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Elite sport is a competitive industry, with athletes continuously striving for innovative ways to gain advantages over their competitors. The increasing impact of sport sciences over recent decades has contributed much to this ethos, and has recently been witnessed in the application of sports engineering, working to integrate new technologies in order to enhance levels of athletic performance and also athlete safety. The application of nanotechnology offers a sport engineer the potential to improve equipment used both in and out of competition. Nevertheless, despite its emerging integration into sports sciences, limited attention has been paid to the ethical impacts this technology may have on elite sport. To address this problem, an eclectic normative approach is pursued, allowing for the range of nanotechnological application to elite sport to be considered, in order to generate critical ethical evaluations in relation to its current and potential use within elite sport. The issues were framed variously through consequentialist and deontological analysis. Three nanotechnological case studies are presented, highlighting potential benefits and disbenefits that nanotechnology may present, and to additionally determine whether, and if so, what, deontologically framed regulatory action were required to govern its use within elite sport. The first case study considered nanotechnology's application to the sport of road cycling; the second considered nanotechnology's application to performance analysis; and the third considered nanotechnology's application to horse race betting. The analysis of the case studies revealed that nanotechnology presents a number of benefits for elite sport, such as improved levels of performance and enhanced safety; but also disbenefits, such as those relating to fairness and corruption. Despite this, it is argued that, at present, nanotechnology does not pose a significant risk to the integrity of sport. But in order to reduce any future risk, the disbenefits should be addressed. A case is consequently argued for the application of a weak version of the Precautionary Principle applied through an original ethical analytical tool, in order to govern the initial integration phase of nanotechnology. The work concludes by outlining more specific regulatory actions that could be taken in order to inform the development of a 'nano' specific regulatory framework, in order to govern nanotechnology's continued long term safe and ethical use within elite sport.

The historians writing in the Carolingian Empire, with a few important exceptions, frequently ascribed events in recent history to God. Where they have been noticed at all, these statements of God’s agency have usually been explained as political propaganda, to demonstrate God’s favour towards the reigning dynasty. Alternatively, they have been explained by the legacy of late antique Christian historians, from which this language supposedly derived. This thesis aims to demonstrate that this language was a distinctive and innovative feature of the emerging tradition of Carolingian history writing and is best explained in religious terms. It argues that Carolingian historians reflected the emphasis on God’s agency found throughout contemporary culture and that they deliberately reshaped the Christian language bequeathed by their Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Frankish predecessors. It offers a text-by-text analysis of how God’s agency functioned within each major Carolingian history, to further show the versatility of this language over the period. Taken together, these texts suggest that Carolingian historians wanted to teach their audiences about God’s agency and its implications for their own beliefs, identities, and behaviour. As a result, these histories and their depictions of God’s agency can be seen as a distinctive contribution to Carolingian religious renewal. This thesis thus aims to contribute to our understanding of the relationship between religion, history, and culture in early medieval Europe.

Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen and a leading cause of fungal infection related fatalities in immunocompromised hosts. Compared to well-studied; Cryptococcus neoformans virulence factors like the polysaccharide capsule and melanin synthesis, very little is known about phospholipase B1 (Plb1). Plb1 is a phospholipid modifying enzyme that is implicated in multiple stages of cryptococcal pathogenesis. Herein I demonstrate that a Plb 1 deficient strain of C.neoformans has a profound defect in intracellular growth within macrophages. In addition, I show that the Δplb1 strain undergoes a novel morphological change during in vitro and in vivo infection, resulting in a sub-population of very large 'titan cells' that may arise as a result of the mutant's inability to cope within the macrophage. I go on to test whether these phenotypes are due to a reduction in eicosanoid production caused by Plb 1 deficiency. Finally, I present an addition project where I optimise a C. neoforman's intracellular proliferation assay for high throughput analysis via flow cytometry. This work provides a new insight into the function of this unappreciated virulence factor and helps to lay the foundation for new treatment strategies to combat cryptococcosis.

The following thesis is a composite of two separate research projects which were undertaken by the author for the award of an MRes in Molecular and Cellular Biology within the School of Biosciences at the University of Birmingham. Part one of this thesis will detail the first research project which sought to characterise the contribution of the enzyme phospholipase B to the intercellular lifecycle employed by the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans which has the ability to survive within the phagolysosome of immune cell macrophages. This project used cell culture and microscopy techniques as well as whole cell lipidomic analysis and found that many aspects of Cryptococcus neoformans parasitism of macrophages are modified by phospholipase B activity. Part two of this details the second project which examined the predatory bacteria Bdellovibrio bacteriovorous. This bacterium has a unique lifecycle which involves predation of other gram negative bacteria resulting in prey cell invasion and an interperiplasmic growth and replication phase. This project sought to purify and characterize two B. bacteriovorous C-di-GMP modifying enzymes – Bd2325 and Bd1971. Herein we report the first putative analyses of these proteins.

