Background to the Research. In his enthronement sermon as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1942 William Temple famously declared the ecumenical movement to be ‘the great new fact of our era’. For much of the twentieth century it was the major metanarrative of Church renewal. By the end of the century however the enthusiasm had largely dissipated, the organizations which represented it were in decline, and the hoped for organic unity looked further away than ever. Surprisingly little has been written on the attempt to achieve organic unity in England, what it hoped to achieve and why, at least in terms of its expectations, it failed. I propose to come at this major topic by focusing on the creation of the United Reformed Church, which was formed in 1972 by a union of the majority of congregations of the Congregational Church in England and Wales and the Presbyterian Church in England and saw its formation as a catalyst for the ecumenical renewal of the British churches. Methodology. This thesis, which is mainly resourced by documentary evidence and interviews, comes into the category of qualitative research but also uses statistics where they are relevant, for example when dealing with Church decline. Since I am a United Reformed Church minister, and have worked ecumenically, my role here draws upon the perspective of an observing participant. Conclusions. The research revealed that the hopes of the United Reformed Church to be a catalyst for church renewal were illusory and that the effects of its ecumenical priority were partially negative in the Church’s life. With the failure of its ecumenical hope the Church had little idea of its purpose and found great difficulty establishing an identity. It suffered from severe membership loss and the hoped for missionary advantage promised by its ecumenical strategy did not materialize. The thesis will analyse the reasons for failure, while noting that what failed was not ecumenism as such but a particular model of ecumenism.

This thesis explores how Scotland's federal theology helped to perpetuate the seventeenth-century Presbyterian conception of a covenanted Church and nation among a significant portion of eighteenth-century evangelical Presbyterians. It examines how both a seventeenth-century form of federal theology and a social ethic based on Scotland's Covenants were preserved among many Scottish Presbyterians between 1690 and the 1790s, until a broader and more individualistic evangelicalism increasingly eclipsed the corporate aspects of federal theology. The thesis focuses on the experiences of the Secession and Reformed Presbyterian Churches, Presbyterian denominations which broke away from the established Church of Scotland. Chapter one traces the origins of federal theology in Scotland, and considers the Scottish covenant idea within Post-Reformation Calvinism generally, and more particularly within the Presbyterian Church of Scotland after the Revolution Settlement of 1689-90. Chapter two considers how federal theology was preserved and perpetuated among Presbyterian evangelicals after 1690, how these evangelicals continued the covenanting practice of identifying Scotland with biblical Israel, and how their longings for national revival came to hinge upon the renewal of Covenant obligations. Chapter three considers the impact of the Marrow controversy in prolonging the predominant influence of federal theology on eighteenth-century Scottish popular piety, particularly among the Secession and Reformed Presbyterians. Chapter four considers a further aspect of the Marrow controversy-that is, its emphasis on the connection between the moral law and the covenant of grace. In analyzing both the individual and corporate dimensions of federal theology, this chapter examines the thought that informed the practice of covenanting, and considers why many Secession and Reformed Presbyterians believed in the 'perpetual obligation' of Scotland's Covenants for subsequent generations. The chapter also introduces the theological criticisms that would in the course of the eighteenth-century largely undermine federal theology's corporate applications for most Presbyterians and that would greatly weaken adherence to the Covenants within the two Secession Synods (Burgher and Anti burgher). Chapter five examines the application of the covenant idea to the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. It explores how the sacraments kept alive the social ideal of federal theology and its aspirations for national revival within the Secession and Reformed Presbyterian Churches between 1690 and the 1820s, despite the mounting theological criticisms of federal theology and covenanting. Finally, chapter six examines how federal theology's corporate aspects affected the Secession and Reformed Presbyterians' views on Church and State and the role of the civil magistrate. Consideration is given to how Scotland's changing social, political, and intellectual contexts eroded the commitments to a Covenant piety among evangelical Presbyterians, and to how this led to further schisms within the two Secession Synods at the close of the eighteenth century.

