Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Radiology, June 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-60).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 396-428). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Using core lithology and palaeoecological analyses, the vegetational and landscape development and local hydrological conditions since c. 6000 BP in two areas of the Somerset Levels has been studied. Focusing on the former characteristics of the river Brue, the floodplain upstream from Glastonbury and the area near Panborough Gap in Wedmore Ridge were investigated. In the latter area a distinct palaeochannel thought to be the prehistoric course of the Brue is present. Both areas show a similar development with saltmarsh and lagoonal environments until 6000 BP, followed by a prolonged period of Alnus - Salix carr and sedge fens. In the Panborough area freshwater deposition was interrupted by distal saltmarsh and lagoon sedimentation between 2900 BP and 2200 BP. This marine incursion caused stagnation of river discharge upstream which led to the growth of Cladium-rich "tloodinq layers" in the central raised bog area. After embankment of the rivers in the Middle Ages the changed hydrological conditions caused deposition of the upper floodplain clays. Until medieval embankment and canalisation determined its present day course, the river Brue did not have a fixed course but consisted of several small short-lived channels. The palaeochannel in the Panborough area is filled with sediment from the Sheppey while its course is inherited from a tidal channel that was incised between 2900 BP and 2200 BP. Blocked by the raised bog in the west the Brue water took a northerly drainage route, and it seems likely that it contributed to this palaeochannel system. The Brue sediment however was deposited as floodplain and backswamp clays in the Glastonbury area, and the long-held opinion that the palaeochannel is the 'Old river Brue' therefore cannot be maintained. Processes in the coastal region have been inferred from the local hydrological changes and these inferences have partly been verified with a simplified, two-dimensional hydrogeological model.

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The literature on vehicle crash reconstruction provides a number of empirical or classical theoretical models for the distance pedestrians are thrown in impacts with various types of vehicles and impact speeds. The aim of this research was to compare the predictions offered by computer simulation to those obtained using the empirical and classical theoretical models traditionally utilised in vehicle-pedestrian accident reconstruction. Particular attention was paid to the pedestrian throw distance versus vehicle impact speed relationship and the determination of pedestrian injury patterns and associated severity. It was discovered that computer simulation offered improved pedestrian kinematic prediction in comparison to traditional vehicle-pedestrian accident reconstruction techniques. The superior kinematic prediction was found to result in a more reliable pedestrian throw distance versus vehicle impact speed relationship, particularly in regard to varying vehicle and pedestrian parameters such as shape, size and orientation. The pedestrian injury prediction capability of computer simulation was found to be very good for head and lower extremity injury determination. Such injury prediction capabilities were noted to be useful in providing additional correlation of vehicle impact speed predictions, whether these predictions were made using computer simulation, traditional vehicle-pedestrian accident reconstruction methods or a combination of both. A generalised approach to the use of computer simulation for the reconstruction of vehicle-pedestrian accidents was also offered. It is hoped that this approach is developed and improved by other researchers so that over time guidelines for a standardised approach to the simulation of vehicle-pedestrian accidents might evolve. Thoracic injury prediction, particularly for frontal impacts, was found to be less than ideal. It is suspected that the relatively poor thoracic biofidelity stems from the development of pedestrian mathematical models from occupant mathematical models, which were in turn developed from cadaver and dummy tests. It is hoped that future research will result in improved thoracic biofidelity in human mathematical models.

This thesis concerns the economic dimensions of the Marshall Plan in Greece from 1947 to 1952. The Marshall Aid Program and Mission contributed to the reconstruction and development of the Greek economy after the destruction of World War II and the Greek Civil War. However, because of the shortcomings of its backward economy, Greece was a special case in the implementation of the Marshall Plan in Europe. In particular, the problems of inefficiency and corruption influenced political and social issues on the decision-making process, while uniquely, the Marshall planners tried to create institutions in order to facilitate reconstruction and to improve Greek people's life. The implementation of the Marshall Plan aimed at the development of the Greek economy parallel to the economic development of the other European countries. The Marshall Plan tried to help the backward Greek economy participate in international trade, and created the foundations for the post-war development of the Greek economy. The principal argument of the thesis is that the Greek economy was too weak to absorb fully the enormous aid granted because private and state investments were too negligible to meet further economic development, while a number of Greek politicians and bourgeoisie prevented the implementation of the economic programme. This forced the American Marshall planners to 'freeze' a great part of the aid in order to cover the budget deficit and to hold inflation. The 'frozen' aid 'counterpart funds' were utilised in the two fiscal years following June 1952. Therefore, in the post-war period, the Marshall Plan was the first systematic effort to stabilise the Greek economy, thereby in due course enabling Greece to join the European Economic Community in 1980.