"Production fell 38.2%t in the first quarter from the first quarter last year but it rose 7.2% from the fourth quarter of 2008, which shows that the final quarter of last year represented a low point in the (production) cycle, " he said.

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Some 20 years later, in the wake of the publication of the final part of the trilogy, The Return of the King, WH Auden wrote that the cycle surpassed Milton's Paradise Lost.

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But Universities UK said that it was too early in the application cycle for an "accurate picture of final demand".

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Environmental groups disparage biofuels for a production cycle that creates more emissions than is saved by the final product.

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The cycle starts with the creation of the technology followed by inflated expectations, disillusionment, enlightenment and the final phase of acceptance.

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