1,079 research outputs found
Negotiating the real: Culture and fantastical fiction 1843-1973
No full textThis dissertation examines the growth and practice of two distinct reading techniques, with reference to fantastical fiction from і 843 to 1973. While acknowledging that specific reading practices are not exclusive to particular groups or individuals, it is proposed, broadly, that readers fall into two categories: those who tend to be distanced from the text and approach it analytically; those who tend to embrace the text and immerse themselves in its narrative. These two groups, critical readers and experience readers, have their reading habits determined by basic philosophical assumptions. One aim of the dissertation is to explore the link between this division and divisions within the literary hierarchy, articulating a methodology/typology of reading. Criticism of texts in this dissertation involves discussion of the above hypothesis, assessing the value assigned to literary works by each group of reader and considering how the texts themselves investigate the hypothesis. Various theories and critical concepts are engaged with, including those of Marxist aesthetics, psychoanalysis, liberal humanism, cultural studies, and postmodernism. The aim is to demonstrate the practice of both reading techniques and to draw conclusions concerning their respective psychological and social significance. The dissertation argues that fantastical fiction is often a site of interaction between such binary opposites as realism/fantasy, high/popular, ideas/escape, and polemic/amusing. The struggle between these opposites may provide a dialectic of ''critical'" and ''experience" reading
Monotonic and cyclic lateral loading of piles in low- to medium-density chalk
No full textOffshore and other structures often rely on driven piles to carry lateral loads. However, there is currently no established design method to cover lateral loading at chalk sites, which are widespread across Northwest Europe. This paper reports monotonic and cyclic lateral load tests on highly instrumented 508 mm and 1220 mm diameter. open steel piles driven at a well-characterised chalk test site in Kent, UK, for a recent joint industry project that developed new benchmark datasets and analyses, supported by high-quality testing. The ultimate lateral pressures mobilised in the chalk are shown to be relatively low compared to its uniaxial compressive strengths (UCS) due to pile-driving damage, natural fracturing, local yielding and brittleness. Significant gaps opened between the piles and chalk during loading, that led to a substantially softer response on unloading and subsequent reloading, as well as marked axial capacity losses. Reaction curves extracted from the field measurements and applied in a one-dimensional numerical model perform well in reproducing the monotonic lateral tests. As with piles driven in other materials, one-way cyclic lateral loading led to permanent displacement accumulation and stiffness changes that were linked to the cyclic loading parameters. Both effects were more marked under biaxial cyclic lateral loading
Biogas enhancement with membranes
No full textBiogas is generated during anaerobic digestion (AD) of sewage sludge at wastewater treatment
works (WWTW) and consists of approximately 50-70 % methane (CH4) balanced primarily by carbon
dioxide (CO2). It is commonly used directly as a fuel gas for the renewable generation of electricity
on-site by combined heat and power (CHP) engines. However, as a result of governmental
incentivisation, biogas possesses a greater value when applied to the national gas grid as a natural
gas substitute. However, this requires enhancement of the CH4 content to that comparable to
natural gas by selective removal of CO2; a process known as biogas upgrading.
This thesis explores the potential of hydrophobic micro-porous hollow fibre membrane
contactors (HFMCs) to biogas upgrading. HFMCs allow non-dispersive contact between the biogas
and a liquid solvent for the preferential absorption of CO2, which is conventionally facilitated by
packed-column gas scrubbing technology. However, recent gas absorption literature has
demonstrated many practical and operational advantages of HFMCs, which suggests they may be
effective for biogas upgrading at WWTW.
In this thesis, HFMCs were used to explore the mechanism and controllability of the
undesirable co-absorption of CH4, known as methane slip. This was found to be attributable to the
phase limiting mass transfer, with liquid-limited physical absorption in water exhibited 5.2 % slip
whereas gas-limited chemical absorption displayed just 0.1 %. Ammonia-rich wastewaters were
investigated as sustainable chemical absorbents using HFMCs and exhibited comparable chemically
enhanced absorption to analogue synthetic ammonia solutions. The recovery of the subsequent
reaction product (ammonium bicarbonate) by crystallisation facilitated by the membrane was also
examined. The potential of this approach was summarised within two hypothetical wastewater
flowsheets, where upgrading using a return liquor absorbent acts as a return liquor treatment and where ion exchange allows 100 % application of wastewater derived ammonia to biogas upgrading.