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) technology has existed for many decades, but it has only been in the last 20 to 30 years that it has undergone great development for use in near surface ground investigations. The early 1980's saw the first major developments in the application of GPR for pavements (i.e. engineered structures designed to carry traffic loads), and it is now an established investigation technique, with generic information included in several national standard guidance documents. Analysis of GPR data can provide information on layer depths, material condition, moisture, voiding, reinforcement and location of other features. Assessing the condition of pavements, in order to plan subsequent maintenance, is essential to allow the efficient long-term functioning of the structure and GPR has enhanced and improved the range and certainty of information that can be obtained from pavement investigations. Despite the recent establishment of the technique in pavement investigation, the current situation is one in which GPR is used routinely for pavement projects in only a minority of countries, and the specialist nature of the technique and the sometimes variable results that are obtained can mean that there is both a lack of appreciation and a lack of awareness of the potential information that GPR can provide. The fact that GPR is still a developing technique, and that many aspects of its use are specialised in their nature, means that there are also several technical aspects of GPR pavement investigations which have not been fully researched, and knowledge of the response of GPR to some material conditions has not been fully established. The overall aim of this EngD research project was to provide improved pavement investigation capabilities by enhancing the methodologies and procedures used to obtain information from GPR. Several discrete research topics were addressed through various research methods including a literature review, fieldwork investigations, experimental laboratory investigations and a review of previously collected data. The findings of the research allowed conclusions and recommendations to be made regarding improved fieldwork methodologies, enhancing information and determining material condition from previously collected GPR data, assessing the effect of pavement temperature and moisture condition on GPR data and also on managing errors and uncertainty in GPR data. During the EngD project, a number of documents and presentations have been made to publicise the findings both within the EngD sponsoring company (Jacobs) and externally, and an in-house GPR capability has been established within Jacobs as a direct result of the EngD project.

This thesis uses a combination of industrially acquired seismic reflection data, well data, topographic data and satellite imagery to investigate the structure, evolution and geophysical expression of extrusive constructions found within large (-500 m diameter) mud volcano systems from the South Caspian Basin. The principal aim is to gain a better understanding the structural architecture of mud volcano systems and the ways in which they are constructed. To this end this thesis includes three core research chapters which present investigations into the internal structure and eruptive history of a large mud volcano system, the geophysical response of seismic data to gassy seabed conditions and the structure and formation of mud volcanic subsidence craters. In the first core chapter the edifice of the giant C'hirag mud volcano system was investigated using three-dimensional (3D) seismic data. Internally, this feature consists of a number of discrete seismic facies units interpreted to represent either wedge-shaped units of erupted mud volcanic sediment or sheet-like units of non-eruptive sediment. Unit stacking patterns indicate the importance of pulsed mud volcanic activity as a control on the internal architecture of large mud volcano edifices and suggest it to be an important mechanism of basinal sediment and fluid expulsion. Analysis of the geometrical relationships of the internal sediment units to an underlying collapse caldera allows for a reconstruction of the system's history of collapse. Together, the details of internal unit type, stacking and relative edifice collapse timing constitute a detailed reconstruction of the volcano system's eruptive history and a record of the structural evolution of a large focussed fluid flow system. At the seabed a number of volcano systems within the South Caspian Sea study area were found to be imaged by areas of phase-reversed seabed reflection in seismic data. These "seabed phase reversals" are useful for better delimiting and understanding the structure of mud volcano source points and the extent of recent eruptive deposits. At one example kilometre-scale lobate mudflows are seen emerging from two seabed mud pool (salses) emphasizing the importance of both features in shaping the volcano's seabed morphology. Testing the hypothesis that seabed phase reversals are the result of gas within the seabed sediment took the form of a one-dimensional geophysical model of the study area seabed constructed using data from a borehole together with other published data. The results revealed that a phase reversal of the seabed reflection is a geophysical possibility under conditions typical of gassy seabed sediment. There is therefore a high likelihood that seabed phase reversals are the result of gas within seabed sediment. It is therefore suggested that seabed phase reversals can be used alongside other acoustic phenomena that indicate the presence of gas in a sedimentary section. In the final core chapter circular craters found at the upper terminations of onshore and offshore mud volcano systems are investigated. Using field maps. seismic lines, topographic data and satellite images it has been possible to describe these craters in detail for the first time and compile a generalized model for their structure. This includes a crater rim, an inward dipping crater margin fault, a moat and raised crater pedestal of freshly extruded mud volcanic sediment. The characteristic "moat and pedestal" morphology features at most of the craters featured here as well as at a number of others from elsewhere. Whilst the precise mechanism of crater formation is unclear it is strongly suspected that they form as a result of subsurface evacuation and collapse. They are thus similar to other sedimentary and igneous collapse features for which they may be useful analogues.

