Odour pollution problems within the district of the Wrekin council

This thesis is concerned with various aspects of Air Pollution due to smell, the impact it has on communities exposed to it, the means by which it may be controlled and the manner in which a local authority may investigate the problems it causes. The approach is a practical one drawing on examples occurring within a Local Authority's experience and for that reason the research is anecdotal and is not a comprehensive treatise on the full range of options available. Odour Pollution is not yet a well organised discipline and might be considered esoteric as it is necessary to incorporate elements of science and the humanities. It has been necessary to range widely across a number of aspects of the subject so that discussion is often restricted but many references have been included to enable a reader to pursue a particular point in greater depth. In a `fuzzy' subject there is often a yawning gap separating theory and practice, thus case studies have been used to illustrate the interplay of various disciplines in resolution of a problem. The essence of any science is observation and measurement. Observation has been made of the spread of odour pollution through a community and also of relevant meterological data so that a mathematical model could be constructed and its predictions checked. It has been used to explore the results of some options for odour control. Measurements of odour perception and human behaviour seldom have the precision and accuracy of the physical sciences. However methods of social research enabled individual perception of odour pollution to be quantified and an insight gained into reaction of a community exposed to it. Odours have four attributes that can be measured and together provide a complete description of its perception. No objective techniques of measurement have yet been developed but in this thesis simple, structured procedures of subjective assessment have been improvised and their use enabled the functioning of the components of an odour control system to be assessed. Such data enabled the action of the system to be communicated using terms that are understood by a non specialist audience.

Negotiating regional futures:the successes and failures of the West Midlands Regional Development Agency Network

The introduction of Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in the English regions in 1999 presented a new set of collaborative challenges to existing local institutions. The key objectives of the new policy impetus emphasise increased joined-up thinking and holistic regional governance. Partners were enjoined to promote cross-sector collaboration and present a coherent regional voice. This study aims to evaluate the impact of an RDA on the partnership infrastructure of the West Midlands. The RDA network incorporates a wide spectrum of interest and organisations with diverse collaborative histories, competencies and capacities. The study has followed partners through the process over an eighteen-month period and has sought to explore the complexities and tensions of partnership working 'on the ground'. A strong qualitative methodology has been employed in generating 'thick descriptions' of the policy domain. The research has probed beyond the 'rhetoric' of partnerships and explores the sensitivities of the collaboration process. A number of theoretical frameworks have been employed, including policy network theory; partnership and collaboration theory; organisational learning; and trust and social capital. The structural components of the West Midlands RDA network are explored, including the structural configuration of the network and stocks of human and social capital assets. These combine to form the asset base of the network. Three sets of network behaviours are then explored, namely, strategy, the management of perceptions, and learning. The thesis explores how the combination of assets and behaviours affect, and in turn are affected by, each other. The findings contribute to the growing body of knowledge and understanding surrounding policy networks and collaborative governance.

Depression to decolonization:Berclays Bank (DCO) in the West Indies, 1926-1962. By Kathleen E.A. Monteith. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press, 2008. xvi + 355pp. Illustrations, tables. figures, appendix, bibliography, notes, index. $30.00. ISBN: 879-976-640-198-6.

Book review

Regional responses to recession:the role of the West Midlands regional taskforce

Bailey D. and Berkeley N. Regional responses to recession: the role of the West Midlands Regional Taskforce, Regional Studies. Regional taskforces were set up across the English regions in late 2008 in response to the most severe recession since the Second World War. This paper examines the role of one such body, the West Midlands Regional Taskforce, as an example of regional response to recession, and offers potential lessons for the future in dealing with such situations. In so doing it reflects on the contested concept of regional 'resilience' and its relevance for policy actions at the regional level. Understanding how the region responded in this way could help in maintaining a 'permanent capacity' to deal with shocks, especially in the context of the abolition of regional development agencies (RDAs) in England from 2012 and their replacement with local enterprise partnerships (LEPs). © 2014 © 2014 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis.

