world during the 1840s. Over the course of this decade the study and collection of so-called 'primitive' painting was transformed from a marginal pursuit to an aspect of mainstream taste. The thesis defines the critical discourse formulated in order to rationalise the taste for art works which failed to conform to the principles which had governed the appreciation of old master painting in previous decades. It also studies the ramifications of this discourse with regards to broader …

An Investigation Into The Factors Determining Ruminant Livestock Distribution In The Far South West, Dafydd Huw Davies

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

Major changes are taking place in all sectors of the livestock and meat producing industries from farm to consumer which impinge on the processes and pattems of livestock distribution from farm to slaughter. These changes are identified and described. A farm business survey of lowland beef and sheep finishers was undertaken, prior to the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak, to gain a better understanding of farm business behaviour in order to model the farm business strategies in relation to aggregate livestock channel utilisation. Statistically robust and predictive models using a number of derived latent strategic variables, distilling marketing and business …

Methodological Embodiments:: Psychical Corporeal Performances Of Subjective Specific Auto[Erotic)-Representations, Ryya Aviva Sanders

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

A great deal of critical attention has been paid over the last twenty years at least to the relation of 'self and 'Other'. But what happens when the external 'other' is displaced to the periphery of the concerns of textual production? In order to explore this question Methodological Embodiments employs an interdisciplinary praxis that is not limited to the classic model of written theory. At the same time, it does not negate this form that has historical and ideological precedence within an academic context. The aim of this thesis is to juxtapose written theory with artistic practices in order to …

Fatigue Of A Spring Steel With Varying Levels Of Non-Metallic Inclusions, Alan Edwin Lee Holman

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Plain specimens of two batches of the commercial spring steel BS 251A58 of nominally identical processing but significantly differing levels of non-metallic inclusion levels, have been tested in rotating bending. The data produced has been analysed against some recent methods for the prediction of fatigue properties in high strength materials containing defects. The materials tested were specifically selected for their disparate cleanliness levels, yielding specimens with differing inclusion distribution and maxima. The morphology of critical inclusions is identical between the two material batches. Material microstructure is tempered martensite with ultimate tensile strength of approximately 2000 MPa, which renders it well …

Studies In Agricultural Technology In Nineteenth- And Twentieth-Century England, Paul William Brassley

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Four published papers and several parts of a book are presented herein, together with a previously unpublished short paper explaining the intellectual background against which they were written and summarising their findings on the development of agricultural teQmology in England in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This outlines the contribution of economic and sociological the^pries to the study of technical change, but makes the point that historical studies, although clearly influenced by these theories, tend to use a multifactorial approach which avoids privileging any single explanation. Nevertheless, several themes arising in all of this material are identified, especially the gap …

The Decision To Undertake Vocational Higher Education In Shipping And Logistics In The Uk, John Dinwoodie

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

This work investigates the decision to study shipping and logistics at advanced levels in the UK. Documented evidence reports and analyses the perceptions of students on vocational courses in shipping, transport and logistics and investigates why they chose their particular fields of study. A range of instruments are presented to analyse how students perceived that they had arrived at their study decisions, including national surveys of undergraduates in maritime business, postgraduates in shipping and logistics and professionals contemplating updating short courses. Qualitative, quantitative and mapping methods are presented along with perceptions of relevant professional outcome roles and other factors. Exploratory …

The Resistance To Salt Of Brassica Sps. And Improved Resistance By Direct Selection And Mutagenesis, Manal Hassan Eed

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Salinity is one of the most serious environmental stresses influencing agriculture drastically decreasing the production of crop plants throughout the world. Due to salinity thousands of hectares of agricultural land are going out of production annually. To cope with the salinity problem, there is keen interest in the development of crop plants displaying resistance to the effects of salinity. A series of experiments was carried out under controlled environmental conditions to determine salt resistance in Rapid Cycling Brassica species (RCB's) at germination early seedling and late growth stage. The effect of increasing salinity concentration was determined in vivo using a …

Phonographies: Practical And Theoretical Explorations Into Composing With Disembodied Sound, John Levack Drever

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This is PhD submission is both practical and theoretical. The practical element consists of nine electroacoustic compositions. The dissertation acts as a discursive accompaniment to the compositions, addressing many of the contextual and philosophical issues that have arisen during the compositional process and the perfannance of the works. It charts out discourse surrounding the different genres of electroacoustic music that the works relate to as well as examining models of work in the respective genres (i. e. sonic art, text.. sound, acousmatic composition, inusique concrite and soundscape composition), and places them into a broader cultural and historical context. Chapter 2 …

Antitrust And Intellectual Property: Unresolved Issues At The Heart Of The New Economy, Robert Pitofsky

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The New Economy differs in degree rather than kind from the "old" economy. Part II of this discussion examines the key differences that define the New Economy. Part Ill turns to several implications of those differences as they pertain to antitrust enforcement. I argue that the differences do not justify sweeping generalizations that antitrust enforcement has no place in the New Economy, but do require antitrust enforcement to make adjustments and exercise sensitivity towards intellectual property issues on a case-by-case basis. The goal of a coherent overall competition policy, in deciding both what conduct to enforce against and what remedies …

Biomarkers Relevant To Oil And Gas Industrial Activities In Low Temperature Marine Ecosystems, Lionel Andre Yves Camus

