This thesis begins by revisiting and building on themes of labour market segmentation, with particular reference given to Marx's seminal account of segmentation in Capital, Vol.1 (Chapter 25). Marx distinguishes between an active army - the stable full-time employed - and the relative surplus population - the precariously employed reserve army and the residual surplus - and suggests further fragmentation of these main groups into sub-strata. Marx's perspective of segmentation is grounded in fragments of a general theory of employment that, as a long-term tendency, identifies continual advances in constant capital that abolish work and proliferate the reserve army. This thesis builds on these themes by formulating a concept, the 'transference dynamic', which underpins a general theory of employment segmentation. A short history of segmentation under capitalism traces recent phases of development in both developed and lesser-developed nations. Stress is placed on the role of political configurations that regulate capitalism in ways that can either counter the general tendency, such is the case under the Fordist model of capitalism, or strengthen its logic. The theory of employment segmentation and the lessons drawn from the historical account are spliced together with an analysis of the contemporary phase of capitalism, labelled here as the neoliberal model of development. It is demonstrated that the coercive international regulatory dynamic of the neoliberal model reasserts and extends the competitive principle of the capitalist mode of production. Through this extension, nations are transformed into competition-states vying for scarce and globally mobile capital to operate on their shores - the primary source of national prosperity and employment - by implementing capital-friendly neoliberalized policy. This analysis of neoliberal global capitalism reveals an expanding surplus population within a context of deepening international segmentation. This employment crisis is expressed as a hierarchy of nations that is determined in part by their uneven development. Those at the bottom of the hierarchy, comprising a majority portion of the world's population, contain a massive reserve army and residual surplus population unincorporated into wage-based capitalism, without any obvious support of means of life and with little hope for the future. Finally, mainstream solutions are criticized for failing to address either long-run or contemporary drivers of the employment crisis. In response, this thesis pitches a project of multi-faceted radical reform that counter-regulates capitalism by adopting a combination of local, national, regional and global forms of democratic socialist governance.

The quokka (Setonix brachyurus Quoy & Gaimard 1830) is a medium-sized, macropodid marsupial that is endemic to the mesic, south-western corner of Australia. While being a tourist icon on Rottnest Island, the species is threatened with extinction. It has been intensively studied on Rottnest Island in the 1960s and 1970s, however very little is known of its ecology on the mainland. Additionally the insular and mainland environments are extremely different suggesting that ecological differences between the two populations are likely. Consequently, this study sought to determine the basic autecology of the quokka and identify what factors have attributed to its threatened conservation status. The northern jarrah forest of Western Australia was selected as the study region due to it being at the northern limit of extant quokka distribution and because it was thought that the factors threatening the quokka would be exacerbated there. Fossil deposits suggest that the quokka originally occupied an area of approximately 49,000 km2 in the south-western corner of Australia. Historical literature show that they were widespread and abundant when Europeans colonised the region in 1829 but a noticeable and dramatic decline occurred a century later. The arrival of the red fox to the region coincided almost exactly with this decline and so it was probably ultimately responsible. Continued predation by both it and the feral cat are likely to have continued the decline, along with habitat destruction and modification through altered fire regimes. Specific surveys and literature searches show that since the 1950s, the area occupied by the quokka has declined by 45% and since 1990 by 29%. Based on the criteria of the IUCN (Hilton-Taylor 2000), the conservation status of the quokka should remain as vulnerable. An endangered status may be more applicable if the quokkas restriction to patches through its existence as a metapopulation is considered. Trapping of eight sites supporting quokka populations in the mid-1990s revealed three sites now locally extinct despite the ongoing, six year old, fox control programme. Another three are at serious risk of extinction. Extant population sizes ranged from one to 36 and population density ranged from 0.07 to 4.3 individuals per hectare. This is considered to be below the carrying capacity of each site. The overall quokka population size in the northern jarrah forest may be as low as 150 adult individuals, of which half are likely to be female. Even the largest extant populations are highly susceptible to stochastic extinction