The democratization of higher education in Jamaica: The role of the University of the West Indies

The University of the West Indies (UWI), established in the British colony of Jamaica in 1948, was mandated to serve the “brightest and the best” of the British colonies. Unfortunately, the austerity of Jamaica's economy has not helped to augment an “open door” access to higher education, and UWI is often criticized for not implementing policies to sustain the democratization of higher education; it is accused of functioning as an elitist institution. ^ The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine whether UWI functions democratically as an institution to influence the equity of higher education in Jamaica. A review of the literature reveals many interpretations of the democratization of higher education. Three of Spaulding and Kargodorian's four criteria were utilized to analyze this research. They were (1) equality of access to higher education, (2) equality of participation within the institution of higher education, and (3) equality of educational results. Multiple sources of written data augmented by interviews in Jamaica and Miami were utilized. ^ The analysis revealed that UWI functions in a collaborative relationship with Jamaica's Centralized Educational System as well as with the country's political, economic, and social realms to impact the democratization of higher education. Documentation suggests that, although strong traditional influences continue to exist, UWI has deviated from its original mandate and instead, flexible admittance policies and diversification of expanded programs have contributed to greater accessibility. ^ Despite UWI's reports of improvements which have contributed to more access, UNESCO and some interviewees have not been impressed. A World Bank report on enrollment ratio at the university level in English speaking Caribbean countries reflects less than one percent of the age cohort. The Jamaicans interviewed, especially those from the lower class, felt that their democratic right to receive higher education was not met. UNESCO regards UWI's efforts as just putting a “dent” in the problem. ^ Recommendations include continuing efforts towards developing curricula more relevant to the Jamaican society, increasing distance education in order to ease UWI's load, expanding financial partnerships with private sectors, and extending research in collaboration with large local and foreign private companies. ^

Phylogenetics, conservation, and historical biogeography of the West Indian members of the Adelieae (Euphorbiaceae)

The Caribbean Island Biodiversity Hotspot is the largest insular system of the New World and a priority for biodiversity conservation worldwide. The tribe Adeliae (Euphorbiaceae) has over 35 species endemic to this hotspot, representing one of the most extraordinary cases of speciation in the West Indies, involving taxa from Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and the Bahamas. These species form a monophyletic group and traditionally have been accommodated in two endemic genera: Lasiocroton and Leucocroton. A study based on: (1) scanning electron microscopy of pollen and trichomes, (2) macromorphology, and (3) molecular data, was conducted to reveal generic relationships within this group. Phylogenies were based on parsimony and Bayesian analyses of nucleotide sequences of the ITS regions of the nuclear ribosomal DNA and the non-coding chloroplast DNA spacers psbM-trnD and ycf6-pcbM. One species, Lasiocroton trelawniensis, was transferred from the tribe into the genus Bernardia. Of the remaining species, three major monophyletic assemblages were revealed, one was restricted to limestone ares of Hispaniola and was sister to a clade with two monophyletic genera, Lasiocroton and Leucocroton. Morphological, biogeographical, and ecological data provided additional support for each of these three monophyletic assemblages. The Hispaniolan taxa were accommodated in a new genus with four species: Garciadelia. Leucocroton includes the nickel hyperaccumulating species from serpentine soils of Cuba, while the rest of the species were placed in Lasiocroton, a genus restricted to limestone areas. The geographic history of the islands as well as the phylogenetic placement of the Leucocroton-alliance, allows the research to include the historical biogeography of the alliance across the islands of the Caribbean based on a dispersal-vicariance analysis. The alliance arose on Eastern Cuba and Hispaniola, with Lasiocroton and Leucocroton diverging on Eastern Cuba according to soil type. Within Leucocroton, the analysis shows two migrations across the serpentine soils of Cuba. Additional morphological, ecological, and phylogenetic analyses support four new species in Cuba (Lasiocroton gutierrezii) and Hispaniola ( Garciadelia abbottii, G. castilloae, and G. mejiae). ^

Military map of the United States of America : showing location of all forces in training /

Relief shown by hachures.

