Against a back-drop of changes which since the 1980s have been making the UK’s welfare support regime for migrants progressively more restrictive, the research programme critically analysed the impact of European Law, namely EU Law and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the ECHR), on the regime. The enquiry was undertaken in the research period 2003-2011. After considering historical and theoretical contexts, the factors informing reforms to the regime, and the impact of EU ‘soft measures’ at the start of the research period, the research examined the impact of Convention rights-based interventions following entry into operation of the UK’s Human Rights Act 1998 (from October 2000). It sought to establish whether this could be said to amount to a ‘safety-net’ for claimants without a substantive right to welfare support, in some cases as a result of restrictions linked to immigration status. Consideration was then given to EU Law aspects, including ‘free movement’ rights, and the rights under EU Law of new arrivals from other Member States. This analysed the impact of the UK’s restrictions on support from 1st May 2004 affecting nationals from the A8 and A2 countries coming to the UK: restrictions informed by expectations that claimants should ‘reciprocate’ for their support and ‘contribute’ by taking up employment opportunities and helping to meet the labour market’s needs. Comparisons were made with approaches taken by the two other countries admitting such nations in 2004, Sweden and Ireland. The enquiry then focused on the UK’s scheme of implementation of Directive 2004/38 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely in the Member States. Much of the enquiry focused on distinctive features of the scheme such as the operation of the ‘right to reside’, including requirements that claimants must normally be ‘economically active’ or self-sufficient, and the courts’ role in interpreting and applying the scheme, and dealing with challenges based on ‘proportionality’ and discrimination arguments. Collectively, the works informed by the research provide a critical analysis of the UK support regime’s development in the areas referred to. Conclusions are provided in the ‘Research Conclusions’ section of the analysis.

No description available.

Particle shape is a parameter which has been largely neglected in the study of sediment transport by wind. Many methods of measuring shape have been published. Those which characterize shape in pebble and sand sized sediments are reviewed here. In order to test the influence of shape on aspects of particle movement and on sediment transport rate, two very differently shaped populations were used, (a) a reasonably equant quartz dune sand and (b) a platy dune sand composed largely of shell fragments. Recommendations are made for reasonably fast and accurate methods of shape measurement, including Sneed and Folk's Maximum Projection Sphericity and Winklemolen's Rollability. The possible effects of shape on saltation were examined in terms of grain trajectories and the grain's interaction with the bed at collision using video and high speed photography. The latter enabled individual particles (from a coarse, medium or fine size fraction) to be followed as they impacted the bed, through to ricochet and the possible ejection of previously stationary bed grains. Experiments were conducted over horizontal and sloping beds, the latter representing different parts of the stoss face of a ripple. It was found that shape, in terms of the sphericity of the particles has a marked effect on collision. The near spherical quartz sand causes more dislodgements and more ejecta per collision than the much less spherical platy shell sand. The quartz sand is also more likely to approach and ricochet from the bed at higher angles to the horizontal than the shelly sand, and to rebound more vigorously. Thus, the bed activity generated by collision increases with an increase in particle sphericity. However, high speed photography of grain dislodgement by wind action alone indicates that, as sphericity decreases, there is a greater probability that a grain will be entrained aerodynamically. Shape also influences trajectories. Video films show that grain paths become longer and flatter as sphericity decreases. These observations indicate that the transport rate for grains with a low sphericity will be greater than those with a high sphericity, both in terms of aerodynamic entrainment and of longer trajectories. However, once collision becomes important in the dislodgement of surface grains, the greater bed activity seen with more spherical particles means that their transport rate will increase. These findings are supported by the observations of Williams (1964) and of Willetts, Rice and Swaine (1982), that sediment transport is promoted at low windspeeds by less spherical grains, while the opposite occurs at high windspeeds.

No description available.

The investigation of renal pathophysiology and toxicology has traditionally been advanced by the development of increasingly defined and refined in vitro preparations. This study has sought to develop and evaluate various methods of producing pure samples of renal proximal tubules (PTs) from the Fischer rat. The introduction summarised the most common in vitro preparations together with the parameters used to monitor viability - particularly with regard to toxic events. The most prevalent isolation methods have involved the use of collagenase to produce dissociation of the cortex. However, the present study has shown that even the mildest collagenase treatment caused significant structural damage which resulted in a longevity of only 3hr in suspension. An alternative mechanical isolation technique has been developed in this study that consists of perfusion loading the renal glomeruli with Fe304 followed by disruption of the cortex by homogenisation and sequential sieving. The glomeruli are removed magnetically and the PTs then harvested by a 64μM sieve. PTs isolated in this way showed a vastly superior structural preservation over their collagenase isolated counterparts; also oxygen consumption and enzyme leakage measurements showed a longevity in excess of 6hr when incubated in a very basic medium. Attempts were then made to measure the cytosolic calcium levels in both mechanical and collagenase isolated PTs using the fluorescent calcium indicator Fura. However results were inconclusive due to significant binding of the Fura to the external PT surfaces. In conclusion, PTs prepared by the present mechanical isolation technique exhibit superior preservation and longevity compared with even the mildest collagenase isolation technique and hence appear to offer potential advantages over collagenase isolation as an in vitro renal system.

