A Multi-Channel Seismic Interpretation of the Canterbury Basin Offshore New Zealand and Potential Hydrocarbon Sources

The Canterbury Basin off the coast of the South Island of New Zealand is a strong potential source for hydrocarbon exploration. Reflection seismic data from cruise EW0001, collected by the Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin, have been compiled into seismic images of the basin and interpreted to show potential of hydrocarbons due to rock formations and sequences. Data were collected using Generator Injector air guns shooting sound waves into the ocean and using sources to receive the reflections of the sound waves. Geologic maps of the New Zealand Coast and Canterbury Basin indicate predominantly alternating sandstone and mudstone basin fill sequences. These sequences can be seen in the seismic images due to the change in amplitude of the reflections. A bottom simulator reflector appears in the seismic image suggesting the formation of gas hydrates. The Canterbury Basin remains a strong target for hydrocarbon exploration as it exhibits many signs of what makes a successful reservoir to trap hydrocarbons.No embarg

Military Aviation in Ireland 1921- 1945

This thesis initially sets out to examine the context of the purchase of two aircraft, on the authority of Michael Collins and funded by the second Dail, during the Treaty negotiations of 1921. The subsequent development of civil aviation policy including the regulation of civil aviation, the management of a civil aerodrome and the possible start of a state sponsored civil air service to Britain or elsewhere is also explained. Michael Collins’ leading role in the establishment of a small Military Air Service in 1922 and the role of that service in the early weeks of the Civil War are examined in detail. The modest expansion in the resources and role of the Air Service following Collins’ death is examined in the context of antipathy toward the ex-RAF pilots and the general indifference of the new Army leadership to military aviation. The survival of military aviation - the Army Air Corps - will be examined in the context of the parsimony of Finance, and the administrative traumas of demobilisation, the Anny mutiny and reorganisation processes of 1923/24. The manner in which the Army leadership exercised command over, and directed aviation policy and professional standards affecting career pilots is examined in the contexts of the contrasting preparations for war of the Army and the Government. The Air Corps’ active roles during the Emergency are assessed against the background of inadequate preparation, insufficient and inappropriate aircraft and improbable tasking by GHQ. Secondary roles in support of the RAF war effort are also elucidated. The Army’s investigation, into the inadequacies of the Air Corps, is examined against the background of the command exercised by an inexpert and disciplinarian officer. The investigation itself is assessed in order to highlight any the bias or prejudice that may have pertained

Consumer Direction of Personal Assistance Services Programs in Medicaid: Insights From Enrollees in Four States

Discusses enrollees' experiences with taking control of their personal care services under the Consumer Direction of Personal Assistance Services program, including recruitment issues, degree of responsibility, and closeness to their care workers

University and the State in Ireland: from a negotiated exchange relationship based on trust to prescriptive requirements in university governance

This study examines the governance of Irish universities over the past thirty years and in particular how the governance of the Irish university system has moved from a model based on a trust and exchange relationship between the universities and the State to one where the universities are themselves State agencies, directed by a paymaster State to deliver State policy objectives in a number of areas. These include economic development, re-skilling of workers and the exploitation of academic outcomes. Looking through a lens of trust, informed by an analysis of the relevant literature, changes in governance, accountability and autonomy in the Irish State/university relationship since 1980 have been examined and documented. The emergence of professional management in universities and the related decline in the power of the academic community together with the transfer of overall direction of the institution from Senate or Academic Council to corporatist style governing bodies is documented. This is done against a background of the emerging evaluative State which measures performance against objectives which it sets down and which creates a new bureaucracy to measure, manage and control all State enterprise and investment. The Maynooth Archive has been used as a primary source of evidence for this claim. Utilising the eight key areas identified by the OECD in 2003 as key to university autonomy, the archive is reviewed over the thirty years by an analysis of the actual decisions made and the different kinds of interactions between the State and the governing body at Maynooth. Set against a background of government investment in universities and the wide-ranging international discourse on university governance, a ‘Governance and Accountability Framework’ has been developed which traces the move from autonomous university institution to directed State agency. The experience of key personnel in the Irish universities is then explored, on the basis of a series of semi structured interviews, to gain a deeper understanding of how universities are experiencing the changes that are taking place in the governance of Irish universities. Each of the seven Presidents participated in a semi-structured interview on the emerging changes in university governance and their views are analysed around a number of common themes. Similarly four key senior State personnel playing significant roles in the governance of the universities in Ireland participated in a semi-structured interview and their views are analysed using the same themes as those used to analyse the Presidents interviews. This provided an insight into the State position on the related issues of trust, accountability and autonomy. This analysis, drawing on the insights gleaned from both the archive study and the interviews allowed for a triangulation of the theme findings leading to a conclusion that a new paradigm has emerged in the university/State relationship. This is one where the university has been co-opted by the State to deliver on key elements of the State agenda. This thesis suggests that as the State began to look at knowledge as a key factor of economic growth it turned to the universities as the main producers and disseminators of knowledge. Accordingly as the role of the university has changed so too has the regulatory and supervisory environment in which they must work. This thesis concludes that the key element, lacking from and necessary to this process, is that of trust and that the relationship between university and State needs to be reconfigured in a way that crucially attempts to re-empower the academy while recognising that sustainability is dependent on a less than benevolent State

