This study examines the construction of news texts on peace and the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Sunday Times articles dating from August 1998 to January 2001. Peace is an ideological frame that is applied to a complex process that Muller (2000) argues involves and employs a variety of dynamics: diplomacy, economics, force/military intervention and propaganda. As a consequence, different interest groups and nations define peace in different ways. But whatever the definition, the common objective is to restore normalcy via a ceasefire. Peace as a phenomenon has been heightened and sustained by repetitive media attention, thus effectively separating it from international politics (i.e. colonialism of the mind, economy and land), and firmly locating it as a matter of not just public concern, but of international public concern. Using the cultural studies approach to a study of media texts provides a rich foundation for this study. Textual analysis of the articles explores themes and participation and places emphasis on the display of patterns of belief and value that are encoded in the language. What results is a sustained examination of media texts within their socio-cultural and historical context. This study s findings challenge the claim that the media report peace objectively and on its own terms. In particular, the study denies that the Sunday Times objectively, fairly and truthfully reported the experience and process in the DRC between August 1998 and January 2001. Instead it finds that the newspaper constructed a particular understanding of peace, peace talks and the peace process, characterised by repetition, ritualisation and personalisation. Furthermore, this study proposes - and echoes the call for - an alternative news reporting model that will enhance audiences understandings of conflict and its resolution, thereby enhancing the quality of their life.

The aim of this study is to find out, against the news genre norms, how representations of particular regions are produced in the structure of newspaper reporting in the foreign news sub-genre. The study focuses on news reports concerning Africa, or African countries, in one Tokyo-based newspaper: The Japan Times/Online. The study is theoretically informed by Cultural Studies – a field of study concerned with the study of ideology and power in discourse – and investigates how Africa and African countries are represented as “other” than developed countries. This is a textual study that focuses on the production moment using Critical Discourse Analysis methods. Critical discourse analysis is interested in the study of ideological forms that have become naturalised over time, so that ideology has become common sense. The first part of the study analyses headlines and reveals evidence of ideological positions adopted by The Japan Times/Online in the representation of, firstly, home or Japanese actors, which is very different to the representation of African actors. The second part of the analysis examines the structures of the texts and the language used therein. The evidence from this analysis shows how Africa is represented as a Third World entity through various crises, including a health epidemic, perceptions of political instability and economic instability, an inadequate business image, as well as market and managerial skills, and wars and conflict. The study concludes with a discussion of the representation of Africa and African countries as a part of the Third World entity. This representation reflects and naturalises social inequality between developed countries and those of the Third World, of which Africa is a part. The representation of Africa as a Third World entity also naturalises the social, health, economic and political conditions said to be characteristic of African countries. It is this process of representation that reveals the power relations between Japan as a First World country and Africa as part of the Third World.

In this thesis, the research and development of a novel rapid figuring procedure for large ultra-precise optics by Reactive Atom Plasma technology is reported. The hypothesis proved in this research is that a metre scale surface with a form accuracy of ~1 μm PV can be figure corrected to 20 – 30 nm RMS in ten hours. This reduces the processing time by a factor ten with respect to state-of-the-art techniques like Ion Beam Figuring. The need for large scale ultra-precise optics has seen enormous growth in the last decade due to large scale international research programmes. A bottleneck in production is seen in the final figure correction stage. State-of-the-art processes capable of compliance with requisites of form accuracy of one part in 108 (CNC polishing, Magneto-Rheological Finishing and Ion Beam Figuring) have failed to meet the time and cost frame targets of the new optics market. Reactive Atom Plasma (RAP) is a means of plasma chemical etching that makes use of a Radio Frequency Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) torch operating at atmospheric pressure. It constitutes an ideal figuring alternative, combining the advantages of a non-contact tool with very high material removal rates and nanometre level repeatability. Despite the rapid figuring potential of this process, research preceding the work presented in this manuscript had made little progress towards design and implementation of a procedure for metre-class optics. The experimental work performed in this PhD project was conducted on Helios 1200, a unique large-scale RAP figuring facility at Cranfield University. Characterisation experiments were carried out on ULE and fused silica surfaces to determine optimum process parameters. Here, the influence of power, surface distance, tool speed and surface temperature was investigated. Subsequently, raster-scanning tests were performed to build an understanding on spaced multiple passes ... [cont.].

