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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
51

Gas-loading apparatus for large-volume high-pressure cell

Bocian, Artur January 2012 (has links)
The Paris-Edinburgh cell (PEC) is a widely used opposed-anvil device for neutron scattering. Since its development, it has been used to study a number of samples loaded as solids or liquids. However, studying gases at room temperature has not yet been possible. Up until now only a few gases could be loaded as liquids, in cryogenic conditions. Thus, it was impossible to study many gases and gas mixtures and also it was difficult to use gases as pressure-transmitting media (PTM). In order to overcome these limitations, a technique that would enable loading of gases into the PEC was required. The work described in this thesis was focused on the design and use of a gas-loading system for the PEC. The challenge of designing such a system comes from the fact that the gases need to be loaded into the gasket at sufficient density in order to achieve any significant pressure during further compression in the cell. This can be achieved by using a separate pressure vessel. Because the whole PEC is too large to be placed inside the vessel, a technique of loading gas into the anvils separated from the rest of the cell had to be devised. Designing the holder for the anvils, which would make this possible, presented a major challenge as it should allow the anvils to be transferred between the vessel and the PEC, with the gasket filled with high-pressure gas. Then it needs to allow further compression of the gasket inside the PEC. The developed system consists of a pressure vessel and a locking clamp for the anvils. The pressure vessel is a closed-end thick-walled cylinder with a top cover which has an opening for a piston. The vessel is placed on the table of a hydraulic press and the piston, sealed by a high-pressure reciprocating seal, is used to transmit the force from hydraulic ram onto the anvils which are held by the clamp and placed inside the vessel. One of the anvils is fixed to the clamp and the other one is supported by spring-loaded latches - the latches engage when the anvils are pushed towards each other. Thus, when the force is applied onto the anvils to compress the gasket, latches lock the anvils in their positions stopping them from retracting and maintaining the gasket compressed after the force is released. The clamp allows the gasket to be filled with the gas and then deformed to seal the compressed gas. The locking mechanism keeps the gasket compressed, which enables the clamp to be transferred from the vessel to the PEC. After the system was built and tested, it was installed at ISIS neutron source (Oxfordshire, UK), where it has been used in several experiments. The first experiment prepared with the gas-loading system was a neutron diffraction study of nitrogen at high pressure. Nitrogen was chosen as a sample material because its high-pressure structural phase diagram is well established. Nitrogen was loaded into the gasket using the gas loader and then it was compressed in increments to 6 GPa in the PEC. β and δ phases of solid nitrogen were clearly seen in the collected neutron diffraction data. The experiment proved the usability of the gas-loading system and verified its expected performance. The second experiment utilizing the gas-loading system was to study singlecrystal and powder samples of sodium chloride (NaCl) and squaric acid (H2C4O4). For these studies argon was used as a PTM, replacing the conventionally used methanol-ethanol mixture (ME). Up until this experiment the highest pressure reported in single-crystal neutron-scattering experiments was 12 GPa. This limit was set by the solidi cation pressure of ME. With argon as the PTM, the samples were compressed to 15 GPa without any damage to the crystals. Another advantage of replacing ME with argon is improved hydrostaticity. The highest pressure that ME remain hydrostatic to is 11 GPa. Compressing beyond this point causes sheer stress acting on the sample which affects the quality of the neutron scattering data manifested in the appearance of peak-broadening in the diffraction patterns. With use of argon, the powder samples have been compressed to 18 GPa while maintaining quasi-hydrostatic pressure conditions, resulting in clean and sharp diffraction patterns without any noticeable peak-broadening.
52

Dynamics of a horizontal cylinder oscillating as a wave energy converter about an off-centred axis