The main research question of this study is: What discourses of learning and identity do students develop in relation to their individual learning histories, their experience of learning and of knowledge-acquisition in the HE environment, and how critically reflective are students of the positioning enacted through the dominant discourses of the HE environment with particular regard to institutional discourses of academic learning and knowledge? Rationale: The university is seen as a significant stage in the development of students' learning histories, of particular relevance for the students' perceptions of self, learning and knowledge. The role of discourses of knowledge acquisition and learning in talk - 'learning discourses' - is examined against the background of general study conditions for students poised between study and work. The case study: methodology and methods The dissertation, which is an example of computer-aided qualitative research, describes a small-scale ethnographic study of students at a German university. The researcher adopts a broadly ethnomethodological approach. The data was collected in a limited number of individual in-depth research interviews to construct a language corpus. Other data regarding the research site was collected via observation and from documentary sources. Data analysis: the interview transcripts were analysed using a mixture of conversation analysis; institutional discourse(s) analysis and narrative analysis. Results: the study provides evidence of the production of learning biographies in interview talk. Evidence is also produced in this study of the 'biographization' of students' talk. The coherence of students' discourse practices in relation to their experience of learning is underlined and the researcher argues that the student respondents negotiate the intrinsic difficulties of asymmetrical institutional talk by deploying a range of discourses, both institutionally-generated as well as individual discourses of resistance and opposition. The evidence of individual discourse practices provided by the data employed here is seen as a strong argument for a low-inference approach to data analysis. The results produced by analysis of the interview transcripts demonstrate the central importance of heteroglossic elements in talk, - here described as 'embedded speech' and understood to function as a ’plausibility device' - in the process of self-expression and the production of own discourse Relevance This research is seen as relevant for university learning strategies, for the appreciation of student self-perception, their discourses of knowledge and resistance to the prevailing 'human capital' discourses of learning, exam success and career orientation of HE study.

To improve our understanding of the mechanism of the formation of the Solar System, information is needed on the global chemical composition of the planets outside of the Earth-Moon system. Thus, the measurement of the chemical composition of Mars and Mercury is a high priority for both the ESA and NASA space programmes. Remote geochemical analysis (RGA), by neutron activation gamma-ray spectroscopy, is a proven technique for remotely mapping the chemical composition of a planet with a thin or no atmosphere and as a result future missions to other terrestrial planets will probably include a gamma-ray spectrometer. The spectrometer must have sufficient sensitivity to resolve the most important emission lines radiating from the planet, whilst remaining within the mass, power and budget limitations of the mission specification. Therefore, there is a requirement for a spectrometer that will provide sufficient sensitivity, to determine the ratio's of elements such as Fe, O, Si and the naturally occurring radionucides K, U and Th, without incurring the high costs of a cooled HPGe detector. This work considers the factors that will determine the sensitivity of a scintillator gamma-ray spectrometer for RGA and demonstrates that a 61 element, pixelated, GsI(T1)-photodiode array will have a greater sensitivity than an, equivalent mass, NaI(Tl)-PMT or BGO-PMT detector. This is a result of the high mass ratio of sensitive material in the CsI(Tl)-photodiode array and the improved energy resolution, when compared to a NaI(Tl)-PMT detector, at energies above 2MeV. A prototype 7-element array has been designed, constructed and, tested at energies up to 4.44MeV, to demonstrate the potential performance of a larger 61-element array. The energy resolution of the 7 element array was found to be 2.93% FWHM at 4.44MeV, when operating in simple summation mode, which compares to 3.5% FWHM for a 2" NaI(Tl)-PMT detector.

