This thesis describes the advances made towards a dual-species magneto-optical trap (MOT) of Li and Rb for use in photoassociation spectroscopy, Feshbach resonance studies, and, as long-term aspirations, the formation of ultracold heteronuclear polar molecules. The initial discussion will focus on a brief theoretical overview of laser cooling and trapping and the production of ultracold molecules from a cold atom source. Subsequently, details of the experimental system, including those pertaining to the required laser light, the vacuum chamber, and the computer control system will be presented. Finally, preliminary optimization and characterization measurements showing the performance of a single species Li MOT are introduced. These measurements demonstrated the loading of over 8 x 107 Li atoms directly into a MOT without the need for a Zeeman slower.

The main objectives of the project are: Exploit the opportunity for internationalization offered by the sale of stocks, in which there is no direct competition on the Internet either in Spain or in Europe. Find an outlet for Spanish products by marketing them in other countries and vice versa, in order to maintain the image of the brand name in the country of origin, among other reasons. Automate the process whereby an offer or demand originating in Spain can interact with an offer or demand in another country, which was previously unimaginable. We call this multi-language and multi-currency. Develop new applications to improve the handling of stocks both on the SOLOSTOCKS platform itself and in the internal management processes of client firms, which can acquire software in ASP format.

No description available.

The Lower Parmeener Supergroup consists of 500 to 900 metres of marine and terrigenous sedimentary rocks, deposited in the high-latitude Tasmania Basin during the late Carboniferous to middle Permian, at the end of the late Paleozoic ice age. Two bioclastic carbonate units, the Darlington and Berriedale limestones, are of particular interest due to their formation in this polar, cold-water environment. Both limestones contain ice-rafted debris scattered throughout, signifying numerous icebergs, and are under- and over-lain by glendonitic siltstone indicating near-freezing seawater. Despite the unusual environment, seawater in the Permian Tasmania Basin was, with the exception of an anomalously high 13C value, isotopically and chemically similar to modern seawater. These limestones consist of a high-abundance, low-diversity heterozoan assemblage, dominated by large, robust brachiopods, bryozoans, and Eurydesma bivalves. Sponge spicules and crinoids are locally important constituents. The carbonates are interpreted to have been deposited in mid-shelf environments during sea-level highstands, where the faunal communities were beyond the depths of grounding icebergs, and sufficiently outboard from terrigenous sediment influx and brackish water. Growth and preservation of biogenic carbonates were promoted by up-welling of nutrient-rich water, which sustained high levels of primary productivity in the water column and phosphate concentrations in the sediment. Lower Parmeener Supergroup carbonates were exposed to a complex series of diagenetic processes, commencing on the seafloor and continuing during rapid burial. Limestone composition was further modified by diagenetic fluids associated with the intrusion of Mesozoic igneous rocks. Alteration in the marine paleoenvironment was both destructive and constructive; although dissolution took place there was also coeval precipitation of fibrous calcite cement, phosphate, and glauconite. These processes are interpreted to have been promoted by mixing of marine waters and enabled by microbial degradation of organic matter. In contrast, meteoric diagenesis was insignificant, being confined to minor dissolution and localized cementation, although mechanical compaction was ubiquitous. Chemical compaction was instigated at burial to depths of approximately 150 m, and promoted extensive precipitation of ferroan calcite. Diagenesis may well have ended here, except for the subsequent intrusion of massive Mesozoic diabases and associated injection of silicifying fluids into the limestones. Finally, fractures associated with Cretaceous uplift were filled with late-stage non-ferroan calcite cement. / Thesis (Ph.D, Geological Sciences & Geological Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2008-04-23 11:12:58.461 / NSERC

No description available.

