In this dissertation, we study properties of quantum interaction phenomena in two-dimensional (2D) and one-dimensional (1D) electronic systems in p-GaAs micro- and nano-scale devices. We present low-temperature magneto-transport data from three forms of low-dimensional systems 1) 2D hole systems: in order to study interaction contributions to the metallic behavior of 2D systems 2) Bilayer hole systems: in order to study the many body, bilayer quantum Hall state at nu = 1 3) 1D hole systems: for the study of the anomalous conductance plateau G = 0.7 ???? 2e2/h The work is divided into five experimental studies aimed at either directly exploring the properties of the above three interaction phenomena or the development of novel device structures that exploit the strong particle-particle interactions found in p-GaAs for the study of many body phenomena. Firstly, we demonstrate a novel semiconductor-insulator-semiconductor field effect transistor (SISFET), designed specifically to induced 2D hole systems at a ????normal???? AlGaAs-on-GaAs heterojunction. The novel SISFETs feature in our studies of the metallic behavior in 2D systems in which we examine temperature corrections to ????xx(T) and ????xy(T) in short- and long-range disorder potentials. Next, we shift focus to bilayer hole systems and the many body quantum Hall states that form a nu = 1 in the presence of strong interlayer interactions. We explore the evolution of this quantum Hall state as the relative densities in the layers is imbalanced while the total density is kept constant. Finally, we demonstrate a novel p-type quantum point contact device that produce the most stable and robust current quantization in a p-type 1D systems to date, allowing us to observed for the first time the 0.7 structure in a p-type device.

Throughout childhood, children experience the social semiotic of music in a variety of ways. As they sing, dance, move, and play, they enjoy making and listening to music. Childhood is also a time of immense change. During their early years, children grow and develop at a faster rate than at any other time in their lives, displaying an intense proliferation of ways of knowing about the world. As part of the industrious activity that accompanies this explosion of knowledge, children sing many songs. It is through sensitive investigation of these songs that we can begin to understand what children know about music, and the place that it is afforded in the social milieux within which they participate. Children???s songs have been the focus of investigation for a number of years, with a range of studies reporting on the manner in which they reflect musical development. Several researchers have reported on children???s songs from a developmental perspective, while others have focussed on the social and functional contexts of the songs. These various approaches have established some basic principles concerning the development of children???s musical skills and knowledge. It is accepted that as children mature, they are likely to exhibit changes in their musical understanding and abilities. However, the diverse range of inquiries that have been undertaken, although rigorous, have resulted in fragmented and irresolute information about the manner in which these changes take place. Research into all areas of children???s development has recently undergone a paradigm shift, with current views focussing on the agency of children and their development within a social context. Such perspectives view the acquisition of knowledge as a dynamic process that occurs as children interact with others, and therefore place great importance on a range of environments in which this knowledge gain takes place. This thesis reports on a 3-year longitudinal study of eight preschool-aged children who were attending a long day care centre in Sydney. Regular video-recordings were made of the children???s spontaneous singing during free play, with each child recorded approximately once per month. Camera tapes were examined and all examples of the participants??? singing were transferred to VHS tapes for transcription and analysis. The resulting 443 songs were transcribed using Western notation, and each play episode and associated song then coded for musical aspects such as song type, melodic range and level of temporal organisation, as well as social aspects such as song function and social roles taken on by the children. The notion of social role was informed by Vygotsky???s Zone of Proximal Development. In addition to base data such as the child???s name and the date of the observation, the resultant dataset was transferred to a qualitative software package (NUD???IST) for subsequent analysis and interpretation. Results of the study indicate that the children used songs for specific purposes, and that patterns of musical development were distinctly different for each child. While interacting with their playmates, the children used both explicit and implicit tools to acquire and transmit musical signs. During this process, the status of knowledgeable other was often conferred on a playmate by a less knowledgeable member of the group, and was not solely dependent on chronological age. The results exhibit some congruence with prior studies, especially those for which the social context of music-making was an important consideration. The findings expand previous developmentally-based investigations by showing that conceptions based on a unidirectional model of musical development, closely linked to chronological age, need to be refined to consider the diversity of social contexts and generative processes within which children???s musical cultures can be defined. The current study supports a modular conception of musical development allied with recent social reconstructions of childhood. Some substantiation of previously reported Western musical universals was found in the children???s production of a specific form of chant, and their ability to operate within meaningful musical units such as phrases. The thesis includes a discussion of practical and theoretical implications that arise from the findings. Several implications for the classroom are offered. Among the most important are that children???s musical constructions should be utilised as important components of planned teaching and learning experiences, because they are capable of producing sophisticated music if afforded the opportunity to do so. Careful observation of existing musical knowledge and its incorporation in teachers??? programming will facilitate an efficient and appropriate mode of teaching and learning, based on the needs and interests of the children. As the children were able to scaffold each other in the process of transmitting and acquiring musical knowledge, it appears advantageous to group them in mixed ages for at least some part of the week. However, without some intervention on the part of the teacher, it seems that they would likely rely on a fairly restricted collection of scaffolding behaviours. Additional research is recommended to determine the value of a number of strategies that can be used to meet the musical needs of preschool-aged children beyond the current research site. Indeed, the outcomes of the study question the importance of striving for a unidirectional model of musical development, immersed in the veil of teleology, and suggest that further research be undertaken in the area of children???s songs, which acknowledges the social agency of children, and their roles in their own musical cultures.

