This experiment was designed to investigate the effect of emotion on an individual's ability to bind actors and actions in memories for events. Binding is the process of creating associations among features of a stimulus in order to represent that they belong together; however, errors can occur when a feature from one stimulus is incorrectly associated with a feature from another stimulus. Participants viewed a series of video clips, each depicting an actor performing a simple emotional or non-emotional action. One week later, they viewed a series of retrieval video clips consisting of old, (previously seen), conjunction (previously seen action performed by a different actor) and also new video clips. Participants responded "yes" to viewing the old clips the most, followed by both conjunction clips, and then new clips. Participants also responded "yes" more often to emotional items and also displayed higher confidence ratings to "yes" responses for emotional items. / by Leslie A. Butler. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Chan Mok-wah, Paul. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [219-231]). / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS / SUMMARY / LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS / Chapter CHAPTER 1. --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 1.1 --- HISTORY --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- RADIATION EXPOSURES OF THE POPULATION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- The Projected Expansion of Medical Exposures --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- RADIATION HAZARDS --- p.6 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Deterministic Effects --- p.6 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Stochastic Effects --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- Pre-natal Irradiation --- p.9 / Chapter 1.4 --- THE LOCAL SITUATION --- p.9 / Chapter 1.5 --- JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY OF LOCAL PATIENT DOSE --- p.10 / Chapter CHAPTER 2. --- THE MEDICAL EXPOSURES IN HONG KONG / Chapter 2.1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2 --- MAN-MADE RADIATION IN HONG KONG --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Occupational Exposure --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Radioactive Fall-out --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Nuclear Medicine --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Diagnostic Radiology --- p.12 / Chapter 2.3 --- THE FUTURE TREND --- p.13 / Chapter 2.4 --- THE CURRENT STUDY --- p.15 / Chapter CHAPTER 3. --- METHODS OF OPTIMISATION / Chapter 3.1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.17 / Chapter 3.2 --- JUSTIFICATION OF DIAGNOSTIC RADIATION EXPOSURE --- p.17 / Chapter 3.3 --- OPTIMISATION OF DIAGNOSTIC RADIATION EXPOSURE --- p.18 / Chapter 3.4 --- THE CONTROL OF EXPOSURES --- p.19 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- The Control of Occupational Exposure --- p.19 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- The Control of Public Exposure --- p.20 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- The Control of Patient Exposure --- p.20 / Chapter 3.5 --- A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO CONTROL PATIENT EXPOSURES --- p.23 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- Intrumental Approach --- p.23 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- Technical Approach --- p.24 / Chapter 3.5.3 --- Administrative Approach --- p.25 / Chapter 3.6 --- CONCLUSION --- p.26 / Chapter CHAPTER 4. --- METHOD OF STUDY / Chapter 4.1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.27 / Chapter 4.2 --- A WORKING SCHEME --- p.27 / Chapter 4.3 --- THE MEASUREMENT OF ESD --- p.29 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Thermoluminescent Dosimetry --- p.29 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- The TL Material Adopted --- p.30 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Irradiated of TLDs --- p.32 / Chapter 4.3.4 --- Readout of the Exposed TLDs --- p.32 / Chapter 4.3.5 --- Accuracy of Readings --- p.35 / Chapter 4.4 --- MONTE CARLO SIMULATION --- p.36 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Introduction --- p.36 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- History --- p.38 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- The Principle --- p.38 / Chapter 4.4.4 --- Photon History --- p.40 / Chapter 4.4.5 --- The Use of Monte Carlo simulation in Organ Doses Estimation --- p.47 / Chapter 4.4.6 --- The Electron-Gamma-Shower (EGS4) Code System --- p.51 / Chapter 4.5 --- A LOCAL MATHEMATICAL PHANTOM --- p.52 / Chapter 4.5.1 --- Introduction --- p.52 / Chapter 4.5.2 --- An Ideal Mathematical Phantom --- p.52 / Chapter 4.5.3 --- Choice of Mathematical Phantom Model --- p.53 / Chapter 4.5.4 --- The Development of a Chinese Mathematical Phantom --- p.55 / Chapter 4.5.5 --- Results --- p.56 / Chapter 4.5.6 --- A Comparison --- p.60 / Chapter 4.6 --- A SUMMARY --- p.62 / Chapter CHAPTER 5. --- POPULATION STUDIES / Chapter 5.1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.63 / Chapter 5.2 --- FREQUENCY SURVEY --- p.63 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Survey in Private Sectors --- p.63 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Surveyin Government Sectors --- p.64 / Chapter 5.3 --- DOSE SURVEY --- p.66 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Selection of Regions and Projections --- p.66 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Selection of Hospitals and Laboratories --- p.66 / Chapter 5.4 --- SAMPLE SIZE --- p.67 / Chapter CHAPTER 6. --- RESULTS / Chapter 6.1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.68 / Chapter 6.2 --- SAMPLE SIZE --- p.68 / Chapter 6.3 --- AGE BAND AND SEX DISTRIBUTION --- p.68 / Chapter 6.4 --- THE MEASURED ESD --- p.75 / Chapter 6.4.1 --- Histograms of ESDs by Projection --- p.75 / Chapter 6.4.2 --- A Comparison of ESDs by Projection --- p.89 / Chapter 6.4.3 --- A Comparison of ESDs by Centre --- p.93 / Chapter 6.4.4 --- A Comparison of Collective ESDs by Centre --- p.96 / Chapter 6.5 --- THE ESTIMATED ORGAN DOSES --- p.103 / Chapter 6.5.1 --- Introduction --- p.103 / Chapter 6.5.2 --- Method --- p.103 / Chapter 6.5.3 --- Normalised Organ Doses --- p.105 / Chapter 6.5.4 --- Organ doses per Projection --- p.105 / Chapter 6.5.5 --- A Computerised programme --- p.119 / Chapter 6.6 --- A COMPARISON OF ORGAN DOSES ESTIMATED ON LOCAL AND NRPB MODELS --- p.152 / Chapter CHAPTER 7. --- SOURCES OF UNCERTAINTY / Chapter 7.1 --- UNCERTAINTITIES IN COMPUTATION --- p.156 / Chapter 7.1.1 --- Inaccuracy of the Justaposition of Complex Human Anatomy and the X-ray Beam --- p.156 / Chapter 7.1.2 --- Statistical Uncertainties --- p.156 / Chapter 7.1.3 --- Attenuation Coefficient Uncertainties --- p.157 / Chapter 7.1.4 --- Anatomic Inexactitudes --- p.157 / Chapter 7.2 --- ERRORS CONTRIBUTED BY TLDs --- p.155 / Chapter 7.3 --- TOTAL POSSIBLE ERROR --- p.157 / Chapter 7.4 --- VERIFICATION OF THE RESULTS --- p.158 / Chapter 7.4.1 --- Verification of the Measured ESD --- p.158 / Chapter 7.4.2 --- Verification of the Estimated Organ Doses --- p.158 / Chapter CHAPTER 8. --- HEALTH IMPLICATIONS / Chapter 8.1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.161 / Chapter 8.2 --- DATA SOURCE --- p.161 / Chapter 8.3 --- ASSUMPTIONS --- p.162 / Chapter 8.4 --- SOMATIC RISK --- p.162 / Chapter 8.4.1 --- Somatically Significant Dose (SSD) --- p.162 / Chapter 8.4.2 --- Results --- p.163 / Chapter 8.5 --- LEUKAEMIC RISK --- p.166 / Chapter 8.5.1 --- Leukaemically Significant Dose (LSD) --- p.166 / Chapter 8.5.2 --- Results --- p.167 / Chapter 8.6 --- GENETIC RISK --- p.170 / Chapter 8.6.1 --- Genetically Significant Dose (GSD) --- p.170 / Chapter 8.6.2 --- Results --- p.171 / Chapter 8.7 --- DISCUSSION --- p.174 / Chapter CHAPTER 9. --- DISCUSSION --- p.199 / Chapter 9.1 --- MEAN ESDs PER PROJECTION --- p.199 / Chapter 9.2 --- A COMPARISON OF MEAN ESDs BETWEEN LOCAL CENTRES --- p.200 / Chapter 9.3 --- A COMPARISON OF MEAN ESDs BETWEEN COUNTRIES --- p.202 / Chapter 9.4 --- EFFECTIVE DOSE PER EXAMINATION --- p.203 / Chapter 9.5 --- NEED FOR LOCAL ANTHROPOMORPHIC PHANTOM --- p.204 / Chapter 9.6 --- ORGAN DOSES WITH HIGH CANCER INDUCTION --- p.205 / Chapter 9.7 --- A DISTRIBUTION OF COLLECTIVE DOSES --- p.206 / Chapter 9.8 --- "A DISTRIBUTION OF SSD, LSD AND GSD" --- p.209 / Chapter 9.9 --- OVERALL RISK ESTIMATION --- p.212 / Chapter 9.10 --- POPULATION ORGAN DOSES --- p.213 / Chapter 9.11 --- SUMMARY --- p.214 / Chapter CHAPTER 10. --- CONCLUSION --- p.217 / REFERENCES --- p.R 1 - 12 / APPENDICES / Chapter A. --- RADIATION QUANTITIES USED IN PATIENT DOSIMETRY --- p.A 1 - 12 / Chapter B. --- QUALITY ASSURANCE --- p.B 1 - 14 / Chapter C. --- DOSE REDUCTION --- p.C 1 - 11 / Chapter D. --- REJECT ANALYSIS --- p.D 1 - 15 / Chapter E. --- PUBLISHED WORK IN DOSE MEASUREMENT --- p.E 1 - 18 / Chapter F. --- THERMOLUMINESCENT DOSIMETRY --- p.F 1 - 27 / Chapter G. --- A STUDY ON ANTHROPOMORPHIC PHANTOM --- p.G 1 - 4

