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This thesis is based on case studies of two prominent heritage sites in the Greater Manchester area: Wigan Pier and The Museum of Science and Industry. These case studies have involved detailed interviews with and observation of visitors to the sites, interviews with staff, management and associates of the sites, and examination of archival records. The thesis addresses debates about heritage and the changing form and content of museums. In particular, there is an engagement with the work of Bourdieu, Foucault and Urry as the thesis seeks to analyse the construction and consumption of these two sites. Specifically, the complexity and diversity of such locations are highlighted, both in the ways in which such sites are constructed, produced and organised and in the manner in which they are consumed by visitors. Thus, it is argued that it is important to take note of the impact of the modes of operation of specific sites on the consumption patterns, found there. Further, it is maintained that this is a complex relationship, where a focus on the actual consumers enables the full complexity of the narratives they employ to talk about their visit, to emerge. On this basis, the centrality of the concept of the tourist gaze is challenged as the thesis explores the ways in which visitors physically, emotionally and imaginatively map their visit. Moreover, the thesis highlights the distinction of the sites in terms of authenticity. The detailed examination of the idea of cultural capital leads to the argument that this concept needs to be replaced with a theorisation which is better able to incorporate the everyday life and life histories of the visitors. With this aim the thesis seeks to locate visitors' consumption of these particular sites in the context of their general patterns of cultural consumption. Consequently, it is suggested that the notion of the 'cultural omnivore' has some potential in explaining the patterning of cultural consumption found amongst visitors to these two sites.

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Tensile static and tension-tension fatigue behaviour has been studied in coupon specimens made from continuous fibre reinforced glass/epoxy and carbon/epoxy laminates of various lay-ups, including a series of GFRP and CFRP 0,90,0 cross-ply laminates with different 90° ply thicknesses and CFRP 0, 90, +/-45 laminates with different ply stacking sequences. A variety of techniques has been used to monitor the accumulation of damage; microscopy on the polished edge of coupons, penetrant-enhanced X-radiography for CFRP laminates and visual observations for the transparent GFRP laminates. Under static loading, mechanical properties and damage thresholds are established for the onset of events such as cracking in the 90' and 45° plies and delamination. The experimentally determined 90° ply cracking threshold strains agree with predictions based on fracture mechanics, provided residual thermal strains are taken into account. Fatigue failure data are obtained for the CFRP laminates and plotted as conventional S-logN curves. The fatigue behaviour of the CFRP laminates has also been described qualitatively using a form of fatigue life representation in terms of the predominant damage mechanisms observed during cyclic loading. A detailed study of transverse ply matrix cracking showed that the mode of crack propagation depended on the type of loading. Crack growth across the width of the ply was instantaneous under static loading and at high cyclic stresses. At low cyclic stresses, i.e. below the static cracking threshold, cracks initiated only after a number of cycles (dependent on the stress level) and then grew slowly across the width of the ply throughout the course of loading. Slow crack growth was also observed at high cyclic stresses when the density of full width cracks was high and the crack spacing was small. The crack growth rate was found to be independent of crack length and to depend on crack spacing and hence was strongly influenced by interactions between neighbouring cracks. Fatigue growth of individual cracks was modelled using an approach based on an expression for the stress intensity factor at the tip of a transverse ply crack and a Paris fatigue crack growth relationship.

Internal clocks drive rhythms in behaviour and physiology in all eukaryotic organisms. The period (per) gene of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster controls the period of a ∼24hr locomotor activity rhythm and a ~55 second cycle in the male courtship song. D. melanogaster is one of eight very closely related species which comprise the melanogaster subgroup of Drosophila. The locomotor activity behaviour and courtship songs of several species from the melanogaster subgroup were analysed. Drosophila yakuba was found to have a cycle period of 70-80 seconds in its courtship song - longer than either D. melanogaster (50-60 seconds) or D. simulans (30-40 seconds), two previously characterised members of the subgroup. The period of the locomotor activity rhythms of four members of the subgroup, D. yakuba, D. melanogaster, D. erecta and D. teissieri, were indistinguishable from each other. However, each species exhibited unique patterns of activity within each daily cycle. The D. yakuba per locus was cloned, using the D. melanogaster per gene as a probe. The DNA sequences of two D. yakuba genes were obtained, per itself and a small adjacent gene. A region of the per protein which has been implicated in the control of the song cycle period, a repeating series of threonine glycine pairs, is shorter than in D. melanogaster. A patchy distribution of amino acid replacements was found between the D. melanogaster and D. yakuba per proteins, probably due to differences in selective constraints in different regions of the protein. In an effort to determine whether per determines species-specific aspects of behavioural rhythms, attempts were made to transduce mixed species per gene constructs into arrhythmic (per mutant) strains of D. melanogaster. These attempts were unsuccessful.

