As the globalisation process accelerates there is a growing need for individual countries to understand the bases for effective performance in international trade. Because it makes up such a large share of world trade, it is especially important to understand what determines effectiveness in exporting. Despite much empirical research, especially over recent decades, the state of knowledge on this topic remains fragmented, unclear and unsatisfactory. The motivation for the present study was therefore twofold: dissatisfaction with the present state of knowledge in this vital area and the importance to the UK economy of improving its export performance in a world of increasing competition. Its aim was to contribute to the resolution of both. In addition to finding what appeared to be quite serious methodological problems in a group of earlier studies, our review of the literature indicated that the best prospects for identifying the determinants of effective exporting were to be found, not at national or sectoral level but at that of the individual firm. Accordingly, an empirical survey research project was developed. To minimise unquantifiable inter-sectoral variability, it was focused on a single sector of industry. For a range of reasons, including the limited amount of information available about its current export activity and prospects, the UK knitted apparel industry was chosen. Special care having been taken to assemble the fullest possible sampling frame and to develop a suitable instrument (which included an export performance model), a mail survey in the form of a stratified random sample of exporting UK manufacturers of knitted apparel was carried through from late 2000. Persistent follow-up by mail and telephone generated a response rate of 70 per cent, comprising close to half of the sampling frame, that was representative of all company size bands, levels of exporting and products. The overall quality of the responses was good; tests of non-response did not find any indications of non-response bias. Data analysis, designed to test thoroughly our 10 export-determinants hypotheses, relied primarily on Pearsonian correlation at the bivariate level then sequentially on Multiple Regression Analysis, Canonical Correlation Analysis and Partial Least Squares. A perhaps slightly novel aspect of the research was that it was not solely cross-sectional in format; a longitudinal element was provided by drawing on the researcher's earlier surveys ; and a panel element by following-up, in 2007, the main 2000 field survey. Where possible, these data were drawn upon in the analysis and interpretation. There did not appear to be any conflict between the three multivariate techniques employed and indeed their findings were not dissimilar. The outcome of the data analysis was to uphold, to varying degrees, most of our hypotheses about the determinants of effective or successful exporting. Those that did not find support were three: firm size, product adaptation, and price determination method. Most strongly supported as determinants were promotional intensity, serving many markets and visits to trade fairs/exhibitions; others which were statistically significant, included management commitment, special staff skills and the use of Commission Agents. While the conclusions must remain a bit tentative they are encouraging.

Data derived largely from ecclesiastical (mostly churchwardens') accounts, foxhunting statistics, local scientific society records and 19th and 20th century literature sources from a wide range of published material, have provided detailed evidence of the status and changes in distribution over the past four centuries in Yorkshire for fox (Vulpes vulpes), badger (Meles meles), otter (Lutra lutra), pine marten (Martes martes), stoat (Mustela erminea), weasel (M. nivalis), polecat (M. putorius), American mink (M. vison), wildcat (Felis silvestris) and domestic cat (Felis catus). In the case of the domestic cat, questionnaire surveys quantified population sizes and predatory activity in rural, suburban and urban situations. Evidence of the former distribution of all the carnivores studied provides a credible historical basis for biodiversity action planning and the substantial archived database and bibliography provide further research opportunities.

This thesis is a study of multiple access schemes for satellite land mobile systems that provide a domestic or regional service to a large number of small terminals. Three orbit options are studied, namely the geostationary, elliptical (Molniya) and inclined circular orbits. These are investigated for various mobile applications and the choice of the Molniya orbit is justified for a U. K. system. Frequency, Time and Code Division Multiple Access (FDMA, TDMA and CDMA) are studied and their relative merits in the mobile environment are highlighted. A hybrid TDMA/FDMA structure is suggested for a large system. Reservation ALOHA schemes are appraised in a TDMA environment and an adaptive reservation multiple access protocol is proposed and analysed for a wide range of mobile communication traffic profiles. The system can cope with short and long data messages as well as voice calls. Various protocol options are presented and a target system having 100,000 users is considered. Analyses are presented for the steady state of protocols employing pure and slotted ALOHA and for the stabilty of the slotted variant, while simulation techniques were employed to validate the steady state analysis of the slotted ALOHA protocol and to analyse the stability problem of the pure ALOHA version. An innovative technique is put forward to integrate the reservation and the acquisition processes. It employs the geographical spread of the users to form part of the random delay in P-ALOHA. Finally an economic feasibility study is performed for the spacesegment. For costs of capital (r) less than 23 % the discounted payback period is less than the project's lifetime (10 years). At r- 8% the payback period is about 5.6 years, while the internal-rate-of-return is 22.2 %. The net present value at the end of the projects lifetime is £M 70 at r-8%.

