The experience of living with traumatic bereavement: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

This dissertation explores the lived experience of traumatic bereavement in adults between the ages of 21 and 50. The term traumatic bereavement refers to a specific type of bereavement where the loss is unexpected (without forewarning), untimely, and often (but not always) associated with horrific or frightening circumstances. The study sought to identify common existential themes underlying the experience, and therefore did not restrict itself to investigating a particular mode of death. A total of 7 traumatically bereaved individuals (6 females and 1 male) were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, and the data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 1999). Three superordinate themes were identified. The first theme pertained to traumatic bereavement having a holistic impact on lived experience, the second to traumatic bereavement leading to a grappling with meaning, and the third, traumatic bereavement having a significant relational component. Participants are seen to experience a transformation that transcends post traumatic growth. Findings are discussed in light of existing literature and are framed by existential thought. Given the emerging importance of meaning-making, a meaning-making model specific to traumatic bereavement is proposed. Finally, this dissertation makes suggestions for a clinical approach to working with traumatically bereaved adults

Assessing Factor Contribution to Nitrogen Concentration Levels in the Raccoon River Watershed in Iowa

Environmental Economics and Policy,

Multiband Detectors and Application of Nanostructured Anti-Reflection Coatings for Improved Efficiency

This work describes multiband photon detection techniques based on novel semiconductor device concepts and detector designs with simultaneous detection of dierent wavelength radiation such as UV and IR. One aim of this investigation is to examine UV and IR detection concepts with a view to resolve some of the issues of existing IR detectors such as high dark current, non uniformity, and low operating temperature and to avoid having additional optical components such as filters in multiband detection. Structures were fabricated to demonstrate the UV and IR detection concepts and determine detector parameters: (i) UV/IR detection based on GaN/AlGaN heterostructures, (ii) Optical characterization of p-type InP thin films were carried out with the idea of developing InP based detectors, (iii) Intervalence band transitions in InGaAsP/InP heterojunction interfacial workfunction internal photoemission (HEIWIP) detectors. Device concepts, detector structures, and experimental results are discussed. In order to reduce reflection, TiO2 and SiO2 nanostructured thin film characterization and application of these as anti-reflection coatings on above mentioned detectors is also discussed

Survey on the quality of Jaadi available [in] Sri Lankan market

A quality of survey was conducted at the fish curing yards in a northwest coast and the southern coast in Sri Lanka. A total of 40 samples different varieties of fishes were collected from the market and jaadi curing yards and all were evaluated for the quality, fungal and insect infestation. Samples were analyzed for proximate composition chemical, microbiological and sensory quality. Thirty percent of the total analyzed samples of fish were found to be unfit for consumption. Samples collected from Negombo were found to the infected with maggots. Only 42% samples had dry matter above 50%. All the samples showed a protein content above 20%. The highest protein content was 27.92% in hurulla. Over 90% of the samples had TVN at acceptable quality limits (>40). The TBC for 33% of the samples were in the range 104-105/g range, while 48% were in the range of 107-108/g due to contamination of maggots and fungi. The Survey showed jaadi had a high level of protein in its composition. But defects of curing process such on imperfect cleaning inadequate salting resulted in low (Chemical and microbiological) quality of the product

Power smoothing and energy storage sizing of vented oscillating water column wave energy converter arrays

Oscillating water column wave energy converter arrays can be arranged to enhance the energy production and quality of power delivered to the grid. This study investigates four different array configurations of vented oscillating water columns and their effect on power quality and capacity of the energy storage systems required to absorb power fluctuation. Configuring the array of vented oscillating water columns as a nearshore detached breakwater allows combining the benefits of their complementary features. This increases the economic optimization of wave energy converters, paving the path to the energy market. The operations of the integration schemes are evaluated using the results obtained from simulations carried out using MATLAB/Simulink software. Simulation results show that the array of vented oscillating water columns and array of vented oscillating water columns as nearshore detached breakwater configurations increase the quality of power delivered to the grid and reduce the capacity of the energy storage systems required

Characterisation of Electrospun PS/PU Polymer Blend Fibre Mat for Oil Sorption

Electrospun polystyrene (PS) fibre mat has been shown to have great potential as an oil sorbent due to its high sorption capacity and oil-water selectivity. Poor mechanical properties, due to the lack of inter-fibre bonding, has been a limiting factor in its use in such applications. In this study, mats of polymer blends of polystyrene (PS) and thermoplastic polyurethane (PU) fibres, in different polymer weight ratios, were produced and investigated for possible oil sorption application. A comprehensive physico-chemical, thermal, mechanical and sorption characterisation of the different polymer blends was undertaken, to examine the effect of blend ratio on the fibre mat. Characterisation was by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermo-gravimetric and differential analysis (TG-DTA), mechanical tensile testing, and by sorption analysis. The microstructural properties of the fibres appeared significantly dependent upon the relative blend ratio. DSC revealed that good interaction/miscibility existed between the two polymers. Tensile strength characterisation showed that a pure PS fibre mat had a poor tensile strength, but the value increased over one order of magnitude with the addition of PU in the polymer matrix, attributed to the formation of inter-fibre bonds. Conversely, the sorption capacity (SC) decreased with increasing PU addition. Modulating the blend ratio could therefore provide a balance between the desired sorption capacity and the mechanical behaviour of resultant mats. Sorption capacity is a complex interaction between fibre and mat characteristics but the polymer blend technique reported here offers a simple, effective and inexpensive method of addressing the poor mechanical properties of electrospun PS fibre, through enhancing micro/nano scale interactions between the two polymers in the blend

Modeling Time-Varying Currency Betas: New Evidence from the Selected Markets

In the past decade, studies of exchange rate exposure have mainly focused on three approaches. The first approach uses conventional methods such as sub-sampling, dummy variables, and overlapping moving window regression to capture exchange rate exposure. The second approach uses pre-specified determinants of exposure coefficients to analyze the time-variation of exchange rate exposure. For example, Allayannis (1997) suggests that currency beta is determined by export and import shares, and finds support for time-variation of exposure in some 4-digit level SIC industries. The third approach employs time-varying second moments to derive time-varying exchange rate exposure (see, for instance, Hunter, 2005; Lim, 2005). Hunter (2005) analyzes the time-varying exchange rate exposure of small and large firms using size-based portfolios of the Fama-French-type, and Lim (2005) derives both market and currency betas at country level, with allowance for non-orthogonality between risk factors. It is believed that the third approach is more appealing as the well-documented bivariate GARCH-type models are often employed to estimate the time-varying exchange rates conditional on available information. There are three models associated with this approach, namely, the VECH models; the BEKK models; and the Constant Conditional Correlation GARCH (CCC-GARCH) models. However, the VECH model is less popular because of the difficulty in maintaining positive definiteness of the variance and covariance matrix and other computational hindrance on convergence during estimation, while the CCC-GARCH model is too restrictive as the computed covariance between returns and exchange rate changes can be either negative or positive in all periods, depending on the sign of the constant conditional correlation coefficient. In reality, exchange rate changes may affect returns on stock index either positively and/or negatively in different time periods. Hence, it is inappropriate to assume time-constancy in the conditional correlation coefficient. In this paper, we adopt the general framework of conditional ICAPM proposed by Adler and Dumas (1983) and De Santis and Gerard (1998) to estimate the time varying currency betas and the time-varying market betas for nine developed and emerging countries. A trivariate BEKK-GARCH-type model is used to estimate the conditional variance and covariance of return variables using a set of daily data spanning from 5 January 1999 to 30 December 2005. In particular, we compute the time-varying currency betas and market betas using estimates of the conditional variance and covariance of returns from country stock index, world market portfolio and changes in exchange rate of the trading country. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that estimates such betas from a BEKK-GARCH-type specification based on daily returns. The main advantage of BEKK parameterization is that it guarantees the variance and covariance matrix to be positive definiteness during estimation, and the often alleged difficulty of interpreting parameters in BEKK models is not an issue. Our results indicate that currency betas are generally more volatile than that of the world market betas. In addition, currency betas in the emerging markets, such as Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, are more volatile than those in the developed markets. We also find some evidence of long-memory in the estimated currency betas. The findings have important implications for investment and hedging strategies

Evaluation of quality of shark livers using bio-chemical properties and organoleptic score sheet

Shark livers are considered as an important raw material providing a quality fish oil. It has been reported to aid white — blood-cell production and act as an active ingredient in hemorrhoid treatments. It is also reported that liver oil as a good supplement of vitamin A and poly-unsaturated fatty acids which are important to the development of brain cells in human. Freshness of livers is very important to extract better quality oil. In Sri Lanka, the annual shark production amounts to 8000t, however the quality of livers collected from landing sites has not being measured yet. Present study was conducted to evaluate the quality of silky (Charcarninus fakiformis) shark livers available in Negombo and Beruwala landing sites in the West Coast of Sri Lanka and also to study the relationship between organoleptic and bio-chemical correlation on freshness of shark livers. Liver samples which were collected from landing sites in the West coast of Sri Lanka, were evaluated for external and internal colour, texture and odour. Total volatile nitrogen (TVN), pH value, free fatty acid (FFA%) and peroxide (PV) values of livers were also determined to assess quality. According to the organoleptic scoring system 4.3% of liver samples were categorized as best in quality while 30.4%, 56.5% and 8.7% rated as good, medium and poor in quality respectively at the Negombo and Beruwala landing sites. Bio-chemical analysis showed that the better quality livers had the highest score for sensory evaluation and low values for TVN, FFA and peroxide value while low quality livers gave low score for sensory evaluation and high TVN, FFA, peroxide values. Correlation coefficient of organoleptic scores against total volatile nitrogen value, pH value, free fatty acid % and peroxide value of shark livers were determined by statistical analysis. Organoleptic score of shark livers was found to be highly

Remote sensing and hydrologic models for performance assessment in Sirsa Irrigation Circle, India

Irrigation management / Irrigation systems / Irrigation canals / Performance evaluation / Remote sensing / GIS / Models / Irrigated farming / Hydrology / Satellite surveys / Irrigation scheduling / Evapotranspiration / India

Neural Control of Stopping and Stabilizing the Arm

Stopping is a crucial yet under-studied action for planning and producing meaningful and efficient movements. In this review, we discuss classical human psychophysics studies as well as those using engineered systems that aim to develop models of motor control of the upper limb. We present evidence for a hybrid model of motor control, which has an evolutionary advantage due to division of labor between cerebral hemispheres. Stopping is a fundamental aspect of movement that deserves more attention in research than it currently receives. Such research may provide a basis for understanding arm stabilization deficits that can occur following central nervous system (CNS) damage