The operation of discourse as a motive for critical practice : a Bakhtinian perspective

This thesis offers a Bakhtinian perspective on the operation of discourse in critical practice. Bakhtin's account of the individual's relation to language provides the basis for an examination of the ways in which discourse operates as a constraint upon and motive for acts of interpretation. In this my thesis breaks with the dominant use of Bakhtinian theory in which it is deployed as a means of analysing the operation of discourse in literary texts. In what follows I begin with an account of Bakhtin's sociolinguistics. Having established the theoretical framework for my analysis I move on to characterise the discourses of the heteroglossia in Britain in the period 1900 to 1930. For ease of analysis my account is divided into two sections. In the first of these the discourses operating at the societal level are discussed whilst the second section is concerned with the discourses which operated in literary critical circles at this time. In the third section of this work I offer an intermediate synthesis via an analysis of the operation of the discourses identified in preceding section in the practice of leading literary critics from this era. This section also enables me to offer a fuller account of the various discourses informing critical practice at this time. In the fourth section I examine the criticism generated by Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness in the period 1899 to 1930 and offer a detailed account of the ways in which the discourses identified in previous sections operate as constraints upon the act of criticism. More general works on Conrad from this period are also analysed. In my Conclusion I step back from the minutiae of critical practice and offer an account of some of the problems associated with adopting a Bakhtinian perspective on the processes of criticism. I end with a brief statement of the value of Bakhtinian theory as a basis for critical practice

11R. An Assessment of eProcurement Adoption Experiences in Canadian Purchasing Organizations

Electronic procurement technologies and practices have matured significantly in the past decade. However, the existing literature might suggest the adoption of eProcurement is still very limited. However, our recent survey of 334 purchasing management professionals in Canada found that over 75% of the organizations have used eProcurement technologies for at least one year and over half have used eProcurement for at least three years. While only 24% of respondents were satisfied with their organizations’ current eProcurement implementation, 72% of respondents felt that their organization would benefit from more usage of eProcurement. This paper contrasts the results of a survey on eProcurement adoption, success factors, and challenges conducted in 2009, with findings from prior studies. The preliminary findings suggest that many of the barriers to success identified in earlier studies (such as lack of management support) have largely been overcome, yet the technical challenges of integrating information systems and processes remain. This paper concludes with a call for more intensive field studies to further explore these findings

Open letter to Prime Minister David Cameron on food poverty in the UK

There is a worrying gap in health circumstances and outcomes between rich and poor people in the UK. Complex though the reasons for this inequality are, the reality is that many hardworking families in the UK are living in poverty and do not have enough income for a decent diet. UK food prices have risen by 12% in real terms since 2007, returning the cost of food relative to other goods to that in the 1990s

Monitoring Ground Cover and Associated Erosion Risks Using Satellite Remote Sensing in the Agricultural Region of Western Australia

National satellite-derived fractional ground cover products (percentage of green vegetation, dry vegetation, bare soil) are now routinely produced by Geoscience Australia and other groups, and are available for interpretation. The extensive coverage, frequent repeated observations and large archive of historical imagery supports more objective and reproducible methods than previous degradation monitoring efforts that were based on intermittent field surveys of land condition and anecdotal reporting. Landsat (30-m pixel resolution) seasonal composite images will be used to estimate total ground cover throughout the year, and assess the proportion of cropland in the grainbelt below recommended cover thresholds of 50% for wind erosion, and 70% for water erosion

Techniques in helical scanning, dynamic imaging and image segmentation for improved quantitative analysis with X-ray micro-CT

This paper reports on recent advances at the micro-computed tomography facility at the Australian National University. Since 2000 this facility has been a significant centre for developments in imaging hardware and associated software for image reconstruction, image analysis and image-based modelling. In 2010 a new instrument was constructed that utilises theoretically-exact image reconstruction based on helical scanning trajectories, allowing higher cone angles and thus better utilisation of the available X-ray flux. We discuss the technical hurdles that needed to be overcome to allow imaging with cone angles in excess of 60°. We also present dynamic tomography algorithms that enable the changes between one moment and the next to be reconstructed from a sparse set of projections, allowing higher speed imaging of time-varying samples. Researchers at the facility have also created a sizeable distributed-memory image analysis toolkit with capabilities ranging from tomographic image reconstruction to 3D shape characterisation. We show results from image registration and present some of the new imaging and experimental techniques that it enables. Finally, we discuss the crucial question of image segmentation and evaluate some recently proposed techniques for automated segmentation

