A classification of separable Rosenthal compacta and its applications

The present work consists of three parts. In the first one we determine the prototypes of separable Rosenthal compacta and we provide a classification theorem. The second part concerns an extension of a theorem of S. Todorcevic. The last one is devoted to applications.Comment: 55 pages, no figure

Bio-economic farm modelling for integrated assessment of agricultural and environmental policies: towards re-usability and improved empirical validity

Keywords: integrated assessment, environmental policy, agricultural policy, market liberalization, bio-economic model, farming systems, mathematical programming, maximum entropy estimation, data envelopment analysis, agricultural activity, land use, future studies. The main objective of this PhD thesis was to develop and evaluate a generic bio-economic farm model that can be used under different biophysical and socio-economic conditions for integrated assessment of a variety of agricultural and environmental policies. The functionality of the generic bio-economic farm model developed in this thesis was illustrated with an analysis of the impacts of the 2003 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy in the European Union for arable and livestock farms in a context of market liberalisation. In bio-economic studies, estimation of model parameters related to increasing costs because of limited machinery and managerial capacity, decreasing yields because of land heterogeneity and risk aversion is often not possible because of lack of data. Not including or misspecifying such parameters can have negative consequences on the forecasting performance of the model. In this thesis, methodologies based on Positive Mathematical Programming and Maximum Entropy estimation were proposed and implemented to recover unknown parameters underlying the actual decision making of farmers and to improve the forecasting performance of the model. The proposed methods relax a number of arbitrary assumptions of existing calibration methods and enhance representation of the actual decision making. The forecasting capacity of the models calibrated with the proposed methods was tested in ex-post experiments in which the models were calibrated with historical data of a particular base year and used to forecast policies and price changes of the following historical years. Results of these ex-post experiments showed that the proposed calibration methods improve the forecasting capacity of the model. For meaningful assessment of future policies using bio-economic models, a comprehensive set of alternative activities must be identified. Combinatorial procedures and filtering rules have been used in the literature to generate a set of activities that can be evaluated in bio-economic models. One very important limitation of combinatorial procedures is that the number of generated activities can easily explode. However, many of these activities are inferior with respect to their input-output relationships and they will never be part of the solution of the bio-economic farm model. In this thesis, a method based on Data Envelopment Analysis was proposed to identify and select alternative agricultural activities, representative for specific policy questions that can be used in bio-economic models. The Data Envelopment Analysis method reduced the number of alternative agricultural activities generated by existing combinatorial procedures by 95%, arriving at a number that can easily be applied in bio-economic farm models. The proposed method was applied to a problem of alternative nutrient management in Flevoland (the Netherlands). <br/

Ch. 10 - Rethinking the Transgressive: A Call for “Pessimistic Activism” in Music Education

This essay asks the question: How are we to think of what Estelle Jorgensen has called “the transgressive” in music education today? My entry point to the question is the suggestion that the struggle against modes of music education that eulogize the status quo, against oppression and authoritarianism, against practices that exclude and intimidate students, has to take the form of “a struggle on two fronts” (Badiou). A struggle against imposed canonicities and obsolete approaches to music teaching but also a struggle against the emerging neoliberal appropriations of education, learning, and creativity. The chapter sketches a struggle-on-two-fronts perspective with regard to the following questions: (1) How are we to understand the call for being ‘open’ to students and their needs? What does it mean, today, to adopt a child-centric perspective in music education? (2) How should we think of the notion of “active” participation? (3) Should we simply accept an equation between informality and openness? The chapter concludes by arguing that, if an important task of education is to critically reconstruct, reinterpret, and re-examine “knowledge for the present and future,” as Estelle Jorgensen has put it, then our approach might need to take the form of a “pessimistic activism”. Invoking the Foucauldian notion of pessimistic activism, I wish to emphasize the need for persistent uncompromised working modes that foster experimentation and criticality on the basis of equality, in the knowledge that in the end, we can neither be sure that our efforts will lead to openness, nor that these efforts will not be cancelled and/or co-opted by the pervading neoliberal ethos

The effect of varying volume fraction of microcapsules on fresh, mechanical and self-healing properties of mortars