Lucas, Jorge January 2011 (has links)
The hydrodynamic properties of a horizontal cylinder which is free to pitch about an off-centred axis are studied and used to derive the equations of motion of a wave energy converter which extracts energy from incoming sea waves with a linear power-take-off mechanism. The present work follows from a recent study which compared the performance of an off-centred cylinder with those of the Edinburgh Duck wave energy converter. The small decrease in performance found is offset by a reduction in the likely costs associated with the manufacturing of the cylindrical cam compared with those of the asymmetric profile. As part of the survivability strategy in very energetic seas-states it had been planned to completely submerge the device so as to reduce the mooring forces. However, experiments with scale models show that a good absorption capacity is retained even when fully-submerged. The hydrodynamic properties of a horizontal cylinder that pierces the free-surface and of one that is fully submerged are therefore of central concern in this study. These properties are well known for the case of very long cylinders but they are now found for cylinders with different widths, drafts, submergence levels and water-depths. The hydrodynamic forces and moments at the off-centred axis are, furthermore, derived through the application of transformation formulae. The equation of motion of the off-centred cylinder is derived for one degree of freedom and its performance as a wave energy converter is analysed. A relationship which relates the resonance of the device with the location of the off-centred axis and its mass distribution is derived and used to optimize the design for average sea conditions attained at a real location. Design cases associated with three diameters of the cylinder are looked into detail for both a fully-submerged and free-surface piercing cylinder. The one degree of freedom model is extended to include a multi-body which has three degrees of freedom in order to describe the dynamics of a proposed wave powered desalination system based on a cylindrical Duck device. This mathematical model is derived through linearised Lagrangian equations of motion in which the hydrodynamic forces are included as generalised external forces. The advantage of such approach is to reduce the number of equations associated with multi-body systems by removing the reaction forces of holomonic constraints from the system of equations to solve. This model is validated through experiments with a scale model performed in the curved tank of the University of Edinburgh with both regular waves and mixed seas.
53

Paranormal tourism in Edinburgh : storytelling, appropriating ghost culture and presenting an uncanny heritage

Holzhauser, Elizabeth January 2015 (has links)
The paranormal industry in Edinburgh has become a thriving niche within the country's tourist market. While ghost walks have been explored in anthropology from the perspective of spectacle, this thesis investigates and analyses the cultural framework which has furthered the success of the industry. Namely, the ways in which the paranormal industry have appropriated the beliefs and practices of an overarching ghost culture: a community of believers, investigators, mediums, and all those who actively attempt to engage with the paranormal. The increased visibility of the paranormal within popular culture has spurred a wide interest in the unknown and unexplained. Ghost hunting television shows and the prevalence of ghost stories has inspired the desire for unique experiences, and for audiences to contextualise the supernatural within their own lives. The paranormal industry has grown to accommodate this intense, active enthusiasm for all things spectral, and belief has become a commodity. This burgeoning fascination in ghosts has become an important aspect of how Scotland is sold as a destination. While commercial paranormal industries exist in other cities around the world, the historical perception of Scotland as other has created a precedent for the connection between Scottish national identity and the spectral. This thesis further investigates the ways in which the tourist industry continues to solidify the connection between Scottish heritage and the paranormal.
54

"Our master & father at the head of physick" : the learned medicine of William Cullen

Wolf, Jeffrey Charles January 2015 (has links)
This is a study of Dr. William Cullen (1710-1790), the Scottish chemist, physician, and professor of medicine, who played a significant role in the Scottish Enlightenment. I argue that Cullen was both a more unorthodox figure in Scottish medicine than he is generally depicted, as well as a more ambitious one. Despite his controversial doctrines, he skillfully managed the hierarchy of his profession and reached the pinnacle of success as a learned physician in the Scottish Enlightenment. I explore Cullen’s life and thought from different angles. I explicate his pedagogical persona and philosophy of medicine, both of which shaped the experiences of his pupils. I show how his neurophysiology was rooted in his contentious interpretation of the nature of the nervous fluid. And I provide a detailed look at Cullen’s understanding of hygiene, or the art of health—a rarely-studied component of his practice of medicine.
55

The economic development of second-tier city-regions in the United Kingdom : using 'absorptive capacity' to theorise the 'firm-territory nexus'

