Masters of Science / Studies on snake competitive interactions have relatively been well documented globally, however, those examples tend to be dominated by non-African examples. Africa has a large and spectacular reptile diversity and yet robust and empirical studies on snake population ecology remain poorly understood or documented. Given the close phylogenetic relationship between the two species, as well as the remarkable similarities in overall appearance, morphology, reproductive biology, and most importantly geographic distribution, Psammophis crucifer and Psammophylax rhombeatus offered an ideal study system in which to ask questions related to interspecific competition and niche partitioning. Specifically I asked (1) whether broad scale geographic sympatry is facilitated by fine-scale allopatry through separation of space-use, and (2) whether the diets of the two species provided evidence of partitioning along the dietary niche. To answer these questions, I first quantified relative abundance of the two species at a fine scale, and secondly used existing dietary data to quantify dietary niche overlap. Even though P. rhombeatus was always more abundant in my sample, I found no evidence of space-use partitioning in this study, instead it showed a positive correlation in their abundance, and therefore suggesting space was not a limiting resource. Pianka niche overlap analysis showed significant differences in their feeding habits whereby P. rhombeatus had a broader diet which included mammals and birds, whereas P. crucifer predominantly fed on lizards and other snakes. In conclusion, my study suggests that across multiple geographic scales these two snakes use the same spatial resources and are able to co-exist by partitioning food resources. Lastly, my study serves to provoke more African studies of this nature with suitable candidate snake species.

No

Folksonomier, system som låter användare klassificera innehåll, blir allt vanligare på webben. Typiskt sker denna klassificering genom att användare fritt beskriver innehållsobjekt med hjälp av nyckelord.Denna uppsats presenterar en underökning av hur nyckelord förhåller sig till varandra hierarkiskt, inom ett folksonomisystem. Undersökningen är baserad på ett webbgränssnitt, där besökare kunde förfina eller förkasta förslag på hierarkier av nyckelord. Dessa förslag genererades utifrån av ett verkligt folksonomisystem.Efter analys av 400 inkomna svar dras slutsatsen att flera aspekter av metodologin måste förfinas för att tydliga resultat ska kunna uppnås. Förslag på sådana förändringar presenteras slutligen. / Folksonomies, systems for user classified content, are becoming more common on the web. Typically, these classification systems let users describe content objects by assigning them keywords ("tags").This thesis presents a study on how keywords in a folksonomy system relate hierarchically. The study is based on a web interface, where visitors could refine or reject suggestions of hierarchies of keywords. Suggestions where generated from a real folksonomy system.After analysis of 400 responses, the conclusion is made that to reach clear results, several aspects of the methodology have to be modified. The thesis ends with presenting possible ways to achieve this.

No description available.

An experimental investigation was performed to ascertain the nature of turbulence in a narrow apex angle isosceles triangular duct. The study involved the design and construction of a low noise, low turbulence wind tunnel that had an isosceles triangular test section with an apex angle of 11.5[degrees]. Experiments involved the measurement of velocity fluctuations using hot wire anemometry and wall pressure fluctuations using a condenser microphone. Measurement of the velocity fluctuations reconfirms the coexistence of laminar and turbulent regions at a given cross section for a range of Reynolds numbers. The laminar region is concentrated closer to the apex while the turbulent region is found closer to the base. The point of transition is a function of the Reynolds number and moves closer to the apex as the flow rate is increased. Moreover, it was found in this investigation that traditional scaling of the turbulent statistical quantities do not hold good in this geometry. Although velocity fluctuations showed distinctive flow regimes, no such distinction could be seen in the dynamic wall pressure data. The nature of the dynamic wall pressure was uniform throughout the entire cross section suggesting that wall pressure fluctuations, unlike the velocity fluctuations, are able to travel from the base to the apex, without being damped. This implies that the relationship between the velocity and the pressure fluctuations applicable in the other systems does not hold well in a narrow apex angle isosceles triangular duct. Further, the typical scaling relationships applied to wall pressure spectra of other geometries doesn't apply in this scenario and the ratio of the RMS pressure fluctuation to the mean shear is much higher compared to a flat plate or pipe flow situation.

There is a generalized perception on the 1991-1995 war in the former Yugoslavia as an ethnic conflict caused by longstanding antagonisms among homogenous ethnic groups inhabiting its territory. In such a worldview, which became part of the dominant discourse, inter-ethnic violence in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina was inevitable and the division of the population along ethnic lines was needed to stop the violence. In this thesis I problematize the dominant discourse on the ethnic nature and inevitability of violence, as well as on the ethnic fracturing as a solution, by exposing the experiences of two largest communities that remained ethnically mixed and preserved communal peace throughout wartime – the community of the region of Gorski kotar in Croatia and the community of the city of Tuzla in Bosnia-Herzegovina. By documenting and analysing their discourses and practices, and by contrasting them with the dominant discourses of war in these two countries, I provide evidence that these two communities were oases of peace which developed a counter-discourse and resisted violence by preserving their multi-ethnic character, promoting multiple identities, cherishing inter-ethnic cooperation and ensuring equality and good governance for all their citizens. Their narratives challenge the well-established «truths» about the war in the former Yugoslavia and add to the complexity of collective memories of its peoples.

