The genre of suffering in the ancient Near Eastern literature, the Hebrew Bible, and in some examples of modern literature

The aim of this thesis is to compare works of drama regarding the suffering of the human being in the context of life and literature and in relation to the issue of justice, which revolves around the impact of Justice, Humanity and God. My aim is to look at the development of the genre of suffering starting with the Ancient Near Eastern Literature, to define the genre in its development and to characterise its features in the various literatures discussed, especially with respect to the Book of Job

UN FORUM SERIES – radical transparency, or how to use public data for large scale social-impact assessments

This post was contributed by Paul Middelkoop, human rights researcher at Questionmark. One of the biggest challenges for a company that wants to align its conduct with the United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGPs) is to determine the salience of many different risks across a complex supply chain. This is why, with the increased demand for social impact reporting, several new management tools have emerged to help businesses map their human rights risks and manage their responsibilities (for instance, Irene Pietropaoli outlined several tools related to human trafficking in an earlier post)

Molecular Epidemiology of HIV-Associated Tuberculosis in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Strain Predominance, Clustering, and Polyclonal Disease.

Molecular typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis can be used to elucidate the epidemiology of tuberculosis, including the rates of clustering, the frequency of polyclonal disease, and the distribution of genotypic families. We performed IS6110 typing and spoligotyping on M. tuberculosis strains isolated from HIV-infected subjects at baseline or during follow-up in the DarDar Trial in Tanzania and on selected community isolates. Clustering occurred in 203 (74%) of 275 subjects: 124 (80%) of 155 HIV-infected subjects with baseline isolates, 56 (69%) of 81 HIV-infected subjects with endpoint isolates, and 23 (59%) of 39 community controls. Overall, 113 (41%) subjects had an isolate representing the East Indian "GD" family. The rate of clustering was similar among vaccine and placebo recipients and among subjects with or without cellular immune responses to mycobacterial antigens. Polyclonal disease was detected in 6 (43%) of 14 patients with multiple specimens typed. Most cases of HIV-associated tuberculosis among subjects from this study in Dar es Salaam resulted from recently acquired infection. Polyclonal infection was detected and isolates representing the East Indian GD strain family were the most common

Rotation, activity, and lithium abundance in cool binary stars

We have used two robotic telescopes to obtain time-series high-resolution spectroscopy and V I and/or by photometry for a sample of 60 active stars. Orbital solutions are presented for 26 SB2 and 19 SB1 systems with unprecedented phase coverage and accuracy. The total of 6,609 R=55,000 echelle spectra are also used to systematically determine effective temperatures, gravities, metallicities, rotational velocities, lithium abundances and absolute H{\alpha}-core fluxes as a function of time. The photometry is used to infer unspotted brightness, V - I and/or b - y colors, spot-induced brightness amplitudes and precise rotation periods. Our data are complemented by literature data and are used to determine rotation-temperature-activity relations for active binary components. We also relate lithium abundance to rotation and surface temperature. We find that 74% of all known rapidly-rotating active binary stars are synchronized and in circular orbits but 26% are rotating asynchronously of which half have Prot > Porb and e > 0. Because rotational synchronization is predicted to occur before orbital circularization active binaries should undergo an extra spin-down besides tidal dissipation. We suspect this to be due to a magnetically channeled wind with its subsequent braking torque. We find a steep increase of rotation period with decreasing effective temperature for active stars. For inactive, single giants with Prot > 100 d, the relation is much weaker. Our data also indicate a period-activity relation for H{\alpha} of the form RH{\alpha} \propto P - 0.24 for binaries and RH{\alpha} \propto P -0.14 for singles. Lithium abundances in our sample increase with effective temperature. On average, binaries of comparable effective temperature appear to exhibit 0.25 dex less surface lithium than singles. We also find a trend of increased Li abundance with rotational period of form log n(Li) \propto - 0.6 log Prot

An energy efficient mass transportation model for Gauteng

Thesis (MIng (Mechanical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.Public transportation in South Africa is characterized by little or no consideration for energy efficiency and use of cleaner fuels. In the case of transport planning in South African cities, no assessment of the economic or environment impact of limited or highly priced electricity or conventional liquid fuels has been included in the decision-making process. Recent examples of the Gautrain and the Bus Rapid Transit programmes (both in Gauteng) reinforce this weakness in current planning methodologies. This study has focused on the need to introduce energy efficiency and greenhouse gas consideration in mass transport decision-making in Gauteng. The intention of the study was to produce a strategic modelling tool that would be a high-level product for politicians to use. At the same time, the tool should feature more advanced capabilities such as optimisation algorithms to satisfy specific objective functions, such as time, cost, energy or global warming potential. In this way, sensitivity studies based on different orderings of these objective functions could be undertaken using this model. The model's performance was tested using two different scenarios. In the least time scenario, which is practically the base case, the order of optimisation was time first, then cost, then energy and then global warming. The constraint on objective functions was relaxed by 10% after each optimization to get to the final result, which is then understood to be the least global warming impact for a particular plan that was initially optimized for time. In the least global warming scenario, the order of optimisation was changed, with first global warming, then energy, then time and then cost optimised. The resultant plan is the lowest cost plan that could be developed if global warming was the most important consideration. The results obtained for both scenarios are discussed and compared to each other where practical. Where possible model verification and validation have been undertaken and where it has not been possible, the approach to be taken in a follow up study will serve to provide such validation. The model has been shown to be an effective high-level strategic decision-making tool. It is a tool that should be used by politicians and transport planners alike to ensure energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction are factored into future transport options considered.Master