Magisterdisputats. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Master's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Bachelor thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

M.A. dissertation, University of Hong Kong, 1976. / Typewritten.

Large uncertainties remain in estimating the anthropogenic fraction of mineral dust and the climatic impact of dust aerosol, partly due to a poor understanding of the dust source dynamics under the influence of climate variability and human-induced land-cover/land-use change (LCLUC). So far, the dust dynamics and linkage to climate and LCLUC in Central Asia have received little attention from the aerosol research community. This thesis comprises a comprehensive study of the dust dynamics in Central Asia focusing on 1) the seasonality of erosion threshold and dust emission affected by soil moisture, vegetation phenology and surface roughness, 2) the dust interannual variability and connections with large-scale climate variation (ENSO) through effects on the atmospheric circulation, precipitation, vegetation dynamics and drought, and 3) the impact of dust aerosol on surface radiative balance and photosynthetically active radiation, and possible effect on dryland ecosystems. A coupled dust model and multi-year ground and satellite observations of dust frequency, dust loading, and atmospheric and land conditions are used in this study. We find the threshold friction velocity significantly varies in space and time in response to soil moisture seasonality, surface roughness heterogeneity and vegetation phenology. Spring is associated a higher threshold friction velocity than summer, due to wetter soils and more vegetation cover. As a result, although more frequent strong winds occur during spring, spring dust emission is less than summer by 46.8% (or 60.4 Mt). Ignoring the dependence of the threshold friction velocity on the surface characteristics leads to biased spatial distribution and seasonality of dust emission. There is a strong linkage between dust and ENSO in Central Asia: La Nina years produce drought condition and enhance the dust activity. A decline in the strong wind frequency during 1999−2012 results in a decreasing trend in the modeled dust emission, at a rate of -7.81±2.73 Mt yr-1, as well as a decreasing trend in the ground observed dust frequency index, at a rate of -0.14±0.04%. We estimate that 58.4% of dust emission is caused by human activity during the 1999−2012 period. Our estimates suggest human plays an important role in the region’s dust budget through agriculture and water resource usage.

Air transport is a key instrument of the increasingly global flows of goods, services, and people. Despite the fact that commercial aviation can be seen as a vanguard of globalisation, it remains one of the most tightly regulated and nationally controlled industries in the world. While progressive deregulation has taken place in certain regions, most importantly in North America and Europe, much of the world continues to be dominated by restrictive, state-centric bilateral air service agreements. Since the particular institutional and geographical settings of East Asia impede making direct inferences from air transport deregulation in the West, there is a need to develop a better understanding of the air transport environment in the region. his study aims at analysing the endogenous factors that influence the development of aeropolitics on the global scale, in general, and in East Asia, in specific. A mixed methods approach, combining both qualitative and quantitative tools, is used to uncover the relationships between factors related to institutional organisation and polity size, on the one hand, and aeropolitics, on the other. The first part of the study consists of a predominantly quantitative analysis of the relationships on the global scale. Since the quantitative section can at most point to potential causal linkages, it is followed by an in-depth qualitative case study section, focusing on aeropolitical development in three East Asian polities of China, Hong Kong, and South Korea. This study argues that aeropolitics cannot be analysed without due attention to the context in which aeropolitical development takes place. While the direct effects of geographical, demographic, and economic factors remain limited, the importance of the polity-level institutional framework to aeropolitics cannot be overstated. More precisely, economic institutions have a direct impact on the development of aeropolitics, while political institutions set the boundaries within which economic institutions operate. / published_or_final_version / Geography / Master / Master of Philosophy

Cervical cancer is one of the common cancers among women and poses a great burden to the public health. Currently there are two human papillomavirus vaccines, CervarixTM and Gardasil®, against HPV type 16/18 and type 6/11/16/18 cervical cancer available in the market. Most clinical trials about immunogenicity and safety of the two vaccines were conducted among Caucasian females, rather than on Asian female populations. This systematic review aims to summarize and evaluate immunogenicity and safety of the two vaccines conducted mainly at the setting of randomized control trials on Asian female populations. This investigation would enhance understanding about whether ethnic difference impacts antibody responses, what were the severe adverse events in Asian populations, and whether the vaccines demonstrate satisfactory immunogenicity. Eleven relevant studies were identified from Pubmed and Medline with totally 4026 subjects involved. The quality and validity of these studies was critically appraised in terms of randomization, allocation ratio, blinding, analytical methods and other potential limitations. The two vaccines demonstrated high geometric mean antibody titer levels among Asian females. Injection-site pain was the mostly complained solicited local symptom, followed by redness and swelling. Few severe solicited local symptoms were reported. The unsolicited symptoms were not as common as solicited symptoms and quite a few of them were not related to the vaccination. One severe adverse event was confirmed in Japan’s study – a spontaneous abortion had taken place 15 days after vaccination. China lacks of systematic cancer registries, therefore it is difficult to estimate the disease burden. China’s Gross Domestic Product only reached $5445 per capita in 2011. HPV vaccination would not be cost-effective in the countries which had Gross Domestic Product lower than $8505 per capita, therefore piloting the HPV vaccination in major economic powerhouses like Shanghai and Beijing would be more realistic. To sum up, this systematic review demonstrated satisfactory immunogenicity on Asian females. The safety data were acceptable to some extent except one spontaneous abortion occurred in Japan’s study. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