Cette thèse est consacrée à l’étude de certains processus affines d’un point de vue théorique ainsi que appliqué par le biais d’applications en mathématiques actuarielles. Les processus affines sont des processus markoviens homogènes dont la transformée de Laplace du semi-groupe admet une structure exponentielle affine en son état initial. En vertu de leur riche structure, ces processus trouvent de nombreuses applications en biologie, physique et en mathématique de l’économie. Dans le chapitre 1, nous considérons les processus CBI (Continuous state Branching with Immigration) qui correspondent à un exemple de processus affines à valeurs dans la demi- droite réelle positive. Notre objectif dans ce chapitre consiste à étudier la transformée de Laplace du temps d’atteinte de ces processus à un niveau donné. Notre approche est basée sur un récent développement de Patie and Vigon [2015] concernant la théorie du potentiel pour la classe des processus de Markov complètement asymétriques à valeurs dans la droite réelle. Dans un premier temps, cette approche originale nous permet de donner une expression pour la transformée de Laplace du premier temps d’atteinte d’un niveau qui se trouve en dessous du point de départ du processus et ainsi de retrouver par une approche plus générale le résultat récemment obtenu par Duhalde et al. [2014]. Dans un deuxième temps, nous nous intéressons au cas où le niveau à atteindre se trouve au-dessus du point de départ du processus. Dans ce cadre, la situation est plus compliquée puisque le processus admet des sauts positifs. Néanmoins, nous sommes capable de donner une expression pour la transformée de Laplace de ce temps d’atteinte. Dans le chapitre 2, nous considérons les processus Wishart qui correspondent à un exemple de processus affines à valeurs dans le cône des matrices symétriques semi-définies positives. Plus précisément, nous considérons des processus de Wishart sans retour à la moyenne et nous étudions le problème de déterminer le plus petit instant tel que la transformée de Laplace du processus et/ou son intégrale devienne infinie. Le problème de déterminer le domaine maximal d’existence d’une transformée de Laplace est une préoccupation importante et cruciale, pas seulement d’un point de vue théorique, mais surtout pour des raisons pratiques liées à l’implémentation numérique. Sous une faible hypothèse de commutativité, nous obtenons le temps d’explosion de la transformée de Laplace jointe. Cette hypothèse disparaît lorsque l’on s’intéresse aux temps d’explosion de la transformée de Laplace de l’intégrale du processus ou du processus seul. De plus, nous expliquons le comportement du temps d’explosion en terme du rôle de la corrélation entre les facteurs positifs, ce qui va au-delà des résultats unidimensionnels que l’on peut retrouver dans la littérature. Dans le chapitre 3, nous considérons des modèles affines où une structure de dépendance entre les taux de mortalité et d’intérêt existe. Nous nous concentrons sur deux sortes de modèles. Le premier modèle suppose que les dynamiques de la mortalité et du processus de taux d’intérêt sont conduits par un processus de Cox-Ingersoll-Ross (CIR) multidimensionnel et le second par un processus de Wishart. Dans ce contexte, nos objectifs consistent à déterminer des formules pour les prix de certains contrats d’assurance tels que les options annuités garanties ainsi que d’étudier l’influence d’une structure de dépendance sur ces prix. En suivant la méthodologie introduite par Jalen and Mamon [2009], nous commençons par dériver une formule pour le prix de ces contrats. Ensuite, nous étudions la sensibilité du prix de ces contrats par rapport à la structure de dépendance entre les taux de mortalité et d’intérêt. Nous observons que dans un modèle affine général comme le modèle de Wishart qui permet de reproduire une structure de dépendance stochastique et plus riche entre les taux de mortalité et d’intérêt, plusieurs scénarios pour les prix peuvent être reproduits. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Biogas production from energy crops grown on arable land often competes with food and feed production. Wetland plants offer an alternative source of biomass as well as offering a number of environmental benefits such as nutrient removal from wastewaters, carbon sequestration and reducing the use of mineral fertilizer. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of harvest time on biogas production of Phragmites australis and Glyceria maxima and to perform a cost-benefit analysis of using these wetland plants as a substrate for biogas production. The results of the batch experiment show that the overall biogas production and specific methane yields of biomass harvested in June was higher than biomass harvested in September due the increased lignocellulosic nature of the more mature September plant. The cost-benefit showed that in Sweden it is not currently profitable to solely use wetland plants for biogas production. For both species the highest costs were seen in the June harvested biomass, this was due to the much higher fresh weight and increased transportation costs. For both species the highest revenues generated were the June harvested biomass, this was due to the higher specific methane yields. It was found that the harvest time that was closest to profitability from both species was the June harvest for Phragmites australis. Although the costs were higher for harvesting in June, this was outweighed by the higher amount of electricity produced for this scenario. If transportation distance was to be increased it could result in September being the favourable harvest time. Therefore, individual circumstances of the farmers could decide which is the optimal harvest time. Although solely using wetland plants for biogas production is not currently profitable, co-digestion and pre-treatment are options to investigate that could change this. Also if a greater financial value is put on the socioeconomic benefits such as increased biodiversity, aesthetic value and global warming mitigation it may be financially viable in the future.