Young people’s travel – What’s changed and why? Review and analysis

Young adults in Great Britain and other countries are driving less now than young adults did in the early 1990s. The Department for Transport (DfT) commissioned the Centre for Transport and Society (UWE, Bristol) and the Transport Studies Unit (University of Oxford) to carry out a systematic assessment of available evidence on the subject, both by review of UK and overseas published literature, and by new secondary analysis of existing UK data sets. The study sought to address the questions: In what ways have changes in young people’s social and economic conditions, and lifestyles and attitudes impacted on their travel behaviour? How might those drivers, or other anticipated changes, be expected to impact their future travel demand? The evidence has been evaluated on the basis of an extensive review of both transport-specific and wider social science literature in the UK (and other countries where, despite national differences, the trends show many similar patterns), and new analysis of data from the National Travel Survey (NTS) (1995-2014), the Census (2001 and 2011) and Understanding Society (five waves from 2009/10 to 2013/14)

Evidence of a large seasonal coastal upwelling system along the southern shelf of Australia

2000 FLORIDA AVE NW, WASHINGTON, USA, DC, 2000

Current measurement by real-time counting of single electrons

The fact that electrical current is carried by individual charges has been known for over 100 years, yet this discreteness has not been directly observed so far. Almost all current measurements involve measuring the voltage drop across a resistor, using Ohm's law, in which the discrete nature of charge does not come into play. However, by sending a direct current through a microelectronic circuit with a chain of islands connected by small tunnel junctions, the individual electrons can be observed one by one. The quantum mechanical tunnelling of single charges in this one-dimensional array is time correlated, and consequently the detected signal has the average frequency f=I/e, where I is the current and e is the electron charge. Here we report a direct observation of these time-correlated single-electron tunnelling oscillations, and show electron counting in the range 5 fA-1 pA. This represents a fundamentally new way to measure extremely small currents, without offset or drift. Moreover, our current measurement, which is based on electron counting, is self-calibrated, as the measured frequency is related to the current only by a natural constant.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures; v2: minor revisions, 2 refs added, words added to title, typos correcte

IMOS national reference stations: A continental-wide physical, chemical and biological coastal observing system

Sustained observations allow for the tracking of change in oceanography and ecosystems, however, these are rare, particularly for the Southern Hemisphere. To address this in part, the Australian Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) implemented a network of nine National Reference Stations (NRS). The network builds on one long-term location, where monthly water sampling has been sustained since the 1940s and two others that commenced in the 1950s. In-situ continuously moored sensors and an enhanced monthly water sampling regime now collect more than 50 data streams. Building on sampling for temperature, salinity and nutrients, the network now observes dissolved oxygen, carbon, turbidity, currents, chlorophyll a and both phytoplankton and zooplankton. Additional parameters for studies of ocean acidification and bio-optics are collected at a sub-set of sites and all data is made freely and publically available. Our preliminary results demonstrate increased utility to observe extreme events, such as marine heat waves and coastal flooding; rare events, such as plankton blooms; and have, for the first time, allowed for consistent continental scale sampling and analysis of coastal zooplankton and phytoplankton communities. Independent water sampling allows for cross validation of the deployed sensors for quality control of data that now continuously tracks daily, seasonal and annual variation. The NRS will provide multi-decadal time series, against which more spatially replicated short-term studies can be referenced, models and remote sensing products validated, and improvements made to our understanding of how large-scale, long-term change and variability in the global ocean are affecting Australia's coastal seas and ecosystems. The NRS network provides an example of how a continental scaled observing systems can be developed to collect observations that integrate across physics, chemistry and biology

A new comprehensive trait database of European and Maghreb butterflies, Papilionoidea

Trait-based analyses explaining the different responses of species and communities to environmental changes are increasing in frequency. European butterflies are an indicator group that responds rapidly to environmental changes with extensive citizen science contributions to documenting changes of abundance and distribution. Species traits have been used to explain long- and short-term responses to climate, land-use and vegetation changes. Studies are often characterised by limited trait sets being used, with risks that the relative roles of different traits are not fully explored. Butterfly trait information is dispersed amongst various sources and descriptions sometimes differ between sources. We have therefore drawn together multiple information sets to provide a comprehensive trait database covering 542 taxa and 25 traits described by 217 variables and sub-states of the butterflies of Europe and Maghreb (northwest Africa) which should serve for improved trait-based ecological, conservation-related, phylogeographic and evolutionary studies of this group of insects. We provide this data in two forms; the basic data and as processed continuous and multinomial data, to enhance its potential usage