M.Comm. / The debt and general development problems experienced by the peoples of Africa have been the subject of wide discussions and investigations by many officials of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and related organisations, the commercial banks, private industrial corporations, scholars from all over the world and last, but not least, the Sub-Saharan countries themselves. I have been intrigued by the great differences in opinion as to the reasons for the growing socio-economic plight of the Sub-Saharan countries. Even more fascinating, but frustrating, have been the widely different solutions suggested by the parties involved, be they the World Bank, the Fund or the countries themselves. It has, with the passing of time, dawned on me that not only are the phenomena under investigation of great sublety and complexity, but the different angles from which they are being scrutinised and evaluated, are to such an extent befogged by the totally different cultures, that one could not hope for any form of synthesis. The research and compilation of this thesis has been a great adventure in the world of scarcity and the implications of economics being the science of human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.

Thesis advisor: John Baldovin / Twentieth century is an epoch that has known the ravages of war, violence, oppression, exploitation and conflict. In a century marked by great human brokenness which has escalated the alienation from God, from one another and from the whole of creation; what would be the proper mission of the Church in such a context? This breakdown of the whole human family which has led to great suffering stares us in the face. It has been an epoch with two world wars, genocides, nature‘s rebellion as the weather and atmospheric conditions have been unpredictable and above all that world development has taken place on the heads of billions of people who live in abject poverty. In a world torn apart by conflicts and division, reconciliation becomes a necessary theological theme for mission, if we are to work for a better future for "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

The purpose of this research is to estimate and evaluate the relation of the baseflow parameters and hydrogeological characteristics in an effluent river, with a study in the Gravataí River, state of Rio Grande do Sul. It has been noted that in Brazil there is a few information about the relationship of the baseflow parameters and hydrogeological characteristics. The information of streamflow was collected from Bourscheid (2012) determined from of HidroWeb of National Water Agency (ANA). The parameters of baseflow (Qb) that were evaluated are the baseflow index (BFI) and the recession coefficient (α). Also it were used the physiographic characteristics of sub-basins of Gravataí River as analysis tool to determine the relationship with hydrogeological characteristics, transmissivity (T) and coefficient of storage (S). The method of digital recursive filter of Eckhardt was used to separate baseflow. To calculate the BFImax it was used the methodology of Collischonn e Fan (2013). The results for of data series more representative sub-basin Passo das Canoas were Qmed=26,87m³/s; Qbmed=17,61m³/s, BFI=0,66; BFImax=0,68. To determinate the master recession curve and your coefficient α it was used the software RECESS (Rutledge, 1998), with α=0,0285 days⁻¹ as result for the Passo das Canoas sub-basin. The hydrogeological characteristics were obtained with pumping tests performed by CPRM, CORSAN, SOP, DRH-SEMA and HIDROGEO. The relationship of parameters of baseflow and the physiographic and hydrogeological characteristics were analyzed with the simple linear regression using statistical tools of coefficient of Pearson's correlation (R), the coefficient of determination (R²), probability p and significance (p<0,05) and the coefficient of relationship between the variables. The most important relations obtained were: Qbmed - área, R²=0,87; BFI - área, R²=0,92; α - S(α RECESS), R²=0,78; α - S (α Maillet), R²=0,73. For the determination of coefficient of storage S, the indirect method using α of Maillet and RECESS showed higher correlations and more reliable than the method with the information of pumping test. According to the established hypothesis, has some relationships with significance.

This thesis concentrates on discovering the best consolidant or consolidants for stabilizing a Columbian mammoth’s sub-fossilized mandibles, a distal femur, an ulna, a radius, and a tooth. It was recovered from a wet, sandy gravel pit owned by the Vernor Family located in Clute, Texas. Based on thermoluminescence dating, the mammoth dates to around 66,000 years ago. The bones are fragile and unstable. They retain a minute amount of organic material (collagen) and hydroxyapatite, but not enough to retain any structural support. Experiments and analyses were conducted on various bone samples to compare each of the following consolidants’ properties. The consolidants examined were silicone oil, polyvinyl acetate (PVA) with viscosity of 25, Acryloid B-72, Butvar 98, Starbond EM-02, methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS), Paleo-bond, and Rhoplex (Primal) WS24. Stability, strength, and appearance were evaluated by measurable observations. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and the Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) at the Microscopy and Imaging Center at Texas A&M University were used to map penetration of these consolidants. SEM was utilized for both imaging and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to examine the presence and absence of certain elements. ESEM was used to view consolidants at the microscopic level to further examine the bonding between the consolidant and the bone’s cellular structure. By examining and testing all the consolidants, methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) was chosen to stabilize the ulna, radius, left and right mandibles, distal femur, and tooth. This research opened new avenues to different methods in preserving sub-fossilized bone and broadens our understanding of bone conservation.