events. This small size was surprising considering the six year old, introduced predator control programme. Historically, the restriction to discrete habitat patches, the occasional inter-patch movement, the lack of correlation between the dynamics of each population and reports of frequent localised extinctions and colonisations suggest that the quokka population once existed as part of a classic metapopulation. The massive decline of the quokka in the 1930s pushed the metapopulation structure into a non-equilibrium state such that today, the extant populations are the terminal remnants of the original classic metapopulation. Wild mainland quokkas breed throughout the year. A significant reduction in the number of births occurs over summer and this coincides with a decline in female body weight. Despite this, the mainland quokka is relatively fecund and is able to wean two offspring per year. The level of recruitment from pouch young to independence was low and this may explain the apparent lack of population increase following the initiation of fox control. A total of 56 trapped quokkas were fitted with a radio collar. Mean home range size for quokkas was 6.39 ha with a core range of 1.21 ha and this was negatively related to population density. Male home ranges were larger than females but not significantly when the sexual size dimorphism was considered. Nocturnal ranges were larger than diurnal ranges reflecting nocturnal departures from the swamp refugia. Home range sizes varied seasonally, probably due to changes in the distance required to move to obtain sufficient nutrients and water over the dry summer compared to the wet winter and spring. Telemetry confirmed trapping results that showed no movement between swamps or populations. Home range centres shifted to the periphery of the swamp following the winter inundation and this may increase the species susceptibility to predation. The lack of dispersal is probably caused by quokka populations existing below carrying capacity and following selection for philopatry under the threat of predation for dispersing individuals. Without dispersal to recolonise or rescue unpopulated patches, the collapse of the original quokka metapopulation appears to have occurred. On a macrohabitat scale, the quokka in the northern jarrah forest is restricted to Agonis swamp shrubland habitats that form in the open, upper reaches of creek systems on the western side of the forest. This restriction was probably initially due to the high water requirements of the quokka but is likely to have been exacerbated by increased predation pressure since the arrival of the fox. On a microhabitat scale, the quokka is a habitat specialist, preferring early seral stage swamp habitats, probably for foraging, as part of a mosaic of old age swamp that provides refuge. Despite the six year old, introduced predator control programme, foxes and cats are still the major cause of mortality to quokkas. Road kills was the other identifiable cause. Individuals alive at the start of the study had an 81% chance of staying alive until the end. The likelihood of dying was minimised by grouping together with conspecifics, maximising home range size and maximising the time spent within the swampy refuge. Current rates of adult and juvenile survivorship should allow population recovery and so it seems pouch young mortality, reflected by low recruitment, has inhibited the anticipated population increase following predator control. The confounding effect of inadequate unbaited controls meant that little statistical evidence was available on the impact of introduced predators on the quokka, however the models provided support for earlier hypotheses of these. The presence of a quokka population at a site was related to the amount of poison baits delivered ??? reflecting predation pressure, the average age of the swamp and a mosaic of early and late seral stages within the swamp habitat. Recently burnt habitat is thought to provide food for quokkas and long unburnt habitat provides refuge from predation.

This report investigated the lichen flora of the Mt Donna Buang Scenic Reserve in Victoria, There were several aims: to describe the lichens of the region, to produce a pictorial key enabling field identification and to determine any distribution patterns. A floristic survey covering approximately 50 square km was undertaken to determine lichen diversity of the region generally. Lichens were sampled along roads, tracks, walking trails and in sections of bush, taking into account forest type and, particularly, areas that were lichen rich. Seventy-five lichen species in 43 genera and 27 families were identified and described from the region. An unknown, species H, also was described. Of the 76 lichen species, 22 were crastose and the remainder macrolichens. The best represented families were: Cladoniaceae (8 species), Hypogymniaceae (6), Lobariaceae (7), Lecideaceae (6), Pannariaceae (6) and Parmeliaccae (6). This study described 12 species (17%) which previously were not known for Victoria and which are a first record for the state. These include: Cladonia sarmentosa (J.D. Hook & Taylor) Dodge, Graphis librata Knight, Parmelinopsis neodamaziana (Elix & Johnston) Elix & Hale, Pertusaria novaezelandiae Szatala, Placopsis pardlina