The effects of group size on aspects of stoneloach foraging behaviour were examined in laboratory experiments. Fish were observed under dark conditions, using infra red illumination and video equipment. Experiments were timed to coincide with the stoneloach's natural time of maximum activity, immediately after a period of artificially simulated dusk. Individual stoneloach located a concealed food source more rapidly when group size was increased from one to five fish. Large quantitative differences were observed between fish, and those which were slow to locate food when alone remained poor when conspecifics were present. Over a 900 sec period, individuals in groups of five fish spent a greater proportion of available time searching, and appeared to sample the environment more, when compared with individuals in groups of only two. An increase in sampling may have counteracted the observed reduction in the number of feeding attempts by the fish in the larger groups, which resulted from the increased emphasis on searching. Groups of both six and twelve fish, foraging in tanks comprising two feeding areas each containing a patch, and a central area where no food was available, distributed themselves roughly in accordance with the predictions of an ideal free distribution when patches were equally profitable. When the patches differed in profitability in a ratio of either 2:1 or 5:1, the number of fish found in the low profitability area was as predicted. However, the number found in the high profitability area fell below that predicted, due to the presence of some individuals in the central area of the tanks. It is suggested that the latter individuals were found in the central area as a result of non-aggressive interference between individuals in the high profitability area. Finally, the marginal value theorem was used to predict the optimal patch residence time. The prediction was met in experimental tests at a group size of one, but at group sizes of two or five fish the observed time was significantly lower than that predicted.

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A successful model for off-road tyres must be reliable, efficient and capable of reproducing and predicting the main system phenomena. Mathematical models are proposed for longitudinal, lateral and combined lateral and longitudinal force generation characteristics of off-road tyres. For a better understanding of off-road tyre behaviour, the study of the interaction between the tyre forces and those generated by the deformed soil is very important. Details of the force system in the contact patch, therefore, are used as a basis for developing models for the prediction of the tractive performance and comering characteristics of off-road tyres. Previous work of the relevant literature pertaining to tyre behaviour is reviewed to provide the reader with background information on off-road tyre characteristics. Various models for off-road tyres of differing degrees of complexity but which all incorporate the key features of off-road tyre problems are then developed. Previous methods of analysing the combined lateral and longitudinal forces generated by off-road tyres on deformable surfaces are investigated. A modified version of a previous model is then proposed which is based on a different and original method for investigating tyre behaviour in the contact region. An entirely new model is then developed which is based on a modification of the "multi-spoke" tyre model used for road vehicle studies. Predicted results are compared with those obtained from other models and with reported experimental data. The usefulness of such models is in problems involving the steering, braking and handling behaviour of off-road vehicles. Hence, the models are formulated so that they can be applied to such vehicle problems by enabling lateral and longitudinal forces on the tyre to be predicted from any combined conditions of wheelslip, wheelskid and slip angle. The proposed models provide an improved qualitative description of behaviour in the contact region. Although slightly more complex than previous models, the computational load is nevertheless sufficiently small that the tyre models can conveniently be incorporated in off-road vehicle handling models. Suggestions for future recommendations are discussed with particular reference to improving the predictive models and for a possible extension of the study to generate more detailed practical results for tyre forces under controlled experimental conditions.

M.Phil. / Family Businesses are the most prevalent form of business throughout the world; they are highly pertinent in developing economies (Cavusgil, Kandemir & Kim, 2004). In South Africa it is estimated that 84 percent of all businesses in the formal sector are family-owned (Balshaw, 2004). Even though family businesses represent a dominant form of economic organisation, there is neglect in terms of research, particularly with respect to development of theories that have applied value (Chrisman, Chua & Steier, 2003). The key focus of this study is to provide research evidence for the verification of the predictive model Resulting Commitment Behaviours (hereafter referred to as RCBs) and the relationship(s) of the antecedent’s: Individual Characteristics, Familial Cultural Socialisation and Contextual Factors might have with an employed family member’s RCBs.

Consumer behaviour focuses on how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources (time, money, effort) on consumption-related items. The objective of this research study was to determine the factors that influence the decision-making process of the black middle class when purchasing a passenger vehicle in South Africa. Results of the study confirmed that the steps in the decision making process were followed by this segment of the population. Further analysis resulted in establishing both the product and situational factors that played a vital role in influencing the purchase decision. It was concluded that the majority of the black middle class, purchase vehicles primarily out of necessity and circumstances. Information sources including but not limited to influential family members were extensively used by this segment, resulting in an informed decision. This study also established that extensive alternative evaluation of vehicle brand options were conducted by the black middle class. Risks factors were also determined which suggested a strong weighting towards financial implications of such a decision. The majority confirmed that that they were satisfied with their choices and the value derived from their purchases. It was concluded that the same or a similar process of decision-making would be followed by the black middle class when purchasing a passenger vehicle. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted