Exploratory analysis of goalball: A regression based approach

The purpose of the study was to identify whether there was a relative quality effect for key performance indicators (KPI) in goalball. The study was completed from a performance analysis perspective and analysis was completed on two major international goalball tournaments (Paralympics 2012, European A 2013) and three IBSA qualifying events (Hungary 2013, Venice 2014, Malmo 2014). A regression-based analysis described by O’Donoghue & Cullinane (2011) was used to identify whether there was a relative quality (RQ) effect between KPI in goalball. Results showed that there was a low correlation between RQ and KPI in goalball. Although weak positive correlation was observed, a repeated measures anova showed trends for shots to pockets (F=3.280, p=0.053) and speed of shot (F=4.048, p<0.05), with a weak negative correlation for smooth shots (F=5.598, p<0.05). Thus, suggesting that teams of higher RQ score more goals, through faster more accurate shots. The regression was used to present a case study from one match between Russia and GB (RQ of +1.12, -1.12 respectively). The team with higher RQ performed well in desirable aspects of performance, exceeding the performance of 81.30% for speed of shot, 94.36% shots to pockets and 70.63% bounce shots of performances with that RQ. Despite the low correlation between RQ effect and KPI in goalball the regression-based analysis was shown to have an applied application, although caution would be expressed due to the variation experienced in the upper and lower estimates of the prediction equation

Metal Complexes Containing Boron Based Ligands

Boron-based compounds have been utilized as ligands within transition metal complexes for many decades. The diversity of such compounds in terms of varying functional groups is truly exceptional. Boron compounds are of high interest due to the great potential to modify the substituents around the boron center and to produce a broad range of structural motifs. The many different ways these compounds can coordinate or interact with transition metal centers is astonishing. Examples of transition metal complexes containing boron-based ligands include scorpionates, cluster-type borane- and carboranes, borates, and phosphine-stabilized borylene ligands. This Special Issue brings together a collection of articles focusing on recent developments in the aforementioned boron-based ligands. The articles reported in this book will provide the reader with an overview of the types of boron-based ligands which are currently being researched in groups around the world

Accounting Goodwill And The Main Constituent Drivers Of Corporate Value : A Review And Empirical Study

This thesis begins by exploring the nature and origin of goodwill as an accounting phenomenon, identifying and discussing contributions to this subject and the problems it has posed in accountancy over many years. It also examines how the standard setting bodies of accounting have handled the recognition and measurement of goodwill within financial reports, and then how the whole concept of goodwill fits into accepted economic theory. Having established from the economic perspective that goodwill is in effect a residual measure of value within the accounting arising out of the historical cost and realization principles, the thesis then describes and critically evaluates valuation models that genuinely try and bridge the “value gap” between the accounting and economic models, particularly value-based models such as Residual Income, Economic Value Added, EVA and Shareholder Value Added (SVA). The thesis then focuses on the free cash flow based SVA model of Alfred Rappaport and adapts this within a pure equity perspective, highlighting the seven key cash flow drivers of shareholder value. These drivers are then linked as far as possible to the main headings within UK and international cash flow statements. Finally the thesis goes on to adapt and develop a testable model using research previously carried out from the “value relevance” literature. This model relates changes in overall market capitalization to changes in the key constituent cash flow drivers found within the cash flow statement. A ‘backward elimination’ stepwise multiple linear regression technique is then adopted to assess for several samples of companies, whether any statistical relationship exists between changes in the independent X cash flow variables identified and the dependent Y variable (changes in market capitalization. ) The findings of these surveys suggest that there is a general statistical relationship existing between these variables, but concludes that no one X variable seems to have any more statistical relationship with or impact on Y than any other. The thesis concludes with a review of the structure and findings, overall conclusions, and a range of specific recommendations for the accounting standard setting bodies to consider as additional reforms to the financial reporting framework

Anion-Tuning of Supramolecular Gel Properties

Low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) are a class of compounds that has garnered great interest from material, synthetic, supramolecular and biological chemists. Anion tuning of these supramolecular gels is a burgeoning field of study. Two classes of compounds, chiral bisureas and urea derivatised pyrazoles are studied. The synthesized chiral bisurea compounds act as gelators in a variety of solvents. Addition of anions in the form of tetrabutyl ammonium salts was found to afford break up of the gels. Studies reveal that the rheological characteristics of these materials can be tuned using the simple addition of sub-stoichiometric amounts of anion. Variation in the length of the alkyl chain of the spacer separating the chiral and bisurea moieties affects the gel formation of a series of related compounds. Compounds with even numbered spaced alkyl chains were found to gel, whereas the odd numbered spaced alkyl chain compounds did not. Crystal growth within the gel matrix influences the crystallization processes and the use of anion induced break down of the LMWGs allows for easy recovery of the grown crystals. Drug compounds, bound upon gelation of a solution containing the drugs, were found to be released in a controlled manner from the gel matrix. Urea functionalised pyrazoles were synthesized. Crystallographic determination of the hydrogen bonding of the compounds as well as the coordination chemistry of these compounds was obtained. Anion binding studies, in addition to the crystallographic results, reveal that the urea or thiourea groups form an intramolecular hydrogen bond with the pyrazole group resulting in an anti conformation. This prevents formation of gels except in one case. The gelation of 1-(3-methyl-1H-pyrazol-5-yl)-3-(3-nitrophenyl)urea in acidic water overcomes this problem by protonation of the pyrazole group resulting in a syn conformation of the urea group. Anion tuning of the gel properties is revealed where nitrate and chloride result in precipitation of gels and the rheological characteristics can be tuned by changing the anion’s identity

A Self-Organising Distributed Location Server for Ad Hoc Networks

Wireless networks allow communication between multiple devices (nodes) without the use of wires. Range in such networks is often limited restricting the use of networks to small offices and homes; however, it is possible to use nodes to forward packets for others thereby extending the communication range of individual nodes. Networks employing such forwarding are called Multi-Hop Ad Hoc Networks (MANETS) Discovering routes in MANETS is a challenging task given that the topology is flat and node addresses reveal nothing about their place in the network. In addition, nodes may move or leave changing the network topology quickly. Existing approaches to discovering locations involve either broadcast dissemination or broadcast route discovery throughout the entire network. The reliance on the use of techniques that use broadcast schemes restricts the size of network that the techniques are applicable to. Routing in large scale ad hoc networks is therefore achieved by the use of geographical forwarding. Each node is required to know its location and that of its neighbours so that it may use this information for forward packets. The next hop chosen is the neighbour that is closest to the destination and a number of techniques are used to handle scenarios here the network has areas void of nodes. Use of such geographical routing techniques requires knowledge of the destination's location. This is provided by location servers and the literature proposes a number of methods of providing them. Unfortunately many of the schemes are limited by using a proportion of the network that increases with size, thereby immediately limiting the scalability. Only one technique is surveyed that provides high scalability but it has a number of limitations in terms of handling node mobility and failure. Ad hoc networks have limited capacity and so the inspiration for a technique to address these shortcomings comes from observations of nature. Birds and ants are able to organise themselves without direct communication through the observation of their environment and their peers. They provide an emergent intelligence based on individual actions rather than group collaboration. This thesis attempts to discover whether software agents can mimic this by creating a group of agents to store location information in a specific location. Instead of requiring central co-ordination, the agents observe one another and make individual decisions to create an emergent intelligence that causes them to resist mobility and node failures. The new technique is called a Self Organising Location Server (SOLS) and is compared against existing approaches to location servers. Most existing techniques do not scale well whereas SOLS uses a new idea of a home location. The use of this idea and the self organising behaviour of the agents that store the information results in significant benefits in performance. SOLS significantly out performs Terminode home region, the only other scalable approach surveyed. SOLS is able to tolerate much higher node failure rates than expected in likely implementations of large scale ad hoc networks. In addition, SOLS successfully mitigates node mobility which is likely to be encountered in an ad hoc network

Potential for natural flood management and land management practices to mitigate flooding in upland catchments

PhD ThesisThere is an increasing uptake of Natural Flood Management (NFM) and land use management (LUM) schemes to tackle excessive, rapid runoff in rural catchments. At the local scale, there is a growing knowledge base regarding the impacts of NFM and LUM. However, evidence and understanding of how these local impacts manifest at a larger catchment scale is less well understood. There are many types of model that have been used for investigating NFM and LUM impacts at larger scales (>10 km2), ranging from the comparatively simple lumped conceptual approaches to more complex, physically-based, distributed models. How best to represent NFM and LUM impacts in models is ambiguous. This thesis presents research into impact modelling of flood mitigation measures from the hillslope to the catchment scale, using the lumped FEH rainfall-runoff model and a novel physicallybased, distributed model, Juke. A Flood Impact Modelling (FIM) methodology is proposed for rapid impact assessment using the FEH approach; FEH hydrographs are generated for sub-catchments and routed to the outlet. The impact of changes in timing and runoff generation in specific sub-catchments on the downstream hydrograph can be investigated to inform catchment planning. The Juke methodology is designed to make best use of field observations and existing GIS datasets for parameterising the runoff and routing components. Juke uses some of the knowledge embedded in the FEH approach regarding the timing and runoff generation and applies it spatially. Juke is capable of emulating the FEH, but also allows consideration of spatial changes in LUM. Two catchments in the north of England have been instrumented to characterise the rainfall-runoff behaviour and understand what causes the largest flood events, where NFM and LUM have taken place. This knowledge informs the LUM and NFM scenarios explored as well as for model parametrisation. Results from the lumped FEH modelling suggest that the mitigation of flood flow by managing the volume and timing of fast runoff will have the greatest impact on floods caused by short duration, high intensity rainfall events. The Juke modelling also suggests that the impact of NFM and LUM is likely to be minimal (<10 % flood peak reduction for 12 % coverage of riparian woodland) and depends on the duration and intensity of rainfall events and the internal synchronisation of the component sub-catchments. The flood peaks for some events ii may increase due to the effects of timing and synchronisation of flows from the landscape elements. The outcomes of this thesis recommends flood managers make field observations to better understand the causes of flooding within a catchment. Schemes using NFM and LUM are likely to be most beneficial for comparatively small catchments (<10 km2) that suffer from frequent flooding from short duration, high intensity rainfall.combination of Defra, through the Demonstration Test Catchments (DTC) and the Environment Agency (EA: Great Ayton Flood mitigation