Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 95-102).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 275-[299]) Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1963. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 234-248).

No description available.

The subject of this research is institutional racism and how it can be addressed as an organisational change process post the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. The research was carried out using a range of methods within an over-arching constructivist approach to grounded theory in a single site case study. The case study was the Royal College of Psychiatrists which provided the researcher with full access to its organisational change programme for race equality. During the five year period of this programme the researcher was a participant observer and was able to use this role to make an in depth study of the organisational change processes. The constructivist grounded theory approach has been used with both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis to construct new theory about organisational change and institutional racism. This is an under-developed area of research and there are no examples in the literature of a similar study of this depth and duration. Soft Systems Methodology was used as a sense making tool by which the College's change programme was evaluated. The methodology reveals significant gaps between desirable and culturally feasible change. These gaps arise because standard approaches to organisational change based on systems thinking fail to address the discursive effects of institutional racism. The new contribution to knowledge provided by this research includes the identification of four dimensions of change by which institutional racism can be operationalised: organisational structure, professional boundary, group difference and personal agency. These dimensions of change are used to construct new theory about the discursive effects of institutional racism. The research concludes with the development of a new approach to organisational change based on these insights. This approach takes the professional field as the prime unit of change and uses communicative action as a means of overcoming the discursive effects of institutional racism.

The purpose of this dissertation is to address the question of how we can constitutionally justify the judicial review jurisdiction of the English courts. Two competing theories are commonly posited as providing this justification: the ultra vires theory and the common law theory. This research consists of a hermeneutical analysis of these two theories; it examines their rationales and the main themes of the debate between their supporters. It also uses immanent critique to reveal a significant lack of 'fit' between judicial review in practice and each of the theories. It is implicit within the two theories that they match the actual exercise of the supervisory jurisdiction. Thus, the lack of fit exposed by the critique brings into question any claims that either theory can provide the constitutional legitimacy for judicial review. The thesis advanced in this dissertation is in two parts. First, it is argued that the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty operates as a principle. This means that legislation may be balanced against other principles derived from the common law or other statutes. This is in contrast to both the ultra vires and common law theories in which the doctrine is assumed to function as a rule. Second, under this novel conception of parliamentary sovereignty it is not necessary to justify the operation of judicial review by reference to legislative intent or express statutory provision. Rather, the standards of good administration may be rationalized as being developed and applied pursuant to an inherent jurisdiction of the courts.

No description available.

The control of floral induction in the short day plant, Pharbitis nil, is based on a circadian rhythm. At certain times of the circadian (24 h) cycle, a brief light pulse, acting through the photoreceptor, phytochrome, can cause inhibition of induction, whilst at other time points, a brief light pulse promotes a change in phase of the rhythm. The aim of the research presented in this thesis was to investigate the signal transduction pathway linking perception of light by phytochrome to its physiological action on floral induction in Pharbitis nil, and how the circadian oscillator interacts with and influences this pathway. Experimental evidence has implicated calcium in both the regulation of circadian rhythms and in phytochrome action, and more specifically, in the control of floral induction. It was therefore decided to investigate whether the phosphatidylinositol cycle, which, via the key signalling component, l(l,4,5)P3, releases calcium from intracellular stores in animal cells, is involved in the transduction of light signals physiologically active in floral induction. In physiological studies, the calcium channel blocker Verapamil and the calcium chelator EGT A both enhanced the inhibition of floral induction by a sub-maximal light pulse at the ninth hour of an otherwise inductive period. EGT A applied before an inductive dark period significantly reduced the level of flowering, but did not affect flowering if applied at the end of induction. these findings imply that calcium is necessary for induction to take place. In studies investigating the metabolism of I( 1,4,S)P 3 by a soluble extract from Pharbitis nil cotyledons, elevated calcium levels were found to slow the metabolism of l(l,4,5)P3• Lithium, which blocks inositol-1-phosphatase activity in animal cells, causing inositol phosphates to accumulate and blocking the PI cycle, reduced the sensitivity of the response of inhibition to a night break, and caused a decrease in flowering when given before or after an inductive period. These results were interpreted as being a consequence of the characteristic period lengthening effect of lithium. In studies on the metabolism of I( 1,4,5)P 3 by a soluble extract from Pharbitis nil cotyledons, no effect of LiCl was observed, either on the profile of inositol phosphates obtained, or on the rate of metabolism. Therefore it is likely that the effects of lithium on floral induction are not brought about via perturbation of the PI signal transduction cascade. Components of the PI cycle were identified from Pharbitis nil cotyledons (the inductive organs) by radiolabelling with [32P]-orthophosphate and subsequent separation of the aqueous components by HPLC and the lipid components by TLC, and comparison with authentic standards. However, radiolabelling did not permit identification of any light stimulated changes in levels of I( 1,4,5)P 3• This was because of the large variation found in label uptake by the·seedlings. Use of a radio-ligand binding assay specific for I(l ,4,5)P 3, however, permitted identification of an increase in I( 1,4,5)P 3 in response to a 30 s light pulse at the ninth hour of an inductive dark period, which causes inhibition of flowering without affecting the phase of the rhythm. Light did not affect levels of I( 1,4,5)P 3 when given at the third hour of an inductive period, when it has no physiological effect, or at the sixth hour which causes phase shifting of the circadian rhythm. The implications of these findings, that light acting through phytochrome only instigates an increase in I( 1,4,5)P 3 at certain discrete time points of the circadian cycle, are discussed in relationship to the phytochrome multi-gene family, and the multiple modes of phytochrome action, with the implication that there must be other additional signalling systems for transducing light signals perceived by the photoreceptor phytochrome, and that more than one phytochrome species must be active in the control of floral induction.