Climate change is affecting high-altitude and high-latitude communities in significant ways. In the short growing season of subarctic habitats, it is essential that the timing and duration of phenological phases match favorable environmental conditions. We explored the time of the first appearance of flowers (first flowering day, FFD) and flowering duration across subarctic species composing di...

The spring flowering of tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa) not only attract tens of million tourists every year, but it can also serve as a bio-indicator of climate change. Examining climate-associated spatiotemporal changes in peony flowering can contribute to the development of smarter flower-viewing tourism by providing more efficient decision-making information. We developed a panel data mod...

Metal–insulator–metal (MIM) capacitors have been fabricated using high-κ La2O3\HfO2 dielectric stacks deposited using Dense Plasma Focus (DPF) and were subsequently studied. DPF is a unique machine used for the very first time to fabricate dielectric stacks within a MIM structure as it can be used both to deposit nano-size thin film as well as can also be used to change the properties of the po...

Implicit surfaces offer many advantages for sketch-based modeling systems, such as blending, CSG, and a procedural object hierarchy. Free-form deformation (FFD) is also extremely useful in this context, however existing FFD approaches do not support implicit surface representations, and FFD lattice manipulation is time-consuming compared to sketch-based techniques. In this thesis, an FFD techni...

The effects of a commercially available anionic surfactant solution (FFD-6) on growth and morphology of a common green alga (Scenedesmus obliquus) and on survival and clearance rates of the water flea Daphnia magna were studied. The surfactant-solution elicited a morphological response (formation of colonies) in Scenedesmus at concentrations of 10-100 μl l(-1) that were far below the No Observe...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the measurement properties of an evidence-based selection of measures of spinal mobility in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). METHODS Measurements of spinal mobility were taken by trained observers within a UK rheumatology centre. Inter-observer reliability was assessed. Intra-observer reliability was assessed in patients reporting no change in AS-specific healt...