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Because of its geographical location, the Arctic environment is considered as pristine. However, expanding industrial activities in the Arctic require assessment of the toxicity of chemicals at low temperature. Biomarkers defined as "biological responses to a chemical or chemicals that give a measure of exposure or toxic effect" were shown to be relevant to measure in situ impact of oil discharges. Most biomarker studies have been performed with temperate organisms. The Arctic is characterised by low stable temperature, strong seasonality in light, resulting in a short primary production in Spring. Therefore, indigenous organisms have developed specific adaptations to live with …

A Genre Analysis Of Advertisements In A Local Newspaper, Moi Moi Yong

Student Works (2000-2009)

This study attempts to investigate the organisation of advenisements on private institutions of higher learning taken from 'The Star' daily and to provide a descriptive account of how the advertisements are structured Twenty advertisements on different private institutions of higher learning are selected and analysed using the nine move structure analysis adapted by S. Kathpalia (1992). This genre based move structure is employed as a format to study the structure of these advertisements. It is revealed that there is a uniform pattern of organisation of the elements in the advertisements. An eight move structure is identified. It is also found …

The Influence Of Tamil Lexical Items In The English Spoken By Malaysian Tamils In The Domain Of Frienship, Kahlah Vathee Periasamy

Student Works (2000-2009)

Malaysian Tamils who speak English in the domain of friendship. The researcher divided the participants into three age groups so as to get a comprehensive data for the study. The three age groups are as shown:

i. 10-20 Year Age Group.

ii. 21-49 Year Age Group.

iii. 50 > Year Age Group.

The researcher selected helpers from each of the group to aid in the recording of the English conversations of the participants. This was done in order to determine the influence of Tamil as well as Bahasa Melayu. and other lexical items in the English that the participants speak. The …

Hearing Screening Of Infants Using Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions : The Effect Of External And Middle Ear Conditions, P. K. Vanaja P. K. Krishna Poduval

Student Works (2000-2009)

The aim of the study was to determine if Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions (TEOAEs) can be used as a method of Screening for hearing impairment and to study the effects of External and Middle ear conditions on the outcome of TEOAEs. TEOAE and Tympanometry tests were performed on 193 infants (386 ears). External and Middle ear abnormalities were evaluated by ear examinations and Tympanometry, and assigned to two groups based on the tympanogram results. Group A had normal external and middle ear with 'Type A' Tympanograms and group B with external and/ middle ear abnormalities and abnormal tympanograms other than …

Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation Using Neural-Fuzzy In Atm Network, Yan Sing Chua

Student Works (2000-2009)

Dynamic bandwidth allocation is becoming one of the crucial issues in the design and research in the computer network. This is due to the continuous increasing demand of intensive applications that require more bandwidth while retaining higher quality. Dynamic bandwidth allocation utilises the current network state information to optimise the bandwidth distribution. The state information can be gathered through prediction using past data and measurement on current state. Agility and flexibility of dynamic bandwidth allocation using Neural-Fuzzy has the advantage that it can adapt to the state changes of the network. ATM network carries heterogeneous traffic and this causes the …

Network Simulation And Performance Evalution Of Ip Multicast Using Pim-Dm In Umjanetsim, Jui Hiangh Teoh

Student Works (2000-2009)

The demand for multicast capabilities in IP networks is growing very rapidly. New applications that take advantage of IP Multicast are being introduced constantly. Therefore, IP Multicast is regarded as one of the most important technologies in IP networks today. This dissertation focuses on the simulation and performance evaluation of IP Multicast using Protocol Independent Multicast- Dense Mode (PIM-OM) as the multicast routing protocol. The simulation is executed in a network simulator named UMJaNetSim, where custom components are built in order to simulate IP Multicast. First, the advantages and applications of IP Multicast, multicast addressing, Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP), …

Mpls Vpn Simulation Using Mp-Ibgp, Tan Fong Ang

Student Works (2000-2009)

As Internet traffic continues to increase, companies are demanding greater speeds and better services to disseminate information to their customers, partners and employees. In order to provide reliable services and to support a variety of secure communications among a wide range of locations, Multiprotocol Label Switching Virtual Private Network (MPLS VPN) has been introduced. MPLS is an emerging technology that aims to address many of the existing issues associated with packet forwarding in today's internetworking environment. Whereas, VPN provides secure private connections through public infrastructure amongst multiple locations. MPLS­ based VPN provides isolation. security, simplified routing, easier provisioning as well …

Methods For Enhancing The Poling Efficiency In Electro-Optic Polymer Waveguide Devices, Jeremy Ben Huddleston

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Fabrication And Characterization Of Periodically Poled Rubidium Titanyl Arsenate (Pprta), Debra E. Krause

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Spanish Predominant Language Ordinance: Is Spanish On The Way In And English On The Way Out., Adriana Resendez

St. Mary's Law Journal

El Cenizo's Spanish language ordinance is likely to survive a constitutional challenge. The City Council of El Cenizo’s Spanish language ordinance, however, has generated a significant amount of controversy in the United States. The ordinance stipulates that all city council meetings will be made in the city’s predominant language—Spanish. Critics argue that the ordinance has made Spanish the official language. Critics also argue that the ordinance is discriminatory toward English speakers. English only advocacy groups, such as English First and U.S. English, argue that the ordinance will create a trend across the United States of immigrants refusing to embrace an …

Westerner, 2001-2005, Western New England College

Student Newspapers

The official student newspaper of Western New England College