Analytical methodologies based on X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) and Inductively Couple Plasma Spectroscopy (ICP) for the assessment of metal dispersal around mining environments

La investigació que es presenta en aquesta tesi es centra en l'aplicació i millora de metodologies analítiques existents i el desenvolupament de nous procediments que poden ser utilitzats per a l'estudi dels efectes ambientals de la dispersió dels metalls entorn a les zones mineres abandonades. En primer lloc, es van aplicar diferents procediments d'extracció simple i seqüencial per a estudiar la mobilitat, perillositat i bio-disponibilitat dels metalls continguts en residus miners de característiques diferents. Per altra banda, per a estudiar les fonts potencials de Pb en la vegetació de les zones mineres d'estudi, una metodologia basada en la utilització de les relacions isotòpiques de Pb determinades mitjançant ICP-MS va ser avaluada. Finalment, tenint en compte l'elevat nombre de mostres analitzades per a avaluar l'impacte de les activitats mineres, es va considerar apropiat el desenvolupament de mètodes analítics d'elevada productivitat. En aquest sentit la implementació d'estratègies quantitatives així com l'aplicació de les millores instrumentals en els equips de XRF han estat avaluades per a aconseguir resultats analítics fiables en l'anàlisi de plantes. A més, alguns paràmetres de qualitat com la precisió, l'exactitud i els límits de detecció han estat curosament determinats en les diverses configuracions de espectròmetres de XRF utilitzats en el decurs d'aquest treball (EDXRF, WDXRF i EDPXRF) per a establir la capacitat de la tècnica de XRF com a tècnica alternativa a les clàssiques comunament aplicades en la determinació d'elements en mostres vegetals.

Research by Design is up and running

This paper explores the context of and developments in Research by Design (RbD) as currently developing in Schools of Architecture. It starts from noticing that the design studio is the core of the bachelor and master curriculum. Extending this position to PhD research implies the search for research where the design process is the main method of researching and creating knowledge and understanding. These developments connect to similar developments in the arts. Mode 1 and mode 2 knowledge, reflection and other knowledge processes are the base for developing knowledge for the field of architecture when practice and designing are the main method of research. The paper concludes with observing many PhD and research projects building on design activities and practice are currently under way and are supported by academia. They produce a specific type of knowledge and understanding, usually opening up problems and exploring boundaries.

Alternative methodologies - stretching the in vitro box

Current gas-based in vitro evaluation systems are extremely powerful research techniques. However they have the potential to generate a great deal more than simple fermentation dynamics. Details from four experiments are presented in which adaptation, and novel application, of an in vitro system allowed widely differing objectives to be examined. In the first two studies, complement methodologies were utilised. In such assays, an activity or outcome is inferred through the occurrence of a secondary event rather than by direct observation. Using an N-deficient incubation medium, the increase in starch fermentation, when supplemented with individual amino acids (i.e., known level of N) relative to that of urea (i.e., known quantity and N availability), provided an estimate of their microbial utilisation. Due to the low level of response observed with some arnino acids (notably methionine and lysine), it was concluded, that they may not need to be offered in a rumen-inert form to escape rumen microbial degradation. In another experiment, the extent to which degradation of plant cell wall components was inhibited by lipid supplementation was evaluated using fermentation gas release profiles of washed hay. The different responses due to lipid source and level of inclusion suggested that the degree of rumen protection required to ameliorate this depression was supplement dependent. That in vitro inocula differ in their microbial composition is of little interest per se, as long as the outcome is the same (i.e., that similar substrates are degraded at comparable rates and end-product release is equivalent). However where a microbial population is deficient in a particular activity, increasing the level of inoculation will have no benefit. Estimates of hydrolytic activity were obtained by examining fermentation kinetics of specific substrates. A number of studies identified a fundamental difference between rumen fluid and faecal inocula, with the latter having a lower fibrolytic activity, which could not be completely attributed to microbial numbers. The majority of forage maize is offered as an ensiled feed, however most of the information on which decisions such as choice of variety, crop management and harvesting date are made is based on fresh crop measurements. As such, an attempt was made to estimate ensiled maize quality from an in vitro analysis of the fresh crop. Fermentation profiles and chemical analysis confirmed changes in crop composition over the growing season, and loss of labile carbohydrates during ensiling. In addition, examination of degradation residues allowed metabolizable energy (ME) contents to be estimated. Due to difficulties associated with starch analysis, the observation that this parameter could be predicted by difference (together with an assumed degradability), allowed an estimate of ensiled maize ME to be developed from fresh material. In addition, the contribution of the main carbohydrates towards ME showed the importance of delaying harvest until maximum starch content has been achieved. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evolution or extinction? Reflections on the future of research in educational leadership and management

Consideration of the quality, relevance and utility of research in educational leadership and management has been a growing concern of researchers, policy-makers and practitioners, but there is little agreement about its current state or priorities for development. The article reflects on the key criticisms that have been made of research in educational leadership and management in this issue, and elsewhere. It considers how we might begin to devise better ways of understanding its audiences, judging its quality and identifying priorities for the future. It argues that the research reflects its capture by those with particular interests or values, and impacts in ways which are complex and indirect. If educational leadership and management research is to be secure in its perceived value and contribution in the future, several developments are needed, including a greater emphasis on interdisciplinarity, an expansion of the range of methodologies, particularly qualtitative studies; and these shifts must be evident in training researchers as well as in the conduct of research.