Toates and Oatley (1970) presented a computer simulation of rat body fluid dynamics. Whilst their two- compartment (intracellular and extracellular) model was a significant contribution, it does not adequately represent cardiovascular, renal or hormonal aspects of water metabolism. Two models are presented. The simpler model ('small rat') was designed to meet educational criteria, whilst the more complex model ('large rat') is more research-oriented. Both supercede existing models, but the large rat is the more detailed representation. Both are three-compartment models- intracellular, interstitial and vascular. The cardiovascular system is well represented; this has permitted the realistic simulation of many renal, neuronal and endocrine systems important to water homeostasis. Many other related systems are also described, such as the gastro-intestinal tract, energy balance, insensible water loss and electrolyte metabolism in each of the body compartments. The inclusion of such systems has permitted analyses of the 'volemic' (extracellular) drinking stimuli, and their interactions with other stimuli. The concept of redundancy in drinking stimuli is examined, and a new theory presented that permits its inclusion in current drinking models. The functional significance of central osmoreceptor siting is discussed, in the light of simulations of fluid absorption dynamics following drinking. Simulations of drinking responses following deprivation are studied. The results indicate an explanation for 'voluntary dehydration', in which water-deprived rats do not restore fluid balance to pre-deprivation levels when subsequently offered water. The inclusion of 'peripheral' drinking stimuli in the 'small rat' has enabled an analysis of such phenomena as sham drinking. The nature of the intracellular stimulus to thirst is examined, and a new energy-based theory is presented, which promises to resolve many apparent paradoxes. Finally, potential improvements and future developments are discussed.

Private transit in the US has evolved over the last decade to include car-sharing services like car2go and Zipcar to Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) such as Uber, Lyft, and RideAustin. As these services become more convenient and cost-effective for users, they continue to increase in popularity. However, despite some initial studies, there is not yet consensus on why people choose to use TNCs or what their effects on existing transit systems or society at large will be. RideAustin, a non-profit ride-hailing company that began in May 2016, emerged to fill a gap left when Uber and Lyft stopped operations in Austin. Can TNC trip profiles and rider profiles be developed based on the RideAustin dataset to determine when and where people choose to use TNCs, and what the characteristics of such people are? Where are transit and TNCs competitive, and where are they complimentary? This study aims to answer the questions raised by the emergence of TNCs by analyzing trips in the RideAustin dataset along with land use and Census data to develop trip and rider profiles. Downtown trips are shorter than the average trip, concentrated on Friday and Saturday nights, and primarily internal to the downtown area. Airport trips are much longer than the average trip, spread out during the week, and to a mix of low-density residential areas and hotspots like downtown. Downtown presents a good market for a transit circulator or TNC pickup zone. Airport trips to hotspots may be served well by transit if hours are extended, but trips to low-density residential areas are better served by TNCs.

In this thesis, we explore the problems of identifiability and finding constraints in linear structural equation models (SEMs) and explore the applications of such results. We start by analysing the effects of interventions on linear SEMs and provide sufficient conditions for when the resulting distribution is identifiable. We then demonstrate how we could use a series of interventions to find constraints in linear SEMs, as long as each resulting distribution is identifiable. Next, we study algebraic properties of a subset of linear SEMs that can be represented by an \emph{HTC-identifiable graph}. HTC-identifiable graphs are a large family of graphs known to be generically identifiable. We prove that a mixed graphs is HTC-identifiable if and only if all the parameters in the model can be recovered from the covariance matrix using straightforward linear algebra operations. We can then exploit this algebraic property to construct an algorithm that recovers the parameters of the model. We also find a set of polynomials, whose indeterminates are entries of the covariance matrix, that generates the zeroes of the model. Finally, we prove that the maximum likelihood function is strictly convex in a local neighbourhood around the MLE for HTC-identifiable graphs. In particular, for large sample sizes and assuming we specify the correct model, we find a starting point that is in this convex neighbourhood. We then use hill-climbing to find the MLE of the covariance matrix associated with any HTC-identifiable graphical model G. Using this, we can test whether a particular graphical model G is a good fit for a particular data set.

Genesis is a book of beginnings. Furthermore, Genesis describes the beginning of the relationship between man and woman. That relationship, as found in Gen 2:24, becomes the standard ideal for the one-flesh union set forth by God. Sadly, Genesis 3 tells of the beginning of sin, and how sin damaged the ideal union. And, although sin has persisted and flourished, the standard of Gen 2:24 never changed, nor was it replaced. Thus, the following dissertation seeks to locate, examine, and discuss the various one-flesh, man-woman relationships in Genesis. The first chapter of this research examines the one-flesh relationship found in Gen 2:24. Then the primary focus looks upon the various passages that expose aberrant or polluted unions between men and women as they refused to follow the ideal paradigm. This study first looks at polygamous unions – Gen 4:19–24; 16:1–16; 26:34–35; 28:6–9; 29:15–30; 29:31–30:24; 34:1–31; 35:22, and 38:2. Then it examines relationships built upon lust and the personal gain that can be obtained from lust – Gen 6:1–3; 9:18–25; 12:10–20; 19:1–11; 20:1–18; 26:6–11; 38:11–30; and 39:7–20. Additionally, another section studies unions characterized by depraved sexual aberrance – 19:30–38 and 38:6–10. Lastly, there are two passages found in Genesis, chapter 24 and Gen 41:45, that appear to uphold the ideal standard set forth in Gen 2:24. Those two passages are covered in the last chapter of this paper. The last part of this paper summarizes that not only does Gen 2:24 remain the standard for the union between man and woman in Genesis, it became the regulatory idea behind passages in the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, and the New Testament that address godly relationships.