Waite, David Andrew January 2015 (has links)
The economic development challenges facing second-tier city-regions in the United Kingdom reflect a critical dimension of policy debates concerning spatial rebalancing. The integration of multi-location firms at second-tier territorial contexts is an important aspect of rebalancing narratives, and this thesis examines what such integration may entail for the economic development of these places. Given the label of the “firm-territory nexus” by other economic geographers (Dicken and Malmberg, 2001), integration brings into focus a complex set of factors, processes and conditions. In order to grapple with and order such complexity, the conceptual framework of city-region absorptive capacity has been proposed and developed in this research. Four case studies across two second-tier UK cities, Edinburgh and Manchester, comprising interviews with elites and the collection of extensive documentary material, provides the empirical material for framework development. The research hinges on an analytical process that: first, deploys the functional form of “absorptive capacity” to provide language and broad parameters by which to approach the empirical object; and second, generates abstract categories from the empirical data to flesh out a contextually sensitive conceptual framework. Network position relative to London and labour appear as important integrating mechanisms across the case studies, though the conceptual framework demonstrates contingencies in terms of territorial and relational processes, shifting moments of structure and agency, and the overlapping institutional mosaics at play. By providing portraits of city economies in the middle ground of global economic networks, the need to articulate economic geographies of the “outside” and “inside” are also given emphasis.
56

Impossibly indecent God? : pursuing questions of the Biblical God in the Church of Scotland through churchgoers' and Marcella Althaus-Reid's theological ideas, juxtaposed with fragments of Jacques Derrida's philosophy

Brown, Susan Victoria January 2012 (has links)
Marcella Althaus-Reid was a theologian who dared to imagine differently, a thinker whose inventive style brought striking originality to her writings on sexuality and gender, people and God. Her work is remembered most noticeably in theological academia for her conceptual phrase, ‘Indecent Theology’. In this thesis about questions of God, the innovative elements of Marcella’s literary corpus are developed in new ways by placing her academic theories alongside a practical research study undertaken in the alternative milieu of Church of Scotland congregations in Edinburgh. This primary material, which has been analysed through interview and focus group transcripts, together with questionnaire responses, brings revealing insights to frame the emerging tensions between churchgoers and Marcella across the dimensions of its four chapters. In each, the following themes are developed: the ambiguities surrounding questions of asking who God might be; the considerations involved in recognising God’s relationship with the Bible; the exploration of the extent to which sexuality and gender may influence God concepts; and the recognition of the role people play in evaluating their understandings of God in Christianity. Arranged in a rhythmical structure throughout, every chapter is first prefaced by a media-based report which contextualises relevant themes in a contemporary idiom, and is later concluded by a deconstructive postscript that, in fragmentary ways, invokes some critical concepts in the work of Jacques Derrida germane to the particular questions of God pursued in each.
57

Making renting right : ethics of economy in the Edinburgh private rented sector

Bridgman, Benjamin John January 2018 (has links)
Recent decades have seen a shift in Scotland in terms of the provision of housing and housing-related services from the public sector to the private sector. In statistical terms, the proportion of Scottish households in the private rented sector has doubled during the past ten years. This thesis unpacks anthropologically the private rented sector as a locally-found concept in Edinburgh, largely through the medium of ‘property management', another locally-found concept. Key questions concern how the private rented sector in Edinburgh is ‘managed' at the vernacular level, how the ethics of property management take shape in Edinburgh in the context of this ongoing shift from the public to the private sectors, and how the property relations within the sector relate to existing debates in economic anthropology. The primary ethnographic material, based upon fieldwork in 2014 and 2015, is of an Edinburgh letting agency as archetypal property managers, though other material either was produced in conjunction with Shelter Scotland or stemmed from the tracing of further connections within the field. Engaging with the broader anthropology of ethics, a core conclusion is that processes of property management rest ultimately upon practices of ethics that take place at the ‘ordinary' level. A parallel aim is to consider how anthropologists might produce ethnography of an economic ‘sector', such as the private rented sector. Borrowing from Actor-Network Theory, I propose occupying a range of different vantage points in a given economic sector within a socially defined locale, such as the city, by following the connections encountered in the field, and then by allowing actors to perform both the social and the economic by tracing their associations through the production of the ethnographic text.
58

Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT) : a new test of theory of mind and social norm understanding