Victorian criticism of the Waverley Novels of Sir Walter Scott, 1832 to 1900

This thesis examines the phenomenon of Sir Walter Scott's extraordinary Victorian popularity. Focussing on criticism of his Waverley Novels between 1832 - the year of his death - and the end of the century, the thesis plots the development and terms of Scott's eminence. An introductory chapter sets out principal areas of study, being followed by a section leading up to 1832. Then follow analyses of critical work on Scott by, respectively, Harriet Martineau, Thomas Carlyle, Walter Bagehot, John Ruskin, Leslie Stephen, Richard Hutton and Julia Wedgwood. The thesis concludes with an epilogic section covering critics of the late nineteenth century, including Frederic Harrison and Andrew Lang. In each instance the context of each critic's wider work figures prominently. The thesis contends that large elements of Scott's achievement received relatively little attention in Victorian criticism. These are Scotti,s Enlightenment interests in speculative history and detailed, almost sociological, methods of composition, as well as the 'experimental' character of his work. By contrast, much was made in criticism of what may be summarised as his 'health' and 'beneficial effects'. It is claimed that the construction of such consensual critical notions about the merits of Scott's very popular work had a great deal to do with the buttressing and underpinning of some Victorian attitudes. While these varied with critics' own preoccupations - and Scott's 'malleability' is remarkable - Scott's role was so significant in Victorian culture that his employment, within what was still a relatively eclectic and formally undisciplined critical practice, constituted significant ideological manoeuvring. Specifically, Scott's remit in Victorian criticism was most usually to represent and validate some kind of opposition to the present. This both excluded much of his achievement, and also narrowed the terms of his appraisal so as to permit a revealing coalescence of literary with social, political and even racial arguments. This thesis traces the increasing definition of such a pattern within Victorian criticism of the Waverley Novels

Arthroscopic Optical Coherence Tomography in Diagnosis of Early Arthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive, debilitating disease that is increasing in prevalence. The pathogenesis of OA is likely multifactorial but ultimately leads to progressive breakdown of collagen matrix and loss of chondrocytes. Current clinical modalities employed to evaluate cartilage health and diagnose osteoarthritis in orthopaedic surgery include, radiography, MRI, and arthroscopy. While these assessment methods can show cartilage fissuring and loss, they are limited in ability to diagnose cartilage injury and degeneration prior breakdown of the articular surface. An improved clinical ability to detect subsurface cartilage pathology is important for development and testing of chondroprotective and chondrorestorative treatments because the pathological changes following surface breakdown are generally considered to be irreversible. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), is a novel, non-destructive imaging technology capable of near-real time cross-sectional images of articular cartilage at high resolutions comparable to low power histology. This review discusses a series of bench to bedside studies supporting the potential use of OCT for enhanced clinical diagnosis and staging of early cartilage injury and degeneration. OCT was also found to be useful as a translations research tool to assist in clinical evaluation of novel quantitative MRI technologies for non-invasive evaluation of articular cartilage

Personal Inquiry: lessons learned

The paper describes a school trial carried out to support inquiry learning between formal and informal settings supported by personal mobile technology. The aim of the school trial was to explore how a first version of the PI Toolkit facilitates secondary school students in performing a personally relevant scientific inquiry both in a science classroom as well as at home. An analysis of classroom video and interviews has resulted in a set of incidents from which we have derived design guidelines and challenges for implementing technology-supported inquiry learning where personal technology is used and within which personally relevant investigations are conducted by students

CREATE Project Report: Policy Assessment and Mapping of Policy Tools

The overall objective of the CREATE (Competitive Regions Employability of Adults through Education) Erasmus+ project is to enhance the performance and efficiency of Adult Education (AE) by identifying and disseminating the tools that exploit good practice in adult education policy making, implementation, and effectiveness. The EU recognises the need to act at local level to enhance coordination and planning of adult education policy, practice and funding (CEC 2012a) to achieve higher participation. Better coordination and planning will counter a mismatch between policy and reality at local level (CEC 2011). The outcome of the CREATE project will be an open accessible CREATE project virtual toolbox containing tools to enhance adult education policy making, implementation and evaluation. The development of this toolbox is one step to empower regional and local authorities with policy instruments to better shape policies and programmes for adult education, thereby better tackling the challenges of EU society and economy. This report profiles the tools, networks and platforms proposed by policy makers adn practioners in 29 local and regional authorities in 9 countries (P5 Adriatic Ionian Euroregion represents 26 regional/local authorities from 6 countries) that asssit them in adult education policy making and implementation. This Policy Assessment and Mapping of Policy Toolswas produced as part of an two year ERASMUS Project (www.projectcreate.eu)

A latitudinal cline in the Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Clock gene: evidence for selection on PolyQ length variants

A critical seasonal event for anadromous Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) is the time at which adults migrate from the ocean to breed in freshwater. We investigated whether allelic variation at the circadian rhythm genes, OtsClock1a and OtsClock1b, underlies genetic control of migration timing among 42 populations in North America. We identified eight length variants of the functionally important polyglutamine repeat motif (PolyQ) of OtsClock1b while OtsClock1a PolyQ was highly conserved. We found evidence of a latitudinal cline in average allele length and frequency of the two most common OtsClock1b alleles. The shorter 335 bp allele increases in frequency with decreasing latitude while the longer 359 bp allele increases in frequency at higher latitudes. Comparison to 13 microsatellite loci showed that 335 and 359 bp deviate significantly from neutral expectations. Furthermore, a hierarchical gene diversity analysis based on OtsClock1b PolyQ variation revealed that run timing explains 40.9 per cent of the overall genetic variance among populations. By contrast, an analysis based on 13 microsatellite loci showed that run timing explains only 13.2 per cent of the overall genetic variance. Our findings suggest that length polymorphisms in OtsClock1b PolyQ may be maintained by selection and reflect an adaptation to ecological factors correlated with latitude, such as the seasonally changing day length

Learning 21st century science in context with mobile technologies

The paper describes a project to support personal inquiry learning with handheld and desktop technology between formal and informal settings. It presents a trial of the technology and learning across a school classroom, sports hall, and library. The main aim of the study was to incorporate inquiry learning activities within an extended school science environment in order to investigate opportunities for technological mediations and to extract initial recommendations for the design of mobile technology to link inquiry learning across different contexts. A critical incident analysis was carried out to identify learning breakdowns and breakthroughs that led to design implications. The main findings are the opportunities that a combination of mobile and fixed technology bring to: manage the formation of groups, display live visualisations of student and teacher data on a shared screen to facilitate motivation and personal relevance, incorporate broader technical support, provide context-specific guidance on the sequence, reasons and aims of learning activities, offer opportunities to micro-sites for reflection and learning in the field, to explicitly support appropriation of data within inquiry and show the relation between specific activities and the general inquiry process