This is the first such study of Operation Banner: taking three Battalions as case studies, drawing upon extensive interviews with former soldiers, primary archival sources including unpublished diaries, this thesis closely examines soldiers' behaviour at the small infantry-unit level (Battalion downwards), including the leadership, cohesion, orientation and motivation that sustained, restrained and occasionally obstructed soldiers in Northern Ireland. It contends that there are aspects of wider scholarly literatures - from sociology, anthropology, criminology, and psychology - that can throw new light on our understanding of the British Army in Northern Ireland. The thesis will also contribute fresh insights and analysis of important events during the early years of Operation Banner, including the murders of two men in County Fermanagh, Michael Naan and Andrew Murray, and that of Warrenpoint hotel owner Edmund Woolsey in South Armagh in the autumn of 1972. The central argument of this thesis is that British Army small infantry units enjoyed considerable autonomy during the early years of Operation Banner and could behave in a vengeful, highly aggressive or benign and conciliatory way as their local commanders saw fit. The strain of civil-military relations at a senior level was replicated operationally – as soldiers came to resent the limitations of waging war in the UK. The unwillingness of the Army's senior leadership to thoroughly investigate and punish serious transgressions of standard operating procedures in Northern Ireland created uncertainty among soldiers over expected behaviour and desired outcomes. Mid-ranking officers and NCOs often played important roles in restraining soldiers in Northern Ireland. The degree of violence used in Northern was much less that that seen in the colonial wars fought since the end of World War II. But overly aggressive groups of soldiers could also be mistaken for high-functioning units – with negative consequences for the Army's overall strategy in Northern Ireland.

This diploma thesis is focused on Czech-Scottish cultural standards at work environment. The main aim is to define Scottish cultural standards at work environment from the Czech point of view and to compare them with the theory. The thesis begins with the definition of culture, cultural dimensions introduced by G. Hofstede, F. Trompenaars and E. T. Hall and cultural standards by A. Thomas. It continues to the description of Scotland with its geography, history, language, economic situation and various systems in the society, such as the legal system, educational system, health care system, a role of the family and religion. Further, Scottish national identity, key values and traditions are identified and there are added some information about work in Scotland. The thesis then leads us onwards to the determination of eight cultural standards at work environment and six cultural standards connected with the daily life in Scotland based on the qualitative research. The standards concerning work environment are further compared with the theory. At the end of the thesis, there are provided some recommendations for Czechs who are going to work with Scots.

Die phytotoxisch wirkende Trichloressigsäure (TCA) wurde bis in die 1980er Jahre in Form von Natriumtrichloracetat (TCAA- Na) als Herbizid in der Land- und Forstwirtschaft eingesetzt. Mittlerweile ist die Verwendung von TCA als Herbizid aufgrund unerwünschter Nebenwirkungen auf Nutzpflanzen in den meisten europäischen Ländern und vielen weiteren Staaten der Erde untersagt. Tetrachlorethen (PER) gehört zur Stoffgruppe der leichtflüchtigen Chlorkohlenwasserstoffe (LCKW) und findet weltweit hauptsächlich als Entfettungs- und Reinigungsmittel in der metallverarbeitenden sowie chemischen Industrie Anwendung. Darüber hinaus kommen Altlasten, wie z.B. die im Landkreis Bitterfeld (Sachsen- Anhalt) gelegene Deponie Grube Antonie als anthropogene Flächenquelle von PER- Emissionen in Betracht. Die Grube Antonie verfügt über ein sehr großes Inventar sowohl an LCKW als auch an TCA und ist u.a. von Pioniergehölzen, wie der Birke (Betula pendula ROTH), besiedelt. PER wird unter bestimmten physikochemischen Bedingungen in der Atmosphäre zu TCA abgebaut. Darüber hinaus ist mittlerweile bekannt, daß PER nach stomatärer bzw. cuticulärer Resorption in der Blatt- bzw. Nadelmatrix von Pflanzen in Anwesenheit von reaktiven Sauerstoffspezies (ROS) u.a. zu phytotoxischer TCA metabolisiert werden kann. Aufgrund dieser biogenen TCA- Bildung wird PER auch in Verbindung mit neuartigen Waldschäden gebracht. Sowohl regionale als auch weltweit durchgeführte Untersuchungen zeigten, daß besonders Nadelgehölze, wie die Kiefer (Pinus sylvestris L.) z.T. hohe TCA- Gehalte in den Nadeln akkumulieren. Während in den letzten Jahren der Kenntnisstand hinsichtlich der natürlichen und anthropogenen TCA- Quellen immer mehr zunahm, ist über die schädigende Wirkung von TCA sowie ihrer Präcursoren (wie z.B. PER) auf Wild- und Forstpflanzen bisher nur wenig bekannt. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit bestand darin, anhand von ökotoxikologischen Untersuchungen sowie pflanzenphysiologischen (Chl a - Fluoreszenz), dendrologischen und biochemischen Meßmethoden zu prüfen, ob von Tetrachlorethen (PER) und dessen Metabolit Trichloressigsäure (TCA) ein phytototoxisches Risiko, insbesondere für die Baumarten Kiefer (Pinus sylvestris L.) und Birke (Betula pendula ROTH), ausgeht. Zur Erfüllung der Zielstellung wurden Monitoringuntersuchungen an PER/TCA- belasteten Birken, Untersuchungen zur Aufnahme, Akkumulation und Wirkung von über den Boden/Wurzel- Pfad appliziertem TCAA bei Kiefer sowie mehrjährige Untersuchungen zur PER- Applikation über den Luftpfad in Expositionskammern, zur Bildung und Akkumulation von TCA und zu PER/TCA- induzierten Wirkungen an Birken und Kiefern durchgeführt.

