This thesis analyses the ostracising of the unlike as social criticism in H.G.Wells&rsquo / s The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau and The Invisible Man against a background of T.H.Huxley&rsquo / s cosmic pessimism in his work Evolution and Ethics. The thesis claims that Wells puts mankind&rsquo / s future on an ever darkening line of evolution, or in other words devolution. Wells, although he is an admirer of Huxley, shows a more sceptical and cynical attitude in the assessment of the capabilities and nature of mankind. The three novels constituting the subject of the present study bears the stamp of this scepticism in increasingly pessimistic degrees.

No description available.

Since 1995, more than 150 extrasolar planets were detected, of which a considerable fraction orbit their host star at very close distances. Gas giants with orbital distances below 0.1 AU are called “Hot Jupiters”. Current detection techniques are not sensitive enough for the detection of Earth-like planets, but such planets are expected at similar orbital positions. For all these so-called close-in extrasolar planets, the interaction between the stellar wind and the planetary magnetosphere is expected to be very different from the situation known from the solar system. Important differences arising from the close substellar distances include a low stellar wind velocity, a high stellar wind density and strong tidal interaction between the planet and the star. This interaction is shown to lead, for example, to a synchronisation of the planetary rotation with its orbit (“tidal locking”). Taking these points into account, planetary magnetic moments are estimated and sizes of planetary magnetospheres are derived. Two different effects resulting from the magnetospheric interaction are studied in detail. (a) Characteristics of radio emission from the magnetospheres of “Hot Jupiters” are discussed. It is shown that the frequency range and the sensitivity of current radio detectors are not sufficient to detect exoplanetary radio emission. With planned improvements of the existing instrumentation and with the construction of new radio arrays, the detection of exoplanetary radio emission will be possible in the near future. (b) The flux of galactic cosmic rays to the atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets in close orbits around M stars is studied. Different types of planets are shown to be weakly protected against cosmic rays, which is likely to have implications for planetary habitability. This should be taken into account when selecting targets for the search for biosignatures in the spectra of terrestrial exoplanets.

