The strategic evolution of Aer Lingus from a full-service airline to a low-cost carrier and finally positioning itself into a value hybrid airline

Aer Lingus has been an unique airline as it transitioned from a full-service airline to a low-cost carrier and is currently positioned as a value hybrid airline. It has coexisted with Ryanair for decades and it encountered three imminent periods where bankruptcy prevailed from 1993 to 2009. The research aims to uncover the various strategies that were applied to structurally re-engineer the carrier in order to adapt to its evolving competitive landscape. The key pillars underpinning Aer Lingus’ turnaround as a value hybrid were as follows: strict adherence to capacity discipline; relentless cost control and value-adding, consumer-driven product differentiation; innovative partnerships including contract flying to alleviate its problematic seasonality issues inherent in Aer Lingus markets; and by re-engineering its Dublin-based hub airport. A visionary master plan for the hub was fabricated to capitalize on Ireland’s geographical positioning which targeted the traffic flows between UK/European and North American destinations through its synchronized connection network at Dublin

An examination of ongoing trends in airline ancillary revenues

The airline industry seems permanently embedded in producing thin margins and continuously combatting downward pressure on yields. To perpetuate the problem, the industry remains eclipsed with high cost structures and low barriers to entry. However, a new sizzling concept continues to counterbalance these effects in the form of ancillary revenues. Globally, these revenues have increased by 121% from 2010 to 2014 – and the trend is set to continue as carriers are quickly implementing structural changes to accommodate these revenues streams. This paper examines the performance of the two core classifications of ancillary revenues, which are unbundled products and commission based income. It also investigates the willingness of passengers to pay for these services together with what type of ancillary items are acceptable at a particular price point. The study found that passengers value a narrow range of perceived ‘necessity’ products and services such as food and drink, checked baggage and seat assignment as opposed to perceived ‘optional’ unbundled or commission based products/services. It also found significant differences in WTP for specific ancillary services based on carrier type (FSC/LCC/Charter), length of flight (long and short haul) and journey purpose (business, leisure, VFR)

Non-Hausdorff Manifolds via Adjunction Spaces

In this paper we will introduce and develop a theory of adjunction spaces which allows the construction of non-Hausdorff topological manifolds from standard Hausdorff ones. This is done by adjoining Hausdorff manifolds along homeomorphic open submanifolds, but leaving the boundaries of these subspaces unidentified. It is shown that all non-Hausdorff manifolds may be constructed in this manner. We also provide a partial characterisation of the maximal Hausdorff submanifolds of a given non-Hausdorff manifold.Comment: 74 pages, 8 figure

Sensitivity of tropical radiative budgets to cloud distribution and the radiative properties of clouds, The

June, 1976.Includes bibliographical references (pages 112-117)

Environmental timing and control of reproduction in the powan of Loch Lomond 'Coregonus lavaretus (L) (Teleostei)' in relation to its pineal organ

The reproductive cycle of Coregonus lavaretus (L. ) in Loch Lomond was investigated by monthly sampling. The stages of the cycle occurred at the same time each year and were precisely timed. The environment followed a regular pattern which varied seasonally and was repeated annually. Spawning synchrony within the population during the short breeding period may be in response to lunar phases. A qualitative echosounding survey was made. The spatial distribution of the fish is probably related to their feeding behaviour and was mainly pelagic in summer and benthic in winter. Diel vertical migrations were recorded at dawn and dusk and appeared to be related to negative solar altitudes. The fish occurred at the surface during the night and persisted with their diel vertical migrations when feeding behaviour was benthic. The regulation of the reproductive cycle in the common sole Solea solea was investigated. The timing of spawning is ultimately determined by sea temperature, and spawning synchrony within the population is probably achieved in the initiation of exogenous vitellogenesis by a unified response within the breeding population to a stimulatory photoperiod. In both Solea solea and Coregonus lavaretus, initiation of exogenous vitellogenesis occurred during a rapid rise in the condition of the fish. The photosensitivity of the reproductive system may possibly be linked to a threshold condition. The pineal organ of Coregonus lavaretus is typically salmonid and the convoluted epithelium contained photoreceptors, interstitial cells, and neurones. The interstitial cells gave rise to processes which extended into the perivascular space. Photoreceptor cells synapsed with neurones, photoreceptor cells (lateral processes) and possibly other cell types. The results suggest that the pineal organ functions as a photoreceptor

