Brief Extract from the Travels of Athanasius Nikitin, a Native of Twer, edited by Michael W. Charney

This translation of Athanasius Nikitin’s fifteenth century travels to India was originally published in India in the Fifteenth Century Being a Collection of Narratives of Voyages to India, edited by R. H. Major, in 1857. Nikitin appears to have only included information on Burma which he obtained by word of mouth. His brief references to Pegu are provided below. The reference to Pegu has been standardized, as two different spellings were included in the original translation. Edited by Michael W. Charney for the SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research

O sistema escolar grego

É meu objectivo, neste texto, fazer uma apresentação do sistema escolar grego, assim como das suas diferenças e semelhanças relativamente ao sistema português

“The Female Face” of Hiv/Aids as an Ethical Challenge to the Catholic Church in Uganda: Lessons of Catholic Social Teaching

Since the emergence of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Uganda in the 1980s, it has become increasingly evident that the HIV/AIDS scourge disproportionately affects more women and girls than men and boys. Women and girls suffer a particular vulnerability due to this pandemic. There are social, economic, political, and cultural factors that precipitate and aggravate the spread of HIV/AIDS among women and girls in Uganda. This dissertation contends that Catholic Social Teaching offers us one of the best and most comprehensive and integrative ways for addressing the HIV/AIDS scourge. We argue specifically for a rights-based solidarity as the most comprehensive and integrative method for tackling HIV/AIDS. Dignity calls upon us to treat all persons with equal consideration. Dignity challenges us to pay particular attention to those whose equal dignity is most threatened. It is also dignity that gives rise to human rights. Human rights spell out the conditions that are necessary for honoring, protecting and preserving people’s dignity. To protect and preserve the rights of people, in turn, calls for the participation of all to the common good. To participate in the common good demands that people live in solidarity with one another. This solidarity becomes more critical when it comes to the most vulnerable members of society. Solidarity as a paradigmatic key of encounter of people with one another, challenges us to leave no one behind. The preferential option for the poor, on the other hand, becomes the hermeneutical principal for remedying social structures and policies so as to bring to the center everyone and especially the poor and vulnerable groups who are often left at the margins of society. In this sense, Catholic Social Teaching invites and challenges us as members of society to cultivate a new way of “seeing, judging and acting” so as to bring on board the socially abandoned, the materially and economically impoverished, the politically oppressed and the culturally excluded members of society. The women and girls with HIV/AIDS in Uganda are among the most vulnerable, excluded, and impoverished group who merit our new way of “seeing, judging and acting” so that their suffering and illness serve to bring us in closer solidarity and not alienation

Site and Basin Effects on Seismic Hazard in Indonesia:Sulawesi and Jakarta Case Studies

Earthquakes are among the most costly, devastating and deadly natural hazards. The extent of the seismic hazard is often influenced by factors like the source location and site characteristics, while the susceptibility of assets is influenced by the population density, building design, infrastructure and urban planning. A comprehensive knowledge of the nature of source and local geology enables the establishment of an effective urban planning that takes into account the potential seismic hazard, which in turn may reduce the degree of vulnerability. The first probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) incorporating the effects of local site characteristic for the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia has been conducted. Most of the island, with the exception of South Sulawesi, is undergoing rapid deformation. This leads to high hazard in most regions (such that PGA > 0.4g at 500 year return period including site effects) and extremely high hazard (like PGA > 0.8 g at 500 year return period) along fast-slipping crustal fault. On the other hand, a distant site relative to fault might suffer higher ground motion if that site is composed of soft soil. This research has proven that incorporating near-surface physical properties, in this case is represented by VS30, surface geology contribute significantly to ground motions, consequently, responsible for potential building damage. The PSHA study that took place in Sulawesi took us move further, investigate the effect of deep structure on seismic waves. Jakarta was chosen for its location sitting on less known deep sediment basin and economic and political importances. A dense portable-seismic-broadband network, comprising 96 stations, has been operated within four months covering the Jakarta. The seismic network sampled broadband seismic-noise mostly originating from ocean waves and anthropogenic activity. We used Horizontal-toVertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) measurements of the ambient seismic noise to estimate the fundamental-mode Rayleigh wave ellipticity curves, which were used to infer the seismic velocity structure of the Jakarta Basin. By mapping and modeling the spatial variation of low-frequency (0.124{0.249 Hz) HVSR peaks, this study reveals variations in the depth to the Miocene basement. To map these velocity profiles of unknown complexity, we employ a Transdimensional-Bayesian framework for the inversion of HVSR curves for 1D profiles of velocity and density beneath each station. The inverted velocity profiles show a sudden change of basement depth from 400 to 1350 m along N-S profile through the center of the city, with an otherwise gentle increase in basin depth from south to north. Seismic wave modelings are conducted afterward and shows that for very deep basin of Jakarta, available ground motion prediction equation (GMPE) is less sufficient in capturing the effect of basin geometry on seismic waves. Earrthquake scenario modeling using SPECFEM2D is performed to comprehend the effect of deep basin on ground motions. This modeling reveals that the city may experience high peak ground velocity (PGV) during large megathrust earthquake. The complexity of the basin is responsible for magnifying ground motions observed in the basin