The Essentials of Narrative: A Synthesis of the West and the East

This is a study on the nature of narrative in light of a narratological theory inspired by a comparison of narratives in the West and the East, and which tries to reach a deeper understanding of narratives in their particular cultural milieus as well as the nature of narrative per se. The macroscopic structure which the subject itself demands gives coherence to the study of elements which do not solely belong to narrative texts but nevertheless are essential for a text to function as a narrative. The essentials under investigation are the narrator's perspective (which gives a narrative its internal structure), language (which both enables and affects the formation of narrative), and the notion of genre (which plays a crucial role in the interpretation of narrative). These elements were selected after a consideration of theorles postulated by Erich Auerbach, Northrop Frye, Fredric Jameson and Mikhail Bakhtin, as well as of the key properties of narrative as traditionally treated in Chinese scholarship on narrative. After the initial chapter, each chapter consists of a theoretical discussion on the main topic, followed by an analysis of a particular aspect of the subject as revealed in an American novel and in a Chinese novel. These subjects in elude the internal structure of narrative, fictionalization, the objectivity of language and the diversity of voices, the potentiality of language and the elosure of narrative, plot and the ordering of a narrative, and fragmentarity and the perceiving of a narrative. In theoretical discussions, the essay challenges theories proposed by Wayne Booth, Michel Foucault, Umberto Eco, Stanley Fish, Roman Jakobson, Jacques Derrida, Jonathan Culler and Tzvetan Todorov. The major texts discussed are Henry James's The Portrait of a Lady, Luo Guanzhong's Three Kingdoms, William Faulkner's Absalom. Absalom!, Cao Xueqin's Dream of the Red Chamber. Edgar Allan Poe's "Ligeia," and Liu E's The Travels of Laocan. The central idea of the research is to question such assumptions as made by Anthony Burgess in his article on the novel in The Encyelopaedia Britannica (15th ed) that "novelists, being neither poets nor philosophers, rarely originate modes of thinking and expression."

[Cadastral map of part of the West End, Washington D.C.].

Cadastral map showing unidentified tinted lots, lot numbers, and block numbers.

(Inter) acciones para un nuevo orden nacional : La experiencia política de San Juan a partir de la Circunscripción Militar del Oeste y el Congreso durante la "Confederación" (1855-1858)

Se propone ampliar el registro analítico sobre el proceso de conformación del sistema político e institucional de la "Confederación" (1852-1862), atendiendo a las vinculaciones entre el poder central y San Juan. Se examinan las relaciones de negociación y conflicto que entretejieron la política de San Juan entre 1855 y 1858, al calor del desarrollo de una institución estatal nacional: la Circunscripción Militar del Oeste. Se considera en forma recíproca la articulación del poder central en el espacio provincial y los clivajes y sucesos locales y regionales que se generaron en dicho devenir. Se estudia la interacción entre el Jefe de la Circunscripción Nazario Benavides, los Gobernadores de San Juan y los poderes legislativo y ejecutivo nacionales. Además, se enmarca el tema en el proceso de institucionalización política provincial, con especial interés en la sanción de la constitución sanjuanina. Para ello, se conjuga el examen de la Circunscripción con el del Congreso con sede en la ciudad capital de la Confederación (Paraná/Entre Ríos), lo que permite proyectar las escalas analíticas de observación por fuera de la geografía sanjuanina. Se aborda así al Congreso como otro sitio institucional de cristalización de los conflictos y juegos de alianzas políticas provinciales y nacionales estudiadas.

(Inter) acciones para un nuevo orden nacional : La experiencia política de San Juan a partir de la Circunscripción Militar del Oeste y el Congreso durante la "Confederación" (1855-1858)

Se propone ampliar el registro analítico sobre el proceso de conformación del sistema político e institucional de la "Confederación" (1852-1862), atendiendo a las vinculaciones entre el poder central y San Juan. Se examinan las relaciones de negociación y conflicto que entretejieron la política de San Juan entre 1855 y 1858, al calor del desarrollo de una institución estatal nacional: la Circunscripción Militar del Oeste. Se considera en forma recíproca la articulación del poder central en el espacio provincial y los clivajes y sucesos locales y regionales que se generaron en dicho devenir. Se estudia la interacción entre el Jefe de la Circunscripción Nazario Benavides, los Gobernadores de San Juan y los poderes legislativo y ejecutivo nacionales. Además, se enmarca el tema en el proceso de institucionalización política provincial, con especial interés en la sanción de la constitución sanjuanina. Para ello, se conjuga el examen de la Circunscripción con el del Congreso con sede en la ciudad capital de la Confederación (Paraná/Entre Ríos), lo que permite proyectar las escalas analíticas de observación por fuera de la geografía sanjuanina. Se aborda así al Congreso como otro sitio institucional de cristalización de los conflictos y juegos de alianzas políticas provinciales y nacionales estudiadas.