58 The Abstract of my thesis The topic of my thesis is the legislation on the bylaws (statutes) of the banks in the Czech Republic. The bylaws are the most important documents not only of the banks, but also of every joint-stock company in general. The aim of this paper is to describe the present (contemporary, actual) national (Czech) legislation on the banks' bylaws and to emphasize the differences between the bank's bylaws and the bylaws of the ordinary joint-stock company. The first two chapters are focused on the explanation of the (the first two chapters explain) basic terms used in this work, specifically the terms "bank" and "the bylaws of the bank" in the light of the Czech law. In the following chapter I attempt to discuss division of the necessary parts of the bylaws. Then I continue with more detailed analysis of the bylaws requisites prescribed by the Czech Commercial Code and also required under the Law on Banks. At the end of this chapter there is a comparison of the particular provisions of the two leading banks' bylaws regarding their management and control systems, since these matters are individually tailored for each bank. The subsequent text mentions optional provisions that can be included in the bylaws, their possible division (categorization), and it presents (shows) few practical...

No description available.

No description available.

This work, published over a five-year-period, focuses upon the availability of mental condition defences to vulnerable offenders. The question addressed is ‘to what extent do mental condition defences adequately accommodate the circumstances of vulnerable offenders within the criminal justice system?’ The publications are timely in charting a pathway for the interpretation and application of the (then) recently introduced partial defences to murder, and recent reviews/reforms to mental condition defences across England and Wales (‘E&W’), Scotland, New South Wales (‘NSW’), Victoria, New Zealand (‘NZ’), and the United States (‘US’), before advancing optimal reform solutions. The publications fall under four themes, each addressing essential aims and objectives of the study. The overarching aim is to provide optimal reform solutions to problems faced by vulnerable offenders in claiming mental condition defences. The objective is to provide a critical exposition of these problems before advancing reform proposals based upon the experiences of the jurisdictions identified. The research method is largely doctrinal 'black-letter', comparative, and reform- focused. The nature of the research means that socio-legal factors also play a significant role. This collection provides a leading point of reference in the field of mental condition defences, which represents one of the most important and sensitive criminal law areas; this work reveals significant problems in the operation and application of the law. The central conclusion reached is that in the context of mental condition defences, a rebalancing exercise must take place, which ensures vulnerable offenders are at the centre of discourse, policy, and reform initiatives. In this regard, these publications provide insights into the interpretation of proposed, new and existing law as it applies to vulnerable offenders. This focus upon making mental condition defences more accessible to the vulnerable offender, and the optimal reform framework advanced demonstrates the extent to which this can be achieved, without risking the integrity of mental condition defences; the NZ Law Commission is considering several of the proposals.

In this PhD by Published Work the author is advocating a right to security broadly grounded in ‘communitarian’ ideals. The ‘absolutist’ state theory of, say, Thomas Hobbes, to protect society from collapse, pays too little attention to genuine fears that the state can actually pose a threat to security; in giving the state significant powers of security, it can undermine the very values one is seeking to secure; and is there actual evidence that substantial gains in state power over the last fifteen years or so, since ‘9/11’, for example, have actually made nations more safe? But liberalism, at least the form suggested by, say, Ronald Dworkin, in being unprepared to accept a balance between rights and security, seemingly overlooks threats that undermine the very freedoms liberals like Dworkin wish to protect. And the liberal philosophy, at least its John Locke traditions, of absolute freedoms is too individualistic and attaches too little weight to responsibilities. Plotting a course, therefore, through these criticisms of state absolutism and liberalism one therefore ‘finds’ communitarianism as a philosophy to support a right to security. The author’s ‘communitarian’, right to security is based on an expansive interpretation of ‘positive’ duties of the state, to protect, say, the rights to life of individuals from violations by non-state actors such as suspected terrorists. The author is therefore not proposing an autonomous right to security; he is developing an existing one. And as the author still sees his right to security as largely a justiciable one enforceable before the courts, his approach is a more moderate aspect of communitarianism embracing some liberal ideas of constitutionalism such as judicial review.