f. microphylla Lamb, Porina leptalea AX. Sm., Pseudocyphellaria ardesiaca Galloway, Trapeliopsis congregant (Zahlbr.) Brako, Menegazzia myriotrema (Mull. Arg.) P. James, Bunodophoron scrobiculatum (Church. Bab,) Wedin, Parmelia testacea Stirton and Menegazzia purpurascens S. Louwhoff sp. nov.. The last eight species are new to the mainland and, apart from Menegazzia purpurascens, previously were known only from Tasmania. Five main elements of distribution were identified for the lichen flora of the Mt Donna Buang Scenic Reserve: cosmopolitan, austral/australasian, paleotropical, pantropical and western pacific. The majority of species (68%) had austral/australasian distributions, eleven (16%) were endemic to Australia and nine (13%) occurred only in Tasmania , Victoria and New Zealand. A pictorial, dichotomous key was constructed for the lichen flora of the Mt Donna Buang Scenic Reserve. Previously, keys to the lichen flora of Tasmanian rainforests were suggested as appropriate to similar areas in Victoria, however, the Victorian forests include a significant sclerophyll element The key presented is specific for the study site but is appropriate to similar regions in Victoria and has been tested in a number of these areas. The key was designed to be ‘user-friendly’ so that the experienced and inexperienced alike are able to use it. A more detailed investigation of the lichen flora of the Mt Donna Buang Scenic Reserve was carried out in order to determine distribution. A total of 50 quadrats, each 20m x 20m in size, were sampled. Within each, the dominant vegetation type was determined and individuals were identified and location noted. The cover abundance of each lichen species on each individual tree was estimated using a modified Braun-Blanquet scale. A total of 710 trees, representing 13 different species, were examined. Nothofagus cunninghamii (Hook.) Oerst, Eucalyptus regnans R Mull., Acacia dealbata Link, A. melanoxylon R. Br., Hedycarya angustifolia A. Cunn. and Atherosperma moschatum Labill. were the six most common tree species encountered at the study site. Nothofagus cunninghamii supported the greatest lichen diversity (39 species), although most species occurred on less than 10% of the trees. The majority of lichens occurring on N. cunninghamii A. melanoxylon, A. dealbata and H. angustifolia were foliose or crustose, those on £. regnans fruticose and foliose and those on A moschatum crustose. Bunodophoron australe was the only lichen species at the study site to occur on one host, Nothofagus cunninghamiL Many occurred on a number of different hosts, but were most common on one particular tree species. The distribution of lichens at the study site was analysed with a rnultivariate statistical package (PATN) which dealt with ‘pattern analysis’. The program ‘SSH’ in PATN which uses the Bray-Curtis ordination technique, was used to create scatterplots displaying the degree of dissimilarity between quadrats in terms of presence/absence of lichen species. The program ‘TWAY’ in PATN was used to construct a two way table to display which lichen species occurred in each vegetation type. The pattern analysis revealed that the lichens of the Mt Donna Buang Scenic Reserve were not restricted to any particular forest type, but particular lichens, or groups of lichens, tended to predominate in certain vegetation communities. This concurs with work done by others in Tasmanian forests. Quadrats which were situated in cool temperate rainforest were grouped more closely with each other than with quadrats in other vegetation types. These also supported the greatest number of lichen species. This was not surprising since N. cunninghamii the dominant tree species in cool temperate rainforest, supported the greatest lichen diversity.

<p>Recurrent stress has been found to impair brain structures essential to memory. The cognitive reserve model suggests that physical activity supplies protection against memory decline in neuropathologies. The purpose of the present study was to explore whether leisure physical activity modifies the predicted negative effect stress has on memory. A sub-sample derived from the Betula Study comprised 267 participants between 50 and 65 years. Memory was assessed by a SPT free recall and stress by a self-report. Low and High frequency exercisers were analyzed separately. After age, sex and education were controlled for in hierarchical regression, results showed that stress significantly improved memory performance in Low exercisers but no significant effect in High exercisers. Thus, frequency of physical activity did not explain variation in memory performance. However, higher age did not have a negative influence on memory performance for the High exercisers.</p>