<p>In healthcare there is a rapid development towards introducing and implementing a wide range of information technology (IT) to aim for higher quality and more effective care. A common health information system (Cambio Cosmic) has been implemented in Landstinget Kronoberg. Clinical microsystems are the frontline units where staff and pa-tient meet. When the conditions in the microsystems are changed, it is interesting to de-scribe and analyse the consequences.</p><p>The purpose of this study is to describe how health care staff uses a health information sys-tem and how they experience its functionality in their patient work. Initially, a literature re-view about the use of health information system was undertaken, followed by a qualitative case study based on interviews about how healthcare staff describes their reality. In March 2007 general practitioners, district nurses and practical nurses at the health care center in Markaryd were interviewed. The results were analysed using a modified microsystem the-ory. The analysis showed that the health care staff in Markaryd used Cambio Cosmic for medical record, time planning, cash handling, laboratory examinations and results, and medications. Apart from Cosmic, they used several other information systems IT- or pa-perbased.</p><p>The staff experienced that Cosmic did support their patient work, but technical deficiencies impeded use. The staff required a more rapid system, integration of systems and more per-sonal adaptations. A common health information system was seen as a strength in the care process. Co-operation between staff and with other caregivers was facilitated and Cosmic contributed to a more efficient work pattern. The patients could receive improved service and information. In general, the staff thought that they had access to the right information for the care of the patient, but improvements were needed for access to information at the right point of time. Cosmic was not used to improve work at the health care center. The staff expressed a positive attitude towards working with and in Cosmic. Based on the re-sult, improvements at both micro- and macrosystems levels are recommended.</p> / <p>Inom sjukvården sker en snabb utveckling med att implementera allt mer informationstek-nik (IT) i syfte att höja kvalitet och effektivitet inom sjukvården. Ett gemensamt vårdin-formationsssystem (Cambio Cosmic) har införts i Landstinget Kronoberg. Den plats i vår-dens frontlinje där patienter och vårdpersonal möts är ett kliniskt microsystem. När förut-sättningarna ändras i ett system är det intressant att analysera och beskriva konsekvenserna.</p><p>Syftet med denna rapport är att beskriva hur vårdpersonal använder ett IT-baserat vårdin-formationssystem och hur de upplever att det fungerar i patientarbetet. En litteraturstudie gjordes om användning av vårdinformationssystem. En fallstudie med intervjuer användes med en kvalitativ ansats för att samla in data om hur vårdpersonalen beskriver sin verklig-het. I mars 2007 intervjuades distriktsläkare, distriktsköterskor och undersköterskor på vårdcentralen i Markaryd, totalt 6 intervjuer, två av varje kategori. Resultatet analyserades utifrån en modifierad microsystemsteori. Vårdpersonalen i Markaryd använde Cambio Cosmics moduler för vårddokumentation, tidbokning, kassafunktion, provtagning och lä-kemedel. Utöver Cosmic användes även flera andra IT-stöd och papperssystem i patientar-betet.</p><p>Vårdpersonalen upplever att Cosmic fungerar som stöd i patientarbetet, men att tekniska brister är ett hinder i användningen och de efterfrågade ett snabbare system, systemintegre-ring och mer personliga anpassningar. I vårdprocessen upplevdes tillgången till en lands-tingsgemensam journal som en styrka. Samverkan mellan vårdpersonal och med andra vårdgivare underlättades och Cosmic bidrog till ett effektivare arbetssätt. Patienten kunde ges en förbättrad service och information. Överlag ansåg vårdpersonalen att de hade till-gång till rätt information för patientens vård, men för att ha tillgång till information i rätt tid behövdes förbättringar. Cosmic användes inte i förbättringsarbete på vårdcentralen. Vårdpersonalen på Markaryds vårdcentral gav uttryck för en positiv inställning till arbetet i Cosmic. Utifrån resultatet rekommenderas förbättringar på både micro- och macrosys-temsnivå.</p>

Thesis--Ph. D., University of Hong Kong, 1983.

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LAMBDA was an exploration of science and art in two components: a performance-lecture and an art installation. This project asserted that performance and art are effective methods of delivering scientific information to a general audience. The first component was a solo performance-lecture that used lights, projection, costumes, props, and sound in a hybrid classroom space. The performance-lecture covered the topics of light, the Aurora Borealis, gravitational lensing, and the cosmic microwave background. The art installation used light emitting objects to visually represent the gravitational disturbances that exist within a section of space-time. / text

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Astrophysical flows have an enormous dynamic range of relevant length scales. The physics occurring on the smallest scales often influences the physics of the largest scales, and vice versa. I present a detailed study of the multiscale and multidimensional behavior of three high-energy astrophysical flows: jet-driven supernovae, massive black hole accretion, and current-driven instabilities in gamma-ray burst external shocks. Both theory and observations of core-collapse supernovae indicate these events are not spherically-symmetric; however, the observations are often modeled assuming a spherically-symmetric explosion. I present an in-depth exploration of the effects of aspherical explosions on the observational characteristics of supernovae. This is accomplished in large part by high-resolution, multidimensional numerical simulations of jet-driven supernovae. The existence of supermassive black holes in the centers of most large galaxies is a well-established fact in observational astronomy. How such black holes came to be so massive, however, is not well established. In this work, I discuss the implications of radiative feedback and multidimensional behavior on black hole accretion. I show that the accretion rate is drastically reduced relative to the Eddington rate, making it unlikely that stellar mass black holes could grow to supermassive black holes in less than a Hubble time. Finally, I discuss a mechanism by which magnetic field strength could be enhanced behind a gamma-ray burst external shock. This mechanism relies on a current-driven instability that would cause reorganization of the pre-shock plasma into clumps. Once shocked, these clumps generate vorticity in the post-shock plasma and ultimately enhance the magnetic energy via a relativistic dynamo process. / text

published_or_final_version / Physics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy