This thesis examines the mode of trial concerns in the U.S.A., New York State, California, England and Wales and Canada --specifically the ability of the jury to comprehend complex cases and the perception/reality that bench trials may not be as fair as jury trials. Defining complex cases as those involving serious fraud indictments, capital murder trials, and lawsuits or indictments against corporations and their managers, the thesis examines problems associated with jury trials in such cases. It evaluates the comparative law and customs and practices regarding the use of juries, emphasizing problems with jury selection, deficits in jury deliberation and post trial problems associated with jury verdicts. The thesis also evaluates the judge only trial, attempting to determine whether a state imposed non jury trial in a criminal case as is presently proposed in the England and Wales Parliament creates an unfairness to the defendant because bench trials significantly differ from jury trials in the application of the rules of evidence and in the role of the judge. The thesis reports on the results of a survey of New York State trial judges, a like survey of New York State lawyers, and the opinions of nine England and Wales judges authorized to try serious fraud cases who were interviewed regarding these issues. The surveys and interviews finds that there is a high degree of support for jury verdicts expressed by the judges, examines evidentiary and pretrial practices in both modes of trial and attempts to evaluate whether claims of procedural flaws and prejudice in bench trials by respected academics are accurate. The thesis concludes by affirming the competence of juries to try complex cases, proposing modifications to post jury verdict procedures to evaluate jury misconduct and advocating that the bench trial evidentiary rules and conduct rules become comparable to the jury trial. The thesis recommends that mode of trial choices be given to the defendant, advocates that when a bench trial is selected that peremptory challenges of the trial judge be permitted and postulates that these reforms will make the bench trial a more attractive alternative to the jury trial in complex cases.

Teaching-only academics now constitute a significant proportion of the academic staff in UK higher education. This thesis is a three-part study in which I sought to contribute to a more indepth understanding of the teaching-only academic role. I did this through an investigation of the career trajectories, perceptions, work-related experiences and academic identity constructions of teaching-only academics working in a research-intensive institution in the UK. In the first part of the study I carried out a systematic review of the literature on teaching-only academics in the UK, Australia and Canada. In the second part of the study I investigated the virtual identity of teaching-only academics at the UK research-intensive institution. I did this by undertaking an analysis of how these teaching-only academics self-represented and projected themselves on their institutional webpages. In the third part of the study I carried out a life-history analysis of senior teaching-only academics in the engineering faculty of the case study institution. A principal finding from this thesis, which is collaborated across all the three parts of the study, is that the teaching-only academic role is a non-homogeneous role comprising individuals who come from different backgrounds, have followed different career trajectories into the role, and have different academic identities. Findings from this thesis also suggest that whilst teaching-only academics were introduced as an institutional response to the demands of the RAE/REF, the very act of creating the role has further exacerbated the separation between research and teaching, and between undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. Specifically, undergraduate teaching within the case study engineering department now tends to be the responsibility of teaching-only academics, with research-and-teaching academics increasingly focussing on research and postgraduate teaching. This separation has implications for research-led teaching, particularly in research-intensive institutions. The thesis also reveals that despite the pre-eminence of research, teaching remains important within the university, and individuals on the teaching-only academic role are able to accumulate substantial, and valued, teaching-related academic capital. This capital, in turn, is enabling them to secure and advance their positions within the same institution, and to pursue career advancement through seeking employment in other higher education institutions.

In an effort to immerse learners in the target language, many IEPs in the U.S. hold fast to inflexible English Only policies (Auerbach, 1993; McMillan & Rivers, 2011). However, research has identified several shortcomings of such a rule, such as (1) the benefits of the L1 in L2 learning, and the lack of research supporting the exclusion of the mother tongue (Atkinson, 1993; Brooks-Lewis, 2009; Butzkamm, 2003), and (2) psychological, sociocultural, and linguistic factors that diminish the effectiveness of English Only and contribute to a negative learning environment (Shvidko, Evans, & Hartshorn, 2015). This body of research has prompted a large IEP in the U.S. to replace its English Only policy with initiatives that encourage English use, foster learner autonomy and create a more positive learning environment. This study evaluated this IEP's initiatives and found that this new perspective on language policy has created a viable alternative to English Only. These initiatives' intended objective to encourage English use was met while preserving learner autonomy and without sacrificing a high standard of excellence.

西藏的神秘在於其特殊的宗教文化，然而這不僅是因為西藏佛教特殊的修持方式，引起人們的好奇心理，更是因為西藏的語言文字及地理環境，使得人們認為，藏傳佛教遠比漢傳佛教還要接近印度佛教的傳統。宗喀巴大師是西藏佛教史上一位了不起的人物，他以深邃的佛學理論，破斥當時佛教界邪見充斥的現象，重新整治戒律、修持及教理體系，造就西藏佛教今日繁榮興盛的面貌。宗喀巴大師自幼廣學經論，對唯識及中觀思想均有深入的研究，從法尊法師所翻譯幾本宗喀巴大師的著作，可知大師學問的淵博縝密。而借著研讀大師的著作，更有助於學者對佛法的了解。本論文是筆者在探索真理的過程中，嘗試以翻譯的方式，學習大師在本論中對唯識學的運思結構，輔以思想史的角度來了解原始佛教、部派佛教、大乘佛教的心識說。此外介紹西藏各教派及宗喀巴大師的佛學思想，並與漢地阿賴耶識思想來做比較。

Under the idea of ¡§Land ownership means wealth ownership¡¨, people believe that owning land is the ultimate symbol of wealth. Area of Taiwan¡¦s state-owned land goes up to 3.6 million hectares. Government agencies at all levels that require official or public use of land must apply for appropriation of the public land, which creates fewer disputes. This is not within the scope of this study. The rest of the non-public land would be treated in accordance with the provisions of Article 53 of the State-Owned Property Law, whereby ¡§The vacant house and land belonging to non-public use property shall be sold by tendering, if no predeterminated purpose.¡¨ However, after the land value skyrocketed due to cases of land auction, the public gradually became concerned with whether the state-owned land auctions are driving up the land prices. According to the principle of public land management and process, it expressly states that state-owned land is ¡§for rent only and not for sale¡¨. However, there are many exceptions, causing the current state-owned land policy to be still primarily auction-based. Therefore, there is still room for discussion regarding the impact of the ¡§for rent only and not for sale¡¨ policy on the development of the state-owned land. ¡@¡@ However, we are currently faced with limited resources and infinite demands, while the government regards land tendering as one of the optimal operating methods. Strengthened management for issues such as illegal occupation and idleness of state-owned land should thus be simultaneously implemented considering the rare and irreplaceable nature of state-owned land resources. As a result, in conforming to the principles of making reasonable and optimal adjustments in the utilization of land resources, this study explored the domestic state-owned land management system within the administrative law frameworks and examined whether any amendment is required. The ultimate aim of this paper is to examine the problems one by one under the five major frameworks: basic principles of the administrative law, administrative organization, administrative authority, administrative relief, and administrative supervision, while providing a discourse and analysis of the existing system. Concrete suggestions were then given to correct the existing state-owned land management system in Taiwan, in an attempt to provide a standard for policy makers or for administrative agencies when setting administrative rules.

Thirty-two privately owned structures were treated with a 0.06% exterior and interior, 0.06% exterior-only, or 0.125% exterior-only application of fipronil (Termidor SC®) in order to compare their efficacies in the post-construction control of interior populations of Reticulitermes spp. (Holmgren). The concentration of fipronil in the soils from the structures was measured pre-treatment and at 1 week, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18 months post-treatment. Bioassays conducted with fipronil-treated soils from five locations in Texas determined the minimum effective concentration (minimum concentration necessary to stop termites from breeching a 50 mm column of treated soil) was < 1.0 ppm. Lethal concentration (LC50) values ranged from 0.19 to 0.60 ppm for Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar). All structures receiving a 0.06% fipronil exterior and interior or 0.125% exterior-only application showed full control of interior termite populations within 6 months. In contrast, 36% of the structures that received a 0.06% fipronil exterior-only application still had termites 6 months post-treatment. When taking the point of termite entry into account, it was shown that only structures treated with fipronil at the point of entry into the structure by termites showed full control within 6 months. This indicated that the placement of the termiticide at the point of subterranean termite entry, and not the rate at which it was applied, was the most important factor that predicted whether a post-construction application of fipronil provided full control of an interior infestation. Results also indicated that Termidor SC® was effective when used according to the current product label, which calls for a thorough application including exterior and interior applications for post-construction termite control. Soil monitoring data for fipronil indicated that the technical material provided by the manufacturer of Termidor SC® was labeled appropriately in terms of concentration. Tank mix samples, while variable, were between 83 - 96% of the labeled concentrations. Post-treatment soil samples and bioassays with treated soil showed that fipronil concentrations were adequate to effectively control termites through the first 18 months.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate potential travel time impacts of the implementation of exclusive heavy-vehicle lanes on the Interstate Highway 35 (IH 35) corridor, in the Austin metropolitan area. The analysis considers heavy vehicles (trucks) and non-heavy vehicles (cars) as separate system elements and as an integrated system. The study modeled traffic operations on IH 35, during the AM and PM peak hours, under two traffic scenarios, Existing and Inside Truck-Only Lanes using the software VISSIM 5.4. The limits of the study are FM 1431 in Round Rock, on the north, and SH 45 near Buda, on the south. The Existing scenario modeled traffic operations under current IH 35 geometric conditions and traffic control rules, in which trucks are prohibited from the inside lane and cars are allowed in all lanes. The Inside Truck-Only Lanes scenario modeled traffic operations under the assumption that trucks are restricted to the inside lane only and cars are prohibited from the inside lane. Travel times across the study area corridor were measured in the models to compare the performance of the Inside Truck-Only Lanes scenario relative to the Existing scenario. / text