This thesis provides an in-depth analysis of war films made in Poland between 1945 and 1970. The Second World War was an important topic for both filmmakers, and the government, and thus this genre provides a fascinating insight into the complex relationship between directors and the Communist Party during this period of rebuilding and political change. The government recognised the potential cinema held in creating and disseminating a socialist agenda, and creating a new national narrative of the conflict, that united the country around an image of unified resistance, and strong anti-German sentiment. This thesis will hypothesise that due to a number of factors, including the decentralisation of the film industry, the PZPR never fully controlled cinema, and as such a number of diverse images of the Second World War emerged during this period. This work studies a selection of films from a number of leading directors, discussing their distinctive styles, and how their image of the war fit with the prevailing narrative of the time in which it was made. It will look at the circumstances surrounding film production and how the movies were received by reviewers. It examines the impact that the structure of the film industry; the changing political climate; and the experiences of the filmmakers had on the portrayal of the Second World War in cinema. It will also use this specific genre to investigate, and draw conclusions about the nature of censorship in Poland between 1945 and 1970.

In 1918, Czechoslovakia emerged in the final moments of the Great War as one of the successors to the Habsburgs. The conflict left the new republic with a complex legacy; its future citizens had fought during the war both on the side of the Central Powers and that of the Triple Entente. This thesis explores the interwar world of Czechoslovak veterans to understand how Czechoslovakia and its society dealt with the complicated memory and legacy of the Great War. The thesis explores the tension between the official state narrative, which celebrated a relatively small number of soldiers who had fought in the Allied units and became known in the republic as the legionaries, and the Austro-Hungarian past of the vast majority of the Czechoslovak veterans. Through several different topics, it analyses how the ex-servicemen perceived and portrayed their wartime service, how the state approached and treated them, and how these men participated in Czechoslovak society. In particular, the thesis focuses on disabled veterans, who, unlike their able-bodied counterparts, left behind a relatively large number of historical sources. The thesis shows the complicated and contested position of the Great War and its veterans in Czechoslovak society. After the end of the conflict, these men produced various narratives with which they explained their past military service. The Czechoslovak state and society did not treat all veterans equally; various factors influenced how they were perceived. During the interwar period, disabled ex-servicemen participated in numerous efforts and projects, both to support the Czechoslovak state and promote peace. Most of their organisations became politicised, but they largely avoided radicalisation. Amongst themselves, different groups of veterans gradually developed a degree of cooperation. Much of this quickly changed in 1938, however, as the new world war was about to begin.

Chapter 1: Evolution of reciprocator preferences when agents can pay for information. A benchmark result in the evolutionary games literature is that a preference for reciprocity will evolve if preferences are observable (at zero cost), since reciprocators can cooperate with each other rather than with materialists, thereby achieving a fitness advantage. I investigate how a preference for reciprocity evolves if individuals can observe an opponent's preferences only by bearing a fitness cost. My main result applies when observing an opponent's type is cheap, but cooperating only gives a modest fitness advantage or the preference for reciprocity is intense. In this case, a preference for reciprocity cannot evolve from a small starting share in the mix of preferences, even if discovering an opponent's preferences is arbitrarily cheap. This is in sharp contrast to the benchmark result. Chapter 2: A theory of conditional cooperation on networks (with Julien Gagnon) Chapter 2 is a study of reciprocity on social networks. We model a group of connected agents who play a one-shot public good game. Some players are materialists and others are reciprocators. We characterise the maximal Nash equilibrium (ME) of this game for any network and a broad class of reciprocal preferences. At the ME, a novel concept, the q-linked set, fully determines the set of players who contribute. We show that influential players are those connected to players who are sufficiently interconnected, but not too much. Finally, we study the decision of a planner faced with an uncertain type profile who designs the network to maximise expected contributions. The ex ante optimal network comprises isolated cliques of degree k*, with k* decreasing with the incidence of materialists. We discuss an important application of our results: the workplace. Chapter 3: Ideological games Chapter 3 is a theory of ideology. I define a preference type to be a set of first-order preferences over the outcomes of a `game of life', together with a set of (`meta-') preferences over all players' first-order preferences. Players can influence each other's preferences via costly investment: if player A invests and B does not, B's preferences becomes those of A. Players may invest for instrumental reasons (i.e. to achieve better outcomes in the game of life) or `ideological' reasons (i.e. they want their opponents to have the same preferences they do). I characterise `strongly ideological', `weakly ideological' and `pragmatic' types. Weakly ideological types wish to preserve their own type, as do strongly ideological types, who also seek to convert others. A pragmatic player, in contrast, is willing to have her type changed if her new type would prefer the resulting equilibrium of the game of life to the status quo. I show that if two players of different ideological types meet, there is an equilibrium investment profile with lower aggregate welfare than the no-invest profile. If at least one type is strongly ideological, there is a unique such equilibrium. Finally, a `perfectly ideological' type is a strongly ideological type which, if held by all players, results in the best outcome of the game of life as judged by that type. If a perfectly ideological player plays a pragmatic player, aggregate welfare is always greater than in the no-invest profile.

This paper is an examination of the aesthetic attitude theories of Edward Bullough and Kitaro Nishida, establishing key characteristics of an aesthetic attitude theory. These characteristics comprise a complete definition of an aesthetic attitude, which accounts for all types and levels of aesthetic experience, aesthetic judgments, and aesthetic participants.

Rapid manufacturing has been a goal since the development of rapid prototyping in the mid to late 1980’s. The term refers to using Rapid Prototyping techniques, capable of rendering objects directly from CAD files, to produce fully functional parts. Yet, significant barriers to realizing rapid manufacturing still exist in terms of the range and capability of materials that can be processed. Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an additive fabrication technique regarded as having the broadest set of materials. The SLS process allows parts to be built from a series of thin layers of fused powder. Still, there are only five prototyping materials commercially available for SLS. The powdered materials that have been demonstrated include single component polymers and multiple component systems where the polymers act as binders adhering particles of an inert material together to form porous parts. For many types of composite materials, manufacturing methods have not been established that promote their widespread use in finished goods. Despite advantages in material stiffness, strength and abrasion resistance, forming parts from particulate reinforced composite materials remains very challenging. In this dissertation a new binder for SLS processing is developed along with strategies for machining, polymer infiltration and metal infiltration of the porous preforms. Where material properties are established after SLS processing the overall process is called, “indirect.” Examined together these processes form a fabrication method that improves the material set available for rapid manufacturing and also provides a means of forming parts from particulate reinforced composites. As with many other technologies developed within universities, there is a significant work required to transform a technology that is established in a laboratory into one that is used in manufacturing practice. The concurrent development of a company and funding from a Texas Technology Development and Transfer Grant made the technology transfer an inherent part of this project in addition to providing thermoset materials and indirect fabrication methods for SLS. Matching funds and significant in-kind donations were provided by Advanced Laser Composites, LLC. An NCIIA E-team grant supported market research and also the ultimate creation of the company. The project served as a test case for collaborative research where academic merit and commercial viability were pursued simultaneously.

The Conasauga River, an upper Coosa River tributary, was historically one of the most diverse rivers within the Mobile basin drainage for freshwater mollusks. The Conasauga River historically supported 37 species of unionids (Bivalvia: Unionidae), 11 species of prosobranch gastropods (Mollusca: Gastropoda), and 3 species of sphaerid (Bivalvia: Sphaeridae) clams. I collected records from several museums ranging from 1914 to 1990 to chronicle the historical diversity of the Conasauga River system, and conducted a contemporary survey to compare changes in species distributions and richness over the twentieth century. During this study, a total of203 collections were made in the mainstem ofConasauga River in 1998-1999, ranging from the headwaters downstream to US Highway 76 bridge in Dalton, Georgia. Additionally, all major tributaries to the Conasauga River above US Highway 76 were sampled, in addition to several sites in the Holly Creek and Swamp Creek systems. Overall species richness of unionids decreased from 37 species in 1917 to 27 species in 1998-1999. Additionally, species richness at 4 well-collected historical sampling locations dropped from x = 23.5 in 1917 to x = 7.5 in 1998-1999. By consistently searching various microhabitats, an increase in species richness for gastropods was recorded, with 20 species collected in 1998-1999 versus 11 species in 1914-1919. Six new gastropod species records for the Conasauga River system are recorded, as well as a Pleurocera sp. that may be undescribed. Three species of sphaerid clams were collected in 1998-99, which agrees well with historical species richness values by H. D. Athearn. Overall, mollusk distributions were observed to be fragmented. An extremely small number of individuals were found of many un ionid species, and several species of pleurocerid snails were restricted to shoal areas. Specific factors contributing to this overall decline of mollusks in the .Conasauga River system were not examined in this study, but general declines in water quality and reduced in-stream habitat quality due to poor land use practices are suspected.

The purpose of this study is (1) to point out the complexities and make clear the importance of a comparatively new investing mechanism, the periodic-payment investment plan; (2) to survey in detail the structure, operation, and results of a selected plan of this type, the Financial Security Fund Systematic Investment Plan; (3) to compare, whenever it seems pertinent to do so, features of this selected plan with those of similar periodic payment programs; and (4) to arrive at some conclusions as to the soundness and desirability of such investment media.

This thesis is a history of the international settlement of the Lithuanian-Polish dispute over Vilnius, focusing on the involvement of Britain, France, Soviet Russia and the League of Nations. As its theoretical point of departure, the thesis considers that alongside motivations of the balance of power and the national interest in international relations, there exist more salient and less visible unspoken assumptions and mentalités that lay down the intellectual framework in which those realist considerations take place, and that can sway judgments and shape concrete policy decisions. The thesis traces the emergence of 'didactic' and 'romantic' traditions of historiography on the fall of 'Poland' in the eighteenth century and shows how they shaped the way in which Poland's claim to Vilnius, as well as its geopolitical role in general, was imagined in the making of the new Europe after the Great War. The thesis also demonstrates how assumptions about Lithuanian backwardness and civilizational inferiority conditioned the settlement of the dispute. By presenting a thorough account of the settlement of the Vilnius dispute under the auspices of the League, this study enriches the League of Nations scholarship with a hitherto neglected episode of inaugural importance in the League's history. Focusing on the bargaining between the intergovernmental Council and the international Secretariat, the work sheds light on the 'league temperament', or the inter -nationalist mindedness, in the most 'realist' of the League's policy avenues - that of international dispute settlement. In parallel, the thesis analyses the efforts of the dispute unsettlement by Soviet Russia. Focusing on the work of Soviet diplomats in Lithuania, the thesis reconstructs Soviet attempts to derail the dispute settlement in the League and beyond, shedding light on the period of 'peaceful coexistence' and of consolidation of power in early Soviet diplomacy.

This thesis relies on evidence from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to argue that systematic ethnic violence occurred during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina because of the implementation of extreme ideological visions promoted by top political leaders. The first section demonstrates how Serb and Croat nationalist politicians in Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia determined to create expanded monoethnic states as Yugoslavia collapsed in 1991-92. The second section illustrates how institutions dominated by Serbian President Slobodan Milos̆evic and the Croatian government led by Franjo Tudman sponsored the military campaigns conducted by Bosnian Serb and Croat forces, which attempted to realise the visions imagined in 1991-92. The final section reveals how in 1994-95, leaders from Croatia and Serbia shifted their short term strategies towards Bosnia for pragmatic reasons, and while the Croatian leadership succeeded in forcing Bosnian Croat nationalists to abate their separatist campaign, Milos̆evic's efforts to pacify the Bosnian Serb leadership failed and Radovan Karadz̆ic's regime continued to pursue its state-building programme until its defeat in summer 1995. Although both Milos̆evic and Tudman yielded their pre-war ambitions in the face of battlefield outcomes and international pressure, this thesis argues that both leaders regarded the peace agreements they signed as temporary compromises on their long-term ambitions. The words of top political decision-makers reveal the ideas and reasoning that inspired programmes to homogenise multi-ethnic Bosnia and divide it between Serbia and Croatia.

It is the aim of this thesis to shed light on and gain a more nuanced understanding of the negotiation of the political and constitutional order at the German Imperial Diet and the Polish-Lithuanian Sejm in the crisis-ridden seventeenth century. Both assemblies had to reach collectively-binding decisions on questions of institutional and procedural development in order to keep the constitutional order intact and functional and to process the challenges and changes occurring in the late sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries. The question of this thesis is how the scope for necessary institutional and procedural adjustments was enabled or constrained by political languages and rhetoric which key actors used in the deliberations at the two central estate assemblies. Why do we have an institutional standstill and comparative decline in Poland-Lithuania until the reform period in the eighteenth century, and a stabilization and gradual institutional adjustment until the 1720s in the Holy Roman Empire? This question is answered by analyzing the communication about the scope of politics in its concrete historical context and institutional setting. Through the analysis the thesis comes to a new interpretation of the role and impact of orality and writing in both assemblies. Establishing socially relevant meaning depended on the means of communication and on the relationship between different media in the process of political decision-making and how they formed communication, in this case oral and written communication. The central claim of the thesis is that political culture and material culture were intricately linked in both imperial systems as the available media in the political process shaped the sayable, and the sayable shaped the doable.

This thesis is a narrative and analytical history of the Hungarian air service. It follows its development from the Allied intervention of 1919 through the end of the Second World War. Denied an air force by the Treaty of Trianon, Hungarian airmen determined to thwart the inspection system and preserve national air power. The prohibition against military aviation persisted after the Commission was withdrawn, and through Hungarian diplomatic efforts, a relationship was established with Italy that included substantial assistance to the clandestine Hungarian air service. This low-grade arms build-up continued through the 1930s, during which there was a robust discussion about air power theory and the nature of future aerial warfare in Magyar Katonai Szemle [Hungarian Military Review]. After the rise of Hitler, Germany offered arms credits and support for Hungary’s obsession with regaining the territory lost in the post-war settlement. The air service grew mainly through imported aeroplanes, the purchase of which ceased to be secret after the Little Entente recognised Hungary’s equality of arms. The Hungarian air force became independent in 1939, and enjoyed public acclaim after decisive air-to-air victories over Slovak pilots during the occupation of Upper Hungary. The General Staff never accepted its autonomy, however, and succeeded in reclaiming control of the air force in 1941. After Hungary joined the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, the air force provided air defence and interdiction in support of the Rapid Corps. Its mounting losses were made good by German aeroplanes, some of which were produced in Hungarian factories. As the Allied bombing campaign against Hungary intensified in 1944, most of its aircraft were devoted to homeland defence. The force ceased to exist as a true national service after the German-led coup in October 1944, but continued a fighting withdrawal to the west until captured by American forces.

In the seventeenth century, news of the Transylvanian princes in weekly newspapers and biannual Messrelationen rarely comes from the principality itself, but from the cities which are the Transylvanians' allies, enemies and invaded neighbors. This thesis examines the German language periodicals of four periods: István Bocskai's rebellion against the Habsburg Emperor (1604-5), Gábor Bethlen's first march into Hungary (1619-21), György I Rákóczi's Hungarian offensive (1643-5) and György II Rákóczi's incursion into Poland-Lithuania and the subsequent Ottoman invasion of Transylvania (1657-8). Between these periods, political developments and postal improvements shift the reporting networks which carry the news of Transylvania. As a result, each prince is reported on by a different set of reporting regions altering the language of the news. Bocskai's rebellion is presented in the Messrelationen as an alliance of the unchristian Protestants and Ottomans, dependent on military success rather than political legitimacy and causing devastation in the region. This perspective continues in later periods in news from Vienna, the most consistent reporter on Transylvania, as the princes are shown to be capable of upsetting the Emperor's position in Hungary, but more feared for their association with the Ottomans. Bethlen's march is also reported on by Transylvania's allies in Prague, who present the prince with greater diplomatic importance, and supporters in Hungary, who detail the diet meetings where he is elected king, proving his legitimacy. György I's march does not benefit from a breadth of perspectives, and Vienna’s dominates the news with its concern for quick peace. György II’s invasion of Poland is largely reported from the new news centers along the Baltic, presenting him as a military commander with precedent for his claim to the Polish throne. With the Ottomans' invasion the following year, Vienna’s fears for the safety of Christendom once again dictate Transylvania’s portrayal in the news.

The dissertation is dedicated to the history of the East European Karaite Jews (Karaites), a highly interesting ethno-religious Jewish group. It focuses on the Karaites of Galicia (Ukraine) from 1772 to 1945. The first four chapters of the dissertation are devoted to the Austrian period in the history of the Galician Karaites (1772-1918). Chapter One demonstrates that the Karaites represent an unparalleled example of preferential treatment of a Jewish community by the Austrian administration. Chapter Two provides readers with an overview of the "internal" history of the Karaite communities of Halicz and Kukizow. Chapter Three outlines the religious and ethnographic customs and traditions of the Galician Karaites. Chapter Four focuses on relations between the Karaites and their ethnic neighbours - the Slavs and the Ashkenazic Jews. Chapter Five is dedicated to the history of the Karaites in Polish Galicia between the two world wars. It is in this period that the Karaites started to become more and more separated from the Ashkenazic Jews. Chapter Six reconstructs the process of dejudaization and Turkicization of the Karaite community, highlighting the role of Seraja Szapszal, the Karaite ideological leader. It ends with an analysis of the history of the community during the period of the Nazi occupation. Chapter Seven outlines the ultimate decline of the Galician community after the Second World War. It also describes the current state of the Galician Karaite community and its historical legacy. The conclusion provides some essential remarks regarding the position of the Karaite case within the wider framework of Jewish and European history.