The behaviour of regional housing markets and construction: implications for modelling sub-regional housing supply

Recent advances in modelling housing investment in the UK and the United States have centred on estimation of price elasticity of supply and on estimating key relationships in the behaviour of housing prices and construction output at regional level. Yet, there are two main limitations evident in existing knowledge. First, the extent to which many operational models reconcile with underlying economic theory is limited. For example, a number of published studies fail to find construction costs or land prices to be significant predictors of new housing investment. Second, the recent focus on national and regional models has had the result that the impact of planning controls on housing investment, and price elasticity of supply in particular, is not generally well understood. Drawing on a recent project funded by the UK Government’s National Housing and Planning Advice Unit, this paper compares several approaches to modelling new housing investment at regional level in England. It advances a multi-equation approach to explain new housing construction and the behaviour of house prices. Significantly, the suggested modelling approach includes explicit recognition of the endogeneity of residential development land prices and planning controls

African Olive (Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata) as an environmental weed in eastern Australia: a review

African Olive, Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata (Wall. ex G.Don) Cif. (family Oleaceae) is a dense-crowned tree introduced into Australia for horticulture in the mid 19th century. In recent decades, African Olive has become an aggressive woody weed, capable of forming a dense and permanent canopy in a wide range of vegetation types in south-west Sydney and beyond. Characteristics of African Olive invasion in south-west Sydney, and its seed dispersal by frugivorous birds are consistent with experience from Norfolk Island and Hawaii. We use records and aerial photographs from Mount Annan Botanic Garden and other bushland areas in south-west Sydney to describe the invasion stages and impacts of African Olive. The capacity for African Olive to establish in both temperate and subtropical zones, underlie the potential for spread well beyond current distribution in New South Wales. Research is now required to further develop control techniques and ecological restoration strategies for areas of heavy African Olive infestation. Mapping of current locations and a coordinated control strategy for African Olive is required to prevent future permanent loss of native plant diversity

TOWARD A MINNESOTA MODEL OF THE FISCAL IMPACTS OF RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT

Land use has become a critical issue for Minnesota communities, and for many of those on the suburban fringe, the central land-use policy question is whether or not to approve new residential development. New residences may bring increased property tax revenues, but the new residents will demand additional services from the county, city, utilities, and school district. On net, the impact on finances at all levels of government, especially into the future, is not always clear. In this paper, we describe some of the possible roles for the Extension Service in helping Minnesota communities to predict the fiscal impacts of residential development. We list some principles of fiscal impact modeling, describe an existing fiscal impact tool, and explain a number of issues that arose when that tool was used to estimate the impact of residential development in two Minnesota counties. Finally, we describe a possible framework for the next generation of personal computer-based, fiscal impact models.Community/Rural/Urban Development, Land Economics/Use,

True Nations and Half People: Rewriting Nationalism in Alasdair Gray�s Poor Things

This article seeks to explore the apparent contradictions between postmodernism and political nationalism in Alasdair Gray's novel Poor Things. While Gray himself has spoken out in favour of an independent Scottish republic, his ironic, self-referential fiction has often been characterised as a mode of writing whose irreconcilable paradoxes work against political engagement. This issue is studied as regards nationalism, particularly as Poor Things raises the question of how nations are constructed through their literature. Since Poor Things abounds in imagery of hybridity and duality, it is argued that any presumption of wholeness and unicity in the nation is necessarily to be treated with caution. However, through a study of the rival political discourses that permeate Poor Things, it appears that Scottish nationalism is not necessarily incompatible with a politicised form of postmodernist writing. Indeed, Poor Things' key themes of authorial power, contradictory discourses and rewriting are particularly pertinent to the question of nationalism

Significance of Increased Blood Pressure in People over 40 Years of Age

The aim of this thesis is to make a clinical investigaiton of patients with increased blood pressure or hypertension, with the armamentarium of a general practitioner and without the aid of laboratory and radiological investigations. All the patients were forty years of age or over, and were selected in the ordinary routine of a country general practice during a period of two years. They were all examined on several occassiona, and thus were excluded the more temporary types of increased blood pressure. In addition to a general investigation of the signs and symptoms present, particular attention was paid to the age, sex, occupation, habits auch as eating, drinking, and smoking, height, witght, and body build, medical history, family medical history, urine, cardio-vascular system, and the fate of the patients, with a view to establishing a relationship, if any, between these and increased blood pressure

Blame It on the Bucky!: The Positioning of Buckfast Tonic Wine between Acceptability and Transgression

