Tropical forest systems: A hydrological approach

This paper briefly examines the importance of considering the rates and magnitudes of water movement in the hillslope-river system of a tropical rainforest catchment. It is proposed that consideration of water movement is a fundamental component in understanding the release and movement of nutrients in this environment. In any such analysis it is essential that the 'opportunity time' or 'residence time' together with the availability of weatherable minerals be considered. Three conditions are suggested to account for the low solute concentrations in stream waters, each, any or all three of which may occur. (1) If there are no soil nutrients of importance then there can be supply neither to the river nor the plants. (2) If the residence time is too short relative to the equilibriation time of the minerals, then weathering and exchange may not occur. (3) If the residence time is too long (because rate of movement is slow), the 'turnover' will be small. In this context the analogy of an overflowing cup is discussed as a possible explanation of low solute concentrations. The results presented in the paper refer to the period 6th - 26thMay 1977, from a small hillslope-river segment at Resewa Ducke, Amazonas. Measurements made included soil tension, piezometric levels, river stage, infìltration rates and wetting front movement. Using Darcy's Law, water fluxes are determined. Draw down characteristics of the piezometers and river stage have been estimated using regressions of the logarithms of both these variables against the logarithm of time. The results suggest that during the period of observation the slope is almost saturated with respect to water. Actual saturation (positive pressures) are observed to occur at the foot of the slope under all conditions and within the slope during the earliest set of observations. Results from the computation of water fluxes indicate little lateral movement, the dominant flow is at or very close to vertical. Analysis of piezometer level and river stage suggests a very close link between the two, with only limited influence from the adjacent hillslope. In conclusion it seems that during the wet season, most of the river flow is generated by rapid rise beneath the floodplain and the slope immediately adjacent to the floodplain as a direct result of rainfall infiltration and that throughflow is unimportant. This is consistent with certain aspects of the cup analogy and goes far to explain the very low solute concentration found in the water of this and similar barrancos

Some Observations on the Late-Glacia Stages in the Coaticook Valley, Southern Québec

Cette étude a pour but de présenter les résultats de recherches sur le terrain portant sur certains aspects de la déglaciation de la région de Coaticook, dans les Cantons de l'Est. La principale conclusion de l'auteur, c'est la possibilité qu'il yait eu plus de deux avancées glaciaires à travers la région, suivies par une succession de lacs pro-glaciaires. Parmi les autres sujets qui ont retenu l'attention de l'auteur, on peut signaler la répartition des blocs erratiques de granité, ainsi que certaines formes d'origine fluvio-glaciaire (eskers, deltas pro-glaciaires, etc.)

On the Heterogeneity of Northern Paiute Directives

In this chapter, I explore a variety of grammatical constructions involved in expressing or asserting a desired action or outcome-what properly (and traditionally) fall under the functional domain of commands (or directives)-in Northern Paiute (Western Numic; Uta-Aztecan). I also discuss the various situational contexts appropriate to their use and make a preliminary assessment of their historical developments, as both grammatical and sociocultural phenomena. This study is intended to contribute to the typological literature on commands and on nondeclarative speech acts more generally (see, especially, Konig and Siemund 2007 and Aikhenvald 2010, inter alia)

Evidentiality in the Uto-Aztecan Languages

Evidentiality, the grammatical expression of the information source for a proposition, is quite diverse among the languages of the Uto-Aztecan family. This diversity is manifest both in the number of terms and associated functional distinctions and in the formal means used to express evidential functions. The purpose of this chapter is to synthesize and describe properties of evidential expression across the family both as a contribution to a typology of evidential systems in the world\u27s languages and to an understanding of how such systems develop in the context of a well-established, but underrepresented and lesser-known, language family

Un(w)rapping Ta-Nehisi Coates¿ Politics and aesthetics

Denne oppgaven er basert på en analyse av hvordan forfatter og journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates representerer den afroamerikanske opplevelsen i sine litterære verk. Forfatteren har i de siste årene opparbeidet seg status som en av USAs fremste intellektuelle stemmer, spesielt når det kommer til spørsmål om rasisme i det moderne samfunnet. Oppgaven undersøker Coates sine tekster i relasjon til hip hop-sjangerens estetikk og politikk, og setter de litterære verkene i kontekst med kontemporære musikalske og visuelle uttrykk. Spesielt fokuserer jeg på hvordan Coates behandler temaer som oppvekst, politivold og massefengsling av afroamerikanske menn. Det første kapittelet tar for seg memoaret The Beautiful Struggle (2007) som dokumenterer Coates sin barndom og ungdomstid i Baltimore på 80-tallet. Jeg viser hvordan forfatteren bruker grep fra musikksjangeren hip hop og dens tilhørende kultur i memoarets oppbygging, samt argumenterer for at Coates bruker hip hop for å etablere sin egen kulturelle identitet. Kapittel to fokuserer på hvordan forfatteren representerer sårbarhet og vold i Between the World and Me (2015). Boken er inspirert av James Baldwins The Fire Next Time (1963) og er skrevet som et brev til hans sønn, Samori Coates. Kapittelet tar for seg hvordan den svarte mannen fra barndommen av må tilpasse seg et liv hvor man er under konstant fare for å bli utsatt for politivold. Kapittel tre setter to essays fra samlingen We Were Eight Years in Power (2017) i kontekst med Coates’ representasjoner av fedre. Jeg argumenterer for at Coates på et vis er privilegert med tanke på at hans egen far var tilstedeværende gjennom hele barndommen og at dette separerer hans opplevelse fra et stort antall afroamerikanske menn. Her undersøker jeg også myten om den fraværende faren og hvordan massefengsling påvirker familiestrukturen.Engelsk mastergradsoppgaveENG35

