This thesis examines cultural policy for film in Scotland, from 1997 to 2010. It explores the extent to which the industry is shaped by film policy strategies and through the agency of public funding bodies. It reflects on how Scottish Screen, Scotland’s former screen agency, articulated its role as a national institution concerned with both commercial and cultural remits, with the conflicting interests of different industry groups. The study examines how the agency developed funding schemes to fulfil policy directives during a tumultuous period in Scottish cultural policy history, following the establishment of the Scottish Parliament with the Scotland Act 1998 and preceding the Independence Referendum Act 2013. In order to investigate how policy has shaped the development of a national film industry, a further two case studies are explored. These are Tartan Shorts, Scotland’s former flagship short film scheme, and the Audience Development Fund, Scotland’s first project based film exhibition scheme. The first study explores the planning, implementation and evaluation of the scheme as part of the agency’s talent development strategy. The outcomes of this study show the potential impact of funding methods aimed at developing and retaining Scottish filmmaking talent. Thereafter, the Scottish exhibition sector is discussed; a formerly unexplored field within film policy discussions and academic debate. It outlines Scottish Screen’s legacy to current film exhibition funding practices and the practical mechanisms the agency utilised to foster Scottish audiences. By mapping the historical and political terrain, the research analyses the specificity of Scotland within the UK context and explores areas in which short-term, context-driven policies become problematic. The work concludes by presenting the advantages and issues caused by film funding practices, advocating what is needed for the film industry in Scotland today with suggestions for long-term and cohesive policy development.

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This thesis is about investment and access in network industries. More specifically, the aim of the thesis is to build theoretical models to examine some of the aspects of the link between access prices and incentives to invest in network infrastructure. We consider two basic questions relating to these issues, namely (i) how best to fund an incumbent network owner's investment when the network is an essential input for the operation of downstream providers, and (ii) what level of coverage a new firm which enters a market by building its own network infrastructure will choose. The choice of access prices has drawn a lot of attention from regulation economists and is a central aspect of regulatory planning. However, while becoming central to policy debate in the area, the effect of this choice on firms' incentives to invest in network infrastructure has received only limited attention. The questions considered here are motivated by examples in several network utilities in the UK and abroad. In both cases, substantial debate taking place concerning the choice of access prices and, at the same time, major investment in network infrastructure is required and is indeed taking place.

Este trabalho versa sobre a possibilidade de elaboração de uma teoria aristotélica da justiça para com animais. Para levar a cabo tal proposta, o autor demonstra como ARISTÓTELES admite a existência de âmbitos de justiça, que são ditos por homonímia. Esses âmbitos de justiça incluem algumas relações que ARISTÓTELES considerava como se dando entre desiguais, como a relação entre senhor e escravo, e a entre pai e filho. O que todas essas relações têm em comum é a presença de comunidade e amizade. Como comunidade, amizade e justiça são sempre encontradas juntas, todas as relações entre aqueles que têm algo em comum podem ser ditas relações de justiça, ainda que justiça por homonímia. Humanos e outros animais possuem muitas coisas em comum: capacidades do corpo e da alma, além de ação e modos de vida. Então, deve existir um âmbito de justiça por homonímia para com animais não-humanos, ainda que ARISTÓTELES não o tenha reconhecido. / This work is about the possibility of an Aristotelian theory of justice toward nonhuman animals. In order to do this, the author demonstrates how ARISTOTLE admitted the existence of nonpolitical spheres of justice, that are said justice according to homonymy. This spheres included some relationships that ARISTOTLE regarded as relationships between unequals, as that between master to slave, and that between father to son. What all this relationships have in common is the presence of community and friendship. As community, friendship and justice are always find together, all relationship between those who have something in common can be said relationships of justice, even if justice according to homonymy. Humans and other animals have many things in common: body and soul capacities, besides action and ways of life. So, there must exist some sphere of justice according to homonymy toward nonhuman animals, even if ARISTOTLE did not recognize it.

Este trabalho versa sobre a possibilidade de elaboração de uma teoria aristotélica da justiça para com animais. Para levar a cabo tal proposta, o autor demonstra como ARISTÓTELES admite a existência de âmbitos de justiça, que são ditos por homonímia. Esses âmbitos de justiça incluem algumas relações que ARISTÓTELES considerava como se dando entre desiguais, como a relação entre senhor e escravo, e a entre pai e filho. O que todas essas relações têm em comum é a presença de comunidade e amizade. Como comunidade, amizade e justiça são sempre encontradas juntas, todas as relações entre aqueles que têm algo em comum podem ser ditas relações de justiça, ainda que justiça por homonímia. Humanos e outros animais possuem muitas coisas em comum: capacidades do corpo e da alma, além de ação e modos de vida. Então, deve existir um âmbito de justiça por homonímia para com animais não-humanos, ainda que ARISTÓTELES não o tenha reconhecido. / This work is about the possibility of an Aristotelian theory of justice toward nonhuman animals. In order to do this, the author demonstrates how ARISTOTLE admitted the existence of nonpolitical spheres of justice, that are said justice according to homonymy. This spheres included some relationships that ARISTOTLE regarded as relationships between unequals, as that between master to slave, and that between father to son. What all this relationships have in common is the presence of community and friendship. As community, friendship and justice are always find together, all relationship between those who have something in common can be said relationships of justice, even if justice according to homonymy. Humans and other animals have many things in common: body and soul capacities, besides action and ways of life. So, there must exist some sphere of justice according to homonymy toward nonhuman animals, even if ARISTOTLE did not recognize it.