<p>The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) promotes the Ecosystem Approach (EA). In this thesis it is analyzed how the EA approach could be applied to regional management of coastal areas in Sweden. The aim of this report is to compare management for preserving biodiversity on a landscape level in two regional coastal areas in Uppsala and Västra Götaland respectively. In Uppsala, one of the plans consists of a previous nature reserve and in Västra Götaland, a Regional landscape strategy has been established. The ecosystem approach is used as a theoretical framework in this thesis. More precisely, five EA operational guidelines have been used as analytical tools in the comparative approach adopted.</p><p>The results show that the Västra Götaland Regional landscape strategy has been most consistent with the EA framework, since it fulfills three of the five operational guidelines while Gårdsskärskusten only accomplish two of the criteria. The social aspects are more central in the landscape strategy than in Gårdskärskusten, which is the main difference between the two plans. One area of inadequacy detected in the landscape strategy was the few identified aspects on maintenance of landscape connectivity features. The Regional landscape strategy could, if established in every county in Sweden, be a way to prevent the loss of biodiversity. However the plan needs to be supported by actions where preservation and utilization are integrated in an economic context. By considering nature protection as a development opportunity in strategic planning rather than as only a cost, important steps towards a sustainable future can be taken.</p> / <p>För att implementera målsättningarna i FN:s Konvention om Biologisk Mångfald har en ekosystemansats (EA) antagits och en viktig ekosystemtyp i Sverige där EA kan appliceras är kuster. Syftet med examensarbetet är att, med ekosystemansatsen som analysverktyg, studera hur och varför två planer för att bevara biologisk mångfald på landskapsnivå i två regionala kustområden i Uppsala län respektive Västra Götalands län skiljer sig åt. Planen består i Uppsala län av ett tilltänkt naturreservat och i Västra Götalands län av en Regional landskapsstrategi. Uppsatsens teoretiska förankring sker i ekosystemansatsen, med fokus på dess fem vägledande punkter och metodvalet är en jämförande design. Inom ramen för den jämförande designen har sedan en innehållsanalys samt kompletterande semistrukturerade intervjuer utförts.</p><p>Resultatet visar att den Regionala landskapsstrategin i dagsläget är mer i linje med ekosystemansatsen, eftersom den uppfyller tre av fem vägledande punkter medan processen med Gårdsskärskusten enbart uppfyller två av fem vägledande punkter. I landskapsstrategin är sociala aspekter centrala och det är en förklaring till varför de olika planerna skiljer sig åt. Intressant är dock att betoningen på aktörsinvolvering verkar leda till att vissa ekologiska grundprinciper som konnektivitet i landskapet tonas ned, vilka är framträdande i processen med Gårdskärskusten. Regionala landskapsstrategier kan enligt min mening innebära ett stort steg mot att hindra förlusten av biologisk mångfald i Sverige om de uppförs i varje län. Inom landskapsstrategierna är det vidare essentiellt att skyddade områden, som exempelvis Gårdsskärskusten, också inkorporerar ett landskapsstrategitänk och i många fall innebär det att skötselåtgärder fortsätter att utföras. Svårigheten kan dock vara hur finansieringen av skötseln skall ske men där finns alternativa inkomstmöjligheter, från exempelvis naturturism och stresshantering på företag, som behöver utvecklas ytterligare.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Sociology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 344-364). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ99151

Die Bedeutung kognitiver Entwicklungskapazität (Plastizität) und ihrer altersabhängigen Grenzen für Theorien kognitiven Alters wird thematisiert. Für kognitive Basisprozesse wird erwartet, daß die durch Training umgesetzte Entwicklungskapazität älterer Menschen zwar ausreicht, die Ausgangsleistung junger Erwachsener zu übertreffen, daß aber aufgrund altersbedingter Grenzen der Entwicklungskapazität nur sehr wenige ältere Erwachsene das Leistungsniveau trainierter junger Erwachsener erreichen werden. Am Beispiel eines Gedächtnistrainingsprogrammes zur Erhöhung der Merkfähigkeit für Wortlisten werden zwei Forschungsstrategien vorgestellt: (a) das Training von sehr leistungsfähigen älteren Erwachsenen und (b) Längsschnitt-Einzelfall-Studien. Die experimentellen Befunde bestätigten die theoretischen Erwartungen. Zwar waren die Leistungen der besten älteren Erwachsenen etwa doppelt so hoch wie die untrainierter junger Erwachsener, aber die durch das Training aufgedeckten Altersverluste konnten auch in bis zu 75 weiteren Übungsstunden nicht behoben werden. / The relevance of developmental reserve capacity (plasticity) and associated age-related limits for theories of cognitive aging is discussed. For basic cognitive mechanisms, older adults' developmental reserve capacity is expected to be sufficient to surpass young adults' baseline performance. Aging-related limits of this reserve, however, will allow only very few older adults to achieve levels of performance characteristic of trained young adults. Two research strategies (designed to engineer a mnemonic skill for serial recall of words) are described: (a) training of positively selected, mentally very fit older adults and (b) longitudinal single case studies. Experimental results were in agreement with the theoretical expectations. The best older adults scored about twice as high as untrained young adults but even with up to 75 additional experimental sessions the age difference generated by the cognitive intervention was not overcome.