Including the urban heat island in spatial heat health risk assessment strategies: a case study for Birmingham, UK

Background Heatwaves present a significant health risk and the hazard is likely to escalate with the increased future temperatures presently predicted by climate change models. The impact of heatwaves is often felt strongest in towns and cities where populations are concentrated and where the climate is often unintentionally modified to produce an urban heat island effect; where urban areas can be significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas. The purpose of this interdisciplinary study is to integrate remotely sensed urban heat island data alongside commercial social segmentation data via a spatial risk assessment methodology in order to highlight potential heat health risk areas and build the foundations for a climate change risk assessment. This paper uses the city of Birmingham, UK as a case study area. Results When looking at vulnerable sections of the population, the analysis identifies a concentration of "very high" risk areas within the city centre, and a number of pockets of "high risk" areas scattered throughout the conurbation. Further analysis looks at household level data which yields a complicated picture with a considerable range of vulnerabilities at a neighbourhood scale. Conclusions The results illustrate that a concentration of "very high" risk people live within the urban heat island, and this should be taken into account by urban planners and city centre environmental managers when considering climate change adaptation strategies or heatwave alert schemes. The methodology has been designed to be transparent and to make use of powerful and readily available datasets so that it can be easily replicated in other urban areas

Intrinsic and Relative Valuation of Pfizer Inc.

The aim of the thesis was to estimate the intrinsic and relative value of Pfizer Inc. by analysing both: Pfizer and the pharmaceutical industry. To create a multitude of valuation estimates the following valuation methods were utilized: Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis, Comparable Company Analysis (CCA), and the Precedent Transaction Analysis (PTA). This allowed for several estimates both for intrinsic and relative value, further choosing one valuation to be representative of the overall thesis. The intrinsic valuations (DCF) returned estimated values per share ranging from roughly 75- 100 and the relative valuations (CCA & PTA) returned estimated values per share ranging from roughly 58-158. The broad range of estimated values are representative of the 3 different valuation methods utilized. The relative valuations yielded the highest, most dispersed estimated values per share, as they were based upon current and prior market conditions for the pharmaceutical sector. The relative valuations were further skewed due to the current market conditions, as a result of the pandemic. The intrinsic valuations yielded more concise values per share, due to the lesser changes from the models applied. The representative valuation for the thesis is the intrinsic valuation of $88.71. This estimated value per share was calculated utilizing the DCF-analysis with projected cash flows reflective of the demand for Pfizer’s COVID-19 portfolio and IQVIA’s growth estimate regarding the future growth for the pharmaceutical industry. Overall, this intrinsic valuation is greater than the current market price of$40.12 (8th March 2023), further indicating that the share price for Pfizer Inc. is undervalued by the market

Firm finances, weather derivatives and geography

This paper considers some intellectual, practical and political dimensions of collaboration between human and physical geographers exploring how firms are using relatively new financial products – weather derivatives – to displace any costs of weather-related uncertainty and risk. The paper defines weather derivatives and indicates how they differ from weather insurance products before considering the geo-political, cultural and economic context for their creation. The paper concludes by reflecting on the challenges of research collaboration across the human–physical geography divide and suggests that while such initiatives may be undermined by a range of institutional and intellectual factors, conversations between physical and human geographers remain and are likely to become increasingly pertinent. The creation of a market in weather derivatives raises a host of urgent political and regulatory questions and the confluence of natural and social knowledges, co-existing within and through the geography academy, provides a constructive and creative basis from which to engage with this new market and wider discourses of uneven economic development and climate change

Intrinsic and Relative Valuation of Pfizer Inc.

The aim of the thesis was to estimate the intrinsic and relative value of Pfizer Inc. by analysing both: Pfizer and the pharmaceutical industry. To create a multitude of valuation estimates the following valuation methods were utilized: Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis, Comparable Company Analysis (CCA), and the Precedent Transaction Analysis (PTA). This allowed for several estimates both for intrinsic and relative value, further choosing one valuation to be representative of the overall thesis. The intrinsic valuations (DCF) returned estimated values per share ranging from roughly 75- 100 and the relative valuations (CCA & PTA) returned estimated values per share ranging from roughly 58-158. The broad range of estimated values are representative of the 3 different valuation methods utilized. The relative valuations yielded the highest, most dispersed estimated values per share, as they were based upon current and prior market conditions for the pharmaceutical sector. The relative valuations were further skewed due to the current market conditions, as a result of the pandemic. The intrinsic valuations yielded more concise values per share, due to the lesser changes from the models applied. The representative valuation for the thesis is the intrinsic valuation of $88.71. This estimated value per share was calculated utilizing the DCF-analysis with projected cash flows reflective of the demand for Pfizer’s COVID-19 portfolio and IQVIA’s growth estimate regarding the future growth for the pharmaceutical industry. Overall, this intrinsic valuation is greater than the current market price of$40.12 (8th March 2023), further indicating that the share price for Pfizer Inc. is undervalued by the market