Towards a theory of retail evolution : an Australian history of retailing in the early twentieth century

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Business.This thesis explores retailing evolution in Western countries during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A systems theory approach is used to examine retailing at three levels: individual stores, the industry or "population" of stores, and as a part of the larger distribution industry. The interactions of retailers with manufacturers, wholesalers, consumers, trade unions, governments, and others in the system are examined. This affords a view of retailing from the outside, but also from the inside, and the retailers' point of view. This dual focus exposes change as a process of coevolution, with retailing firmly embedded, and interdependent, within its environment. A case study is presented from the archives of the Australian retail industry's main trade Association for the period 1903-1930, the heyday of department stores in this country. This provides an original history from the primary source documents produced by the men who ran the Association, and Sydney's largest department stores. The longitudinal coverage of the case affords a view of change as an accumulative process, and confirms the largely untested hypothesis that retail institutions are a significant influence on the course of retailing evolution. The findings of the research suggest that there are multiple causal mechanisms in the evolution of retailing. The impact of innovators, competition and conflict, and the constraints of the environment were found to have direct and indirect influences on the course of retailing development, and these influences have been identified in extant literature. In addition to extant explanations, this research suggests that consumers' "innate desire for novelty", or more broadly a human need for variety, appeared to be a driver of evolution in retailing in the period under study. Overall, the research presented in this study demonstrates that retailing evolution cannot be properly understood outside the systems of which it is a part. The study shows that, while the retailing system was subject to forces outside its control, it could also exert influence on the system. Furthermore, that the population of retailing institutions, as represented by the industry trade Association, was an important factor in shaping the course of retailing evolution in Australia

Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor Parallaxes For Four Classical Novae

We have used data obtained with the Fine Guidance Sensors on the Hubble Space Telescope to derive precise astrometric parallaxes for four classical novae: V603 Aql, DQ Her, GK Per, and RR Pic. All four objects exceeded the Eddington limit at visual maximum. Re-examination of the original light curve data for V603 Aql and GK Per has led us to conclude that their visual maxima were slightly brighter than commonly assumed. With known distances, we examine the various maximum magnitude-rate of decline relationships that have been established for classical novae. We find that these four objects show a similar level of scatter about these relationships as seen in larger samples of novae whose distances were determined using indirect techniques. We also examine the nebular expansion parallax method and find that it fails for three of the four objects. In each case it was possible to find an explanation for the failure of that technique to give precise distance estimates. DQ Her appears to suffer from an anomalously high extinction when compared to field stars on its sight line. We suggest that this is likely due to local material, which may also be the source of the IRAS detections of this object.NASA from the Space Telescope Science Institute AR12617NASA NAS 5-26555McDonald Observator

Modelling intra-regional geographic mobility in a rural setting

Large-scale models are often used in the urban planning context to model the effects of, for instance, a change in land-use policies or transportation infrastructure. This class of models accounts for factors such as the spatial distribution of jobs and workers, commuting flows, housing markets, modal choice and so on. One criticism of such models is their complexity, computational demands and data requirements. In this paper, we develop a model which shares certain features with large-scale models, but which is appropriate for studying development at the intra-regional level in a rural setting. The rural setting means that not all of the traditional features of a large-scale model are relevant, and these can therefore be omitted. This allows us to create a simple model which still captures the most relevant effects of large-scale models.

The Internal Proper Motions Of Stars In The Open Cluster M35

Relative proper motions, based on 108 orbits of Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor data extending from 1992 to 2006, are reported for 74 stars in the open cluster M35 (NGC 2168). A subset of 22 of these objects are then used to compute the cluster's internal proper motion dispersions in both right ascension and declination. We find that these dispersions are equal to within their measurement errors. The average one-dimensional dispersion is 0.018 +/- 0.002 arcsec century(-1). When combined with the M35 radial velocity dispersion of 0.65 +/- 0.10 km s(-1) found by Geller et al., this produces a cluster distance of 762 +/- 145 pc. Using isochrone fits to the cluster main sequence, this distance suggests that M35 has an age of about 133 Myr. Although this age is consistent with that typically found for M35, the formal error in the dynamical distance of +/- 19% can accommodate ages between 65 Myr and 201 Myr.McDonald Observator

Night-time mobilities and (in)justice in London: Constructing mobile subjects and the politics of difference in policy-making

The growing interest in urban night-time economies and night-time transport policies presents an important context in which to examine how mobility justice is conceived and operationalised in policy-making. Literature on transport exclusion and transport justice documents the disadvantages experienced by different social groups and advances theoretical frameworks for distributive justice and transport accessibility. However, this literature has rarely considered the politics of whether and how mobility difference is recognised and planned for in transport policy, including issues of deliberative justice (participation) and epistemic justice (knowledge production). To address these research gaps, this paper engages with Sheller's (2018) theorisation of mobility justice and critically analyses the construction of mobile subjects in policy discourse on night-time mobility. We analyse policy documents part of night-time policy for Greater London to examine the extent to which the differentiated night-time mobilities across social categories (gender, age, ethnicity, income, etc.) are recognised – in other words, how the ‘politics of difference’ play out in transport policy-making. Findings show that the discursive construction of mobile subjects in London's night-time policy distinguishes between workers, consumers, and transport users, yet, these broad categories poorly account for differentiated mobility needs and practices. Publicly available data on differentiated night-time mobilities in London does not inform current policy discourse, obscuring disadvantages experienced by different groups of people moving through the city at night, and thus limits the capacity of existing policy interventions to address mobility injustices. These findings reaffirm the need for transport research to move beyond distributive justice and accessibility analysis, towards exploring the potential of thinking about distributive and epistemic justice for challenging the status quo of transport policy

The Growth of The Educational Program In Kansas For Handicapped Children

Kansas, as well as the other forty-seven states, assisted by the Federal Government, has long recognized the need for the caring of the physical well-being of its children. To this end monetary appropriations and various agencies have been set up by legislation to provide food, shelter, and clothing for children whose parents could not provide these essentials. This has al.so been done for those who needed medical care and other physical corrections as well as for those whose mentality has not developed to an extent to permit them to make their way among normal people. However, “Man shall not live by bread alone,” While physical and mental health are paramount., the mind as well as the body needs to be trained so that an individual may live a fuller life. The old idea that a warped body must house a warped mind has been discarded. The real crux to the situation is that too frequently an excellent mind has been cudgeled and frustrated because its encasing clay has not permitted it to take part in the normal activities of living. What has been done to assist children handicapped in such a way as to prevent their attending regular public schools and securing a normal education? The purpose of this thesis is to trace The Growth of the Educational Program in Kansas for Handicapped Children. The thesis proposes to trace legal provisions covering the education of handicapped children as found in legislation, both territorial and state, in Kansas up to the present time. Furthermore, the thesis will explore what state institutions and other agencies have done to assist in the education of handicapped children

The Mass of the Candidate Exoplanet Companion to HD136118 from Hubble Space Telescope Astrometry and High-Precision Radial Velocities

We use Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor astrometry and high-cadence radial velocities for HD136118 from the HET with archival data from Lick to determine the complete set of orbital parameters for HD136118b. We find an orbital inclination for the candidate exoplanet of i_{b} = 163.1 +- 3.0 deg. This establishes the actual mass of the object, M_{b} = 42^{+11}_{-18} MJup, in contrast to the minimum mass determined from the radial velocity data only, M_{b}sin{i} ~ 12 MJup. Therefore, the low-mass companion to HD 136118 is now identified as a likely brown dwarf residing in the "brown dwarf desert".Comment: 35 pages, 12 figures, 10 tables. Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa