Hepatitis B Virus and the Cellular Response to Interferon.

Imperial Users onl

UTIL-DSS: Utilization-Based Dynamic Strategy Switching for Improvement in Data Centre Operation

Applications are shifting into large scale, virtualized data centres that provide resources on a pay-per-usage basis. With power consumption representing a major operational cost, data centres must prioritize efficiency while still providing enough resources to meet application requirements. To meet variable application demands, a dynamic approach to virtual machine (VM) management is required. This requires: (i) placing newly arrived VMs, (ii) migrating VMs from highly utilized machines to avoid performance degradation, and (iii) migrating VMs from underutilized machines so that they may be deactivated to save power. Here, a management strategy is considered to be policy-set that guides these three operations. To achieve the conflicting goals of performance and efficiency, I propose and evaluate a system of dynamically switching between two management strategies, each with a single goal, based on trends in data centre workload. Experimentation over a simulated data centre demonstrates the superiority of this approach over single-strategy techniques

'Middle-England diocese, Middle-England Catholicism' : the development of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham 1850-1915

The thesis aims to chart the development of the Diocese of Nottingham from 1850 to 1915, and through a comparison with the historiography of the period, to show how far it correlates with the accepted norms of nineteenth and early twentieth century Catholic development. Methodologically, the thesis aims to pioneer an in-depth integrated study on the development of the Diocese of Nottingham from 1850 to 1915, a largely unstudied area as far as Catholics and Catholicism is concerned. The period studied commences with the Restoration of the Hierarchy, (1850), and terminates with the resignation of Bishop Brindle in 1915. There is a unity in the period chosen as it encompasses the Episcopacies of one Diocesan Administrator, Bishop William Bernard Ullathorne (1850-1, who was concurrently Bishop of Birmingham), and Bishop Joseph William Hendren, (1851-3), Bishop Richard Roskell (1853-74), Bishop Edward Bagshawe (1874-1901), and Bishop Robert Brindle (1901-15). While the thesis addresses the way the Bishops tackled the problems they faced on taking up their appointments, as well as the ways in which they dealt with the demands placed upon them by Westminster, the emphasis is on the broader Catholic community and the way it evolved. This is dealt with through a wide-ranging analysis which locates local developments within a national framework. While each chapter has a dominant focus for organisational reasons, the thesis aims is to show how matters inter-related, and subsequently affected the Diocese's developmental path. The overall outline of the Diocese's historical background between 1850 and 1915, is described through a study of the characteristics, aims and methods used by Bishop Ullathorne, and the Bishops of Nottingham, in their attempts to turn the Diocese of Nottingham from a 2 concept on paper in 1850, to being an important part of the cultural, social and religious landscape of the East Midlands by 1915. Succeeding chapters deal with ultramontanism and how it was uniquely interpreted locally, defining who comprised the local Catholic community, the evolution of a Diocesan political ethos, education, and anti-Catholicism: the latter may be seen as perhaps the example par excellence of the need for integrated studies. The primary sources used in this thesis bring new perspectives to the study of nineteenth century Catholicism, and their use greatly extends our knowledge and understanding of the period. This is especially true as they have not been applied before to an understanding of the Nottingham Diocese. Use has been made of around 80 newspapers (daily, twice weekly and weekly) and monthly magazines, both Catholic and Protestant, published across the Diocese, as well as national publications. In several cases, as in Nottingham and Leicester, their attitudes varied from being anti- to pro- Catholic, which meant a greater degree of balance in the understanding of events. Use was also made of newly available papers from the De Lisle, Gainsborough, and Howard families that have not been used before. Other material was personally collected from the descendants of nineteenth century families. In addition to papers from the Orders' Archives, the Westminster and Birmingham Arch-Diocesan Archives, the Vatican and other Diocesan Archives have been consulted, such as those at Northampton, Salford and Leeds. The Nottingham Archives provided material that has not been used before, including the extant papers of Bishops Ullathorne, Hendren, Roskell, Bagshawe, Brindle, and Dunn. Access was given to extracts from the Chapter Minutes and newly deposited material from priests who were active in the period. As well as explaining how the Nottingham Diocese developed between 1850 and 1915, the thesis deals with the differences noted locally between `Catholicism' and 3 `Catholic'. Attempts are made to explain the dichotomy noted; namely that while `Catholicism' entailed hatred and led to anti-Catholicism, individual `Catholics' were frequently admired and respected. The thesis will make an important contribution to our knowledge in a number of ways. Fundamentally, it is the only macro-diocesan study of its type. The newly available content will provide an increased data base for studies of nineteenth-century Catholicism. By synthesising the information, localised trends have been established which are compared to, or used to correct, generalisations portrayed in the historiography of secondary literature that currently exists. The newly available information can also be used to test some of the hypotheses used regarding Catholics. The structure of the thesis will hopefully lay down a model for further Diocesan studies

