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This thesis addresses the question whether there is a basis for active assisted dying to fall within the protection of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). With desperate individuals addressing the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in order to be granted a right to die, but being denied it, the right to life is turned into a de facto duty to live. An evaluation of the concepts of dignity and autonomy will highlight the need for a right to die, to counterbalance the right to life. Seeing dignity as a subjective element means that a dignified life can only be evaluated by the person living it. If therefore a dignified death is believed to be one brought about with assistance before natural death would occur, this should not be dismissed based on a general idea of how and when people should best die. Believing in a right to a dignified life asks for a right to die in dignity. Seeing autonomy as a relational concept, meaning that for a truly autonomous life we are dependent on others and society as a whole, stresses the need for a legalisation of assisted dying. The thesis analyses the ECtHR’s approach towards assisted dying and what factors prevent it from adopting a more forthright approach towards a right to die. Based on a lack of consensus among the Member States, the Court relies on the margin of appreciation and shies away from taking a stand. While seeing that dying is a part of life and consequently falls within the ambit of Article 8, the protection of private and family life, nonetheless Article 2, the right to life, acts as a barrier to any claim for a right to die, which arguably turns the right to life in a duty to live. Looking at the legal situation in England and Germany highlights the difficulty in reaching a European consensus on assisted dying. Actively assisting someone in dying, who is unable to commit suicide unaided, is a criminal offence in both countries. However, there are significant differences between the two jurisdictions. In England, assisting someone in committing suicide is prohibited under Section 2 of the Suicide Act 1961, whereas in Germany it is in theory legally possible. Yet, in England, assistants can hope to avoid prosecution based on the Director of Public Prosecution’s guidelines of 2009, whilst in Germany assistants face prosecution based on other legal provisions like the Narcotics Act. While Germany moves towards a criminalisation of assistance in suicide offered for a fee (commercial assisted suicide), in England, debates on Bills focus on attempts to legalise some categories of assisted dying. The comparison suggests that a European consensus is not likely to be achieved in the near future. The thesis concludes that based on dignity and autonomy the national approaches towards assisted dying should be revised and legalisation should be considered. This is necessary so that the ECtHR can counterbalance the right to life with a right to die.

This thesis contributes an original approach to the understanding of human-object relations at funerary and ceremonial sites during the period c.2200 BC - 1400 BC within Wales. A primary review of archaeological work within this region contextualises this thesis and challenges the notion that this area is materially-poor during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Drawing on existing excavation reports and archived material, a database of archaeological sites detailing context and material culture was created. Additionally a calibrated set of dates, was mapped against architectural, depositional and material practice. These data sets provided the opportunity to compare different Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age archaeological features in terms of the character and variety of associated objects and materials. Analysis of this data has illustrated key contrasts and similarities in the treatment of material culture across architecturally distinct ceremonial and funerary site types. This interpretation is framed by a discussion of materiality, arguing for a model which is located in past perspectives rather than a deconstruction of Western material values. Materiality is explored as a contextual, often learned understanding of the world, which is not restricted to the physical qualities of materials. Potential concepts of materiality were considered with particular attention given to the treatment of human remains in funerary and ceremonial contexts. The result of this thesis is an enhanced understanding of depositional practices and their role in the construction, use and perception of funerary and ceremonial sites within the Early Bronze Age of Wales.

