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Assessment of algae biodiesel viability based on area requirement
No full textThe current feedstocks used to produce biodiesel are unviable to replace the diesel consumption because of the land used in their cultivation and one proposed solution is the use of algae which have a higher productivity per area. With this in mind, the total superficial area (water and land) required to produce algae biodiesel for three specific cases – EU, US, and Brazil – was calculated based in: future diesel and biodiesel demand, current biodiesel production, international policies and targets, and specific data of algae productivity in several scenarios from the literature.
The study indicates that productivity effects significantly the results and the current commercial cultivation at open ponds are not viable for scale up, so a minimum of productivity needs to be achieved. Microalgae cultivated in photobioreactors and macroalgae present a great potential and their capability to be located offshore is an advantage. In light of this, it was concluded that it is possible to reach the targets required by policies and replace diesel fuel using the current available area locally in the studied cases
Can women become ‘Minister’ in Islam?
No full textThis study aims to investigate Muslim women’s rights of obtaining the top rank religious position, from Mutahhari’s perspective. Mutahhari (1919-1979) was one of the contemporary prominent Shia philosopher and theologian who changed the traditional style of discussion from specialized jurisprudence to a socio-rational argument. As a result of his new approach to the question of women’s position, he brought novel interpretations suggesting that women could objectively take part in socio-political activities and occupy top-ranking religious authority. Mutahhari’s idea on women’s right to issue fatwas suffered a wave of criticism from the religious authorities that continues today. A substantial proportion of the prominent religious authorities exclude women from this domain.
The poster examines Mutahhari’s methodology in the use of the primary religious texts of the Qur’an and hadith traditions. In this process, some of the key concepts of women’s intellect, faith and justice (idalat) in the Qur’an and aḥādīth will be scrutinized. Then it will be concluded that, in Mutahhari’s thinking men and women share equality of right in obtaining high rank religious authority and there is no reason to confine the right of issuing fatwa to men’s authority only
The Changing Nature of Academic Careers in Law
No full textAn introductory talk given to Birmingham Law School PGR students as part of their annual PGR Conference, held at the University of Birmingham in June 2014. Anthony Arnull traces the transformations in Legal Education and the impact of the economic climate on student expectations and standards of teaching
Archived Academic Policy and Regulations Committee papers 2012-13
No full textAPRC minutes 2012-13
Meeting of 23 November 2012
APRC.12.11.00 Agenda for 23 November 2012 meeting
APRC.12.11.01 Membership and Terms of Reference
APRC.12.11.02 Minutes of Last Meeting (June 2012)
APRC.12.11.03 Proposed amendments to Codes of Practice on Primary Appeals Procedures, Senate Review, Student Concerns and Complaints Procedure and the Guidance Note on Student Grievances to Council
APRC.12.11.04 Introduction of Degree of Master of Fine Arts
APRC.12.11.05 Proposed Amendment to Code of Practice on Extenuating Circumstances and Fit to Sit Procedure
APRC.12.11.06 Progress and Awards Board - Membership and Terms of Reference
APRC.12.11.07 Policy of Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies
APRC.12.11.08 Report on Chair's Actions
APRC.12.11.08a Appendix A to Report on Chair's Actions
APRC.12.11.08b Appendix B to Report on Chair's Actions
APRC.12.11.08c Appendix C to Report on Chair's Actions
Meeting of 11 February 2013
APRC.13.02.00 Agenda for 11 February 2013 meeting
APRC.13.02.01 Minutes of Last Meeting (November 2012)
APRC.13.02.02 Amendments to Legislation Arising from Non-School Programmes
APRC.13.02.03 Credit Accumulation
APRC.13.02.04 Classified Degrees for those Not Likely to Complete
APRC.13.02.05 Credit Requirements for Undergraduate Masters Degrees
APRC.13.02.06 Joint Honours Programmes - Proposals for Greater Flexibility
APRC.13.02.07 Report from the Progress and Awards Board
APRC.13.02 AOB Exemption from Regulation 6 - Programmes of Study
Meeting of 16 May 2013
APRC.13.05.00 Agenda for 16 May 2013 Meeting
APRC.13.05.01 Minutes of the Last Meeting (February 2013)
APRC.13.05.02 Amendments to the Code of Practice on Plagiarism
APRC.13.05.03 Amendments to Regulations on Student Conduct
APRC.13.05.04 Amendment to the Code of Practice on Procedures for Misconduct and Fitness to Pratise Committee
APRC.13.05.05 Amendments to the Code of Practice for Assessment of Research Degree Theses
APRC.13.05.06 Criteria for Appointment of Examiners
APRC.13.05.07 Amendment to Student Representation System Policy
APRC.13.05.08 Failure in Assessment (Amendments to Regulations)
APRC.13.05.09 Wednesday Afternoon Timetabled Teaching Policy
APRC.13.05.10 Approval of Student Charter for 2013/14
APRC.13.05.11 Amendments to/Exemptions from Regulations (MRes Students)
APRC.13.05.12 Amendments to/Exemptions from Regulations (MSci students in Chemistry)
APRC.13.05.13 Delgation of Powers
APRC.13.05.14 Chair's Action since the last meeting of the committee
APRC.13.05.15 Proposed Amendment to Code of Practice on Procedures for Misconduct and Fitness to Practise Committee (MBChB students)
Meeting of 16 June 2013
APRC.13.06.00 Agenda for 16 June 2013 meeting
APRC.13.06.01a Minutes of Last Meeting (May 2013)
APRC.13.06.01b Code of Practice on Plagiarism (incorporating changes following last meeting)
APRC.13.06.02 Code of Practice on Complaints
APRC.13.06.03 Amendments to the Code of Practice on Primary Appeals Procedures
APRC.13.06.04 Amendments to Regulations and Codes of Practice for Supervision and Monitoring Progress of Postgraduate Researchers and for Assessment of Research Degree Theses