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health in compliance with the requirements for a Master's Degree in Technology: Chiropractic at Durban Institute of Technology, 2005 / Due to sustained partial neck flexion when operating a computer terminal for prolonged periods and by holding a stooped posture being proposed aetiologies for hypertonic posterior cervical muscles and subsequent mechanical neck pain, subjects for this research study were chosen according to their occupation and had to sit at a desk for more the three hours and less than eight hours a day. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation combined with heat therapy as opposed to proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation combined with cryotherapy in the treatment of mechanical neck pain caused by hypertonic posterior cervical muscles. This was a comparative, randomised, clinical trial consisting of two groups. Group A received proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) combined with heat therapy as their treatment protocol. Group B received proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation combined with cryotherapy as their treatment protocol. Each group consisted of thirty people between the ages of 25 and 50 who were randomly allocated to their respective groups. It was hypothesized that the analgesic properties related to cryotherapy would result in the treatment group that received PNF stretching combined with cryotherapy yielding better results in terms of objective clinical findings. It was also hypothesized that the therapeutic effects of heat therapy would result in the treatment group receiving PNF stretching combined with heat therapy would yield better results in terms of subjective clinical findings and it is hypothesized that there is an association between the subjective and objective clinical findings between the cryotherapy and the heat therapy groups. The treatment regimen consisted of each participant receiving three treatments over a period of one week and then a one-week follow-up consultation. Subjective data monitored consisted of the Numerical Pain Rating Scale –101 (NRS-101) and the CMCC Neck Disability index. Objective data was collected using the Cervical Range of Motion goniometer (CROM) and the Algometer. At the end of all treatment protocols, statistical (quantitative) analysis was performed to determine whether one treatment protocol was more effective than the other. The analysis of the data collected showed that for all outcomes measured, either of the two treatments was effective overall. Trends suggested optimum treatments were dependent on the age of the patient. Age groups of 46-50 years old, 41-45 years old and the 31-35 years old responded best and improved the most with heat intervention, while age group of 36-40 years old responded best to the cryotherapy intervention. For the youngest age group of 25-30 years old, it did not make a difference whether they received heat therapy or cryotherapy as an intervention. It would seem that the older the patient the more effective the application of heat therapy as a result of the effect of heat therapy on the collagen and elastin fibers within the muscle and its fascia which allowed for increased and sustained improvement of the majority of the age groups represented in this study. Conversely it would seem that the cryotherapy group had only immediate and unsustained effects in the long term, which suggests that the cryotherapy had only a pain relieving function that allowed for the improvement of patients in the study, which when removed resulted in regression to the initial clinical syndrome severity. Most of the outcomes did not show a statistically significant interaction between time, age group and treatment group. The study was underpowered at the age group level, with only 12 subjects per age group. Further studies with a larger sample size in each of the age groups are needed in order to determine whether age is a definitive factor in one treatment being preferred over the other.

Post Traumatic Cold Intolerance is the most common, and often the most prominent disabilityfrom hand trauma. The discomfort caused by cold is believed to be linked to a dysfunction o f thedigital vasoregulation, but its pathophysiology is poorly understood. Cold induced vasospasm, i.e.the pathologically increased reactivity o f the digital vessels to cold, is commonly found in handsthat have sustained trauma, especially with damage to vascular and neural structures. This thesis is based upon a series o f clinical and laboratory studies on cold induced vasospasm andcold intolerance in 35 patients treated for digital amputation. The replanted digit was used as astudy model, since it represents a body part which at the moment o f reconstruction is devoid o f allinnervation. Replantations were performed according to two different principles o f vascularreconstruction; using long or short vessel grafts. Finger Systolic Pressure (FSP) was used as aparameter o f digital vasoregulation at different temperatures, and cold intolerance was assessedusing a logarithmic rating scale (Borg). Non-injured fingers and amputation stumps were used ascontrols. Clinical and laboratory investigations were performed at different intervals from oneweek to three years after the reconstruction. During the first two weeks following replantation, whole body cold exposure, or cooling o f thereplanted part to 10°C, did not cause serious spasm in the replanted vessels. Follow upinvestigations demonstrated that a cold related vasospastic tendency is established inapproximately 60% o f the replanted parts within one year after trauma. The once establishedpathologic vasoregulation, is unlikely to normalize spontaneously. Whether a cold related arterialspasticity will develop in the replanted digit or not, is not related to the surgeon's choice o ftechnique for vascular reconstruction. Cold related arterial spasticity was more common inamputation stumps than in replanted digits, Our findings suggest that there is a pathologicalreaction to cold in the distal palm vessels but the nature o f this disturbance is not clear. All patients developed some degree o f Post Traumatic Cold Intolerance. Approximately 60% o fthe patients stated that some improvement took place, but none o f the patients was free o f coldintolerance 1-7 years after the injury. Patients with a pathological cold induced vasospasm is likelyto present with severe cold intolerance, which indicates that the vasospasm is involved as one o fthe causes o f Post Traumatic Cold Intolerance. / <p>S. 1-48: sammanfattning, s. 51-110: 5 uppsatser</p> / digitalisering@umu

