'The live dynamic whole of feeling and behavior': capital punishment and the politics of emotion, 1945–1957

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Remembering and Forgetting: The Holocaust in 21st Century Britain

This article explores the politics of Holocaust memorialization by examining the intersection of education, commemoration and national identity in 21st -century Britain since the inaugural Holocaust Memorial Day in 2001. The article shows how institutionalized spheres have intersected with contemporary cultural discourse surrounding questions of civic morality, immigration and the memory of other genocides. The main argument put forward is that the way in which the Holocaust has been indelibly associated with these issues has both implicitly and explicitly connected Holocaust discourse to contemporary debates on what constitutes British identity in the 21st century. The article also suggests that highly domesticated narratives of the period are often used to promote a self-congratulatory notion of British identity and supposed British exceptionalism

Using hydrodynamic models to understand the impacts and risks of plastic pollution

Anthropogenic marine debris, mainly of plastic origin, is accumulating in estuarine and coastal environments around the world, causing damage to multiple species of fauna and flora, as well as habitats. Plastics have the potential to accumulate in food webs, and cause economic losses to tourism and sea-going industries, like commercial fishing. The production and use of plastic products is growing, from 230 million tonnes produced globally in 2005 to 320 million tonnes in 2015, a 40% increase in production over 10 years. If we are to manage the increasing input and threat, we must understand where plastic pollution is accumulating in the environment and what the impacts to organisms in these areas are. The goal of this thesis was to explore the dispersal and risks of plastic pollution in the coastal environment, at a scale that is useful to local management authorities. I used four research aims to achieve this goal. The aim of the first data chapter (Chapter 2) was to prioritise research that would improve modelling outputs in the future. In the second data chapter (Chapter 3), the aim was to locate the areas of highest exposure to plastic pollution for three vulnerable habitats. In the third data chapter (Chapter 4), I aimed to explore the dominant sources and processes of plastic accumulation. Lastly, in the final data chapter (Chapter 5), I aimed to understand the sublethal consequence of plastic exposure on a tropic reef fish. The first data chapter of my thesis presents an advection-diffusion model that includes beaching, settling, resuspension/re-floating, degradation and topographic effects on the wind in nearshore waters to quantify the relative importance of these physical processes in governing plastic debris accumulation. I found that the source location has by far the largest effect on the accumulation location of the debris. The diffusivity, used to parameterise the sub-grid scale movements, and the relationship between debris resuspension/re-floating from beaches and the presence of a wind shadow created by high islands also has a dramatic impact on the modelled accumulation areas. The rate of degradation of macroplastics into microplastics also had a large influence in the prediction of debris dispersal and accumulation. These findings may help prioritise research on the physical processes that affect plastic accumulation, leading to more accurate modelling, and subsequently an improved empirical basis for management in the future. In the second data chapter, I used the model described in Chapter 2 to predict the potential exposure of vulnerable habitats and species to plastic pollution using a spatial risk assessment approach. The effect of plastics on the marine environment is well documented, however the physical location of these interactions are largely unknown. I assessed the potential exposure of mangroves, coral reefs and marine turtles to plastics during the two main wind conditions of the region; the trade winds and monsoon wind seasons. By creating relative exposure categories based on the density of particles in modelling outputs of nil, low, medium and high exposure. I found that in the trade wind season (April to September, dominated by strong south-easterly winds) marine turtles, mangroves and reef habitats had lower exposure than during the monsoon wind season (October to March, dominated by lighter and more variable winds). A small proportion of coral reef habitat was in the high exposure categories, whereas the turtle home-range had a large area in high exposure categories (16% and 26% exposed to high microplastics during monsoon season, respectively). Unlike the other two case studies, the mangrove habitat had consistent hotspots of high exposure across both wind seasons. The outputs of this chapter can inform local scale management action, for example turtle management and recovery plans. The method presented here can also be transferred to other species and habitats and scaled up for larger jurisdictions. In the third data chapter, I built on Chapter 2 (a sensitivity analysis of physical/modelled processes) by using field data for macro- and microplastics to interrogate the model. The aim was to find the likely sources of plastics to the Whitsunday region and understand the limitations for the model in a complex coastline and at a management-relevant scale. I found that, for microplastics, offshore sources are likely to be more important than onshore, and for macroplastics, local (onshore) sources are more important than they are for microplastics. Of the physical characteristics I examined, I found none that make a site more or less predictable in the modelling. Field data on sources at local scales is necessary, although, this is recognised as a difficult task. In the last data chapter, I assessed the consequence of plastic exposure by quantifying the effect of microplastic exposure on juveniles of a widespread and abundant planktivorous fish (Acanthochromis polyacanthus). Under five different plastic concentrations, with plastics the same size as the natural food particles (mean 2 mm diameter), consumption of microplastic was low and there was no significant effect of plastic exposure on fish growth, body condition or behaviour. However, the number of plastics found in the gut of the fish vastly increased when plastic particle size was reduced to approximately one quarter the size of the normal food particles, with a maximum of 2102 small (< 300 μm diameter) particles present in the gut of individual fish after a 1-week plastic exposure period. Under conditions where food was replaced by plastic, there was a negative effect on the growth and body condition of the fish. These results suggest plastics could become more of a problem as they breakup into smaller size classes, and that environmental changes that lead to a decrease in plankton concentrations likely have a greater influence on fish populations than microplastic presence alone. The risks of plastic pollution to environmental features remain largely unquantified. However, my thesis demonstrates significant gains in understanding of mechanisms that can be used to determine where plastics are likely to accumulate, and identifies priorities for future research to improve the statistical power of the models. For example, by understanding the resuspension of plastic in areas without wind driven waves. This thesis also highlights the need to understand different types of plastics separately, microplastics have different consequences to macroplastics, different areas of accumulation and different sources, therefore the risks and appropriate management actions are very different