Methodologies for the generation of design summer years for building energy simulation using UKCP09 probabilitic climate projections

Design summer years representing near-extreme hot summers have been used in the United Kingdom for the evaluation of thermal comfort and overheating risk. The years have been selected from measured weather data basically representative of an assumed stationary climate. Recent developments have made available ‘morphed’ equivalents of these years by shifting and stretching the measured variables using change factors produced by the UKCIP02 climate projections. The release of the latest, probabilistic, climate projections of UKCP09 together with the availability of a weather generator that can produce plausible daily or hourly sequences of weather variables has opened up the opportunity for generating new design summer years which can be used in risk-based decision-making. There are many possible methods for the production of design summer years from UKCP09 output: in this article, the original concept of the design summer year is largely retained, but a number of alternative methodologies for generating the years are explored. An alternative, more robust measure of warmth (weighted cooling degree hours) is also employed. It is demonstrated that the UKCP09 weather generator is capable of producing years for the baseline period, which are comparable with those in current use. Four methodologies for the generation of future years are described, and their output related to the future (deterministic) years that are currently available. It is concluded that, in general, years produced from the UKCP09 projections are warmer than those generated previously. Practical applications: The methodologies described in this article will facilitate designers who have access to the output of the UKCP09 weather generator (WG) to generate Design Summer Year hourly files tailored to their needs. The files produced will differ according to the methodology selected, in addition to location, emissions scenario and timeslice.

A critical review of methodologies for measuring rental depreciation applied to UK commercial real estate

Real estate depreciation continues to be a critical issue for investors and the appraisal profession in the UK in the 1990s. Depreciation-sensitive cash flow models have been developed, but there is a real need to develop further empirical methodologies to determine rental depreciation rates for input into these models. Although building quality has been found to be an important explanatory variable in depreciation it is very difficult to incorporate it into such models or to analyse it retrospectively. It is essential to examine previous depreciation research from real estate and economics in the USA and UK to understand the issues in constructing a valid and pragmatic way of calculating rental depreciation. Distinguishing between 'depreciation' and 'obsolescence' is important, and the pattern of depreciation in any study can be influenced by such factors as the type (longitudinal or crosssectional) and timing of the study, and the market state. Longitudinal studies can analyse change more directly than cross-sectional studies. Any methodology for calculating rental depreciation rate should be formulated in the context of such issues as 'censored sample bias', 'lemons' and 'filtering', which have been highlighted in key US literature from the field of economic depreciation. Property depreciation studies in the UK have tended to overlook this literature, however. Although data limitations and constraints reduce the ability of empirical property depreciation work in the UK to consider these issues fully, 'averaging' techniques and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression can both provide a consistent way of calculating rental depreciation rates within a 'cohort' framework.

Handbook of research methods and applications in empirical finance

The objective of this book is to present the quantitative techniques that are commonly employed in empirical finance research together with real world, state of the art research examples. Each chapter is written by international experts in their fields. The unique approach is to describe a question or issue in finance and then to demonstrate the methodologies that may be used to solve it. All of the techniques described are used to address real problems rather than being presented for their own sake and the areas of application have been carefully selected so that a broad range of methodological approaches can be covered. This book is aimed primarily at doctoral researchers and academics who are engaged in conducting original empirical research in finance. In addition, the book will be useful to researchers in the financial markets and also advanced Masters-level students who are writing dissertations.

The ‘thinking’ in thinking-for-speaking: where is it?

According to the thinking-for-speaking (TFS) hypothesis, speakers of different languages think differently while in the process of mentally preparing content for speech. The aim of the present paper is to critically discuss the research carried out within the TFS paradigm, against the background of the basic tenets laid out by the proponents of this framework. We will show that despite substantial progress in the investigation of crosslinguistic differences in the organisation of information in discourse, the studies that actually examine the cognitive aspects of speech production are, to date, vanishingly few. This state of affairs creates a gap in our knowledge about the thought processes that co-occur with speech production during language use and acquisition. We will argue that in order to reach a more comprehensive picture of the cognitive processes and outcomes of speech production, methodologies additional to the analysis of information organisation must be used.

Control methodologies: Peak reduction algorithms for DNO owned storage devices on the Low Voltage network

The Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) role is becoming more difficult as electric vehicles and electric heating penetrate the network, increasing the demand. As a result it becomes harder for the distribution networks infrastructure to remain within its operating constraints. Energy storage is a potential alternative to conventional network reinforcement such as upgrading cables and transformers. The research presented here in this paper shows that due to the volatile nature of the LV network, the control approach used for energy storage has a significant impact on performance. This paper presents and compares control methodologies for energy storage where the objective is to get the greatest possible peak demand reduction across the day from a pre-specified storage device. The results presented show the benefits and detriments of specific types of control on a storage device connected to a single phase of an LV network, using aggregated demand profiles based on real smart meter data from individual homes. The research demonstrates an important relationship between how predictable an aggregation is and the best control methodology required to achieve the objective.