A 10kW series resonant converter design, transistor characterization, and base-drive optimization

Transistors are characterized for use as switches in resonant circuit applications. A base drive circuit to provide the optimal base drive to these transistors under resonant circuit conditions is developed and then used in the design, fabrication and testing of a breadboard, spaceborne type 10 kW series resonant converter

Canada’s Looming Retirement Challenge: Will Future Retirees Be Able to Maintain Their Living Standards upon Retirement?

A key question in Canada’s pensions debate is whether Canadians will be able to maintain their living standards in retirement, and if policy needs to respond to the risk that some will experience painful declines.To date, it has been very difficult to estimate how current trends might affect various members of the population in the long run. In this study, we used LifePaths – a sophisticated simulation tool developed at Statistics Canada which integrates a large amount of data on the socio-economic experience of Canadians – to project consumption before and after retirement for Canadians who have not yet reached retirement age. Consistent with other research, the study finds that Canada’s retirement system has supported post-retirement consumption relatively well, especially for lower-income individuals and those who reached retirement age in the last twenty years. If ongoing behavior and economic circumstances were to persist indefinitely, however, more Canadians may find maintaining their working-life consumption in retirement more difficult.Pension Papers, Canada, pensions, retirement income, LifePaths, Statistics Canada, registered pension plans (RPPs), registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs)

Heavy Rainfall Warning Assessment Tool User Guide. Version 1.2

This report is a User Guide to a PC tool for assessing Heavy Rainfall Warnings. Development of the PC tool formed an important operational output of the Environment Agency and Met Office funded project: "Development of Rainfall Forecast Performance Monitoring Criteria. Phase 1: Development of Methodology and Algorithms" (Jones et al., 2003). The Heavy Rainfall Warning (HRW) Assessment Tool is a toolkit for Microsoft Excel. The tool allows the user to configure an assessment framework for a particular format of Heavy Rainfall Warning, enter and save data for forecasts and ground-truths, and generate a range of performance measures and other statistics for new and previously saved data. Summary tables are presented using Excel's PivotTable feature, from which charts can also be generated. Performance measures are provided to assess forecasts of heavy rainfall in continuous variable, categorical and probability form: these include bias, rmse, R-squared Efficiency, skill scores and the Continuous Brier Score

Scots Abroad, Nationalism at Home: Kailyard and Kilt as Gatekeepers? 1885-1979

The emigration of the Scots from the 18th to the 20th century has produced a diaspora. The thesis outlines how many diasporas are involved in the nationalist projects of their homeland. However, over the chronology of this study and beyond, whilst there were active movements to amend or end the Union of 1707, it has been found that the Scots were not. The thesis then proposes some explanations for this. Chapters one and two introduce methods, research material and context; they describe the Union, the emigrations and diasporas. The study uses for comparison purposes the Irish and Norwegian diasporas. Lines of enquiry such as nationalism, the use of soft power and gatekeeping behaviour are presented, with a discussion of Scottish nationalism. The study examines the approach to involving the diaspora of five groups; both SHRAs, the International Scots Home Rule League, the National Convention and the NPS/SNP. The response of Scottish MPs in the diaspora in England to the many attempts to legislate for home rule is also examined. The approach to the diaspora was found to be badly executed and targeted. Few visits were made, and only to the US and Canada. Communication was unfocussed and spasmodic. The Scottish associational clubs were frequently used as a conduit. A small part of the whole diaspora, these acted as gatekeepers, selectively mobilising for themselves as an elite which had no need of nationalism as they could succeed without it. Comparing the Irish, whose diaspora successfully supported its nationalist causes at home, is instructive. The study concludes that the spasmodic and amateurish nature of contact, the nature of the Associations and that of the diaspora itself were the main culprits in this case of a diaspora indifferent to the fate of nationalism in its home land