Thirty thousand feet above the Pacific Ocean—somewhere between Sydney and Los Angeles—the narrator of “the lonely and the road” doesn’t really know where he is going, or why. His is a quest written spontaneously—‘on-the-go.’ It is a journey of uncertain motivation, of uncertain means, towards uncertain ends. From Los Angeles, to Vegas, to the Rocky Mountain states and beyond, the narrator travels with and learns from his friends, his family and even his ex-girlfriend as he searches for that which continues to elude him. But what is that exactly? Does it even exist? While the novel details a journey, the exegesis is a phenomenological account of the intersecting of my road with that taken by Jack Kerouac. It explores my experiences with the life and work of Kerouac—the creator of spontaneous prose—in relation to the development of my writing, up to and including this novel. In doing so, the exegesis is itself a quest that seeks to understand more fully the essence of Kerouac’s and my own representation of the quest motif in content and in form. Both the exegesis and the novel, then, constitute part of the search for my own artistic road, and aim to assist others in search of theirs.

<p>The WHO database contains more than 2.8 million case reports of suspected adverse drug reactions reported from 70 countries worldwide since 1968. The Uppsala Monitoring Centre maintains and analyses this database for new signals on behalf of the WHO Programme for International Drug Monitoring. A goal of the Programme is to detect signals, where a signal is defined as "Reported information on a possible causal relationship between an adverse event and a drug, the relationship being unknown or incompletely documented previously."</p><p>The analysis of such a large amount of data on a case by case basis is impossible with the resources available. Therefore a quantitative, data mining procedure has been developed to improve the focus of the clinical signal detection process. The method used, is referred to as the BCPNN (Bayesian Confidence Propagation Neural Network). This not only assists in the early detection of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) but also further analysis of such signals. The method uses Bayesian statistical principles to quantify apparent dependencies in the data set. This quantifies the degree to which a specific drug- ADR combination is different from a background (in this case the WHO database). The measure of disproportionality used, is referred to as the Information Component (IC) because of its' origins in Information Theory. A confidence interval is calculated for the IC of each combination. A neural network approach allows all drug-ADR combinations in the database to be analysed in an automated manner. Evaluations of the effectiveness of the BCPNN in signal detection are described.</p><p>To compare how a drug association compares in unexpectedness to related drugs, which might be used for the same clinical indication, the method is extended to consideration of groups of drugs. The benefits and limitations of this approach are discussed with examples of known group effects (ACE inhibitors - coughing and antihistamines - heart rate and rhythm disorders.) An example of a clinically important, novel signal found using the BCPNN approach is also presented. The signal of antipsychotics linked with heart muscle disorder was detected using the BCPNN and reported.</p><p>The BCPNN is now routinely used in signal detection to search single drug - single ADR combinations. The extension of the BCPNN to discover 'unexpected' complex dependencies between groups of drugs and adverse reactions is described. A recurrent neural network method has been developed for finding complex patterns in incomplete and noisy data sets. The method is demonstrated on an artificial test set. Implementation on real data is demonstrated by examining the pattern of adverse reactions highlighted for the drug haloperidol. Clinically important, complex relationships in this kind of data are previously unexplored.</p><p>The BCPNN method has been shown and tested for use in routine signal detection, refining signals and in finding complex patterns. The usefulness of the output is influenced by the quality of the data in the database. Therefore, this method should be used to detect, rather than evaluate signals. The need for clinical analyses of case series remains crucial.</p>