These both offered potential economic advantages versus conventional flowsheets with 100 %
biogas application to CHP
Is forecasting with large models informative? Assessing the role of judgement in macroeconomic forecasts
No full textWe evaluate residual projection strategies in the context of a large-scale macro model of the euro area and smaller benchmark time-series models. The exercises attempt to measure the accuracy of model-based forecasts simulated both out-of-sample and in-sample. Both exercises incorporate alternative residual-projection methods, to assess the importance of unaccounted-for breaks in forecast accuracy and off-model judgment. Conclusions reached are that simple mechanical residual adjustments have a significant impact of forecasting accuracy irrespective of the model in use, ostensibly due to the presence of breaks in trends in the data. The testing procedure and conclusions are applicable to a wide class of models and thus of general interest. JEL Classification: C52, E30, E32, E37Forecast accuracy, Forecast Projections, In-Sample, Macro-model, Out-of-Sample, Structural Break
Inconsistencies within the proposed framework for stabilizing fungal nomenclature risk further confusion
No full textSarah E. Kidd, Ferry Hagen, Catriona L. Halliday, Alireza Abdolrasouli, Teun Boekhout, Pedro W. Crous, David H. Ellis, Juliet Elvy, Graeme N. Forrest, Marizeth Groenewald, Rosane C. Hahn, Jos Houbraken, Anderson M. Rodrigues, James Scott, Tania C. Sorrell, Richard C. Summerbell, Clement K. M. Tsui, Andrey Yurkov, Sharon C.-A. Che
Enhancing the removal of a diverse range of hazardous chemicals from wastewaters
No full textDue to increasingly stringent legislation covering the discharge of hazardous chemicals into
the environment, existing wastewater treatment processes need to be upgraded for their
removal. This thesis explores the removal of a diverse range of hazardous chemicals during
secondary wastewater treatment with the overall aim of enhancing their removal
simultaneously by activated sludge.
Previous research in this field has made the broad comparison of full-scale activated sludge
plants (ASPs) which receive varying influent sewage compositions and flow. Consequently,
assessing the direct impact of process operation to hazardous chemical removal has been
difficult. In this study, the independent impact of the process variables solids retention time
(SRT) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) were examined using a pilot-scale ASP. To
measure ASP resilience for the removal of a wide range of hazardous chemicals of varied
chemistry and preferred removal pathways steroid estrogens, nonylphenolic surfactants and
metals were monitored. Cont/d
Population analysis of bacterial pathogens on distinct temporal and spatial scales
No full textBacteria have been the causative agents of major infectious disease pandemics
throughout human history. Over the past 4 decades, a combination of changing
medical practices, industrialization, and globalisation have led to a number of
emergences and re-emergences of bacterial pathogens. The design of rational control
programs and bespoke therapies will require an enhanced understanding of the
dynamics underpinning the emergence and transmission of pathogenic clones. The
recent development of new technologies for sequencing bacterial genomes rapidly
and economically has led to a greatly enhanced understanding of the diversity of
bacterial populations.
This thesis describes the application of whole genome sequencing of 2 bacterial
pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus and Legionella pneumophila, in order to
understand the dynamics of bacterial infections on different temporal and spatial
scales. The first study involves the examination of S. aureus evolution during a
chronic infection of a single patient over a period of 26 months revealing differences
in antibiotic resistance profiles and virulence factor expression over time. The
genetic variation identified correlated with differences in growth rate, haemolytic
activity, and antibiotic sensitivity, implying a profound effect on the ecology of S.
aureus. Importantly, polymorphisms were identified in global regulators of
virulence, with a high frequency of polymorphisms within the SigB locus identified,
suggesting this region may be under selection in this patient. The identification of
genes under diversifying selection during long-term infection may inform the design
of novel therapeutics for the control of refractory chronic infections.