Western psychology has in its current position and definition laid claim to the “psychology” landscape, despite being the construction of one epistemology. This imposition allows western psychology to dominate and control the “psychology” landscape, to the detriment of other equally valid and “scientific” “psychologies”. We argue for redefinition of western psychology in terms of lived experience or soul, so that it can co-exist with other “psychologies”. This should co-facilitate the process of repositioning western psychology into a dialogically equal relationship with indigenous african psychology. Redefinition of western psychology is dependant on psychologist’s appreciation of the relativity of epistemological frameworks and ability to challenge their own subjectivities. This in turn requires epistemological curiosity. This study adopts a conceptual, autoethnographic approach and methodology. Our aim is not to provide answers, but rather create a context for dialogue. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Offshore wind farm (OWF) construction in the UK is progressing rapidly alongside increasing spatial pressures on marine ecosystems and social and economic activities. A need for increased protection of habitats, species and ecological processes that support environmental and economic benefits is being met by designation of marine protected areas (MPAs). Mitigation and spatial planning solutions are required to enable protection of vital ecological habitats, features and processes and support sustainable economic development. A potential solution is to co-locate OWFs and MPAs. This study uses a multi-disciplinary approach to examine if evidence on the environmental effects of existing OWFs and associated effects on fishing activity (as an existing resource use) benefits MPA goals. Through a systematic review and meta-analyses of existing data, knowledge of OWF effects on species abundance and economic effects on fishing were identified as key evidence gaps. The ecological evidence need was approached through a case study of ecological effects of North Hoyle OWF, North Wales, UK, using existing pre and post-construction monitoring data, as well as primary baited remote underwater video data, collected 5 years later (8 years post-construction). Results suggested habitat and species recovered to a stable state that showed some community differences to pre-construction conditions. The presence of OWF monopiles is likely to have increased existing heterogeneity of substratum and increased opportunities for scavenging species. Species benefitting and disadvantaged by habitat provided within the OWF reflected meta-analyses trends. Extended baseline monitoring to provide confident identification of natural levels of variation in sediment and fauna was lacking. Analysis of fishing activity and landings before and after OWF construction in three UK case study regions approached effects on resource users. Fishing activity in the three case study areas showed broad scale similarity to national trends. Small-scale activity patterns indicated greater reductions in mobile (towed) fishing gear effort near to operating OWFs than in static gear activity (using pots or static nets). Semi-structured interviews conducted with fishermen in each region revealed loss of ground and disruption as negative effects from OWFs, in addition to existing pressures. Benefits including habitat creation and species augmentation, as well as reduction of cumulative lost ground, were identified by fishermen from co-location of MPAs and OWFs. Ecological effects of OWFs suggested benefits from habitat creation, species augmentation and potential for protection of sandbank habitats between monopiles. Mitigation requirements were identified to maximise these potential benefits to an MPA network.

Simultaneous operation of different wireless applications in the same geographical region and the same frequency band gives rise to undesired interference issues. Since licensed (primary) applications have been granted priority access to the frequency spectrum, unlicensed (secondary) services should avoid imposing interference on the primary system. In other words, secondary system’s activity in the same bands should be in a controlled fashion so that the primary system maintains its quality of service (QoS) requirements. In this thesis, we consider collocated point-to-multipoint primary and secondary networks that have simultaneous access to the same frequency band. Particularly, we examine three different levels at which the two networks may coexist: pure interference, asymmetric co-existence, and symmetric co-existence levels. At the pure interference level, both networks operate simultaneously regardless of their interference to each other. At the other two levels, at least one of the networks attempts to mitigate its interference to the other network by deactivating some of its users. Specifically, at the asymmetric co-existence level, the secondary network selectively deactivates its users based on knowledge of the interference and channel gains, whereas at the symmetric level, the primary network also schedules its users in the same way. Our aim is to derive optimal sum-rates (i.e., throughputs) of both networks at each co-existence level as the number of users grows asymptotically and evaluate how the sum-rates scale with the network size. In order to find the asymptotic throughput results, we derive two propositions; one on the asymptotic behaviour of the largest order statistic and one on the asymptotic behaviour of the sum of lower order statistics. As a baseline comparison, we calculate primary and secondary sum-rates for the time division (TD) channel sharing. Then, we compare the asymptotic secondary sum-rate in TD to that under simultaneous channel sharing, while ensuring the primary network maintains the same sum-rate in both cases. Our results indicate that simultaneous channel sharing at both asymmetric and symmetric co-existence levels can outperform TD. Furthermore, this enhancement is achievable when user scheduling in uplink mode is based only on the interference gains to the opposite network and not on a network’s own channel gains. In other words, the optimal secondary sum-rate is achievable by applying a scheduling strategy, referred to as the least interference strategy, for which only the knowledge of interference gains is required and can be performed in a distributed way.

Since the Open-Door Policy has been carried out in 1979, China has gained dramatic improvements in many fields, such as economies and military. At the same time, the considerable changes also bring China many crises from the complicated international envirorunent. This thesis will illustrate these questions through nationalism and realism theoretical framework by using case study with a qualitative approach as the method. With the Five Peaceful Principles of Co-existence based foreign policy, this thesis will experience "Century of Humiliation" of China again and redefine the rising power of China through a case study about Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute between China and Japan. Although it is a little hard to analyze this case under a complicated international environment, plenty of document information will support to get a result of how China's foreign policy and national security are interlinked? Finally, "national insecurities" and "humiliating history" are drawn as the key factors that affect China's foreign policy making, and the interconnections of China's peaceful diplomacy and national security. "National insecurities" and "humiliating history" drive China to make the foreign policy of peaceful development, otherwise, to ensure national security, China need to strengthen the comprehensive national power.