Gällande riktlinjer för preoperativ fasta beskriver att patienter med liten risk för aspiration kan inta fast föda fram till sex timmar och klara drycker fram till två timmar före start av anestesi. Studier har visat att många patienter fastar längre, vilket kan ha negativ inverkan både fysiologiskt och på välbefinnandet som till exempel dehydrering, törst, illamående, huvudvärk och nedsatt insulinkänslighet. Syftet med studien var att kartlägga och beskriva preoperativa fastetider, dryckintag samt förekomst av törst hos patienter planerade för elektiv kirurgi. Strukturerade intervjuer genomfördes under fem dagar med 50 patienter som rekryterades konsekutivt på två preoperativa avdelningar. Resultaten visade att majoriteten av patienterna instruerats att inta klara drycker fram till två timmar före start av anestesi. Fastetider hos patienter med strikt fasta varierade mellan 7,75 till 13,25 timmar (median 10 och dryckintag mellan 0,5 till 7,5 glas (medelvärde 3,14; standardavvikelse 1,98). Fastetider hos patienter med flytande fasta varierade mellan 0,75 till 11,25 timmar (median 3,5 och dryckintag mellan 1 till 9 glas (medelvärde 4,31; standardavvikelse 1,91). Av de 50 intervjuade patienterna uppgav 44 % att de upplevde törst. Studiens resultat visade på en stor variation i fastetider och dryckintag där de äldsta patienterna tenderade att fasta länge och inta små mängder dryck preoperativt. / Existing guidelines for preoperative fasting means that patients with a minimal risk of aspiration can take solid food until six hours, and clear drinks until two hours before start of anesthesia. Studies have shown that many patients are fasting longer, which may be detrimental both physiologically and on wellbeing, for example, dehydration, thirst, nausea, headache and reduced insulin sensitivity. The purpose of this study was to map and describe fasting times, beverage intake and the incidence of thirst preoperatively in patients who were undergoing elective surgery. Structured interviews were conducted over five days with 50 patients who were enrolled consecutively in two preoperative departments. The results showed that fasting times in patients with strict fasting ranged from 7.75 to 13.25 hours (MD 10) and beverage intake between 0.5 to 7.5 glasses (3.14 SD 1,98). Fasting times in patients with float fasting ranged from 0.75 to 11.25 hours (MD 3,5) and beverage intake between 1 to 9 glasses (4,31 SD 1,91). Of the 50 interviewed patients, 44 % said they experienced thirst. The results indicated a wide variation in preoperative fasting times and beverage intake, where the oldest patients tended to have long duration of fasting and intake of small amounts of beverage preoperatively. / <p>2010 felaktigt årtal titelsida</p>