by Lo Ping Fai. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references.

by Josephine Wing Sze Lau. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-112). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Acknowledgment --- p.iii / Abstract --- p.iv / List of Abbreviations --- p.viii / Chapter CHAPTER ONE: --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 1.1 --- Methamphetamine (METH) --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Historical Background and Epidemiology --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Physical Effects of METH --- p.4 / Chapter 1.1.3 --- Neurochemical Alternation of METH --- p.6 / Chapter 1.2 --- Mechanisms of METH Toxicity / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Oxidative Stress --- p.8 / Chapter 1.2.1.1 --- Superoxide (O2-) and Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) --- p.10 / Chapter 1.2.1.2 --- "Hydrogen Peroxide (H202), Catalase and Glutathione (GSH)" --- p.11 / Chapter 1.2.1.3 --- Hydroxyl Radical (OH.) --- p.12 / Chapter 1.2.1.4 --- Nitric Oxide (NO) --- p.13 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Apoptosis --- p.16 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Excitotoxicity --- p.17 / Chapter 1.2.4 --- Mitochondrial Dysfunction --- p.18 / Chapter 1.2.5 --- Hyperthermia --- p.21 / Chapter 1.2.5.1 --- Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) --- p.23 / Chapter 1.2.5.2 --- Heme-oxygenase-1 (HO-1) --- p.25 / Chapter 1.2.5.3 --- The Effects of Nitric Oxide (NO) on COX-2 and HO-1 Expressions --- p.27 / Chapter 1.3 --- Astrocytes / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Characteristics of Astrocytes --- p.29 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Astrocyte Functions --- p.30 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- The Role of Astrocytes in METH-induced Neurotoxicity --- p.34 / Chapter 1.4 --- Aim of Project --- p.37 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO: --- MATERIALS AND METHODS / Chapter 2.1 --- Cell Cultures / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Astrocyte Cultures --- p.42 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- CATH.a Cell line and Astrocytes Co-cultures --- p.43 / Chapter 2.2 --- Treatment / Chapter 2.2.1 --- METH Treatment --- p.44 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Inhibition of Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase (iNOS) --- p.44 / Chapter 2.3 --- Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) Assay --- p.45 / Chapter 2.4 --- Assay for Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Formation --- p.47 / Chapter 2.5 --- Assay for Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) Content --- p.48 / Chapter 2.6 --- Determination of Mitochondrial Membrane Potential (Δ Ψm) --- p.50 / Chapter 2.7 --- Determination of Nitrite Levels in Cultured Astrocytes --- p.51 / Chapter 2.8 --- Western Blot Analysis --- p.52 / Chapter 2.8.1 --- COX-2 --- p.53 / Chapter 2.8.2 --- HO-1 --- p.53 / Chapter 2.9 --- Viability Assay of CATH.a-Astrocyte Cocultures --- p.54 / Chapter 2.10 --- Statistics --- p.55 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE: --- RESULTS / Chapter 3.1 --- The Effects of METH Treatment on Cultured Astrocytes / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) Activities --- p.56 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Morphological Changes --- p.56 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- The Production of Reactive Oxygen Species / Chapter 3.1.3.1 --- Rate of change (0-120 min) --- p.57 / Chapter 3.1.3.2 --- Time course (0 - 48 h) --- p.57 