The publication of Catherine Carswell's novels

This article draws on new documentary evidence to discuss in detail the publishing history of the novels of the Scottish writer Catherine Carswell.

Why was urban overcrowding much more severe in Scotland than in the rest of the British Isles? Evidence from the first (1904) official household expenditure survey

This article presents an analysis of British urban working-class housing conditions in 1904, using a rediscovered survey. We investigate overcrowding and find major regional differences. Scottish households in the survey were more overcrowded despite being less poor. Investigating the causes of this overcrowding, we find little support for supply-side theories or for the idea that the Scottish households in our survey experienced particularly great variations in income, causing them to commit to overly modest accommodation. We present evidence that is consistent with idea that particularly tough Scottish tenancy and local tax laws caused excess overcrowding. We also provide evidence that Scottish workers had a relatively high preference for food, rather than housing, expenditure, which can be at least partly attributed to their inheritance of more communal patterns of urban living.

Promoting innovation and exceptional performance in the Scottish construction industry

Demonstration Projects are an initiative developed in response to demands presented in the 1998 Egan Report. Scotland has witnessed an attempt to keep the momentum and the so called Demonstration Projects Team at the University of Dundee was introduced in late 2003. The team’s responsibility was to revitalise and restructure Scottish Demonstration Projects. These are now a major initiative within the newly established Scottish Construction Innovation and Excellence Centre, a part of Scottish Construction Forum that is an umbrella organisation funded by the Scottish Executive through Scottish Enterprise Glasgow.

Corynebacterium testudinoris sp. nov., from a tortoise, and Corynebacterium felinum sp. nov., from a Scottish wild cat

Two unknown gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria isolated from a tortoise and a Scottish wild cat were subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic analysis. Chemical analysis revealed the presence of straight-chain and monounsaturated fatty acids and short-chain mycolic acids in the two isolates consistent with the genus Corynebacterium. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequencing confirmed that the unknown isolates were members of the genus Corynebacterium, with the two organisms displaying greater than 3% sequence divergence from each other and from established species of the genus. The unknown Corynebacterium isolates were readily distinguished from each other and from all recognized species of the genus by biochemical tests. Based on phylogenetic and phenotypic evidence, it is proposed that the unknown organisms from a tortoise and a cat be classified in the genus Corynebacterium as Corynebacterium testudinoris sp. nov. and Corynebacterium felinum sp. nov., respectively. The respective type strains of C. testudinoris and C. felinum are CCUG 41823T and CCUG 39943T.