Numerous studies have looked at cognitive processing, more specifically attention, and its important role in various dynamic and static movements. Research on attentional demands in sport is an expanding area with studies now being done on athletes revealing the role of cognitive factors in the execution of motor movements in sports. Objective: the purpose of this study was to determine the attentional demands of a delivery in curling using a classic probe technique with a verbal response time and by measuring numerous performance variables. Subjects: ten healthy skilled curling players and nine healthy novice curling players undertook an auditory probe reaction time concurrently with a delivery in curling. Method: Sixty shots were executed with ten shots for each of the three phases of the shot, in all 30 take outs and 30 draws were done by each participant. The first phase when the player comes out of the “hack”, the second phase of the throw was when the player slid across the “t-line”. The third phase is when the player arrives near the line of Hog and releases the stone. Results: results revealed that reaction times were longer at phase 1 of the delivery for all subjects. The attentional demands for the draw and take out were highest at the phase one of the delivery, furthermore, compared to the draw, a significant rise of RT was seen in phase 3 of the take out shot. Significant differences were also found between the two experimental groups, with the most notable ones being that expert had a better shot success and a slower delivery time than the novice group. Conclusion: These results will lead to a better understanding of the attentional demands of two key shots in the sport of Curling and help curling coaches and teachers, as well as the players of the sport to know more about the attentional demands of the execution movement of the sport. This study also opens a new and interesting perspective on the importance of attention while performing motor tasks that are more complex and demanding.

Reducing ED wait times is a top health care priority for the Ontario government and hospitals in Ontario are incentivised to meet provincial ED wait time targets. In this study, we considered the costs and benefits associated with increasing the number of acute-care beds to reduce the time an admitted patient spends boarding in the ED. A shorter hospital LOS has often been cited as a potential benefit associated with shorter ED wait times. We derived a multivariable Cox regression model to examine this association. We found no significant association between ED boarding times and the time to discharge. Using a Markov model, we estimated an increased annual operating cost of $2.1m to meet the prescribed wait time targets. We concluded that increasing acute-care beds to reduce ED wait times would require significant funding from hospitals and would have no effect on total length of stay of hospitalized patients.

This thesis solves estimation and control problems in computational neuroscience, mathematically dealing with the first-passage times of diffusion stochastic processes. We first derive estimation algorithms for model parameters from first-passage time observations, and then we derive algorithms for the control of first-passage times. Finally, we solve an optimal design problem which combines elements of the first two: we ask how to elicit first-passage times such as to facilitate model estimation based on said first-passage observations. The main mathematical tools used are the Fokker-Planck partial differential equation for evolution of probability densities, the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation of optimal control and the adjoint optimization principle from optimal control theory. The focus is on developing computational schemes for the solution of the problems. The schemes are implemented and are tested for a wide range of parameters.

The diploma thesis focuses on advertising in selected newspapers in Czechoslovakia between the wars. Analyzed advertisements are compared with historical knowledge and consider as a reflection of the economic, social and political situation. According to the knowledge, the period is divided into four parts which show different developments. Advertisements are analyzed and compared between these parts. In each of these parts are described advertising sections the most typical for particular period, which are often related to the economic, social or political situation. The work, for example, observes correlation between amount of advertisements and economic growth or crisis. The work also examines a reflection of the technological development and modern civilization progress. The most frequent products and brands are described as well as social trends and customs, which we can induce from the advertisements. Further there is the analysis the qualitative progress of advertising. Last but not least, there is a comparison of content and the amount of advertising among the analyzed newspapers.