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- Change in ATP Content --- p.58 / Chapter 3.1.5 --- Change in Mitochondrial Membrane Potential (Δ Ψm) --- p.59 / Chapter 3.1.6 --- Nitrite levels after METH treatment / Chapter a) --- Striatal astrocytes --- p.59 / Chapter b) --- Mesencephalic astrocytes --- p.60 / Chapter c) --- Cortical astrocytes --- p.60 / Chapter 3.1.7 --- The Effects of Aminoguanidine (AG) on Nitrite Levels / Chapter a) --- Striatal astrocytes --- p.61 / Chapter b) --- Mesencephalic astrocytes --- p.62 / Chapter c) --- Cortical astrocytes --- p.62 / Chapter 3.1.8 --- The Effects of Indomethacin (INDO) on Nitrite Levels / Chapter a) --- Striatal astrocytes --- p.63 / Chapter b) --- Mesencephalic astrocytes --- p.64 / Chapter c) --- Cortical astrocytes --- p.64 / Chapter 3.1.9 --- Change in Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) Protein Levels / Chapter a) --- Striatal astrocytes --- p.65 / Chapter b) --- Mesencephalic astrocytes --- p.65 / Chapter c) --- Cortical astrocytes --- p.66 / Chapter 3.1.10 --- Change in Heme-oxygenase-1 (HO-1) Protein Levels / Chapter a) --- Striatal astrocytes --- p.66 / Chapter b) --- Mesencephalic astrocytes --- p.66 / Chapter c) --- Cortical astrocytes --- p.67 / Chapter 3.2 --- Cell Viability on CATH.a-Astrocyte Cocultures After METH Treatment --- p.67 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR: --- DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION --- p.69 / REFERENCES --- p.84

Every year hundreds of cetaceans strand on New Zealand beaches. Options for dealing with disposal of their carcasses are few, creating significant problems for the Department of Conservation (DOC). More often than not their carcasses are buried in beaches at or just above high water mark, near where the animals have stranded. The primary objective of this thesis is to determine the effects of cetacean burial on beach sediments, and evaluate potential health and safety risks associated with this practice. A secondary objective of this thesis is to appraise the appropriateness of one location DOC has repeatedly transported cetacean carcasses to and buried within beach sediments, Motutapu Island in Waitemata Harbour. The chemical effects of cetacean burial over a six-month period are reported for two sites at which animals were buried in 2008, Muriwai and Pakiri beaches; the biological effects of this burial are reported for one of these sites, Muriwai Beach, 12 months post burial. Intertidal faunal and floral inventories are provided for six sites around Motutapu Island, and these then compared and contrasted with inventories compiled from an additional 290 intertidal sites between Whangarei Heads and Tauranga Harbour, North Island East Coast, to appraise the relative uniqueness of intertidal species diversity around Motutapu Island. At both Muriwai and Pakiri beaches, nitrogen and phosphate concentrations in surface sands changed considerably following cetacean burial, although over six months the effect was localized and elevated concentrations of these two chemicals that could be attributed to a buried carcass did not extend more than 40 m from the site of whale burial. Deep-core profiles revealed nitrogen and phosphate concentrations at and in the immediate vicinity of cetacean burial approximately six months after burial to be markedly elevated to the level of the water table, but elevated concentrations attributable to the buried carcass were not observed greater than 25 m from the site of burial. Elevated concentrations of nitrogen and phosphates in beaches persist in surface sediments for at least six months post burial. Twelve months post cetacean burial no significant difference in species richness or abundance were apparent in intertidal communities extending along transects proximal to and some distance from the Muriwai Beach carcass; there is no evidence for any significant short-term (to 12 months) biological effects of cetacean burial in beaches. Of those shores on Motutapu Island accessible by earth-moving equipment and large vessels capable of dealing with and transporting large cetacean carcasses, Station Bay appeared to be the most appropriate site for whale burial. However its small size and relatively