This thesis studies the ecclesiological development of Romanian Pentecostalism from its inception until after the fall of communism as well as analysing the contemporary situation and practice of the Romanian Pentecostal churches in context, both to diagnose the most important problems and to draw attention to and explain promising experiments and signs of hope. It reveals that due to external factors such as socio-political and economic constraints and internal factors such as lack of resources, lack of vision, past traditional theological inheritances, Romanian Pentecostal Churches have not always been able to engage with their context in a missionary way, and their missiological praxis has not always been contextual. The thesis aims to suggest that Romanian Pentecostal Churches produce a contextual theology that, in addition to being rooted in the Scriptures, is sensitive to the needs, struggles, and aspirations of the churches and the peoples of Romania today. The thesis concludes by affirming that the churches need to be themselves missionary alternative communities embodying the values of God's Kingdom in their essence, structures and outlook.

While much is known about the polarities of the Protestant 'Church Struggle' (Kirchenkampf) in Nazi Germany, comparatively little is understood about the complex and collective dynamic of the Landesbischöfe of the only three 'intact' churches to escape incorporation into the Nazi-dominated Reichskirche. Traditionally, literature on the Kirchenkampf has taken a simplistic 'good-versus-evil' approach to the conflict and, arguably inspired by a moral need to come to terms with the less-than-glorious past of the German Protestant Church, has been unable to locate the Landesbischöfe of the 'intact' churches neatly within the conventional historiographical paradigm. By taking as its subject Landesbischöfe August Marahrens of Hanover, Hans Meiser of Bavaria and Theophil Wurm of Wûrttemberg, this dissertation examines the contribution to the Kirchenkampf of three men, who, to ensure the continued existence of German Protestantism in the Third Reich, were ultimately forced to find ways to respond to National Socialism that lay somewhere between the parameters of defiance and compliance. In order to demonstrate the collective contribution of the Landesbischöfe to maintaining the status of the German Protestant Church amidst heightening Nazi tyranny, this dissertation traces how, with reference to external personal, political and socio-cultural conditions, the bishops moved from a seeming commonality of cause to display increasingly varied responses to the manifestations of both political and ecclesiastical National Socialism. By tracing the development of their moderate but nonetheless disparate positions, this dissertation not only questions the traditional historiographical assumptions that Landesbischöfe Marahrens, Meiser and Wurm failed to resist National Socialism effectively or were, at best, collectively neutral in the conflict, but also seeks to delineate, for the first time, the crucial parts played by each of the Landesbischöfe during three distinct stages of the Kirchenkampf. In devoting each of its three central chapters to a particular phase in the conflict, this dissertation demonstrates how each of the Landesbischöfe in turn steered the 'intact' ensemble through the Third Reich as a modest yet effective force of opposition to Nazi despotism. Seen as a whole, this investigation ultimately demonstrates how, through their respective turns at national Church leadership, Landesbischöfe Marahrens, Meiser and Wurm did not undermine the wider Church resistance effort but, rather, saved the Church from subjugation to Nazism more effectively than would have been possible had they stood alone.

O trabalho apresenta os resultados de pesquisa voltada à investigação de processos de erosão e de deslizamentos afetando taludes rodoviários em solos residuais arenosos. A abordagem do estudo combinou diferentes ferramentas de investigação e de caracterização geológica-geotécnica e utilizou escalas de trabalho regional e de detalhe (1:50.000 a 1:500). Ela foi aplicada na rodovia Castelo Branco (SP-280), que está localizada na região sudoeste do estado de São Paulo, Brasil. As principais etapas da pesquisa abrangeram: levantamento de dados existentes; elaboração de base cartográfica e mapas temáticos utilizando Sistema de Informação Geográfica (SIG); levantamentos de campo; identificação dos taludes mais críticos; realização de ensaios laboratoriais (análise granulométrica, erodibilidade, resistência ao cisalhamento direto natural e inundado) e de análises de estabilidade dos taludes. Os resultados obtidos nestas etapas do estudo permitiram a identificação das causas e dos mecanismos dos processos de instabilização e a indicação das diretrizes gerais para a recuperação dos taludes afetados. / The paper presents the results of research focused on the investigation of erosion and slides processes affecting highway cut slopes in residual sandy soils. The approach of the study combined the different engineering geological investigation and characterization tools and used regional and detail work scales (1:50,000 to 1:500). It was applied in the Castello Branco Highway (SP-280), which is located in the south-west region of the São Paulo state, Brazil. The main steps of the research included: survey of existent data; preparation of the cartographical base and the thematic maps using Geographical Information System (GIS); field surveys; identification of the most critical cut slopes; realization of laboratorial essays (granulometry, soil erodibility, shear strength in natural and flooded humidity conditions) and slope stability analysis of the highway cut slopes. The results obtained in these steps of the study allowed the identification of the causes and mechanisms of the slope instability processes and the indication of the general directives for the recuperation of the affected cut slopes.