The remains from a sub-fossil pine forest burried in layers of peat deposits at the northern edge of the CHKO Křivoklátsko in the Central Bohemia is completely unique findings for the area of the Czech Republic. It offers new opportunities for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and related climate changes during the Late Glacial and early Holocene epoch. The methods of dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating were used to date subfossil trees. The results of radiocarbon dating determined the existence of the forest in the period approximately 12,000 to 10,300 cal yr BP. The dendrochronological analyses revealed two continuous floating chronologies. The chronology RD4, which is long 200 years, originates from the Younger Dryas. The chronology RD6, 300 years long, originates from the Preboreal. The growth dynamics of the forest were reconstructed on the basis of the tree- ring analysis. Hydrological regime has been identified as a major disturbancy factor that influenced the growth of trees. This has been evident from synchronous phase depressions in the growth of synchronized tree-ring series. The high water table was the main cause of their extinction. This was in concordance with the results of macrofossils analyses. The effect of hydrological regime was largely influenced by microsite differences...

The purposes of this study were to formulate a definition of the "bob-wheel" stanza in which a number of Middle English and Middle Scots poems were written, to inventory and describe these works, with special attention to the structure of individual stanzas, to identify the genres, the periods, and the dialects in which they were written, and to trace their origin and development between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. The dissertation includes a general introduction of the topic, chapters on the influence of Latin and Romance stanzaic structure, a chronological survey of the bob-wheel poems, and a conclusion in which theories concerning the origins, development, and decline of the form are discussed.

The productivity of agricultural and forest ecosystems in regions at higher latitudes is to a large extent governed by low temperature and moisture conditions. Environmental conditions are acting both above- and below-ground and regulating carbon fluxes and evapotranspiration. However, the understanding of various feedbacks between vegetation and environmental conditions is still unclear. In this thesis, two studies were conducted to understand the physical and biological processes. In the first study, the aim was to simulate soil temperature and moisture dynamics in the bare soil with seasonal frost conditions in China. In the second study, the aims were to model seasonal courses of carbon and evapotranspiration and to examine the responses of photosynthesis, transpiration and respiration on environmental conditions in a boreal Scots pine ecosystem in Finland. In both studies the CoupModel was applied to simulate the dynamic responses of the systems. Both sites represented investigations from which a high number of measurements were available. To understand to what extent the data could be used to increase the understanding of the systems, the Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) was applied. The GLUE method was useful to reduce basic uncertainties with respect to parameter ranges, model structures and measurements. The strong interactions between soil temperature and moisture processes have indicated by a few behavioral models obtained when constrained by combined temperature and moisture criteria. Model performance on sensible and latent heat fluxes and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) also indicated the coupled processes within the system. Seasonal and diurnal courses were reproduced successfully with reduced parameter ranges. However, uncertainties on what is the most general regulation for transpiration and NEE are still unclear and need further systematic investigations. / QC 20101206

