A sociological exanimation of the causes of British inter-industrial strike patterns 1950-1969

This thesis examines inter-industrial strike-patterns over a twenty-year period to approach an understanding of striking as a form of social action. The influential concept of the ‘industrial society’ is first critically examined with the conclusion that it contains several inadequacies; substantive and theoretical; both in its implications for theories of industrial relations and as an analytical label for the wider societal context. The employment relationship in capitalist society is examined together with types of industrial action; both individual and collective, and a model constructed which sees strikes as dependent on two variables the occasion for dispute; based on the employment relationship, and the ability to take action; based on the existence of a trade union. Trade unions are then examined and their limitations and potential discussed. The meaning of strike-action to the striker is considered and a congruence suggested between the strike as a type of action and working-class orientations to work

Key knowledge management variables for facilities management organisational effectiveness

Although knowledge management concept has grown noticeably during last few years, management of facilities knowledge has been little studies. Facilities knowledge is of crucial importance for organisational effectiveness and makes a proactive contribution to business to achieve competitive advantage. The research addresses the importance of managing facilities knowledge and to reveal the key knowledge variables by examining the current practice and gaps in application of knowledge management techniques in facilities management context. The intellectual capital framework is introduced as a conceptual model with which facilities users can identify and organise facilities knowledge in a purposeful way

Color bimodality: Implications for galaxy evolution

We use a sample of 69726 galaxies from the SDSS to study the variation of the bimodal color-magnitude (CM) distribution with environment. Dividing the galaxy population by environment (Sigma_5) and luminosity (-23<M_r<-17), the u-r color functions are modeled using double-Gaussian functions. This enables a deconvolution of the CM distributions into two populations: red and blue sequences. The changes with increasing environmental density can be separated into two effects: a large increase in the fraction of galaxies in the red distribution, and a small color shift in the CM relations of each distribution. The average color shifts are 0.05+-0.01 and 0.11+-0.02 for the red and blue distributions, respectively, over a factor of 100 in projected neighbor density. The red fraction varies between about 0% and 70% for low-luminosity galaxies and between about 50% and 90% for high-luminosity galaxies. This difference is also shown by the variation of the luminosity functions with environment. We demonstrate that the effects of environment and luminosity can be unified. A combined quantity, Sigma_mod = Sigma_5/Mpc^{-2} + L_r/L_{-20.2}, predicts the fraction of red galaxies, which may be related to the probability of transformation events. Our results are consistent with major interactions (mergers and/or harassment) causing galaxies to transform from the blue to the red distribution. We discuss this and other implications for galaxy evolution from earlier results and model the effect of slow transformations on the color functions.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, in AIP Conf. Proc., The New Cosmology, eds. R. E. Allen et al. (aka. The Mitchell Symposium), see http://proceedings.aip.org/proceedings/confproceed/743.jsp ; v2: replaced Figure 5 which was incomplete in original submissio

Cosmology with velocity dispersion counts: an alternative to measuring cluster halo masses

The evolution of galaxy cluster counts is a powerful probe of several fundamental cosmological parameters. A number of recent studies using this probe have claimed tension with the cosmology preferred by the analysis of the Planck primary CMB data, in the sense that there are fewer clusters observed than predicted based on the primary CMB cosmology. One possible resolution to this problem is systematic errors in the absolute halo mass calibration in cluster studies, which is required to convert the standard theoretical prediction (the halo mass function) into counts as a function of the observable (e.g., X-ray luminosity, Sunyaev-Zel'dovich flux, optical richness). Here we propose an alternative strategy, which is to directly compare predicted and observed cluster counts as a function of the one-dimensional velocity dispersion of the cluster galaxies. We argue that the velocity dispersion of groups/clusters can be theoretically predicted as robustly as mass but, unlike mass, it can also be directly observed, thus circumventing the main systematic bias in traditional cluster counts studies. With the aid of the BAHAMAS suite of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, we demonstrate the potential of the velocity dispersion counts for discriminating even similar $\Lambda$CDM models. These predictions can be compared with the results from existing redshift surveys such as the highly-complete Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, and upcoming wide-field spectroscopic surveys such as the Wide Area Vista Extragalactic Survey (WAVES) and the Dark Energy Survey Instrument (DESI).Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. New section on cosmological forecasts adde