<p>Spontaneous reporting systems (SRSs) for adverse drug reactions (ADRs) have been developed as a result of the thalidomide disaster, whereby thousands of children world-wide were born with birth defects. The Swedish Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee was established in 1965. Since 1975, reporting has been compulsory for all suspected serious or new ADRs. International collaboration started in 1968 with countries contributing their ADR reports to an international database set up by the World Health Organization. </p><p>ADRs represent the negative side of the benefit-to-risk balance that in theory needs to be counteracted by perceived or established positive drug effects. All drugs are subject to preclinical and clinical testing prior to marketing authorization. However, these studies are insufficient to detect rare ADRs, ADRs that occur after long-term administration or with latency, ADRs that occur in special patient groups such as children, the elderly, patients with renal or hepatic insufficiency or patients on concomitant drug treatment, and ADRs that represent a modest increase in the risk of diseases (including mortality) that are prevalent in the study population. Postmarketing surveillance of drugs is therefore essential, and regulatory action may be needed on the basis of new ADR information. </p><p>SRSs are important sources of ADR information as exemplified here by the evaluation of peripheral sensory disturbances with fluoroquinolones, hyponatremia with antidepressants, blood dyscrasias with dipyrone, glucose intolerance with atypical antipsychotics, pulmonary embolism with combined oral contraceptives and extrapyramidal symptoms with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. SRSs can be used to study clinical manifestations of ADRs (that can give insights into potential ADR mechanisms), risk factors for the ADR or for specific outcomes of the ADR, and ADR reporting incidences when combined with sales data. Signals from SRSs may need to be studied further e.g., by use of large-scale epidemiologic studies based on record linkage between drug prescription databases and health databases. Owing to the rapid availability of information, however, SRSs are likely to remain of major importance for the post-marketing surveillance of drugs.</p>