Also aged bottles are safer to use than new bottles because their chemical leaching was found to be lower than that of new bottles. This study recommends the reassessment of the absence of international guidelines for acetaldehyde in water and foods. The study also recommends that the amount of acetaldehyde that can be added to soft drinks as flavouring agent should be below the specific migration limit (SML) for migration of acetaldehyde from PET bottle into bottle contents. This is essential since the SML was designed to ensure that exposure to acetaldehyde, as a result of intake of bottled water and soft drinks in PET bottles, is below the tolerable daily intake (TDI) for acetaldehyde. As antimony was reported to go beyond the safe limits in some Nigerian bottled water and soft drinks after 11 months of storage this study discourages the use of bottle contents stored for a very long time.

<p>This thesis deals with cooperation between France, Germany and the United Kingdom within the area of foreign and security policy. Two case studies are presented, one of them concerning cooperation between the three states within and outside institutions in 1980 following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the other dealing with cooperation concerning the crisis in Macedonia in 2001. In accordance with the approach of neoliberal institutionalism the primary hypothesis is that cooperation is primarily determined by the interests of states but it is also limited by norms and affected by the institutions of which the three states are members. The study describes the large variety of forms of cooperation that exist between France, Germany and the United Kingdom, in which the United States also plays an important part, and which also includes their cooperation within a number of international institutions. The study also points to the new forms of interaction between states and institutions that have come about since the Cold War ended, and which give a stronger role to institutions and the cooperation between them. Still, however, states retain a decisive role in cooperation within the field of foreign and security policy.</p>

The majority of wheat research in the world and in Canada is conducted by the public sector. The government of Canada has introduced legislation to update its plant breeder’s rights (PBR) legislation, making Canada compliant with the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) 91 convention, with the goal to stimulate private investment in wheat variety research. International experience with UPOV 91 reveals a wide range of outcomes depending on the specific royalty setting mechanisms allowed within their domestic legislation. This thesis compares Canada’s existing policy to three very different international examples (France, United Kingdom, and Australia) of UPOV 91 compliant royalty collection systems for wheat. The model presented is one of a monopolistic competitive wheat-breeding industry with the introduction of a new certified seed variety. Farmers have the option to use farm saved seed (FSS) or certified seed on their farm. The additional economic benefit created from the innovation and its distribution is analyzed and interpreted for both, farmers (social benefit) and breeders (private benefit). The results of the analysis show that while each UPOV 91 compliant model generates more revenue for farmers and breeders than Canada’s current policy, they tend to generate less than expected revenue in the short-run. If a country has strong intellectual property rights (IPRs), it will attract some domestic and foreign investment and possibly a beneficial collaboration between the public, private, and producer sector, also known as P4 (public-private-producer-partnerships).

In this thesis, I present the properties of IRAS 19306+1407 central source and its sur- rounding circumstellar envelope (CSE), from the analysis of near-infrared (near-IR) polarimetry and integral field spectroscopy (IFS), with supporting archived HST im- ages and sub-millimetre (sub-mm) photometry. This is supported by axi-symmetric light scattering (ALS), axi-symmetric radiative transfer (DART) and molecular hy-drogen (H2) shock models. The polarimetric images show that IRAS 19306+1407 has a dusty torus, which deviates from axisymmetry and exhibits a ‘twist’ feature. The DART and ALS modelling shows that the CSE consists of Oxygen-rich sub-micrometre dust grains, with a range in temperature from 130±30 to 40±20 K at the inner and outer radius, respectively, with inner and outer radii of 1.9±0.1×1014 and 2.7±0.1×1015 m. The CSE detached 400±10 years ago and the mass loss lasted 5700±160 years, assuming a constant asymptotic giant branch (AGB) outflow speed of 15 km s−1. The dust mass and total mass of the CSE is 8.9±5×10−4 and 1.8±1.0×10 −1 M⊙, assuming a gas-to-dust ratio of 200. The mass loss rate was 3.4±2.1×10−5 M⊙ year−1. The central source is consistent with a B1I-type star with a radius of 3.8 ± 0.6 R⊙, luminosity of 4500 ± 340 L⊙ at a distance of 2.7 ± 0.1 kpc. A purpose built idl package (fus) was developed and used in the SINFONI IFS data critical final reduction steps. It also produced emission line, kinematic and line ratio images. The IFS observations show that H2 is detected throughout the CSE, located in bright arcs and in the bipolar lobes. The velocity of the H2 is greatest at the end of the lobes. Brγ emission originates from, or close, to the central source – produced by a fast jump (J) shock or photo-ionised atomic gas. The 1-0 S(1)/2- 1 S(1) and 1-0 S(1)/3-2 S(3) ratios were used as a diagnostic and determined that H2 was excited by bow shaped shocks; however, these shock models could not wholly explain the observed rotational and vibrational temperatures. The CDR values were fitted by combining continuous (C) or J-bow shock and fluorescence models, with a contribution from the latter, observed throughout the CSE (5–77 per cent). The majority of shock can be described by a C-bow shock model with B = 0.02 to 1.28 mG. Shocks are predominately seen in the equatorial regions. Polarimetry and IFS highlight a ‘twist’ feature, which could be due to an episodic jet undergoing a recent change in the outflow direction. The sub-arcsecond IFS observations reveal a flocculent structure in the south- east bright arc, consisting of several clumps interpreted as a fast-wind eroding an equatorial torus, possibly forming H2 knots seen in (some) evolved planetary nebulae (PNe). My analysis has effectively constrained the following: spectral type, stellar radius, luminosity and distance, chemistry, dust grain properties, geometry, age, mass loss, excitation mechanism and evolutionary state of the post-AGB star and its surrounding CSE. I conclude that IRAS 19306+1407 is a post-AGB object on the verge becoming a PN.