Age assessment which is an integral part of forensic and clinical practice when assessed using the extent of dental development has proven to be more accurate than other methods. Variations in dental development have necessitated the construction of ethnic specific reference datasets (RDS) to ensure accurate age assessments. Age estimated from ethnically different RDS in southern Chinese subjects has been shown to be inaccurate. A systematic review and meta-analysis from the most commonly used French-Canadian dataset revealed consistent over-estimations of age of global population groups, inferring the need for population specific RDS. A study which compared a group of 400 five years old children born in the 1980s and the 2000s demonstrated that children born in recent decades have more advanced dental development. Hence, only the most recent samples were included in the construction of a RDS for southern Chinese using dental panoramic radiographs of 2306 subjects. The reference dataset was subsequently validated on 484 subjects of southern Chinese origin by conducting dental age assessments (DAA) using un-weighted and weighted methods of dental age calculations. Paired t-test demonstrated that all methods of assessments were able to accurately estimate the age (p>0.05). The overall age differences ranged from -0.01 to 0.11 years for males and -0.03 to 0.10 years for females respectively. In addition, to test the accuracy of different ethnic datasets, 266 southern Chinese subjects for whom age had been estimated using the UK Caucasian and French-Canadian datasets were re-scored using the southern Chinese RDS. The latter was able to estimate the age of 80% of the subjects within a range of 12 months and the importance of population specific reference standards was elucidated. The validated southern Chinese RDS on dental development can thus be used to estimate the age of children and young adults of southern Chinese origin. This RDS was also tested for applicability on the records of 953 subject obtained from Japan, Thailand and Philippines. A similar method of validation was conducted and the southern Chinese RDS estimated the age of Thai males, Filipino and Japanese subjects with a reasonable degree of accuracy. The genetic similarity between the southern Han Chinese and the other East Asian population groups may account for the obtained accuracy. The secular trend study was the first of its kind study in Asia that demonstrated advanced dental maturation in children born in recent decades. Natural calamities that strike East Asia leave thousands of people missing. In those circumstances, dental age assessment using the southern Chinese RDS would help in the process of identifying deceased victims. Furthermore, only half of the children in the world below the age of five years are registered; thus the need for determining age is of foremost importance to safeguard them against age specific crimes. Methods of establishing reference datasets and conducting accurate age assessments that have been investigated and tested in this study indicate that the methodology can be applied to any ethnic population group in the world. / published_or_final_version / Paediatric Dentistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Traditionally Bangladeshi women were not expected to work outside their homes, except in cases of dire necessity. The post independence period, since 1971, saw some major demographic changes, including the greater participation of women in various types of waged work. However, a more recent stage in this development has led to large numbers of women being drawn into the garments industry over the last decade. , In many ways the advent of the 'garments women represents a change in the traditional image of the Bangladeshi women. This thesis explores legal and social aspects of the lives of women in the garments industry in Bangladesh. A central theme is the possibilities for the use of law by women workers in the garments industry to protect their own interests. The legal research, therefore, examines the relevant law pertaining to industrial workers and their working conditions, and empirically investigates its application with respect to garments workers. The ideology relating to women in Bangladesh represented them as mute and . helpless victims. As a consequence it has been assumed that the legal system is beyond their reach. However, this investigation was predicated upon the idea of women's own agency. It is argued that, despite the constraints faced by women in every facet of their lives, they are able to act in their own interest and assert their rights on the basis of their own notions of fairness and justice. It was necessary, therefore, to listen to women's voices and acknowledge their own articulation of rights and resistance to masculine hegemony, both at work and in their homes. This was made possible by in-depth interviewing of garments workers. A decentred view of law helped to evaluate the ways in which women perceive their problems at work and make claims to fair treatment. The findings of the study led to a subversion of the myth of helpless Bangladeshi women, by presenting the diverse ways in which women in the garments industry resist socio-economic pressures. Data from in-depth interviews with women workers, lawyers, factory inspectors and legal claimants, and a quantitative analysis of Labour Court records, were all mutually reinforcing. They confirmed that women workers in the garments industry are using the law to resist workplace oppression. At the same time the particular litigation process pursued by the lawyers is unconventional in that it is used as a pressure mechanism against erring employers. The majority of the cases are settled outside the courtroom so that the women workers avoid the potential problems of a contested hearing. The lawyers apply their creativity in order to achieve maximum benefits for the workers. Some women, however, prefer to use the court as a platform to confront their employers. It is argued that .women are benefiting from these legal strategies both - materially and in other ways, not least in terms of enhanced self-esteem. These findings, which are contrary to the prevailing orthodoxy, open up the study of women workers and law in Bangladesh. Finally, the thesis suggests a number of seemingly small legal and administrative reforms which could improve the lives of women workers in the garments industry.

The persuasive speeches of the Zhanguo ce, "The Intrigues of the Warring States," are considered by many to have been written for the purpose of training Warring States political advisers in the rhetorical style of the Zongheng rhetorical school. In contrast to earlier Chinese persuasive styles, the persuasions of the Zhanguo ce were apparently crafted to incorporate manipulative techniques in order to improve the effectiveness of the presentations. This thesis analyzes persuasive speeches from Zhanguo ce in order to identify the types of rhetorical devices used by Warring States rhetors. It also evaluates another reputed Warring States text, the Guiguzi, that openly advocates the use of psychological manipulation in persuasions. Lacking evidence that the received Guiguzi is a valid Warring States text, this thesis compares the Guiguzi teachings and Zhanguo ce persuasions to identify similarities that may indicate general Warring States attitudes toward using psychological manipulation in political persuasions.