Baksh, Rehman Asaad January 2018 (has links)
Social cognitive abilities are needed to process and understand social information in order to respond appropriately in everyday social interactions. While there are a number of tests that have been developed to measure social cognition in the literature, many have important limitations such as only assessing one ability, performance being predicted by measures of intelligence and exhibiting low ecological validity. To address some of these limitations, I developed a new test called the Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT). The ESCoT is an animated test that assesses four domains of social cognition: cognitive Theory of Mind (ToM) (What is X thinking?); affective ToM (How does X feel at the end of the animation?); interpersonal understanding of social norms (Did X behave as other people should behave?); and intrapersonal understanding of social norms (Would you have acted the same as X in the animation?). The aims of this thesis were to examine the validity of the ESCoT as a test of social cognition and to further investigate social cognitive processes in healthy and neurological populations. The ESCoT was firstly administered to a healthy population of older, middle-aged and younger adults to examine the effects of ageing on social abilities. This study found that the ESCoT was sensitive to age; poorer performances on cognitive and affective ToM and also interpersonal but not intrapersonal understanding of social norms were predicted by older age. Furthermore unlike traditional tests used in the study, performance was not predicted by measures of intelligence. Instead, the sex of participants and autistic-like traits, in addition to age were found to be important for performance. The ESCoT was then validated in a sample of adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and performance was compared to performance on established social cognition tests. Convergent validity was demonstrated in the study and the ESCoT was sensitive to social cognitive difficulties found in ASD. This study also showed that the ESCoT was more effective than existing tests at differentiating ASD adults and neurotypical controls. The interplay of social anxiety and empathy on ESCoT performance in addition to further exploring sex and autistic-like traits were then examined in a younger adult population. Social anxiety and empathy were not significant predictors of performance on the ESCoT. Similar to the results of the ageing study, this study found that women were better than men on affective ToM. However, unlike the ageing study, better cognitive ToM performance was predicted by older age. Better performance on interpersonal understanding of social norms and ESCoT total scores were predicted by more years of education. The subsequent chapter then examined the clinical efficacy of the ESCoT in a patient population (Alzheimer's disease, behavioural-variant Frontotemporal dementia and amnestic mild cognitive impairment). Here performance on the ESCoT was compared between the patients and neurotypical controls. It was found that patients performed poorer than neurotypical controls on ESCoT total scores, affective ToM, inter-and intrapersonal understanding of social norms. The final chapter returned to healthy ageing to more closely investigate the consequences of healthy ageing on social cognitive processes, by examining the positivity bias (preference for positive over negative stimuli) found in older adults using an attention paradigm. There was no evidence of the positivity bias in older, middle-aged and younger adults in regards to reaction time or accuracy. However, older and middle-aged adults differed in accuracy across stimuli type compared to younger adults. This thesis offers novel insights into the social cognitive abilities of various populations. The ESCoT presents a new, informative and validated test of social cognition for researchers and clinicians to use, which has many advantages over established tests of social cognition.
59

Comparação de dois instrumentos para rastreamento da depressão gestacional em uma amostra de adolescentes grávidas na cidade de Pelotas, RS