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Advances in scanner technology have made it possible to obtain high resolution (6000 dpi) images of tree samples. Due to the images’ increased capability of resolving anatomical wood structures, the new technology could be of benefit to dendroclimatology.  This study attempts to expand on Rydval et al.’s (2017) previous 800 years reconstruction of Scottish summer temperatures by assessing whether a higher image resolution of samples has the ability to improve the accuracy of the region’s temperature reconstruction. Two independent blue intensity (BI) chronologies, based on differing image resolutions (6000 dpi and 2400 dpi) of Scots pine samples, were developed and subjected to standard detrending procedures. Raw data from Rydval et al.’s (2017) prior study was used to develop the chronology which was based on the 2400 dpi images. On the other hand, newly acquired data was utilized for the other chronology. In order to resolve the primary question that this paper explores, the characteristics and strength of the two BI chronologies’ climatic signals were compared. In addition, the newly acquired data was used to develop a 318 years reconstruction of mean July/August temperatures for Scotland.  Calibrations against meteorological data indicated that the improved image resolution did not generate a positive effect on the chronology’s ability to retain a reliable climatic signal. The study’s findings were thus inconclusive in showing that a higher image resolution of Scots pine samples improves the accuracy of temperature reconstructions for Scotland. Future studies are encouraged to investigate the applicability of dendroclimatic computer softwares (i.e. CooRecorder) with regard to a high image resolution.  From a broader perspective, this study contributes to setting climate change in a more accurate long term spatiotemporal context. This is crucial in predicting future climate variability, as well as understanding the role and extent of anthropogenic forcing. / Framsteg inom skannerteknik har gjort det möjligt att få bilder av trädprover med hög upplösning (6000 dpi). På grund av bildernas ökade förmåga att lösa anatomiska träd strukturer kan den nya tekniken vara till nytta för dendroklimatologi.  Denna studie strävar mot att utveckla Rydval et al.s (2017) tidigare 800 års rekonstruktion av skotska sommartemperaturer genom att bedöma om en högre bildupplösning av prover har förmågan att förbättra noggrannheten för regionens temperaturrekonstruktion. Två oberoende blåintensitet (BI) -kronologier, baserade på olika bildupplösningar (6000 dpi och 2400 dpi) av skotska träprover, framtogs och utsattes för standardförfaranden. Rådata från Rydval et al.s (2017) tidigare studie användes för att utveckla kronologin som baserades på 2400 dpi-bilderna. Å andra sidan användes nyförvärvade data för den andra kronologin. För att besvara den primära frågan som denna studie undersöker jämfördes egenskaperna och styrkan hos de två BI-kronologins klimat signaler. Dessutom används de nyförvärvade uppgifterna för att utveckla en 318 års rekonstruktion av genomsnittliga juli/augusti temperaturer för Skottland.  Kalibreringar mot meteorologiska data indikerade att den förbättrade bildupplösningen inte genererade en positiv effekt på kronologins förmåga att behålla en pålitlig klimat signal. Studiens resultat var således otvetydiga när de visade att en högre bildupplösning av skotsk tallprover förbättrar noggrannheten i temperatur rekonstruktioner för Skottland. Framtida studier uppmuntras att undersöka användbarheten av dendroklimatiska datorprogram (dvs CooRecorder) med avseende på en ultrahög bildupplösning.  Ur ett bredare perspektiv bidrar denna studie till att placera klimatförändringarna i ett mer exakt långsiktigt rumsligt tidsmässigt sammanhang. Detta är avgörande för att förutsäga framtida klimatvariationer samt förstå rollen och omfattningen av antropogen tvingande.

Early modern English Catholic eschatology, the belief that the present was the last age and an associated concern with mankind’s destiny, has been overlooked in the historiography. Historians have established that early modern Protestants had an eschatological understanding of the present. This thesis seeks to balance the picture and the sources indicate that there was an early modern English Catholic counter narrative. This thesis suggests that the Catholic eschatological understanding of contemporary events affected political action. It investigates early modern English Catholic eschatology in the context of proscription and persecution of Catholicism between 1558 and 1603. Devotional eschatology was the corner stone of individual Catholic eschatology and placed earthly life in an apocalyptic time-frame. Catholic devotional works challenged the regime and questioned Protestantism. Devotional eschatology is suggestive of a worldview which expected an impending apocalypse but there was a reluctance to date the End. With an eschatological outlook normalised by daily devotional eschatology the Reformation and contemporary events were interpreted apocalyptically. An apocalyptic understanding of the break with Rome was not exclusively Protestant. Indeed, the identification of Antichrist was not just a Protestant concern but rather the linchpin of Reformation debates between Catholics and Protestants. Some identified Elizabeth as Jezebel, the Whore of Babylon. The Bull of Excommunication of 1570 and its language provided papal authority for identifications of Elizabeth as the Whore. The execution of Mary Queen of Scots was a flashpoint which enabled previously hidden ideas to burst into public discourse. This was dangerous as eschatology and apocalypticism was a language of political action. An eschatological understanding of contemporary events encouraged conspiracy. The divine plan required human agents. Catholic prophecy and conspiracy show that eschatology did not just affect how the future was thought about but also had implications for the present. This thesis raises questions about Catholic loyalism which other scholars have also begun to challenge. Yet attempts to depose or murder the monarch was not the only response which could be adopted. Belief that one was living in the End also supported what this thesis terms ‘militant passivity’. Martyrs understood their suffering as a form of eschatological agency which revealed and confirmed the identities of the Antichrist and the Whore. The Book of the Apocalypse promised that they would be rewarded at God’s approaching Judgement and the debates of the Reformation would be settled by the ultimate Judge. As martyrs came to symbolise the English Catholic community, it came to understand itself eschatologically. This thesis argues that acknowledging the eschatological dimensions of Catholic perception and action helps us to re-think the nature of early modern English Catholicism.

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