Secondly, the emergence and transmission of 3 pandemic lineages derived from S.
aureus clonal complex 30 (CC30) were investigated. Independent origins for each
pandemic lineage were identified, with striking molecular correlates of hospital- or
community-associated pandemics represented by mobile genetic elements, such as
bacteriophage and Staphylococcal pathogenicity islands, and non-synonymous
mutations affecting antibiotic resistance and virulence. Hospitals in large cities were
identified as hubs for the transmission of MRSA to regional health care centres. In
addition, comparison of whole genome sequences revealed that at least 3
independent acquisitions of TSST-1 have occurred in CC30, but a single distinct
clade of diverse community-associated CC30 strains was responsible for the TSS
epidemic of the late 1970s, and for subsequent cases of TSS in the UK and USA.
Finally, whole genome sequencing was used as a tool for investigating a recent
outbreak of legionellosis in Edinburgh. An unexpectedly high level of genomic
diversity was identified among the outbreak strains, with respect to core genome
polymorphisms, and accessory genome content. The data indicate that affected
individuals may be infected with heterogeneous strains. The findings highlight the
complexities in identifying environmental sources and suggest possible differences
in pathogenic potential among isolates from a single outbreak.
Taken together, the findings demonstrate applications of bacterial genome
sequencing leading to enhanced understanding of bacterial pathogen evolution,
emergence, and transmission, which may ultimately inform appropriate infection
control measures
Characterization of water and wildlife strains as a subgroup of Campylobacter jejuni using DNA microarrays.
No full textCampylobacter jejuni is the leading cause of human bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide, but source attribution of the organism is difficult. Previously, DNA microarrays were used to investigate isolate source, which suggested a non-livestock source of infection. In this study we analysed the genome content of 162 clinical, livestock and water and wildlife (WW) associated isolates combined with the previous study. Isolates were grouped by genotypes into nine clusters (C1 to C9). Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) data demonstrated that livestock associated clonal complexes dominated clusters C1-C6. The majority of WW isolates were present in the C9 cluster. Analysis of previously reported genomic variable regions demonstrated that these regions were linked to specific clusters. Two novel variable regions were identified. A six gene multiplex PCR (mPCR) assay, designed to effectively differentiated strains into clusters, was validated with 30 isolates. A further five WW isolates were tested by mPCR and were assigned to the C7-C9 group of clusters. The predictive mPCR test could be used to indicate if a clinical case has come from domesticated or WW sources. Our findings provide further evidence that WW C. jejuni subtypes show niche adaptation and may be important in causing human infection
Technology, utilization and inflation: what drives the New Keynesian Phillips Curve?
No full textWe argue that the New-Keynesian Phillips Curve literature has failed to deliver a convincing measure of “fundamental inflation”. We start from a careful modeling of optimal price setting allowing for non-unitary factor substitution, non-neutral technical change and timevarying factor utilization rates. This ensures the resulting real marginal cost measures match volatility reductions and level changes witnessed in many US time series. The cost measure comprises conventional counter-cyclical cost elements plus pro-cyclical (and co-varying) utilization rates. Although pro-cyclical elements dominate, real marginal costs are becoming less cyclical over time. Incorporating this richer driving variable produces more plausible price-stickiness estimates than otherwise and suggests a more balanced weight of backward and forward-looking inflation expectations than commonly found. Our results challenge existing views of inflation determinants and have important implications for modeling inflation in New-Keynesian models. JEL Classification: E20, E30cyclicality, inflation, intensive labor, Labor Share, overtime premia, production function, real marginal costs, utilization
Medium run redux: technical change, factor shares and frictions in the euro area
No full textWe develop a framework for analyzing “medium-run” departures from balanced growth, and apply it to the economies of continental Europe. A time-varying factor-augmenting production function (mimicking “directed” technical change) with a below-unitary substitution elasticity coupled with supporting short-run factor demands (and price setting) is shown to account for the observed dynamics of factor incomes shares, capital deepening and the capital-output ratio. Based on careful data accounting, we also identify a rising mark-up, which we ascribe to the rise of Services. The balanced growth path emerges as a special (and testable) case of our framework, as do existing strands of medium-run debates. JEL Classification: C22, E23, E25, O30, O51adjustment costs, Effective Labor Hours, Elasticity of Substitution, euro area, Factor-Augmenting Technical Progress, Income Distribution, Medium Run, productivity
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