Martins, Clarissa de Souza Ribeiro 28 October 2014 (has links)
Submitted by Cristiane Chim (cristiane.chim@ucpel.edu.br) on 2017-04-24T14:36:33Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Clarissa Martins.pdf: 1616707 bytes, checksum: 7d6ba6c5f2c247d0a5ccd351abde1ebe (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-24T14:36:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Clarissa Martins.pdf: 1616707 bytes, checksum: 7d6ba6c5f2c247d0a5ccd351abde1ebe (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-10-28 / This dissertation refers to an epidemiological study of screening scales for depression in pregnant adolescents. The main objective of the research was to adjust the cutoff scales for screening for depression, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), for pregnant teenagers. It is a cross-sectional, population-based study carried out with pregnant adolescents (10-19 years old), which consulted the service prenatal Unified Health System (SUS) of Pelotas. Was carried out from October 2009 to March 2011. The sample was composed based on the SIS-Prenatal program records along the municipal health department and the Basic Health Units, and specialized clinics in the urban area of Pelotas / RS. The women answered a questionnaire with socio demographic and obstetric data, besides the two scales for screening for depression during pregnancy. Also participated in a structured clinical interview Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview 5.0 (MINI) for the clinical diagnosis of depression. Demographic, obstetric and psychiatric social variables were assessed according to the WHO questionnaire. The accuracy of the scales was calculated by their Area under the curve (AUC) of ROC, as well as their respective sensitivity, specificity and predictive values. The best cutoff (PC) found for this sample was ≥10 EPDS scale, with sensitivity 81.1% and specificity 82.7% and AUC of 0.899. BDI for the best cutoff point was ≥11, sensitivity 81.1%, sensitivity 76.8% and an AUC of 0.869. Since the difference between the two AUC were statistically significant (p = 0, 0215). Based on the results, it is concluded that the EPDS scale has become more predictive and sensitive in screening for depression in pregnant adolescents, with respect to BDI. / A presente dissertação refere-se a um estudo epidemiológico sobre escalas de rastreamento para depressão em gestantes adolescentes. O objetivo principal da pesquisa foi verificar os pontos de corte das escalas para rastreamento da depressão Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) e Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), em gestantes adolescentes. Trata-se de um estudo transversal, de base populacional, realizado com gestantes adolescentes (10 a 19 anos de idade), as quais consultaram o serviço de pré-natal do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) de Pelotas-RS. Desenvolvido no período de outubro de 2009 a março de 2011. A amostra foi composta com base nos registros do programa SIS-Pré-Natal, junto a secretaria municipal de saúde e nas Unidades Básicas de Saúde, além de ambulatórios especializados na zona urbana de Pelotas/RS. As gestantes responderam a um questionário com dados sócio demográfico e obstétricos, além das duas escalas para o rastreamento da depressão durante a gestação. Também participaram de uma entrevista clínica estruturada Mini Internacional Neuropsychiatric Interview 5.0 (MINI) para o diagnóstico clínico da depressão. As variáveis sócio demográficas, obstétricas e psiquiátricas foram avaliadas nos domínios do questionário da OMS. A precisão das escalas foi calculada através de suas Áreas sob a curva (AUC) de ROC, assim como suas respectivas sensibilidade, especificidade e valores preditivos. O melhor ponto de corte (PC) encontrado para esta amostra na escala EPDS foi ≥10, com sensibilidade 81,1% e especificidade 82,7% e AUC de 0,899. Para a escala BDI o melhor ponto de corte foi ≥11, sensibilidade 81,1%, sensibilidade 76,8% e uma AUC de 0,869. Sendo que a diferença entre as duas AUC mostraram-se estatisticamente significativas (p=0,0215). Com base nos resultados, conclui-se que a escala EPDS apresenta-se mais preditiva e sensível no rastreamento para depressão em gestantes adolescentes, quando contrastada com a escala BDI.
60

Geographies of botanical knowledge : the work of John Hutton Balfour, 1845-1879

Morrow, Lorna Helen January 2018 (has links)
This thesis forms a contribution to the historical geography of botanical knowledge. It examines the writings, teaching and public engagement in botany of John Hutton Balfour (1808-1884), Regius Professor of Botany and Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) between 1845 and 1879. The thesis explores the methods and approaches used by Balfour to promote botany. It pays specific attention to his scientific correspondence, publications, teaching and pedagogical practices (including fieldwork) and to his role in promoting the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. The curriculum Balfour constructed covered the major aspects of nineteenth-century botanical knowledge: plant structure, morphology and classification as well as aspects then 'on the fringes' of becoming popular - plant physiology. In order to teach this curriculum, Balfour meticulously shaped scientific, pedagogic and social spaces into places of scientific production and discovery. Study of his published work, classroom, field sites and involvement with the public sphere together form the principal elements of this thesis. These are the central places and productive sites in which his botany was made. Balfour's published work allowed him to develop theoretical aspects in his view of botany. For Balfour, writing was an occupation about which he cared deeply both in terms of its role in knowledge circulation but also from a personal perspective. His publication of texts suitable for several distinct audiences (while financially rewarding,) was also an excellent method of circulating botanical and religious knowledge, two topics he was passionate to promote. The classroom provided the setting for Balfour to teach through practical instruction. He employed sensory stimulating objects in order to encourage students to learn the skill of botanical identification and observation. The 'field', like the classroom, was also a site of practical instruction. Balfour's construction of 'the field' was careful and deliberate. It was based on familiarity of location, experience of working in the field, and an extensive knowledge of the geographical distribution of plants in Scotland. Balfour's engagement with the public was evident in his involvement with the Botanical Society of Edinburgh (BSE), and by lectures delivered to groups with the object of moral improvement through botany. The thesis situates Balfour's work within recent literature on the historical geography of scientific knowledge, with particular attention to the importance of place and the sites of science's making. In this way, Balfour's work is illustrative of wider elements of the situated production, and variable dissemination, of scientific (botanical) knowledge.

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