Galaxy bimodality versus stellar mass and environment

We analyse a z<0.1 galaxy sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey focusing on the variation of the galaxy colour bimodality with stellar mass and projected neighbour density Sigma, and on measurements of the galaxy stellar mass functions. The characteristic mass increases with environmental density from about 10^10.6 Msun to 10^10.9 Msun (Kroupa IMF, H_0=70) for Sigma in the range 0.1--10 per Mpc^2. The galaxy population naturally divides into a red and blue sequence with the locus of the sequences in colour-mass and colour-concentration index not varying strongly with environment. The fraction of galaxies on the red sequence is determined in bins of 0.2 in log Sigma and log mass (12 x 13 bins). The red fraction f_r generally increases continuously in both Sigma and mass such that there is a unified relation: f_r = F(Sigma,mass). Two simple functions are proposed which provide good fits to the data. These data are compared with analogous quantities in semi-analytical models based on the Millennium N-body simulation: the Bower et al. (2006) and Croton et al. (2006) models that incorporate AGN feedback. Both models predict a strong dependence of the red fraction on stellar mass and environment that is qualitatively similar to the observations. However, a quantitative comparison shows that the Bower et al. model is a significantly better match; this appears to be due to the different treatment of feedback in central galaxies.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figures; accepted by MNRAS, minor change

Improving dissertation assessment

During the last decade, there have been increasing calls for higher education to improve standards, increase the quality of assessment, and for greater accountability of lecturers. It is recognised that consistency in assessment is even more important where assessment is through one large piece of work, such as a dissertation, and where the assessment outcome will have a significant impact on the final grade of students. Dissertation modules typically pose further problems for assessment consistency due to the large number of students and the resultant need for large numbers of lecturers to participate in its assessment. This paper synthesises the initial literature findings from an on-going research project that aims to identify good practices for dissertation assessment, in an attempt to improve the quality and consistency of assessment

Evaluating the impact of public housing after prison for a sex offence

This article evaluates the impact of housing assistance on the post-release pathways of people convicted of sex offences, in terms of a range of criminal justice outcomes and associated costs. Using linked administrative data from New South Wales government agencies, it compares outcomes and costs for two groups of formerly incarcerated sex offenders–one group who received public housing tenancies at some stage after their release, the other who only received private rental assistance. We find the public housing group had better criminal justice outcomes (e.g. fewer police incidents, court appearances, proven offences, days in custody and days on community-based orders) than the non-public housing group, achieved mostly at less cost to governments. The evidence, likely applicable in other jurisdictions with similar housing systems, strongly supports the increased provision of social housing to this group of ex-prisoners and, we hope, helps disarm the controversy that affects this area of policy in Australia and internationally

The origin of galaxy scaling laws in LCDM

It has long been recognized that tight relations link the mass, size, and characteristic velocity of galaxies. These scaling laws reflect the way in which baryons populate, cool, and settle at the center of their host dark matter halos; the angular momentum they retain in the assembly process; as well as the radial distribution and mass scalings of the dark matter halos. There has been steady progress in our understanding of these processes in recent years, mainly as sophisticated N-body and hydrodynamical simulation techniques have enabled the numerical realization of galaxy models of ever increasing complexity, realism, and appeal. These simulations have now clarified the origin of these galaxy scaling laws in a universe dominated by cold dark matter: these relations arise from the tight (but highly non-linear) relations between (i) galaxy mass and halo mass, (ii) galaxy size and halo characteristic radius; and (iii) from the self-similar mass nature of cold dark matter halo mass profiles. The excellent agreement between simulated and observed galaxy scaling laws is a resounding success for the LCDM cosmogony on the highly non-linear scales of individual galaxies.Comment: Contribution to the Proceedings of the Simons Conference "Illuminating Dark Matter", held in Kruen, Germany, in May 2018, eds. R. Essig, K. Zurek, J. Fen