Croatia, United Kingdom and European Union

The United Kingdom has played a significant role in the political development of Croatia on several occasions since 1919. In respect to the question of Croatian independence in the 1990s British, apparently hesitating attitude, was due to the Helsinki act principles of peaceful change and not a consequence of anti-Croatian motives. The change in the British policy towards Croatia and its subsequent recognition occurred as an effect of a changed situation and realisation that a peaceful reconstruction of Yugoslavia is no longer possible. The current British policy is supportive of the Croatian aspiration to join the Western integrations for which it would be necessary for Croatia to adopt a more appropriate policy regarding its international obligations and domestic democratic practice

Scotland‟s economic prospects for international tourism up to 2008

The world economy is booming, largely led by strong growth in China (with expected GDP growth of 9.1% this year (NIESR, 2004)) whilst the US economy (OEF, 2004a), is expected to have grown by 3.6% in 2004 (Cotis, 2004). Although growth slowed in the third quarter of 2004, subdued by the effects of the high price of oil, as a result of the good underlying employment prospects and favourable monetary conditions, above-trend GDP growth is again forecast for 2005 (2.9%) and 2006 (3.1%)

An influenza pandemic : what it could mean for Scottish tourism

There is a growing unease among World Health Organisation (WHO) officials and other global disease surveillance organisations that Avian Flu will mutate into a human influenza pandemic. Such is the concern that the Scottish Executive asked public bodies to prepare business continuity plans based upon the National Health Service Scotland‘s contingency plan and scenarios, and this briefing paper is a consequence of that request

Some endocrinological studies into periparturient reproduction in the cow

This thesis describes a study of some hormonal, behavioural and gonadal changes during the peri- and post-parturient period of a group of suckled cows. The investigation was commenced just prior to calving, continued through the post-partum anoestrus period, and terminated when pregnancy was established. To enable ovarian functional changes to be monitored radioimmunoassays were developed for progesterone, oestrogens and androgens. Validation of these assays for measurement of the steroids in peripheral plasma samples was by recognised reliability criteria. In addition, by applying the methods to samples from cows during the oestrous cycle comparison of the results with ovarian structural changes, and with the levels reported by other workers was possible. At calving observations on the inter-relationship of progesterone, oestrogens, androgens and cortisol revealed alterations in the peripheral plasma levels of these hormones which gave information on possible sources of secretion, and suggested functional roles for these steroids in the process of birth. Post-partum the peripheral plasma levels of progesterone, oestrogens, and androgens were related to the presence of follicles and corpora lutea in the ovaries, to the size and degree of turgidity of the uterine horns, and to behavioural changes typifying prooestrus and oestrus. Subdivision of the anoestrus period on the basis of endocrinological and gonadal structure changes, and comparison of silent, overt and false heats during the period of study elucidated some aspects of the aetiology of this period of altered reproductive function. In animals in which pregnancy was established luteal function was compared to that observed earlier in the post-partura period and to dioestrus progesterone levels in cycling cows. The clinical significance of cystic ovarian structures recorded mainly during early pregnancy was studied. The results of the thesis raised the question of the value of some of the accepted parameters to determine if oestrous cycles were occurring in cows. In addition the accuracy of endocrinological, behavioural and structural changes in the reproductive tract as a means of assessing the stage of the oestrous cycle were discussed

Croatia, United Kingdom and European Union

The United Kingdom has played a significant role in the political development of Croatia on several occasions since 1919. In respect to the question of Croatian independence in the 1990s British, apparently hesitating attitude, was due to the Helsinki act principles of peaceful change and not a consequence of anti-Croatian motives. The change in the British policy towards Croatia and its subsequent recognition occurred as an effect of a changed situation and realisation that a peaceful reconstruction of Yugoslavia is no longer possible. The current British policy is supportive of the Croatian aspiration to join the Western integrations for which it would be necessary for Croatia to adopt a more appropriate policy regarding its international obligations and domestic democratic practice

Macro and micro ergonomic outcomes in healthcare: unravelling the relationship between patient handling performance and safety climate

The management of risks surrounding patient handling activities continues to be an important factor in healthcare organizations. A great deal of research has been undertaken to investigate the best practices for physical transfers and equipment provision, yet there is less research adopting an organizational systems approach to this problem. In this article we compare two methods for assessing safety climate and patient handling safety performance and argue that a multi-level (mesoergonomic) interpretation of the relationship between the two affords insights into the safety of the system as a whole

Understanding radionuclide migration from the D1225 Shaft, Dounreay, Caithness, UK

A 65 m vertical shaft was sunk at Dounreay in the 1950s to build a tunnel for the offshore discharge of radioactive effluent from the various nuclear facilities then under construction. In 1959, the Shaft was licensed as a disposal facility for radioactive wastes and was routinely used for the disposal of ILW until 1970. Despite the operation of a hydraulic containment scheme, some radioactivity is known to have leaked into the surrounding rocks. Detailed logging, together with mineralogical and radiochemical analysis of drillcore has revealed four distinct bedding-parallel zones of contamination. The data show that Sr-90 dominates the bulk beta/gamma contamination signal, whereas Cs-137 and Pu-248/249 are found only to be weakly mobile, leading to very low activities and distinct clustering around the Shaft. The data also suggest that all uranium seen in the geosphere is natural in origin. At the smaller scale, contamination adjacent to fracture surfaces is present within a zone of enhanced porosity created by the dissolution of carbonate cements from the Caithness flagstones during long-term rockwater interactions. Quantitative modelling of radionuclide migration, using the multiphysics computer code QPAC shows the importance of different sorption mechanisms and different mineralogical substrates in the Caithnesss flagstones in controlling radionuclide migration

Limits to the privatization of fishery resources

A debate is emerging over the extent to which privatization of fishery resources – private ownership and resource management without significant state oversight- is practical and socially desirable. What we term the “optimists” maintain that there are no effective limits to privatization and that the decades old fear that privatization could, in some cases, lead to resource extinction are baseless, and of theoretical interest only. This paper attempts to add to the debate by arguing that the fears are, regrettably, not at all baseless and that there are, in fact, definite limits to socially desirable privatization. The paper goes on to discuss means, by which such limits could be identified, on a fishery by fishery basis

An Exploration of the Professional and Leader Identity of IT Professionals Transitioning to a Permanent Hybrid Role: A Longitudinal Investigation

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the role of professional and leader identity and the maintenance of identity, through identity work as IT professionals transitioned to a permanent hybrid role. This study therefore contributes to the under-researched area of permanent transition to a hybrid role in the context of IT, where there is a requirement to enact both the professional and leader roles together. Design/ methodology/ approach – The study utilised a longitudinal design and two qualitative methods (interviews and reflective diaries) to gather data from 17 IT professionals transitioning to hybrid roles. Findings – The study findings reveal that IT professionals engage in an ongoing process of reconciliation of professional and leader identity as they transition to a permanent hybrid role, and they construct hybrid professional-leader identities while continuing to value their professional identity. They experience professional-leader identity conflict resulting from reluctance to reconcile both professional and leader identities. They used both integration and differentiation identity work tactics to ameliorate these tensionsOriginality/value – The longitudinal study design, the qualitative approaches used and the unique context of the participants provides a dynamic and deep understanding of the challenges involved in performing hybrid roles in the context of IT