Sin, Sacrifice and Sanctity: The Biblical Pursuit of Salvation in The Power and the Glory

Scholarships & Prizes Office. University of Sydne

A standard method for predicting conservation status from herbarium specimens in the context of a new phylogeny and taxonomy of Loudetia

LAYOUT: A general introduction of issues covered in chapters 2-5 and a review of literature, including the taxonomic and conservation status of Loudetia species, morphometric and phylogenetic methods, is presented under general introduction in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 contain a taxonomic clarification of the Loudetia simplex complex. Chapter 3 covers a phylogenetic hypothesis of species of Loudetia and Loudetiopsis, including an investigation of the determination of discrete character states from quantitative characters and an updated classification of Loudetia. Chapter 4 presents an updated enumeration of species of Loudetia. A new method of predicting risk in species using herbarium specimens is presented in Chapter 5. Findings of this thesis are summarized in chapter 6: general discussion and conclusions

The Nonministerial Exception

In 2014, Charlotte Catholic High School declined to continue Lonnie Billard’s employment as a substitute drama teacher after he publicly announced, via Facebook, that he and his same-sex partner were getting civilly married. Billard sued the school in the Western District of North Carolina for unlawful employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act due to his sexual orientation. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Billard. The court first held that the high school’s actions could constitute unlawful sex discrimination in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County. The district court then rejected the high school’s argument that it qualifies under Title VII’s coreligionist exemptions in sections 702 and 703. Finally, the court turned to the “ministerial exception” doctrine. This doctrine states that courts are barred from adjudicating employment disputes between religious organizations and ministerial employees. In this case, the court noted that “very few facts weigh in favor of finding that [Billard] is a minister.” He was not held out by the school as a minister, he did not teach religion, and he was not responsible for the religious upbringing of the students. But the school had one final argument: that the ministerial exception is grounded in a broader “church autonomy doctrine” that generally protects religious institutions from governmental interference in their internal affairs, including in employment decisions. Because Char-lotte Catholic High School let go of Billard for primarily religious reasons, the argument goes, even if Billard is not a minister, the school should be immune from Title VII discrimination suits. This case illustrates a very important question left unanswered by the Supreme Court following its landmark decisions in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. EEOC and Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru: Do religious institutions have any First Amendment protection in employment cases outside the ministerial exception? This Note seeks to answer that question

Matthew I, Patriarch of Constantinople (1397 - 1410), his life, his patriarchal acts, his written works

This Thesis is a review of Patriarch Matthew I's life, his Patriarchal acts and his written works. Patriarch Matthew I showed his inclination to the monastic life at a very early age. This love sculpted his character with humility, obedience and many other virtues. After he became Patriarch he had to face various troubles, not only because of the financial ruin of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople but also because of his enemies: Macarius of Ankara and Matthew of Medeia. During 1399-1403, Emperor Manuel II went to the West (Italy, France, England), escorted by fifty attendants, including Macarius of Ankara, Matthew I's enemy and someone very well informed about the Schism of the Western Church From Emperor Manuel II's letters we can gather that he was well aware of Macarius' plans to depose Matthew I. While Emperor Manuel II was away, Matthew of Medeia acted to depose Patriarch Matthew I, re-establishing him on the Patriarchal throne, with the support of the ex-Emperor John VII (1390) who had now become Emperor-regent. After Emperor Manuel II came back from his trip, he supported Matthew I, re-establishing him on the Patriarchal throne. Macarius of Ankara and Matthew of Medeia, however, insisted on Matthew Fs deposition, and repeatedly called for the convention of a number of Synods to prove his non-canonical electio

Legal framework for utilisation and emissions-impact mitigation from natural gas production: the case for Nigeria.

Environmental concerns dominate every stage of oil and gas operations, from production to consumption stages. At the production stage, there is the problem of waste of associated gas through flaring emissions, while pipeline leakages and tanker accidents are common during transportation of products and services. During consumption, the combustion of these gases also causes environmental pollution and impact negatively on the health of people and communities. In emerging markets, the oil and gas sector is at the centre of the demand for reduction in global carbon emissions because 60 out of 70 per cent of energy-related global emissions are attributed to continuous extraction, processing and burning of oil and gas. Furthermore, 63 per cent of current global emissions have been estimated to come from developing and emerging market areas. As an emerging economy dependent on oil and gas, Nigeria's continuing waste of natural gas through flaring alone accounts for 40 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions from Sub-Saharan Africa. This is due to poor gas infrastructure, an underdeveloped domestic gas market, inefficient regulation of the sector and a lack of a comprehensive HSE regime. Other challenges include insecurity, poor incentives for private sector engagement and an overwhelming focus on crude oil revenue etc. This work therefore focuses on proposing new framework structures to support investment in critical gas infrastructures, drive the development of the domestic gas market and mitigate emissions impact in Nigeria. While this study is generally a doctrinal and non-doctrinal (sociolegal) inquiry, it adopts a comparative and case study analysis to resolve the research question. It does this by relying on primary and secondary sources of laws on oil and gas, including non-legal data on natural gas, impact of gas flaring and challenges to natural gas utilisation