Spherical polymeric microcapsules, carrying liquid sodium silicate, were used for autonomic self-healing of mortars. Microcapsules were added at varying volume fractions (V$_f$), with respect to the cement volume, from as low as 4% up to 32% and their effect on fresh, mechanical and self-healing properties was investigated. For this purpose a series of techniques were used ranging from static mechanical testing, ultrasonic measurements, capillary sorption tests and optical microscopy. A detailed investigation was also carried out at the microstructural level utilising scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Results showed that although increasing V$_f$ resulted in a ~27% reduction in the mechanical properties, the corresponding improvement in the self-healing potential was significantly higher. Areal crack mouth healing reached almost 100%. Also, the measured crack depth and sorptivity coefficient reduced to a maximum of 70% and 54% respectively in microcapsule-containing specimens. SEM/EDX observations showed that the regions in the periphery of fractured microcapsules are very dense. In this region, high healing product formation is also observed. Elemental analysis revealed that these products are mainly ettringite and calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H).Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Project Ref. EP/K026631/1 – ‘‘Materials for Life”)This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.06.11

Encapsulation of expansive powder minerals within a concentric glass capsule system for self-healing concrete

This study presents the application of encapsulated expansive powder minerals (magnesium oxide, bentonite and quicklime) for self-healing of cement-based mortars. A system of concentric glass macrocapsules was used to envelope the expansive minerals (outer capsule) and water (inner capsule). Mortar samples containing concentric macrocapsules with different mineral combinations were cracked and healed under three different curing regimes; ambient conditions, high humidity exposure and immersed in water. Self-healing was assessed based on visual crack sealing, mechanical strength recovery and improvement in durability investigated by means of capillary sorption tests. Micro-structural analysis of the healing materials was investigated using FT-IR, XRD and SEM-EDX for exploring self-healing kinetics. Immersed in water have yielded the optimum healing efficiency with ∼95% crack sealing and ∼25% strength recovery in 28 days. Data showed an increasing trend in 56 days for both crack sealing and load recovery. The improvement in terms of capillary absorption of healed samples was also significant after 28 days of healing. Self-healing kinetics revealed that the expansive minerals were hydrated in the initial healing period and slowly carbonated over time until the peripheral crack zone became adequately water tight.The support of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) scholarship collaborating with Cambridge Overseas Trust for the first author’s PhD research is greatly appreciated. Moreover, financial support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for this study (Project Ref. EP/K026631/1 – “Materials for Life”) is also gratefully acknowledged.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.06.030

Autogenous self-healing of cement with expansive minerals-I: Impact in early age crack healing

This study investigates the impact of expansive minerals, namely magnesium oxide, bentonite clay, and quicklime on the early age autogenous self-healing capacity of Portland cement (PC) paste. Individual mineral dosage in PC was studied comprehensively together with several multiple mineral combinations. The study also covers a brief state of the art on autogenous self-healing and the use of minerals. The healing performance was compared using flexural strength recovery, crack sealing, and permeability tests. Materials microstructural investigations were carried out using XRD, TGA and SEM-EDX. The hydrated and swelling products of expansive minerals have effectively contributed to the production of healing materials. Cracks in the range of 150 µm healed efficiently in a mineral containing mixes within 28 days. Self-healing recovery was triggered through the crack bridging (strength recovery), sealing (physical closer of cracks through crystallisation) and durability performance improvement.The support of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) scholarship collaborating with Cambridge Overseas Trust for the first author’s PhD research is greatly appreciated. Moreover, collaboration from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for this study (Project Ref. EP/K026631/1 – “Materials for Life: Biomimetic multi-scale damage immunity for construction materials”) is also gratefully acknowledged

Assessing the adaptation of arable farmers to climate change using DEA and bio-economic modelling

The objective of this article is to assess the impact of climate change on arable farming systems in Flevoland (the Netherlands) and to explore the adoption of different adaptation strategies. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is applied that uses empirical data from individual farms to identify “best” current farm practices and derive relationships regarding current farm managemen

Strategic management in academic organisations

The European Union committed itself to becoming the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010, capable of sustaining economic growth with better jobs and greater social cohesion. Since 2000, progress has been slow uncertainty over the global economy has affected confidence and growth in the majority of Member States. Europe is suffering from an under-performance of its economy, low employment rates and levels of productivity. The Knowledge Society relies on the quality of human capital, education, and research and innovation policies, key to boost growth. At present, EU Member States only invest 1.96 % GDP in research compared to 2.59 % in the US and 3.12 % in Japan. The EU does not have sufficient scientists and researchers with only 5.3 per 1.000 inhabitants compared to 9 per 1.000 in the US and 9.7 in Japan. The importance of Higher Education is clearly recognized, but this requires major funding and governance reforms to modernize higher education institutions if they are to play a major role in the innovation process. The current study addresses the issue of strategic management in the area of academic organisations. The scope of the study is to review the changes in the European higher education as well as to evaluate how the strategic management concepts from the business sector can be used in the case of academic institutions and how these concepts can help academic organisations to improve their effectiveness and consequently their competitive advantage