O trabalho apresenta os resultados de pesquisa voltada à investigação de processos de erosão e de deslizamentos afetando taludes rodoviários em solos residuais arenosos. A abordagem do estudo combinou diferentes ferramentas de investigação e de caracterização geológica-geotécnica e utilizou escalas de trabalho regional e de detalhe (1:50.000 a 1:500). Ela foi aplicada na rodovia Castelo Branco (SP-280), que está localizada na região sudoeste do estado de São Paulo, Brasil. As principais etapas da pesquisa abrangeram: levantamento de dados existentes; elaboração de base cartográfica e mapas temáticos utilizando Sistema de Informação Geográfica (SIG); levantamentos de campo; identificação dos taludes mais críticos; realização de ensaios laboratoriais (análise granulométrica, erodibilidade, resistência ao cisalhamento direto natural e inundado) e de análises de estabilidade dos taludes. Os resultados obtidos nestas etapas do estudo permitiram a identificação das causas e dos mecanismos dos processos de instabilização e a indicação das diretrizes gerais para a recuperação dos taludes afetados. / The paper presents the results of research focused on the investigation of erosion and slides processes affecting highway cut slopes in residual sandy soils. The approach of the study combined the different engineering geological investigation and characterization tools and used regional and detail work scales (1:50,000 to 1:500). It was applied in the Castello Branco Highway (SP-280), which is located in the south-west region of the São Paulo state, Brazil. The main steps of the research included: survey of existent data; preparation of the cartographical base and the thematic maps using Geographical Information System (GIS); field surveys; identification of the most critical cut slopes; realization of laboratorial essays (granulometry, soil erodibility, shear strength in natural and flooded humidity conditions) and slope stability analysis of the highway cut slopes. The results obtained in these steps of the study allowed the identification of the causes and mechanisms of the slope instability processes and the indication of the general directives for the recuperation of the affected cut slopes.

Previous assessments of the early academies of Protestant dissenters in England and Wales (1660-1720) have celebrated their tutors' achievements in defying the Act of Uniformity and the Test Acts, and have argued that they pioneered a modern curriculum. Despite these views, there has been little scholarly investigation into the academies. This thesis evaluates the available sources for the first time, examining the political, philosophical, and theological controversies in which the academies were involved, as well as examining the lives and careers of their tutors and students in greater detail than has hitherto been possible. The introduction explores the reception of the academies from the late seventeenth century until the present day, exposing the paucity of evidence and the abundance of polemic which have characterised previous accounts. Chapter 1 provides a detailed examination of academies operated by nonconformists prior to the Toleration Act, reassessing the contribution of ejected university tutors, surveying attempted prosecutions, and highlighting political controversies. The second chapter extends the narrative to academies run by Protestant dissenters from the Toleration Act (1689) to the repeal of the Schism Act (1719); it contains the first-ever detailed analysis of the minutes of the London-based denominational Fund Boards, and a survey of the careers of former academy students. Chapter 3 re-evaluates the teaching of philosophy in the dissenters' earliest academies, using newly-identified manuscript works by tutors and students to explore the study of logic, natural philosophy, and ethics. Chapter 4 uses a combination of printed and manuscript sources to examine the teaching of religious subjects at the academies, including preaching, religious history, Jewish antiquities, pneumatology, and theology; it concludes with a survey of the contribution of dissenting tutors and students to debates in the 1710s concerning subscription to an agreed form of words on the Trinity.