This thesis concentrates on discovering the best consolidant or consolidants for stabilizing a Columbian mammoth’s sub-fossilized mandibles, a distal femur, an ulna, a radius, and a tooth. It was recovered from a wet, sandy gravel pit owned by the Vernor Family located in Clute, Texas. Based on thermoluminescence dating, the mammoth dates to around 66,000 years ago. The bones are fragile and unstable. They retain a minute amount of organic material (collagen) and hydroxyapatite, but not enough to retain any structural support. Experiments and analyses were conducted on various bone samples to compare each of the following consolidants’ properties. The consolidants examined were silicone oil, polyvinyl acetate (PVA) with viscosity of 25, Acryloid B-72, Butvar 98, Starbond EM-02, methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS), Paleo-bond, and Rhoplex (Primal) WS24. Stability, strength, and appearance were evaluated by measurable observations. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and the Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) at the Microscopy and Imaging Center at Texas A&M University were used to map penetration of these consolidants. SEM was utilized for both imaging and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to examine the presence and absence of certain elements. ESEM was used to view consolidants at the microscopic level to further examine the bonding between the consolidant and the bone’s cellular structure. By examining and testing all the consolidants, methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) was chosen to stabilize the ulna, radius, left and right mandibles, distal femur, and tooth. This research opened new avenues to different methods in preserving sub-fossilized bone and broadens our understanding of bone conservation.

Power consumption of VLSI (Very Large Scale Integrated) circuits has been growing at an alarmingly rapid rate. This increase in power consumption, coupled with the increasing demand for portable/hand-held electronics, has made power consumption a dominant concern in the design of VLSI circuits today. Traditionally dynamic (switching) power has dominated the total power consumption of VLSI circuits. However, due to process scaling trends, leakage power has now become a major component of the total power consumption in VLSI circuits. This dissertation explores techniques to reduce leakage, as well as techniques to exploit leakage currents through the use of sub-threshold circuits. This dissertation consists of two studies. In the first study, techniques to reduce leakage are presented. These include a low leakage ASIC design methodology that uses high VT sleep transistors selectively, a methodology that combines input vector control and circuit modification, and a scheme to find the optimum reverse body bias voltage to minimize leakage. As the minimum feature size of VLSI fabrication processes continues to shrink with each successive process generation (along with the value of supply voltage and therefore the threshold voltage of the devices), leakage currents increase exponentially. Leakage currents are hence seen as a necessary evil in traditional VLSI design methodologies. We present an approach to turn this problem into an opportunity. In the second study in this dissertation, we attempt to exploit leakage currents to perform computation. We use sub-threshold digital circuits and come up with ways to get around some of the pitfalls associated with sub-threshold circuit design. These include a technique that uses body biasing adaptively to compensate for Process, Voltage and Temperature (PVT) variations, a design approach that uses asynchronous micro-pipelined Network of Programmable Logic Arrays (NPLAs) to help improve the throughput of sub-threshold designs, and a method to find the optimum supply voltage that minimizes energy consumption in a circuit.

none

Thesis (MA(Security Studies))--Universiteit van Pretoria, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

A survey of smelting debris undertaken in BABUNGO brought to light what is to date the largest single recorded centre of iron production in sub-Saharan Africa. High output in the 19th century was facilitated by innovation in furnace structure that enhanced capacity and brought in economies of scale along with changing fuel usage that enabled the intensification of production by a sedentary industry set within a grasslands environment. Elsewhere in the region separate smithing and smelting using older, smaller furnaces exploiting traditional fuels and ores collapsed and in its place arose a devolved technology centring on recycling of slag in simple open hearth furnaces. The enormous output of the BABUNGO industry was linked to a mode of labour recruitment and division of rewards that overrode the boundaries of the kin group. At the point of establishment of the foundry and throughout its operation non-kin freely offered their labour in return for access to the foundry. A pervading ethos of cooperation and stress on the sharing of the product in terms of a familial paradigm provided for the social validation of the accumulation of wealth by individual descent group heads. The distribution of products was characterised by periodic markets, organised trading groups, use of convertible currencies, credit and commissions. The heavy costs of transporting ironware to regional markets was largely taken over by specialist trading chiefdoms that clustered around BABUNGO. Unencumbered by these costs output rose to even higher levels. The great material wealth generated by iron production was further enhanced by the highly profitable conveyances to be made between continental and coastal spheres of trading activity that abutted on the Grassfields. The political organisation of BABUNGO offered only limited opportunity for conversion of wealth into political authority. The integrity of the chiefdom barely withstood the internal pressures generated by the enormous wealth derived from iron production but was bolstered by an external alliance undertaken by an astute FON with the vanguard of German colonisation.

An aggregate agricultural production function (a pooled covariance model) based on the metaproduction approach, was estimated using cross section, time series data for 32 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) covering the 1970-1993 period to evaluate the effect of foreign aid on agricultural production. The Almon lag structure of the foreign aid (Official Development Assistance) variable was specified to account for the effect of foreign aid over time. The results support the hypothesis that the aggregate effect of aid on agricultural production in SSA is positive. The marginal effect of foreign aid in SSA is calculated to be $0.14 which can be interpreted to mean that a one dollar increase in aid in each of the past six years would be expected to increase the value of agricultural output by 14 cents in the current year. / There is a great variation in the effect of foreign aid on agricultural production when countries are classified according to agro-climatic region, income level and policy environment. Excluding Eastern and Southern Africa where the effect of aid is negative, the marginal effect of foreign aid ranges from $0.40 in Sudano-Sahel to $1.32 in Central Africa. The marginal effect of foreign aid is larger in middle income countries as compared to high income countries; it is negative in low income countries. The effect of aid is positive and significant in countries classified under a favourable policy environment but negative and insignificant in countries classified under an unfavourable policy environment. The structural adjustment dummy variable is positive and significant in most regressions indicating that structural adjustment programs have been beneficial to agriculture in most Sub-Saharan African countries.