Effects of urbanisation and landscape heterogeneity mediated by feeding guild and body size in a community of coprophilous beetles

Although the impacts of urbanisation on biodiversity are well studied, the precise response of some invertebrate groups remains poorly known. Dung-associated beetles are little studied in an urban context, especially in temperate regions. We considered how landscape heterogeneity, assessed at three spatial scales (250, 500 and 1000 metre radius), mediates the community composition of coprophilous beetles on a broad urban gradient. Beetles were sampled using simple dung-baited traps, placed at 48 sites stratified across three distance bands around a large urban centre in England. The most urban sites hosted the lowest abundance of saprophagous beetles, with a lower mean body length relative to the least urban sites. Predicted overall species richness and the richness of saprophagous species were also lowest at the most urban sites. Ordination analyses followed by variation partitioning revealed that landscape heterogeneity across the urban gradient explained a small but significant proportion of community composition. Heterogeneity data for a 500-metre radius around each site provided the best fit with beetle community data. Larger saprophagous species were associated with lower amounts of manmade surface and improved grassland. Some individual species, particularly predators, appeared to be positively associated with urban or urban fringe sites. This study is probably the first to examine the response of the whole coprophilous beetle community to urbanisation. Our results suggest that the response of this community to urbanisation matches expectations based on other taxonomic groups, whilst emphasising the complex nature of this response, with some smaller-bodied species potentially benefitting from urbanisation

Recruiting hard-to-reach populations to physical activity studies : evidence and experiences

Most researchers who are conducting research with a public health focus face difficulties in recruiting the segments of the population that they really want to reach. This symposium presented evidence and experiences on recruiting participants to physical activity research, including both epidemiological and intervention based studies. Results from a systematic review of recruitment strategies suggested that we know little about how best to recruit and highlighted the need for researchers to report this in more detail, including metrics of reach into the target population such as number, proportion, and representativeness of participants. Specific strategies used to optimise responses to a population-based mail survey were presented such as study promotion, survey design, multiple mailings, and personal engagement. Finally, using place based recruiting via schools or places of worship to target ethnic minority youth were discussed. Overall the symposium presenters suggested that we need to learn more about how best to recruit participants, in particular those typically under-represented, and that researchers need to apportion a similar amount of planning effort to their recruitment strategies as they do the their research design. Finally we made a plea for researchers to report their recruitment processes in detail

Anthrenus (anthrenus) augustefasciatus (coleoptera: dermstidae), a species new to Britain

An account of the discovery of a dermestid beetle new to Britain, Anthrenus (A.) angustefasciatus (Ganglebauer), is described. Three individuals were found on Oxeye daisy at Holme Green, Berkshire in May 2014. A brief description of the features separating A. angustefasciatus from A. pimpinellae (F.) is given. Morphological measurements of the specimens were taken and compared with similar measurements of A. angustefasciatus from the Mediterranean region. The possible modes of entry into the country are discussed along with the likelihood of finding further populations of A. angustefasciatus occurring in Britain

Geographies of Information Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa

This piece draws on some of our previous empirical research to reflect on what connectivity means to inclusion in the ‘network society.’ Connectivity certainly isn’t a sufficient condition for inclusion and equity, and we need to ask whether it is a necessary one. Connectivity, rather, tends to be an amplifier: one that often reinforces rather than reduces inequality. We therefore need to move towards deeper critical socio-economic interrogations of the barriers or structures that limit activity and reproduce digital inequality. The categorisations developed in the paper offer an empirically-driven and systematic way to understand these barriers in more detail

The Internet and Tourism in Rwanda: Value Chains and Networks of Connectivity-Based Enterprises in Rwanda

East Africa was the world’s last major region without submarine fibre-optic broadband internet access, and until the summer of 2009 had been forced to rely on slow and costly satellite connections for access. However, the region has recently been connected via fibre-optic cable – in theory, allowing much greater speeds at much lower prices. This rapid transformation in the region’s connectivity has prompted politicians, journalists, academics, and citizens to speak of an economic revolution fuelled by information and communication technologies (ICTs) happening on the continent. While some research has been conducted into the impacts of ICTs on economic processes and practices, there remains surprisingly little research into changing connectivity in East Africa. Here the authors summarise research examining the effects of this changing connectivity in the Rwandan tourism sector. We seek to understand what impacts changing connectivity is having, who benefits and who doesn’t

CTENOLEPISMA LONGICAUDATA (ZYGENTOMA: LEPISMATIDAE) NEW TO BRITAIN

The silverfish Ctenolepisma longicaudata Escherich 1905 is reported for the first time in Britain, from Whitley Wood, Reading, Berkshire (VC22). This addition increases the number of British species of the order Zygentoma from two to three, all in the family Lepismatidae