high biological value (fairly high species richness for comparable shores between Whangarei Heads and Tauranga) renders it an inappropriate long-term option for whale burial. Other shores on Motutapu Island host some of the highest species richness of all shores surveyed between Whangarei Heads and Tauranga Harbour, rendering them entirely inappropriate locations for burying cetaceans, over and above other variables that may influence disposal location identification (such as archaeological sites, dwellings and accessibility). Motutapu Island is not considered an appropriate location for cetacean burial within beaches. Alternative disposal strategies need to be explored for dealing with cetaceans that strand on Auckland east coast beaches. Although burial is the most convenient and most economical strategy to dispose of cetacean carcass, especially in mass stranding events or when cetaceans are of large size, and the biological effects of this practice are not considered significant (for the one whale that could be studied), persistent enrichment of beach sediments with organic matter could result in prolonged persistence of pathogens in beaches, causing unforeseen risks to human health and safety. Recommendations are made to minimize possible threats to public following burial of cetaceans in beaches, until the potential health risks of burial are more fully understood.

Many communities around the country had already been dealing with the problems of increasing and concentrated foreclosures for several years. Thus, the evidence of the social costs of foreclosures will guide policy makers in deciding what policies should be put in many communities that foreclosures have plagued. The objective of this research is to quantify the price-depressing foreclosure effects on existing home sale prices as one of the major social costs for communities. The first methodological goal is to simultaneously quantify the magnitude of the direct and the spillover effects of foreclosures on existing home prices. The second methodological goal is to provide usefulness concerning spatial econometric models in measuring the impact of foreclosures on housing prices. This study was estimated with traditional hedonic and spatial hedonic models specified during two different housing cycles in Phoenix, Arizona, during a strong housing market when prices were up (2005) and a down housing market with falling prices (2008). It has been shown that foreclosures have negative effects on existing home prices in the neighborhood, depending on housing types and cycles. However, the OLS models do not correct for spatial autocorrelation problems and endogeneity that exist in a cross section of house prices and would overestimate absolute values of the coefficients. As alternatives, the maximum likelihood spatial lag or error model controls for spatial autocorrelation but still causes computation obstacles for large data sets and problems of heteroskedasticity in error terms. Thus, the preferred specification is a generalized method of moments (GMM) approach which requires weaker assumptions than the maximum likelihood application and has flexible form to large datasets. As a joint analysis, the most appropriate specification is the general spatial two-stage least-squares (GMM_2SLS) method with HAC (the spatial heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation consistent) variance estimator. These findings provide further evidence that OLS estimates of a coefficient on a foreclosure indicator tend to overstate the direct or indirect foreclosure discount, ignoring spatial effects such as spatial dependence and endogeneity. With regard to the spillover effect of nearby foreclosures on home prices, both foreclosures of single family homes and condos are statistically significant and negatively impact each type of home sale prices. However, the cumulative effects of neighborhood foreclosures are much greater with nonlinear effects in a housing bust year than a housing boom year. Therefore, this study on price-depressing effects of foreclosures emphasizes the importance of the pre-foreclosure step as the beginning of following foreclosure processes, depending on housing types and housing market cycles.