The thesis analyses Britain's political involvement in Bulgaria during 1943 - 1949. It explores Britain's motives for seeking increased influence in the country and traces the most significant British attempts to shape Bulgarian politics. It examines British strategic decisions and diplomatic activities in Bulgaria against the background of the evolving domestic political situation and of Soviet objectives in the Balkans. Evidence from British archives is tested against recently released Bulgarian and Russian sources. The study clarifies problems central to the interpretation of post-war Bulgarian developments and addresses the question of British attitudes to the whole of Eastern Europe. Bulgaria's marginal place in British political and military thinking is found to be at odds with the country's recognised strategic importance. Towards the end of the Second World War, Bulgaria attracted the attention of the British Government occasionally, mostly in the context of broader regional issues such as that of the Balkan Federation. Although the realisation of limited capabilities to influence Bulgarian developments coloured Britain's wartime approach, never did British policy makers disavow interest in Bulgarian affairs. The research establishes that in the armistice period British policy towards Bulgaria was overwhelmingly governed by traditional geopolitical factors. These focused around Bulgaria's potential military threat of British imperial positions in the Eastern Mediterranean and overshadowed any proclaimed British commitment to democracy. Britain's priorities were complicated by the emerging Cold War as a Soviet-dominated Bulgaria was perceived as a springboard for Communist penetration of Europe. Ironically, British unwillingness to challenge Soviet influence in the northern Balkans exacerbated the very dangers Britain was striving to alleviate. Wavering British support for the Bulgarian anti-Communist Opposition only served to expose Britain's weaknesses and further antagonise the Soviet Union. This engendered continuous restraint and gradually led to the isolation of Britain from Bulgarian politics after British recognition of the Bulgarian Communist Government in 1947.

No description available.

A subset of mitochondrial group II introns of flowering plants has, over evolutionary time, lost characteristic features and employs unconventional splicing pathways. Given the potential impact of cold treatment on RNA folding, as well as on enzymatic activity and import of nuclear-encoded splicing machinery, I have examined the physical excised forms of aberrant introns from wheat embryos subjected to 4oC. My findings suggest a shift in biochemistry with cold treatment to novel splicing pathways that generate heterogeneous in vivo circularized forms for nad1 intron 2, nad2 intron 1 and the cox2 intron, in contrast to predominantly linear excised intron forms at room temperature. Interestingly, the highly degenerate nad1 intron 1, which due to DNA rearrangement has been broken into two halves that interact for splicing in trans, is excised exclusively by first-step hydrolysis at room temperature and under cold treatment. In this case, splicing culminates in two distinct linear half introns that appears correlated with an unusual 5’ terminal insert. This represents the first in vivo demonstration of hydrolytic trans-splicing. Based on northern analysis, cold treatment was further associated with reduced splicing efficiency for all introns surveyed. Moreover, study of precursor transcripts of the nad1a-intron 1a locus suggests the efficiency of end-maturation, including processing of the cotranscribed tRNA-Pro gene, is also reduced in the cold. My findings demonstrate a temperature-sensitivity of transcript maturation, particularly for RNA splicing, providing new insight into the impact of cold growth conditions on plant mitochondrial gene expression.