The WHO database contains more than 2.8 million case reports of suspected adverse drug reactions reported from 70 countries worldwide since 1968. The Uppsala Monitoring Centre maintains and analyses this database for new signals on behalf of the WHO Programme for International Drug Monitoring. A goal of the Programme is to detect signals, where a signal is defined as "Reported information on a possible causal relationship between an adverse event and a drug, the relationship being unknown or incompletely documented previously." The analysis of such a large amount of data on a case by case basis is impossible with the resources available. Therefore a quantitative, data mining procedure has been developed to improve the focus of the clinical signal detection process. The method used, is referred to as the BCPNN (Bayesian Confidence Propagation Neural Network). This not only assists in the early detection of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) but also further analysis of such signals. The method uses Bayesian statistical principles to quantify apparent dependencies in the data set. This quantifies the degree to which a specific drug- ADR combination is different from a background (in this case the WHO database). The measure of disproportionality used, is referred to as the Information Component (IC) because of its' origins in Information Theory. A confidence interval is calculated for the IC of each combination. A neural network approach allows all drug-ADR combinations in the database to be analysed in an automated manner. Evaluations of the effectiveness of the BCPNN in signal detection are described. To compare how a drug association compares in unexpectedness to related drugs, which might be used for the same clinical indication, the method is extended to consideration of groups of drugs. The benefits and limitations of this approach are discussed with examples of known group effects (ACE inhibitors - coughing and antihistamines - heart rate and rhythm disorders.) An example of a clinically important, novel signal found using the BCPNN approach is also presented. The signal of antipsychotics linked with heart muscle disorder was detected using the BCPNN and reported. The BCPNN is now routinely used in signal detection to search single drug - single ADR combinations. The extension of the BCPNN to discover 'unexpected' complex dependencies between groups of drugs and adverse reactions is described. A recurrent neural network method has been developed for finding complex patterns in incomplete and noisy data sets. The method is demonstrated on an artificial test set. Implementation on real data is demonstrated by examining the pattern of adverse reactions highlighted for the drug haloperidol. Clinically important, complex relationships in this kind of data are previously unexplored. The BCPNN method has been shown and tested for use in routine signal detection, refining signals and in finding complex patterns. The usefulness of the output is influenced by the quality of the data in the database. Therefore, this method should be used to detect, rather than evaluate signals. The need for clinical analyses of case series remains crucial.

Spontaneous reporting systems (SRSs) for adverse drug reactions (ADRs) have been developed as a result of the thalidomide disaster, whereby thousands of children world-wide were born with birth defects. The Swedish Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee was established in 1965. Since 1975, reporting has been compulsory for all suspected serious or new ADRs. International collaboration started in 1968 with countries contributing their ADR reports to an international database set up by the World Health Organization. ADRs represent the negative side of the benefit-to-risk balance that in theory needs to be counteracted by perceived or established positive drug effects. All drugs are subject to preclinical and clinical testing prior to marketing authorization. However, these studies are insufficient to detect rare ADRs, ADRs that occur after long-term administration or with latency, ADRs that occur in special patient groups such as children, the elderly, patients with renal or hepatic insufficiency or patients on concomitant drug treatment, and ADRs that represent a modest increase in the risk of diseases (including mortality) that are prevalent in the study population. Postmarketing surveillance of drugs is therefore essential, and regulatory action may be needed on the basis of new ADR information. SRSs are important sources of ADR information as exemplified here by the evaluation of peripheral sensory disturbances with fluoroquinolones, hyponatremia with antidepressants, blood dyscrasias with dipyrone, glucose intolerance with atypical antipsychotics, pulmonary embolism with combined oral contraceptives and extrapyramidal symptoms with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. SRSs can be used to study clinical manifestations of ADRs (that can give insights into potential ADR mechanisms), risk factors for the ADR or for specific outcomes of the ADR, and ADR reporting incidences when combined with sales data. Signals from SRSs may need to be studied further e.g., by use of large-scale epidemiologic studies based on record linkage between drug prescription databases and health databases. Owing to the rapid availability of information, however, SRSs are likely to remain of major importance for the post-marketing surveillance of drugs.

This thesis engages peace studies in a liberalist approach in International Relations. The three main schools of liberalism have their shortage. Democratic peace theory suggests the correlation between democracy and peace, but cannot proof there be a necessary causality between them. Neo-liberal institutionalism claims that international institutions help to assure peace. However, institutions cannot be fair to every country. Interdependent theory claims that closer interdependence could bring peace. Nevertheless, the more interdependent countries are, the more conflicts there are. This thesis applies spontaneous order theory in international peace studies , which stresses the importance of freedom and law-making for keeping the best and free status of human being.