The cumulative effects of watershed development and large water withdrawals are placing the sustainability of freshwater resources at risk due to alteration of watershed hydrology, stream geomorphology, groundwater recharge, and adverse effects to the aquatic ecology of water resources. The consideration of cumulative environmental effects in development decisions under current project-specific assessment does not fully encompass the interacting effects of multiple stressors over space and time. As a result, the cumulative effects of land uses and development on watershed processes are not properly assessed and managed. There is a recognized need to shift from local, project-scale cumulative effects assessments to broader, landscape, or regional scale assessments to accurately assess cumulative effects to watershed processes and river system condition. The problem is that there is little understanding of the current capacity to do so. This research: i) developed a set of indicators for evaluation of regional capacity to support watershed cumulative effects assessment and management (CEAM) requisites, ii) applied those indicators to the South Saskatchewan Watershed (SSW), iii) identified capacity needs and constraints to watershed CEAM in SSW, and iv) identified lessons learned and opportunities for capacity building to support watershed CEAM principles and practice. Capacity indicator questions were developed for a set of eight institutional requirements for watershed CEAM, identified from a previous study of watershed CEAM in the SSW. Research methods included a web-based survey of academics, regulators, industry and environmental organizations, which consisted of both closed ended and open-ended questions based on the capacity indicators. Survey results were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and qualitative methods. Results indicate that the primary threats to water quality and quantity in the SSW, as identified by study participants, are broad-scale stressors that are not subject to project-specific environmental assessment regulations. To address these broad-scale stresses, cumulative effects assessment at the regional level needs to be done; however, it was identified that there is currently a lack of mechanisms to support watershed CEAM. The need for a lead agency, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and financial and human resources were identified as the most important requisites from the research results for implementing and sustaining watershed CEAM programs. Research results revealed that watershed CEAM cannot be driven solely ‘bottom-up’ and government must lead watershed CEAM activities. Participants noted that there is collaboration ongoing in the SSW to meet CEAM objectives, but it is limited. There is a lack of clarity around common goals for watershed and sub-watershed management, and a lack of transparency in sharing data. Many participants commented that expertise is available for watershed CEAM, but there is a lack of organizational and financial resources to develop successful plans and actions.

This dissertation analyzes the optimal mix of direct and indirect taxes in an economy with multiple tax collecting authorities when both the taxes are subject to evasion and to what extent the tax compliance behavior of individuals in the United States are persistent and spatially dependent. Essay I derives and provides an intuitive interpretation of: (i) impact of the changes in the government instruments on tax evasion by firms, the expected prices they charge, and the expected tax rates they face; (ii) a generalized version of Ramsey rule for optimal commodity taxation which accounts for income tax evasion from either or both the tax authorities; (iii) generalized formulae for the optimal income tax rate for each of the tax authorities; and (iv) the tradeoff between optimal tax rates and audit probabilities for each of the tax authorities. It also re-examines controversies surrounding the uniform income taxes and the differentiated commodity taxes, and investigates how income tax evasion affects the progressivity of the income tax rates. It concludes that whether or not tax evasion calls for reductions in the optimal income tax rates hinges on how tax evasion and the associated concealment costs vary across individual taxpayers. Essay II introduces the twin issues of spatiality and persistence in the individual income tax evasion. While the issue of persistence arises through accumulated learning over time, spatiality arises for several reasons. Some these include the exchange of information between taxpayers; the social norm of tax compliance: an individual would comply if everybody in the society complies and vice versa; individuals faced with dynamic stochastic decision problems that pose immense computational challenges may simply look to others to infer satisfactory policies and interpersonal dependence works through learning by imitating rather than learning by doing. State-level annual per return evasion of individual income tax and related data were used to examine the above hypotheses and found supports for both of them in the individual income tax evasion in the United States.