Recurrent stress has been found to impair brain structures essential to memory. The cognitive reserve model suggests that physical activity supplies protection against memory decline in neuropathologies. The purpose of the present study was to explore whether leisure physical activity modifies the predicted negative effect stress has on memory. A sub-sample derived from the Betula Study comprised 267 participants between 50 and 65 years. Memory was assessed by a SPT free recall and stress by a self-report. Low and High frequency exercisers were analyzed separately. After age, sex and education were controlled for in hierarchical regression, results showed that stress significantly improved memory performance in Low exercisers but no significant effect in High exercisers. Thus, frequency of physical activity did not explain variation in memory performance. However, higher age did not have a negative influence on memory performance for the High exercisers.

Today everyone seems to agree that ultra-low permeability and shale reservoirs have become the potentials to transform North America's oil and gas industry to a new phase. Unfortunately, transient flow is of long duration (perhaps life of the well) in ultra-low permeability reservoirs, and traditional decline curve analysis (DCA) models can lead to significantly over-optimistic production forecasts without additional safeguards. Stretched Exponential decline model (SEDM) gives considerably more stabilized production forecast than traditional DCA models and in this work it is shown that it produces unchanging EUR forecasts after only two-three years of production data are available in selected reservoirs, notably the Barnett Shale. For an individual well, the SEDM model parameters, can be determined by the method of least squares in various ways, but the inherent nonlinear character of the least squares problem cannot be bypassed. To assure a unique solution to the parameter estimation problem, this work suggests a physics-based regularization approach, based on critical velocity concept. Applied to selected Barnett Shale gas wells, the suggested method leads to reliable and consistent EURs. To further understand the interaction of the different fracture properties on reservoir response and production decline curve behavior, a series of Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) simulations were performed. Results show that at least a 3-layer model is required to reproduce the decline behavior as captured in the published SEDM parameters for Barnett Shale. Further, DFN modeling implies a large number of parameters like fracture density and fracture length are in such a way that their effect can be compensated by the other one. The results of DFN modeling of several Barnett Shale horizontal wells, with numerous fracture stages, showed a very good agreement with the estimated SEDM model for the same wells. Estimation of P90 reserves that meet SEC criteria is required by law for all companies that raise capital in the United States. Estimation of P50 and P10 reserves that meet SPE/WPC/AAPG/SPEE Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS) criteria is important for internal resource inventories for most companies. In this work a systematic methodology was developed to quantify the range of uncertainty in production forecast using SEDM. This methodology can be used as a probabilistic tool to quantify P90, P50, and P10 reserves and hence might provide one possible way to satisfy the various legal and technical-society-suggested criteria.

In 1879 the buffalo disappeared from the Canadian North-West, leaving the Plains Indians in an extreme state of destitution. In accordance with its treaty commitments to the Indians, the federal government undertook the responsibility of feeding the Indians of Treaties Four, Six and Seven. The government, in addition, introduced the reserve agricultural program, which it was hoped would transform the Indians into a self-supporting agrarian people. While the initial costs of rationing the Indians and assisting them in farming operations were high, it was hoped that within a few years the government would be largely relieved of such expenditures.<p>In spite of the promising early returns made on reserves in the early 1880's the agricultural program did not succeed quickly enough to suit the government. One of the major reasons for the delay of the program was in fact the government's preoccupation with maintaining economy in Indian administration at all costs. When the government undertook a general reduction of expenditures on Indian administration in the North-West in 1833, any possibility of the reserve agricultural program succeeding was ended.<p>The actions of various Indian bands and leaders in the North-West during these years were characterized by a desire to achieve suitable terms which would permit their people to make the transition to the farming way of life. The general cutbacks in spending introduced in 1883, however, sparked the formation of an Indian political movement seeking improved conditions. This movement grew rapidly, and likely would have unified Indians from all sections of the North-West in insisting upon the renegotiation of the treaties during the summer of 1885, had the Metis not rebelled. Although Indian participation in the North-West Uprising of 1885 was limited, it prompted the adoption of a policy of repression by the government in dealing with the Indians. The plan of assisting the Indians in becoming self-sufficient farmers was forgotten, and they became the charges of the Department of Indian Affairs.