Denna studie syftar till att undersöka i vilka spontana lektyper inomhus, förskolebarn uttrycker matematiska begrepp. Bakgrunden till studien är att vi anser att matematikarbetet på förskolan ska utgå från barnens perspektiv och då har leken en viktig betydelse. Leken ses som en central del för matematiklärandet och begreppsbildningen och därför är förskolan en lämplig plats för denna studie. Om barnen redan på förskolan skapar ett intresse och börjar använda matematiska begrepp gynnar det även den begreppsanvändning som krävs i skolan. Med inspiration av ett etnografiskt förhållningssätt har det genomförts observationer på två förskoleavdelningar, vid sju tillfällen på varje avdelning. Avsikten har varit att observera barns matematiska begreppsanvändning i den spontana leken. Vid observationerna har ett särskilt framtaget observationsschema använts för att dokumentera vilka lektyper och matematiska begrepp som observerats. Resultatet visar att olika lektyper stimulerar olika begrepp och de begrepp som uttrycks mest är jämförelseord. De lektyper som framkom i resultatet är; rollek, bygglek, lego, spel, bilar, figurer, dockor och övrigt. Avslutningsvis diskuteras resultatet och metoden i förhållande till litteraturen och våra egna tankar. Tre teman är framtagna i resultatdiskussionen; språket, leken och miljön med utgångspunkt i barnens begreppsanvändning och lektyperna. / This study aims to examine in which spontaneous play indoors, children in preschool expresses mathematical concepts. The background to the study is our belief that the mathematics work in preschool should be assumed from the children's perspective and that play has an important role in that work. The spontaneous play are a central part of mathematics learning and conception and therefore is preschool an appropriate place for this study. If children in preschool at an early stage creates an interest and begin using mathematical concepts if also favors the concept of use, that required in school. Inspired by an ethnographic approach, there have been observations of two preschool departments, on seven occasions in each department. The intention has been to observe children's mathematical concepts used in the spontaneous play. At the observations, a designed observation chart has been used to record the play types and mathematical concepts observed. The result shows that different play types stimulate different concepts, and the concepts that are mostly expressed are comparison words. The play types that emerged in the result are; role play, construction play, lego, games, cars, figures, dolls and others. To sum up, we discuss the result and the method in relation to the literature and our own thoughts. Three themes are produced in the result discussion; language, play and the environment on the basis of children's concepts of use and play types.

Surface plasmon-polaritons are optical surface waves formed through the interaction of photons with free electrons at the surface of metals. They offer interesting applications in a broad range of scientific fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, and material science. However, many of such applications face limitations imposed by the high propagation losses of these waves at visible and near-infrared wavelengths, which result mainly from power dissipation in the metal. In principle, the propagation losses of surface plasmon-polaritons can be compensated through optical amplification. The objective of this thesis is to provide deeper insights on the physics of surface plasmon-polariton amplification and spontaneous emission in surface plasmon-polariton amplifiers through theoretical and experimental vehicles applied (but not necessarily restricted) to a particular plasmonic mode termed long-range surface plasmon-polariton. On the theoretical side, the objective is approached by developing a realistic theoretical model to describe the small-signal amplification of surface plasmon-polaritons in planar structures incorporating dipolar gain media such as organic dye molecules, rare-earth ions, and quantum dots. This model takes into account the inhomogeneous gain distribution formed near the metal surface due to a non-uniform excitation of dipoles and due to a position-dependent excited-state dipole lifetime that results from near-field interactions between the excited dipoles and the metal. Also, a theoretical model to describe the amplified spontaneous emission of surface plasmon-polaritons supported by planar metallic structures is developed. This model takes into account the different energy decay channels into which an exited dipole located in the vicinity of the metal can relax. The validity of this model is confirmed through experimentation. On the experimental side, the objective is approached by providing a direct experimental demonstration of complete loss compensation in a plasmonic waveguide. The experiments are conducted using the long-range surface plasmon-polariton supported by a symmetric thin gold waveguide incorporating optically pumped organic dye molecules in solution as the gain medium. Also, an experimental study of spontaneous emission in a long-range surface plasmon-polariton amplifier is presented. It is shown that this amplifier benefits from a low spontaneous emission into the amplified mode, which leads to an optical amplifier with low noise characteristics. The experimental setup and techniques are explained in detail.