There is increasing public concern over the possible harmful effects of extra-low-frequency (ELF) electromagnetic (em) fields. A variety of harmful effects have been linked with em field exposure, for example depression and suicide, carcinogenesis, birth defects, and spontaneous abortion. The epidemiological evidence, especially the more recent studies, suggests that there may be a small increased risk of childhood cancers in those living near overhead power lines. However laboratory evidence to date does not support this link. An epidemiological correlation does not necessarily imply a causal relationship: to confirm such a relationship, biological and laboratory evidence is required. This work studies the magnitude of human exposure to ELF magnetic fields from overhead power lines and visual display units (VDUs) and also investigates possible health effects at the microscopic level through cell culture experiments. From the epidemiological evidence, an effect threshold of approximately 300 nT was estimated. Detailed magnetic field distributions were measured round a variety of visual display units and only a very few emitted magnetic fields even close to the 300 nT threshold. Following an in-depth case study of a VDU operator who suffered from a combination of symptoms including eyestrain and headaches, a study of the health of nearly 200 office workers and VDU users was set up. The aims of the study were to investigate the range and severity of symptoms suffered by VDU users, to investigate possible causes and to study response to VDU work at an individual level. It was found that those working between 10 and 30 hours per week at a VDU were more likely to suffer symptoms of ill health. In contrast, those working more than 30 hours per week at a VDU were not more likely to suffer symptoms when compared with a control group of those working less than 10 hours per week at a VDU. In particular, increased reporting of eye problems and fatigue were most strongly associated with VDU work.

No description available.

Manufacturers of digital circuits test their products to find defective parts so they are not sold to customers. Despite extensive testing, some of their products that are defective pass the testing process. To combat this problem, manufacturers have developed a metric called defective part level. This metric measures the percentage of parts that passed the testing that are actually defective. While this is useful for the manufacturer, the customer would like to know how long it will take for a manufacturing defect to affect circuit operation. In order for a defect to be detected during circuit operation, it must be excited and observed at the same time. This research shows the correlation between defect detection during automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) testing and normal operation for both combinational and sequential circuits. This information is then used to formulate a mathematical model to predict the expected latency to failure due to manufacturing defects.

Manufacturers of digital circuits test their products to find defective parts so they are not sold to customers. Despite extensive testing, some of their products that are defective pass the testing process. To combat this problem, manufacturers have developed a metric called defective part level. This metric measures the percentage of parts that passed the testing that are actually defective. While this is useful for the manufacturer, the customer would like to know how long it will take for a manufacturing defect to affect circuit operation. In order for a defect to be detected during circuit operation, it must be excited and observed at the same time. This research shows the correlation between defect detection during automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) testing and normal operation for both combinational and sequential circuits. This information is then used to formulate a mathematical model to predict the expected latency to failure due to manufacturing defects.

In today’s globalized world there are not many limitations in the communication between people, and companies from different parts of the world. There are several methods companies can use to reach out to people, and one method is through magazines. When reading a magazine it is nearly impossible to not notice advertisements. The purpose of this thesis was to explore how the English language is used in Swedish magazines. Also, how do Swedish companies versus foreign companies use English in their advertisements in Sweden? This is a qualitative study in which four different magazines, and two issues from each were observed. Several studies have been completed on advertising and language, and those studies are introduced and discussed in this study. However, few studies have been done on the language in advertisements in Swedish magazines. The method consisted of documenting and saving all the advertisements in the magazines, and their language choices were then analyzed. This study reveals that English is used in Swedish advertisements to a notable extent. Nevertheless, there were some interesting differences between foreign companies and Swedish companies. For instance, in some cases Swedish companies used English to a greater extent than the foreign companies.

L’objet de la thèse est de traiter de la compétition automobile comme enjeu opérationnel pour l’entreprise publique française. Elle montre la part respective des impératifs de recherche-développement, de parrainage, puis sponsoring, de recherche d’une image de marque, de marketing et de maximisation des ventes. Elle démontre le rôle moteur des pétroliers, Shell-Berre d’abord, puis, sous l’impulsion gaullienne représentée par Pierre Guillaumat, le groupe Elf ERAP, dont ce dernier était le PDG. Ce ne fut qu’à partir de l’arrivée de Bernard Hanon, directeur général, puis PDG, au début des années 1980, que la Régie Renault prit le leadership en ce domaine. En effet, sous la pression de la crise de l’énergie et de l’opinion, Elf Aquitaine, dirigée par Albin Chalendon, s’éloigna de la compétition automobile au profit de la voile. / The purpose of the thesis is to treat motor racing as an operational issue for the French public company. It shows the respective roles of research and development, sponsorship, sponsoring, branding, marketing and sales maximization. It demonstrates the driving role of the biggest oil companies, Shell-Berre first, then, under the Gaullist impetus represented by Pierre Guillaumat, the Elf ERAP group, of which the latter was the CEO. It was not until the arrival of Bernard Hanon, general manager, then CEO, in the early 1980s, that the Régie Renault took the leadership in this area. Indeed, under the pressure of the crisis of energy and opinion, Elf Aquitaine, led by Albin Chalendon, moved away from the motor racing in favor of sailing.

English has become the default language of global communication, and users around the world are adapting the traditional standards of grammar and interaction. It is imperative that teachers of English keep pace with these changing conceptualizations of the language as well as the changing expectations of its users so that they can best prepare language learners for the sociolinguistic realities they will encounter. Teacher training programs have a critical role to play in that they must keep pace with both the changing global linguistic landscape and how these changes influence pre-service teachers. It is therefore imperative to understand the attitudes of pre-service teachers towards the varieties of English that their students will encounter. This study considers the attitudes of pre-service TESOL teachers towards varieties of native and non-native English as used in naturalistic communicative situations. It considers personal factors that may play a role in how participants evaluate the interactive speech samples and whether TESOL training programs influence the development of attitudes towards language-in-use. To this end, a mixed methods design involving three primary components was used: an online survey of 70 respondents from 26 institutions, four focus group interviews, and a curriculum analysis of five teacher training programs. This study is unique in that participants evaluate speech-in-action that is representative of the types of language found in many English as a lingua franca (ELF) settings. Among other things, primary results suggest that (a) standard language ideology influences many participant assessments of both native and non-native speech, (b) teacher training programs exert at least some influence on the attitudes of pre-service teachers towards varieties of spoken English in discourse, and (c) engagement with non-native speech in teacher preparation courses and language learning as a component of a curriculum can benefit pre-service teachers. Implications for applied linguistics, teacher training, and ELF are considered

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 12, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.

Europe's largest business university, WU sees offering master's programmes in English as a means to stay competitive. This paper highlights the roles of English and other languages at a strategic level in the university as well as in intercultural student teams. The data is taken from a multi-modal research project investigating students' language and interaction in teamwork on English-medium programmes. The results show that students use English as the medium of communication in and out of class and for discussing task-related topics, while they use other languages for socialisation purposes and to develop a sense of community. (author's abstract)

This Master's thesis deals with design of sensor network for synchronised low-level recording of changes in magnetic part of Earth's field in ELF band in multiple places. The goal is acquisition of changes due to solar storm activity, while taking into account, that in research of geomagnetic effects connected with solar events is spectrum of interest broader and reach up to VLF, where a solution is often made of combination of receivers in ELF and VLF, a decision was made, after consulting with thesis supervisor and researchers, that device will be designed for ELF, but can be easily modified, by changing preamplifier, for using in higher frequency bands, creating a solid founding for further measurements and research in this field.