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a cornerstone in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) navigation and is by far the most common way to obtain the position of a UAV. However, since there are many scenarios in which GPS measurements might not be available, the possibility of estimating the UAV position without using the GPS would greatly improve the overall robustness of the navigation. This thesis studies the possibility of instead using Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) in order to estimate the position of a UAV using an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and the direction towards ground based radio transmitters without prior knowledge of their position. Simulations using appropriately generated data provides a feasibility analysis which shows promising results for position errors for outdoor trajectories over large areas, however with some issues regarding overall offset. The method seems to have potential but further studies are required using the measurements from a live flight, in order to determine the true performance.

The resistance of cancer cells to traditional chemotherapeutic agents is a major obstacle in the successful treatment of cancer. Cancer cells manipulate a variety of signaling pathways to enhance resistance to anticancer agents; such mechanisms include disrupting the DNA damage response and hyperactivating survival signaling pathways. In an attempt to better understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie resistance to chemotherapeutic agents, we investigated multiple processes regulated by the Rad9-Rad1-Hus1 (9-1-1) complex and Bif-1. The 9-1-1 complex plays an integral role in the response to DNA damage and regulates many downstream signaling pathways. Overexpression of members of this complex has been described in several types of cancer and was shown to correlate with tumorigenicity. In this study, we demonstrate that disruption of the 9-1-1 complex, through loss of Hus1, sensitizes cells to DNA damaging agents by upregulating BH3-only protein expression. Moreover, loss of Hus1 results in release of Rad9 into the cytosol, which enhances the interaction of Rad9 with Bcl-2 to potentiate the apoptotic response. We also provide evidence that disruption of the 9-1-1 complex sensitizes cells to caspase-independent cell death in response to DNA damage. Furthermore, we found that loss of Hus1 enhances DNA damage-induced autophagy. As autophagy has been implicated in caspase-independent cell death, these data suggest that the enhanced autophagy observed in Hus1-knockout cells may act as an alternate cell death mechanism. However, inhibition of autophagy, through knockdown of Atg7 or Bif-1, did not suppress, but rather promoted DNA damage-induced cell death in Hus1-deficient cells, suggesting that in apoptosis-competent cells autophagy may be induced as a cytoprotective mechanism. The aberrant activation of survival signals, such as enhanced EGFR signaling, is another mechanism that provides cancer cells with resistance to DNA damage. We found that knockdown of Bif-1 accelerated the co-localization of EGF with late endosomes/lysosomes thereby promoting EGFR degradation. Our results suggest that Bif-1 may enhance survival not only by inducing autophagy, but also by regulating EGFR degradation. Taken together, the results from our studies indicate that the 9-1-1 complex and Bif-1 may be potential targets for cancer therapy as they both regulate sensitivity to DNA damage.

To investigate how federal discourse constructs adolescence, the author analyzed discussions of abstinence-only sexuality education from the U.S. Congressional Record from 2001 to 2007. He used grounded theory methodology to identify theoretical codes and construct a model from the data. The grounded theory developed focused on Congress’s maintenance of its role in mediating concern over the sexual behavior of adolescents as opposed to finding a solution to the problem it had identified. The author relates this theory to Foucault’s (1974/1991) concept of governmentality. He discusses Congress’s discourse about adolescence using Lesko’s (2001) confident characteristics of adolescence as a framework.