This research investigates organisational capabilities and cultures of both partners as potential explanatory factors of co-operative R&D projects outcomes. Contributions to theory are (1) a justification for the existence of organisational capabilities and 'world views', (2) a parsimonious typology of 'world views' and (3) a method to measure organisational capabilities. The survey covers 514 projects in the electronics industry, in Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Finland. It obtains 120 full answers, each of which coupling responses from a matched pair of project managers having co-operated on the same R&D project. The survey refers to the organisation's capabilities, to those of the partner, to its 'world view', and to project outcomes. None of the traditional explanatory factors (geographic distance, difference in nationality, size or legal status, strategic compatibility) has any significant influence on any of the outcomes being studied (save one). The explanatory factors introduced by the research (organisational capabilities and 'world views') have a significant influence on almost all outcomes being considered of the co-operative R&D projects: attainment of concrete results, compliance with budget and schedule, creation and transfer of knowledge, learning (modification of capabilities). Cultural diversity, 'absorptive capacity', and teaching effects, selective according to the capability in question, are evidenced. Commonalities between partners are shown to be more important than distance. These results validate empirically organisational capabilities and 'world views' as descriptors of inter-organisational capabilities, and their operationalisation.

This thesis explores the hitherto undocumented disestablishment and reconstruction of the Anglican Church of Ireland, c.1868-1870, and argues that this experience was formative in the emergence of Home Rule. Structurally, the Church’s General Synod served as a model for an autonomous Irish parliament. Moreover, disestablishment and reconstruction conditioned the political trajectories of the Protestants initially involved in the first group to campaign for a federal Irish parliament, the Home Government Association (HGA). More broadly, both the HGA and the governance of the independent Church—the General Synod—grew from the bedrock of the same associational culture. The HGA was more aligned with the public associations of Protestant-dominated Dublin intellectual life and the lay associational culture of the Church. Although the political vision advocated was different from the normal conservatism of many of its Protestant members, culturally it was entirely grounded in the recent Anglican experience.

The under-representation of women in the senior appellate judiciary in common law jurisdictions remains an enduring problem. Much has been written about the lack of women’s participation in the judiciary and what strategies, if any, should be undertaken in order to resolve this persistent problem. However, this thesis takes a step back to ask a broader question: what impact does gender diversity have upon judicial decision making in appellate courts? It seeks to answer this question by engaging feminist standpoint theory to assess the experiences of men and women judges from three common law jurisdictions: England, South Africa and Australia. Through a series of interviews conducted with members of the senior judiciary in these jurisdictions in 2012 and 2013, this thesis explores the extent that interviewees consider that gendered experiences impact upon their own judging, and judging within the dynamics of collegiate appellate courts. This thesis concludes that while it is not possible to pinpoint one particular ‘contribution’ or ‘impact’ that gendered experiences have upon judging, it is nonetheless generally considered by those interviewed to be an important part of the judicial decision making process in several subtle, yet important, ways. Because of the considerable role that diverse gendered experiences play in judicial decision making, appointments processes should be sensitised to the need for diversity of experience and alive to the danger of ostensibly neutral appointment criteria devaluing diverse experiences, particularly the experiences of women in the law.