Providing immediate neonatal care and resuscitation at birth beside the mother: clinicians' views, a qualitative study

Objectives: The aims of this study were to assess clinicians’ views and experiences of providing immediate neonatal care at birth beside the mother, and of using a mobile trolley designed to facilitate this bedside care. Design: Qualitative interview study with semistructured interviews. Results: The results were analysed using thematic analysis. Setting: A large UK maternity unit. Participants: Clinicians (n=20) from a range of disciplines who were present when the trolley was used to provide neonatal care at birth at the bedside. Five clinicians provided/observed advanced resuscitation by the bedside. Results: Five themes were identified: (1) Parents’ involvement, which included ‘Contact and involvement’, ‘Positive emotions for parents’ and ‘Staff communication’; (2) Reservations about neonatal care at birth beside the mother, which included ‘Impact on clinicians’ and ‘Impact on parents’; (3) Practical challenges in providing neonatal care at the bedside, which included ‘Cord length’ and ‘Caesarean section’; (4) Comparison of the trolley with usual resuscitation equipment and (5) Training and integration of bedside care into clinical routine, which included ‘Teething problems’ and ‘Training’. Conclusions: Overall, most clinicians were positive about providing immediate neonatal care at the maternal bedside, particularly in terms of the clinicians’ perceptions of the parents’ experience. Clinicians also perceived that their close proximity to parents improved communication. However, there was some concern about performing more intensive interventions in front of parents. Providing immediate neonatal care and resuscitation at the bedside requires staff training and support

Effects of microplastic exposure on the body condition and behaviour of planktivorous reef fish (Acanthochromis polyacanthus)

The effect of a pollutant on the base of the food web can have knock-on effects for trophic structure and ecosystem functioning. In this study we assess the effect of microplastic exposure on juveniles of a planktivorous fish (Acanthochromis polyacanthus), a species that is widespread and abundant on Indo-Pacific coral reefs. Under five different plastic concentration treatments, with plastics the same size as the natural food particles (mean 2mm diameter), there was no significant effect of plastic exposure on fish growth, body condition or behaviour. The amount of plastics found in the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract was low, with a range of one to eight particles remaining in the gut of individual fish at the end of a 6-week plastic-exposure period, suggesting that these fish are able to detect and avoid ingesting microplastics in this size range. However, in a second experiment the number of plastics in the GI tract vastly increased when plastic particle size was reduced to approximately one quarter the size of the food particles, with a maximum of 2102 small (< 300μm diameter) particles present in the gut of individual fish after a 1-week plastic exposure period. Under conditions where food was replaced by plastic, there was a negative effect on the growth and body condition of the fish. These results suggest plastics could become more of a problem as they break up into smaller size classes, and that environmental changes that lead to a decrease in plankton concentrations combined with microplastic presence is likely have a greater influence on fish populations than microplastic presence alone

Changing images of Margaret Thatcher

This thesis concerns the changing images of Mrs Thatcher presented in the press during the general election campaigns of 1979, 1983 and 1987. These benchmarks were arguably the times when the most diverse and concentrated verbal and visual images appeared. From 1979 onwards the nature of Conservative campaigns changed significantly. The public became 'consumers' of politics. A brand leader with style and personality became a necessity in the marketing operation. The presedential-style election campaign was relentlessly pursued by the Conservative Party, with media support and sometimes connivance. This helped to alter the content of media election news. The Press reported the new-style events in a partisan manner, using a variety of verbal and visual imagery to support, explain and criticise Mrs Thatcher and her leadership. Mrs Thatcher was not the first Party Leader or Prime Minister to be specially tutored and packaged for media presentation. She was, however, the first to use the media so extensively as an integral part of her personal campaign at general elections. She lent herself completely to the image development deemed necessary by her advisors. The concern here is not to develop a theory of images, but to focus on Mrs Thatcher's Premiership, personality and recent history. The work opens with a discussion of the notion of image and the particular way it is used. This use is then related to the verbal images found in selected articles, features and editorials, and the visual images drawn from cartoons and photographs at three chosen general elections. Factors which influenced the changes of image at particular times or for special reasons feature in the various related lines of enquiry. Influential colleagues and people who advised on presentation of the personality, central to the presidential-style campaigns, are also included. The results of the analysis show that in 1979 many of the images were imprecise and not particularly critical since Mrs Thatcher was a contender for Premiership and not a previous incumbent. By 1987 very significant changes appear in the images, due to her length of time in office and her style of leadership. The analysis also revealed the range and diversity of images used. It becomes plain, not only how striking are the differences in the way Mrs Thatcher is portrayed, but how much she contributed to the process, and thus to her own image

Selecting and preparing table poultry

The two main classes of poultry used for table purposes in Western Australia are roasting fowls, which are usually young cockerels or capons and boiling fowls, which are mainly hens that have passed their most productive laying periods. The distinction is not an arbitrary one, as the so-called boiling fowls—if cooked slowly— can be roasted quite successfully and are preferred by many people. In addition to the two main classes, there is a growing demand for younger, smaller birds for frying and for barbecue meals

Household poultry-keeping - How to get the best results from the backyard flock

The widespread popularity of backyard poultry-keeping in Western Australia probably stems from our long-established tendency towards spacious living. Many of our suburban building blocks are approximately a quarter of an acre in extent so that the average householder has ample space to accommodate a few hens