Mobile telecommunications industry has experienced high growth rates for the recent 30 years. Accordingly, forecasting the future of mobile telecommunications services is important not only for mobile operators but also for all stakeholders in this industry ranging from handset manufacturers to vendors. In this thesis, the diffusion of mobile telecommunications services in 20 countries from different regions around the world is examined for the period of 1981 to 2010 with special emphasis on Turkey, in order to address the uncertainty in optimal model selection. The Gompertz, logistic and Bass models are fitted to the observed data of mobile phone penetration by means of nonlinear least squares. The fitness accuracies of the models are evaluated based on root mean square error (RMSE). Empirical results show that S-shaped growth models are capable of explaining the diffusion of mobile telecommunications services. The findings also suggest that there is no superior model in defining the diffusion process and the most suitable model is country dependent. Finally, we observe that the diffusion in late entrant countries appears to be faster than pioneer countries and peak demands in mobile telephones occur during the period of 1999 to 2006, which suggests a remarkable multinational learning effect and significance of the transition into digital technology.

Reinsurance is one of the most important tools to be used by insurance companies, for managing risks. This is an effective way / however, there are situations where reinsurance is insufficient, such as the occurrence of a natural hazard. When a natural hazard occurs, many insured experience loss at the same time, which drains the reinsurance market capacity. If future market capacity could be forecasted, then it would be easier for companies to decide when to include cat bonds or any other additional securities in their portfolio. In order to establish a model for market capacity, its relationship with other market parameters and the association among parameters are examined. In this study, these relationships are analyzed and used to establish an algorithm for predicting the next years reinsurance capacity. Moreover, last 10-year data for market capacity is used to establish and AR(1) model, in order to create a comparison with the algorithm. A case study of cat bonds is done, which uses the pricing load calculation of the Lane model and aims to ease the decision-making process by comparing the loads of cat bond and reinsurance pricing.

In this thesis we obtain several interesting algebraic properties of the operations used in the block cipher IDEA which are important for cryptographic analyzes. We view each of these operations as a function from $mathbb Z_{2}^n times mathbb Z_{2}^n to mathbb Z_{2}^n$. By fixing one of variables $v(z)=mathbf Z$ in $mathbb Z_{2}^n times mathbb Z_{2}^n$, we define functions $mathbf {f}_z$ and $mathbf {g}_z$ from $mathbb Z_{2}^n$ to $mathbb Z_{2}^n$ for the addition $BIGboxplus$ and the multiplication $BIGodot$ operations, respectively. We first show that the nonlinearity of $mathbf {g}_z$ remains the same under some transformations of $z$. We give an upper bound for the nonlinearity of $mathbf {g}_{2^k}$, where $2leq k &lt / n-1$. We list all linear relations which make the nonlinearity of $mathbf {f}_z$ and $mathbf {g}_z$ zero and furthermore, we present all linear relations for $mathbf {g}_z$ having a high probability. We use these linear relations to derive many more linear relations for 1-round IDEA. We also devise also a new algorithm to find a set of new linear relations for 1-round IDEA based on known linear relations. Moreover, we extend the largest known linear class of weak keys with cardinality $2^{23}$ to two classes with cardinality $2^{24}$ and $2^{27}$. Finally, we obtain several interesting properties of the set $ { ({mathbf X},{mathbf X} BIGoplus {mathbf A}) in mathbb Z_2^n times mathbb Z_2^n ,|, (mathbf {X}BJoin {mathbf Z})BIGoplus( ({mathbf X} BIGoplus {mathbf A} ) BJoin mathbf {Z} ) = {mathbf B} }$ for varying ${mathbf A}, {mathbf B}$ and ${mathbf Z}$ in $mathbb Z_2^n$, where $BJoin in { BIGodot,BIGboxplus }$. By using some of these properties, we present impossible differentials for 1-round IDEA and Pseudo-Hadamard Transform.