(Inter) acciones para un nuevo orden nacional : La experiencia política de San Juan a partir de la Circunscripción Militar del Oeste y el Congreso durante la "Confederación" (1855-1858)

Se propone ampliar el registro analítico sobre el proceso de conformación del sistema político e institucional de la "Confederación" (1852-1862), atendiendo a las vinculaciones entre el poder central y San Juan. Se examinan las relaciones de negociación y conflicto que entretejieron la política de San Juan entre 1855 y 1858, al calor del desarrollo de una institución estatal nacional: la Circunscripción Militar del Oeste. Se considera en forma recíproca la articulación del poder central en el espacio provincial y los clivajes y sucesos locales y regionales que se generaron en dicho devenir. Se estudia la interacción entre el Jefe de la Circunscripción Nazario Benavides, los Gobernadores de San Juan y los poderes legislativo y ejecutivo nacionales. Además, se enmarca el tema en el proceso de institucionalización política provincial, con especial interés en la sanción de la constitución sanjuanina. Para ello, se conjuga el examen de la Circunscripción con el del Congreso con sede en la ciudad capital de la Confederación (Paraná/Entre Ríos), lo que permite proyectar las escalas analíticas de observación por fuera de la geografía sanjuanina. Se aborda así al Congreso como otro sitio institucional de cristalización de los conflictos y juegos de alianzas políticas provinciales y nacionales estudiadas.

(Inter) acciones para un nuevo orden nacional : La experiencia política de San Juan a partir de la Circunscripción Militar del Oeste y el Congreso durante la "Confederación" (1855-1858)

Se propone ampliar el registro analítico sobre el proceso de conformación del sistema político e institucional de la "Confederación" (1852-1862), atendiendo a las vinculaciones entre el poder central y San Juan. Se examinan las relaciones de negociación y conflicto que entretejieron la política de San Juan entre 1855 y 1858, al calor del desarrollo de una institución estatal nacional: la Circunscripción Militar del Oeste. Se considera en forma recíproca la articulación del poder central en el espacio provincial y los clivajes y sucesos locales y regionales que se generaron en dicho devenir. Se estudia la interacción entre el Jefe de la Circunscripción Nazario Benavides, los Gobernadores de San Juan y los poderes legislativo y ejecutivo nacionales. Además, se enmarca el tema en el proceso de institucionalización política provincial, con especial interés en la sanción de la constitución sanjuanina. Para ello, se conjuga el examen de la Circunscripción con el del Congreso con sede en la ciudad capital de la Confederación (Paraná/Entre Ríos), lo que permite proyectar las escalas analíticas de observación por fuera de la geografía sanjuanina. Se aborda así al Congreso como otro sitio institucional de cristalización de los conflictos y juegos de alianzas políticas provinciales y nacionales estudiadas.

Warfare in the West Highlands and Isles of Scotland, c. 1544-1615

Warfare has long been associated with Scottish Highlanders and Islanders, especially in the period known in Gaelic tradition as ‘Linn nan Creach’ (the ‘Age of Forays’), which followed the forfeiture of the Lordship of the Isles in 1493. The sixteenth century in general is remembered as a particularly tumultuous time within the West Highlands and Isles, characterised by armed conflict on a seemingly unprecedented scale. Relatively little research has been conducted into the nature of warfare however, a gap filled by this thesis through its focus on a series of interconnected themes and in-depth case studies spanning the period c. 1544-1615. It challenges the idea that the sixteenth century and early seventeenth century was a time of endless bloodshed, and explores the rationale behind the distinctive mode of warfare practised in the West Highlands and Isles. The first part of the thesis traces the overall ‘Process of War’. Chapter 1 focuses on the mentality of the social elite in the West Highlands and Isles and demonstrates that warfare was not their raison d'être, but was tied inextricably to chiefs’ prime responsibility of protecting their lands and tenants. Chapter 2 assesses the causation of warfare and reveals that a recurrent catalyst for armed conflict was the assertion of rights to land and inheritance. There were other important causes however, including clan expectation, honour culture, punitive government policies, and the use of proxy warfare by prominent magnates. Chapter 3 takes a fresh approach to the military capacity of the region through analysis of armies and soldiers, and the final thematic chapter tackles the conduct of warfare in the West Highlands and Isles, with analysis of the tactics and strategy of militarised personnel. The second part of this thesis comprises five case studies: the Clanranald, 1544-77; the Colquhouns of Luss and the Lennox, 1592-1603; the MacLeods of Harris and MacDonalds of Sleat, 1594-1601; the Camerons, 1569-1614; and the ‘Islay Rising’, 1614-15. This thesis adopts a unique approach by contextualising the political background of warfare in order to instil a deeper understanding of why early modern Gaelic Scots resorted to bloodshed. Overall, this period was defined by a sharp rise in military activity, followed by an even sharper decline, a trajectory that will be evidenced vividly in the final case study on the ‘Islay Rising’. Although warfare was widespread, it was not unrestrained or continuous, and the traditional image of a region riven by perpetual bloodshed has been greatly exaggerated.