Regional planning and its associated institutional structure has been given ad hoc consideration in New South Wales over the last thirty years. At the Federal level moves towards regionalization of planning have been based on party political platforms rather than carefully considered planning objectives. The States have traditionally held the mandate for regional planning, however, it has been circumscribed by the rigid and detailed procedures involved in statutory planning. Attempts at instituting regional planning have occurred without adequate recognition of the nature of regional planning, nor an adequate consideration of what the regional scale problems entail. This thesis evaluates a recently proposed planning system in New South Wales in the light of a reconsideration of the concept of regional planning and the regional problems that exist in New South Wales. It is hypothesized that regional planning is an appropriate device through which to achieve an integration of functions and areal reform, Regional planning is defined as a continuous process at the supra urban/sub state scale. It is public planning based on law which is carried out by public institutions and is capable of effecting change in society's milieu. Regional problems are classified into three broad categories: problems of service delivery arising from an urban/ rural dichotomy; problems of land use conflict and resource management; and problems of area and function. Most of these generic problem areas were seen to result from the inability of institutions to adequately reconcile area with function. It was contended that regional planning involves the reciprocal adjustment of function and area through areal reform and simultaneous functional co-ordination and integration. The regional level is the level at which a balance is found between the 'efficiency' of functional specialization, and some rationalization of areal particularism. Based on such an articulation of the cause of regional problems, together with the consideration of the nature of regional planning, six principles of regional planning are identified as being essential for its success. Regional planning: *should be based upon the identification of regional needs and the articulation of areal problems *needs to fulfill national regional policy, needs to be co-ordinated with State policy, and should attempt a degree of co-ordination with the private sector *should facilitate the co-ordination and integration of functions *must possess a statutory basis on the one hand, and on the other, must remain flexible *must explicitly recognize the process of regionalism *regions should possess an adequate fiscal base upon which an institution can carry out its planning mandate. These principles are the criteria against which the proposed regional planning scheme in New South Wales is assessed. The following were the main observations made: - The regional planning that was envisaged by the proposed scheme was based on a 'top-down' and rigid statutory framework, obviously still influenced by the rigidities of the existing statutory land use planning system. - The proposed institutional structure was found to be not politically accountable at the regional level, not autonomous in decision making, lacked executive authority over regional matters, and lacked community involvement in the mainstream of the planning process. As a result its potential for need identification and priority resolution was considered limited. - No institutional mechanism exists for program integration at the regional level. Based on these findings some modifications to the institutional structure were prescribed so that it could satisfy the proposed criteria. The most important were: - the responsibility for regional planning should rest with an independent regional planning body (but responsible to the State government) in each region, composed of local government and regional community representatives. - regional level sub-committees should be established in the areas of industrial resource development, social development, and natural resource development, so as to reflect planning structures at the State departmental and Cabinet levels. - a regional program committee composed of the regional planner and sub-committee representatives should provide liason between articulated regional needs and public program delivery. - an extensive consultative structure should be established with individuals, groups, and private and government agencies. These modifications of the proposed institutional structures can be viewed as the particular conclusions to the thesis. Under conditions comparable to those in NSW, the six principles of regional planning are the generic conclusions and can be considered as essential preconditions for successful regional planning and regional progress. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The soil seed bank plays a dynamic role in the regeneration of plant communities after natural and anthropogenic disturbance. In this thesis, I addressed how disturbances influence the vegetation and seed bank of Florida rosemary scrub. In Chapter One I evaluated changes in species composition and spatiotemporal pattern of the vegetation and seed bank along a gradient of disturbance. During the summers and winters of 2007-2009 percent ground cover and seed bank species composition were assessed among replicates of three vegetation types subjected to minimal, moderate, and extreme anthropogenic disturbance (native rosemary scrub, degraded scrub, and agriculturally improved pasture, respectively). These vegetation types shared the same soil and topographic characteristics but differed in disturbance history. I found that species composition and spatial pattern varied with disturbance. In pastures the compositional and structural characteristics of rosemary scrub were lost and only native scrub species able to evade herbivory persisted in this community. Native and degraded scrub differed most from each other in species abundances and spatial pattern. Degraded scrub showed highest abundance of subshrubs and a spike moss species, while rosemary scrub was dominated by shrubs. The seed banks of scrub herbs in degraded scrub had a tendency towards a random spatial distribution that lacked association with aboveground cover. Conversely, rosemary scrub seed banks tended to have an aggregated distribution and were associated with occurrence of conspecific species aboveground, litter, and shrub cover. These results indicated a change in the spatial heterogeneity of the seed banks of scrub herbs in degraded scrub. In Chapter Two I evaluated changes in seed bank density with time-since-fire in native rosemary scrub. Due to large pulses of recruitment immediately after fire and population decline iii with time-since-fire, I predicted seed density with time-since-fire would follow a unimodal function with low density in early and late years post-fire, and highest density at intermediate time-since-fire. I compared seed density data among sites with different time-since-fire: two sites each of three, six, ten and 24 years time-since-fire and three long-unburned sites ( > 24 years). Variability in seed bank composition and density increased with time-since-fire and only recently burned stands were distinctly different from the other time-since-fire age classes. Some species and functional groups did exhibit a quadratic or cubic association to time-since-fire (ruderal herbs, subshrubs, Ceratiola ericoides, Lechea cernua, Paronychia chartacea, Phyllanthus tenellus); however, timing of the peak in seed density varied depending on life span and age of reproductive maturity. Scrub herbs were the most abundant functional group in the seed bank and showed highest density in the first ten years post-fire. This pattern corresponds to the pattern of aboveground species abundance and suggests abundances above- and belowground are closely linked. Understanding the dynamics of the seed bank in both naturally and anthropogenically disturbed communities in Florida rosemary scrub is important for the restoration of scrub habitat and management of existing populations of endangered and threatened scrub species endemic to the Lake Wales Ridge in central Florida.

Yes / In the modern business era, mobile commerce (m-commerce) is changing the way the business is conducted using the Internet. However, the prominence of m-commerce among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK is minimal. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the existing literature and to extend the research surrounding the barriers that prevent the adoption of m-commerce amongst SMEs. The study uses an Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) and MICMAC approach for guiding and helping managers of SMEs. Data was collected from an expert participant group each of whom had extensive knowledge of m-commerce. The findings represent the unstable nature of variables in the context of their impact on each other, their relationships, and themselves. The listed factors in the proposed framework and the interrelationships between them highlight the multi-dimensional element of m-commerce adoption prevention. This observation proves criticality of analysing data as a collective entity rather than viewing the barriers in isolation. The findings also indicated ‘perceived risk’ being a key barrier that demonstrates how personal opinions of the concept of adoption can have a great significance on the outcome and whether other variables will come into effect.

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