Este trabalho versa sobre a possibilidade de elaboração de uma teoria aristotélica da justiça para com animais. Para levar a cabo tal proposta, o autor demonstra como ARISTÓTELES admite a existência de âmbitos de justiça, que são ditos por homonímia. Esses âmbitos de justiça incluem algumas relações que ARISTÓTELES considerava como se dando entre desiguais, como a relação entre senhor e escravo, e a entre pai e filho. O que todas essas relações têm em comum é a presença de comunidade e amizade. Como comunidade, amizade e justiça são sempre encontradas juntas, todas as relações entre aqueles que têm algo em comum podem ser ditas relações de justiça, ainda que justiça por homonímia. Humanos e outros animais possuem muitas coisas em comum: capacidades do corpo e da alma, além de ação e modos de vida. Então, deve existir um âmbito de justiça por homonímia para com animais não-humanos, ainda que ARISTÓTELES não o tenha reconhecido. / This work is about the possibility of an Aristotelian theory of justice toward nonhuman animals. In order to do this, the author demonstrates how ARISTOTLE admitted the existence of nonpolitical spheres of justice, that are said justice according to homonymy. This spheres included some relationships that ARISTOTLE regarded as relationships between unequals, as that between master to slave, and that between father to son. What all this relationships have in common is the presence of community and friendship. As community, friendship and justice are always find together, all relationship between those who have something in common can be said relationships of justice, even if justice according to homonymy. Humans and other animals have many things in common: body and soul capacities, besides action and ways of life. So, there must exist some sphere of justice according to homonymy toward nonhuman animals, even if ARISTOTLE did not recognize it.

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This thesis focuses on the evolution of the Internet system. It examines the dynamics of competing and collaborating technologies in the invention and development of computer networking technologies in general. In particular, it examines the negotiations among social groups with different economic and political interests in designing the Internet system. This system has been shaped by competition and collaboration between the US and other countries (other regions) reflecting their different institutional arrangements in the telecommunications sector and the dynamics of uneven power relationships. Population dynamics, i.e. similarities and differences in the growth and pervasiveness of the Internet system between regions and countries, are also examined to uncover how the co-evolution between technological system and social, cultural, and economic systems countries influenced by global and local interplay. This thesis combines techno-economic and socio-technological approaches in technology studies to address the 'localisation' of a technological system, how a system adapted to or was influenced by the local context of its application. This research focuses on empirical evidence about the evolution of the Internet system, recognizing that the Internet system is one instance of a large technological system. In addition, the political economy perspective provides a foundation for an integrated analysis of the local situation and the wider power structure which illustrates the economic and political interests that are embedded in the design and development of the Internet system. The main research questions are how have political and economic interests shaped the evolution of the Internet system and why does the outcome of the Internet system's development vary across countries? The Internet system emerged from one of the early experimental computer networks in the US, the UK and France during the development of packet switching technology and it involved mainly computer scientists. The development of packet switching technologies has been shaped by battles for control between network operators and computer manufacturers as a consequence of technological convergence; and between telecommunication operators and advanced users (e.g. computer engineers and scientists in the case of the Internet system) in the process of institutional change in telecommunications sector. The analysis shows how these battles were guided by different interests and strategies between, notably, the US and European countries. The analysis of the population dynamics of Internet system development confirms its uneven development between countries following regional, economic and cultural routes. It also confirms that the international spread of the Internet network is influenced by different choices of ICTs and non-linear relationships between competing technologies. The sources of uneven development of the Internet system are founded in the global expansion of the Internet system. These sources are shown to include: asymmetric development of research networks between regions and countries, the effects of the different economic and political interests of the US (and European countries) in connecting the Internet to other countries and regions, the US-centered network design and the international financial settlement regime for the Internet in addition to the existing technological and economic gaps and cultural differences between countries that influence the localisation of the Internet system. The empirical findings that emerge from the econometric modelling demonstrate that knowledge production and distribution capabilities, global integration efforts, economic strength and equality of income distribution, size of social system, telecommunication policies, science and technology policies, prices for access and using of the Internet, all influence the localisation of the Internet system. The thesis contests many accounts of the diffusion of the Internet that are based on 'technological inevitability' and the 'universality' of the technical methods chosen.

This thesis is concerned with the investigation of methods of providing support to non-expert users of telecare systems by creating easy-to-use interfaces and assessing the effect of adapting the interface to suit the cognitive style of individual users. The contributions to knowledge fall into three main areas; firstly the innovations built into a prototype adaptive telecare system, secondly the identification of the sort of tasks and the types of media that best suit different cognitive style groups, and thirdly the proposal of a new dimension of cognitive style that classifies individuals by their perception of visual compared to auditory information. The first phase of the project is concerned with the design and implementation of a prototype adaptive telecare system that demonstrates existing usability principles. The prototype system enables users to communicate over the Internet using text, audio and video, and to enable access to information stored within the system and on the Internet. The adaptive features include the automatic selection of information based on the knowledge of the user and the automatic selection of a presentation style that is based on the way the user perceives information. The system contains a number of innovations that relate to the application of the technology used to build the system, how information is structured, and the design of the style of interaction. The second phase of the project is concerned with assessing the effect of designing interfaces using different media that are suitable for individual users based on how they perceive and process information. Cognitive style is found to significantly affect performance in few tasks, but relative differences of performance are observed between the cognitive style groups in the different types of task and in the different media versions of each task. A major contribution to knowledge is the identification of the tasks and the types of media that suit different cognitive style groups, as this will help developers of multimedia systems to design interfaces that will improve the performance ofusers in each cognitive style group. The major contribution to the field is the proposal of a new visual-auditory dimension of cognitive style. The assessment of cognitive style using a visual test is found to be significantly different to an assessment using an auditory test. An individual's style can be calculated using an existing cognitive styles analysis test augmented by the new audio test presented in chapter 8. The new visual and auditory classification of cognitive style is found to explain the performance of subjects to a greater degree than the old purely visual classification.