APRC.13.06.05 Amendments to the Code of Practice on Senate Review and Guidance Note on Consideration of Student Grievances to Council
APRC.13.06.06 Amendments to Code of Practice on External Examining (Taught Provision)
APRC.13.06.07 Code of Practice on Adjusted Regulations and Undergraduate Masters Degrees
APRC.13.06.08 Examinations and Results Processing Period Amendment to the Regulations
APRC.13.06.09 Amendment to the Code of Practice on Procedures for Misconduct and Fitness to Practise Committee
APRC.13.06.10 Master of Fine Arts: Addition to Regulations
APRC.13.06.11 Timetabling and Teaching Space Policy - Revisions for 2013/14
APRC.13.06.12 Exemption from Regulation 6: Duration of Programmes (ACF programmes in MDS
A transcription of Mark in VL 11A
No full textA transcription of the Gospel according to Mark in Würzburg, Universitätsbibliothek M.p.th.f. 67. This transcription was made in conjunction with the article "The Gospel according to Mark in Two Latin Mixed Text Manuscripts" to be published in Revue Bénédictine (2016)
Sacred Soldiers. Identifying the cause(s) of Muslim violent extremism: developing a theoretical framework for a credible intervention programme
Get PDFMuslim violent extremism has claimed the lives of countless individuals. The phenomenon has spread across the world and seems only to be gathering pace.
The cause(s) of Muslim violent extremism have been the subject of much research. As a result, programmes to counteract this radical threat and safeguard communities from the risk of mass violence have been developed and applied. One would argue this has been done so on a seemingly trial and error basis; as the repercussions of current intervention programmes have only sought to stigmatise and isolate Muslim communities.
This study seeks to understand the cause(s) of Muslim violent extremism by conducting a narrative analysis of the rhetoric employed by violent extremists. The purpose is to identify theological arguments of radical recruiters and isolate points of convergence across different extremist groups. In order to do so speeches of influential terrorist leaders will be analysed. Convicted UK terror suspects will also be interviewed in order to identify similarities in narrative. Theological aspects of respective narratives will then be subject to understanding their potential impact upon cognitive behaviour and if theological stimuli influences individual actions.
The research findings will contribute towards developing a theoretical framework for a credible intervention programme
Brand recognition and quality inferences
No full textCould brands associated with mostly negative information-those with poor reputations-be perceived as superior to unrecognized brands? A reasonable consumer should value reputation; however, it is also sensible to put a heavyweight on brand recognition. To investigate this question, the authors study consumers' inferences about brand quality for products in three domains. Results suggest that brands associated with predominantly negative information are indeed perceived as of higher quality than unrecognised brands. In addition, when consumer inferences are predicted based on different memory cues, the frequency of encountering a brand dominates what people profess to know about it. The authors explore the ecological rationality of this strategy by studying the environmental relationship between expert-judged quality and consumer knowledge
How we FindIt@Bham using Primo
No full textThe University of Birmingham is currently investing in its library and systems. A three year programme of activity, completed in Autumn 2013, has seen a review of all printed monograph material held by Library Services and the implementation of a new resource discovery solution, ‘in-house’ reading list software and a library management system. During this period, it has been announced that funding will be provided for a new Main Library which is due to open in Autumn 2016. Combined, this investment will allow the University to better support the University’s learning, teaching and research agenda.
This article will focus on the resource discovery system (RDS) which was launched in September 2012. The article will consider why an RDS was required; it will give details about the implementation of the system as well as the extensive customisation which was made to the ‘out-of-the-box’ product. The value of user focus groups during the customisation process will be discussed as well as some technical tips and advice for anyone considering doing similar customisation. The article will conclude by considering the impact of the new system during its first year of operation
Queuing up for justice : elections and case backlogs
No full textWe analyze the impact of prosecutor elections on case backlogs. Previous evidence has shown that re-election pressures result in more cases going to trial. Since trials require time and resources, one can expect an
effect on the queue. Two competing theories are developed: one of signaling quality in an asymmetric information environment and one of effort exertion, each of which can explain increased trials before election, but differ in their predictions regarding the impact on backlogs. A district-level, panel data set of caseload flows in North Carolina is analyzed. Evidence is presented that contested re-elections are associated with a decrease in the number of cases handled and an acceleration of the growth of the backlog. This suggests that retention concerns lead to signaling which causes distortions, re-allocating resources from disposing cases to prosecuting cases at trial
CEPLER National Essay Competition Winning Entry: In an age of austerity, access to justice is a luxury
Get PDFThe winning submission in the inaugural CEPLER Essay Competition 2014. In a very competitive field, Chris Richards, of City University, produced a beautifully written and reasoned response to a provocative statement
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