Commercialised as a product made by the Benedictine monks of Buckfast Abbey, Buckfast Tonic Wine adds an image of piety to the medicinal argument suggested by the legally authorized mention “tonic wine” and by its former mode of distribution in chemist’s shops. However, despite this highly respectable dual connotation of health and spirituality, Buckfast has become the drink of choice for disaffected youths in Central Scotland, and Buckfast consumption has become associated with anti-social street drinking and violence since the 1990s. In order to contrast the criticism linked to the product’s transgressive re-appropriation with the vigorous defence of the product offered by the manufacturers, we shall examine the discourses which have informed the debate. In reaction to the youths who vaunt the tonic wine or the politicians who have sought to limit its impact, the monks have remained largely silent in recent years. Instead, the notion of the acceptability of Buckfast is promoted via the press by J. Chandler & Co. (Buckfast) Ltd, the independent firm which markets and distributes the drink. In particular, its representatives highlight the absence of any advertising, which is presented as proof of the corporate responsibility of Buckfast’s producers and distributors.Commercialisé comme un produit issu du travail de moines bénédictins, le vin tonique de l’abbaye de Buckfast en Angleterre porte le nom d’un lieu spirituel et associe ainsi des images de piété à l’argument médicinal suggéré par la mention d’un vin « tonique » et par sa distribution traditionnelle en pharmacie. Cependant, malgré la double connotation hautement respectable de santé et de sainteté, le Buckfast est devenue la boisson de choix parmi la jeunesse désœuvrée écossaise et sa consommation abusive est régulièrement impliquée depuis le début des années 1990 dans des actes de violence. À partir de ce constat d’un décalage radical entre l’image de marque vertueuse proposée par un produit et le détournement socialement préjudiciable de ce dernier par une population très éloignée de sa cible traditionnelle, nous examinons les discours des différents acteurs concernant l’acceptabilité de cette boisson. Face aux jeunes qui la revendiquent comme un produit qui rend non seulement ivre mais aussi agressif, face aux hommes politiques qui tentent de faire encadrer sa vente en Écosse, les moines producteurs restent largement silencieux. En l’absence de tout discours publicitaire, absence imputée à la retenue dont feraient preuve les moines, il revient à l’entreprise commerciale indépendante chargée de sa commercialisation de défendre, par voie de presse, l’acceptabilité du vin tonique Buckfast

Gender, Sexuality, and Eating Disorders

This literature review considers how navigating gender and sexuality can have detrimental effects on the development and maintenance of eating disorders. My research explores how societal expectations of masculinity, femininity, and sexuality impact an individual’s relationship with their body, food, and exercise. Unique life stressors faced by members of gender and sexual minorities are also examined. My paper examines and explains how much of the research surrounding eating disorders does not include gender and sexual minority participants, despite the fact that such individuals are overrepresented in diagnosed cases of eating disorders. This gap in the literature has implications for future research in the eating disorder field. My research concludes that (a) future research should be focused on exploring why body consciousness in the United States has generally increased, and (b) future treatment should take into account the ways in which individuals of various demographic groups with disordered eating internalize societal expectations

Precarious Flux

Mixing theory with applied perspectives this paper generates a series of questions and describes how contemporary social technologies have significantly changed our practical reality, a reality where human experience and technical artifacts have become closely intertwined. The paper's conclusion explores the ontological consequences of this change and the potential in establishing 'Precarious Design' practices and methods as a response

“Original and Best”? How Barr’s Irn-Bru Became a Scottish Icon

Building on theories of banal nationalism developed by Michael Billig (1995) and Tim Edensor (2002), this paper focuses on how a major 20th century icon of popular Scottishness, the carbonated drink Irn-Bru, has depended on the question of origins in its positioning. From the start, the manufacturers, Barr’s, keenly defended their product amidst strong competition by promoting authenticity over imitation. While today the firm AG BARR plc does not claim to have been the historical inventor of Iron Brew drinks (the original name for Irn-Bru) it still uses the strapline “Original & Best” which first appeared in 1904. In the second half of the 20th century the drink became widely perceived as a marker of Scottish identity. However, as recommended by Holt (2006), a more complete study of its historical trajectory as a brand shows that Iron Brew did not originate in Scotland at all. Indeed, rather than springing from a single source, the drink’s development in Scotland is the result of a confluence of other earlier elements. These will be studied to illustrate the mechanisms of appropriation and rewriting underlying this popular manifestation of “commercial nationalism” (Kania-Lundholm, 2014).En s’appuyant sur le concept de nationalisme banal exploré par Michael Billig (1995) et Tim Edensor (2002), cet article s’intéresse à la manière dont un icône contemporain de la scotticité, la boisson gazeuse Irn-Bru, se positionne commercialement autour de la question des origines. Depuis le début, son fabricant, la société Barr’s, a toujours promu son produit au sein d’un marché très concurrentiel en insistant sur son authenticité face à des imitateurs. Bien qu’aujourd’hui la société AG BARR plc ne prétende pas être l’inventeur historique des boissons portant le nom d’Iron Brew (l’ancienne appellation de l’Irn-Bru), elle utilise toujours le slogan « Original & Best » qui est apparue pour la première fois en 1904. Depuis la deuxième moitié du xxe siècle la boisson est perçue comme un marqueur d’identité écossaise. Toutefois, une étude plus approfondie de sa trajectoire en tant que marque commerciale, comme le préconise Holt (2006), illustre que l’Iron Brew n’est pas apparu en Écosse. En effet, au lieu d’être rattachée à une seule et unique source, l’évolution de la boisson en Écosse résulte de la confluence de divers éléments antérieurs. Ceux-ci seront étudiés afin d’illustrer les mécanismes d’appropriation et de réécriture qui sous-tendent cette manifestation populaire de « nationalisme commercial » (Kania-Lundholm, 2014)