The kinetic effects in an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) due to thermal motion of particles modified by self-consistent magnetic fields are studied by using a particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. In the low pressure, low frequency regime, electron mean free paths are large relative to device size and the trajectories are strongly curved by the induced radio frequency (RF) magnetic field. This causes problems for linear theories, which ignore the influence of the magnetic field on the particles, and are therefore unable to recover effects accumulated along each nonlinear path.<p>The tools to perform high-performance parallel PIC simulations of inductively coupled plasmas were developed to allow rapid scanning of a broad range of the input parameters, such as wave amplitude, frequency, and plasma temperature. Different behavioural regimes are identified by observing the resultant variations in the skin depth, surface impedance, and ponderomotive force (PMF). At low electron-neutral collision rates, these are shown to include the local collisionless regime, the anomalous skin effect regime, and the nonlinear regime.<p>The local collisionless regime occurs at high driving frequencies and is characterized by plasma behaviour independent of both the driving frequency and amplitude: a short skin depth, low energy absorption, and strong PMF. The anomalous skin effect regime occurs at low frequencies and low amplitudes: the plasma varies with driving frequency, but not driving amplitude, the skin depth increases with frequency, the plasma is much more absorptive in the anomalous regime than in the local regime, and the PMF increases with frequency. The nonlinear regime occurs at low frequencies and high amplitudes: the plasma varies with driving amplitude, but not frequency, the skin depth decreases with amplitude, there is low energy absorption, and the PMF increases with wave amplitude.<p>The simulation runs in four modes: linear collisionless, linear collisional, nonlinear collisionless, and nonlinear collisional. The linear modes, in which the particles ignore the magnetic field, are used to validate the results against theory, while the nonlinear modes are used to test actual plasma behaviour. In linear collisionless mode, the plasma was found to exhibit only the local collisionless and anomalous skin effect regimes, as expected by theories. In nonlinear collisionless mode, the plasma exhibits the nonlinear regime in addition to the regimes found in linear mode. Finally, the nonlinear regime disappears in nonlinear collisionless mode because the curved paths caused by the magnetic field are disrupted by collisions.<p>Finally, the regime boundaries are investigated as a function of temperature. Since the plasma properties vary continuously, a boundary exists where two regimes share the same characteristics. From linear theories, it is known that the division between the local collisionless and anomalous skin effect regimes moves to higher frequencies as the plasma temperature is increased. When nonlinear fields are present, this still occurs, but in conjunction with the boundary between the local collisionless and nonlinear regimes moving to higher wave amplitudes. Temperature also effects the boundary between the anomalous skin effect and nonlinear regimes, causing the minimum frequency of the anomalous skin effect regime to be reduced at low wave amplitudes.

The aim and purpose of this report is to describe how the domestic tobacco industry is affectingsustainable development in Malawi. This is done by describing the environmental and socio-economic effects ofthe cultivation and selling of tobacco leaves. Together with an outlook on the future developments of the industry,this information is used to describe how the Malawian tobacco industry corresponds to sustainable developmentand how it can be changed to improve sustainability in the country. The report is based on a literature study andtwo interviews. Theories on sustainable development and developmental concepts form the theoreticalbackground for the report. The conclusion of the report is that the situation regarding the Malawian tobaccoindustry is a complex one, where direct economic benefits are the main motive, but various socio-economic andenvironmental effects combine to make the situation unsustainable in a number of aspects. The suggestion of thisreport is to turn away from the current high dependence on tobacco to a more diversified agriculture, wheredifferent types of food crops substitute tobacco as the main source of income, while at the same time providingmore food in a country where poverty and malnutrition are problematic issues.