God Wills It: Presidents and the Political Use of Religion

How have American presidents used religious rhetoric? Has it helped them achieve their goals? Why or why not? These are the main questions this dissertation attempts to grapple with. I begin my study by developing a typology of presidential religious rhetoric that consists of three basic styles of speech. Ceremonial religious rhetoric is meant to capture those times when a president uses religious language in a broad sense that is appropriate for the occasion. Examples would include holiday addresses and funeral eulogies. I label a second variant of religious rhetoric comforting and calming. A president will frequently use religious rhetoric as he tries to shepherd the country through the difficult aftermath of a terrorist attack, a natural disaster or a riot. The final kind I have called instrumental. A president uses instrumental religious rhetoric when he makes an argument founded on religious concepts or beliefs in an attempt to convince interested parties to support a goal of his, such as passing a piece of legislation. The majority of the project focuses on this last type. I propose a strict set of coding rules for both identifying when instrumental religious rhetoric has appeared and for gauging its possible impact. My measures of potential effectiveness focus on the president's three most important relationships- his relationship with the public, his relationship with the media and his relationship with Congress. The eight case study chapters include analyses of Eisenhower's calls for increased mutual security funding, Carter's rhetoric describing his energy policies and Clinton's rhetoric about the impeachment proceedings against him, among others. The limited number of case studies immediately yields an interesting finding: it turns out that presidents do not often make consistent religious arguments for their governmental objectives. Further, when instrumental religious rhetoric is used, presidents limit themselves to discussing certain issues where religion might be said to be naturally applicable- questions of national security, civil rights and scandal. As it is, two presidents, Truman and Nixon, never used a religious rhetorical strategy at all. Indeed, it appears that whether due to personal taste or political complications, almost all presidents are quite uncomfortable using instrumental religious rhetoric. Therefore, a crisis is shown to be a necessary condition for a president to engage in religious speechifying. The existence of a crisis seems to be needed to force many a president to overcome his reluctance to drape his goals in religious rhetoric. The main finding of this dissertation, however, is that instrumental religious rhetoric is not very helpful to a goal-oriented president. In nearly every case, public opinion does not respond to the president's religious pleas, the media reacts critically to both his ideas and his language and the reception of his proposals in Congress disappoints. This surprising conclusion displaces the results of earlier major studies of presidential religious rhetoric that claimed such language had a powerful force to it. A final experiment was designed to explore the causal dynamics behind the findings of the case studies. Why does religious rhetoric fail? Is it because it is simply unpersuasive? Or, rather, is the explanation found in the context (i.e. crisis situations) in which such rhetoric has appeared? The experiment was designed to decide between these two competing hypotheses. Student participants were given sample speeches containing either religious or secular arguments for a political goal. Treatments were designed to accurately mimic where and how religious rhetoric has historically been used. Results support the former interpretation; exposure to a religious policy argument has no effect on an individual's opinion. Exposure to secular rhetoric is slightly more impactful but, regardless, ideology and partisan affiliation are far more important than either type when it comes to explaining opinions. The religious dimensions of presidential leadership have been a constant throughout history, becoming even more visible in the post-war period. This dissertation greatly furthers our understanding of this important subject. It is valuable for anyone interested in either the challenges of presidential power or in the role that religion plays in contemporary American politics

Inositol phosphatase SHIP1 is a primary target of miR-155

MicroRNA-155 (miR-155) has emerged as a critical regulator of immune cell development, function, and disease. However, the mechanistic basis for its impact on the hematopoietic system remains largely unresolved. Because miRNAs function by repressing specific mRNAs through direct 3′UTR interactions, we have searched for targets of miR-155 implicated in the regulation of hematopoiesis. In the present study, we identify Src homology-2 domain-containing inositol 5-phosphatase 1 (SHIP1) as a direct target of miR-155, and, using gain and loss of function approaches, show that miR-155 represses SHIP1 through direct 3′UTR interactions that have been highly conserved throughout evolution. Repression of endogenous SHIP1 by miR-155 occurred following sustained over-expression of miR-155 in hematopoietic cells both in vitro and in vivo, and resulted in increased activation of the kinase Akt during the cellular response to LPS. Furthermore, SHIP1 was also repressed by physiologically regulated miR-155, which was observed in LPS-treated WT versus miR-155−/− primary macrophages. In mice, specific knockdown of SHIP1 in the hematopoietic system following retroviral delivery of a miR-155-formatted siRNA against SHIP1 resulted in a myeloproliferative disorder, with striking similarities to that observed in miR-155-expressing mice. Our study unveils a molecular link between miR-155 and SHIP1 and provides evidence that repression of SHIP1 is an important component of miR-155 biology

Assessment of Aeroacoustic Simulations of the High-Lift Common Research Model

This paper presents further validation of PowerFLOWR aeroacoustic simulations of the High-Lift Common Research Model through comparisons with experimental data from a recently completed wind tunnel test. Preliminary time- averaged surface pressure and microphone array data from the experiment are in reasonably good agreement with the simulations, and the slat is shown to be a dominant noise source on this model. The simulations did not predict slat tones that were very prominent in the experiment, but they did capture the broadband component of slat noise in the low-frequency range up to 1 kHz at full scale. Future tests are planned to demonstrate slat noise reduction technology, and simulations are being used to guide this development